PeaceMaker

Rash and impulsive. That was what Litian saw when she looked down at Adia. Someone who jumps into battle with no concern of how it may turn out, just for the fun of it. In a way, she was right. But she knew better than to trust first impressions, especially in a fight. 

Litian stepped back once more as Adia walked towards her, her eyes slowly observing Adia's movements. Her walking was smooth, her legs sturdy in each step, and her eyes, clear and bright. She was confident. Very confident.

Litian adjusted the grip n her sword slightly, holding it at just the perfect grip for her, not too strong, not too loose. Just the right amount for a fight. 

"If it's alright with you, if I win, can we go again?" Adia suggested, the smile on her face just as calm as it was when she suggested the bout. "I like you. You seem interesting."

Litian flinched slightly, a bit taken aback by Adia's last comment but she wasn't fazed. Her words just strengthened her impressions of Adia. 

'Rash and impulsive,' she thought as looked down at Adia's grip on her sword, it was strong, 'But dangerous.' 

There was something about her confidence, her stride, her eyes, that let off an unsettling feeling in Litian. Those eyes knew who they were fighting, it knew what it was getting itself into, yet it was still confident, as if not a single worry had occurred to her yet. 'That amount of confidence,' Litian pondered, 'she's not bluffing. Especially not after what she pulled earlier…' 

Litian remembered the moment when Adia had slid into that attack she made at the target. Her movement was swift, almost out of Litian's gaze, and Adia had held up her sword with enough strength that even if Litian hadn't reduced the speed and power of her swing, she would have been able to block it. Easily even. 

'A seemingly strong opponent,' Litian thought to herself as Adia took the last step towards her and they stood still for a moment, eyes pinned on each other. 'Rash, impulsive, strong and unnerving…' she pondered before sucking in a deep breath and shifting into her first stance, 'but winnable.' 

She locked eyes with Adia, her mind at calm when Adia grinned once again, raising her sword at her. 

Adia advanced slowly at first, before picking up speed. 'This is going to be fun.' She pressed down on the ground, launching herself at Litian. 

'She's fast,' Litian thought to herself as she received the first blow from Adia, the force from the hit ran through her hand, 'And strong.' She watched as Adia bounced back, her legs steady as they touched the ground, 'and light too.' 

Adia moved forward again, her swings getting faster and faster and heavier, the intervals between her hits growing shorter. 'Is defense all she can do?' Adia thought to herself as she swung as Litian again, her hits always fended off by sturdy defenses. 

"Amazing defense you have there," Adia commented as she launched forward again, this time changing up the speed and delivering a heavier blow. 

Litian didn't respond as she swiftly countered the hit, their swords clashing against each other with a loud sound. 

"You must have trained hard for you to be able to receive all these hits like this. Makes me feel like I'm not even fast at all," Adia chuckled as she swung at Litian again, "Then again, that's expected from someone with as much expertise as you have."

Litian ignored her comment again, deflecting the hit. 'Her voice hasn't wavered despite all the moving around and heavy hits that she does,' Litian noted to herself as she followed Adia's movements intensely. From hit to hit, just seconds after her feet would touch the ground again, Adia would launch herself at Litian. It was almost as if she was bouncing, most of her hits made while she was in mid-air, still holding as much or even more strength as they would on the ground. 

'She's light, swift, and incredibly agile,' Litian noted, 'not to mention that incredible stamina of hers. She speaks while fighting as if she isn't even bothered by the swings she makes.'

"Do you not like to speak while fighting?" Adia asked, as she pushed off the ground again, landing her hit before her feet touched the ground. "You seem like a mostly defensive fighter, keeping yourself protected with intense focus. It's admirable."

Litian struck back quicker than before, her hit bringing down Adia quicker than the last. Despite this, Adia still grinned and went at her again and again and again, seemingly unfazed and not the slightest bit fatigued. 

"Hey… the way you don't answer my words makes it seem like I'm having a conversation with myself you know…" she pouted as she lounged at Litian, her swing once again stopped in its tracks, "you kinda remind me of someone I know… he fights like you, with this unbreakable defense."

Litian ignored her words again. 

"I like to say that I taught him everything he knows," she chuckled, "but even I don't know where he got his skills from. He mesmerizes me whenever we fight, especially since he's been like that from the moment I met him… strong, dependable, and a good fighter. Just like you."

Adia launched at Litian again. "But you're different. You're graceful with the way you move, the way you fight," she jumps into the air again, her hit smashing down on Litian, their swords locking on each other, "And the way you observe me when we fight… those intense gazes," she giggled as Litian pushed up on her hit. She pushed down with the same force, and as she released it, using the weight to propel her backward, she threw her sword up and bent her arms backward, arching her back inwards as Litian swung at her and landed on the ground upside down on her hands. 

"Those knowing eyes…" she continued, pushing down on the ground and backflipping back onto her legs, her hand catching the sword as it fell to the ground. She looked up at Litian whose gaze had never shifted once from her, she smiled as she shuddered, "...sends shivers down my spine."

'How beautiful…' Litian thought to herself as Adia once again advanced forward. Her grip on her sword tightened momentarily as she bit down on her inner lip. 'Everything about her is so fluid… so smooth and every swing connects." She looked up at Adia as her raised sword lashed down on her from the air. Her eyes brightened as she took in Adia's striking figure, perfect form illuminated by the sun rays casted down on her from above, 'She's a genius...'

She stood in that moment, taken aback by Adia's beauty before her grip tightened on her sword. '...but so am I.'

She raised her sword once again to block Adia's swing but instead of taking in the hit with her sword, at the last second, she changed her hold on the hilt of her sword, slicing back at Adia's attack. Her sword, with swift precision and a clean swipe, dug into Adia's sword and with a heavy force, continued its drive through it.

Crack

The sword broke into pieces, sharp pieces scattering in the air as Litian's sword passed by Adia's face, centimeters from her nose. 

Litian stepped back as Adia fell to the ground in front of her and just as Adia set down on the ground, reversed her movements, her sword flying at Adia's head, stopping in milliseconds, just an inch before her neck. 

Adia's heart skipped a beat as she looked up at Litian who peered down at her with a cold, unmoving gaze, her sword remaining at her neck. Her knee on the ground stung lightly in comparison to the thumping of her heart in her chest. 

"Surrender," Litian ordered, her voice calm and unwavering as she gazed down at Adia, her sword moving closer and pressed into Adia's neck, "Now." She watched as Adia smiled, her gaze falling to the ground as she nodded her head. 

"As you wish."

'She's an amazing genius,' Litian thought to herself as swiped her sword away from Adia's neck to her side and nodded her head, 'but anything she can do. I can do better.' "The bout is over. You should return to the palace now." 

"Hah…" Adia muttered, shuddering as she stood up, remembering the gaze in which Litian had looked down on her with. Her heart skipped another beat as her hands trembled. 'I didn't even see it coming…' she thought to herself as she held her trembling hand in which she had felt the weight of Litian's hit momentarily before her sword had been sliced into two. 'It was like my life flashed before my eyes…' she pondered as her gaze lowered to the sword at Litian's side, 'by a sword as wooden as mine..'

"W-were you planning this from the beginning?" Adia asked, her knees buckling slightly as she stared at Litian, "with those intense eyes, were you watching me while knowing exactly when you were going to defeat me?"

"You never enter a fight knowing exactly when you'd be able to win," Litian replied, "only that there'll always be an opportunity to win."

"Hah… so you were just waiting it out this entire time…" Adia muttered, her smile wavering before she laughed weakly. "How terrifying.." she smiled, "but so intriguing…"