GLADIATOR: By Asuka Tenjou
Summary:
Natsuki, a Spartan Captain is captured by a slave trade and sold to fight as a Gladiator for her freedom under the training and ownership of the all too well known 'lady of Rome' Shizuru Viola
Note: This fiction is based on the ancient Roman times, but is not completely accurate in order to accommodate the story better. I hope you all enjoy this regardless! (I hope you do not mind me starting another fan fiction hehe)
1- Agoge: It is the Spartan's method of training the young.
2- Ludus: the place where gladiators live and train
3- Editor: is a sponsor of games (gladiator sponsor)
Chapter One: A destiny's twist
A woman was lying in the desert semi-conscious.
Her green eyes stared blankly at the blue sky which was slowly being inhabited by vultures that were flying in circles waiting patiently for her to die so they could have her as a meal.
As she lied there, she prayed to the gods—not for her salvation, but for forgiveness instead.
(A few days ago in the Spartan military camp by the border of Egypt)
A woman was walking at a firm and swift pace, her long black hair swayed as she went, and soft clunking could be heard coming from the metal pieces of her thick elaborate armor that covered most of her pale skin. Her emerald eyes were fixed up ahead, focused on the main military tent of the Spartan's army where the general of her army awaited her news.
She took off her helmet and wrapped it safely under her arm before presenting herself before her general; as soon as she entered the tent she saluted her higher officer with her free arm.
"I have come to give you my report sir." She said in an unwavering husky tone.
"Ah, captain Natsuki, I am glad you have returned safe and sound" the general replied, who saluted her in the same manner. The general was a burly man, his skin was dark and tanned by the desert sun, and his eyes were brown as was his hair. After saluting his captain, he crouched down to pick up a shirt to wear. "Forgive my appearance" he said while putting on his shirt "I'm afraid my armor has gotten sand all over and I was forced to clean it off. Please, by all means, go ahead with your report" he said waving his hand at the same time, egging her to do so.
"It seems the Persians have decided to retreat deeper within the country, destroying all oasis and sources of water on their way."
"Ah" the Spartan general let out a small sound of understanding and then smiled at his captain "It seems that they want us to succumb to the harsh desert conditions."
"Yes, and if you allow me to say so; it would be unwise to deploy our troops after them, when our water resources are already low." Seeing the general's change of expression she decided to reason more "Our enemies have already suffered defeat, risking the lives of the troops seems pointless just for the remnants of an army."
"However-" The general decided to add to his captain's statement "We still need those water sources. We have yet to secure the capital, and having water is essential for our victory, and we also have to provide water to the civilians we cross on our way to gain their support. And even so, even if we know that Spartans are trained to deal with harsh conditions, we are still mortals and can die of dehydration regardless."
"Then, in that case… Allow me to go secure some water. If you let me lead a small unit, I will be able to get ahead these Persians and stop them. They are very much scattered across the desert, so fending them off won't be as difficult." Natsuki stated confidently
At these words the general thought hard about her suggestion. Although he was confident about the woman's abilities – she wasn't captain for nothing after all- he disliked the idea of sending such a good officer in such a perilous mission. But then again, there would be probably no one more appropriate than her to do such a task.
However the general gave her his permission not knowing that he was sending her to a death trap.
It took less than three days for Natsuki and her unit to get ahead of the Persians, set camp and wait for their arrival. The soldiers were nervous, but the presence of the famous young woman kept their morale high and more than willing to give a good fight to their enemies. They were Spartans after all. Fear was not an option.
The spartan army, who were aiding some allies and fending off the Persians since they were a threat to Greece, had hired native people as scouts as they were unfamiliar with the desertic lands. Little did Natsuki know that the scouts that were sent to make the report of the defeated Persian army's movements had been captured and bribed to give fake information to the spartans.
Natsuki discovered this too late, when the Persians attacked them on their fourth day of camp.
They did not face a small number of Persians as they expected but instead Natsuki and her unit were face to face will a good six hundred Persian against a small group of fifty spartans.
Although her unit fought valiantly the captain already knew beforehand the outcome of the battle. It didn't take a genius to predict such a thing; it took her one look upon the enemies' forces to see that they were outnumbered by way too many men. And it didn't matter how good Spartans were dealing with such dreadful looking situations or how superior in combat they were compared to these Persians. They were still going to be overpowered by sheer man power.
Soon the predicted outcome became true, every man of Natsuki's unit had fought to their last breathe, leaving the captain to be the only one standing. The captain knew then her time was near, she had lost a lot of blood from her countless wounds.
Her helm felt like it was asphyxiating her as she breathed, the sword in her hand seemed to weight more than usual, her armor felt like it was shrinking crushing against her body in a tight embrace.
Her blurred vision showed a sword descending upon her shoulder with the intention to end her existence from the face of the earth.
The captain didn't know why she didn't die immediately from such a fatal blow. But regardless, even if it was being slow, the wound from the sword was doing its job well; it had been draining her life for the past few hours.
The sun had already setting, if her wound didn't kill her, then the glacial cold night of the desert would instead.
She closed eyes eventually giving in to the darkness; it was probably better this way… Her incapability to have predicted such a trap had cost her the lives of her dear unit. Dying with them would be more than an honor.
She was dead now.
That was for sure—or was she? If she was indeed dead, then why did she feel something on her forehead?
Natsuki opened her eyes it was when she felt something wet trickling down her forehead. It took her a couple seconds to understand that someone was pouring some water on her in an attempt to bring down her fever.
The woman who was tending her was definitely foreign; her dark skin and hair gave her exotic complexion away immediately. When noticed her opening her eyes and smiled at her, while she moved out of her field of vision to do something else.
Natsuki moved her eyes to the side trying to get a view of her current situation.
She was in the interior of a wooden caravan that was filled with all types of merchandise, spices for the most part, according to her nose. Her ears, told her a different story to what was going on outside the caravan; she could hear marching, the sounds of wild exotic animals and a very odd clinking noise, as if chains were being rattled.
She looked down at her own body, seeing her cuts and other wounds had been cleaned and bandaged. Yet her wrists had shackles that connected to chains that were coming from the caravan's wall.
The woman who had been tending her came back to Natsuki's side offering her a recipient with some water for her to drink. Natsuki took it gratefully, and drank it without hesitation, spilling some of the liquid in her eagerness, after quenching her thirst did her brain start functioning properly as questions started to arise in her mind. Where was she? Why was she still alive?
It soon came to her attention that the woman helping her was also chained. Why were they chained? Then did she realize in horror where she had ended up.
A slave trade caravan.
"Many days—like that" she said to her –interrupting Natsuki's thoughts- in latin with a heavy accent while showing concern on her face.
Natsuki nodded to show that she understood her, as she was surveying her unsure if she comprehended what she was saying.
"You… Lucky." She said in an attempt to start a conversation with her "You… fever… many days, almost fed to lions…"
Natsuki wasn't sure what to say so she remained silent.
"Yami." She said suddenly while pointing to herself "Dancer—Libya."
Yami smiled at her and then waited expectantly, her brown eyes glistening, making Natsuki realize she was expecting her to introduce herself as did she.
"Natsuki…" she began, but she felt her body weaken and before she could continue she succumbed to her fever, passing out once more.
The next time she woke, she felt better physically though she did not know if she did mentally. She didn't have time to adjust to her new condition as a slave nor time to morn her dead unit.
The slave traders were natives of the land, who wore dark robes and fabrics around their heads, hiding and protecting them from the scorching sun. As soon as the slave traders saw that she was strong enough to move on her own, they had her walk next to the caravans chained with the rest of the slaves till they reached a small city.
Natsuki did not recognize the city but she knew this was where the traders sold their merchandise and her stomach lurched as response to her thoughts. The Spartan woman was well aware how slave trading worked.
Slave traders didn't care about a slave's former identity or status, for them they were all the same, and served for one purpose only: to make money.
It was pointless to even talk to these people about her release. Even though she knew that if her general knew about her situation and knew she was still alive, he would more than willingly pay for her freedom, however, traders never accepted such deals as there was no guarantee of payment.
Safe sure money is what they wanted. Not the possibility of getting paid. But Natsuki managed to find a small ray of hope in her situation. If she was lucky enough to be bought by a greek or even a roman citizen, she was sure that she could convince them to release her since she was a civilized person of status like them and not some low life barbarian.
She interrupted her ponderings when the traders made all the slaves sit beside a wall, exposing them like cattle, waiting to pique a buyer's interest.
During that time, Natsuki's eyes scanned the by passers in search of a roman or Greek buyer while avoiding to catch the attention of the people she wasn't interested in.
After a few hours, a hooded figure stopped beside one of the traders.
"There is a match coming soon" the stranger said to the trader in perfect latin "What do you have for me this time?"
Picking up the hooded person's words and language Natsuki's heart raced. Perhaps this person was a roman?
The trader smiled showing his missing teeth and signaled the slaves while replying in not so flawless latin "Feel free to browse, all these people are good for dying and fighting. You pick what you think you need."
The stranger looked around, inspecting each slave carefully in silence.
When it was Natsuki's turn the person spoke to her much to the Spartan's surprise "Do you speak latin?"
Natsuki nodded
During her years under the training of the Agoge (1), she had been taught not only military training but, had received an extensive education in regards to culture, and was able to speak, read and write latin flawlessly without effort among other languages.
"Tell me, why are you wounded?"
She was referring to her bandages that were wrapped around her body.
Natsuki hesitated and chose not to reply to the question and simply gave her a small shrug which earned her a slap on the face from one of the slave traders while telling her to reply to the stranger's question.
The stranger shook its head and made the trader move away from the woman.
"Do not worry; I think I know now, probably a battle wound… Am I right, Spartan?"
Natsuki widened her eyes in surprise, wondering how the person had known that she was a spartan, but then noticed that the stranger had seen her Spartan's soldier mark peeking out slightly from the bandages around her arm.
"Interesting" the stranger muttered under its breath "She would be pleased upon such a find."
The person moved away to look at the other slaves and then began its negotiations with the traders.
Whoever the buyer was, they spoke in the slave trader's native language, probably to avoid the slaves from overhearing the offers being made. A few minutes passed before the traders headed over to a couple of slaves, forcing them to stand up and gather beside the buyer.
Seven slaves had been picked, and chained together, among them Natsuki and Yami; the traders gave the buyer the beginning of the chain and smiled at them, bowing in appreciation for such a good deal. The buyer grabbed the chain and tugged on it to make them follow them.
They didn't have to walk far however, as the destination of the hooded stranger was a big building beside a decent sized coliseum.
Probably a Ludus (2) – The spartan thought while analyzing the structure.
It was then Natsuki confirmed the purpose for which she was bought. To be a gladiator, a fighter for the entertainment of the public, a person who would risk their lives each time they stepped into the arena of the coliseum facing horrors and a chance of a most gruesome death… The idea did not please her at all.
The buyer passed the chain to some female guards who were waiting outside the building. They guided them inside pushing roughly to make them walk faster.
They eventually ended up in a small underground room that looked like a bath house as there was a stone tub filled with hot steaming water.
"Bathe—you all reek." Said one of the guards before adding "You must be clean before you meet the Editor (3)"
The guards unchained them and stepped back as the slaves hurried to strip themselves of their raggy clothes and to go wash themselves in the tub. Natsuki went in last her emerald eyes scanning the guards who were busy talking to each other.
Then an insane idea occurred to her.
She could escape.
She was unchained, her wounds weren't protesting for the time being, and the steam coming from the hot water provided a lower visibility for the guards. But the consequences of being caught could cost her, her own life. But she doubted that she would be presented with such a beautiful opportunity to do so, than now.
She undressed and entered the steamy water; eyes focused on the guards movements, waiting for just the right time.
After a while she saw the guards calling them over, rushing them to finish washing themselves.
Natsuki decided to take her chances, when she saw one of the guards heading over to pull the other women out of the tub, she held her breath and dived into the tub staying close to its walls.
She waited hoping the guards wouldn't notice her in the water.
After her ears couldn't pick up anymore sounds she emerged gasping for air. Slowly recovering from the lack of oxygen she knew she had to move quickly and grabbed her clothes and ran out of the bathing room.
Looking around she backtracked her steps remembering the places the guards had made them walk through. She was glad to not meet anyone on her way.
She felt her heart leap in joy when she saw the door that leaded outside the building, with some luck; all she had to do was cross it and run as fast as she could through and lose any chasing guards in the busyness of the market.
But before she could put her plan in action, she saw a woman walk in through the door and halt right in front of it as she noticed Natsuki in the hallway.
Natsuki thought fast, she could tell that whoever this woman was, she was someone of a high class, as she wore rich silk robes of white and red, her dark golden hair was braided with ornaments which were of gold and rubies, but the most impressive thing about this woman was her rare crimson eyes who were fixed upon Natsuki's intense green ones.
"What are you doing out here?" She asked in a perfect accented Latin; however the spartan woman noted a small oddity in it, something like over controlled speech, in which a person put too much effort in speaking correctly in a certain language.
The young woman dropped her observations and simply stood there thinking fast. She didn't think it was a good idea to attack someone like her, as it could be lots of trouble.
Meantime, the other woman was taking a good look upon the stranger standing before her, by the clothes she could tell that she was a new slave, by her wet hair she could easily assume she was escaping from the bathing room. She quickly noted the way the woman stood before indicating her she was an experienced soldier, however she was wounded as indicated the bandages wrapped around her. She was quite beautiful she noted, as she took in the rare black hair color, her pale skin and emerald eyes which were fixed upon her, obviously pondering what to do.
"Move aside" said the spartan in Latin, as she knew the other woman knew the language, hoping that someone who was of high class like her would not want to be attacked by a 'slave' and move aside helpless and call for help later.
However the woman didn't budge as she stood there surprised at first at the slave's mastery of Latin. Her expression of surprise didn't last as it quickly became a mysterious smile.
Natsuki felt annoyed at her reaction and she insisted once again "Move away from the door, I do not wish to be forced to hurt you in any way"
The woman didn't move, she stood there smiling between Natsuki and her freedom.
Losing patience, Natsuki decided to simply run past the woman even if she had to push her roughly to the side. As soon as she made her decision, she acted.
She gained speed and while she was passing the woman, she felt something grab her wrist and push her back with force, making the spartan hit the wall with her back. The soldier blinked trying to understand what had happened but then she saw the woman grabbing her wrist, a smile still displayed on her face.
Her fighting instincts kicked in and she freed herself of the woman's grip and counter attacked, she aimed for one of the woman's pressure points trying to paralyze her temporarily so she could escape in peace. But the woman must had foreseen her attack and she blocked it easily and aimed for Natsuki's own points, hitting the back of her knee with her heel, making the young spartan loose use of her right leg. Natsuki buckled, and quickly shifted her weight to her functioning leg and attacked once more aiming for the pressure point on her neck.
The woman dodged this attack easily and grabbed her wounded arm before digging her nails into the injury.
Natsuki hissed in pain as she felt the wound reopen.
"You are skilled, but not so much" the woman said to her.
Taking this as an insult, Natsuki launched another attack which met its target, her face, and she managed almost to unbalance her opponent, taking this moment, the spartan limped as fast as she could towards the door, but was stopped once again by the woman who had grabbed her wrist again and twisted it behind her, immobilizing the spartan.
Natsuki shut her eyes, to silence the anger she felt for failing to escape as she heard the footsteps of the guards coming to the woman's aid.
"Take her with the others, I shall think of an appropriate punishment for her later"
"Yes Editor." The guards responded while they dragged the spartan away
Editor… That was her owner?
OMAKE:
Natsuki: Asuka is having an evil spree
Asuka: That is not true!
Natsuki: Oh come on, cliff hanger—new fiction – and… Mature ratings?
Asuka: I picked mature for a reason you know!
Readers: *Readers eyes sparkle* LEMON?
Asuka: WHA-? YOU PERVS!