2-2
The shop we were in was rustic. There were shelves filled with alien things even if the floor beneath us was a plate of metal. The shelves looked to be hand made from scraps. There was an alien behind the counter, his forearms and hands were covered in a hard coating of scales. He was a reddish color, the same color as the dirt surrounding the city and the city itself. He had eyes like a cat and spoke in a hissing language.
Owl was bartering with him, her mask hissing and spitting back. We had arrived at the city a few hours ago and Owl had gone off on her own for a bit and returned with some device. She had crouched down in the middle of the sidewalk with a trail of hover cars overhead. She cracked open the device and fixed it right there with people walking around us on the street.
She had then taken the device and played a real world game of bigger or better and traded it up into the thing she was selling to the guy in the shop. I couldn't understand the written language but Owl seemed to be doing fine. She seemed to know where she was going the whole time and that made the whole situation less stressful.
The city was louder than any city on our home planet. The hover cars were flying by at absurd speeds about one hundred feet above the ground. There were so many people that all looked different. Some had scales, some had to wear suits to breathe, some were covered in a thick coat of fur, some had tentacles on their heads, others fins. Walking on the side of the street was like wadding into an ocean of people.
Whatever Owl and the shop keep were talking about must have been very exciting. He was waving his hands around quite a bit compared to Owls stiff form. In front of Owl was a little box on the table. The alien was waving at it animatedly and Owl was replying with sharp hisses and jerky gestures.
Whatever they were talking about came to a crescendo and the alien threw up his arms then turned and headed to the back. Owl stood there rolling her fingers across the counter waiting. A few moments later the alien came back to the front carrying a few shiny things in his hands. He set them on the table and waved at them while watching Owl. She nodded and pushed the box to him while grabbing the shiny things. He took it with a surprising level of care, breaking out into a grin showing me his serrated teeth.
Owl turned away from him and headed for the door, nodding at me as she walked past. I gave the alien one last look then turned and followed her. We entered the sea of people again and walked with a purpose. I caught up with her and looked at her hands where she was counting the things, “those are a form of currency?”
Owl nodded and passed one to me. I rolled it in my hand and examined it. It looked like a little grey tab with a golden circle on it. It felt like it was suppose to be old, I could picture it polished when it was new, this one was worn away by time and handling it. I passed it back to her, “That doesn't look like much. How's that going to help us get a ship?”
Owl stepped closer to the street and stopped walking. People moved around behind us instead of walking into the street, “It's not. What I am going to do with it will.”
A hover vehicle farther down the street dropped lower and slowed to a stop in front of us. Its side opened and Owl stepped inside, I followed. The seats looked to be made of some kind of soft plastic. I watched them take Owls weight easily. Taking a seat across from her I met her face mask, “What are you going to do with it?”
Owl leaned back on the seat and I felt the hovercar shift as it took off and rejoined the stream of flying transport. Owl gave me a small grin, “I am going to gamble with it.”
I leaned forward and threaded my fingers together, “You're not that simple, there has to be a twist there.” I looked around the vehicle we were in, “how did you get this thing anyways.”
“This city has a mesh like our internet. It's all over, very advanced. Did you notice how there are no children? They are in the mesh in classes. I just did some small hacking and called the vehicle to us.” Owl replied.
“That still doesn't explain what the twist is.”
You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.
Owl laid her arms across the back of her seat and crossed her long legs, "Don't worry. It's not something devious. I think you will find it quite funny actually.”
I let out a sign and leaned back too. The ride was really smooth. I couldn't feel the movement from vibrations or anything like that. Owl started fiddling with her forearm bracer after a few minutes. I could feel the ride turn a few times but that was about it. The dojo was probably opening by now, Victor, Jacob and Anthony probably wondered where I was at. Amanda probably hasn't noticed I was gone. She tended to get distracted by the baby raccoon she was watching. The raccoon probably noticed the lower level of chips and snacks it was getting though.
I felt our vehicle dip and start to slow down. Owl finished what she was working on and shifted closer to the door. The vehicle slowed to a stop and the door cracked open. The sounds of a city at work had changed. No vehicles flying overhead or people talking and interacting with each other. It was so much louder.
The door finished opening and Owl stepped out. I hurried after her. We were on a rim of what had to be a giant crater. There were hundreds of thousands of people sitting in seats built into the walls of the crater. It was a divot turned into a gladiator fighting pit. Around us were holographic videos of what was happening in the bottom of the arena. All the voices were screaming and cheering at two people fighting in the center and I burst out laughing.
Owl was right. This was funny. Owl gave me a grin and headed for one of the stands around the crater. I looked at the arena again and hurried to catch up with Owl as our ride took off into the sky, “The arena looks crooked.”
She nodded as she walked, "It's not natural. I looked at some of the history of the planet. Want to guess what the arena is called?”
I shrugged, “I have no idea. It could be anything. I don't understand the writing and their culture is probably tied to that.”
“The closest translation in our language is Death From Above Fighting Pits. The crater the arena was built in is from an orbital bombardment.” She patted her side where she had the tablet, “I don't think whoever made this went quietly into the night.”
I chewed on my lip and replied, “Let's try not to bring that home then.”
Owl gave me a slow serious nod. We followed the massive fence surrounding the arena until we got to a stand or entrance and Owl stopped by some alien and started talking to them. Her mask had closed when she got close and it was translating the words into the hissing language. The alien she was talking to gave her an odd look before perking up when Owl waved to me. It hurried and grabbed a tablet from the desk it was sitting at and started entering things in while replying to Owl.
I didn't know what they were saying so I pulled my kiseru from my waist and filled it with herbs. Lighting it with chi and taking a pull from it earned me the taste of a cappuccino. It was different and surprising, I felt I had tasted more berries and candies than something of this flavor. I felt amusement at the thought.
Owl continued to talk and generally wave at me. The alien eventually asked something different and Owls mask split open. This time she spoke in our language, “The Grand Master.”
I perked up at that. I had never been called that but something inside me enjoyed that name immensely. The alien made a questioning noise and Owls mask snapped shut and she replied. The alien had a look of recognition on her face then she made a weird noise I took as a laugh making Owl shake her head. The alien gave what I thought was a shrug and went back to her tablet.
About a minute later the alien looked up from her tablet and asked Owl something. Owl replied and set all the little tabs she had gotten from her earlier trade on the table in front of her. The alien stood from where she was sitting, showing she was closer to Owls height then mine, and started counting the tabs. When she finished counting she gave Owl a serrated grin and pulled them towards her where she stored them below her counter.
Owl nodded and turned away from her and walked over to me. I blew out a ring of smoke into the sky and met Owls face mask, “So what's up?”
“You're fighting and I am betting on you.” Owl replied.
“I put that together but how is it happening? Do we have a schedule? I haven't seen you eat yet today are you alright?”
“They will come get us in a few minutes. Your first fight is in an hour. Make it look easy, I bet everything I traded for on you and the odds are stacked very hard against you. They will come to me for trade to lower how much they are going to have to pay me in the end.”
I nodded at that. Making it look simple would be easy, “And they will come with food. Do you have something that will tell you it is safe to eat?”
She dug around in her cloak before pulling out two things that looked like electric shavers. She handed one to me and pressed the button on hers. It lit up and a light flickered out the front, “Point and click. If the button turns green its safe to eat. If it's red, it won't be good for you. I have no idea how resistant to drugs and poison you are so it's set for human baseline.”
I took the scanner and put it in my pocket. “I am very resistant to things like that. Chi can do wonderful things.”
She nodded and we were approached by an attendant. Owls mask closed and she turned to talk to them. They chatted for a bit then the alien turned away, Owl waved for me to follow and we headed deeper into the stand. The alien led us to a door and pulled it open before stepping aside. Inside was a set of stairs that went deep. Owl took the first step and I followed after her.
There were random doors on the sides as we descended in the direction of the fighting pit. We didn't pass anyone as we walked down the stairs. “So how many fights did you sign me up for?”
“I signed you up for a gauntlet. You step into the fighting pit and don't stop fighting until I come to get you or you run out of opponents. Are you up for that?”
I shrugged, "That's fine by me. I just hope it isn't boring.”
Owl nodded her head, “Don’t worry about that. I imagine after the first few fights they will start throwing everything after you to take you out rather than pay me. Just do what you do best.”