Vastinia laid in her bed and saw the flashbacks of why she hated the Rumans. Her child hung from a tree and her husband bloodied beyond recognition. It made her sick how the soldiers laughed about it. But she had quickly dealt with them.
Her flashbacks were interrupted by the guard: "Time to eat! We got something special for you. People like you must like eating the meat of other people. Here is what we got off of yesterdays corpse of one who failed to kill the mercenaries." The guard opened the gate and went in to set the plate full of meat and a loaf of bread on the table. As the other sneezed, Vastinia quickly broke the neck of the guard nearest to her. The other guard quickly ran out in fear and locked the gate. He watched as Vastinia stabbed into the mans neck with a hairpin and caught the blood in a cup. "You forgot to get me something to drink and sauce for my meal. If you forget to bring me something to drink next time then you will be next." Vastinia said as she tore off a piece of bread and dipped it in the blood. "But thanks for the meal. I will surely enjoy it." She then began to eat her meal.

Xeraph sat quietly in his cell, his legs folded, his hands rested on his lap. He was motionless, as he usually was. Ever since he was brought here he has yet to speak a word or give any sort of response. When it is his time to fight, he quietly puts on his gear and walks to the arena. He causes no problems for the guards, does not taunt his opponent. Nothing. His silence gives the guards and other Gladiators around him an uneasy feeling, but things like that mean nothing to him. Xeraph had lost his future. His life was being measured by how powerful he was in the arena. If he was strong, he would survive. If he was weak, he would die. That was the only thing that he lived for. It was sad, but unfortunately, that was his life. He spent no time to be melancholy, for he knew such things were pointless. He would just live and fight for as long as he could, until the end.

The guard approached his cell, placing his dinner on the ground before him. He didn't say anything, for he knew Xeraph wouldn't respond. When he left Xeraph quietly began eating his meal, his eyes fixated on the food in front of him. A moment later he heard a commotion in the cell across from him. A woman had murdered a guard, as the other escaped. He had heard of the woman, Vastinia Survayya, and had seen some of her matches. She was a ruthless warrior, one he knew he had to take care against if he ever had to fight her. After a moment he dropped his emotionless gave back to his food. Such things did not have any relevance in this world.

Viene slowly looked around as she heard a commotion in another area of the dungeon but remained seated in the corner of her cell, her arms wrapped around her legs as she tried to keep warm. She winced in pain as small amounts of blood trickled down her back into a puddle on the ground, the blood slowly stopping as the whip marks on her back scabbed over. The cell was very small with barely any room for her to stretch out in when she was to sleep. The smell of food entered her nose as she looked passed the bars of the cell to see bread and a small amount of meat on a plate outside of the cell. She slowly crawled from the corner and reached the bars, the blood being smeared as she moved. Silence entered the corridor outside as she reached through the bars, attempting to grab the food but it was just out of reach. The tip of her finger hit the bread as a guard quickly brought his foot down up her arm, smashing it into the ground. Intense pains surged through her arm as the guard placed most of his weight on it. "Your Master commanded us not to feed you until you actually kill somebody in the arena." As the guard let up on Viene's arm, she quickly pulled it away and back through the bars, holding it tightly with the other hand. "It looks like this belongs to me." The guard slowly picked up the platter of food and began eating it in front of Viene, her stomach rumbling as he took slow bites out of the food,.

A severed hand from the Ruman guard who was killed by Vastinia flew against the guard who took Vienes food. It was Vastinia who threw it. "Hey! Give the poor girl some food! She cant fight without any food! Hey give her some of my food." Vastinia took a piece of bread, some meat and cut out some meat from the dead guard as well as the blood sauce. She slid over the plate to Viene and said: "Go ahead and eat it. Its okay. You need the food. If he tries to kick it away, I will kill him!" The guard gulped. Vastinias friendly face only showed kindness to fellow gladiators but went insane towards Ruman guards. Vastinia was an insane woman who murdered any Ruman who came into her sight because of a horrible past. She hated Rumans above anything else.

As usual, things were getting somewhat rowdy outside his cell, and as usual it was his fellow prisoner Vastinia. Xeraph calmly ate his food without paying attention to what was going on outside his cell. To him, other people did not matter. Making friends and allies in such a place was pointless, for this was a place where your best friend may become your greatest enemy. Something caught Xeraph's eye, however, as he noticed Vastinia throw a piece of human meat over to the girl in the cell next to him. So this Vastinia has become a cannibal...I suppose she truly has lost her mind. Xeraph thought to himself. He wondered what could have caused her to digress to such a state. She had lost her sanity due to her past, as Xeraph had lost his emotions due to his.

But then there was the other Gladiator locked together with them, the other female warrior Vienes. Even Xeraph thought her no-kill policy to be odd, given the situations. He could often hear her being beaten because of her beliefs. Such were the ways of things. When you step into this place, you had to lose something of yourself. It was the only way to survive. Xeraph's eyes rose as his eyes met with Vastinia's. After a moment, without saying a word he again lowered his gaze, closing his eyes and returning to his meditative stance.

Viene looked up at the guard as his face was full of fear, knowing that if he let Viene eat, he would surely die; but if he didn't Vastinia would kill him instantly. She looked down at the bread and slowly picked it up from the plate, her arm shaking as she took a small bite from the bread. The fear on the guard's face grew even stronger as another guard was heard entering the corridor. Without hesitation, Viene slid the plate out to the guard and looked over at Vastinia. "Take the plate back to my master, Tell him you ate the bread yourself." She said as the guard hastily picked up the bloodied plate and ran from the corridor in case Vastinia tried to attack him. Slowly moving back into the corner of the cell, Viene savored her bread knowing it would give her enough energy to fight well enough to stay alive in her next fight. She slowly lowered the bread from her mouth and looked over to Vastinia once more. "Thank you for helping." She said as she happily ate what remained of the bread.

Vastinia frowned when Viene didnt eat the meat. "It was a pleasure but you should have had some meat. Meat is essential for winning a fight. How about I toss you another bit when the guards are not around. It tastes good and dont worry its just the meat of a Ruman. For me they are just tyrannic animals. But I am the Rumans natural predator and I will make sure that the people of Rume fall and their cities crumble. They killed my people and my family. They didnt even spare my child, so I wont die until I annihilate the Rumans. I have already killed over 500 of them. Half of them were soldiers, a quarter of them civilians and the last bit were the guards here. But they keep me alive because they fear me and because I show them a good fight. I might be popular in the arena but I dont need it. Just wait and see. I will get out of here and find a way to get rid of them. This city will burn." She said. She then began to laugh with a psychotic smile on her face.

Viene looked over at Vastinia as her cynical smile grew ever more psychotic with each passing second, listening as Vastinia ranted about her hatred of the Rumans. She looked took the final bite of her bread and frowned. "I am a Ruman," She said simply as crumbs fell from her mouth, chewing the remainder of the bread. She swallowed the bread and looked away from Vastinia. "I will not turn to cannibalism. Eating another human will get me sent to the flaming pit that lies at the end of your path. I do not follow that path, nor will I ever." Knowing what she said sounded cruel, Viene watched as a guard passed, glaring at her with a grin on his face. That guard knew something was about to happen with her which sent fear throughout her body.

"A Ruman? Dont make me laugh. If you are a gladiator and have a master, then you are most likely a slave. Rumans cannot be slaves. Being a Ruman and a slave tells me that they took away your right to be Ruman." Vastinia laughed. Then her insane smile turned into a friendly one. "Then you shall be the only Ruman that I can accept as a friend. Join me and I will end the injustice done to you." Vastinia then saw the smirk on the guards face. Vastinia then tore a loose stone out of the wall and threw it against the guards face. "Wipe that smirk off you face you dirty Ruman!" The forehead and the nose of the guard began to bleed. He then was scared and went to get patched up. "Tell this girls master if he doesnt treat her right, then I will kill him on sight." The guard knew what Vastinia was capable of. He was there when half of his division was killed by her with a hunting knife. He feared those eyes who looked at him with neverending hate. Vastinia was brutal, ruthless, powerful and scary. The guard stuttered before he left: "Th...th..this e...evening y...you guys will b...be fighting the l...legion champions. The people h..have betted on you to loose. I w...will be rich since I bet on you to win. Those p...poor soldiers dont s...stand a chance against you three." "Well thats the first compliment I hear from a Ruman guard. Note to self: Avoid killing this guard, just hurt him." Vastinia said.

Viene looked over at the guard as the stone was slung into his face. She watched as the blood trailed from his head and his nose and frowned to see the man in pain. She listened as the Guard told them about the battle that was to happen next and sighed knowing the Legion Champions were the best and most prized warriors in Ruman, known primarily for their barbarian-style fighting they had learned from the Barbarians to the North. "Please come here," She said just before the guard was to leave. She reached over to her right and grabbed the think blanket that she was given for the long Cold nights and tore a small piece from it as the Guard reached her cell. Viene looked at the guard and smiled as he knelt down next to her cell and tore the piece of cloth in half. She had seen this guard feeding other slaves when they were told not to feed them. She reached through the bars with the cloth in her hand and tied it around his head, the cloth quickly becomming stained with the man's blood. "This will hold you over until you see the physician. Thank you for believing in us." As she finished speaking, the guard politely smiled and stood from where he knelt, walking from the corridor as another guard entered.

Xeraph opened his eyes. 'A match...So now I must fight to survive once more. Perhaps I will finally face someone who is strong enough to kill me. I shall see. If they cannot, they will die. Simple as that.' He thought to himself. He overheard the guard muttering about betting on them. 'Is he that confident in our abilities, or are our opponents just that weak?' His eyes drifted to his two partners. He had never fought in a team battle in the arena, but was slightly interested in seeing their combat prowess. For all he knew, one of them might be the one to slay him in combat.

Xeraph then noticed Viene patching up the guard Vastinia wounded. 'She is helping this guard? Why? What does she have to gain from that? Is it some ploy to extend her chances of survival?' Since his time in captivity, Xeraph had lost all sense of humanity. Survival and strength were they only things that mattered here, so that is all he focused on. Such things as kindness to others were lost on him. Perhaps at some time he also showed kindness to others, but that time was far in the past.

"Hey you there! I hope you have some skill and dont stand in my way because I might accidentily kill you with my axe. I hope they at least patched up the arena after my last battle. The walls were in horrible condition. The guards have said that the body count was 21 although I only went up against 10. Must have been when I flung my axe into the crowd. It was more of an unsuccessful attempt on the Ruman emperors family's lives. But some of the fans think it is an honor to be killed by me." Vastinia said with a smile on her face. She admitted she was reckless, but nevertheless she had a plan to get her land back and save her people.
The day after she was captured, she had heard of the assassination of the Sassan royal family. Her father was killed by the Rumans during that attack on the Sassan capital. Her father was one of the five generals of Sassan and the cousin of the emperor. Though since all royals were dead and she was related to them although she is warrior caste of the Sassans, she felt she had the right to take the throne after reclaiming the Sassan land.
"But did you guys hear? The guard said we are fighting against the legion champions. Two of them already signed their death warrant when they captured me in my sleep. On that day after setting the legion base and the underlying town on fire. I escaped into the forest and found a cabin. Soon after I fell asleep, I was captured. Since then, I have trained to even be able to kill guards with my bare hands and lift my heavy axe. I dont even sleep anymore because who knows if someone might be cowardly enough to kill me in my sleep or take advantage of me." Vastinia said.

The guard came and said: "The legion champions want to see their opponents before the fight." Then a bunch of soldiers in bronze armor came in without noticing Vastinia yet. "Hey look at that guy locked up like an animal. Hehe! And that girl! Aint she pretty. Youre going to be mine before you die!" One champion said. Then one champion turned around to see Vastinia and the remains of the guard next to her. Then a flashback came from when he captured her. Sweat immediately began to drip down his forehead. He was nervous and scared. The loud mouthed champion then turned around and saw Vastinia: "Ahhh. A Sassan beauty and obviously a cannibal. She shouldnt be a problem. Hey guard why did you throw a dead guard in for her to eat? You should have let her starve." "You need to be careful about what you say. You might anger her." The guard said. Then the loudmouth then said: "Anger her? Aww I am scared. She is just another animal like the rest of these slaves!" "Well then I dont think you would mind that if I told you that that guard was alive when he came in to give her food but then was torn apart by her bare hands." The guard said. The loudmouth brushed it off as if it was a myth.

"The guard is right. If you go on, you will be the first bug I will squash. Plus my axe is massive enough to break your sword with its weight alone." Vastinia said. "I will kill all of you Ruman animals except for Viene and Mr. Guard here. Viene because she doesnt deserve to die after being betrayed by her own people. The guard earned my respect for standing up for me. Plus when you listen out of the window, people talk about a good profit if we gladiators win the battle. I think it was 2099 to 1. The guard will be a rich man afterwards." Vastinia then took out a copper coin. "Here guard. Bet on me and buy me and the gladiators something nice. Give me the change for the next fight."

The champions werent happy about the way Vastinia snapped at them.

Viene watched as the overly confident champions mocked her and the others and sighed as threats were thrown between the two. She slowly pushed her back against the wall in an attempt to stand. She listened as the champions kept their insults running rapant like an endless stream, smiling as one of them called her pretty, knowing she would be able to use it to her advantage. She slowly limped over to the bars of the cell, holding onto the bars to here right, attemption to reach the champions. Quietly looking for the champion who called her pretty, Viene continued limping to the Champions, falling to her knees as she reached them. "Ouch," She said in a quiet yell, hoping the champion could hear. She slowly wiped some of the blood from her hand onto her knees to make it look as if it was cut open.

"We have to fight that?" One of the champions said with a chuckle, knowing that a wounded, limping gladiator would be a sad match for them to fight against. "She can't even walk six steps without falling. This is going to be a fast match." The champion nudged one of the other champions who payed no attention to the nudge, only to Viene, who knelt in her cell, tears coming from your eyes. "What are you doing?" The champion continued as he realized the other felt bad for Viene. "She is a gladiator, this is how we pay make our money, killing useless vermin like them."

The other Champion slowly knelt down next to Viene and put his hand on her shoulder. "Are you alright?" He asked.

Without a second to spare, Viene quickly pushed her hand through the bars and into the champion's neck, pressing down on it, quickly making him gasp for breaths. "Pull out of the fight," She said quietly into the man's ear. She had watched this Champion have some emotions towards others and knew that would be too much of a good quality to lose, just for a fight in the Arena. "If you fight against us, you will die." She finished speaking as the other Champions pulled their swords from theirs sheaths and swung at Viene's arm. Viene quickly pulled her hand away from the champion's neck and fell back, further into her cell. The Champion held his neck and gasped for breaths, his eyes locked on Viene who backed away with a smile. She knew that she proved her strength to the Champions and showed her kindness to the other.