WHITE DWARF • THE 100

14

She took a deep breath. The air was stale. She could taste the sweat and the blood and the anger and the pain. She could taste the freedom, the will to survive, the need that everyone had. To her, it was the most inviting thing about the place so far. That juxtaposition of tastes reminded her of the humans standing just behind that door - not fully good, not fully bad, just people who landed smack down in the middle. Where she belonged. 

Cassie pushed the door open. 

She didn't hesitate as her foot went over the threshold, the imaginary line now crossed. There was no returning from this moment. She had marked her fate with a seal stamp, and she couldn't stop the happiness spreading through her. Finally, she could do something. 

The door swung shut behind her. No one paid attention to her presence, the crowds swelling inside the room. It was a corpse of a cafeteria, what seemed to once be a kitchen was now possessed by a tall tan man, his muscles bulging through his shirt and black hair tied in a bun at the nape of his neck. Above him were cardboard signs, marked down with names with numbers next to them. It took a moment for it to click. It was a table of their odds. 

Cassie pulled her attention away from it. Betting was no use. She wasn't going to get what she needed by placing her necessities on one person. No, if she was going to do something like that, she would at least come to a few matches and see who was the real alpha. And when she was ready, even join the betting board herself. 

Her eyes danced to the large space in the middle of the room. It was cut off by long, rectangular tables, making a jagged shape of a star. There was a small gap towards the other side of the room, a pair of doors directly behind it. As soon as her eyes fell on those doors, a figure pushed their way through. 

Her breath caught in her throat. 

A slender blonde woman sauntered out of the doors, a small smirk playing on her lips. The closer she got to the ring, the more details Cassie could make out. She was toned, her muscles pronounced by the tank top she wore. Half of her hair was shaved, the other half braided and falling in tied rivers down her back. The woman's eyes scanned the crowd, moving slickly over Cassie as if she was nothing. 

Cassie couldn't help it. She cowered. The pure power the woman radiated made her feel like a little girl again, made her want to run from this place and hide away forever. It made her realise that this goddess was the alpha of this ring. 

Her attention moved quickly when the doors slammed open again. This time, a bulk of a man thundered through them. It was like he was made of bricks, his foundation never to falter. Even from the distance she was at now, she could see the scars slicing over his body. He made no efforts to hide them, only storming over to the ring where the woman stood, her arms pressed firmly across her chest. She pursued her lips, digging at dirt in her nails. 

Cassie didn't have much time to ponder it, a sharp horn cutting through the silence. The crowd around her stilled, all turning towards the person who honked the horn. She felt the pull too, turning her entire body to them. Standing on top of one of the tables, the man from behind the betting booth stood with a megaphone in his hand. Noticing that he'd grabbed everyone's attention, he lifted the megaphone to his lips. 

"Hey everyone, welcome to the Pit!" At the mention of the name, a roar of cheers went out through the crowd. Cassie turned her shoulders inwards. "Now, you all know the rules. If you're down for more than thirty seconds, you lose. If you bring a weapon to the fight, you lose and you're banned from all future fights. If you get thrown out of the ring, you lose. Understood?"

There were nods all around. Suddenly the doubt crept in again. Maybe her initial fears about this place were true. Maybe this wasn't the place for her.