Sirya vs. Long Shin II - Arena Battle

[CaptainL]

With Sirya rattling the bars, the guards stepped in closer, glaring down at the untamed girl. She was unswayed by their silent threat, shouting out more of the same vitriol. "I'm warning you! Yer gonna be sorry!" All the same, their captor's bodyguards simply rolled their eyes to rejoin with their master, who continued on his explanation.

"Why? Well, I'm glad you asked that..." he continued in a mocking tone, seeming more amused by their defiance than anything else. "I'm going to be looking to determine who is the best fighter of all my captives in a tourney of sorts, for the eyes of whatever elite and illustrious names are fortunate enough to know of my business. You'll all be provided weapons and face off with each other one by one. The only rule is that killing your opponent is strictly forbidden - and if you do, I will have my guards present. But as a little incentive for you to do well...the last warrior standing, and only that one, shall be allowed to go free." He chuckled a little to himself, smirking as he clasped his hands together. "Do we have a deal?'

[Mkmd13]

Long listened closely to his explanation on what he had planned for them and what he said at the very end sent a spark through his brain, "Go free? You mean that we have to win this tournament of your in order to be released from this place?" The idea of having to go along with this man's idea sickened him, but right now, he had no other choice but to do so. Either that, or he will be left to rot here in this cell for who knows how long. "Wait a second, if the winner goes free and killing is strictly forbidden, what happens to the losers then?" Long didn't know if he really wanted to hear the answer to this, but getting as much knowledge as he could out of this guy seems to be the only weapon he had against him.

As he waited for his response, another idea crossed his mind... Why would he just let his best warrior walk free after winning the whole tournament? Having a champion around would create a huge draw if he continues with having more tournaments in the future. Is that his true intention to let them free or is he using that as an excuse to get them to fight for him? Long didn't like this situation one bit and gave a look over to Sirya and said to her, "What do you think about this? I'm not sure if we have much of a choice." He then looked back over at the man and asked him one last question, "What is the overall goal of this tournament? Why make us fight? For entertainment, financial gain?"

[CaptainL]

The man tapped his fingers, nodding to Long as he spoke. Despite the gravity of the situation he was proposing, it didn't seem to perturb him; he spoke as casually as anyone would when speaking of mere business. Somehow, just the mere sight of him was making the anger rise in Sirya, as she pouted, tense against the bars and staring out dead ahead. "And here I thought it would be obvious..." their captor muttered, but continued nonetheless. "The others will stay here and train for the next tournament, where they might get another chance if fortune is in their favor. But I am firm in my decisions. Only the victor shall be released."

Hearing Long speak to her from around the corner, Sirya wasn't moved. Whether or not he was in the same predicament she was, he was still the guy who had nearly killed her. Granted, she did start that, but she didn't really care. "Whadda I think? I think we just don't lose. Should be obvious," she muttered.

Then there was still the matter of the man's motives, and he chuckled a little at Long as he shook his head. "You could say that, yes. But why blame me? The elite of society will always be looking for new and greater pleasures to satisfy themselves with. When the familiar becomes too trite, they turn their eye to more enticing things...to the allure of the taboo, the illegal. I am merely filling a need where I see one. If you object to it, blame the nature of man. You are not free of corruption."

He then cleared his throat, adding a final word in parting. "The games will begin tomorrow night. Until then, prepare yourselves." He and his men turned to head off, leaving a grumbling Sirya sitting back, still scowling at them as they turned out of sight.

[Mkmd13]

Sirya responded harshly to Long's question, but to be honest, he was kind of getting used to it by now. He knew that this situation would make anyone on edge and even he was feeling the anger boiling up inside him. That was completely unlike Long to be that way, but it felt kind of good to get everything off of his chest. The man then started to explain and answered his questions as the feeling of dread started to wash over him. They planned to keep the losers here until they finally win? If that doesn't light a fire under someone's butt to win, I don't think anything would.

Then, after the explanation, the man said that the games will start tomorrow night, so they only had 24 hours to prepare for it. Hardly any time at all to get ready for a tournament of any kind. The man then started to leave with his other two guys and when they finally went out of sight, Long turned towards Sirya's cell and started to speak to her, "I don't like this at all. Something about him just makes me not want to trust a single word he says. Not only that, but you heard what he said that only the winner will be able to go free while the losers will have to stay behind. You know what that means right? Only one of us can really leave here..."

[CaptainL]

Sirya didn't trust this man any more than Long did, but then again, she rarely trusted anyone much. All she cared about was living to see the next day, and doing so as she would like - and, at this point in time, she was having her ability to do that restricted against her will. And worst of all, she was powerless to do anything about it - unless she won the tournament, of course, but she'd have to wait a while for that to happen.

If she had to sit here and listen to Long complain about it too, though? That might just make it even worse.

When he raised his suspicions, all Sirya had to respond with was a huff as she crossed her arms - though she had similar reservations. But what made the girl look up from where she was sitting with a frown was when Long mentioned that one of them would had to stay. Sirya, being as headstrong as she was, didn't really care if she'd have to leave him behind, and she glared at the suggestion that she would. What did he think she was, soft?

Well, to be more accurate, Sirya glared at the wall separating her from Long. But the idea was the same.

"Yeah, I heard. I got ears, dumbass! If it comes down to it...I'm still gonna kick yer ass."

[Mkmd13]

It's funny... Even with Sirya belittling him from across the wall, a little bit of comfort was felt inside knowing that he wasn't alone in this predicament. Sure, he has only known her from one little experience in the forest, but it's better than not knowing anyone at all in this foreign land. "Oh is that so? You might have gotten the best of me last time, but this time I'm ready for that little secret weapon you used against me to win." Long mentioned about her stinkfacing him to win their previous match. "It's going to be much harder to get me into that move again if we manage to face off against one another."

Long was both serious about that statement and also poking a bit of fun to try and lighten up the mood a bit. It's doing them both no good to be down and out when there is nothing they can do at this moment to change any of it. To be honest, Long didn't know for sure if he would be able to beat her in a rematch, but he's determined to try his hardest to both redeem himself and get out of this situation if he wins this whole tournament. Although... He just couldn't leave her behind if he did win this whole thing. Long needed to come up with a plan so that he could free her if it came down to it.

[CaptainL]

Even if Long might have been trying to lighten the mood, Sirya didn't particularly care. She shot back a glare at him (or rather, at the wall separating her from him; it was enough to know that it was aimed in the right direction), huffing as she crossed her arms over her chest. "Aww, c'mon! You think I just won because 'a that? I could kick yer sorry ass any day!"

She smiled a little bit at saying that, always pleased to get the last word in on a situation like this. And yet, something felt so strangely unsatisfying about it, this time. Sirya slumped back some more against the wall and let out a sigh. Even with her harsh words...was it really changing anything? It still wouldn't do anything about the fact that they were both trapped in here. Not unless her words could bend the bars before her, which she was pretty sure they couldn't, no matter how loud she was.

As the hours stretched on, with the two of them alone in the dark cells, Sirya raised her head once again to say something else. "Y'know...those guys were wearing blue 'n yellow. I just realized where I've heard about that before..." If she and Long really were in this together, she might as well make some small talk with him. And it might serve to explain what they were both dealing with, if only a little.

[Mkmd13]

Long chuckled a bit from her little retort, but that got his blood flowing a bit more knowing that she wasn't going to go easy on him the next time around. Being in this cell though, there really wasn't much else to do but sit back and relax until the time came for the tournament. Long would sit down on his makeshift bed and lean back against the wall. He looked up at the ceiling of the cell and wondered just who his opponents will be. If they are anything like Sirya, he may be in for some trouble.

After some hours have past, Sirya actually spoke to him first! Long didn't know if he was dreaming this as he was starting to fall asleep while on his bed, or if he was finally snapping from being caged for this amount of time. Although, with what she said, it sounded like she might have some useful information for the both of them. "Oh yeah? What do you know about them?"

[CaptainL]

Sirya wasn't quite sure what brought her to do it herself. She was probably just desperate to say something and to let her voice be heard. The girl deflated against the cold stone floor behind her, staring up at the ceiling with a sigh. It was all so...different from what she was used to. Sirya was used to living out in the wild, where she was free and in control and everything was so open. To be confined this way just wasn't her. It wasn't right. She needed to get out of here as soon as she could, but it seemed as though the desired time wouldn't come for another whole night. Just the thought of it was a frustrating one. Speaking out to someone, even someone like Long, was the least she could do to keep herself from losing her mind.

"I haven't seen 'em before," Sirya continued, answering Long's question. "But I've heard about 'em. The blue and yellow would mean they're from the Slaver Caste. The leader of my old band, before I left, she was an escaped slave and she told us about 'em. I...have no doubt they're gonna want to keep us here as long as we can turn a profit." She hissed a little through her teeth, the thought just making her blood boil. "We need to win if we wanna get outta here."

[Mkmd13]

With the way Sirya spoke about the subject, it seems as though she wasn't lying about it. Also, the fact that she had knowledge on their captures can give them a leg up when it comes to escaping from this place. Long perked up a bit from gaining this information and said back to her, "I see. Did your ex leader give you any pointers on where to attack these guys or any kind of weaknesses that they may have?" Long hoped that Sirya knew the answers to his questions.

If not, it probably wouldn't matter much anyways since they are most likely to be supervised by them 24/7 when they are out of their cell. It's best to just play along for now until the right opportunity strikes. Long then said to her after that, "I do thank you for the information though, this could be useful to us in the future." After their conversation has died down, Long's eyes started to get heavy and he laid flat onto his bed. With a heavy sigh, he closed his eyes and waited for his mind to take him away from this dark place, even if it was only for a moment...