The words echoed in Dragon's head and he lost all hope of escaping. A ridicules looking man with a bubble on his head stood behind the smouldering fire. He sat on a huge chair that resembled a throne and was guarded by many high ranking government militants; a long carpet was laid out from his throne to the war ship behind. Slaves with chains and shackles held up the noble and his chair, their eyes clouded with a curtain of pain and fear.

The Celestial Dragon let out a small laugh after a painful minute of eerie silence.

"Hee hee hee. A small boy appliers to have crossed the path of a Celestial Dragon," His voice was deep and icy.

"Don't think that you can escape, boy. Capture him. He'll make a fine addition to my collection." After he gave the command, the guard sitting next to him got up and slowly headed for Dragon. Still, he was unable to move and he ceased to breathe. This was his end. Dragon closed his eyes and prayed for a miracle to happen. Before long, he could feel hands grab him by his arms and he shivered uncontrollably. He didn't dare open his eyes.

"You should have never come here," he whispered. His grasp was cold and tight.

"Put him on the ship with the other children, finally the fun can start"

"As you wish, sir…"

Dragon shivered franticly, the thought of what 'the fun' was petrified him. The ship was grand and well looked after by the many other slaves on deck. The elegant stairs and crystal chandeliers stood out most with their fine beauty. They past several rooms until they had got to the back of the ship, on one side of the door, golden chains and small, detailed designs painted it, on the other side however, dust and grime. A trap door lay in the heart of the room with chains and locks steeling any hope of escape from below. It took a few minutes for the man to unlock them, some needed keys, and others were cracked by codes. The room was lighted by cheap candles that let out a dim light. It was still hard to navigate the room because it was so dark. Several other children were chained up against the wall like prisoners. Dragon was lead towards them and like them, hung on the wall against his will.

"The Master will be with you shortly. Because he's a generous host, he will give you his insignia personally." He left through the only exit leaving the room in total silence.

"A new one," a young girl mustered, breaking the silence.

"That makes ten. You won't last long, you don't have enough experience to live through hell. I feel sorry for you..."

"What are you talking about?" Dragon asked, but it barley came out.

"Ha! Don't tell me they haven't told you about the game their starting!?"

"What game?"

Immediately after his response, he remembered the Celestial Dragon said.

"Finally the fun can start…" He repeated.

"That's right… HIS fun that is…"

The girl sighed

"This is going to be hell for us…" She mumbled to herself.

Another child answered his question, an older boy with a burn mark down the center of his face.

"Ten children go through inhumane and impossible tasks… The two that survive the longest get to live for a while longer, of course, the others die."

"WHAT!?" Dragon mouthed

"Horrible right?" The girl continued

The two other slaves kept talking at him but he couldn't hear what they were saying. 'Ten children go in… Only two come out…' The thought buzzed round his head until it was the only thing he could hear and think.

The Celestial Dragon Trotted in the filthy room smugly. He was carrying something in both hands but Dragon couldn't concentrate on what it was. His vision was blurred and he felt his consciousness fading, but he couldn't pass out. The thought still filled is mind in fast echoes overlapping each other, 'Ten kids in, two come out. Ten go in two come out…'

"Well then newcomer, welcome to hell" The Celestial Dragon started.

"I have a feeling you are going to be a strong competitor!"

Dragon looked him square in the eyes, giving him an icy glare that pierced through him, making him shudder. The other slaves starred at him amazed.

"N-now then… no need for that horrible look… I know! As punishment, I'm going to give you a scar that covers one side of your scary, scary face. If you're lucky, it will miss your eye and you will dodge blindness!"

He moved the heated pole towards him and realised what he was doing. He was going to burn his insignia on the left hand side of Dragon's face! A horrible burning noise of fiery metal on contact with skin, and the rancid smell of burned flesh wavered in the air… But he didn't scream. He didn't shout or call for help. He just stared. Everyone was speechless. The candle in the room went out leaving the room in total darkness…well almost. A single light glowed bright and fiery. The insignia.

Dragon opened his eye. He refused to flinch as an act of defiance. He adjusted to the new light and saw through the darkness all of the children and other slaves on the wall staring in awe. The Celestial Dragon and body guards did the same. The burning staff fell to the floor with a few short thuds.

The tension couldn't be cut with a knife; the knife would most likely be cut instead. Five whole minutes strolled by before the Celestial Dragon was mentally prepared to speak.

"L-l-l-let-ts g-go ba-back now…" He was able to stutter out.

"I-I Think he has learned his l-lesson…" He turned tail and left as fast as he could, not that fast.

"THAT WAS AMAZING!" the girl next to him squealed in amazement.

"I was so wrong about you, I thought you were week but you're super strong! My name is Veluchia, from the country Lurabelle, who are you?"

"D-Dragon…"

"Wow seriously? Well, I guess you're as scary as one!"

"You know, you're pretty energetic for a slave," Dragon stupidly blurted out. He tensed up immediately after he said it realising what he'd done.

"Well, my parents wanted to get rid of me at an early age because of…of…well never mind, bottom line is they thought that offering me to the Celestial Dragons would give them more favour. It worked."

"Oh… I-I'm so sorry…"

Don't worry about it," she laughed inwardly. Who was she trying to fool?

A single tear holding all of her sorrow and grief fell down her cheek. She was about the same age as Dragon. She had long, wisps of blonde hair and leaf green eyes cowering behind a dark wall of years of pain and torture. She wore black shorts that had long since lost their colour and a once white tank top, filtered with tears and blood patches; on her right arm, she had a distinctive, long symbol, identical to the one on the face of the boy that was to the left of him.

"Hey, what's with that thing on your arm? ...It isn't th-"

"-It's the master's crest," she answered

"But-" he was cut off again

"The master thinks that he's better than all of the other dragons so he made his own insignia"

"Oh…" That made perfect sense

"You have one on your eye" she pointed out

"Well don-…"

"W-What's wrong?"

The pain stabbed him like a blunt sword slowly piercing a large hole into someone's gut. His vision faded again as this time he really did pass out, as his last thought was how long it would take Garp to find out what happened.

Goa kingdom-

The last traces of day had long been terminated and Garp couldn't help but worry as he finally decided to see if he was OK. He thought that he had ran away because the training was too hard or that he this was a trap and once he got to the island he'd be pummelled with rocks. He made his way over in a fishing boat in very little time. Once on the beach, he saw foot prints leading into the forest but he took an unusual rout in so he followed the trail of dropped vines and discarded timber until he'd got to a half built raft.

"Hey! Dragon! Where are you!?"

He waited for a response or a signal or something, but nothing came. Only the sound of crickets humming and leaves in the breeze came from within. Garp looked round for evidence of where his son was, 'he probably hit his head on a branch and passed out… or maybe he took a nap because he was tired of training today,' he thought hopefully, trying to calm himself down.

"Oi, Dragon you can come out now!" He called again.

He saw evidence of a struggle as building material was dropped and stepped on, in a split second, he was over there following the trail. He was sure now, something was chasing him or there was a threat that scared him. Soon enough, he saw a thorny vine that Dragon must have been snagged on; there was some blue fabric off his shirt caught on a thorn with a blood patch. Garp's hands started shaking as he thought of all of the possibilities.

"Dragon?" he called, almost in a whisper.

He charged through the clearing that Dragon had made, in the corners of his eyes, he saw more thorns like before. He darted through begging that nothing happened or that it wasn't too late until he came to the end, the large forest clearing next to the sea. His heart stopped. A died down fire still burned the remains of the timber.

"N-no" Garp whimpered.

There was a long trail of blood leading from the side of the once big fire to the edge of the sea, turning the glittering tide to crimson. Something the size of a young child lay there. Dark. Unmoving. Garp stumbled towards it hopelessly, tears flooding down his face. There he knelt, emotionless. Tears still fell in gallons but weather he was glad or mortified, he didn't know. Luckily, the animal leaving the trail of blood was a large boar, but Dragon was still missing.