Fun times at the arena abound when Ishtar is around, she sung in her head. The Colosseum, as it happened, was Ishtar's favorite place in all of Orario. There were a number of reasons, of course, but none more important than that the glistening, hunky gladiators were always happy to oblige her with a wave whenever she was spectating. That was the essence of mortal life, the kind of thing that really pushed her buttons, and so she liked to indulge in it whenever she could. It was laughably moronic to other gods and goddesses, but Ishtar was quick to deflect criticism, arguing instead that if she could curry favor with the fighters in the arena, she'd have a fighting force well worth fearing in time. She was there as often as she could to that end, keeping an eye out for the potentially Familia-less fighters who fought for sport or money. When the war games weren't on, she imagined that was the entire reason why they would have remained in the arena in the first place. Perhaps it was obvious enough to everyone else, but Ishtar was a special brand of self-concerned, and so she thought that her deduction was brilliant. Why would anyone want to come to the sandy, sun-bleached battlefield otherwise? Hohoho, she laughed to herself. But no time for dwelling on her own accomplishments. The next fight was about to begin. There was no killing in this arena when it came to fights between the humanoid races, as far as she knew, but she still cheered on the idea of violence when she saw the first fighter step out of his alcove. The muscled warrior, a human towering at least six feet tall, caused her heart to leap out of her chest. Oh, how she wanted to throw herself at that man and be carried over the threshold! But, she couldn't make that kind of decision too early. There were two fighters, in fact, and the next had to be interesting as well. On the edge of her seat, she eagerly awaited the next fighter. She'd heard he was a werewolf from the other spectators, and that was interesting enough, but she had to see how he looked overall. Oh, and she guessed he would have to win the fight too. Then, and only then, could she start soliciting his attention for her Familia. Because that's just how she happened to do things.
Another day, another fight. Really, even if he enjoyed the combat, even Iudas felt it might get a bit annoying. He had been doing this for years, since he was 16, but he hadn't felt himself improving. At least, not in the ways he wanted to feel. He'd never get his shot at the dungeons at this rate, he'd just end up like his parents did if he went in. But he couldn't really stop, it helped pay for his bills, and he enjoyed the thrill of it. Speaking of the thrill, Iudas had another fight signed up, against a fighter he didn't really know about. Probably a new guy, those showed up all the time in the Arena. He gave a smile to himself, probably shouldn't be too hard a fight anyway, the newbies were always on the losing end, even Iudas had lost his first one. The Werewolf took a deep breath as he stood before the Gate, waiting for it to raise and allow him onto the battlefield itself. He counted down to himself, a smirk growing with each number. 10, 9, 8, He kicked up his spear from the ground, grabbing it on one hand. 7, 6, 5, Last second tightening of the straps on his leather armor were made. 4, 3, 2. Iudas stepped onto the sandy ground of the Arena, his spear gripped tightly in his hand as he approached his enemy. A giant of a human, even taller than Iudas himself, and definitely more buff. Iudas himself was more lean, slim like a man made for running. His wolven ears twitched slightly at the sound of the cheering of the crowd, ready for blood to be spilled.
And the crowd did cheer! Ishtar couldn't contain her own excitement with the idea of the new challenger approaching. Leaning over the protective balustrade, it took a few other spectators to pull her back over the edge before she fell. The werewolf that she spotted: how handsome! Indeed, if Ishtar could fall in love at the drop of a hat, then the hat had certainly been dropped. But still, there wasn't anything to determine the man's fighting skill just yet. What was beauty without power? Instead of trying her best to climb over the guard railing and fall into the sandy pit itself, she opted to look for something that would help her see. Maybe a looking glass or something -- but they didn't sell those at the arena! But she could still maybe watch from the sidelines themselves if she could beg the arena guards to let her do so. Finding one of the descending staircases into the gladiators' preparation room itself was easy enough, but trying to rush past the guards wasn't. Fortunately, she was a goddess and that afforded her a little bit of mercy when it came to dealing with the absolutely baffling Ishtar. Hauling the woman out, the guards deposited her back into an empty seat no closer than she had been before. Wiping some crocodile tears from her eyes, she pouted and placed her hands on the seat, sulking.
Whatever trouble a member of the crowd was getting herself into, Iudas couldn't especially afford to pay attention to it. No, he was focused on the hulk of a man in front of him, who seemed to not carry a weapon in his hands. Unarmed combat? That didn't seem very wise in the Arena, but Iudas wasn't gonna correct the guy on his choice. Easing himself into position, the Werewolf gripped his spear in both hands now, eyes staring at the human. The first move was made by the human,a punch thrown at Iudas, which the Werewolf jumped out of the way of. Strength over speed, as one might've guessed from the man's proportions. A hit would hurt, but that would imply the Werewolf would allow himself to be hit. The spear flashed out, cutting a gouge out of the man's arm, running up his forearm, in payment for that attempt at hitting Iudas. It seemed to annoy the man more than actually do much to slow him down, the smirk returning to the spearman's face. Good, good, it would've been boring if the guy hadn't any fight in him, and boring fights tended to have a lower payout, in both cash and satisfaction. A quick spin of the spear sent a spray of blood crashing onto the sandy floor, in stark contrast to the yellow-white coloring. It continued like that, Iudas ducking and moving out of the way of the man's lumbering attacks, scoring nicks and cuts along the man's body. Then, he over extended himself, the spear missing the man by an inch, and Iudas catching a fist in his side, sending him back a few feet. That one had hurt, more than likely it was gonna bruise. However, it only brought a feral glint to the Wolf's eye, now this was a real fight.
At about noon, the sun was high enough in the sky that only a scant few spectators received shade from the awnings over the Colosseum: it was thanks to this that Ishtar was happy to have dressed lightly, since she wanted to see the action as close as possible. Clutching at her seat, she leaned in as far as she possibly could, eyes scanning the two combatants like a butcher sizing up a cut of meat. It was incredible that the human was allowed to fight the armed werewolf without a weapon, though it seemed as if it was no handicap at all considering his size and weight. Perhaps what was more incredible was the werewolf's agility and endurance. It was easy enough, it seemed, for the werewolf to keep away from the man simply using his footwork. But when he had taken a hit - and surely, it must have hurt - he kept on going. It wasn't that the unarmed man was incapable, but more like the werewolf instead was toying with him in the fight. That kind of attitude: Ishtar loved it! She decided then and there that the bushy-tailed wolf would have to join her Familia. That is, of course, assuming he had no prior affiliation. Still, she had to wait for the actual fight to end. That couldn't possibly take very long at this rate, with the human sustaining more damage than he could put out. Iudas's tactic of darting in and out with his superior reach and speed was working, to say the least. But the moments before the end of the fight felt like an eternity to Ishtar, who couldn't wait to claim him for herself.
Another fist flew, aimed for the Werewolf's head, which he ducked under, the head of the spear yet again cutting against the man's side. Perhaps it was time to put this battle to rest, he had earned his paycheck this time. He couldn't kill the man, getting kicked out of the arena would mean a loss of his main form of income, but he had to find some way of either incapacitating him, or making him surrender. The wolf considered his options as he continued to move around the man, feeling the air of his blows as he came close, the blows he couldn't fully dodge still stinging each time a glance hit him. His moment came, when, after ducking under another wide blow from the man, Iudas took his spear in both hands and drove it down at the man's knee. Bones splinted and blood splattered onto the floor, the spear point burying into the sandy as it pierced through the man's knee. A cry, like a wounded animal, came from the giant of a human, as he feel down to one knee. Iudas, on the other hand, pulled out the weapon, and flipping it a final time in his hands, and sending the blunt end crashing into the back of the man's head. The giant toppled, knocked unconscious, from the final blow. The knee wound was still bleed, but he'd probably still live, the Arena kept pretty good healers. The Werewolf, on the other hand, held up his spear in triumph, showing off the adulation of the crowd. They had clearly been entertained by the blood sport. However, after a moment or two of basking in the glows of a well-won victory, Iudas dragged himself towards the rest area, the point of his spear dragging across the sand, leaving a bloody trailed behind him. Iudas was heading straight for the baths, a warm soak to clean the blood and wash away the fatigue was always his favorite way of post fight celebration.
Fantastic! The way that the werewolf had handled taking out the man was a little brutal, but Ishtar could forgive that, since it wasn't a life-threatening injury. In any case, what had happened certainly affirmed Ishtar's thoughts: that the werewolf was playing around with the man like a toy. And for that, Ishtar certainly had to have him! With her Familia dwindling down to almost nothing in recent times, an experienced gladiator to turn it all around was what she needed. If she was ever going to assert herself through the Denatus, her ability to field a team for the War Games was paramount. However, it was more like she wanted to be absolutely unbeatable when it came to arguments. If anything went too far, she only had merely to challenge another God to a War game! In any case, finding Iudas was her goal. Descending back into the labyrinth beneath the arena, she caught only a glimpse of the warrior as he made his way towards the bath. Despite that hint, it still took the goddess some time to navigate the corridors and avoid the guardians of the arena before she located the rooms. The problem then was the idea of Ishtar intruding upon the male baths... which didn't seem to bother her in the slightest. Slipping into the room she found herself waving away a cloud of steam as she approached Iudas from behind. As soon as she was appropriately - or inappropriately - close enough, she coughed loudly to announce her presence. What anyone would have thought of the situation clearly didn't register to Ishtar, otherwise she might have found herself embarrassed. For that purpose, it was good that there wasn't anyone else to see what was going on, especially the arena guards. "You! Yeah, you! Perhaps, by chance, you're not part of anyone's Familia, are you?" One could almost hear her internal cackling.
The Wolf sunk down into the hot, steaming water, allowing it to carry away the fatigue in his muscles, along with the blood from his skin and hair. It was almost a ritual at this point, to rest in the baths after a hard fight. He sank down lower, keeping his nose above to allow him to still breath as he sat there, attempting some form of relaxation. Of course it was interrupted, a loud voice sounding out just behind him. Unlucky for this voice, Iudas still had Adrenalin flowing through his system, his flight or fight response on high alert. Water exploded as the Werewolf sudden stood up, turning around and pointing his sharpened claws at the throat of the unknown person. He paused from actually breaking the skin, noticing that the unknown looked to be a girl, and an unarmed one at that. She looked familiar too. What, what had she said? Familia? Iudas blinked, his mind connecting the dots as it dawned on him. Ishtar, a normal sight around the Arena and the subject of rumors among the gladiators. And if a God was here, in the baths, with him, talking about Familias... An annoyed sigh escaped his lips as the Wolf moves back, taking the claws away from the God. Connecting two and two together, she must be here to try and get him to join her cult Familia thing. "No, I ain't, nor do I really have any plans to be in one." He doubted his words would make her go away, rumor had it that Ishtar was as stubborn as one could be.
