[IC] Gladiators

[manapool1]

Alara tried his best not to look at the man as he scrapped the oil and dirt from the first section of the bath he took what he scraped off and place it in his bucket, wanting to get the off his hands as fast as possible. It didn't take long until the young man walked away and jumped into the waters of the public bath and waded over to a group of other young men and began talk, eyeing alara every minute or two, it made him feel guilty. He sighed as he walked over to the next person and was slapped as he noticed it was a woman, they didn't like when he treated them. His hands clenched but he let it go, he was in enough trouble as it was for forgetting to clean the bath last week, as if it would change the green tint anyway. Alara looked around as at the people, only to look away in disgust, no matter how long he worked there he would never get used to naked men all about. As he began to clean the floors Alara heard the words he never wanted to hear again. It was a small grunt but he knew what it meant. HE took in a large gulp and closed his eyes as he ran into the restroom and grabbed the stick and threw it into the vinegar tub. He wasn't allowed his gloved anymore but he suck them in anyway, he was cleaning peoples waste off a sponge could anyone blame him.

After the day's work at the bath house, he dawned upon his night apparel, and took his arsenal and headed to the arena. As he sat in his side he rolled a dye with animal faces instead of numbers, it landed on a persons face.

"I hope these die are wrong for once:" he said and he looked around

As the gate opened, Alara stepped out into the sand pits ready for his new foe, the crowd was loud and scared him at first but he calmed himself the light took a moment to adapt to and his skin felt beaten down by the dry heat around him, still he raised his shied forward and his club shortly behind it.

[BK201]

Okuni slolwy went up stairs with a jar of wine, obviously for the emperor. When she reached the royal box the emperor looked at her
"oh,you are here, look, it is about to start" The emperor told Okuni as if she was his best fried or something "who is that man?"
"You highness, that man is Alara, really good fighter" Okuni said and poured some wine in the emperor's golden cup and the poured wine into the empress's cup
Okuni looked back at the guards, they were watching her with perverted eyes, that made Okuni upset, but stood next to the royal family

[manapool1]

As a tall man came running into to the stadium he nearly tackled Alara but was dodged by a side step every time. Eventually Alara tripped the man which angered him into pulling out his large great sword and swinging it aimlessly, barely getting in range of Alara's shield.The man wasn't the strongest and despite his large manor was not at all frightening which was probably how he made it so far, but alas it was merely a moments notice until the tall man would run out of stamina. Alara was correct, after what seemed like a minute the large man had lowered the huge sword and was breathing heavily and sweat ran down his face, now was the time to strike.

Alara shoved the large weapon out of the way with his shield and bashed the man in the nose with his club, the man staggered back and was hit with a kick to the stomach and a jumping hit the the scalp with his club. The man seemed astonished as he fell to his knees and was beat further down to the ground until he lay flat on the ground. Alara looked up at the emperor waiting for orders and looked at the young lady next to him, she was very beautiful and seemed out of place with the high classed man, but he didn't pay heed to it, she probably wasn't from around here because he had never seen her at the bath house.

[Marcus XVI]

The day had been a rather uneventful one in comparison to the excitement of the past months - travelling with a former Consul can cause all sorts of happenings. Still there had been no bloodshed or other such nonsense. Old Falco had gotten a chance to use his silver tongue once or twice and admittedly there had been a little scuffle at the subura - nothing serious though, just two old men emptying a wine house of ruffians.

This whole fighting on the arena business had become more a hobby these days - not that Cato would be quite yet be ready to put down his weapons, keel over and die - on the contrary. He just didn't feel the need to fight that often. Still there he was again. The arena. As he was donning his armor and weapons the greek wondered silently about many things. Who would he be facing? How should he approach his foe? Would his foe be in better condition than he is? Those were only few of the questions Cato thought about as he gripped hold of his square shaped shield and the trident.

As he made his way to the sands Cato was greeted by nearly deafening applauds and a good part of the crowd began a chant of "SWORD OF MARS!" Very calmly the greek made his way to face the emperor's stand. He made a quick salute and smirked "Hail, Emperor. Those who are about to die salute you." He wasn't quite sure if he'd be facing the young man who had just downed a much larger warrior. He waited patiently to hear the Emperor's words.

[manapool1]

Alara sighed as the crowd chanted a new name, this 'sword of mars' was someone he never truly wanted to meet, he hated the celebrity fights, and had only had two, it was stupid to pit some of your finest warriors who can give way more entertainment if you just let them live. Still he had a name to keep as well, the red eyed demon wasn't going to die in a fight with some lars, he was ready to take him on. He let out a sigh as he set his sheild in front of him and his club shortly behind it and stood waiting for the opponent to move, he was calculation weither or not a hit with the sword could break through the leather on his chest, and if he could find a weak point on cato.

"I am Alara piye the red eyed demon, do not prepare to leave this battle"

[BK201]

Okuni sighed. the match was over in just two minuts, even so the Emperor was quite amused and the Empress too.
"play with me!" The younger heir to the thorne ordered Okuni, she just smiled and went on her knees to play with the child, every few seconds Okuni turned her head towards the arena.
"This will be a great match" Okuni comented, the Emperor nodded

[Marcus XVI]

Cato smirked, he did not answer to the younger man's boast. With the large shield held towards his foe the greek began advancing forwards. He noted that wearing a lorica segmentata didn't slow him down too much - though his foe would probably be much quicker on his feet. Cato changed his stance slightly, lowering the shield ever so slightly and turning the trident around. When he was less than 20 paces away from his foe he threw the trident towards the younger man and readied one of his swords.

[manapool1]

Alara caught the trident with the shield which it passed threw and pull it out and threw it back and discarded the wisker wall and put one hand in the sash, afew shards cutting his hand but he didn't mind it, Alara kept his elbow in front of his face and kept his club behind his neck, ready to throw a powerful blow, but still waiting for the opponent to come towards him. He calculated that do to the man's age he would have worse stamina than most fighters, and the heavy armor, thought it didn't seem to slow him down still would take him more time to keep up with his breath. Finally as the man approached him, Alara spun around and threw a back handed smash to what he was hoping as the skull with his club and followed with a kick to the chin and a handful of sharp glass and metal towards the mans face.

[Marcus XVI]

Cato parried the club with his shield and made a quick sidestep to barely avoid the kick. The shards of metal and glass were no more than a little annoyance - though they caused the older gladiator to back away a few steps. He regained his composure quickly and again readied his scutum.

[BK201]

Another servant walked in and whispered something in Okuni's ear. Okuni whispered in the Emperor's ear "the tigers arrived"
The Emperor looked at Okuni "GOget your weapons, give me a nice show" Okuni just nodded and got her armor and swords ready. she walked to the arena and stood in front of the men before they could kill each other.
The emperor stood up and everyone was silent. "People of Rome! today we have three great warrior. A man who is said to be gifted with the sword of Mars! A man who has no fear no matter the situation he is! And finally a woman who's beauty maked birds foeget how to fly!
People cheered even louder and the gates opened, the tigers slowly walked towards the warriors, they were hungry.
"great..cats..." Okuni muttered

[manapool1]

Alara began to throw blows from his club at the cats again an again never giving less then half a second between each hit, before jumping back, throwing more glass as he did and raising the club while wiping the sweat of his head, he was actually in a fight with an opponent with skill and experience. He wasn't ready to be beaten by an old tiger but he knew his normal movement wouldn't work, so he would have to create a new technique to get past it, using his speed to get in closer.

[BK201]

Okuni prepared her bow, one of the tigers was staring at her and suddenly rushed towards her, the tiger jumped but Okuni shot an arrow hitting the tiger in the eye, "you deserve that" Okuni said and took her katana

[manapool1]

Alara raised his hand to throw a strike to the tiger's head, but on the way up struck Okuni in the head, he muttered and sorry and was bum rushed by the tiger but easily spun around and got on top and began a choke out, holding the legs down, it looked more like he had fallen limp on it if it weren't for the constant head butts to the chest. As another tiger flew at him Alara rolled away and threw his glass sharps in it's face causing a panicked rush of adrenalin and an attempt on tackling Alara. As he ran Alara threw more and more shards at the beast's legs slowing it down to a complete stop. He let out a sigh shortly before seeing the the attempted strangle victim had gotten ready to pounce again. He was out of a club and running out of sharp things, and without his shield he had no defense, he was practically down to his fist, no more running could go on as his feet were very cut up and he had no defense against the claws, in short he was dead, a demon defeated by a mere tiger, this was unbelievable. Alara looked at the girl he had bumped into before, she looked very beautiful but something about her features made her seem different, she stood out as if she were integrally different from everyone else, and in a way she was. Alara put down his guard and stared at the woman, he wanted to die with such a pretty face as the last thing he was. not a tiger ready to jump.

[BK201]

Okuni was hit, it was agood thing she was wearing her amor. She turned back and looked at Alara "hey be careful!" she yelled and dodged the attack of a tiger, the only thing between her and the tiger washer sword, when the tiger jumped on her Okuni rolled to the side and stabbed the animal in the left sided, breaking a rib and piercing the lung, the sword got stuck in the tiger, still alive it ran away from the girl so Okuni was left only with her wakizashi

[manapool1]

Alara threw a drop kick to the pouncing tigers chest and sprang towards his club before the large cat could recover. A smile hit his face as he whacked the back of the neck of a tiger that was running from the young lady, it fell down and he stomped out it's spine. Alara looked at the tiger with his muliti-colored eyes, his club set forward and ready to strike the on coming opponent, he must not have been ready to die after all, what he did seemed impossible, and the crowd seemed to cheer, not his name as no one truly knew it but still they got a thrill from it. As the animal rushed at him, Alara sent a knee to the chin and smashed his club down on the the head, and repeatedly bashed the nose in, seeing only his club and nothing more, yet he still knew shen he was done, only after giving a final stomp on the neck he returned to the young lady after wiping the sweat of his forehead. She had lost a weapon but still was very well armed, so he didn't worry much, but still was afraid she may fall victim to one of the animals, and the emperor would be at his neck for the rest of his life for sure, but worse yet, such a beautiful young lady would be left to the course of nature a tiger gives, which was no way for such a lovely young lady to go.

[Marcus XVI]

Cato moved calmly despite the danger posed by the tigers. He used his large shield as a sort of a battering ram while keeping his eyes focused on the beasts at all time. A quick jab with the shield was followed by a stab to a tiger's side.

[Nehelenia]

Alcie stood by one of the gates, iron rods the only thing between her and the fight was going on in the arena. She was not to participate in this particular battle but she knew she would be put into the arena soon enough. As she grew tired of watching her fellow gladiators get injured and kill the tigers, she began looking at the crowd in disgust. How could they enjoy the pain of others so much? "May the gods take no mercy on your souls, you should go the Field of Punishment..." She whispered to herself as she bumped her shield against the stone wall.

How the romans came up with the idea that they had the right to enslave others and force them to fight was something Alcie could not imagine. The only thing she could imagine right now would be how happy she would be killing roman soldiers to make her way back to Greece. She prayed to Athena to give her strength in battle and wisdom to find a way out of this terrible place, never doubting that the greek goddess could hear her from a place away from Greece.

[manapool1]

Alara sent a front kick to the beast's jaw and smashed his club into the fore head before backing away, breathing heavily and sweating even moe, the tigers were a problem this time, he only fought them one at a time or 2 if he was unlucky. The trident had ruined his strategy and he was still angry about it, but the opponent who threw it was amazing and deserved to live.

[Nehelenia]

Alcie looked at the combatants in the arena once more as she heard the roar of the crowd, indicating that the tigers were almost all dead. She looked at the gladiators in the there more closely now. There was the famous, but older, Sword of Mars, the one who called himself a demon and the girl who she knew was a servant to the Emperor himself. She had seen them all fight before but the way they worked together today sparked an idea in her mind. She shook her head, thinking it was too ridiculous, as she began thinking about what the Emperor would say next.

[BK201]

The fight was over, Urbi looked up at the Emperor and put her scimitar on her shoulder "well, we survive again" she muttered and walked towards the gate.
The Emperor enjoyed the show and clapped his hands slowly, the crowd was cheered as loud as they could, the flowers they threw covered the arena, Urbi catched a rose and put it n her hair, she passed by Alcie with a soft smile as if she was saying "good luck"