by Joltz
Ax stared up at the star filled universe. He pointed to the star that was his sun, to keep the memory of home fresh in his mind. Home was so far.... God, how he wanted to run freely across the grass, watching the moons drift through the sky and the kaft birds fly free. To hug his mother, to salute his father, to honor his brother. He might never make it home. Never......
Years ago, he wanted to be a warrior more than anything. To follow in his father's and brother's footsteps was his dream, and he would do anything to hear someone call him prince. That was before he had been in battle. Before scars lined his skin, blood stained his tail, and the smell of rotting flesh invaded his nostrils. The scent of blood, sweat, and flesh was horrible, but it was nothing compared to guilt.
The guilt came from killing a person. Not a yeerk, but a person. Someone who never wanted to fight and never wanted to serve those filthy slugs. They were innocent, fighting their own personal battle for control inside their head, always loosing. Whether death cut their suffering short or not, he didn't know. All he knew was that they were slaves, and by killing them he was making it so they could never be free again. Andalite princes say that to controllers, dying is winning the battle. It makes it so they can never be controlled again. He snorted. Some victory.
And of course, there was the fact that he was stranded. He was stuck with four kids, a nothlit that, coincidentally, was his nephew, and millions of clueless humans. Of course, he respected his friends greatly. After all, they were teenagers, and had more experience then most andalite war princes. But the fact that the six of them were fighting an entire race of parasites was inescapable. They had no chance of winning. If he ever made it home, it was very likely that it wouldn't be him staring through his eyes at the land he loved and running across the fields to greet his family.
Ax sighed. He hated thinking those thoughts. Why did his mind bring up all these horrible ideas? "Because they're true, and you know it." A voice inside of his head said. "To be a good warrior, you must know every aspect of battle, even the horrible ones. Otherwise, how are you going to become a war prince?"
'I don't want to be a prince!' Ax screamed silently into the night. 'I don't want to fight! I just want to go home!'