Help Me Tobias.
I can't.
I love you.
The polar bear killed Rachel with one blow.
My eyes snapped open. I was covered in cold sweat and breathing hard. A bad dream. All it was was a bad dream. I stared at the roof of the mud hut, trying to guess how early it was. Jake was asleep across from me. Must be early if our fearless leader is still asleep I thought.
I crawled from under the warmth of my blanket. I stood up, making no sound as to not wake Jake. I lifted up the flap of our doorway and walked out into the pale early morning light. The camp was still mostly asleep, except for the sentries. I walked over to a female Hork-Bajir I had "made friends" with. She had the intelligence of an 8 year old, quite extraordinary among Hork-Bajir, but she wasn't a seer.
"Hi Kita, any signs of Yeerks?" I asked.
"No. No signs of nothing." She responded. I have a weird tendency for making friends outside my species.
"Is Toby awake?"
"Yes. She went for walk to see if there is trouble."
"Thank you." I started to morph to the wolf. The best way to travel the woods is in wolf morph. You own the woods as a wolf.
Rough gray fur covered my whole body. My legs rearranged and my mouth pushed out into a snout. I loped into the woods, sniffing here and there for Toby's scent.
I found her in a tree, looking towards the horizon.
"Jake? Is that you?" she asked.
No, it's Megan. I started to demorph. "Any sign of anything?"
"No. But I feel-"
"Uneasy?" I cut her off.
"Yes. As if there is something wrong in the air."
"Me too. I had bad dream. I feel as if…it might happen."
Toby stared into the distance. Her gaze stopped at a spot on the mountains. A thick, green haze was billowing out from it.
"Megan, I do not know much about human mountains, but my instinct says that that is not natural. I've never seen something like that from around here."
"You're right." I said. "Want to go check it out?"
"Yes."
I morphed the wolf again. It would be the only way to keep up with Toby. She was soon swinging in the trees and I was running on the ground.
In about 20 minutes, we reached the side of the mountain. The green smoke was pouring out of a hole in the mountain. It was big enough for me to squeeze through. Not for an almost full grown Hork-Bajir female.
I'll be right back. If I scream or shout a warning, DO NOT barge in. Go get the others. This might me dangerous. I told Toby before crawling through the hole.
The green smoke smelled like bad fish. If I could, I would have gagged. But I continued on.
At the end of the tunnel, a huge opening, well lit, was before me. There were a few machines expelling the green smoke. I didn't see anyone so I cautiously hopped down to the ground. I hid behind a machine and sniffed the air. What I smelled caught me totally by surprise. And so did the shredder in my face.
The cavern was filled with Andalites.