~Cobb POV~

Focusing on the edge of my vision it looked like Greenhat used up almost 90% of my Squad Points. Deciding whether or not he could understand english I opted for a mental urging and verbal command.

"Help JST." I pointed to my older brother covered in guts with intent.

Greenhat was looking around in wonder before focusing on the doorway. His sandy demeanor changed and he seemed as serious as my brother gets albeit with less effect since he was wearing a green tophat and tux. He moved in beside JST and surprisingly instead of trying to squish into the opening he looked back at me for help. A second passed and I raised my eyebrows before widening the opening in our sandcastle. He stood shoulder to shoulder to JST and I felt a warm pride for my creation, his actions mirrored my brother and though they seemed less refined they worked. His blows were weaker but he was still taking out one or two Qrabiles per swing. JST noticed the opening widen and glanced to his right, he seemed angry for a split second before focusing forward again.

~JST POV~ 

I noticed the opening widen and wondered what Cobb was up to. I saw some green in my peripheral and became even more curious. I stole a glance to my right.

I want a fucking tophat! What the hell?! You motherfucker. You think you can just show me up? Look better than me in a tophat? What the fuck is that tux? It's ruffled, a disgrace. What the actuall hell Cobb what the fuck is this?

I growled deeply before pushing forward out of safety. I threw my tower shield around destroying waves of Qrabiles with every swing. I kicked and punched when they got too close.

"This! Mother! Fucker!" I accentuated each word with a swing of my hammer. Guts sprayed in gory cones across the already slick sand.

A knee to a Qrabile that got under me. A forward kick when my hammer was occupied. A quick thrust with my shield to push more off. Two whole minutes of constant fighting to reach the center of the Qrabiles.I lost myself in battle. I screamed and yelled, lost to the fight, my movements were agressive, eratic, and unyielding. Faintly I could make out the sandcastle in the distance. A small figure on the roof had his head down and his hand in his face. He moved to jump down but Cobb stopped him and pointed somewhere in the horde. With a start I realized the Qrabiles were getting more effective, their numbers became small enough for them to start charging me again. I took hard blows to my legs. While blocking my front and smashing them midair helped they came from behind as well. They were mindless, not fearing death, not even knowing the concept. They knocked the back of my knees and I buckled to the floor. I could do nothing but focus on the dozen charging my front I gritted my teeth, planted my shield, and bent my knees. If I let both sides on me I would die for sure. It never even occured to me to run.

A dozen or so impacts into my tower shield and it broke. I smashed four of them before they dashed off again. My tower shield was crumbling and wouldn't last any more so I tossed it to the side, its time was either expiring or I just broke it. Curiously during this time nothing striked me from the back and I glanced to my six as the remaining eight enemies began to accelerate towards me. The movement caused more sand and dust to kick up into the air.

I found the back of a fancy sand man in a green hat. He was only holding 4 or 5 of them back which wasn't very impressive, especially since he had a tower shield. Then he slipped a bit and my vision was drawn to the sand around him it was colored with enough dark blue ichor to come from 4 or 5 more opponents. Impressive sand man, impressive.

Turning back around I ran forward, feet kicking up sand. My hammer met the first, I jumped to the side and dodged two more speeding bodies. The fourth was smashed flat into the ground. The fifth was evaded, the sixth was jumped over. The seventh and eighth were met by my hammer in a wide arc. I turned my body to see the four that escaped circling back around. They came close together and their speed was such that I wasn't able to smash more than one on a single pass. Because of that it took 3 more passes to kill them all. The third pass I took out the last two at once. 

The sand man was killing it's last Qrabile with a swing that looked pretty familiar. It was a perfect swing. Which is why it looked familiar, it was just like mine.

I walked past the sand man and towards the sand castle. Real warriors don't do what they do for acknowledgment, glory or anything. The fact he survived is proof enough for my respect and because of that I didn't show any. It would be an insult.

A ding rang in my mind and I wiped away the next round prompt. Cobb could worry about that.

As I neared the end of the cloud of dust from the battle I saw that the sandcastle opening was now closed. It opened and we were permitted inside, to see both my brothers crouching near the center of the floor. I was about to fall back into the wall that still had the stamp of my body from the earlier massage in it but Cobb called me over.

"JST get over here!" He beckoned. "There's something you're gonna want to see." He was studying the sand. I walked over skeptical, realizing just how gross I look.

"Ugh this is fucking gross." I said wiping guts off and noticing the sand funneling downwards. "There's a hole?" 

"I used a few feet of sand making all this shit. It looks like it thinned out here. I dont't think I would ever have noticed." He gestured to me and the sand man. His eyes flicked to the drying ichor on me.

Without a word sand came up to scrape me off roughly. This was only possible because of my scales otherwise my skin would probably have been flayed off. Cobb's black eyes never left the draining sand.

Cobb stood up knees cracking as the sand dispersed to the sides and a trap door was revealed.

"Looks like we won't be staying long guys." He grinned. "Help me out with this guys." He said as we gathered around.

"Good the Arena was getting boring." I said.

We pulled the trap door open and it flew open with surprising give as we applied enough force. It slammed into the sand and sent sand flying sideward. Because we were completely covered the Geckans would never know. 

"Finally something to do!" Jones backflipped into the darkness. "Weeeeeeeee!" He said as he dived through. 

Looking at Cobb his eye twitched. I chuckled and waited a few moment before hearing a exotic bird chirping from the darkness. It was one of our safety signals and we brought it from a very old VR game that wasn't well known it had cool birds. I walked forward and fell through the portal. I landed on my feet and my knees absorbed the impact with a crack. Cobb followed shortly after, his arm was connected to a tendril of sand as it lowered him down the hole. Similar to myself Cobb's fancy sandy buddy jumped through and squatted to disperse the force. 

A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

From down here it was only a matter of time for our eyes to adjust. With an over the shoulder gesture by Cobb the trap door slammed shut. He found me looking at him. In reality I was trying to determine what he named his buddy and why he looked like me. I had to admit he definitely pulls off those fancy duds.

"What? Sometimes it's more fun to use my arms." He said defensively. 

"Hey if you're not gonna name your buddy over there i'm gonna do it for you." I said, deciding on a name.

"Actually I-" 

"Your name is Jeff." I declared, pointing at the sand man. "Get ready to see the world Jeff." I put my arm around him, careful not to touch his tophat, it looked expensive.

"His name is Greenhat." Cobb said sharply.

"Jeff." Jeff said trying his name."Jeff." He declared.

"Greenhat! Your name is Greenhat!" Cobb said heatedly. "Go scout ahead Greenhat." He ordered to no avail.

"Hey Jeff go ahead and help out Jones." And he walked off with a purpose.

My brother pulled up his fist and with apparent effort did he finally force his hand down. As I turned around I caught sight of a sand fist dissolving. I walked forward there were no warning signals coming from my little brother and so it was safe. 

"Not today." I could just make out my brother whispering to himself. I noticed the sand around him pulsing in a calming effort.

As my eyes adjusted to the tunnel we found ourselves in I didn't have time to study it closer. The tunnel ended with metal bars running vertical across the passage. Jones was peering through the bars and watching a sleeping beast. Deep rumbling breaths came from a huge tiger that dominated the cage. 

"This is the only way through." He said. "Give me a dagger Cobb."

"Make me a hammer too bro." I said fully intending to smash the bars down. "You'll have to be quick then."

Cobb was looking at us like we were idiots. Slowly he shifted the sandstone surrounding the bars into loose sand and caught the falling bars. The falling sand twirled into Jones palm in the form of a dagger.

Swift and lightfooted he made his way to the tigers neck. He took a few moments before quickly severing the things spinal cord. With a slight jerk the animal stilled, its deep breaths ceased. 

That being done me, Jeff and Cobb made our way to the other end of the cage and looked out. What surrounded us were other cages and captured animals. These are probably the animals that the Geckans use to fight each other. The way in which we left must have been the intended way for the tiger to enter the arena. Yelps and whines filled the air and although it was loud it didn't deafen. Poking my head out of the bars and looking into the adjacent cage I caught another tiger sleeping through the noise, it was covered in scars. It would make sense that the more veteran fighters knew the system and utilized their resting period to the fullest.

Loose sand fell on my shoulders and I held onto the bars as they loosened. Silently I placed them in the sand behind me. I stepped out of the way and Jones slipped through the opening. The second dagger he held did not pass my notice. A half hour later an animal sound that had no business in these cages made itself heard. It was Jones, the coast was clear.

I'm not sure how Jones avoided the animals gazes, but as we passed the cages the sounds of the captives increased. Yelps, roars, and growls, encompassed the complex. We kept moving upwards toward Jones signal, as we passed we had to step over a good amount of dead Geckans. The sound of the animals were deafening but as their handlers were dead nothing came. Cobb used his magic to move the bodies into the nearest cages, the animals left no trace. 

"Can't have anyone knowing we were here." He stated walking forward. Behind him a body moved on its own into a cage. Ripping flesh could clearly be heard.

Jones was standing near a very tall wooden door set into the sandstone when it opened. He reacted quickly reaching around the door and pulling the Geckan down by his arm. When his head came close enough his dagger found his neck. It was only when the body started to slide to the ground did I notice the additional dagger in his heart. The body was caught by fine sand and without a sound was sent to the nearest cage. The usual sounds could be heard.

Outside was a dark forest, we were behind the colliseum, and we could see the structure through the canopy. As we peeked out further we found a path that led to a wooden structure in the distance. Backtracking a bit, the path connected to a trail that led into the Geckan Battle Arena.

"Keep off the path." Jones' voice was quiet. Teeming creatures could be heard in the forest leaves. The sounds of the jungle permeated the air.

The structure seemed a good height taller than a Geckan and door roughly the size of the creatures was built into the side. We stepped off the path and watched the door closely as we moved in. Jones took position on a rock that jutted out of the forest floor. He was still decently concealed in the forest greenery. Minutes past and a Geckan approached from the main road. With a glance to the middle brother I relaxed my grip on my hammer and let the gecko past. Jones didn't miss our exhange and then returned his focus on the structure.

The Geckan entered the door and frantic noises could be heard from inside. Geckans started pouring out of the door, they counted over thirty by the time they were all out the door. They all ran towards the door to the cages. They must've realized we escaped. One Geckan was running further from the structure taking a path that lead farther into the woods.

"Jones the runner!"Cobb yelled over the noise. With a rustle of leaves Jones was gone.

"We don't have the power to take thirty on!" He said. "We need to get out of here....." He trailed off in thought.

"What's wrong let's go!" I said jogging through the bushes.

"Wait, wait, WAIT!" He yelled to me. "I think we can do this!" He looked to Jeff with a sad expression and he dissolved into the wind.

"WHAT HAVE YOU DONE!?" I screamed as I grabbed his sandy green tophat. It fell through my fingers as Jeff left the world to a better place.

He was so young. 

"We'll miss you Greenhat." My brother said in quick prayer.

"HAVE YOU NO RESPECT? HIS NAME WAS JEFF YOU MONSTER!" I screamed at him. I raised my warhammer but it dissolved.

Unfortunately the Geckans heard me and they had their mouths open like fucking retards. They scanned the dark forest, the sun was too low to give any reliable lighting. I gave Cobb the most disgusting look I could before steeling myself for battle but his focus was on the huge rock that jutted out of the floor. He raised a dirt copy of himself, colored it green and made it run across the path and into the woods opposite of us. Half of the Geckans were diverted as fifteen went for the direction of my voice. Suddenly a rough hissing came from behind me and I whirled around. The giant rock that Jones was perched on earlier was transformed. What was left was a gigantic boa. Its rock toungue flicked out in the air. It's rock body twirled on itself, creating a rough scraping noise, it showed no apparent discomfort. 

"Discovery Channel pays off man." He said. "It knows only not to attack us, from there I'm letting nature take its course. Get out of the way."

I moved to the side and as I left its vision it focused on the fifteen or so Geckans that were heading this way. Its rock body slid across the floor, ripping greenery apart with a deep rumbling. As the Geckans came within striking distance its body slithered out in astounding speed and encompassed all fifteen of them before constricting. With wide eyes I watched the Geckans, hopeless and without any help they died after some time. The  giant snake was just starting to eat the first one when the rest of the warband came into sight. Its toungue flicked as it left the fifteen bodies as bait. It coiled itself into a rock before staying completely still. When the rest of the Geckans came  into its range the boa repeated the same process. It missed one but that was quickly taken out with a flying sharp rock compliments of Cobb.

Leaving the snake to its business Cobb decided that if that kept going around killing Geckans it was probably good for us. However he said with that in play he couldn't animate anything anymore.

"Let's catch up with Jones. The Geckan was probably moving to warn a higher authority." Cobb said. "He'll have something for us."

Aside from the occasional  nocturnal wildlife we had to deal with, nothing presented a major threat. We stayed off the trails but followed it to where we imagined was the Geckan Lair. I was equipped with a medium shield, it was U shaped with three points on the top and one on the bottom. In my right hand was a rock gladius.

Fifteen minutes later the sun began to rise. Still it was too dark to see more than ten meters forward. As we were walking Cobb tripped over something. Looking down his eyes widened and let out a girly squeal. It was dead Geckan lying in its own blood.

"It was heading for that." A quiet voice came from above. Jones was perched on the branch of a nearby tree. 

Through the bushes I could see a gigantic tree. It must have been upwards of a thousand meters high. If there wasn't a small clearing in the canopy here. I wouldn't have been able to see it. 

I let out a long whistle.