The place where the tournaments were being held looked like a giant sewage
drain. People crowded everywhere. Merchants in the black-market of
children, roaming slaves, players of all sizes and kinds. This was to be
the tournament to level out all of the players for the championships. The
weaker teams would be abolished. Relena had been here once before in her
life. Of course, she had not even come close to being in the
championships. That was years ago and this time she was going to do it.
She was going to win her freedom. She looked over at the other girls and
found their eyes shining with hope. Their owner tied a rope around each of
their wrists to hold them together and dragged them along. Relena was in
the lead and watched as the different booths went by. Several were selling
children into the market, bargaining in an auction. Other sold dried
fruits, vegetables, jewelry, and other various goods. P
Relena's arm was nearly healed and her collarbone was rather tender still
but it would have to do. Hilde was feeling much better, some of her
bruises had not faded yet, but her lip was healed. They were all too full
of anticipation of the games to even care. Finally, after weaving through
the crowds and being yanked on by Owner, they made it to the huge cage with
guarded gates for the slaves. Each of the girls was shoved into the world
of the slaves. All of the slaves milled around in a mass. There were
hundreds of them. They came from different races, genders, sizes and ages.
Relena immediately moved into the crowds followed by her teammates. No
one paid any attention to the new arrivals. It was going to be that way
the rest of the day where slaves would arrive and leave to play. P
"Watch your backs girls. People will do anything to narrow down the
competition." Relena watched as Cathy fingered her knife. "Keep your
weapons hidden until the game." P
"Welcome to the world of tournaments," mumbled Dorothy. P
P
P
After Heero and Duo had returned to the courts and met up with their own
teammates, they were questioned by Wufei, Trowa, and Quatre as in to where
they went. Heero had ignored them and continued on towards Hiroshi's
house. Duo shook his head and silently followed Heero. From that day and
until the tournaments, Heero no longer argued with Hiroshi, but instead
concentrated fully on expanding his skills in the game. The change was so
quick and so extraordinary that Hiroshi gave them even more time outside of
the house to practice. That, and the fact that Heero's constant practicing
inside of the house was driving Hiroshi out of his mind. No one argued to
this new change in schedule. P
Now the tournaments had finally come and everyone was anxious to get out
and finally face their opponents. But there was one group they were not
particularly ready to see. P
They arrived right after dawn and were immediately placed in the Cage.
Hiroshi didn't bring them on leashes though like other owners tended to do.
He trusted them just enough to stay together and not attempt to run. They
were in a slave market for goodness sake. They wouldn't get far. P
Finally, at noon, the games began and slowly, teams were taken from the
Cage. Some returned and some did not because of the fatality in the ring.
The slaves new better than to pick fights with each other while they were
in the Cage. By this time, the girls had noticed Heero and his team and
made a point of keeping well enough away. They played their games, winning
all the time, gaining money for Owner, but it all soon became a routine.
Be taken out, play the game, win more money, be taken away again and placed
in the Cage. This was also the schedule the boys had become accustomed to.
As well as the girls they saw the other team, but didn't make more of a
point in keeping their distance. P
Heero was shoved in followed by the other boys and they all spread out.
There was a small makeshift bar where water was being served out to the
slaves who returned from their fighting. P
Trowa settled down into a stool and sipped his water and savored the cool
taste as it ran down his throat. His eyes slid shut as he ran through his
plays again for the next game. Suddenly, someone tapped him on the
shoulder and the moment his head turned he saw the fist as it slammed into
the side of his head. He landed with a thud on the ground and looked up to
find a big hulking guy with balled fists. P
"Do you think you're better than us?" the thick-neck growled. He took a
step forward. "My team is just as good as anyone else and I'm telling you
now to back off with the quick moves!" They had now attracted several on
lookers. One of which was Cathy. She sat at another stool and looked into
her glass and swirled her water. She took another swig of her drink and
set the glass down and continued to listen. P
"My team is better than yours," was Trowa's simple reply. Cathy felt a
small chuckle rise up, but she restrained it. Thick-neck was turning a
deep purple now. P
"We're all the same here and you have no right to be going around claiming
you're the best! You're setting the rest of us up with trouble with our
owners!" Trowa shrugged. P
"But my team is the best." Trowa turned around and began to slowly make
his way through the crowd. He was relaxed and annoyed at the same time.
He hated it when the other slaves did that. It really did get irritating,
but Thick-neck did something none of the others did. He pulled out a knife
and let out a growl. He bolted towards Trowa's turned back and was ready
to plunge it into his victim's unsuspecting back when a knife sped by his
hand, knocking his dagger from his hands. The flying knife lodged itself
into a post nearby. Everyone's gaze turned to the young woman standing off
to the side. Her hands were on her hips and she looked slightly amused.
P
"It just pisses me off how people claim equality yet still take advantage
of a turned back. That doesn't seem like a fair fight now does it?" The
smirk on her face faded as it became serious. "Instead of facing off
against a defenseless back, why don't you try a fight one on one with him?"
She glanced at Trowa, whose eyebrows were raised slightly in mock
incredulous. P
Thick-neck glared at Cathy for a moment and then glanced at Trowa. A slow
smile appeared over his lips and he nodded. P
"This ought to be a cinch. He's helpless without his teammates." Trowa's
eyes narrowed as they began to circle each other. Thick-neck made a sloppy
lunge at Trowa, intending to tackle him, but Trowa lithely avoided it and
when he turned to face Thick-neck once again he held a knife. His opponent
seemed to hesitate, but it quickly disipitated as he lunged at Trowa once
again, and with even less grace than before. This time when he got up he
held his own dagger from where it had landed. Trowa studied his opponent
and they circled each other, looking for an opening. Quicker than the
wind, Trowa jumped up and flipped over the side of Thick-neck and held the
tip at the giants back. The big lug dropped and made a clumsy roll to the
side where he got back up. He didn't even have time to get his footing as
Trowa stalked up to him and sent him flying with a kick to his sternum.
Thick-neck seemed to be short of breath as he watched Trowa come closer.
He held up his hand in surrender and Trowa immediately stopped. He turned
to say something to Cathy, but was suddenly tackled by the mass of muscle.
Trowa looked up at the giant and tried to push him away by placing his hand
against his head and as the giant's head was leaning back, Trowa leaned
back as well and then sent his forehead crashing into Thick-necks nose. He
fell back with a thud, holding his bloodied air passage. He pulled his
hand away from his massacred nose and stared at the blood and suddenly lost
control of his temper and flew at Trowa with outstretched fingers, flexing
to strangle him. Trowa moved quickly as he swept the other's legs out from
under him and made quick slash at the guy's legs and arms. There were cuts
up and down his limbs now and Thick-neck fell flat on the floor, not
getting up. P
Trowa stared down at him for a moment, breathing hard. Cathy walked over
to the post where her knife was lodged and pulled it out. She examined the
tip that she had sharpened and saw that it was slightly dulled. She cursed
and made to leave to get it sharpened for the next game, but Trowa caught
up to her. P
"You would do well to let me pick my own fights from now on," he growled at
her. Cathy's eyebrows raised and she gave him her full attention. P
"I saved your life, pal, so I suggest you back off," she said with just as
much emotion. P
"I have no debt to you." Cathy's body stiffened and her fists clenched and
she was about ready to beat that arrogant face, but thought against it not
giving him the satisfaction. P
"Fine, it's not like I wanted anything from you." She eyed his body up and
down. P
"Well, nothing you would give." She turned to go but an arm reached out
and grabbed her. She was spun around and pulled hard against an unyielding
chest. She looked up into green eyes and found they were hard. Her heart
quickened its pace. P
"Is that what you want in return, or are you just acting like a little girl
playing with fire." He tightened his grasp on her and wrapped another arm
around her waist. She looked shocked for a moment. Then her eyes
smoldered with his, filled with outrage. P
"My mistake. I was wrong. You have absolutely nothing I could possibly
want," she whispered vehemently. Trowa's hand splayed on her lower back.
P
"Are you so sure on that. You certainly seemed rather willing before."
Cathy let out a low laugh, one that rippled through Trowa and almost made
him shudder. His gaze intensified. P
The moment was broken when the speaker blared out a number. P
"Team number 135, you are to report at the gate at once. Team number 135."
Cathy pulled away quickly and turned to leave. P
"Where do you think you're going?" Trowa grabbed her again, but she
quickly spun away from his grasp and smiled mischievously. P
"They just called me up. Gotta go." She waved over her shoulder and
walked away nonchalantly. She felt his strong gaze on her back and she
smiled slightly, meeting the others at the gate moments later. P
P
P
Duo sat down on a stool with a thud and let out an exhausted breath. He
let his head drop with a thump on the table. He was absolutely drained of
energy. They had just finished their second to last game and had one more
to go. He didn't know if he even wanted to go back out there. All of them
were bloody and thirsty. Every single person out there watching the slaves
struggle to stay alive. P
Someone absently shoved a glass of water over to him and he mumbled a thank
you as he picked it up to swallow its contents. P
"Tough game?" came a feminine voice. The glass froze half way to his mouth
and his gaze wandered over to the person sitting next to him. She was not
looking up, she was concentrating on something across the room. It looked
like a brawl. P
"Hilde?" came his startled gasp. Her gaze snapped over to Duo and her eyes
widened in shock. P
"Duo?" She quickly shot up as if to leave, but his hand snaked out to stop
her from leaving. P
"What? I say one word to you and you up and leave!" P
"Yeah, considering I have every reason in the world to get away from you!"
P
"Why? What reasons are those?" P
"You. you.. Embarrassed me in front of my friends!" P
"How did I do that?" P
"You. winked at me!" Duo let out an audible gasp. P
"That's it! That's why you want to get away from me? For the sake that I
winked at you?" He looked almost outraged and this made Hilde even more
frustrated. She had never had to deal people of the opposite gender and
knew nothing of how to deal with them. P
"Look, it'll be much easier if you stay out of my way and I stay out of
yours," she grumbled. Duo frowned. P
"I think you're being very unreasonable." P
"bI'm/b being unreasonable! Why do you even insist on being around me?
You're turning into Heero!" P
"Hey, he may be my friend, but I would rather be compared to a gorilla than
to Heero Yuy." Hilde resisted the urge to smile. P
"Fine, just stay out of my way. It'll be easier on the both of us." P
"What? You're afraid I'm going to fall for you and then sweep you off your
feet to carry you into the sunset?" This time she did let herself smile.
P
"Well, if we're lucky, that won't ever happen right?" His eyes darkened as
he stared at her. P
"I don't know." Hilde paused for a moment and then let out an alarmed
gasp. P
"That's it, maybe we should just hate each other than." Duo was about to
say something, but was interrupted when the announcer spoke on the system.
P
"Team number 135, you are to report at the gate at once. Team number 135."
Hilde shot up out of her seat and made her way towards the gate. Duo ran
to catch up. P
"Did you not hear one word I said?" she growled as she continued on towards
the exit. P
"Nope, not a word." Hilde stopped and smiled in astonishment and wonder,
staring at Duo. P
"You are the most absolutely obnoxious man I have ever met!" she said in
total wonder. P
"I'll take that as a compliment then." She shook her head and left him
standing there. After several long moments of staring after her, he
clapped his hands together as if to snap himself out of his trance and
nearly jumped around to head back towards his seat. His gaze lingered for
another moment on the gate and then he saw Trowa. He sat staring into his
glass of water and Duo quickly went to join his friend. If he couldn't
annoy his new interest, then he can at least annoy a good friend! P
P
P
Quatre was deep within the Cage, out of sight of the gate and he looked
around as slaves cheered their teammates on. Quatre walked up to the fight
ring. Fight rings were located in almost any Cage of the slave's
imprisonment. The owners did not know of these. This was another way of
gaining money and extending one's skills in the arts of fighting for when
the games came around. Teammates would volunteer to fight each other for
the small change that would add to their money to buy their freedom. At
the moment, the crowd was roaring and cheering on their favorite
competitor. Quatre came closer and saw who was standing in the ring.
There were two young women. One was a young red head that obviously was
well prepared for this fight, but as his gaze shifted over to the other
young woman, he found that the blond was well formed and skilled for this
combating. He watched as the redhead blocked off a blow and swung at the
blond. Her hair was pulled into a tight knot, shining gold in the little
light they had. Both jabbed and punched and lashed out with their knives
and any other weapon available. It seemed that neither was going to give
when finally everything began to move in favor of the redhead. The
blonde's eyes narrowed and she let loose a mirage of blows that were
unstoppable. The redhead went down with a bloody lip and a bruised jaw.
The speed and skill was equal, but the grace was incomparable. The young
blond won this fight. Quatre watched as she jumped down from her place in
the ring to collect the meager bit of money owed her. She was counting it
as she walked out of the crowd, and nearly ran into Quatre. She looked up
startled for a moment and mumbled a quick apology and moved to walk by, but
Quatre stopped her. P
"You're a great fighter." She hesitated and glanced over her shoulder.
P
"Thank you," she mumbled and continued. Quatre strode up beside her and
accompanied her through the crowds. P
"Is there anything else I can help you with?" she asked after she had
finished counting her money and putting it safely away. P
"No, well. there is one thing." Quatre weaved around a slave walking
between them and continued to speak. "You look really familiar to me."
She seemed to stiffen her back. P
"I don't see how. This is the first time I've been here," she lied.
Quatre looked confused. P
"But the way you fought back there." P
"It was just luck." Now he knew she was hiding something. "Look." She
stopped and faced him. P
"If you want something, just ask, but I can't promise you anything." P
"I. I." P
"That's what I thought. If you'll excuse me." P
"Wait. Do you want to go get something to drink?" She looked confused for
a moment. P
"Why would I want to do that?" Quatre shrugged and smiled. It was rather
dazzling to see. P
"Because it would be pleasurable if a fighter such as yourself were to join
me." She smiled. P
"Now you're resorting to flattery. All right. Just lead the way." P
"My name is Quatre Winner." P
"Dorothy Catalonia. I don't know yet if I should say it's a pleasure."
P
"Well, let's see if we can change that." P
P
P
The games ended and the girls were gathered and once again tied up by their
wrists. The boys watched carefully as the girls were yanked, nearly
falling on top of each other as Owner made off with his prizes. He was
smiling proudly as others looked on with envy. He certainly had a lucky
team going. They must have been bringing thousands of dollars a game.
Several merchants offered to buy one of the girls. Owner stopped just to
humor them. The girls were none too happy about his little tricks. They
stood outside of the gate as merchants came forward and examined their
teeth and eyes, as if a horse put up for sale. Owner smiled proudly and
waved an arm over his pretties. P
"How much would any of you offer for these fine specimens hmm?" One
merchant walked up to Cathy and grabbed her jaw none to nicely and yanked
it open, then stuck a dirty finger into her mouth to examine her. She
quickly bit down, but the merchant retrieved his hand just in time. Owner
saw this and immediately made his way over to her and gave her a good head-
knocker. She saw stars for a moment, and then managed to recover her
balance. A bit of blood spilled from the corner of her lip. P
Trowa watched this exchange and felt his hands clench of their own free
will. He slowly made his way towards the opening of the gate, as if he had
a purpose. As he drew closer Hiroshi shot out and grabbed his arm,
steering him away immediately. P
"Where have you been? Wait, don't answer that. Where are the others? We
need to get out of here before the tunnels are all congested. P
Trowa looked over his shoulder and found that the girls were being dragged
away once again. Out of his sight. P
P