Blake Belladonna sat curled up around the hearth outside in the courtyard, it was a moonless night and the stars were shining brighter than ever. She loved stargazing and tried recalling a constellation she used to be able to pick out with her eyes closed.

"Here." A rather warm figure hovered over her, calloused hands gently grabbed her wrists and drew out the constellation. "The Lynx," Suddenly the formation of stars was visible to the Faunus and the constellation she learned from childhood marked clearly.

"How'd you know?" Blake looked up at those lilac eyes that danced with hearth.

"Lucky guess." Yang plopped down on the seat beside Blake, the Faunus was half way tempted to invite the houseguest underneath the wool blanket, but decided against it at the last moment. "So, from the looks of it life isn't too bad here."

Blake bit her lip, "Honestly, it's not." She remembered what her those few short months in the slave market was like, "But it can be worse, so much worse."

Yang's eyes lingered on the collar she wore, "I can sense it," The Huntress had spent her first few days in the Kingdom gallivanting around town, the biggest thing she saw was the Great Stone Coliseum sitting at the epicenter of the Kingdom. The thundering crowd and applause made the surrounding stalls shake. Yang was curious and wanted to see a match for herself.

Then there was the dark and dreary of it, Yang did a few circles around the Coliseum and found what she was looking for – the slave entrance. She hung back in the shadows and watched as the damned and dreary came marching to the entrance, eyes looking into the entrance as if they saw Death itself waiting for them.

These were the men and women that were to lay their lives on the line for the sake of the Coliseum, for the sake of the Kingdom, for the sake of this culture.

She pitied them, and said a little prayer to Oum as she left the entrance. What was it that Qrow said, 'Brighter the light, the darker the shadow.'

"How do you like Mistral though?" Blake asked, she had warmed up to the blonde's presence, Yang was just like a regular person – she helped with the dishes and minded her manners, although she did have the occasional bickering session with Weiss when she chose to poke the bear. But most of all, Yang treated her like everyone else and not like some wounded animal (though she knows Klein and Weiss means well) – it was refreshing.

Speaking of Weiss, she noticed that the Schnee was looking a bit paler than usual, if that was even possible. Klein made note too, but Weiss made no mention of anything unusual.

Yang shrugged, "It's rich in culture, it's got a little bit of everything from every where. Like there was a pot pie being sold at a shop that's usual unique to Vale and then some trinkets that are from Vacuo's desert." She was amazed, "This place is truly the trading hub of Remnant."

"So you've travelled a lot?" Blake was impressed, although she shouldn't be surprised since Yang mentioned that she's a certified Huntress.

"Yep." Yang popped the last syllable, "Never really stay in one place for too long, but my uncle and I do tend to gravitate towards taking missions in around the Sanus continent, so we're bouncing around Vale and Vacuo. Although we have done some missions out of Atlas, and Menagerie is one of our latest endeavors." She thought fondly of all the travels.

"How... was Menagerie?" Blake asked tentatively, Yang picked up on the slight hesitation.

Confidant eyes looked straight into Blake's "Beautiful."

"That right?" The Faunus raised a defiant brow.

"Yeah, it is." Yang looked up at the sky "Other than the fact that Menagerie is largely uninhabitable, the seaside town and community was just amazing. The fact that most of the shop keepers and bars knew my name and face after a short while just made it feel so welcoming." She smiled down, "And then their leader Ghira," Yang didn't miss how Blake's ears drooped slightly at the mention of the name, "Extremely good man, welcomed us with open arms and told the Inn not to charge us a thing."

"That's good to know, I'm glad you have such a great impression of the place."

"Is Menagerie home?" Yang asked.

Blake looked to her companion, "…Yes."

"Your home is beautiful."

"Thank you." A slight smile, "Where's home for you?"

"Vale, specifically an island called Patch." Yang had visited the island once.

"What was it like?" She was curious.

A sad smile, "Forests, rolling hills, a quiet and sleepy town with a small port."

"Is… something the matter?" Blake didn't miss the look.

"It's just, there was a big fire that destroyed most of the village I lived in… I lost my sister in that fire." She stared into the burning flames, "Then my uncle found me and raised me after that."

"I- I'm sorry for loss." She placed a tentative hand on Yang's leg, "I'm sorry for bringing it up."

"No, it's fine." Yang smiled, "It's only natural to ask about home." She placed a warm hand on top of Blake's, noting that it was cold, "I visited once when I got older, they did well to rebuild a lot of it… but some parts of the forest there's still some of the wreckage left over."

She remembered looking at her childhood home, Ruby trapped inside, Ruby screaming, and then the house collapsing.

"I came here seeking adventure," Blake shifted so that she was a little closer to Yang, she noticed how warm the Huntress was, "I heard so many stories about how Mistral was a place for dreamers and adventurers, but instead it was just… I didn't realize how sheltered I was on Menagerie."

"Because you're a Faunus." Yang gripped her hand, "People tend to dislike things that are different from them. It's not like that everywhere, well, not as bad as here." The Huntress definitely noticed that there were more Faunus slaves than humans wandering around.

"I know…" Blake looked off to the side, she remembered meeting him – Adam, almost a year after coming to Mistral.

"So… how are you a slave?" Yang was curious, she carefully studied Blake to gauge her reaction.

"I was desperate, I resorted to stealing." Blake simply put, "I was caught, and I'm sure you've noticed that there really isn't too many jails here – I was given a five year slavery sentence."

Yang nodded and simply listened, "I'm happy Weiss found you," She hummed a tune.

Blake nodded her head and listened to the tune, suddenly she felt incredibly sleepy.

Yang Xiao Long stopped humming when she felt a weight on her shoulder, she looked down to see the Faunus had curled up into her, her head was resting on her shoulder and a content smile on her face. The Huntress smiled to herself and grabbed part of the blanket to cover herself with. Sleeping out under the stars isn't that bad, especially with a warm fire going right next to you.

"How's your leg?" Octavia removed the bandages from Ruby's thigh.

"Despite Master Torchwick reopening it a while ago, it's better." The Gladiator tried walking around, she had a limp, but it was manageable.

"If you're gonna train, try not to over exert yourself, please." Octavia sighed, "And please try not to get too much dirt into it."

"I'll take care of myself." She flashed a grin, "Thanks Octavia."

"You're welcome." The slave returned the smile, "Ruby." She looked towards the house slave, Octavia had a rather maternal look on her face.

"Yeah?"

"How are you?" Octavia looked around just to be sure she didn't see any of the regular guards (or even Torchwick himself) around.

The younger slave bit her lip, "Getting through it." Ruby debated for a moment if she should tell Octavia the recent bit of news that she had already relayed to Sun. Octavia had been here by her side nearly as much as Sun had, she had helped nursed her (and their fellow fighters) back to health countless times… and she had been tasked at easing those unlucky few through the final moments of life. She decided against it at the last moment, house slaves talked too much – it was nothing against them, it was just how they were trained. They were masters and mistresses of seduction, making the men and women at local whorehouses look like virgins.

If the Torchwick Gladiators were renowned for their mastery of the blade, then house slaves like Octavia were known for their mastery of wielding sex as a weapon.

"He… Master Torchwick is so brutal to you." Octavia took a deep breath, he was brutal all around towards all of his slaves. Referring to them as proud products of the Torchwick name.

Ruby placed a hand on Octavia's shoulder, "I'll be fine." She repeated with such conviction.

"But Ruby, you've just been through so much. For Oum's sake, it's – it's just not fair for you." Her voice was barely a whisper.

"What're you slaves talking about in here?" Junior's voice thundered at the entrance of the infirmary, a dangerous look on his face.

"Octavia is giving me some advice on my injuries, sir." Ruby pulled away quickly, quickly schooling her features.

Junior looked over the two slaves, his eyes settling on Octavia, "Run along now, Reaper." A dark look on his face, "Master Torchwick has plans for you in the Arena, go train."

Silver eyes flicked towards Octavia, a reassuring look was passed off to the Gladiator.

I'll be fine.

The unspoken words were loud and clear to Ruby, Octavia was strong in her own ways – she had been a Torchwick slave a lot longer than Ruby had been.

"Yes, sir." The Reaper affirmed as she left the two alone.

Ruby walked with a slight limp out from the underground infirmary, she was glad that she didn't have the cane to worry about lugging around. Several gladiators and prospects paused for a moment when they saw her walking out on her own. Smiles and beaming faces could be seen as they saw their absolute best almost back in top form.

Sage held out a practice sword for Ruby to use, "Glad to see you walking again."

"Better than being cooped up all day." She grabbed the handle the and tested it's weight out, "I hear you and Scarlet have been doing really well in the Arena, not that you weren't anything to slouch at before."

"Well, without you, Bolin, and Nadir to hog all the attention, us little guys can finally shine." A smirk.

"Sounds like someone needs a remainder about my sword play." Ruby quipped as she held the sword out in front.

"Don't think I'll hold back against a gimp."

"I'd be careful with the insults there buddy." Sun paused his training to watch the spectacle unfold.

Ruby and Sage circled each other, for the taller fighter this would be the first time in a while he would get to spar with her.

Ruby struck first – Sun took note that she moved sluggishly and saw how she babied her right shoulder.

'Still hurting a bit, aren't you?' Sun thought to himself, he would make sure Ruby wouldn't over work herself.

Sage parried Ruby's strikes, taking a few moves to sneak in some counter-strikes of his own. The limp didn't impede Ruby's ability to dodge too much, instead Sage was rather over whelmed at the sheer speed and tenacity of his opponent.

"You sure you're still injured." Sage was a bit breathless at the exchange.

"Just shaking off the cob webs," Ruby hopped lightly on the balls of her feet to test out her leg, it didn't hurt as much as she thought it would.

She stood still and motioned her hand out, with a cocky grin she motioned Sage to come in for more.

"Told you to cool it on the insults." Sun chuckled at the sight.

Sage went on the offensive as he swung at his taunting opponent, he was surprised as Ruby blocked instead of trying to parry. The tanned fighter definitely put his back into each strike, he was used to swinging around his great sword in the Arena.

Ruby spied an opening in between one of Sage's attacks, with lightening fast speed she slashed at his side.

Sage let out a grunt once the wooden sword made contacts with his ribs.

"Your win." He held his hands up, a few of the slaves clapped at the quick fight.

The Reaper stood tall, an unreadable expression on her face as she looked each of the gladiators and prospects that surrounded her. If there was any doubt in any of their minds that the famed Reaper wasn't top dog, it was gone with this demonstration of the small fighter dismantling Sage.

"Good job Rubes." Sun put a hand on her shoulder, "Now take a damn seat."

"You too?" Ruby whined, "Octavia already gave me the talk earlier."

"It's for your own good, and I let you go ahead with your little scuffle with Sage. You feeling better now?" He handed a ladle of water to Ruby, she graciously accepted it and gulped it down in one go.

She wiped the excess water off her mouth, "Much better."

"You holding up better now…" Sun was filled in with the latest stunt Roman had pulled, the two waited until it was the dead of the night before Ruby told him the whole story of what happened.

Sun Wukong was ecstatic to hear the news, not so much about Weiss Schnee getting extorted, but the fact that Pyrrha Nikos and Jaune Arc were working on getting her free. With people like that working for Ruby, it was truly a matter of time before Ruby could walk out of here.

"I am," She took a deep breath in, she rolled her shoulder that Neo had injured, the wound wasn't so deep, but when she twisted the sword tip it definitely did not help. Ruby figured a trip to Octavia to rub some herbs on it would help.

"You know, the prospects have been saying that you have to be part Grimm with the way you can take a beating." Sun chuckled. "It's been so long, but they still talk about that winter match – stabbed in the leg and still managed to beat two opponents, a lot of them still cry with a little Charlie horse in their thigh."

"It's not like I ask for it." Ruby frowned, "Sun… how did we get so wrapped up in this?" She took a minute to realize the real reason why she wanted to fight so bad: Ruby wanted the respect back, she spent so long bed ridden that the other slaves were forgetting certain courtesies around her. Such as letting her through the food line first or the prospects waiting for her to finish bathing.

She wanted to exert the authority and dominance over those who were forgetting, something that Ruby had become used to having and wielding with her hard fought battles. The image of her hobbling around with her lame leg didn't exactly help bolster any of that.

"You mean, how did we get to be so well trained?" Sun knew what Ruby alluded to, "It's what he wants, it's how he trained us, how he immersed us into this life style."

It was true though, Roman absolutely would not have allowed training to stop for anything else except for something like that – where his slaves reinforce this hierarchy and eat their own. Because Roman knew that this was how you foster the environment for ferocious fighters – keep feeding on slaves inferiority, jealousy, and greed for what little power is available to them in this environment.

"We're exactly where he wants us to be, and I loathe it."

"Same here."

Unbeknownst to the two, they were being watched by not just Roman but by Cinder as well.

"He's going to be an issue." Cinder crossed her arms as she watched the Faunus and his companion below.

"Then get rid of him." Roman was straight to the point as he sipped his wine, life had been grand to him the past few days since the man had enough gold lien to spare for the next few months courtesy of his little Snowflake.

"I plan to, but I wanted to do something a little special." A conniving smile as the Fall daughter crossed her legs and leaned back in her chair.

"Do tell." The slave master set his cup aside and gave her his full attention.

Cinder had this laughter that ran down your spine like velvet, something Roman was experiencing at that moment, "I noticed that Red's walking around pretty well."

"Oh don't tell me, I think I know what you're scheming." Roman chuckled lightly to himself, "If I didn't know any better, I'd say you're the one head over heels for Red."

"But you know me so well by now Ro." Amber eyes looked down into the courtyard, greedily eyeing the silver eyed gladiator, "I just simply love playing with my favorite toys."

"Alright, what's eating you?" Yang closed the door to the study.

Weiss looked up at the intruder, she tried to glare daggers, but a serious look from the Huntress told her to drop it. "It's nothing."

"It's not, I talked to Klein and he's worried." She took a seat across the desk, "Winter asked me to look out for you, and I share her sentiments." Yang reasoned.

Weiss sighed, "Of course Winter would ask you that."

"She cares about you a great deal."

"Yang, it's complicated – "

"Complicated enough that you're not sleeping well, not really eating your food, and most of all putting off work for the new headquarters?" She listed it out, "I haven't been here too long, but I know how much that headquarters means to you. So for you to just suddenly drop it? Plus Velvet has been so nice by coming around three times this week to help you out, but you turn her away each time."

"I – I can't."

"You can't, or you won't?" Yang crossed her arms, "I have a sword that's about the same size as me and I can swing it around with one hand, I think I can help you out with what ever it is you're going through."

"It's not that simple!" Weiss shouted, irritated at the lecture she was getting from a woman that was the same age as her, "And what do you know?" She was standing.

"I know that your friends care about you enough to wonder what's wrong with you and wondeing why you won't talk about it." The Huntress' tone remained calm.

The two went into a stare down, Weiss from her irritation at Yang trying to pry into her personal life and Yang from her unwillingness to back down before the problem was resolved.

Yang's gaze softened, "I figured you would get like this with me," A sigh, "If you won't talk about it with me, then can you talk about it with one of your friends? Please?" Seeing Yang's pleading reminded Weiss of something, but she couldn't quite put her finger on it.

"If it'll stop you from antagonizing me, then yes – I'll talk to a friend." Weiss sat down exasperated from the whole ordeal.

"Promise?" Yang sounded like a child.

"Yes, I promise." Weiss waved her hand, "Now please, shoo so I can work on this mess."

"Not until you make good on your promise." A sly smile and the door opened up to none other than Pyrrha Nikos. "She's all yours, Pyr." Yang patted her shoulder on the way out of the office.

"Did… did you hear all of that just now?" Weiss wanted to bash her head through the table.

"It was hard not to." Pyrrha answered sheepishly. "Yang personally showed up this morning to get me, she seems like a really fun person."

"Of course she would, the brute has no common sense or manners." Weiss rolled her eyes.

"But you're letting her stay here?" The Mistrali Commander had a playful grin, she has never seen someone work up the Merchant the way Yang does.

"As a favor for my sister, she's a Huntress and apparently saved Winter's life."

"She did mention that on the way over here." She crossed her arms, "So what's wrong? I ran into Velvet into town the other day and she says you've been acting strange too."

Weiss walked over to the decanter that held her favorite wine, she poured out two cups of wine, "Pyrrha, Roman knows. He knows everything."

Pyrrha's eyes went wide at the statement, "How? When?" She recalled Weiss mentioning she had a quick visit to Roman planned almost a week ago now. "What happened when you went over to his Villa?"

Tears began to stream down Weiss' face, the memory still fresh on her mind and especially in her dreams. Pyrrha stood immediately and put her arms around her friend, in a rare moment of vulnerability for the usually serious Merchant, Weiss sobbed.

It seemed to be a long time before Weiss was calm enough to speak again, at this point Pyrrha did her best to keep her temper in check as her imagination spun on what it was that Roman had done to Weiss.

Finally Weiss found the strength to speak – she spared no detail as she told the whole story of what happened with Roman.

"That bastard!" Pyrrha seethed, the wine was much appreciated as she took a sip from it, "He knows what you're trying to do and he knows that extorting that amount from you is going to ruin your hard work."

"I didn't know what else to do Pyrrha! He had Ruby tied up in his sick and twisted dungeon, and the things he did to her – I just couldn't walk away and leave her like that!" Weiss was almost hysterical as she could still hear the howls of pain that erupted from the gladiator.

"I think you did the right thing," Pyrrha said, "I just – I know he's harsh on his slaves, but a dungeon? Torture? That's just so cruel." She thought back to all the fighters she had ever fought from House Torchwick, have they all be subjected to this abuse?

"Jaune just needs to hurry up and come back… soon." Weiss held out, "40%... I just – it's just so much. I've been running the numbers on other options, I'm going to have to give up working on opening up the Headquarters – which I desperately need to help manage all of these growing accounts… not to mention I already purchased the building… and then – "

"Weiss," Pyrrha interjected, "I will help you. What ever the cost is, do not worry about it."

"Pyrrha I can't possibly ask you for money – "

"It's an investment," Her emerald eyes were steady, "I don't want you running yourself into the ground because of Roman, I refuse." Pyrrha's gaze softened, "And you're my dear friend,"

"Pyrrha…" Weiss was at a loss for words, "I can't – Thank you."

"You are so welcome."

A rather tall and well-built man with black hair and brown eyes tended to the flower shop that belonged to his childhood friend… who is now his girlfriend. His mother was off for the rest of the day, probably off having tea or playing cards with some of the other women of the neighboring shops and homes.

Reese Chloris, a strong and independent woman with striking turquois hair and emerald eyes, smiled fondly at the sight of Bolin Hori gently handling the plants – she had seen those same hands do so much more… something that the two of them still had trouble talking about.

Bolin still woke up in the middle of the night, not as often as the first month he came home, but it still happened. He'd wake up sweating or just with his heart racing, then Reese would do what she could to help quell his wild thoughts – to some how reassure that he was safe and away from it all.

"4 bronze lien." Bolin was cheerful in demeanor as he handed over the potted plant to the patron.

"You're a dear as usual." The elderly woman thanked him before grabbing the plant to leave the shop.

"Brother!" A young girl came running through the front, barely missing the elderly woman as she left. Her eyes were filled with excitement and her long dark hair was done up in a ponytail.

"Hey!" Bolin narrowed his eyes, "Be more mindful, I don't want you to get hurt Mei." He scolded his 9-year old sister.

"Sorry…" Mei's brown eyes looked down to the floor bashfully.

A smack in the back of Bolin's head echoed through out the shop, Mei giggled at Bolin's scowl.

"Don't mind your big bad bro." A shorter woman with turquois hair and green eyes danced in mirth, "He's still working on scaling back that aggressive nature."

"I'm not that aggressive." Bolin growled.

"You don't think you're that aggressive." Reese Chloris teased, she turned her attention to the youngest Hori sibling, "What're you so excited about Mei?"

"I heard the baker talking about Bolin's friend!" Mei exclaimed excitedly.

"Oh?" Bolin was intrigued, of course he told his family stories about his friends. For Mei he would tell her bed time stories about the people he fought with, of course he left out the gritty details. Almost every night Mei would excitedly ask questions about his fellow gladiators and it had gotten to the point where Bolin was sure Mei could pick them out in the crowd. "Who was it?" He was particularly proud of a story he heard about Ruby still defeating two slaves despite the nearly fatal sword wound in her leg.

"Nadir! The Wilding!" Mei put on her best heroic pose, "He's fighting today!"

"Did Henry mention who he was fighting?" Bolin didn't really keep up with the Arena fights, not the way some of his neighbors so religiously. It was wild the first month Bolin was home, he had his own fans come up to the flower shop almost every day and they would always buy something since they sold things like roses and daisies for a single bronze lien. Reese was pretty happy with the profit that turned.

Even now it would come up in idle conversation, someone would ask what it was like to fight another noble's champion, or what it felt like to fight a Grimm or a tiger and such.

"He's going to fight a Torchwick Gladiator!" Mei exclaimed excitedly.

Bolin scrunched his face up in confusion, "What?"

"What's wrong?" Reese saw the look on his face.

"That's just dumb, to have Roman pit both of his Gladiators against each other." Bolin scratched his head, "Is Henry still around?"

Mei nodded her head as she began to look over the flowers, she grabbed a nearby watering can to tend to some of the drier looking ones.

"I'll be right back," Bolin leaned over and planted a quick kiss on Reese's lips. He lingered a little longer to gaze deeply into her eyes, it was still something that he couldn't get over.

"If you want, we can got buy tickets and watch – I know how much they mean to you." She offered, she always did whenever she would catch word it was one Core Four out there. "I'm sure your mother wouldn't mind watching the store while we're gone."

"I would really like that." Bolin smiled.

He turned on his heel and approached the bakery down the street, sure enough Henry was still at the counter.

"Bolin! I hope you don't mind if I gave Mei a little cinnamon roll earlier." Henry greeted.

"That would certainly explain why she's bouncing off the walls." The older brother chuckled, "She mentioned something about a match today with Nadir."

"The Wilding?" Henry perked up, "I'm planning on going later to catch the show, it's been a long while since he's made an appearance." The baker and a few others in the surrounding shops and homes were huge fans of the Arena and the various fighters… if Bolin were being honest, it slightly disturbed him. But after being out of the Arena for so long he understood – they were just normal civilians and the Arena life was something completely foreign to them. All they knew was that they were there to simply watch and be entertained.

It was a part of their culture.

"Do you know who he's fighting?" He was hoping to get some clarification.

"No one really knows, just that they're coming from House Torchwick – could be one of the newer guys like Neptune or Sage." Henry shrugged.

"How's that possible though? They're from the same House." So Mei didn't get something confused.

"Oh yeah! I forget you don't keep up with these things, I think it's strange you don't since you were pretty famous yourself." Henry smiled, "Nadir was sold to House Fall a while back, not sure on the details but it happened."

"That's interesting." Bolin was perplexed, why would Roman, who had done the most underhanded thing by keeping Ruby, sell off Nadir? There was no way the man would give him up in any normal circumstance.

The whole thing felt off.

And then Bolin Hori knew why.

His knuckles were white as they stood amongst the crowd in the Arena, Reese had a concerned look on her face as she held onto Bolin's arm. She was trying to get his attention and ask what was wrong, but the old Gladiator was shocked at what he saw.

There stoically stood the Reaper, introduced first by Roman Torchwick who wore that sick and pleased smirk on his face. And to his horror, he watched Cinder Fall rise delicately from her seat.

"And the Champion for House Fall will be none other than the Wilding himself!" Her voice echoed among the crowd and the audience went wild.

"This is going to epic! I've always wanted to see a Torchwick gladiator fight against each other!" Henry and a few other men from the neighborhood cheered at the sight, but for Bolin all he could feel was dread.

That same dread is what Ruby felt as she watched her opponent walk across the sands, but the way Nadir walked was peculiar. The Wilding always had a straight and sure gait, but for some reason he teetered slightly.

Ruby understood know why Roman wouldn't tell her who she was fighting.

"How much did you give him?" Roman murmured over to Cinder.

"I told Mercury not so much that it's obvious, but he is a big guy." The Fall noble answered.

Ruby looked up at Roman as he conversed with Cinder, the two were shooting glances at Nadir as he finally made it to the center of the Arena. She heard Nadir cough loudly, it racked his whole body and then there was the sweat running down his face.

She didn't like how any of this looked.

"Wilding!" Roman roared, "Reaper!" The crowd went wild, "Begin!" He commenced the match and immediately the two began to circle each other.

Nadir rushed in first with his shield poised, Ruby followed suit and the two entered that familiar dance that Bolin recognized as their sparring pattern. It was enough to please the crowd as both fighters unleashed such magnificent combinations and unbelievable footwork. To everyone else, it was an intense fight between seasoned fighters.

But to Bolin, it was getting sloppy – Nadir's footsteps were coming up short and the usual power behind his strikes was fading.

Ruby rolled forward to avoid Nadir's next strike that was being obviously telegraphed for her right side.

"What happened?" Ruby had her back to the marble stands so that Roman and Cinder couldn't see.

Nadir's eyes flicked up and saw what his friend was doing, he brought his left foot forward and executed a basic combination. Ruby parried backwards until his last strike and quickly circled around so that Nadir had his back to the marble stands.

"Poison."

Ruby's next strike nearly faltered, but she knew she needed to be disciplined now more than ever to not let the two catch on. Nadir countered, but Ruby felt that it barely even had half his strength behind it.

"Charge me." Nadir's voice was strained, but she heard the command.

The smaller gladiator charged forward, making sure it looked powerful, but Ruby was cautious to not put her full power behind it. Nadir took the hit full on and began to stumble backwards.

'This… This can't be happening.' Ruby thought as she felt both their forms fall to the ground. She rolled off to the side and saw Nadir hunched over coughing up blood. 'He… He's dying.'

Bolin was quiet as a mouse despite the uproar that was going on all sides, the fight looked exciting, but he knew it was a lackluster performance. And to see Nadir cough up blood, he knew something was horribly wrong.

"Arrrgh!" Ruby yelled out loud with her sword raised overhead, Nadir lifted his shield in time to block the hit. He stood to one knee and raised his sword, Ruby knew this move well and moved her blade in time to block his.

As soon their blades made contact, Nadir loosened his grip and his gladius was knocked roughly out of his hand.

Ruby's eyes went wide, she didn't know what to do next and she couldn't just stop – not in the middle of Arena, not with Roman watching and knowing.

So she continued on her combination, putting her next foot forward to proceed with her strike. Nadir swung his shield around and managed to deflect the next few attacks, but Ruby saw that his strength was fading fast.

Then it happened so quick.

Nadir did that thing that Bolin, Ruby, and Sun would always scold him for. That thing that the Arena knew him for because he's the Wilding.

He threw off his shield and charged at Ruby quickly and head on.

Despite the fact that he fucking knew where her next sword strike was going.

Nadir Shiko's breath was hot against Ruby's cheek, her hands were sickly warm, and she could feel the touch of his calloused hands on her sword arm – they were firm and they guided the sword deeper into him.

"March… revolt… beware… the fall…" His voice trailed off and then his hands were no longer firm on her arm.

He was lifeless.

Ruby let go of her weapon, she watched as his body toppled over into a heap.

The Arena exploded.

The Reaper paraded around the sands in triumph.

But Bolin saw the numbed expression in Ruby's eyes.

So he cried for the both of them.

A/N:

My heart hurt while writing the end of this chapter.

Back at work again, which means my free time is at an all time low once more. Still tweaking chapter 15 and 16, not too satisfied with how they turned out so I'm going to take some more time to flesh them out a little more. I will say that there's going to be a lot going on in the next few chapters so I'm trying to make sure they are where I want and need them to be.

Hope you guys enjoyed this update of Gladiator. Thank you all for the continued support and awesome reviews and messages. I promise to stay on track with Gladiator as much as possible, for those interested - I've got a rough outline hashed out for the Bumblebee story I've been knocking around with.

Cheers,

DevilRed