[mlkfaa] - 1Timestones38n's Album -> 08-24-2017_Common Views

[FeatheredSeclude]

It was a cold morning. She lay in her cage, wracked with shivering and coughing. Recently she???d contracted the flu from one of the other felines in these cages. A few of them had been sold off, and now she was one of the few left. Her original owner had come back, and she???d pitched a fit. She???d be damned if she was going to go back and breed to every male who wanted her. She???d rather die, frankly. And she might end up that way if she kept getting sicker. They fed her, and gave her water, like they did the rest of the cats, but they didn???t really take care to see to her illness. She just wasn???t that important to them.
And now, a couple hours into the day, she felt her crate being picked up and shoved roughly against the bars of the cage out into the arena. She struggled to her feet as they pressed the wall of the cage against her, shoving her out of it and into the bigger one. She shuddered massively and vomited what she???d had of her breakfast out onto the sand. If anything, this sickness might help her. Nobody wanted to get sick. If they attacked her, she???d barf on them. Her mouth tipped in a weak smirk as the shouts from outside became a roar. Who might she face now?

In a cell that was being carried by two men, with two Hunters behind them, the caraffory balanced himself the best he could as the cage rocked. It had two metal beams prodding out of either end. It was used for carrying a caged cat from one place to another. Herne had gone from traditional holding cells for captives, to some other area of the city, and was now almost back-tracking in progress. But this time it was into an area with like the usual, more cages. A run-down coliseum, and the people carrying the cage headed for it.
Herne had a number eyes glare at him. He was a known traitor, and surely there were several who wanted to take him apart??? and Herne knew it. He was spending more time than anything getting thrown into fight after fight. He was known to be good at it, despite his disposition toward them.
As the men went down a set of stairs that lead to a corridor with bars, tightly ringed bars on either end, the cell he was had the front bars lifted, and with a shove from the back-bars, he was pushed into the corridor, with a set of bars shutting down behind him. Upon this, the metal gate in front of him opened. It looked like the only maintained thing of this joint to Herne.
It had been a year since he was last in one of these things, he was without any army, all he wore were newly placed tags in his ears, and his necklace. He was without an option but to step-forward, into the arena??? to face whatever it was he was to face. He just prayed it was not a field of angry Hunters. He knew he was dead if this was the case. The dark, dim light from the cells and corridors, to the bright sun of the arena stung the cat???s eyes as he entered the arena.

Slowly, the gate was opened, and her eyes gradually adjusted to the fierce shine of the morning sun. Winter was close, and she could feel the even worse chill in the air as she weakly walked out into it, willing it to dispel the chill from her body.
Ahead, the other gate was being opened, and she saw a figure she felt she should recognize. Her legs trembled, and she spread and braced them to try and keep herself from collapsing on the sand. She???d give it her all, and if it looked like he???d win, it wouldn???t be hard to act dead. She felt it already.
Spitting the nasty acid flavored bile from her mouth again, she readied herself and examined the figure ahead of her. He wasn???t too much bigger than her??? at least not from this distance. And he didn???t look like another captive??? in fact??? he looked like a Hunter. Or at least one that had been a hunter anyways. Her resolve shook a bit. If anything, she hoped they weren???t on the same side, that would make this more difficult than it already was.

Taking a good minute for his eyes to adjust to the ring. On the opposite end??? was what looked like a red feline??? his own size??? The caraffory???s ears slanted side-ways??? That is no accident??? he grunted, ... but he was also fast to notice that something was off with this cat??? they appeared??? sick? Why am I being pit against a sick cat? he gave a face that showed he wasn???t interested in fighting??? he wasn???t. But he cautiously approached the other cat.
They??? she??? appeared sick??? but that did not mean a lot??? Herne had a broken leg and he was almost able to get away from an Asian cat and a jaguar, if only he didn???t land on the broken leg, he would have then...
When he closer, to be able to see more of whom this cat was??? and sat down, not showing aggression. He did not want to fight. And if there was going to be any fighting, Herne did not want to be the one to provoke or start it. He was going to play things how he typically did in a right fight. A lot of dodges??? a few joint hits, and pressure points. Wear them out.
???... I don???t see why your owner isn???t taking proper care of you,??? he said from his face, sure to be watching this cat if she chose to attack immediately.
His own fur stood a little, he wasn???t sure what to do about this or anything of it really. Could they be testing me to see if I have a chance to supposedly redeem my claimed errors, by attacking a sick cat??? likely an Empire Cat? he told himself.

Jessamyn watched the other cat approach. He was a male, what looked like a mixed breed of Caracal and something else. His fur was almost a pale yellow color and he didn???t look like he intended on fighting. When he sat down not far from her and started a conversation, for some reason it was a relief. She could already hear the crowd yelling in discontent and knew if they didn???t start a fight soon, the humans would come out and stick them with hot pokers. That would hardly help.
???I have no owner. They meant to make me breeding stock. I???m not a [censored] to be used.??? she said coolly. ???I???m surprised they even tried to come back for me after I ran off to the Empires. But they tried. I scratched their hand and screamed in their face and they spat at me and kicked the cage.??? she paused, ???Humans are fickle creatures??? she added, and coughed wracking, lowering her head so as to not cough in his face.
She began to lower her ears and lash her tail, showing signs of aggression.
???If you would rather not be stabbed by a hot poker and kicked about by those handlers over there, I suggest you make a show of attacking me. I may be sick, but I can still bite.???

???... man???s greed.??? he stated in a low volume, trying his best to keep his word low-enough to where only she heard him.
Now he really did not want to fight this cat, seeing her cough down to the ground??? but this was followed by her attitude going from sickly to a slightly more aggressive stature. Herne personally kind of expected it. And Herne had admit, he prefer not to get jabbed by a hot-rod.
???I may be a blunt ass at times??? but I do try to be mannered,??? he said, in a joking tone, but he was actually be serious with the statement, ???I???m Lira???Herne?????? he said lowly, ???so before you decide to attack me, may I get your name at the least???? he smirked a bit, not making much movement, but having himself ready to move aside from her attack, whatever it were to be.

She raised an eyebrow at him. She doubted anyone or anything could hear him over that bloodthirsty crowd. They were getting seriously upset. She could feel it. Couldn???t he? Humans were demanding, disgusting creatures.
???How???d you end up in here anyway???? she asked, taking a step toward him, tail lashing, appearing very hostile for the sake of the angry humans. Why did she care? Because she already felt like crap and didn???t want a hot piece of metal jabbing into her fur.
???You look like a Hunter, but you kind of smell like Lightning Empire. I heard about you I think??? she said, and decided to add her name.
???I???m Jessamyn. Once a pet here, and now formerly of the Air Empire.??? She darted at him, darting her paws out to aim a few smacks at his head and added a loud, deep snarling hiss with bared teeth for effect. It seemed to ease the crowd a bit, and she saw the Handlers around the edges back off a bit.
???Mind helping me out here???? she said a bit tensely.

Herne didn???t respond to the feline, but remained silent, and listened to her just before she sprang at him. The caraffory made a last-second duck, and weaved under her swipes at him, and within a second was now behind her, facing her, but again sitting like he was before. His front legs were almost instantly hurting though??? well I???ve not done that in a year??? so this hurts???
He was still silent for a moment??? and then let out of his face, in an almost mocking tone, ???Nahh??? I don???t fancy it.??? his voice was aired out, and slightly rasped??? so as far as people were concerned, it was a growl of sorts, but not much beyond that, ???but you are going to have to do better than that if you expect to actually hit me??? will admit you are the first I have fought that was my size.??? he remarked, and thought about that for a second, that may have just really pissed her off. he gestured his own head at the comment to himself, but sure to keep his eyes on Jessamyn.
But little did she know??? he knew of who she was, and knew a few of her friends in Lightning??? but those words were not going to leave his head easily??? she???d have to hit him??? not he was going to tell her that either.
???Onto what you said earlier,??? he claimed, with his volume staying as it was earlier, ???I did spend a year in Lightning??? as a prisoner there??? so I really don???t fancy them,??? he claimed, waiting for her to strike again.

She was sick, and slow, so her attempt was easily dodged and he was behind her shortly. Oh come on...she thought weakly. Did he want them to get stabbed with a hot poker? She felt nausea sweeping up in her again and decided that if she made another sharp movement, she???d throw up again. Her legs grew weak and she collapsed, shuddering.
???Well either way, you???re going to get stuck with a poker, or fight, so, you choose. I have no intention of getting poked.??? she snarled.
She didn???t care about their size equality, she didn???t care about much currently. She was sick, and he was pissing her off. She dragged herself back to her feet and kept her head down. After a moment of waiting for the nausea to subside, she heard footsteps.
Oh, leave me alone! She raged silently and backed away from the oncoming human, brandishing the poker. She was already deemed dangerous, so why would this hurt any? As he came at her with the poker, she attacked the arm holding it. However, she was too weak to maintain it, and after a few snarling scratches and bites, was thrown off and promptly retched again, struggling to keep what little left she had down before the hot poker, instead of jabbing her, slammed into her side and sent her sprawling. The crowd screamed in approval. Rage overcame her illness and she dodged out of the way of the next jab and darted away, snarling.

Herne didn???t saying at that, but took notice of the approaching man. With a rod in his hands, but it wasn???t a hot-rod. They only used those on larger cats, or for branding purposes, with what Herne had seen. But that didn???t say this rod wasn???t??? at least not as hot as what he normally saw. And at the she-cat???s sudden change of target to the man, and quickly getting thrown back, where he went to give a strike at her. Herne at that moment, made a quick move, and got in-between the two, only to get smacked himself, and sent barreling into Jessa. He flipped over her when he was hit, and rolled once more but was getting up to his feet quickly. Only to have his legs give him more pain. He kept his face and grimace at bay, and move aside from his second swing, and got a bit of space. And from that he backed up.
A little of the caraffory???s fur had a singe on it, the side of his cheek and shoulder.
???... was probably going to get hit by one of those things either way??? he said shaking his head, with his ears slanted some, because he now had an aching head.
He was more worried about the man with the pole, since he hadn???t really backed off.
???So???? the cat stated, with a friendly tone, ???... prison life is pretty crappy?????? he said, making a run at Jessa, though he had intent to miss her intentionally, he had no plan on attacking her??? he was not about to do that.

At the last moment, she saw Herne come leaping in the way and get himself whacked around as well. What were they doing? Pretending to be human toys to be kicked around? Perhaps they might entertain the humans up in the stands by ducking and dodging the human trying to get them to fight!
???Is that a question?!??? she asked, and saw him running at her.
Was he actually going to try and attack her now? She froze for a moment, hearing the crowd, and the human she had just attacked, now brandishing the rod as though to start beating them into the packed dirt with it. Oh good.
Acting as though still stunned and afraid of the human, she dodged his move at the last moment, leaping up and then coming down on his back, claws unsheathed, squashing him to the ground. Though her entire body and all her muscles protested, she leaped off of him at the human. If that dumb creature had been prepared, he might have swung the thing around and impaled her. But no, it was lowered and she hit him in the chest. He staggered and fell. The crowd started that screaming, yelling ruckus again.

Skidding just before he made contact with Jessa, the cat felt his front legs buckle under him, which unfortunately gave Jessa the perfect angle to leap off of him and at the man. Herne pushed up to his feet, and made a fast about face to see her colliding with the person. He himself didn???t waste a moment, before taking a leap forward himself, but it wasn???t at the man, but at Jessa, to her off of him.
Ramming her off of the man, and with Herne himself and Jessa both tumbling through the dirt, Herne scoffed when he landed, rolling a somersault onto his feet.
???Stunts like that are why they treat you the way they do.??? he spat at her, before having to dodge a strike from a pole being swung down at him, ???bezch~??? he scoffed fumbling backwards out of the path of it.

Jessamyn snarled as Herne rammed into her, tearing her claws free and feeling air for a moment before slamming into the dirt and rolling away weakly. Adrenaline was pounding through her now and she couldn???t really feel the effects of the sickness anymore. She spun to him.
???And it???s acts like that --that are going to get you attacked! It???s not like I want to attack you either??? she spat, and lunged at him, snarling. She hated this place. She hated those humans that locked her up, kicked her cage and left her in the elements. These humans didn???t care. All they wanted was entertainment!
Halfway through her attack of attempting to get her claws in him and drag him down to bite him, she suddenly had to lurch away and throw up again. She half-way wished the human would just ram that iron thing through her now and end it. She collapsed near where she???d vomited up foam and bile and panted, unable to keep up the adrenaline that had given her the energy.
???There is literally...nobody...here...that would be willing...to take me as a pet.??? she hissed weakly. ???None of them...want a...wild animal in their houses.??? ???And I...don???t want to be breeding stock either??? she added. The human came over again and jabbed her with the pole, and then his foot. All she could utter was a growl.
???If you were actually one of the Hunters, you???d have ended me by now??? she said, and slapped at the prod again as it came at her.

Herne wasn???t given a moment to say anything to Jessa before she came charging at him again, but only to be hacking again. Well, this is a Hell of a fight??? a vomit bath more like it. he argued with himself. The man in the ring had taken a few swings at Herne, who dodged one strike, was nicked by the second, but took the third strike solidly in the side, he yelped and was knocked into a tumble.
Herne rolled and layed still for a bit. The wind was knocked from his lungs, but he pushed up to his feet, heaving for air.
???I??? remember why??? I hated this place?????? he toyed verbally, before taking a bound forward, towards Jessa and the person.
And he was about to make a stupid stunt, rather than trying to defend the ruthless man, the caraffory, decided to take a fast bite into the back of his leg, a quick snap. Enough to get his attention of the bay cat, but not enough to really cause injury.
He then weaved right around the man who instinctively kicked backwards, to try and kick Herne backwards. Herne meanwhile was now in front of him, grabbing Jessa by her scruff and making a fast and hard yank away from the man, tossing her some to get her away from him, and now stood between the two. He did hear her comment about him ending her.
???--and I had those same thoughts in Lightning Empire?????? he hissed out, but he was more facing the man, and not her, ???thought they were nothing like people??? Hunters??? then I was captured??? they are more alike than they are not--??? he said in lower volume, turning head towards Jessa, but kept his eyes on the person, ???if you want them to treat you better, stop acting like a feral monster.???

She suddenly felt teeth in her scruff, and her being dragged and then tossed away from the human???s reach. She gasped, trying to get her feet under her for a moment until he freed her and backed away. She wondered what on earth he was doing.
???Did they not feed you, mock you and torture you???? she asked scornfully and staggered to her feet again, dizzy and coughed. ???I can hardly be kind to them when they???ve done nothing but hurt me!???
Suddenly, another hand grabbed her scruff roughly and she was hauled up and then crammed into another cage. The sound of angry yelling from the mob filled the air and she threw herself at the bars of the cage. Who knew...maybe they???d pit against a actual Hunter Cat now. Have her mocked, cursed and killed.

???Not something one would expect from an Empire, but yes.??? he admitted to, ???especially--??? Herne cut-himself off, looking ahead again, seeing the man straight-up throwing the rod he carried at him.
Herne unfortunately didn???t have time to move before it cracked right along his back, and bounced off the ground, dropping him to his stomach. And he let out a very pained groan.
???... well that is one thing that didn???t happen in Lightning Empire?????? he gritted through his teeth, going to rise to his feet, but wasn???t successful at it.

To her advantage, the man who had been chasing them around, lost his temper and threw the rod at Herne. She gasped, cringing and jumping back as the rod slammed into his back??? and then into the shin, point first, of the man who held her cage.
Next thing she knew, the cage was on the ground, open, and she darted out. Did the idiot actually leave the door open?
She could still hear the curses and shouts of the man behind her, and she turned briefly to see if Herne had gotten away. They were both going at him. Not like she???d escape anyways. It was highly unlikely she???d make it anywhere past the holding room.
Turning, she darted back, standing beside the hybrid and snarling up at the humans. They looked about to kick them both to death and she scratched at their shins. Stupid people! More shouting.
???Got any genius plans now???? she asked, keeping the humans at bay for a short while until one of them decided to get that poker again...

Herne wasn???t really aware of the now two people focusing more on him??? all he could tell was his back was surging the rest of his body into massive pain. And for moment, everything went dark around him, but silence never happened. He could hear the blood-pumping in his head, racking through his head, which was enough to bring him back after a couple rounds of it. He let out another moan.
???... you think??? you???d get used to it after a while?????? he growled out, not entirely hearing Jessa, something about a plan was all he heard, ???--live.??? he scoffed finally pushing to his feet.
He saw there were now two of these people.
???... pray they don???t bring whips out, or nine-tails?????? he said??? he had seen some punishments they have done to other people???
People could be ruthlessly brutal. And this looked like a round of this. They would be lucky to live through this, if they were.
???... so?????? he said to her, ???--you know anyone from Lightning???? he asked, before having to make a half-baked dive backwards, dodging the rod bouncing right him again. ???Crap--??? he scoffed.

Fear kicked in now, and she yowled. All she wanted was to sleep. She felt like crying. She wanted out. The rod came flying at them again. She went after it this time, grabbing the thing and trying to run off with it before the humans came after her.
???No, you can???t have your stupid poker!??? she snarled.
???Herne, keep them off me for a second, I need to throw this thing away!??? she yelled past the metal.
It tasted better than the bile and vomit in her mouth, and she staggered. It was heavy, and nearly as long as her. She could still feel the heat in the end of it as she dragged it as quickly as she could towards the gateway through which they???d shoved her. It would at least delay them.

Herne was now also pretty careless that they were people, they were there to seriously hurt them, and Herne had already taken two very hard blows, one to his side, the other across his whole spine. ... just when I thought Lightning Empire was worse??? had to be proven wrong??? he gritted to himself. The people targeted Jessa. There was no way Herne could occupy them??? one kick and he was out of the way, and he could only stop one of them for a moment, there were two of them. The best option was to help her get it out of the ring??? not that this was going to stop them from reaching into the gate. May be we could fit through the gap? Any gap?
He quickly scanned the field??? there were a number of cages with windows straight into the coliseum. Herne had an idea??? but this would involve them letting have the rod.
He chose to run forward and go between the two men, and go after Jessa. He got close enough to nip at her leg, hopefully it was enough to get her to let go of the rod.
???Let them have it, I got a plan.??? he said mid-nip at her leg.

She was nearly there when suddenly she felt Herne???s teeth at her back leg. She almost kicked him before hearing his words.
This had better be a good plan! She thought, and looked behind her. Yep, they were pissed and they were about ready to kill. Hopefully one of the soldiers guarding the place would come over and see this chaos stopped before one of them got killed. The humans really didn???t care. They were entertained now, watching the handlers trying to get the two cats under control.
???I imagine you???re going to get in trouble for this??? she muttered

???... meh, already in trouble??? what???s a little more!??? he said, in a humouring tone. ???Give them the dumb stick, and go for that opening,??? he gestured his head at one of the windows for the below cells, ???whether they swing it or throw it at us, they???re bound to hit the cell bars with that temper of theirs, I hope they throw it to be honest.??? making a hard-right to the cell window he gestured too.
He ran hard, hoping she would drop the rod and follow. They really had this chance to get out of the ring, but that was it. Herne at the time was not concerned on getting out of the city, but out of the ring was more than enough for now. The people would not follow them there. At least he seriously was hoping this??? So it was down to hope they don???t kill us, or hope they don???t follow us. And hopefully they are able to break the bar of the cell window or the brick.

Jessamyn looked where the hybrid was pointing his muzzle and wondered how she hadn???t seen it before. She wasn???t sure if they would be able to get down there. Or, as a matter of fact...what was down there?
Herne started sprinting for it, the humans shouting and going after him. They probably saw what he was after. She followed, the thundering footsteps of the humans right behind them. Sure enough, to the amusement of the crowd, one of them picked up the rod she had left behind and threw it at them.
???DUCK!??? she yowled, and dropped as the heavy iron rod came flying at their heads.

Going from a run, to what was supposed to be skid to duck, but Herne wound up rolling instead. The pole smacked the earth right in front of them and bounced forward, and for a glorious strand of luck, bounced a second time and smashed into the brick holding the top of the bars. Herne was fast to get back onto his feet and continue running for the exit.
???Looks like we???re gonna have to push those bars a little, but after that, they ought to leave us be~??? he coughed out, he was certainly wearing out??? if this failed??? they were about be dummies for hitting.
The caraffory again went to skid to a stop, but wound up rolling again??? ???that is getting old?????? he muttered before going to try and pull on one of the bars a bit to see if it moved any??? it didn???t??? ???... now you may grab the rod, and wedge it side-ways and ram it.??? he gave the haste instruction.
They had a moment to use this rod to bend the others, even just a hair was all they need to squeeze through them and down into an empty cell. Another hope of his right now... Lord pray the thing was empty and full of hay.

Jessamyn almost tripped over the rod as it landed before them, her back paw hitting it and sending her sprawling before she weakly scrambled up and struggled to haul the thing over and get it between the bars. The humans were right behind them, not but a few yards away.
She pulled at the bar, but in her weakened state, it wasn???t much of an effort. She doubted even a human could have pulled that off. She left the pulling to Herne, and pressed at the bars, scratching at the hard stone encasing them until it started to become loose. Could she make it through them with the few inches she had between those bars? They didn???t have too much of a choice.
???You pull at it, try and get it apart, I???ll see if I can wriggle through!??? she gasped, feeling her strength leaving her again.

Luckily Jessa went to digging when pulling and pushing the rod was not happening??? Herne couldn???t dig, he had four claws??? literally, just four. So rather than give the thing a pull or push, He gave a hard ram at it, since it was propped up some, and he rammed his shoulder into it. Wasn???t the most painful thing he felt in the short time-frame, but it hurt. But luckily it was also enough to make the bars make a clear crank-creak noise. Herne wasted to time to try and shove her into the opening the rest of way, so she would drop down into the cell, and he was going to join her in doing so.

She was in the middle of getting her head through when he shoved her. She plunged headfirst into the darkness and landed on hard, wet stone. Hearing something shift around in the darkness, she became aware of a horrible smell. And then a deep snarling growl. Dread filled her. Dog.
She backed away, looking for the bars. She needed to find the bars. She could see it now, teeth bared, ribs showing through its fur, a collar around its neck as it lowered its head and approached her, something of a grin on its face.
???Stupid feline. Think this was an escape, eh???? ???It was escape alright??? it lunged at her. She shrieked and scrambled away, towards the bars at the other end of the cage. Terror filled her. Please let the bars be wide enough.

Herne fell into the cell himself just in time to hear the growl, and Jessa???s remarks.
???Beggars cannot be choosers??? but I do choose life anyway,??? he let out of his face, grinning a bit at it, and making a bolt for the bars like her.
And for a blessing, the bars were just far enough to slip through them. Herne fumbled out of the cage they fumbled into, hearing the people making shouts and rants and raves about the pair getting out, but the dog going from a snarl to a loud bark, even made Herne himself jump out of his skin.
???Lord Almighty--??? he coughed and jumped away from the cell.

Thankfully, the dog was startled by Herne???s appearance, and she escaped easily. As did he, for the dog was huge, and Herne was able to wriggle away within seconds. Dumb dog.
Panting, she collapsed, feeling ready to fall asleep right there.
???Ok...now what??? she asked, looking around the dark corridor. Only a couple of the cages held dogs, and they were barking to bring hell itself awake.
???Get out of here, for starters??? she muttered to herself, and began creeping along the passageway. So far, there was no sound of the men, but she was sure it wouldn???t be long. Torches flickered along the walls, and her eyes were weak from the blazing sunlight outside.

???...sounds like a plan?????? he whispered back, ironically smiling in relief, ???...you feeling better???? he then chose to ask???
Herne followed her along the passageway, although Herne wasn???t going about it in a creeping along style, but rather in the way he adjusted to walk, his back legs going normally but moving both front legs at the same time. Herne knew they were likely to get in trouble for doing that to get out of a ring??? but this wasn???t the massive coliseum was it? This was a much smaller scaled one??? it did not even appear legal. That is what was playing in his head anyway??? Herne knew they could be pretty ruthless. Some of them could be??? but had never had first-perspective experience until now. And it made him far more weary of wanting to be around any at all.
He now really understood why Empires disliked people that much. The few ruthless ones. But not all of them were bad, just like Hunters, just like Empire Cats. Herne really didn???t think Jessa was bad either, she was terrified, so the rash and harsh behaviour was natural. Herne just made some choices he wouldn???t normally make himself. Harming a person whatsoever for sake. But this was in a ring, and he was attacking them??? so hopefully this was able to be looked over??? or they both were in some serious trouble??? with how far this endeavor went anyhow.

It depended on what he meant by alright. She was sick, scared, and more than likely about to get worse treatment than she had before. She just hoped they wouldn???t kill her. She hadn???t exactly been bringing in profit. Though??? that might change. The humans seemed to like all that quite a bit, judging by the laughter she???d been hearing.
She wasn???t far down the tunnel when suddenly a huge form showed up before her, making her scramble back. For a second she thought it was a dog. And then she realized it was something almost worse.

Thane had heard the ruckus coming from the arena. The shouting, the cursing. Apparently the two had been thrown into the arena weren???t behaving. One of them, he knew, was sick and wouldn???t survive the fight with the traitor she???d been pitted against. But by the sounds of it, the men in the arena had gotten themselves in on the fight as well.
Stop them! They???re getting into the tunnels! Get back there and seal off those doors! He heard the yells of the humans. Apparently they???d attempted an escape? Annoyed, he had followed the humans to where they searched the tunnels and found the furiously barking hound in its cage. So they???d gotten past the dog??? and towards a dead end. He???d circled around, followed by one of the men, and sure enough, run right into them, trying to find their way out.
???What exactly did you think you were accomplishing??? he said in a flat, cold tone. ???This won???t help your cause, traitor??? he addressed the hybrid who stood somewhere behind Jessamyn.
And of all things, she tried to run. Stupid girl. He thought, and easily pounced upon her, pinning her to the ground and holding her with teeth firmly around her neck. She cried out in pain.

Going from following Jessa silently, to having a larger cat standing over them, and then it going after her. Herne wanted to intervene this??? but his body wasn???t moving for him, and he dropped to his stomach. He was utterly exhausted.
???--not dying...??? he panted out at the larger cat, Herne couldn???t really tell what he was, but he was larger than them both, and Herne had no desire to fight this cat, and even if desire was there, capability wasn???t there either.
The feline???s vision was fading in and out a bit, Herne was not going to be much longer before he fully passed out.
???--we didn???t want to be killed??? that???s all?????? Herne added before his head dropped and was resting on the ground, ???... that is??? all??????
Last time Herne hurt that much was when he was caught by Lightning Empire, it brought up not too thrilling memories in his head, but he worked mentally to suppress them.

Jessamyn squalled in pain as she was grabbed roughly by one of the men and literally thrown into a cage, her head slamming painfully into the bars. She lay still for a moment as she was carried back and the cage unceremoniously tossed onto the hard floor among the others, renewing her pain and slamming her against the roof of the cage for a second with another cry of pain.
What would happen to Herne? She wondered weakly. He???d actually tried to befriend her, not hurt her. But he was a traitor to the program, of course he would. In all honesty, she wished she could be a pet again. Anywhere but these cages. Anywhere but this cold, sickening dungeon. She used the last ounce of her energy to yowl out, hoping he could hear her, but there was no reply.

Seeing Jessamyn be released by the larger feline, and hearing her get thrown into the cage, where he himself was met with a similar situation. Would be questioning why Hunters allow this??? but certain this large one following us is a Hunter??? he told himself. He was too weak to lift his head from the jostling cell, and he was laying on his left-ear, so his world was currently silent. He watched as a gate was opened, and the cell Jessamyn was being carried in was thrown in like it was garbage, and it rick-rocked when it hit the floor, throwing a bit of water around, for the floor was wet.
Herne shut his eyes, he was sure the same was about to happen to him there??? Herne then felt the cell make a fast jostle, making him kear forward some, hitting his head on the cell. The soundless, fading out sight he saw was turned in an utter black void, with a ring-noise playing in his ear.

THE END

The story written is a role-play between myself(FeatheredSeclude on deviantART and unio-ARPG on deviantART

[rachel]

Intersting story. So there are people in the EBBC "universe"? Sad about the gladiator felilenes. So the golden spotted cat was a caffory? What is a caffory? And was Herne born with 4 claws or was it an injury? And how did the female cat go from being a well loved pet to being bread in a kittenmill? And was she bread by the same owner or a diffrent owner? And how is a cat's clan decided into? By spechies or are the clans filled with multiable spechies liveing in the clan?

Sorry for the questions, i want to learn more about the EBBC before I join the group on Devantrt, because Ive never done a roleplay before.

[FeatheredSeclude]

Yeah, people are in the world of EBC. They are non playable however. Herne and Jessa in this RP aren't necessarily Gladiator type though. Jessa is a captured Empire Cat, and Herne is a rehabilitating Hunter (doesn't work)
A caraffory is a cross between a geoffory's cat and a caracal.

I'm glad ya caught that honestly. It's nice to know peeps pay that close attention! They were in injury obtained attempting to open a cell lock gone wrong. So yeah, not exactly subtle.
That would be something you'd need ask her owner, (unio-ARPG)

A lot of yer question can be answered by going to EBC's deviantART page. Empires Before Clans

[rachel]

Thanks
I always like to look for smsll things in stories and tvshows.
(The a million little things show copied off a ranch dressing commarcial for example)