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Tay doesn’t remember much from his past–and that was probably a good thing. 

He didn’t know exactly how he ended up in The Cauldron–a colosseum that had always felt so giant and grand to him when it should’ve been seen for what it was; a cage. He couldn’t remember how he–a chagrian with nothing to his name– found his only home to be one of cages and chains. 

However, as he got older, he had his theories. Theories that all boiled down to one obvious claim: his parents–whoever they were–didn’t care about him enough to keep him. Instead, all he was to them was a quick paycheck, sold to slavers who took him away to the colosseum to train and fight until the inevitable day he died a gruesome death in the name of entertainment and credits. 

And maybe he should’ve died a gruesome death the first time he was put into a match once he was old enough, but he was determined to prove something. He was determined to prove he was more than what was assumed of him. To prove to his bastard parents he was more than a paycheck–wherever they were. To prove he deserved every right to exist in the galaxy like the rest of them. 

So he fought. He fought and he won. And the cheers and praise that came once he’d won his debut match? They were addicting . 

It didn’t take Tay long to thrive off the attention and acknowledgement that came with winning matches. Suddenly he was more . He had a purpose. And to the young, cocky chagrian, it felt an awful lot like respect. But most importantly, it felt like love . 

The people loved him. They couldn’t get enough of him. Every fight. Every opponent. Every win .

Tay was addicted to the crowds and they were addicted to him. 

Tay brought crowds. He brought in money. He was more than anyone who had bought him could’ve imagined. That’s because more than a fighter, Tay was a performer . He could put on a show. He had learned how to capture the audiences with his natural charm and it wasn’t long before his ‘holders’ began to see use for him in areas outside of the ring. After all, there were a lot who would pay a pretty credit or two to be up close and personal with Tay’kaa, the reigning champ Chagrian...

Back then, Tay loved it. Any and all attention. Anything that filled the void and made him feel like someone. And someone worth loving at that. Even with the binding contract that tied him to the colosseum until he could buy his freedom or the physical chains he had to wear off-stage, Tay felt like he was on the top of the world. In that seedy colosseum tucked away on Rattatak, Tay felt like a King. He couldn’t be brought down. 

It wouldn’t be until way later that Tay would realize what he had wasn’t love, it wasn’t everything he’d once thought it was. It was a harsh reality that Tay had to face, but he came to realize the audience he so loved couldn’t care if he lived or died. All they wanted was a good show. And that was precisely what Tay gave them. 

But Tay wasn’t the only one. Those bastards had gladiators of all kinds–forever indebted to the arena and its audiences till the sweet freedom of a brutal death–and the fan favorite before Tay had been Ko D’ruq: ‘The Devaronian Daemon.’ 

She was a natural. A force to be reckoned with. She burned brighter than any supernova, was fiercer than any storm, and more relentless than crashing waves on the shores at high tide. Like Tay, she knew how to put on a show. She knew how to entertain her audiences through her fights, keeping them engaged with her brutality and charm. 

And everything Tay knew, he learned from her. 

How to fight, how to handle various weapons, how to keep the crowd engaged, how to survive–Tay was the culmination of her teachings. More importantly though? Ko taught Tay how to love and how to fight for that love. 

Like a lot of the gladiators in The Cauldron, Ko was in there because she was in debt. She’d only be freed once that debt was paid, but unlike most of the gladiators, she had something worth fighting for. While some fought for the fame, the money, or the chance to get out and have their old life back, Ko fought for love . Everything she did, she did it to one day see her love again. 

Na’yeli Marr. 

A Kessurian that Ko claimed was far more beautiful than Tay could ever perceive. A Kessurian with a soul so kind and a determination so fierce, it was hard for anyone not to fall in love with her. A Kessurian who Ko was trying to get back to. One who she told Tay she was going to marry with the promise she’d take Tay with her so that they might be a family. A real one, of her, Na’yeli, and Tay’kaa. 

That love, that promise , fueled Ko and saw her through every fight. It was something so strong and powerful that it couldn’t be ignored. 

Of course, Tay was blind to this in his early years of life where and when he’d eat up any kind of praise or attention–confusing it for love–but Ko’s teachings, her influence, would be forever burned into Tay’s very being like the brands seared into his skin by his captors. 

He’d been too young to appreciate it before, but that promise that he might one day have a life outside of fighting and chains kept him going. While he wasn’t keen on leaving his adoring fans behind, Tay would stay up dreaming of being free and one day meeting Ko’s beloved Na’yeli.

He wanted to experience that love first-hand. He wanted to see just what exactly it took for someone to dedicate themselves to someone so fiercely that it would carry them through the most brutal of fights. He wanted to know what it took to experience that kind of love, that kind of loyalty, because the love that he knew didn’t feel the same. 

But the crowds were all he knew. Their cheers and praise were all he could hear. The touch of those who paid his holder to go behind his closed doors were all he knew. Deep down, he knew it wasn’t the same, but it filled the void–that gaping hole of abandonment and never feeling like he was enough–for the time being. At least, until Ko’s dreams were made a reality and she would save him from their cage and bring him into a peaceful life. The life he was cheated of the day his worth was amounted to a measly amount of credits. 

He awaited the day that promise was realized, but in the meantime, he had to continue to fight. He had to continue to survive in that godforsaken arena. Then when the time came for him to finally be free of his chains, Tay would leave the cage he’d known to be home–and walk right into a new one.