literature

In the Shadow of the Arena

Deviation Actions

nebulartis's avatar
By
Published:
759 Views

Literature Text

Jaz by nebulartis


 

    Jasper knew he was probably being naughty. Judas hadn't exactly been unclear that it was best to avoid the Coliseum till he was older, but he also hadn't said Jasper wasn't allowed to go. This place had fascinated him for weeks now, and more than terrified Jasper, but that was why he wanted to go. He felt the only way to conquer his fear would be to face it. Now he just had to find a way in.
It had taken some searching on his part, but Jasper finally found an entrance that wasn't closed off. It looked like it would take him underground but maybe he could work his way up to the arena somehow.
            Leaving the bright sunlight Jasper snuck down into the cool shade of the passages and soon felt he was likely to get lost down here.
            It wasn't long before he began to see the cages that lined the walls. Most of the ones he passed were empty, but suddenly, he spotted a figure there in the corner of one and he froze.
Was it alive? Maybe asleep, or maybe none of the above.

~~~~~~~~~

            There were days when the cages felt frigid. Fortunately this was not one of them. It was a warm day outside and the slight breeze through the corridors meant someone had left a door open. Hyperon was lying stretched out on the stone floor, enjoying the slightly warmer air. It was too bad he had an extra chain around the door to his prison; when he was younger he had used such an opportunity to escape. Now he tried to take advantage of the quiet day to rest up.
A quiet patter of paws caught his attention and he raised his head to see a cub in the hallway. An escapee, he guessed.
            "You're almost there." He said. "Follow that hallway until you can hear the outside, then run for it."

~~~~~~~~~

...run for it.
            Jasper tilted his head in confusion. Who was this cat? Jasper had grown up in the Breeding cages several blocks from the Colosseum, something that was not a pleasant experience to remember. Jasper hated cages, and was grateful those days had been replaced by a loving home with a Master he respected and the master's daughter who adored him, but the Colosseum wasn't a place for breeding cats, was it?
            "But I just came from outside." He said, feeling brave enough to find his voice and speak. Their voices echoed in the dark chamber. Jasper felt a warm breeze blow through though, and it made him feel less lost. "Why should I run?"

~~~~~~~~~

            The cheetah rolled quickly to face the other cat. "Why? The humans will catch you if they see you." He kept his voice low, hoping to avoid attention. He couldn't understand how the cub could stand there so calmly when escape was just a short run away. As he looked over the leopard a few things struck him. The cub's fur was groomed, he wasn't skinny like the other cage-cubs, and he didn't seem afraid. Hyperon cocked his head slightly, confused.
            "You didn't escape, did you?" The cub had said he came from outside..."What are you doing down here?"

~~~~~~~~~

            Escape. The word made Jasper nervous for whatever reason he didn't know. Why would he want to escape? Was it forbidden for a Tribune to be down here?
            "No, I didn't escape, I uh...I snuck in." Jasper admitted trying to look like he didn't care whether it was right or wrong. Besides, this cat was behind bars, it wasn't like he was going to be attacked by him. "It doesn't matter what I'm doing here." He tried to sound proud, but he wasn't very good at it. Deciding it was enough about him Jasper bravely took a step forward. "What are you doing here? Are you a hunter?"

~~~~~~~~~

            Hyperon let out a huff of laughter at the suggestion and turned to flop back onto his side. If he wasn't trying to escape, the cheetah had little interest in the leopard.
            "No, I am not a hunter." The word tasted like copper in his mouth, and brought up images of cats being dragged from their dens in the dead of night. His claws flexed against the hard floor. "I'm a nobody. Just a piece of pit-meat." A voice in the back of his head told him he was being mean to the little cat, but he ignored it. The leopard didn't seem to need help, and he certainly couldn't help the cheetah.

~~~~~~~~~

            The way the Cheetah responded Jasper got this huge impression that not only was the Cheetah NOT a hunter as he said, but that he really didn't like hunters. This confused Jasper, as everywhere he went in the city hunters were spoken of as respected cats. Cats with tremendous skill and a duty to protect the city.
            "Pit meat?" He asked, his face contorting with confusion as he repeated the term. "Surely you aren't going to be eaten?" Jasper had never heard of anything so ridiculous, the only thing he had ever heard of being thrown in a pit was the cats that died of the disease that swept through the breeding cages. "Are you sick? What is this place anyway?" Jasper never liked asking questions, but he was a little miffed at this Cheetah and he couldn't yet place why.

~~~~~~~~~

Surely you aren't going to be eaten? What is this place anyway?
            Despite years of resenting the cats that walked Massilia freely, Hyperon felt his sharp sarcasm fading and being replaced by curiosity. Did the cub really have no idea where he was? He didn't get up, but twisted his head so he could watch the leopard's expression. There was no sign of teasing on his face, just confusion.
            He couldn't help but chuckle at the idea of being eaten. "Well, it sort of depends on your definition. Probably not the way you mean, though. Unless they get tired of me and throw me to a bear or something." He'd fought a bear once before, and it had been a close call. He didn't think he had the luck to survive it a second time. "No, I'm not sick, at least not right now. And this place-"he gestured vaguely with a paw. "Is our own little Tartarus on earth."

~~~~~~~~~

            Jasper was reminded as to why he didn't like asking questions, older cats either laughed or got upset when the little to be apprentice asked. Jasper's face twitched into a scowl as the cheetah chuckled. Jasper watched the lazy cheetah's face carefully as he spoke. The strange cat talked about fighting a bear, Jasper didn't know what a bear was, who was they? And why did they get bored? The one thing Jasper did know was Tartarus, but even then he knew nothing about the colosseum, was that what the cheetah was relating to Tartarus?
            "Are you trying to make sense or are you just being mean?" Jasper snarled slightly. He didn't enjoy being made fun of. "I don't know why you're in there but you must deserve it." the moment Jasper said it he wished he hadn't. Deep down he didn't believe any cat should be kept in a cage, he knew how frightening it was, but he did believe to an extent that they had to earn their way out. That's the way the humans worked.

~~~~~~~~~

            The cheetah let out a low growl and his claws dug into the stone. He got to his paws and stalked up to the bars blocking him from escape. "I haven't met a cat yet who deserves to be in here, other than the ones that put me here." he hissed. "I've made mistakes in my life, but I protected my home, I kept my empire-mates fed. How do I deserve to be thrown into death matches for humans' amusement?" He shook his head; this was just a cub, it wasn't his fault the cheetah been captured. Hyperon turned away.
            "Go back to your human, cub; this isn't a place for you."

~~~~~~~~~

            Even with the bars between them Jasper flinched when the cheetah approached fangs bared. Jasper didn't run though, or even take a step back; it was this stupid instinct of his, that flight was never an option.
            Jasper did gulp though, protected his home, ...death matches for humans' amusement. While Jasper still didn't know what the cheetah was talking about, somewhere inside his heart, he felt this was a moment of growth, a moment where he could chose to do as the cheetah said, and run away, feel safe again in the home of the master he loved or he could face something, a truth he had been searching for. Jasper hadn't missed that this cat said Empire. Jasper had only once before caught a glimpse of an empire cat, and he wanted some clarification.
Stubbornly stepping closer to the cage, even close enough he would have been within reach Jasper growled at the cheetah's rear.
            "Maybe I am still just a cub, maybe you're right and you shouldn't be in here, but whether I like it or not whatever you are talking about is going to be my future. I don't know what it means to be a hunter, and I don't trust you to really tell me the truth but since you already said it..." Jasper's voice suddenly got much softer. "You're an Empire cat...aren't you? So tell me, what's out there that you all think is so special?" Jasper tried to do a good job of sounding brave, but really he knew that if this cat chose not to answer, it would probably to torment him for weeks.

~~~~~~~~~

What's out there that you all think is so special?
            Hyperon was struck by the cub's bravery. Even the fully trained hunters didn't stay any longer than they needed to, but the little leopard hadn't even flinched. He found himself hoping that the little cat kept that bravery; it would help him out in the future, no matter where that was.
            It occurred to him that this was a rare moment. Free cats that came down were usually only interested in taunting the prisoners and had been ingrained with the idea that the empire cats were inferior. This cub hadn't been corrupted. Not fully.
            Not yet.
            "Here in Massilia you have to listen to the people, right?" he asked the cub. "You probably have a human family that takes care of you and gives you what you need, right? But you also have to follow their orders, even if you don't like them. You're going to be taught to fight, especially to kill. I was born down here, in the cages, so I was destined to fight for my life. From what I've seen, hunters have to fight in the arena too." He picked his words carefully, not wanting to bend the truth, in case the cub decided he was lying. "With the humans you have everything decided for you; who you'll fight, who you'll live with, maybe even who you have cubs with when you're old enough." He took a deep breath. "In the empires, you don't have people to give you food and shelter, but you can decide what you. We don't have to fight or kill, we can choose when we wake up and who we love..." he trailed off, partly to see the leopard's expression and partly as he remembered the friends he hadn't seen in so long.

~~~~~~~~~

            Jasper listened intently to what the cheetah was saying. For a feline that was not so interested in talking a moment ago, he sure had a lot to say now, but Jasper sensed with the sudden urgency a certain amount of grief and sincerity. This was strange enough for the cub, but he listened. And as he listened, Jasper decided three things. One: the biggest difference between him and this cheetah was that the caged cat did not like humans, even after being born in a cage just like Jasper, the cheetah obviously did not like them. Jasper on the other hand had always preferred human company, the caged cats of the breeding cells never tolerating him or his sister.
            Two: Empire cats suddenly didn't sound so different, in fact, just as there were different personalities within the hunters, perhaps what this Cheetah was attempting to tell him was that there were good and bad empire cats too.
            And finally, number 3, Jasper looked the cheetah straight in his tired yet fierce eyes, looking for any hint of misdirection. "What is your name?" Jasper asked. He was still standing rather close to the bars, but his tail twitched with relative comfort.

~~~~~~~~~

            "My name?" The cheetah snorted. "There's not much use for names down here, we're disposable. Besides, you'll probably go tell someone I was talking to you, and I'll end up in a fight against another hunter." Most of his anger was gone now; he wasn't a very hot-headed cat to begin with and the cub was being ignorant, not mean. Hyperon considered the leopard's attentive face, and decided to give in a little.
            "Hyperon. My name was...is Hyperon. Now, I told you my name, what's yours?"

~~~~~~~~~

            Jasper frowned again, his tail twitching in irritation. Even as the cheetah said it Jasper couldn't think of one cat he would tell about this conversation, whether Empire cat or Hunter. Number 3 of the things Jasper had decided was this: The biggest difference between Empire Cats and City Cats was whether or not they trusted humans. And maybe, if you really believed they knew better.
            Jasper sighed. He wasn't the kind to be polite, but Avagail and Elaine were some of the sweetest cats he knew, both were hunters and he had begun to learn a few manners from them, if even it were just a few.
            "My name is Jasper, and ... thank you, for talking with me." He gave a small smile. "I won't tell anyone your name. If that's what you want."

~~~~~~~~~

            When Jasper thanked him Hyperon couldn't help but chuckle. It was strange to have a cat that was supposed to be an enemy being civil to him.
            "What I really want isn't happening anytime soon." He settled down on the stone floor. "But it would be nice if you didn't tell your buddies that I talked to you. They'd probably chew me out for 'corrupting cubs' or something." He knew he hadn't exactly been civil throughout their conversation, but the leopard had listened to his little rant at least. That made him nicer than most cats that wandered into the cages.
            "Thank you for listening, Jasper. I sincerely hope I never see you in the ring." the cheetah knew that if he ever fought the other cat it wasn't likely to end well for him, no matter who won.

~~~~~~~~~

            In the ring. It was what the cheetah had been telling Jasper the whole time. They may be on opposite sides of the bars, but Jasper was going to have to fight, eventually. That was what Judas had been avoiding telling him, probably the reason the female hunters doted on him, did they pity him, that he was so young, and that he would eventually be taught how to kill, truly kill empire cats. The cheetah looked done, so Jasper turned to leave. He padded quietly down the tunnel back towards the opening. Was this the real reason he had been told to avoid the Coliseum? Before he was too far, Jasper turned and spoke, the empty walls carrying his voice back.
            "Hyperon, if we do ever meet in the ring... I think by then I will understand better, but even so, if it's my job to kill you, I want you to fight back with everything you've got. If you have to kill me, well, I would understand."
            Jasper didn't wait for a response, he rounded the corner and followed the breeze back to where he had first snuck in. on the surface Jasper hoped he never saw that cat again, but if he dug a little deeper down, he hoped he would. He was still too young to think his life could be avoided in any way, and after another week of life going on as it did, Jasper would even forget some of the feelings stirring around in his heart, but he wouldn't forget Hyperon, and if they ever met again, he would be ready.

~~~~~~~~~

            The ring. It seemed like everyone was bound to the oversized sand pit in some way. The people and cats of Massilia lived in its shadow, and the captured cats lived quite literally in its shadow. Not for the first time Hyperon wondered if things would be different if the place were burned down. Why capture cats if you didn't have an arena to fight them in? What could the Hunters be if they didn't have to oppose the Empires? In the back of his mind he knew it wouldn't change anything, but it was a pleasant picture to imagine.
            Jasper's voice echoed back to him soon after he had left, and Hyperon smiled sadly. "Never fight with anything less than all you've got." he called back. It was good advice for more than just the arena. The leopard might have heard him, but he didn't know. With a sigh the cheetah stretched onto his side, the echoes of their conversation his only company in the dark labyrinth.

~~~~~~~~~

            Jasper smiled. All you've got. The words echoed in his head long after the sound left the walls. The leopard could give Hyperon this, whether he intended it to be the case or not, those were words Jasper would probably live with for the rest of his life.

This was a cool rp just to play with the difference between the Hunters and the Empire cats. I don't think Jasper and Hyperon are friends now, but I do think they respect eachother. It'll be interesting to see what happens if they meet in the battlefield some day.

Jasper belongs to CCDooMo
Hyperon belongs to me

Wordcount 2,983
7+6=13 EP (evidence of rp, 2,983 words+ full color/bg, extra cat) to Hyperon
:iconempiresbeforeclans:
© 2015 - 2024 nebulartis
Comments15
Join the community to add your comment. Already a deviant? Log In
FeatheredSeclude's avatar
I only just today have seen and read this, and I am both sad and really happy at the same time.
This was a really good read you two.
CCDooMo