There was a flourishing, flowery village residing near the Country of Red's borders known as the Begonia Village. It was a place known to create wonderful and valuable things with red flowers from food, sweets, weapons and many others. People from different countries visit for the village's known splendor before arriving at the main city of Red.
Not only does the village have a reputation with welcoming tourists, they are also famous for subduing the dark creatures of the Umbra Mirrorverse summoned by the Gray Abyss as the first defense, fought by the Begonia Knights, a branch of the Knights Order.
And today was such a day for new beginnings and dangers of the new year.
People were out bustling on the pathways selling their merchandise in their stalls. The children followed by playing tag and running away from the one who's "it"; as well as the older children helping out with the adults' workload. The ones who fight are called the Begonia Knights, a branch part of the Knight Order, who tirelessly practice in the training grounds all day long until their family members visit and bring them refreshments for their hard work in protecting the village.
For a village so unanimously united in working together, it's no wonder why the place was famous. People strive to live well and make sure everyone is well-provided with the essentials for the current and next generations to come.
"Good morning Poppy!"
"Good morning Scarlet! It seems that the new batch of seeds have arrived huh?"
"Yep! Can't wait to start planting them!"
The young girl of black hair tied into a loose ponytail on the side of her shoulder and dark red eyes carries a box crate of seeds into the back room of the flower shop. She opens the box to take out the new flower seeds and spread them out on the table and after sometime Scarlet has the seeds taken to the greenhouse to plant one seed of each in the small flower cartons, then they are watered before setting on a vacant space for absorbing sunlight.
"Phew! That's that!"
Scarlet sighs tiredly. Being a florist or doing any kind of job always have challenges of labor, but the result of good labor is always worth it. Life isn't easy in the world of borrowed time after all.
"Right, it's lunch time. I'll go shopping and cook stew for Uncle Burgundy once he gets home."
Her uncle was her only relative left who raised her after her parents departed off on an expedition and never came back. Thus she learnt many things with him to survive in the world, including self defense.
As Scarlet went on to buy food, she came across the children laughing happily and running across the path. Such mischievous little bundles of joy.
"Hiya Scarlet!"
"Hi Sister Scarlet!"
"Scarlet! Hi!"
"Bye Scarlet!"
The florist waves back at the kids with a joyous smile on her face.
"Don't trip now!"
The children were careful but they can always continue to be rebellious.
"Especially you, Zinnia! Don't think I haven't seen you trying to spy on the knights until night time!"
"Ick!"
The blonde child with a red bow, black eyes, and a red dress looked back at Scarlet.
"I-I didn't do that!"
"Zinnia, there's only one person with a red bow and blonde hair as yours to spy on the knights with the sole intention of wanting to be like them. And that's you."
Zinnia pouts and tugs on Scarlet's apron.
"Scarlet, please don't tell mama and papa. . ."
"As long you go home before night time okay?"
The florist pats her head as Zinnia nods. The child runs off to catch up with her friends while Scarlet continues to buy food and walk back home, a lingering shadow following her silently. When she gets home, cooking stew was first on the list before sweeping and dusting the house. After all of that, there was one more thing left to do:
To train.
What training exactly?
Scarlet switches off a hidden lever that leads to the basement room. Without fearing the sharp blades of metal greeting her with an attack, she dodges them with ease and walks forward to the variety of training machines.
With a confident smile on her face and rolling back her sleeves, Scarlet activated the mechanisms.
"Time to improve my record time!"
Not only her uncle taught her self defense and survival necessities but also trained her in combat against various foes. This was kept hidden from anyone until she reached eighteen years old, and that's when she can use her skills freely.
Sword-fighting, spear-fighting, fast-dodging, kicking, pressure point attacking, blindfolded fighting and dodging, and lastly beast-taming.
She and her uncle raised a Quetzalcoatl as family who often makes sure that no stranger with ill intentions gets in the house. The bird was also for her to improve her beast-taming skills while playing with them.
"You've been chilling haven't you, Cherry?"
"Caw caw!~"
Cherry snuggles their head onto Scarlet's palm, relaxing in her presence as the black-haired girl smiled happily at the bird's actions.
'How cute!~'
Scarlet caresses Cherry's head one more time before heading over to the kitchen to cook beef stew for her uncle, and eventually he came home.
"Hmmm, I smell something delicious in the kitchen. Is that my rebellious niece cooking up a storm in there?"
A burly man with dark red hair and the same red eyes like Scarlet took off his cape to hang it onto the hook on the wall. He had a well-groomed full beard that shows his prime age and hardened tan skin due to extended exposure in the sun for his work.
Scarlet scoops two bowls of stew to set it down on the dinner table along with some side dishes to enjoy.
"Welcome home Uncle Burg, and I have delicately made hearty beef stew from the special recipe in the closet I found the other day. If uncle had this stew before, I'm sure you would know the taste very well."
Burgundy takes a spoonful of the beef stew as watches his niece sit down to enjoy the meal. He widens his eyes for a moment, softening his stern expression as he continued to eat.
'This taste. . .is nostalgic.'
After lunch, Scarlet washes the dishes while Cherry watches on curiously. Burgundy sits down on the rocking chair tending to his spear, and only after his niece had finished washing the dishes that he called her.
"Scarlet, your birthday is tomorrow. I hope you're ready to learn why I taught you how to fight like a Scarlet Knight."
Scarlet perked up on his words.
'At last? I didn't really think about it anymore since it was second nature, but I am still curious about why uncle decided to train me for this long. Is my birthday that important for such an answer?'
"Of course. I shall heed your words regardless, Uncle Burg."
The florist puts a hand on her chest and smiles confidently at her uncle.
The man sighs, knowing his niece is willing to take on challenges at the expense of her own life. Since that's the case, he'll teach her one last thing until tomorrow.
"Then let's proceed with the final lesson."
Burgundy stands up and gives her the spear he was tending.
"As you know, the Knights Order have powers of the colors. Having the power of Red is a main requirement to become a Scarlet Knight, but you don't possess it. Even so, I still let you learn how to be one. You'll figure it out tomorrow but right now your final lesson is to figure out why you continued to learn despite not having the power of Red. Why did you proceed to learn the combat of the Scarlet Knights even if you wouldn't be able to join anyway? This will be your focus before tomorrow."
The red-haired man then leaves to the basement along with Cherry, with Scarlet contemplating on his words.
"Why. . .I continued to train?"
'I know saying that because I have to wouldn't be an appropriate answer, so I must think this properly.'
But would she even find her answer? Not once did she think about why she kept training herself without a motive. It was only because she needed to for her own survival. . .yet her uncle taught her the combat of the Scarlet Knights for a reason. Was she too relaxed for this? Maybe it was better to find her answer if she went out to an Umbravore horde just once? No, her uncle wouldn't allow her to display her strength like that.
Thinking too much will deteriorate her mind further, so Scarlet decided to relax outside in the dusk horizon until it was time for bed.