Gray Leaves


Summary: Ciara and her new friends are about to embark on a crazy adventure where she meets the Animorphs and has to fight terrifying aliens in order to save the world. OOC and no pairings.


Karone-sakura: I do not own Animorphs. Also When referring to myself I will be using KS. It makes my life easier.

Ciara: This great! Finally you have written an Animorph story by yourself!

KS: If you want to read other stories that I have co-written be read The Parallel by LilManiac. Also read her other stories because she is great writer! Also read LittleMidgett and gpshaw. They are other awesome writers!

Ciara! Yeah go read there work!

KS: Now on with the story!


(Thought-speech)

Dream Mode

(A/N)- Author's Notes


Chapter One: Death

"I love to swing... I love to swing... I love to swing my little ax. I love to play... I love to play... I love to play in the grass. Don't you see? Don't you see? Don't you see the graying leaves? For death has come... For death has come... For death has come for you and me..." On the wind carries a small child's voice.

"I love to sing... I love to sing..." Echoes throughout a large forest giving a very eery feeling.

Then in a clearing towards the middle of the forest sat a little girl sitting on the ground brushing her dollies hair.

"All must die... All must die... All must die today! For the time has come... For the time has come... For the time has come for me to kill again..." The child continued to sing as she ripped her dollies head off.

"For none will live... For none will live... For none will live to see the end of today..." She ended her little song as she stood up and turned around.

The little girl is not a little girl anymore. Her face is of a demons with large eyes. Her hair is pitch black and in curls. Her eyes are as red as the reddest red. Her dress is torn and is barely hanging onto her anymore. Her nails grow long and her already sharp teeth turn into fangs. Yes this little girl is not as innocent as she appeared to be...

A young sixteen year old screamed and sat up in her bed with sweat pouring down her face with eyes wide from fear.


Ciara

Hi my name is Ciara and I can't tell you my last name because I don't know if you are one of THEM. I fear for my life everyday and the lives my family. You may ask why so much fear... That is a totally valid question. Well there are these slug like aliens who enter through your ear canal and take over your brain and then your body. No I have not been watching the SciFi channel. In fact I don't really watch tv anymore. Well all of this started when...

I had went to bed early that night. My family had just moved into a new house a state away from my last home. We move a lot so I'm used to it. In fact I know I won't be unpacking everything for just in case we move again in a few months. The longest we stayed in one place was three years.

You might think my dad or mom is in the military or a pastor or something but they are not. In fact my parents are very rich with high paying jobs. It's just that their ambassadors so that means I have been all over the world. Right now my parents are claiming that we are going to stay here for awhile so that us kids can have a good education.

My younger sister is named Alison and she is seven years old and has a major sweet tooth. Its just the two of us kids. She is my only friend at the moment. We never stayed in one place long enough for me to make friends.

Any ways I had went to bed early that night when my cat, Snow Baby, started meowing to be let outside. He usually is a very good kitty but tonight he wanted to go out. I got out of bed to go see what was wrong with the stupid cat. My dad came in after bringing some garbage out to the curb.

Snow Baby got out and I ran back into my room and grabbed my jacket and slipped on some pants. You see I wear tight shorts to bed and its chilly outside and I had a tank top on. I put my shoes on and ran down the stairs and out the door with my dad yelling at me to bring a flashlight. I ignore him and continue after Snow Baby calling to him as he ran towards the forest behind the house.

I dodge trees and bushes as I run after my dumb cat. He stops in front of this clearing that is really big. He looks up at the sky as I finally catch him. I look up and almost drop him. In the sky was a UFO and it was crashing. I heard a twig snap behind me and I turn around to find a girl holding her dog and a boy holding another dog. Both are staring at the UFO.

I turn and look at the UFO before I turn drop Snow Baby and grab both the boy and the girl and begin to run. We just made it to safety as the thing crashed. I now have a lot of cuts and bruises from running through the forest at night. I get up and help the girl and boy up as well.

"What in heavens name was that?" I cry out as I look at them.

"I don't know. Who are you any ways? I don't remember seeing you before." The boy says to me as we walk back to the clearing.

"I just moved here. The name is Ciara and who are you two?" Both of them look at each other before answering me.

"My name is Alicia and this is Damarion. We are neighbors." The girl says as we reach the clearing.

There sat a large crater and in the middle is the UFO. I walk towards the crater when Damarion grabs my arm.

"I don't think we should go near it." He tells me but I pull my arm out of his grip.

"For all we know the creature in there could be hurt and who knows it might be friendly." I say as I make my way down into the crater.

The others remain at the lip of the crater watching me as I stumble down. I stare at the UFO trying to figure out what it looked like. For one it was made of some kind of black metal and is the size of a jet. Its shape is that of a egg which has something like legs sticking out of the bottom. I guess it's the landing gear. As I get closer I notice that what I supposed were wings were folded like bird wings. There are flaps at the back that are open and now that I'm closer to it I can see the windshield.

I look for a hatch and when I found it, it was already open. I look around the area to try and find the alien. When I look up I realize that I am on the other side of the ship and that Alicia and Damarion can't see me anymore. I continue to look around when I find a solitary figure lying on its stomach near the back end of the ship.

I run to its side and when I turn it over a see that whatever it is has wings and is humanoid. Its eyes are closed and it seems to be having trouble breathing. I place my hand on its forehead before I put my head where its mouth is. 'Its breathing!' I thought to my self before I backed away a little.

I look at it more throughly. It has long black hair and is pretty tall. Its hands are human hands and its head is a humans head. In fact the only thing that made him an alien would be the wings. I also notice that it is a young man around my age.

"Wake up." I say gently.

He groans as he tries to open his eyes. I gently grab his arm where there were barely any scratches and bruises and help him sit up. I look at his clothes and am surprised to find regular human clothes. He finally opens his eyes and all I see are forest green. I smile lightly as he opens his mouth to speak.

"Shhh everything is okay. You are among friends." I whisper as he looks at me in fright.

"Where am I?" He asks but then he sees his ship and he jumps to his feet.

He almost collapses again so I help him to stay standing. He staggers over to the ship and pears inside. He starts to cry as he finds the remains of his crew. I walk up behind him. I do not fear him, strangely enough. I felt like I knew him or something. So he collapses a few seconds later and I catch him before he hits the ground.

"Alicia! Damarion! Can you help me! He's injured and he weighs a ton!" I call out.

I begin to pull him up and out of the crater with Alicia and Damarion's help. As I set him down I notice that I'm bleeding and when I look up the others are too. So running through the forest at night wasn't the smartest idea.

"Mix blood." The alien dude says.

"What?" I ask.

"Mix your blood and then put it over one of my wounds." He mutters as he tries to open his eyes.

I look at the others as they look at each other and then at me. I nod my head and the others follow my lead. Instead of using one of the cuts from our arms I grabbed the aliens knife that he offered me. I cut my left palm and then hand the knife over to Alicia where she cuts her left palm and the Damarion does the same.

At the same time we all put our blood into a different cut and then gently covers the cut completely. Our blood mixing in with his and his mixing with ours. We lift our hands and to see that his blood is as red as ours. We then mix each others blood.

"We may not know each other well but we have one thing in common... This night under this full moon we discovered an alien and we felt compassion. May we be friends with a common goal." I whisper into the silent air.

"Agreed." The others replied.

Then a pain shot through us at the same time as the alien's did. We fell into unconsciousness together. I woke up some time later with a major headache. As I get up I notice I'm the only one to awaken at this time. I look myself over and immediately notice a difference. All my wounds are gone and I appear to be fine. That's when I notice the changes.

I can see in the dark as though the sun was up and my sense of smell is so acute now that I begin to sneeze. My nails grew longer and pointer making them look like cat claws. I feel my ears and notice they aren't on the sides of my head anymore. They are on the top and I can hear everything that moves. I also find that I have a long tail sticking out from just above my buttocks. I jump up and suddenly I'm in a tree looking down on the three unconscious ones.

I jump from tree to tree like a panther before I jump back down to the ground. I land on my feet and my hands before I straighten up. I had been hunched over before.

I run over to the others and take in there changes except for the alien's. Alicia is paler then before and has webbed hands and feet. I move the hair on her neck, she's on her stomach, and I see that she has a blow hole there and she has a bit of a hump on her back.

Damarion has a tail as well and it has a small rattle on its end. His mouth is open slightly and you can see long fangs sticking out. His eyes began to open as I check him over to make sure he is alright. His eyes are snack eyes and I jump back in fright. Alicia begins to stir and so does alien boy. I sit back in a crouched position. Soon dark brown, emerald green and forest green eyes were all on me.

The dark brown and emerald green were staring out of astonishment before they looked down at themselves. They squeak in fear before all eyes turn to alien boy. Damarion is flexing his arms while Alicia stares at her hands before she looks up again.

"I am sorry for all the trouble I have caused. My name is Rythin and I am a Soflotain. Soflotain's can take on any form but there natural ones are that of a human but with animal characteristics. We can turn into rocks, trees, animals and humans when there is the need." Alien boy says.

"What happened to us?" Damarion demanded.

"When our blood mixed you became Soflotain's. Not whole ones but half of one at least." Rythin answers patiently.

"But why did we have to mix blood?" Alicia asked.

"I would have died otherwise. On my planet there are families of four Soflotain's. When a leader is established then they all join blood even though they many have come from other families. They form new families every time anyone of the members die except the leader. If the leader dies then they all die. I was the leader from my ship but all my crewmen died." Rythin explains quietly.

"Who is the leader now?" I ask.

"You are the leader panther girl." Rythin smirks at me.

"But why me?" I asked alarmed.

"You took charge of the situation. That makes you the leader." He smiles at me kindly.

"Do I really have to be the leader?" I ask soberly.

"Yes you do." Rythin says firmly as I resign to my fate.

"Okay now that is done. How are we supposed to turn back into us? The humans?" Damarion demands.

"Concentrate on your old body." Rythin says as we each turn back into a human and he turns into a human as well.

"To change into other things, other animals, how do you do that?" Alicia asks.

"Just concentrate on what you want to turn into. There is no time limit so if you wanted to change into a dog forever you could." Rythin smiles at Alicia.

"What about our clothes? And what about our new true forms?" Was my question.

"Your clothes will change with you and all you have to do is think of your new forms and those parts will grow or change. You can you just change different parts of you. Like panther girl can have it where she can see in the dark without having to change anything else." Rythin says.

"Oh by the way my name is Ciara and this is Damarion and Alicia." I say.

"It is a pleasure to meet you." Rythin replies.

"So why are you here Rythin?" Alicia asks.

"There is a war going on, on my world where rogue Soflotain's are trying to destroy our planet. My people are winning against them so those rogues are coming here to take over the world and force your people to do battle with mine. So my people are sending some of their troops to come here and protect your people. I am one of the leading commanders to be sent here. My ship had just come into the atmosphere when we were shot down by the rogues. So here I am..." Rythin tells us sadly.

"No way..." Damarion says.

"This can't be happening." Alicia says while I remain quiet because somehow I know that, that's not it.

"There is more. There are other alien's trying to take over your world too. So I will be helping you fight them as well. They are known as Yeerks and they crawl into you ear canal and enter your brain where they completely take over. Soon you become what we call a Controller. They can be anyone." Rythin continues.

(This isn't real. I must have fallen asleep and this is all a dream.) I think to myself.

"I'm afraid this is real and that you are awake." I'm startled out of my thoughts when Rythin says that.

"I didn't say that aloud. How did you know I said that?" I ask.

"Its called thought-speech. You can project your thoughts into another persons head." Rythin explains.

(This is to much.) Alicia thought-speaks to us.

(Cool!) Was Damarion's thinking.

(This is weird.) Was all I thought.

"Good your catching on fast. Now what are we going to do Ciara?" Rythin turns to me.

"Well I think we should all go home and regroup tomorrow. I know my dad will be very worried about me by now." I say thoughtfully.

"It is summertime still so we don't have to worry about school for another week." Damarion looks thoughtful.

"Let's meet up again at one tomorrow. We can go to our secret spot Damarion." Alicia says.

"What secret spot?" I ask.

"Its out here in the woods. Let's agree to meet at Ciara's house. That way we can show her where it is." Damarion answers.

"And what about Rythin?" Alicia asks.

"He can stay with me. He can turn into a female cat. That way I can tell my dad that, that's why Snow Baby ran away tonight and when I found this kitty and had to bring her home. Then tomorrow he can turn into a human teenage boy and go to our school. Your name can be Ryan!" I say excitedly.

"Its fine with me." Says Rythin.

"Okay so lets catch our animals and get going. Its getting really late. In fact what time is it?" I ask.

"It's a little after midnight." Damarion answers.

"Okay. Well I'll see you guys tomorrow." I say as I turn my nose into a panthers nose so that I can find my cat.

"Okay bye Ciara it was nice meeting you. Bye Rythin see you tomorrow!" Alicia and Damarion call out there goodbyes.

I wave to them before I turn to Rythin. He is sitting on the ground staring up at me as a beautiful black cat. I smile as I pick him/her up and then I grab Snow Baby and make my way back to my house. I open the front door to find my dad sitting on the couch looking worried.

"I'm sorry it took so long daddy. You see Snow Baby made a friend out in the woods and she is so cute that I had to bring her home. But I got lost out there and took me awhile to find my way back. Please forgive me! Can I please keep eh Midnight?" I beg my dad.

"Well she does look like a nice cat... If you can get her, her shots then I will let you keep her." Dad said with a smile.

"And she'll be just mine?" I ask.

"And she will be just yours." He replies and he stands up tp go to bed.

"Oh thank you daddy! Thank you so much." I cry with joy.

"You welcome kid-o. Why don't you get some sleep now. Okay?" He ruffles my hair before heading up stairs.

"Night daddy!" I call down to him as I run to my third floor bedroom.

My bedroom is the only room on the third floor. It is huge and has it's own bathroom and a huge closet. I walk in and set Snow Baby in his kitty basket. I then put Midnight on my bed before I collapse beside him/her.

(Shot?) Rythin says worriedly.

(It means I get to take you to a vet where they take a needle and put medicine into you so that you won't spread any diseases or anything.) I answer tiredly.

(Are you really go to make me get some shots?) He asks now very fearful.

(As your human self yes I will.) I yawn.

(Oh and is that worse?) He asks.

(Maybe... maybe not. Any ways are you immune to all diseases?) I ask.

(Yes and so are you.) He answers as he curls up into a ball by my head.

I then realize I still have my yucky pajama's on. The ones I was wearing earlier. I get up and grab my other pajama's before I make my way into my bathroom. I clean myself up a bit before I throw away my old pajama's. I climb back into bed in my new pajama's.

(Rythin if you wake up before me can you make sure I get up by twelve?) I ask warily.

(Yeah sure.) He mutters as I set my alarm clock.

Soon I'm fast asleep. At first I didn't have any dreams but slowly I was sucked into a nightmare.


Dream

"I love to swing... I love to swing... I love to swing my little ax. I love to play... I love to play... I love to play in the grass. Don't you see? Don't you see? Don't you see the graying leaves? For death has come... For death has come... For death has come for you and me..." On the wind carries a small child's voice.

"I love to sing... I love to sing..." Echoes throughout a large forest giving a very eery feeling.

Then in a clearing towards the middle of the forest sat a little girl sitting on the ground brushing her dollies hair.

"All must die... All must die... All must die today! For the time has come... For the time has come... For the time has come for me to kill again..." The child continued to sing as she ripped her dollies head off.

"For none will live... For none will live... For none will live to see the end of today..." She ended her little song as she stood up and turned around.

The little girl is not a little girl anymore. Her face is of a demons with large eyes. Her hair is pitch black and in curls. Her eyes are as red as the reddest red. Her dress is torn and is barely hanging onto her anymore. Her nails grow long and her already sharp teeth turn into fangs. Yes this little girl is not as innocent as she appeared to be... A young girl around my age was standing there and the little girl jumped onto the girl and preceded to kill her.

End Dream


(A/N Well I hope you all enjoy this story.

Ciara: I enjoyed it!

KS: That's good! Now please review! I need reviews! KS is outta here!