Chapter 3 – A Little Too Fast

It's been several days since Cassandra and Leonsritt left Greece. Our heroes have been training on the way to Wolfkrone Kingdom. Though now that Leonsritt has started to learn how to maintain the power of the Soul Edge shard in his arm, he still notices everything weird, especially with what goes on with Cassandra.

(Seriously, this looks like it's coming from a movie, but a girl can't fall for a guy like me in a few days or so. Nah, pretty much doubt it...)

"What's on your mind, Leonsritt?"

"Huh? Oh, nothing..."

Cassandra had noticed something was not okay about him.

"Are you sure?"

"Uh, yeah, don't worry about it..."

Though he still recalls the challenge from Taki, the ninja. Leonsritt wasn't sure about taking her on, one on one. He stopped and rested near a tree, sitting down under the shade.

"We'll rest here now. Come on, sit down."

"Are you sure you don't wanna keep on going?"

"I'm kinda tired, and besides, you seem pretty tired as well."

"Alright. I'll set everything up then."

Leonsritt had helped Cassandra set for tonight. Luckily, there was a river nearby, and Leonsritt had gone to hunt some fish, as for Cassandra, she ended up bathing somewhere away from where Leonsritt was.

(Seriously, now that I think about it, why did I end up here? I know I always wanted to explore a world like this. So why now?)

Leonsritt still had many questions he wanted an answer for...

(And there is absolutely NO WAY Cassandra can fall for me. She's got other tastes.)

He kept refusing these things about her.

(How can she even cry because of me like that? It's not like she cares for me... does she?)

His mind was now filled with doubt. He had brought fish back and started a fire to cook them. Cassandra hadn't come back, so he set himself to cook the fish. He though about the few days that went by, but he still had doubts about this. Why him, of all people? He thought, but it seemed there was no answer to that question.

(Well, I like Cassandra, too. But to fall for her? I can't do that. She's way out of my league. Wait... why am I thinking of this...? W-whatever, I'll just eat...)

Leonsritt had started eating, and Cassandra had returned from the river.

"You're eating without me?"

"Hey, you took too long, you know."

"Well, at least, you should tell me when food's ready."

"What? There is no way I'm gonna tell you straightforward food's ready while you're naked."

"Yeah, you can."

"What happened last time? Remember you threw your shield at me for that?"

Cassandra laughed, and so did Leonsritt. Eating their fried fish, they had conversed about what they'll see at Wolfkrone Kingdom. Leonsritt had finished eating and Cassandra had still hers to finish.

"I'm gonna bathe, so I'll be right back."

"Yeah, go on."

Leonsritt headed to the river, and had been in there for a good 30 minutes, just thinking about the doubts he's had in mind. It was so restless about these doubts that bothered him so much that he lost track of time. He had finished bathing in the river, changed and headed back to the campsite. As he arrived, he found Cassandra, still awake, looking at the campfire. He sat next to her.

"So are you still anxious about arriving to Wolfkrone Kingdom, huh?"

"Yeah, I... am..."

Cassandra had yawned, and fell asleep. Leonsritt had noticed her lean on his shoulder. Leonsritt was a little nervous because of this, but he put her on her bed. Leonsritt had looked at a sleeping Cassandra, but still denying the facts about his feelings for her. He turned around, and found Taki standing a few feet in front of him.

"Taki... so you're ready, I suppose?"

"Let's see what you got..."

"Bring it on!!!"

Sword in hand, Leonsritt had prepared himself. Taki had drawn her ninja blades and both dashed at each other. Taki had delivered the first blow to the gut, as Leonsritt had grabbed her the moment she hit him. Though Leonsritt threw her to the ground, she vanished. Taki had countered with a downward punch but Leonsritt had blocked it in time. Leonsritt had swung his sword upward, and had caught Taki off-guard with his attack, allowing him to get in a few hits. Taki had grabbed him and tossed him in the air, only to slam him down to the ground. Leonsritt had gotten up and picked Taki up with his blade and knocked her down. Both battled fiercely until Taki had knocked Leonsritt down. Tired, he had started assuming in to his demon form, drawing power from the Soul Edge shard.

"I see you're using the power of Soul Edge."

"This might come in handy then, won't it?"

"Then come at me!!!"

Both had fought relentlessly, as Taki had been attacking with more aggressiveness. Leonsritt had started to tire out, but Taki had kept attacking without fear, without hesitation. At last, Taki knocked him down, and she landed on him. Reverted to his normal self, Leonsritt had been pinned down. Taki placed herself on him, as Leonsritt had tried shaking her off, due to the fact that something wrong was going on down there.

"Taki, seriously, you win! Now get off me!"

Taki had gotten off, and Leonsritt felt relieved about this. Taki had stood up and looked at Leonsritt.

"Though you lost to me, you have potential in handling a sword."

"Well, I wouldn't really say that."

"You need to train a lot more. Honing your skills in swordmastery will have you prepared for many hard battles along your way."

"Um, thanks?"

Without another word, Taki disappeared in to the night. Leonsritt still needed training, but he knew he'll need to hone his skills. He had headed to his bed, and looked at Cassandra.

"Wow, I've never seen her sleep so peacefully like that..."

The next morning, Leonsritt had woken up and started his solo training. Cassandra had woken up to find Leonsritt train by himself.

"Hey, mind if I join you?"

"Um, sure..."

"But let's have a sparring match. Is that okay with you?"

"Okay, let's go, then."

"I'm going all out!"

And the sparring match raged on. The day had turned to night, swords clashed as both had started tiring out. Leonsritt had fallen down on his knees, and Cassandra had knocked him down completely by pushing him down with her butt... again. Pinned down, he felt Cassandra sit on him. This was really bad for him, as she sat on him and felt something warm down below. Leonsritt was doomed, and Cassandra had felt something on her, that the more she moved, the bigger it grew. She had let out a small moan that Leonsritt had no way of escaping this one. He felt her moving and had now reached his limit. He had snapped back to reality that he noticed what was happening was totally wrong. Pushing her off, he had stood up quickly.

"Cassandra... don't... just..."

"Leonsritt... I-I'm...

Walking away, he had reached the river. Taking his clothes off, he dived in the river.

(There was no way she was doing that... on me... What the hell is going on?! This isn't happening...)

He was just confused. How is it that this just happened to him? He stayed in the river for a while just thinking of that single moment, until Cassandra had gotten in the river without him noticing. He had turned around, and noticed her right in front of him, naked...

"CASSANDRA!?"

She had held him tight.

(WHAT THE HELL?!?!?! NO WAY?!)

He felt her whole body on him, as Leonsritt was paralyzed at what was going on. She felt her whole body pressing against him, that he didn't know what to do. Cassandra had felt him growing to the point where it was touching her. She let out a small moan at the slight touch of it on her. Leonsritt couldn't believe this was happening. A girl who has the guts of doing this kind of thing with him. These feelings he held back, the ones he denied, he couldn't handle it anymore. He held Cassandra tightly, that he kissed her in the most of amorous ways. She couldn't believe it herself that she had also let herself go all out. He let his hand down on to her body as he reached down and played with her. Cassandra let out small moans, and she had done the same thing with Leonsritt. Both had felt this feeling of pleasure as they had been in the river for a long time. He fondled her breasts as Cassandra had moaned so loud at the excitement and the way he was handling her. But he had stopped. Cassandra had known this was going to happen.

"Look, Cassandra... This isn't right... I'm sorry... I can't do this..."

"Leo... why?"

"It just can't happen... I can't do this..."

Leonsritt had walked out of the river and changed, as Cassandra stared at him with a sad emotion, like he broke her heart, shattered it to pieces. Leonsritt was angered about this. He grabbed his steel paddle and started attacking the trees around him. His anger wasn't helping him as no matter how much he swung and hit, it just didn't relieve him of that situation. A few hours had passed and he walked back to the campsite. He noticed Cassandra sitting near the fire, sad. Walking up to her, Leonsritt kneeled in front of her...

"Cassandra... look... I'm sorry I walked awa--"

"Get away..."

"Just listen to me..."

Cassandra had looked away from him. Leonsritt had felt bad for this.

"Look, I'm sorry, but I didn't want that to happen. I don't know why I did that. But this was a little too fast to happen. One thing is, I had these doubts in my mind and I don't think--"

"Leonsritt..."

Cassandra had quieted Leonsritt, as she placed her finger on his mouth.

"I... I love you... I had fallen for you the first time I saw you..."

Tears were running down her face as she told him this. Leonsritt couldn't believe what he was hearing. Though he didn't believe this, he just couldn't refuse these feelings for her.

"But, now that I have told you this... Leo... do you... love me?"

There was silence. Leonsritt had looked down on the ground. Cassandra had waited for his answer, but Leonsritt had been surprised about what he just heard from the girl who's traveling with him. Cassandra grabbed his hand and placed it on her chest. He looked at her and saw her with tears running down her face. He wiped them off and leaned towards Cassandra, kissing her. Leonsritt's mind was made up. He loved this girl, no matter how much he denied these feelings. She lied down as he had kept kissing her. Cassandra had grabbed his hand and placed it on one of her breasts, as he fondled her. She let out tiny moans, as Leonsritt had kept his lips slowly caressing her neck. This arduous and passionate night had just started...

Early morning had struck and Leonsritt had no idea what happened last night, thinking whether it was real or just a dream. It had seem real to him about Cassandra and him going at it. He was confused, but looked around and saw everything was just normal. He lied back down but when he turned around he noticed Cassandra right next to him, sleeping and naked...

(THIS WASN'T A DREAM?!?!?!)

Cassandra woke up and smiled at Leonsritt.

"Leo... good morning..."

Leonsritt was more confused than feeling accomplished. He knew he always wanted her, but just looking at what had happened last night was just weird. Leonsritt felt her arms around him, and without anymore thoughts he embraced her.

"Hey... come on, let's keep going... you said we're almost there are we?"

"Yeah, we are..."

Changing into her clothes, Cassandra had put away everything. Leonsritt had readied himself and started along the way. Leonsritt walked as Cassandra had followed him, feeling very happy. Cassandra had held one of his hands, and Leonsritt didn't mind it, though he just felt very weird about it. He looked at Cassandra, as she looked at him, smiling.

(Hmm. I think I can get used to this.)

They both reached a river, and a boat was there. Approaching the boat, Cassandra and Leonsritt had seen a man resting near the boat. Leonsritt approached the man.

"Excuse me, sir. Where can I go in order to reach Wolfkrone Kingdom?"

"You a traveler?"

"Yeah, me and my companion here need to get there."

"Well, consider yourself lucky, because I'm headed there too!"

"Is it okay with you to take us along?"

"Well, sure!"

Cassandra had walked to the boat and sat down. Leonsritt had sat down and the man had started rowing. Seeing how the man was rowing by himself, Leonsritt used his steel paddle to make the travel much faster. They had reached the ocean, and the man set his sail. Yet as soon as he did, a ship had emerged from the sea. The man was frightened about this and Leonsritt had known who's ship this was. Cassandra stared at the ship in fear as well.

"You there... you're coming with me... to hell..."

That voice, Leonsritt knew who this was. Cassandra and the man had also recognized the voice of the one who called them out. Somehow, the three were on the ship, and that man was in front of them. Holding a broadsword and a pistol sword, he pointed the pistol sword at Leonsritt.

"Cervantes. What do you want from me?"

"None other than that Soul Edge shard you have in your arm, lad."

Grabbing his steel paddle, Leonsritt prepared for battle.

"So, you're willing to fight for it, now do you?"

Leonsritt assumed his demon form. Cervantes had prepared himself as well.

"Let's rock..."

"You dare to defy me?!"

The showdown is about to begin...

Author's Notes: I don't own SoulCalibur... And yes, I wanted that little scene with those two get a little steamy, but I kinda didn't want to. Saving it until later or something.