[IC] Gladiators

[manapool1]

Alara picked up the shield and used it to keep away the flowers, but still walked at a slow pace, as he exited the ring his boss asked the usual question, as if they were a group helping each other out.

"how did it go" said the large, round man with his odd accent, it was a stupid question, any battle to the death ended bad if you won or not, despite being a bloody gladiator who was seen as a demon for how little he seemed to care for the opponent, he hated taking life, he loved fighting, but never enjoyed the ending of a battle. Alara let out a sigh and threw the shield at the pudgy man before answering

"I need a new shield" in an irritated voice and walking off, clearly angry about how the other two had gotten the best of him, the old man with his surprising skill and the lady with her looks, he needed to train more, but with all his work in the bath house there was little he could do, only in his off time (or lack there of) did he get to take a run around the town or practice on a mop doll he had made, and his club wasn't all to powerful, and quiet primitive compared to his opponents.

As he walked off Alara's owner offered to let him watch. which he agreed on begrudgingly he needed a moment to cool down before he returned to cleaning the oil and dirt of naked people if he didn't he may lose his mind and show them just how much of a gladiator he really was. While in the crowd Alara noticed a few odd occurrences, there were men hiding weaponry watching him from afar, he wasn't sure if they were fellow gladiators or possibly freedom fighters, but they gave him the chills, the whole cloak and dagger style to them made him feel unease , as if they would strike at any moment. But after a moment they just walked off before the next battle could start.

[Nehelenia]

Alcie shook out her arms and legs as she prepared to enter the arena. She muttered another prayer to the goddess Athena to protect her as she drew her sword and banged it against her shield to say she was ready.

"Now entering the ring, the Greek with a surprisingly deadly blade, Alcie!" The announcer yelled as the gate lifted and she entered, her eyes fiery and ready for a fight. As she walked in, the crowd was either booing her for being a Greek who would not conform to the roman ways or were cheering her on for being a great gladiator. "Her opponent today will be a fearsome creature!"

Alcie looked at the opposite gate, lifting her shield and raising her kopis as she waited for the beast. The gate opened and a large bear roared as it stepped out into the sunlight.

[BK201]

Urbi walked the bath, she took of her armor and gave it to a femlae servant, the scimitar too "i guess the empror wont mind if i take my time here" she muttered and swam around for a while. "the only good thing romans have are the baths"

[manapool1]

Alara sighed as he saw the bear and left, ready to give the idiots at his bath house a good scraping and to clean there sponges or the dung on them, he hated the job but it was better than watching a fellow gladiator fight to the death, he told his owner he as leaving, and the fat man gave the same warning as always about if he ran away that he would be slaughtered publicly, and ALara gave out his fake laugh and left after putting on his scowl and skirt, people always mocked him for wearing something that was not a toga, but he never cared much those people were idiots to think what he wore was any different.

Alara sighed as he entered the steamy bath house and mumbles about him could be heard through out the room, he went to grab the towels and his utensils but was grabbed by a man wearing a cloak and was pulled behind a wall were no one could see.

"the gladiators will not over come, you will not beat the roman empire" said the man in a deep, angry voice his accent as cloaked as he was.

Alara didn't speak he merrily nodded and was thrown to the ground next to a woman who screamed and kicked his head before tuning away calling him a pervert. Before the man left he heard him say "try anything funny and I will personally take you out cave man" Alara missed the mans exit and preceded to get up and start the scraping of oil and dirt of a man's chest, being told about how wonderful Rome was but he preceded to keep his thoughts to himself and merely nodded and said the same words over and over again "you'r absolutely right" before the man left.

[BK201]

Urbi finished her bath and put on clean clothes, even if she was clean she could still feel the smell of blood so the put flowers on her hair and clothes,
When she got out from the room she went for a jar of wine, with the jar now in her hands she went up stairs next to the Emperor
"you three were amazing" The Emperor said still ecxited, Urbi just nodded

[manapool1]

Alara took cleaned the sponge off before being told to go run to get more wine for the boss, which he happily ran out to go get, ready to get away for the bath house, the cloaked men were gone but he was still good. As he entered the store the clerk spoke about how well he did alara just nodded and bought some wine, as he left the clerk said some thing that shocked hm.

"you know the emperor was very impressed with how you did"

as alara left he held his head higher

[Shiv]

The patrons of the arena roared as Alcie entered the battlefield. A particularly loud man screamed "GO HOME GREEK!" Marcus quickly slapped him in the back of the head "Shh Boy, Do not disrespect a Gladiator in this sacred arena. Where she comes from is unimportant, whether she fights with honor is" With that comment the young man turned to face Marcus with rage in his eyes "You don't tell me what to ..."He trailed off when he looked into Marcus's dead white eyes, He wanted to keep going, but something about how calm the older man looked scared him. Once the young man sat down quietly Marcus began to smile "Still got it" he thought. He loved listening to other gladiators earning their glory in the light, knowing that until he retired know one could know he was the man under the cloak. Otherwise they would use his weakness against him. His musing was interrupted by the roar of the great beast, It had been what felt like ages since they used a bear, this would not be an easy fight for her."

[Marcus XVI]

Cato smirked as he walked over to his discarded trident, picked it up calmly and after sheathing his gladius the older man headed towards the gates as well. He took support from the shaft of the trident and was visibly winded from the combat. Nonetheless he had remained more or less unharmed. As he passed Alara and Urbi Cato lifted his trident in to a little salute before disappearing though the gates.

"A fine show, old boy." A familiar voice said as a pair of strong arms embraced the greek. "I never doubted you - not one second. Mind you, Castor did doubt you and now he's a bit less wealthy." With a little smirk Cato shoved back the man who had embraced him - not that the shove had any proper effect on M. Cornelius Falco. "A shame on Castor's money then. Would you be kind enough to help me get off of this damn armor?" Cato inquired from the quite short man.

A little smirk appeared to Falco's lips as he began helping his friend in the removal of his armor. "The least I can do, the least I tell you." After a good natured barrage of insults Cato was again not wearing his armor. The greek stretched his strong arms. "Now, Marcus, why are you here? Some of these people are here because of you. I'm sure they'd like a round or two with you." Cato's inquiries and statements got just a little chuckle out of Falco "I'm with the Sword of Mars, none of these whippersnappers would dare to go against the two of us." The roman did have a point there. Despite them being at the least twice older than the rest of the people under the arena both men had a bit of a reputation.

Falco ran his fingers through his noticeably balding dark hair and rolled his eyes in a rather lewd manner. "The woman fought well by my estimates. Oh if I were ten years younger I'd try my luck with her." Now it was Cato's turn to chuckle "You forget, old boy..." He did his best impression of the former consul and even took a proper speaking stance - one that Falco was very fond of - while using his hand gestures to great effect. "I too would be ten years younger - which in turn would mean that..." The greek twisted his wrist around, like he was asking for someone to finish the sentence. "Oi! You were NOT more handsome than I was when we were young! By Juppiter's balls!" Falco nudged Cato on the shoulder and both men burst in to laugher.

After some more banter and few parting words Falco returned to the stands to enjoy the games. Cato shook his head slightly and concentrated on the current fight with at least some interest.

[BK201]

Urbi poured more wine into the Emperor's cup,He drank it all and after a minute he started to shake, he was poisoned
"My Lord!" The Empress screamed, URbi stepped back in surprise "Poison!?" She screamed and two guards walked in.
The children cried as the guards took the Emperors body away. All Urbi could do was to hug the Empress who seemed was about to die of sadness, she hugged the children too.

[Nehelenia]

Alcie stood ready in a defensive stance as the bear began charging at her. She waited until it was very close before quickly moving out of its way, her lack of armor making her very quick. AS she moved out of the way, she slashed the side of the bear who roared in anger and tried to turn to bit her but it was already moving too fast in one direction to quickly switch to another. Alcie backed away from the bear, almost taunting it to dare and come close to her and her blade. She had a hungry look in her eye, knowing she would please her master and the Emperor with this fight. She was not fond of the Emperor but she knew it was better to be liked by him than hated. It was when she looked at his both that she noticed her was being dragged away. It was a shock to her and she stood still for too long a moment as the bear was in front of her once more, this time standing up on its hind legs and ready to bring the front ones crashing down onto her. She quickly raised her shield and felt her arm ache as the weight of the beast crashed down on it. She was sure it must be partially broken at least but there was no stopping now.

The bear tried to snap at her with its jaws but she moved away and quickly hit the bear with an over head swing of the blunt end of her kopis, dazing the beast a bit. She took this dazed moment to aim one quick jab to its side, going deep into the flesh. The beast roared once more and swung at her with a large paw which she blocked with her shield but it made her fall to the ground in pain because of the pain that was added to her arm. It was standing again on its rear legs and tried to come crashing down on her while she was on the ground but she rolled away, feeling the claws graze her calf. She was up once more as she saw the bear cringing in pain from the wound in its side and she took a chance and brought her blade down on its neck, feeling teeth scratch her belly as they easily cut through her blue chiton. The bear quickly fell to the ground, its eyes open and its tongue hanging out.

[Shiv]

As the crowd was silent for a few moments, Marcus was the first on his feet cheering loudly "Well Fought Gladiator! Well Fought! The Beast stood no chance against you!" With that he turned to leave before the rest of the crowd could come to life. The young man who jeered her earlier turned to him "She barely won, how can you say it stood no chance?" Just before Marcus blended into the crowd he looked in the mans direction and shouted "She was distracted by something important in the stadium, during the silence after the final strike I could hear a woman crying, I assume that had something to do with the distraction" With that he faded into the crowd. People tended not to pay attention to a blind man and that was exactly how he liked it. Marcus made his way down to the gladiator pens he would be there to congratulate the warrior personally. The guards down there knew him well from the glory days so he was welcomed, more out of pity than respect thought. He stood patiently waiting for them to escort the wounded warrior inside.

[Nehelenia]

No one seemed to be cheering for the young Greek gladiator, some distracted by what had distracted her, others thinking she was a weakling for almost losing to the bear. She walked with her head held high as she walked through the gates she came in, showing no sign of the pain she felt in her arm. The scratches on her belly and calf were just minor flesh wounds that would heal soon enough but her arm may take her out of the arena for a while... She thought about all this as she walked around the corridors under the stands where the spectators were not allowed. She took her civilian clothes, her light green peplos which was just a longer version of her battle chiton and she was lucky enough to have a himation, a cloak like piece of clothing, for the cooler days, and changed into them, thinking about how she would need to repair her chiton.

[BK201]

"it is dangerous to stay here" Urbi said, the royal family followed her downstairs
The guard with the highest rank bumped into them "listen, no one must know it for now. the games must continue for today or everyone will panic!"
The guard nodded "surely there were this revels!" the guard shouted in anger

[Shiv]

Marcus waited till after she changed her clothes before knocking on the wall, He was blind...not rude. "Excuse me, begging your pardon. Are you the warrior who faced the bear in the arena recently? If so, I wanted to personally congratulate you on a fight well fought. Back when I used to compete they put me against a similar beast, its no easy victory. You deserved more praise for your victory, but I suppose Artemis smiled on you and guided your sword for the final blow and their is no greater praise than that of a god." With his praise said he left the warrior"

[Marcus XVI]

Cato had a feeling that something was off. The imperial stand was no longer full - often this meant that the emperor had just gotten bored with the show or had gotten something more pressing to attend to. Undoubtedly he'd hear everything from Falco after returning to the estate - after all Rome's Greatest Lawyer had his spies everywhere. The greek added in his thoughts that the word 'spy' was a rather impolite term, used for informants that made all sorts of shady and sometimes even downright evil things - ofcourse some of Falco's informants could be counted as spies as well.

Whatever was going on in the stands at the moment wasn't Cato's problem however - or what was going on in the sands for that matter. He had already participated in a bout today and his presence was no longer needed. Still he chose to remain under the arena in the case some younger gladiators would need encouragement or would wish to hear a story or two. Silently the greek seated himself against one of the walls and shook his head slightly. Was he really getting too old to fight?
______

In Rome word travels quickly - it travels even more quickly when someone dies. There are always people who just can't seem to keep their mouths shut. That was both a good and a bad thing. There had been some commotion in the stand of the Emperor - that much was certain. Falco had recieved the honour of speaking with the emperor earlier during the day. The former consul had voiced his thoughts about the lax security of the arena rather vocally, but the emperor had been trusting enough on the skill of his praetorian guards so the matter was swiftly pushed aside. There was no certainty about the happenings of the stand yet, but Falco was determined to find what had truly taken place there. If the emperor was indeed dead there were only two options for Rome. Becoming a republic once again - which was an idea Falco detested quite much - or remaining an empire. However that would mean the elections of a new emperor - assuming that the emperor had not chosen a successor.

In public Falco always made sure that he seemed like he was slowly losing his grasp on sanity. He mumbled to himself and glanced warily around as if constantly expecting attack. He also walked like a man badly out of shape - with his back slighlty hunched and with a noticeable limp. His closest friends and political allies knew however that it was all just an act and that M. Cornelius Falco was still as sharp - if not even sharper - than before. Now Falco was again putting his act in to great use whilst leaving the stands. He mumbled about the weather to few of the arena guards - whom decided to humour the former consul with a little chat, mostly to ease their own nervousness. They assured Falco that the emperor had just eaten something slightly off and had to retire for the day. The older man nodded and humbly asked for the guard to have his condolences sent to the emperor and wishes that the emperor would be well soon.

The guard nodded and assured Falco that the emperor would be informed and politely offered to escort the former consul to his estate. Falco politely refused the offer and shuffled out of the guard's sight. The very moment there were no people around he straightened up and smirked "Just a bit ill? By Juppiter's gilded cock I've never heard quite so obvious lies..." He shook his head slightly and smiled "I need to get to the bottom of this. Also I need a word with Cato..."
______

"So, there I was, like Achilles facing Hector - or rather the other way round. The Ithacan with his boar's head helm was a rather fearsome sight. It was just the two of us standing at that point." Cato smirked as he was again telling one of his many stories to a couple of younger gladiators. "Now mind you. This was long before I gained the moniker 'Sword of Mars'. It was in fact one of my first bouts on the sands. I was actually quite nervous." The greek rolled his eyes in a rather lewd manner. "Then again who isn't nervous when a man twice your width is coming at you whilst brandishing his spear." Cato had always enjoyed telling stories - all of his stories were true, but he had a habit of slightly exaggerating his tales. Though there was no real suspense in most of the stories - after all Cato was sitting there in front of the others telling a story about himself.

[BK201]

Urbi made the royal family hide and them made her way to the room where the gladiator's weapons were stored, she took her favourite weapon, her scimitar, it was hard to tell she was hiding a weapon under her dress. She saw a man, Falco, Urbi put her hand on his shoulder "you were a senator ,right? i need your help"

[manapool1]

when alara got back to the bath house his boss was talking to a group of soldiers who proceeded to grab him and throw his into a wall, there expressions were fatalistic and seemed as if he had done something to make him there number one enemy. As they threw kicks at him he noticed tears fall from one of the soldiers eyes and the other grinding his teeth, he didn't bother to get out of the way or fight back as he understood they were angry about something, and when he heard one say 'you'll pay for the emperor' he understood what had happened. After they had cooled off Alara handed the supplies to the round man and all there faces froze as they realized they were attacking the wrong person. The men did not apologize they merely left and Alara limped away to the streets were he saw the Egyptian woman with the old man, she was close to the emperor and he was sure she knew who did the deed.

[Marcus XVI]

Marcus Cornelius Falco prided himself as an intelligent man - with a plan for any occasion, still as he turned to face the woman he could not bring himself to act in his usual public manner. He instead simply nodded. "I am a senator, yes." The years - 40 of them - had not been too kind to the man. He seemed at the least a decade older, maybe two than what he was in years. Though his face was still quite handsome it had gotten quite a few wrinkles to it and his hair had began going gray out of sheer stress and overworking. Still he seemed to be physically far more fit than any man in his position would have the need to be. Falco's arms were noticeably strong. "How may I be of service to you, li'll miss?" The former consul tilted his head slightly and offered a calming smile as he examined the woman with his dark eyes. "You know something important, do you not?"
____________

After finishing his little tale Cato made his way out of the arena. He wore just a simple tunic and a leather belt around his waist. Calmly the greek began searching for Falco.

[BK201]

Urbi looked over her shoulder "come here, it is safe" she sad, The Empress still with tears in her eyes and the children came came from the corner and walked towards them
The Empress looked at Falco and the looked down maybe ashamed maybe so the old man would have mercy on them
"The Emperor was killed, they are not safe here, please, take them to your house" Urbi said and bowed

[Shiv]

As Urbi pleaded with Falco , Marcus made a show of using his odd walking stick to guid himself by them. "Sir, Ladies" he nodded to them briefly before taking a half step to continue then thinkiing and holding his place "do you require any assistance?" Though he was visibly blind Marcus didnt look any less intimidating that a top gladiator, roped muscle, size and an odd feeling of dread you got in his precence