Cait was the first to swing. The first strike of their fight, and Elayna caught it hard against her blade, feeling the intense weight and power behind it.
So heavy! Elayna shouted internally with mild panic.
She had no time to think. Cait came in immediately and started her onslaught of slashes and strikes. Her longer sword swept wide from the right which she barely managed to block as she had to worry about Cait’s shorter blade jabbing out low at her wrists.
Cait fought fast, not with the devastating speed Elayna had just watched her use against Thra'kara, but still insanely fast. Her long sword came quickly but heavy from different angles in combinations while her shorter sword kept annoyingly swiping out aimed for her wrists and arms.
Cait was incredibly light and quick on her feet, almost dancing around Elayna's guard. Elayna kept up. Barely. Her own footwork was clean and precise enough. She managed to read Cait's blows well enough to deflect rather than to absorb them — absorbing the full weight and power behind them would surely leave her hands shaking. Defending against Cait wasn't close to being easy. But she kept up.
Cait's smile gradually grew wider as their exchanges went on.
Elayna thought she saw a gap in Cait’s guard and thrust her sword. Cait parried the thrust with some serious strength, it was more of a blow to Elayna's blade rather than a redirection, it made Elayna’s sword go wide and Cait quickly stepped inside Elayna's guard and at the same time threw up her shorter sword, put her blade at Elayna's throat. Then stepped back.
Cait looked at Elayna with a wide smile and slightly narrowed eyes that then quickly ran down from her head to feet. "Good, your footwork is still fast and you reposition yourself well. But you needed to quickly step back, pivot, or try to kick me or something like that. I’m not that much faster than you without my magic but I am a lot stronger than you, so you need to compensate somehow."
Elayna lowered her sword slightly, catching her breath. "I know.” Her voice a bit frustrated at the fact. ”And thank you..." She blushed a little as Cait had also complimented her footwork.
"Need to catch your breath?"
Elayna looked at the ground. “Maybe a minute.”
After about a minute of a brief talk, Elayna told Cait she was ready and they walked a bit away from each other before going into their stances.
The second fight basically went the same as the first. Cait still moved in quick and swung her blades hard at every angle. Elayna still managed to handle most of the strikes. Even twice almost landing clean hits to Cait after parrying. Almost. And once she took a decisive step back after a rough block, resetting and regaining her momentum which made Cait raise one brow slightly and smile.
Then between exchanges Cait started a steady stream of commentary on Elayna’s movement and defense — "You’re too focused on my swords, I held back a kick there," then Cait kicked her after a few exchanges and said: "Well don’t take things too literally, you were way too focused on my legs after that comment," and then, after Elayna deflected an intense combination cleanly, Cait just gave a satisfied, "mm."
Elayna found herself responding to it, the rhythm of the fighting and Cait’s commenting. It briefly made her think back to her training with Vaelithra and Elayna felt herself smiling during their fight.
Cait ended the fight again, after Elayna had gone for a quick strike aimed at Cait’s throat which Cait quickly parried with the shorter sword before leaning back and twisting her body unnaturally to the side as she extended her longer sword to Elayna’s throat and holding the tip of the blade grazing her skin.
"You're doing good baby. But since you don’t use a shield or a two-hander sword you need to at the very least go for punches." Cait straightened her posture as she lightly drew her longer sword down Elayna’s throat, not drawing blood but almost tickling her, showing Elayna her incredible control of her blade.
Elayna looked at Cait with a slight frown. "... You're holding back."
"Of course I am," Cait agreed cheerfully. “Otherwise, I’d seriously hurt you sweet-cheeks.”
Elayna felt her face warm up and glared at her before guiding the sword that was still resting at her throat away, huffing out an angry exclamation saying they’d immediately fight again after another minute.
Elayna was starting to feel frustrated. Not frustration over losing, she knew she had no chance of beating her yet. She was frustrated over the fact that Cait was beating her so easily... And because she looked so smug as she did.
She also knew she shouldn’t let frustration distract her from fighting. Distracting her would make her miss this chance of improving by fighting someone so skilled as Cait. So, as soon as when she was ready, she told Cait and immediately settled into a focused stance and readied herself.
Cait walked back to a respectable distance then looked at Elayna before they both nodded to each other starting the fight.
And quickly, Elayna felt herself settle into the next fight properly. The frustration from before of losing twice had made her feel more focused rather than discouraged, and her movements were cleaner for it. Her strikes more intense and accurate. She could feel herself pushing Cait harder. Not hard enough to trouble her, but hard enough that Cait stopped dancing around her with a smile and instead started moving slightly more deliberately and focused.
Between one exchange Cait stepped back for a pause and put the long sword on her shoulder.
"You've stopped trying to read me and have started reacting and going more on the offensive now. Good. But sweet-cheeks, you really need to start using your non-wielding hand or at least try to kick me."
Elayna looked with a small smile at Cait. "You're repeating yourself."
Cait slightly tilted her head. "I do things differently constantly. And even if I do something similar to what I’ve already done I do it faster or with feints instead."
"No. Your teasing," Elayna smiled a bit wider, and felt very pleased with herself. "It's gotten worse. More repetitive."
Cait blinked once.
Then she gave a full earnest smile. Looking encouraged. "I'll do better."
Elayna looked at her.
Something about how honestly encouraged Cait got about it. Her teasing. And the way she could get so serious about something so silly, made a reluctant smile pull at her mouth before she could stop it. She pressed her lips firmly together.
Cait noticed of course and looked extremely pleased about it.
Cait cocked out her hip. "Enough yammering cutie," she said, with a smile. Then she raised her longer sword flat in front of her and pointed the tip towards Elayna, then tilted the flat of the blade slowly up and towards herself — once, twice. Come on. Come fight.
Elayna held back a smile and lowered into her stance. Then she raised her sword, and dashed forward.
Cait quickly won after, by firmly reminding Elayna that her kicks were still, very much a threat.
Elayna had thought she had a chance to attack after she’d parried both of Cait’s sword, before Cait immediately pivoted on one foot and threw her other leg out behind her catching Elayna right in the liver. Sending Elayna back landing flat on her butt as she felt her body painfully seize up. Rendering her completely unable to move.
Cait walked over and looked down at Elayna before offering a hand and saying very pleasantly:
“There’s that cute angry expression of yours.”
Elayna glared up at Cait, waited a few breathless seconds before she took the offered hand and got up. Then she told Cait in a mostly breathless voice she needed a few minutes before she wanted to go again.
Cait complimented and teased Elayna about how good she was and how quickly she was improving. Elayna was privately very happy for the praise, but felt Cait was still holding back too much while simultaneously winning too easily.
She still knew that thinking like this wouldn’t help at all. So, she pushed away all those unnecessary thoughts and when she was ready — which was after a long while as her body had to do a complete reset from the liver kick, told Cait to stop talking and get ready to fight.
Cait smiled. Walked back. Took her stance.
They nodded to each other and started their next fight.
They met in the middle together for the first time, previously Elayna had been too much on guard and had so far let Cait come to her. This time Elayna went in fast and intense, clashing with Cait in the middle, planning to go more on the offensive. It seemed to be a good idea at first, Cait had to visibly work to keep her back for a while. But Cait still took control and quickly forced Elayna on the defensive again. Elayna didn’t get discouraged and only decided she had to keep trying.
And at some point. Almost everything outside the fight stopped existing. Elayna became focused, really focused, she didn’t hear any more of Cait commenting during the fight and only kept going. Kept trying to find any opening and land at least one clean hit on Cait.
Elayna distantly sensed her muscles burning.
Elayna saw Cait's guard shift for a fraction of a second, she feinted and immediately after swung a decisive, clean strike. Cait parried it. Parried one of what Elayna thought was one of her best strikes so far, and then immediately dashed forward to Elayna’s side and in almost the same moment was behind her.
Elayna reacted quickly, raising her sword and already turning—
She felt the flat of a blade connect directly and sharply with her rear.
She froze.
One full second of complete stillness.
Then she turned around.
She stared with wide eyes disbelievingly at Cait. "... Y-YOU—"
Cait was already laughing. Bent over in a full laugh, swords held loosely in her hands resting on her knees, laughing loud completely and unashamedly delighted with herself—
Elayna didn't wait. Didn’t allow for there to be a pause like between their exchanges before. Didn't wait for anything. She just went straight at Cait, sword raised and prepared for a serious strike.
Cait's laugh quickly died as she reacted, deflecting Elayna’s blow.
Elayna swung again, and knew, somewhere in the back of her head that was still functioning, that her swordplay had immediately become erratic and sloppy. She was swinging wildly at Cait, but she didn't really care at the moment. She continued raining down blows hard at Cait, who was now dancing back and sideways parrying and dodging all of Elayna’s blows, laughing as she did so.
"Focus!" Cait shouted at Elayna, voice shaky after a laugh, deflecting a wide swing at the same time.
"I AM FOCUSED—" Elayna swung hard as she shouted back.
Cait easily redirected the strike and laughed. "On fighting me Elayna! Not on being angry at me!"
Elayna swung again. Harder.
Cait stepped back out of range of the strike and laughed louder.
The fight quickly ended as Elayna had at some point also completely stopped caring about breathing properly, and had quickly gone out of breath. Cait had only then, decided to end the fight.
Elayna's frustration had dwindled along with her stamina... But then she realized Cait could have ended it at any point. Cait could’ve ended the fight whenever and had stalled it out most likely for her entertainment.
Elayna felt a strong surge of frustration resurface at that. But quickly forced it down, she was not interested in giving Cait more reasons to tease and ridicule her with. She quickly calmed herself down and composed her voice before she told Cait she wanted a few minutes before the next fight. Not mentioning or wanting to talk about how she had just behaved.
Cait smiled and didn’t comment on the fight. “Of course,” she only said.
Elayna was more accurate and intense than before in the next fight. She'd turned the frustration from the previous fights into something more useful. Into a focused ferocious intensity from her feelings that kept her footwork much faster and at least almost, as clean as before. Her defense was tight and with fewer gaps, her strikes were considerably more powerful while also more accurate.
She pressed on Cait consistently, made her defend more. Elayna read one of Cait’s combinations coming from the longer sword and parried it basically perfectly while dodging the shorter sword at the same time. She followed up with a counterattack, a really good and strong strike aimed deliberately for Cait’s long sword, which was the heavier sword and therefore her arm was then slower.
That created an opening.
Cait's guard shifted just slightly as she was slightly caught off guard by the intensity of Elayna’s strike and Elayna moved in immediately, she took a decisive and quick step forward driving her sword up in a clean thrust aimed directly at Cait's throat—
Cait had already dropped her shorter sword as her hand came up and grabbed Elayna’s wrist, stopping the thrust completely. Cait’s forehead quickly came down for Elayna’s head.
Elayna realized she’d not been quick enough for Cait and closed her eyes to brace for the incoming headbutt.
... Nothing happened.
She opened her eyes.
Cait's forehead was an inch from her own, Elayna saw Cait smile, and then felt a quick and soft peck to her lips before Cait stepped back.
"That was a very good attack," Cait sounded impressed and happy. “But when I grabbed your wrist you should’ve kicked me or quickly tried to get out of the hold.”
Elayna just stood there. Not understanding why her lips had been kissed and her head not headbutted.
She looked at Cait.
Then she looked at where Cait's long sword was, held loosely in her right hand.
Cait really wasn’t treating this like a real fight at all.
"You're not—" Elayna started.
"Your parry into stepping closer to my right side where my heavier sword had just been deflected while thrusting for my throat was smart," Cait said, tilting her head. "Only as I said, I could still easily grab your wrist and—"
"CAIT!"
Cait stopped and looked down at Elayna.
Elayna was looking at her with an expression that had gone past frustration into something more distinct than that. Her face was very pink but very intense and serious.
"Fight me properly, actually fight me. Hit me, kick me. Cut me to my bones if you have to. Stop — stop kissing me and stop smacking my b-butt with your sword and stop complimenting me or teasing me mid-fight and just—" She took a deep breath. "...Fight me like you mean it... Fight me like I’m someone you could actually take seriously. Please." She finished in a small voice.
A short silence.
Cait looked at her.
Something in her expression clearly changed. The warmth was still there but the amusement quickly disappeared. What replaced it was a bit subtle, something more earnest. Something more real.
"... Sorry sweetie.” She gave Elayna an apologetic smile. ”Maybe I just didn’t want the fights to be over so quickly.”
Cait glanced to the sky above them for a moment. “... I wanted to have fun and spar for long and for many times.” She looked back down at Elayna with a reassuring smile. “But I understand you want meaningful, serious fights where I could hurt you. Rather than casual ones where I point out small mistakes. That one's on me sweetie.”
She paused briefly, and then said:
“I’ll make it up to you. Promise.” Cait put on her usual wide smile. Then she said, in a cheerful voice, “I’ll beat you up as much as you want.” Her pink tail started swaying wide and animatedly behind her.
Elayna looked up and met Cait’s spirited, eyes and felt this was quickly taking a weird turn, but decided not to think too deeply about it and nodded to Cait. She took a few steps back before telling Cait to get ready and to fight again. For real this time.
Cait nodded cheerfully and took a few steps back, and when they reached a certain distance Cait stopped and looked Elayna in the eyes.
“You ready baby?”
Elayna planted her feet firmly and took her stance. Then nodded to Cait.
Cait nodded, smiling, and then went low into a crouch, coiling her lower body like a spring and slid a foot back against the stone with her heel off the ground, scraping away a few pebbles. She was preparing just like she had when she’d used her enhancement magic for the first time in the fight against Thra’kara.
Then Cait dashed forward.
Elayna saw and felt the difference immediately.
The speed in the dash, in her approach, was not Cait going in to see how Elayna would react, but to force her to react. Elayna was completely caught off guard even though she had prepared for Cait coming in much faster this time.
Elayna's first two parries were sloppy. The pressure was something else entirely. Almost scarily different. Cait swung her blades fast and hard and absolutely ruthlessly. She didn't dance around lightly on her feet like before, her feet were scraping and thudding hard against the stone underneath as she pushed around Elayna. Cait wasn't holding back, and if she was, it was not by much.
Elayna focused hard on her footwork and had to block and parry with all the focus she could muster and every bit of strength she had. She lasted about four quick exchanges before Cait's combinations became too much to fully defend against.
Cait cut Elayna’s right wrist, and as Elayna’s grip on her handle weakened Cait threw a heavy slash Elayna knew she wouldn’t be able to handle. Elayna took a quick step back but Cait had anticipated this somehow and as her slash had been swung halfway in its motion, right as her shoulder was aimed at Elayna, she cancelled the momentum of the slash and threw herself into a side-tackle, catching Elayna right in the middle of her chest.
Elayna’s air was forced out of her lungs and was roughly pushed to the ground, she had no time to relax as Cait threw down a slash at her legs which she rolled and scrambled away from, she quickly got on her feet and barely managed to redirect the next strike that came at her.
She quickly got herself and her feet back in the fight. But she could tell that she’d lose in the next couple of seconds. She swung desperately at Cait’s stomach, Cait took a quick step back and drew in her stomach and her head and feet naturally leaned a bit forward as she did so. Elayna’s sword barely grazed Cait’s uniform but Elayna had predicted that Cait would dodge in some way like this so she already had her left hand in a fist coming for Cait's face. Elayna still fully expected Cait to be able to react with her shorter sword. Elayna was fully prepared and ready to get cut deeply or even seriously wounded. But Elayna had decided to throw everything she had in the punch, betting everything on landing one, clean hit on Cait.
...But, before Elayna’s fist could connect with Cait’s face, Cait had already dropped both swords, Cait's right hand grabbed Elayna's left wrist and her left hand found Elayna’s right shoulder, and in the next moment Elayna felt her whole body twist and get thrown around.
Completely disoriented for the next second, Elayna's world became a blur and she had just enough time to register that she was getting thrown on the ground.
She landed on the stone.
But not hard. She realized. Cait had controlled the throw and held back at the last second before impact. And the stopping movement slightly bounced Elayna’s head. The landing was gentle, Elayna felt cold smooth stone under her back before the rest of her was laid gently against it. Cait was above her, straddling her, pink hair falling forward around Elayna’s face.
Elayna, now enveloped in this warm hot-pink world, realized Cait had held back again.
She opened her mouth.
She was fairly certain whatever was about to come out of her mouth was going to be very loud.
Cait leaned down and kissed her before the words could come out.
Elayna wanted to scream. To tell Cait how angry and frustrated she was that she'd still held back in the end and how she should’ve ended the fight by throwing Elayna hard on the ground.
Only instead of screaming against her mouth, Elayna kissed her back. Hard. All of the internal, boiled-up feelings from the fights and the throw came out at once. She pushed her head and mouth up hard against Cait, kissed her with the gathered frustration she'd been trying to use in fighting her, now instead using it to kiss her. Cait matched Elayna and kissed back just as hard, and for a moment it was just that. Intense, angry, fierce kissing. Elayna's frustration melted away and she lost herself in it completely.
Then Cait did something she'd never done to Elayna before.
Cait's lips parted from Elayna's upper lip.
And her tongue lapped lightly against it.
Elayna gasped and drew in a short breath.
Cait silenced the gasp by kissing her again. Elayna's lips parted in another gasp as Cait darted out her tongue to brush her lower lip this time. Cait then used the moment when Elayna’s lips parted, pushing further and slipping her tongue into Elayna’s mouth, slowly hooking it behind her upper teeth. Curling it back and carefully dragging her tongue along Elayna's upper teeth.
Elayna's eyes went wide as the tingling feeling from her teeth quickly ran down her entire spine.
She froze.
Cait slowly opened her eyes. Found Elayna's wide, golden ones staring up at her. Cait's eyes were slightly narrowed, her pupils wide and dark against the bright emerald green. Carrying a look that was dark and pleased and almost hungry.
She leaned back an inch and whispered hotly against Elayna's mouth, barely audible:
"Remember baby. You can always say stop."
Then she came back down, testing the waters by lapping her tongue against Elayna’s upper lip. Elayna’s hands found Cait’s forearms next to her shoulders and she squeezed down on them. Cait took this as approval and smiled as she closed the distance and connected their lips together.
Elayna's eyes slowly closed as she nervously leaned up to meet her, shyly parting her lips again. She knew what this implied. And she nervously accepted it.
Cait kissed her deeply, pushing past Elayna’s lips and brushing the tip of her tongue against Elayna’s.
Elayna's eyes opened wide for one second. She'd expected Cait's tongue on her lips. Maybe her teeth again. Not this. Cait's eyes opened just slightly, her pleased eyes meeting Elayna's, before she pushed their lips tighter together and slowly ran the tip of her tongue side to side against Elayna's. The feeling was strange and new but unmistakably pleasant, it caused Elayna to let out an involuntary, small happy noise as her eyes slowly drifted closed.
Elayna’s surprise of the tongue quickly passed. And something else — something overwhelming and frankly incredibly pleasurable took its place. Her arms instinctively wrapped around Cait's neck. Elayna didn’t notice she was putting them there.
She timidly tried to move her own tongue but had no real idea of what to do. And found it didn't even quite do what she intended. Every time she tried something Cait was already moving on with something else. Every time she tried to push up, Cait overwhelmed her and pushed down. It somehow felt exactly like fighting her. Elayna was reacting and on the defensive while Cait was leading and on the offensive.
Cait kissed her deeply, her tongue brushing and curling against Elayna's in slow deliberate strokes. Elayna felt the molten warmth of it spread from her whole mouth to her whole body. Her lower belly was heating up almost uncomfortably. Her arms tightened around Cait's neck and sounds kept escaping her that she had no control over. Mewls, whimpers, exhales that were all soft and involuntary, all which were swallowed immediately by Cait's mouth.
The stone under her back was cold. Her girlfriend close and tight above her was warm. Elayna pulled herself up against that warmth without thinking about it. Her arms wrapped firmly around Cait's neck, pulling her down and herself up until their chests met. The soft contact was immediate and amazing, and in any other moment would most definitely have stopped Elayna completely. In this moment she only distantly registered the pleasure of it before Cait's tongue swept against hers again and she quickly forgot about everything else.
Elayna kept up her weak resistance for as long as she could. Every time she tried to push back, Cait's tongue overwhelmed hers. Even this, Elayna realized. Even this part of her, even Cait's tongue was much stronger than her own.
She knew she had no chance of fighting against it. She tried anyway.
Elayna pushed as hard as she could once in stubborn defiance and Cait answered it immediately. She pulled back and bit Elayna’s lower lip. Not gently this time, firmly enough that it almost hurt. Almost. Then she lapped her tongue against it before diving back in and proceeded to completely dominate Elayna’s mouth for several seconds.
The sound that came out of Elayna at that was not a mewl or an exhale. It was a moan... A full and honest moan, involuntary and completely unrestrained. It surprised her more than Cait.
Cait chuckled low and dark against Elayna’s mouth, and then leaned back down and kissed her again.
After that Elayna stopped trying entirely. She got swept up completely. Gave up completely. Surrendered to Cait and chose to just embrace the pleasure.
Elayna was still lying on her back, softly moaning, heavily exhaling through her nose as Cait’s tongue darted in to tease hers before receding. The tongue brushed her upper lip before Cait caught the lower one in a very gentle tug between her teeth, she pulled it back very slowly and let it snap against Elayna’s mouth. Prompting another final moan from Elayna.
And after an extremely long while of kissing, Cait finally leaned back.
The courtyard was quiet. The evening light through the ceiling was bouncing off the boulders and shining through the gaps between Cait’s pink hair around them. Somewhere further in the building the sounds of training continued, distantly. But the only sounds Elayna could hear were her own heavy breathing and pounding heart.
She looked up at Cait. Her own face was burning. Her arms were still hanging loosely around Cait's neck. Her legs, which had for some reason been pressing tightly together, relaxed and unwound.
She was certain her expression was neither dignified nor modest.
Cait looked down at her with a warm pleased smile. Eyes full of satisfied mirth.
"Mm." A short pause. "You've improved a lot, Elayna. One might even say, you’re a natural."
Elayna’s glassy eyes blinked heavily once. Twice. She came slightly back to herself.
"...At... wh-what... Kissing or fighting?" she asked unsurely, her voice dazed and distant.
Cait smiled. Her expression was warm and already completely certain of the answer. She raised her hand to guide a loose strand of lavender from Elayna’s dreamy, drunken face.
"Both," she said, her tone carrying a heavy, satisfied certainty.
Elayna looked up at her.
And smiled. A small wavering smile, unsteady and trembling at the edges. The smile of someone who was happy about something and couldn’t quite manage to hide how happy.
Cait cupped Elayna’s cheek with a warm hand and gently caressed it. "Are you happy your kissing has improved?" Cait asked with a chuckle. Her emerald eyes were looking down at her amused, "or your fighting? Or maybe both?"
Elayna shyly cast her gaze to the side. Leaned her face into Cait’s palm.
She pressed her bruised lips very firmly together until they were whitening.
Then another, slightly more shaky and wavering smile came back and betrayed her as she slowly looked back up at Cait.
She didn't have to answer.