+ Strong Ones +
"That one? I'd keep it chained away from your other monsters when you're not training him...but it should make you a pretty penny..."
The monster didn't say anything. He just looked at the man he was about to be sold too.
Rich, as he understood the word. But flabby and weak. "Am I going to fight now?"
His master ignored him, running a hand through his hair. "He's not registered for the regular tournaments...I was going too..." The man let out a sigh "but you're not looking for that kind of Monster, are you?"
"No, I'm not...the bets are so much higher when there's blood. The monster's have to be stronger..."
Stronger...He only stood about as high as the man's waist...but he would get to fight?
He grinned. They had always told him he was too small, but now...
"I wouldn't be doing this if I could draw enough money off the proper tournaments, but I can't."
There were always these kinds of tournaments...ones where the monsters always fought to the death, instead of just the occasional accident...
Monster's with Naga blood were preferred. They became desensitized more easily.
Most of the Monsters were unregistered, completely with out legal identity, and he didn't want one. All he had ever known was fighting and blood. His opponents and his own. It was all he ever wanted.
"And the winner, for the fourth time running..."
One of the attendants began throwing down sand for the next match...another began to uproot the lost disk. It was a contstant source of irritation to the monsters that the pits from the roots never seemed to be filled in properly- a fall could cost them their lives.
Naga headed back toward the exit...something told him to turn around and he did.
Gripping the railing, white knuckled, and appearing rather green, was his old master. Sweat dripping down his face, mumbling to himself, he turned and ran away.
He never showed up at any of his other fights.
He could smell the blood flowing his master's arms...and his fine shirt had dark red stains all down the arms.
The new Monster screamed...she was either panicked, or a feral...they tended to be the most dangerous...no wonder he had gotten cut up, trying to handle one like that..
She slammed to the floor, letting out a loud scream, incoherent in rage...
She?
"What?"
"SLIVA!! STRONG ONE!! STOP THIS SECOND!!"
She let out another incoherent scream. Female Nagas tended to be rarer...this one was half Gali, and slightly built...a weakling, most likely. His master hadn't had much luck with his monsters, apart from him...they tended to be killed after a few fights. In the most spectacular manner...
She let out a snarl, carving lines of blood on his face. It dripped down, eventually falling on the floor. She stared at him, obviously reveling in the sent.
Or maybe...he laughed and pinned her arms to her sides.
She laughed a harsh laugh, tossing her head back. Okay, so she had won that time...and the time before that...she was a complete humiliation.
He lunged at her, enraged. She dodged easily, then delivered a solid punch.
She shoved him hard...It normally wouldn't have done much, but he had somehow wrapped his tail around, and...Shit.
*THUMP* There was a loud crash a some of the equipment fell on top of him.
She let out a long hiss and turned away...The first time she had knocked him down, she had tried to kill him, and had nearly beaten to death by their trainer.
She hadn't done it since. Which made him wonder if she was really that far gone...
He grinned, grabbed her, and threw her. She hit the ground hard. She turned on her side, and returned his grin.
"Be careful with her...Do you have any idea how much she cost me?"
"I will..."
He didn't want to...
She let out a yell as his claws opened wide wounds on her arm.
Was this the way he was supposed to feel? He stared at the blood dripping down his claws. She lunged at him.
"I don't want to fight you!!"
Did he really care...They would both be killed if they didn't fight. They say that a monster in the arena is at the mercy of the clock.
They say that a monster in the pits gets no mercy.
"FIGHT!!" The man yelled, laughing at the fact that she had jumped the gun. The wild ones were pretty much uncontrollable when you threw them in the pit...
He punched her hard, and she began coughing up blood. She paid no attention to where his blows were landing...he'd seen other monster's fight her, she was usually impossible to hit...jumpy... The blood darkened the sand that had been thrown down to hide it...
Eventually he wrapped his claws around her neck. There was a large cheer, and the noise was deafening. He looked up.
Thumbs down...she had robbed many of them of their "investments"...She gave him a strange look, and closed her eyes.
He watched as she crumpled into a disk in front of him, white and gold markings fading into nothing. There was barely a scratch on him...Nobody could beat him...
Weakling...
He turned and stared at the men watching. Nobody...not even her.
The crowd stopped counting their gold, and suddenly went silent.
Nobody...
He felt nothing. But the people of the town did. A lot of them died-outraged- before he left. The monsters echoed the outrage for different reasons, that they were being used those ways and that they were blamed.
However, the massacre did lead to a crackdown on the illegal pits.
They said his master deserved it, keeping such a dangerous monster...
He carefully picked away at the meat he had found inside the cart...the man hadn't known about the numerous wild monster warnings in these parts.
Most of them related to him...
"Eating it raw, Naga?"
He turned and faced the strange monster in golden armor. "Ssso...Do you want me to fight you. I'll win."
"No, you wouldn't. But I want you to join me..."