Dillyweed | Söl / Rial

They stepped into the round Chamber. It was eerily quiet. Söl instinctively kept holding his breath as they slowly made their way into the round, sandy arena. It was quiet. Almost too quiet. Their footsteps barely made a single sound as they walked carefully through the sand. It was not deep but it was loose. It had not been touched by anything other than the dry arena air for many years. It had been closed off from everything until the moment the four of them arrived. It felt wrong to disturb it yet they felt compelled to enter it. It was as if they were both uninvited and invited at the same time. 

As they reached the middle of the arena the doors closed. It was a hard sound and as it echoed into the now dark arena the torches that hung around the circular dome lit up. Suddenly the carved out seats of the arena were filled with shadows. It emphasized the size of the auditorium above the round arena. More lights lit up around them until the last line was lit up. The shadows were silent, but they didn't need to speak for the four Coursers to realize what they were doing. They were laughing, screaming. It was deafening but not a single sound made it out of the shadows.

Söl was frightened; he instinctively made himself smaller as he was huddled into the middle of the four Coursers and all their pets.

Goosebert the Peckish tried to honk at the taunting shadows but it seemed as if all sounds were killed in the Arena.

Rial on the other hand looked coldly ahead of them. His eyes were drawn to the shadow on the first rafter. He couldn't look away. The shadow, unlike the rest of the railed up audience, was still. It's mane flowing slowly behind it. It was the biggest of them. Easily. Its muscles even in shadows were well defined.

The shadow leaped down from the rafters quickly. And landed hard. Sand was kicking up around it. Rial needed no more evidence that this shadow was solid. This was not just an arena of baseless shadows. This was a gladiator arena and they were the opponents. 

Stroheimer and Senbonzakura tried to keep themself between the shadow and both Rial and Söl. Clearly they were ready to fight the shadow. 

In the deepest part of him Rial knew as he let his emerald coloured gaze follow the shadow as it ran around them. That the shadow had already chosen its foe. But why was its choice him?

The sound came all at once. It was as if the shadowy gladiator had risen the shadows' excitement until the bubble of silence burst.

The pressure made Söl fall to his knees but he told Stroheimer that he was okay. 

As the crowds screamed for them to fight, the shadowy figure stopped in front of the group. He walked through both Stroheimer and Senbonzakura as if they were not there and in front of Rial he dropped a long knife made out of shadows. Rial picked it up before either Stroheimer or Senbonzakura could get close.

Accepting the duel.

530 words

AberrantKapro | Strohmeier / Senbonzakura

As the group progressed through the dungeon, they eventually stumbled upon a very malplaced area. An arena of sorts. It definitely did not natively belong in the dungeon, they thought to themselves. Kinka and Micke’s usual energy and playfulness was dulled by the ominous aura of the arena, they made themselves as small and invisible as they could, Kinka more successfully so considering her golden fur against the sand.

As the gates slammed down behind the group and the shadowy crowd started cheering and making a ruckus, they were approached by a majestic, featureless courser. It seemed that it, too, was made of shadows, and dark smoke emitted from it, leaving a trail behind as it leapt through the air and then walked towards them with a menacingly slow pace.

This was a challenge, perhaps even a duel to the death. Senbonzakura swallowed hard. There was no way the shadow courser would allow them to team up against it, so he took a deep breath and marched forward, ready to draw his sword, but the shadow completely ignored his presence and walked straight to Rial, dropping a blade in front of his pale hooves.

Senbonzakura attempted to approach and take the blade himself, but the shadow courser blocked his path, and Rial was quick to pick it up, sealing the deal of the duel.

“How can you accept a duel so foolishly!?” Senbonzakura snarled as he looked at the emerald spotted leopard. He was a fool and nothing but a fool to not even question the shadows challenge. “I sincerely hope your ancestors look down upon you with a smile.” the pink champagne added, as he gesticulated to the others to retreat to the edge of the arena so as to not be in the way.

Strohmeier looked at Rial, worried and afraid that he’d have to have his death on his consciousness. He didn’t want their new recruit to end up hurt, or even worse, dead. He wanted to leap in to his rescue, but feared that the shadow courser might break the deal and execute him on the spot if he did so. All Strohmeier could do was watch and hope for the best. He also made sure to comfort Micke, as he seemed rather distressed due to the whole ordeal, and Kinka of course wouldn’t miss an opportunity for snuggles, so she parked right next to Micke for some attention.

403 words

Dillyweed | Rial

He held the shadow knife in his mouth. It felt surprisingly right. As if it was fitted for him. Made for him. His cold eyes followed Senbonzakura. A part of him wanted to tell him that no matter how many times he tried there was probably no way that he would be able to even pick the knife up. 

But in the end, he said nothing as he followed the others with his gaze. The two gladiators, the Shadows reigning champion and Rial, faced each other. He wondered for a moment what would happen if he lost. If he fell to the other knife. But a part of him rejoiced. It felt alive. More so than he had ever done. The shadows roared. Fight. Kill. Fight. They chanted to no fighter in specific. The winner, to them, didn't matter. The fight and the bloodshed was what they all were waiting on.

And so was Rial. He could feel something inside him. It was ready. This fight was for it. He could feel the opposing shadow respond to it, and it to the shadow. 

He felt alive. 

186 words