(
@DaGlobster )
It was always her that started the 'shows'.
More often than not, Jaiha was sent out into the arena with some sort of animal to whet the appetites of the show goers and lay down the first blood on the Colosseum. It was no different today, but today was different. She was weary. Tired. There was no bounce to her step and the blade on her tail dragged behind her.
Tired. Exhausted was a better phrase. Still, she was in the arena and that meant they were going to make her fight.
A quiet cry and she quickly scrubbed the tears from her eyes with the back of her hand. It was either do or die, and Jaiha didn't want to die. Not today. Her toes dug into the ground and she shifted forward, raising her tail, the blade gleaming in the light dangerously.
Today there was a chimera and she felt terror tighten her chest.
It's shoulders were about to where hers was and it had two extra heads. A worried glance around and she closed her eyes for a moment to gather her nerves, and then she went. The blade on her tail, honed sharper than any sword could be, sliced through the first neck like warm butter. The blood that sprayed from the neck coated her side and the ground. The remaining head of the chimera screamed in pain and rage.
Soon though, perhaps too soon for the patrons, it was silence, the fresh warm blood coated small parts of the arena and Jaiha fell to her knees, panting heavily and covered in blood. None of it her own.
So tired.
Ears down, head down, she was then escorted out of the arena and turned loose in the hallways where the Gladiators waited. Slaves and volunteer's alike. A dirty cloth was tossed at her and she sat against a wall, grabbing her tail and wiping the blood and gore from the blade carefully, picking bits from between the beads before finally she relaxed and let her head fall forward.
With her forehead place carefully against the flat of the blade, Jaiha would wait here until the end of the day to be returned to her cell. Then it would start all over again tomorrow.
There was a long moment while she looked at the blade of her tail, gently dragging a finger along the edge, to pull it back and watch the drop of blood that welled at the tip. Maybe tomorrow she would let the beast get her.