"Tremor." The Silver Shock smiles and takes a step forward. His bright pink mohawk has fallen in a messy tangle of locks over his glittering eyes.

"Hello." He repeats.

"Hi." I nod my head.

"So... How's it going?"

"Seriously? I'm honestly a bit shocked you want to stand here and chat."

"Understandable." Tremor ducks under a flying sword and squashes a Gladiator under his paw as if they were a fly. A moment later he adds, "I thought I'd let you know that. Well, I thought I'd just get right to the point since, I mean, you're Arrow. You-."

"Please just get right to the point. Otherwise I'm going to go."

"No, don't go!" I can't tell whether the Silver Shock is being sarcastic or not.

"What is it?"

"Please don't go!"

"I'm leaving." I turn around and start walking.

"Jay and Hawk are dead."

I stop moving, unsure as to whether or not he's being truthful or not. My head turns ever so slightly to the side as I narrow my eyes. "So you do care, Arrow. I knew they should've gotten assigned to me."

"Goodbye, Tremor." I sigh and pad off.

"No! Don't go!"

"Goodbye." I repeat.

"Come back, Arrow!" Tremor shouts, coming after me.

"No! I'm not going back!" I go a little faster.

"Get back here now, Arrow! The Wasteland guards want the final battle, as do everyone watching! We have to give it to them!" The Silver Shock is now sprinting after me. I can't outrun him, and he skids in an arc to force me to stop.

"Go away, Tremor."

"We have to give them the final battle." Red rims the Silver Shock's eyes. He's partially under the control of the Wasteland guards. It happens every so often; he doesn't try very hard to resist them.

"I'm leaving. I'll find someone else." I see Tremor frown, and nod with a snort and an odd look thrown my way. But less than a second later his face contorts into a snarl and he growls a sharp 'no' with a lunge forward. I skitter out of his way and bound away, my breath coming in short gasps. The Silver Shock roars and comes after me. His claws dig into my hindquarters, and my legs fall out from beneath me. We fall to the ground in a cloud of dust. Tremor tries to bite the back of my neck, but I pull out of his grasp and leave several gashes across his shoulders and back.

My sides heave for breath as I rise to my paws. I stand still, panting, before engaging in a grappling fight with Tremor. We stand on our hind legs, clawing at anything we can reach. The Silver Shock pulls on one of the straps of my chest plate, straining to break it, but the leather refuses to give. Blood soaks my fur, and styles it in messy clumps. I plant two paws on Tremor's chest and shove him backwards. He stumbles back a few steps before falling in a sort of somersault. I bite back a laugh as I watch the gray creature rise with no level of gracefulness whatsoever. "Cut it out, Arrow." Tremor growls.

"Yeah, yeah, alright. No need to sound so grouchy." I roll my eyes.

"Of course I'm grouchy."

"And what might the reason for that be?" I want so badly for this fight to be over, but there's nothing I can do. If I attacked Tremor, I'd be violating the biggest rule I set for myself, and I'd be waving a red flag for the Wasteland guards. They know I've never fought someone who didn't draw the first drop of blood. "You shattered my leg! That thing took so long to heal! I had to spend so much longer coming back to life. Imagine being unable to move at all while you feel your body slowly knit itself back together. You can't move, not even to blink or breathe. Picture that pain and agony, Arrow. Your body screaming for air without the relief of falling into oblivion again; you're already living once more. The Wasteland guards brought you back to life. I think it's time you feel that torture, Arrow. You're long past due for a trip to the Infirmary." Tremor's stalked closer with every word until his face is directly in front of mine. He's looking me right in the eye, and I stare right back calmly. The red of the Wasteland guard's control has spread closer to his pupils. "I appreciate the offer, Tremor, but I think I'll pass. Your description is enough for me. I feel almost as if I've already been to the Infirmary. Those words painted a beautiful picture for my mind's eye."

"No. No words can begin to describe the pain. You can't begin to imagine what being unable to breathe or blink for hours on end, all while being unable to go unconscious or die, feels like. You're wrong, Arrow." The Silver Shock's nostrils flare and he thrusts his face closer to mine, as his lips curl and a growl rumbles in his chest.

"I still think I'm good. I'm not dying today." Well, I guess I am on some level... Oh, well. Wait, what if you do die? Like, for real? Arrow, that's not happening. You'll fake your death, and wait for the rest of the battle to play out, then get up and run with Jay and Hawk. What if something goes wrong? Then you'll figure it out. You're not going back. You will make it. You'll be free. "Yes, you are. This is the day. You can't stay at the top forever, Arrow. You can't watch us all leap for your spot only for you to bat us back down so we compete for second. I'll kill you. No one is invincible. There's always a weakness. You won't attack until someone's attacked you first." Tremor smirks at the end.

"And?" I'm curious as to where Tremor's going with this.

"You've got to make the first hit count and catch you by surprise."

"How would you like me to respond?"

"Perhaps with something along the lines of 'yes, Tremor, you can kill me'?"

"Or not."

"Come on, just this once let me win!"

"No, thank you though. That was a very generous offer." I take a step back, and begin to circle the Silver Shock.

"You'll have to come down someday. Why not now?"

"I'm not really in a dying type of mood. Why else would I be refusing to let you kill me?" I lazily swipe a forepaw at Tremor's face, though I don't draw blood.

"And would you look at that; Arrow still can't get the guts to make the first attack."

"I could. I just don't want to."

"What a wonderful excuse. He's still just too weak to do so. You'll never be as strong as the other Gladiators. You're too scared you won't be able to climb back up after you leave your perch atop first place on the leaderboard, so you stay there."

"Or, the rest of you are just too weak to knock me off of first place."

"No, we're strong. You just-."

"You know, Tremor. You've told me this nearly every Wasteland battle, but you never do anything about it. Why is that? Are you too scared to be in first place, or what?"

"I'm not scared."

"Then why have you never killed me? You see where I'm going with this?"

"Just you wait." The last of Tremor's eyes go red. This is new. He's completely given himself over to the Wasteland guards. There's always a part of his eyes that stay clean from the red.

He roars and leaps for me. I crouch, low to the ground, before launching myself into the Silver Shock's stomach, and clawing at his sides. We crash back down to the earth. Dust explodes in clouds around us. My teeth are locked on the back of Tremor's jaw, and his are closed around one of my ears. Our paws rest on the other's shoulders and flanks, with claws unsheathed and digging into skin. Neither one of us moves for a few moments, and the dust and sand settles on our filthy fur. As Tremor's fangs slowly sink further into my ear, I bite down harder onto his jaw. He snarls, and releases my ear. I jump to my paws and step back a few steps. Red spills down my chin from the blood that's pooling in my mouth.

We brawl several more times. The sand beneath our paws has taken on a rusty colour. The Silver Shock glares at me as he stands a few feet from where I am, panting. My breaths are short and shallow as well. When Tremor slams himself into me once more and we've fought for a few minutes, I manage to break free running. I only get a few paces from him though, as the gray creature digs his claws into my haunches and wrestles me to the ground, much like a cheetah might fell an antelope. Sand sprays into the air as I skid across the ground. A snarl rips from Tremor's jaws as he strains to hold me down. I writhe beneath his grip.

The Silver Shock has a paw on my shoulder blades, and his claws pierce my skin while he's pushing against me hard enough to leave a bruise. "Finally. You're helpless against me. This doesn't even scratch the surface on how I've felt all these years. I win, Arrow. I win. You won't be king forever. Everyone dies." Tremor leans down and speaks in my ear.

"You're forgetting one teeny tiny thing, Tremor."

"And what's that?"

"I'm still alive."

Before he can respond, I hear a bellowing roar. I turn my head and see Sage. The green dragon reads up onto her hind legs before slamming back to the ground, and releasing a jet of fire from her jaws. The yellow-orange flames incinerate maybe a half dozen Gladiators instantly. Oh, no. Sage ought to know that she cannot use her flames. It would be too easy to just burn everyone to ashes. The Wasteland guards know that, and they cannot bring ashes back to life. She should know that she can't use her fire; her points will be wiped clean, and she'll wear a collar for months that does something. I don't know. She should know better. Tremor cackles and throws his head back. "Ha. One less Gladiator. Serves her right for using her flames." As soon as he finishes speaking, two things happen. The first is that several Wasteland guards climb onto the Wasteland arena, and pull Sage below ground. She smiles slightly and winks at me as she's dragged down. The second is that I plant my hind paws onto Tremor's chest and shove him off me as hard as I can while he's distracted by the green dragon.

I smirk as I watch the Silver Shock tumble backwards until he can recover, but let my face set in concentration. His red eyes glow in unchecked fury as he stalks forward, before accelerating to a sprint. Despite my screaming muscles, I leap towards Tremor, and meet him in midair. My paws are splayed wide on his chest and back as we crash into the ground. I hold him down and bite his shoulder. Blood runs down the sides of my muzzle. He pushes at my shoulder with a forepaw until my teeth are pulled from his flesh.

I jump back a few feet as the Silver Shock rises to his paws. He shakes his head, before standing a little straighter. My muscles tense as I await his attack. It comes just a few seconds later. Tremor charges, his paws creating a clapping noise, but not loud enough to leave my ears ringing. I jump to the side, hoping to get onto his back, but instead, the Silver Shock plants a paw on a hind leg and a shoulder. His teeth sink into the skin just behind my right foreleg and tear backwards until he's split one of the leather straps of my chest plate, and ripped out most of my flank. My body locks in agony and a roar of pain leaps from my jaws. I can't feel anything except the pain. Blood pours down my side and flows down the end of my chest plate, turning the ground beneath me into red mud.

Through the pain, I just barely see Tremor going for the kill. I don't know how, but I claw at his face and neck until he backs off. Whether he's dead or not, I'm not sure and I don't care. Energy drains out of me, and I shift my paws wider apart. My head bows, and blood drips from my lips. A moment later, I collapse to the ground. When I open my eyes again, I can just barely see two dogs through the haze of pain, but it takes too much effort to identify them. My vision goes blurrier and blurrier, until my eyelids flutter shut and everything goes black.

Thank you all so much for reading this chapter! Please consider a vote, and feel free to comment! So, this was the last chapter from Arrow's point of view. The next will be Jay. I'll hopefully have his first chapter out in a few days. 

So, why did Sage use her fire when she knows not to? 

Is Arrow dead? 

What about Tremor? 

What are the two dogs doing by Arrow? 

Thank you again!

-Werewolf14-