Chapter 52: Fire Versus Ice
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Rey carefully considered the staffs in the weapons room, testing them for balance and spring, weight and girth, until she found one that felt almost familiar. As she held it in her hands, she felt the rightness of it and knew she had made the correct decision.
She was still floating in the cold place when she walked back out to the studio and was surprised to see Kylo had already arrived and was warming up. She hadn't felt him arrive, though that may be partly due to how seriously she had been choosing her staff.
Still, the distance and clarity the cold place afforded her was good and would prove very useful. Though later she would still need to learn to block him when they weren't fighting. She was aware, at least to a certain extent, (and that was mainly from people's reactions), that she came across as cold and distant when she was in the zone. And she was fairly certain being like that all the time was not conducive to keeping up friendships, let alone a relationship.
Kylo stood up from stretching to smile slightly uncertainly at her as make his way towards her, but Finn intercepted him, "Oh no you don't, not till afterwards. My Peanut's in the zone. No messing."
Amusement skittered across Rey's mind but didn't settle. Kylo looked irritated and like he would just push past Finn but Ingalan pulled him away, saying, "Kylo, you need to finish warming up."
Rey didn't watch any more but started using her staff to stretch out her muscles further. Most of Poe's friends had arrived to watch and a few others, but she paid them no mind, exchanging her Foil mask for a Sabre mask.
As she put it on, the coldness descended further. The clarity and calmness were now absolute. This was the deepest she had ever been, a vague part of her wondered why that was so but it was quickly swept away, frozen out.
Ingalan walked to the centre of the room and Rey and Kylo met him, stopping six paces away from each other.
"Okay!" Ingalan said, raising his voice, and everyone hushed, "To reiterate, there are no rules, save the obvious ones. The winner will be whomever pins their opponent for a count of twenty seconds, or until one person calls yield. However, if I shout Fast, you will stop. I will only do this if I think one of you is in danger or are hurt too much to carry on. Is that clear?"
"Perfectly," Kylo said, his voice low and intense. Rey just nodded.
Ingalan looked at the audience, "You lot, if you want to stay and watch, you will not intervene or make too much noise. If we," he gestured at the other Knights, "Decide you are causing a distraction, we will remove you."
Someone made an, "OoooOooo" noise and the others laughed. They quickly stopped however as the Knights all scowled at them. The audience settled quickly.
"Right then." Ingalan said, and stepped back to stand by the wall. "En Garde!"
Kylo fell into the traditional En Garde position, but Rey merely loosened her joints and gripped her staff, taking a deep breath, the world narrowing down to the person standing in front of her, who was no longer Kylo, just the person she was going to beat. Another deep breath.
"Ready!" Ingalan called as if from a great distance.
Rey was ice, empty of everything except her objective. Deep breath.
"FENCE!" came the command to fight, and Rey obeyed…
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During their last lesson, Kylo had felt Rey sink away from his awareness. At first he had almost been frightened, but a few stray feelings had made it through and he had realised Rey had gone to the place she went when she fought.
It was a strange sensation, a numbing sort of cold, making him feel blind and frozen. He shivered and stopped reaching out to her. It was so different to how he fought, he had always pulled on the well of anger within him, allowed the beast a taste of freedom.
He and Rey seemed like fire and ice, so different. And yet, so similar.
As he changed into his blacks with the other Knights, he realised with surprise that he was nervous. It was ridiculous, but then, the last time they had done this, Rey had won. He hadn't been prepared, but that should hardly matter. And then there was the worry he may somehow hurt her. He shook his head, thinking like this wouldn't help him win… Again he wondered what she would ask for if she won, then shook his head again, that wouldn't help him either.
Zainmar clapped him on the back, "Get your head on straight, Kylo. You need to focus. Unless you want to lose that is." Kylo shot him a glare and finished changing.
Rey wasn't in the studio when they arrived, but Finn was there and told them, somewhat self-importantly, that Rey was choosing a staff.
So, it was to be a rematch of their first fight. How poetic. He started warming up but stopped when Rey came out of the weapons cupboard holding a staff.
His heart surged when he saw her, their disconnection felt all wrong, so he made his way over to her just to confirm that everything was okay. He just needed to touch her, even if it was just briefly. But bloody Finn got between them, Kylo was really getting tired of 2187's possessiveness. If he didn't know he was gay, he would be very suspicious… unless he was bi? Kylo was about to growl and push past when Ingalan pulled him firmly away, getting him to finish warming up. "Focus." Ingalan muttered at him as he let Kylo go.
When they stood facing each other, it seemed slightly easier as Rey had a mask on, he tried to think of her just as another person he was going to beat.
As Ingalan shouted, "En Garde!" Kylo automatically fell into position, watching as Rey merely shifted, she seemed so nonchalant.
"Ready!" Ingalan called, and Kylo felt the fire rise up inside him, burning away any doubts or worries. Adrenaline surged through him, setting his blood on fire, feeding power into his muscles and sinews.
"FENCE!" And Kylo surged forward, his black clad figure meeting Rey's white clad one, power crackling in the air between them.
As his sabre met her staff she twisted away before he could lock her in and use his superior strength against her. His momentum pulled her forward as she stepped smartly to the side and swiped at his leg. He twisted himself, catching the blow on his calf muscle instead of his shin and he bought his sabre around to smack her on the arse, grinning as he did so. That'll piss her off.
To his disappointment she didn't seem to even notice, and he found himself having to dance away quickly as she had dropped to the floor and aimed the butt of her staff at his knee.
Rey quickly sprang up again, as graceful as a dancer. FOCUS! Idiot!
They exchanged blows, neither landing one, each able to deflect the other with almost preternatural accuracy.
He needed to change tactics, or they may be here all day. The next time she brought her staff close enough he grabbed hold and pulled her towards him.
A small grunt of surprise came from her, but before he could complete a grin she had twisted so that he had to either let go or let his wrist be broken. As he let go, she took advantage of their proximity and pulled him so he over balanced and she fell back, crouching as she did so and somehow sent him tumbling over her head. How the hell had she done that?
He rolled as he fell and came up ready for her; perhaps it was time to lose his sabre and employ some MMA.
He threw his sabre at her as she came at him, causing her to use her staff to deflect it, he had a vague thought hoping it hadn't hit anyone as it flew away, but he didn't dwell on it. As she brought her staff up, he came up under her guard, pulling her down with him to the floor.
They went down in a tangle, she let go of her staff so she could grapple with him properly as they strove for dominance.
Kylo managed to bring his greater weight and strength to bear, pinning Rey down on her back with him holding her hips down between his knees. As he tried to grab her arms she slipped one elbow between his knee and her body and twisted her torso to the side causing his body to shift somewhat. He could feel one of her knees against his back and her other leg swiped out, bending at the knee and, pushing his knee outward, then she moved her other ankle over his extended leg and scooped his leg up and out, pulling her free knee up. She rocked her body to the other side and as his moved, she scrambled out and pulled him back down, getting her legs locked around his torso from behind and braced her arms about his neck in a choke hold.
He knew he only had a few seconds before he would blackout, Rey was slender but wiry and her choke hold was firm. He leant back so he was on top of her, grabbed one of her feet, and pushed his elbow into the back of her knee as he twisted her foot to the side.
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Rey really thought she had him when she'd got behind him and locked her arms around his neck. But she found herself gasping slightly as he twisted her foot, and her grip on him loosened enough for him to get a grasp on the forearm she had around his throat, forcing it away.
There was no point pitching her muscles against his, she briefly considered biting him, but was fairly certain that would be against the 'obvious' rules, so she refrained. Instead she let go of him completely, pulling her legs back towards her before using them to push Kylo in the back, propelling him away from her. She rolled to the side and onto her feet, staff in hand again, watching as he sprang to his feet as well.
His sabre wasn't anywhere near him, so he was weaponless against her. Rey smiled inside her mask.
He rushed towards her, probably intending to turn his shoulder and bowl her over with his weight, so as she went to meet him she went down on her knees, sliding slightly along the smooth floor and ducking under his legs, staff held out lengthways, catching him in the knees. He pitched forward, tucking his head to roll, then twisted, swiping one of his legs out and around, catching her in the side, just below her arm.
She let the blow move her, but brought her staff around to land a blow on his shoulder before she hit the floor. He dived towards her, gripping her staff in his hands to pull it away from her. She let it go immediately, which he hadn't expected, and the disproportionate force he was employing made him fall back away from her somewhat.
She sprang towards him, connecting feet first, bowling him over completely, but he grabbed one of her legs, hooking his leg behind her other one, gripping her ankle again and applying pressure. Rey hissed, but willed the pain outside the coldness inside her. It was time to cheat.
She burrowed a hole in her walls, and moaned in Kylo's head, imitating the noises he had pulled from her when he had made her orgasm for the first time.
To her satisfaction he started in surprise then froze, and she refilled the chink in her mental armour, slipping her foot from his temporarily slack grip and digging her heel into his armpit, pushing him back and using the thrust to push herself away as he recovered his equilibrium. He growled, low in his throat, and the noise sent a spike of excitement pushing into her gut. Fuck. Her walls weren't back up properly. Instead of trying to rebuild them though, she let them all fall, allowing her connection with Kylo to completely reopen, flooding them both with each other's presence. Rey had been expecting it, but Kylo was again taken by surprise.
As Rey went to stand, he grabbed her lower legs, forcing his shoulder against her shins, then twisted and pulled her legs forward while holding onto them so she toppled forward, onto him as he leant his torso away so she landed across his lap. He pulled her arm nearest to his body behind her and locked it down, twisting it upwards and flat against her upper back and used his other arm to apply pressure to the small of her back.
"Yield." He growled at her, voice dark and intense. Her body flushed at his tone, partly from anger and partly from excitement. She could hear Ingalan start to count down from twenty. She brought up her free hand, flattened it like a blade with her knuckles bent and punched Kylo in the leg roughly where his lateral femoral area was, she repeated it several times in quick succession before she heard him grunt in pain. His leg jerked, then went limp as pain radiated from the area and she twisted her hips and swung both her legs around his torso, curving her trapped arm loose as his focus on it was interrupted. As she dug an elbow into his short rib, she heard Ingalan stop counting.
Kylo pulled her mask off her head as she tried to squeeze her elbow in further, pressing her knees into his back. She was startled for a moment and then his hands were around her neck, pulling her head to his, he kissed her furiously, roughly, and all sense left her head at the heat of it.
Next thing she knew she was on her back, in a mount hold, with Kylo grinning down at her as he flicked damp hair out of his eyes.
She bucked her hips against his, pushing him forward so he had to brace himself on his arms or fall on her. She then jerked her hips to the side, destabilising him further so she could slide her hips sideways and free, then she brought her knees up and squeezed his waist between them as she simultaneously wrapped his neck in a choke hold, locking her elbow and forearm together, applying as much pressure as she was able to as he struggled to get free.
But she had him now, and she just rose with him when he braced his hands on the floor and lifted up his body. "Yield." She told him as his struggles proved in vain.
He refused, but his struggles got weaker as the blood flow to his brain slowed with the pressure of her arms.
Any second now, he would pass out, so she readied herself to move to the side so she wouldn't be crushed.
Then the fire alarm started.
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A/N: So it's 5am and I am full of beer… Half of this was written while I had been awake for over 24 hours. The other half was after I had managed some sleep, but was mainly just a Zombie. Hope it all makes sense! Thank you so much for your comments, honestly, you guys are way too kind 3
Songs:
~Blind And Frozen by Beast In Black
~Saturday Night's (Alright for Fighting) by Nickelback (originally by Elton John)
~Make A Move by Icon For Hire
~Back For More by Five Finger Death Punch
~ Pretty Little Psycho By Porcelain Black
~Never Surrender by Like A Storm
