In Search of Home

Chapter 31

Across from him, in the pit of sand that seemed to hold onto his feet so tightly he struggled with every step, Oorah was circling an unmoving lump. It was splayed out grotesquely, unappealing and disgusting. Had Viktor not been starving, his stomach nearly ready to consume itself in its haste to get something, he would have wrinkled his nose and gagged. But he was starving, and the human wanted nothing more than to sink his teeth into whatever was lying atop the sand.

But Oorah was there, gnashing its teeth and cracking its whip-like tail in a loud and threatening matter. It didn't scare Viktor like it used to, all skin and bones with no fighting experience under his belt. He was used to these displays of aggression. The humans' displays were loud and frightening as well, but when faced with food or no food, and no other choice in between, everyone in this arena did what they had to do.

Curiously, though, despite Oorah's strategic position over the food, which Viktor still couldn't get a good look at, the idiotic beast didn't bite and tear into it. It simply watched Viktor with its beady eyes, and if Viktor didn't know any better, he could swear that the beast was just taunting him for it. The crowd that surrounded him, though he could not see it, roared and stomped, quickly becoming background noise to be ignored.

Viktor did not waste any time.

He threw himself forward with all the might he could muster, and even though the sand under his feet tried to sluggishly slow him down, he managed to leap on top of Oorah with ease. He wrapped his arms around the beast's neck and with alarming simplicity, twisted it sideways with a quick lurch of his arms. He scrambled off the beast as it crumbled to the ground. Victorious, Viktor grinned toothily, eyes glinting ferally.

He stepped over his enemy and towards his prize, turning it over with practiced ease. Mouth watering, Viktor opened his mouth, eager to sink his teeth into food for the first time in a while.

Vok'Rul's blank eyes stared up at him, lifeless. Viktor dropped his head back onto the sand, hunger forgotten, and screamed. He couldn't tell where his screams ended and the crowd's began.

It was his screaming that woke him up. Confused and panicked, Viktor launched himself out of the comfortable bed, flinging back his blanket in his hurry to get upright. He didn't account for the blanket curling around his feet like a pesky cat and tripping him. He definitely didn't account for the closet door being shut. Unfortunately for him, both things happened without his consent, and he slammed into the hard slats of the closet door. The impact flung him backward and back onto the floor, cushioned only by the soft bed underneath him.

It brought him out of his panic, though. Viktor breathed harshly, a bit bewildered. He rubbed his eyes with his free hand, groaning loudly. God, what the fuck was that?

Sure, he's had nightmares before. They definitely increased during and after his time at the arena, but his nightmares have always been extremely straightforward. Fighting in the arena, being unable to move, getting eaten, that sort of thing. Never before has anyone or anything he's... fond of being a part of those dreams.

Deciding wholeheartedly to just... not think about it, Viktor clambered out of the closet, complete with no faceplants to the door this time. He felt a bit better after the impromptu nap, though he hadn't necessarily felt tired enough to need one. He wasn't asleep for long. The sun was high in the sky still, shining into the office with fragile rays.

He ate most of the jerky in his bowl this time around. knowing Vok'Rul, he was more than likely going to stay out the whole day, doing whatever it was... Vok'Rul did. He honestly wasn't sure what the alien did. 

He tried not to think about Lilac's sudden visit, nor the fact that it seemed she was under probation of some kind, but the thoughts trickled in against his will. Maybe she hadn't been too deep into the crimes that the ringmaster committed. Maybe she had been the one to rat them all out, considering the looks she had given those undercover cops on their last day there. If she was on probation, did that mean the ringmaster was too? Was there any kind of alien prison on this planet?