Snippet #1582253

Bliss smiled at Dara as he continued their meek conversation of tactics, the silence driving her mad. The others that were silent seemed to be lost in thought, may it be thoughts of memories or the fight that they had today, Bliss had no idea. She wasn’t very good at reading people but she was good enough to know that the air they sat in was one of sadness and slight anger. They felt anger at the king who made them do this, anger at the others who supported it and anger at whichever god they believed in for putting them in the horrible situation. She didn’t guess the thoughts that she was thinking, she too had felt the emotions they were feeling and they still continued to pop into her mind, even after her five years of being a gladiator. It never really become easier, you just had to somewhat come to terms with what you were put with and just deal with it.

Bliss’ thoughts were torn from her head when she heard faint horse hooves that seemed to reverberate around the night’s air. She looked behind her and was startled to see, of all thing, a Centaur standing practically at the foot of her bed. His eyes seemed to be devoid of any emotion although Bliss wasn’t certain if she saw some sadness lingering in them. She felt sad him, knowing of the creatures. Her father had prepped her for what she would mostly encounter in the arena, wanting her to be one of the best fighters. He had told her that Centaurs were evil creatures, not deserving of any titles really. At the time Bliss had believed him but by now, she knew it wasn’t really true. The stereotypes her father had told her never really held true, the people that she had fought with, or against, in the past were quite diverse and she had learnt by now to respect all races.

Although, as her eyes wandered, she saw the companion he had come with. A slightly larger man with annoyance in his eyes, his mouth set in a firm line, perhaps one of distaste. She had, from seeing and knowing men like him, had slowly started to lose faith in the human race. They were the main portion of people who watched fights and it made her angry at her own race, always wishing that she wasn’t a human. He told the Centaurs name, Cutlass-Prince, and Bliss shot the Centaur a small smile, making sure it was clear that the man who brought him down here received none of that smile, he seemed more than friendly. Although Bliss usually always thought a person was friendly when she first met them and had caught her more than enough flack in her life.

She shrugged her thoughts off when she felt a small shiver go down her spine and the fine hair in back of her neck stand up on end. She saw the man staring at her and she shivered at his wandering eyes, noticing how they stopped to stare at a few different places. She clenched her fists up in small balls, perhaps a way to shield herself against his stare. She wasn’t daft to the look of hunger in his eyes and had been more than once the cure to those type of looks. She knew that he wouldn’t do anything, well, hoped he wouldn’t. Not in front of all the others and the man surely couldn’t be stupid enough to drag a fighter off on his own.

Once more the greedy looking man started to speak again, something about being careful with the Centaurs and Bliss had to resist the urge to roll her eyes, realizing that this man seemed to peeve her. She highly doubted that the Centaur would do anything and she watched with slight glee as he kicked the man, probably breaking his leg. She did, though, smile at his words. Bliss had no doubt the man had taken strange woman to his bed before for a nights entertainment, ignorant to their terrified cries. Although she didn’t fixate on that for long because Cutlass started to speak to her, taking the reins back that had been on her bed.

He threw the reins back to the man and he seemed to just stand there for a moment. With a flick of her head, she saw that most of the gladiators were also looking at the Centaur, not knowing what to say, leaving it to the new gladiator that they had just received. She opened her mouth, ready to try and lift the strangeness from the room but Cutlass-Prince beat her to it. She smiled at his words, comforted that her earlier suspicions had been right. “I don’t doubt it,” She answered him, giving him a small smile, resisting the urge to pat his shoulder to reassure him because she didn’t want to insult him.

She smiled at Dara as he continued on as if nothing happened, now demanding names and talents from each of them to introduce themselves to Cutlass and Bliss had the off thought, wondering if Dara had claimed himself the leader of the group. She wouldn’t mind at all if he did, he was a good man and she had no problem following orders, especially when it was from someone she liked.

“My name’s Bliss, I’m pretty good with daggers or a simple sword when you give me one . . . these chains,” She gestured her head to the chains on the floor of her bed. “Well, I’m not too good with them.” She shrugged and continued on. “It’s what we’ve got though, so oh well. Did you manage to get some? Or are you going to just get them tomorrow in the arena, well, that is if we don’t get a weapon. Regardless, nice to meet you Cutlass,” She smiled at him, hoping to lift his spirits. He was going to be a teammate from now on, might as well make sure he was happy.