Coliseum

[Theory]

264 BC.
On the Greek Island of Kourion...

"Hello Gallion, how are the new recruits fairing in the underground training hall?"

A young man looked up quickly from his post in front of a two giant wooden doors, held closed by a large bar of pressed oak.
He wore a pair of dirty tanned pants with a small toga that ended around his knees.
"U-um...one of the new men we brought from the streets of Thebes seems to be doing extraordinarily well, sir. In fact, he's actually killed two others while they were trying to prepare for the lion matches..."

Alkaus raised an eyebrow and proceeded to lift aside the door's bolt of wood.
"Is that so?"

The younger man nodded right away and helped push open the two double doors.
"He is extremely strong but his attitude is that of a wildcat, sir. He waited and stalks, moves like one and has very sharp finger nails...tis like nothing I have seen before in my life."

"Oh yeah?" Alkaus replied and the other just nodded as the doors finished swinging open and a huge underground arena was exposed.
Light drifted in front grates above that gave one a view of everything going on below.
Several men were sparring with wooden swords as to not hurt each other till their time in the actually coliseum. Others were wresting bare handed and others were dodging certain small wheeled carts pushed by other captives to represent large cats or chariots.

All except one.

Against the wall, surrounded by six guards who were conversing confusedly was one young male who happened to be chained from head to toe.
The strips of blackened metal were clasped around his wrists, neck, and each ankle. Along with one that wrapped completely around his well-muscles stomach.
There was just enough loose chain for him to stand, if he so chose, but not to strike out at anyone who was smart enough to stay at least three yards away.

A very low monotone growl, almost like a nonstop purr came from the man the entire time.
His head was bowed, face hidden behind a messy mop of pitch black hair.
It almost looked like a shag of fur the way it seemed to have its own shape and temperament.

As the two approached the guards quickly noticed and stepped aside so that Alkaus could look at the man.
"He's killed two competitors already sir. He used his hands but when he had attacked they appeared as claws..."

Now the man's finger nails looked completely normal, even shorter than normal seemingly having been ground down from fighting or were.

"Really now...?" Alkaus mused as he walked closer.
The guards all quickly drew their swords and stepped into to press them against the man's throat.
"Careful sir..." The man who had walked in there with him warned.

Alkaus didn't seem to concerned as he approached. He noted that, indeed, the man looked wild.
Feral.
His body was dirty but it didn't hide anything.
He had a very good set of muscles lining from his abdomen to his upper torso. His arms were also evened out as well as his legs.

Reaching forward Alkaus grabbed the man beneath his jaw and lifted so that their eyes met.
Only one of the captives was even visible beneath the mat of hair but it narrowed when it met the high ranking guards.
"Red eyes...the sign of the devil."

The man made no movement but it was obvious he could easily do so, swords at his throat or not.
Alkaus knew this just by the look in his eyes.
He could overpower him easily before the swords even cut but he didn't appear interested at that moment to do so.

"Hmm...I wonder what he would think of using you tonight..."

Several of the guards gasped and started to whisper.
They had just gotten this man and he had no background with him.
No one knew who he was but they definitely knew he was a killer. Which was obvious due to the two bodies several feet away stacked against the wall to be disposed off.
Most likely fed to the wild cats they used in the games.

"I think they would enjoy seeing him compete..."

The games would be in three hours, set in the large coliseum just above their heads.
Underground was the labyrinth where large animals and prisoners were held to compete in these games.
There was a possibility to win your freedom, if the crowd so chose and the ruler agreed...but this has never happened.

It was always death.
No one ever put up enough fight to win themselves their lives back but the thought was still a leading force in each gladiators head. To have freedom again they gave great fights, matches to the death...only to die by choice of their former neighbors and loved ones.

 

[Arashi]

The guards seemed to be having a jolly time, watching the prisoners practice on each other. There were many guards standing around in the unlikely event of a riot, and as they stood and chatted they began to place bets on the man most likely to win the games. This one here was a master with a spear, and that one over there had quite a way with a sword. One man was more than seven feet tall and built like a boulder, but there was an acrobatic small man that was agile on his feet. But none of these men impressed the guards. Rather, they had their eyes set on two particular men.

One was hardly a man, but more of a creature. He had killed two other men with his bare hands, his fingernails appearing to be as sharp as knives. The corpses were presently being dragged from the practice arena, streaking blood through the packed dirt. It had hardly been a fight at all. This was the man most of them bet on to win.

Those that did not bet on the man-creature betted on the short, brawny young man that had yet to be defeated by any opponent. Not with wooden swords or practice spears or punches, and no practice chariot representing the lions and tigers could even get near him. He was swift and strong, stronger than the guards had expected him to be. When he faced the giant boulder of a man, they fought with their hands and with short wooden daggers. Though the boulder man was impressive in strength, even more strong than the short brawny man, but the short man was more cunning. He won, leaving the boulder man on the ground in a temporary sleep.

And always, that short man seemed to be smiling, even all the way to his dark eyes his smile radiated truly. It was disconcerting, but the guards could not help but enjoy the cocky bastard's glee, no matter how odd or overt that glee was. How could he be so gleeful when he was in these games? Was he really so cocky to believe that he would come out of these games alive and well? No one did. Death was always the grand finale.

The guards got bored with the short man while he did a few stretches on the sides of the arena, and their attention diverted.

Nikos touched his toes, feeling the muscles in his legs and back stretch easily. Those bastards. He switched positions, a small grin always on his golden-tan face. After a few minutes, he stood, swung his arms by his sides, and finally walked over to the target he had been waiting to greet ever since the two men were slaughtered.

It was hard to decipher what, exactly, the shaggy haired man was thinking as he slumped there on the ground all chained up and silent. Unhappy was the only thing Nikos could come up with to describe him.

"Hello there," Nikos amiably said to the guards around the other man. "I would like a chance to spar with this man, or at least speak with him. Would you allow me to do so?"

The guards stared back at him dumbly, confused as to why anyone would deliberately want to unleash and fight the wild man.

"We will not unleash him. He has already proven his worth. He does not need practice." They all answered different things at the same time, and Nikos just smiled and nodded.

"Alright then, I will merely speak to him, if he speaks."

The guards enjoyed that, but cautiously backed away as Nikos approached the feral man.

Poor man. He was clearly not enjoying this place, and Nikos believed he knew why; it was probably not just because he had been captured, either. Just as Nikos was, Nikos believed the man to be... Different.

As he approached slowly, his eyes grew softer and he lowered himself close to the ground to keep himself from towering over the other man.

"You certainly are different," Nikos whispered, hopeful that the man would hear him clearly. "As am I. I may be your enemy, but we are similar. Look up; look closely at my eyes."

If the man chose to look, he would see dark eyes of course, but the pupils were not round. They were completely vertical. Far from a human's eyes, though humans hardly noticed his black vertical pupils in his eyes that were also very dark. But he never looked them in the eyes for very long, just in case they might notice and realize that Nikos was not human.

 

[Theory]

Liege was definitely unhappy about the chains but even more so he was upset about not being able to eat his kills.
He knew for a fact that humans didn't eat each other so why had they taken away his food?
It's not like the measly bread they gave them could even be used by his system! He needed meat, especially since he'd gone without for over a week. It was making him very irritable and hungry.

When a voice caught his attention he glanced up slowly, dark red eyes taking in the creature before him.
Right away Liege could tell he wasn't human.
Then he looked closer and noticed slit pupils.
Some type of feline? Possibly a few other things.

Liege wasn't' that fond of his own kind but he definitely proffered them over humans.
He bared his canines as a growl slipped past them.
It was defensive because he was chained.
It would be an unfair attack if the other decided to do so.
However, even though the other man was decently in range of a good swipe of claws Liege just remained seated where he was, watching and waiting.

(gonna be afk a lot this weekend, finals. Ill try to post when I get a chance)

 

[Arashi]

Obviously the man was indeed feral. Most people like Nikos himself rarely showed their hostility in public, even when threatened. The whole world did not need to believe that different races were all evil, but that did not matter to one who probably lived in the wilds somewhere.

Nikos sighed and slowly came to sit cross-legged in front of the man.

"Don't growl at me. I am not your enemy, and I am not here to harm you. I realize this situation is one that puts stress on you, but you will never get out alive if you act like an animal. If you act like an animal, they will treat you like one. We might have animals inside of us, but we are not those animals unless we let ourselves be."

The guards stared at the brave short man in awe. He showed absolutely no fear in the face of danger, even if the other man was tied up. They had no idea what Nikos was saying; his lips were unreadable, his words too quiet to distinguish.

"I want you to get out of here alive, but you may have to cooperate with me for a brief time so we can break out. There are other like us here, as well. We will all break out together," Nikos paused and looked confused. "What is your other half? I cannot figure it out. Leopard? Panther? Oooh, can you guess mine?

Nikos probably seemed entirely too eager and cheerful.

((No prob, Homie. I'll write short so you can write short and therefore reply easier! I've got finals coming up, too. Good luck!))

 

[Theory]

Liege's eyes narrowed at the man's contradiction.
So at first he was his enemy...now he's not?
The young man's mouth quirked into a psychotic smirk.
"My enemy but not..."
The words were whispered but it seemed like he was taunting the other.

A quiet growl started up in his throat again as his eyes dissected the others'.
It was several moments before Liege gave any type of hint as to what he was thinking.

"Cat." He mumbled, eying the other for a reaction.
Was that what he himself was? Or what his guess the other was?
His to decide.

...and there was one thing Liege just wouldn't tolerate.

"I am my other self.
This part of me is disgusting..."
Yes, he much proffered his feline form then ever being in huamn.

(5 done, 3 to go x.X)

 

[Arashi]

Nikos closed his eyes and yawned, waiting a while to reply. In his own way, Nikos was attempting to prove his trust of the other man, though he was not dumb enough to completely let his guard down. If he wanted to add another member to his team of escapees, which he did, he fwlt he needed to prove his trustworthiness to this man who saw himself as a creature.

"Brother, we are both. We are neither human nor animal. Hating one part of ourselves is to hate all of ourselves. Trying to separate our halves is dangerous." Nikos rocked back and forth on his bum like a child, then grinned. "You are not going to be easy to work with, are you? ... In any case, We are both cats. Since you will not specify what cat you are, I will assume leopard. I myself am a panther, a black panther. I was hoping you were as well, but I do not think you are."

Nikos glanced at the guards and waved. They seemed to be getting uncomfortable and suspicious. He would need to hurry.

"We are strong. We will be the last two to fight, but I want to break out before that. I do not want to kill these men; we are all prisoners in foreign territory. I have a half-formed plan. On this level, there are many cages within the labyrinth. Some of my friends are kept there. Another cat, two wolves, and a bear. They will help us. After we are out, we will go to the shore. Either our friends will have reached this place by boat already, or we will have to find a way to hide until they find us. We have some of us that are powerful birds. They will locate us if possible. It is best to assume we are on our own."

Nikos carefully examined the other man with gentle but serious eyes. He was afraid that he was overloading him with information.

"We will misbehave to be thrown into the labyrinth with the animals. That is where my friends will meet us. Are you willing to do this to escape?"




((Geez. That's a lot. You must be in high school still, right? College students usually have less exams. I have... Four. One of which has two parts, so five. What are your exams?))

 

[Theory]

Liege hardened his gaze as the other spoke to him. Not much of the information was being absorbed right at that second but it was being stored and thought over at random points through the conversation.
Liege never really did anything brashly. Even if it appeared so.
He always had a plan, even if it only deemed a small span of a few minutes. He knew what he was doing.
When he spoke of breaking out before their fight Liege finally started to allow himself to listen fully to his words instead of think them through calmly.
He could easily make a distraction but the chains...

"Break the chains..."

It wasn't an order really. In fact it had been said in a slightly questioning tone.
"I can attack again...but not with chains..."
The strong iron cuffs would prevent him from even shifting into his feline form, even if they were larger than the parts shifting.

(I wish high school lol. I had 4 regular exams and one split into 3 different parts of about 25-100 questions each. now tuesday physiology, animal anatomy and terminology lol)

 

[Arashi]

((Ew, gross lol. What kinda major is that? One of my exams actually involved writing a paper of 700-1000 words, doing a five-minute monologue in character, and turning in the written form of that monologue. But no true exam. Makes me happy.))

Break the chains... Nikos was strong, but not quite that strong. A small frown clouded his face, two little wrinkles creasing between his eyebrows. Mischief. Some way to make mischief but not get killed in the practice arena by soldiers. They were unlikely to get killed because of the entertainment they were supposed to provide later. That and, well, no amount of armored clamoring soldiers would be able to kill two feline shifters. There was little contest.

"I cannot break them, but I can set you free. I will tell them I want to practice with you. When you are free... we should both be bad. Like what, like what..." he spoke half to himself, half to the other man. "You can kill guards if you want. They are swine. Leave the prisoners; maybe they will riot with us and be tossed into the labyrinth as well. Maybe we can set them free, too. That is secondary, however. First, we unlock the chains... then we kill some guards... somehow make them throw us into the labyrinth... and then we should have no problems. I will go now. Look calm so they will let you go..."

Nikos slowly rose, almost like a predator ready to sprint at its prey, but the joyous grin on his face made him appear harmless. It was a good trait, being so smiley all the time. He sauntered over to the guards, a perfect image of innocence. Sort of.

"He has calmed down since his earlier bout of anger. Some people just have the worst tempers. It's especially destructive when they are well-trained, too," Nikos sighed, shaking his head. "Anyhow, he and I would like to practice spar before our matches. If he tries anything... believe me, I will stop him. First, though, he cannot fight with chains holding him down. Would you like to unchain him for a short time so we can spar?"

The guards looked at each other with questions written all over their faces. Eventually after whispering to each other, one guard nodded and stepped forth, holding out one key to Nikos.

"You do it. No one wants to go near him, really. When you are done, he will be rechained for the safety of others. Wouldn't want him to get too riled up, you know?"

Nikos smiled and nodded enthusiastically. "Of course. Definitely. This is exciting; I've been wanting to fight him since I saw how good he is!"

And so Nikos plucked the key from the guard's hands and stalked back to his new partner, the smile on his face getting more and more mischievous by the second. He knelt and began unlocking the cuffs.

"Attack guards; get thrown in labyrinth," he repeated under his breath, jiggling a lock open. His eyes flicked back up to the other man's. "How will we do that? We could always pretend that we don't want to be thrown in there. Or we could say we would rather be stuffed in there than fight in the area. Ideas?"

 

[Theory]

It took a few moments to get himself to relax but soon Liege leaned back against the wall and relaxed his body enough to appear like he wasn't so tightly strung.
Of course, he faking it out the arse but no one had to know that.
When Nikos came back and got right within range Liege had to bite his tongue hard not to bite Nikos.
His instincts were screaming at him to go for the food that was so readily in front of him all of a sudden, especially since he'd only been fed nasty bread and that did absolutely nothing for him.
However, the others' whispering brought his senses back enough to stay his aggression until the last clasp of metal slipped free of his body.

A quiet growl had started up from Liege the second the first clasp dropped away from his right wrist and built as each one was removed.
The guards started to raise their hands to show their discomfort.
One even mumbled about putting the chains back on and stopping the other guy but by that time Liege was free...

A huge striped and spotted feline suddenly appeared, bowling over Nikos and slammed right into a guard's throat.
It's hind claws were dug into the man's chest as it's front claws snagged the human around the shoulders, slicing into his back.
In seconds the man was dead, his neck torn out with Liege's fangs.
Normally cheetah use suffocation to kill but when it came to humans a good yank of the fangs at their neck and they were dead.

As swiftly as he'd attacked that man he went to the next guard, ending him in a blur before another, then another.
The humans had their swords out by now but Liege was too fast to receive any serious injuries from the blades.

(lol vet tech freshman. Probly gonna drop after this semester. Getting As and Bs but eight classes for 4 years straight no thanks)