Ender Wiggin's Last Game

I am awake

Ender was in a panic. He was free-falling through space, about to be lost to the world. The stars around his seemed to shine just as bright as the sun, like they were about to burn his flesh. He looked down in horror and grasped at his throat.

He didn't have a suit.

He was wearing civilian clothes, thin ones at that. There was nothing to protect him, nowhere to hide from the cold emptiness of space. He couldn't breathe. He couldn't breathe and he couln't tell if he were about to be burned alive or if he would freeze to death.

He closed his eyes and wished for something better. He wanted to go home. He wished he had never gone to Battleschool. Never believed Graff when he said he could save the world. But, now that he thought it, did Graff really say that? No, he had said the opposite, but Ender had perceived it that way and kept it in his heart as if it were true.

Ender had calmed down enough that he could breathe again. He no longer felt cold nor hot, but comfortable. Gently drifting in a dimly lit room. Worst for seeing. He knew that much and he didn't even have to open his eyes to see.

When he finally became curious enough to open his eyes, it took him a moment to adjust. His mind wasn't oriented that way anymore. Ender found himself looking at a battle between the school armies. One side had the colors of dragon army, while the other side was filled with not just boys, but Formics alike. Each individual wearing a flashsuit and holding a gun.

The flashsuits seemed to conform easily to the oddly shaped bodies of the Formics. They were grotesque, not at all how they truly looked, but more human. A disgusting mixture of evil and angel. But which part was the angel?

Each gun was pointed directly at dragon army, and yet, dragon army wasn't shooting back. They just sat there. Some of them not even through the gate yet. The huge swarm of the enemy was shifting. Ever-changing, but Ender couldn't see a pattern. He tried to call out to his army, but they couldn't hear him. Or maybe they didn't listen.

With each yell or scream he threw at them they seemed more and more distant. he could only watch helplessly as the bugger-humans killed every one of them. The laser guns burning holes in their chests. He watched the last soldier, the smallest one, get shot down like the rest of them. His body drifting down to Ender.

Now Ender could see clearly. It wasn't dragon army fighting the hoard. It was Salamander army and the kid who we was looking at now wasn't Bean. It was himself. A much older version of himself with his guts hanging out from his belly. Blood defying null-g and dripping onto the walls of the battle room. The wound was so much more gruesome than that of a charred laser wound, but Ender got the point.

He was dead. Or going to be. By now he had realized that this was all just a dream and he would be back on the ship in no time. He felt himself beginning to wake up as he realized the truth of what he was seeing.

It was the first time in a while he had woken in a cold sweat. And truly the first time he had woken up in something else other than his room. It was dark, and the floor was hard, making his shoulder and hips ache with a dull pain. He couldn't raise his head.

He could feel every wall around him closing in like an opressive hand. He could hear his own breathing as if it weren't his own. He was starting to hyperventalate. This space he had been stuffed in- his hands and feet tied- it was too small to hold him. If he didnt get air fast, he was going to suffocate.

Ender nearly cried out in fear, throwing himself against the side of the container, when he heard voices. He stopped himself. He could only just hear what they were saying. He needed to listen.

Its just like being frozen, he told himself. Nothing I can't handle. He stilled and inched himself toward the sound.

"Yeah, we got the kid. You don't gotta worry."
Ender could hear mumbling on the other end. This must be an ansible call.
"No, no. He's sedated, I knocked him out myself."
More mumbling.
"The other two? Yeah, they're with Muhamud. I don't know their condition."

The other two. Valentine. Ender's body seemed to shake with fear. They were separated again and this time the stakes were high.

Ender heard a laugh from his captor. The ground beneathe Ender shuddered.
"His loyalties? Why don't you ask him yourself, sir? He's sure to wake up soon."
Ender took a breath.
"I am awake."

_

__ ___ ___

Hello! Hopefully you haven't lost hope in me just yet. I've been busy and life got in the way, but don't worry too much. I plan to keep writing no matyer how much time passes between updates.

Now that that I'd cleared up, I'd like to also apologize for the short chapter today. I'm still getting back into the rythem of things.

Have a lovely day, my sweets!