Learn from the best

[Chevi]

"Maybe not yet. When I ready. When I live and no die in arena."

"Trust me, you are nowhere near ready yet. The doctore knows that too." Thessala smirked. One would have been a fool to send someone into the arena who was not sufficiently prepared yet to present a spectacle. It would have been a waste of money and scouting work.

A thought occurred to the little frog.

"I fight you there too?"

Thessala chuckled.

"Yes, probably." she nodded "Women can only fight women, you see. And there are not many gladiatrices in this city. So... yes, if you get good enough to put on a good show, then we might get matched." she grinned "It's not all about being a good fighter. You also have to be interesting."

@Atrice

[Atrice]

It was a bit of a relief to be told that she wasn't ready to go to the arena yet, so she wouldn't go. Rana would like to be better, so she wouldn't die there. And she would improve, so she would live, because that's what she wanted. So she had to look at Thessala and learn. Luckily it wasn't hard to look at Thessala, who was actually a stunning looking woman, if you had time to think about it. You didn't when you fought her. But now... things were more relaxed, Rana could appreciate her.

She wondered though if she would also fight Thessala there, and then Thessala explained more about gladiatrices and how women only fought women. And she spoke of a good show again and how you had to be interesting. Rana gave it some thought. A show and being interesting... she could do that. Right now her hair had been put into a simple braid, but she knew she could look very pretty and impressive... and fierce. And she could learn how to fight. Then all she needed was the show. And she could do that, couldn't she? And if she was to fight Thessala... she smiled to herself, as she had an idea.

"Show can... planned. Be planned. Like theatre." She said, but didn't know if Thessala understood her meaning, "If we fight... we plan show. It better. We know plan, people watching not know plan. But more interesting, if planned, for them. You... understand?" She looked at Thessala. What she wanted was to decide beforehand what to do, so that they could put on a very good show. She had seen little plays in markets, people acting and everyone watching were having fun, even though they knew it was just a planned show. But if she and Thessala planned something, everyone would not know, but it could be more interesting. And if it was more interesting, people would like seeing it. And that was the idea, right? 

@Chevi

[Chevi]

Rana had survived her first day of training, and she was not breaking down or trying to run away. The owners of the ludus knew how to pick their people, but it was always more difficult to find a woman fit to be a gladiatrix, and the truth only ever came out once the reality sank in for them. The little frog was finally catching up to the fact that her life-or-death fight would become entertainment. 

"Show can... planned. Be planned. Like theatre. If we fight... we plan show. It better. We know plan, people watching not know plan. But more interesting, if planned, for them. You... understand?"

Thessala chuckled.

"Oh, I understand. You think you are the first gladiator to come up with that idea?"

To a certain extent, all of what happened in the arena was one elaborate ritual, and the gladiatrices, more than most, were in there for the entertainment value, not the carnage. That, however, did not mean the rules did not apply to them.

"A show can be planned, yes. To a point. You can plan who you want to be in the arena, how you want to fight, how you want to make people remember you. And yes, you can either practice with others, choreograph a fight. But when it comes to deciding who will win... Well. They don't like us doing that. People make bets, you see. And if they find out a fight was planned, they are usually not happy."

@Atrice

[Atrice]

She wondered why Thessala chuckled at her words, but was glad to hear that at least Rana had made her meaning clear to the other woman. But then Thessala pointed out she wasn’t the first to come up with such an idea. Rana probably knew that, or at least wasn’t surprised to hear it, but the way Thessala said it, sounded a bit mean to her. Why did she keep doing that? Why couldn’t Thessala just be nice? They were so few women in this ludus, it seemed, so why not work together rather than being rude?

She said nothing to it, but let the other woman continue. She said it could be planned, to a point, but they could not decide who would win. And if they found out it was planned, they wouldn’t be happy.

“I good at… pretending. I can do it, so they not notice.” She said, but was a little bit annoyed with Thessala, so looked over her shoulder to where everyone else were having their meals. Maybe it wouldn’t be such a good idea to plan it with Thessala, if she was going to keep on being so unfriendly towards Rana, “Is more women gladiatrix here? Or only you and me?”

@Chevi

[Chevi]

“I good at… pretending. I can do it, so they not notice.”

"Had lovers, did you" Thessala grinned, stretching out her legs with a cat-like motion. It was just too easy sometimes to make jabs at the new girl, both literally and figuratively. But all humor aside, Thessala admired the little frog for still having naive ideas. She'd learn the hard way how the ludus worked, everyone would make sure of that. But not tonight. 

“Is more women gladiatrix here? Or only you and me?”

"There are more" Thessala glanced around; some of the women did not like to take their meals along with the men. "And there are some in the other ludi as well. Enough to make the games interesting, but not too many for all of us to kind of know each other." she tilted her head at Rana "Have you ever seen a gladiator fight before?"

@Atrice

[Atrice]

She gave Thessala a look, wondering if this was just a wild, but good guess… or if Thessala actually suspected this. She’d grinned though, so it might just be a wild guess, that Rana had lovers and she had to pretend and act so no one would know what was really going on. She decided to let Thessala in on this ‘secret’, although it was of no matter in this new life, she supposed.

 “I did.” She said and smiled, leaned closer. She still sometimes missed her first real lover, Gerta, but at the same time, it was what caused her to become a slave... so she didn’t feel too bad about talking about it, “Brothers wife. He not know. He only know when I tell him, when he sell me as slave.” She explained, “For other reasons. Not because wife.”  

She’d also asked Thessala if there were other women around here, and Thessala said there were more of them and also in the other ludii. Then she wondered if Rana ever saw a fight before. She shook her head, “Not real gladiator fight. I seen pits, men fight like dogs.” Although men were not dogs and shouldn’t be treated so… even if some of those men sometimes seemed to be more beasts than men. But they were meant to be like that, they were treated to act like that. She had heard that gladiator fights weren’t quite like that.

@Chevi

[Chevi]

The thing about the lovers was going to be a throwaway joke - lots of women had to pretend with their men, that was just a way of life - but Rana seemed to take it seriously, or at least seriously enough to lean in and share some juicy bit of secret.

“I did. Brothers wife. He not know. He only know when I tell him, when he sell me as slave. For other reasons. Not because wife.”  

"Well, well" Thessala arched an eyebrow. The girl seduced her brother's wife? And her brother sold her? Maybe she had more spirit than she let on... "What do you know..."

“Not real gladiator fight. I seen pits, men fight like dogs.” 

Thessala huffed.

"You will have to see them the next time there is a fight. The Romans like their bloodshed, but they like their entertainment even more. I have seen good fighters fall out of favor because they killed too quickly, like on a battlefield..."

@Atrice

[Atrice]

Thessala seemed surprised to hear Rana’s tale about her brothers wife, but besides that, she didn’t comment on it much. It wasn’t very easy to impress Thessala, was it? It wasn’t very easy to do anything with her, it seemed. This might be rough. Then the other asked if she ever saw a gladiator fight, but she hadn’t. She’d only seen fighting pits and she guessed that wasn’t the same at all.

The other woman said she’d have to go see it next time there was a real fight, so she could see how it was both about bloodshed and entertainment. Rana nodded.

“Sounds like I must see. But how? I slave, not allowed if not fight? Or am I?” She wondered, because how else would she see a fight? Either she’d accompany the others to go and see a fight or she’d go on her own, but she was a new slave here and would she be let out if she was that new? She doubted it.

@Chevi

[Chevi]

“Sounds like I must see. But how? I slave, not allowed if not fight? Or am I?”

"Oh, sweetheart, everyone is welcome to the games" Thessala grinned, setting her plate down and stretching some more "Slaves and women like us get shit seats up top, but we can go if we want to. But here's the secret: As gladiatrices, we don't have to watch from the seats. We are a part of the show, so there are better places to sneak a peek from. I'll show you next time there is a fight." she waved a hand at the male gladiators sitting around talking, and others finishing up their training for the day "Until then, you are free to admire the scenery in here. Same idea, just less blood."

@Atrice