Spartacus: Barbarians of the Ludas
Spartacus and Drenis marched in a single filed line along with the rest of the new recruits for Batiatus' ludas. It all happened so quickly- Drenis managed to defeat his opponent yesterday and Spartacus had to fight the Thracian. After a long gruesome battle between the two, which ended in a draw, Batiatus decided to recruit the two Thracians in his school for gladiators.
Spartacus had to thank the gods that the romans allowed them to cheat their death sentence by putting on an entertaining match. Had only one of them were to survive, it was certain that the romans would continue to send gladiators until the survivor were to fall. It didn't matter to Spartacus whether it were dumb luck or not- he and Drenis were still alive.
They found themselves in some sort of arena, standing in a line side by side to each recruit. In front of them were the experienced gladiators of the fine Batiatus' ludas. Spartacus narrowed his eyes into a glare as they jeered and made intimidating gestures to the new recruits. The taunting didn't faze the Thracian warrior.
"Roman boy loving cunts… Thinking they can scare us with their cute little taunts," muttered Drenis.
Spartacus smirked at his friend's remark. The gladiators became quiet when a black muscular man by the name of Oenomaus walked to the practice arena to examine the new recruits. In his hand was a whip.
"What is beneath your feet?" Asked Oenomaus.
No one answered.
"Answer! What is beneath your feet?" Asked Oenomaus.
A bald fat man with the word "fugitive" tattooed onto his forhead looked down to the ground and answered, "Sand."
The gladiators laughed at his answer. Oenomaus shook his head.
"Crixus! What is beneath your feet?"
A tall, muscular man with a smug look on his face came forward from the gladiators and stood next to Oenomaus.
"Sacred grounds, Doctore. Watered with the tears of blood."
"Your blood! Your tears! Your pathetic lives all forged into something of worth. Listen, learn and perhaps live as gladiators," said Oenomaus.
The imposing man then walked towards Spartacus and Drenis. He smirked and nodded his head.
"These two Thracians managed to cheat death in the arena yesterday. They fought against Marcus Decius Solonius' best man and won. However, had it been any of our gladiators, their heads would've left their bodies in less than a minute."
Spartacus looked at Drenis. The larger Thracian glared at the man who was armed with the whip. Spartacus, however, remained calm. Oenomaus stared at the two Thracians.
"The Thracian dogs seem to disagree. Perhaps a demonstration of their skills. Crixus! Practice swords."
A smaller gladiator took three practice swords, handed one to Crixus and the remaining two to Oenomaus. Oenomaus then threw the two practice swords to Drenis and Spartacus. Drenis picked his up but Spartacus refused to do so.
"Pick up your sword, Spartacus!" Yelled Oenomaus.
Spartacus simply stared at the large gladiator. Oenomaus cocked his arm back and with a swing of his whip, he lashed at Spartacus. The smaller Thracian grabbed onto the whip and replied coldly, "My name is not Spartacus."
Angered, Oenomaus pulled onto the whip, causing Spartacus to fly forward and slam onto the ground.
"Just pick up the sword, already," said Drenis, ready to demonstrate his fighting prowess.
Reluctantly, Spartacus picks up the wooden sword and the two stepped forward to face Crixus. They both immediately charged at Crixus at once, attempting to overwhelm the gladiator. Crixus, however, dodged Drenis' attack and blocked Spartacus'. He then delivered a kick to Spartacus' abdomen, sending the smaller Thracian to the ground.
Drenis pressed forward, swinging his sword wildly. He grunted like a barbarian as he tried to bash the smaller gladiator's head in. Crixus easily dodged the attacks and struck him on the back, causing the large Thracian to fall on his knees.
"Attack without proper technique and you will be dead!" Yelled Oenomaus.
Spartacus got back up and tried to attack Crixus from behind. Their wooden swords clashed as Crixus blocked every single one of Spartacus' attacks. In fact, the larger gladiator laughed at his opponents.
"You barbarian pieces of shit are weaker than I thought," said Crixus.
Spartacus blindly tried to attack with a downward slash but once again, Crixus blocked it. They tied with each other and Spartacus did what he could to force his opponent into submission but Crixus was too strong. The next thing he knew, Spartacus found himself thrown to the ground.
"Come entangled with a stronger opponent and you will be dead!" Yelled Oenomaus.
Drenis attacked again. He also tied up with Crixus but this time, the Gaul was overpowered by the Thracian. Drenis threw Crixus to the ground. The ground shook a little as the Gaul landed. However, he got back up and dodged a wild swing from Drenis. Crixus then struck his opponent on his back again.
"Allow advantage to your back and you are dead!" Yelled Oenomaus.
Oenomaus then lashed his whip onto the ground, calling an end to the exhibition.
"As you can see, those Thracian barbarians attacked with poor form, slow attacks and no strategy. Even though the odds were in their favor, they still managed to lose against our gladiators, proving that their victory yesterday was nothing more than a fluke!"
Spartacus and Drenis returned to the line of recruits as the other gladiators laughed and shouted insults to them. That Crixus was powerful, indeed, but if saving his wife meant facing the larger Gaul in a fight to the death, Spartacus didn't mind. He would fight the gods themselves if he were to ever see his wife again.
"Training will begin tomorrow. Eat and get plenty of rest. Tomorrow, you new recruits will begin to know the true meaning of being a gladiator. Some of you will make it, some of you won't. Your fate lies in your ability to fight. May the gods be with you!" Said Oenomaus.
The roman soldier then escorted the new recruits out of the ludas to their sleeping quarters. When they were in their quarters, the other recruits talked amongst themselves. Spartacus and Drenis sat next to each other.
"'Spartacus…' The name suits you," said Drenis, chuckling.
"I'm surprised they didn't come up with a name for you," said Spartacus.
"Who knows… Those cocksuckers got lucky today. Just wait until I know more about their fancy little tricks."
"In time, Drenis. We'll learn what we can and when the perfect time comes, we'll take these roman dogs down and kill them all."
"Still think you'll be able to see your woman again?"
Spartacus nodded his head, "Like I said, I'll even fight the gods themselves to see her again."
Drenis grinned and shook his head, "And like I said before, you best forget about her. We might be able to kill these guys but your wife… I'm not sure about that."
Spartacus didn't reply. He simply turned away from his friend and closed his eyes, drifting to sleep. He'll need his rest for tomorrow's training session.
A.N.: Let me know what you think! I've only seen a couple of episodes from season one and it's epic enough for me to write a fan fiction on it.
