Animorphs
An Andalite's Story
By Legend ( info@injenn.net )
Animorphs ( Scholastic
Kasarashi-Illugiah-Dichoa and Siar 984 ( Legend
Author's Note: I'm not going to finish this story, but if you want to know what was supposed to happen, e-mail me. I basically have it all written out from an instant message conversation a long time ago. So, yeah.
Call me Kasarashi-Illugiah-Dichoa. Or, if that is too hard on your human tongue, call me Kasa. As you can see, it is extracted from the first word in my three-part name, Kasarashi. Basically all I had to do was remove the 'rashi' part off the end.
If you have not figured it out by now, I am an Andalite. I am not human. I am from a species of intergalactic aliens that are told to resemble a blue deer genetically cloned with a human and a scorpion. Now I am not that sure if that is true.
But you're the human. You tell me.
I am not like other Andalites.
It may cross your mind that I am trying to say that I am all- powerful. Sadly for me, that's not true. I'm just another Andalite of normal speed, power, and endurance. I'm not special that way. I'm not special in any way, except one. My fellow Andalites call it the condition of being an idiot. I don't see it this way.
It wasn't my fault I was turned into the second Andalite controller.
I felt every muscle of my body had been frozen at that time. I was locked in a trace, swaying with the grass under me and swaying in the faint wind. In fact, I was directly under a particular new tree the Bio nerds (as I called them) had decided to try in the main part of the dome, to see how well it got along with the other parts of Andalite nature.
It was a rather weird tree. It seemed to have a trunk that spread into branches, but instead of leaves popping off of the branches, there were vines that resembled the Earth snake. They slopped down almost on an angle, a bright, vibrant green in the beginning that faded away into white when the tips reached the middle of the trunk. The tips of the vines were considerably above my stalk eyes, so the tree in itself was rather large.
It was a nice tree.
But I couldn't move. I felt like the air was closing in on me, and the gravity controller was out of wack. But I had felt like this before, and expected the black out. As soon as I had thought, my main eyes blacked into darkness, and I could only see out of my stalk eyes.
Slowly they came back to full color.
It was a strange thing. It didn't really bother me, though. I stretched out my tail and my arms above my head, my stalk eyes swerving out of the way like they had a mind of their own.
Perhaps they did.
Other Andalites said I think too much. Maybe I do. I never seem to care anymore. Life was peaceful. Perfect.
All fighters report to the bridge. The voice could be heard, broadcasted all through the Celestial Tree (that was our Dome ship's name, Celestial Tree). But not really heard, as it was only in my head. Typical of course, since Andalites like myself can only make sounds by contacting the surrounding minds. Or, if we wanted, we could direct our thought speak to one individual. I guess it mattered on the urgency or privacy of the message.
I was a warrior.
I wasn't an aristh. No, I could fight. But I wasn't a Price yet. I didn't believe that I ever would become one. True, I was helpful on the battlefield. But plans and strategies weren't my major gift. I was a follower, not a leader. I would never be a leader.
Oh well.
I broke into a run, hoping to get all the way across the main Dome ship before a humiliating time to approach the Princes, War-Princes, and the Captain himself. I raced by Derrishoul trees that appeared to be just a blur. As I saw the metal shaft approach, I killed my speed and came into a steady trot. My legs hurt. I had pushed my muscles too far, in too little time. I tend to do that, make careless mistakes.
Again, oh well.
Within a couple of moments I was in the presence of my fellow Warriors, the Princes, the War-Princes, and .of course.the Captain. But strangely, the Captain wasn't present. Instead, a War-Prince stepped out of the crowd of trained Andalite fighters and began to speak. I squinted my stalk eyes and tried to make out whom exactly this war-prince was. I think I knew him, but his name wasn't coming. Just like the expression that humans use. It was on the end of my tongue, except I didn't have a tongue.
Guess what. Oh well.
.Therefore since the Yeerks are planning to attack this Dome ship during---hours---fighters--
I wasn't really listening. Not that much of a difference for me.
For one thing, I don't believe that Yeerks exist.
You may think I'm crazy. I'm not, I'll tell you this right now. But even if you choose to show me a Yeerk, I won't believe they exist. Somehow I'll find a way to get an excuse. I guess I can't accept Yeerks yet. Not just yet.
.Therefore all warriors and their princes shall report to a fighter and engage battle on their circulating Mothership.
Now that I liked. I liked to fight. I liked to be able to see just how much I could take, and how much the enemy could take. It was all morbid fascination. But someone in this galaxy had to feel it. I guess that someone was me.
My Prince was Langer-Endorroth-Rasagal.
The fighters couldn't hold many Andalites. Five or six, maybe. At the maximum. And even then it would be sort of a tight fit. The fighters weren't that big, but there was a stream in them, and a couple patches of grass. There was no room to run, but no one was to run when they were supposed to be doing war business.
I trotted over towards my Prince. Three other Warriors that I didn't know the names of were trotting over, none of them looking that thrilled. I was thrilled. But I was trained not to show it. An Andalite wasn't supposed to like his duties. Hey, if work wasn't hard, why would you get paid for it?
All right. The main tactic to accomplish here would be to infiltrate the Yeerk Mothership and shed as much chaos as we can without getting ourselves killed. Our allies will be there to back us up.
See what I mean? A simple tactic like that, and it would never be something to cross my mind. I was a follower, oh yeah. And let me tell you- I was good at my job.
It was all the entity that I was.
The Prince turned and began to head towards the boarders for the fighter ships. The other warriors, without a single glance towards me or each other, were seemingly already in a single file (it was funny to see the Prince lead a file of warriors) and began to trot along behind their Prince.
So I did what I did best.
I followed.
The ship ride wasn't very long. I ducked my stalk eyes when I entered the pod. As I was the last one in, I ended up banging my stalk eyes on the bar that supports the entrance to the pod.
I took my typical position.. as in I didn't really do anything but stand around while the Prince piloted the fighter. I saw the hatch close where I had stepped into the fighter. It sealed shut as an airtight lock.
As the ship took a sharp lurch, I had to concentrate really hard to not fall forward. I swiveled a stalk eye at the other warriors. They seemed to be having the same problem, accept on all the way on the right by the waterfall, he seemed like he had perfect balance.
Maybe he did.
It didn't take long until the other fighters swarmed the Mothership. It was very easy to get aboard the Mothership undetected. The enemy was concentrating on the flood of attack forces. Now our little joy group, we're here to smoke some alien.
My Prince led my fellow warriors and myself down the long, dark hallways. Our tails were cocked and ready just slightly above our heads. The thought of battle kept me high on adrenaline. I swear that if there was light in this long sector of dungeon, then one could see me almost shaking with anticipation.
I wanted blood.
And I wanted blood now.
There was a small crack of light in the form of what seemed to be a door. My prince halted us. I froze. This could be it!
My prince singled out five doors. Perfect for the five of us!
Each one of these doors will contain a small Yeerk pool. Your instructions are to destroy all of the Yeerks within the pool. He said it simple.
It was almost funny that way, how your superiors just had instant knowledge. I had studied Motherships as well. But I didn't know that there would be Yeerk pools in there.
I suppose it's a leader thing.
I entered the room that my Prince told me to vaporize the enemy in. As I said before, I refuse to acknowledge that Yeerks exist.
But anyways-I trotted over to the edge of the small pool thick with sludge and creatures moving beneath its surface. I wasn't disgusted. I mean, these.enemies..they weren't much more than fat bags of flesh.
I stepped closer, and I could feel my hooves along the slippery plaster that was long the edges of the pool. I was interested. So this is what .the enemy.looks when they are in their natural state. So this is what everyone is afraid of.
They don't look that powerful.
By a simple act of misjudging. I leaned over to get a closer look.
That's when I felt my front hooves start to slip. I swerved around, but at that exact time, by some strange fate, some of the demonic sludge had found its way under one of my back hooves. With my two front hooves spinning out of control, I tried to rear back on my back hooves to temporarily gain my balance.
I slipped forward.
I fell, with basically all of my body in mid air above the pool. I felt myself falling slowly towards the grayish puke green mixture of sludge, perhaps in slow motion it seemed. Panic gripped my hearts. I could hear the sound of my blood pumping loudly in my ears as I realized what could result from my simple mistake.
As I plummeted down towards the pool, I could have sworn I heard the little demons below me laughing. They were laughing. At me.
Stupid Andalite, I could hear them say in my mind, even though they were deaf and blind, not even knowing I was falling towards them. You'll be ours now. Come with us. Just like the others did before you.
AAAAH!
The sludge water seemed to almost want to reject me. However, my momentum kept me going forward. Thick slime and Yeerks (yes now from touching them I believe they are real) were squished up against me. And all I could think about is how my fur would smell if I got out.
CLUNK!
I was given the gift of hearing my own head smash into the bottom of the pool, as it was very shallow. My eyes were bad in the slime, but I could vaguely see the shapes moving around me. I was too weak to pull myself out.
So this is how it's like to die.
That was the last thought that crossed my mind, as I was rendered unconscious.
Somewhere in and in some way out of a dream, I felt several arms grab me. I tried to open my eyes, but I could feel they were bleeding.
I didn't know eyes could bleed.I thought to myself.
They can.
I was surprised. A voice had responded to what I was saying.in my head!
I know what you're thinking. The voice in my head said. And you're insane. You know that? Insane! You fall into a Yeerk pool. What would your prince say?
I wasn't sure what my Prince would say.
I opened my eyes. At least a Yeerk didn't infest me, or I would never have been able to open my eyes. But it was strange, having some voice talk to me within my own head. I hadn't thought-spoke. This sort of thinking was just so different from thought speak.
Subconscious maybe?
Then it occurred to me that I was looking into the dead eyes of a Hork Bajir.
AH! I screamed. I snapped my face back, away from the dead, staring eyes of the Hork Bajir, and I felt a terrible feeling of being watched. I swung my stalk eyes around. There were Hork bajir carcasses everywhere. I looked towards the door. Ripped.but..
There was what looked like a blue flesh ball that was matted with blood. I galloped over to the flesh ball. As soon as I neared it, I knew the truth.
This was one of the warriors that had come with me.
It all made sense to me now. When I had screamed before I fell into the Yeerk pool, I bet it alerted the Andalite Warrior just next-door to me. My scream had also alerted the Hork Bajir who I was looking at, dead now of course, and his fellows who were strewn across the floor in more pieces then I wanted to count.
I surged outside. There were Hork Bajir carcasses there, too. Fallen Dracon beam weapons. But to my dismay, I also saw Andalite carcasses. It seemed that the two remaining warriors and my Prince had heard the commotion between my Warrior ally and the Hork Bajir. They were hopelessly outnumbered by the Hork Bajir, with Dracon weapon beams and everything.
It seemed whatever remaining Hork Bajir were sent to aid in helping with the other numerous attacks our dome ship was launching on them. They must have figured I was dead, and had lifted me out of the sludge to look, then bolted off when they figured I was, indeed, dead.
A wave of nausea suddenly wracked through me like a tremor. I was suddenly feeling so tired. I felt so sleepy, like I had an extreme loss of sleep and I had no energy left.
Then.
I lost it. All control. I couldn't move anything. I couldn't focus my eyes, I couldn't move my stalks, I couldn't do anything. I was frozen. Frozen in time.
And this time, it wasn't because my eyes were going to black out.
.What.. I heard a voice in my head. I wanted so badly to turn around and see who was talking to me. There had to be something.someone. .Somewhere.
.An Andalite? How is this possible?.
I froze (well, I was already frozen, but you know what I mean). It suddenly hit me like a thousand Dracon beams all fired at once.
There was a Yeerk in my head. It was talking to me.
I was a Controller!
.This is incredible. the voice in my head again. I suddenly felt bitter anger, for the Yeerk that had infested me. Me! I was invincible! I was unconquerable! I was-
.You know that's enough bragging. the Yeerk in my head said. After all I did just infest you.so.you aren't that invincible or as you think.
.how do you know what I'm thinking? I said in my head, directing the words toward the slug filth that had infested me.
.er.don't really ask me how its done.its sort of an evolved thing.and.um. The Yeerk paused. I wanted so badly to blink. This was a weird Yeerk.
Fine. You may as well tell me what your name is, Yeerk. Unless you wish to have me address you as 'Yeerk' forever. I sneered.
.fine.Kasarashi-Illugiah-Dichoa. My name is Siar 984, of the Tiamat Omega pool. Sure, my pool isn't the highest pool ever, but it sure has a good name! The Yeerk that called itself Siar 984 sneered back.
Ok whatever you say Siar nine-eight whatever. I said sarcastically. Stupid Yeerks. Always have to have names that are so darn hard to say, and if their easy to say, their hard to remember.
Speak for yourself, Kasarashi-Illugiah-Dichoa.
I paused. This Yeerk was good. Too good.
Yes, I'm good.
What? The Yeerk was reading my thoughts?
Yes, I'm reading your thoughts.
I wanted to cringe. You know, stop it. Don't read my thoughts. It's not respecting privacy. I heard the Yeerk laugh in my head.
Who cares about privacy? You're my host. I can do whatever I wish with you. Almost to prove his point, Siar 984 strutted forward, and knocked my body right into a wall.
Oh that was just ingenious. So ingenious. You know, if I knew I was going to be infested, I would have at least wished for a smart Yeerk. I said flatly.
Shut up. That's all I heard from Siar 984. I waited for him to say more. He didn't.
Is that all you've got? A measly shut up? You've got to have something more. Unless you're a Yeerk who is really, really, really stupid. Which is possible.
He didn't reply for a moment. Finally, he said:
Look, you're my first host ok? I've been in nothing but my own first shape. I'm a new Yeerk, alright?! Are you happy now?! I'm NOT experienced!
I was shocked. I, me, the Andalite, the second Andalite to ever be captured and infested, was being held by a Yeerk aristh?
..um.well not really aristh because that's an Andalite term but rookie would probably fit it.
So. I said, summarizing the facts. While all the Vissers are up there in human or Hork Bajir or whatever you guys have up your sleeves, you, the lowly little Time hat Omega whatever pool--
Tiamat Omega.
-- er, Tiamat Omega pool is the one playing around in an Andalite body? Now this is just funny. I mean, you're not even evil. You're the fat- free of evil. The semi-evil. I mean, geez, how unlucky can I get? At least I could have gotten a--
Your harsh words aren't making me feel any better.
Look Yeerk, I don't care how you feel. For all you know.actually you do know, I hate you. Got that through your slimy little brain? I was angry. I was farther than angry. If I were able to control my body, I would be on a blind rage rampage.
Well since your brain is mine and you pretty much called your own brain slimy, I guess I agree with you.
I hate this guy. I could have at least gotten a boring Yeerk who sneered about Andalite filth. And who hated me but used me anyways. But NO! I had to get a sarcastic rookie Yeerk! God, I have bad luck.
.yeah you do have bad luck but sort of blame it on yourself because it was you who fell into the pool.
I would have jerked if I could in surprise. How did he know?
You're forgetting I have access to every one of your dreams, memories, thoughts!
Oh yeah.
I awoke the next day (or what I thought was the next day) to find myself face-to-face with the some NASTY looking controllers. I mean, it was one bad thing that they were as ugly as sin, but geez, they were old-
They're the Council of Thirteen. I heard the Yeerk in my head say to me.
Great. I grumbled in my own mind. I thought that getting taken over by a Yeerk was just a bad dream. Well if it is, I hope I wake up soon. Like maybe now.
I was still in front of the ugly as sin Council.
"You have done remarkably well for being only in the main fleet for two days," I heard some old guy's voice. Siar 984 used my head to look up at him. He seemed to be a human, one of those weird races from the water planet Earth that toppled around on two legs. I never understood how they did that, nor did I really care. He was dressed in a black robe that trailed down on the ground.
Then I noticed it wasn't really a person, but a visualization. A hologram. These dudes weren't even here! These were .basically.pictures of them.
Yes, within two days Siar 984 of the Tiamat Omega pool has captured alive an Andalite and enslaved him. Very impressive. Within weeks! Who knows what we can expect from this brilliant Yeerk? Within months? Perhaps all the Andalites on their own homeworld!
I wanted to say 'And that's the day that Taxxons refuse a meal,' but I still couldn't speak. I noticed that Siar 984 was involuntarily showing me his happiness in this scenario. It was emitting from him in strong waves. But I could also sense he was nervous.
I also noticed that Siar 984 decided to keep quiet about the fact I had fell into the Yeerk pool. I laughed in my head.
Awww Siar look they love you, but you didn't really accomplish this because of you, did you? I mocked him.
.Don't distract me. Siar 984 said simply. He turned his attention back to the Council members who had spoken to him.
I am honored by your compliments, Council. To acknowledge his point, he did a low knee bow. I groaned in my head. He was such a suck-up to these guys.
Gee, you sure know how to act in front of the important guys.
I said don't distract me! He shot back mentally.
"It is indeed an amazing act. And Yeerks with amazing potential such as yourself must be rewarded and allowed to exploit their fullest capabilities."
I could tell just by the way Siar 984 was having my body breath that this was the moment he'd been waiting for. I wanted so badly just to start laughing hysterically. This was a hoot!
I would be extremely honored by any action you take. Siar 984 said, bowing his.my.head.
The guy who was old rose his hand.
"Make it so. You will no longer be referred to as simply Siar nine- eight-four of the Tiamat Omega pool. As acknowledgement of your achievements, you are now known in the eyes of the Council as Siar nine- eight-four of the Tiamat Omega pool, Visser twenty-seven."
I felt my body tense up because of Siar. I was curious to what exactly all that meant. I noticed that Siar's promotion had skipped the Under Vissers and the SubVissers. Geez. Visser 27. That was like telling an aristh that he was now a Prince.
I guess it was a big wow. Siar seemed to be shocked out of his mind. I bet he expected an Under Visser promotion. Maybe SubVisser. But straight to Visser?
.I sensed something wrong here.
.Th.th-thank you Council, Siar said, his voice shaking even though it was in thought speak. Now this was amusing. I.I'm very .very. He looked for the word to say. .Honored by this decision you have made.
The council member who had made my pet Yeerk filth a Visser nodded his head, and I guess that was a signal to clear the area, because Siar turned tail in my body and galloped away.
Hey Siar, you certainly got a shock there, I thought you were going to fall over, I said mockingly. Oh and won't want to dissapoint the Council, now would you? I mean, since you're not brilliant at catching Andalites and stuff.
Maybe I can trick them all into falling into Yeerk pools, Siar grumbled.
Oh, yes, that will work now won't it? I mean every Andalite's gonna make the mistake of going too close to a Yeerk pool. Then what? You push them in? Look buddy, we Andalites aren't stupid. We Andalites--
Yea, yea, yea I've heard enough of it, Siar muttered. Arrogant Andalite. Yes, I know the deal. I mean even I can play an Arrogant Andalite.
Oh take that back you tyrant, I sneered. We Andalites are not--
Whatever, ok? Siar said. As a Visser I have control over an army as well as a Blade ship. I'll get to rule over worlds.
And that's the day humans fly, I said, remembering that human beings were not capable of flying unless inside one of their lower-advanced flying machines.
.Humans. That's it. Visser 3 has been having trouble conquering that little ball of trouble called Earth. So I think that's what I'll do.
Hey Siar, can I ask you a question?
I guess it doesn't matter, does it?
Are you a leader or a follower? I was curious for a while.
What do you mean? He asked skeptically, like he wasn't sure if I was luring him into a trap.
You know. Suddenly get brilliant ideas. Always knowing what to do under harsh conditions. Leader. Or good at fighting but not that good at forming plans. Follower. Which one are you? There was a very long pause from Siar 984, or Visser 27. Moments on moments passed. When I was sure he wouldn't answer, he finally replied.
I suppose kind of both. He said, after a long moment's thought.
Now that's weird. How can you be both a leader and a follower? Then it hit me. Good at all the stuff a Leader does. But not 100% of the time. Probably 50% of the time. The other 50% of the time was spent thinking like a follower!
How could I have been so blind?
You're right. And its very impressive how you Andalites can calculate so much in your heads in so little time. Siar said. I laughed.
Look Kisser 27--
Visser 27.
Visser 27, or Visor 27 I guess it doesn't matter, and hey, that would be so cool, a visor with a large 27 on it. I mean all these Visors .wait, Vissors-now I'm confusing myself-could all wear visors that have their numbers in large black print. I mean, its ingenious isn't it?
.Er.
Yes I thought so too I smiled in an inward way. For once in this whole experience of being taken over by a Yeerk, I didn't really mind. You know.Sire nine four eight--
Siar 984.
.ahem, Siar 984, you're actually a pretty cool Yeerk. Weird coming from an Andalite, huh? I mean I bet you think we Andalites are all 'kill the Yeerk, roast it over a fire' but not all of us are. I mean I didn't even believe in Yeerks--
Until you saw my pool. Yes, I can read your memories, remember?
You know Siar that's pretty rude how you keep interrupting me like that, I said. I'm not all that bothered except you do it a lot.
Well if I called you Karashi instead of Kasarashi you'd be pretty annoyed too, don't you think?
Not necessarily. And I said the truth. Karashi actually sounded better than Kasarashi. Except Karashi sounded feminine, which I did not want.
Or if I called you Kaffarashee-Igua-Deyoya the Andafoot you wouldn't be too fond of it either, I sense not?
He was right. I didn't really like the twist on my name, but it was cool. Now the Andafoot thing I didn't like.
See, you don't like it when your species is poked fun at. But imagine how much verbal nonsense Yeerks get.
I did. I mean from the threats that the controllers think was enough. Then there was all we Andalites thought. It really put some thought into my head.
I must say, for a Yeerk you sure are smarter than you seem, I said honestly. He was smarter. He was thought provoking. Something I'll never be.
Thanks, I appeciate your compliment. But I think I better start concentrating on Earth's invasion. See, it's not going well--
I know.
Ok now I understand what you mean when you say interrupting is very annoying. Siar narrowed my Andalite eyes. Except my stalk eyes. Even I didn't know if my stalk eyes were capable of being narrowed.
Ahah. So you learn. I said calmly. If you're going to do something about Earth's invasion.well.I'd hate to break it to you but I don't think we Andalites are going to let that happen.
They haven't stopped us now, Siar sneered. He seemed angry now, uncontrolled. Who says your precious Andalite fleet will get there before we take it over?
Just don't count your chickens before they hatch.
You spend too much time studying elements of Earth nature, Siar sighed.
Yeah, well them humans do tend to have a bunch of interesting stuff.I mean I talk like humans do. You don't know many Andalites who would say 'them humans' or anything like that.
I know. I can read your memories. Do you keep forgetting that?
Yep.
Well. Siar paused, looking for the right thing to say next. .shut up host. He decided. I am the one in charge now. You are nothing more than a mere shadow of yourself trapped within your own mind. I have crushed you. Stop trying to make me treat you like you are equal to me, for you are not!
Oh that's just settling. I grumbled. Now your being a boring, ugly, serious Yeerk.
Boring? Ugly? Serious? He asked. I could sense he was getting angry. I mean, I hadn't even done anything to him. Is that what you think of me?
You bet.
You have a lot to learn. He decided not to listen to anything else I wanted to say. Or maybe he was listening, but he didn't reply.
I don't know. I guess I never will know.
By Legend ( info@injenn.net )
Animorphs ( Scholastic
Kasarashi-Illugiah-Dichoa and Siar 984 ( Legend
Author's Note: I'm not going to finish this story, but if you want to know what was supposed to happen, e-mail me. I basically have it all written out from an instant message conversation a long time ago. So, yeah.
Call me Kasarashi-Illugiah-Dichoa. Or, if that is too hard on your human tongue, call me Kasa. As you can see, it is extracted from the first word in my three-part name, Kasarashi. Basically all I had to do was remove the 'rashi' part off the end.
If you have not figured it out by now, I am an Andalite. I am not human. I am from a species of intergalactic aliens that are told to resemble a blue deer genetically cloned with a human and a scorpion. Now I am not that sure if that is true.
But you're the human. You tell me.
I am not like other Andalites.
It may cross your mind that I am trying to say that I am all- powerful. Sadly for me, that's not true. I'm just another Andalite of normal speed, power, and endurance. I'm not special that way. I'm not special in any way, except one. My fellow Andalites call it the condition of being an idiot. I don't see it this way.
It wasn't my fault I was turned into the second Andalite controller.
I felt every muscle of my body had been frozen at that time. I was locked in a trace, swaying with the grass under me and swaying in the faint wind. In fact, I was directly under a particular new tree the Bio nerds (as I called them) had decided to try in the main part of the dome, to see how well it got along with the other parts of Andalite nature.
It was a rather weird tree. It seemed to have a trunk that spread into branches, but instead of leaves popping off of the branches, there were vines that resembled the Earth snake. They slopped down almost on an angle, a bright, vibrant green in the beginning that faded away into white when the tips reached the middle of the trunk. The tips of the vines were considerably above my stalk eyes, so the tree in itself was rather large.
It was a nice tree.
But I couldn't move. I felt like the air was closing in on me, and the gravity controller was out of wack. But I had felt like this before, and expected the black out. As soon as I had thought, my main eyes blacked into darkness, and I could only see out of my stalk eyes.
Slowly they came back to full color.
It was a strange thing. It didn't really bother me, though. I stretched out my tail and my arms above my head, my stalk eyes swerving out of the way like they had a mind of their own.
Perhaps they did.
Other Andalites said I think too much. Maybe I do. I never seem to care anymore. Life was peaceful. Perfect.
All fighters report to the bridge. The voice could be heard, broadcasted all through the Celestial Tree (that was our Dome ship's name, Celestial Tree). But not really heard, as it was only in my head. Typical of course, since Andalites like myself can only make sounds by contacting the surrounding minds. Or, if we wanted, we could direct our thought speak to one individual. I guess it mattered on the urgency or privacy of the message.
I was a warrior.
I wasn't an aristh. No, I could fight. But I wasn't a Price yet. I didn't believe that I ever would become one. True, I was helpful on the battlefield. But plans and strategies weren't my major gift. I was a follower, not a leader. I would never be a leader.
Oh well.
I broke into a run, hoping to get all the way across the main Dome ship before a humiliating time to approach the Princes, War-Princes, and the Captain himself. I raced by Derrishoul trees that appeared to be just a blur. As I saw the metal shaft approach, I killed my speed and came into a steady trot. My legs hurt. I had pushed my muscles too far, in too little time. I tend to do that, make careless mistakes.
Again, oh well.
Within a couple of moments I was in the presence of my fellow Warriors, the Princes, the War-Princes, and .of course.the Captain. But strangely, the Captain wasn't present. Instead, a War-Prince stepped out of the crowd of trained Andalite fighters and began to speak. I squinted my stalk eyes and tried to make out whom exactly this war-prince was. I think I knew him, but his name wasn't coming. Just like the expression that humans use. It was on the end of my tongue, except I didn't have a tongue.
Guess what. Oh well.
.Therefore since the Yeerks are planning to attack this Dome ship during---hours---fighters--
I wasn't really listening. Not that much of a difference for me.
For one thing, I don't believe that Yeerks exist.
You may think I'm crazy. I'm not, I'll tell you this right now. But even if you choose to show me a Yeerk, I won't believe they exist. Somehow I'll find a way to get an excuse. I guess I can't accept Yeerks yet. Not just yet.
.Therefore all warriors and their princes shall report to a fighter and engage battle on their circulating Mothership.
Now that I liked. I liked to fight. I liked to be able to see just how much I could take, and how much the enemy could take. It was all morbid fascination. But someone in this galaxy had to feel it. I guess that someone was me.
My Prince was Langer-Endorroth-Rasagal.
The fighters couldn't hold many Andalites. Five or six, maybe. At the maximum. And even then it would be sort of a tight fit. The fighters weren't that big, but there was a stream in them, and a couple patches of grass. There was no room to run, but no one was to run when they were supposed to be doing war business.
I trotted over towards my Prince. Three other Warriors that I didn't know the names of were trotting over, none of them looking that thrilled. I was thrilled. But I was trained not to show it. An Andalite wasn't supposed to like his duties. Hey, if work wasn't hard, why would you get paid for it?
All right. The main tactic to accomplish here would be to infiltrate the Yeerk Mothership and shed as much chaos as we can without getting ourselves killed. Our allies will be there to back us up.
See what I mean? A simple tactic like that, and it would never be something to cross my mind. I was a follower, oh yeah. And let me tell you- I was good at my job.
It was all the entity that I was.
The Prince turned and began to head towards the boarders for the fighter ships. The other warriors, without a single glance towards me or each other, were seemingly already in a single file (it was funny to see the Prince lead a file of warriors) and began to trot along behind their Prince.
So I did what I did best.
I followed.
The ship ride wasn't very long. I ducked my stalk eyes when I entered the pod. As I was the last one in, I ended up banging my stalk eyes on the bar that supports the entrance to the pod.
I took my typical position.. as in I didn't really do anything but stand around while the Prince piloted the fighter. I saw the hatch close where I had stepped into the fighter. It sealed shut as an airtight lock.
As the ship took a sharp lurch, I had to concentrate really hard to not fall forward. I swiveled a stalk eye at the other warriors. They seemed to be having the same problem, accept on all the way on the right by the waterfall, he seemed like he had perfect balance.
Maybe he did.
It didn't take long until the other fighters swarmed the Mothership. It was very easy to get aboard the Mothership undetected. The enemy was concentrating on the flood of attack forces. Now our little joy group, we're here to smoke some alien.
My Prince led my fellow warriors and myself down the long, dark hallways. Our tails were cocked and ready just slightly above our heads. The thought of battle kept me high on adrenaline. I swear that if there was light in this long sector of dungeon, then one could see me almost shaking with anticipation.
I wanted blood.
And I wanted blood now.
There was a small crack of light in the form of what seemed to be a door. My prince halted us. I froze. This could be it!
My prince singled out five doors. Perfect for the five of us!
Each one of these doors will contain a small Yeerk pool. Your instructions are to destroy all of the Yeerks within the pool. He said it simple.
It was almost funny that way, how your superiors just had instant knowledge. I had studied Motherships as well. But I didn't know that there would be Yeerk pools in there.
I suppose it's a leader thing.
I entered the room that my Prince told me to vaporize the enemy in. As I said before, I refuse to acknowledge that Yeerks exist.
But anyways-I trotted over to the edge of the small pool thick with sludge and creatures moving beneath its surface. I wasn't disgusted. I mean, these.enemies..they weren't much more than fat bags of flesh.
I stepped closer, and I could feel my hooves along the slippery plaster that was long the edges of the pool. I was interested. So this is what .the enemy.looks when they are in their natural state. So this is what everyone is afraid of.
They don't look that powerful.
By a simple act of misjudging. I leaned over to get a closer look.
That's when I felt my front hooves start to slip. I swerved around, but at that exact time, by some strange fate, some of the demonic sludge had found its way under one of my back hooves. With my two front hooves spinning out of control, I tried to rear back on my back hooves to temporarily gain my balance.
I slipped forward.
I fell, with basically all of my body in mid air above the pool. I felt myself falling slowly towards the grayish puke green mixture of sludge, perhaps in slow motion it seemed. Panic gripped my hearts. I could hear the sound of my blood pumping loudly in my ears as I realized what could result from my simple mistake.
As I plummeted down towards the pool, I could have sworn I heard the little demons below me laughing. They were laughing. At me.
Stupid Andalite, I could hear them say in my mind, even though they were deaf and blind, not even knowing I was falling towards them. You'll be ours now. Come with us. Just like the others did before you.
AAAAH!
The sludge water seemed to almost want to reject me. However, my momentum kept me going forward. Thick slime and Yeerks (yes now from touching them I believe they are real) were squished up against me. And all I could think about is how my fur would smell if I got out.
CLUNK!
I was given the gift of hearing my own head smash into the bottom of the pool, as it was very shallow. My eyes were bad in the slime, but I could vaguely see the shapes moving around me. I was too weak to pull myself out.
So this is how it's like to die.
That was the last thought that crossed my mind, as I was rendered unconscious.
Somewhere in and in some way out of a dream, I felt several arms grab me. I tried to open my eyes, but I could feel they were bleeding.
I didn't know eyes could bleed.I thought to myself.
They can.
I was surprised. A voice had responded to what I was saying.in my head!
I know what you're thinking. The voice in my head said. And you're insane. You know that? Insane! You fall into a Yeerk pool. What would your prince say?
I wasn't sure what my Prince would say.
I opened my eyes. At least a Yeerk didn't infest me, or I would never have been able to open my eyes. But it was strange, having some voice talk to me within my own head. I hadn't thought-spoke. This sort of thinking was just so different from thought speak.
Subconscious maybe?
Then it occurred to me that I was looking into the dead eyes of a Hork Bajir.
AH! I screamed. I snapped my face back, away from the dead, staring eyes of the Hork Bajir, and I felt a terrible feeling of being watched. I swung my stalk eyes around. There were Hork bajir carcasses everywhere. I looked towards the door. Ripped.but..
There was what looked like a blue flesh ball that was matted with blood. I galloped over to the flesh ball. As soon as I neared it, I knew the truth.
This was one of the warriors that had come with me.
It all made sense to me now. When I had screamed before I fell into the Yeerk pool, I bet it alerted the Andalite Warrior just next-door to me. My scream had also alerted the Hork Bajir who I was looking at, dead now of course, and his fellows who were strewn across the floor in more pieces then I wanted to count.
I surged outside. There were Hork Bajir carcasses there, too. Fallen Dracon beam weapons. But to my dismay, I also saw Andalite carcasses. It seemed that the two remaining warriors and my Prince had heard the commotion between my Warrior ally and the Hork Bajir. They were hopelessly outnumbered by the Hork Bajir, with Dracon weapon beams and everything.
It seemed whatever remaining Hork Bajir were sent to aid in helping with the other numerous attacks our dome ship was launching on them. They must have figured I was dead, and had lifted me out of the sludge to look, then bolted off when they figured I was, indeed, dead.
A wave of nausea suddenly wracked through me like a tremor. I was suddenly feeling so tired. I felt so sleepy, like I had an extreme loss of sleep and I had no energy left.
Then.
I lost it. All control. I couldn't move anything. I couldn't focus my eyes, I couldn't move my stalks, I couldn't do anything. I was frozen. Frozen in time.
And this time, it wasn't because my eyes were going to black out.
.What.. I heard a voice in my head. I wanted so badly to turn around and see who was talking to me. There had to be something.someone. .Somewhere.
.An Andalite? How is this possible?.
I froze (well, I was already frozen, but you know what I mean). It suddenly hit me like a thousand Dracon beams all fired at once.
There was a Yeerk in my head. It was talking to me.
I was a Controller!
.This is incredible. the voice in my head again. I suddenly felt bitter anger, for the Yeerk that had infested me. Me! I was invincible! I was unconquerable! I was-
.You know that's enough bragging. the Yeerk in my head said. After all I did just infest you.so.you aren't that invincible or as you think.
.how do you know what I'm thinking? I said in my head, directing the words toward the slug filth that had infested me.
.er.don't really ask me how its done.its sort of an evolved thing.and.um. The Yeerk paused. I wanted so badly to blink. This was a weird Yeerk.
Fine. You may as well tell me what your name is, Yeerk. Unless you wish to have me address you as 'Yeerk' forever. I sneered.
.fine.Kasarashi-Illugiah-Dichoa. My name is Siar 984, of the Tiamat Omega pool. Sure, my pool isn't the highest pool ever, but it sure has a good name! The Yeerk that called itself Siar 984 sneered back.
Ok whatever you say Siar nine-eight whatever. I said sarcastically. Stupid Yeerks. Always have to have names that are so darn hard to say, and if their easy to say, their hard to remember.
Speak for yourself, Kasarashi-Illugiah-Dichoa.
I paused. This Yeerk was good. Too good.
Yes, I'm good.
What? The Yeerk was reading my thoughts?
Yes, I'm reading your thoughts.
I wanted to cringe. You know, stop it. Don't read my thoughts. It's not respecting privacy. I heard the Yeerk laugh in my head.
Who cares about privacy? You're my host. I can do whatever I wish with you. Almost to prove his point, Siar 984 strutted forward, and knocked my body right into a wall.
Oh that was just ingenious. So ingenious. You know, if I knew I was going to be infested, I would have at least wished for a smart Yeerk. I said flatly.
Shut up. That's all I heard from Siar 984. I waited for him to say more. He didn't.
Is that all you've got? A measly shut up? You've got to have something more. Unless you're a Yeerk who is really, really, really stupid. Which is possible.
He didn't reply for a moment. Finally, he said:
Look, you're my first host ok? I've been in nothing but my own first shape. I'm a new Yeerk, alright?! Are you happy now?! I'm NOT experienced!
I was shocked. I, me, the Andalite, the second Andalite to ever be captured and infested, was being held by a Yeerk aristh?
..um.well not really aristh because that's an Andalite term but rookie would probably fit it.
So. I said, summarizing the facts. While all the Vissers are up there in human or Hork Bajir or whatever you guys have up your sleeves, you, the lowly little Time hat Omega whatever pool--
Tiamat Omega.
-- er, Tiamat Omega pool is the one playing around in an Andalite body? Now this is just funny. I mean, you're not even evil. You're the fat- free of evil. The semi-evil. I mean, geez, how unlucky can I get? At least I could have gotten a--
Your harsh words aren't making me feel any better.
Look Yeerk, I don't care how you feel. For all you know.actually you do know, I hate you. Got that through your slimy little brain? I was angry. I was farther than angry. If I were able to control my body, I would be on a blind rage rampage.
Well since your brain is mine and you pretty much called your own brain slimy, I guess I agree with you.
I hate this guy. I could have at least gotten a boring Yeerk who sneered about Andalite filth. And who hated me but used me anyways. But NO! I had to get a sarcastic rookie Yeerk! God, I have bad luck.
.yeah you do have bad luck but sort of blame it on yourself because it was you who fell into the pool.
I would have jerked if I could in surprise. How did he know?
You're forgetting I have access to every one of your dreams, memories, thoughts!
Oh yeah.
I awoke the next day (or what I thought was the next day) to find myself face-to-face with the some NASTY looking controllers. I mean, it was one bad thing that they were as ugly as sin, but geez, they were old-
They're the Council of Thirteen. I heard the Yeerk in my head say to me.
Great. I grumbled in my own mind. I thought that getting taken over by a Yeerk was just a bad dream. Well if it is, I hope I wake up soon. Like maybe now.
I was still in front of the ugly as sin Council.
"You have done remarkably well for being only in the main fleet for two days," I heard some old guy's voice. Siar 984 used my head to look up at him. He seemed to be a human, one of those weird races from the water planet Earth that toppled around on two legs. I never understood how they did that, nor did I really care. He was dressed in a black robe that trailed down on the ground.
Then I noticed it wasn't really a person, but a visualization. A hologram. These dudes weren't even here! These were .basically.pictures of them.
Yes, within two days Siar 984 of the Tiamat Omega pool has captured alive an Andalite and enslaved him. Very impressive. Within weeks! Who knows what we can expect from this brilliant Yeerk? Within months? Perhaps all the Andalites on their own homeworld!
I wanted to say 'And that's the day that Taxxons refuse a meal,' but I still couldn't speak. I noticed that Siar 984 was involuntarily showing me his happiness in this scenario. It was emitting from him in strong waves. But I could also sense he was nervous.
I also noticed that Siar 984 decided to keep quiet about the fact I had fell into the Yeerk pool. I laughed in my head.
Awww Siar look they love you, but you didn't really accomplish this because of you, did you? I mocked him.
.Don't distract me. Siar 984 said simply. He turned his attention back to the Council members who had spoken to him.
I am honored by your compliments, Council. To acknowledge his point, he did a low knee bow. I groaned in my head. He was such a suck-up to these guys.
Gee, you sure know how to act in front of the important guys.
I said don't distract me! He shot back mentally.
"It is indeed an amazing act. And Yeerks with amazing potential such as yourself must be rewarded and allowed to exploit their fullest capabilities."
I could tell just by the way Siar 984 was having my body breath that this was the moment he'd been waiting for. I wanted so badly just to start laughing hysterically. This was a hoot!
I would be extremely honored by any action you take. Siar 984 said, bowing his.my.head.
The guy who was old rose his hand.
"Make it so. You will no longer be referred to as simply Siar nine- eight-four of the Tiamat Omega pool. As acknowledgement of your achievements, you are now known in the eyes of the Council as Siar nine- eight-four of the Tiamat Omega pool, Visser twenty-seven."
I felt my body tense up because of Siar. I was curious to what exactly all that meant. I noticed that Siar's promotion had skipped the Under Vissers and the SubVissers. Geez. Visser 27. That was like telling an aristh that he was now a Prince.
I guess it was a big wow. Siar seemed to be shocked out of his mind. I bet he expected an Under Visser promotion. Maybe SubVisser. But straight to Visser?
.I sensed something wrong here.
.Th.th-thank you Council, Siar said, his voice shaking even though it was in thought speak. Now this was amusing. I.I'm very .very. He looked for the word to say. .Honored by this decision you have made.
The council member who had made my pet Yeerk filth a Visser nodded his head, and I guess that was a signal to clear the area, because Siar turned tail in my body and galloped away.
Hey Siar, you certainly got a shock there, I thought you were going to fall over, I said mockingly. Oh and won't want to dissapoint the Council, now would you? I mean, since you're not brilliant at catching Andalites and stuff.
Maybe I can trick them all into falling into Yeerk pools, Siar grumbled.
Oh, yes, that will work now won't it? I mean every Andalite's gonna make the mistake of going too close to a Yeerk pool. Then what? You push them in? Look buddy, we Andalites aren't stupid. We Andalites--
Yea, yea, yea I've heard enough of it, Siar muttered. Arrogant Andalite. Yes, I know the deal. I mean even I can play an Arrogant Andalite.
Oh take that back you tyrant, I sneered. We Andalites are not--
Whatever, ok? Siar said. As a Visser I have control over an army as well as a Blade ship. I'll get to rule over worlds.
And that's the day humans fly, I said, remembering that human beings were not capable of flying unless inside one of their lower-advanced flying machines.
.Humans. That's it. Visser 3 has been having trouble conquering that little ball of trouble called Earth. So I think that's what I'll do.
Hey Siar, can I ask you a question?
I guess it doesn't matter, does it?
Are you a leader or a follower? I was curious for a while.
What do you mean? He asked skeptically, like he wasn't sure if I was luring him into a trap.
You know. Suddenly get brilliant ideas. Always knowing what to do under harsh conditions. Leader. Or good at fighting but not that good at forming plans. Follower. Which one are you? There was a very long pause from Siar 984, or Visser 27. Moments on moments passed. When I was sure he wouldn't answer, he finally replied.
I suppose kind of both. He said, after a long moment's thought.
Now that's weird. How can you be both a leader and a follower? Then it hit me. Good at all the stuff a Leader does. But not 100% of the time. Probably 50% of the time. The other 50% of the time was spent thinking like a follower!
How could I have been so blind?
You're right. And its very impressive how you Andalites can calculate so much in your heads in so little time. Siar said. I laughed.
Look Kisser 27--
Visser 27.
Visser 27, or Visor 27 I guess it doesn't matter, and hey, that would be so cool, a visor with a large 27 on it. I mean all these Visors .wait, Vissors-now I'm confusing myself-could all wear visors that have their numbers in large black print. I mean, its ingenious isn't it?
.Er.
Yes I thought so too I smiled in an inward way. For once in this whole experience of being taken over by a Yeerk, I didn't really mind. You know.Sire nine four eight--
Siar 984.
.ahem, Siar 984, you're actually a pretty cool Yeerk. Weird coming from an Andalite, huh? I mean I bet you think we Andalites are all 'kill the Yeerk, roast it over a fire' but not all of us are. I mean I didn't even believe in Yeerks--
Until you saw my pool. Yes, I can read your memories, remember?
You know Siar that's pretty rude how you keep interrupting me like that, I said. I'm not all that bothered except you do it a lot.
Well if I called you Karashi instead of Kasarashi you'd be pretty annoyed too, don't you think?
Not necessarily. And I said the truth. Karashi actually sounded better than Kasarashi. Except Karashi sounded feminine, which I did not want.
Or if I called you Kaffarashee-Igua-Deyoya the Andafoot you wouldn't be too fond of it either, I sense not?
He was right. I didn't really like the twist on my name, but it was cool. Now the Andafoot thing I didn't like.
See, you don't like it when your species is poked fun at. But imagine how much verbal nonsense Yeerks get.
I did. I mean from the threats that the controllers think was enough. Then there was all we Andalites thought. It really put some thought into my head.
I must say, for a Yeerk you sure are smarter than you seem, I said honestly. He was smarter. He was thought provoking. Something I'll never be.
Thanks, I appeciate your compliment. But I think I better start concentrating on Earth's invasion. See, it's not going well--
I know.
Ok now I understand what you mean when you say interrupting is very annoying. Siar narrowed my Andalite eyes. Except my stalk eyes. Even I didn't know if my stalk eyes were capable of being narrowed.
Ahah. So you learn. I said calmly. If you're going to do something about Earth's invasion.well.I'd hate to break it to you but I don't think we Andalites are going to let that happen.
They haven't stopped us now, Siar sneered. He seemed angry now, uncontrolled. Who says your precious Andalite fleet will get there before we take it over?
Just don't count your chickens before they hatch.
You spend too much time studying elements of Earth nature, Siar sighed.
Yeah, well them humans do tend to have a bunch of interesting stuff.I mean I talk like humans do. You don't know many Andalites who would say 'them humans' or anything like that.
I know. I can read your memories. Do you keep forgetting that?
Yep.
Well. Siar paused, looking for the right thing to say next. .shut up host. He decided. I am the one in charge now. You are nothing more than a mere shadow of yourself trapped within your own mind. I have crushed you. Stop trying to make me treat you like you are equal to me, for you are not!
Oh that's just settling. I grumbled. Now your being a boring, ugly, serious Yeerk.
Boring? Ugly? Serious? He asked. I could sense he was getting angry. I mean, I hadn't even done anything to him. Is that what you think of me?
You bet.
You have a lot to learn. He decided not to listen to anything else I wanted to say. Or maybe he was listening, but he didn't reply.
I don't know. I guess I never will know.