Nightmare kind of Dream

Anger

I was being guided through a wall, previously I was getting changed in the locker room with a few other Beasts without the help of Handlers unlike some.
I didn't actually get to see a fight between Beasts last time I was in the entertainment wing, that 'Wirt' creature distracted me with an odd request, I can't believe Marmi actually agreed.

The wall opened up to the pit, I walked in under the relentless light on all fours. My guide and another quickly strapped a harness type thing over my chest and clipped it to a chain from somewhere, I watched with skeptical curiosity before my attention turned to my opponent on the other side of the pit.

The poor human that became this new.... Beast. Scrawny to the point of looking malnourished, their legs were knob-kneed and scaled like a bird's, they held themself up at an awkward position with a harsh arch in their back, their wings were flimsy and almost transparent, a green hue at their claw tips. But their face was like a pterodactyl, nose jutting out of their skull like an arrow, hair thinned, ragged, and matted to their scalp, and their eyes were large and snake-like.
It snapped at it's guide, giving an unhappy screech when it was wanked back by a Handler holding it's chain. The guide frantically strapped a harness to the unfortunate creature and clipped it to another chain.

I glanced bewildered at my guide, who stood beside me watching the other. She only have me a sympathetic smile before walking toward the wall.

Bill?

I looked to the rim of the pit, hoping to find him but was not given a view.

"Calm down, Pinetree. You will learn the rules in a moment."

Well that doesn't help at all.

"Demons and demonesses!" The shrill voice of that horrible woman greeted the unseen viewer. "I am so thrilled to narrate tonight's fight," I took the chance to look for the floating podium she would be standing on.

My opponent clicked and hissed irritably at her voice.

"Tonight we have Council member Mr. Cipher's hound class Beast, Pinetree," Ugh, really? " And elite scientist, Gorue Hazyxt's dragon class, 23005." The woman introduced.

I looked away from the relentless lights to the creature on the other side.
A number for a name? Oh...

The creature eyed me with one side of their head, looking for weakness or just curious I don't know.
The woman continued to talk and cheer, her voice becoming just another droning sound.

The thing leaned forward, using the two claws on the curve of their wings to support the applied weight, and gave a light chirp that no one seemed to hear but me. The chirp was quiet, a curious tone to it, almost like a feminine voice making a questioning noise.
I cocked my head to the side, narrowing my gaze at her. She mimicked the gesture in a humorous way.

"It is rumored that Mr. Cipher's Beast has retained enough sanity to still speak," The announcer woman's became suddenly loud as she appeared at my side. I backed away from her as she shoved her mic in my face. "Care to share some words?"

Her big, sneering eyes bore through mine.

I glared at her, opening my mouth. "Horrible. Woman."

Her high and might face fell, even my opponent hissed in laughter as it rang throughout the wing.
She moved her mic away from me to my relief and disappeared. "Well, then," She attempted, her train of thought obviously scattered. "Both Beasts will be guarding an object of obsession their opponent desires. The goal is to get that object by any means necessary."

I felt a tug on the chain hooked to my harness and looked back over my shoulder. My jaw dropped at the sight.
A pair of Handlers was dragging a very reluctant, smaller version of my opponent out of the wall. The dragon on the other side of the pit gave a sharp chirp of attention that the dragon behind me responded to in an instant. The Handlers roughly clipped a chain to the young dragon's harness.
This time I followed where the chain came from. A hook on the wall above the open hole attached to mine.

Another sharp chirp brought my attention to the dragon across the pit. A Handler was hooking Marmibelle to the other end of the dragon's chain.

I gave a deep bark in alarm that caught my niece's attention. Her eyes met mine, she was terrified.

No, no, no, no, this is against the contract!

The older dragon leered toward her with a curious chirp. I knew she didn't mean any harm but instinct took over with a loud growl tumbling from my throat. The dragon turned her attention to me, narrowing her eyes at my threat.

A questioning chur rolled from her mouth.
I looked at the younger dragon behind me then again at her, she lifted herself on to her hind legs, screeching at the new blatant threat I claimed.
After her moment of screeching, she charged forward, Marmibelle being dragged backward by the chain, the she-dragon stopped mere inches away from me. She scratched her talons through the dirt, making a open challenge.

I growled lowly, more than ready to accept, but, I looked at her closely. Stanford always taught me to assess the situation before taking action. So I did.
The dragon in front of me was a mother, I am chained to her child. She is chained to Marmibelle. We both want something the other is forced to have.

I glanced under her furled wing at my niece then back at the angry mother. I looked behind me, away from the young dragon, at the chain to the wall.
The she-dragon squawked at me, not happy with being ignored.

I snorted back at her before looking closing at the looped hook in the wall.

That's it.

I bounded away from the mother and past her child, taking a second to gather my legs under me and lunging at the wall. I barely reached the hook, digging my claws into the soft sandstone to slow my fall.

I stared up at the healing tracks to the small gap from my lung to the hook.
Hurriedly I padded over to the mother, who was watching me with a look at seemed she was thinking I had gone mad. I eyed where she stood for a moment.
I hopped next to her, the chain tugging her child back causing them to give a started cry, then bounded for the wall again. Lunging up at the hook and grabbing on to its rim, I scrambled to get my feet flat against the wall.

There were voices, outside the pit, some sounding in awe and others in anger, many wondering if what I was doing was legal to this game.

Who cares.

I got my feet up and positioned, I started pulling on the hook. Growling with effort, it was like trying to move Bill's hat out of place.
Slowly, ungodly slowly, the hook scraped out of the wall.

Behind me a chirp distracted me from the hook. I glanced over my shoulder to the young dragon, wing beating the air. They eyed me then the hook, giving a gargled sound.
Somehow understanding the child I scooted myself over as much as I could.

The young dragon grabbed on with their talons. Together, we pulled. Me using the grounding I got from being on the wall. Them, beating furiously at the air with their wings using the air pressure bouncing off the wall.
Eventually the hook came out and we both fell, mainly from my weight and them being too small to carry so much. But I hit the ground first, much to the amusement of our viewers.

After a few moments of catching my breath, I felt a thin stick nuzzle my ear. I lifted my head and found the stick was the child's nose, or beak, whatever. They made that gargled noise again before nudging me with it's nose.

I got back up on all fours, shaking the dust out of my hair, and walked with them to the observing mother. She instantly fretted over her spawn when they were in reach. I spared them a glance before carrying on to the frightened girl at the other end of the she-dragon's chain.
Soon enough I was cradling her again, smelling the sea salt in her hair and everything else familiar of her.

"Uncle." She whimpered softly.

Then the moment was utterly ruined by the announcer woman, "How dull." She commented. "But both objects were retrieved."

The dragons hissed at her from her little podium.
Handlers swarmed in small groups into the pit, a majority covering the dragons.

A few marched over to us. I growled a warning as one reached for Marmi, they quickly backed off. I handled her harness myself and one of them removed mine. We were guided through the wall.

I glanced back at the pair of dragons. Handlers were strapping muzzles on them and binding their wings before the wall closed up, separating us from them.