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The screaming of women and the crying of tiny infants rung heavy in Papyrus’ ears, the ash of flames that claimed the grass and buildings alike floated high into the air as the village burned bright in the midwinter night. Horses whinnied as they charged through the streets, their riders cutting down anyone in their path, spraying the air with the dusty remnants of what were once monsters. Papyrus ran from the chaos, leaping over fallen rubble, past weakened monsters and through the flashes of flame that crossed the ground. He had lost sight of his brother for only a few mere moments when the fighting had first broken out and it had since become impossible for the skeleton to track him down in the midst of battle.Fortunately, they had prepared for such an eventuality and had agreed that should the village every be attacked they would rendezvous deep within the nearby forest across the field. Papyrus had no doubt that his brother would be waiting there for him and with adrenaline pounding through his body he found that he had managed to escape the town far faster than he had thought possible. He closed his eyes against the sight of his fellow monsters being struck down before him, dodging the strikes of enemy soldiers as he sprinted through the grass. He tried to pretend that he didn’t know the poor canine who had a sword plunged through his chest, or the rabbit that was impaled by a spear. The thundering of hooves behind him only further spurred him on as he jumped over the body of a fallen mare. Papyrus could see the edge of the forest, he had almost reached it. He couldn’t see his brother from the distance, but he ignored the brief flicker of doubt that crossed his mind, racing on in his mindless flight across the land. He allowed himself a soft breath of relief as he was about to cross the tree line, only to gasp as a sudden pain shot through the back of his head. He staggered, losing his footing as he fell to his knees. The world seemed to tilt as Papyrus swayed, his mind unable to focus as another hard strike crashed against his skull. The only thing his mind could register was the ground as it rushed towards his face.
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The sun was hot as it beat down on Papyrus’ skull. His feet had been worn raw from the weeks of constant walking over all manner of terrains. They were scratched and bloodied and needed a good deal of rest if they were ever to recover from the abuse he was forced to inflict upon his rather fragile bones. His wrists were badly chafed by the chains that bound his arms together, and his neck ached from the weight of his collar and all that it implied.Their group had stopped for a short moment of rest during the late afternoon, and while Papyrus and the other poor souls that had been brought alone with him were not allowed the kindness of shade, it was a blessing to be allowed to rest his weary legs. He lay back on the soft grass, feeling the way the individual blades wove their way between his bones.Despite the way his body stilled his mind was restless. Papyrus hadn’t found his brother after the attack on their village and he had no clue whether he had simply managed to find a good hiding spot or if he had been slain in battle. The thought alone of his brother’s fate drew a pained frown to his face and Papyrus decided not to dwell on what he couldn’t control. He had seen too many monsters struck down where they stood merely because they were too injured or exhausted to make the long trek back to what the humans referred to as civilization, even if there seemed to be nothing civil about it.For the first few days Papyrus had been absolutely livid – he had struggled against his restraints and given the guards tasked with their escort absolute hell – but after several days of constant walking, little sleep and even less food, the fight had completely left him. He by no means appreciated the humans, but he no longer possessed the energy to try and argue with them, much less try and bring about their wrath. One beating was enough for Papyrus not to try and seek out any more.While his HP wasn’t exactly the highest, the humans were rather sadistic and had methods of punishment that didn’t always require a level of violence. Humans were also apparently not above torturing family members and friends of those they sought to hurt. He had several scars from the last time he disobeyed them, but it was the mental wounds that were certain to take more time to heal. It was fortunate that he knew how to be complacent when he needed to.The sound of soft giggling nearby tempted Papyrus just enough for him to open his eyes, his head lolling to the side of the sound in interest. The guards were gathered under the shade of one of the large trees lining the stone road and it seemed that a few ladies who had been riding into the city had drawn their attention.Other travellers had become an increasingly common sight the closer their got to the human city, and with how weak and demoralised the monsters in their charge had become, the human warriors wasted no time in flirting with the higher-class women who happened to walking by, paying little mind to their captive men and women.The human who allegedly ‘owned’ all of the monsters in attendance apparently had wanted all of them not to look too worn when they entered the city so that they could catch the eye of any potential buyers. It made Papyrus sick to his non-existent stomach to imagine all of the humans looking him up and down, wanting to purchase him as they would some prized cow.From where he lay, he could see the looming walls that surrounded the city and the towering buildings within its keep. They were only gathered a mere kilometre from the main gate into the city, and the humans had said that the walk to the coliseum where they would be auctioned off wouldn’t be too much further than that. Papyrus wasn’t sure if he should have been relieved that their journey was over or fearful of what was to come.The docks lay to the west of the city and even from as far away as he was, Papyrus could see more ships than he could count and more humans than he had even seen, all busily rushing about from place to place while they bartered their exotic wares for hefty prices. While normally the promise of new, exciting objects would have piqued his interest, the skeleton had heard that a rare few monsters ever returned from a trip to the docks.The areas of trade throughout the city were said to be heavily policed, but the docks were ripe with theft, and a monster was just another rare product that many foreign buyers would pay a small fortune to possess.The sound of a low whistle brought Papyrus’ mind back to the present and he begrudgingly heaved himself back into a sitting position, sparing a glance to the human who had made the sound. The whistle was the signal that they were to finally move on and get back onto the road, and the skeleton watched silently as all of his fellow monsters slowly rose to their feet. He cringed at the way they had already been so well trained.With the clinking of his iron restraints and the painful complaints of his legs, Papyrus managed to stagger into an upright position, gritting his teeth slightly as he huffed a sigh. Without a word, he walked towards the nearest human, waiting as they chained him back in line with the other monsters.They continued the rest of the walk in complete silence, each monster having resigned themselves to their fate or knowing better than to start struggling so deep into the human’s territory. It was fruitless of them to attempt an escape, the only hope being an impossible rescue or a swift death. There was no honourable way to be dragged through the city streets, and so Papyrus allowed himself to drag his feet, his head lowered as they strode through the city gates.There was shouting and leering, and Papyrus could tell that even though they had only just stepped foot into the city there was a crowd beginning to form around them. The guards rose their voices, shouting claims of their mighty victory against the savage beasts of the north, telling how they stood toe to toe with some of the fiercest warriors that side of the country. Somehow, they managed to forget the part where they cut down innocent babes and mothers where they hid, burning the homes and fields of peaceful villagers and putting down those who were deemed too old or in need of help that they couldn’t be bothered to provide.Hands and weapons covered in dust, horses screaming, the flickering of flames in the night and the sound of a frightened soul beating; that was all Papyrus remembered of the battle, he remembered no thrilling victory, no defeated of evil. It seemed more like evil was the sole victor on that moonless evening. The soft grass of Papyrus’ home was no longer covered in the beautiful white of snow, but the desolate grey of the fallen.The harsh surface of the cobblestone road scraped at Papyrus’ injured feet and it didn’t come as a surprise when he began to leave a trail of red footprints behind. While the humans had allowed them a short period to rest, there was no way any of them could hide the pain and exhaustion that riddled their expressions. Papyrus allowed himself to disassociate from his current situation, barely even registering the fact that he was walking.It was when he nearly crashed into the back of the monster in front of him that Papyrus finally snapped out of his daze, glancing around briefly at their new surroundings. They had walked past much of the city and true to the human’s word they had stopped before the enormous structure that was the coliseum.Even from the outside Papyrus could see that the stands were lined with cheering humans, all focused on whatever was playing out in the arena, aweing and gasping every few moments in eager trepidation. No one had turned away from the arena to spot the lines of monsters waiting just outside of the tunnels that led under the great building and for that he was glad.The guards proceeded to lead them into the tunnel, lighting their way with a few simple torches. Papyrus was almost relieved that it was too dim for him to make out the majority of the dingy walkway and the cells that lined it – the damp walls and sound of trickling water nearby was enough to put him off their accommodation – the less he knew about their disrepair the better.They stopped just before a large iron gate, the sounds of shouting only growing louder. Through the thin bars Papyrus could see monsters running about, some of them swinging large weapons at an enemy that he couldn’t quite see. However, from the occasional scream of agony and the multiple piles of dust on the ground outside, Papyrus wasn’t sure if he wanted to find out.