Standard Assessment

"Mnf…" Lynx yawned and slowly rolled over, confused when her face collided with something soft and warm. Opening her eyes and leaning back, the previous night came back to her in a rush- it was Alice's shoulder, and the succubus was breathing deeply, silently, apparently still fast and deeply asleep. Maybe I should lean on Alice, and ask her what she knows… but what if the things she's hiding spell danger for me…? If she wanted to kill me, though, she would have…

 Slow and silent, Lynx swung her legs off the edge of the bed and stood, walking to the bathroom and quietly shutting the door behind her, thinking. The thing is that if she wanted to hurt me she could have by now, yeah- but what if she's got something to do with the cult… what if she's here to make sure I don't remember anything? No, I'm being paranoid, that can't be right- I should relax and ask her for help, for information, anything.

 Or what if I just run from it all? I mean, sure, I may have been close to succeeding before I died, but what problem is it of mine if a cult is sacrificing innocents? There are avenues meant for that- the police, the officials. Then again… Lynx… you're becoming the officials… and wouldn't it be the right thing to do? To be a hero, to help the innocents? Isn't that what you always wanted…?

 Images swam behind her eyes, red, leaves, beautiful trees, a mountaintop… but they slipped away as quickly as they came across her mind, and Lynx sighed, shaking her head quietly. "Gotta get my mind off this stuff for a while…"

 -

 Alice awoke slowly, realizing that the warmth of Lynx had gone, and sat up slowly, narrowing her eyes. There was sound coming from the bathroom, though, running water, so probably nothing to worry about…

 Standing, she slowly padded that way and gently, carefully tapped on the door.

 "Lynx…? Are you okay…? Did you have a bad dream…?" She waited patiently for an answer, offering the door a big grin, closing her eyes, trying to appear as safe as possible, absolutely anything other than intimidating. A moment later, her friend opened the door, but she didn't dare open her eyes- a girl with her eyes closed can't aim any sort of attack, so nothing was less intimidating than a person with eyesight refusing to see.

 "I'm okay, I was just thinking- I don't really sleep easy, sorry about that."

 "I noticed that…" Alice sighed, slowly opening her arms and eyes, wishing she could bring the cat some comfort. "May I…?" She gasped, though, with surprise, as Lynx hugged her forcefully- she smelled of cinnamon and of berries, of forests- the soap she used, maybe? Or something magical, could also be an answer… either way, the hug came by surprise, and Alice swallowed, gasping softly, turning her face up, letting her lips dance along Lynx's shoulder, neck, as she did.

 "You feeling okay, kitty…?" Alice whispered, her voice husky, soft, and Lynx shuddered, her eyelids falling half shut, glaring down at the succubus.

 "Don't call me… that…"

 "Why not…? Actually…?" Alice smirked softly, something sparking in the back of her stomach- Maybe I can help you feel really good~?

 "N-No, not actually," Lynx shuddered, swallowing and slowly stepping back, pulling Alice with her.

 "Yeah~? To bed~?" Alice smirked, and leaned forward, pushing the blonde gently back, around the corner of the wall and onto the edge of the bed, kissing her slowly, gently, but harder, her tail slowly wandering under Lynx's shirt and curling down, into her waistband, tugging.

 "E-Eh?" Lynx swallowed, eyes widening, and felt smirked against the cat lady's lips, kissing her again and pushing her down into bed, channeling magic down into her tail, letting it swell up, some, less lanky and mouse-like, more akin to something thicker, slimier, and decidedly tentacle-like.

 "You're gonna be a good kitty, right…? Don't worry, my tail is really soft~"

 "W-Woah, you-" Lynx tried, but shut up, gasping, as Alice kissed her again, now pushing her fully into bed, quiet, needy gasps seeping into the kiss from both girls. She wormed her tail against Lynx's skin a bit harder, now, flexing it for leverage, sliding it under her friend's pants, panties.

 "Do you want me, to stop?" Alice whispered, after a moment, pausing and blinking up at Lynx, eyes clouded with need, borderline desperation.

 "No," She whispered softly in kind, gasping as Alice did several things at once, overstimulating her. "Your tail- your-!!"

 "Mhmmm~" Alice purred, gently sinking a hand into her lover's breast, kneading slowly, fingers sinking gently into her cat ear- and now that Lynx had given her the go ahead, Alice smirked, once more kissing the woman underneath her, curling her tail and pushing in, shivering with delight as she, Lynx, gasped, arching her back, eyes widening.

 "Your tail- it's not that- th-thick?"

 "Mn, something something," Alice mumbled softly, hips rolling against Lynx's hip, giving attention to her ear, her soft, heavy breast, her waist, all at once… Oh, Lynx, if only I could take some pictures to tease you later… manipulative bitch where… all I see is a drooling kitty who needs a whole lot of attention… I can make you feel good, I can do this for you~

 "Alice," Lynx mumbled, her voice thickening with need, legs instinctively spreading a bit wider, and she giggled, going faster, the hand on her partner's chest wandering up, gently splaying against the back of Lynx's neck. "Alice-?!"

 "Tell me to stop if you want," The succubus whispered, grinning softly and pulling Lynx closer, resting their foreheads together. "Only if you want- otherwise, let me make you feel good, let me help you," She added, smiling. Jeez, she thought, for once my smile isn't remotely faked… you look so good squirming under me~

 "Alice-!!" Lynx begged, moaning heavily, and she, the one with hair like snow, sped up, leaning up and softly kissing Lynx's cat ear, to test something. Just as she expected, Lynx gasped louder, back arching, hips bucking up hard. Got you cat, your ears are sensitive… come on…

 "Alice Alice wait…!!" Lynx shouted out suddenly, moaning brokenly, hips bucking desperately, and she slowed down, planning to stop. It was too late, though, and Lynx bucked her hips, moaning louder as she hit her peak.

"I-I take it back, please- please please please-" Lynx moaned out thickly, and Alice very gently guided the cat girl's face into her chest, to muffle her, speeding up her tail, helping Lynx to ride it out.

 "There, there~ relax, kitty~ I've got you~ I'll give you what you want~" Alice purred, her own stomach burning with need- but she'd ignore that, this time. What mattered was for Lynx to trust her…

 "Alice," Lynx mumbled softly, stupidly, hands weakly grabbing at her hips, and the succubus smiled, slowly kissing her again, gently.

 "Go back to sleep, kitty~"

 "N-Ng, you,"

 "Nono, I want you to rest well… first day of fighting lessons tomorrow, remember…? Come on, sleep…" Gently, she hugged Lynx's shoulders and guided the cat girl to rest on her chest, again, slowly guiding her tail away and returning it to normal size, giving the tail one violently sharp flick aimed at the sheets and closing her eyes.

 "Alice…" Lynx groaned, already nodding off, eyelids fluttering as she tried to stay awake.

 "Mm, no, not right now, sleep~"

 =

 Lynx yawned, softly, and stretched, hearing the slow blare of the alarm from her battered cell phone. Sitting up, groaning, she looked down at Alice snoring beside her, heedless of the alarm- and then, everything from the night before came crashing back, her eyes widening, face reddening. Even now, her thighs felt- oh my, I need a shower.

 Hurrying out of bed, silently, Lynx rushed to grab clean clothes and ran to the bathroom, eyes wide, starting the hot water, blushing, tail thrashing about as she heard Alice getting up, keeping her eyes on the shower, cheeks darkening still more.

 "Good morning…" Alice yawned, from the doorway, a moment later. "If I run back to my dorm and grab some clean clothes… can I join you…? It's okay if I can't, though, if you want space right now I understand…!!"

 "N-No you can join me, that's fine," Lynx mumbled softly, tail beating around faster, hitting the counter, the floor.

 "Are you okay…? Did you sleep well…?" Alice yawned quietly, shuffling forward, and Lynx straightened up, only to gasp softly as soft, warm arms wrapped around her waist. She took a deep breath, though- tense and embarrassed though she was, there was none of the usual nausea that came with suddenly being touched. Alice won't hurt me, she won't, she won't…

 "Safe here," Alice whispered into her shoulder, as if understanding the eternal struggle. "I promise that what I'm hiding… it's impossible for me to share, as things currently are. However, it's only about myself, so don't worry. I swear that, to the best of my knowledge, it can't bring you any harm either…" Slowly, she dropped her arms and stepped back. "I'll go get my clothes and be back, no need to wait for me, okay? Get in~"

 "Mn, okay," Lynx nodded, looking back at Alice with soft eyes and watching her go. Once she had, the cat girl stripped down and climbed into the shower, shuddering at the heat. Sitting down, against one of the walls, for now, she sighed and started to scrub shampoo into her hair, blinking slowly.

 "Lynx? Still okay for me to join you?" Alice hummed, a while later, after she'd returned.

 "Course," Lynx called out quietly.

 "I'm going to turn the light on, okay? We can't all see in the dark, after all."

 "Yeah, of course," Lynx replied softly and closed her eyes, still scrubbing her hair on the shower floor, working knots out with her fingers.

 "Still no hair brush…? Shaking my damn head, I'll buy you one myself at this rate," Alice mumbled playfully, stepping into the shower and swiping the shampoo, starting to work it into her own hair. "By the way, this weekend, why don't I help you to get a bank account opened up, a medallion set up? Before you can earn money you'll need a place for it to go."

 "Oh yeah, that'd be great thanks, but don't go out of your way for me," Lynx yawned quietly, eyes closed, just scrubbing, ears flicking as water hit them from above.

 "No I don't mind at all- I bumped into Aurelia downstairs just now, she couldn't sleep last night or something, so she's playing video games. Told her I was on my way to wake you up, and she asked me to tell you that the hospital she does security for would like to schedule an interview… I told her to find you at lunch or something, I didn't want to accidentally get any details wrong.

 "Ah, that's nice," Lynx yawned softly, nodding, grabbing the conditioner with only a bit of fumbling around, still not wanting to open her eyes, and began to scrub it in slowly.

 "So… do you want to talk about last night?" Alice mumbled, and Lynx blushed, staring down between her legs, eyes slitted, locked onto the tub floor, the soapy water sliding from her right to her left.

 "I um…"

 "It's okay- no need to put a label on it, or anything. It just made me happy- to be able to help you sleep," Alice giggled softly, reaching down and softly patting Lynx's head. "I tell you this much though, I didn't take you for a bottom bitch~" In the first bit, Lynx had been trying to think; What are we? Friends with benefits? Something more? Time will tell? Though, when Alice continued…

 "I didn't take you for a t-top- shut up okay?!" Lynx huffed, blushing darker and looking away as Alice began to devolve into raucous laughter, shaking her head.

 =

 "Alright, Lynx, are you ready for your basic assessment?" Marcus paced slowly, arms relaxed at her sides, across the mats, and Lynx stood awkwardly, eyes locked onto the teacher who was in charge of sparring and melee combat. She wore a dark uniform of loose pants that became tight at the ankles and waist, and a plain, dark top with short sleeves that Alice had thoughtfully supplied- just before it was needed of course, and without giving her the chance to refuse, really.

 "Yeah- I don't know- what I know-?" Lynx stammered, shifting from foot to foot.

 "That's okay- we're here to find that out. I'm an ex-trainer of some of the most elite Contracted Arms agents, the arches themselves, I'll make sure I don't go too far, injure you for real. Ready?"

 "Yea-" Lynx began, and before the words had left her mouth, she was colliding with a wall several paces away, disoriented. Landing on hands and knees, confused.

 "Stand up kitty, we need to see where you stand," Marcus grinned lazily, stretching. "I'm here to help, so don't worry- I don't believe in kicking enemies while they're down- but your enemies will," She added, flashing forward and hauling Lynx up to her feet, only to slam her back down and follow, pinning Lynx on her back, winding her, a knee against the cat girl's chest. She looked around, confused, seeing stars- the other students were watching, some interested, others amused- but Aurelia and Alice, both watching, seemed relaxed. Upon making eye contact, Aurelia smirked, and Alice made an odd wiggling motion… it took Lynx a moment to understand.

 "Come on cat, think a feral demon or angel is going to give you a breather like this?" Marcus stood up, and Lynx staggered to her feet, slowly, panting, eyes dilating, shaking her arms out as the teacher stepped back, grinning wolfishly. "Good," The instructor hummed. "That's what I like to see. Again!" She flashed forward with an open hand and a bent arm, seeming to prepare the same throw, and Lynx hauled her weight to the left- no, not hauled. She shifted to the side and used Marcus's momentum, throwing her against the wall, stepping back, guarded.

 "Oh boy," Marcus grinned even wider, narrowing her eyes as she hit the wall. "Lynx- you're not getting the point of what we're doing. Keep going- I need to see your limits- we've got a healer on hand for a reason. Again, go," She snarled, diving forward, and Lynx met her head on, shifting Marcus's weight downward and to the side, throwing her into the floor, tail lashing for balance. Raising a foot, slamming it down into the mat, Marcus had rolled away at the last possible moment and now swung at Lynx's ankle, hard. Lynx staggered, and Marcus pressed the advantage, lunging forward and spinning Lynx's body round-

 Lynx was fast enough to react though, closing her thighs around Marcus's head and pivoting, winding the teacher, bending her neck, cutting off airflow and rolling away, to her feet. Before Marcus could stand, Lynx sprang forward and slammed her into the floor, slamming her fist into the teacher's cheek. Marcus ate the hit, grabbing Lynx's hair and dragging her down, headbutting her, hard- the cat girl, seeing stars, was sent flying back by a kick to her stomach, and tried to stand, again, only for Marcus to plant a foot on her chest, holding her down hard.

 "Been a long while," The teacher panted, leaning down and slowly crushing Lynx's cheeks with a hand, pressuring her jaw. "Since- UGH!!" She screamed as Lynx bit, hard, tasting blood, and raised a foot, jack hammering it into the teacher's crotch, and then, when the grip on her face weakened, kicking Marcus's legs out, knocking her down.

 "Shit-!" The teacher rolled, and grabbed Lynx's head, slamming it into the floor as she herself stood, kneeling on the cat girl's back. Lynx groaned, pushing at the floor, hard, but her arms were suddenly dragged behind her back, and for a long moment, there was only their panting- it seemed as if the entire class waited on baited breath to see what would be said next. "Well d-damn, Lynx," Marcus exhaled raggedly, panting. "It's been a minute since a student got me on the ground… who the hell… taught you to fight? You're still no match for me at the end… of the day, but damn…"

 "I don't remember," Lynx huffed. "Memories gone. Injury… get off of me…"

 "Fight's over, okay?"

 "Okay…" Lynx snarled, rolling over and getting to her feet at the same time as Marcus.

 "You know how to wield a weapon?" Marcus asked, walking to a rack against a wall, one of many in that corner full of mock swords, shields, batons, and simple staffs. "Any of these look right to you? Maybe you want to feel them?"

 "Feel bad, stopping the whole class," Lynx panted out, stretching, rolling her shoulders. "Not like I'm some sort of main character or celebrity…"

 "We've all had our day," Marcus nodded, waving again to the rack of mock weapons. "Now come on, see if any of these feel familiar to you. The reason we do this in front of the others and not privately is to break the ice, and remind everybody," She spoke, addressing the class as a whole. "-That we are all equal, all here to learn together, and just as you watched Lynx be pinned down like a mewling kitten- heh, sorry Lynx… so too, have we all seen each other thrown down. My goal is that you will all be able to overcome me in time, but I doubt if anybody, ever, can take me on in their first attempt- and if they can, may they graduate the day they begin."

 Silence fell, the students nodding their heads respectfully, and Lynx paced slowly to the weapon racks, taking a staff into her hands. It felt imbalanced, clunky… slowly, she set it back, having to raise it up a few inches after accidentally slamming it into the rack, at the bottom.

 "No…" She picked up a mock mace and gave it a few swings at her side, but no, the heavy weight at the end felt wrong, dragging her too far to one side. "What's a baseball bat doing here?"

 "Great undercover weapon if you're on your way to play with friends," Marcus shrugged, and Lynx picked the bat up, thinking, balancing it on a hand- too top-heavy, uncomfortable. At the very least there was no sense of familiarity whatsoever, with it.

 "Hm…" Next she picked up a simple sort of mock sword with a relatively tiny handguard, long and slim. "Oh…" It felt… comfortable, balanced properly, and more like an extension of her wrist than anything else. "No, no I think… I think, maybe, I've played with a sword…" She did not notice, in her stupor, Alice looking down thoughtfully, as if connecting dots in her head. Nor did she notice the royal smirk on Aurelia's face making her seem more smug than a cat having killed a troublesome mouse. She did, however, notice Marcus's curiosity as the teacher picked up a sword of her own, and then, smirking, swapped to a baseball bat.

 "Promise not to break anything, Lynx, let's see what you know," Marcus smirked and stepped back. "Ready?"

 "Yeah, I guess," Lynx huffed, still achy from before, and bent her knees, flying forward before Marcus could this time. Her wooden blade glanced off of the baseball bat as Marcus leapt to the side, using her weapon to push Lynx off balance.

 "Remember that between angels and demons," Marcus shouted and swung the bat with force that certainly would have crunched bones, only for Lynx to leap backward when she had a fraction of a second left, if that. "There will never be an even playing field!!" She shouted again, bringing the bat down from behind herself in a cruel sort of swing, reminiscent of an executioner- Lynx had no time to move and braced herself with the blade over her, shifting the bat's weight to the right and crying out in pain as her shoulder screamed in agony- even so, she was able to move round and run the wooden edge along the side of Marcus's neck in passing. Marcus, after a moment, straightened, raising an eyebrow.

 "Well done, Lynx," She hummed, dropping the bat and walking back to the rack, tossing her bat onto a shelf and taking up a sword of her own. "I'd be headless, guess that bite is making me worse than I'd care to admit."

 "Sorry about that."

 "Did I at least taste good? Then again, you probably prefer fish to person, huh?" She asked, and the motion was so fast that Lynx almost didn't catch it, throwing herself to the side and rolling as a wooden dagger hit the wall so fast it broke, shattering into splinters behind her. She looked up and launched herself away again, eyes wide with horror, as the bat, too, splintered where she'd just been crouching.

 "You trying to kill me?!"

 "Take it as a compliment that you get to see this from me," Marcus snarled ferally, like an animal, all traces of her previous personality gone, and Lynx catapulted herself several feet away as still another bat broke where she'd been a moment before.

 "Damnit hold on!!" Lynx shouted out, parrying the glance of a sword, staggering back. Again and again she barely managed to avoid being stabbed, or beheaded, or disarmed, or having her arm removed, staggering about, off balance, and yet Marcus seemed thrilled.

 "If a demon wants, to kill you, do you think they'll hold on?!"

 "Come on Lynx, fuck her up!!!" Alice cheered, and Lynx pivoted, barely avoiding an overhead swing that might have lodged itself in her skull otherwise.

 "Yeah, yeah get her Lynx!!" Another student, she didn't know who, but she tuned them out, zoning in on that wooden sword- it was Marcus's only weapon now, but Lynx understood her problem- she couldn't defend like this forever. Roaring, she put more force into her next block and lunged forward, staggering Marcus back, diving forward and pinning the teacher's sword arm… eyes going fuzzy, she sank her teeth into Marcus's sword arm, hard, and gasped, a moment later, as she hit the floor a few paces away, blood on her chin, glaring upward.

 "Biting me again? What's wrong with you?" Marcus snarled, standing, and walked forward.

 "Think a demon will avoid cheap tricks?" Lynx snarled in retort, and sprung forward, but Marcus was faster, this time, grabbing the cat girl's neck and slamming her hard against the wall, putting the tip of her wooden blade under the blonde woman's chin. Lynx froze, nodding, understanding as the fuzziness in her eyes faded.

 "Oh, Lynx… I'm going to have fun training you to fight like me… because you're right, and you've learned the lesson that some never can bring themselves to." She let go, and Lynx fell flat on her feet, choking for air, collapsing to her knees.

 "Alright, the rest of you. Let's have you get started on grappling- I know that you have trouble getting off the ground, Alice," Marcus added. "Size isn't everything, all of you need to take a lesson from Lynx, there! In a real fight, it won't be your gun that can save your life every time, or your knife- we're demons and angels, most of us- and even the humans here have teeth, nails, and limbs!!"

 "You good?" Alice whispered, sinking to her knees beside Lynx and cupping her cheeks. The cat girl nodded, blinking slowly.

 "Y-Yeah… she really beat my ass, she wasn't even struggling…"

 "She wasn't struggling, but she took you seriously, for sure. You'd be with Jones having broken bones mended right now if you were any slower," Alice purred, throwing her arms around Lynx in a tight hug.

 "Hey! Alice!!" Marcus shouted. "When I said I know you have trouble getting off the ground, I was not inviting you to open your legs for the new girl! So unless you're going to be gouging her eyes out and practicing escaping a grapple, you'd better get back to it!" The teacher was barking, and Alice wiggled away sheepishly, looking away and wandering up to a young man, presumably to practice what she was instructed to. Lynx looked up, panting, as Marcus approached.

 "You did well, Lynx- really. Too well to be in with most of the students here any learn anything- I mean you definitely have some serious experience but you're young. Eighteen? Twenty one? What?"

 "Something like that," Lynx panted softly, nodding. "I don't know, sorry… I don't know anything… I don't know why I am this way… I want to find that out… if any students have magic to see my memories… I want to find them…"

 "That, I don't know off the top of my head- are you okay? Think you might be injured on the inside? You should probably go to Jones."

 "You, too…" Lynx panted, slowly forcing herself to her feet and swallowing, looking at Marcus's right arm, which was now gloved in scarlet. "Sorry for the… biting…"

 "You're fine," Marcus sighed. "I prefer to heal the natural way, I'll go and grab some bandages. I'm pretty normal, as demons go, just strong- I'll heal pretty quickly. So will you, but you can always go to see Jones and make it faster.

 "Demons… heal fast…? I guess it makes sense," Lynx groaned, covering her mouth as a wave of nausea crashed slowly over her.

 "Yeah, within a few hours normally," Marcus affirmed. "I don't know anything about any students with mind-reading magic, but I can pass the note to Aerendyl."

 "I already, did… thanks though," Lynx panted out- breath wasn't coming properly, it was as if one of her lungs had collapsed.

 "Already did? Oh, so it's you," She muttered, looking away for just a moment- a fraction of a second, the flick of her eyes, but Lynx saw it.

 "So what's me?"

 "Nothing, nothing. He mentioned a student he was personally sponsoring, all he said was that it's a girl, so I assumed, but there was no way to know for sure. Well, anyway, Lynx- can we schedule something privately? Maybe a weekend? Saturday or Sunday mornings? Don't worry about rest, I'll let you skip the Thursday lessons, so you can practice on Friday with students and let me personally train you Saturday mornings."

 "Sounds good, but do you really think that's necessary…?" Lynx groaned, panting lightly, still.

 "Yes," Marcus admitted bluntly. "I'm not here to tell you you're high and mighty, or special, because you're not. What you are is experienced, even if your mind can't remember it, so yeah. I want to get you versed in other weapons- call me selfish but I want to make you my pet project of sorts."

 "Sure, sure, I'll take it as a compliment," Lynx nodded softly, and Marcus narrowed her eyes, nodding in kind.

 "Good, good. Now come on, let's see your throws." Turning, she was already walking away.