ARISTOS ACHAION // Awesamdude X Reader

5

You slept without issue, most likely from the combination of physical and emotional exhaustion. You only awoke because of the screeching sound of the cell door opening that grated on your ears. You groaned, picking yourself up off the hard-as-rock bunk.

One day closer to the end. Part of you couldn't wait.

Filing out of your cell to join back up with the rest of the group you had been thrown in here with, guards leading the way back into the maze of narrow halls. Soon enough, you were filing into the dining hall again, fighting your way to the counter to grab as much of what they were serving as you could. Today it was bread, and the hunk you grabbed was stale.

Better then nothing though.

The guards didn't let you linger as long in the dining hall as they had last night, and you had barely scarfed down your bread before you were being herded out the door again, into the halls. You expected to go back to your cells, but the walk seemed longer than the one you had taken to get here.

When you saw the wooden double doors though, you knew exactly where you were.

The room with the balcony, where Sam had looked down at you and smiled. Sick bastard.

It seemed someone had made a few adjustments since you had last been in here - racks of common broadswords (some in better condition than others) were pushed up against the walls. You didn't pay them too much mind though - your eyes darted back up to the balcony again.

Sure enough, the warden was there, in a similar stance as you had seen him last, leaned up against the bars of the railing, overlooking the gathered crowd like a king over his men. You looked away, not wanting to catch his eye again. You weren't quite sure what he had been so interested in the first time you had seen him, and you weren't eager to find out.

When everyone was piled into the room, the doors were shut again, and Sam clapped his hands, drawing the attention in the room to himself.

"Glad to see you all made it through the night." He said, a thin smile playing on his face. "As you have no doubt concluded from the weaponry, this is your first lesson in basic sword fighting. To get you ready for the arena, you get two training sessions to learn your way around a sword."

You scoffed internally - like two training sessions would prepare anyone to fight in the arena. Not when some of the caesar's champions had been blessed by the gods themselves.

"I'll be walking you through the basics today - and the next time we meet you'll be doing some sparring with someone else in the room." Sam continued.

You perked up at that somewhat at that - so Sam himself was going to be 'training' you? Interesting; you would have thought that it would have been someone less important. Though maybe he just liked setting his prisoners up to fail himself.

"Everyone grab a sword - doesn't matter if its sharp or not."

The crowds moved over towards the racks of swords, and you grabbed one for yourself, trying to ignore the brown stain on the leather wrapped around the hilt. In the back of your mind, you knew it was blood, but you would have rather not thought about it while your hand was wrapped around the leather.

Looking around, some of the members of your group weren't even able to pick up their swords properly, either too young or two weak. Your heart pulled in your chest - they wouldn't even have a fighting chance out in the arena.

Your attention was drawn back to the balcony, only to see that Sam had disappeared. It was easy to find him in the crowd of people though, as he had taken to the front of the room, and he also happened to be the tallest man in the room.

He hadn't seemed so big when he was up on the balcony, but now that he was on the same level as you... you still found yourself looking up to him.

"The most important thing you'll need to know for the arena is that you have to stay on your feet." Sam said, beginning to stride amongst the people gathered, his hands folded behind his back. "Falling to the ground is a death sentence - if you want to stay alive, you have to keep moving."

Keeping moving would be the easy part - before you had gotten caught in the agora, you had been in plenty of chases with the gaurds before, running for your life (and whatever meal you had stolen) through the streets. Running would be the easy part, at least for you.

"A wide stance keeps you grounded while still allowing you to move quickly." Sam said, moving closer to where you were standing now. "I'm not going to bother teaching you the ins and outs of swordsmanship - you wouldn't be able to get anywhere in two days. But as long as you're on your feet, and have a weapon in your hand, you've got a chance."

You looked down at the sword in your hand. You had no idea how to use it - hell you had never even held a proper sword before. It felt clunky in your hand - unbalanced and heavy - but it would be the only thing you had to use out there in the colosseum. In the reflection on the metal, you could see your face, staring back up at you.

Never in a thousand years, would you have thought that you would be holding a sword underneath the colosseum, preparing to fight for your life.

Sam's smooth voice droned on in the background, but you were only half listening, absorbing tips about going for the weak points of your opponent, and whatnot. You were sure it was important, but you couldn't bring yourself to care.

Looking at the sword in your hand, you weren't sure you would be able to ever use it.