Game of Thrones || The Sword of the Morning

A Different Kind of Cat

~~Evelyn Dayne~~

I groan in pain as I slowly sit up, my head pounding relentlessly as I try to focus up.

I open my eyes, annoyed by the sunlight in the dark area I'm in. The memories of what went down in that alleyway come back right away.

"Ughh... Fucking hell..."

It's then I notice several slaves all around me, focusing on nothing and keeping their eyes reverted from me. I feel shackles around my wrists and ankles and my eyes wide.

"Where are we?"

I ask and none of them answer, only looking at me with confusion. By the clothes they wear, they look like fighters. The slaver last night mentioned something about a pit.

Fighting pits.

I lean back against the grubby wall, scoffing at the realization that I'm going to be fighting and killing for the entertainment of some lazy fuck's that beat down on the poor.

"They look for a show."

My attention turns to a man beside me. He seems weak and frail as there's a shake to his body. I look at all of the scars on his bodies in shock and horror as his eyes look like they see right through me.

"Fighting slaves are chosen and trained to fight. The ones too weak to do so are fed to the lions and tigers."

"What? You mean they feed the weak to fucking lions?"

I ask in shock and my attention swiftly turns to the gate leading outside. I can't see from all the sunlight but I can hear a crowd outside. They are all cheering.

"They said one at a time to entertain. Sometimes, they empty out the selection of the day in one go, feed the animals many times over."

He says and a guard enters the room, yanking a slave up onto his feet and drags him up the steps and out the gate, slamming it behind him. Only a few moments later does the crowd cheer and I hear the tearing of flesh and roaring of a creature.

"Oh, shit.."

"Yes... 'Oh, shit.'."

The slave says and I turn to him to press more but he turns away from me, closing his eyes.

"We are in back of line. We fed last."

For hours, dozens of slaves are taken out one by one an brought to the arena, the sounds of slaughter fills the air and I can't help but she flashes of the battlefields I've fought on.

From the Whisper Woods to the Flood Bowl, the monstrosities of war were always present and around every corner.

And now it's here.

The man next to me gets taken and be only spares me a glance before being throw outside. I listen as the animals rip him to shreds.

I rip my sleeves of my shirt completely off and wrap the torn sleeves around my knuckles as tight as I can.

Two guards enter and I try grabbing me and I swing at one, hearing the sounds of teeth scattering on the floor before the other one grabs me.

They beat me until I cough blood. They drag me up the steps and the sunlight is shined in my face, the roars of the crowd drown my ears in sound.

I breathe heavily as they drop me to the ground, taking the shackles off my ankles and wrists.

I hold my chest in pain as the sand blows in the wind, the sun beating down. If I'd have to guess it's past mid-day.

A man on a platform higher up that the walls of the arena stands and starts to address the crowd. I feel surrounded and trapped. I only catch a little bit of his Valyrian and the only thing I can really make out of the bits is cats.

Big cats.

I stand to my feet when I see another gate opposite to the one I came from open. I peer inside, not being able to see anything. A low growl and my eyes widen as I stumble backwards.

A fucking tiger.

"You've got to be fucking kidding me?"

The tiger has a chain collar around its neck, it's lips drenched in blood. I nearly trip over a torn limb on the ground as I feel my heart pound in my chest.

The tiger stalks me like hunter stalks it's prey. It bars it's sharp teeth, growling dangerously as it's eyes are wild and untamed. Despite the beast probably killing and feasting all day on human beings, it still looks hungry.

And pissed off.

The tiger quickly lunges at me and I just barely have time to roll away from it. It roars as it comes back fast like lightning and I feel its claws just managing to scrap across my leather brigandine, leaving a mark that soon starts to drip a little blood.

I hold my chest in pain as I try to get into a stance. How the fuck do these people expect me to contend with a damn tiger?

It lunges again, jumping high in the air before crashing down on the ground where I stood mere moments ago. I dash towards the wall, trying to gain space but I hear it begin to give chase. Good.

Reaching the wall, I quickly run two steps up with the tiger hot on my heels but I twist around, avoiding it's slashing claws and I hit the side of the tiger's head with a powerful punch, knocking it to the ground briefly whilst sending pain through my knuckles.

The crowd roars in cheer as I look for anything in the arena to help me but all there are is bones. Rib bones could work.

The tiger roars and it charges again, this time, I swiftly kick a ton of sand into it's face, distracting it before I dive towards a mangled chuck of what was once a man and I tear a rib bone out of the ribcage.

The tiger pounces onto me but with the force of it's jump, it impales itself onto the bone, making it cry out in pain before it slumps on top of me, dead.

I pant heavily as I struggle to get the powerful beast off from me. When I do, I stand, looking at all the people watching on in utter shock as I clutch my chest.

"What?"

I raise my hands in anger.

"Is that what you people wanted? Huh? Is that what you had in mind?"

I spit on the tiger before looking to the masters in one of the higher up booths.

"You sick fuck's... This is all you're getting.."

I mutter angrily before dropping on one knee in exhaustion. The crowd roars in cheer as I slump onto the ground, letting the exhaustion take over me.

~~~~~
A/N

As you well know, the tiger's are considered the deadliest of the big cats of the world. And the chances of a person actually winning a fight against a tiger is basically 0. But it seems Evelyn's pulled if off.

Anywho, I hope you enjoy. If you did, could you consider commenting and leaving feedback for me? I greatly appreciate feedback for you guys.

Thank you so much for reading!