I stop screaming as the pain in my body begins to diminish.
"He's done. Take him back to his cell," barks one of the men who has been experimenting on me and a couple of other kids.
I'm jerked to my feet and lead down the hall to my cell. Every step I take is like walking on broken glass, but I don't cry. I've learned that showing your pain makes you a target.
The cage door locks and the guard walks away. I wince and lean against the back wall. Slowly, a mischievous grin grows on my face.
Today is the day. The day I've been planning for seven years.
I take a deep breath and place my hands on my headphones. As I pull them off, the Ender inside of me starts to take over.
I close my eyes and regain control of the dragon inside. It's easier than I thought. I'm probably getting used to it.
I focus my energy and teleport out of my cell. The guard in the hall sees me and his eyes widen.
"How did you get out?!" he exclaims.
"You gave me these powers, I figured I should use them." I smirk, looking down at the headphones in my hand. I tuck them into my pocket for safekeeping, as I'll probably need them later.
"Get back in your cell!" the guard yells. I shake my head and chuckle.
"May you remember this as the day that a seven year old kicked your ass."
With that, I teleport away.
After a couple of moments of darkness, I land on solid ground. It's been so long since I've seen natural light that it temporarily blinds me. As soon as I can see again, I notice the tall, thick jungle trees all around me, the grass that's the perfect shade of green, the little triangles of light that come through the patches in the leaves. I take everything in like my life depends on it.
So this is what freedom feels like.
A sudden rustling takes me away from that moment of bliss.
"Hello? Anyone there?" I call, peering into the jungle around me.
"Who are you?" a voice asks. I look over and see three boys and a horse standing nearby, but not too close.
"Ty," I reply, somewhat timidly.
"I'm Adam," introduces one of the boys. He brown hair is curly and his hazel eyes are like nothing I've ever seen before. He has an amulet around his neck and fancy clothing on, leading me to believe that he's probably royalty.
"I'm Jerome," says another. He's entirely covered in brown fur with a suit pattern. I believe his species are known as baccas.
"And I'm Mitch," greets the last. He has tousled brown hair and lighter brown eyes.
"Where did you come from?" Jerome asks.
"A facility. They... they turned me into a monster," I reply. I'm reluctant to tell them anything, seeing as I've just met them.
"That explains the wings..." Adam mumbles. "And the purple eyes."
"And the fangs and the claws," Mitch adds.
I quickly grab my headphones from my pocket and shove them on my head, making all my mutations disappear.
"Don't worry about it. You look as lost as us," Jerome says quickly.
I take a deep breath. "I thought you were going to kill me."
"Why would we do that?" Adam asks.
I shrug and look down at my feet. "Everyone I meet seems to want to harm me."
Mitch's eyes widen. "Seriously? How old are you?"
"Seven," I reply.
The three of them stare at each other.
"Wow..." Jerome mumbles.
"We've been through traumatic stuff to. You're safe with us," Mitch states.
"Really?"
They look at each other and nod.
"The man I thought was my father my entire life tried to kill me, Mitch's village was burned down most of his family died, and then he lost his brother, and Jerome's village was raided, burned down and his people were killed," Adam explains.
I take a deep breath. "That's horrible."
"Yeah... Anyway, do you want to join Team Crafted?" Mitch asks. "That's what we call ourselves."
I nod and flick my brown hair out of my eyes. "Why not?"
YOU ARE READING
Together as One: The Story of the Teams
FanfictionEveryone has lost something. A toy, a family member, maybe a home. For these kids, it's no different. They lost their homes. They've dealt with the pain of losing their families or identities. Now they must team up in order to survive and s...
