Crater Calando

[Kali]

The letter was impossible to miss, nailed to the side of the baker's cart.

Trent,

Thank you for looking after my cart for the next week or so. If you need to get into my shop, there is a spare key in the planter by the door. Make sure the cookies are sold for three coppers, and the scones sold for two.

Also, please refrain from snacking on the pastries. We need some to celebrate our eventual victory over our 'competition'.

~Inkpaw :3

"Sure, Inkpaw, sure." Trent said, eating another pastry. The rat rested his elbow on the cart to support his chin. The aloof looking beast could not fathom why beasts were passing by the cart with out stopping to buy from him. "At least I am getting caught up on my sleep," he said with a sigh.

"... and then she nails him in the chest with a spear."

Trent's eyes glanced towards the beasts idling by his cart. "I wouldn't say she 'nailed' him with it. Looked like the Reaper gave up to me." The fox crossed his arms. Like the hare he was talking to, they were both dressed in simple tunics.

Pulling his cap lower over his eyes, the scrawny rat tried his best to tune out the conversation of the labor beasts.

"Like heck he gave up! Monster killed him fair and square, because the Monster doesn't take gruff from no one. And that's why she could take on the Crimson Tiger. The Tiger got beat by the comic relief, foxy."

"Ah, she took him by surprise is all. I bet that was all some kind of act anyway. You know how the arena works. Nire spreads rumors about the Crimson Tiger being down and out and BOOM!" The fox throws a punch in the air. "The Crimson Tiger leaps out of the sand and kicks your Monster of Mossflower's tail up and down the arena."

The rat rolled his eyes. If only plugging his ears would help. Trent couldn't help but notice however that some of the beasts passing by the bickering fox and hare turned their noses up at the conversation. "It does make me wonder who would win in a-" A monitor lizard with tattoos and a robe began until his companion cut him off.

"Pleassse, don't. After the week with all the bugssss, I sstill have nightmaresss."

Trent raised an eyebrow to the interaction. "Interesting."

"Pastry... please."

Trent was happy to have the distraction of a customer, "Yeah, sure. What do you-" The rat's eyes feel upon the beast and he his heart quickened.

The wildcat's tunic was made of fine silk but hung hung loosely over his skinny frame. The fur underneath was unkempt, and back rings clung to his eyes from lack of sleep.

And yet, the wildcat still managed to loom over them, sending a sense of intimidation through the air.

"Martin alive, you're..." Trent began.

"Hungry." The cat replied quickly. His voice was horse and his tail hung limply behind him.

"Um, ok." Trent replied, he glanced to the obnoxious beasts next to his cart. They seemed oblivious to the gladiator's presence. "What would you like Mr. Tiger... sir?"

"Trask."

"Excuse me?"

"My name is Trask. I'm not the Tiger." Leaning over the stand The Crim- Trask looked curiously at each pastry as if they were some alien cuisine. "I haven't had sweets since I started training." He seemed unsure what to get until finally pointing a shaky claw at a large oatmeal cookie.

Trent gave him two as a buy one get one free deal, but mostly out of pity.

The cat's face lit up, and he purred slightly. Almost as an after thought, the Tiger flipped Trent a silver coin before turning to leave.

"... and that's why the Monster would wipe the floor with the Tiger."

"She can stab him with her pretty little fish hook." The fox mocked, "Like the Tiger would get fooled by such a cheap trick."

"Oh yeah, he certainly saw the bat coming with his own bloody knife!"

Trent rolled his eyes, turning back to his cart. The rat was surprised when he found a rolled up parchment on his cart right in front of his nose. Trent cast a glance around the market place but saw no one he recognized. He only turned away from the cart for a moment, how did they even... it didn't matter.

Inkpaw delivered his messages in pastries while others chose more old fashioned ways to pass out orders. The black ribbon around the parchment meant a coded message inside... an urgent one.

So Trent finished his own snack before opening up his new marching orders. His eyes scrolled down the parchment slowly, making sure he didn't mess up the cypher.

Shoulders slouched and eyes wide the rat hissed through his teeth, "Oh, you have got to be kidding me..."

><><><><><><><><

"You have got to be joking..."

"Sorry, Kali. Numbers do not lie."

"B-but that's not possible!" Kali flailed her wings in the air, causing Ulrich to duck as he finished taking her measurements. "I exercise! I  train, daily! I couldn't have grown larger!"

"Tell that to the armor I need to resize," Drake replied again. "Train more or eat less. My armor is no good if you can't fit into it. Sheesh, show some self control before I have to resize your collar too."

Kali crossed her arms. "Like they had to do with yours?"

The burly fox's smile was less than kind. "A wise beast once said, don't crack jokes of he who makes your armor."

"Or body paint, in my case." Kali chuckled, but her voice turned serious, "Do I even need armor at this point? I've only been playing 'Mascot' since the battle with the Crimson Tiger."

The thought of playing Nire's 'Banshee' again made her fur crawl. If only the FTN would get off their butts and do something before she had to don the Flying Fox costume again...

Drake shrugged. "The ways of Nire are mysterious. After your first fight he made your armor a lower priority. Wants you outfitted for costumes now."

Kali couldn't help but catch a twinge of sadness in the fox's voice. She decided to pull that string and see where it led. Surely there had to be more beasts than just Kentrith who were sympathetic to their plight, "I take it you do not approve?"

Making a disgruntled growl the fox leaned his bulk against a countertop. "Costumes are made for... flair. Flair brings beasts to the Crater, but makes us go through our gladiators twice as fast. I find it... wasteful."

Kali raised an eyebrow. It was nice to know that there was more than just slaves dissatisfied with the bloodlust of the arena.

"I mean," Drake continued, "it doesn't do me any favors for my side business, ya know? Someone takes a sword to the chest plate and keeps on going, you bet beasts are knocking on my door for their own set of armor. But you get gutted in a flying fox costume I helped make? Makes me look cheap."

And the moment was gone.

"Oh! I almost forgot. My wife says you look adorable in the Flying Fox costume. The fox tail was her idea by the way."

Kali could only imagine what sort of vixen found parading around in a fox skull and tail as 'adorable.' In the end Kali decided she didn't want to know. Rubbing her eyes, Kali asked, "Can I go now?"

Ulrich gestured that he was done and Drake nodded to the guards. Kali was soon shuffled out of the armory by her escorts.

Once deposited back in the Drag, Kali did what she normally does after finding out she was too fat for her future armor: she decided to drown herself in comfort food.

Stepping into the mess hall, however, she is immediately hit by a loud, "KALI!"

The bat made a panicked squeak. She was not quick enough to dodge the weasel and was nearly crushed by the sudden bear hug forced upon her. "Buddy!"

"Rose. Spine. Breaking." Kali struggled to get out of the weasel's grasp. Out of the corner of her eye she caught Komi glancing in her direction. She regarded Kali's pleading look with hardly contained chuckling.

"Where have you beeeen? No, forget about that. It can't have been important cause you are here NooOOow. With MeeEEEee. Come on, sit down and grab a plate!" The weasel dragged the bat back to her table despite Kali's loud protests.

Resigning herself to her fate, Kali sighed and sat across from the weasel. It was about as far as she could get from Rose after 'saving her life' in the arena.

The glutton weasel plopped into her chair and immediately started into one of the many plates that surrounded her. When prompted if she wanted a cookie, Kali shook her head no. "Are you sure? They are really good. They even made them in the shape of little rat gladiators!"

"That would be... Silas." Kali said without humor, "He died."

"He did? Huh. I must have missed that one. Was it a good fight?"

"No... Silas died."

"That's a pity. If I die, at least I want to it to be a good fight." Kali had no reply to the weasel's laughter. She was secretly hoping that Silas would do her one last favor and be the cookie that finally pushed the weasel's swollen stomach over the edge.

Blast you, Silas... can't you assassinate even one beast? Kali silently cursed when Rose wolfed down the rest of her meal without exploding.

"I got to say," the weasel licked her chops, "if I had known that you gladiators lived this high off the hog I would have got myself caught a long time ago."

Maybe it will be the scorpion cookie? Nope, blast.

"You beasts live better than kings."

"Kings can come and go as they please," Kali said with as patient as a smile as she could muster, "The creature comforts are just here to keep us subdued."

"Yeah, and all you have to do is kill beasts to keep it."

Shock prevented the bat from replying immediately. She opened her mouth once or twice, but the words just failed her. "Most... would consider that a bad thing. You know, being forced to murder beasts against your will?" Kali laughed desperately, "What happens if you are forced to fight against your friends?"

"I never thought of that," the drunken weasel admitted, "I suppose it would hard for most beasts to murder their friends. So... I guess it would be a good thing." Rose leaned back in her chair, taking a swig of wine. "Makes them easier to murder first."

Kali closed her eyes while scrunching her nose. "I suppose you have to have friends first before worrying about murdering them."

"Oi!" The weasel wagged a drunken claw at Kali. From the way her claw hovered all over the place Kali would say Rose was seeing double... possibly triple. "I'll have you know that I have had plenty of friends! There was this one beast me and the rest of the gang called Ratty, on account of him being a rat. We were real creative, I know. But anyway, he was a good friend. Saved our hides and tails more than once." Rose sighed, "I miss him... sometimes."

Kali's features softened. "I'm sorry, what happened to him?"

"Oh, I killed him. He loved to sing but he had the voice of a toad. Drove us all up a wall. So we drew straws, I drew the short one and it was left up to me to put him out of our own misery. Strangled him with his own lute strings, ya know. Seemed poetic at the time." The weasel takes a sip of her wine. "What did you say you did before coming here?"

Eyes wide with terror Kali quickly said, "Accounting."

"Accounting?" Rose raised an eyebrow.

"Yes. Accounting." Clutching her suddenly ill stomach Kali stood up, "Excuse me a moment..." Ignoring the weasel's protests, Kali left the table. Falling into the mess hall line, Kali rubbed the bridge of her nose.

"Why do I try to help beasts. Beasts are horrible..."

"Keep your head down, and wait for instructions," the fox had said. Well, she was waiting. It was hard to be patient in a place like this. Surrounded by beasts like... shudder... Rose. But that was only half the issue.

Kali would be the first to admit she was a bit batty, but even she knew Nire would eventually tire of the Banshee routine and toss her back into a real fight.

"Now, I have to make an example of you?? The image of the Crimson Tiger's face flashed infront of Kali, twisted with hate and malice. This time however, the memory ended with the wildcat finishing his grizzly work, his the knife slicing into her stomach...

"Wine, I need wine." And sweets, she thought, and her cloth gladiator dolls.

And her bloody lute!

Kali sighed. She wanted the lute maker back even more. She wanted all the beasts who had died in these past months back. Kentigern, Droven, Adeen... even Silas. She-

"Is that you, Kali?"

The bat looked up. Her face lit up at the familiar face. "Inkpaw!"

The marten chuckled as the bat fluttered upward, latching her claws onto the rafters above them. The two shared an awkward upside down hug.

"I hardly recognized you, carrying the weight of the world about your shoulders. What have you been up to?"

"Oh, you know. Dodging monsters and annoying weasel creatures. So, the usual." Kali rubbed the back of her neck. "H-how have you been?"

"Oh, nothing too interesting. I have just been working my tail off since I joined the arena. But it wouldn't feel right to tell such mundane stories here of all places."

"No. I want to hear it." Kali laughed nervously, "I w-want to hear something mundane. Something... not about this place."

With a raise of his eyebrow the marten glanced about the mess hall. "In that case, you will be happy that I made you a treat. In the most mundane of ways possible, I assure you." Grinning deviously the baker produced a parcel out seemingly thin air.

Kali's joyful chirp filled the room. "Is that what I think it is?"

The marten nodded, and closed his eyes while bragging about his latest pastry creation. "I know how much you like scones. I made this one special, just for you. I'm sure you will enjoy the filling the most. I gave it a unique..."

Before the marten could stop her, the pastry was gone, practically inhaled down Kali's sugar encrusted snout. Licking her chops Kali caught the scowl Inkpaw gave her. "What?"

Taking a deep breath, Inkpaw turned his attention back to the mess hall, "Or we can do this the old fashioned way..."

"Hmmm?"

Inkpaw ignored her. Raising his voice the beast threw his paws about in anger. "Ungrateful flying vulpine! You dare mock my food?"

"I-inkpaw!" Kali's eyes went wide as the marten only grew angrier. She seemed to shrink on the rafters.

"I'd like to see you do better! Leathery monster!" Grabbed by the ear, Kali was forced to drop from the ceiling and follow the marten or risk being dragged as he led her to the back storage room.

"What I do? Inkpaw! INKPAAAA-" The door slammed shut behind them and Inkpaw silenced the bat by wrapping his paw around her muzzle. His other paw came up to his own lips in a gesture to stay quite.

For his trouble, Kali shot Inkpaw a look of shock, confusion, and panic. Why was her friend dragging her off into a store room? Was she supposed to admire the art of his pastry rather than eat it?

Inkpaw waited a moment longer before whispering. "Fried Turnip Nutmeg."

Kali's confusion only grew. Rolling his eyes the marten tried another saying, "Frozen Tart Nuggets. You know... the cypher?"

"Cypher?" Kali's raised an eyebrow. Cypher? Like, that thing Kentrith taught her to identify-

A look of pure disbelief flooded the bat. "Noooooo," she gasped. "You are with..."

"Yes," Inkpaw stepped backward, giving the bat room to be properly shocked.

"But you look nothing like a spy!" Kali paused, realizing what she just said. She was thankful Inkpaw didn't call her out on it. "Oh! You know, being a baker is the perfect cover. You could make hidden messages in your pastries and send them to other operatives!"

With a completely straight face, Inkpaw replied, "I will keep that in mind. Please do try to curb your enthusiasm though, we have not much time."

"Of course! The mission!" Kali chirped, "What do you want me to do?"

"Do?" The marten arched an eyebrow. "I... don't have anything for you to do."

"Inkpaw, buddy, surely you dragged me back here for something else than to shoot the bull."

"Oh, but of course," the marten laughed. "I do have some instructions. I wanted to encourage you to keep hope alive, in both you and the gladiators around you."

Kali's twitched an ear. "And what else?" Her quick response seemed to catch the marten off guard.

"There is nothing else. This is important. Previous attempts to free the north failed because the gladiators were swayed by fear or glory for the arena. Tell stories, sing songs of the outside world, keep their moral up." The marten rubbed the back of his neck, "I would have told you all this by letter but it was, heh, indisposed of."

The bat however, does not share in his laughter. "So... essentially, what I have been doing for the past few weeks. Unsuccessfully."

"You just need to find something the slaves can latch on to. Give them hope."

"They are beyond hope." Kali didn't mean to snap at the marten. By his reaction, it was a shock to Inkpaw too. "The slaves are broken. And a few fancy tales are not going to make them unbroken. They need something to actually happen. I need something to happen!"

"And you thought I would send you, a bard, on what? A dangerous mission?" Inkpaw scolded the bat like a teacher. Soft spoken and yet driving the point home.

It only made Kali more furious. "Like being a gladiator is already dangerous? Like cattle waiting to be... butchered there in the arena? You can get beasts in here, why don't you just get us out of here, eh?"

"I'm not here to save the gladiators, Kali." Inkpaw's reply was laced with venom of his own, "I'm here to make sure they don't need saved ever again." 

He took a deep breath and calmed himself. "Kali, the arena is not the problem. The city is the problem. They are the ones who allowed Nire to build the arena in the first place. And they will keep filling the arena, again and again, no matter who we help escape. But you... you and the rest of the beasts here. You are doing something... special.

"For the first time in years, the mood of the town is changing. Beasts see the struggle you all go through, and some are starting to wake up to how vile this place is. The kiss between Bowyer and the Coward, the Reaper's death, and no beast is cold hearted enough to approve keeping dibbuns captive. Even if they belong to the Monster of Mossflower.

"Your collective efforts have done more for the FTN in the past month than all our efforts in the past year."

Inkpaw snapped a claw. "That thing you did, with the Tiger. You raged against the arena, you called them out as the horrible monsters they are, and they loved you for it. That. You need to do more of that with the gladiators."

"I've tried..."

"Try harder." The marten placed a paw on Kali's shoulder, causing her to look back at him. "Don't short sell yourself. You are an exotic creature from an alien land. Beasts will listen to you more than, say, a portly pine marten baker off the street. Surely you've brought hope to someone..."

There was no reply from Kali this time. Her thoughts went to the beasts of the arena. For the most part, beasts were happier around her. At least, Rose was happy to see her. It figures that the only beast she could save would be the one who actually deserved to die in the arena.

That's not quite true though, Kali realized as she remembered her conversation with Thrayjen. The weasel may have been a bandit, but surely her crimes were a drop in a bucket compared to the sins of a tyrannical despot. And even he didn't deserve to die here. Right?

"You're smart, Kali. You will figure it out." Inkpaw drew a sharp breath, "Remember to act sad when you leave though, to go along with our deception."

"It won't be acting." Shoulders slumped, the bat took her leave. Inkpaw made a great show about scolding the bat in front of the gladiators but she was too lost in her own thoughts to pay attention. She just shuffled into the mess hall, her head hung low.

Did she really only succeed in bring hope to bandits, thieves and despots? Were they even still bandits, thieves and despots? The arena was a great many things, but it was an equalizer. A beast's past was really just flavor for the audience. The arena didn't care who you were, only how well you fought.

"Sheesh, what's got his tail twisted in a knot."

Brought out of her mood, Kali glanced over to Rose. The weasel's meal is gone, vanished before the full looking weasel as she licked her chops. The thief spotted one last cookie on the table, but struggled to lean forward far enough to reach it. She flailed her paw about the table and whined pitifully.

Kali raised an eyebrow. With a sigh she pushed the cookie with her wingtip until the weasel could reach it. Rose squealed with joy as Kali sat down again. "So..." She drew a sharp breath, "I don't think I ever asked you how you got into banditry..."