Firedancer 4: training
"Wake up, Savage." Quinn startled awake at the words, and a sharp nudge in his sore ribs. He sat in the back of a large cart made of iron and wood, drawn by a pair of feral horses. Peering out through the bars of the cart, he had to squint against the glare of sunlight off the desert, which seemed to stretch in every direction.
"I think we're stoppin' here." The words belonged to the bear from the arena. The other passengers of the cart included the ape, another bull, and the tallest feline Quinn had ever seen. He had unique orange fur with heavy black stripes.
"My name's Quinn." He muttered, giving a small yawn. His neck was stiff from how he had slept against the bars of the cart.
"Not anymore. I'd get use' to bein' called Savage now." The bear said absentmindedly as he peered out across the desert.
They left the outpost sometime last night and had seemingly travelled the better part of the night and on through the morning. The sun was now just reaching its midday point, and the heat was already growing stifling, especially here in the cart.
Quinn ignored the bear, instead checking his bandaged shoulder for range of motion. It was stiff, and a dull ache met his movement, but he could work through it.
A bull, the same one Quinn recognized from the arena, approached the cart and slipped a key in the large iron padlock before stepping back to allow the door to swing open.
"Out." He ordered with a grunt.
The bear rose immediately, climbing out first, followed by the large ape. Quinn hesitated, before following. The striped cat climbed down behind him, followed by the bull. He had quickly learned to hate any time they were ordered into line
Tarek had just stepped out of the carriage behind their cart, squinting against the glare of the desert. A fox dressed in matching blue silk tunic and trousers stepped out behind him, a wooden tablet with a roll of parchment pinned to it gripped in one paw. The wolf noticed a silver collar around the fox's neck.
"Remove their shackles, Sardonis." The hyena ordered with a small yawn, twisting his head with a crack.
"Yes, Sir." The bull grunted, retrieving another key from beneath his armor. He worked down the line, until all the slaves were unbound.
Quinn scanned the caravan they had been travelling in, counting five carts, including Tarek's carriage, three of which were cages much like the one he had just dismounted. The other two had eyes and muzzles visible through the bars.
"Go retrieve the others." Tarek ordered Sardonis.
"Yes, Sir." The bull grunted again, moving off to the other carts.
The lion guardsman stepped up beside the hyena, this time flanked by a pair of jackals, followed by another striped hyena, this one collared in iron and missing an ear.
Tarek turned to address the slaves now, though his voice carried to those dismounting the other carts. "This is Jabari," he gestured to the collared hyena, who stepped forward without a word, "you will take all instructions from him. His word is my word. Disobey him, you disobey me. Is that clear?"
The slaves all grunted an affirmative, save for Quinn, who was busy appraising Jabari. The authority Tarek seemed to grant a slave caught the wolf off guard. The hyena was covered in scars which traced lines through his fur from head to paws, and now that he was closer, the wolf could see a stubby remnant of an ear which had long since healed over. He stood with a straight posture unlike most of the slaves Quinn had encountered. The hyena met Quinn's eyes and gave a wicked grin which revealed a missing canine, adding to his grizzled look.
"Is that clear, Savage?" Tarek barked, eyes falling on Quinn.
"Yes." Quinn replied shortly.
The slave master's high pitch laugh bristled the wolf's dark fur. He nodded to the lion, who slipped a small wooden club from his belt.
He stepped toward the wolf, jabbing it into his stomach and dropping him to his knees.
"You will address me as 'Master,' is that clear?" Tarek stated, a note of threat in his voice.
"Aye, Master." Quinn hissed through gritted teeth. This drew another shrill laugh from the hyena, who now turned to address the rest of the gathered slaves, including those from the other carts now.
"If you listen to Jabari, and take his lessons to heart, you may just live long enough to enjoy fame and fortune impossible to most slaves. Rich Matron's would kill for a night to bed you. Your legend could stretch well beyond your death."
Quinn rose to his feet, barely managing to restrain a growl. Jabari met his eyes once again and grinned.
Tarek's eyes fell back on the wolf. "Or, you could die forgotten, because you believed you didn't need the lessons a champion could provide. Because you desperately cling to a freedom you will never know again. That a collar should not be on your neck."
The wolf didn't say anything, though he locked his eyes with Tarek's. The hyena turned to Jabari. "Oversee camp setup. Afterwards, I want you to begin training immediately.
The slave nodded in response, turning to the gathered slaves without another word to his master. "Get to the wagon, I want it unloaded in fifteen minutes."
"I guess he doesn't have to say 'Master'." Quinn grumbled to the bear beside him as the group moved off to the fifth and final wagon.
"Ya ain't makin' it any easier, pup." The bear chuckled.
Slaves were already at the wagon pulling the coverings off to reveal crates, barrels, poles, and other various things.
"Why would I care to make it easier for them?" the wolf growled as he grabbed the other end of the large crate the bear was trying to heave out of the wagon, careful to shift the weight away from his injured shoulder.
"I mean for y'self." He replied.
Quinn's tail lashed slightly as he contained another growl. They lowered the crate on the ground next to a large barrel. The bear turned back to the wagon where a wooden pole was being passed out paw over paw.
The wolf didn't see how anything could possibly make this any easier. "Hey, Savage, ya jus' gonna stare?" the bear called.
Not bothering to restrain a growl this time, Quinn followed him back to the wagon to take a barrel that had just been rolled to the edge by the striped cat from before.
"My name is Quinn." He reminded the bear, drawing another laugh from the creature.
"It was. Now it's Savage." He shouldered a pole himself, shrugging it off into the growing pile on the ground.
Quinn dropped the barrel atop the crate. "So, what, you're okay with being called Badger?" he sneered. At first, he'd thought Tarek had misidentified the bear because of his slender build but had since learned it was meant to be his name. "You don't look like any badger I've ever seen."
"Don't matter what I'm called. A name's jus' a name." the bear returned to the wagon. Quinn followed without another word, despite his growing frustration.
It didn't take them long to unload the gear, though the wolf was panting hard by the end of it, though he mostly attributed that to the heat. His black fur was already proving to be a liability in this sun.
Jabari divided the slaves into different groups, each one working on a different tent or structure. Quinn was put to work in the group charged with constructing the slave paddock. This group was overseen by Jabari himself, while the other groups were supervised by different guardsman.
Jabari directed the prospects to drive a series of tall posts into the ground in a large circle, outlining its approximate size with rocks spaced out to form a perimeter. Badger was nowhere to be seen, but Quinn caught sight of the striped cat lifting a tall post onto his shoulder, his other paw gripped around a large wooden mallet. He hurried over and started lifting posts onto his good shoulder from the same stack. The big feline gave him a small nod of acknowledgement.
"I can carry them and hold them in place when you strike. We can switch off if you get tired." Quinn offered, seeing the creature struggle to get a second post on his shoulder and balance it with the mallet in his other paw. The cat easily stood half a foot taller than the wolf, and was thickly built, unlike Badger.
He spoke in a heavy accent, his control of the western tongue rudimentary. "Yes, good." He grinned.
Quinn helped him shrug his two posts onto the wolfs' shoulder before following him to the perimeter where the circle was going up. He shrugged one off and propped it in place with one hand, steadying it while the cat took up a solid stance and gripped the mallet in both paws. The wolf flinched only slightly when he swung, aware of the damage the tool could do to his paw with a minor miscalculation, but the cat's aim proved true.
A few more strikes and the post were set. The two paced out the appropriate distance to set the next post.
"You Savage?" the cat asked as they walked.
The wolf shook his head. "No. My name is Quinlan. Quinn for short."
The feline gave him a confused look. "Bear call you Savage."
Quinn sighed. "Yeah, well, my name's Quinn."
He nodded. "I call Prow--Prowler." He stated, struggling at the pronunciation. He gestured to himself with his free paw. "But I name Arijit."
"Aruh-jzet?" Quinn butchered the name.
"Ar-EE-Jzeet." The cat corrected.
Quinn steadied the next post, and Arijit set to work driving it in.
"Forgive me," the wolf hesitated before saying, "I've just never seen a feline of your kind before."
The cat laughed, striking the post one more time before lowering the mallet. "I Tiger."
"Tiger?" the wolf asked. It didn't sound quite natural in the cat's words.
"I tell that word." He commented, moving to pace off the next post.
Quinn didn't know what he meant at first, but his brain pieced it together. "Oh, you were told that word?"
Arijit nodded, halting at the next place.
The wolf steadied the next post, just as steps sounded behind him. He glanced over his shoulder to see a one-eared hyena passing by.
Jabari paused just as Arijit began driving the post. As the tiger finished, the gladiator spoke. "You're Savage. I saw you're Proving. Do you think that just because you survived one fight, you're worth something?" That wicked grin was spread across his muzzle. Where Tarek's voice was harsh and raspy, Jabari's was gravelly and deep.
The wolf turned to face the hyena, still holding one post on his shoulder. "I didn't need a fight to prove anything." He growled.
The hyena laughed as only a hyena could. "You'll have to try harder than that, pup. I've separated rhinos from their heads, and they had more kills than you've got teeth. Tarek think's you've got something, but I've seen plenty like you. Might get lucky once or twice, but you'll be dead before the tournament even begins."
"That's _Master_Tarek." Quinn corrected with a defiant grin.
Jabari stepped forward suddenly, clutching the end of the post on the wolf's shoulder in his paw, twisting and shoving the wolf as he kicked his foot paw out from under him. Before Quinn could process what happened, his face was pinned in dirt, the post pressing down on his shoulder and neck.
"You're right. It _is_Master Tarek. Thank you for correcting me." He said calmly, releasing the wolf and tossing the post on the ground next to him.
Quinn pushed himself up, taking the pole in his paw as he did so.
Arijit placed a large paw on his shoulder, giving the wolf pause. The tiger shook his head.
"Your friend knows what's good for you." The hyena laughed again as he turned to leave. "Oh, you're gonna be a fun pup." he added over his shoulder.
The tiger's massive paw tightened on Quinn's shoulder. "No." he whispered, his whisker causing the wolf's ear to twitch.
The wolf noticed then that a crowd of slaves had paused their work to watch.
Quinn reached for the mallet, tugging it away from the tiger more harshly than he'd meant to and thrusting the post into the large feline's paws.
"My turn to strike." He grumbled, pacing off the next post. Arijit followed behind and steadied it for him.
"Quinn make trouble. Make target." He commented.
"Yeah, well, Quinn's always been good at that." The wolf growled, slamming the mallet down onto the post. The tiger flinched.
"Sorry." He frowned. His next strike was much more controlled. It took him two or three more swings than the tiger to get the post sufficiently set, even with his anger fueling his strikes.
After the posts had all been driven in place, the slaves were directed to weave long flexible boards through them to create a type of fenced enclosure. Finally, a heavy canvas tarp was dragged over it and secured to each post by lacing and a central pole was erected at the center and braced between the canvas and the ground.
The entire structure seemed shoddy to Quinn. There wasn't even a door or gate. Sure, he'd stayed in worse accommodations, like the time he ran away from home when he was younger and slept under the bridge leading out of Brenton, but it seemed odd that the slave's tent would be so open.
With the rest of the camp established, the work crews started aggregating on the eastern side, where a barrel of water had been opened and a battered ladle was being passed around. The sight of the water reminded the wolf how dry his tongue felt from panting as they worked in the growing heat of the day.
He held the water on his tongue, savoring its relatively cool caress before swallowing as much as he could, passing the ladle to Arijit when he'd finished.
A large cinnamon paw patted his good shoulder. Quinn turned to see Badger standing beside him, a grin on his muzzle.
"See ya didn't get y'self killed yet."
"Not from lack of trying." The wolf grumbled.
"Quinn make trouble." Arijit told the bear.
Badger frowned. "Ya gonna get him in trouble wolf, havin' him call ya that." He said before he turned to the tiger and spoke in a language Quinn didn't understand. The tiger replied in the same language, though Quinn caught the word "Savage."
Jabari's voice called out above the conversation, drawing the groups attention. "Around me, now! Anyone not moving with a purpose will be lashed."
The wolf sighed before jogging off to join the rest of the gathering slaves. A circle was forming around the scarred hyena, who was standing in the center of a ring of stones.
Quinn estimated about fifteen slaves total stood around the ring, all eyes and ears focused on the hyena. He waited for the last of the stragglers to arrive before he spoke.
"Master Tarek..." his eyes caught Quinn's and he gave a wicked grin, "...may fill your heads with images of fame, but I will not. While it's true that there have been gladiators more famous than kings, it is far more likely you will die covered in your own shit with another gladiator's sword sticking out of you." He turned slowly as he addressed the slaves.
"My job is to do everything within my power to get as many of you through the qualification match as possible. Therefore, the next few weeks will be simple. Do what I say, and train like your lives depend on it. Since we are forced to begin training on the road, days will be much like today. It is not ideal, but it is necessary. Travel days will be followed by training days. I expect camp to be established in half the time. Training will only end for the day when I am satisfied. I will look to the blooded gladiators to assist with training. Is that clear?"
Calls of affirmation went around the circle. Quinn kept his muzzle firmly shut.
"Alright, then. We are going to begin with the basics. Footwork and stances. I don't care how strong your arm, or how well you hold your sword, if your footwork is poor, or your stance flawed, you will lose a fight. How you stand against an opponent is fundamental to combat and doing it incorrectly will get you killed. Rake, if you would." He turned to a lion standing almost opposite of Quinn.
The lion stepped into the ring and automatically took up a broad stance. Jabari explained the stance, stating how it was meant to provide stability and balance while maintaining mobility. He then took up the same stance and had the lion attempt to toss him to the ground in various ways. Finally, the prospects were ordered to split off into pairs and take up the stance, each attempting to throw the other to the ground. Meanwhile, the blooded gladiators would walk around and make corrections and give advice.
Quinn searched for Arijit, but the tiger had already paired up with the same bull from their cart, so the wolf turned instead to find Badger standing beside him.
"Looks like ya stuck with me." The bear chuckled.
Quinn managed to avoid rolling his eyes.
The bear laughed again. "I like ya pup. Ya awful at hidin' ya thoughts though."
"And you're never afraid to speak yours." He shot back, though a grin split his muzzle.
Quinn felt silly as he struggled futilely against the bear. He felt the stance was too awkward and restrictive to appropriately use against an enemy, even despite the demonstration, and said as much to Rake when the lion came around to watch their efforts.
"You just don't have the appropriate muscles built up yet." The lion replied, before nudging the wolf's legs further apart and heading off to supervise another pair.
Only a few times did the wolf manage to toss the bear to the ground. Badger was misleadingly strong, despite his thin build, and the wolf had to remind himself of that every time he was slammed into the dirt.
He quickly grew bored of the exercise as it seemed to drag on, and with no indication it was going to end anytime soon, his mind started to wander. He caught himself wondering yet again why they were allowed so much freedom to move about camp as they were. His eyes peered out to the surrounding desert. How difficult would it be to sneak out of that paddock in the middle of the night? There were not many guards in the caravan, would he be able to get away from camp unnoticed?
Badger caught him in his moment of distraction, shoving him roughly to the ground.
A harsh laugh from behind bristled Quinn's fur as he rose to his feet. He turned to see Jabari observing the pair with crossed arms.
"What's so interesting out there, Savage? A wolf bitch with nice fat tits? Or are ya thinkin' of running?" the hyena chuckled. The wolf turned back to his training partner, ignoring him.
The hyena's paw gripped him roughly on his injured shoulder and pulled him close as he gestured out into the desert. "I don't see no bitch out there, pup. What do you see?"
"Nothing!" Quinn growled as he fought to pull himself away from the hyena's iron grip.
"Exactly. Take a good look. There is nothing out there. The nearest settlement is the outpost we just left, nearly a hundred miles away. Do you know which direction that is? Do you know which direction we are going? Do you know how quickly a creature can die of thirst in this desert? Or of the heat? Go ahead and run. I won't even bother coming after you. Even if you defied all the odds, and made it back to the outpost, you think the guards will just accept a collared slave without question? Do you even know the punishment for a runaway slave?" The hyena growled, no longer any humor in his voice.
Quinn was silent as he spoke, though he cursed at himself as he felt his ears and tail droop. He didn't want to give the bastard the satisfaction of knowing he had read Quinn's thoughts perfectly.
The wolf knew nothing about surviving in the desert but heard many tales of the dangers there. Of the scorching sun literally cooking a creature's brain in his skull, driving him mad before death. That even with the support of god, many men were lost on the march across the barren land seven years earlier.
A low growl escaped his muzzle. He hated that the hyena was right.
Jabari dropped his paw from the wolf's shoulder. "Is death preferable to what you have now? If so, then go ahead." He smiled in satisfaction.
Quinn clenched his paws, feeling dull claws dig unyielding into his paw pads.
The hyena turned then, just as the wolf felt his legs propel him forward. He felt his paws close around the hyena's collar. He felt his arms strain, and he kicked out, but before he could connect, he felt a vice-like grip close around his wrists, claws digging into his flesh.
The collar was ripped away from his grip as the hyena slammed a knee into his groin.
Quinn yelped, gasping for breath as the hyena dropped him to the ground. He pinned his ears against the surrounding laughter as he fought the pain coursing through him.
"Badger help this slave to the water bin, then bring him back here. We will continue stance drills until sundown." Jabari stated, barely suppressing a laugh.
The wolf felt a strong paw lift him up slowly.
"I told ya ya bad at hidin' ya thoughts." The bear mumbled in his ear as he shifted his weight onto his shoulder. "C'mon."
They made their way to the water barrel where the bear dipped the ladle in and held it up for the wolf, who grudgingly lapped at it.
Thankfully, Badger didn't comment on the wolf's behavior this time, though he watched him with an odd look on his face.
When Quinn finally felt like he could walk on his own, they returned to the group and resumed the exercise, though the wolf noticed the bear was going easier on him. He didn't mind, though was certain Jabari would say something if the hyena had noticed. Luck was on their side, however, and as the sun began to sink low in the sky, the hyena called a halt to the training.
The slaves gathered once more around the water barrel for a drink before heading off to form a line, where wooden bowls were being passed out by a jackal. The line then continued to where a reddish-cream fox, one of the desert types with large ears, was ladling a thick broth stew into each bowl. Quinn had only seen a few of his kind before, being slightly larger than the smaller fennec fox species of the sand deserts, though smaller than the red foxes of Brenton. His coloration seemed to mimic the reddish colors of the dirt and stone in this part of the world and gave the creature the appearance of being some form of fennec-red fox hybrid.
Jabari stood behind the fox, watching each slave receive a helping of his meal. Quinn lowered his gaze when it was his turn, but his keen ears couldn't tune out the high chuckle from the hyena as he accepted his helping.
Fur bristling, he made his way to where Badger was slurping noisily at his stew, nodding to Arijit as he passed the tiger who was eating beside the large bull.
"How's ya stones?" the bear asked with a large grin as the wolf lowered himself to the ground beside him.
"Still there." The wolf replied coldly.
"Well, it was y'self who tried to attack an arena champion." The bear reminded with a slight chuckle.
Quinn lowered his ears in response. He raised the bowl of warm stew to his muzzle and took a sip. He was surprised at how delicious the salty broth tasted as it washed over his tongue. He slurped it all down almost immediately.
"It does get easier, ya know." The bear stated, large black eyes watching the wolf.
Quinn's fur bristled again. "I don't want it to get easier." He growled.
"I remember that anger. I thought it helped too." He continued.
"You weren't born a slave?" Quinn asked. He realized he didn't really know much about any of the creatures who shared his predicament.
"Nah, I was born a free-folk." He replied.
"What happened? How'd you wind up here?"
The bear gave a humorless chuckle, lowering his ears. "Gambling debts."
His tone made it clear to the wolf that he did not want to talk about it. That was fine by Quinn. If the bear had somehow gambled his way into slavery, that was his problem. The wolf had been forced into it. Tricked by a caravan owner and probably his own father too. The bear may need to think it gets easier, because it was his own foolishness that led him here. Quinn was here because of a divine mistake and a drunk of a father, and that was hardly his fault.
"Anyway, it don't matter. I'm where I am, and that ain't bout to change anytime soon." The bear continued at length, forcing his round ears back up.
"You seem accepting of all this." The wolf grumbled as he set his empty bowl down next to him.
"I just know when to fight and when to stay quiet. Ya could benefit from knowin' that y'self."
Quinn didn't respond, instead scratching a spot in the dirt with his claw. The bear rose to his feet with a stretch.
"Ah, I'm gonna feel tonight tomorrow." He grumbled, adding "Ya comin'? We should find a good spot in the paddock before the other's finish."
Quinn stood as well, scooping up his bowl and following the bear to where a stack of used bowls had already begun to accumulate near the now empty pot of stew.
The two were joined by Arijit and the bull, who introduced himself as 'Impaler,' which the wolf assumed was not his actual name.
The four made their way to the covered paddock in the growing twilight, finding an unclaimed edge near a wall within the enclosure where they cleared away as many stones and random debris as they could before attempting to get comfortable and settle in for the night.
It took Quinn a long time to fall asleep, as his mind seemed to wander around the events of the day, and even to the events prior to that. He recalled with disgust the taste of boar flesh on his tongue. The fear he felt at being bound on a platform as foreign words were shouted around him, before he was roughly dragged before a hyena who explained he was now property. Even when sleep finally claimed him, his father's face drifted in his head, the rage twisting it into the same hideous monstrosity that it was when Marcus Fisher told him he had caught Quinn and his son behind the smoking hut.