Hadrian panted in exhaustion, his breath coming in short bursts. This had been the hardest fight of them all in the two years he had been here. An actual SITH had dropped down from the seats and challenged him to a fight. It was brutal and merciless, though honestly, from what little he'd heard about the Sith, it was par for the course. In the midst of all the boos and sabers igniting, one sound stood out.
Clapping.
The roar of the crowd died down slowly as a tan skinned teenager with silver hair started to descend from the rafters to the pit below.
"Encore! More! Bravo!" the teen shouted, a smile on his face. He continued to clap, even as the Pit's security started to get in front of him. His "owner", Darex Tillisk, had run towards the strange teen.
"Sir, I understand if you were entertained by a fight, but please, this slave just killed a Sith! We must punish hi-"
The teen shoved Darex out of the way.
"Yes, yes, Imperial Law states that any who kill a Sith must suffer the penalty of death, but that only exists for the Empire's citizens. Non Force-Sensitives. This, Mr. Tillisk, is a unique case."
Darex sputtered. "You can't be serious. He's a slave! He can't be…"
The teen smirk only grew in size. "I'm afraid he is, Mr. Tillsk. As such, I will be taking him with me. You will be compensated for your loss, of course. Just please, stay out of my way."
The teenager hopped into the pit. Hadrian snarled. "You want...a fight...too?!" he wheezed painfully. Hadrian held no such illusions of his chances. The only reason he was able to stand was his stubbornness and adrenaline, and one of those was going to fade in a minute. The mysterious teenager only shook his head.
"I have no desire to fight you, Mr..."
"Hadrian" he spat out.
"Hadrian" The teen continued on, unoffended. "In fact, I wish to help you."
Hadrian wasn't buying it for one moment. He raised Daggertail, his hands shaking in exhaustion.
"Bull...shit." he growled. Every syllable was taking its toll on him.
The teenager glanced at him, unamused. "Hadrian, I do not wish to push you, but I am not lying. You see, I represent a man who wishes to see the potential of all those in the Empire flourish. Tell me, have you ever experienced something rather...odd? Healing abnormally fast, striking unnatural fear into your opponents, anything like that.?
Hadrian's eyes widened. How did this teenager know about his magic?! His fists tightened. The teenager put his arms up nonthreatingly, almost like he was surrendering. At this point, Hadrian could no longer stand. He fell down on his back. He couldn't muster the effort to get up.
"Easy, now. I did not mean to offend. Look, I'm going to be honest with you. Either you take my offer, or your owner over there…" the teen threw his head sharply towards Darex's position. "...is going to have you executed. Now, the way I see it, you have two choices. You can come with me, with the opportunity of harnessing your powers and rising from these pits to the top of our Empire. Or...you can stay here, dying fruitlessly over the entertainment of these...savages. So, I ask you..." At this, the teenager held out his hand, offering it to Hadrian.
"Will you join me?"
Hadrian rolled his eyes. However, he didn't say anything. He was no fool. This was the best chance he had to escape this nonsense, and he was going to take it.
"You know, for someone who likes to pretend he's so courteous, it's rather rude not to introduce yourself." Hadrian stated, rather sarcastically.
The teenager laughed, his volcanic orange eyes twinkling in amusement. He draped Hadrian's hand over his shoulder.
"It's Samael. Samael Hord."