Playing With Weapons
“ Holy shit!”
Grime didn’t even bother to reprimand his now ten year old student and charge as he watched her walk into the large, slightly dilapidated wooden shack they used as a weapon storage space, her amethyst eyes wide and glowing with wonder as she finally saw every weapon that the toad army had in its possession.
Axes, maces, swords with different blades, daggers, crossbows, spears, barbed whips, shields with images of water snakes, mantises and fearsome creatures of all sorts painted upon them, scythes,clubs...and- what caught her eye the most- The row of war masks that hung above where the axes were hung on the very back wall of the weapon storage house, their features contorted and sculpted into faces fierce with rage, a few even sporting toothy, sadistic smiles, as if to let their enemies and victims know that they would enjoy killing them with their own hands very, VERY much.
“ Damn Grime, why don’t we bring these with us on raids? Im sure those stupid little frogs and salamanders would start obeying us and joining us!”
Ever since Sasha had started joining Grime and Admiral Wormwood for battle planning and had introduced her plan for gaining more soldiers, the army had started implementing her plan whenever they went out on raids. So far, the frogs and salamanders had not accepted their offers- something they believed was due to their pride and stubbornness. Or stupidity perhaps, too stupid to realize the opportunity they were being offered.
However, they had slowly started gaining new recruits- a frog and three salamanders, so far, all claiming that it was “ Only for the sakes of their families.” They just had to keep trying- be relentless and maybe just a bit forceful- till they got the soldiers they needed.
“Because, Little Fire Eyed creature, these weapons are not the type you take on mere raids and patrols...these are agents of war, reserved for battles, destined for bloodshed…”
He slowly picked up one of the swords that had been hanging on the wall- a large, heavy sword, it’s blade thick and shiny, as if it had just been cleaned.
“ This here...long ago, when I was maybe...six years older than you..back when I was a beginning Gladiator..”
“Gladiator?!”
Sasha snapped around,staring at him, eyes wide and full of curiosity.
”You never told me you were a Gladiator!!”
Grime sighed, looking over at the bright-eyed girl.
” Yes...a long time ago...back in Newtopia…”
He looked at the sword in his hand, memories he’d tried to keep buried in the very back depths of his mind surfacing as his eyes met their reflection on the blade's surface.
”What was it like?” Sasha asked, inching closer to him.
Grime looked at Sasha.
For as much as she’d seen, for as much as she’d been through, for as much as she’d done….She was still innocent.
She had yet to understand the true meaning of bloodshed and warfare - he doubted that she truly knew what it felt like to have to fight for your life and cast away any emotion and mercy you had just so you could live another day.
He wasn't sure he wanted her to know.
He sighed,sitting down, holding the sword in his hands,eyes fixated on it’s silvery blade.
Sasha sat in front of him, listening intently as he began to speak.
”......The toads have always been relatively poor compared to every other species in Amphibia. Even the frogs seem to have more money,land and standing than we. Go to any toad town or village-and all you’ll see is huts,slums and failing farms...At least, that’s what my village was like.”
“ It was rough…hardly had enough to eat, constantly fighting with my siblings, and even my own parents at times, just for a decent scrap of food...when I was sixteen, I decided that, if I was to get a better future, one without poverty, or grief, or the constant fear of death...Then I was to leave my village and go to Newtopia…..there, I could find a somewhat decent job, one that could at least draw me out of the poverty and filth I’d been born and raised in...I packed what few things I had that could be of use to me, then woke up at dawn the next day and started walking.”
He looked up at Sasha, who was still staring intensely at him as he recounted his tale. He looked back down at the sword, letting one hand slide across the cold, smooth, and slightly uneven blade.
“ It took me...About a month or two to get to Newtopia.I can’t really say for sure how long it took. I walked, hitchhiked, ended up stealing some old farmer’s snail towards the end...But then I was in Newtopia…”
“The moment I set foot inside the city, I was looked upon as the lowest of the low. A filthy, poor, uneducated little toad...Wherever I went, I was met with stares and glares of disgust...and soon I found myself, along with my stolen snail, in the slums of Newtopia - The poor, run down part of the city, reserved for its outcasts, lepers and undesirables...including me.”
“ I spent the next week searching for jobs- I sold the snail, got enough to rent a crummy low class hotel room, then spent the next few days looking for work...only to be turned down every time.They all said it was due to my lack of education, my status, my...lack of experience...but really it was because I was a toad. I saw a newt from the slums I lived in go into the shop that had just turned me down, and the very next day he was employed there...Toads just...were lower than dirt. “
“However...there was one place where I was welcome...the colosseum. For as strict as Newtopian society is about their ranks and classes, and what species is superior compared to the other...in the colosseum, all of that was just thrown out the window. It was in that big, round structure that every species of every class came together over one thing- to watch some poor bastard fight another poor bastard or fearsome beast that had been pulled from the forests or bogs and watch as they tore each other apart in a survival-fueled frenzy.”
“ It was pure carnage, what went down in that thing...sickening, really...but thrilling! Every night I’d go to the colosseum and sit amongst my fellow slum dwellers, middle class commonfolk and some pompous nobles so that I could watch the endless carnage and violence unfold below. It was...amazing...and after a while, I noticed...The gladiators weren’t just newts...they were frogs, salamanders, axolotls...and toads.”
“Yes, even toads, I was amazed. Amazed and…..inspired. I was quite the fighter back home, and I had some experience with daggers and switchblades in my youth….And Gladiators, the ones that won and kept winning, were treated like war heroes….. They had respect,fame, they lived in mansions and penthouses, had endless banquets of food….I’d heard that they took multiple lovers and possibly even got to have their own consorts, anyone they wanted...their rank was almost second to that of a noble or war veteran...I was completely infatuated by the idea of getting this kind of fame and wealth, of living a life my forefathers couldn’t have even fathomed their own grandchildren living…”
“To make it even more enticing, the only qualifications you needed to get into the ring was that you needed to know how to fight...didn’t even have to be skilled...The moment I learned the qualifications were that low..I signed myself right the hell up...I was given a set of armor, a shield, a helmet...and this here sword.”
He held up the blade, a small smile flashing across his mouth.
“...I ran into the ring the very next day, faced with a large mantis as my opponent...I took it down easily, the only injury I sustained was a deep cut on my arm. Then again...it was a beginner’s round. It was only a test to see just how far I could go……”
“By the next day,I was back in the ring, faced with a barbariant. It was a long, tough fight…..Got slashed across the stomach and bled quite a lot…..but I won. It was that day that taught me that being a gladiator was not all fun and games. It wasn’t just killing beasts and lowly criminals and playing with weapons. It was a battle for your life, it was a battle for your reputation! Your way of life!”
“ I started practicing every night after that…..started entering tougher battles……Started sustaining injuries……”
He lifted a hand to his blind eye, sighing.
”.......I….went from a lucky little rookie fighter to being the unbeatable champion of the coliseum. I went from living in the filthy slums of lower Newtopia to getting a penthouse near where all the nobles and politicians lived…..I had every desire fulfilled, every need and want tended to…...people looked at me with awe and admiration, not disgust and hatred…..and all I had to do to keep it all was to go out and face death every day…..fighting criminals,volunteering civilians, beasts from all around the land…..I won every battle…..I had to….I needed to…..”
He sighed, the memories flowing free in his mind like water from a broken dam.
”Then one day,after a violent battle that left me with a fractured skull and a broken arm,I was put on leave of my career for a while,considering my injuries…..and it was during this period that I was told that the King himself wished to speak with me. I was shocked….and suspicious. I wanted to know why exactly he wanted to see me.I was told that I’d see when I got there.When the King’s carriage arrived for me, I made sure to take my dagger with me, just in case I had to take on anyone.”
“ When I got to the palace, the colossal king himself was at the entrance...a huge beast of a creature, he was...intimidating at first...but he quickly proved to be non-threatening. Seemed like he couldn’t stop smiling...it was irritating as all hell!”
“ We went into the royal dining hall, and we dined for a bit...He kept asking me about what my life was like as a gladiator, and where I had come from...all questions about my past. I found it a bit suspicious, but I didn’t think of it too much. Then, as I finished telling him about my youth in my village, of the plights the toads faced, he suddenly grew… somewhat serious. He told me that I had impressed him and his colleagues greatly with my skills, and, considering I had proved to be a good fighter, he had decided to offer me a position...the position of commander of the toad army.”
“ I was confused, there was no toad army! The Newtopian Army was the only official standing army in all of Amphibia. That’s when he proposed an idea: To relieve the toads of their plight, he would create a toad army, funded for and provided for by Newtopia. We would serve as both a back up army for the Newtopian Army, and we would be tasked with the collection of taxes from all over the land. The previous ways of letting the people of Amphibia pay taxes in their own time and having them delivered to Newtopia via snail drawn carts was...inconvenient, to say the least...So if the toads were willing to take on thew work in exchange for income and jobs, chances to be something other than quarry workers, miners, or poor farmers….then he was willing to go through with the idea.”
“ It was then that I began to consider my fellow toads back home...and the possibilities that could arise. The toads could finally rise from the poverty that had stricken them for years, and we would have our own official militia...Which I would be commander of. I thought about it….then accepted the offer. No longer was I a gladiator...I was the commander of my own army…”
“.....But then Andreas didn’t uphold his end of the deal...He just used you to increase his wealth and power….all of it was for him...not you…” Sasha said, her voice low and tinged with anger.
Grime sighed. He got up and set the sword back on it’s place on the wall.
“....Yes....”
“....Don’t worry...We’ll make him and his rich little friends pay….some day…” Sasha said.
Grime had to say...he admired the child’s dedication to the army.
At the same time, however...he had recently been rethinking her early training.
She was a child, after all...perhaps getting her involved in bloodshed, war and battle was not the wisest decision…
“....Hey look, I’m you!”
Grime turned. Sasha was holding up a sword, a shield in her other hand, staring him down with a smile on her face.
He chuckled. “ So you are…..Little Fire Eyed Creature…”
Sasha ran to the entrance of the weapon storage house.
“ Grab a sword! We can start battle practice!”
“ Not with those you’re not!”
Grime ran after her, huffing a bit, smiling a bit.
She really was...innocent, really. Sure, she was a warrior, she knew what it was like to fight and battle and intimidate….but she still had that same childish innocence that he had once had, that given up so long ago.
He just hoped that she could keep it...just a little while longer.