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The Hand That Feeds (m)

Started by Draconian, June 30, 2015, 01:44:00 AM

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Draconian

( @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.

DaGlobster

Another day, another seiries of combats...

Another bag of gold in hands.

As a volunteer gladiator, Juras was acutely aware of his situation, and he knew that he wasn't the most well liked in the colosseum. No doubt about it, the slave gladiators must have hated him, happily doing what they've been forced to do most of their lives, and being paid gold, not beatings.

It was still early in the arena's events for today. Nothing major was planned, and, for lack of better terms, it looked like it was going to be a slow day. Juras was slated for a match against two worn-out slaves a good two-thirds through the day, so it'd be a slow day for him, as well.

In his off-time, he did research on the colosseum, learning about past legends, momentous fights of yore, and he studied the current situation.

So, when the colosseum's walking slaughterhouse was looking all down in the dumps, he was quick to take notice. He shrugged off his tunic, and went to his footlockers. All the while, he kept stealing glances at Jaiha, trying to decipher why it was she seemed so... down.

Draconian

Being looked at wasn't unusual for her, people staring was normal, simply because she was not.

Today though, the feeling of eyes was making her skin tingle and before long she glared at the first person she made eye contact with. A volunteer gladiator. A snarl and she stood up, dropping her tail and letting the flat end of the blade drag along the ground so she didn't accidentally swing it into anyone's shins.

Usually she got a wide area around her that had no people in it anyway.

"Stop. Looking. At. Me." She snarled down at the elf creature. Made a point of pulling up her lips to show off her fangs. Change her stance so she took up more space. If asking - rather telling - wasn't going to work, she'd simply have to intimidate him.

DaGlobster

Juras would be lying if he said he wasn't impressed by her display. However, impressed is where it ended. He knew better than to be intimidated, mostly because he knew the rules around here. If she tried to kill him, a free man, her punishment would be severe, to say the least.

Juras only smiled as he strapped on his shoulder plates, which were the only pieces of armor he had on his chest. He proudly displayed his bare torso, hardened muscles overlaid with a lattice-work of scars. For his bottom, he only had armored boots and knee plates, placed above a pair of hardened leather pants.

"Well, there's not much else to look at," he said, motioning to the mostly empty ready-room. "Certainly not going to stare at that guy," he continued, motioning to another gladiator slipping on his arm pretoection. His left ear was missing, so he completely missed Juras' backhanded comment.

"Besides, I reckon there's no harm in looking."

Draconian

Well.  Jaiha looked away after a moment and her pose deflated. A moment went by and she gave the man a curious once over. If she couldn't intimidate him, she could annoy him instead. "Do you love yourself?"

DaGlobster

"Not too much. But I do love my scars," Juras said as he motioned to to his chest. He smoothed his hair back, making sure it stayed behind his ears, and he picked up his helmet. He started to unbuckle the straps.

"You mind if I ask you something?"

Draconian

Jaiha flicked her own ears back, frowning at the little reminders of how not normal she was. When promoted she gave a look to his chest, she did, taking in the whole imagine. Anywhere else and she would has admired them, but here, they made her angry.  "If it's about how I look, yes I mind. If there's anything else you would like to ask me, feel free."

Then she sat, cradling the lethal blade carefully in her hands.

DaGlobster

Once Juras was satisfied with the buckles on his helmet, he set it down. Stretching his neck, he sat down next to Jaiha, an arm's distance away.

"How long you been here?"

Draconian

The question had her looking away, her head down.  "A few months maybe? I don't like to think about it." Jaiha frowned deeply, turning to look at him.  How easily the kinder side of her nature was taken advantage of. Now she was here. Brutally murdering animals. 

The man got a sidelong look and she rubbed at her bare thighs, scratching the dried blood away. "I try not to remember that I can't leave." That earned the elfy man a glare, he was free to come and go as he pleased. So why was he here of all places. 

Then her tone dipped low turned mocking, "How long have you been here?"

DaGlobster

"I've been fighting on and off for a year or so," Juras said, glancing over to his footlocker to make sure nobody was stealing from it.

"You might've heard of me. They call me The Longknife."

Draconian

"The longknife?" Jaiha tilted her head, pursed her lips and flicked her ears up. Before she'd been a slave she'd heard of him. Now that she was, there was envy. Resentment. "I have." She sighed and shuffled closer, maybe... A plan slinked through her mind. "I'm Jaiha. What's your real name?"

DaGlobster

Juras raised an eyebrow. Normally, he'd be more forthcoming with his name, but Jaiha little shuffle towards him put him on alert.

"Aeros. You can call me Aeros."

Draconian

Aeros the Longknife.

Jaiha had her ears perk up, and she smiled. Though it quickly melted away and she examined what she could see of him. "I... It's nice to meet you, I guess. Why do you do this? Do enjoy it?" Another flick of her ears before she forced them downwards and steady. They gave away to much. So slowly she let go of the blade and held the tips of her ears down.

DaGlobster

"That's a bit of an odd question," Juras said, and he crossed his arms and leaned back against the wall. Some unknown gladiator's name was called, and an individual vacated the ready room.

"I like fighting. Killing? Not so much. But I've been fighting my entire life, and this place seemed like the next level to take my talent."

Draconian

Still holding her ears, Jaiha watched the gladiator leave the room. "And you get paid if you win." Jaiha let go of the tips of her ears, needing no help to keep them down now that reality was setting in. This Aeros fellow would get to leave and go home. She would not. Jaiha tucked her tail against the wall, blade side down and hugged her knees. "Do you do this for your family?"

DaGlobster

"Don't got a family," Juras said, face straightening a bit at that.

"I do it to get by. It's the only thing I know how to do."

Draconian

Jaiha looked down at her legs and tucked her face down, giving Aeros a sympathetic look when he said he had no family. "I guess I'm not the only slave to the Arena between the two of us," another shuffling movement closer and she leaned towards him. "Do you own any slaves?"

DaGlobster

"Me? Own a slave?"

Juras laughed.

"What use would I have for one? I live in a room, basically, and I spend pretty much the entire day here."

Draconian

Jaiha made a face. Well there went that plan. Maybe.

Again she inched closer, so close that he could probably feel the warmth of her skin "what if you owned one that could make you money. One that doesn't lose."

DaGlobster

Juras looked at her a bit oddly, before her idea finally hit him.

"Are you suggesting..."

He looked around, making sure that nobody else was close enough to hear.

"... That I buy you?"

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