Hey guys, this is my first attempt at an Animorphs fic. If anyone seems OOC or anything, well, feel free to be blunt.

Disclaimer: I own nothing and no-one except for Astrid/Aristha

Preface (Jake)

I was talking with my best friend Marco as I walked down the hallway at school.

"What are ya doing later? D'you think…" he began.

"Sorry, no can do, I'm gonna be at Cassie's. Aren't you coming?"

"I guess I am. I'm always ready to kick Yeerk butt," he muttered. Mistake. I saw his eyes widen as he looked around to see if anyone heard, but nobody seemed to pay us any attention. Just another pair of idiots on a Friday, during free period, discussing their plans for the weekend, maybe talking about some video game. Wait, nobody? One girl was watching us intensely. I recognized her. She was a transfer student from… Slovenia? No, Slovakia. Her name was… Darn it, I couldn't remember. But she looked away when she saw I'd noticed her and I thought, maybe she was checking me or Marco out, or something like that. If I'd only known how wrong I was.

The rest of the day, I didn't give her a second thought until she approached us after school.

"Hello, Jake, right? And Marco?" she asked. Her voice was quiet, but not shy. I noticed Marco turning pink when she got his name right.

"Yeah, hey. Uh, I can't remember your name…" I finished lamely, but she only smiled.

"Astrid. Could I talk to you two… you know, in private?" All traces of smiling were gone from her face now and her eyes were wide, as if she was trying to send us a message. It struck me then that she might be a Controller, but I decided that was silly. Still, I couldn't be too careful…

"My house?" Marco suggested. He had recently moved to a nicer apartment, but he must have forgotten that his dad would be home on a Friday afternoon.

"Better mine," I replied. Tom would be leaving for his meeting of the Sharing, and my parents would be working. She nodded and shouldered her bag.

We walked to my house, trying to look and act casual, not as if we barely knew each other. We reached it just as Tom was walking out the door.

"Hey, midget," he greeted me. "Who's your girlfriend?"

It sounded like just the thing he would say. Tom, the real Tom, not the Yeerk in his head.

I rolled my eyes and replied, "She's not my girlfriend, Tom. Tom, Astrid, Astrid, Tom."

He nodded and shook her hand. I saw a sudden shadow pass over her face, an expression of recognition and of utter hatred, but it was over before I had time to decide whether or not I had imagined it or not, and was replaced by a smile and a greeting. Tom then left for his meeting. The Sharing. Yeah, right, more like the Infestation.

Once inside, Marco and I tried to corner Astrid, to get her to tell us what she knew, but that was not necessary. She willingly began:
"I heard you talking about the Yeerks at school, so I know you know of them; Therefore, I will tell you my story. My name isn't really Astrid. You are two of the remaining Andalites on Earth, yes? I fight the Yeerks also, alone. Forgive me, but who else is with us? There can never be too many of warriors against the Yeerks."

She paused to let us reply, and Marco, rather uncharacteristically, was ready to tell her everything. I silenced him with a look, and replied.

"We won't tell you anything until I'm sure you're not a Yeerk. How am I to know that you will not betray us to the Visser?"

Her eyes glittered as she laughed, and I was shocked by her complete, total lack of fear.

"Very good. You do not trust me, as well you should not. I am, how is it you hu-Americans say it? Busted. But I must assure you that I am most certainly on your side. Now, I was a Yeerk once, Sub-Visser One-Two-Nine; I was saved by My Prince Elfangor-Si… Prince Elfangor of the Andalites. Go ahead and keep me for three days- I have no Yeerk in me to need Kandrona, or a family to miss me." She sounded so sure of her words, and she said the word "Yeerk" with almost Andalite malice, that I found it hard not to believe her. And yet, something about the way she paused at "Americans" and Elfangor's name (hadn't she said, 'my prince'?), and something about the very phrasing, the very cadence of her words told me that she wasn't… normal. I decided to question her a little further.

-"How long have you been fighting the Yeerks?"
-"Since I came to America," she replied without batting an eyelash.

-"How much do you know about the Yeerks?"
-"Almost everything there is to know."

-"What's your real name?" This from Marco.
-"I cannot say." Marco's face fell.

I decided to trust her. Her answers were considerably better than I'd have given if I'd been in her situation.

"Okay, the thing is, we're not Andalites. Me, Marco, Cassie, Rachel, and Tobias are humans. Except Tobias-he's trapped in morph."

"A nothlit," she interjected. I wondered how she'd known that.

"Yeah, that," I continued. "Tobias is a red-tailed hawk. We were given our power by a dying Andalite prince." I wouldn't tell her it was Elfangor. It just seemed that she would have been crushed. And I decided to keep Ax a secret, at least until anyone else though she should know. "So now, we fight the Yeerks as a team. The Animorphs."
She nodded, taking the information in. "Animorphs. Clever. Was the name your idea?"

"No, Marco's," I replied. She grinned at Marco, who looked like he might faint, and said, "I might have known."

Then, I there was a tap on the window, and I heard Tobias say, /Psst. Hey. Jake. Marco. What's keeping you guys? …And who's the chick? /

"Oh, yeah, Tobias, Astrid, Astrid, Tobias. Tobias, Astrid fights the Yeerks, solo-style. I was thinking, maybe she could join us for a meeting?" Marco rushed to answer.

/Depends. Jake? What do you say? /

"Yeah, I trust her," I said. What else could I say? I mean, it wouldn't seem fair to distrust her after she told us… not everything, but a lot. Then, Astrid decided to speak.

"Tobias? Are you the nothlit?" I swear, Tobias nearly fell out of the air.

/Uh, I, you, ah… yeah. Oh, we are definitely taking her to the meeting. /

I nodded. "C'mon, Astrid, you're coming to meet the rest of the Animorphs."


"So, wait," Rachel began. "You're telling me that you've been fighting the Yeerks alone. For a few years. And you're still alive." Astrid nodded. "That is so cool. How did you survive?"

Marco rolled his eyes. "Don't mind Rachel, she's always like this."
Cassie spoke up, thoughtfully. "Yeah, I'm pretty sure we can trust you. There's someone you should meet."

From behind some cages stepped Ax.
Astrid did the last thing anyone expected. She sank to her knees, gasping "My Prince."
Ax looked surprised, and a bit uncomfortable.

/I am afraid you misperceive. I am Aximili-Esgarrouth-Isthill. /

She stood and made an alien gesture, pressing both hands to the center of her chest and extending her left, palm up, to Ax, who mirrored the gesture, still looking confused.

I couldn't believe it, and yet it made some sense, in a twisted sort of way. This girl was an Andalite! But it explained the way her speech was a little distorted, and the way she had almost given herself away by saying "humans" instead of "Americans," and calling Elfangor "My Prince" and remembering his full name.

And she seemed to know Ax rather well, from her next statement.

"Aximili! I took you for your brother. Did you not recognize me?" She said, beginning to demorph. Demorph. Into an Andalite. She was morph capable, as well as an Andalite. Well, I guess that shouldn't have been a surprise.

/Aristha? / He asked, with disbelief and a sort of giddy happiness in his 'voice.'

/Yes, / she replied, in a calmer, carefully controlled voice (though you could tell she was so happy, she thought she might have been dreaming), with the Andalite smile. /It is me. / Her Andalite form looked a lot like Ax's, but her eye-stalks were thinner and more slender, her face was rounder, her main eyes were both bigger and more angular, and there was a feel of power around her. If Ax had seemed imposing at first, well, I could finally see why he said he was just a cadet, though she seemed only a little older than him.

By now, Rachel had recovered enough of her wits to ask what we were all thinking: "Astrid? Who the heck are you?"

/This is Aristha-Shpromina-Heill/ Ax explained, in an effort to be helpful.

"Wait a second," Marco interjected, "You're telling me that your middle name is 'Animorphs' spelled backward?"

/I told you it was clever, / she replied. /Well, Rachel asked who I am. Aximili was my… my almost-brother, back on the Andalite home planet. My adopted brother, you might say. Then, I was… hmm, recruited onto a spaceship, while he stayed behind. The ship was destroyed by the Yeerks, and all were killed but I. I, for my trouble, was 'rewarded' by having a high-ranking put in me. Years after, I met My Prince Elfangor, and… the Yeerk in me tried to kill him. I was not good a warrior yet, and I was thankful for that, for he overcame me easily. I trust that he has made it home safely? /

Nobody said anything. Ax reached over and touched her arm, an uncharacteristically human gesture.

/Aristha… My brother is no longer among the living. /

I almost felt her bubble pop, and saw her retreat into a shell of emotionless calm.

/Oh. I am sorry for your loss. Did he die a warrior's death? / I almost laughed. Ax had asked the same thing. Was this really the first place an Andalite's mind went? I saw it was my responsibility to answer.

"Elfangor was a hero. He was the one who gave us the morphing power. He died resisting the Yeerks until the very end."

She nodded, obviously not satisfied with herself. /I apologize for not trusting you. But now…/ she stopped, and I could see why she thought she should have trusted us. Because Ax was with us. Because Elfangor trusted us. Because we trusted her enough to tell her that we weren't human.

"Would you like to join us?" I asked suddenly.

/Pardon? /

"Would you like to be part of our team?"

/I would love to… Prince Jake. /

If I get at least one review, I will post the first chapter. Please review? *offers cookies to potential reviewers*

Again, I now get the feeling that some people may be OOC. Feel free to tell me... and don't worry about hurting my feelings ;)

EDIT: This is now a one-shot, unless I get someone who wants me to continue it. I have the next 3 cps written up, but I want to be sure you guys want me to continue it.

EDIT: Nope, not a one-shot anymore! Love all my reviewers!