Floating in the darkness, my blood is on fire, but my body is cold. I hear whispers, voices too far away to understand, but close enough to hear. I taste blood. Is it mine? Somebody else's? It doesn't matter. I'm going to die here, so far away from home. Where is my home? I don't even know anymore, I know I don't belong here though. Where is here? That's a stupid question, here is where I am. Here is where I'm going to die. Why am I dying? I don't remember, it was seconds ago, or was it minutes? Hours? Days? Why does it even matter? I'm going to die.

"Get up"

What was that?

"I said get up"

I can't.

"Get up and fight"

I'm dying.

"Why?"

Why?

"Why are you dying?"

I…

"Why are you dying?"

I was fighting, I lost.

"You didn't ."

But I'm dying.

"That doesn't mean you lost."

How?

"Get up."

But…

"Take the fire inside you, and put it outside!"

What are you talking about?

"Get up and fight!"

But I LOST!

"Why did you lose?!"

Because I wasn't strong enough!

"Then get stronger."

How?

"Get up!"

I remember now, I was cut. I was fighting another experiment. I was fighting.

I have to get up!

The battered and bleeding man did what could only be described to onlookers as a miracle, if there were any. He stood up.

The man, Zael, stood on his shaky legs and let out a primal roar that seemingly shook the ground beneath his feet. "You…" He pointed at the only other person nearby, a man in cobbled-together leather armor. "You didn't kill me, I won't make that mistake." He declared through clenched teeth as he reached for the blade that lay at his feet. This blade, which can only be described as a blade, had no hilt, but simple wrappings on the end that hadn't been tapered to a point.

Zael picked up this blade and began his charge before even straightening his posture first.

With a roar that announced his conviction, he charged his opponent and lifted his blade high with his right harm. Once he got within a few steps, he arced his blade down at his opponent's neck. Instead of the anticipated tearing of flesh, there were sparks and a metallic clang as steel struck steel. The battle had been rekindled.

Zael brought his left leg back and readied for a counter attack that was already coming towards his left side. The stranger struck only Zael's sword, but nevertheless drew blood from Zael's blade-manipulating hand. Zael took a step left, dodging a downward swing, then dipped to the left and ducked as the katana changed direction and nearly bit into his shoulder. After his duck, he went into a roll and came up to the left of the stranger and thrust his blade forward, but it was easily batted aside by the nimble katana. With his sword arm trailing wide, Zael made a snap decision to let go and charge forward for a tackle. Caught completely by surprise, the stranger had no choice but to drop his weapon and surrender to the grapple.

The two bodies crashed into a large boulder with a smack and Zael began punching the instant their movement was halted. One, two, three, four right hooks into the strangers left side. There were loud thuds, and the cracking of bone as Zael kept up his assault. On the sixth strike, the blood splatters began, and by the tenth strike, only one of them was alive. By the fifteenth, Zael had halted and backed-off from the the mangled body, and simply stared.

"D-A-C-2-F-2-6-0, return to your enclosure." Boomed an impossibly loud voice, reverberating off of invisible walls and Zael's eardrums. "D-A-C-2-F-2-6-0, return your enclosure, this is your fifth and final warning, or you WILL be subdued." The voice boomed once more.

Right, I'm in this place….

Zael glanced around for a few seconds. Spotting the freestanding doorway amidst the sand and rubble, he began loping towards it.

-Darkness-

Note: This is less of a chapter than it is a prologue, following chapters aught to be longer, depending on the content, and my brain.

Note: Reviews strongly encouraged, I'd like to know what I'm doing right/wrong