Hey, Readers!

So glad that so many of you have Favorited and followed the story so far! Thank you for your continued support!

Here's a two-part arc for y'all, since you guys probably deserve one by now. We also learn a little more about Sam's fellow Rookies! Enjoy!

-aggiefrogger

Survival: Part One

After his stunt with the sound attack, the other Rookies stopped seeing Sam as someone to be avoided… more or less. Sure, they avoided him during training with Kilowog (since the pink alien still had it out for him, it seemed), but they started hanging out with him after practices, and the teen was glad for some company, for once. They ate meals together, sparred each other on one of the many practice fields, helping one another get better, and even had races around the planet. Of course, Elantra continued to be a lone wolf, but they could tell she now saw Sam as a threat to her being the top Rookie. He didn't care about how well he did in training; only about going home.

Now that they weren't avoiding him 24/7, the teen was able to get to know his fellow Rookies and future Lanterns. The really tall albino alien with unnaturally red hair was called Uhjan, and he was a scientist back on his planet before being chosen; apparently, his hair was actually a living creature that he had a symbiotic relationship with. It was kind of freaky, seeing the hair as another living creature, but one quickly got used to it. The conjoined twins, Yanx and Yanxa, were pretty smart; apparently, they were considered college-student aged, but their age equaled about 300 human years, give or take. They, like Sam, were still in school when they were chosen, and needed special permission from their planet's Council to let the come to Oa. And the short alien that was covered with spiky purple hair and had multiple arms was called Pzanar, and he was the oldest of the Rookies; the funny thing was, he'd spent centuries working in the mines on his planet, and the day after his retirement, he was chosen to be a Green Lantern. He wasn't bitter, however, and found it kind of hilarious. He also liked to tell stories about his buddies from the mines (which could get long-winded and boring pretty quickly), and they listened out of politeness.

In return, the four other Rookies were very inquisitive about Sam, having never met a human before. Of course, they'd heard rumors about them, so the teen had to explain certain things, like why they weren't as advanced as the rest of the universe, why they voluntarily chose to live in extremely cold and hot places, and about the Justice League. They also asked him about his music trick, and he explained the headband, playing a few songs for them. Music wasn't a thing on the twins' planet, and they were especially fascinated by it, and they often asked him to play songs for them while they trained, saying it helped them focus better.

Since they started hanging out, they started to see Sam as their unofficial leader; between him and Elantra, he was kinder and more understanding, and treated the other Rookies with respect, not holding a grudge against them for not sticking up for him during training. The teen, quickly spotting what the others were struggling with, was the one who suggested they practice outside of training, and they started to do so, taking over a small practice field near the Cafeteria building during their limited free time. They didn't mind the extra practice, since it wasn't with Kilowog, and since they weren't required to stand at attention, they looked forward to this time. Sam would listen to music (though he sometimes played it out loud) as he launched small projectiles at the Rookies, who tried to hit them out of the air. Deciding to not follow the Bolovaxian's example, the boy encouraged them, gave them pointers, and pretty soon, they were able to hit several projectiles launched at lightning speed at once. Several Green Lanterns that were flying by sometimes stopped to watch, and some even gave advice about fighting and ring slinging technique.

As they continued to practice and train, it also became apparent that each of them had a special skill of some sort; Sam, of course had his music and unorthodox construct ideas (he'd once thrown a miniature Alamo at the Twins during an exercise), but Uhjan had a knack for creating extremely detailed and elaborate constructs that looked like one thing but was actually another. Pzanar, they discovered, could create constructs of brute strength; waving his four arms around, he finally channeled the muscles he'd earned after years of working in the mines into his constructs, letting the large boulders he made crush any construct that crossed his path (it was noticed that he made boulders 90% of the time). Yanx and Yanxa, while struggling at first with coming up with something to construct, eventually found their skill: speed. Out of the group, they were the fastest in the flying races they held, moving so fast, they were like a green blur.

Even though they were kind, they still didn't do much to help Sam during their training with Kilowog. However, it was worth seeing the training officer's surprised face when Pzanar was able to made a dent in the Twins' shield, and when Uhjan was able to knock Elantra back during a sparing session. And, of course, the teen was getting stronger, slowly but surely, and eventually, he was able to create a shield strong enough to keep the flight commander out (though it only lasted for about five seconds before Kilowog broke it and threw him across the training field).

Elantra, meanwhile, had grown more distant from the other Rookies, and Sam and the others sometimes saw her training by herself, creating constructs of enemies and attacking them with viscous precision. She seemed pretty angry for a Green Lantern-in-training, and most of the time, they half-expected a Red Lantern to show up and recruit her. They asked her several times to join them for their training sessions and to meet up at mealtimes, but she always refused.

"I wonder why she seems so intent on being alone," Uhjan commented one day, looking over at the bright yellow alien as she sat by herself, eating her lunch. "Especially since she was pushing for teamwork before."

"Probably because she wouldn't be in charge," Yanxa spoke up, tearing into some sort of meat that she shared with her brother, who nodded his head in agreement.

"Reminds me of a pal of mine from my days back on Garxaw," Pzana spoke up, taking a sip of his drink before launching into his story, causing the others to groan a little.

"Her loss," Sam muttered, turning back to his casserole. He personally like her about as much as he liked Kilowog, but she was still part of their Rookie group, and he knew he should probably try again. Getting up, he walked over to her, and she shot him a wary glare as he approached.

"Hey," he started, "we were wondering if you wanted to-"

"No."

"Good talk." Turning back toward his table, he figured that he maybe should have tried harder, but another look back at Elantra proved otherwise

..

One day, Kilowog took the group of Rookies to a nearby moon called Lawens, which was a barren stretch of land as far as the eye could see, and slightly smaller than Earth's moon. To Sam, it reminded him of the desert-like terrain he'd seen around the Trans-Pecos region of westernmost Texas; at least it wasn't 98 degrees outside.

"Listen up, Poozers," the training officer barked, the six Rookies standing at attention, "it's time for my favorite trainin' exercise: survival!"

Uh oh, the teen thought.

"You'll be split up, taken to separate parts of the moon, and you will have a predetermined set of time to make your way to a final location and meet the others. Oh… and there's one more thing-"

He held up his fist, ring glowing, and to everyone's shock, their rings flew off of their fingers, being caught by the commander. Their uniforms faded away, and Sam was fortunate that he slept in his shorts and a t-shirt, and that he wore his tennis-shoes underneath his uniform as well. Everyone else was wearing simple undergarments as well, and all of them weren't dressed to last in the environment. Taking a shaky breath, the teen was relieved that he was able to breathe, and that the temperature was around the upper 70's (living in Texas, you learned how to judge how hot it was outside pretty quickly).

"Lanterns need to be able to survive without their rings in case they're ever stranded for periods of time," the large alien explained. "But because you six are so pathetic, I'll give ya each a map of how to get to the rendezvous point." Holding out his fist again, a green platform appeared under their feet rising into the air. "You'll have until the sun sets; I'd get to the meeting point by then, because it's gonna get colder than the frozen planes of Mabnae when it's nighttime! Also, to make things fair-"

Blindfolds covered the Rookies' eyes, obscuring their view as they ascended

"So you don't see where your fellow Rookies are and try to work together. And one more thing," the Bolovaxian added, "try not to die. It means nuthin' but paperwork for me!" He laughed at his own joke as they soared over the moon, the Rookies of them trying not to panic.

..

Sam looked around the barren wasteland around him, wishing that he had some water right about now. He recalled hearing once that humans could go without water for about a week, but he didn't want to find out if that was real or not.

While it wasn't Texas hot on the moon, it was still hot, and the teen trudged across the plain, every once in a while pulling out a small device, checking the holo-map the training officer had given him to see if he was heading in the right direction, and then continuing across the ground. There was some vegetation; a few small trees and bushes, and he even saw a few alien creatures trudging about, but he gave them a wide berth. He had no idea if any of them were fit for human consumption, and based on his talks with Ch'p, he knew better than to underestimate a strange creature; for all he knew, they could eat him in a matter of seconds. He did find a stick on the ground, which was the perfect length for a hiking stick, and he carried it with him, humming to himself in an effort to keep his mind occupied.

Sam wondered how everyone else was doing, wondering how far away from the goal they were, and if they were already there. Kilowog could've taken him the farthest away in an effort to fail him, but he pushed this thought from his mind; the sky was already starting to darken, and the teen, who'd been walking for a few hours now, taking a few periodic rests in the shade of some large rocks, hurried his speed, determined not to be caught in the cold. He wasn't sure how cold Mabnae got at night, but he didn't want to find out. According to the map, he was a little over a mile away from the rendezvous sight, and if he kept it up, then he would reach it before the sun-

A scream echoed across the plain, high and shrill, coming form somewhere to his right. Instantly on guard, Sam squinted into the horizon, trying to see what had made the noise. It sounded almost female, but who-

At first, he could only make out a vague shape, but then, as she grew closer, he recognized Elantra as she raced across the plane, heading towards a nearby pile of large boulders some 100 yards to his right. Behind her, a pack of those tiny rodent-like aliens were chasing her, and judging by the growling sound they'd made, they weren't the cuddly kind. This was confirmed when one of them launched forward, latched itself onto her leg, and tried to bite through it as the alien screamed, hitting it off of her as she now limped as fast as she could towards the boulders. Judging by her speed, though, she wouldn't make it.

"Damnit," the teen muttered, starting towards her, holding the large stick in both hands; now he had to save her, and probably give her another reason to dislike him. However, he couldn't just let her die, and he started yelling, trying to draw the creature's attention towards him.

Elantra noticed him, gave him a surprised look, but continued toward the rocks. The creatures, which reminded him of rats the size of dictionaries, immediately turned and started towards him. He also started towards the rocks, knowing he wouldn't last long, but as soon as he got within fifty yards of the rocks, the first one reached him, and he swung the stick at it, knocking it back. A few more followed, and it was a struggle to keep them back as more and more started to come towards him.

Giving the boulders a quick glance, seeing that the bright yellow alien had made it, he quickly turned and ran towards the boulders, still carrying the stick, and occasionally swinging it behind him, hoping to keep them back. One of them scratched his elbow, but he managed to keep ahead of them, and when he reached the rocks, he leaped onto the side of the rock, quickly scrambling up it as the creatures clawed and scratched at the rock beneath him. Nearly slipping, he managed to get a good grip on the topmost part of the rock, and pulled himself up, collapsing on his back and staring at the sky, trying to catch his breath.

The creatures, after a few minutes, seemed to get bored and moved off, their grunts and growls disappearing into the distance. Now rested, Sam sat up, scanning the ground some ten feet below him for any sign of the creatures.

"They're gone," a hard voice came from behind him, and he turned around to find a sullen Elantra leaning against a rock, staring up at the ceiling. Looking down at her leg, he was confused to find it un-scarred, as if she'd never been bitten.

"How did you-" he started to ask.

"I can regrow limbs," she explained, jerking her head towards the other side of the boulder. "My old leg's over there."

The teen gaped at her, and, unbelieving, went over to the edge of the boulder and looked, nearly hurling at the sight of her bloody and dismembered leg laying on the ground below him, even more so when the rat-things started to attack it.

"That's messed up," he gasped, a little queasy as he quickly looked away.

"You humans are too soft," the alien commented, smirking at his green face. "And weak. What kind of species can't regrow their limbs?"

"I'm not a starfish," he said heading back towards his end of the boulder. "Let's just get going before the sun sets, and-"

As he said this, he looked up at the sky, and to his horror, saw that the sun had disappeared over the horizon. Staring at it, he noticed that his breath was starting to rise in front of him, and he fell back, accidentally knocking the stick off the rocks. It clattered to the ground, and as he looked down after it, it started to cover in frost, along with the rest of the ground, spreading out all around them as the sun finally disappeared from view. He heard Elantra give a gasp behind him, and he realized that they were trapped; even if they could get down, they'd turn into Popsicles, and would never make it to the checkpoint.

"Shit," he muttered, starting to shiver as a cold wind swept across the plane.

Yeah... you knew I'd have the two confront one another eventually; especially after he showed her up in the last chapter. Also, I figured that Kilowog would make them train without their rings at one point, and this chapter came to me. More to come in the next part, including Elantra's backstory!

I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Favorite and follow to keep updated when more chapters come and feel free to leave a review with your comments and thoughts on the chapter or the story as a whole!

Have a great day! I also don't own the Alamo!