The Brutes Prompt 1

Erimia, Candy Queen, and Anue were wandering along the winding caves that seemed to stretch for eternity beneath the surface of vitalus. They had been wandering for a while at this point and were hopefully approaching the next clan of Haedians. After spending time with the Forgotten, the Druids, and the Caregivers they had heard stories about the Brutes and had grudgingly agreed to check them out. They had heard that they were the strongest but also the most violent of the Haedians which both frightened and excited the surface dwelling trio. Their young haedian friend had given them a map before they had departed to guide them but it was honestly a straight shot to the Brutes territory so they didn’t really need it. Anue was leading the group along the twisting crystal encrusted pathways when the group noticed the crystals slowly shifted from the pale blue of the Forgotten to a deeper more Jade like shade of blue green. The crystals also changed in shape as they progressed, changing from a spikey rhombus shape to a rounder, more cylindrical spire formation.

“Looks like we’re getting close,” Anue announced to his friends with a smile. “It shouldn’t be too long now.” Candy Queen gave a small cheer of acknowledgment while Erimia let out a relieved groan. The massive tyrian was really starting to dislike how cramped it was down here and wanted nothing more than to stretch her stiff wings. As the trio rounded yet another bend in the cave they noticed an odd echoing sound coming from up ahead. It was a strange sound, like a dull roar but not quite like water. It wasn’t consistent and seemed to ebb and swell randomly. The trio exchanged curious glances with each other as they approached, none of them able to guess what they were about to stumble into. As they cautiously continued, the odd roaring sound slowly got louder and clearer until their ears were ringing with the cacophony of screaming voices echoing through the cave. Erimia pinned her long ears to the side of her head and fought to be heard over the deafening noise, “What the heck is this?!” she screamed. 

Candy Queen tried to say that she didn’t know but neither of her companions could hear her. Starting to panic a little bit, she pushed her way past Anue and started to run down the cave path in the direction of the noise. She could barely make out the sound of her companions calling out to her under the pounding screams battering her ears when she turned around yet another bend and the tunnel suddenly got a lot brighter. The runner came to a skidding halt and stood mouth a gape at the sight playing out before her. Her companions caught up to her and nearly slammed into her back. The cave they emerged from opened up to a narrow ledge path that zig-zagged down the cave wall. Down far below them an underground city sprawled before them and nearly directly below where they were standing a massive coliseum was erected. Unlike the rugged camps of the Forgotten or the small outskirt village of the Caregivers this was an actual city of The Beneath. The deep jade colored crystals that had dotted the cave they were in covered the city, huge rounded cylinders of the crystal sprouted from the ground and walls and from their perspective it almost looked as if there were rivers of the crystal throughout the city where the crystals rutilated the dull stone and marble. As the trio stared down in awe at the surprisingly advanced city, the crowd in the arena surged in cheers once more. 

Erimia’s eyes glittered in excitement and she frantically gestured to the two runners beneath her. They couldn’t hear each other over the cheering below, so she gave up trying to speak and was trying to communicate via gestures. Anue understood her immediately but Candy Queen just stood and stared in confusion. Eventually giving up on the gestures the tyrian stoops down to allow Anue to climb onto her back while Candy just stared questioningly. Once ANue was in place Erimia hopped up and grabbed Candy Queen with her hind legs. The rainbow runner let out a small startled yelp that couldn’t be heard over the noise as Erimia spread her wings and launched off the ledge to glide down into the arena below. As the trio descended into the arena they could hear the announcer state the rules to the next set of participants that were getting ready to compete and get a better look at the odd topography of the arena. It appeared to be some kind of keep-away and collecting game which made all three of them buzz with excitement. The arena was mostly flat but the outskirts had small spires, rock piles, and archways of natural stone. Anue could see something gold glittering in the shadows among some of the obstacles too.

As the trio made their final approach, some of the crowd noticed the dark shadow descending upon them and the excited cheers briefly turned into concerned murmurs as the unknown creature landed in the middle of their game. When Erimia gracefully landed, she deposited Candy Queen and Anue quickly hopped down. The massive tyrian and male rainbow runner stood proudly, excited to participate, while Candy Queen tried to untangle her long mane from the front of her face. The first of the Brute Haedians to speak up was the announcer who animatedly welcomed the trio, “What on earth-?!! …Would you look at that folks! It seems a trio of surface dwellers has descended into the depths just to participate in our event today! Will the ones who bask in the sun’s light claim victory or will our local champions teach these upstarts a lesson?!” At the end of the announcers incitement the crowd roared viciously in favor of the Haedians who were gathered in the arena with the trio. The announcer smiled a wicked grin before slamming a large metal gong hung on the cave wall behind him, “Let the competition Begin!!”

As soon as the announcer gave the starting signal the Haedians in the arena immediately launched into action. Some of the Haedians slammed into each other, wrestling and fighting in astounding displays of strength while other Haedians immediately rushed toward the outskirts of the arena in search of the golden stones the participants were tasked to collect. Erimia gave a broad smile as she spread her wings wide, ready to take on the first haedian that dared to approach. “Go! I’ve got you two covered!” She called to the runners as the first Haedian slammed into her, eager to prove the superiority of the Haedians. Erimia might have been over twice the size of the Haedians but she weighed about the same as them making them surprisingly evenly matched as they writhed and twisted on the ground in a vicious ball of flying claws and gnashing teeth.  Candy Queen and Anue wasted no time to dart toward the glittering gold rocks they could barely see around the arena. As the Haedians noticed the brightly colored runners sprinting toward the objectives they all came to a silent agreement to focus on taking down the surface dwellers first and foremost.

The two runners split up to each go for different stones across the arena and as they both grabbed their first stones they both encountered a Haedian competitor. The massive Haedians were over twice their size and glared down at the tiny runners mockingly. The runners backed up from the massive haedian, tensed and ready to react to whatever their aggressors were about to do. The haedians stalked forward before suddenly lunging at the runners, lashing out trying to slap the runners down with their large strong paws but the runners were agile enough to zip under or around the Haedians unscathed. As the runners sprinted back to Erimia they saw her struggle to lift the Haedian she was fighting up off the ground before slamming them down onto their back. The Haedian let out a loud ‘Oof’ and groaned as the crowd screamed in excitement, enthralled by the violence, angry at their side seemingly losing, and also impressed at the strength of the tyrian. Erimia sat back panting and upon spotting the runners booking-it toward her gestured for them to quickly bring her the stones. 

Upon finally reaching the tyrian the two runners quickly deposited their spoils before turning to rush off to grab more stones from wherever they could find. After conquering her first enemy most of the enemy Haedians hesitated to take Erimia head on, which she was grateful for as it gave her the opportunity to catch her breath. She didn’t have long though as two haedians quickly rushed the tyrian and slammed into her as she desperately tried to protect the stones her allies had gathered. As the tyrian put up a valiant struggle against her attackers Candy Queen and Anue both managed to snag yet another set of golden stones from the outskirts of the arena. When they rushed back to Erimia they saw her rapidly losing the two on one fight as the two haedians overpowered her and started to pin her to the ground. Not wanting her friend to get hurt, Candy Queen quickly used her magic to launch the golden stone she was carrying at the Haedian that was pinning the tyrian’s back down. 

The golden stone flew true and cracked the Haedian square in the side of its face, sending it reeling back. This momentary distraction was just enough for Erimia to wiggle free and land a solid blow on the other haedian sending it sprawling back. Anue darted in and deposited his stone while Candy Queen quickly ran around the tyrian and the still standing Haedian, trying to retrieve the golden stone she had thrown. The golden stone had landed a few paces away but as Candy Queen sprinted towards it, the Haedian she had hit spotted her and angrily swiped at her, catching one of her back legs and her long tail. With a painful yelp the colorful runner was easily knocked down and sent skidding across the ground. She slid right past the golden stone she had been trying to grab and when she finally came to a stop she quickly staggered to her feet and darted for the stone once more. The crowd cheered excitedly as the runner got back up, their opinions turning to support for the little runner's perseverance against the larger haedian.

The Haedian was done and started to charge at Candy Queen, fully intending to slam its massive frame into the much smaller runner, but thankfully before it could Erimia pounced onto its back and dragged it to the ground. Candy called out a thanks as she quickly snatched up her stone and added it to their pile. By the time she placed her stone, Anue had returned with a fifth stone for their pile. Erimia managed to successfully subdue the remaining Haedian attacker and returned to guarding their pile as the two runners once more went out to try and find stones. At this point there was only one stone left along the outskirts of the arena and as the runners watched a Haedian darted over and snatched it up. With no free stones left to gather the two runners turned their eyes on the other competitors' piles trying to spot a pile they could potentially pilfer. At this point there were seven main competitors left with piles and a few stragglers who were also trying to steal stones from the other piles. Most of the piles only had three or four stones but two other competitors had at least ten stones a piece. 

As the runners watched the two competitors with the massive piles easily fended off their attackers, slapping down anyone who so much as approached them. Both runners decided it wasn’t wise to try and approach those two and instead turned their eyes to the other competitors with stones. Out of the corner of his eye, Anue spotted a haedian with a small pile try to sneak away to steal stones from the top competitors. Once he was sure that haedian was leaving he got Candy Queen's attention and together they quickly darted over to the abandoned pile and picked up the three stones the Haedian had left behind. As the runners started to sprint back to Erimia they heard the Haedian exclaim at them from behind. Not daring to turn to look, the duo quickened their pace as the angry Haedian charged after them. Erimia hadn’t been attacked again while the runner duo was gone and had focused on guarding their pile. When she saw the situation the two were bringing to her she quickly got ready to face the threat. 

She bared her fangs and let out a menacing growl that could barely be heard over the fervent cries of the Brute crowd. The Haedian who had been blindly charging after Candy Queen and Anue faltered and decided not to engage with the tyrian at the last second. The runner duo barely managed to deposit their stones in the pile when they suddenly heard the sound of the announcers gong once more. All competitors stopped what they were doing and turned their eyes up to the announcer who was smiling broadly. “Time’s up!! Let go of your foes and drop your loads, it's time to count our winners!” The crowd’s excited cheers rapidly dwindled into an electric buzz as they quieted down for the officials of the fight to enter the arena. The announcer hopped down from his perch into the arena and walked alongside two other Haedians as they went to each competitor and tallied their piles. The surface dweller trio stood together by their pile of eight stones and fought to catch their breath. Anue checked on Erimia to see how she was doing, the angora tyrian’s former enthusiasm was long gone as she apparently had not enjoyed the knock-out drag-down brawl she had gotten herself into.

After the officials had counted all the piles they walked back over to one of the top Haedians that Candy and Anue had avoided and let out a loud cheer. “Lo’Nock has managed to collect eleven stones! The champion continues his reign!!” the announcer called out, to which the crowd erupted into the loudest cheers. The surface dweller trio sagged sadly at their loss, especially Erimia, but as the group was sitting sadly the officials walked over to them. The announcer gave Erimia a hearty slap on the shoulder and called out to the crowd, “And let’s hear it for our surprise guests! These surface dwellers certainly know how to fight, huh folks?!” to which the crowd cheered for the trio, just as loud as they had cheered for the champion. Now that the games were done the spectators and competitors rushed up to the trio, excited to meet surface dwellers for the first time.