Uh-Oh 2: Ax's Trouble
My name is Aximilli-Esgarouth-Istill, and this is a story of one of the toughest problems I've ever faced.
I remember when it first struck. She had invited me into her house because I was lonely. That night was wonderful. True I was in Prince Jake's form, but still... Yet nothing occured to me until a while later. It was after Mia joined our group. The day after she was an official member.
"So, we go to the mall and get Ax some new clothes, then hang out around the park for awhile so he can experience more human activities. Sounds fun to me," Mia said. Rachel shook her head.
"Mia, I don't see how you can do that." Mia made a strange look. I believe it was one representing confusion.
"Do what, Rachel?"
"You just walked through the maze between that side of the barn and this side while holding onto to some part of Marco the entire time. Truth is I'm surprised you can even touch him." Marco made a sound with his mouth. It is one known to humans as laughing.
"Very funny, Xena. Mia and I just happen to be very close. You're just jealous of how remarkably wonderful our relationship is."
"Whatever, Marco." Everyone laughed for a bit. I attempted, but I'm still not used to my human mouth. We were all in Cassie's barn, which is also a wildlife rehabilitation center. A place where they keep animals who are injured and in need of care. I was in my human morph, and we were planning what we would do today. It was a Saturday, so none of my human friends had school. Rachel was seated on some hay below Tobias. He was in the rafters of the barn. Mia and Marco were leaning against one side of the barn. I was standing near a small stack of cages. We hadn't seen Cassie and Jake yet. Cassie had told Rachel of her idea, and Rachel told us. Then Cassie and Jake made a rather interesting entrance.
"Jake, stop!" The first thing we heard. The following laughter was the last thing I heard before I was easily knocked down. When I looked up, I caught site of Cassie jumping into a pile of hay, then trying to climb around it.
"Come back here!" Jake jumped in after her, while Marco and Mia helped me up. Both Jake and Cassie were laughing, Cassie more than Jake.
"Jake, stop it now! Please!" It came to my attention that Jake was tickling her. Finally Rachel was able to stop them. For some reason, seeing them like that filled me with a terrible anger. I recomposed myself and returned my thoughts to the present discussion. Prince Jake stopped laughing and became semi -serious.
"So, Cassie told me her idea. Is it agreed upon?" Everyone nodded. "Good. Then Tobias, you morph and we'll get on our way." I hadn't imagined it to be that simple. Usually there is a very thought out conversation. However, this time we just did what was suggested.
After spending an hour in the mall, we went to the park they had mentioned. It was not quite as simple as I expected. There was a number of caged areas that the others called baseball fields. I almost understand the rules, but the gist behind the game made absolutely no sense. The were many different areas like this. Each with differences for the specifications of each sport. Finally we came to the most enjoyable place. It was a beautiful place. With trees, grass, and other beautiful works of nature. At one point, Cassie kneeled next to a large patch of flowers. She delicately plucked one from the ground and placed it in her shining hair. As she stood up, the sun coming from behind her made her seem to glow. Then Prince Jake came up next to her, ruining the beautiful moment. I wanted to lash out at him with my tail. Many times that happened. Finally, at the last moment before we went back to the barn, I'd decided I'd had enough.
We were all walking to the field where I lived. I had demorphed as soon as we reached the barn. Cassie took all my clothes, both new and old, and put them in safe keeping. We were now outside the forest line, and I made my decided move. I swung myself to face Prince Jake.
"Is something wrong, Ax?"
[Prince Jake, if the cause is just, an aristh has the right to challenge his prince.]
"I don't understand. What reason do you have to challenge me?"
[Prince Jake, I challenge you for the right of hand.]
"The right of hand? That sounds like some midevil term for girlfriend." As usual, Marco took my words lightly. The others laughed a bit, but it died down when my expression did not change. Jake seemed to be trying to block Cassie with himself.
"Is that it, Ax? You want Cassie?" I nodded sternly.
[And I challenge you to a battle. You would disgrace yourself by refusing.] They were all shocked, and Cassie couldn't seem to contimplate the idea.
"This is crazy," she said. "Ax, you are an Andalite. Besides, even if you did fight, it's an unfair one. Ax has a tailblade. Jake has fists. And in such a fight he wouldn't keep them long." She had a point. And it would be just as unfair if I morphed human, seeing as I had yet to master full human instincts.
[Well,]Tobias spoke up, [what if Jake morphed Ax?]
[That would be just as useless. He would not have sufficient time to make out Andalite instincts.] We stood for a second, trying to come up with some way to make this work. Finally, Jake started to morph. Seeing the feathers begin to grow, I started as well. Within a minute we were both seagulls. Marco was obviously having a hard time controlling his laughter. And I must admit, it was a rather amusing situation. Still, the challenge was set, the fight prepared, and so it began. There was a bit of confusion, too strange to describe. In the end, Jake won. We demorphed, and Jake hugged Cassie. I turned towards a tree. I was disgraced, and furious. I hung my head low, a plan in my head. Jake showed through with concern.
"Ax, are you OK? I know that you must feel bad, but-HUH!" A gasp for life. In the moment he so perfectly positioned himself between me and the tree, I lashed out with my tailblade, stopping right up against his throat.
[My love for your life, Prince Jake. I'd say that's a pretty good deal, wouldn't you?] Everyone stayed impossibly still. Rachel was the first to speak up.
"Ax, what is with you? How can you threaten his life? He won the battle fair and square, Ax, you can't do this." I remained silent. Cassie inched as close as feet allowed her, then fell to her knees.
"Yes, he can, Rachel. And he most obviously will." She started begging. "Please, Ax. Don't kill him. I'll be your girlfriend. You can wear me like a prize if you want, just don't hurt Jake." I looked down at her eyes with my stalk eyes. Dropping Jake from my death-hold, I walked to her and offered her my hand. She took, though reluctantly, and then proceded as I had hoped, climbing ever so cautiously onto my back. Smiling with my eyes, I set off at a triumphant pace. I made a circle for show around the yard, as if to tell the world "She is mine." Afterwards, I brought Cassie to her house, saw the others off, and went to get some rest.
That Monday began brightly. I was attending school, to be with Cassie. I went to the barn where I morphed and dressed, then met Cassie at the door of her house.
"Ready to go?" She seemed sad, but nodded and took my offered hand. We met Rachel on the way. When we got to school, we went to the office and had my schedule changed to match Cassie's. Then we went to first hour.
We walked to our desks in the class, me taking a seat behind Cassie. The teacher began his lessons shortly after taking attendance.What was peculiar was that, out of three absent, Jake was one of them. For the next three days, Jake was absent from school. The only time anyone heard from him those days was when Marco had called to check up on him. As soon as he said 'Hi' when Jake answered the phone, Jake hung up the phone in Marco's ear. Thursday, Jake finally showed up for class. A few minutes into the lesson, I noticed Cassie fold a piece of loose paper up and tuck it into her hand. Before Jake could reach it, I snapped it from her hand. I knew that notes being passed between a girl and a boy was often a way of flirting. My guess was confirmed when I read the note and found it to be an invitation for him to meet her later after school. She said I was being too protective. Smiling, I wrote on the bottom of the note that of course I was being protective. She was so beautiful that I couldn't risk losing her. She read it after I slipped it over her shoulder and blushed a little, smiling as I had when I wrote it. We saw a hand shoot up. The teacher told Jake he could speak.
"Sir, may I go to the bathroom? I'm feeling a little sick." He put a sharp emphasis on the word sick, practically spitting it at Cassie. She ducked low in her desk. I thought it was rude for him to do that to her. I told her so in a note that I passed her after the teacher turned back to the board. She wrote back saying we'd talk about it after class.
"You have to realize, Ax, that Jake is a little upset over giving me up to you. And I really doubt that me blushing at your little note helped him much." We hadn't gotten to talk after class, but at lunch time we were able to. I nodded in agreement to what she had said.
"True. But, since he walked in it seemed like something was wrong. Perhaps we should check up on him."
"Good idea. Look, there he is now. Let's join him." I followed her to where she had seen Jake. He was just sitting down to eat. He glared at us.
"Is it possible for me to at least eat in piece?" It was sharp, but fuzzy at the same time. Cassie noticed it, too.
"Jake, something is wrong. Other than the obvious, that is. Tell us, please." Jake picked up a piece of bread and pulled in half, putting a slice of meat in the middle.
"Nothing's wrong, OK? I just want to eat." And he ate. Then we knew something was wrong. I was always the worst eater. But as we watched Jake, it was like he had been starving for days. We saw Marco and Rachel come up to join us.
"So," Rachel whispered, "you've been demorphing and remorphing, right?" I nodded. "OK." She then noticed the way Jake was eating. "Uhh...Jake?"
"What?!" Rachel jumped in her seat from his snappy response.
"Geez! I was just wondering if you felt alright." He dropped his food.
"I'm fine, OK?! Why is that everyone thinks somethings wrong with me?!" He stood up and stormed out of the cafeteria. I looked at Marco who snorted as Jake passed him.
"Am I the only one who noticed that Jake smelled like smoke?" Rachel shook her head.
"No, I smelled it, too. But there was something different."
That afternoon we met in the barn to discuss Jake's situation. Jake, of course, did not attend.
"So, we need to find out a few things. 1-Why Jake is acting strangely, and 2-Why he smells like smoke." Rachel walked around the barn. Then Tobias walked in. He had been in the library for a short while. He was holding a book as he entered.
"Guys, I think I've figured out what's wrong with Jake."
"What?" We all slightly jumped towards him.
"The symptoms you told me about, the eating and mood swing, it sounded familiar. I went to a section of the library that was mostly educational. It was towards the back, which gave me a good place to go when I needed to demorph for a bit. While I was outside, though, I noticed something in an alley. It confirmed my fears and made my search shorter." Marco lowered his eyebrows.
"Don't you mean it confirmed your suspiscions?" Tobias shook his head.
"No, my fears. The symptoms are related to one main thing. Particularly a rather illegal thing." Cassie jumped.
"Illegal?! What-what is it?" Tobias seemed to groan.
"Mood swings and hunger are commonly seen in marajuana users. And, when I was outside, what was in the alley was Jake. And he was smoking a small roled up item, which he had pulled out of a bag with other similar items. All marajuana roles." We were all silent. Especially me. Then Cassie broke the silence as she broke out crying. Then we all turned our attention to the front of the barn when we heard the door open. In stepped Jake. After Cassie had started crying, I had pulled her close to comfort her. When Jake came in, I put myself in front of her as he had done the evening of the challenge. He saw Cassie crying and glared at me.
"What's wrong?" He wasn't asking, he was demanding. "What did you do to her, Ax?! Tell me!!" He lunged, threatening to attack me. Marco and Tobias blocked him. "Let me go!! I want to know what he did to make her cry!!" Tobias almost slammed Jake into the barn wall.
"Jake, Ax didn't do anything to make Cassie cry! She's crying because of YOU! Understand? Cassie is crying because of what you did and what you are doing!" As Tobias spoke, Jake slowly stopped fighting. He looked Tobias in the eye, then looked up at Cassie. His frightened eyes met mine, then went back to Cassie. He shook his head.
"I don't know what you're talking about. I haven't seen her since lunch. Ax has been with her all day. There's no way I could have made her cry like this. Never." His voice cracked constantly as he spoke. Tobias let go of him and picked up the library book he had dropped.
"It says here that people, especially teenagers, that use marijuana heavily when they start tend to show the symptoms more evidantly. The main mood swing consists of anger, and acts of violence such as compulsive threats are severely induced." Jake's eyes enlarged a great deal. This told me he was surprised at what Tobias was saying. That was what truly gave him away. If we had been wrong, then Jake would have asked what Tobias was talking about. But Jake said nothing, and took off at amazing speed towards the woods. We all chased after him, catching up only momentarily and then losing him in the forest. We searched for a long time, I having demorphed to make my searching abilities more useful. After a few hours, we returned to the barn. We were all out of breath and worried senseless. Jake was our supposed leader. Losing him would make things much more difficult. Cassie slid slowly down the wall she was leaning on until she was sitting. I was standing, remorphed in case her parents appeared, and putting away my clothes. I walked over to Cassie and made a rather fumbled excuse to sit down in front of her. After I got comfortable(or as much so as a two-legged creature could get), I reached out and grabbed her hand, hoping to calm her. She looked up at me. I felt like I had been stabbed.
"Cassie, I...I'm sorry...about all of this. I wish there was some way I could help you, but....I'm sorry. I love you, Cassie, and I'll do anything to make you happy. I'll stay up all night and search the woods for Jake. I'll bring him back and we will help him, I swear." I looked at her with as much of my heart I could put into my eyes. She seemed to notice, but I couldn't really tell. She smiled, showing she appreciated my offer. And I kept my word. All night I combed the woods for Jake. I barely got any sleep by the time morning came. I set off for the barn and for school. And to tell Cassie what it was I saw this morning at the edge of the forest.
"Footprints," repeated Mia. Again. She didn't quite get what I was referring to when I brought it up. I shook my head in the odd human manor. Mia wasn't at school yesterday, but today she was here and with us in the lunch room. Taking a deep breath, I sighed.
"No, Mia, not just footprints. Pr..I mean Jake's footprints."
"So? We had chased him into the forest, Ax. That's why you were searching, remember?" I took the ketchup bottle from Marco's hand.
"Marco, these were leading OUT of the forest." Rachel thoughtfully ate a fry.
"So, you're saying that Jake slipped out when no one was looking? That he's in the city and not the forest?" I nodded. Cassie leaned forward, pushing her plate away with her elbows.
"But why? I mean, it doesn't make sense. Why come out in the open when there are people on your trail?" We remained silent as we all finished eating, trying to find a reasonable answer to Cassie's question. After we ate, we went outside to a secluded grove of trees. There, our answer came swooping down. Tobias landed carefully on Rachel's shoulder.
[I gather Ax told you about the footprints leading from the forest.] All but myself nodded. [Then I suppose I should tell you why he left.] Cassie looked at him strangely.
"You figured it out?" Tobias seemed to almost chuckle.
[It's actually simple. He ran low on weed. I noticed that first time in the alley that there were only a few rolls in the bag. He must have ran out and returned to the city to buy more.] It was simple enough. There was only one problem.
"Where is he getting this 'marijuana' from?" I wasn't quite yet sure what this substance was, but the others had informed me that it was a bad substance and was extremely dangerous. The silence of earlier had returned just as the bell rang for us to return to class. The rest of the day seemed rather dim in light of the recent incidents. After school, we had gathered at the mall. I was sitting, holding Cassie's hand in my lap and stroking it gently with my thumb in hopes of keeping her calm. Rachel was antsy from having to sit still too long. Tobias had a hand on her shoulder to keep her from jumping up and "tearing the mall to bits and pieces" as he put it. Mia looked worried.
"Guys, I know this whole situation is mainly over Jake, but I'm starting to worry some about Marco. He's running just a tad bit late, y'know." She had a valid point, but we were all so concerned with our own thoughts that none of us barely heard her. She sighed with relief when Marco showed, then became a bit more rigid. "Marco, what's wrong?" We were all staring at his ghost white face. He slowly sat down. His fists had stayed balled up the whole time. Finally, he looked down at them. Carefully, he opened his right hand, revealing a crumbled sheet of paper. Taking it with his left hand, he passed it to me. My face soon drained to similar color as his. Cassie asked me what the note said.
"'Ax,'" I read the note slowly, "'meet me tonight in the construction site. I have a surprise for you that you aren't likely to soon forget. If you live long enough to remember it, that is. Jake'" We all sat, dumb-founded. Standing, pretending to be brave, I swallowed hard at the knot in my throat. "If he wants to meet, then so we shall. I say we all return to our seperate 'homes' and meet later at the construction site." Everyone nodded in agreement, and, gently taking Cassie's hand, I left the mall and returned to the barn using the quickest and easiest route I knew existed. Part of me was anxious for tonight. It was like I couldn't wait for the chance to show Jake up, to prove that he deserved to be no more than the scum he had turned into. But part of me was crying. Because deep down I knew this was my fault. And because of ragged-edge thinking, I had torn my Cassie's world apart. And it hadn't even been a week.
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It was just turning dark when we came to the construction site. We had taken the forest route so I could travel most of the way in my original form. This would give me more time in my human morph when we got to the site. Tobias stayed a hawk and landed on the crumbled edge of some wall close to where we were standing. I held Cassie's hand tightly, observing my surroundings as best I could. Marco seemed to shiver from the dark, and also a chill that seemed to eminate from some unknown origin. Oh, how I wished I still had my stalk eyes. I felt foolish and vulnerable without them to tell me what was happening around me. Suddenly, we all turned to look at the vecinity of which a low rustling had come from. We turned to face another area when we heard the noise again. We all looked around almost frantically as we tried to figure out what the noise was. Then, slowly, a group of people walked out of the shadows, a circle formed around us. One particularly sinister looking person stepped up in front of me. He smiled a sardonic smile.
"So you came? Heh. I was afraid you might not show. And look...you even brought Cassie along. How thoughtful. How are ya, Cass?" He waved at her like an adult waving to a child. She stepped back slightly, and I slid my foot to put myself in front of her. Jake snorted.
"What do you want, Jake? You asked me here. What now?" He smiled again.
"Well, Ax, I thought you might like to meet my new friends. I met them last Saturday night, I belive. You remember what happened last Saturday, don't you?" Cassie winced and I tried even harder to steady myself in preparation for this some-what maniac.
"That's when I challenged you for Cassie. You won the challenge-"
"And you got Cassie. Now, does that seem fair?" He raised his arms in question to his new 'friends'. They all grinned, shaking their heads. A few gave off huffing laughs. Jake looked back at me with malice in his eyes. "Well, after that I went home for a short while. I tried to read and watch TV. But I couldn't get it out of my head. Finally, I told my parents that I was going for a walk and did just that. After wandering around aimlessly for a while, I found myself here, at the construction site. I also found out that I wasn't alone. I had sat down to think in the middle of this mess when Dick here came sat beside me. I was startled at first, but he seemed nice enough. We started talking and became pretty good friends. Then he offered me a roll of marijuana. I was afraid to try it, but then I realized that I didn't really have much left to lose. Besides, I was just using it to relax. And I started to like it. The next day I returned here and Dick introduced me to the rest of these guys, and girls, respectively. Yesterday, after you guys stopped chasing me, I left the woods and came back. The guys saw me out of breath, and I told them how you guys figured out about me using drugs. Then I told them about how much pain I had seen in Cassie's eyes, and how I would do anything to take away that pain. So, my friends helped me set this up. Wasn't that nice of them? And, just as we had hoped, Ax, you came! You so naively and stupidly came!" I turned swiftly when I heard movement from my right. When I looked, though, my eyes met with a fist. I fell to the ground, slightly dazed. I shook my head and looked back up Jake.
"Jake, please. Cassie and the others told me about this 'drug' you are using. Jake, it's very dangerous. You could get killed! Please, Jake, I never wanted to loose your friendship, and I still refuse to do so. Let us help you." Jake rithed, spitting all words that came from his mouth.
"Help me?! Help me what?! Help me try to accept the fact that I lost the most important person to me?! Help me be a better guy and get over all this?! Well, guess what, Ax? That's not gonna happen!" I had been attempting to get up the whole time, when suddenly, all the air escaped my lungs. I realized that Jake had kicked me in the side as he did so again. I gripped at my sides and rolled. I caught site of Cassie, who was standing back near Marco, Mia, and Rachel. She looked frantic and scared. I tried once again to reason with Jake.
"Jake, listen. This drug usage could become a bad problem. Look at what it's already done to you! You're near insane as it is!" Oddly enough, he laughed. It was a loud, cruel laugh that seemed to bellow.
"Insane? Ha! You don't know the half of it. Tell me something, though. Why, when you have Cassie, do you still persist in being anywhere near me? Is it that important to rub it in? Tell me! Why do you 'care' so much?" I turned my head so I could get a good look at Cassie, then turned back to Jake.
"Because Cassie hasn't been happy since this all started. She's worried sick about you, Jake, just as we all are. The difference is that she feels it a great deal deeper. You may think that the only person you're taking down is your-self, Jake, but you're wrong. The farther down you go, the father you take Cassie with you." Then, just as quickly as he had exploded, his face went blank. He looked from me to Cassie, then back to me. He blinked in confusion. Suddenly, one of 'friends' walked up beside him.
"Jake, what are you waiting for, man? Let's waste this dude! He stole your girl, man!" Jake shook his head.
"No, Dick. I..I need to think." Dick reached in his pocket and pulled out a small role, but Jake, still staring between Cassie and I, pushed it away. "No, man, I mean really think." Dick looked at Cassie and I and then back at Jake.
"Man, are you insane? You're really gonna let this wierdo pull some wacked-out pscyho stuff on you?" Suddenly, Jake glared at the young man next to him.
"This 'wierdo' is my friend. And he hasn't pulled anything on me. In fact, it seems to me now that the only one pulling anything around here is you, and I'm tired of it, man. Keep your stuff and get out of my face, Dick." Dick got this extremely confused look and turned to the others.
"C'mon, y'all, let's blow this joint. Jake is just as wacked as his friends. If not, more so." With that, they all turned and walked off. Jake turned to me and leaned over. He offered his hand and I took the offer, knowing that the Jake we had seen only a short bit ago was now gone. When I was standing and moving again(as barely as that might be), I walked over to Cassie. Wiping a strand of hair from her face, I looked into her eyes. I could see what she wanted, and I knew what it was that would make her happy. I turned to Jake and stepped aside, pulling Cassie in front of me.
"I believe this is your girlfriend." Jake looked at me as I handed him Cassie's hand. "Jake, I realized that I made a terrible mistake. All this time I was telling myself that I was doing this to make Cassie happy. Now I know I was just making her miserable. I do want her to be happy, Jake, and I know how to make her happy. By letting you two be together." Jake smiled then looked at Cassie. He saw how worn and ragged her eyes looked. His smile faded.
"Oh, Cassie. I'm sorry. I'm so, so sorry." And he hugged her tightly, closing his eyes to hold back the tears. Marco, Mia, Rachel, Tobias, and I watched quietly as what was probably Cassie's worst nightmare came to an end. And as Jake's horrible mistake was resolved. It was only when I realized that I had about 10 minutes left on my morph that the moment ended. We all went to Cassie's barn, then to our seperate homes. I don't know when I got to sleep that night. I'm not entirely sure that I did at all. But the truth is, I really don't care. As I headed towards my field, I turned back to wave one last goodnight at Cassie's bedroom window. And in my own whispered thought speak, I said my last, [I love you.]
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Epilogue
It was quite peacful the next few days. I stopped going to school, and Jake's parents took whatever excuse he gave them for the whole ordeal. I'm not sure why, but for some reason none of us had it in us to turn him in for his drug use. However, we all did the best we could to help him get over it. For a while he seemed shaky and withdrawn, but after a couple of weeks, it was like he had never changed. We were meeting in the barn to discuss any of the possible latest Yeerk threats. Mia and Marco had shown up with Marco looking slightly dazed. It came to my attention that he had on his lips the 'lip stick' that Mia commonly wore and that it was messy. I asked Rachel about it and she told me I didn't want to know. I found it to be a strange repsonse, but wasn't going to risk utter confusion over minor confusion. Jake and Cassie were the last to arrive. They came walking in, Cassie pulling Jake behind her. As I looked at them, I saw a twinkle in Cassie's eyes. Slowly, though I wasn't sure why, I smiled.
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The End
My name is Aximilli-Esgarouth-Istill, and this is a story of one of the toughest problems I've ever faced.
I remember when it first struck. She had invited me into her house because I was lonely. That night was wonderful. True I was in Prince Jake's form, but still... Yet nothing occured to me until a while later. It was after Mia joined our group. The day after she was an official member.
"So, we go to the mall and get Ax some new clothes, then hang out around the park for awhile so he can experience more human activities. Sounds fun to me," Mia said. Rachel shook her head.
"Mia, I don't see how you can do that." Mia made a strange look. I believe it was one representing confusion.
"Do what, Rachel?"
"You just walked through the maze between that side of the barn and this side while holding onto to some part of Marco the entire time. Truth is I'm surprised you can even touch him." Marco made a sound with his mouth. It is one known to humans as laughing.
"Very funny, Xena. Mia and I just happen to be very close. You're just jealous of how remarkably wonderful our relationship is."
"Whatever, Marco." Everyone laughed for a bit. I attempted, but I'm still not used to my human mouth. We were all in Cassie's barn, which is also a wildlife rehabilitation center. A place where they keep animals who are injured and in need of care. I was in my human morph, and we were planning what we would do today. It was a Saturday, so none of my human friends had school. Rachel was seated on some hay below Tobias. He was in the rafters of the barn. Mia and Marco were leaning against one side of the barn. I was standing near a small stack of cages. We hadn't seen Cassie and Jake yet. Cassie had told Rachel of her idea, and Rachel told us. Then Cassie and Jake made a rather interesting entrance.
"Jake, stop!" The first thing we heard. The following laughter was the last thing I heard before I was easily knocked down. When I looked up, I caught site of Cassie jumping into a pile of hay, then trying to climb around it.
"Come back here!" Jake jumped in after her, while Marco and Mia helped me up. Both Jake and Cassie were laughing, Cassie more than Jake.
"Jake, stop it now! Please!" It came to my attention that Jake was tickling her. Finally Rachel was able to stop them. For some reason, seeing them like that filled me with a terrible anger. I recomposed myself and returned my thoughts to the present discussion. Prince Jake stopped laughing and became semi -serious.
"So, Cassie told me her idea. Is it agreed upon?" Everyone nodded. "Good. Then Tobias, you morph and we'll get on our way." I hadn't imagined it to be that simple. Usually there is a very thought out conversation. However, this time we just did what was suggested.
After spending an hour in the mall, we went to the park they had mentioned. It was not quite as simple as I expected. There was a number of caged areas that the others called baseball fields. I almost understand the rules, but the gist behind the game made absolutely no sense. The were many different areas like this. Each with differences for the specifications of each sport. Finally we came to the most enjoyable place. It was a beautiful place. With trees, grass, and other beautiful works of nature. At one point, Cassie kneeled next to a large patch of flowers. She delicately plucked one from the ground and placed it in her shining hair. As she stood up, the sun coming from behind her made her seem to glow. Then Prince Jake came up next to her, ruining the beautiful moment. I wanted to lash out at him with my tail. Many times that happened. Finally, at the last moment before we went back to the barn, I'd decided I'd had enough.
We were all walking to the field where I lived. I had demorphed as soon as we reached the barn. Cassie took all my clothes, both new and old, and put them in safe keeping. We were now outside the forest line, and I made my decided move. I swung myself to face Prince Jake.
"Is something wrong, Ax?"
[Prince Jake, if the cause is just, an aristh has the right to challenge his prince.]
"I don't understand. What reason do you have to challenge me?"
[Prince Jake, I challenge you for the right of hand.]
"The right of hand? That sounds like some midevil term for girlfriend." As usual, Marco took my words lightly. The others laughed a bit, but it died down when my expression did not change. Jake seemed to be trying to block Cassie with himself.
"Is that it, Ax? You want Cassie?" I nodded sternly.
[And I challenge you to a battle. You would disgrace yourself by refusing.] They were all shocked, and Cassie couldn't seem to contimplate the idea.
"This is crazy," she said. "Ax, you are an Andalite. Besides, even if you did fight, it's an unfair one. Ax has a tailblade. Jake has fists. And in such a fight he wouldn't keep them long." She had a point. And it would be just as unfair if I morphed human, seeing as I had yet to master full human instincts.
[Well,]Tobias spoke up, [what if Jake morphed Ax?]
[That would be just as useless. He would not have sufficient time to make out Andalite instincts.] We stood for a second, trying to come up with some way to make this work. Finally, Jake started to morph. Seeing the feathers begin to grow, I started as well. Within a minute we were both seagulls. Marco was obviously having a hard time controlling his laughter. And I must admit, it was a rather amusing situation. Still, the challenge was set, the fight prepared, and so it began. There was a bit of confusion, too strange to describe. In the end, Jake won. We demorphed, and Jake hugged Cassie. I turned towards a tree. I was disgraced, and furious. I hung my head low, a plan in my head. Jake showed through with concern.
"Ax, are you OK? I know that you must feel bad, but-HUH!" A gasp for life. In the moment he so perfectly positioned himself between me and the tree, I lashed out with my tailblade, stopping right up against his throat.
[My love for your life, Prince Jake. I'd say that's a pretty good deal, wouldn't you?] Everyone stayed impossibly still. Rachel was the first to speak up.
"Ax, what is with you? How can you threaten his life? He won the battle fair and square, Ax, you can't do this." I remained silent. Cassie inched as close as feet allowed her, then fell to her knees.
"Yes, he can, Rachel. And he most obviously will." She started begging. "Please, Ax. Don't kill him. I'll be your girlfriend. You can wear me like a prize if you want, just don't hurt Jake." I looked down at her eyes with my stalk eyes. Dropping Jake from my death-hold, I walked to her and offered her my hand. She took, though reluctantly, and then proceded as I had hoped, climbing ever so cautiously onto my back. Smiling with my eyes, I set off at a triumphant pace. I made a circle for show around the yard, as if to tell the world "She is mine." Afterwards, I brought Cassie to her house, saw the others off, and went to get some rest.
That Monday began brightly. I was attending school, to be with Cassie. I went to the barn where I morphed and dressed, then met Cassie at the door of her house.
"Ready to go?" She seemed sad, but nodded and took my offered hand. We met Rachel on the way. When we got to school, we went to the office and had my schedule changed to match Cassie's. Then we went to first hour.
We walked to our desks in the class, me taking a seat behind Cassie. The teacher began his lessons shortly after taking attendance.What was peculiar was that, out of three absent, Jake was one of them. For the next three days, Jake was absent from school. The only time anyone heard from him those days was when Marco had called to check up on him. As soon as he said 'Hi' when Jake answered the phone, Jake hung up the phone in Marco's ear. Thursday, Jake finally showed up for class. A few minutes into the lesson, I noticed Cassie fold a piece of loose paper up and tuck it into her hand. Before Jake could reach it, I snapped it from her hand. I knew that notes being passed between a girl and a boy was often a way of flirting. My guess was confirmed when I read the note and found it to be an invitation for him to meet her later after school. She said I was being too protective. Smiling, I wrote on the bottom of the note that of course I was being protective. She was so beautiful that I couldn't risk losing her. She read it after I slipped it over her shoulder and blushed a little, smiling as I had when I wrote it. We saw a hand shoot up. The teacher told Jake he could speak.
"Sir, may I go to the bathroom? I'm feeling a little sick." He put a sharp emphasis on the word sick, practically spitting it at Cassie. She ducked low in her desk. I thought it was rude for him to do that to her. I told her so in a note that I passed her after the teacher turned back to the board. She wrote back saying we'd talk about it after class.
"You have to realize, Ax, that Jake is a little upset over giving me up to you. And I really doubt that me blushing at your little note helped him much." We hadn't gotten to talk after class, but at lunch time we were able to. I nodded in agreement to what she had said.
"True. But, since he walked in it seemed like something was wrong. Perhaps we should check up on him."
"Good idea. Look, there he is now. Let's join him." I followed her to where she had seen Jake. He was just sitting down to eat. He glared at us.
"Is it possible for me to at least eat in piece?" It was sharp, but fuzzy at the same time. Cassie noticed it, too.
"Jake, something is wrong. Other than the obvious, that is. Tell us, please." Jake picked up a piece of bread and pulled in half, putting a slice of meat in the middle.
"Nothing's wrong, OK? I just want to eat." And he ate. Then we knew something was wrong. I was always the worst eater. But as we watched Jake, it was like he had been starving for days. We saw Marco and Rachel come up to join us.
"So," Rachel whispered, "you've been demorphing and remorphing, right?" I nodded. "OK." She then noticed the way Jake was eating. "Uhh...Jake?"
"What?!" Rachel jumped in her seat from his snappy response.
"Geez! I was just wondering if you felt alright." He dropped his food.
"I'm fine, OK?! Why is that everyone thinks somethings wrong with me?!" He stood up and stormed out of the cafeteria. I looked at Marco who snorted as Jake passed him.
"Am I the only one who noticed that Jake smelled like smoke?" Rachel shook her head.
"No, I smelled it, too. But there was something different."
That afternoon we met in the barn to discuss Jake's situation. Jake, of course, did not attend.
"So, we need to find out a few things. 1-Why Jake is acting strangely, and 2-Why he smells like smoke." Rachel walked around the barn. Then Tobias walked in. He had been in the library for a short while. He was holding a book as he entered.
"Guys, I think I've figured out what's wrong with Jake."
"What?" We all slightly jumped towards him.
"The symptoms you told me about, the eating and mood swing, it sounded familiar. I went to a section of the library that was mostly educational. It was towards the back, which gave me a good place to go when I needed to demorph for a bit. While I was outside, though, I noticed something in an alley. It confirmed my fears and made my search shorter." Marco lowered his eyebrows.
"Don't you mean it confirmed your suspiscions?" Tobias shook his head.
"No, my fears. The symptoms are related to one main thing. Particularly a rather illegal thing." Cassie jumped.
"Illegal?! What-what is it?" Tobias seemed to groan.
"Mood swings and hunger are commonly seen in marajuana users. And, when I was outside, what was in the alley was Jake. And he was smoking a small roled up item, which he had pulled out of a bag with other similar items. All marajuana roles." We were all silent. Especially me. Then Cassie broke the silence as she broke out crying. Then we all turned our attention to the front of the barn when we heard the door open. In stepped Jake. After Cassie had started crying, I had pulled her close to comfort her. When Jake came in, I put myself in front of her as he had done the evening of the challenge. He saw Cassie crying and glared at me.
"What's wrong?" He wasn't asking, he was demanding. "What did you do to her, Ax?! Tell me!!" He lunged, threatening to attack me. Marco and Tobias blocked him. "Let me go!! I want to know what he did to make her cry!!" Tobias almost slammed Jake into the barn wall.
"Jake, Ax didn't do anything to make Cassie cry! She's crying because of YOU! Understand? Cassie is crying because of what you did and what you are doing!" As Tobias spoke, Jake slowly stopped fighting. He looked Tobias in the eye, then looked up at Cassie. His frightened eyes met mine, then went back to Cassie. He shook his head.
"I don't know what you're talking about. I haven't seen her since lunch. Ax has been with her all day. There's no way I could have made her cry like this. Never." His voice cracked constantly as he spoke. Tobias let go of him and picked up the library book he had dropped.
"It says here that people, especially teenagers, that use marijuana heavily when they start tend to show the symptoms more evidantly. The main mood swing consists of anger, and acts of violence such as compulsive threats are severely induced." Jake's eyes enlarged a great deal. This told me he was surprised at what Tobias was saying. That was what truly gave him away. If we had been wrong, then Jake would have asked what Tobias was talking about. But Jake said nothing, and took off at amazing speed towards the woods. We all chased after him, catching up only momentarily and then losing him in the forest. We searched for a long time, I having demorphed to make my searching abilities more useful. After a few hours, we returned to the barn. We were all out of breath and worried senseless. Jake was our supposed leader. Losing him would make things much more difficult. Cassie slid slowly down the wall she was leaning on until she was sitting. I was standing, remorphed in case her parents appeared, and putting away my clothes. I walked over to Cassie and made a rather fumbled excuse to sit down in front of her. After I got comfortable(or as much so as a two-legged creature could get), I reached out and grabbed her hand, hoping to calm her. She looked up at me. I felt like I had been stabbed.
"Cassie, I...I'm sorry...about all of this. I wish there was some way I could help you, but....I'm sorry. I love you, Cassie, and I'll do anything to make you happy. I'll stay up all night and search the woods for Jake. I'll bring him back and we will help him, I swear." I looked at her with as much of my heart I could put into my eyes. She seemed to notice, but I couldn't really tell. She smiled, showing she appreciated my offer. And I kept my word. All night I combed the woods for Jake. I barely got any sleep by the time morning came. I set off for the barn and for school. And to tell Cassie what it was I saw this morning at the edge of the forest.
"Footprints," repeated Mia. Again. She didn't quite get what I was referring to when I brought it up. I shook my head in the odd human manor. Mia wasn't at school yesterday, but today she was here and with us in the lunch room. Taking a deep breath, I sighed.
"No, Mia, not just footprints. Pr..I mean Jake's footprints."
"So? We had chased him into the forest, Ax. That's why you were searching, remember?" I took the ketchup bottle from Marco's hand.
"Marco, these were leading OUT of the forest." Rachel thoughtfully ate a fry.
"So, you're saying that Jake slipped out when no one was looking? That he's in the city and not the forest?" I nodded. Cassie leaned forward, pushing her plate away with her elbows.
"But why? I mean, it doesn't make sense. Why come out in the open when there are people on your trail?" We remained silent as we all finished eating, trying to find a reasonable answer to Cassie's question. After we ate, we went outside to a secluded grove of trees. There, our answer came swooping down. Tobias landed carefully on Rachel's shoulder.
[I gather Ax told you about the footprints leading from the forest.] All but myself nodded. [Then I suppose I should tell you why he left.] Cassie looked at him strangely.
"You figured it out?" Tobias seemed to almost chuckle.
[It's actually simple. He ran low on weed. I noticed that first time in the alley that there were only a few rolls in the bag. He must have ran out and returned to the city to buy more.] It was simple enough. There was only one problem.
"Where is he getting this 'marijuana' from?" I wasn't quite yet sure what this substance was, but the others had informed me that it was a bad substance and was extremely dangerous. The silence of earlier had returned just as the bell rang for us to return to class. The rest of the day seemed rather dim in light of the recent incidents. After school, we had gathered at the mall. I was sitting, holding Cassie's hand in my lap and stroking it gently with my thumb in hopes of keeping her calm. Rachel was antsy from having to sit still too long. Tobias had a hand on her shoulder to keep her from jumping up and "tearing the mall to bits and pieces" as he put it. Mia looked worried.
"Guys, I know this whole situation is mainly over Jake, but I'm starting to worry some about Marco. He's running just a tad bit late, y'know." She had a valid point, but we were all so concerned with our own thoughts that none of us barely heard her. She sighed with relief when Marco showed, then became a bit more rigid. "Marco, what's wrong?" We were all staring at his ghost white face. He slowly sat down. His fists had stayed balled up the whole time. Finally, he looked down at them. Carefully, he opened his right hand, revealing a crumbled sheet of paper. Taking it with his left hand, he passed it to me. My face soon drained to similar color as his. Cassie asked me what the note said.
"'Ax,'" I read the note slowly, "'meet me tonight in the construction site. I have a surprise for you that you aren't likely to soon forget. If you live long enough to remember it, that is. Jake'" We all sat, dumb-founded. Standing, pretending to be brave, I swallowed hard at the knot in my throat. "If he wants to meet, then so we shall. I say we all return to our seperate 'homes' and meet later at the construction site." Everyone nodded in agreement, and, gently taking Cassie's hand, I left the mall and returned to the barn using the quickest and easiest route I knew existed. Part of me was anxious for tonight. It was like I couldn't wait for the chance to show Jake up, to prove that he deserved to be no more than the scum he had turned into. But part of me was crying. Because deep down I knew this was my fault. And because of ragged-edge thinking, I had torn my Cassie's world apart. And it hadn't even been a week.
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It was just turning dark when we came to the construction site. We had taken the forest route so I could travel most of the way in my original form. This would give me more time in my human morph when we got to the site. Tobias stayed a hawk and landed on the crumbled edge of some wall close to where we were standing. I held Cassie's hand tightly, observing my surroundings as best I could. Marco seemed to shiver from the dark, and also a chill that seemed to eminate from some unknown origin. Oh, how I wished I still had my stalk eyes. I felt foolish and vulnerable without them to tell me what was happening around me. Suddenly, we all turned to look at the vecinity of which a low rustling had come from. We turned to face another area when we heard the noise again. We all looked around almost frantically as we tried to figure out what the noise was. Then, slowly, a group of people walked out of the shadows, a circle formed around us. One particularly sinister looking person stepped up in front of me. He smiled a sardonic smile.
"So you came? Heh. I was afraid you might not show. And look...you even brought Cassie along. How thoughtful. How are ya, Cass?" He waved at her like an adult waving to a child. She stepped back slightly, and I slid my foot to put myself in front of her. Jake snorted.
"What do you want, Jake? You asked me here. What now?" He smiled again.
"Well, Ax, I thought you might like to meet my new friends. I met them last Saturday night, I belive. You remember what happened last Saturday, don't you?" Cassie winced and I tried even harder to steady myself in preparation for this some-what maniac.
"That's when I challenged you for Cassie. You won the challenge-"
"And you got Cassie. Now, does that seem fair?" He raised his arms in question to his new 'friends'. They all grinned, shaking their heads. A few gave off huffing laughs. Jake looked back at me with malice in his eyes. "Well, after that I went home for a short while. I tried to read and watch TV. But I couldn't get it out of my head. Finally, I told my parents that I was going for a walk and did just that. After wandering around aimlessly for a while, I found myself here, at the construction site. I also found out that I wasn't alone. I had sat down to think in the middle of this mess when Dick here came sat beside me. I was startled at first, but he seemed nice enough. We started talking and became pretty good friends. Then he offered me a roll of marijuana. I was afraid to try it, but then I realized that I didn't really have much left to lose. Besides, I was just using it to relax. And I started to like it. The next day I returned here and Dick introduced me to the rest of these guys, and girls, respectively. Yesterday, after you guys stopped chasing me, I left the woods and came back. The guys saw me out of breath, and I told them how you guys figured out about me using drugs. Then I told them about how much pain I had seen in Cassie's eyes, and how I would do anything to take away that pain. So, my friends helped me set this up. Wasn't that nice of them? And, just as we had hoped, Ax, you came! You so naively and stupidly came!" I turned swiftly when I heard movement from my right. When I looked, though, my eyes met with a fist. I fell to the ground, slightly dazed. I shook my head and looked back up Jake.
"Jake, please. Cassie and the others told me about this 'drug' you are using. Jake, it's very dangerous. You could get killed! Please, Jake, I never wanted to loose your friendship, and I still refuse to do so. Let us help you." Jake rithed, spitting all words that came from his mouth.
"Help me?! Help me what?! Help me try to accept the fact that I lost the most important person to me?! Help me be a better guy and get over all this?! Well, guess what, Ax? That's not gonna happen!" I had been attempting to get up the whole time, when suddenly, all the air escaped my lungs. I realized that Jake had kicked me in the side as he did so again. I gripped at my sides and rolled. I caught site of Cassie, who was standing back near Marco, Mia, and Rachel. She looked frantic and scared. I tried once again to reason with Jake.
"Jake, listen. This drug usage could become a bad problem. Look at what it's already done to you! You're near insane as it is!" Oddly enough, he laughed. It was a loud, cruel laugh that seemed to bellow.
"Insane? Ha! You don't know the half of it. Tell me something, though. Why, when you have Cassie, do you still persist in being anywhere near me? Is it that important to rub it in? Tell me! Why do you 'care' so much?" I turned my head so I could get a good look at Cassie, then turned back to Jake.
"Because Cassie hasn't been happy since this all started. She's worried sick about you, Jake, just as we all are. The difference is that she feels it a great deal deeper. You may think that the only person you're taking down is your-self, Jake, but you're wrong. The farther down you go, the father you take Cassie with you." Then, just as quickly as he had exploded, his face went blank. He looked from me to Cassie, then back to me. He blinked in confusion. Suddenly, one of 'friends' walked up beside him.
"Jake, what are you waiting for, man? Let's waste this dude! He stole your girl, man!" Jake shook his head.
"No, Dick. I..I need to think." Dick reached in his pocket and pulled out a small role, but Jake, still staring between Cassie and I, pushed it away. "No, man, I mean really think." Dick looked at Cassie and I and then back at Jake.
"Man, are you insane? You're really gonna let this wierdo pull some wacked-out pscyho stuff on you?" Suddenly, Jake glared at the young man next to him.
"This 'wierdo' is my friend. And he hasn't pulled anything on me. In fact, it seems to me now that the only one pulling anything around here is you, and I'm tired of it, man. Keep your stuff and get out of my face, Dick." Dick got this extremely confused look and turned to the others.
"C'mon, y'all, let's blow this joint. Jake is just as wacked as his friends. If not, more so." With that, they all turned and walked off. Jake turned to me and leaned over. He offered his hand and I took the offer, knowing that the Jake we had seen only a short bit ago was now gone. When I was standing and moving again(as barely as that might be), I walked over to Cassie. Wiping a strand of hair from her face, I looked into her eyes. I could see what she wanted, and I knew what it was that would make her happy. I turned to Jake and stepped aside, pulling Cassie in front of me.
"I believe this is your girlfriend." Jake looked at me as I handed him Cassie's hand. "Jake, I realized that I made a terrible mistake. All this time I was telling myself that I was doing this to make Cassie happy. Now I know I was just making her miserable. I do want her to be happy, Jake, and I know how to make her happy. By letting you two be together." Jake smiled then looked at Cassie. He saw how worn and ragged her eyes looked. His smile faded.
"Oh, Cassie. I'm sorry. I'm so, so sorry." And he hugged her tightly, closing his eyes to hold back the tears. Marco, Mia, Rachel, Tobias, and I watched quietly as what was probably Cassie's worst nightmare came to an end. And as Jake's horrible mistake was resolved. It was only when I realized that I had about 10 minutes left on my morph that the moment ended. We all went to Cassie's barn, then to our seperate homes. I don't know when I got to sleep that night. I'm not entirely sure that I did at all. But the truth is, I really don't care. As I headed towards my field, I turned back to wave one last goodnight at Cassie's bedroom window. And in my own whispered thought speak, I said my last, [I love you.]
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Epilogue
It was quite peacful the next few days. I stopped going to school, and Jake's parents took whatever excuse he gave them for the whole ordeal. I'm not sure why, but for some reason none of us had it in us to turn him in for his drug use. However, we all did the best we could to help him get over it. For a while he seemed shaky and withdrawn, but after a couple of weeks, it was like he had never changed. We were meeting in the barn to discuss any of the possible latest Yeerk threats. Mia and Marco had shown up with Marco looking slightly dazed. It came to my attention that he had on his lips the 'lip stick' that Mia commonly wore and that it was messy. I asked Rachel about it and she told me I didn't want to know. I found it to be a strange repsonse, but wasn't going to risk utter confusion over minor confusion. Jake and Cassie were the last to arrive. They came walking in, Cassie pulling Jake behind her. As I looked at them, I saw a twinkle in Cassie's eyes. Slowly, though I wasn't sure why, I smiled.
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The End