Elle was still not smiling when they made it to the training grounds. Laer was already out there with the older boys, but handed them off and jogged over when he caught sight of them. He stopped when his eyes landed on Elle's expression. He gave her a side-eyed look and whistled. "Who spit in your fruit this morning?"
She rolled her eyes at his teasing. "Stow it. Don't we have better things to do? Like beating the crap out of each other."
He laughed and shook his head. "Oh, no. I'm not letting any of the trainees spar with you until you lose whatever crawled up yo-"
"Enough." Caius was frowning at both of them, but he turned to Elle with a contemplative look. "I had hoped to ask you to spar myself."
Both the others froze and looked at him in shock. He hadn't bothered since the first time, and no one wondered why. The skill difference was clear. Even Elle could admit that. "Why? Not that I would say no, but I thought you didn't feel it was a challenge."
He didn't say anything right away. Instead, he gestured toward the empty area typically used for hand-to-hand. She raised a brow but followed him out as murmuring broke out around them. This time, Elle caught a few bets being passed back and forth and had to repress a grin. Oh, what a difference a few months and a behemoth made.
When they got to the middle, Caius finally turned to her. "I had hoped to have you face me as a l'cie. I need the practice, and you have improved greatly since our first spar. It makes sense that I ask you."
Elle froze and frowned at him. "You are asking me to fight you with my l'cie powers?"
Caius nodded. "It would benefit us both."
Elle clenched her fists and almost walked away. She wasn't sure if she was angrier that her friend just asked her to purposely hurt him, or pissed that he might feel she couldn't. She finally managed to reach back and yanked the knife from her belt. He raised a brow as he watched her toss it to the side before she reached for the other two. Neither of them noticed the fact that they had garnered an audience, including two that generally would not have been on the plateau. Both the Ballad twins had come to see what an average day was like for the Apprentice and his charge after they had the chance to fight by her side.
Caius ignored them all as he frowned at Elle's jerky movements. He lowered his voice as he stepped forward. "I thought you would be pleased. This should allow you the opportunity to release your frustration with no worry that your opponent would be harmed."
She glared back at him and practically spit her answer back at him. "No worry? Caius, do you realize what I'm capable of? I know you may be rightfully arrogant when it comes to your skills, but you haven't seen half of what I can do as a l'cie. You pretty much just told me to not hold back, and I'm not sure if I'm more offended at being underestimated again, or pissed off that you don't seem to care that I could hurt you. Badly. Just for the record. I do care, even if you don't."
Caius stood stiffly as he realized how she had taken his request. He should have known that in her current mood, she would miss his underlying meaning. He sighed and shook his head. "Elle, I do not underestimate you. I would not have asked to stand against you if I felt you were not capable. As for hurting me, I trust that you would not. I only ask that you do not hold back more than necessary to keep from permanently harming me. I will do the same for you, as a mark of the respect I hold for you."
She froze and narrowed her eyes. When she realized he meant it, she huffed. Her huff then turned into a laugh, and she shook her head before she held out her hand. "I apologize. I guess my temper really does have me by the tail. Let's make it count, shall we?"
He took her outstretched hand with a grin of his own before they parted and turned to face each other. Laer stepped between them with a shake of his head. "Okay, kiddos, if you are set on this, then we need some ground rules. If I see blood in the eyes, I'm calling it. If there is enough blood to soak the ground, I'm calling it. I will only give you a count of five if you're down." He paused and looked at them both. "Got it?"
When they both smirked and nodded, he shook his head again and stepped away. "Try not to kill each other."
With Laer out of the way, the two combatants faced each other and dropped into fighting stances. Unlike last time, Caius did not stand still as Elle started to circle around him. He knew better than to give her an opening. He also didn't wait for her to attack. She gasped when he lunged at her, but she was able to dodge to the side.
She didn't wait to finish her roll before she cast haste on herself. If he wanted to know what it was like to fight a l'cie, then so be it. She barely saw his eyes widen when she came up and ran past him so fast his eyes could scarcely follow. The only downside was the fact that she didn't yet have good enough aim while she was sped up to make her blows count. She managed a glancing blow off his ribcage, but he rolled with it, and no damage was done.
She paused when she turned back to see him staring at her with furrowed brows. She smirked and shrugged before she darted in again. This time, she led with ice coating her fists. She didn't want to burn him or cause him the type of damage that would have him down and out for days, but if she was only going to be able to land minor blows, then she was damn sure going to make them count. That was the point of this, after all.
It didn't take Caius long to adapt. He could no longer dodge all of her punches or kicks, but he could tell she did not yet have full control over them, so he switched tactics to blocking and trying to counter any time her increased speed left an opening. It happened more often than Elle wanted to admit, too, since she was still getting used to the enhancement.
The first time Caius' fist managed to make it past her guard, the blow landed on her side as she was passing and knocked her a couple of feet sideways. It nearly knocked her off her feet, but she was up with a quick cure and facing him again. He didn't hit nearly as hard as that behemoth had, but she still cast protect as well. Better to be safe. She couldn't use her steelguard and still fight one-on-one, so protect would have to be enough.
After that, the battle seemed to blur for both of them. Caius had managed to nearly knock Elle down twice more, but her power allowed her to bounce right back up. Even after he had grabbed her incoming wrist and practically thrown her several feet. He nearly paused when Laer came running, but she didn't even give him the chance to count before she was up again.
Elle knew that she was giving just as good as she got. She had no idea how long they had been going at it, but even though she could feel her reserves finally draining, she grinned at the sight of Caius. He had a small cut across one cheekbone that was barely bleeding, and he was favoring his right side. She would have to offer to heal him once she was rested because she thought she might have cracked his ribs accidentally. That had been when he lost it and threw her across the ring. Still, she knew as they both stood there panting, with sweat dripping, that he no longer saw her as anything other than an equal, and it made a fierce pride well up inside as she lunged again.
She managed to duck under his swinging fist and came up with what was supposed to be a gut punch, but he had anticipated the move, and instead of her fist connecting, his knee caught her square in the stomach. It would have been a harsh blow, but not one she couldn't have bounced back from if her protect hadn't worn off right beforehand. She dropped like a rock and grabbed herself around the middle as she tried to pull air into lungs that were just not working. She saw her vision start to darken around the edges, and she heard Laer call her name.
Finally, she managed a gasping breath as she heard the trainer yelling. "Damn it! I knew this would happen." She ignored him since she hadn't heard a five yet and shakily tried to stand. She was stopped by a hand on her shoulder and looked up to see Mirus. He shook his head down at her before he spoke. "That was five seconds."
Laer looked back with a glare, but his eyes widened when he saw Elle had been trying to stand. He stalked back to her. "Are you insane!? I don't know why you were so pissed, but that is no reason to kill yourself."
She scoffed at his reprimand and pushed his hand away as she uncurled enough to get to her feet. "That wasn't what this was about. I'm good now. I was down five seconds, so I lose." She then turned to Caius with a strained smirk. "That was a good fight. If you let me rest for about a half-hour, I should be able to heal those broken ribs. Sorry."
Caius grimaced as he gave her a nod. "That would be appreciated." He didn't bother to apologize as well. He had a feeling she would not be grateful for it. They both ignored Laer as he threw his hands up and walked off, mumbling about idiots.
Elle chuckled as she tried to retrieve her knives, but she was brought up short when she tried to bend, and the bruises that were already forming on her stomach cramped up and had her growling. She was thankful when Mirus grabbed them for her. She gave him a nod of thanks before she started to turn away.
He caught her attention as Caius came to join them. When he spoke, she was just glad that the rest of the crowd had been shooed off by the irate Laer. "Emissary, I must say that your style of fighting is unlike anything I have seen before. It almost seems as though you were taught to fight men specifically. Your aim was not just for the least protected areas, but for those that would cause the most damage. As hunters, we are taught to guard them against attack, but using them to disable our human opponents has never been part of our training."
Caius' face had lost all expression, but Elle grimaced. She looked Mirus in the eye and shrugged. "Different lessons for different reasons. I've been learning since I was a girl. In the end, it doesn't really matter, does it? The different styles can all be adapted to whatever is needed as long as the person pays attention, right?"
The other hunter narrowed his eyes for a moment before he finally nodded. "It is as you say." He then gave them both a slight bow. "That was well fought, both of you, and will be an inspiration to our young hunters of something to strive for, as well as a reminder of how far they have to go. You should both rest for the afternoon."
Caius frowned as the man walked off. "He is correct. I believe we may have pushed too far. If Yeul agrees to let you join the hunters, then we may start patrols as soon as tomorrow. It would be best to be ready."
Despite how painful it was to breathe at the moment, Elle grinned up at him. "Some things are just worth it. But I'm not going to complain if we head back a little early. I can heal this and your ribs, but it's gonna take a minute."
He gave her a nod and led her from the enclosure. They both waved at Laer as they left, and Elle grinned when he responded with a different kind of gesture. She didn't recognize it, but it made Caius nearly stumble and look down at her with wide eyes, so she knew it had to be good. She smirked as she cupped her hands over her mouth to yell. "Back at ya, buddy!"
Caius did stop at that, and he stared at her with open shock. Had her yelling not caused a surge of spasms in her stomach muscles, she probably would have been rolling with laughter. He finally shook his head. "Do you have any idea what you just implied."
She grinned up at him. "Not a clue, but if it's anything like what the guys back home do, then it wasn't meant to be taken literally. Just roll with it."
He shook his head at her appraisal before he continued on in silence. They were nearly back to the path down before either of them were moved to break it. Caius finally spoke up tentatively. "You do not have to answer if you feel this is inappropriate, but would be willing to share with me how you became a hunter of men?"
Elle grimaced and sighed before she shook her head. "First of all, I am not a hunter of men. That just sounds wrong. I am a homicide detective. Secondly," She paused and looked over at him. "Does it not bother you?"
It was Caius' turn to look uncomfortable. "It bothers me that you have had to face such horrors. That you live in a place where they are commonplace enough for you to dedicate your life's work to just that. However, the fact that you have done so is admirable. It must take a great deal of willpower to face that each day and not lose yourself to such incomprehensible actions."
Elle sighed and ran her hand down her face roughly. "Actually chasing down a perp is the smallest part of my job. Most of what I do is finding clues they left behind to try and figure out a motive. Without proof and motive, they can get away with it. I can't let that happen."
"That does not sound any better. How can you handle that? What made you chose such a profession?"
Elle stopped in the middle of the path and looked up at Caius with a frown. Finally, she nodded. "I can try to explain, but that means telling you a little more about me. About how I grew up. Are you okay with that?"
Caius' eyes widened. He had kept a professional distance between them for both their sakes, and he realized he may have just crossed that line. It was harder each day for him to tell where it was. Still, this was something he wanted to know, and it wasn't anything much different than the things he knew about his other peers. At least the ones that he worked with often enough. He gave her a nod. "I will hear it."
She chuckled at his continued formality but started walking again while she talked. "It's not like it's some deep dark secret or anything, but I come from a family of law enforcement. My father was a cop too. A small-town cop, but still. He grew up in the city and moved away when he met my mom. They settled in Podunk nowhere and had me and then Kurt. It wasn't particularly dangerous for him. You know, the usual stuff, drunks, bar fights, drugs, petty theft, that kind of stuff."
"For the most part, we grew up in a safe neighborhood thinking all was right in the world. Dad taught us how to defend ourselves, and mom yelled at him when he decided to teach us to shoot too."
Caius didn't interrupt at the terms he found unfamiliar. He could easily see that Elle was lost in her memories, and it brought out a strange feeling to see her twisted smile as she spoke. He wasn't sure if he wanted to hear more or cut her off to keep it from twisting further. His indecision kept the choice from him as she continued.
"When I was seventeen, my mom was headed out late one night to take dad something he forgot. I don't think it was anything important, because I can't even remember what it was, but she never made it. She was involved in a hit and run and died before anyone found her. We never figured out who it was. No one saw the accident, and there wasn't enough evidence at the scene to figure out what the other vehicle was."
Caius put a hand on her shoulder. "I am sorry for your loss."
Elle looked up with a raised brow, and he was shocked to see nothing but emptiness in her eyes. Still, she was not rude when she shrugged his hand off. "Thanks, but it was long enough ago that I've come to terms with it."
He wondered again how any person could bury their emotions so thoroughly and began to wonder what else she kept hidden. He clenched his jaw at the thought as she turned back to the path and continued speaking. "Her death is part of why I joined the force. I also wanted to prove to my dad that we didn't have to let it be the end of us. I guess he never got the memo. I was still working up to detective when I got the call that he had managed to drink himself to death."
Caius froze. He had once admired her ability to focus past the fact that she had been thrust into uncertain circumstances and left her life behind with no clear idea on how or when she could go back. Now, he wondered if there was more to it. Despite how emotionless her expression was, he knew her at least well enough to have no doubt that the loss of both her parents caused her grief.
When Elle noticed Caius had stopped walking, she turned back with a frown. "I'm not sharing so you can pity me. I'm telling you this, so you understand my motives."
He shook his head and started walking again. "Do not fear that I find you pitiful. I have seen enough to know that will never be the case. However, I am still sorry to hear that you have faced so much. I understand now why you said it was just you and your brother. Do you have no other family?"
Elle looked away and tried to ignore the soft look he was giving her. She had learned to bury her pain, but that didn't mean it didn't hurt when people started digging. She managed to shake her head. "Not really. My dad has two brothers, but I never knew them. They became estranged after their parents' death, and that was all before I was born. My mom was an only child. Her dad, my Pops, still lives on a farm south of where I live, but I don't get to see him often."
Elle fell into silence after that, and Caius allowed it to continue. He glanced over at his companion several times, but not once did she notice. He could discern no visible signs of what she was thinking, but he had no doubt that her distraction was a symptom of whatever it was that she was holding back. He bit back a sigh as he wondered whether his question helped or hindered. It certainly gave him new insight, but his uncertainty on what to do with it only grew.
A/N: I am finding that this may end up being one of my shorter stories. We'll see. It's still not halfway there, ut we are getting closer to that mark. I hope you are all enjoying it so far. Thanks, and let me know what you think!