Clarissa Fairchild peered back at the dark haired beauty, the pupils in her sage hues dilating slightly. Sweat dripped from her brow as she leaned forward, her drawn blade nearly coming into contact with the other woman's weapon. Then, all at once she lost her balance, and a surprised yelp escaped her. Sighing heavily in defeat, the redhead rose to her feet. "I can't keep up with you, Izzy." She admitted.
Isabelle Lightwood had used her whip to catch the fellow Shadowhuntress off guard. "It's not about keeping up. You must first learn to defend yourself before you attack, otherwise you'll get nowhere." Her coffee orbs narrowed slightly. "Shall we go another round?" She was pumped and ready to spar some more. To her disappointment, though, the other female was exhausted.
"No thanks, Iz. I've got a million other things to do." The new Shadowhuntress over exaggerated while she tried to catch her breath. She barely had time to act when Izzy's whip almost hit her.
Isabelle shook her head and swung her whip, smirking when Clary dodged her attack. "What could be more important than training?" She asked, her tone demanding. "Don't even try to tell me it's about the Cup or the Soul Sword, we've already made sure they are hidden some place safe." She readied her weapon again, but didn't strike a second time. "Is it trouble with Jace?"
Clarissa groaned and rubbed the back of her neck. "No, nothing like that." The new Shadowhuntress answered quickly. Of course, that was a lie. She was pretty sure by now that everyone knew about her breakup with the burly blonde haired male. Obviously, Isabelle was already aware that Clary's love life was nonexistent. She retracted her blade and bit her lower lip.
The black haired female withdrew her weapon. "You're lying." She quickly caught on, hurrying over to the redhead. "You don't have to tell me everything-- but please don't lie to me." From what she'd understood, Jace and Clary had a terrible argument that almost escalated into a physical fight. If Alec hadn't intervened, who knew what could have happened.
"You know." Clarissa uttered. Her eyes glazed over as tears threatened to fall. "It's Valentine's fault. He messed with Jace's head!"
"Even so, he had no right to try to beat on you."
"How is that any different than training?" Clary shot back, repressing the urge to cry.
Isabelle sighed softly, and reached out. She tugged on Clarissa, eventually holding her in her arms. "You know that's different. I would never hurt someone I love out of spite. At least, not like that."
"You don't understand." The redhead whimpered out, clinging to the raven haired beauty. "He-he d-didn't mean to!" She stammered.
"Clary?"
"Y-yes?"
"You aren't fooling anyone but yourself." Isabelle revealed, holding Clarissa in her tight embrace. She would have asked the fellow Shadowhuntress out if Jace hadn't beaten her to it.
Jocelyn's daughter somehow held back her tears. She refused to cry in front of Izzy, though it was hard to do so. "I just need s-some time…" She trailed off.
Isabelle pulled back, nodding in agreement. "Take all the time you need. I'm here." leaning in, she pressed her lips to the side of the other woman's face. Her heart ached for Clarissa, though this was the first time in a long while that she'd yearned for another female. The intensity of her feelings was much deeper than her desires for Meliorn and Raphael, though she usually preferred men. There was something she'd always admired about Clary. Now she just needed to find out what that was. "Let's go back to your room. Okay?" It would be much better to get some privacy since anyone could enter the training room and eavesdrop.