The Half-Breed Hotel

Chapter 1

Chapter #1 Masters, new and old.

A long sliver of pain shot up her back, slicing through her stomach. She lay on the ground where she had been thrown, staying very still. Her tailbone was akeing, and several of her ribs were bruised. Footsteps sounded, coming closer. "Get up you mongrel!" The air whistled, sassily caressing her strange ears, and she received another kick to the ribs. She slid a few feet back. A whine escaped her canine teeth as she staggered to her feet, tail between shuddering legs. Her hands clutched to her chest and her head was bowed. She hated this man with all her being in these moments of torment. An unconscious growl rumbled in her chest and she cut it off. But she was too late, her keeper stormed faster towards her and she limped back. "How dare a stupid mutt growl at me! How dare a disgusting creature like you do anything I don't tell you to!" The man's whip flue down in an ark and cut across the young girl's arm, drawing blood. she yipped at the contact but stayed where she was, shaking. Yes. How dare she. It was all her fault. If she was better she would be rewarded instead of punished. Whimpering, she flinched away from the thought, she was not allowed the privilege of being selfish. She wished to please her master, even if it meant that she would die. If being killed by her keeper made him happy, she would comply. Now she wished to convey this to her master, but knowing no words, she knelt down and sprawled, helpless, at the floor of the man in front of her. No Longer using any mussels, the shivering stopped. A smirk of pleasure and dominance peaked through the grime on the man's face and he grunted acceptance to the gesture of defeat. At seeing this expression on her master's face her tail wagged slightly and the expression instantly disappeared, replaced by a dissatisfactory snarl. She flinched and began to quiver again, expecting to be hit. Her tail was still and, seeing the girl shaking, the keeper left knowing it was one of the hardest things for her to endure. And he relished the feeling of complete and total control over her. Neither of them could expect that she would be taken tomorrow at the arena by  a very powerful man.

The next morning she was shoved and wrestled into half decent cloths. A black bra with a matching pair of form fitting spandex fighting suit. This was accompanied by a dark zipup jacket. Her "keepers" couldn't however get her to wear the silver band collar that was mandatory if she wanted to go outside. Only when her master entered the room did she no longer fight. The wolf inside her yielded to the submissive pup, and she went limp, tail between her legs and ears back. With the collar in place, the chain attached, hood up and his foolish mutt following behind, her master left. She was unceremoniously dragged into the street. Staying her appointed distance from him, she stared at her feet, ears flicking this way than that inside the dark hood that hid her face, to guide her somewhat in the bustling crowd around her. Other Half Breeds wandered to and fro, most with their masters and others without. Some had long erect ears others, short squat ones. Tales of all shapes and sizes and people ages anywhere from 5-50. But all had the tell tail sign of ownership. A brand that was burned into the skin on the nape of your neck. If not done properly one could be seriously injured. She had one as well. She yipped as someone stepped on her tail and from then on carried it wrapped around her waist and  in her arms. With another unruly yank, she tumbled into an alleyway. Her master held up the hand that had her chain in it to knock on a grimy door, only to find that it didn't reach. Growling under his breath, he drue back and banged on the door anyway, forcing her to stumble forward or fall on her face. On the 9th knock, it was banged aside forcibly and both man and servant mutt were ushered inside. It was dark, stuffy and unsophisticated. The air heavy with smoke. Around the edge of the room were cages, some filled with half breeds others not. The next ring in was for tables, then standing space, then the arena. By now she should have been used to it. Her master often entered her in these sorts of things. Most half breed battles weren't illegal, but the ones her master entered her in usually were. The crowds were starting to gather as two half breeds entered the ring. This ring was a special one. It lay half submerged underground in a cylindrical tank about 60 ft in length and 50 ft in height. This meant that there were 3 flores. This tank was made up of one way glass on the outside so the viewers could see everything but the fighters were out of luck if they wanted to get a clue from the audience to where their opponent was. In normal games, once you got tagged 3 times your opponent won. But the thing about these games that made them illegal was the fact that to win you had to incapacitate the other. Betts were often placed on half breeds and this was the main source of her master's cash. Her. This made her extremely happy. Just thinking about it made her tail wag. Noticing her master watching her ears immediately went back and her tail stopped twitching. Giving her a cruel smile he led her to a holding cage. Aiming to please, she leaped inside without being told only to be caught by her master's arm. He roughly pat her on the head saying "You're a good girl, getting excited over these games. You better not drop until I say you can." She nodded vigorously, tail wagging once more. "Now get in there." Once again she was roughly guided towards the cage. Going willingly, she sat down and the cage was locked. Now all she had to do was wait. And wait. And wait some more. Falling over to lay on one side, she whined loud and long. She still didn't like to wait, no matter how many times she had attended these things. Still laying down, she surveyed her potential opponents. Out of the ones she could see, one caught her eye in particular. Not because they looked strong. The opposite in fact, he was just a little boy. He had long black ears sticking out of his hair, which was also black. In the middle of his head thought, was a shock of snow white fur. His eyes darted around nervously and he looked like he was about to cry. He was crouched, chained to the bottom of a table at the foot of a chair which was currently empty. When an overly aggressive bidder stomped past the boy hid his face, turning away, towards the center of the table. That's when she saw what looked like a jet black cotton ball attached to him. It must have been his tail because when another bidder passed, he, along with his tail, shivered in fear. The door to her cage was swung open and she was roughly paraded to the arena grounds. Her master grabbed her collar and made her stand up tall, making her seem intimidating in her dark hood. Ripping off her cowl, her master revealed his beast. The crowd cheered. Master stabbed her with his elbow and she did as he wanted. She flattened her ears and sunk low to the ground. He beat her savagely. Not enough so she couldn't fight, but just enough to give the impression that she was weak. It worked. The contestant that she faced was another girl. She had pointed brown and black ears, almost no tail to speak of and dark brown and black pawed feet. Chants filled the room "Do-be!" they cried. "Do-be! Do-be!". Not knowing what that meant, she sniffed the air. Mutt she thought. Bets were exchanged and the announcer waved his hands in the air, invisibly cutting it into three sections. Noting that, she huffed into the air. She hated these games the most. These illegal and legal battle sessions had different types of fights. Knowing from experience what type of fight this was she knew she would "barely escape" the first and second rounds. This specific battle would be set up into three timed sessions. Whoever acquired the least scratches won that section of the battle. And the contestant who won two out of three matches won the overall battle. But if neither half breed won a section, they would act as if it never happened. However, after two dud battles, battles with no clear winner, the last section would have no time limit. Whoever incapacitated or killed their opponent first, won. At the end of each session the betters would exchange bills and bet again. She didn't know why, but when she won right away her master got really angry. Instead she bided her time. Before she entered the stadium, she searched for the cottontail boy once more. Finally spotting him through the glare of dim light and smoke, she saw that he sat in the lap of a tall figure in a black coat suit, face buried in his master's leather coat. That's all she saw before she was shoved into the arena. Faking panic, she shivered in a corner between two walls. The buzzer went off with a flash of red light, for a brief moment dying the obstacles a blood red. And after a few seconds she heard the panting of her opponent. Hiding in the corner between two obstacles, she weighted. With a growl, the other girl came hurtling over the barrier above her. A streak of black, brown and the glowing red of her suit. Missing the wolf girl by one foot, she streaked past. Yipping in pretend fear, she ran away. She had misjudged the distance. Her attacker had been too far away! She hoped her master would forgive her small mistake. Now worried for real, she had to slightly slow her pace as she went up to the second floor. This was how she spent the next 15 minutes. Dodging and scratching back to keep the score even, neutral. Only once did she let the mutt catch her. And for a second, she thought she would have to fight back to save her hide from her master, but just then the buzzer sounded and the lights in the arena flashed on and off 3 times, signaling the match was over. And she was saved. Only receiving a harsh scratch on her ear before the 'Dobie' was pulled off of her. After a 3 minute break, the second match went much the same. But much closer. During the next break she licked the 3 scratches she had received from her opponent after the buzzer had gone off. Two on her left hand and one on her lip. Also during this break, her master came to visit her. After a rough pat on the head and a beating for a show to the crowd, he left her in the ring for the last time. Finally she could make her master proud. With the final red flash accompanied by the buzzer, she licked her bared canines. Loping around obstacles of various sizes, she searched for her pray. Faint panting reached her ear and she hid on top of a tall obstacle, ears brushing the sealing. Her quarry came around the corner and she fell upon her, teeth flashing. Within seconds, her opponent was on the floor almost unconscious. Frowning a little the winner left her there on the floor, barely conscious, bloody scratches covering her face and arms, and bite marks on her neck. Though she had won, she hated the feeling. The only reason she did it was to please her master. And he was pleased indeed. She was entered into 3 more fights after that and after winning the 4th, her master took her aside. Patting her ears, he silently gave the signal that she wanted her to lose. Ducking her head in understanding she padded over to the arena. Her next opponent was a tall skinny boy in a dark violet suit striped with thick black lines, with short, round ears, a long whip like tail, wreaking breath and teeth that could cut mettle. And she knew she wasn't going to enjoy this. This match was a one on one final match. One knockout was all that was required to win. That or one participant that couldn't continue playing. As usual, her master wanted her to go down fighting. Faking being incapacitated at the last second before she was to fatally injured to recover quickly. This match had no time limit and she gave all the betters a run for their money. At 46 minutes she finally gave in. Receiving a harsh clawed blow from the boy, she was sent flying, hitting her head on the corner of an obstacle. Blood trickled down the nape of her neck and although she was not knocked out by the blow, she fell sideways onto her front and stayed there. It was time for her to exit the battlefield. Her competitor disagreed however. He clawed viciously at her back, tearing the fabric clean off her shoulders and ripping into her flesh. Only after 10 seconds did the match end with the buzzer sounding. Red stained the floor and the air was filled with the stench of iron smelling blood. She was lifted out of the arena and thrown over someone's shoulder like a dead body. She was laid on her master's table and announced incapacitated but not dead. And in exactly 23 minutes she "regained" consciousness. The wait was excrushateing and she waited as long as she could manage, but soon the pain of laying on her back got the better of her and she "woke up". 2 more matches followed, neither of which she participated in, and her master won some and lost some. However even when he won, especially when he won, he tried to blend in with the crowd. To not stand out. He had cheated after all. After the first event, he kept glancing around. He felt uneasy, like some death monster was watching him. Waiting, just waiting for it's chance. And when that happened, he wouldn't get out unscathed. He had no idea how correct he was.