Dance of Weapons
Cu Chulainn loved the test of skill, an honest battle. He observed that his first few lazy thrusts were easily deflected by Saber, who wasn't baited into attacking. Perhaps he was being too obvious about holding back his speed, though in his current frame of mind it was more of a warm-up for the battle. Maybe the whole War.
Speeding up his thrusting attacks, Lancer mixed a couple of wider sweeps in. While obviously possessing a wicked point, his weapon's spearhead did possess a measure of cutting ability. Thrust- horizontal sweep- thrust- thrust- vertical slice- thrust- the fight continued as he kept Saber just a little beyond his tip, where he could attack her but not be attacked in turn.
His opponent kept a very tight and efficient defense, constantly deflecting the crimson spear just a little bit to the side, even when he made a more committed lunge at her. Of course with his agility, quickly reversing his steps and drawing his spear back to recover before she could take advantage of the potential opening was par for the course.
She also seemed to prefer parrying closer to the sword's guard, even though it meant allowing the spear just that bit closer to her. On the other hand, he was hoping to catch the end of her blade with one of his sweeps, in order to move it aside and generate an opening.
As the speeding point crashed towards her, pushed out of the way before it could pierce her arm, only the calm of a battlefield mindset prevented her from gritting her teeth. It would reveal too much, in the middle of such a fight nothing would go unnoticed by either side. Lancer stepped away once it was clear that his point would not reach its target, and she instinctively made to pursue- He pulled the spear closer to himself, and she shifted back to defense at the clear tell of another rapid thrust.
The red weapon swung out, cutting away to one side, and she simply stepped back a bit out of its range. The spearman cut in the opposite direction while advancing in the same tempo, but it was just a little bit too slow compared to earlier sweeps-
Lancer suddenly stopped mid-swing, his point perfectly in line for a thrust at her center of mass, had she not moved to the side in anticipation. He made the attack anyway, as she couldn't fully dodge it, and she parried the somewhat weaker thrust. He inhaled deeply, more in excitement than due to being out of breath, before jumping forward into another determined attack.
While the spear was spun so fast that she couldn't follow it, predicting the path it would take was actually easier than with some of Lancer's more random probing thrusts. Trusting her instincts, she stepped into his attack as it reached her, turning so her body would provide additional momentum to the sword she swung about her head. The motion both deflected Lancer's weapon while also bringing her edge towards his chest.
A momentary lull occurred as Lancer broke off and pulled back, noticing how she had shifted from her intended thrust to end up in a guard position instead. Not surprising, though, since he was the first to attempt a preparatory-swing-into-thrust attack. Both sides moved towards one another in unison, but this time the swordswoman was the one to pull back. Lancer pushed his advantage, but abruptly realized she was using his momentum, quickly reversing her retreat into an attack so his momentum would carry him to far forward- spinning his spear to block her thrust, he stepped back, just as she did when his defensive shift was clear.
Lancer grinned, already thinking of his next move. Moving his grip towards the end of his spear, crouched slightly. Her eyes showed that she noticed, but even a small miscalculation on her part of the change in height of his attack might be decisive. Like a sprinter, he dashed forward. There was a bit of space between them as he had made sure to pull back more than usual, in order to convert the supposed safety of distance into additional momentum on his first thrust.
She moved to the side, sword swinging to parry. That was fine by him, Lancer flowed forward and past her, turning as he did to convert the last part of his attack into a cut, which she simply stepped away from. Completing his turn, both Lancer's hands and spear were close to his body. He leaped forward on the attack again, sliding one hand upwards towards the middle of his weapon. Rather than a weaker thrust from full range, instead he maintained his shortened grip while closing in.
With that, Cu Chulainn demonstrated the flexibility of the spear forms he had mastered, switching from the longer-range fighter to the one with less reach, but much greater leverage. Saber's defense was thrown off, as she had anticipated another long poke to cover Lancer's recovery, rather than an immediate charge into the next attack.
Lancer's eyes narrowed as the two weapons' tips neared each other. Saber had moved to parry a little too quickly, but with reach on her side, might still be able to attempt a strike at his hand. However, if she went for the straightforward thrust, he could parry very strongly with his short grip and get past her point. And then either continuing forward with his thrust, or perhaps a sudden backswing to the leg with the end of his spear and-
He saw the briefest flash, no something glimmering just at the edge of his vision, immediately putting him on alert. The sword and lance moved towards one another as though in slow-motion. Saber could have been baiting him into a committed attack, but he himself was trying to get her to reveal her Noble Phantasm. Lancer side-stepped without slowing down, and his spearpoint brushed against steel before lightly sliding off.
Spinning his weapon to provide defensive coverage as he glided past Saber, Lancer turned to see though the red blur between the two of them. Now, what sort of special skill or function did Saber have to show him? Cu Chulainn flashed a delighted grin in anticipation. But when he saw it-
"Oi, what sort of Saber uses that?"