Toby Hamee stared at the night sky from her tree at the YellowStone National Park. Mother Sky seemed particularly sullen tonight, she thought. Though the Hork-Bajir had learned long ago that Mother Sky and FatherDeep were nothing more than tales weaved by their creators the Arn, Toby loved the stories nonetheless. It was a part of her homeworld her parents and elders told her about, one of the few they knew or remembered. How proper, she had always told herself. Like a mother, the sky protects those under her from the Great Void while like a father, the earth supports and provides trees whose bark were food for her people.
That night, Toby had not been able to sleep. Restless nights were becoming more and more common, ever since the remaining Animorphs minus Cassie had left the Earth to find and rescue their Andalite friend. Being a Hork-Bajir Seer, Toby had learnt to trust her instincts and her, what her human friend Marco would usually call, 'gut feeling' though he usually thought them to be the same. Toby thought otherwise. After all, instinct is what that enabled her to leap and swing through the treetops effortlessly. 'Gut feelings' were what told her that her human friends are in grave danger.
Toby sighed. Leaping of the branch she was resting on, Toby reached out and grasped a vine, swinging gracefully before letting go. Landing nimbly on the ground, Toby made her way towards a stream she knew that ran through the whole park. The smell of decaying vegetation and soil filled her nostrils, replacing those of dried bark and yellowing leaves. The shrill chirping of crickets and the occasional hooting of an owl serenaded the full moon which was shining benevolently though the gentle beams were of no use on a forest floor.
Just as she was about to leap over a fallen log which was blocking her path, a sudden wave of …nothingness…swept over her. She stopped in her tracks and whirled around in confusion. The sounds, the smells of the forest seem to have disappeared even though she was still within it. She couldn't think, couldn't even remember where she was, what she was doing. Turning back towards the fallen log in front of her, Toby tried to cry out in alarm but found that she could not.
Instead, what seemed like misplaced emotions filled her mind, her body, her very soul. These emotions were foreign, not in the sense that she had never felt them before but…. it was as if the feelings within her belonged to… someone or something else.
Her eyes began to tear up as immense sorrow clamped its jaws around her. The emotion was too… powerful… to comprehend and Toby found herself kneeling on the ground, a raspy sob escaping from her mouth.
Just when she thought her heart would shrivel up and crumble to dust, a new feeling of… of anger… ripped through her. Her clawed hands shot out and embedded themselves into the decaying log in front of her. Uncontrollable rage consumed her, threatening to destroy her. Again and again, she clawed, ripped and punched the rotten trunk. Wrist blades were used to cut through and scar the rough surface, causing chips of damp wood to scatter around her. A terrible roar was given out, her facial features contorted into those of a deranged beast. Just as before, she was nearing her breaking point when suddenly, everything stopped. The smell of rotten wood was rampant in the air, comforting her mind while the hooting of an owl brought back peace and serenity.
What just happened, Toby asked herself, panting heavily. Just as she was about to get up, staggering slightly, a final wave of nothingness washed over her along with it a new feeling. This new feeling was not as heart wrenching as the first wave of sorrow nor was it as corrosive and terrible as the anger that consumed her. No, this last feeling was far less powerful yet far more disturbing and strange. It was… acceptance.
Then, just as Toby was realizing this fact, she heard a voice. The voice was so familiar, yet it seemed warbled and unearthly, like it had traversed time and space and even the Great Void itself. The voice sounded so far away… yet so near. It was not talking to her yet seemed meant to be heard by her. Her 'gut feeling' told her so.
The voice was racked with all three emotions she had felt just now and yet was commanding and firm. Strength radiated from its tone but was tinged heavily with regret and hopelessness. It was the most awe inspiring and the most painful thing she had ever heard in her life.
Chills of dread and realization crawled up Toby's spine when she heard what the voice said. Sadness and grief, her own, washed over her yet she also felt… relieved. Relieved that what had just happened, had happened. It was the only way it- everything, could and would have ended.
Wiping tears of her face, Toby turned back towards her tree. In her mind, the voice still echoed its last words…
"Ram the Blade ship…"