Never Lose Hope

First topic message reminder :

While this plot is opened to all, due to its setting a few particularities are to be noted. So don't jump in before having read this topic : http://www.rpgdragons.org/t2963-plot-idea-never-lose-hope
So let the plot begin !

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Rhune grunted as he pushed the bar in front of him, turning around a pillar as he was powering some sort of mechanism. What kind of mechanism, that he didn't know. Nor he cared. He didn't have the strength to even wonder what was the meaning of what he was doing. He was doing it. If he didn't, he was assured to get whipped, or worse. At least by doing his job he was assured not to get whipped... too much. That was his daily life : pushing a bar, motioning some mechanism or breathe some fire under the supervision of the guards to earn a pitiful meal and a few hours of sleep. He was just going on and surviving. The rest... he was always too tired to think.
Suddenly the bar he was pushing stopped, the mechanism being blocked. By what, he didn't know. But this time he cared for a simple reason : if it wasn't starting to turn again in a few seconds, he was good for a whipping. The green dragon put as much weight as he could on the bar, hoping it would be enough to make it turn again. But between his weakness and his body being light from the constant starvation, he couldn't put enough pressure to make it start again. A jolt of pain on his flank informed him it already was too late.
"Push harder you useless beast !" the guard yelled as he whipped Rhune once more.
The dragon could only yelp in pain as he tried the hardest he could to make the mechanism move. After a few hits from the whip, the guard seemed to understand the mechanism was blocked. Rhune's flank was painful, the whip having left some clean cuts through the scales. Scales that were almost useless as they were so thin.
"Hey you ! Help him with this." the guard ordered to another dragon.

((Shadow, ploughing isn't one of the jobs the dragons are going to do since they are locked underground to prevent them from escaping. No need to edit the post though, I'll be giving your assignment this day ^^
Harmony, dragons are used talking the human language as it is the only language they ever hear (and they need it to obey the guards). It's draconian they don't master due to the language being lost over the generations.))

Rhune was asleep when he suddenly got awoken by something hitting the bars of his cell. As his eyes opened he saw the dragoness in front of him was visibly trying to escape. A pretty pitiful attempt... He didn't want to be at her place though. With such an outburst the guards would take care to beat her the next day, to break her... Like they did with every dragon that tried to escape. Like they did with every dragon. He only could watch as the guards hauled her back to her cell, taunting her after. Rhune just tried to get asleep again. He needed every second of rest he could if he didn't want to drop dead at his work tomorrow...

The morning arrived as soon as he had closed his eyes. Well morning was a pretty abstract concept when you never saw the sun, it just corresponds to the moment when you were woken up. Rhune woke up as he felt a nudge on his shoulder. Opening his eyes, he saw Milo in front of him, still delicately nudging his shoulder.
"Hello Rhune." the human greeted him.
Milo and Rhune, those two were a pretty strange story. Milo was one of those guards that only did the job because they needed the money to live, but really hated the way dragons were treated. Rhune vaguely remembered seeing him from the moment his mother... well, died trying to protect him. Since then, the human had been trying to ease his life the best he could. It wasn't much, mostly sneaking some extra piece of meat for him and waking him up before the other guards to avoid some unnecessary whip hits. But that was enough for a strange friendship to have formed between them. Sadly the human couldn't help any other dragon like that, since he would get into trouble if he got caught. Talking about meat... Milo's coat smelt like dried meat. The human smiled as he spotted Rhune sniffing the air.
"Yep, I got something for you this morning." Milo said, reaching a small piece of dried meat under his coat.
Rhune couldn't wait a second and ate the meat right as it was presented to him, eating it from the human's hand.
"Rhune, something... Something important is going to happen this night." Milo suddenly said.
Rhune blinked, surprised by the sudden serious tone. It was unusual for the human to adopt such a tone.
"Uh ? What ?" the dragon asked.
"Well... We're going to set you free. You and some other dragons from this part of the building."
Rhune took a few seconds to process what had just been said. Did Milo just said he was going to free him? After all those years, the idea was so surreal he couldn't even apprehend it.
"Free...? You mean, leaving this place?" the green dragon blinked.
Milo nodded. "Yes. Leaving this place. But for that you need to keep some strength tonight. Try not to spend yourself too much today. And if you can, try to warn the other dragon. Don't tell them yet about the freedom at the moment, if one of the guards hears it we are screwed. Got it?"
Rhune nodded, still visibly shocked by the news. Freedom... That was something he had stopped imagining a long time ago. And now he was told it would happen? Between the shock and his constant tiredness, strangely, he wasn't feeling anything. He just couldn't grasp the idea.
"Alright I need to go before the guards see me with you. See you this evening, Rhune." Milo finally said after a few seconds of silence, standing up and walking out of Rhune's cell.

The guards soon came and woke the dragons, not hesitating to whip them if they took too long to get up. Rhune being already awoken, he avoided most of the hits by getting up quickly.
For two of the dragons the waking up got exceptionally rough. A few tough guards came inside Shadowcast's cage, tying a rope around his neck before he even could wake up properly. Should he try to resist the guards wouldn't hesitate to choke him by pulling the rope.
"That one's for the Colliseum. Stupid beast would rather try to bite us rather than spend his energy working... We'll give him something to bite." one of the guards said, spitting on the dragon.
The other guards dragged him in an other area of the building, closer from the surface. After the trip, they threw him in another cell in which some meat and water were disposed.
"You'd better eat this if you want to live more than a few hours." one of the guards said before leaving.

Harmony on her side was also taken away from her cage roughly but was led to an other direction. She was led to an other room, and promptly chained to the ground. She also got muzzled, to avoid her biting or spewing any kind of flame.
"So what's up with this one?" a man asked, out of Harmony's sight.
"She tried to escape last night and made quite a ruckus. Even tried to bite Red." one of the guards said.
"Alright. I'll get her back to a more appropriate behavior." the man nodded.
The other guards left, leaving Harmony alone with the other man. A pain in her side taught her the man had kicked her in the flank. The man then appeared in Harmony's line of sight, holding a whip in his hand.
"It's going to be a long day for you. Hopefully that will be enough to make you regret your actions..."

A guard had tied a rope around Harmony's neck once again, tightening it, and waking her up a bit more. She yawned once she was all the way up, and once led out of the cage, she realized the guard was going the wrong direction. She tugged the rope in the direction of the others, giving a slight whine. As the man led her to the room, she tried to pull away from the chains on the ground, and shook her head in multiple directions, attempting for the muzzle to miss, but it didnt. Harmony's ear twitched as she listened to the guards speaking about her. She lowered her head a bit as the guard kicked her,snarling a bit. As she got a good view of the man and the whip, she started to attempt to inch back, but couldnt move much. Harmony began whimpering at his final comment. We'll be free soon, im sure of it.

The man seemed a bit surprised as Harmony started to whimper, frowning.
"Whimpering already just seeing the whip? Don't tell me they brought me another dragon that didn't need to be tamed... Let me guess, that dumbass Red opened the door of your cage to taunt you and you got smarter than him? Should have guessed it when they mentioned him..."
The man let out a sigh, visibly annoyed by the situation.
"My job is to tame dragons that won't obey to the orders, not to beat down one just to please those bastards... What am I going to do now, I can't let you out like that even if I'd like to..."
He seemed to think for a bit, looking at Harmony whimpering. He then seized his whip and hit the dragoness with it. However she would feel that despite it hurting, the hit wasn't as strong as it could have been, it was similar to the hits during work to encourage her rather than hurt her. The man looked at the cut the whip left, nodding at himself.
"That should do the trick. That shouldn't be too painful for you and they'll never notice I haven't been hard on you. Won't be pleasant though... Better prepare yourself." the man said.

Atarijor was suddenly jarred from his sleep, awaking to a blow to his side. "Get up, you insolent worm!" came the shout of the guard hitting him with a club just enough to not break a rib. The Wyvern scrambled to his paws and kept his head low, quickly leaving his cage. "H-Have mercy, Leo. I am just a little tired from yesterday's work. It wasn't my normal task."
"You dare give excuses? I spend all day whipping you worms and you don't see me complaining. But I'll show you mercy--by not beating you to death." Leo then proceeded to whip Atarijor, stopping only after two other guards had fitted him with a metal muzzle. His back and sides covered in new, fairly deep gashes, the Wyvern whimpered and looked at the guards questioningly. Leo smirked then looked at the other two. "Even veteran gladiators need to sharpen their skills... Throw this one in with them and leave his muzzle on. It's not like the practice dummies survive, anyway."
The guards nodded and dragged Atarijor away. One of the guards' names was Paul. Upon reaching the Coliseum, the other guard left Paul to take the Wyvern to the practice area for the veteran gladiators. And as he was told, Paul left the muzzle on before herding him in and shutting the door. But he stayed--unless he heard someone coming, in which case he quickly left to perform his other duties. The second Atarijor was thrown in, the five Dragons within stood and walked toward him, growling. They all knew why he was there and what was expected of them. Some were already hardened to the life of a gladiator; they were simply ensuring their own survival by keeping their masters entertained. A few still hated the idea of killing their own kind just for a slightly better existence than everyone else. And now they felt even worse seeing that Atarijor was left muzzled and had clearly been roughed up before being brought here. With a small sympathetic sigh, one of the gladiators, Drake, lunged at the Wyvern.
Atarijor suddenly found himself beneath a dragon who seemed intent on killing him. He was very much scared and confused. Unable to bite back, much less even open his maw, Atarijor tried slashing at his attacker. But his claws were pathetic and could barely satisfy an itch. He had more leverage with his legs and managed to push Drake away long enough to roll onto his side. Another of the Dragons attacked him, biting at his left leg, a third clawed at his new wounds... Meanwhile, Paul was returning to the room, having spent the last ten minutes actually doing his job. He expected to find the Wyvern dead, but to his surprise, it was still alive. "Not for long, now," he thought aloud. And then he saw something very surprising.
Drake was dead. He had a gash in his neck. Atarijor was pinned beneath him now, his left horn stained with blood. By some miracle, he had managed to puncture Drake's neck, his broken horn just sharp enough to achieve this. But it had been an accident. Drake had been standing over Atar, trying to bite into the back of his neck. And naturally, Atar was thrashing his head back and forth. Now, the other four dragons--after getting over their shock and pulling Drakes body away--attacked Atar, biting and clawing. It was then that Paul, without thinking, rushed into the room with his whip and pushed them back. "Get back! Hurry up or you'll go hungry!" The guard tied a rope around Atar and led him out, shutting the door. He took him to a cage and put him inside. "I can't take your muzzle off... It's bad enough I let you live. But at least you'll get to fight. I know it doesn't seem like good news, but... Well, it isn't, but maybe you'll at least get to fight a new recruit instead of a veteran. And if you're really lucky, they'll have a no kill fight today." And with that, Paul left. Atarijor laid down, trying to make sense of everything that just happened while at the same time trying to ignore the pain of all his new wounds. The membrane of his right wing was shredded and his legs were littered with bite marks. His sides were likely to be stained red for weeks. With a pained whimper, he laid down in a corner of the cage, awaiting his fate.

(oh i had no idea that the place was set underground! sorry hyruu)

ShadowCast woke up quite early. Around the time the guards came in as well and being ignorent to them he just closed his eyes again.

Suddenly a rope was attached to his neck. Grunting in surprise he had shot his neck right up, glaring into the humans eyes with fury and rage. He heard them say somthing about the colliseum and spat on him.

Shadowcast roared and ran not away, but towards the human that spat on him. The other guards began to throw more rope around his neck and pull him the other way.

He was dragged all the way to another room. The colliseum was at a higher level so there was..some rays of sunlight that peeped through the cracks here and there. He was thrown into yet another cell...possibly the fourth one this month with some meat and a bucket of water.

Shadowcast guzzled down the water but glared at the meat and proceeded to chew on it to satisfy the guards, after they left he spat it out and tossed the meat into the corner of his cell. So this was it eh? forced to fight for how ever much time he has left? maybe minutes...or hours considering his physical sattire.

Harmony sighed, looking at the man. Her many colored eyes had began to shine a little more, and with a nod of her head, she thanked him. She then began pointing at her muzzle, trying to show him she had to tell him something. The man felt a pang of sympathy, but didnt budge. Harmony sighed and began humming to the man, which she hardly did around everyone. She was attempting to show him that she wouldnt hurt him, since she didnt have fire breath, and her fangs werent very sharp either. "Please..." She mumbled through the muzzle.

Oργή woke up early. Earlier than everyone else. He ate his food and drank half of his water. Then he fell back to sleep. He woke up again a hour before time to wake and drank the rest of his water. Then he began to reach out of the cage with his talon and tapped the guard. The guard jumped up in fright, whip at the ready. ”Forgive me, but I am ready to fight.” said Oργή. ”Hah! Thats funny you scaly scum. But ill let you become dinner for another dragon, when it is ready." So Oργή sat. Quite a while later, the guard left and returned with others. The opened the cage and pointed spears at him. One went in and put a muzzle on, put ankle weights on him, and tied a rope around his neck guiding him to a arena. Eventually he was lead into it. There was one dragon in there. It was a slightly experienced dragon, his name was Gladio. He was very angry also. As soon as Oργή entered the field, Gladio attacked. At first, Oργή wasnt ready, but soon he gained the upper hand. He was stronger, faster, and had his adrenaline pumping for the first time. He had a sudden moment where he knew he Wanted to kill this dragon. Then it ended and he saw Gladio dead. Oργή sat surprised and stunned. He didnt know he could kill Gladio. Oργή looked down and saw he was sitting in Gladio’s blood. Oργή stood up and looked around. The guards stared in surprise. They still hadnt taken off the weights and muzzle. They guided him again to a new cage and they let him go. He sat there and they shut the cage. He finally looked at himself. He was covered in gashes, teethmarks, and he was bleeding everywhere. He layed down and went to sleep.

Atarijor had fallen asleep. He woke to water being thrown on him, as the whip failed to do its job. Snorting and shaking his head, he quickly got to his paws. He saw the guard, Paul, standing there, waiting. And it was then the Wyvern noticed that his cage was open. Keeping his head and gaze low, he walked out of the cell and waited for the rope in Paul's hand to be placed around his neck. Paul did just that and led him down a corridor toward the areana. "I saw what you did to that gladiator. This time, you need to do it on purpose. Might not want to, but it's kill or be killed in here." He stopped outside the arena, removed Atarijor's muzzle and the rope around his neck.

The Wyvern was taken aback by the advice. Why would he care if Atarijor lived or not? Cautiously, Atar entered the short tunnel leading into the arena. He could hear a crowd all around. Finally leaving the tunnel, he could see his opponent across the arena, waiting for him. (( Heading to work. To be continued in next post.))

((I'll let you organize your own matches for today, so Baldi, Cradore and Shadow. Just keep in mind it will be the last day, in the evening we will organize the escape))

The guard let out a loud sigh as Harmony began to hum.
"That's it after this I'm quitting this job. Don't make it harder than it already is... I have no choice. If I had one I'd punch Red in the face. Let's just make it quick." he said.
Without any additional warning, the whip hit Harmony once again in the flank, and then another time. The whipping took five good minutes, and even though it hurt the guard made sure the whip only bit the top of the scales, making it look like she was injured without actually causing deep wounds. Once he was done, the man dropped the whip, sitting in the chair that was standing near him and putting his hands over his face.
"I'm definitely quitting. My job is supposed to be taming dragons that got out of control, not beat down those who just panicked." he complained.

Rhune was led once again to the working area, and a guard directed him to the wheel. The wheel, once again. The green dragon started to push the device, going a bit slower than usual as he remembered Milo's words. If he really was saying the truth... Uh, he couldn't even apprehend the idea of being free. Just out of instinct he continued to push the wheel, unable to think about anything else.

((Sorry for the late post I had been busy with life))
Forced to exit his dream, Max growls at the sight of a guard clanging on his door. Feeling a whip hit his side he goes hearing other dragons whispering to save their energy. Well that must apply to me as well Going over his station where the guards chained him up to a giant wheel.

Atarijor's opponent was yet another veteran. But unlike the others he faced earlier, this one was female. The Wyvern sighed softly. It was bad enough hewould have to kill a fellow dragon if he wanted to survive, but a female as well? He looked at the crowd as he began, unconsciously, circling the female. He only noticed this when something hit his snout, something that stung after. He shook his head and saw the dragoness; she had blood on her claws. His blood.
Whimpering a little and remembering what Paul had said, Atarijor moved as another paw came toward him. By instinct, he swiped back, but it was much like a kitten testing the water to see what it felt like. And so his consequence was a bite to his toes. He screeched in pain and pulled his arm away, resulting in one of the toes being broken. But he couldn't feel it yet. Adrenaline started to build within and the Wyvern lost his fearfulness. He began acting instinctually, fighting back as best he could. Despite the adrenaline boost, he was still inexperienced. Atarijor only managed a few lucky bites and scratches; mostly, he avoided the female gladiator's attacks when he was able.  After awhile, though, Atarijor learned the female's movements and was better able to attack her base on that. Still... Eventually the adrenaline wore off. Atarijor became aware of his broken toe and was unable to use his right arm effectively. The onslaught began, then.
Ryder was irritated with this new gladiator. He barely fought and now he was starting to cower. She hated fighting like this. If she had to kill, she wanted it to be a good battle with an opponent worthy of being killed. She wanted to leave the arena knowing she had earned the extra food awaiting her. At least she'd broken a toe and only suffered minmal injury, herself. Now, Ryder took advantage of her opponent's cowardice and pounced. Atarijor tried to get away, but to no avail. Ryder was atop the Wyvern, trying to bites at his neck. With her claws, blunt as they were, she raked at his sides, re-opening the hundreds of whip lashes there that had hardly scabbed over. Atarijor roared and tried to shake the female off, tried using his tail to push her hind legs off balance. He tried tossing his head back in hopes of causing a nasty gash, maybe even catching her throat. He heard a pained roar above him; he'd struck her, at least.
Ryder was caught off guard by Atarijor's thrashing. She had reached out to grip his broken horn, to prevent him from tossing his head. Now he was doing that very thing before she'd gotten a good grip. And suddenly, she felt a burning pain in her left paw. She looked down to see that the other horn had pierced her paw pad. She pulled her paw away with a roar. Moving away from Atarijor, Ryder swung her clubbed tail around to strike at his head. The Wyvern was in the process of standing and had lifted his head right as the club came his way.
The Human crowd became hushed, the world spun and multiplied and twisted around itself. And then his vision went black. Atarijor didn't move save the rise and fall of his chest. Ryder took a moment to inspect her paw before lumbering over to the sad excuse for a gladiator. Another strike to his head from her tail would do the trick. She would have preferred to have him conscious, that she might have apologized. Oh well. But before she went for the kill, Ryder decided to get the crowd excited about it. In a tesasing manner, she struck the ground with her tail few times, just inches from Atarijor's head. And then the crowd hushed.
The arena grew silent and cold. Ryder was frozen in motion, like a great statue. Her strikes to the ground had awoken the Wyvern just enough that his eyes opened. His vision was blurred and sound was muffled. But he could make out the female as she prepared to deal the death blow. His maw opened then. He had intended to be for mercy, but something else entirely happened. From his maw came a blast of extremely cold ice. When it was over, Atarijor felt very warm, which was unusal; usually he was cold. And Ryder, she was... still. Frozen in place, her tail just inches from landingon his head. His breath had been so cold, it seemed, the female's very blood stilled within her. Her hide was like stone to the touch and cold as the ice that had hit her.
But only the hind end of her body had been hit, so why was Ryder so still, so silent? Out of shock and fear. Much like the spectators in the stands above. And then there was uproarious cheering. Of course, there were some calls that Atarijor be killed right then. If his breath was cabale of this, why be allowed to live, even if he had won? But those calls were lost to celebration. Although, there was nothing to celebrate, yet. For a moment, it was lost to all that Ryder was very much alive yet, just unable to move. Atarijor, in the meantime, attempted to at least lift his head. But he was so very warm and that blow to his head...
Paul, along with some other guards, ran into the arena. Paul declared Atarijor to be the victor and had him taken back to his cage. As it was thought--at that particular time--that the effect of the Wyvern's breath was permanent, Ryder was declared no longer fit to fight or work and ordered to be killed. Atarijor was fitted with a muzzle again, though this one would allow for to open his maw enough to eat. And then he was carried to his cage. A guard brought a bucket of water and some dried meat--a little more than the Wyvern was used to getting. But he did not eat, he just barely managed to drink his water, which he had to spill on the ground as he couldn't lift his head. Well, he could go some extent, but it was so painful to do so. Sometime later, Paul walked up to his cage.
"I didn't think you'd make it... That was quite a blow. Doc says you probably won't last the night, though. Could be bleeding internally or something. Well, I brought you something to eat besides that meat..." Paul pulled a piece of bread from his pocket and tossed it into the cage, trying to get it as close to the Wyvern as possible. The guard frowned a bit as he looked at Atar. As before, his sides were covered in gashes. But there were more wounds now: his broken toe, a piece of his right horn was broken off. There was a rather nasty gash along his belly, a chunk missing from his tail. And then there was his head. Paul wondered how bad it was. Perhaps his skull had been fractured? Or mayhaps, by some miracle, his skull was intact and he only suffered pain?
Paul shook his head. He shouldn't care, he didn't.. At least, he was fairly sure he didn't. Sighing, he turned away from the cage and began walking away to resume his duties. Behind him, he heard a raspy and quiet, but audible voice, "Thank... you.." Atarijor didn't eat the bread, but he tucked it beneath his snout as he lay there. Sighing, he closed his eyes and drifted into a deep sleep.

Rhune was still pushing the wheel, his muscles starting to burn from the continuous effort. At least it didn't block today like it did a few times before... That sure spared him a lot of energy. And since he apparently would need it for this evening...
A guard made him stop pushing the wheel. Surprised, Rhune obeyed and was guided toward another machine. Oh no... From all the machines that were there, this one was the most tiring. Most dragons couldn't operate it more than a few hours. Apparently he would have to replace the previous dragon that almost fell on the ground from exhaustion, being guided toward the wheel Rhune had been operating. It wasn't really a complex machine, actually it was only a lever to push up and down. The main problem was coming from the fact this simple movement was quickly tiring. Rhune reluctantly started to operate the machine, and it didn't take long before he started to feel his limbs burn from the effort. One thing was sure, when the evening would come he would be dead tired...

Harmony sighed at the poor guard. She attempted to stand, and was able to take a small step towards the guard. Instead of hurting him, she slightly nuzzled him. But since he was a little further, she was only able to nuzzle his leg.

The Wyvern woke, his whole body aching. His head felt as though there were an axe in it. Groaning, Atarijor tried lifting his head. It still hurt too much to lift it more than half the height of his water bucket. Some water still paying a puddle on the ground next to his snout. Thanks to the roomier muzzle, he was able to stick his tongue out and lap it up. Atar remembered the bread Paul had given him earlier. He used a toe to move it out from under his chin and ate it. And then he had some dried meat. As he lay his head back down, he wondered what had become of Ryder. Soon, he was sleeping again and would remain so until the work day ended.

(Too lazy to change account, meh XD)

Shadowcast was abruptly woken up as he was dragged out of the cage and into an arena. There standing another dragon that with no hesitation attacked Shadowcast on sight.

The battle was long and frantic. Shadowcast for sure thought he was gonna get killed but somthing happened. Some unknown force from the outside caused him to single handedly bring the brute to his knees and with another blow, killing him.

Shadowcast then looked around in confusion. What had happened? he didn't know, it was as if he was possessed.


Some time later Shadowcast was pulled back into the cage of his. He layed down and rested himself up.

The end of the day arrived without any other incident. All the dragons were guided toward their cage and given their daily water and food. Rhune was simply dead tired by what he had to do this day. Of all the days something could have happened, it had to be this day... As soon as he arrived in his cage, he collapsed on the floor, even too tired to touch his food yet.

((Escape incoming, everyone prepare !))

(oh boy!! I iz excited!! )

Harmony followed the guards, limping. She was trying to hurry, but her leg felt numb, and she had multiple scratches on her face, an open and still bleeding gash on her side, and the leg that was numb had 5 bruises on it. Who thought fighting a SeaWing with a gigantic tail was a good idea? Harmony was shoved into her cage, the guards only giving her water. Her eyes were red, and she was exhausted. Soon, a female guard walked up to her cage. harmony looked upat the guard, who gave her a warm smile. "Callie." Harmony said blankly. "Hello, Harmony. Your mane looked a bit... knotted, today. I dont mind-"
"Callie. No." Harmony spat. "I just want to sleep."
"I.. Understand. Sorry Harmony. Good luck tonight, by the way." Callie said, winking. She walked away, Harmony not really thinking to much about it.

((Bump, waiting for everyone to prepare before the evasion))

((Could have sworn I post mine already...))

Atarijor woke once more, but not of his own accord. Something hit him. It was cold and wet, like... water? The weary Wyvern's eyes fluttered open to see the clear liquid dripping from his eyelids like a trickling waterfall. As slow as his eyes seemed to move, his body was much faster; a mistake, however, given his condition. Atarijor hissed as his fast movement caused waves of pain to ripple across his frail body. Again he felt an axe cleave his skull. Some of his wounds felt a little better--but by no means we're he out of danger of reopening them. And then he remembered... the water. Someone had thrown water at him. He expected to have been whipped by now, what with how long he had stood there without moving. But no lashes came, the only pain was that which he already experienced--nothing new. Water was starting to get in his eye, now. If only he could have shaken his head. No. Pay attention, now, Atarijor. A guard stands at your door. No matter what pain you feel, no matter how weary you are, you must be quick in your response. Be quick, now. If you hurry you won't have to feel the whip as I did... How odd a time to remember those words, how strange it was to even remember the one who spoke them. But it worked. The Wyvern lifted his head higher than it would have liked, and turned his gaze to his cage door. There, he saw... "Paul?"

The guard nodded. "Yeah. I needed to tell you, the work is over for today. Listen.." he paused to give Atarijor a moment. The Wyvern noticed how quiet it was. The machines no longer ran and cage doors were being opened and closed. He gave a slight nod and Paul continued, "Well, I know you've been sleeping most the day, but get all the rest you can. You'll... you'll need it tonight." This last part was said in a whisper.

The Wyvern was quite confused. What was going to happen tonight? "Why?" he asked.

Paul only shook his head. "Can't say. You just have to be ready. And I brought extra food for you, you need your strength. If I can get the key, I'll be back one more time to take off your muzzle. If not.. well, good luck. I'm hope you ma--I mean... I'm sure you'll do fine. Goodnight, Atarijor." And then Paul did something even more confounding than his words. He pet the Wyvern. It was an extremely odd sensation. Atarijor had expected a blow, but the guard's touch was gentle, like a mother cuddling her child. For a moment, Atarijor was reminded of that very thing, recalling fleeting memories of his mother. Then there was moisture in his eyes again, but it wasn't the water dripping off his about, which had long since ceased. It was different, not coming into his eyes, but from them. The petting continued a second or two more, then Paul backed out of the cage, closing it. As he locked it, not doubt for the guard walking toward them, Paul threw a harsh word at the Wyvern. Walking away to feed the other gladiators, Paul left Atarijor wondering about what the night would bring. He sat beside his pile of dried meat and--oh, how nice. It seemed Paul had slipped him another piece of bread and... Was that fresh meat? Even though they were hidden at the bottom of the pile, Atarijor quickly at them, in case another guard walked. Only Paul did, when he finished feeding everyone here.

Though Atar hadn't worked out what the guard told him--and he doubted he would anytime soon--he thanked Paul as he walked by, "Thank you, Paul." The guard nodded as he left the area, smiling a little to himself.

Opyn had already won many fights, slowly climbing to the top of the ranks. He loved these fights. He loved the way he could crush his opponents. Everytime he did he would smile at the dead body. He knew he was supposed to be happy about it, but he was. He was currently asleep and having a dream. He was dreaming that he was the king and the humans were his slaves. He would rip of theeir skin one by one, not holding back. He would laugh like a mad dragon and smile after each kill. He was finally prodded awake. He stood and his head hit the ceiling. "When will you learn? You idiot lizard." Opyn let them put a muzzle and lead on him. The human guided Opyn to the gladiatorial arena for his daily fight. None of the humans liked him. They didnt like the fact that he would kill anything he would lay his hands on. He in fact had accidentally killed a human during his killing frenzy after a match. They beat him till he couldnt move for that. He was aloud three weeks to heal and then he was back into the fight. TOday his opponent was bigger than Opyn. He was named Slay. Opyn studied this one. He would have to rely on smarts and strength for this one, no longer his size. His muzzle and lead was taken off and he got ready to fight. He looked the dragon in the eye. He waited until the dragon swiped. He ducked under it and bite Slay's arm. Slay jumped back and tried to block with his wing. Opyn clawed the wing until it was bloody and ragged. The Slay used his tail and wrapped it around Opyn. Opyn realized to late, and Slay though him across the field. Opyn hit the wall hard. He was out of breath, but was lucky because the field was long and it would take a while for Slay to get over. Opyn was ready when Slay got there. opyn was now in berzerker mode. And his senses were dimmed he only thought of killing Slay. Opyn uppercutted Slay with a wing. Then he sliced Slay's eye out. Opyn grabbed Slay's leg with a tail and pulled as hard as he could. Slay fell over and Opyn was on him. Opyn didnt hold back. Opyn clawed at Slay's heart until Opyn was holding it. Opyn stood triumphantly and the humans waited any hour before taking him back to his cage.When he got there he laid down and went to sleep.

Bump

(I think we're just waiting on ShadowCast, then we can activate whatever plans Ruu has in mind)

((I didn't forget about this, I've just not been really inspired lately, so took me a few evenings to actually make the post. Sorry for the wait, but here we go ! Oh and since you all insisted to make your own guards, bring them to the party. It'll be easier for me.))

That was it. Milo entered his working place, feeling his heart pounding in his chest. Seriously, how could it beat to hard ? He was sure it was audible for anyone listening. And how could he not be nervous ? What he was about to do would be considered as a crime. Not a small one, a crime against humanity - even though all he would do was help a few poor beasts. In his satchel, the sleeping powder. And a few treats for Rhune. He would need them for the upcoming trip.
The human arrived at the guards' main room. As usual, they were sitting around a table and chatting instead of actually patrolling like they should have. Milo couldn't really complain about that, at least when he was taking care of Rhune he was sure none of them would show up. And right now, it also meant they were all here at the same place. And if everything was as usual, right now...
"Oh, you're there. You're late ! Prepare us some coffee !"
Milo nodded and headed toward the back of the room, lowering his head. Eh, they were treating him like a servant as usual... well this time jokes on them ! The back of the room was almost isolated from the rest, so he wouldn't even need to be sneaky. Easy job. He began to prepare the coffee, and took the small pouch out of his satchel. So, the shopkeeper said it would be enough for more persons than the actual numbers of guards, which would mean he could put slightly less... oh and screw that. He threw all the sleeping powder in the coffee. They would wake up with a headache, and it was none of his concerns. That would teach them to treat him like this... Shame they would never know who did it. Once the coffee was ready, he brought them to the guards. They took it without even thanking him, like usual. Milo pretended to clean a few things as he watched them drinking the beverage. The effects appeared instantly. A few minutes was all it took for all the guards to fall in a deep sleep. He did it ! Now for the second part. He went back to the main door of the facility, unlocking it so his partners could enter. After all, having a day shift they couldn't enter the facility at night. The plan could now begin.


Rhune was sleeping as he felt something nudging him. For several seconds, he refused to wake up. He was so tired... It was morning already and he couldn't even open his eyes... The nudging continued, and the green dragon let out an annoyed groan. He just couldn't wake up now. So this was it ? The day he couldn't work had arrived ? No he was still young, they would just beat him and once they would see he was in no shape to work they would leave him alone, just not giving him any food or water as a punishment... Well today he was fine with that. He could easily sleep the whole day...
"Rhune ! Wake up !"
This wasn't a guard's voice. It was Milo's. The green dragon difficultly opened an eye, his vision a bit blurred. Milo was indeed nudging him to wake him up. But there was no other movement. Wasn't it the morning yet ? He blinked, confused.
"Sorry to wake you now, Rhune. But you have to ! Just make an effort." Milo insisted.
Visibly he had no choice. Rhune raised his head, still groggy from being awoken during his sleep.
"Milo ? What's the matter ? Why are you waking me up ?" he asked with a tired voice.
The human got a grin.
"Remember what I told you yesterday ? Today's a big day for you Rhune. We're making you escape." Milo announced.
It visibly took some time for Rhune to understand what Milo had just said.
"Escape ? You mean, getting out of here ?" Rhune only could ask.
The concept just seemed so absurd. Getting out of here ? For real ? This was so hard to swallow that it took him another dozen of seconds to let that sentence sink in his brain. He started to blink, heavily confused. Milo chuckled as he saw this, petting the green dragon on the muzzle. This was something he had few occasions to do, and each time Rhune was enjoying it. But this time he was so in shock that he didn't purr.
"Yeah. I wasn't expecting you'd be so shocked just hearing this ! Oh, I also brought you a few treats." Milo replied.
The word 'treats' triggered an instant change in Rhune's thoughts. Forgotten, the ideas about evasion. Treats just felt more material. An evasion plan wouldn't fill his belly after all. Milo opened his satchel, getting a few pieces of dried meat and even a piece of fresh meat. He only had the time to dispose them next to the dragon before Rhune swallowed them. But at the dragon's surprise, Milo also got a small pouch out of the bag. It was way bigger than the one the sleeping powder was in.
"And that's also for you. Pretty sure you'll love it." Milo smiled, opening the pouch.
Inside it, a white powder. Rhune inspected it, not knowing what it was. Milo nudged the pouch toward him, and the dragon dug a curious tongue in it. The powder easily stuck on his tongue, allowing him to taste it. His eyes widened as he got the taste. This wasn't like anything he had already tasted. The green dragon dug his muzzle in the pouch, his tongue gathering the mysterious powder as he quickly cleared it. Once he was done, he licked his chops.
"What was that ?" he asked.
Milo smiled as he witnessed the scene. Visibly Rhune had enjoyed it !
"It's sugar. That should give you some strength for what's to come." he replied.
"Sugar. Definitely delicious. What do you mean what's to come ?" Rhune wondered, frowning.
Milo patted the green dragon on the muzzle once again. This time Rhune started to purr.
"We'll have to walk a lot to get to safety. Tonight is going to be a long night, Rhune. But if everything goes alright, after this you'll be free."

((Those who had a friendly guard, feel free to have them free 'their' dragons. We'll free the others in the next posts.))

Callie walked slowly to the guards main room, her mind bouncing with worry for the dragons. She saw Milo walk past her, and decided to follow him. He was heading to the same place she was, but this time he was, once again, doing them favors. She looked in her backpack, and smiled. She peeked into the room, where she saw all the guards knocked out. She grabbed a stick from her bag and poked Red with it, Red was just kinda.. Laying there, snoring. Callie whispered "Yesss!!" Before running out of the room, screeching to a stop at Harmony's cage.

Harmomy's eyes flickered open, sighing. Her eyes were still bloodshot red. "Im sorry, Harmony. I know i was just here an hour ago, but I have food." Callie said. Harmony's eyes widened just a but, a small smile slowly spreading. Callie reached through the bars and handed a piece of chicken. Harmony gently took the food, her tail hitting the bars behind her as she ate it.
"W-Why does it taste like that? Its so.. Much better!" Harmony asked.
"Its cooked. Its much better that way." Callie smiled, reaching through the bars and petting Harmony. Harmony didnt jerk away, considering Callie did this whenever she came to brush Harmony's mane. Callie took out a canteen, and handed it to Harmony. Harmony tilted her head, and drank it, sitting up. "You look like it..?"
"Oh my goddess, what on earth is this stuff? Its so... so..."
"Sweet? Yea. Its Tea. Last night i went to the surface and found some things to make that. Savor it though, only have that canteen and this one." She pulled out another canteen that was labeled Callie, and Harmony's said Melody. Harmony's mind bounced with questions, but she stayed quiet.

Paul arrived to begin his shift a few minutes after Callie. He too made his way to the main room for the guards. He found them all asleep, snoring and with drool trickling from the corner of their slightly opened mouths. Maybe this is Milo's doing. They're never this lazy... most days. Paul shook his head at the guards and walked to the back room to grab the satchel he had set on the floor the day before. He was slightly surprised no one had disturbed it. Walking back out, he made his way to the Coliseum, to Atarijor's cage. He found the Wyvern asleep yet again.

Not long after Paul left, Atarijor felt another pounding headache coming on. And so he had gone to sleep. Now, he felt himself being jarred from that sleep. At least he wasn't being splashed with water this time. With an irritated growl, the Wyvern opened one eye. When his vision cleared, he saw Paul standing there, poking him with a whip handle. Even though the motion wasn't an aggressive one, the mere sight of the object spooked Atarijor. He sat up too fast, causing a sharp pain to run through his head, and he fell over onto his back. A few minutes passed before the pain ebbed enough for Atar to move. He hissed at Paul as he sat up slowly. "You couldn't have found a stick? Why are you waking me so early anyway?"

Paul looked at the Wyvern apologetically. "I'm sorry. But remember what I said earlier? Well, now's the time for you to put your strength to use. I--well, not just me--am getting you and a few others out of here tonight. I brought you some things..." Reaching into his satchel, the guard removed a smaller bag full of dried meat and two decent-sized pieces of bread. There was also a water pouch.

Atar simply stared at the Human in disbelief. "What do you mean get out of here? Where are we going? Why only a few of us? What if we get caught?" He rattled off every question that came to him... that is, until Paul placed his hand across his maw.

"Hush now. And trust me, everything will be fine. Come on, we have to get going." With that, Paul placed the satchel full of provisions around Atarijor's neck. It was then he remembered the muzzle. "Oh, I forgot about that... And the guard who keeps the key isn't here. You'll have to make do with it for now. Maybe Milo or one of the others can help."

Atarijor was disappointed, having looking forward to getting the heavy muzzle off. But he didn't complain and followed Paul as he led the way out of the Coliseum. Soon, the Wyvern could hear the hushed tones of whom he assumed were the 'others' Paul had spoken of.