Episode XVI - Lynn By Motif ATTENTION*ATTENTION*ATTENTION*ATTENTION*ATTENTION*ATTENTION*ATTENTION* This story contains...well...just any number of scenes depicting graphic violence, nudity, sex, impolite language, lesbianism, and other elements which may cause undue stress to people of a sensitive nature. Consequently, this story should not, (and I can't stress this point too strongly,) *NOT* be viewed by minors or people who may be offended by the story elements outlined above. If you are reading this right now (and you'd pretty much have to be, right?) and either of the above conditions apply to you, please take my advice and move your mouse pointer up to the little box with the 'x' and click on it. OK? OK. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ ------------------------------------------------------------------------ ------------------------------------------------------------------------ --------- Episode XVI - Lynn Hundreds of years ago farms once dotted the long shallow valley where the venerable structures making up the Arena compound now stand. In those days, it's gently sloping walls had been terraced by the families farming the region and a complicated irrigation system, (maintained jointly by the farmers,) brought water from the small, fast flowing river running along the valley floor up to the fields above. In this way, for seemingly endless, sleepy ages, the rich black soil provided a bountiful surplus of wheat and barley for the farmers to sell in the city. But nothing lasts forever. In a war now long forgotten armies marched across the land, driving the farmers from their fields and enslaving their men. The war's decisive battle was fought in the valley and for days the fields ran with the blood of thousands of slaughtered warriors. When it was over, the winning side buried the dead of both armies in a single massive grave, over which a temple was built to honor the fallen warriors. It was around this ancient place of worship that the Arena grew up, long after the green fields had grown fallow, their terraces eroded smooth by rain and the passage of time. Now, little remains to indicate the valley had ever been anything but a place where warriors train and fight and die. Only a few narrow, flat ridges run along the valley's high walls; and it was on one of these that two of the Arena's warriors lay basking in the warmth of the bright midmorning sun. The couple lay on a blanket beneath the wide spread autumn foliage of an elderly elm tree; glowing spots of sunlight dappling their naked bodies where it shone through the branches. The taller woman's broad, suntanned shoulders were propped against the bole of the tree while her shorter companion cuddled next her left side, head nestled on her shoulder. Behind them, a semicircle of waist high blackberry bushes screened the little ridge, providing a reassuring amount of privacy from the winding trail which ran past the site and on up the valley wall. From the edge of the narrow ridge the two warrior's had a picturesque view of the valley floor, including the Arena compound with it's many buildings neatly laid out on a grid of white gravel. Farther up the valley a number of larger buildings dotted the gentle slopes; private homes maintained by wealthy clans or the occasional very successful warrior. A cool autumn breeze whispered through the branches above the two warriors, stirring the shorter woman's long, lustrous black hair which flowed in soft waves over her slender, sturdy frame. Absently, the taller brunette fighter gently stroked her companion's hair, which had been much shorter when she'd first seen her. ------------------- The last match of the morning was drawing to it's inevitable conclusion on the monitor while the Arena's first administrator filled out the morning paperwork. Sitting in a chair in front of the monitor Mikaela glanced occasionally at the four warriors battling on the screen, her pen skipping and scratching on the clipboard she held in her lap. It had been a fairly busy morning, starting with a staff meeting where Mikaela's order for extra patrols had been met with a chorus of groans from the Arena's security officers. But, in the aftermath of the clan riot, Dalia and her crew hadn't protested too much. Then, there'd been an interview with both matriarchs of the clans involved in the brawl. Diana, mistress of the Baruch clan, was alternately quick-tempered and sullen while Leona, the Shimura's matriarch, was her usual cool, condescending self. Both women stared daggers at each other across the table while Mikaela explained, in no uncertain terms, that both clans would be instantly banned from the Arena if any of either clans members stepped out of line again. Neither matriarch had taken the first administrators ultimatum well. After the two old rivals left, still glaring at each other, it was time for the day's matches to begin. There were five fights slated for the morning and, as the last one drew to a close, Mikaela reflected that they'd all gone about as well as could be expected. The first one had been predictably short. Rhonda quickly overpowered younger, heavily tattooed opponent; beating a submission from her in less than ten minutes. Mikaela had noticed an air of distraction about the experienced warrior during the brief fight, as if Rhonda had more important things to think about than the young temple acolyte writhing in pain beneath her. The next two had been fairly tedious; featuring new, mostly untrained fighters who'd monotonously hammered away at each other until one or the other dropped unconscious. Still, they'd managed not to kill each other; which suited Mikaela just fine since it meant much less paperwork for her. The fourth match was momentarily interesting. Charissa, a promising young warrior, had shown some good technique with her halberd, although she still couldn't match Nga's impeccable timing and blinding speed. To her credit, the young fighter had held out for a solid fifteen minutes before submitting, flat on her back with her opponent's blade hovering at her throat, to the more experienced warrior. As she filled out Nga's name and serial number in the victor's space on the form, Mikaela glanced up at the monitor. Liau had disposed of her opponent in short order and now stood over the exhausted young african fighter, one foot proudly placed on her defeated foe's heaving chest. Across the room, Lynn straddled her taller adversaries waist and managed to snag a double handful of short brown hair. Mikaela winced in sympathy as the dazed young fighter reached up, sharp nailed fingers raking across the pliant tan flesh of Lynn's heavy breasts. Grimacing at the pain, Lynn's muscular arms pumped up and down, slamming the back of her younger opponent's head against the floor and eventually the battered fighter slumped unconscious, her hands flopping to the floor. Mikaela pressed a button on the console near the monitor, summoning medical attention for the two unconscious young fighters while their more experienced opponents left the arena, Lynn limping slightly from an earlier foot stomp. For a moment, the first administrator envied the closeness that seemed to come so easily to the two warriors, their arms entwined familiarly about each other's waist as they walked out of the camera's range. Then, allowing herself a brief sigh, Mikaela returned her attention to the paperwork. ----------------- Several years ago, fresh out of the military and determined not to go back to the large farming clan where she'd been raised, Lynn had jumped at the chance to sign on at the Arena. It seemed to offer her the kind of life she'd always wanted; a secure place in which to develop her already naturally muscular frame and, despite the ever present threat of death, the chance to hone her martial skills in combat against other warriors. She'd handily won her first two fights, the first against a skinny, almost completely untrained youth who'd wielded her sword like a bludgeon and had had the good sense to submit after Lynn had neatly disarmed her. Her second opponent had been a better match, being older and better trained, but Lynn turned out to be the stronger and faster of the two and had choked her adversary unconscious after ten minutes of unarmed combat. So, it was with a certain amount of confidence that Lynn strode into the increasingly familiar white room for her third match. The fighter Lynn found waiting there looked about the same age as herself, but the lovely oriental amazon possessed a confident air that Lynn's previous two opponents had lacked. She'd been particularly struck by the look of calm composure on Liau's lovely round face. But the dark haired warrior's composure was a deceptive mask that hid a tightly focused ferocity and intense concentration that took Lynn completely unawares. In less than five minutes Lynn found herself half conscious on the floor, her head ringing from a half dozen skillfully executed kicks. Their battle lasted half an hour, mostly thanks to Lynn's innate high threshold for pain and Liau's equally innate capacity for dispensing it. But eventually even Lynn had to give in, shrieking out her surrender as Liau sat atop her back and dug strong fingers into the nerves on the bruised brunette fighter's broad shoulders. The memory of that fight shook Lynn from her reverie and she peered up at the sun shining through the leaves of the old elm, gauging the time. She reached down, placing her hand lightly on the soft light-brown skin of her lovers thigh and gently rubbed upward over the familiar contours of her flat stomach and full breasts to her shoulder. Liau made a growling sound deep in her throat as she repeated the caress and after a third time the slender warrior stretched lazily and opened her eyes. ----------------------- The blonde woman's tall, slim body tensed, a tight smile creasing her deceptively mild features as she watched the shorter brunette warrior through the steam fogged window of the saunas door. She quickly backed away from the window while the woman exited the shower room and limped past the door she hid behind towards the baths. Jasmyn was certain they were alone in small bath house, and she was sure that the woman she'd been stalking for months now was unaware of her presence. Steam billowed from the sauna as she slipped through the door and padded softly down the short corridor, carefully keeping to one side of wide arch her quarry had just walked through. Ice blue eyes sparkling malevolently, she crouched to one side of the open doorway and risked a quick look into the baths. "Perfect" she murmured to herself, seeing her Lynn sitting in the shallow end of the large central pool, her broad back to the room's only door. "This is *so* perfect!" she crowed inwardly, "She dies and the Baruchs will undoubtedly be blamed for it!" Jasmyn jerked her head back and stood, pressing her naked back against the cool white stone wall next to the doorway. Anticipation thrilled through her sleek, smoothly muscled body and she clasped the broad bladed knife she held tightly in both hands between her small, tautly rising breasts. In the months after the younger brunette fighter had beaten her in the arena, Jasmyn had watched her former opponent from a careful distance, waiting for an opportunity to take her revenge on the woman who'd forced her to give up her beautiful slave. But since then the two women seemed completely inseparable. She'd followed them obsessively, growing more frustrated every time she saw them. With envious eye's she'd watched the brief ceremony in the ancient temple where the two warriors were bound to each other by sacred ties of love and honor. Later, she'd looked on worriedly as Liau fought a young Baruch fighter in an impromptu match, while her lover slept stuporously nearby; and she'd sighed with relief when her former slave had skillfully beaten her opponent. Now, with the woman she passionately hated bathing alone only a few feet away, Jasmyn forced herself to relax and focus. She concentrated on the shining steel blade and slowly the delicious trembling subsided as grim determination replaced the rage roiling through her. An icy calm descended on the tall blonde fighter like a heavy frost, driving all traces of emotion from her face until she stood utterly motionless...still...ready. In a single silent motion Jasmyn swung through the opening and lept toward the woman, covering the intervening space in a few graceful bounds. Landing on her knees behind the broad shouldered fighter she quickly grabbed a handful of wet brown hair, jerking her head back and raising the knife high in the air above the gasping woman. Jasmyn paused a brief moment, grinning savagely down at her rival, enjoying the look of terror on Lynn's face; before bringing the knife slashing down at her exposed neck. --------------------- "Time to go?" Liau yawned. "Just about." her lover replied, looking fondly down into her lovely dark eyes. The slender oriental fighter hugged her partner briefly, then climbed to her feet. Lynn sat for a moment and gazed contentedly up at Liau, watching smooth muscles tighten beneath soft, light-brown skin as she stretched and flexed her body awake. At last, Lynn picked up a pile of clothes lying nearby and stood. "Your turn to do the paperwork." L f an hour just to fill out all the damn forms afterwards." "You'd rather be a slave?" Lynn teased. Liau stuck out her tongue at the woman dressing beside her. "I'd rather be fishing." she mumbled, pulling a pair of green shorts up her well muscled legs. Striding over to the taller caucasian woman, she gently placed her hands on her shoulders and looked up into Lynn's soft brown eyes. "Anyway." she said, a mischievous smile playing across her lips, "I'm already your slave." ------------------------- Jasmyn's blade scored a jagged red line across the shrieking warrior's upper chest and shoulder as she tried to jerked away from the slashing knife. A second strike opened another long cut from just below Lynn's right ear and down along her jaw line as she twisted to face her attacker, her hair slipping through Jasmyn's uncertain grip. Grunting in annoyance she raised her knife for another strike, but the woman below her pushed hard against the edge of the pool, leaving Jasmyn holding a few wet strands of hair as she thrust herself back from her ambusher. Blood ran in red rivulets from the cuts on Lynn's face and shoulder as she stood in the thigh deep water of the large bath. Her chest heaving wildly, she glared up at the tall blonde amazon crouching like a wild animal at the edge of the pool, a mixture of pain, surprise and fear shining from her wide brown eyes. Snarling with frustration, Jasmyn launched herself at her rival; her wiry frame arcing smoothly over the pool to crash heavily into the brunette warrior and drive them both beneath the water in a tangle of thrashing arms and legs. The shorter fighter's strong arms wrapped reflexively around her blonde attacker's slim torso while they sank the short distance to the bottom of the pool, her broad back trapping Jasmyn's knife arm beneath it. As she struggled to free herself from her hated rival's crushing embrace, Jasmyn jerked her trapped arm from beneath her foe and the blade drew a line of red fire across the muscular warrior's back. Air bubbled from Lynn's underwater scream as her attacker's knife sliced across her back. Strong hands flew to the blonde woman's shoulders and she bucked wildly, pushing her opponent up and away from her. Lynn's knee jabbed into the pit of the slender warrior's stomach, causing a storm of air bubbles to burst from her mouth as her breath rushed from her tall, pale skinned body. Jasmyn's spasming hands clutched her stomach, her knife dropping down to the bottom of the pool. Her head broke the surface of the water and she gasped and sputtered, gulping air back into her lungs. Through pain blurred eyes she saw her rival reach the edge of the large bath and heave her wounded body up out of the water. With a mad grin splitting her thin lips, Jasmyn threw herself at her foe in a half staggering charge through the shallow red-tinged water, determined to finish her rival. The muscular brunette warrior painfully crawled out of the large bathing pool and flopped exhaustedly down on the cool blue tiled floor, coughing water from her aching lungs. A bolt of pure agony added to the cacophony of pain rioting through her statuesque body as her foe's pale, oddly delicate hands clamped around her already wrenched ankle and yanked, jerking her back toward the edge of the bath. Lynn's thin lips peeled back in a pain-filled grimace and she kicked blindly at her attacker, desperately trying to dislodge the blonde fighter's grip. Dodging her opponent's flailing feet, Jasmyn began pulling herself out of the pool. A fiercely determined grin twisted Jasmyn's soft featured face as she clawed her way up her foe's long, thrashing muscular legs, using the brunette warrior's sturdy frame for leverage. Her slim, pale fingers dug into the slippery, velvety tan skin covering her rivals firm buttocks, drawing an outraged shriek from the shorter fighter. Lynn's palms slapped on the floor as she tried to drag her wounded body away from her attacker, blood dripping from the slashes on her chest and back leaving crimson streaks on the blue tiles. She grunted heavily, feeling the full weight of her foes body slamming onto her back. But before Lynn could react, her opponent slipped off the left side her back. Kneeling beside her foe's prone body, Jasmyn grabbed her left forearm and knee. The tall warrior bent down and, jamming the top of her blonde head into her opponents side, pushed forward, neatly rolling the brunette fighter's broad frame onto her back. Lying across her rival's battered torso, Jasmyn quickly flashed her left fist the struggling fighter's jaw, then immediately jabbed her elbow back into her forehead. Lynn's head snapped back and bounced off the hard floor, her vision graying as pain rocketed through her skull, threatening to overwhelm her consciousness. Her blonde attacker moved to straddle her body and the muscular warrior thumped a weak, desperate punch off her foe's flat stomach. Grinning insanely, Jasmyn sat astride her opponent, her arms pistoning as she rocked her hated foe's head back and forth with a series of sharp punches. Out of the corner of her eye she spied a loop of rope lying on the floor nearby and she quickly snatched it up and wrapped it around the semi-conscious warrior's neck. Sinewy muscle bulging beneath the smooth ivory skin of her arms, Jasmyn hunched over her moaning rival, strangling her with the improvised garrote. Triumph swelled within the tall warrior as she felt the muscular brunette's struggling gradually weaken beneath her. She glared down at her foe's bruised, rapidly purpling face and savagely tightened the rope around her neck, making the small oblong object attached to it bounce on the floor. Jasmyn laughed as the choking woman's hands scrabbled desperately at the cord. An angry shriek echoed through the room and Jasmyn's head snapped up just in time to see the enraged oriental warrior's foot rocketing into her side. The tall fighter's body jerked upright and a second kick slammed into her head, sending her spinning away from her strangling victim. Her head vibrating from the blow, Jasmyn managed to scramble onto her hands and knees before another kick shot up into her belly, flipping her onto her back. Staring up in surprise at her attacker, she caught a brief glimpse of Liau's furious visage before the slender fighter's foot slammed viciously into her temple, sending her spiraling down into blackness. ------------------------- "Soap-on-a-rope!" Lynn exclaimed incredulously as her lover sprayed disinfectant over the shallow cut on her back. "The crazy bitch tried to kill me with soap-on-a-rope?" Liau reached into the first aid kit and brought out a handful of gauze pads. "That's what it looked like." she replied in a soft, distracted tone. Lynn's head shook slowly in amazement. Sitting on the wide low bed in their spacious bedroom, she gazed tiredly at her battered reflection in the full length mirror hanging on the closet door across from her. "I hope you broke her neck!" she spat. "No." Liau said simply as she began taping bandages over the cut. "I didn't." "What!" Lynn cried, jerking around to look at the woman kneeling beside her. "Why the hel not?" Liau stared levelly up into her lover's wide brown eyes, both sporting purple bruises. "I wanted to." she said in a tight, reasonable voice, "I *really* wanted to. But if I killed the demented bitch, Mikaela might ban my entire clan." For a long moment Lynn started into her partner's eyes, which seemed to reflect back her own anger and confusion. "I see." she said finally, turning back to stare at her image in the mirror. Liau resumed bandaging her lover's back. "Lynn," she began hesitantly, "we can't afford to be banned from the Arena. We'd be disgraced." "Don't patronize me." Lynn snapped. "I know what the politics are." Neither woman spoke while Liau tended to her partner's wounds in a tense silence. When she'd finished, the slender Chinese warrior's arms circled Lynn's waist and she leaned gently against her wide back. "Look," she whispered softly into her lover's ear. "Let's just wait a little while until things get a cool down around here. Then, I'll personally challenge Jasmyn and break her back in the arena; all nice and legal." "No." Lynn replied, somewhat mollified. "We'll fight her together, just like we vowed." Slowly, Liau turned to face her battered lover and moved her hands up to her broad, bandaged shoulders. "Together." she repeated, gently pushing Lynn down on the bed. "Just like we vowed." ------------------------------------------------------------------------ ---- Copyright 1998 - Wet Hen Productions