Invention

Author: Seth


"I guess not all of his inventions are junk. Just most of them."


The metallic clicking of a bolt being tightened by a ratchet bounced around the small wooded clearing, the small sounds mingling with the dusty rays of sunlight poking their way through the canopy.

Grumbling darkly to herself as she rubbed the sleep out of her eyes, Aurora glanced over at the noise blearily and saw Blitz surrounded by a veritable pile of odds and ends; tinkering with a small metallic object and looking far too chipper for the time of morning. A small spark of curiosity sparked within the young roujin, tempered with a fair amount of irritation and foreboding. While most of the stuff her friend made was useless, useless didn’t necessarily equal safe. That previous contraption fabricated entirely out of rat traps had taught her that much.

“Whatcha making?” Aurora asked, her speech a little slurred due to the fatigue that still floated around her head like a cloud.

“Grappling hook.” Blitz mumbled distractedly, tightening the bolt once more and looking at the small machine critically.

Aurora raised an eyebrow. “That seems a bit… ordinary for you.” She commented.

“Need one.” Blitz grunted. Clearly the panthryan’s work was not a labour of love.

Evidently finding nothing wrong with the small machine, Blitz levelled the handheld device at a nearby tree. A spark of electricity and the claw at the end of the gadget shot out of its nest. Another spark of electricity, this one traveling down along the metal chord that attached the claw to the rest of the device, and the claw contracted just as it hit the tree, biting into the wood.

“Now for the moment of truth.” The blonde muttered as electricity sparked around his hand.

Apparently Blitz might have used a bit too strong a charged, as the device began rewinding the chord with a diabolic vigour, sending Blitz flying into the tree he had shot just moments ago.

Aurora blinked. Despite the display of her comrade’s characteristic lack of foresight that seemed to plague him whenever it came to his little projects, the green eyed girl could easily tell the tool seemed not only perfectly practical, but functional as well. You learn something new every day it seemed.

“Should we be expecting the devil to appear and collect your soul in the near future?” Aurora joked, watching Blitz pick himself unsteadily up off the ground.

“Shut it, you.” Blitz shot back, pointing a wavering finger at Aurora’s general direction. “This is nothing. Just because you can’t understand the genius of my other inventions doesn’t give you the right to dismiss them.”

“The genius of an automated tumbleweed spinner. Uh huh.” Aurora nodded blithely, turning back to her impromptu bed.

“You just have no appreciation for true art.” Blitz huffed, yanking the claw out of the wood and letting the rest of the wire retract; slowly.

“Well, art does about as much as your inventions do, so I guess you could be right about them being art.” The blue haired girl chuckled.

“They do things; you just don’t-” Blitz started indignantly before cutting himself off. “Nevermind, you’ll never understand the true essence of my creations.”

Aurora grinned. “And for that, I’m thankful.”