"I don't want to fight anymore…"
The heavy wooden door creaked as the man worked the lock, shoving it open and marching into the cell, leather straps cracking against his palm as he approached the small figure chained to the wall. The teenage girl cried out as the tool of discipline enforcement cracked down, her already heavily bruised forearm taking the blow as she raised it to protect her head. Kicks from iron-capped boots crashed into her sides and she doubled over in pain, gasping for breath. As she collapsed, the man undid the chain holding her to the wall, gripping a fistful of her long, unkempt hair and throwing her aside into the dirt.
"Now you listen to me, girl. I didn't pay good money to hear your whining. I own you and when I tell you to fight, you'll fight." She yelped as he seized her by the back of the neck, forcing her to look up into his leering face and feel his stinking breath on her skin. "I gave you a choice when I first bought you. You could either go to the arena…or you can work in the brothel. And believe me…many of my clients have already expressed an interest in you. If I wasn't worried it might hamper your fighting potential, I'd give you to them. They'd pay good money…"
"Now get dressed…and armed." The man threw down a dirty bundle, a short sleeve shihakushou and on top of that two sheathed weapons, a daishou, both blades lacking in tsuba. Struggling to her knees, the girl pulled the slave garment off and quickly clothed herself in the shihakushou. She slid the katana into her sash, reaching for her wakazashi before pausing, seemingly hesitating. Her right hand slid along the sheath to the hilt, fingers wrapping around the battered leather grip. She cast a furtive glance towards the man. He was watching her closely, grinning maliciously down at her through decaying teeth. She shuddered and shoved the wakazashi into her sash too, standing up and walking out of her cell, being shoved hard in the back towards the opening at the far end of the tunnel and towards the light.
As she stepped outside, the roar of the crowds struck her hard, stunning her on the threshold of the arena. After being in the shadows for so long, the sunlight overhead near blinded her, blurring the faces of spectators as they screamed for blood, either hers or those of the other figures on the stage. As she blinked, some of them came into sharper focus, showing her several faces, some she knew, some she didn't but each was as young as herself. Each bore a hostile look, death stares aimed in her direction. The naked blades in their hands flashed in the sunlight, polished and sharpened, all the better to carve into flesh.
High above them, the man in charge gave the signal, a red strip of cloth being released into the winds and fluttering to the arena floor. The noise from the crowd intensified, their fists and stamps causing the ground to shake, clouds of dust rising up around them. The girl's heart was starting to race faster, her palms turning slick with sweat. The other young gladiators charged, bare feet slapping against the sand floor, weapons flashing. A boy broke out from the mass, his faster pace carrying him towards her with a frenzied scream, raising an axe two-handed above her head.
He's going to kill me…? I don't want to fight…but I don't want to die either…
He was almost upon her, spittle flying from his open mouth as he slashed down at her, aiming to bisect her from skull to pelvis. Her limbs began to tremble with fear. Her heartbeat increased even further and a red tinge began to fill her vision. The sunlight glinted off the axe head as it cut through the air towards her, a foot, then an inch away. Her right hand tightened on the hilt of the katana at her side. A blade flashed and blood splattered the sand. A body collapsed to the ground.
A thin line of blood ran down the flawless blade of the katana as the boy's head dropped at her feet and the girl raised her blade two handed, holding it before her eyes. The crowd went mad at the sight of the first death of the match, screaming approval and beating their fists on the overlooking parapets. There was a crescendo of screams but all seemed to fade to nothing to her as she advanced, her stride covering the distance between her and the approaching crowd of gladiators in a split second. Her katana flashed in her right hand as she swept it around in a devastating great arc.
Another boy raised his giant warhammer to block but her blade cleaved right through the haft, burying in his collarbone with a spray of blood and shattered bone. Her foot pressed against his chest to wrench it free and immediately cut laterally, slicing a girl's neck open as the latter tried to get in close with a dagger while her weapon was stuck in the first attacker's body. The slave shoved the two bodies aside as three more gladiators came on, hopping over the bodies of their fallen comrades to get at her, too hyped on the cheers of the crowd to worry about their own lives. Well that would be their mistake. Their insanely joyful faces as they charged fuelled her hatred, her will to live… I don't want to die…
Her katana flipped around in her hand, her grip reversed as she drew back her right hand and hurled it with all her might. It shot through the air like chain lightning to bury in the centre attacker's neck, the boy coming to a halt, quivering on the spot and unable to just drop. The slave's hand found her wakazashi as she kept on going, diving at the one on the right and aiming a flying kick for her chest, feet bounding off the ground in a rush of sand. Her foot connected, sending the girl flying as the slave pounced off her and flew at the third gladiator, seizing her katana from the body of the transfixed dead one and crossing her blades in a vicious slash across and removing the man's head. The gladiator she'd kicked aside to start with rolled to her feet and lunged with a pair of short swords. The slave didn't even bother to turn as she slung her katana backwards, even as the enemy ran onto it, being pierced through the neck and collapsing to the ground.
A pause… The girl stood there alone, her chest heaving as the effects of her physical exertion finally became apparent. Her katana was held loosely in her right hand at her side, her wakazashi in her left. Blood stained both blades, dripping steadily from the tips and staining the sand red. And all around her…the corpses of several teenagers lay in pieces, lifeless eyes staring either at her or up at the blazing sun above and their ultimate freedom, the thing that had been promised to them if they could kill her.
Why me…? Why?
She just wanted to leave now…but there was no leaving this place while an opponent still remained. The ones that she'd killed were the warm up act, the starting feature to get the crowds going for the climax battle. And as the gates opened at the far end of the arena, opposite to where she had entered, the other gladiator company's champion emerged from the darkness. Despite the killing spirit that filled the girl, she felt a shiver as the figure stepped out on to the grounds.
Another teenage girl stood here, dressed in a form-fitting fighting uniform with a dougi tied over the top, though with her arms and legs from the thigh down exposed. A daishou was tied at her side and a tantou blade flipped up and down in her hands. As the gladiator girl saw her, she stopped tossing the blade and held it in a reversed grip. Long dark hair fluttered out behind her, dark, cold eyes glaring at her from between a few loose strands. As their eyes met, the other girl gave a grin, a cruel expression that made the slave's knuckles whiten on the hilts of her weapons. As the gladiator came level with her, she spoke in a smooth yet hard voice.
"So girl…you're the one they've all been talking about? Sure don't look like much…just some common Rukongai whore." They began to circle, eyeing each other up, blades held at the ready. Neither seemed willing to make the first move. Then the gladiator girl reached across and slapped her hard in the face, then a second time. "Tch… Alright...let's do this then, girl."
The gladiator lashed out with her tantou but this time the slave girl ducked back, the tip opening a thin line on her cheek, whipping around and kicking the knife free from the extended hand. She countered with her katana, slashing high only to have it stopped dead by the gladiator's wakazashi, drawn in a flash to intercept the strike. The second blade flashed as it was drawn, opening a line across the slave girl's stomach, causing her to wince even as a sandalled foot connected with her chest and hurled her backwards into the sand. Gasping for breath, she rolled aside as two blades stabbed down into the ground where her body had been only a second before.
"Come on, you little bitch!" The gladiator came on, kicking for the slave girl as she rolled to her feet in a crouch, sending her rolling back again but this time rising to her feet, katana and wakazashi raised ready. They cut through the air to parry a storm of heavy blows, taking steady steps backwards as she was driven into a retreat. The slave girl's heart was racing faster and faster as the number of attacks increased. Her back collided with the areana wall and her eyes widened in sudden shock even as the gladiator's lips twisted in a grin. A powerful swing with both blades sent the girl's wakazashi flying away, spinning over and over to land point down in the sand several metres off. The whistle of a sword and a cry of pain burst from her lips as the gladiator drove her own wakazashi through her right shoulder. The gladiator drew back with her katana to finish her off with a beheading strike.
Gritting her teeth, the slave girl slashed sideways with her katana, driving the other girl back and bare feet pressing against the rough stone walls as she sprung forward, her blade cutting a bloody line across the gladiator's brow. A punch to the jaw, a kick in the stomach and a quick rotation brought the slave girl's sword flashing around in a great arc that shattered the other girl's blade, the upper half breaking off and spinning away into the distance. She dived forward to stab her katana through the gladiator's throat but the latter spun, twisting aside and catching her by the wrists, flipping her over her shoulder and dumping the girl into the dirt. A twist of her hands and the katana was reversed. Leaning heavily on the blades, it flashed downwards burying itself through the slave girl's shoulder.
The girl let out a howl, more an animalistic cry than human. The gladiator girl's momentary look of triumph was replaced with surprise and fear as the slave girl gripped the naked blade with her left hand, gripping it tight, opening the skin of her own hand to stop it being withdrawn. Her right swept across, snapping it in half, seizing the pointed half and holding it in a bloodied hand. She stabbed upwards and drove it into the gladiator's gut. A scream burst from her lips as she fell back into the sand. She attempted to rise but the slave girl was on her in a second, springing on top of her and pinning her to the ground, right hand drawn back with the bloody blade grasped in it.
Why am I doing this...?
The gladiator girl's eyes were wide with fear, wanting to move but unable to. All around them, the steady roar of the crowds increased in volume, louder and louder, screaming for blood. The slave girl felt her hand trembling, desires conflicting within her, to drive her blade into her enemy's heart warring with...something else, something she couldn't define or identify. The gladiator girl's eyes were locked with hers. She could see herself reflected in the deep brown, a feral figure; savage expression, filthy and bloodied by those she'd already killed.
I don't want to do this. I don't want to kill... But she was trying to kill me. If I don't kill her, she'll kill me. I have to...
"Die...!" The gladiator closed her eyes, averting her gaze as the slave girl's grip tightened on the blade, blood running from her palm and staining the metal an even deeper red. The sun flashed as it plunged downwards, stabbing through and pushing through any resistance until her hand rested against the surface. Slowly, the gladiator girl's eyes opened, staring into her eyes and then looking down to where the blade had sank into the sand. A small smile reached the slave girl's lips as she slowly dismounted the other girl, standing and stepping away. The latter kept staring at her in shock as attendants now rushed forward to lead her away. Her eyes remained on her for a moment before a mass of bodies shielded her from view and the slave girl was left standing alone in the middle of the blood-stained arena.
It's okay. I didn't have to kill her. Mother would be...happy, I think.
A flurry of footsteps sounded behind her and several guards came running out from the side tunnels, surrounding her. The slave master came striding out, towering over her. "What the hell do you think you're doing, girl? These people paid to see blood. Are you trying to ruin me...? Answer me, you little bitch!" He struck her, punching her hard across the jaw and dropping her to the sand. He kicked her hard, rolling her over, then placed a firm foot on her face, pushing her into the sand. The taint of iron and the wetness of blood filled her senses. Her hands clawed in the sand, gripping around an object. With a thrust, she drove the blade shard into the man's leg, stabbing it in and twisting.
He let out a roar of pain, stumbling back as the guards closed in, beating her with the butts of their spears. Her vision swam as pain exploded all over her body, already bruised from being struck again and again. Then she felt the sand move beneath her as hands grabbed her by the ankles and she was dragged towards the entrance tunnel. As the ground beneath her changed to the stone of the tunnel, her movement paused.
"So...this is the girl, huh?" It was a new voice she'd never heard before.
"Yeah...that's the little whore. What about her?" This time it was the slavemaster. His breathing was heavy with the effort of ignoring the bloody wound she'd inflicted on his leg. She grinned to herself, a small smirk no one but her could see. I did good, didn't I, Mother?
"What do you call her then? What's her name?"
A pause before the slavemaster replied.
"Mikihara. Rei Mikihara, sir."