Okay, so, I'm at a temporary lull in exams so I figured I'd go ahead and update some of this stuff. Like, review, favorite, whatever it is you want to do! I love y'all.

"Ugh," I moaned, rolling over in the dark and coughing. Something suspiciously hot and coppery filled my mouth and I flopped back into my back, groaning again. Everything hurt. I had no idea how far I'd fallen, but it was far enough that I was concerned about some broken ribs. The pieces of rubble underneath me had left cuts along my hands, but my light armor had protected the rest of me. I put my hand to my head and felt something sticky.

I squinted into the darkness, but I didn't see any light anywhere. I sat up slowly, my head reeling; I couldn't tell if my vision faded with it or not. After a few moments I got to my feet, listening intently to see if there was anyone else in the darkness with me. When I heard nothing, I felt outwards, fumbling for a wall or some way to orient myself.

I found one and it was oddly smooth and straight, as though it was a real wall and not the wall of some cavern or cave. I felt along the wall, searching for some source of light or anything with which I could guide my way. After a few moments I found something long and wooden, which I grasped and pulled from the wall. The end of the wooden stick erupted in flame, blinding me temporarily.

"Damn," I murmured, covering my eyes as a reflex. I blinked quickly and looked around.

I was standing in a stone hallway, and above my head the roof had given way and some of the crumbled roof was scattered across the floor. The hole had sealed up with dirt and stone that had fallen down from above it, preventing any light – or anyone – from getting through.

I grumbled under my breath and looked down the hallway. Each end of the hallway twisted out of view, as though I was standing in a maze. I took a deep breath and tried to decide which way to go; they both looked the same. I realized that if they both looked the same then it probably didn't matter which way I went, and so I just picked a direction and started walking.

I hoped Ash and the others had gotten out of the Colosseum safely. Fear clinched in my chest as I wondered if perhaps one of them had gotten caught in the stones that had enclosed overhead; what if one of their bodies was in the dirt above my head right now?

I shook my head and kept walking. After each turn of the hallway, it still looked the same, and I wondered if perhaps I wouldn't get lost in here and starve to death. Maybe that was the game-makers intent; to make sure I died.

But this was not as exciting as they might have hoped, and so I kept walking, my fingers brushing against the left hand wall of the hallway. They had to have some way for me to get out, or they would get poor ratings and my death would not be as satisfactory as they had hoped.

After what seemed like an eternity of walking, a noise came from somewhere in front of me. My heart leapt into my mouth and I inched forwards, peeking around the next corner of the hallway. I couldn't see anything beyond the red glow of my torch, so I stood waiting, hoping that whatever it was would come into view.

The scuffling noise repeated itself, and I began to calm. It was probably just a rat; it wasn't very loud. I shook my head; I was too jumpy. It's not like any other tribute was down here with me, right?

Just as I took a step forwards, the creator of the noise stepped into the light. My heart then dropped from my mouth to my stomach, and I slowly craned my head backwards to look up at the face of the creature.

It was huge, and definitely not human. My eyes widened, and I took a step backwards. The creature craned it's head down to look me in the eye, and then sniffed me loudly. It was huge and bipedal with white fur covering its body. Its eyes were cloudy and blind, although it probably didn't need to see in this kind of place. It had huge jowls that hung over a large, muscled chest, and tusks about a metre long stuck out from the corners of its mouth.

It stood there, thoughtful, as though contemplating my scent. Then it opened its cavernous mouth, and roared.

"Oh shit!" I yelled, scrambling backwards. The creature swatted at where I had been standing a moment before with a huge paw, long claws extending into the air and making a whistling noise. I spun and ran back down the hallway in the direction from which I had just come, but as I reached the end of the hallway it didn't turn anymore; the passage had sealed up.

"Oh, buttersticks," I whispered, turning slowly to face the beast that was lumbering towards me down the hallway.

I didn't want to be cornered, so I ran at the beast instead. I yelled at the top of my lungs, hoping to intimidate it and make it run away. Instead it just stopped and stood taller, beating its chest with its fists and yelling up at the ceiling. I looked for a weapon, but I didn't see one; then I realized that the torch in my hand would provide an excellent weapon.

I shoved the fire into the beast's stomach, and the smell of burning fur filled the corridor. I crinkled my nose and pulled the torch back, trying to keep the flame from burning out. The creature howled pitifully and swatted at me again, but I ducked under its arm and around it, sprinting down the opposite side of the hallway. The beast growled and stumbled after me.

I searched the walls and floor for a better way to attack it, but there was nothing there. I grimaced; the smell of burning fur had filled the entire hallway. I glanced over my shoulder and saw that the stomach of the beast was actually still on fire, and the fire was spreading across its oily fur. Its howls were growing louder, and they had changed from aggressive to painful, but I didn't look back again.

I saw another torch on the wall ahead, unlit, but this one was made out of metal rather than wood. I grabbed it and turned to face the monster.

The creature stopped and looked at me, its large eyes glittering. Its knees buckled and it let out another moan, curling up on the ground. The fire went out, but it didn't get back to its feet.

I took a cautious step towards it, but it didn't react. It just stayed curled up on the ground, covering its stomach. I took another step towards it, and another, until I was standing close to it. It looked up at me with pitiful eyes and made a whimpering sound that reminded me of John's pet dog back home.

John's dog had had its back legs crushed by a cart, and it had laid like that in the street. John had then shot it to save it from its misery.

I looked down at the metal torch in my hand, which had a long spiked end. My stomach churned and I felt like I was going to throw up.

"Is that what you want?!" I asked, spinning around and looking at the walls. There had to be a camera here somewhere. There was no response, except for the whimpering of the beast on the floor. I turned back to it and saw that it had closed its eyes, and curled up tighter.

"Fine," I breathed, looking at it. "But let me make sure it's necessary."

As though the beast understood me, it opened its eyes and slowly uncurled.

The burn across its stomach had left black charred fur around its edges. Where the skin wasn't black and cracked, red flesh bubbled through it. In the spot where I had touched the torch to its stomach, the skin had torn back completely, baring its intestines to the air.

I gagged and turned, leaning against the wall and trying to catch my breath.

"This'll make that feel better," I murmured, and gathered my strength. I turned back to the beast, who was watching me with wide eyes. It lay there and slowly closed its eyes as I raised the metal torch. I slammed the spike through its eye socket and it went limp.

The blood splattered up across my face and I gagged again. I doubled over, trying to keep myself from vomiting, but I didn't succeed. I grimaced and wiped my mouth before getting to my feet. I left the dead creature there on the floor without looking back.

I walked, aching and shell-shocked, around the next bend in the hallway. I could finally see sunlight bouncing off the walls in the distance, and I gave out a hysterical chuckle.

I was almost out of here. I was almost back to Ash.