RENEGADES - Horizon's Story

[MysteriouslyMaple]

RENEGADES

CHAPTER FIVE

    Horizon forced his gaze to tear away from his father to the sandy floor below, scanning for whatever was at the bottom of The Arena that Caesar was so proud of. At first, the devil noticed nothing until his gaze fell upon a large feline-like creature with horns and a grey, scaly tail. The creature was snarling and growling at Dante, whose pelt was covered with fresh wounds. Though the wounds the stranger bore was much worse, he was seemingly determined to stay conscious, lashing out at Dante whenever the hybrid came too close. Horizon noticed how the feline tended to favor one side of his face and tried to protect Dante from getting to that side of him.
    "This is Bruce Walker." Caesar spoke, forcing Horizon to look over at him once more. The Emperor's tail was flicking idly, almost as if he was pleased that this person was here. "He has been a thorn in my ass for a long time." His voice was in a hiss, his lips peeled back in a sickening snarl. "He is against my beliefs. He has disobeyed my orders more than once. He formed another group to oppose my own." Flicking an ear, Caesar laughed. The feline's claws gripped at the edge of the stone platform, creating a sound that made Horizon's ears hurt.
    "He has been in my dungeons once." Now there was anger in Caesar's voice. "How he escaped, I don't fuckin' know." He shrugged, though once again that wicked smile that appeared whenever Horizon was talking to him in his Throne Room started to form on the demon's face once more. "And now he is at my mercy again. At my command, Dante will finish this abbo once and for all." Cheering exploded through The Arena.

    A look of horror crossed over Horizon's features before he turned back to the fight below him. Dante now had the strange feline pinned to the ground, one of his back paws on Bruce's tail, seemingly to avoid the male from lashing it about. Bruce gritted his teeth below the hybrid that held him down, huffing angrily. Dante looked up at the platform, his long, shark-like tail flicking back and forth, clearly waiting for an order. The crowd in The Arena was silent, almost as if they were all holding their breath, casting Caesar sidelong glances as well.
    Horizon, however, could only focus on Bruce. The right side of the large feline's face had a long scar that went over his eye and from what Horizon could tell, he was seemingly blind on that side. That explains why he was being so protective of that side. Horizon said to himself, raising invisible eyebrows at the thought. The scar was horrifying, curving from his forehead, to across his eye, and Horizon presumed it ended at Bruce's neck.
    Horizon jerked a bit whenever he felt something nudge him and he blinked, catching himself from falling off the platform. Eyes wide, Horizon turned to look up at Caesar, realizing that the feline had been speaking to him.

    "Well, Horizon, what do you think?" Caesar looked irritated, not at all pleased that Horizon had been lost in thought. "How should Dante end this bastard's life, hm?"
    Horizon's heart lurched as the Emperor spoke to him, shocked that Caesar had asked him such a question. The devil blinked in surprise at Caesar before turning his head to look at Bruce again, trying his best to ignore the stares that were on him from the crowd. Dante was looking at him expectantly, while Bruce was seemingly off in thought about something. Horizon pinned his ears back, shuffling his paws nervously as he thought about what to say. I don't know this guy, He thought to himself. And Caesar said he has been causing trouble throughout the Kingdom... Why else would Bruce have been sent to the dungeons? But he doesn't look like a bad guy. If anything, Bruce looked like he was only fighting because he had to. He's fighting because Caesar made him defend his own life. Was everything his father did wrong? Did arenas always end this way, with the opponent losing their life? After all, Horizon couldn't recall a time he ever heard of Dante losing a fight. He was the Emperor's Champion, sent to fight prisoners whom defied Caesar and won other fights.
    But Bruce doesn't look like he's fought anybody else. If Bruce had fought anybody before Dante, wouldn't he have known? Besides, there wasn't enough time between the time it took for Caesar to get here and the time Horizon got here himself for Bruce to have fought more than one opponent. Something was off here and it was a feeling Horizon didn't like. It made him sick, wanting to curl up in a ball and wish things were like they were before: peaceful, silent, truthful. Or was everything he experienced a lie?

    "We haven't got all day, Prince." Dante hissed in a loud tone at Horizon, forcing the child out of his thoughts. The hybrid look incredibly irritated, his claws flexing in and out on Bruce's shoulders, almost as if he was kneading the slightly smaller male.
    "I-I-I think he should live." Horizon finally spoke, turning his head to glare at Caesar. There was a sickening silence that went through The Arena at his answer, as if the crowd was shocked at his response. Time seemed to slow down to Horizon and he winced a bit as Caesar turned harshly towards him. Horizon was vaguely aware of Dante's disapproving gaze but he was too focused on the feline in front of him to pay any attention to the hybrid.
    "What did we just talk about, Horizon?" Caesar growled, staring down coldly at Horizon. His black-colored eyes were in slits, narrowed down at his son as he spoke. Horizon held his breath, trying to focus on stilling his pounding heart. Horizon opened his mouth to speak back towards his father when the crowd started cheering again, causing both Horizon and Caesar to turn their attention back to the ground once more.

    Bruce had gotten Dante off of him somehow, with the winged hybrid being flung to the ground somehow. Bruce was stalking towards Dante and Horizon watched with widened eyes to see what could happen. Soon enough, the horned feline started charging at Dante whenever the hybrid stood up and pounced.
    Suddenly, as if a gust of wind had appeared, Bruce was flung back towards the edges of The Arena in the middle of his attack, with the male hitting his head against the stone wall. Bruce fell limp to the ground, causing Horizon to cry out, "No!" as he jumped off of the platform that separated him from the ground, stumbling for a few seconds as he ran.
    "Bruce!" Horizon tried calling out to the older male, hoping and praying that the scarred creature could somehow hear him. The devil ran, trying to reach Bruce's side, only to be stopped by Dante. The much larger hybrid had stopped Horizon with one of his giant paws, his claws dangerously close to Horizon's throat. Without any warning, Horizon felt teeth grip his tail and he let out a pained yelp, trying to struggle against Dante, whom was now carrying him. Dante carried him off back towards The Temple and Horizon could see Foxgaze and Caesar walking towards Bruce in the distance, though no matter how many times he called out to the two, they didn't answer or look back at him, nor show any signs that they heard.

    "Don't hurt him!" Horizon cried out one last time, though was interrupted whenever Dante shook his head a bit, causing the devil's body to be whipped around for a brief second.
    "Shut the hell up." Dante snarled at him as much as he was able to with Horizon's tail in his mouth, leading the devil towards his room. Horizon had barely any time to react before Dante harshly threw him into his room, quickly shutting and locking the door behind him. Horizon let out an angry bark at the shark-cat, scratching at the door for a few seconds before giving up. He sat back, huffing, and stared at the ground. What have I done? Horizon dreaded what was going to happen next and he lowered himself to the ground, trying to get rid of the overwhelming feeling of wanting to vomit. Caesar wasn't happy whenever he opposed him with the canine he had killed, so what was he going to do with his son opposing him in front of a crowd?