Elemental Witch: Child of the Earth (Part I)

Learning

"You are starting to smell of them." Sencha said thoughtfully as he turned his new blades over in his hands, feeling their balance and looking at their workmanship. "It fades when you come back here, but every time you go there, you smell like something from them."

Verana shook her head and moved to sit against a tree, leaning back into it and taking the comfort it was offering her. "Humans.... Show emotions with physical contact. And I sparred with Benchan today."

Sencha paused, looking up from the blades to her, arching one curious brow, "Oh?"

"I mentioned the tournament and he was absolutely convinced that without armour, we would be cut in half before the fight even started. And then every other human also agreed." Verana shook her head in frustration, glaring angrily. The fight had done very little to dull the anger from those presumptions.

"And you wanted to know if you could fight against that. You doubted yourself." Sencha nodded, replacing his old sword belt with his knew one, testing the ease of drawing his blades as he spoke to her, "what did you learn?"

Verana watched his movements for a while, contemplating his words and the question. "Their hits are heavy, they're strong. Benchan was able to use his blades to lift me by mine and throw me through the air. When he attacked, he hit hard, the force of the blades send tremors through my arms. But the armour does make them slow, their blades are heavy. A quick win, disarming them, would be the best way to win."

"And?"

"The women... want to learn our style of fighting." Verana watched cautiously, hating that she had to ask a favour of him. " And I was hoping to spar more with the humans. Learn more."

Sencha nodded, looking over to her without hesitation. "You will teach the women and spar with the humans when you go to them every day. When you return, you will spar with me and teach us what you have learned."

"I thought you would want to teach... Perhaps spar yourself." Verana continued to keep her eyes on him, frowning at his aloof, indifferent attitude. Something more had broken between them, she hadn't realized that there was anything left to break or that she had still cared. But she found herself aching from his separation, finding that she had still valued his involvement. As she watched, he shifted back towards the tree line, about to fade into the Wild and leave her on her own.

"Why?" He watched her, half hidden in the dark.

Verana sighed softly, "you're the teacher. I am not."

Sencha smirked at that, offering a shrug. "You're not yet. But you would be surprised at everything you learn when you try to teach someone. You will do it."

He turned and slipped back into the forest, leaving her alone in the darkness of their camp. Verana sighed and closed her eyes. Her world felt like it was balancing on a razors edge, leaving her feeling unsteady with every step that she took, but she didn't know why.