“Yeah that’s exactly right Goody now you’re sounding like one of those wise mages you hear all the time about. As long as you can make it to tomorrow that’s what matters, even if you have problems or bad times just gotta survive. Looks like you guys have been listening and taking notes. I’m honestly impressed by your eagerness and willingness to learn. That's a great thing to have and don’t lose that alright?”, Vonoros would say being proud of his students.

He chuckled as Chili looked so excited at the spell examples he gave, “Yup, those very spells exist and I hear they're pretty useful. I’d probably learn them myself one of these days sure would make traveling a lot easier”.

The triton would watch as the beanies got into position and figured out a way to copy his movements although it was a little odd. It seems like their magical abilities were stronger together than apart, it was a unique case but looks like they could make it work. He clapped loudly and proudly as he saw magic surge through them, no spell yet but the building blocks were there. They were now able to collect and gather magical energy together. For little bears who weren’t able to do even a bit of magic before to now, this was amazing progress.

“Damn guys you’re doing great today, I’m proud of how far you fellows have come. That’s about it for the safe fun spells I can show you; everything else in my arsenal is, how can I say, a little too dangerous and scary. Let’s see what else I can show y’all. I don’t know, are you guys interested in learning how to use weapons at all?”, the thought amused Vonoros, little cute bears with weapons.

Goody blushed at the compliment, as they pondered who could have instilled such an idea in them. Their Beanieventure stories never entailed life-and-death situations, after all, twas a series of mostly self-contained short stories of the Beanies solving problems plaguing the various people they'd come across, and the worlds they would go to were all peaceful places.

Then the Beanies found themselves squashed flat on the floor face down as Demony sat on them.
"Demony!" Star was annoyed, not that Demony was that heavy that the Beanies couldn't shrug it off if they tried. Chili was equally unamused, their eyes narrowing into horizontal bars.
"Demony lonely?" Goody, ever the naive Beanie who wants to see the best in everyone - including Demony - had nothing but kindness for the shadowy creature who'd just pancaked them. All that did was piss Demony off further, and it would redouble on its sitting, lifting itself up for a short moment before pushing the Beanies down and pretending to sleep like a cat would. Guess they're not getting up until Vonoros helps them.

The Beanies' imagination traipsed into individual images of them holding weapons as Vonoros mentioned the topic. Star... had too many ideas, largely on the offensive side, such as double-edged sabers, dual-wielding weapons, and guns. Did they have guns in Charon? Goody saw themselves being an energetic little knight defending others with a candy cane sword and a gingerbread shield. Chili, meanwhile, mainly saw themselves in hunting equipment, wearing some kind of camouflage over themselves and armed with throwing spears, paralysis darts, stuff like that.

Whether they would actually want to be wielding them, on the other hand, might be a different story. Star would prefer peace at all costs, but they hadn't the capacity to delude themselves into thinking everything would remain sunshine and rainbows. Goody didn't like fighting at all and would pounce to diplomacy even to their own detriment. Chili could see themselves hunting beasts for ingredients, but aiming weapons at people? Absolutely not. Still though, Mr. Vonoros was offering lessons, and putting aside whether they liked it or not, knowing is better than not.

"Star-plush is up for learning self-defence!" Star tried their best to raise their arm, still squashed by Demony.
"Goody wants to know how to use a shield," Goody squeaked meekly.
"Chili wants hunting skills!" Chili was the usual Chili, never deviating from their desires.

The triton let out an amused laugh as he saw the strange shadowy feline figure sit on the polar bears. He had noticed that it was this one that wasn’t participating or practicing at all. He wasn’t able to sense any magical energy or power from him either, wasn’t a bad thing but the triton was curious.

“Woah woah woah let’s all calm down here. Demony is it?”, he questioned as he approached the fellow, “That’s not very cool to just sit on people like that. Especially when they still have work to do by the sound of their interest. Now be a nice little cat thing and get off of them, how’s this sound? I’ll give you the first choice of picking out one of my weapons to try out huh?”, he asked, waiting for its response.

“Alright alright looks like everyone wants to continue Mr. Vonoros’s lessons today. So here’s what I got in my backpack”, pulling out a wooden quarterstaff, a coral lance, a flying broom, and a large femur club presenting it to the Beanies and Demony.

“I mainly use staffs and weapons generally to bonk my opponents. Sorry if I don’t have anything flashy like a sword or a shield guys. I don’t like fighting all that much, to be honest with y’all, it’s way too much work but it’s important to learn how to protect yourself. Well then I want you little bears to pick up a weapon and try it out, Demony you get first pick like I promised”.

Swinging a weapon? That sounded right up Demony's alley. It would take one glare at the Beanies before reluctantly raising its body slowly. Not like there was anything to stop it from "accidentally" swinging the weapon at the Beanies, right? Except maybe Vonoros. But hey, it just needed to be a convincing newbie and it should be fine.

The Beanies slowly raised their bodies from the floor and squished each other's faces to shape them back to their regular roundness. They then watched as Vonoros pulled out his weapons and observed them. There's a quarterstaff, a lance made of... coral?, a broom, and a large club probably chock full of calcium. The Beanies' attention largely went to the broom for how out-of-place it was compared to everything else. Demony, on the other hand, was squarely focused on the large femur club because well, it's large. It spelled highest probability of destruction. It extended its arms towards the club, only to learn that it did not possess the strength to hold it in the air, let alone swing it. How could this be when it used to swing a purposefully heavy two-handed sword on the regular!? A spark of indignation would dance in its mind, both from its ineptitude, and its inability to comprehend why such a thought even appeared in its soul. It would have loved to cleave the Beanies in two in their accursed storyline, but somehow, somehow weapons did not exist in that blasted setting.

So it decided to try the coral lance instead, which was much lighter and did a 360-degree swing, swing upwards at first before pretending to be losing control from the weight and causing the sharp tip to swing towards the hapless Beanies.

“I know they’re not the average kind of weapons but this is what I use while adventuring. My quarterstaff is my signature weapon's name is Shu, the coral lance is a pretty good piercing weapon, and the femur club is my go-to if I’m really in a pickle and need to do some big damage, as for the flying broom I know it’s not a weapon per se but I don’t have any more weapons I can show you. Everything else I got is a little more dangerous and not practice-friendly”, the triton explained as his students looked and analyzed his items.

“Yo, don’t worry about it little dude”, he said as Demony tried to lift the femur club, “It’s not easy to lift that hunk of bone and swing it so easily”.

However, it seemed like the Demony fellow wasn’t that downtrodden as it picked up another weapon. Vonoros wasn’t born yesterday and he saw the intention of malice with its 'accidental' losing control of the coral lance. Acting fast he held it with his right hand allowing the magical stitches to come apart and snapping clean off his right arm (1). His hand flew towards the beanies and caught the coral lance it hit them.

He called his hand back and the stitches reconnected his hand to his arm giving the coral lance a few spins before putting it back.

“Woah easy there buddy let’s all just chill out alright? Okay beanies what do you think? Try those weapons out, let's see what you got, let's try not to have any more accidents”.

---

1. Suture Tattoo

"""Hi Shu!""" The Beanies, ever the friendly fellows, said hi to the quarterstaff and waved at it.
"Is it like one of those magical brooms that let you fly?" Star pointed at the broom, their mind recalling the time they met some witches in their story and wondered if they were similar in Charon.

Demony was pouting internally in its mind once more as Vonoros stopped its 'accidental' attack. Why can't it run into someone who loathes the Beanies' guts for once? The Beanies, though, were too busy being surprised at how Vonoros' arm came off to intercept Demony's swing and then reattached itself as though it didn't involve reattaching countless nerves, blood systems and bone. If that's what uh, actually what species is Mr. Vonoros? Well, maybe that didn't really matter. What mattered was that magic can do that too!?
"""Woah...""" The Beanies collectively exclaimed, all but forgetting Demony's little 'mishap'.
"Is that magic too?" Chili asked, already thinking about possible cooking applications with it.
"Goody finds it rather weird..." Goody couldn't help feeling spooked out as they rubbed the stitches connecting their arm to their body.
"Star-plush wonders how it even works," there was certainly much for the Beanies to learn about magic.

"We'll try Shu out!" Star-plush answered on behalf of Goody and Chili, then the trio hopped over to one end of the quarterstaff and attempted to lift the stick individually to no avail, then they managed to lift it up when doing it together. Following that, the Beanies would attempt to perform a horizontal sweep followed by an upwards diagonal swing with Star in front, Chili in the middle, and Goody at the back. They'd lose balance right as they swung up though and all end up falling backwards, the quarterstaff bouncing away from them as it hit the floor, and rolling a short while after landing on the long surface. Swinging a weapon with three bodies rather than one was going to be a challenge.

Vonoros would chuckle amusedly as the Beanies greeted the quarterstaff, it was his partner over the years. His signature weapon that’s always had his back in every single fight. The triton wasn’t always a polearm user, back in his tragic youth he was trained specifically in the art of the blade to fulfill his assassin duties with deadly precision.

“Yes, this flying broom is indeed magical and lets you fly if you ride it. Trust me it’s cool. It’s almost like you’re surfing on it but like in the air and not on water, it’s a neat item that’s saved me many times from dangerous situations”.

He placed the coral lance back on the floor as he stretched his hand making sure everything was reconnected. A playful smirk appeared on his face as he saw the little bears look in awe at his hand snapping off. Right to normal people that probably looked a lot more terrifying since someone’s hand just popped off like that.

“Nah it’s not magic, well actually it’s kinda magic but not really, and yes it is very weird I know. The way it happened was when I was adventuring a while back a really dangerous monster attacked me. I managed to kill it but in the process got my hand chopped clean off. Thankfully I know this talented witch named Madame Evalyn who thanks to her mysterious abilities managed to stitch my hand back to my arm. It’s a magically infused tattoo really”, he said pointing towards the stitch tattoo that ran across his entire right wrist, “I don’t know how it works all too well myself, something about magic, tattoos, and powerful artists”.

Vonoros then stepped back and watched as the trio of bears attempted to use Shu together. It sure was a sight especially since they seemed to struggle at first before working together as a team. A loud clang rang out nearby when Shu hit the floor with a thud with the Beanies losing their balance.

Quickly he rushed over to them and tried to help them up before picking up Shu himself, “Well that was a decent try at least guys, polearm aren't exactly a team weapon to use but you guys kind of made it work. Not bad but you guys have to focus on your balance and footwork, don’t worry about being cool or making epic movements. Make sure you can hold your weapon and do the basic swings before anything else, how about you guys with the Coral Lance a try?”. 

Flying broom sounds fun! The Beanies gained a new appreciation for it as they listened to Vonoros' explanation.
"Oh oh, could we get the flying broom experience after we're done training?" Chili, never one to miss possible thrills, asked excitedly.

"""Ooohhhhhhhh,""" The Beanies let out curious sounds, unsure how else to respond to Vonoros' words about magical tattoos. Demony was deeply interested in these magical tattoos Vonoros spoke of. Having a limb it could detach would surely help in its ability to discreetly make the Beanies' lives just a little more miserable.

The Beanies would each grab Vonoros' fingers as he presented it to them to use as support to spring themselves back up and observed him as he picked Shu up and listened to his advice.
"""Okay~,""" the Beanies, not ones to be easily deterred when they had no real reason to feel down, made their way to the Coral Lance to try that one out. The lance was clearly intended to be held with two hands, so the Beanies decided to position themselves differently than they did the quarterstuff, with Star and Chili positioned where the dominant hand would go, and Goody closer to the center where the non-dominant hand normally went, and they began attempting some simple horizontal swings. Except this meant Goody had to run constantly if they swung beyond a certain angle and they would be losing whatever momentum they had to that, so they opted to try having everyone at the center next. They fared slightly better, managing to spin the lance 360 degrees at one point, but it was clear as day that their physiques meant that wielding weapons was going to be an inherently tricky affair.

“Yeah well duh of course little dudes”, Vonoros would say pleased at the Beanies’s excitement, “Y’all can consider it a fun reward after a hard day of training. I know I’ve been throwing a lot of info at ya guys, I’m probably a pretty bad teacher huh? Well, I’d rather you fellas be over-prepared than underprepared because this world isn’t gonna throw you any softballs”.

The triton would carefully help his students back to their feet asking, “All good you guys?”, before just stepping back and watching them try again this time with the coral lance. He wasn’t going to exclaim super rigid orders or simply do it for them, they had to learn by themselves. In his opinion, the best way for someone to learn something was to just keep giving it an honest try. Sure, it was a really strange and unorthodox way of using the coral lance but they were doing it. Vonoros had never seen three people hold a single weapon before in his life, this little dudes were really creative.

Vonoros had a wide smile on his face as they finished giving it one final 360 spins clapping loudly with his hands, “Woah good job there Beanies, that was impressive. I am very proud of you guys you've been great students. I know I’ve asked a lot but you guys have killed it today. I think I’ve shown you guys everything I could have. Now let’s celebrate with that flying broom ride I promise go ahead give it a shot”.

"""Yay!""" The Beanies rejoiced. Flying was generally fun so long as you ignore the starting and landing phases.
"Mr. Vonoros is a great teacher!" Chili exclaimed, and Star and Goody nodded in agreement. Of course, Chili was mostly saying that because they have nobody to compare Vonoros with, while Star and Goody agreed because they'd learned quite a lot today.

"We are?" Goody blushed intensely at the compliment, their entire face turning red for a moment with blush marks before it faded away and they recovered from their momentary embarrassment. Star and Chili were blushing just as much. They've learned a lot and had fun! Demony groaned internally at the wave of positive vibes and reminded itself that it will have many more opportunities to torture the Beanies in the future. Hopefully.
"""Thanks Mr. Vonoros!""" The Beanies handed the coral lance off to Vonoros, looked around to make sure they hadn't missed anything before making their way to the flying broom and hopping on. Demony would join behind them, curling their legs unnaturally around the stick. They'd waiting for Vonoros to work his magic and fly off into the evening sky!

"Wheeeeeeeeeeeee!" Chili shouted happily, while Goody held the broom tight and Star stuck close to Goody to reassure them. Demony was mostly unamused, because a distressed Goody and a happy Chili canceled each other out making for a bland meal.

“Why I’m glad you guys think so, you’d be the second set of students I’ve ever taken on. The first student is my little sister Cypress though I’ll say I think I’ve taught you more than her. And yeah of course you guys are, I gave you guys a pretty long lesson today. I'm sure that the other teachers and students are pretty long gone and heading home. I’m proud of you little guys, you killed it and I’m excited even to see what you guys get up to”, Vonoros would say applauding them as true students of magic and might.

The triton grabbed the coral lance and tucked it back into his sling alongside the rest of his weapons before following behind the beanies. He would touch the flying broom and get it to hover enough so the beanies could get on it, “Alright things pretty easy just put your feet in and just picture yourself flying. The broom will do the rest”.

He leaned against a wall and watched as the three bears and Demony flew about happily soaring through the sky. Vonoros couldn’t help but chuckle at the sight, pretty amused the whole day. After they finished Vonoros would place away his flying broom chuckling, “Well it’s getting late and I wouldn’t want you fellas to miss bedtime so I’ll go ahead and skaddale. Thanks for being good students and they make sure to only do good with my teachings otherwise I’ll be disappointed”, the triton would leave giving each of the bears and demony fist bumps before walking away into the city’s night.

"Flying broom is funnnnnnn!" Chili squeed as they landed and it descended back down.
"Star-plush shall consider if we should buy one," Star was already working out imaginary math in their head to see if it could fit their ever-increasing list of stuff they wanted to buy.
"Thank you very much, Mr. Voronos, for everything!" Goody bowed, Star and Goody would follow, and the three would move to give their teacher a little farewell hug.

"""Goodbye! Stay safe!""" The Beanies chimed proudly. They were probably less safe than Vonoros in the night, in all honesty, but that didn't cross their mind in the slightest. It was getting a little too dark though for their vision to be any good, so the Beanies would plead for Demony to safely lead them back into the wagon. Far from capable of handling nighttime troubles just yet and having so much to think about now that it had been exposed to magic, Demony would begrudgingly agree. The safety of the wagon would still be useful for the time being and following a few close encounters, the four would safely arrive at their oversized wagon outside the city whereby the Beanies would immediately hop up to their beds and fall asleep. They've done so much today that dinner escaped their minds.