Chapter One

"Where am I? It's cold; this isn't home. No! I got to open my

eyes. But it hurts so much."

Slowly, ever so slowly, Tiamat opened her eyes. She had been right. It

wasn't her home. It was a cell, cold and dark. As she tried to move, she

felt a hot pain run through her body, reminding her of the wound she had

received while fighting.

"Well, well, well. Looks like the little beast has awakened. Well Beast,

how do you feel? You know you caused a lot of trouble for us on that

little planet of yours. Now you are going to regret getting in our way,"

said a man outside her cell as he laughed at her pitiful state.

"Who the hell are you?" growled Tiamat through her clenched teeth. She had

risen to a sitting position, and it had caused her head to spin. The wound

at her side was deep, and she had lost a lot of blood in the fight.

Putting her hand to her side she felt the rough stitches that had been

placed there to hold the wound closed so it could heal.

"The cut… Why did you fix it? Why not just let me die?"

"Let you die?" laughed the guard, "Why in hell would we let a fighter like

you die? No, you will make a nice present to our Lord. Gavin will like

watching you die at the hand of his soldiers. Your death will make an

interesting show."

"Show? What, are they going to pierce my heart out as an after dinner

event?"

"Hardly. No Gavin will have his soldiers use you as training practice like

every other slave we have caught for him. You'll die a worthless slave in

the arena," and with that he walked away laughing to himself.

Forcing herself to stand, Tia staggered over to the cell door. Reaching it

she grasped the bars to keep herself standing her last bit of strength and

energy gone with the effort of walking.

"I will not die a slave," she yelled at the already gone guard. "I will

not die in your arena, or for the pleasure of your Lord. You call me a

Beast, and now you will see what happens when you cage a beast."

Slowly she fell to the floor, the current strain and stress causing her

slowly to pass out again. Her last thoughts being of home, and how she

would return. Someday.

************************************

It was a day and a half before Tiamat awoke. When she did she found that

she was still in the cell and still on the enemy's ship. But she wasn't

alone. When she had opened her eyes, she saw that she had acquired a new

cell-mate. He was tall, with dark hair that covered dark eyes. He was

filthy, but then again so was she. He had a look of a once proud warrior

that had met the worst of fates. Looking closed she could see the scars he

had received in battle through the tears of his clothing.

"So you are alive. Been guessing if you would ever wake up or not. With a

cut like that, a normal person would have given up already," he said

without looking at her. Sitting straighter he combed his fingers through

his hair and turned towards her, with a look of slight curiosity. When he

made no move to come near her, she relaxed a bit, still not sure if she

could trust him or not.

"Do you have a name or is it truly Beast? Mine is Samson. When I was

picked up, the captain told the guards to place me with the Beast. I would

have to say I was worried for a while before I saw what the 'Beast' was,"

he smiled a little while speaking to her.

"I wouldn't under estimate me if I were you. I might look a mess but I

could let all hell break lose if I wanted to. This cut will heal faster

then those bastards think, and then they will regret ever caging me. And

if you think…" She would have continued if Samson hadn't started laughing.

She couldn't believe that he was laughing at her. Sure she looked like she

was out of the final fight but it wouldn't take her long to heal at all.

Her power would heal her body in no more than a few hours. 'But then he

doesn't know. He wouldn't' she thought.

"What's so funny? Do you think I am lying?"

"Calm down. You really don't need to be so defensive. I'm not here to

start a fight with you. I have done enough fighting for the time being.

You on the other hand didn't seem to get enough while fighting those damn

mercenaries that were sent to your planet. And I will tell you this; cause

trouble, and you will get your fight."

"Hump." She would have said more, but why bother. This Samson was not her

enemy, and no concern of hers. Instead she moved to the other side of the

small cell and sat down. She needed to fix the wound at her side before

the ship landed. She would not be able to fight or defend herself if she

could barely stand. Concentrating she pictured herself whole, not with the

cut in her side. Slowly she felt the power awaken, and even slower it

started its' job of healing.

'This is going to take hours,' thought Tia as she sat there lost inside

herself, no longer fully in her cage. 'I hope I have enough time. Should

have asked how long it would take to reach where ever we are going.'

Hours later Tia felt herself completely healed. Still exhausted from the

fight, and now even more from the effort of using her power, she slowly

awoke from her peaceful state. Looking up she saw that Samson had fallen

asleep where he had been sitting before. Listening she heard no sounds

from the guards. There was no banging of heavy footsteps on the hallways

or sounds of moving amour.

'Must be night, or a resting time at least,' thought Tia as she curled up,

back against the wall. She was very tired, and her body couldn't take too

much more without sleep.

**************************************************

"Hey wake up," heard Tia as she felt a light tap on her shoulder. Opening

her eyes a bit she saw Samson crouching next to her, only a few inches

away. Startled by the sudden closeness she jerked and sat up, regaining

her cool composure as soon as she was sitting up straight.

"Damn it! Don't do that! What did you want to do? Give me a heart attack?"

She yelled as she shoved him aside. Glancing at him she saw the small

smile that he was trying to hide.

"It's not funny. I mean you only startled me a bit. No big deal."

"Right, no big deal," said Samson, as his smile grew a little bit. She

could tell he found the whole event amusing, and that he wasn't scared of

her at all. It wasn't what she was used too; at least the lack of respect

was what she wasn't used to. At her home respect was given to her, and was

never truly missing in any joke, comment, or action. Things were different

here, and Tia knew that she needed to adjust herself or end up in trouble.

Stiff from sitting so long, Tia slowly rose into a standing position. She

stretched her arms a bit, and her legs. She would have continued

stretching further if Samson hadn't interrupted her.

"What the hell is that?" he asked pointing to her.

"What the hell is what?"

"Y- you have a tail? I thought you were a human."

Tia shot a glance behind her at her creamy white tail that was behind her,

slightly curled around her ankle.

"Oh this?" she said, giving the tail a flick back and forth. "Don't worry.

I am a Rivonian, and much more evolved then any pathetic human. I have

human ancestors, but Rivonia grants those loyal a little extra. The tail

is just one of the traits that gives it away." she said as she gave the

tail a final flick and then let it settle back around her ankle.

"One of the traits…. What ever," sighed Samson.

"You act like you have never seen a being with a tail."

"Only on the primitive beast species. Gavin sometimes has them brought on

for baiting or sport hunting."

"Baiting? Sporting hunting?" whispered Tiamat. "Those poor souls" Taking

her hand, she touched her head and then her heart. "May your lives in the

world beyond be happy," she said softly, staring off into space.

"A waste of a prayer if you ask me."

"And you are a waste of space," hissed Tiamat. Her tail lashing back and

forth.

"Aw, have I upset the little kitty ca..." Samson started, but with in

seconds, Tiamat had her hand around his throat, and had him pinned a foot

off the floor, against the wall.

"If you value your life, or at least wish not a very painful death, I

recommend you shut your mouth," she growled, pressing her claw sharp nails

into his neck and throat. Beads of blood, the color of dark rubies began

to form and run down his neck.

Samson held her glare for a few seconds before he looked away, closing his

mouth into a thin line. Seeing that she had made her point, she dropped

him and was back over to her side of the cell, just as fast as she had

been over to his.

"Next time," she growled, "I won't hesitate to slit your throat. Remember

that."

"You slit mine, and the guards will slit yours... No matter how important

you think you are," snarled Samson, picking himself off the cell floor.

Neither looked at the other, but it was Samson who broke the silence.

"How in the hell did you learn to move like that?"

"Move like what?" growled Tia.

"Like a viper... I did not even see you coming. You... You really could

have slit my throat," he said as he rubbed his neck, wincing slightly at

the stings he felt for the small puncture wounds.

"A viper?" Tia snorted, "No one has ever compared me to a snake, at least

not to my face," she added thoughtfully, her previous anger completely

gone.

"So, what do they call you, oh nameless one," asked Samson, finally

looking over at her.

Meeting his eyes, she cooled her expression to one of the upmost

seriousness. "They call me," she said in a low, icy tone, "Tiamat, the

Death Cat's Master."