Chapter Text
Early on in her journey to become the champion of the Colosseum, God Tamer would've never expected to tire of a life of glory and bloodshed. Unfortunately, it seemed she was starting to get bored of the constant and repetitive trials.
Maybe it was just because she was always cooped up in her personal living quarters whenever a trial wasn't happening, or maybe it was because any time she did get to participate it all ended the same. Whatever poor fool managed to complete the first two trials would always meet a gruesome fate under the edge of her blade. Always.
Or maybe it was because the Pale Lurker had retired from the Colosseum after a while—not from loss of interest, but because they found a new obsession to replace the bloody battles. Without anyone of similar strength or sanity to talk to, the Colosseum got dull quickly.
All those factors came together to form an impulsive thought telling God Tamer to leave the Colosseum and trudge down the cliffs in search of something new.
She told no one about where she was going or when she was coming back—not that she was planning on coming back at all. No one at the Colosseum was worth talking to since they'd all be dead soon enough or they were the Little Fool, and God Tamer would rather let herself be gutted then talk to that moron for more than five seconds.
God Tamer wasn't quite sure what she was going to do about her beast while she was gone, though. There was no one she trusted in the Colosseum to take care of it. Well, maybe she could trust the Pale Lurker—actually, scratch that. God Tamer knew if she left her beast in the care of the Pale Lurker it wouldn't last very long. She loved the Pale Lurker, but she knew all too well about their… odd preoccupations. God Tamer suspected the only way to get the former champion to pay attention to her beast would be if she tied that darn key they were always obsessing over around the beast's neck—and God Tamer certainly didn't feel like going through all the effort of wrestling the key from the Pale Lurker's grasp in the first place.
God Tamer decided to settle on leaving her beast in its pen for the time being. She supposed this litte trip wouldn't be permanent after all, much to her dismay.
Nonetheless, a break from the rotten smell of infection and blood was needed.
Although God Tamer didn't intend to be searching for a blue-hooded corpse while she traversed the cliffs below the Colosseum, it wasn't like she was opposed to stumbling upon it.
She didn't quite know why, though. It's not like this corpse was any different from the hundreds of others littering the cliffs. She could hardly even remember the blue fool's name!
(It started with a T, didn't it? Whatever. It didn't matter.)
Perhaps it was the fact this fool was the first ant she'd seen outside of a colony in who knows how long. Perhaps it was because he was one of the few that managed to hold out long enough to fight God Tamer herself. Or perhaps it was because there was that same brutal determination in his eyes that she saw in her own when she looked in the mirror.
Either way, it didn't exactly surprise her when she noticed a scrap of blue cloth and let her curiosity switch her course to follow where it came from.
After climbing from ledge to ledge, she came across a little aclove with exactly what she was looking for: a blue-hooded corpse.
God Tamer didn't know what she expected. He looked the same as he was when she dumped him out of the Colosseum—bloody and bruised with plenty of injuries scattered all over his body, most notably a crack trailing across his chest.
Still, the champion found herself crouched over the body, examining to see if he was truly dead or not—as if anyone could've survived a fall like he did and his injuries from the Colosseum.
Turns out luck was real; God Tamer could see the shallow rise and fall of the ant's chest. He wasn't dead yet. Yet.
She wasn't quite sure what it was, maybe a change of heart, but the next thing she knew, she had hoisted the blue fool's body over her shoulder and begun retracing her steps.
It was said the Colosseum was built where it was specifically because there was a tiny hot spring nearby. Apparently, the founders thought would be useful for anyone planning on participating in the trials or simply watching them. God Tamer didn't particularly care if that was true or not. It's origins didn't matter, but what did was the healing benefits the hot spring provided. Something about the chemical makeup of the water made it heal injuries and sicknesses better than any doctor alive could. It was exactly what God Tamer needed.
The journey up passed in a blur, agile leaps from rock to rock, quick skitters across dangerous cliff ledges, but soon enough God Tamer found her way back to the Colosseum she knew so well with only one thing on her mind.
Get the fool to safety.
Luck was not on God Tamer's side when she got back to the Colosseum. A trial had just been completed and whoever the survivor was had decided to go to the hot spring to recover. Thankfully it didn't take too much threatening to get them to leave and tell everyone they could that the hot spring would be off limits for everyone but God Tamer until further notice. Being the champion sure had its perks.
With the privacy of the hot spring secured, God Tamer quickly got to taking off the blue fool's hood and armor and submerging him in the steaming water to heal. She wasn't sure how long it would take until the ant's body would be in functioning condition, but she assumed it would be a while. She might as well relax since she had the chance.
God Tamer removed her helmet, placed it on the rocks to the side, then lay back and closed her eyes.
Being in a hot spring with a half-dead bug gave God Tamer a lot of time to think about why exactly she'd brought said half-dead bug there in the first place. Was it really a good idea to bring him back to the place he was almost killed by her and attempt to nurse him back to health? For what? Companionship because her only friend went mad? God Tamer was starting to suspect she might have an impulse problem.
But her ruminating was cut short when a pained groan came from the opposite side of the spring. God Tamer opened her eyes to find the dazed ant in front of her sitting up, blinking rapidly and flicking his antennae as he tried to figure out where he was.
When his eyes finally focused on the bug in front of him, he sat up straighter—albeit with a wince—and pointed at her aggressively, "You!"
"Mornin'," God Tamer replied simply.
"You!" The ant repeated, "You're—you're the God Tamer! You tried to killed me!"
"Yup."
"What's going on? Why am I here? And what even is this place!? Are you going to try and kill me again!?"
(Wyrm, this ant sure had a lot of energy for someone who was practically revived less than a minute ago.)
"This is a hot spring. And no, I'm not going to kill you. Why would I bring you to a hot spring if I planned to kill you?" God Tamer tilted her head, slightly amused at the blue fool's intensity.
"Because it's a perfect place to drown someone!" He retorted.
The champion sighed. "Calm down, will you? I'm trying to help you." She didn't remember the blue fool to be this loud and whiny—although the only other time they met they had been engaged in a battle, so she had to admit there wasn't much time to talk then.
"I don't need help from someone like you," The fool spat.
God Tamer took a long deep breath, hardly trying to hide her irritation. Regret at saving this idiot had begun simmering in the back of her mind.
"You were about to die when I found you out on the cliffs."
"I wonder whose fault that was."
"Yours, if you ask me, but that's besides the point," God Tamer ignored the angry sputter of disbelief the blue fool let out, "You would be dead right now if I hadn't brought you to this spring."
"What are you trying to say?"
"I'm trying to say you should be a bit more grateful that I've had a change of heart about leaving you to die."
"And why is that?"
"I don't need to tell you."
The blue fool shut his mouth after that, and God Tamer joined him in silence.
"Why take me to a hot spring of all places?" He asked after a beat.
"The water is healing you," God Tamer explained, noticing his subtle surprise at the information. "Have you never been to a hot spring before?"
The fool huffed, "Of course not. A warrior doesn't engage in such frivolous activities!"
"Gosh, you must live a sad life."
It seemed the blue fool didn't have anything to say to that. He just crossed his arms and looked away, pouting.
A thought popped back into God Tamer's mind. "What's your name, blue one? I don't believe I learned it in our earlier interaction."
The fool snorted at the mention of the trial, but still answered, "Tiso."
"What's your real name, though?" He added, "I'm sure your queen didn't name you God Tamer."
The champion chose to ignore Tiso's rude tone. "Again, I don't need to tell you that."
"Gosh, what can you tell me than?"
"I can tell you that you're going to need to stay here for a lot longer for your injuries to heal."
That comment made Tiso finally look down at his own body, taking note of the crack across his chest. Both ants noticed that it looked to be in much better condition than before—no longer bleeding and quite smaller, in fact.
"You sure? I feel quite fine, actually."
"I don't think I believe that."
Tiso scoffed, "What makes you say that?"
"The fact I've seen what my blade can do to those who can't go to a hot spring right after. I don't trust it's completely healed yet, knowing the damage."
"You said this water would heal me," Tiso scowled.
"I didn't say it would immediately fix everything. Have some patience, will you?"
"I can't be patient when there's a trial a need to complete!"
That's what he was worried about? Wyrm, this bug was difficult. Despite her own advice, God Tamer was starting to lose the patience to deal with this moron any longer.
"Fine," she said, "If you think you're so ready for battle, walk out of here and face the trials yourself."
"Gladly!"
And with that, Tiso attempted to push himself off the ground of the hot spring, failing the first time, but managing to stand unsteadily at last. He took a moment to catch his breath once he was up.
God Tamer watched Tiso as he staggered to the other side of the hot spring, leaning on the wall for support. It was as clear as the water in the spring that he still wasn't in very good condition. It seemed the water had given him the energy to shout and move, but now its absence was taking a toll on him.
"See? I can walk just fine!" Tiso said after a moment of labored wheezing. God Tamer just shook her head. Now she felt embarrassed for him rather than annoyed.
"No, no you can't," God Tamer sighed as she stood up beside Tiso and slung one of his arms over her shoulder, forcing him to lean on her for support.
"Hey! Let go! This is completely unnecessary!"
"It's either this or I carry you out of here, and I have reason to believe your massive ego won't let that happen."
Tiso just hissed in response, and God Tamer took that as him resigning to this fate.
He let God Tamer lead him out of the hot spring cave, but not to the Colloseum gates—instead, the champion brought him to a corner of the warrior's pit where there appeared to be a door he hadn't noticed before. Much to God Tamer's surprise, the blue fool didn't pipe up about not being taken straight to the arena. Maybe he did have some self-preservation instincts after all.
God Tamer silently pushed the door open and brought her companion inside.
Her living quarters weren't much—they were actually just one room that used to be a storage closet—but it was the only place she could have any privacy, so she called it home.
There wasn't much of note in the room; just a bed, a desk, and a couple chests where she kept her belongings. Those chests were the exact reason she'd brought Tiso to her room, though—they had medical supplies in them, much better ones than the Colloseum staff gave out to competitors. More perks of being the champion.
God Tamer dragged Tiso over to the bed and placed him on it as gently as one would a sack of potatoes. To his credit, he didn't complain the entire way to the room, so maybe that warranted a kinder gesture. God Tamer didn't particularly care, though.
Tiso was quiet and still as he watched the champion approach the chests around the room and begin digging through them. He must've finally understood moving or speaking too much wouldn't aid in his recovery.
After what must've been a torturous five minutes of not talking for him, Tiso finally asked, "Why'd you take me here?"
"Your wounds need to be bandaged. You don't want them getting infected, do you?"
Tiso hummed in response, shifting to get more comfortable on the bed.
Soon God Tamer found what she needed: silken gauze and a small blade to cut it. She turned from the chests and sat on the bed next to the injured ant.
"I need you to stop crossing your arms so I can actually see your wounds," God Tamer explained. Tiso begrudgingly obliged, sitting cross-legged with his arms to the side so God Tamer had a good view of the crack.
Thankfully, the hot spring had washed away any bacteria festering in any of Tiso's cuts, so God Tamer had no need to clean them. A couple of the smaller cuts and bruises had even fully disappeared. Thank the Wyrm for weird healing water.
Cutting off a long strip of gauze, God Tamer pulled Tiso closer and got to wrapping it around his waist. She took care to not pull too tightly when she tied the ends together.
God Tamer worked in silence, but it began to feel uneasy, knowing Tiso's earlier loudness.
"You're awfully quiet now. What happened to all your sarcastic retorts?"
"Nothing. I'm just… thinking."
"About what?"
Tiso narrowed his eyes, "What do you think?"
"If you want me to apologize for hurting you in the first place, I'm not going to. You entered the trials knowing what you were getting into. I was just playing my part."
"What's with the switch up then? You went from gutting me one moment to bandaging the very wound you gave me the next. What changed?"
God Tamer sighed, wishing she hadn't taken off her helmet. She hated that the shame she felt was likely plastered all over her face.
"If you want the truth, I'm not sure why I saved you either. I just felt the urge take you back here when I saw you bleeding out on the cliffs. I guess it was pity or something similar."
Tiso hummed in acknowledgement.
A beat of silence passed.
"Alright, I'm sorry," God Tamer said at last.
A flicker of surprise crossed Tiso's face, like he didn't expect her to actually apologize, but it quickly disappeared. He didn't reply, though, so God Tamer wasn't sure how he really felt. She supposed he didn't seem outright angry, so that was good enough for her.
Eventually all of Tiso's still visible wounds had been firmly bandaged so God Tamer scooted away from him to get up and put away the remaining gauze. Tiso still didn't speak, only watched her. He seemed on edge. Understandable.
Except when God Tamer closed the chest and turned back around, she realized Tiso's eyes were closed and his head was down. For a split second worry flooded God Tamer's mind—until she realized he'd just fallen asleep. He must've been more tired than she thought…
She found herself with a small smile on her face as she gently laid him on his side, careful not to disturb the fresh bandages. It was the least she could do.
But then she shook her head, annoyed at her sudden softness toward the fool. Wyrm, it felt like every minute she was switching between caring about Tiso and not. Couldn't her mind just pick one side and stay there?
God Tamer settled to decide her feelings later. She had other matters to attend to, like her beast who was probably worried sick from her long absence—and even the Pale Lurker. They certainly needed someone to visit them regularly so they didn't spiral too far into their obsessions.
Tiso was low of God Tamer's list of priorities. She had duties as the Colloseum's champion, regardless of her growing disinterest in it.
She'd take care of Tiso for as long as he needed it, but no more. She had no desire to get attached to the poor fool, and that was that.
God Tamer left the room without a sound, hoping to find something to distract her from the injured ant in her bed.