How long's it been? Dunno, time to fix it for now.
Disclaimer: Own Idea, nothing more.
There was laughter through the village, children running about on the hot sands. Bugs hummed in the air as people talked to one another on their way to work.
He sat by the steps of his house, a whetstone in his hand as he carefully ran it down his blade. His companion was by his right, looking at a butterfly as it fluttered past, her cat ears twitching at each noise made nearby.
"Master why do you need to resharpen the blade?" She asked, curious. "Doesn't the magic powder work better?" Her tail flicked idly, wrapping around the steel rods that kept the stairs upwards.
"It just fixes the weapon Xiao." He said calmly. "Doesn't mean it'll make it sharper again."
"Why use a wet stone though Master? Isn't there a better way of sharpening a sword?" She asked, curious.
"A whetstone is better for controlled sharpening. You never want to sharpen a blade too much."
"Wouldn't it do more damage against monsters?"
"No, you just make the sword break easier. So you need to use even more magic powder."
"Oh..." Xiao said, looking around.
"Why are you so curious today Xiao?" He asked, giving her a look. "You never asked about sharpening swords before." She looked at the shining blade, her hand moving slowly towards it subconsciously before she shook her head, her hand falling by her side.
"Just wondering is all Master." He raised an eyebrow at this, chuckling softly.
"Want to give it a try?" He asked, the stone flat upon his hand. She hesitated for a moment, before her left hand wrapped carefully around the white stone, looking upon it curiously. He stood up from his seat on the stairs, gesturing for her to sit down upon it. She slowly obliged, her gaze never leaving the stone. "Now hold this with your other hand." He said, carefully putting the handle of the sword in her grasp. "Hold on tightly."
Her fingers clenched tightly onto the handle, knuckles slowly turning white. "Not that tight." He corrected, her grip slacking slightly. "All you have to do is slowly move the stone down the blade. Keep it at an angle. Don't go too fast." She gave him a confused look, as her hands seemed to dig into the stone more. "Like this." He placed a well calloused hand upon her dainty one, slowly guiding the whetstone down the sharpest point of the sword at a slight enough angle.
This continued on for a while, Toan slowly releasing his grip on Xiao until she was doing it all by her lonesome. For a while she continued on, her focus on the stone and the blade. For a while this continued on, her gaze never faltering, a smile making its way upon her face as she did so. She fell into the rhythm, the faint sound of stone rubbing against steel the only sound she made. Toan merely watched on, a bit amused by the catgirl.
However, when Toan deemed the blade to be sharp enough, he lightly shook her shoulder, snapping her out of her reverie. She blushed at his smug look, putting the stone down upon the stairs.
"Did you have fun?" He asked, a chuckle working its way out of him. "You seemed to be enjoying yourself." She mewed, a faint blush upon her cheeks.
"Xiao enjoyed it Master.." She admitted. "Why did Master stop Xiao?"
"Cause it's pretty sharp." He said, showing the of the blade to her. "You did a pretty good job. Maybe I'll have you sharpen my other swords later." He joked.
"Really?" She said, looking ecstatic at the prospect. Toan gave the catgirl a look before he chuckled, ruffling her hair.
"Sure, why not?"
"Aaa~! Master! You know Xiao hates that!" She pouted, trying in vain to fix her hair as Toan chuckled.
Yeah I'm back.