Author's Note: Hello all! Back with a new story, and the plots been one I've wanted to write for some time now! Tell me what you think!

Chapter 1

I've never really been afraid of death. To me, dying was always just a part of living. To fear it was foolish, one should just accept it as fate and move on.

That's exactly what I did.

Rolling my shoulders out, I bent my neck at an angle that would give way to a relieving crack before I exhaled deeply and curled my fingers tight against my palms. The arena I was in was one I had stood in before. Many times, in fact, I knew each wall and corner intimately. From the blood stains splattered across the concrete walls to the bent metal bars that stretched out from the tops of those very walls. Functioning together to create a cage of sorts, they worked hard to keep some in and others out. As I looked around the arena and took everything in, even something as small as the sand that dusted the ground was familiar to me, the color similar to that of my home in Nubia, on earth.

The seats that surrounded the arena were beyond full tonight, I couldn't help but smirk at the looks of sheer excitement on their faces. A hush settled over the crowd as a yautja male walked to the edge of the balcony he was currently occupying, his thick arms spread out wide as he called for total silence.

"We have a special treat in store for you tonight! A beast like no other, a monster among monsters! Against the beautiful desert flower!" He bellowed from above, his mandibles spread as he panted from the exertion.

I scoffed, planting my hands on my hips.

The crowd cheered as the male looked on, soaking up the applause.

The stadium seats were filled mainly with bad bloods, that much I knew. Given how it was illegal to have these kinds of fights by Yautja law, only bad bloods would be caught watching; their honor code long since abandoned. Their exuberant enthusiasm grew as a loud banging sound filled the air. I sighed and rolled my eyes as the thick wooden door, the only way in or out of the arena, opened slowly. Four yautja males had the beast in neck restraints, its thrashing and bucking were proving to be just a bit too much though for the young males. With uttered curses they shoved the creature into the arena with me, the door sliding down quickly to keep it inside.

The beast unfurled its wings, stretching them out wide before pulling them back in. As it pranced back and forth hissing loudly at the noise from outside the walls, I used the distraction to pull my sword. Gripping its worn leather handle in my hands, I whistled loudly to it. The creature slowly turned its head to face me, staring at me with its small yellow eyes as it sniffed at the air.

"Come on, big boy. Come on." I said in a low voice, side stepping it as the creature leaned down on its front clawed feet. The beast all together reminded me of the lizards back on my home planet, back on earth. The warm gray scaled hide, the long tail, the thin tongue, it all looked familiar.

However…

The giant wings were a bit of a stretch. It also had no back legs to speak of, it simply used its wings as surrogate legs to help balance its self. The shear mass of the beast could also be an opposing factor as well, given that it was easily four times as big as I was. I watched as it inched toward me, its mouth opening and closing as small hissing sounds started to bubble out.

"Let's Fight!" The yautja male from the balcony yelled, just as the beast lunged at me.

I rolled to the side, dodging the sharp teeth the beast had as it rattled out another screaming hiss. Smirking, I gripped the handle of my sword tightly as I charged head first at the creature. Swinging up, I barely missed it as it screeched at me before lifting up its wings.

The beast took to flight then.

Its mighty wings fanned the arena as it soared around the cage, taking a swing at my head in the process with its long tail. I gritted my teeth and ran up to a small rock formation inside the arena, gaining a bit of height.

"Come on!" I yelled.

It settled on the ceiling of the cage, hissing as it advanced toward me. With its head twisted around, it stared down at me with bright unfathomable eyes. I could only stare back, my brow furrowing in frustration as realization dawned on me.

The beast didn't want to fight. Not really. It was running.

Sighing, I jumped down from the rocks and landed in a crouch. The crowd started to fuss and boo, the sound slowly drilling away at my patience. Rising up, I slowly walked to the side of the arena and looked down at my sword.

I hated these kind of fights. The unwilling ones were always more painful to kill.

As always, the arena guards rushed to the high walking beams that surrounded the top of the metal bars and started to poke and stab and shock the creature until it growled in anger and dropped down to land solidly on the ground. Shaking off the dust and sand from the arena floor, it once again spotted me. I tightened my hand on my weapon and rushed it, wanting to end its suffering; and mine.

The creature dodged my attempt at an easy death though, instead swiping its tail under my legs and knocking me to the ground. I felt my eyes widen as it instantly leapt on top of me, its teeth inches from my face while its saliva dropped onto my shirt in a steady stream. A blistering screech escaped its mouth, my body flinching as the sound washed over me. I moved my head from one side to the other, avoiding the large bites it kept trying to take. Then, its talon spiked wings started to come down in ill attempts to gauge me as I struggled under its massive body. I pushed up hard on its chest, wiggling my knees up enough until I could push up with my feet and send the beast flying backwards. I quickly rolled over onto my stomach and reached for my sword but one of its front clawed feet wrapped around my ankle.

Then before I could blink I was in the air, my sword glinting at me mockingly from its spot on the ground.

I looked around as it pumped its wings, bringing us higher and higher up. The crowd was going crazy, cheering and laughing and drinking as I struggled to reach the clawed foot holding my ankle.

"This is gonna hurt…for both of us." I warned softly as I bent one of the creature's claws backwards, the bone breaking under the opposing pressure.

It let out a pained cry and let go of my ankle, the feeling of falling overtaking my senses for a brief moment. When my body finally hit the ground, I couldn't breathe. The breath had left me and I gasped and coughed as my lungs burned for it to return. Seeing my sword though, as quickly as I could I crawled to it. I could hear the scuffling sounds of the beast trying to get to me and I turned around, sword in hand, just as it lunged at me again-mouth open wide in a roar.

I watched in silence as the creature struggled for a small moment, its large body impaled on the end of my sword, before it finally went still. Its yellow eyes, ones that held such depth, slowly glazed over.

"It's over now." I whispered partly to myself as I pulled my weapon from its cold body.

The crowd roared with cheering and more celebratory drinking. Some of its patrons were reluctant to fill the metal bet collector plate that was going around with currency, but accepted their loss and did anyway, while others were already casting bets for the next fight. Scantily clad females of all kinds walked out and started to serve more drinks. The Yautja male stood up from his balcony chair, pushing off the female that had used his lap as a seat for the fight and stared down at me. He nodded his head slowly and I nodded back, the wooden door opening behind me and permitting me to leave. Turning from the pompous male, I cast a glance at the beast whose body was already being removed from the arena.

They usually ate the loser, unless he was yautja, and I knew that creature was no exception. Blinking, I followed the long hall out of the arena.

After all, it was kill or be killed here.