Northern_Lights_2014

just a few minutes ago, I grabbed the wet cloth and ran it along the wound hastily to wipe up as much blood as I could. Hissing in pain from the burn of the herbs in the water, I quickly threw the rag in the bucket and grabbed the bandages and wrapped the gushing wound. My fingers fumbled with the cloth as I growled angrily at getting the wound in the first place. “Knicked ya didn’t they? Yer getting sloppy if they got ya after this many years,” a rough voice mut- tered from beside me. Callused hands shoved mine to the side and grabbed the bandages, wrapping it easily before tying it off tightly and slapping the wound. Dark eyes with a red tint to them stared back at me from the darkness. “Oi that hurt ya know. Why you gotta be so rough there Kaine? Just cause you been here longest don’t mean you gotta be so rough with us young’uns,” I whispered as I kept back my hiss of pain. Stretching my legs out in front of me I could feel the dirt below scratch my legs but it felt cool against my heated skin. The roar of the crowd above shook loose dust onto our heads as they stomped their feet. Closing my eyes, the roaring crowd flashed into my head as I stared down at the blood dripping from my hands as my daggers squelched in the wide eyed teen before me as I pulled away. Shaking my head with a sigh I opened my eyes. “Looks like the underdog won again. Wonder if it’s from our cell. Whens yer fight Kaine?” “Tomorrow I’m thinkin. Don’t know fer sure. Can ya move at all there Aryn?” “No. My muscles feel like that goop they call food here.” The sound of splashing water caught my ears before the cold cloth met my blood and dirt covered arm, and a warm body sliding behind me was a relief from the cold steel. Tilting my head back, I could only see the short dark hair of Kaine along with the scars along her neck. The blue glow from the wall behind me gave her a darker look, showing her warrior status and her cold demeanor that let her survive just as I have. The soft cloth that covered our bodies was a synthetic material that was like leather but was a black color with a red stripe of dye signifying what cell we were in and who was the owner of said cell. Pure white markings down the left side of our chest gave way to how old we are and how many battles we have won. Booted feet echoed down the metallic hallway as well as the sound of something being dragged. Quick- ly Kaine and I stood on our feet, and ushered any sleeping kids to the waking world and to their feet. Getting them in rank order from most fights won to the least, we stood at attention, hands behind our backs, feet shoul- der width apart, and heads bowed looking at the ground. Kaine stood to my left at the front of the line, and I could see how tense she was as the doors opened with a soft click and disappeared above. Two warriors stood at the entrance to our cell dragging a small bloody body between the two. They both wore armor similar to ours but white in color and had the Imperial insignia from the race that took us over. Their skin was a deep brown color that looked like fur and their hands were similar to paws. They looked like a humanoid version of cats we used to have roaming our streets and homes. The taller of the two stepped forward and threw a pouch of bandages and medicine in the middle of the room before they did the same to the body. Soft growls echoed as they looked at us and spoke their commands. I kept my head bowed respectfully 23