Oneshots

Books, swords and centaurs - A station fight and a book

It was the day of the year that school started, the day on which most London kids were running to the underground, dragging along their not-that-well-packed suitcases and everyone was hurrying to catch their train, their bus or however they were going to boarding school.

On that particular day a fifteen year old girl was walking down the street; an old, used suitcase in her left hand, a pack o her back and a book in her right hand. While reading, she maneuvered herself towards the underground station, successfully avoiding lampposts, travelers and cars, finally dodging a bunch of chatting seventeen years old girls that were talking of lipsticks and stuff (She didn't really listen), and jumped down the stairs to the underground, her chestnut brown hair weaving behind her.

Finally arriving at the railway, she put down her luggage and read on, smiling all the way. Perhaps her book was particularly funny.

Meanwhile, the station filled with boys and girls of nearly all ages, all of them properly dressed in their school uniforms, the smaller ones hiding behind their parents, the older ones standing around in groups, laughing at each other.

At once, shouts were getting louder near the entrance, the sound of teenage boys arguing. The girl, who was, by the way, called Anna, put down her book and ran towards the noise, for she knew they were most likely to start hitting each other very soon and one simply couldn't miss a good fight. At least, not her; she liked hitting people almost as much as reading.

And exactly: When Anna got to the bottom of the stairs, the three boys were already rolling on the ground, kicking and takeling those who got up back to the floor. She laughed and joined in, not exactly on one side, but trying to balance the powers while having as much fun as you can have when someone's hitting your eye with his fist and somebody else is pulling you to the floor by your hair (It hurts. Believe me.). She had had lots of practice though, for being the only girl in a family with four older brothers teaches you a lot that doesn't count as Education. Soon a fourth guy joined in, a brown-haired, maybe twelve years old and little brother of the blond, blue-haired boy who had started the fight. Anna knew them: they were Peter and Edmund Pevensie, who were joining boarding school this year along with their sisters, Lucy and Susan. In between two hits she saw the sisters standing in the crowd that had quickly formed around them, the older one (Susan) obviously annoyed by their brothers.

Although they would have gone on fighting for hours (missing their train, but never mind), the fight was put to an end rather quickly by adults in green clothes stepping in, pulling the boys and Anna away from each other, scolding as they went.
One told her: "Ain't you ashamed? A young lady as you are, starting a fight?"
Grinning, and hopping around on one foot, because someone had stomped on her ankle, she answered: "My eye totally agrees with you. I think it's gonna be black. But I didn't start, they were", she pointed at the boys, "I was just, you know, joining in."
Peter Pevensie was pulling to get loose, eventually managing it after a few harsh words.
"I could have done it without the help of a girl!"
Anna didn't like how he spat 'girl', so she answered rather annoyed: "I didn't come to help anyone. I just came to hit people. And right now, i would gladly do it again."
His look was rather deadly. "Why do you like hitting people?"
She shrugged her shoulders. "It's fun, isn't it? Besides, it's the closest you get to sword fighting these days. I would've loved to learn how to use a sword probably. Well, never mind. I should go."
Anna shrugged again and started to walk away.
"Wait".
Peter looked at her, still annoyed, but with a bit of interest.
She turned.
"Yes?"
"Last year", he said hesitatingly, looking around to see if there was anyone eavesdropping. There wasn't, so he continued, "My siblings and I found a magical land in a wardrobe. We defeated the white which, who had put a winterspell on Narnia, or something of that kind. In the end I got high king, my sisters got queens and Edmund King, and we stayed there for ages and grew up and..."
"You learned sword fighting?", Anna asked exited.
"Yes, that's perhaps a good summary". He left for his sisters.

The girl stood still for a while, then turned and went back to her book. Swords were good and the fight had been fun, but that Peter obviously didn't mean to teach her fighting. He probably didn't even bring a sword from Narnia, assuming he told the truth. He did sound quite sure though... But still, there was nothing she could do.