Sisters of Tevinter

Necessity

     Jor steadied her breath. "So is there a point system or... a signal...?"

    "Nope, go." Bull grinned, the words left his mouth in a rush as he tucked his fists against his sides and flashed forward with unnerving speed. 

      Jor yelped and spun to one side and ducked a swing of his massive arm that only missed her face by a hair's breadth. "Headshots?" 

      "If you can reach mine." Bull swung again, crouching low. All anxiety and poison was cast aside as Jor gritted her teeth and whipped around, jabbing a flurry of loose palmed punches against the qunari's ribcage. It was like punching tree trunks. 

      She hissed as her hands stung, dancing out of the way of another powerful blow that would have flung her halfway across the courtyard. She blessed the shadow and she blessed her slightness. Bull was strong, but she was faster. Her heart pumping sparkfuls of adrenaline along her veins, Jor shuffled her feet in an artful twist to the left as Bull threw another heavy punch. 

      She turned, bringing up her knee to crack him across the face. Both massive hands caught her calf, leaving her standing fully erect on a single leg. She inhaled sharply to keep her balance as Bull grinned down at her, still gripping the cap of bone in her knee. "Aggressive. Keep that up and we might actually have fun." 

       "This was your idea," Jor huffed, panting as she swung her remaining leg out from under her to hook over the qunari's arm and hoist herself up, hoping to bury her fist in his nose. The qunari tossed her easily over his shoulder, leaving her to tumble into a roll in the moss and mud. 

     "That was for you. You need to blow off steam. But now I'm enjoying myself, and that's dangerous." 

      "Dangerous is fine," Jor panted, melting into the writhing shadows to spring at his turned back, he caught her fist and flung her arm aside. She ducked his steady haymaker. 

      "Fair enough." Bull hooked his elbow around her waist, she twisted snakelike from his grasp. Her skin was already damp with sweat. The mercenary looked like he was barely trying. 

    "Go on, keep talking," he urged good-naturedly, ducking a sweeping high kick and stepping to one side, bouncing slightly on the balls of his feet. His broad shouldered form blended and split in the mix of darkness and firelight. 

       "Can't," Jor panted, sweeping low to hook her ankle around his boot. He stepped aside and caught her arm, yanking her towards him. She winced and fell into the momentum, bringing her free fist into his gut. 

      He coughed out a laugh. "Sure you can." He brushed aside her second punch and released her arm, letting her dance out of sight again. He was being gentle with her, and it made Jor angry. 

      The scholar paced around him in the dark, her footsteps muffled in the moss. "Fine," she huffed. "Tell me something then." 

      "Shoot." Bull's gaze followed the shifting shadows as he stood in the center of their little sparring ground. He rolled his shoulders, waiting for her to come at him again. 

       "What is with you qunari?" The scholar's breath was ragged as she prowled the circle. "Are you all like this?" 

       Bull smiled. "Like what? Muscular and quick witted?"

       "You get this... this kick out of fighting. I don't get it yet." Jor flashed forward in a few sharp jabs. Bull brushed her aside and sent her twisting back into the shadows to pace again. 

       The qunari grinned. "Kick is a bit of a shallow word, but it works." He tested a step to the left. Jor came at him from the right and drove her heel into his side with a snap of her hip. The mercenary tossed his horned head and let the blow glance off his ribs. Jor vanished again. "You wonder about guys who fight as often as we do and don't have some kind of fun. Tell me you're not having fun."