My Sister's Things

The blade glinted in the dying light of day as it descended, the weapon's arc perfectly aligned with the center of Biara's body. Her bluish-purple eyes watched it as it came down, her body tense as she timed her reaction to the fraction of a second. The metal swept towards her, only to find that she was no longer where she'd been; a backwards handspring having moved her clear of the weapon's path.

The blade thudded into the ground near where she'd been standing as she landed and pivoted on the heel of one shoe. Bringing her own swords up and out, she whirled around, her red hair a blur around her as her weapons cut through the humid air of Cutthroat Harbor. The blades clanged loudly as they connected with the huge sword, which had been drawn from the ground and into a defensive block at the last possible moment.

Biara grinned, staring down the length of the crossed blades at her sparing opponent, her heart racing. Opposite her, holding the large sword, Andissiel returned the grin, grunting once as he pushed against the locked weapons and forced Biara's shoes to slide backwards in the dirt of their dueling area. With a sharp intake of breath he brought the weapon up with dazzling speed and lurched forward, the six foot long blade diving down towards the smaller Castanic woman.

Again Biara used her agility to leap out of the way, and the blade narrowly missed her body. She did a cartwheel past Andissiel, her own blades whirling through the air to strike at one of his red-hued arms. He was no novice though, and before her weapons descended he'd already withdrawn his blade and used the guard on the hilt to catch the edge of both swords. A half-formed cry of victory died on Biara's lips as she realized what he'd done, and then her eyes widened in surprise as the larger Castanic male began to twirl the point of his sword in a semi-circle rapidly, forcing her blades to spin with it. The motion made her grip on the blades weak, and she was forced to withdraw them and reposition herself or risk losing them. She took a step back, bringing them up to guard herself even as her opponent used the moment to his advantage.

The huge sword was already coming down, impossible for her to avoid now. She crossed her swords, hoping to deaden the blow and braced as his weapon slammed into them. He was far more powerful than she was physically, and his weapon was many times the size of her two swords. As it connected with her weapons, it knocked one entirely out of her hand from the force of the impact, and drove the flat of the second one into her face. Her last sight was of metal rushing up to meet her mouth and then everything went black for a moment.

A moment later Biara's eyes opened, taking in the sky above her as the sun began to set. She blinked rapidly, trying to make sense of where she was and rolling her head to one side. She watched as Andissiel walked towards her, pausing to plunge the tip of his weapon in the soil. One of her hands came up and slowly wiped a bit of blood from the split lip the impact had given her.

"Taking a bit of a nap Biara?" He asked with a sly smirk on his face before bending to retrieve the upper portion of his body armor that he had discarded before their practice bout.

For her part, Biara simply laid on the sandy beach of the harbor, watching his red skin glisten with sweat as he moved to pick up his gear. Her eyes devoured every curve of that delicious Castanic body, and she felt her heart racing again, only for a different reason this time. It was not difficult to go from battlelust to a much more ordinary form of lust after all. She bit her lip, remaining silent for a moment as he slipped on a sleeveless shirt before reaching for the rest of his armor.

Gods, is he flexing on purpose or something? No! No he's not! Mmmmm.

She quickly looked away as he turned to face her again, the smirk on his face making it clear that he had either seen her or anticipated what she was thinking. His voice drifted over to her again as he continued to put his armor on, "Going to lay there all day or...? I've got things to do. Also, you need to put a bit more practice into your bladework, your sister hits quite a bit harder than you."

Biara's naturally pink skin turned a slightly pinker color which might be mistaken for a flush of exertion or some other emotion. She remained silent for a moment, her eyes locked with his and transmitting a challenge to him from where she was laying in the sand, after a second of eye contact she grinned and slowly sat up, sanding that had been disturbed by her horns cascading back down to the ground.

"I'm working on it Andi," she said, almost purring. "I'm glad you stopped by on your way back to Velika to train with me for a bit. You should do this more often."

The other Castanic gave a noncommittal grunt, turning and walking back towards his blade and stopping to pull it from the ground. Biara's eyes tracked his every movement when he wasn't watching, and a sly smile played across her lips. She slowly rose, leaving her own blades where they had fallen in the sand for a moment as she approached him from behind, her shoes making no sound in the soft sand. She rested a hand on one of his shoulders, letting her fingertips glide across the muscles of his upper arm as she spoke into his ear.

"Are you sure you have to go so soon?" she purred. "We could train a bit more. I'm still good for a few more rounds. Or we could go get a drink..."

Andissiel turned and grinned at her and shook his horned head, "I'm already late to pick up my next bit of work. I don't have time right now. Besides...your sister will probably be there waiting for me." His grin transmitted the fact that he rather enjoyed the rivalry between the two.

A pout spread across Biara's face for a minute before she was able to wipe it completely off. She let her hand trail off his arm, taking a step back and sighing, "Very well. I'm sure Kyliska will keep you in fighting shape while you're there. But don't be a stranger alright? I'm working on the Lok issue from this angle, but that doesn't mean I want to be alone all the time..."

The Castanic grinned, reaching over to ruffle Biara's hair, his hand slipping between her horns. His expression and movements made it clear that he knew very much what her words actually meant, and that he was enjoying every moment of it. With another grin he nodded his own horned head at her before hefting his blade on his shoulder.

"I'll keep that in mind," he replied, his voice carefully neutral. With that he shot her a mock salute with his free hand and set off towards the flight master.

Biara's eyes stayed locked on him until he was out of sight, her voice a whisper long after he was out of earshot, "See that you do Andissiel."

She turned to retrieve her own weapons, a smile playing over her face. Kyliska and Andissiel were a lovely couple, a very lovely couple indeed; and Kyliska was her sister, her own flesh and blood.

But sisters did share everything, didn't they? She grinned to herself and nodded. Of course they did.