A/N: My muse kind of ran amok with this one, but oh it was so much fun to write. A bit of K/F fluff because my muse refused to be denied by the slow-moving plot of my other K/F fic. DISCLAIMER: Any thing, one, or place you may recognize belongs solely to Kristen Britain. Enjoy!

Karigan was sweating rivers. It had to be the hottest day of the year so far, so of course Drent insisted on arms training in the middle of the day when there was nowhere to hide from the sun. Karigan was stripped down to breeches, boots, and a tunic she had torn the sleeves off of long ago. Her hair was hastily coiled at the nape of her neck. She could feel a few loose strands sticking to the back of her neck.

She and Fastion circled each other, swords at the ready. The Weapon had shed his tunic several minutes ago and was sweating just as profusely as Karigan was.

"Well don't just stand there, have at it," Drent growled at them. Fastion and Karigan shared a look. He arched an eyebrow at her in question. Karigan gave him a one-shouldered shrug. He sighed then stepped in and attacked. Karigan brought her own sword up to meet his. After being out here for nearly an hour and sweating buckets, his blow nearly sent her sprawling backwards in the dirt. As it was, she still stumbled back a step or two. Luckily her muscles were fairly used to catching her by now, so she recovered quickly. She tossed him off before launching into her own offensive. Even with the heat and the exhaustion, she still reveled in the fine dance of swordplay they were engaged in. Despite the impression she gave, she really did enjoy these sessions. They were even worth having to put up with Drent.

Fastion quickly put her back on the offensive as they moved around the ring. She could feel Drent's eyes on her as she had her back to him. She and Fastion switched roles back and forth for a while until Karigan somehow found herself with her arms raised over her head ready to strike with Fastion's sword tip in her stomach.

"Dead again," he panted. Karigan was bewildered. How had he gotten that one in through her defenses? She dropped her own sword tip to the ground and wiped the sweat off her face with one hand. The arms master eyed them critically for a moment. Karigan felt a moment of dread when his gaze seemed to settle on her.

"Rider G'ladheon, do you have something on your mind that's more important than your life?" Drent asked her.

"No."

"Then start paying attention! If this had been a real fight you would've been dead half an hour ago. There's absolutely no excuse for it," he said. Karigan thought she had given it her full attention, but she resisted the urge to tell Drent as much and in less than pleasant terms. That would only earn her some new form of torture next time.

"That's enough for today," he continued.

Karigan and Fastion wordlessly nodded as they sheathed their blades.

"Now go on with the both of you."

They wasted no time in gathering their things and leaving the practice yards. They quickly found a shady spot by the nearby river to sit and catch their breath and ease their tired muscles before making the trek back to the castle.

"Gods above it's hot," Karigan said flopping back onto the grass beneath the trees. Due to the heat, they were the only ones out here as the castle grounds were nearly deserted.

"That it is," he agreed taking a swig from the waterskin he had brought with him. He offered it to her and she gratefully accepted it. At this point she didn't care if it wasn't much cooler than the outside air. It was water. She drank her fill then passed it back to him. Fastion put the cap back on and set it aside.

Karigan wasn't entirely certain she was going to be able to get up from her current spot as she felt her body to relax as her heart rate and breathing returned back to their normal paces. Her shirt still stuck to her uncomfortably though and she felt rather sticky and disgusting. She could go for a cold bath right now, however she really didn't feel like going anywhere. She unfastened her sword belt to get more comfortable and kicked off her shoes so she could stretch her cramped feet.

"Planning on staying awhile?" Fastion asked her, looking over from where he was leaned back against one of the trees.

"Why not? There's nothing else to be done this afternoon and I don't know about you, but I'm not particularly inclined to go anywhere at the moment," she said.

"Good point," he agreed, divesting himself of sword belt and boots as well. "I can't ever remember it being this hot, not even during my training on Breaker Island and I was there in the dead of summer."

"I can't ever remember it being this hot either."

"Back home, growing up every kid in the village would have been in the lake by now," he said. Karigan paused from where she was idly twining grass blades through her fingers. This was the first time she had heard her friend speak of his life before he joined the Weapons.

"Was it a big lake?"

"It was, you could just barely make out the opposite shore on the horizon. Most of the time it was just a hazy outline in the distance. As soon as my dad let me off from the forge, myself, my two younger brothers, and my younger sister would all make a mad dash through the village and down to the shore. One of the popular games was to try and speculate on just how deep the lake really was. On a good, still day you could see clear to the bottom. And god it was cold. It was fed from the rivers that ran down from the nearby mountains.

Karigan smiled at his description. "Sounds like when I was a child growing up in Corsa. Every summer, my cousins and I, we'd all disobey my aunts and go down to the end of the wharves where all the sailors, dockworkers, and townspeople were swimming. A lot of times the sailors who were still on the wharves would grab us up and throw us in. A majority of us often ended up being sick from swallowing too much sea water, we were laughing so hard when we hit the water. After a while my aunts would notice we too quiet in our rooms and they would show up and drag us back home."

Fastion laughed, "I could see you doing something like that."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Karigan said, pretending to be offended.

"Nothing, other than it doesn't surprise me that you were just as much of a headstrong trouble-maker growing up as you are now," he said with a grin. Karigan pushed herself upright.

"I don't make trouble, it just seems to have a bad habit of finding me," she protested.

"Oh does it?" he said getting to his feet. Karigan forced herself to her feet as well as all of her muscles groaned in protest.

"Yes it does. Believe me, I've had more than enough of trouble to go looking for it," she said as he came to stand in front of her. Karigan found herself staring at the tops of his bare shoulders as he had never put his tunic back on. He was standing so close to her she could feel the heat radiating off of him. She looked up at him and he grinned mischievously at her.

"Good, then you won't be looking for me to do this," he said. Before Karigan could ask what he meant by that, she found herself hauled up in his arms. He covered the distance to the broad river in three easy strides. Karigan screamed as he plunged them both in the icy water. The shock of the cold water knocked the breath from Karigan's lungs and she came up gasping for air. She had to admit that the water did feel amazing. Fastion surfaced next to her with a grin.

"You see what I mean about trouble finding me? I was all prepared to go back to the castle, but instead you dumped me in the river," she said, shoving him lightly. Fastion laughed, wiping the water out of his eyes.

"I still say you make the trouble," he bantered back, moving out of her reach.

"Some friend you are," Karigan said, splashing him instead.

He crooked an eyebrow at her, "See what I mean? That's asking for trouble right there."

She grinned, "Oh is it?"

"It is," he said splashing her back in response.

Karigan laughed and launched a counterattack. Soon, an all-out war was started as the two enjoyed the cool water of the river and a much needed break from the daily grind of working in high-stress jobs. Karigan's delighted screams mingled with Fastion's bellowing laughter. She had never seen the Weapon so carefree before. The battle finally ended when Fastion got close enough to plunge Karigan under again.

"Truce! My arms can't take any more today," she said laughing once she came back up. Fastion chuckled as she started making her way back towards the bank. He followed right behind her.

When the water was about to the middle of her thighs, Karigan saw the perfect opportunity for her revenge. She turned to face Fastion who had to stop suddenly to avoid crashing into her.

""By the way," she said, "Revenge is best served cold." Before he could react, Karigan pushed him hard in the chest so that he went toppling back into the water. She was in hysterics as he came spluttering back to the surface. His face had been priceless.

"See if I trust you again trouble-maker," he muttered good-naturedly as he got back to his feet. Karigan laughed until she looked up and saw the way he was suddenly looking at her. He had a rather peculiar look on his face and Karigan suddenly realized that her wet clothes were rather…fitting. They clung to every inch of her body. She could feel the tendrils of hair that had escaped from her ties clinging to her neck and shoulders. She was probably scarlet under his gaze.

Although she had to admit, he wasn't too hard on the eyes in his current state either. Sure, she had thought him handsome on a number of occasions, but having seen him laugh and joke and now this? This was something else entirely. With the rivulets of water running down his bare chest and droplets glistening in his dark hair, he looked more like one of those characters from the books Mara was always reading. Suddenly Karigan felt rather warm, and not just because of the weather.

He closed the gap between them with a single step, the water swirling around them.

"Karigan," Fastion said, hooking a finger under her chin and tilting her head up. Her heart started pounding when her blue eyes met his grey ones. Before she could think any more about what was happening, he leaned down and kissed her.

She froze briefly in surprise before responding and looping her arms around his neck. Kissing Fastion was certainly not something she had anticipated doing this morning. It was one of life's more pleasant surprises.

He dropped his hands from her face and placed them on her waist, dragging her closer as he deepened the kiss. It had been a very long time since anyone had made Karigan feel like this.

They hastily broke off when someone cat-called at them from the bank. They looked over to see Tegan standing there wearing an ear-to-ear grin. Karigan groaned, she was never going to hear the end of this.

"Much as I hate to break this lovely scene up, but the Captain wants you Karigan," she called.

Karigan sighed, "Alright." She and Fastion slogged out of the river, wringing their clothes out as best as they could before pulling on their boots and belting their swords back on. The whole time Tegan stood there looking like a child who had just been given a new toy.

"I imagine I'll see you later," Fastion said, tugging his tunic back over his head. Karigan could feel herself blushing furiously again.

"Yes, we definitely to talk." He laughed before he headed back in the direction of the castle. Karigan watched him go before turning back to Tegan.

"Don't," she warned her fellow Rider for all the good that she knew it would do her.

"I was just going to say that I don't think your dip in the river cooled you off enough. You're still a little red in the face."

"I'm never going to hear the end of this am I?"

"Tegan gave her a wicked grin, "Never."

A/N: Again this was so much fun to write. I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did. As always I would love to know what you think so leave a note after this message~ Naomi