Realistic or Modern A Beast's Hunger | [Open]

[LONELYRAIN]

Brutus​

Brutus the victorious, Brutus the mericless, Brutus the destroyer. These were all names that were given to the brute of the grand colosseum of High Reach, but the most fearsome name that belonged to the man was Brutus the Invincible. No matter how many times he would be pierced, slashed, beaten, or even burned, Brutus would rise from what seemed to be near death and continue fighting with rage burning in his eyes and wanting nothing more than the blood of his enemies to spill before him. He was an unstoppable force, something to be feared, something to be avoided. He wasn't someone that would be seen a human; no... Someone that had so much rage within his heart couldn't possibly be human. That was how he was regarded, a beast that only sought out the kill, and even then the kills wouldn't give him much satisfaction before he would be wanting more and more; each kill growing more grotesque and gruesome than the last.

Yet, despite Brutus being as horrid as he was, he was regarded as High Reach's hero, their brutal beast of sorts. It was as if he were the pet of the public, a source of entertainment. Whenever he appeared within the arena, admissions would be sold out in waves as the colosseum would be filled to the brim, jeers and shouts resounding from every corner as Brutus would completely and utterly decimate his opponents. However, unknown to the public, Brutus held no love for them in his heart, nor did he enjoy being paraded around like an amusing pet to be tossed out later, despite the colosseum enabling him to live quite comfortably at the cost of ending so many lives, Brutus did not enjoy being trapped in the public eye. Only now when fame had shown down upon him did the people of High Reach bother to shout his name and sing him praises. Instead, before he even had a name, or even an identity for that matter, all he was regarded as was a little street rat that was cursed. Ah, yes, he remembered what everyone called him before, "The Cursed Child". No matter where he went, objects were thrown at him, he was rejected, spit upon, cast aside, ridiculed... And that all fueled his anger and his hate. It was all he had, all he thrived upon. He couldn't get himself to not feel such boiling rage within his heart.

Nonetheless, Brutus had expected to live such a life in the colosseum fueled by hatred and anger; yet an unexpected twist of fate would set him upon a new path, one that he wouldn't even comprehend ever occurring to a mindless "animal" like him.

Brutus had been within the rather small and empty house that he called his shelter on the outskirts of High Reach, the poorer district of the massive city. It was then, much to his surprise that High Reach's royal guard had appeared at his door, knocking firmly upon the flimsy wood as he would answer it and receive a summons that he had not been anticipating at all. A personal summon from the king. The man did not know a lot about the king of High Reach; aside from his name being King Thurmond, that was the limit of his knowledge about the man. He never saw the king in person, nor did he have any ties to the royalty within the area, but not wanting to go through the trouble of rejecting the king's summons, the man had agreed and now was finding himself being escorted toward the grand castle that was indeed the king's palace.

Looking upward, Brutus felt a sneer cross his face before he could stop it. Obnoxious. Everything practically reeked of the wealth that the king boasted, from the castle's grand doors, the expansive garden, the architecture, the guards that lined the grounds.. Even the inside was just as gaudy as the outside seemed to be. A nauseating feeling had settled in his stomach as he crossed the threshold into the grand castle, observing how utterly spotless it seemed to be. This was out of his comfort zone by far, he didn't want to be here.

Eventually, after being thoroughly escorted through the castle, eventually Brutus had stopped before massive oak doors. There was a brief pause before one of the guards had stepped forward and opened the door to the throne room, thus prompting Brutus to walk inside. And so, Brutus did. Taking his time, he observed the purple banners hanging from the ceiling and the emblem of a golden lion being the crest, it was a familiar sight of High Reach, though it applied more for the richer classes than anybody else. His eyes then shifted to the throne itself; locking upon the king. The old man before him looked haggard, hunched over in clothes that seemed far too large for his frame, trembling from head to toe as his breath came in ragged gasps. As the man approached, he struggled not to wrinkle his nose at the smell of sickness and sweat that practically emanated from the elderly king, though he knew enough that the old man was at death's door. His heart was not moved, in fact as soon as he got close enough, Brutus merely came to a halt, unmoving as he gazed blankly at the old king.

A tense silence had passed by as one of the guards had stepped forward, raising the hilt of his sword as to strike at the back of Brutus' legs, "Kneel before your king you-" The king's weak voice raised up, "Stop!" The guard froze, only backing up as King Thurmond had waved his hand at him to back up, only then turning his gaze toward Brutus, "Colosseum champion Brutus, I assume you're wondering why I summoned you here." Brutus' lips curled in a brief snarl, looking over his shoulder toward the guard whom had been about to strike him earlier, "Wondering? That's an understatement. The only reason why I'm here is because I'm curious. But, if this is a waste of my time, I'll be more than happy to leave."

More stunned silence met Brutus' words, however it was broken by wheezing laughter as the old king chuckled, "Oh, it's been far too long since anyone has spoken so boldly to me." The king paused then pointed to the nearest guard, "Bring her in." Brutus raised an eyebrow at that, Her? Curiosity fluttered in his chest for once as his attention now shifted toward the door, spotting a feminine figure which made him tilt his head, Oh? The man didn't hide his all too obvious examination of the woman stepping out into the grand throne room, his eyes lingering and probing over soft skin that didn't seem to even so much have a single scratch. Of course, it seemed as if the gladiator was acting quite full of himself, boldly gazing at what was High Reach's beloved princess with unmasked interest, certainly void of any innocence in nature. It clearly was the rudest thing he could do at this moment in time, but Brutus quite frankly didn't care. Fine drink and finer women were things he appreciated, after fighting endless battles in the arena, it wouldn't be uncommon for him to either have a mug of the finest drink he could buy while eventually charming his way into willing women's beds to have a night of pleasure.

"Is she to be my reward or something?" His brown eyes turned dismissively away from the woman, gazing upon the frail king, "I should say it is about time I was rewarded quite handsomely for all of my grand contributions to the colosseum! It's dreadfully difficult to stay motivated on the Bloodsands." This was another rude remark, unashamedly bold and quite dismissive as the man quite frankly was losing interest. As lovely as whoever the woman was, he already had plenty of willing women who would fall into his bed with him. This new woman in particular seemed far too fancy for his tastes, granted he knew he should perhaps bite his tongue before he dug himself a deeper grave... but why should he? After living in quite horrid conditions as nothing more than a street rat during his early years; it was now that he was allowed an audience before the royalty that was responsible for all of High Reach's citizens. He owed nothing to these royals, and they sure as hell didn't have any of his respect for them, for they hadn't earned it.