The subtitle of sums up this monster piece pretty well!

Serious tension between Dash and Cat is set here. We've had a little headaches between the two in our hero and heroine in the Chrono Quest mission, but Dash is a bit of a jerk in this one. (Hopefully, I got his motives across well enough to make him sympathetic, though!

Catrina does most of the talking here, and it reads as one of her best written apperences to date, in my opinion. You really get to feel for her.. but it's a little overwhelming to Dash.

It's a major insight into Catrina's history, and we get a glimpse into Dash's history as well.. check it out. It's a real heartbreaker that sets the tone for the mission in a big way!

  Before we open to Catrina, backtrack.

Back before the King and company had set out to finding their best warriors for the all important mission of finding the Toot Oriole.

Before Dash took off down south.

In fact, let's go back to the night after Dash and company had returned to the mainlands, and the KOKOL proper, and flash forward to early the next morning. Absurdly early in the morning.

Dash hadn't been remembering his dreams lately. He remembered his dreams this night. Though the details muddied into a haze upon waking, Sebastian remembered enough of it to make him wish he didn't.

He'd always done his best to do the right thing, and it always seemed to come back to haunt him and the ones around him.

The Dragon had cruelly dug up parts of Sebastian's past he'd have rather left buried and forgotten. Yet, for everything Dash had gone through, he was sure it was nothing compared to what Catrina must have suffered.

Dash awoke from his half dreamy state suddenly, sitting up. He turned to make sure he hadn't awaken Catina. She'd been asleep early, and Dash was sure she'd sleep in late. She'd gotten the worst of the incident on the island, no doubt in Dash's mind.

Dash stood up, and thought back. The images he'd seen at the island of his ex. And his . . . . rival? Dash had never actually faced Dr. Handsomenrich in battle. He'd only met him a few times! What happened on the island. Was it something out of Dash's nightmares? Just his worst fears on what had happened?

There was so much Dash had left unfinished down south. He suddenly found himself filled with a desire to . . .

See her again?

No. Dash was sure whatever love he had in the past was gone. He still thought about her, and their friends down there.

Adrule. Dash found himself dwelling on the location suddenly, wondering if the hero had ever saved the lands. How it was faring if he had. There was such a depressing lack of people when Dash was there. So much potential, too.

Dash forced himself up. Catrina might have decided to sleep outside. Or maybe she was in trouble. Sebastian doubted it, but . . . . he found a shirt nearby, slipping it on, and slipped outside the tent.

He could feel the heat of the campground's central fire from outside. Hot. Oppressive. Almost as if it were trying to impose it's will and force Dash to stay inside. He fought his way against the somber feeling. His mood immediately lifted as he saw Catrina by the fire.

Dash called out to her. "Hey."

She didn't answer. She very well could have still been out of it from the concussion.

Dash let a few minutes pass in silence before finally turning to her. "You should still be sleeping."

(Don't pick on her,) Dash thought to himself. (Idiot. You're being demanding. She's a grown woman, not a child.)

Catrina nodded a bit. "Don't feel like sleeping...don't like my dreams right now."

"I know how that is." Dash sighed heavily. His thought were still on his dreams . . . on her. "Maybe it would help to talk about it."

Dash winced, almost regretting that he'd asked. He knew this wouldn't be easy to listen to, but she had to get it out.

For both their sakes.

A short time earlier . .

Catrina emerged from the tent into the early morning sunlight. She looked off to the south once again, towards home. All the past night she'd been having thoughts about her home and all the things that had happened to her. But especially about Him, and the warning that Chronos had given her.

"A warning, dearest Catrina, before you depart my home. The perils I gave to you- that I gave to all- came from your own mind. If the peril I sent still exists in this world today- you must be wary of it still! Please, come visit us when you can!"

She wandered slowly over to the fire, still burning a bit from the blaze of last night, and sat beside it- stirring at the ashes with a stick. She sighed deeply...lost in her morbid thoughts.

Catrina heard Dash as he exited the tent, then as he greeted her with his usual "Hey." Catrina didn't turn. Seeing her lack of response, Dash sat down besides her, at first still lost in his own thoughts.

Dash let a few minutes pass in silence before finally turning to her. "You should still be sleeping."

Catrina nodded a bit, but did nothing to follow his advice. "Don't feel like sleeping...don't like my dreams right now."

"I know how that is." Dash sighed heavily, his eyes still on the distant skyline. "Maybe it would help to talk about it."

Catrina stared into the fire for a long time, partly gathering her thoughts but mostly dreading that she was about to open some old wounds. But Dash was right- If they were to get anywhere together her past would have to come into the open sooner or later.

She didn't notice Dash's subtle wince at his own words.

"The man you saw…he was a Pitmaster. He was one of a group of people who ran a fighting game in my homeland and…well, let me start from the beginning….

"The village I was born in was a peaceful one. We were a close knit community, close to each other, to the land and to the Goddess we served. We hunted and killed according to Her wishes, and we never thought about defending ourselves from others. Because, well, because who would be crazy enough to attack someone who, from kitten-hood, knows how to use their natural weapons to defend themselves? We thought we were safe.... We were wrong… so very wrong.

"When the Slavers came to our village, we took them to be just regular travelers, on their way to the capital. We invited them to rest the night in our town- even hunted and prepared extra food for them. We treated them as honored guests- as we have always treated visitors. We were wrong…so very wrong.

"While we slept (we let them sleep in our beds!) they put their true plans into motion. By morning’s light nearly all the village had been captured, and those that remained free found themselves the hunted instead of the hunter."

Dash frowned. He knew she'd ended up in the pits. The legend of the fighting pits was widespread, Dash had heard rumor of it as far north as Adrule, when he had traveled there. Somehow, they'd never discussed how she'd gotten there in the first place.

With this Catrina lifted her eyes to the heavens, crying out with the one question that had weighted her heart for all these years. “Oh, Goddess- why did you forsake us in our hour of need?" She buried her face in her hands, sobbing terribly as images came to her unbidden. Images of her friends, her family, and her people…most shackled and hobbled, their necks adorned by harsh collars and leashes.

She felt anew the sting of the whip as they were marched to the Slaver’s camp and caged- the cages carried by other slaves, long since cowed to the task, too afraid, too numb to respond to their pleas for help, their promises to free them as well.

Not that the trip to the capital was a pleasant ride. Catrina growled a little to herself as she remembered the campsites along the way, the choosing of females to fulfill these men’s basest desires- how these women, many her dearest friends, had been discarded- thrown back into the cage after their use, broken and sobbing after this vilest of attacks upon them.

She saw Dash’s look of concern and smiled at him weakly. “I’m sorry…got caught up in the memories.” She then related the tale of the trip to the capital, and watched as Dash’s face blanched, and his fists clenched tightly. “They never came for me…I would not be here if they had.” Indeed Carina had decided that if they had come for her, she would take as many of them with her when they were forced to kill her.

“If any of us had thought our arrival at the capital would improve things those thoughts were quickly dashed. The iskander who took charge of us was a fat, ugly bastard of a man who seemed to think women were good for only one thing, which was evident as he asked the slavers how each ‘bitch’ had ‘tested out’. Heh, ‘protector’ indeed!

"Most of the men sold as fighters or laborers, the women as concubines or house slaves. And me? The Goddess wasn’t done with me yet!

"The iskander tried to sell me as a concubine- a sex slave for those drooling pervs that bid on me. But, when the time came for him to sell this ‘Wild eyed, untamed jungle bitch’ I saw my chance, and got to kill a couple of the guards before I was knocked unconscious. I guess they would have beaten me, but one of the men in the audience seemed to have taken an interest in me after I tried to escape!

"He paid a high price for me- that bastard iskander saw a mark and started talking up my ‘feisty nature’ and how I would be a ‘wild ride’ for anyone…if I ever see him again…. Anyway, I tried to get away as I was handed over to my new ‘master’ he personally took me on, getting right in my face and hissing at me ‘Listen, bitch! You belong to me now, and if you don’t remember that right quick and act like it...what I’m going to do to you won’t kill you, but it’ll make you wish you were dead!’ I believed him, I had to."

Catrina could see the anger flash in Dash's eyes. She wondered if he would have killed the iskander at that point.

"I went with him quietly. He and his guards took me to the Pits, and it was there that I learned he was a Pitmaster. Now, we had heard of the Pits in our village, as sort of a shadowy fairy tale of what happened ‘out there.’ Yet here it was, an arena complex devoted to having two grown people beat the crap out of each other for the entertainment of others. A chill ran clear to my tail as I realized…I was now a pitfighter!

"They threw me into a cell, all alone, and told me to ‘Get some rest, you’ve got a big day tomorrow.’ Rest however, was hard in coming, as I kept hearing noises in the night, imagining what monsters could be in this place with me. I finally fell asleep, and slept until I felt rough hands wake me- making me stand, leashing me and leading me to what I discovered was the Pit itself.

"No gawking audience. No one there to watch the spectacle of carnage that was a pitfight. Only myself, a couple of the Pitmasters…and about twenty of the other fighters. I could tell they weren’t there to introduce themselves nicely!

"The Pitmaster who had bought me came to me then, smirking. ‘A little test for our new recruit! You have only one goal today- survive!’ With that he left the arena- and the others attacked!

"It was a one sided fight, I knew that, we all did. They had weapons, I only claws. They had armor, I only fur. Even if the Goddess herself had descended to Earth to fight by my side, it would not have been enough. I expected to be killed in short order, but I found my opponents were pulling their punches! One man had an open shot at me with his sword, but hesitated just long enough for me to move, so that it was a grazing slice instead of a gutting one. One HUGE Booze Giant hit me hard in the gut- but not nearly as hard as he obviously could have. But it was enough- they made short work of me and I fell unconscious to the arena floor.

"I woke back in the cells, but in a larger cell, surrounded by the other pitfighters, the ones I had just fought! My bewildered look was obviously not a new one for them, as they all grinned at me. The man who had almost gutted me in the arena was now tending to my wounds.

"At first I tried to fight, to resume the struggle that had just ended, but I was stopped by the strong arms of the Booze Giant while the human muttered soothingly at me. “Careful, kitten, or you will undo what I’ve done here... You’ve already lost some blood- couldn’t be helped and make it look real, and you need rest to recover."

I nodded, feeling weaker than I had felt in a long time as I lay back and let the man attend to me, voicing in one word the question foremost in my mind. “Why?"

The man grinned as he sat back, finished for now. "Ah, there is a word that gives us a hundred different questions, and a thousand possible answers! So, let’s see what we can give you here, hmmm? I’m sure you don’t mean ‘Why am I here’ since you were there when the Master bought you. As for ‘Why am I still alive?’ well, let’s just say it’s our own little way of thumbing our noses at people too afraid to step into the ring on their own, but all too eager to order our deaths. As for ‘Why the stupid fight to begin with?’ well, it’s their way of seeing if you’re all that. By the way- you are." He winked at me and smiled.

I found myself smiling back at him, lulled by his ingratiating nature. This was my introduction into the Society of the Pitfighter. The rules were simple: Keep up the ruse when you win and get the same when you lose. Go against the grain and the Masters get what they want- your broken body, dead. Saw it happen to one idiot that just couldn’t get it- and knew just how easy that Booze Giant had gone on me….

"It was almost pleasurable, that time in the Pits. We’d spend our days in training, sparring with weapons and occasionally planting ideas in the Master’s heads about good bouts. Heh, was easy to do, just start a little pushing and shouting match and you’d have a match that night- a full out brawl, once ‘broken up,’ might even get you top billing.

"And the nights? We’d spend those in our cell, waiting to be called to battle, hoping our hints had taken root, then see just how close we could come to killing each other without actually doing it. I learned a lot in those days. How to fight with weapons, how to fight when hurt, even hurt badly. I’ve lost count of the number of times I’ve fought through the pain of broken bones- we learned that to fight to the last breath was a ‘crowd pleaser’.

"Things might have been fine except for two things happening. The first was…well, one evening while waiting for battle, the Masters came to me and leashed me. I immediately knew something was up as no other fighter was picked, something different had been added to the program for me. I was taken to a room where there was a table. I was asked to bend over this table, which I stupidly did, not knowing what they had in store for me. I suddenly felt my legs being bound to the table! I tried to fight, but found that they had lashed my wrists and were tying them down as well. Oh, I was livid, and calling them every name in the book in both Common and Feline…when I felt them tie my tail up, and a cold shiver ran up my spine. I knew what was coming….

"I won’t bore you with the details, save to say that he was a fat, ugly bastard of a perv who took great pleasure in his ‘conquest’. That and the fact that my protests seemed to turn him on….

"The other event was the arrival of…Him. I never knew his name; I think he was too dense to have one. But he was a brute of a tom bought by the Masters to be another new fighter. We saw him arrive, fully bound, and with the guards badly beaten. The looks he gave the other fighters clearly were threatening, but nothing like the look I received. For when he looked at me, I clearly got the impression that he now considered me his bitch, and another shiver ran up my spine. Though hot or cold I’ll never tell….

"That night, while he slept in another cell, we met in hushed conversation. We had heard whisperings from the guards who had traveled with him, it was clear to us there was no way he could understand what we were doing, let alone participate in the Society.

"It was decided, in the test the next day- we would NOT hold back. But new dawns bring new possibilities, they say. And the Dark Ones were not through playing with me yet….

"The next morning I was in…well I was in a pissy mood. I didn’t want to be around others, I wanted no one to be near me. I growled at my friends, I growled at my handlers, and Him… looking back I wish I had run the other way when I saw him that day- had run and hid away until this had passed. For deep down, I felt a need, I did not know what I needed, but I knew that I needed it. But no, he was there and he was acting all that and…I just exploded on him- I hauled off and slapped him across the face with my claws fully expressed.

"He swelled and I wasn’t the only one to think that my return to the Goddess’ bosom was soon in coming. But he suddenly stopped, and took the scent in the air. He then smiled at me, as if he knew what was going on. He left me alone after growling at me. ‘Definitely take care of you later, bitch.’

"Like I said, I should have run then….

"The Masters announced to us that there would be no test of the new fighter…personally, after what happened in the next weeks, I’m not sure they didn’t think he’d have killed us all then and there if we had.

"That night…I should have seen this coming; I should have run far away and hid.... That night they came, took us both. They had seen the swipe, and had decided to see what else the feisty bitch could do against Him. I dressed for a battle, strapping my sword to me- not these swords, that comes later. I entered the pit first, then watched as he entered. Naked, unarmed and grinning. Well, I say ‘naked’, but he had his fur- although the reaction for the crowd showed that was still rather provocative. I personally wore skins at that time…at least in the Pit.

"Oh Goddess, I should have run then! But I was not thinking straight, my head was fuzzy, filled with thoughts…just below my perception, but driving my being, filling my soul and driving me toward one unmistakable goal…one I didn’t realize until too late…

"He smiled, then spoke to me in our tongue. His dialect was strange, but I could understand him well. 'Is this how you meet one of your own kind in battle, bitch? Or perhaps you are not so certain about clawing me a second time?'

"I should have seen the trap he was laying for me; I could have easily avoided it on another day. But my thoughts were scattered, and definitely not on the fight. I found myself looking him over, his muscular form, his strong virile body....

"I shook my head and answered with a sneer, removing the sword belt I had so recently strapped on. 'Oh, I'll do more than claw you, asshole! I'm going to make sure the last ting you see in this world is me holding your bloody throat in my jaws!' The skins went next; I was soon standing just as he was, fur to fur, claw against claw, fang against fang

"We circled, each gauging how the other moved, trying to devise a plan of attack. I watched his strong, virile body- his muscles wondrously built, just right for thrust- NO!

"Great Goddess what was wrong with me?

"In hopes of bringing my attention fully to the fight I attacked, pouncing at him with a roar. He caught me easily in a bear hug, pinning my arms to my sides. I brought my legs up and clawed furiously at his sides and gut, while I sank my teeth deep into his neck, feeling the warmth of his blood as it ran; taking in his scent as I breathed. That strong, musky scent of a male, virile and ready to….

"And then it hit me, like a slap across the face. The reason for this whole day, for this feeling, for the fuzzy headedness…and for his self satisfied smirk.

"For I was in heat- and he was the only male available!

"I kicked away, breaking his hold. Or perhaps he released me, knowing that I now knew. He smiled as I scrambled to get away from him, speaking to me in our tongue again. ‘Your fight was never with me, bitch. It was with yourself! Why don’t you just give in to it and get it over with?’

"He was right, I could feel it. Every pant I took in more of his scent, my heart raced, half with the exhilaration of battle, half with the lusts of heat. It would not be long before my more feral instincts would win out!

"But they had not won yet, and although I could not literally fight myself, I had someone to aim my aggressions at until…. I took a fighting pose, and smiled as I beckoned him inward. ‘Mama always said I was stubborn. I’m not just gonna turn up my tail on your say so! If you want me as you bitch, prick, you’re gonna have to MAKE me your bitch!’

"Oh, how he roared! He charged me, swinging wildly. I easily ducked under and raked his back with my claws, leaving several bloody scars. His next swing connected barely- but I hit the ground and saw stars nonetheless. I scrambled to get up, although a part of me was willing to just roll over on all fours. I evaded two more swings and clawed his midsection bloody…and then he REALLY connected!

"I hit the ground hard! If I had saw stars earlier, I was seeing galaxies now. Dazed, I tried to fight to my feet, tried to shake it off as I rolled over….and felt his full weight come down on me, pressing me down! I felt his fangs sink into the scruff of my neck, and then I screamed as I felt-

Dash interupted, his eyes cold and even. "That's why you killed him?"

Catrina looked up, her concentration broken, the tears matting her facial fur. "W-what?"

"On the island," Dash continued. "I saw his corpse. Mutilated."

Even with all her, fur Dash could feel her lush at this revelation. 'But...but he disappeared! We both saw it!"

Dash shrugged. "Then his body reappeared, along with another body. Doesn't look like you were as sadistic with that one."

Catrina shot Dash a glance that would make an onrushing booze giant think twice about attacking. "What do you mean by 'sadistic?"

Dash shrugged, shifting positions in a futile attempt to get comfortable. "Thorough. It wasn't a pleasant sight."

She looked at him oddly, what was he getting at? "I...I don't understand...fights are far from pleasant."

"I suppose." Dash took her meaning well enough for the moment. He didn't say anything. He seemed to be weighing his words for the moment.

Catrina looked at Dash incredulously. Everything she had done was in the preservation of her own life- he didn't mean.... "Would you rarther he had killed me?"

Dash's turn to glare. "Don't put words in my mouth. You've two katanas which you're more than skilled in using. Yet you chose to maul him. Why? Seriously. I'm not trying to be judgmental here. I'd really like to - "

Catrina nearly exploded. "Not judgmental? Damnit Dash, have you been listening to anything I've been telling you about my kind?"

Dash shook his head. "I know. You just TOLD me about the first battle. I was speaking of the second battle. On the island."

Catrina nodded "Yes...but did he sound upset that I threatened to take his throat back then? Did he?"

"I don't know. I wasn't there." Dash quickly shifted the subject. "Look, I need to ask you a favor. I'm headed down south. I've got some personal business I need to tend to."

Catrina nodded...so that was how it was. She stared at the embers of the dying fire...somehow feeling that they meant something more to the two of them. "Dash? What would you say if I simply asked you to believe me? That fights among my kind are brutal, bloody happenings that the Goddess frowns upon? That I will have to make an accounting of it to Her when the time comes?"

Dash didn't answer. He could smell rain in the morning air. "Probably going to storm today. You should stay in and rest. There's no need for you to be out in this kind of weather."

Catrina watched sadly as the last ember died. Soon the fire would be cold and grey, and somehow Catrina doubted there would be a fire here again. "I've been struck by lightning, remember?"

"It's the rain I'm worried about. It'll soak you to the bone. Makes a person cold and hard, I hear." Dash couldn't believe he was rambling on like that. He switched the subject. "I'm going down south. Alone. I'd like you to keep my place up here, with that clan. The Kingdom of KOL. Think I could trust you with that?"

Catrina growled slightly, not sure how to take needing to be asked if he could trust her...hadn't they learned they could trust each other when the time came? "Sure...I can babysit for you."

Dash looked down south, still not bothering to make eye contact with her. Annoyance flashed briefly across his face. "Watch out for Raw Hide. I don't trust him. Don't kill him or anything. Just watch out for him."

Catrina suppressed a giggle, knowing it would probably not sound like one at the moment. However she did realize that Dash was, indeed setting her to 'babysit' as it were

Dash winced subtly, not sure if she was growling at him or not. He knew she wouldn't kill a clan mate- didn't he? "Don't let 'Prince' Blahking set you up to work the mines. I told him you'd need time to recover, but he's downright stubborn sometimes. I told Chad no roughhousing til you're feeling better. Konall's not so bad, just don't - "

Catrina looked down, where a fire had once been burning brightly. When she spoke, it was almost too quiet to hear "Just...go."

"Don't listen if he starts rambling about magic," Dash continued, almost to himself. "Yeah.. okay."

It wasn't long after that, Dash returned, fully packed to go. He looked like he was swimming in regret. Or drowning. "I need to hit Seaside Town to pick Españolola up at the stables. Want to go with? I've got a little spare meat. Enough for something from the Market Demon." Dash tried to smile and failed utterly. "We could fit in a few games at the casino even."

Catrina listened blankly as Dash readied himself to leave. She barely acknowledged his farewell. Her mind was too busy with her gloom.

Dash frowned. "We'll sort this all out when I get back. I promise. Just try to . . . ." Dash turned to leave, adding "stay safe" under his breath. Then, before she knew it, he was gone.

He...he doesn't trust her anymore...he doesn't need her anymore...he...he doesn't...love....

She curled up beside the fire, long dead, and cried.