Chapter 12 - Kitty Kitty

"Here, kitty kitty." Vallum taunted the tiger as it flew toward him. He sidestepped the creature and wrapped his arms around its torso as it went by.

It'd been several days since his debut beating against Bruce the gheji bull, and since then he had made it through the fights with ease. Normal bulls, wolves, and even big cats were put into the ring with him, but with the strength advantage he pulled his way to victory. Along with the victory came big meals to keep him in fighting shape.

Now, he had his arms wrapped around a tiger that was flailing around in his grasp. The crowd, who had become addicted to his brute strength manner of fighting, cheered wildly at his display. He pinned the creature on the ground and put it in a headlock, then he raised one arm to the crowd. He put his palm up, pumping it toward the sky, signaling for the crowd to get louder. As soon as the crowd started to cheer, he brought his raised hand down to smash it into the tiger's face, which elicited a roar of approval from the crowd. He then repeated the process several times, egging on the crowd and then smashing his hand into the face of the helpless tiger. The crowd started to get louder, and when he figured it was enough, he stood up. When he stood, he hoisted the tiger over his head and let loose a yell.

"RAAAAAAAAAAH!" He slowly turned around to show the whole crowd his helpless opponent, and then dropped the cat to the ground and walked out of the arena.

The biggest thing that he had learned in the past few days is that the louder the crowd was, the bigger his meal was. On his second match, he was put up against a regular bull, and he put it out of commission within a few seconds. He received a meal after that fight, albeit a rather lacking one. Over the next fights, is when he discovered that the crowd is the one that determines how much he eats. Another thing that Vallum had discovered was that there was room for promotion in his new occupation. Gladiators were given the chance to fight Bruce after every tenth win, and if they could beat Bruce, then they have a chance to move up.

He learned from one of the guards that this arena was called the Zoo and was popular because of how every fight featured animals of some kind. He also learned that once a gladiator beat Bruce, they were able to be given a contract with an animal of their own and fight against other animal-people duos. The tiger that Vallum had taken down was his second match that day and marked his ninth win in a row, so the next day would hopefully bring his tenth win and a chance to challenge the monstrous bull again.

Vallum reached his small room and entered it to find his victory meal sitting inside the door. He started eating and thinking about how he would take out Bruce if he had to fight the bull again tomorrow. His hands started shaking. He spilled some food on his shirt as he imagined the huge bull charging at him in the arena tomorrow.

'Kenra," the image of the blonde girl entered his mind, replacing the bull. 'I don't know what happened to me, Kenra. I am supposed to be building our house in the mountain right now. I'm sorry. It is probably going to be longer than a year before I can come find you again.'

He stopped eating as the solemn thoughts entered his mind. Staring at the plate, he thought back to all of the cages in the warehouse he had been sold from. There was no way that he could let that place go on standing after what he saw. There was also no way that he could drag Kenra into this mess.

'I am a slave, after all. This won't happen to Kenra. Whatever I have to do.' He thought, as he started to eat again.

In his mind, the girl smiled at him and then flexed her bicep. She was showing him that she was strong.

'Maybe she can really save those people from their cages.'

Vallum's thoughts went back and forth. He was trying to decide if he should involve Kenra in his mission to save the slaves from the warehouse, or if he should leave her out of it.

'If I do it myself, then there is no telling when the next time I will see Kenra will be. I am not even sure that I will escape slavery.'

His shoulders sagged at the uncertainty of his dreams. He would only have to make this decision if the best-case scenario came.

When he heard about it, he immediately determined that getting an animal contract would be the best chance for any of his wishes to come true, so he resolved to do that. He clenched his fists when he decided on his plan. He finished his food and went to lay on his bed roll so that he could go over his fight that would happen tomorrow.

The situation started to play out in his head.

The guards come into his room and bring him to the corridor. He walks out into the arena and waits for the bull to appear. When the bull comes charging out of the tunnel, he retreats back to the wall of the arena. The bull locks onto him as he yells and taunts it, then it charges. Just before the bull hits him, he dodges, just like he had done before. When he moves out of the way, the bull slams into the wall behind him and is stunned. He then launches an attack on one of the bulls back legs, causing as much damage as possible. The goal is to break the leg or at least stop it from being used at full capacity. After that is taken care of and the bull loses its mobility, then the other legs are targeted. He whittles the bull down little by little until it is in a position for him to finish it off.

Over and over, Vallum played the fight out in his head. His body was cold with sweat from thinking about fighting the huge creature. Each time he imagined the fight, there was some new possible threat that popped up in his mind. He fell asleep with it on his mind and woke to the sound of his door being opened.

'I have to win this before I can fight Bruce,' he thought, but his confidence was high.