Dedicated to Quillian, for referencing Ender's Game in his Progression.

Chapter 5

The Anati purposefully walked out onto the circle. We followed them, as polar bear and Kelbrid, trying to mimic their behavior. They each picked up one of the long sticks. With hands, it was easy to do the same, although they were surprisingly difficult to maneuver. The Kelbrid, on the other hand, were barely able to even get them off the ground. Matt experimented and found it almost worked to grasp his between two of his claws and extend it outwards, a tactic Rruyshah copied.

One of the Anati stood near one of the lines on the edge. ((Which one is that?)) Jake attempted to research our opponents.

"I think that's the one that would compete against us even if we had a Taxxon team," Rruyshah replied.

The leader, or at least spokes…being…stood next to Anti-Taxxon about halfway between the edge and middle of the circle. The other two moved out to the middle. One "sprinted", if you could call it that, to the silver disk. After putting the tip of its stick on it, it dragged it out.

We congregated by the other line. There was a brief period of inactivity before we were set upon by the nearest four Anati, who shunted the disk between them. They might not have been fast, but they could sure maul. ((Hockey! I called it!))

((Could you possibly restrain your celebration, Marco?)) Jake was shoved by a plodding Anati.

"How do we do this?" Rruyshah asked.

((Play this game? We have to get that puck down past that line,)) Marco assumed.

Rruyshah immediately released her stick and started clambering to pick up the puck itself. This did not go very well for her, as an Anati tried to step on her head.

((We need a new game plan.)) Jake herded us towards our "goal", if that was what it was, and we formed a human-we formed a wall that the Anati futilely tried to penetrate. ((I think it's two forwards, two defense? At least on their side?))

"I'll be a forward," volunteered Matt.

((Me too.)) Marco only gave his rationale to Jake and me: ((To make sure he doesn't attempt to kill any of the Yeti.))

((Anati,)) Jake corrected him. ((Rruyshah, want to defend with me?))

"No."

((Will you?))

"Yes."

((Hey, what about me?)) I did not like the way things were going.

Jake looked over at me apologetically. ((Good question.))

((You'd better have a really good answer.)) The Anati regrouped for a charge at us. I tried to ignore my teammates on the periphery, and kicked one of my feet. It made contact with the puck, which slid back across the ice.

((You might just have given it to him,)) Marco commented as he set off with Matt.

Rruyshah abandoned me by several yards. ((You'll be fine,)) Jake counseled as he joined her.

Yeah. As if.

If being one fifth of the wall had been bad, I was literally assaulted. I poked my stick this way and that, trying to let my instinct do it for me but failing miserably. At last, Matt began annoying the Anati long enough that I could get a word in edgewise. ((How long do we play for?))

((Good question,)) Jake glanced up at the sky-trying to guess how far the sun had gone? ((No clocks for these folks, and I'm not sure how long we have left.))

((Not a good sign,)) Marco poked at the puck. ((Should we demorph in the ship?))

((One at a time.))

((Yeah…for some reason I don't like the concept of goaltending Kelbrid.)) Marco entered the ship and became a human once more, still as oddly young as he'd been after popping out of Z-space. He remorphed and returned to the rink.

The Anati seemed to be slowing down a little, as evidenced by the fact that I was not counting the seconds until my death. Unfortunately, the same fear that I'd learned to accept as part of life during the war was now returning to that comfortable little niche in my brain I was naïve enough to think it had vacated.

Jake quickly went into the ship when Marco had reimmersed in the game. He, too, came out soon after, with a new two-hour lease on his body. ((Go ahead, Tobias.))

I entered the ship, keeping my focus on the game, and demorphed. It looked like Matt had been stunned by walking into one of the sticks, but maybe that was just the blur of my eyes as they became the raptor's sharp tools.

I looked again. Yes, he had.

((Tobias!)) Jake urged. ((Hurry up!))

((Doesn't matter,)) Marco resigned pessimistically. ((We're as doomed without you as with you.))

((There's always a chance.)) I started on my polar bear morph again.

((Yeah, a chance they'll forfeit.))

A moment later, Marco began to laugh. ((What's so funny?))

((Rruyshah's idea that they'd forfeit if we changed the rules of the game.)) The puck bounced off Jake, lost in thought.

((Yeah, they'll go on about tradition.)) Marco pushed the puck away.

((The rules. The rules. Tobias! How far are you morphed?))

About halfway. ((You could look over and find out.))

((Go back to hawk. I hate to ask you to have to do this, but…I need you to morph Taxxon.))

Marco apparently thought that was nothing new. ((Any reason you didn't do that an hour ago?))

I concentrated on the gruesome form. My head was first to go, replaced by a hideous opening that resembled what now scarred Ax's face. My wings smeared against the tubular Taxxon torso. Dozens of spindly legs seemed a poor substitution for my fierce claws.

And then, the instinct. The hunger! Those slow, defenseless-no, they had those sticks.

I skidded out onto the ice. ((Hard to navigate,)) I apologized.

Jake reached down and picked up the stick I had abandoned. ((How do you want to hold this?))

((Oh, any way is fine.)) Eventually we managed to stick it between several of my hands. ((You should probably move up.))

((Okay.)) He left the goal area and came to Rruyshah's level. As per usual, the disk came sliding my way. This time, however, I could tell where it was coming and shot it back past the startled Anati and toward Matt, who was beginning to regain some of his functions.

The leading Anati dropped his stick and angrily strutted towards the ship. Jake waved Rruyshah toward him for a hurried conference. Meanwhile, we continued three-on-four. Only it hardly felt like we were at a disadvantage. I was turning the disk away almost as fast as they could bring it at me. One of them probably got less than a foot from the line before slipping. ((Lucky.))

((Luck?)) crowed Marco, who had backed up somewhat with both our defenders inside. ((I'd slip on that too.))

((But on what?))

((Well, it's liquid, and it matches the color of the hole in your…well, wherever your shoulder would be if you had one. How do you handle all that, anyhow?))

((All what?)) Another block off my legs.

((That.))

((Oh…that? Let's just say this, I get the feeling if I let one go by, it could hurt a lot worse.))

((Don't we all…))

"Marco, up here! Could your osprey morph carry the disk?" Matt asked.

((What?))

"We're not going to be able to score. We need to get drastic."

((Here's drastic.)) Marco approached Matt and started to grab his stick away.

"What are you doing?"

((Shut up and give me the thing.))

"Uh-uh. I don't think so."

((Too bad your opinion doesn't count.))

Arguing with each other (Marco was never able to gain possession of the stick), they'd left a clear path open for me to be generally subjected to multiple shots on goal. When I was finally able to deflect the disk up to them, each stretched their own stick towards it, battling for control instead of trying to score. Eventually, they formed a huge mass in possession of the disk that by sheer force of size could move past the Anati. With both Marco and Matt pulling it towards themselves, the disk crossed the line.

The four Anati stood in shock, none knowing what to do. Their leader, along with Jake and Rruyshah, emerged at that instant. ((Okay, guys, there's been a change-)) Jake stopped and saw us standing still. ((What's going on?))

"We won!" Matt dropped his stick.

((Oh, yeah, like it was such a team effort. ) Marco put his down as well, walking up to the ship to demorph.

The Anati leader walked over to the others and began telling them something.

((What happened in the ship?)) I joined Marco.

Jake had already demorphed in it. "Well, we agreed that if we were allowed to use you in Taxxon morph, then we'd follow their tradition. Whatever that is."

Marco pointed to the middle of the circle. The Anati were arranged in a line, with the one Marco and Matt had almost bowled over in the middle. "That, maybe?"

Jake morphed again. ((Do you need us out there?))

Their nonverbal reply was infinitely stronger than any statement could have been.