Cain cheered loudly as the deer bestkin was pummeled into the ground by some kind of snake guy, a part of him feeling vindicated for the beating he got by a couple of those pricks.

 

He and Blu have been watching the tournament for the past twenty minutes with still no sign of Tali, but at this point he was no longer looking for her and just watching. He really didn’t expect it to be this entertaining, but watching two guys with super strength beat the crap out of each other was really fun.

 

The first thing he noticed was exactly how much those deer dickheads that jumped him held back, and he doubted he would have been able to even hurt one of them. He was having trouble keeping track of a lot of the fighters moves, and the noises produced when they hit each other sounded like two bricks hitting each other at high speeds.

 

“And the winner is SANJAY!!!” The announcer shouted, causing the crowd, along with Cain, to jump in the air and cheer as the snake beastkin held up his hands in victory. After Sanjay left the host continued, “WE ARE IN THE FINAL SIXTEEN FIGHTERS FOLKS! ONTO THE NEXT ROUND WE HAVE CALIAN FROM THE CALICO KINGDOM!!!” He shouted, introducing the next participant that was a dark haired man with cat features. He stood at about 5’5 and was lean like the rest of the cat folks Cain has seen.

 

Gesturing wildly to the other side of the arena he called out a very familiar face, “AND HIS OPPONENT, THE METAL FIST OF DOLDOR, TALIIIII!” he shouted, making Cain’s jaw drop as he saw ‘the metal fist’ Tali walking up to the center of the ring with a grin.

 

The announcer backed off to the side of the arena as the crowd cheered loudly, “AND BEGIN!!” He shouted, causing both opponents to grin. It was kind of funny to see the comparison between the two fighters as they circled each other, with Tali’s 6’2 frame dwarfing Calian’s. 

 

The cat beastkin suddenly bent his legs and disappeared, and Cain blinked in shock as he saw Calian right behind Cali. ‘Woah’ he thought, watching with a grimace as Tali scrambled to turn around, taking several blows to the liver in the process. The tall woman yelped in pain as she jumped back, but Calian didn’t give her any room to breathe and kept up the pressure, throwing a series of lightning quick jabs that were aimed at each of Tali’s vital spots.

 

The large tiger clan woman only managed to block a couple of the punches, and Cain saw her grimace at the pain. Gritting her teeth, the tiger woman decided not to bother with defense and threw a hook into Calians side. The punch landed like a truck, and the calico man was sent flying into the side of the arena. 

Cain and the rest of the crowd cheered loudly as the man's form slumped onto the ground, and Tali seemed to soak up the attention the crowd was giving her. The tiger woman raised her fists in the air and smiled in triumph, spinning in a circle slowly to face the crowd.

 

Cain however frowned when he saw the announcer staying on the side of the ring, and his eyes widened as Calian suddenly shot up as Tali’s back was turned. The man wrapped his legs around Cali’s stomach and put her head in an arm lock, slowly choking her as he tightened his hold on her neck.

 

Cain grimaced at the sight, and he felt the need to jump down and rip the cat man off. Tali immediately panicked and started flailing around, trying to hit the man on her back. Calian wasn’t budging however, and Tali’s face was turning a concerning shade of blue.

 

The large woman jumped in the air and fell onto her back, slamming the man into the ground. Cain saw him wheeze in pain as the air was knocked out of him, but his grip didn’t budge in the slightest. Eventually, after a bit more struggling, Tali’s arms went limp and the announcer ran into the ring and stopped the fight.

 

Cain scowled at the cat man as he smiled into the crowd, everyone but the human cheering at the calico beastman. Blu noticed his anger and turned to him, slapping the human on the back, “Oh relax Cain, Tali is fine. She will be up and at it again in a minute or two.” he said lightheartedly.

 

The blonde sighed but decided to take the man's advice and relaxed, “Still… that was a cheap victory.” he mumbled.

 

Blu shrugged, “A victory is a victory. Her mistake was letting her guard down.” he said with a ‘what can you do’ look on his face.

 

Cain stared at him for a moment before looking back at the arena, and he felt like he understood beastkin culture just a bit more. Watching Tali’s body get dragged out a door, Cain stood up and started walking down the stairs, “Where are you going?” Blu called out from behind him.

 

Looking back he grinned, “I'm gonna go say hi to Tali, I’ll meet you back here in a bit.” He called, seeing the big man nod he continued walking away.

 

-.-.-

 

The human wandered around the edge of the arena until he found the little camp the fighters were staying in. It was a small circle of tents with a campfire in the middle. It didn’t look like there were any guards but he figured these guys didn’t need them. 

 

Looking at the people standing around he felt the back of his neck itch, the fighters all had a powerful aura to them and they carried themselves with a certain gait that set him on edge. 

 

If even the deer beastkin that was just an average guy could beat him to a pulp he shuddered to think what these people could do to him. Walking closer he spotted a tent that was a bit larger, and based on the injured people walking in and out of it he figured this was the med tent.

 

As he stepped into the camp he was noticed immediately, and the looks he was getting varied from confusion and surprise all the way to anger. ‘Fuck, maybe I should have brought Blu along’ he thought with a grimace.

 

He walked up to the medical tent under the suspicious stares of everyone in the camp, and as he was about to walk in, a red haired woman with a snake tail wal-slithered up to him. Her tail was also a bright red and she was wearing a fancy brown and red tunic with a symbol sewn into her shoulder. The symbol itself almost looked like an Uzumaki swirl with a tree over it, and he noticed absently that her ears were very long and pointy.

 

The lady had a frown on her face as she looked him up and down, “What is a human doing here?” She said, almost talking to herself.

 

The human in question coughed awkwardly, “Uh, I’m friends with Tali. I saw her fight and wanted to check on her.” he said.

 

The lamia still had a suspicious look in her eyes but there was also realization in them, “I see, you must be Cain.” she said.

 

The human looked at her in surprise, “Uh, y-yeah that's me.” he said, confusion evident in his tone.

 

The snake woman smiled slightly, “Don’t look so surprised, a human even stepping foot in a beastkin village and surviving is a noteworthy occurrence, so you can imagine that one attending the celebration of life is even more so. Word travels fast around here, not to mention Tali talks about you fondly.” she said in amusement, the suspicion mostly gone from her eyes.

 

Cain smiled awkwardly, not sure how to respond. “I see, well can I see her then?” he asked with a smile.

 

The woman nodded and slithered to the side, “She should be in the back” she said as Cain walked in.

 

Thanking the woman he walked into the tent, and immediately he saw Tali sitting on a chair in the back. She was staring off into space with a frown on her face, so Cain figured he should cheer her up.

 

Walking up to the woman Cain forced a grin on his face, “The metal fist of Doldor huh?” Cain asked in amusement, causing Tali to look at him in shock.

 

“C-cain!?” She shouted with a blush, “You saw that?” she asked, a bit embarrassed.

 

The human nodded, “Yeah, you were really impressive until you got choked out.” he said with a cheeky grin.

 

Tali pouted at that and Cain couldn’t help the laugh that bubbled out of him at her face. His laughter only made her blush further, “Y-you bastard!” she yelled in embarrassment, however Cain noticed with satisfaction that she was no longer brooding about the fight.

 

Cain controlled his laughter and patted her on the shoulder, “I’m joking, I'm joking.” He said with a smile, “You really were impressive though, I guess the title ‘metal fist’ wasn’t for nothing, I was shocked when that guy actually managed to stand after the hit he took.” he said with a smile.

 

Tali stiffened and looked away with an embarrassed smile, “T-thanks.” she said, before turning to him with a frown, “Hey… why are you injured?” She asked, changing the subject.

 

Cain rubbed his bruised chin absently, “Ah, it’s nothing to worry about. I’m a human in a beastkin village after all.”

 

The dark skinned woman frowned angrily, “Who did it? I’ll tell my father and they will never be allowed to step foot in this village again.” she muttered.

 

Cain laughed lightheartedly, “Forget about it, trust me it was taken care of. I made a new friend and he saved my ass” He said with an easy smile. Tali frowned but didn’t comment so Cain switched topics, “Let’s go get some food, I’ll introduce you to him while we eat. I’ve even got a gift for you.” the human said with a grin.

 

Tali smiled and nodded, “Sure, this place is depressing” she said, standing up and walking out of the tent with him. 

 

Cain smiled as he engaged in another conversation with Tali, not noticing the soft smile the snake beastkin from earlier was sending the two of them.