Children of Ender (Temporary Hiatus!)

Chapter 7 - Sanctuary

Petra and the others had searched for Jesse non-stop for nearly two days straight. They scanned every inch of the snow covered biome they were in, and found next to nothing. Any footsteps Jesse had left were long since covered due to the blizzard, and any other evidence had practically disappeared.

That was, until Petra found Jesse's diamond sword. But no Jesse.

She was now running back to the rendezvous point they'd picked at full speed, thankful to see Axel, Olivia and Lukas huddled around the fire they'd built in their makeshift hut.

"Guys!"Petra yelled and skidded inside,"I found Jesse's sword!"

"What- where?!"Olivia was the first one up, nearly toppling right back down since her legs were asleep.

Axel and Lukas wordlessly stood up, Axel moving to help Olivia keep her balance while Lukas stood with his arms folded.

"Out buried in the snow- it looks like the blizzard covered it up. I tripped over it-"Petra held it out for them to inspect, and it was indeed Jesse's sword, as the little 'J' carved into the handle gave away.

"Great- we found the sword, but still no Jesse."Axel grumbled.

"No- you guys don't get it. Jesse never goes anywhere without her sword! She would've never left this behind, blizzard or no!"Petra stated frantically, and realization, followed by horror quickly cast over everyone's faces.

"Someone kidnapped Jesse!"

MEANWHILE-

Jesse had just woken up.

Her memory was getting progressively worse. So much so that she could hardly even remember what her friends looked like. The only things she could remember were colors.

Red hair, brown eyes, blue bandana;
Blue eyes, stupid blonde hair...
Green shirt...
Dark skin-

That was it. She couldn't remember names at all. And sometimes even the colors were a blur.

Though this alarmed and concerned her, she completely forgot when Tara was near. She forgot everything when she was close to her, actually...

Speaking of-

Tara floated over to the bars of her cell with a tray of food,"Goodmorning Jesse! Good to see you up again. I trust you're adjusting well to your new home?"

Jesse simply nodded her head, a state of calm taking over her, as it usually does when Tara is around. She would have to ask about that. For now though, her stomach was grumbling and she was eager to have something to eat.

Tara slid the tray in under the bars, a grin visible on her face.

Jesse zipped over and immediately started eating, pausing between a mouthful to ask her a question,"Why do you hide your face?"

Tara was a bit surprised, as shown by her glowing purple eyes widening, but smiled rather creepily,"Oh, sweet Jesse, I don't believe you're ready to see me just yet."

This annoyed Jesse, but she nodded her head and continued eating while Tara just stared on.

After she finished up, Jesse was surprised to see her cell door swing open.

"Come. You need to be cleaned up. And I believe you're due for a tour of where you will be living."

Jesse couldn't help a happy squeak! She desperately wanted a shower, and scurried out, following behind Tara; whom strode ahead of her.

Jesse's happy feeling immediately downed to uncomfortable once she saw the showers. They were completely open- with nothing to hide whoever was using them. Jesse noted as well, that the showers were empty now. Water dripped from the taps, so it had clearly been used recently.

Did Tara clear the entire shower so I could use it..?

"Go on."Tara encouraged, grinning eagerly.

This made Jesse more uncomfortable, but she had no choice, so she stripped and hurried to try and get it over with as quickly as possible.

She could feel Tara's eyes on her every second she was there.

Jesse finished up quickly, and was surprised to see her previous clothes had been replaced with a dark looking, leathery armor set. When she looked to Tara for an explanation, she simply nodded her head toward it, so Jesse pulled it on. The padded armor reminded her a bit of the Ender Dragon's scales, but she quite liked it.

"Now that that's done, follow me! I will show you where your new room will be, assuming you behave. But before that- I will take you to the training area and test your skills in battle."

"Skills in battle? But- who am I fighting?" Jesse tilted her head in confusion, and Tara laughed.

"The other recruits I chose, of course! If you're as good as everyone says you are, you should have no problem proving your worth."

Jesse did NOT like this. But followed Tara regardless.

They came to an open courtyard, and Jesse was surprised to find herself met with a bright, blue sky and green grass under her feet.

So she was still in her world; good. That meant she could escape.

She looked up again and took in her surroundings. There were indeed other 'normal' people around, fighting and slashing at training dummies. There was a large ring in the center of the courtyard, but Jesse quickly realized it was empty. So, one of two things was going on.

One:
The 'trial' she was supposed to take part in had already passed.(Jesse hoped this was the right explanation-)

Or:
They were waiting on her.

Jesse sighed as she heard Tara summoning the other initiates. She figured her second explanation was the more correct out of the two.

"First up, the initiate from the Order of the Stone, the legendary Jesse! You will be battling against our other initiate, May, from the Sky Kingdom."

Jesse's eyes widened. The Sky Kingdom! Alarm bells rang through Jesse's head as memories of her adventure there came back in little bits. If they were pulling people from other worlds, then this was clearly bigger than she first thought.

She watched as May hopped over the wiring of the ring and cracked her knuckles, the dragon like tail behind her swishing threateningly.

Jesse frowned, but did the same, hopping over the wiring and staying in her corner. Tara floated into the center of the ring, putting her hands out, palms up, toward both of them.

"Jesse, May. Get ready."

Jesse immediately took a defensive stance, and tensed as May simply stared at her. As Tara called out something else, rules probably, she felt the world around her melting away. Right now, all that mattered was her winning this match. She would prove to her master she was definitely worth keeping around. Certainly much more than the worm in front of her.

"And....FIGHT!"

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AAAGGGGH THIS CHAPTER IS FINALLY OUTTT
I hope you guys like it!!!
Don't worry, the story isn't dead- Im just really busy with school!
Anyway, I've already got the next chapter drafted- so yea!
Thanks for reading!!