Thread: Love and war...love..and...war

Sweat, the vibration of roaring voices, and the silent thoughts of a single creature in individual rooms. The shouts were not of celebration, they were the sounds of blood thirst and greed. This brought with it the rythmic rumble of stomping feet and clapping hands that could be easily heard in the rooms below. The cage of beasts, where the deadliest hand-to-hand fighters in the world came to spill blood in the sand for the entertainment of thousands. What were these men and women thinking? Every fight could be there last, even if it wasn't the lifers had no options of occupation if this sport ever died. This is all they ever knew, the burning pain of bones breaking, the sting of flesh grinding against the floor, all of this for a bit of money and the cheers of ignorant fools. You might expect to find criminals in this place, unbalanced human beings who beat a path in the earth filled with destruction and agony, not a loving father of one. A wolf sat on a long bench slowly wrapping cloth around his wrists to give them stability, on a stand before him was an open locket. In the space where metal had been pulled back for an image to sit, he saw the one he fought for. A beautiful, young wolf. She had her mother's eyes, her smile, and her passion for life. She also hated this sport. Her words surrounded him before every fight, just like her mother would have scorned him for what he was doing. Yet, he was in pain...and it was all he had known. Being a father at age 15, his mate dead, he had to make quick money with the only things he had his two hands. So, that is how his career started, 15 years ago he started fighting in the cage of beasts. His victory ratio was so impressive, he wound up getting put into fights of stacked odds against him. The more difficult the challenge to a good fighter, the better the gambling. Strangely enough, he was the only predatory creature in these fights. Most of the fighters were herbivores, horses, rhinos, elephants, some of the biggest guys around and normally too powerful for the average predator. Here and there a bear might enter the arena, but they found either a plant eater of impossible size or speed that would remove them from the fight. For you baby... Kraven mumbled to himself as he looked into his daughter's visage in his necklace. This fight would be a life changing event. The feline King's had come out to challenge him for supremacy. It was merely a title of trophy, not like they were wagering their control, but a show of complete superiority over the canine males. It was not only about pride, the fact that he was taking them all on, and the attention it obtained had made wagers sky rocket. Payouts for certain wagers were in the billions. A lot was riding on this and his own money he had put down on himself to win. That kind of cash could make a better life for his daughter, put her through school, buy the wedding she had dreamed of when she was age, and leave her financially sound after his death. Nothing would make him fail this night. Standing up from the bench, he slipped into his back room. His locker area had showers, a comfortable living area, but in the back was his training room. The loud thump of his leg slamming into the side of the punching bag killed the silence in the air, a faint echo of it before it was followed by several blunt strikes of his fist. Tonight, the way the races sees the wolf people changes. We are not filth, we are great warriors and hold strong to our pride. Their was an extra bit of spit in his words. The reason goes back a long time ago, long before technology had brought the many races of the universe together. King Thromane's weakness and shame will be burried tonight. Part of the deal had been to remove all records of the ancient romance between a very powerful wolf King, who was seduced by the beauty and curves of the feline Queen. The truth of that story had been lost, how perfect the two species were for eachother, how she longed for a bigger male that could satisfy her and love her, how he desired a female of intense sexual power, one so strong she could sway his emotions and challenge his will. Tonight...the Kings will wish they were dead and their ancient goddess had left my ancestor alone. Kraven spoke between clinched teeth, his rage melting and bursting from his blue eyes. Across the arena, far above the lockers below the stands, was the section of royalty. It was filled with all the other Kingdoms, they had to come see this grand event. Some were rooting for the feline, others were waiting to see them getting their asses handed to them by a wolf. The sheer irony of it would be enough to fill the room with boistrous laughter and taunting. Well, to be honest, it could go either way at this point, the feline Kings, or the wolf king who sat so proudly, so confidently near the front seat. He wanted to watch this, to see their faces up close, their shame and defeat a sweet sensation for him. Kraven, tonight, the wolf world watches you. You are there hero. Don't let us down. His words were muffled by the rucous in the room. While the lower classes were gambling with money, the royalty gambled land and rights to different things such as mining or fishing, any number of resources. Yet, the feline King's were not resting in this place, instead they were in a private sector of the arena. It was reserved for the King's to get ready for battle. Sometimes even Queens came down her to fight in the arena, but that was just as rare as King's. Getting ready might have been a good idea, but it would be three against one, no weapons. What did they have to fear from a single wolf. Not to mention they had set up a little bit of insurance, that wolf might not even show to the fight. In a corner of the room, a small mouse looked over at the Kings and nervously glanced about between the three of them. In his hands was a small tablet of sorts. It recorded the weights, reach, and damage potential of the three kings as well as Kraven. To his great concern, the numbers didn't seem to quite add up. The wolf did have substantial fighting ability over the King's, but based on his readings, he also had a strength ratio that out-weighed the three of them combined. Damage threshold was far above the Kings, and so was his stamina, without some stunning plans of how to level out the extreme disadvantage. In a small, shakey voice the mouse stepped out and looked up to the three Kings. Um...your highnesses. I have some disturbing read-outs here. Ah shud up pip squeek. The Lion King spoke up, his hubris knew no limits. Though, it wasn't much different from the other two. Their sense of superiority was only matched by the small sizes of their penises. However, for their kind, they were fairly large. We don't need to see your little notes. If we wanted this fight to be fair, we wouldn't have set up a few fail safes. I think you should be more concerned with that massively chesty wife of yours. How she hasn't been plowed into oblivion by a big stud yet, is surprising. I mean really, you are sitting here with us, when one of the curviest females of your species walks around this stadium, those fat breasts jiggling and swaying, too heavy to really bounce. I would take a swing if she wasn't an inferior prey species. The room burst with laughter, the words meant to cut the male down, lower his self-esteem and keep him in check. However, did she really have anything to do with their plans, or were they merely trying to get to the tender-hearted little male.