Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Sandor's POV

"... 48... 49... 50! Ready or not, here I come!" I yell.

Hide and seek has always been Nine's favourite game, even back on Lorien. Nine. That's what I have to call him now.

A few days ago, the Mogadorians had invaded our home planet, Lorien. During all that chaos, we were all ushered onto a ship. This ship. Me and eight other Cepans. Nine and eight other Garde.

I must've been standing there for a while, because soon, Nine comes up to me and interupts my thoughts.

"SAAAANDOOOOR!" he yells right into my ear.

"OW!" I yell, clutching my ear. Nine grins.

"Are we playing or not?" Nine says, pouting. It's not really a question, more of an order, like: play with me or else.

"Sure, kiddo. I was just thinking," I answer. Honestly, sometimes it's like he's the one in charge of me, not the other way around.

"You know what'll make this game even more fun?" I ask Nine. He looks up hopefully. "If you played with other kids instead of just with me."

Nine wrinkles his nose and shakes his head. "They're all weak," he says. "Not like me." He flexes his arms, showing off his imaginary muscles. I laugh. He is strong, compared to the other Garde, but hide and seek isn't exactly a game that requires muscle.

"Come on, it'll be fun. They're nice kids," I tell him. He thinks about it, then slowly nods, then scampers off to make some new friends. I sigh. I'll finally get a rest.

Why couldn't I have gotten a more peaceful Garde?

*

Nine's POV

I'm off to make new friends, just like Sandor told me to. I've decided to just pick the first five people I see.

The first kid I come across is a boy who is trying to comfort a crying girl. He has black curly hair and is tall, but not as tall as me. He's also a little strong-looking, but, of course, not as strong as me.

I decide to come over and ask both of them to play. A good game of hide and seek with me should make that girl happy again. It should make any girl happy again, to be with me, since I'm so handsome, unless they're 'not in their right mind' as I've heard Sandor call those big bad bullies that made stuff big and fiery.

"Do you wanna play hide and seek with me," I ask them both, knowing that mentioning myself would make all the difference. The boy rolls his eyes but nods and the girl sniffs. I smile and run off to find some more new friends.

No one could resist my power!

Chapter Text

Sandor's POV

Let me get this straight; Nine's a bully.

Earlier today he'd stolen Five's (well, at least I think it was Five... Really, I've got to start learning who's who) cookies.

And now, when I hear a girl start to cry, I know Nine's responsible.

I run over to where the crying's coming from. Nine's there, with a snapped pencil in his hand, standing over a dark-haired Seven (I think... Argh!) who's crouched in the corner, head in her knees, sobbing.

"What is going on?" I shout, which just makes the Seven cry even more. I look desperately at her.

"Oh, no no no no no, don't cry," I say, and awkwardly pat her back. I've never been good with small children, especially crying small children. "It's okay, uh, Seven, right?"

She looks up and nods.

"Now, what did Nine do?"

"I didn't do anything!" Nine screams from behind me.

"Zip it!" I say. Seven starts sobbing again. That's when I snap. I'm sick of it. I'm sick of solving the problems Nine cause.

"That's IT!" I scream, really mad now. "I'M SICK OF YOUR PROBLEMS AND THAT I HAVE TO SOLVE IT ALL! MAYBE YOU SHOULD SOLVE YOUR OWN PROBLEMS FOR ONCE! AND TRY TO STOP CAUSING THEM!" Seven buries her head in her knees and sobs more than ever.

Then I calm down and breathe deeply.

"Look, how 'bout this; if you can stand me not talking to you and you not talking to me for a whole week, and solve your own problems, I promise, you can have my share of cookies for a week."

Nine thinks about this, then says, "Two months."

"Three weeks."

"One month."

I sigh. "Deal."

When I turn around and walk away, and out of the corner of my eye, I see Nine crouching down to comfort Seven. I smile. Good.

I leave the room, looking at my watch. 5:36pm.

That's when the silent treatment begins.

Chapter Text

Four's POV:

I'm so mad. Not in the crazy way, but the angry way..

I need to kick something. So I kick the wall and then cry out in pain. I stubbed my toe.

"BRAAANDOON!" I scream. He rushes over and takes off my shoes. He looks at my toe and sighs.

"Okay, what'd you get angry about this time, Four?" he says, shaking his head while wrapping a bandage around my toe. "Try not to kick anymore walls for a while."

I nod, and when Brandon walks away, I wak to a door and start kicking it, but this time, lightly, so I wouldn't hurt another toe or my already damaged one.

*

Six's POV

At the time, I didn't really know what I was doing. Now though, seeing him so mad with tears in his eyes, I feel guilty. I shouldn't have done it.

Wait, why did I even do it in the first place?

I walk over to him. He senses me and looks up angrily. He's glaring and almost crying too. Now I feel like letting out tears.

I shyly reach into my pocket and pull out a small stuffed toy, and hand it to him. It was a stuffed version of wat Lorien looks like from space. It was also his favourite toy. I'd stolen it.

He looks at it suspiciously, looks up to me, then looks back down to the toy. Slowly, he reaches out with a shaking hand and gingerly takes the toy. I smile at him, telling him with my eyes that it's okay. He pulls it out of my hand and hugs it happily. I smile.

I'd done a good thing.

Katarina would be proud.

Chapter Text

Seven's POV

"That's amazing!" Adel says proudly as I attempt to draw the apple in front of me. My drawing looks nothing like an apple. I don't know why Adel is so proud.

I feel like crying. I've got it all wrong; the shape, the shadow, the positioning, everything! And yet, Adel is beeming like she's never seen anything better.

Nine and Eight are playing Who Can Beat Each Other Up The Most. I don't even notice that though until they come lumbering towards me. Nine looks over his shoulder at my drawing and laughs.

"That's terrible! That looks nothing like an apple!" he smirks. Suddenly I feel like crying all over again. So I do. It gets all over my terrible drawing and ruins it even more, which causes me to cry more.

Eight stops fighting Nine and takes a look at my drawing. He smiles.

"I like," he says. I shake my head.

"How can you like it? It was terrible and I ruined it too!" I cry.

"Hey, you're, like, six, right? That's pretty good for a seven year old," he smiles even wider. Nine rolls his eyes.

"Let's plaaaaaay," Nine whines. Eight nods, but before he runs off to play with Nine, he looks at me and smiles encouragingly.

"Keep it up," he says, then races off. I suddenly feel good again. I can do this. I will draw the apple right.

And nothing will stand in my way.

Chapter Text

Eight's POV

"Can I move now?" I ask through gritted teeth.

"No!" Seven says, frustrated with my whining.

"I've been sitting on this uncomfortable stool for an hour!" I continue to whine.

"It hasn't even been two minutes!"

"And that's my world record!"

"For what?"

"For staying still!"

Seven smiles and rolls her eyes. "Don't worry, I'm almost there." She dips her brush back into the green paint and swipes it across the canvas. She glances at me, back down at her canvas, and paints again, sticking her tongue out of the corner of her mouth.

I can't stand this anymore. I have to move.

*

Seven's POV

Eight's starting to fidget. He needs to stay still. Or I can't finish this.

"Stay still!" I say. I know I sound bossy, but this is my first piece of art that actually looked good. And Eight was the one who told me to carry on doing art.

Fidgeting apparently isn't enough movement for Eight, though. He even starts making faces that are meant to be funny.

"Stop it!" I say. He then pulls an extremely funny face, and I can't stop myself. I fall onto the floor in fits of laughter.

I'll have to finish my painting later.

Chapter Text

Five's POV

Alone. That's what I am. I've tried communicating with other Garde, but they just don't understand anything, especially my theory. Almost all of them are younger than me. All they want to do is have fun. They don't ever think about anything else.

I've tried to share my theory and thoughts with my Cepan, but he just laughs and tells me that there's no way that could be true. No one takes me seriously.

I look at all the other Garde, laughing and playing together in their little groups; One, Two and Three, Eight and Seven, Nine, Four and Six. And then there's me. I so badly want to be part of their groups, but I'm different from them. I think differently. I'll always be alone.

I'll always be the third wheel.

Chapter Text

Five's POV

"BLEUGH!!! UH! EH!" Albert's vomiting again. He's been doing that almost every day since we took off. It's been getting worse and worse. This is the longest he's ever been vomiting.

He's a lot older than the others, you can tell. His body can't handle these situations as well. Why they would want to bring a fifty year old man on a spaceship in the first place anyways?

I hear the door unbolt and Albert steps out. He smiles at me sadly.

"Sorry kiddo. No training today," he says.

"Are you sure you don't want my help?" I ask, not exactly meaning it. I can help him, but I'm not sure whether I want to.

He laughs. "Yeah, alright kiddo. Right when pigs fly."

That's offensive.

He laughs loudly and walks away to the clinic. I sigh. Looks like I'll be training alone. Again.

Chapter Text

One's POV

I'm the oldest here, but I don't have much clue on what's going on, why we were ushered onto this spaceship, or what's happened to Lorien and it's tall, black attackers.

My Cepan is my best friend here. I have no idea who these people are. How long are we gonna be in here? When can we go back?

All lot of the time, my Cepan looks at me and cries into one of the other Cepans' shoulder. I don't understand why.

"And I can't believe... She's so young..." me Cepan breaks down. Great. It's happened again.

A red headed girl and a curly haired tanned boy walks up to me and pates me on the back.

"Hi, I'm Sa - Two, and this is Three," the red headed girl says, she and the boy smiling at me warmly. I can't help but smile back at them. Their smiles are so infectious.

"We've seen you alone here, and well, why be here for a year without friends?" I smile even wider. Two pulls me up.

"We're playing tag!" I laugh. I love tag.

Two starts to run after Three, who's already looking for more people to play, but drags me by the arm with her. She doesn't need to drag me much. I'm already running right alongside her. I take one look over my shoulder to see my Cepan sobbing about something I didn't understand. I shrug and look at Two. She doesn't look like much, heck, she's probably a year younger than me and a lot smaller, but I can tell that inside her small head, there's a brain full of knowledge and wisdom. She knows and understands more than me. Much more. Even though she's younger.

So that settles it.

Age has nothing to do with wisdom.

Chapter Text

Two's POV

I'm probably one of the youngest of the nine here. But I observe a lot. I think about the world. I'm curious. I always want to know more.

"How long are we gonna be on this ship?" I asked my Cepan one day. She smiled fondly at me.

"About a year," she says. Then she sees her friend - who I've noticed was One's Cepan - crying, and rushes to comfort her. She's always crying.

I looked at the rest pf the Nine Garde. One, who was a kind, sweet but shy girl was sitting in the corner, watching her Cepan cry, with a confused look on her face. She doesn't know what's going on. Good, good for her. The less she knew about her fate, the better.

Three, my best friend on the ship, was wondering around, looking for me. He was an outgoing boy, who always wanted to have fun and never thought about the future. Four was kicking the wall. He was a shy, preserved kid who cared about his loved ones deeply and was very loyal... Especially to his stuffed toy, which I'd noticed, he didn't have. Five was waiting outside the bathroom while his Cepan was throwing up. He was a little older than me. He wasn't exactly shy, but very reserved and kept to himself. He had a bitter thing about him. He was also an observer, and I'd noticed he got angry easily and was always by himself. In the beginning, he'd tried talking to the others, but they just looked at him blankly, so he gave up.

Six was standing next to Four, holding his stuffed toy and watching him. She was a little bit mean at some points, but had a good heart. As if to prove my point, Six handed the stuffed toy back to Four.

Seven was playing tag with Eight. Ever since Eight complimented her art, she would always be seen with him. She was shy at first, kind, willing, loyal and loved art. Eight was a cheeky, overdramatic, sarcastic and easy going person who loved to make jokes.

Nine was standing to the side, flexing his imaginary muscles. He was self obsessed, a bully, had a way with girls but his heart was in the right place.

I looked back to One's Cepan. She was still crying. Perhaps because One was the most likely person to die out of all of us. Then it was me. I shuddered at the thought.

Sometimes I wished I wasn't so curious.

So, I haven't read about how Two died, so don't hate the little extra I'm gonna add now. Oh, and don't hate the personality I gave her.

"Curiosity kills the cat."

The reason why Two had died was because she was too curious for her own good

Chapter Text

Three's POV

I understand things. I do. People act like I don't, though.

I know what those big, bad, white guys wanted. I know why they came. I know the real reason.

They want something. Something I'd found a long time ago, but never really thought about. Something powerful.

As far as I know, I'm, well, the only one who knows. The location, the whereabouts. They won't be able to find it. Not without my help.

I know what they want. They want the Weapon. The Key to mass destruction. They want it.

They want the Secret Weapon.

Which I possess.

Chapter Text

Sandor's POV

How is this possible? I ask myself for the billionth time that night.

"How?" I whisper.

Ever since I got on this ship, I've been half expecting to wake up and find out this was all a dream, the Mogadorians never invaded, and I was and sound in my bed at home. Heck, I may even give up meeting Devektra if it means going back to Lorien, with it's grassy green hills, clear blue lakes, pearly white sandy beaches.

I'd give up anthing.

Anything.

So how is this possible?

Chapter Text

Sandor's POV

You have got to be kidding me. During the week of the Silent Treatment, Nine didn't bully anyone, but as soon as I started talking to him again, he's at it.

This time he got Marina crying. Not that it was any different from her other states, as she's always crying, but this time, Nine caused it.

I so badly didn't want to get involved. It was never pretty. I silently hoped that Eight would show up, as he always seemed to be able to calm her down, but he's nowhere to be seen.

I turn to Reynolds, who was eating his food, not at all quietly.

"Where's yours?" I hiss. He laughs.

"My what?"

"You know exactly what I'm talking about."

"Geez, calm down Sands. You've gotta start treating them like actual people. They're kids, not objects. But answering your question," he taps his chin thoughtfully, "I don't actually know. I haven't seen him since this morning." He shrugs and goes back to his plate, as if his Garde disappearing was absolutely nothing. I could tell Reynolds wasn't all that strict with rules.

"Oh lookie," Reynolds says suddenly, pointing his spoon towards where Nine and Marina were. "There's your answer."

I swivel around in my chair. Sure enough, Eight was sitting next to Marina, grinning and holding out a poorly wrapped present. Marina immediately stops crying and looks up, putting on the slightest smile. She takes the present gingerly in her hands. Eight grins at her.

I look at Reynolds, who's smiling slightly at the sight. I raise my eyebrows at him. He catches my eye and nods. I shake my head, then he nods. I give in and smile, then nod. He grins from victory. What were we arguing about?

We were arguing about what'll happen to those two young Garde.

Chapter Text

Sandor's POV

"C'mon Nine, up you get, time for training!" I pull the blankets off the the small boy, who groans and shields his eyes from the harsh light.

"I don't wanna!"

"It's time for your first combat training day!" I yell. Nine groans again and buries his head into the pillow. I decide to take a different approach.

"C'mon, you can show everyone else how big and strong you are!" The effect was almost immediate. Nine jumped up and ran into the bathroom to change.

"You forgot your clothes!" I call after him, laughing. Nine would jump, literally, at any chance to show off. His excited manner also often resulted in him forgetting basic things. In this case, his clothes.

He dashes out, not even embarrassed, and grabs a shirt and pants from his dirty pile. Realising how stained they were, he drops them and grabs two items of clothing from the clean pile, before ducking back into the bathroom. Almost immediately after the click of the bolt sounded, it unlocks and Nine dashes out wearing only shirt and underwear, and holding another shirt. I laugh, realising that in his haste, he accidentally grabbed two shirts. He dros the extra shirt back into the clean pile, before carefully picking up a pair of trousers. I laugh as he runs as fast as his little legs could take him back into the bathroom.

About a few seconds later, he bursts out proudly. "Let's go!" I chuckle silently to myself and follow him.

When we reach the training room, half the Garde and their Cepans are already there. They all look at Nine, with his proud puffed out chest, as he strides in, purposely taking long steps. The Garde immediately burst out laughing, while the Cepans attempt to hide their grins and stifle their laughs.

He has a confused look on his face. Eventually, I couldn't take it. I bend down next to him and whisper in his ear. "Nine, your shirt is inside out." He looks down, surprised, before racing out of the room. For a moment I'm worried his self confidence had been lowered, but then he marches back in with his shirt back in order. He wasn't even red with anger or embarrassed.

Damn. He had a large, unbreakable ego.

Chapter Text

DKJSFDSKF heyyyyyyyyyy *sweats nervously*

This collection has officially been abandoned. I was originally gonna go through the entire time they were on the ship and finish with a one-shot about them arriving on Earth, but then the fandom kinda died and I lost interest and then I went through a lot of problems with my mental health and am still dealing with a weird fear of writing (don't ask, even I don't understand it lol).

Anyways I just wanna say thank you to everyone who read and left kudos or comments, I can definitely say that 8th grade (I think?) me appreciated it.
Love,
Cat