Training Mission

"Guan Ping?" Zhao Yun frowned when his knock on the young man's door met no response. The afternoon sun had just started it's descent, but neither of the youngest members of their officers was anywhere on sight in the grounds. He turned from the door, climbing the steps to pace along one of the upper walkways of the castle.

"Good afternoon, Yun." The casual greeting gave away his company before he raised his eyes to look at Shu's Fledling Phoenix.

"Master Pang Tong." He greeted. "Good afternoon to you as well. By any chance have you seen Guan Ping and Xing Cai? I was going to ask them to drill some of the new recruits."

"Oh, those two." Pang Tong's voice was amused. "They aren't in the castle, I'm afraid. They're off on a training mission. You know...a training mission." It was impossible to see his face beyond the covers he wore over it, but the smirk was in his voice.

"A training mission, huh?" Zhao Yun said doubtfully.

"That's right. A training mission. So they can, y'know...train. A training mission."

"You don't have to repeat yourself. I understood your meaning the first time."

"Oh, but I love training missions." The hermit snickered, and Zhao Yun only shook his head.

"I do hope they have this training mission timed right." He commented, crossing his arms. "Aren't their fathers due back today?"

"Oh, they're already here." Pang Tong told him. When Zhao Yun paused, he laughed again. "Don't worry. They're out hunting with our lord. So they have plenty of time to...train."

The stone house sat alone, surrounded only by the woods, and the small hill that it was backed against. Depending on the direction one came from, the hill hid the house from view, perhaps emphasizing the solitariness of the location. But there were two horses tied to the front posts of the house, left to graze on the grass. And two voices speaking softly from within it.

"Do we have time for this?"

"It's a bit late to worry about that now, isn't it?"

Guan Ping set aside his sword and turned his gaze on his companion. Xing Cai was setting her own spear against the wall. In the dimness of the room, her pale skin conflicted with the darkness. Her short hair blending a bit into the shadows. There were those at court who said that Cai was not very beautiful. But she never failed to take Ping's breath away. "I suppose it is." He approached her slowly, and she turned her eyes to gaze at him.

She had to raise her head to see his face where he stood towering over her. His tanned skin contrasting with hers as she lifted a hand to trace the curve of his jaw. "Ping..." She whispered.

He grasped her dainty hand in his larger one, bringing her palm to press against his lips. "Cai, I've been waiting for today." He confessed, trailing his lips down to the underside of her wrist.

Cai intook a shaky breath at his actions, warmth spreading through her limbs. "As have I." She responded. Lifting a hand to his head, she pulled his headband free from his hair, letting it drop to the floor, before raking her fingers through his the wild disarray of his brown locks.

Ping let out a groan, letting go of her wrist and pulling her into his arms to capture her mouth with his own. Cai returned the kiss with urgency, both hands threading through his hair as his hands slid down her arms in a caress that left a trail of fire in their wake. It felt like it had been forever since they'd last found time to be with eachother, though he knew the time numbered only in days and not weeks. A day without holding her in his arms felt much longer.

He let his hands slide from her arms further down her body, caressing her hips and thigh, his legs bending slightly as he surrounded her legs in an embrace to lift her into the air.

Cai gave a slight gasp, then a breathy laugh before her mouth found his again. Her tongue slid inside, exploring the familiar terrain of his mouth with gentle strokes. His own sought out hers in heated dance before they broke the kiss again.

"I wish..." Her words were a quiet whisper into his skin as she trailed her mouth down his jaw to bury her head in the curve of his neck.

"I know..." He replied just as softly. He moved forward the few feet to the bed, setting her gently upon it. Cai raised her head and he knelt before her, taking both her hands in his own and brushing a kiss to each palm. Cai wrapped her fingers around his, giving a gentle tug to pull him to her. Their mouths met again and she slid her arms around him - holding him close as her hands skimmed along his body, feeling his muscles flex below her fingers.

He groaned into the kiss, one hand entangling in her hair as the other slid up her leg under her skirt. Her breath hitched in her throat, and she tugged him closer, their bodies sliding against one another in passion. Her knees cinched around his waist, and her fingers dug into his back briefly at the sensation. Ping reluctantly broke the kiss again, brushing his lips against her neck briefly before pulling back, hands parting her legs gently to have room to move.

"Too many clothes." He murmurred.

"You have the most." Cai teased him gently.

His hands were already undoing his belt, tossing it aside carelessly. She moved her hands forward to assist him, ties and buckles coming undone with practiced ease. Battles didn't wait because you couldn't buckle on an armguard fast enough, after all. But battles were the last thought from her mind as she helped him slip from his robe. Finger returning to trace over his skin. Smooth flesh over hard muscle. Her breath catching slightly at the sight of him, as it always did.

His own hands started working on her clothing as hers slid over his skin, pausing briefly at a new scar that ran down his side. She traced it lightly with her finger, remembering seeing him limp into camp, one hand pressed over the bleeding wound. It had been hard to be calm about it. To be only a concerned friend, and no more.

"It's only one more scar." He murmurred. The same words he'd murmurred that day. She wasn't even suprised he knew what she was thinking. It was just how things were between them.

"And it symbolizes one more victory." She returned, sliding off the bed she lowered her head to press her lips to the scar. Ping shivered at her actions and Cai pressed the advantage, her lips moving up his side, her hands tracing patterns over his skin, drifting lower. He groaned, hands clenching in her skirt.

"Cai..."

The softness of her lips against his skin, the feeling of her hands on him. It scorched him, his hands gripped tighter in the material he had ahold of. Her lips slid over his collarbone, followed by her tongue. He shivered with desire, before finding mind enough to start to tug the dress up. Cai pulled back to help him pull it over her head, both their hands tossing the material aside with a matching careless gesture.

Ping leanied forward to press his mouth to her neck, sliding it down it. Lips suckling at the soft skin of her shoulder. Cai leaned back against the bed, arms wrapping around his shoulders, breath catching in her throat as his hands skimmed her torso, fingers splaying over her bared breasts.

"Ping!"

His mouth sought hers again, reveling in the sweetness of her taste, even as the kisses became more heated and demanding. His thumb flicked over her nipple and she gasped, throwing back her head. His hands moved downward, parting her thighs so his body could move inbetween. Bare flesh to bare flesh now. fueling the inferno burning them already.

"I need you..." His voice was a desperate whisper.

"And I you..."

Her legs slid around his waist, and he picked her up. His own legs feeling weakened even as he forced them to stand - to push them both forward to fall onto the bed. Bodies rubbing against eachother in desperate need. He pressed his face into the curve of her neck as he pressed inside of her. Cai cried out, but she moved with him. One hand weaving in his hair as they fell into rhythym. Each movement scorching them, but bringing them closer and closer. Higher and higher, until the fire exploded outward. Leaving them to spiral like sparks back down to the earth below.

The sun was low in the sky as they left the house behind them, leading their horses and walking slowly beside one another. Every now and then they shared a soft smile, or the briefest brush of hands. No words were spoken, though. As they neared the end of their journey, the sound of other horses caught their attention.

"Hey! What are you kids doing here?" A voice broke loudly through the peaceful quiet between them.

Xing Cai's eyes widened, and she turned to the group nearing the road from the opposite direction. "Father?"

"I thought you said you couldn't come hunting today because of the drills." Guan Yu mentioned, pulling his horse up alongside his sworn brothers.

The two stared for a moment, uncertain what to say.

"That's why they're here so late." A voice spoke up from the back of the party, and Jiang Wei rode his horse up to join the group at the front. "You brought horses to help carry the catch, right?"

"That's right." Guan Ping spoke up. "We hated missing the hunt."

"But we did think this way we could be of some help." Xing Cai chimed in.

"You two are most thoughtful." Liu Bei spoke up. "Come, we've quite a catch in fact. We'll feast well tonight."

"Just bring the horses back here." Jiang Wei lept off his own horse, gesturing Cai and Ping to follow him. "You're late." He whispered as they headed toward the back of the hunting party.

"You're early." Cai disagreed. "I thought you said sunset."

"It is sunset. I didn't say after sunset."

"So be clearer."

"You still owe me."

"Fine, we'll cover your next training mission." Ping promised.

So I was challenged to write Ping/Cai. And this was the result. Yah...well, I loved getting to write Pang Tong anyhow. HAHAHAHA.

Erhime