River Raftin'

[Breaker]

Closed to the sexy ninja. Any bunnying approved. This thread comes with a warning of mature content.

"Isn't my arena ready yet?"
"In a moment, sir. Please be patient."

Breaker bit back a sharp retort and resigned himself to standing stoically in the Citadel's entry hall. The curling craftsmanship and masterpiece tapestries mocked him with their grandeur, stoking the soldier's anger. Again he had to restrain himself from nagging the overworked monk who sat cross legged nearby, eyes closed in concentration. "Working some magic, I suppose." Josh felt tempted to kick the abbey dweller, but wisely abstained. "Probably not a good idea to piss of an Ai'Bron monk." His rage needed an outlet though. He had come to the Citadel for that very reason. The recent events at Scara Brae's Dajas Pagoda had left his mind frothing.

For the third time in the past minute Breaker glanced at the monk. No change. He ran a hand over the sandpaper stubble on his chin. Nothing to do but stew. After months of rigorous work and the hardest fought battle of his life, he had finally made it as a Master at the Pagoda. But true to the irony of life, the coveted title had been taken from him soon after. He couldn't blame the Pagoda Council. After all, he had vanished from the face of Althanas for over a month. By the same stigma he couldn't blame himself, for he had spent that month a captive, subject to endless physical and chemical torture. With no tangible target to channel his wrath towards he turned to the Citadel. A random battle, a random opponent, and hopefully he would emerge at peace with himself and the Pagoda.

"Worst case scenario, I'll get the shit kicked out of me. At the moment, I don't think I'd object to that."

"Ahem."

Josh spun around. His surprise gave testament to how lost he had been. The monk stood now, eyebrows raised in impatience. A portal shimmered in the air next to him. Breaker needed no second bidding. Disregarding all caution he leapt headfirst into sparkling whiteness.

~~~

"Oh my... Radical."

He landed on a large ice floe, one of hundred that floated rapidly down the river. They bobbed in the water, bouncing off one another, each as unique as a snowflake. The air crackled as a smaller floe struck the one he stood on and split in two. The banks of the river rose in sheer cliffs of cool blue ice, each a hundred feet high. He had to squint against the sun's strong rays, reflected off every available surface. The air was warm but goosebumps rose on his skin. The might of the river overwhelmed him. So wide, he could not have swum across if it stood still. But it did not stand still. It moved like a liquid slick snake. The raw power washed away his anger and shame, leaving nothing but the bliss of battle to come. He breathed in, then out. Cherished the fresh air deep in his lungs. Again his ice floe struck another, forcing him to leap to a new one. The leap carried him through a wall of water, a frigid fountain forced up by the collision. Upon landing he instinctively changed the friction in his magical boots, allowing him sure footing on the slippery surface.

The river turned a corner and his makeshift raft skimmed the bank. Reaching out one powerful hand he dragged his fingers like a snowboarder carving powder, allowing a ball of ice crystals to form in his fist. As he slingshoted around the bend a cry of pure exhilaration ripped from his throat. For the first time in weeks he felt glad to be alive. And with the giddiness came a grim resolve to stay living. He would win the battle, to prove to himself he was still a Master, no matter what any council said. The pace of the river increased, and with it his heart raced.

"Breaker Cronen on a broken piece of ice. I'm unstoppable."

[Kyo]

She needed to kill something.

No ifs ands or buts about the whole situation. She needed to wrap her fingers around someone’s throat and squeeze until they couldn’t draw in any more air and their eyes rolled back in their heads. And their hearts stopped beating and their bodies fell limp in her grip. God, she just wanted to beat the crap out of the first person that looked at her the wrong way! Sadly for her, behaviour like that was frowned upon in normal social settings, especially the streets of Radasanth. Doing so there were merely get her arrested and thrown in jail, and then she’d have to go through the trouble of breaking out... it was a pain she was clearly not interested in at the moment. Lucky for her, the people of Corone had a wonderful thing known as The Citadel, where fighters could go beat the shit out of each other, feel the pains of death and then wake up as healthy as the day they were born. Sometimes even more so.

It was a perfectly created building beautifully sculpted of stone and mortar thrown into the centre of a bustling city filled with wannabe warriors and scared, noble boys that had stole the swords their fathers wore for decoration. Oh, it was just the perfect place for her to let off some of this pent up anger that was boiling through her veins and eating away at her like a deadly poison. Sex would probably work just as well; sadly Jared was currently busy and unavailable to her. So, the next best thing would have to suffice. Instead of being able to kill her opponent in the Conquest Trials, she was going to rip apart whichever one the monks of The Citadel thought was good enough for her.

That man will pay...One day she was going to tear him a new hole to breathe out of as she watched the life bleed from his brown eyes.

In the mean time though, this random battle would suffice.

The main lobby of The Citadel was massive. The stones walls were stretching impossibly high above her head, meeting the arching dome of the ceiling and creating an amazing and grand effect on the entire place. Voices and footsteps echoed and bounced up there, finding their way back to her ears in a muffled mix of jargon and sounds she couldn’t possibly hope to decipher. Feet ahead of her, in the centre of it all, was an extremely large wooden desk with a middle-aged and bald monk sitting behind it. His body was covered in the usual robes that flowed around him, covering just enough so no one could truly see his size, but revealing enough so anyone with a mind would realize these monks were not here for fun.

Walking up to large desk, Kyo glanced up at the roster of names and the battles that were taking place. There were a few open ones that hadn’t been claimed yet, but it was so hard to tell if her opponent was going to be worth her time just from a name. Especially when they called themselves Joshua ‘Breaker’ Cronen. Honestly, what was wrong with the warriors these days?

Yeah, I’ll break you, yosomono.

“I’ll take Cronen.” Kyosku said to the man behind the desk.

The monk looked up at her and nodded his head, changing the status of the battle from OPEN to CLOSED and then escorting her towards one of those plain wooden doors. They always looked the same no matter what kind of battle one was stepping into. It was the same dark wood, worn and beaten; scratch and dented from years of use and misuse. Inclining her head in thanks, Kyo opened the door and stepped inside. Immediately her senses were overcome and muffled and distorted into a blackness that twisted her body everywhere and nowhere and then deposited her in bright sunlight that nearly blinded her.

Her boots hit the surface of something that felt slippery and immediately she dropped into a crouching position out of sheer habit, more than needing it. Her hands touched ice, cold and wet and slippery along the surface of her tanned skin. As her eyes adjusted to the bright light of the sun, she found herself standing on chunk of ice the same colour as her eyes and quickly flowing down a fast moving stream. She didn’t need to see the thrashing and boiling water to the side of her in order to know that, she could feel it as her ice flow rubbed up against another in a gentle and loving caress. Only she bet when they slammed up against each other it wasn’t going to be so very loving then.

This was certainly one interesting battleground she found herself in.

Slowly rising to her feet, the ninja looked across the river to one ice float in particular. There she found Joshua ‘Breaker’ Cronen calmly waiting for his opponent to arrive. Taking the time to glance him over, the ninja began to move to the edge of her ice flow, more than glad she had worn her boots instead of her tabi. At the edge of it she leapt to the next closest chunk of ice, the distance between the two of them being no more than six feet. Her boots slid upon the landing, but she anticipated that and she was able to easily keep her balance.

He’s carrying two weapons on his back, she could just barely make them out the closer she got to him, mostly because he wasn’t completely facing her but on an angle. a dagger and...Nunchaku? No way.

But it definitely was a pair of Nunchaku, folded it up and neatly placed upon that belt of his. Hard to imagine someone clearly not of Akashima descent using weapons such as those. Then again, half of Althanas had an odd fascination with the Katana, so she shouldn’t be too surprised. Still, Nunchaku was a ninja’s weapon and that man was no ninja, at least not one from her clan or any clan she knew of.

Stopping her advance towards Joshua, Kyo bowed respectfully to the man. “My name is Tetsoma Kyosku, I hope you may provide me with an interesting challenge today, Cronen.” Then she quickly straightened her body and shifted her stance, entering into a relaxed but defensive posture.

[Breaker]

"Thank you, Ai'Bron."

The monks had certainly delivered. First the exhilarating arena, and now this. Josh found his desire drifting away from battle and towards more fleshly temptations as he examined his opponent. Hair as dark as night fanned behind her as she leapt from floe to floe. When she landed her slim legs flexed, showing the power in her petite muscles. Her eyes shone the same color as the blue ice walls as the chasm. A customized gi hugged her form, wrapped snugly to conceal her upper body and tied off at the waist. The squared hilts of two ninjato peeked over one shoulder, telling Breaker that this beauty meant business.

"Just because you're quick to jump in the sack, doesn't mean she will," he reminded himself, "This girl came here to fight. She just said so. So screw your head on straight and show her how it's done."

The mental pep talk did little to change his intentions. Since puberty he had been on a constant quest to impress any pretty girls he came across. And Tetsoma was as breathtaking in her own way as the river they raced down. Josh watched her closely. His keen eyes noted her line of vision. Most women stared at the muscles his loose clothing failed to obscure, or the Y-shaped scar on his cheek. But Kyosku differed from the norm here. Either she was checking out his ass, or the weapons on the back of his belt had caught her fancy.

"I wonder what she's so fascinated by? Not the bayonet, knives are pretty commonplace. Must be the chuck then. Weird. I never figured that thing to be a chick magnet."

With the small ball of ice crystals still concealed in his right palm, he reached back with his free hand and plucked the nunchaku from its pouch. Since she already knew his name, he figured introducing himself would be pointless. Instead he began twirling the nun-chuck at his side.

"You like my chuck, Kyosku? Ever seen one before?"

At that moment the ice floe he stood on struck the chasm wall, nearly knocking him off. On instinct he altered the friction in his boots. The static friction kept him in one place, but his head bobbed sharply. Not wanting to seem ungainly he turned the action into a nod, indicating the ninja's defensive stance and teasing her with a cheeky grin.

"Female fighters eh? Always force guys to make the first move. Don't worry, it'll be interesting all right."

Without slowing the spin of the nunchaku he shot his right arm out, pitching the snowball at her head with major league velocity. He didn't really want to hurt Tetsoma. Unless she was in to that. But the snowball would test her footwork, and get things moving. Breaker began to meditate, his senses sharpening and speed increasing. He could see tiny imperfection in the ice, smell the freshness of the water. With an effort he pushed the sensory overload away. He felt he would need all his focus to stay out of the water, let alone stop Tetsoma from sticking a sword in him.

[Kyo]

He certainly used them like a ninja. His wrist motion fluid and flawless as he spun the two part weapon around, creating the illusion of a semi-transparent circle around his hand. She had been about to retort when he commented on whether or not she’d ever seen nunchaku when the ice float he stood on slammed against the wall of the river. The sound of grinding and cracking ice filled her ears as she watched his position shift and yet stay rather firm upon the surface. Either he was really good at keeping his balance, or he was wearing some really good boots because even a hit like that would have sent her stumbling a bit. She didn’t like admitting it, but she wasn’t going to lie and say her balance was flawless, it was far from that. Most definitely far above that of an average human and it gave her the ability to stand there so relaxed while the ice beneath her feet practically vibrated from the pounding river. But it was still not perfect.

Cronen’s only response to the sudden shift of his stable ground was a nod of his head and a cheeky smile. She wasn’t entirely sure what to make of the smile other than the fact that she actually liked it. He wasn’t a very bad looking man; she had noticed the hard packed muscles hiding underneath the layers of his clothes. Muscle honed and made from probably years of fighting and training.

His voiced came across the roar of the crashing water as she finished sweeping her eyes across his body. Giving her just enough time to notice the shift in his arm as the muscles tightened and he tossed his arm back and then forward, releasing something at her. She tensed, seeing the ball of white heading towards her. Her mind immediately thought it was some kind of weapon, having not seen him pick up the snow from the ice. Instead of taking the time to block it or even the chance of deflecting the attack, Kyo dropped down into a crouch on the surface of the ice. The ball of hard packed snow whizzed above her where her body used to be and then continued on harmlessly. Cold seeped into the skin of her hand as her fingers rested against the ice flow briefly before she was already on the move.

Tensing her crouched legs, the ninja pushed off from her position. Even as the treads of her boots slipped upon the ice she kept herself steady and leapt towards the position of Josh Cronen. He was roughly ten feet from her, maybe a little more and the jump from her ice flow to his left her with less than half of that distance remaining. As her feet landed upon the slightly bumpy ice, Kyosku used the slippery surface to her advantage. Instead of fighting the slide, she went with it and pushed herself closer her to Josh as her hands quickly moved behind her back. She wrapped her fingers around the hilts of ninja-to and pulled them from their sheaths.

The sound of ringing metal was drowned out by the crashing water as Kyosku brought the blackened blades out in front of her and towards the body of Cronen. One attack, aimed right for his chest as the other blade was kept close to her body in a defensive posture, just in case he got off a quick counter. If it managed to actually connect then it would bring a smirk to her lips, but she didn’t expect it would.

“And here I thought guys liked making the first move.”

Kyo was not normally one to talk once battle commenced. She considered words an obstacle and a distraction, but she couldn’t help yet respond to his little jab and fill the air with her slightly accented voice.

[Breaker]

She moved like the river itself, graceful and flowing with an underlying powerful vitality. Josh should have been watching her blades but found his eyes drawn to her shapely legs, her generous cleavage and her glassy eyes. His taunt evoked the desired reaction. He could see pride in those eyes, and something even more raw.

"She wants me."

Perhaps, but she wanted to kill him even more. She leapt high, hair billowing in the breeze. Sailed through the air like a sleek, sexy ice floe, deadly blades leaving their scabbards simultaneously. He heard the ring of sliding metal even over the rushing water and grinding ice. Danger gleamed in the ninja's eyes but the sun failed to reflect off her darkened blades. Breaker had made her come to him for a reason. As slick as she was, it took a fraction of a second for her to travel from one chunk of ice to the next. A fraction of a second was all the time the soldier needed.

He kept his left foot rooted to the slippery surface and pivoted smoothly. Shifted his body mass so that the point of the sword penetrated nothing but air. The change in position caused the wind to catch him at a new angle and he nearly slipped off, but again the magic of his boots kept him upright and in position. Tetsoma's thrust had left her exposed, and he took full advantage of the situation.

Breaker attacked what he saw as the ninja's most dangerous component; her weapons. Due to the altered color of the ninjato he couldn't be sure if his steely muscles would keep them from reaching his vital organs. His right hand grabbed for her extended wrist at the same time as his left deserted its spinning and knapped the chuck on his right shoulder. If he controlled her wrist, his superior strength could keep the deadly blade at bay. The nunchaku bounced off his back and transitioned into a backhand blow. The whippy weapon snapped out like a striking snake, aiming a stinging blow at the knuckles of Kyosku's defending hand.

His coarsely stubbled face only inches away from her wild raven hair, he couldn't resist the temptation to tease her once more. He spoke almost directly into her ear, making his voice dangerously low, barely audible over the fierce elements.

"My favourite first move is making the warrior woman come for me."

His brisk breathing caught the scent of her hair before the wind could carry it away. She smelled like a dash of summer against the wintery backdrop. Fresh and sweet, the scent renewed his thirst for victory.

"And to the victor go the spoils."

[Kyo]

She watched as her blade rent the air instead of his flesh. He merely turned his body to the side to avoid the easy strike she had tried against him. Perhaps she should have gone for a two or three combo, rarely even the two combo attacks worked on opponents, but by the third she was usually misting the air with the sweet smell of blood. As she had predicted though, he had been able to easily move passed the sharpened edge of her blade and allow it to harmlessly pass before his body. Before she could retract her arm though, he lashed out and wrapped his much larger hand around her slight wrist. Her ice blue eyes narrowed upon his person as his strong grip held her wrist in place and kept her blade away from his body. As far as he knew anyway.

Kyo still had her other sword though.

Cronen was clearly attempting to remove any kind of advantage she had over him. He swung his arm back and she heard the thud of his chuck hitting his back and then bouncing forth in a controlled swing, one that was aimed directly at her left hand. She could have blocked it by moving her arm up just a little more and allowing the rubber encased steel to bounce on her leather armguard. But she saw opportunity here and took the chance on it actually working.

She let the blow connect. As the hard rubber slammed against her knuckles, Kyosku dropped her sword. Even if she hadn’t already planned on doing it she might not have been able to stop the motion. The force of the blow to her hand made her fingers reflexively lose their grip and twitch open before resuming a relaxed fist. Any other opponent she would fight against would not waste time on such a menial move though. Cronen was taunting her. He was playing a dangerous game by throwing gasoline on an already wild fire, one he thought he could control through flirtation. She didn’t know if it pissed her off or just plain turned her on. But she did know that two could play at this game and the last time she checked, Kyo was pretty damn good at it too. She just hoped he liked it a little rougher than more guys. After all, she had come here for a fight and she didn’t plan on going down without one, no matter how good looking her opponent was and how much he gave her small, pleasurable shivers with words whispered into her ear.

Reacting quickly, the ninja grabbed a hold of the chuck before it could bounce away from her and back into another of his controlled spins. Wrapping her hand in the links that connected the two pieces together, Kyo pulled with all the strength she had in her body. She wasn’t stupid, she knew that even with her lean muscle and years of training this man was probably far stronger than her, but she was hoping to catch him off guard. To throw off his balance and send him stumbling forward and towards her. After all, it wasn’t always the strongest that won a battle, but sometimes the fastest and the smartest. And Kyo usually prided herself on her quick reflexes and fast motions and damn she knew she could outsmart half the ninjas in her clan.

As she attempted to jerk him forward, she shifted her position and placed her body in closer to his while at the same time she slipped her right leg between his slightly parted ones. She placed her foot right behind his own and then leaned her head back and slammed it forward, attempting to crack the hardest part of her forehead against his nose because sadly he was just a little too tall for her to reach his skull. So she would settle for breaking his nose instead if she could. If he noticed her attack and pulled away from her, then his foot or leg was most likely catch on hers and send him stumbling to the slippery ice below. Once she got him on his back, it would be all over for him. If her attack connected and she was able to break his nose, it would give her the necessary time to finish him off. Broken noses usually lead to blurry vision as the eyes filled with tears. Not to mention he could just step away from her after her attack and end up flat on his ass anyway.

Maybe he should learn not to flirt with death.

[Breaker]

The disarming tactic worked perfectly, and Kyosku's sword clattered to the ice underfoot. Something had gone wrong though, and Josh realized it a moment too late. The ninja anticipated his move, dropped her weapon and caught the attacking end of his chuck. Far from frustrated, the soldier was impressed. Not since the duel with Madison Freebird had he met a woman so well versed in martial arts. He strongly preferred Tetsoma though. Where she was curvy and athletic, Madison looked like a scarecrow thrown together by a blind virgin.

The speed at which they raced down the river caused a stiff breeze to catch the ninja's hair, whipping it about like a tattered flag. The motion distracted him enough that he didn't notice Kyosku placing her right foot behind his. He did see her rear back like a viper though. The position made her graceful neck particularly attractive. The incline of her head was all he needed to guess what came next. Rather than sacrifice his position he lifted his chin, prepared to take the hit.

Her forehead connected squarely with the point of his chin. It rattled his cage, but nothing more. The petite ninja just didn't have the power to dim his lights. Besides, he hadn't climbed the Dajas Pagoda Hierarchy by being a one-hit knockout. Breaker wondered if she saw stars upon striking his iron jaw. If so, it would only facilitate his next move. He released his hold on the nunchaku to free his left hand and sent a mental message to his magical footwear.

This time he kept his right boot rooted to the ice and pivoted clockwise on it. The quick quarter turn put him behind Kyosku, and close enough to feel the heat radiating from her lithe body. "I knew you'd warm up to me," he thought cheekily. His right hand kept a vice grip on her sword wrist while his left arm looped around her neck from behind. He grabbed a handful of his own shirt near the collar, flexed his bicep, and arched his back. If he managed to sink his arm beneath her chin the bulging muscle would apply pressure to her throat and carotid artery. Josh grinned against the hair that flapped in his face. He had put many people to sleep using the very same technique.

Looking over Kyosku's shoulder, he saw another bend in the river approaching rapidly. Immediately both of his boots fastened themselves to the ice floe, a precaution in case they struck the wall. Breaker liked the dominant position, and intended to keep it. The sun smiled on him, turning his black clothing into a furnace despite the chilling wind. Perhaps he just liked getting the chance to press himself against the ninja's snug form. Whatever the reason, he felt happy to be there and took in a lungful of fresh air, once more absorbing the woman's sweet scent.

[Kyo]

She never hit his nose. He shifted his head up and allowed her skull to slam into his jaw, which felt as if it were made of steel. Pain swelled and cascaded around the crown of her head, increasing with every beat of her heart until it felt like a pounding headache. She swore that for a moment she saw nothing but darkness, but she wasn’t sure if she had merely closed her eyes for a second or if the blow had knocked her brain around. It had been a stupid move for her to try and she was beginning to see that now. He was a trained warrior, not some mark that she was commissioned to kill. Simple tactics like that weren’t going to work on him. Too late to regret it now, she could only work with what she was given and react as best she could. Sadly, the blow she caused to her own head stunned her just enough to give Cronen the upper hand and allow him to pull off his next move nearly flawlessly. Nearly, but Kyo had done her fair share of training and been in her fair share of fights. Muddled head or not, she was not about to let his next move be executed completely.

As he spun and shifted his body around so that it was behind her, the ninja felt the red flags within her mind rearing their ugly head and spurring her into action. Her daze lingered though and as she tried to shake herself out of it and command herself to move, his muscular arm wrapped around her from behind. Like a snaked it slithered across her neck and to her other shoulder, attempting to put her in a very familiar choke hold. The last time she had been in such a hold it had been in the inexperienced arms of Jared and he had nearly killed her by pushing against her throat instead of the artery that would actually cause her to pass out. He had gotten the drop on her then, but she wasn’t about to allow Cronen the same advantage, even if he happened to know what he was doing.

Instinctively she jammed her chin down right as he flexed his arm. Muscles bulged and pressed against the bone, bruising it as it pushed fleshed against her chin and jaw. But this was leaving her in a very awkward position. She was basically fighting against his superior strength while he tried to throw her into a world of darkness. If the struggle continued, she would lose. So Kyosku did something she was neither very proud of, nor regretted. This was a battle after all, this wasn’t training, and the rules of her village did not apply here.

Jamming her chin down even further, the ninja pressed her mouth against Cronen’s arm and then bit down on the flesh as hard as she could. His grip didn’t loosen though. For a second or two maybe, but not enough to give her the edge she was hoping for. She just wanted him to let her go. Oh well, guess she was going to have to try something else.

Before she could attempt her next tactic, her world took a very drastic shift. The ice floe they were standing on slammed into the side of the river bank, jarring her even within the grip that Cronen had on her. His body moved very little, but she on the other hand was forced to release her bite on his arm as her centre of gravity was thrown wildly about. Her head slammed back and her skull connected with some point of his face again, where she wasn’t sure and didn’t really care. Her boots slipped on the slick ice causing her to slump in his grip as she let out a soft moan. He was the only thing keeping her from hitting the ground. She was too stunned to do anything as her vision really did go dark for a second or two until it came back to her in a blurry mix of blue, green and brown. One that eventually cleared and turned into the fast moving river bank before her and the splash and mist of the rushing water. It fell and covered her skin and clothes, beading along the surface of her gi while causing small shivers and goose bumps to break across her bare skin.

Hoping that her second and unplanned skull bashing stunned him almost as much as it did her, Kyo quickly began to try and get her grip once more along the ice. Her fingers were at the same time quickly on the move. Dropping the nunchaku in their grip, they instead moved to the pouch on the belt around her waist. Slipping inside and retrieving one of her shuriken, Kyosku carefully handled the weapon and then thrust it upward and towards Cronen’s arm.

Let’s see how you react with a hallucinogenic running through your system.

[Breaker]

Breaker sank the chokehold, the fabric of his shirt stretching as he used it to gain leverage. Even as he tried to compress her consciousness away, he couldn't help but admire Kyosku's technique. She did everything right; tucked her chin, hunched her shoulders up and pressed back into him rather than trying to fight away. It didn't make much difference. The soldier's thick, powerful arm constricted like a python, unrelenting and immovable. All of the ninja's efforts could only delay the inevitable outcome. He had finished many opponents using the rear naked choke, and been on the receiving end of it more than a few times in training. He knew what she was feeling. Simultaneous pressure and light-headedness with a bizarre absence of pain. When she bit him he chuckled into her hair and re-tightened his grip. Unless Kyosku was looking to break her teeth, she probably wouldn't try that again.

Josh braced himself as their ice raft butted against the impassive bank. His boots stuck to ice ice like glue, his rock solid base keeping them both in place. Despite this Kyosku seemed to lose her footing momentarily, her head smacking him in the chin once more. As the ninja regained her balance Josh wondered if the reverse head butt had been intentional. Probably not, as he assumed she learned a lesson about going head to head with him the first time. He could feel her heartbeat against his forearm as he pressed ever harder against her carotid artery. What started as a pounding pulse now barely trickled past the dam he imposed. The nunchaku clattered to the ice floe, dropped from lifeless fingers.

"It's about time. I was beginning to wonder how long it would take to--"

Breaker's train of thought derailed as blood spattered his face. He had barely felt the shuriken nick his arm, but it opened one of the veins that bulged bright blue against his forearm. Because he was flexing his arm to the maximum, the crimson liquid practically erupted from the miniscule cut. The same wind that caused Kyosku's long hair to fly wildly caught the spatter and propelled a few drops into his eyes. Temporarily blinded, the soldier consoled himself with the fact that his opponent had probably received a face full as well. Evidently the choke wasn't working as well as he thought. He could have finished her for certain with the two-handed variation of the same technique, but refused to release the arm that still clutched a ninjato. Breaker blinked rapidly, his vision slowly clearing up.

"Oh well, I could do this blindfolded any day."

He pivoted counter clockwise and rooted his left to the ice. The change in the angle of his head caused the wind to drive straight into his ear rather than whistling past, and the curious sensation made him laugh out loud. As he released the chokehold his right arm and leg worked in tandem to put Kyosku flat on her back. His leg aimed a sweep kick at the back of her knees while he manipulated her trapped arm up and over her shoulder, twisting it in a well practiced wrist throw. The technique could break the ninja's arm if she refused to fall. If he managed to get on top of her, Josh knew he could dominate the battle.

The salty blood in his eyes stung severely enough that he had actually executed the technique with both eyes scrunched shut. As he opened them the tinted white of the ice floe and the dark blue of the water below seemed to blend together, colors swirling and meshing in the bright sunlight. The wind felt cool and pleasant on his face, but it billowed through his short hair and it tickled! Nearby two ice floes cracked together, and the noise rang throughout his skull like the reverberations of a gong. Water fountained between the colliding chunks, drops leaping like a pack of crazy little insects. This observation caused an insane question to bloom in his mind.

"Are there any insects on ice floes?"

The drugged warrior looked down and much to his surprise saw some. Little red bugs, blurry against the bright ice, staying very still. He blinked. Not bugs. Blood. Droplets of blood, frozen to the ice now, that had fallen from his arm moments before. He clung to the linear line of thought like a spider to its web, trying to sort out the thoughts that seemed so elusive in his head.

"What the hell is happening to me?"

[Kyo]

Blood splattered her face. Warm and thick and deliciously sweet. Some of it managed to slither passed her lips and the metallic taste danced along her tongue, exciting her senses. Wonderful. She had finally drawn first blood from her opponent. It was just rather surprising how much it had bled considering it was merely a flesh wound. Then again she could have nicked a vein and with the way he was flexing, that would certainly have done the job. Some of the splattering mess had managed to get into her left eye though, filling it with the liquid and obscuring her vision. Squeezing her eye shut, she grimaced at the stinging sensation but quickly began to blink it away, allowing the tears to flow and wash away the offending liquid from within. They fell down her face, streaking through the drops of blood and clearing away the crimson liquid that much faster.

I wonder what the rest of him tastes like.

For a second or two they remained at a standstill as neither of them seemed to move, both too occupied with clearing out their vision. Then Kyo felt Cronen shift his weight and the warmth blanketing her back vanished. Cold wind lashed against the thick material of her clothing and caused a few small shivers to run rampant down her spine in a rather pleasurable manner. Sadly she was not given a very long amount of time to think about that though or miss the feeling of hard muscle pressing up behind her. Shame he hadn’t been more flirtatious with that last move, she may have been a little more willing. But it appeared that he was merely bidding his time and slowly trying to wear her down until he could get into the dominant position. Men always liked the dominant position. Shame that was what she preferred.

The strong hold around her neck finally released and Kyo almost felt dizzier at the sudden rush of blood pumping into her brain. It was intoxicating and certainly left her in a daze for a moment. By the Gods she hated that damn choke hold. It was something she herself even rarely practiced, but then again in her profession one was more likely to kill their targets than to knock them unconscious. She almost began wondering exactly what the man would do with her once he had her out. His intentions seemed to lean towards something far more pleasurable than battle, so what good was an unconscious partner.

As he came into her view, Kyosku felt herself tensed slightly, trying to figure out exactly what kind of attack he was attempting. Then her arm suddenly twisted up above her head and into a rather painful and uncomfortable position as his leg swept out at her legs.

Bachi!

He was trying to put her flat on her back and he was certainly making it hard for her not to acquiesce to his request. After all, if she happened to jump over his attack, then the pressure on her arm would break the bone. That being said, such a move was not impossible to get out of. It was just one she rarely if ever saw performed outside of her clan. Where had this man been trained? He was far better than some of the graduated ninjas that were currently doing missions, he may even be better than her. She found herself playing nothing but the defensive this entire battle. She could barely counter his attacks let along get him in any compromising positions.

Allowing his sweeping kick to connect with her legs, Kyosku was knocked from her standing position. She landed roughly on the ice floe, her bottom smacking against the cold, hard and wet surface, allowing the water to seep into her clothes. It was such an uncomfortable feeling as the back of her pants stuck to her thighs and her ass. Before he could concede to victory yet though, the ninja pushed herself into a backwards roll, twisting her own arm out of the position he had pulled it into and allowing her to slip out of his now slightly lax hold. Shifting around in her crouched position, the ninja narrowed her eyes upon the form of Cronen. He seemed slightly confused and Kyo knew that the hallucinogenic was beginning to take effect on him. Perfect.

Bracing herself on the cool ice with one of her hands, Kyosku lashed out at her opponent’s legs. Her foot arched through the air in a powerful leg swept and surprisingly enough it connected with its target. She half expected him to expertly avoid the manoeuvre but apparently the drug had dulled his mind just enough to give her a small edge. Her foot connected with muscles and flesh and took his legs right out from under him in a fashion similar to what he had done to her. Smirking as his landed on the ice with a thud, Kyo quickly moved, giving him no time to react. Tensing her legs, she practically pounced on the form of Cronen. One of her knees came down roughly on his side, pressing into his diaphragm as the other snaked around his hip and landed on the ice, attempting to hold him in place.

Leaning forward until her face was no more than an inch away from his, Kyosku licked some of the blood from his cheek before she whispered into his ear, “Yummy...” At the same time she brought forth her ninja-to and lined the sharpened tip up with the side of his rib cage. Then with a powerful thrust she attempted to bury the blade into him, hoping it would slip passed the ribs and enter one of his lungs.

[Breaker]

Sights and sounds seemed distorted to Josh's drugged senses. The wall of ice blurred past, looking almost incorporeal, like a wall of hazy smoke. Something hit the back of his knees suddenly he was falling backwards onto the broad ice floe.

Crack!

The back of Breaker's head connected with the ice. The jarring sensation combined with the declining effects of the hallucinogen helped his head to clear. Even so, before he got his bearings Kyosku landed on top of him. The cold of the ice permeated his clothing, giving the soldier a shivering thrill. Hiemal matter beneath him, and a hot body on top. The ninja's supple curves already aroused him, and her tongue on his cheek turned him on like a tap. The soldier's lust slowed only a little when Tetsoma tried to stab him.

What the naughty ninja hadn't realized was that trying to stab Josh Cronen compared well with stabbing a steel statue. Particularly in an area as muscular as his abdominals. The tip of the ninjato barely pricked his skin. Breaker gave his opponent a wolfish grin as his left hand cupped her ass. While the feeling of her tight bottom gave him a thrill, it also controlled the ninja's hips. Josh's right hand hooked her knee, and with an explosive movement he bridged and rolled. The sweep put him on top, but still between Kyo's lithe limbs. Normally in combat he would have worked to pass her guard. But this was no normal fight, and he had no problem being between her legs.

Biceps bulging, Josh forced both of the girl's arms above her head and pinned her wrists together against the ice. He needed only one hand to pin both of hers, and used that advantage to jerk the ninjato from her grip.

"I'm glad you like the taste," he growled, mischief in his eyes as he pressed his face close to hers. "But you're not going to penetrate me."

His free hand wielded the captured blade. Slowly, he sliced away at the ninja's gi top.

[Kyo]

She loved the feel of him beneath her. The strength in his stomach and hips was held between her thighs as they tightened around him and caused the muscles to press into her sensitive skin. When he tensed, she could feel it, when he moved it rubbed her legs and gave her a brief and quite pleasurable thrill. Sadly she was unable to truly enjoy the position for very long. The tip of her blade had just barely pierced the flesh of his side when she felt it jam up against something and go no further. At first she thought it was a rib, but then she saw the smirk upon his lips and the mischievous light dancing through his hazel eyes. Her attack had done nothing to him but give her the precarious position of dominance, one he didn’t appear too willing to allow her to keep.

Just as she began to shift and change her position, his hand landed rather firmly on her ass. His large palm was cupping it and gently squeezing the toned area. It shocked her more than anything, making her ice blue eyes go wide for a moment as her mind fought to catch up with her sudden predicament. Then his other arm hooked her knee and as she finally realized what he was up to it was too late.

The world spun. The sky mixed with the ground and the ice, creating a confusing blur that left her only when her back was being firmly pressed into the cold and solid ground they called their battlefield. Water seeped through the material, freezing her back just as the hot sun turned the front of her gi into a bonfire and the body of Cronen warmed her. When he grabbed her arms, she fought and twisted, trying to get them out of his grip, but it was like steel and his strength far surpassed hers. He more than easily pinned them above her head and ripped the ninja-to from her thin fingers. As she squirmed and writhed beneath him, Cronen took the time to growl sweet nothings at her while her own sword began to tear away at her clothing.

The sound of ripping and tearing material was nearly lost in the roar of the water and just as the blackened blade of her sword sliced halfway through her gi she stopped struggling and smirked. He had just made a major mistake. Cronen had sacrificed both of his hands in order to keep her in place and remove her top from her. Arching her back, the ninja leaned forward and trying to distract the man for a moment, bit down on his chin. It wasn’t very hard; in fact he might even find it pleasurable if he liked that sort of thing. Then she tucked her legs in close to her body and rolled so that she was putting all her wait and her balance on her shoulder blades. At this point she was forced to release the bite and hope it had distracted her opponent enough to give her some kind of an advantage.

“Tsk, tsk. Going for the kill a little prematurely, aren’t we?” She whispered to him a little breathlessly.

Using her flexibility to her advantage, Kyo wrapped one of her legs around the back of Cronen’s neck and then attempted to push her shin up into her throat. The moment it connected with the flesh she planned on squeezing her two legs together as hard as she could and watching as he struggled against the hold. If he was as good as she thought, then he may be able to actually get out of the hold and continue his little game. But if not, then this battle was over and she was going to enjoy the life leaving his eyes.

[Breaker]

Rrrrriiiip.

Breaker's eyes feasted on Kyosku's pale skin. She looked like snow on top of the ice floe; the cherry on top of a sundae; a reward for a hard fought battle. The feel of her smooth stomach against his callused palm brought to mind a thousand fun things they could do, but the ninja clearly didn't think the battle was over. Like a frisky kitten she curled in upon herself, displaying a flexibility that could have many uses. She chose to use it to attack him, unfortunately. With her arms still pinned above her head she hooked a leg behind his neck, jerking him forwards.

Josh knew what would happen before she executed the technique. It was a variation on a go-go plata, a shin choke in which her slim bone would attempt to compress his windpipe. The soldier let his opponent lock her legs up, knowing she didn’t' have the leverage to finish him. His arm was inside the entanglement, and although the sharp shin on his throat certainly wasn't pleasant, it wouldn't put him to sleep any time soon.

A plethora of possible counterattacks presented themselves from his wide vocabulary of techniques. Josh chose carefully; he didn't actually want to hurt Kyo, preferably just dominate her to the point that she submitted to his will. Gazing into her azure eyes, he knew it would not be about as easy as damming the river they rode upon.

As the ice floe rocked from side to side in the wild waters, Josh feigned strangulation. He had been choked enough times in the past to know what it looked like. His breath came in short gasps and his face colored crimson. He let go of Kyo's wrists and her sword, reached up to her ankles as if to scrabble hopelessly for a hold. His hands shook in mock-tremors as his eyes clouded over. He knew what it felt like to choke someone out. With any luck, Kyo would be feeling a wave of impregnable confidence. He struck.

Sinew standing out in his neck, he broke free of the leg choke and fell backwards, hooking Kyo's right foot in his left arm pit. He trapped it there as he landed in a semi-reclined sitting position and gripped his left hand with his right. He applied the ankle lock and arched his back. The ankle lock was a two pronged attack; it duck the steely blade of his forearm into her vulnerable Achilles tendon while simultaneously threatening to hyperextend the foot. Josh's own legs wrapped around the one he had isolated, holding it in place. He grinned at Kyo over their tangled limbs.

"We can take it slow if that's what floats your boat. Just let me know if it's too tight." He remarked, constricting his hold on the ankle and arching his back further. The ankle lock was a notorious submission for delivering excruciating pain. Breaker wondered if he would actually be able to force the ninja to tap out. If the blue fire in her eyes was any indication, he thought she might allow her ankle to break rather than submit.

[Kyo]

Kyo would have retorted with something smart and sarcastic. She would have parted her lips and said something that would probably bring a smirk to both of their faces as the last word left Cronen’s mouth. She would have, if he hadn’t of further arched his back and tightened the grip he had on her ankle. Instead of some playful and even flirtatious comment, the only thing that came out of Kyo’s mouth was a strangled and muffled cry, the kind of which she clearly tried to stifle but was beginning to lose the battle. The pain was excruciating to the ninja, causing her to arch her back and tense every muscle within her body, waiting for it to cease, waiting for it to just fucking go away. But he didn’t let up for one second. His attack was constantly pulling on her foot while pushing into her Achilles tendon, threatening to break her ankle while at the same time wishing he would hurry up to do so for even that had to hurt less than this.

Tears were beginning to blur her vision, even against her fervent commands for them to go to Hell, because Kyo never cried, especially in battle. But like Cronen they were persistent, clouding her vision as they pooled and threatened to spill down her cheeks, staining them. She was persistent too, forcing them back as she refused to give the man any kind of pleasure from her pain. He was trying to get her to give in to him, to submit to him and break under his will. Foolishness. She was Kyosku Tetsoma and she submitted to nobody’s will.

When he tightened his grip again, she cried out. She couldn’t stop it this time. The pain was blocking all thoughts from her mind as he continued to apply the pressure, threatening to render her foot entirely useless. Part of her began to argue, part of her wanted her to just say the words to get him to stop and yet the stronger part of her, the prideful part of her would not let her. Closing her eyes against the cloudless and bright blue sky above her, the ninja took a few ragged and calming breaths. She needed to get past the pain, she needed to focus, to think of something for her currently immobile and yet free hands to do. Clenching her jaw, Kyo began to push her mind into a meditative state. The kind that she entered before she went on a mission, the kind of that pushed emotion and pain aside and allowed her to focus on the job, on the kill. It wasn’t easy. Her mind kept trying to focus on the pain, the one thing that was constantly streaming through her so instead she forced it to concentrate on the wind lashing against her body and whipping her hair around her. That and the ice beneath her, freezing her back. She forced it to and slowly she slipped into the state, the void where she could dump everything and walk away.

As the emotions slipped away and the pain began to dull, the ninja felt her body relax a little. The tight muscles of her abdomen finally released their relentless tension and as they did so she felt her sword slip off her stomach and fall to the ice by her hand. Wrapping the fingers of her left hand around it, Kyo turned her attention to Cronen and quickly formed two attacks in her mind. One of them needed to connect, one of them needed to work and get him to slacken enough so that she could slip her leg out of his grasp.

Spinning the blade around in her grip, the ninja thrust the sharpened and black tip towards the underside of Cronen’s knee, where there was no muscle for him to block such a blow. Then with her left leg, her free leg, she tensed it back and thrust it forward aiming for his throat. She wanted to truly hear him gurgle and spat as if being choked. No more of the fake shit he had given her as her legs had closed around his neck and tried to suffocate him last time. She wanted the sole of her boot to connect with his throat and push his Adam’s apple back into his oesophagus. Then again, if her aim was slightly off she’d probably end up hitting him in the face.

[Breaker]

Breaker's grip tightened like a slowly turning vice, applying more and more pressure to the ninja's ankle. He felt the joint hyperextend as the blade of his forearm gouged Kyo's Achilles tendon. The roaring river drowned out any sounds Tetsoma might have made, but he felt her trying to relax against the lock. She wore pride like a mask, undoubtedly willing herself for some final effort. Josh had seen it many times before; caught in a hopeless submission, fighters who didn't understand the grappling arts often lashed out. That moment of sudden attack presented Josh with an opportunity to reef on the lock and snap the joint. Bunching the muscles in his back and abdominals, his body became a lever ready to destroy Kyosku's ankle.

As the ice floe raced down the river, Josh watched his opponent grip her blade, preparing to stab at his leg. He slackened his hold slightly, easing the pain in the girl's ankle to build her confidence. The ninjato flashed in the brilliant sun. Josh turned his leg, easily deflecting the keen tip of the blade with his kneecap.

"That would have been the best time to break her ankle..."

The realization that he had missed his opportunity jarred the warrior. Whether because of the sensual feeling of Kyo's toned calf against his side or the appealing sight of her semi-naked torso, Josh wanted the fight to continue. Normally in combat he felt as cold as the ice that froze his back; calculating and deadly. But the ninja's unbreaking will enticed him. He admired her courage, fighting so viciously against a larger, stronger opponent.

Josh saw stars. For the second time that day he tasted the ferrous tang of his own blood. His tooth had scraped the inside of his cheek when Kyo's foot clipped his chin. Shaking his head to dispel the dust, he realized he had left the ankle lock too loose for too long. For a moment anger replaced his admiration for the ninja; she wasn't playing nice like him.

"I can be plenty nasty too."

The soldier's elbow dipped like the oar of a rowboat, catching Kyo's heel in the crook of his arm. With a burst of well trained tactical motion he transitioned from the ankle lock to a heel hook. His arm slid laterally across his torso, turning the ninja's trapped foot like the key to a gateway of pain. The hook applied strenuous pressure to her knee and the delicate tendons there.

"Come on Kyosku," he urged silently as he gritted his teeth, "yield so I won't have to turn your knee inside out."

[Kyo]

Please...please stop!

It was excruciating. If she had thought the pain from her heel was bad, what he was currently doing to her made the tears stream down the sides of her face as she no longer had the will to hold them back. Part of her mind caved. She could feel it. The willpower had left with the renewed feeling of her knee being torn in half and some distant part of her began to plead for her to give in, to just say the words that would end her torment. It would be so easy. All she had to do was open her mouth and allow them to spill forth into the warm and yet cool air. But the large part of her, the part she clung to with all the remaining strength that could not be eroded by the pain rejected the idea as if it were a gangrenous limb that needed to be removed from the body.

That part of her. That strong and dominating part that made up so much of her strength and so much of who she was, she clutched it with all that she had. She used it to fight back the pain and in the haze that was her mind and her body, Kyo suddenly remembered just how easy it could be to break out of heel hooks. It was nothing like an ankle lock, which usually only resulted in yields. No, this one, this one she had a chance to get out of. The problem was, she didn’t think she could move.

As the ice floe continued to pound down through the turbulent river, as it rocked and turned and dipped from time to time, as it nearly battered the hard river bank she made her move. Despite the pain she was in, despite the cries that echoed from her parted lips as he continued to turn her knee and threaten to snap it like a twig, she found the fortitude somewhere within her to move. Her body twisted along the slippery surface, causing her knee to actually move with the motions of Cronen’s hands. Relief washed across her as the worst of the pain stopped, but she could still feel it thrumming through her now almost numb leg. When she completed the roll and broke away from his hold, she could barely find the strength in it to pull herself up onto her fours. But she did. She always did. Even though her muscles were shaking and she knew this battle was over, she kept going because that’s who she was.

He gave her no chance of a reprieve though.

As she pulled herself onto her hands and knees she felt him slip up behind her. She felt his body press up against her behind and her back as he leaned over her. She nearly collapsed in defeat right then and there, just wait for him to finish her off and be done with the slow torture she was putting herself through. And like before she didn’t. His large hand splayed across her side and then slowly slithered across the material of her gi and towards the parted rip he himself had created. It dipped inside and his cool hands caressed the heat of her stomach. Muscles tensed under the touch and she felt him lean over his, his front pressing against her back.

What is he doing?

Her question received its answer seconds later. His other hand came around to her front and callous fingers traced across the smooth skin of her face until it met her jaw. Then he turned her head to the side and her ice blues eyes looked at him in confusion seconds before he leaned down and covered her mouth with his. Her entire body went rigid as she tried to pull back from the kiss, but his hand on her jaw kept her head awkwardly turned like that. And his splayed fingers upon her stomach kept her from moving her body. As his lips moved against hers, she felt herself begin to relax, slowly, and when he might have been ready to give up and assume she would never kiss him back she finally did. Her tongue flickered across his lips and asked for entrance it was soon granted.

[Breaker]

It was a ballsy, perhaps stupid thing to do, but Josh couldn't deny his attraction to the ferocious ninja.

Their combined body heat multiplied, as if by chemical reaction, as Kyo yielded to his advances. Her tongue was firm yet supple like the rest of her body, and confident once she made up her mind. His fingertips trailed across her tight stomach, nerve endings flaring as they read the goosebumps like brail. The iceberg tipped precariously as Josh rolled to his back, pulling his former opponent on top of him. She seemed to like being on top, and the warrior turned lover had no problem with that.

"Whatever rocks her world, so to speak," Josh thought as the ice floe rocked like an unbalanced scale. He enjoyed catering to the whims of gorgeous women. Especially when those whims involved being pressed against him, locked together in animalistic fashion.

One heavy, calloused hand massaged the back of Kyosku's neck while the other bravely ventured upwards from her belly button, delving into the tear in her gi top. He kissed her hard and felt her grind down on him in return. If it was possible to smile and make out at the same time, Josh would have been grinning like an idiot. In his experience, tough girls liked tough love, and Kyo epitomized what he loved about warrior women. She had as much spirit for fraternisation as she did for fighting. She did something with her tongue that made him give an almost involuntary pelvic thrust. Perhaps more.

Josh was so entranced by the happy shift of events that he didn't realize the change in the river. It accelerated, the ice flow rocking more violently than a vibrating bed in a honeymooner's suite. The coursing noise of the water became an almighty roar, but for the moment it fell on deaf ears. All Josh noticed were the subtle noises of pleasure Kyo made and the erratic, erotic gyrations of her hips.

[Kyo]

Bloodlust turned to a more primal, animalistic lust in moments. As her tongue delved in his mouth and his hands explored her body, she felt her interested in battle fade, replaced by something far more pleasurable for the both of them. One calloused and battle weary hand daringly caressed between the valley of her breasts before teasing fingers trailed over the sensitive skin. Questing fingers closed over the sensitive peak, gently pinching the sensitive skin and causing her moan and whimper into the heated kiss. Hips ground down in a continuous and aching slow circle against his as the hunger he was awakening in her battled with her need to have him now.

Impatience and her teasing nature won in the end as a shuriken appeared in her hand. Whether he paid enough attention to notice the sudden appearance of the weapon or not made no difference to the ninja. She planned not on using it to kill the man. Kyo had passed that stage the moment she had kissed him back. Pulling away from the warrior turned now to sudden bed partner; Kyo placed the weapon at the collar of his shirt and with a quick flick of her wrist began slicing through the material with ease. The sound of rending cloth became lost in the constant roar of the river, which appeared to have grown louder. Tossing the shuriken aside, Kyo grabbed both sides of the shirt and ripped it open the rest of the way then her mouth returned to Cronen’s skin. Her lips caressed the side of his neck and parted to allow her teeth to gently scrap down it. When she grew tired of the gentle nips, she bite down roughly on the base of his neck, hard enough to bruise, and enjoyed the way his body tensed and he gasped in her ear. Releasing the bite, she moved towards his collar bone. Her tongue swirled in the hollow there, tasting him and the tangy salt left from the sweat of their battle.

The flow of ice shifted and rocked again, and Kyo’s sense of balance was lost for a moment as one of her hands slipped upon the slick surface. Surely there may have been a better place to do this, but at this moment the ninja didn’t care and didn’t even want to think enough to imagine what that place was.

Slipping further down his body and abandoning the feel of his desire pressing against her where she wanted it the most to further tease the man. She kissed and gently nipped where she could at the packed muscle of his chest and further down to his stomach, which bunched and tensed under her caresses. She knew where bite and where to kiss that would torture the warrior the most.

[Breaker]

"This is a side of the Citadel I've never seen before..."

Pleasure tingled through the most tender nerve endings on Joshua's body as the ninja tempted and teased. He could feel her silky hair tickling his stomach as she worked her lips and teeth lower across his rippling abdominals. An inkling of utter relaxation that the frigid ice below his back could not freeze out descended upon him. Like electroshock therapy Kyosku cleared his head.

The arena wasn't really such a bad place to get to know each other, he reflected. The danger of the racing ice floes provided an erotic edge that both would-be combatants appreciated. It might have been romantic, in a less sexually charged situation. The imperious ice walls, the coursing water, the impending waterfall...

"Aw fuck, why?" Josh muttered.

Up ahead and approaching fast, he saw the source of the rising roar of the river. Perhaps a fifteen second ride from the warrior couple the river simply disappeared, but Josh knew from the rising vapour that it was a waterfall. The hand that had tangled itself sensually in Kyo's hair palmed the ninja's head and turned it forcefully to look. Maybe fifty feet above water level, a wood and rope bridge spanned the chasm. Too high to jump, and as if by some evil force, their ice floe had found its way to the middle of the river. Josh weighed his options. He was prepared to go over the falls, for he could see no way to escape.

"I might be able to save her, though."

Removing the Kyosku from himself with obvious regret, Josh stood awkwardly and adjusted his pants. They didn't have long. Cupping his hands together in a stirrup, he crouched and motioned that Kyo should step into the pocket and jump. He could toss her the distance to the bridge, even if he couldn't jump it himself.

"Are we going down together, or would you like to survive?" He asked politely with an underlying sense of urgency.

As the churning water carried him closer to certain demise, Josh couldn't help but wonder if the waterfall had been included in the original design of the arena, or if the monks had added it just to cockblock him. ["Bald bastards.

[Kyo]

With a sigh and a groan the ninja pushed up off the slick surface and stood before the warrior. Her eyes looked past him to the misting water that travelled in the air like a heavy fog. She could already begin to feel some of it whip around by the winds and prickle her skin. In only a few seconds they would be over the edge, plummeting to a certain demise. Yet, what was so certain about a demise in The Citadel? The urgency in Cronen’s voice amused Kyo. He acted like the situation was grave and the approaching falls actually posed a problem to them. He played the part of the selfless hero ready to help her knowing he couldn’t help himself. It was sweet and maybe even be a little cute. Sadly, cute was not really a word Kyo liked applying to the men that interested her. Still, she appreciated the gesture. The problem being if she really wanted to escape this shaking river she could. Kyo had been capable of it during their battle, more than capable in fact. She just hadn’t wanted to use the ability. Powers such as that were not meant to be abused. So the ninja only used it when absolutely necessary. Besides, it was more fun this way.

She shook her head and chuckled lightly. A smile pulled at the corners of her lips and it turned the ice blue of her eyes into something a little softer. Reaching out, Kyosku rested her hand along the taunt muscle of Cronen’s upper arm.

“What’s a little water?”

His mouth formed into a devilish grin as he straightened himself. Arms lashed out and wrapped around her, pulling her flush against his hard body once more. His desire for her still more than evident. His hand splayed and snaked down across her back until it met her firm behind. He grabbed it and took a handful that felt more than a handful in his large palm. She gave him a bit of a throaty growl right before he kissed her. She bit and suckled his bottom lip as her hands quested across his back. Nails scraped gently along his spine. Then the world tipped and dropped.

They’d only had seconds and as the mist floating up from the deep falls covered their heated bodies and cooled them, they fell. The ice floe finally reached the edge, shifting so much that the both of them had a hard time keeping their balance. Her stomach felt that fluttering drop. Kyo remembered it well from days of training when she missed a jump, fell from her vantage or felt her feet knocked from under her. Never something she enjoyed. The loss of their somewhat steady ground forced the kiss to part, but their arms never left each other. They held tight as Kyo buried her face into the crook of Cronen’s neck.

Then they slammed into the water. It felt almost akin to hitting the ground and the force nearly sent her unconscious. Cold surrounded her, buffeted her. Suffocated her. She struggled but didn’t know where to struggle to. Kyo moved, but couldn’t remember how. Was Cronen still holding her? Or had the force of the fall forced them apart? She couldn’t tell. Her mouth opened and water flooded in. As cold as ice, she felt it fill her lungs. Her heart and lungs felt like they were exploding. Right when she thought she could take no more, it all went dark.

[Breaker]

The waterfall breathed mist across their intertwined bodies, the gaping, dizzying drop yearning to swallow them whole. As the racing rapids flung them over the precipice, they seemed to float on the fog for just a moment.

It felt right, somehow. The bizarre blend of animalistic lust turned into a familiar, vicelike embrace made a monument to the brief battle the two had fought while descending the river. As gravity vaporized and the pair fell, the magic in Josh's boots kept them fastened to the ice floe. He could feel Kyo squirming against him, her body panicking involuntarily at the massive adrenaline rush. He wished he could have shared the placid calm that ran in his veins, for his blood flowed cooler than the water that cascaded all around. Like a couple dislodged from the top of a wedding cake they tumbled in tandem to the teeming pool below.

----+--------+----

Josh awoke atop a straw mattress. The cotton sheets clung a little, but they weren't nearly as soft as Kyo's skin. The room was carved from smooth stone and featured an empty bedside table and a collapsible rack with his sodden clothes hanging from it.

"That's just... weird. They wouldn't get the water out?"

Wrapping the sheet around his waist, Josh stood and paced barefoot to the rack. Back to the door, he began wringing the water from his clothes, hoping he might hear the hinges squeak open and the soft, near silent footsteps of a raven haired ninja.

[Kyo]

Kyo sighed softly as she rolled over. Cool, cotton sheets caressed her warm skin, sending small shivers slithering down her arms and back and bringing nerve endings to life. Reluctantly, she cracked open her eyes and found herself staring up at the grey, stone ceiling of her room. And for a brief moment she really thought it was her room, the one she had claimed back in Aisierigh, the home to The Bandit Brotherhood. Her eyes quickly noticed the differences though. The stone here was not as old and not as run down. The crack she found herself staring up at often in the morning did not exist and the light was different. No windows brought the warmth of the sun in, instead it was lit by two oil lanterns set upon a plain table beside her bed.

Sitting up, Kyosku wrapped the thin sheet around her body and slid out from her straw mattress. Looking around the sparse room, she found her clothes hanging by the door and her pack on the floor next to it. Grabbing at the black and purple material, Kyo grimaced at the cold, damp feeling.

“Couldn’t dry them at least? Now that’s just rude...”

Grabbing her pack, the ninja reached inside and pulled out her ninja gi. She didn’t like wearing it unless she was on a mission, but she didn’t really have much of a choice right now. She didn’t exactly want to catch a cold either. And that was the only thing she’d catch in those clothes. Slipping her full body, black gi and hakama pants on, she threw her wet clothes into her pack and slung that over her shoulder. Lacing her boots up—which were sadly still damp as well though she was not willing to walk around in her tabi—Kyo turned to leave her room.

The hall outside was deserted, plain and simple. Grey rock with barely any decoration consisted of the walls and torches placed feet apart made up the light source. Besides the dark, wooden door that led to her own room, Kyo also saw three others close by. Two of them were empty, sporting the same design she had woken up to only without an unconscious body on the bed. The third one, well the third one housed the one person she happened to be looking for.

Inching the door open a little more, Kyosku silently stepped into the room, the sole of her boots barely making any noise on the floor. A few feet ahead of her, her target waited, maybe even unknowing of her approach. With his back to her and his body covered in no more than a thin sheet he looked delicious. For a few moments, she watched the bunch of his muscles as he rung out his still sopping wet clothes, dripping water into a puddle all over the floor. Sliding up behind him as quietly as she could, Kyo reached out and splayed her hand against his back. His skin was warm against her palm and smooth and with her nails she traced up his spine and then across the line of muscles in his shoulders.

“Hmm... I have yet to thank you for the interesting battle.”

Slipping her free hand into her pack, Kyo wrapped her fingers around the handle of one of the signature Bandit Brotherhood Tanto’s she had purchased. They were mainly plain steel Tanto’s, the handles of which were wrapped in black and red cloth, a piece of which was left to hang down in decoration. And upon the blade itself were carved two B’s with their backs touching each other. They were the mark of an invitation into The Bandit Brotherhood by the leader of the clan itself.

With deadly accuracy and fast reflexes, she pulled the dagger out and then thrust it straight along Cronen’s side. It missed his flesh by a mere inch and embedded itself in the rack his clothes had been hanging on. Then she turned and left the room as quickly as she had slipped in.

[Breaker]

It was as though his very desire had crafted reality. Whispers softer than her skin teased Josh's ears as the ninja crept up behind him. She was good; almost unnervingly so. To anyone but him, the sounds would have been imperceptible.

The tingle of her cool hands and fine fingernails trailing up his broad back brought memories of the recent events to full clarity. Josh felt an involuntary stirring beneath the sheet as his mind dipped into the gutter.

"Interesting is one word to describe it." He thought with a broad grin. He continued wringing droplets of water into the growing puddle on the floor, savouring the girl's breath on the back of his neck, enjoying her touch as she enjoyed his muscles.

Faster than it had begun, the familiar contact ended, a shining tanto embedded in the rack and Kyo whirling to rush away, leaving him breathless.

"All right darling, I'll play your game." If Josh had one truly tangible weakness, it was women. Kyo was teasing and playing hard to get, both actions which Josh took as a personal challenge. She wanted him as much as he wanted her; he could feel their mutual desire in each moment of contact, feeding off each other like a spark landing in accelerant. The trick was to make her want him more. To make the wildfire light up her veins, consume her, until she came to him again.

"And hopefully, we won't be interrupted by a waterfall next time."

Josh moved without really thinking. Dropped the still damp and torn shirt on the rack and plucked the blade from where it was buried in one smooth motion. He drifted after Kyo, directly behind her, matching her full strides with half steps of his longer legs. If she was soundless, he was a ghost.

"Can you really out ninja the ninja?" He asked himself, believing the answer was 'yes'. Perhaps not a purist like the gi-clad valkyrie, he had studied the art of stealth extensively. Or perhaps she could hear him, knew he was there. Perhaps she was playing the same game as he. "If that's the case... bring it on."

They left the room in tandem, him playing the part of her shadow, their feet touching the ground in unison. The cotton sheet had stayed silent so far, but he put little trust in its noiselessness. Throwing caution to the wind, he looped one long powerful arm around her, attempting to pin both her arms at her sides like a tightening slipknot. As much fun as the hallucinogenic trip she gave him before had been, he wanted to keep a clear head. His other hand, the one with the dagger in it, came over her shoulder and rolled the lethal blade across his fingers, steel flashing and tassel snapping as it spun through his experienced hand, finally coming to a halt with the single sharp edge pressed gently against the fabric between her breasts.

"That's an interesting insignia," he spoke softly into her ear, close enough that the tremors of his adam's apple could tease her sensitive neck. "But I'm new in these parts. You should explain its relevance to me over a friendly drink."

The feel of her tight body had him growing closer to cutting her clothes off again, but he denied himself a rerun of that particular pleasure. Even a warrior woman would have trouble forgiving the destruction of two outfits in one day.

Instead he inhaled deeply, letting himself swell against her as his diaphragm expanded, then released her and vanished, the door clicking shut before the discarded sheet could settle properly on the floor.

Back in his room, Josh dressed rapidly, ignoring the unpleasant feeling of damp clothing. He hoped Kyo would not leave; more than anything he wanted to unravel this particular enigma.

EDIT: Since Kyo gave Josh the BB Tanto, do I still have to request it? If so, I request the tanto for spoils.

[Kyo]

A small smirk lingered upon her lips as her arms folded over her chest and the ninja patiently waited for the warrior to return from his room. They tiptoed around each other like two predators unsure of whose territory they currently resided upon. Each one of them played the same dangerous game of enticing the other wild animal with something they could only hope it would not resist. She knew he’d follow her and despite the fact that his footsteps had been somehow even quieter than hers, the ninja had known he was there, through instinct or other means it didn’t matter. Cronen had easily taken the bait and she had not even resisted when he’d restrained her with a single strong and muscled arm. Besides, she rather enjoyed the feel of him pressed up against her as he thought to overpower her. Kyo always enjoyed playing with fire and moulding it to her needs and purposes, though there always seemed to be the chance that the fire would lash back at her, she had yet to be burned and doubted Cronen would be the one to do it. As strong as he appeared, in the end he was only a man and men could be so easy and so much fun to play with.

Still, she had not given him that Tanto simply to have him as a toy for the next few days. Though a simple tryst with him seemed very enjoyable, the insignia upon that blade meant more to her and to other people that followed her cause. She hoped to enlist the warrior within that cause, for he would be a wonderful asset to her clan.

Rather wisely, the warrior did not keep her waiting for very long. Kyosku’s patience spanned as far as waiting for her prey, anything else was pushing it. Within a minute or two, Cronen emerged from his recovery room dressed and ready, though his clothes looked as if they had seen better days. Their damp state and the fact that he had been ringing them out left the material in wrinkles that hardly looked flattering upon his physique.

“I hope you hold your alcohol as well as you hold yourself in battle.”

That little smirk continued to play across her lips as she began to lead the way through the stone hallways of The Citadel and out into the bustling streets of Radasanth. Oh, he had no idea what he’d gotten himself into, accepting that Tanto and coming after her. Kyo only hoped that Cronen actually lived up to her expectations of him.

[Taskmienster]

JUDGMENT
River Raftin’
Characters Involved:
~016573~
~Kyo~


I’m going to keep the comments minimal, since both of you are outstanding writers. What I will note is anything that caught my attention, for the better or worse, and make sure to point that out. As requested, this will be judged as a quest instead of a battle due to the ‘initiation’ feel of it. If you have any questions feel free to talk to me whatever way is easiest.

STORY (22/30)

~ Continuity ~ (7/10)
Both of you played the character’s well to begin with. I got a lot of character as well as background from both of the characters, well done.

~ Setting ~ (8/10)
I think the setting could have been used better for battle purposes, but due to the… end result it seemed fitting that you didn’t hop around or move too much. All in all the scene was painted well for the reader, appealing but not really too indepth. You mentioned it post by post, but it seemed to be forgotten at times, or not delved into enough at others.

~ Pacing ~ (7/10)



CHARACTER (21/30)

~ Dialogue ~ (6/10)
Some of it was just cliché and odd, but for the most part what would have normally been cliché (for numbers) was actually true to character, so it wasn’t too bad. Kyo’s dialogue about wondering what he tasted like, and the time she liked him was… oddly wrong. It didn’t seem to fit. Why would she lick blood and comment on enjoying it? She’s not a vampire…

~ Action~ (8/10)
Hand to hand combat in Althanas?! No way! It was written well enough to follow along without being lost in move after move. The main issue I see with hand to hand is that a lot of people write too much into their posts, but you both did well to keep it at what was necessary without detracting from your pacing or clarity.

~ Persona ~ (7/10)
I would have given more, but the dialogue at times threw off the characters a little.



WRITING STYLE (24/30)

~ Technique ~ (7/10)
The passage about reading her goosebumps like brail in post 17 made me almost sigh. That was such an amazing analogy. Other than that they were present, but nothing extraordinarily eye catching amazing.

~ Mechanics ~ (8/10)
Very few mistakes by either of you, I saw word repetition (ice ice), wait instead of weight, along with a few other small mistakes.

~ Clarity ~ (9/10)
Oddly enough everything was clear enough for me to follow along, again well done with the hand to hand combat.


WILD CARD!!! (8/10)




TOTAL
(75/100)


GAINS/REWARDS!

~Numbers~ Gains the dagger, since that’s not really a spoil anyway; 3877 exp; 300 gold

~Kyo~ 2176 exp; 280 gold

[Witchblade]

EXP and GP added!

Kyo reaches level 3!