Chapter Text
He was shaking as he stood in front of the bars of the door that would lift up and lead him into the battle field, the arena. The place he was dreading the most, the grip on the small dagger he got tightened so badly his wrist was white.
His breathing ragged as he tapped his foot, the Guards at the both sides of the hallway were giving him looks that made him shiver. Like he was just a toy, just 013. He wasn’t 013, he was Wild. That was his name.
The mask made it hard to breathe, and it sounded like he was breathing through a gas mask. His breathing was loud in his ears. With each in take of breath the cheers of the crowd would be momentarily replaced by his breathing. A short moment of respite that lasted only a few seconds..
The bright sun outside and the sand that covered the flooring of the battle field made it 10 times hotter than it already was. And the sweat under his gear chafing his skin, his foot tapping against the cold stone floor in anxiety.
His eyes flicked from each weapon he could grab on the sandy battlefield. Some were stuck in the sand, or hidden. Others probably put in those boxes scattered all over the place.
He jolted at the sound of a loud voice coming from all around him. “Welcome, Ladies and Gentleman. To the biggest Gladiator marathon we had so far in over 20.000 years!”
The crowd cheered wildly like a bunch of animals, and not people. Wild was always sensitive to loud noises, especially screaming.
“Now, welcome to our contestence!” The voice yelled, as numbers from 1 to 12 rang out…
And then “And of course, our special star and guest, Number 13!”
Wild heard the metal doors being lifted up by the chains with a lot of loud clanking noises that made his ears fold.
He took a look at all of his opponents. They all were buff, and tall. Next to them, Wild looked like a twink, or a child. His face paled, and the tall arsehole from before who happened to stand right next to him smirked at him.
Once he got over the shock of the very bright light and the loud cheers of the people. He heard him call out.
“Ah… so you are 013!” They said,
“I-im not!” Wild snapped back, his grip on his dagger similar to the one of a little kid holding their stuffed toy. “M-my name is Wild!”
The Guy just laughed “Oh, let me tell you something. No one CARES about your name unless you give them a reason to… to them.. you are just a number.”
Wild’s eyes widened. His shaking got worse as he heard the voice coming from all around him. Counting down from 10, he was in despair, scared and in pain. Uncomfortable, the tight restraints made it hard to focus, and it was so hot that beads of sweat rolled down his face.
His eyes had a tunnel vision on only one thing, a green gem encrusted sword right in front of him. Stuck in the sand. Once there was a loud sound of the count down ending, he darted forwards. So fast, he himself did not know how he had done that.
He grabbed it and pulled it out of the sand, whipping around just in time to see the largest and most well built man. Charging right at him, he barely managed to dodge out of the way.
Doing it in a sloppy way, and scraping his skin against the sand.
The man followed right after, with a loud battle cry, charging at him once more. Wild tried to back away, he could vaguely hear the sounds of battle around, but he had his full focus on the man in front of him.
The man harshly swung at him. Creating a scar on his face. Making him cry out, he squirmed and whimpered as he was picked up and slammed against the wall. The pain made him cry out.
The man was about to slamm his fist into his face, but Wild raised the sword in his trembling hand.. his muscles weakened from the withdrawal. But he forced them to lift.. there was a splashing sound and the man in front of him froze..
Wild’s eyes widened.. he dropped the sword as the man let go of him, he fell on his ass. His back pressed against the wall, as he watched in horror as the man stumbled.. holding his hand to his ribs… and then lifting it.. the small of blood in the hot surroundings was amplified by tenfold. The man looked up at Wild…
All Wild could do was freeze as he saw the vulnerability in the man's eyes…as he fell backwards with a thud. Wild's eyes brimmed with unshed tears and he pressed himself against the wall harder.
He let out a choked down sob, as the crowd cheered he closed his eyes and covered his ears. Curling up against the wall, trembling…