Captured

"No no no you are doing it all wrong! Again!"

A voice echoes out through the combat arena. Multiple teenagers lined up with blades at their hips and their paws up and ready to fight. Each person standing the exact same way with the exact same build as the others around them.

"What are you doing this for?!" the voice yelled out again.

"Freedom!" The group yells, throwing fourth a punch.

"And what will you do to get that freedom?!"

"Fight!" The group yells out once again, throwing forward another fist.

"And what will you do to people who stand in your way?!"

"Hunt! KIll! Eliminate!" With every word, they kick into the air, first the left, then the right, and then the left.

The will to fight was strong in their blood. But some of us were not able to follow. That was the main group that I saw training through the bars of iron that enclosed me in this tiny room.

Every day I watched them train and play. We only could knock on the bricks that separated us from each other. Every day I watched them eat good food while we had some brown meat that smelled bad.

But something started to happen.

Over time the large group of teenagers dwindled. The numbers falling. 500, then 470, then 450. I counted every weekend, counting the numbers on their necks. 400 then 387 to 344. More seemed to just disappear.

We have to go out and fight soon. I never fought a battle before, I wonder what it would be like, will it be peaceful?

…..

We won, but my friends died. I saw them laying on the ground with swords in their stomachs, their throats opened or with arrows in their body. I vomited throughout the day, nothing that I ate or drank stayed down. I didn't feel good from that day forward.

My friends started to say I was changing. That I didn't play as much, that I didn't talk as much. What was happening to me?

There were now 164 of us left. Our feeder got replaced. I wonder what happened to him. But he was a mean guy anyways so should I care or should I just forget that he was ever there? I don't know how to feel.

But as the days went by my sickness slowly went away, the same way the people outside disappeared one after the other. And that soon started happening to my friends. They all slowly started disappearing one after the other. And pretty soon I was one of the few that was left.

But one night I woke up. I woke up in the middle of the night which didn't happen often. I then heard heavy breathing outside of my door. And I wish I had just gone back to sleep because when I turned around I saw a big black figure on all fours hovering over my body.

Two large eyes staring down at me as it breathed heavily along my neck. I froze, I didn't know what to think or what to do. The creature was big from what I could see. Its legs reached both sides of the room and it had very long arms.

The creature slowly brought its hands around my body, slowly picking me up and bringing me closer to its face where I saw its flat face and circled mouth.

The triangular flabs wiggled around faster and faster as I got closer before they opened completely to show its razor sharp teeth.

It was then that the creature froze. Its eyes slowly drift off to its left and turn its head around in a complete 180. And that was when a sword stabbed right through its head, the tip of the blade stopping just before it touched my own.

A loud screeching noise could be heard from the creature as it dropped me. Its long arms and legs spazzed out, moving around wildly before it fell limp on my body. Its head sliding off of the bed with its head turning back around to face me.

The thing's mouth was much bigger than before both in length and width and so were its eyes. But the creature was soon being dragged away by a Panda with armor on who held both of its legs.

I still remember that creature, how it looked at me, how it almost ate me, and how when it was being dragged away. Its eyes still moved yet they were stuck looking into my own.

Pretty soon after that the guard came back into my room and kneeled down beside me and whispered something to me.

"Watch out little guy, those things are nasty, that was the thing that ate your friends. It was also the creature we had to monitor since we noticed it watching you from a hole in your room. It did the same to the others but you were lucky I came to check on you tonight. Those creatures will not let you die a quick and painless death, no… They will make sure you suffer, and they will put fear into your heart until the day you die. So if you want to survive. If you want to live. Then You better get strong. Only the strongest, fastest, and most clever can survive in these lands. You just better hope you are one of them. Now don't tell anybody about the creature alright? Good cub. Your training starts tomorrow." He said before leaving the room and closing the cell behind me.

Now that I think back to it I kind of find it funny. When I looked around my room, the only holes I had were the ones I made with my friends. And if I remember, there was one that I made for the friend below me. And when I crawled out of my bed towards the hole. There were two white eyes staring back at me. And all I could hear was heavy breathing coming from the hole.

I quickly backed up and ran back to the corner of my room with my heart pounding against my chest. I take in a deep breath and slowly let it out as tears begin to well up in my eyes.

It took me a while to understand what I was feeling the first time, but the second time it was clear to me. I was scared. I had never felt this emotion before, I never felt anything. I never smiled like the boys outside or cried like them either. I was just me.

I curled up into a ball in the corner of my room as the tears fell down my cheeks. I stayed like that the whole night, just crying and weeping until I could shed no more tears..

….

The sun was shining down on my face when I woke up. My breathing was all over the place. I was huffing and puffing hard but that slowly went away over time. When it was completely gone I went to ring my bells to see my surroundings, but something didn't feel right. My paws were together and so were my legs.I wasn't able to separate them more than a few inches away from each other. I quickly went for my bells only to find out that they were gone. Along with my clothes.

Damn it, first it was the river which was understandable. But why now? What sort of threat could my clothes bring to a person? I don't remember using clothes to kill or harm someone at all in my last life. And so far that wasn't a thing here either.

The sound of wheels riding along a road, most likely dirt, and the constant creaking noises tells me that I must be in a wagon or carriage. But what type and what for.

"If anybody is there, speak now."

After I spoke nothing happened for a while, that was until the sound of some light footsteps slowly came over in my direction.

Yep. Wagon. You wouldn't have to walk over to someone if you were in a carriage, no matter the size.

"Ah you are finally awake. Don't speak much now, we don't want to have to put something in your mouth to keep you from talking too much. Now about your situation in the simplest way possible, we found you, we got you down and tied you up, you are now going to be sold off as a slave."

"And what's the more descriptive version?"

"We found you sleeping in a tree, we got you down and put you in some iron cuffs. We put you into our little slave wagon here and right now you are in one of the six cages. Although it takes up a large amount of room we still have a nice walkway to rest on. Don't think about escaping though. There are many others around this wagon that will catch you. I bet you will fare for a nice price though seeing how young you are. Our buyers-"

This man just won't shut up! I guess I brought it on myself but I heard what I wanted to hear! I do not need to know his whole story on how he became a trader, about his family or anything else.

"Alright alright I get it! I'd prefer to be a slave if it means to get away from you idiotic rambling! Nobody asked about your personal life!" Once I yelled at him he quickly shut up. But a few moments later I could hear sniffling and then footsteps rushing away from the door.

"What the…"

I heard a few other footsteps come and stop at my door, one stopping on my left and the other on my right. "Why would you do that?! He is a sensitive man! There was no need to be so rude!" A man to the left of me said. "Yeah there was no need for that. You could have at least said please!" a woman to the right of me said right after.

"What do you mean I didn't want to hear all of that! I just asked for a more detailed version of the story from before, he answered my question, and then continued talking!"

"Yeah but there was no need to be so rude!" The two of them exclaimed. I could only sigh and shake my head as they left to, I can only assume, comfort the man that left.

I just hope this ride doesn't take too long.

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Thanks you Geee, because of his comment on the last chapter I got a new idea for a chapter and here it is to make up for the last one. If you read his comment, you are probably wondering how that correlates to anything in this chapter. And to that I say, I dont know.

But one thing I do know is that I will never write a chapter on my phone again.

Thank you for reading and have a good day or night!