AN: Kurt and Jessica engage in a friendly bit of sparring. I remember I wrote something very similar to this with Laura and Gaius a while back, but luckily for me it turned out rather differently in spite of the shared premise (and logistical issues that come with it) of spear VS sword(s)!

First of Many

"My apologies for the sudden request. I hope that this isn't an inconvenience of any sort."

"Not in the slightest," Jessica replied, nodding at Kurt from where she stood. "In all honesty, I'm glad you asked. I've always been curious about your particular branch of the Vander School; from what I understand, most initiates don't end up as dual blade specialists."

"You're not wrong about that. Personally I would have preferred to walk the path more traveled, but I've come to accept that sometimes our actions are dictated by circumstances that are beyond us. Shall we?"

Recognizing that the time for chat was over and that Kurt was unlikely to elaborate on his last statement anytime soon, Jessica took a deep breath and set her feet in a neutral stance, watching to see what Kurt would do. A moment later, her eyes narrowed sharply when she fully took in the swordsman's positioning, recognizing it as a textbook defensive posture; an odd tack to take for someone of his style.

He was going with the long game, she supposed. That was fine with her. Two could play at that.

Jessica's first thrusts were precise and pinpoint with little power behind them, and she wasn't at all surprised when he effortlessly swatted them away, his footwork crisp and his expression focused. In turn, his multiple counter-slashes were easily turned aside by her broad spearhead, the symphony of steel on steel ringing out all the while.

He was trying to ascertain her offensive range. She was trying to gauge his defensive tendencies. It seemed they both had the same approach to sparring with new opponents, though valuable as the insight was… eventually, periods of tranquility like this had to come to an end.

Jessica's hands gripped her spear just a little bit tighter, something not lost on her partner.

His form had been flawless up until now. It was time to see if it would stay that way.

She stepped into her first real attack with a fierce cry, and Kurt had to bite back a strangled grunt of exertion when he met it with a parry, the strain showing as he fended the blow off. Jessica didn't let up in the slightest, a maelstrom of steel viciously lashing out at Kurt with every turn, but try as she might his defenses remained unbreached time and again, her spear unable to answer the question posed by the twin longswords.

She held firm nonetheless, steadily pressing her attack and keeping him on his toes, with each lunge an attempt to force a decisive opening and every defended strike wearing him down with no opportunity to retaliate. This couldn't be all he had, could it? If he was determined to turn this into a battle of attrition then so be it, but surely he didn't think he could hold out like this for an entire bout…?

One of his swords dropped ever so slightly then – a moment of carelessness perhaps, brought upon by simple fatigue – but whatever the reason, it was more than enough.

Like a shark that smelled blood, Jessica charged in with no hesitation and launched the thrust that would surely disarm him this time…

And when she saw him smile, she understood too late that she had made a hasty mistake.

Her weapon gracelessly crashed into the crossed swords that stopped her spear from extending fully, easily absorbing the weakened impact, and in the blink of an eye it was Jessica that found herself backpedaling, the Vander scion's counter-offensive coming in wide, sweeping cuts that kept her from fully resetting her stance and defending adequately.

He had the advantage now. In the blink of an eye, Kurt had managed to force the fight into a distance that favored his longswords far more than it favored her polearm, and if it continued like this there was only one way it could end. She only had one possible option at her disposal.

Get him to retreat.

Like lightning, her spear flashed out.

"Ergh…!"

The sudden thrust - noticeably quicker than anything else she had managed thus far - took him by surprise, his swift feet instinctively backing him out of her weapon's range and giving her time to catch her breath. Jessica watched and waited, Kurt's shoulders heaving up and down as he gasped for air himself, and she wondered if he'd managed to figure out how she'd escaped his little trap.

Judging from the look in his eyes, he had. She wasn't exactly surprised.

"… Well played. You altered your grip on the spear to compensate for your reduced maneuverability," he surmised, his eyes locked on her hands in a much higher position than they would normally be. "Given the distance between us, the added length of your weapon made it too cumbersome to wield properly, so – "

" – I effectively shortened it, yes," Jessica finished, nodding. "An old trick of the trade. Given the bind I was in, I didn't really have a choice. Leaving me an intentional opening so you'd know how to react was a brilliant gamble. A bit reckless maybe, but brilliant."

"It's not as if I had much of a choice in the matter myself," he replied dryly, deftly sidestepping the praise as if it were one of her attacks. "Had I kept on blindly guarding and relying solely on my reflexes, I would have been disarmed in no time given your speed and skill. I had to take the risk that I'd be quick enough to safely turn the tables if I knew where your next blow was coming."

"It paid off."

Kurt shrugged. "I suppose it did. A shame that it probably won't work again."

"Probably not. You'll come up with something else before long, I'm sure."

He couldn't help but chuckle at that, and before long she found herself joining in, the companionable laughter a pleasant coda to their spirited clash.

"It feels as though we should have done this sooner, doesn't it?"

"It really does. I'll settle for making up the lost time, though," she said as she stepped back into stance, wearing a confident grin that matched the boy's across from her, a grin that spoke volumes about how eager she was to once again cross blades with her new sparring partner.

"Whenever you're ready."

And once again, steel met steel.