Thinking Face

Later on after Yesenia had left, Seth and Autum continued their conversation procrastinating Seth's training in thunder for a couple more minutes and eating a few more strength crackers in the process.

"...I don't know." Autum rolled onto her stomach and stood up. "Well, care to try it again?"

"Sure." Seth said, jumping to his feet. Autum walked over to her sword and pulled it out of the ground. She charged it with a bit of lightning.

"When you've got yourself ready, attack me."

"I'll try to take it is easy." Seth said, closing his eyes for a moment to concentrate on the spark. When he got his sword charged, he opened his eyes and swung at Autum.

Autum threw her sword up in front of her and blocked Seth, her heels sliding back into the dirt.

"Too hard?" Seth asked. He wanted to learn to use magic, but he didn't want to hurt Autum in the process.

"Nah, I'm just weak." Autum shook her head and smiled.

"Then I'll hit lighter." Seth said.

"Ready?" He asked.

"You of all people should know that you never ask your opponent if they are ready, Seth." Autum threw her blade at a 45 degree angle with the ground, holding the hilt above her head. Seth then swung at Autum again, this time a little lighter. Autum ducked under the blade and swung from below. Seth took a step back and parried, then swung again. Autum blocked the blow, but fell to the ground, with Seth's sword standing next to her ear. Her hair stood on end from the electricity emitting from it. Seth grinned slightly, then released his focus on the spark and leaned his sword on his shoulder. He then reached down to help her up with his other hand.

Autum took the hand. "What happened to 'I'll swing lighter'?"

Seth smiled. "That was lighter." He said.

"Then maybe you should just pretend that you're fighting a five-year-old, because that's how strong I am with this heavy thing." Autum took the sword and stuck it into the ground.

Seth grinned slightly. "I'll keep that in mind." He said. Autum growled as she tried to down her hair, and it wasn't complying. She went to her bag and pulled out a hat, the one that she used when she first learned that she could do a bit of thunder. She pulled her pony tail out, shaking her hair loose and slammed the hat onto her head. Her hair fell into place. "Now I'm glad I thought to grab this thing." She turned around and looked to Seth. "So, think you've got it?"

"Yeah, I've got it. Unless there's anything else you want to show me." Seth said with a slight shrug.

Autum shook her head. "Nope, as long as you can remember that spark, you can channel it into a metal weapon. Tomorrow, we'll work on how much you use."

Seth nodded. "Want your sword back then?" He asked.

"It's not mine...I'm ah..." Autum gave a nervous chuckle. "Not supposed to handle weapons, unless it's a bow or made from my flames."

"Is it Chris'?" Seth asked.

Autum shook her head. "It's ours, but I'm just not supposed to handle any type of blade. The only pointy object I'm allowed to handle is my arrows."

Seth smiled. "Why not? If you want, I can teach you how to use it effectively." He suggested.

"Because it's a sharp blade. I'm not allowed to chop things in the kitchen even...not that I can, but that's beside the point."

"I mean, why not? Did you cut somebody or something?" Seth asked.

Autum gave a small laugh. "I'm a danger to myself and everyone around me. I had to slip them into the bag without Sally seeing."

"I see...you didn't do too badly earlier." He said. "I f you got a little more muscle in those arms, I'm sure you'd do just fine." Seth said with a smile.

"I have muscle, not a lot, but I can lift all the heavy supplies in the backroom. It's not like Sally can do it. I'm just not allowed to have sharp objects in my possession. Main reason is because of my temper."

Seth smiled. "I've got one too, so you're not alone." He said with a grin, resting the flat side of the blade on his shoulder.

"Mine's reeeaaaly bad."

"Oh, you still have yet to see me angry." Seth said with a slight smirk.

"And you I, put it this way: last time I got pissed off; Chris's brother still had hair."

Seth smiled softly. "So that's how that happened." Seth said.

Autum giggled. "Yup. I was still not in complete control of fire, and my anger got the better of me. It wasn't too funny at the time, but it is now. Even though he doesn't think so." The thought of fire made Seth frown. Autum's smile faded a little at Seth's frown. "Is something wrong?"

"It's...nothing." Seth said after a moment.

"It has to be something. You don't just go from smiling and having fun to frowning. My moods don't even change that fast."

"It's a really long story that I don't care to tell." He replied, looking down at the ground.

"Ok, I won't pry. But if you're going to get upset every time I use fire, then I'm gonna have to worm it out of you. We'll need to keep warm during our adventure." Autum grabbed the crackers, put them into her bag and pulled the string.

Seth nodded. "Here, you'll probably have to return that." He said, handing the sword to Autum.

Autum took the sword and slipped it into the holder on in the bag. "Yeah, just got to sneak it past Sally." Seth just nodded slightly. "Why do I get the feeling that you're all of a sudden getting distant?"

Seth looked at her. "I guess...I'm just thinking." He said.

"So that's you thinking face?" Autum tilted her head.

"Yeah..." Seth said. "I think...I'm gonna go home. Want me to meet you here tomorrow?" Seth asked.

"Uh, sure." Autum slid the bag on her shoulder. "Same place, about high sun."

Seth nodded silently, and then started walking back to the town, hands stuffed into his pockets. Autum heaved a sad sigh. Seth got back to Chris' shop and went upstairs, where his room was. He sat on the bed with a sigh, getting lost in his thoughts.