Bahadir had seen some amazing things in his time as a slave-fighter. He had even been a part of a team set to fight one of the deadly chimera's of the far north, just barely coming out of that alive. He had seen men eat their own arms rather than starve. But this was something he had not seen. It was a marvel of engineering and logistics, something Bahadir had heard about but had never been witness to. Briefly, he had a weird sense of loss. If he escaped, he might never be witness to such things again. Perhaps his life was not so bad... 

He knew that was a falsehood, however. How much sweeter would his life be if he was in the crowds right now, eating pork and sitting with a lover? Or perhaps even plundering the real seas himself? His sudden hesitation was curtailed and then redirected to a longing to be free, and a wonderful sense of thankfulness that he could do it with a bang such as this! That is, if he and Calliope survived. 

"Yataharak!" A Mamluk called, indicating the slaves to move. Calliope needn't be told. She stepped onto the boat as if it was made by her commission, hard boots clacking across the roughly hewed timber. Bahadir was unsure of how steady it would be, but evidently she was not. He would trust her practiced instinct, and leaped onboard as well. The boat lightly bucked, swaying from the new weight and the small ripples in the water. There was a moderate wind today, dilapidating the surface of what should have been pristine, calm water with no current. Bahadir was used to sand or stone, or the timber structures of men. He was not used to floating on water. 

"I must tell you..." Bahadir said in his strange accent, Calliope turning to look at him. "I..." He tried to find the right words."-cannot swim." 

She snorted, bewildered she had not thought of it. "If we live, I'll give ye some proper lessons, but as for now, if you fall in, just find the arena floor and kick off it. Plus, the sharks might keep ye a bit busy." 

More and more slaves piled off, until there was roughly a dozen, along with the two would-be partners. Across the expanse of water, the other slaves had gotten onto their boat at the insistence of moon-bladed halberds. A few of them looked not unsure of what to do, and Bahadir wondered if there were other corsairs or sailors on their side. He didn't know. The sun peeked through the clouds above, basking his scarred chest with merciful heat, and a keening trumpet sounded, before others followed. 

"Take the handle and do exactly what I say," Calliope commanded Bahadir. He looked at the fastened pole, and gripped it with a big hand as Calliope drew her saber. Above, the Sultan stepped forward, raising his hands to the heavens, and the people cried out in joyous celebration as the games began.