We Decide What is Right,
and What is Illusion
To decide what is right,
And to decide what is wrong,
Deciding had been going on for forever long.
And when we decided on what is true,
It was never mentioned,
That I might lose you.
The Ellimist sat back on a cushion of space. He was thinking and
remembering. He was thinking about the Animorphs. About how they
had helped him. How they had helped themselves. How they had
saved their planet. With the help of himself of course.
He never gave direct help or guidance. That was against the rules
he and the Crayak had set up. He knew better, but their was
always loop holes. Always. And he had learned to find these loop
holes. He needed these loop holes, as had the Animorphs. And he
still needed those loop holes. Even if the Animorphs no longer
needed them.
The Ellimist closed his eyes. He knew the price he would have to
pay if he directly interfered. He had often debated the price,
but the price had always been too great.
He opened his eyes suddenly and smiled. Earth was safe, and that
was what mattered. No longer did the Yeerks run around the galaxy
infesting beings. The Andalites had defeated them, at a price.
Everything comes at a price.
The Ellimist frowned slightly, and went to thinking of the
Animorphs. Back to thinking of how they done their best to save
their world, to save their species. They had succeeded, but at a
higher price than what the Ellimist himself could afford to give.
It had cost the Animorphs their lives.
He remembered....
I sighed. I really couldn't believe that we might be getting
a new Animorph member.
Animorphs. A word that you won't find in the dictionary or
the encyclopedia. It is a word that my best friend, Marco, made
up. It is what we are. Animal morphers. Believe me, this was not
something we were born with.
My name is Jake. I am the 'fearless leader' of the
Animorphs. At least that is what Marco calls me. It annoys me,
and he knows it, so he insists in saying it. That's Marco
for you.
I am an Animorph. That one little word means that not only can we
change into animals, but that we must save the world. Animorph.
It also means that I know of aliens, and have in fact met some of
them. Some of the are nasty and evil, while others are good and
just. Andalites aren't either of them. Yeerks are more
towards the evil side, but there are good Yeerks out there.
Yeerk. A word that puts fear and evil into the mind. Yeerks are a
parasitic species. They crawl into your head, through the ear
canal, and proceed to take over your body. They control you
utterly. There is nothing you can do to stop them once they are
inside of your head. You can't speak, eat, or even blink
your eyes unless the Yeerk wants to. I know. I, once for a short
time, was a Controller.
Controller. Another word that has meaning. A Controller is a
person that already has a Yeerk in their head. You cannot tell a
Controller from a normal human. That is how efficient the Yeerks
are. They make themselves act just as the person does. No matter
how hard you try, you cannot keep your thoughts and memories from
them. Controllers are everywhere. My brother, Tom, is a
Controller. Marco's mother was a Controller. Our assistant
principle, Chapman, is a Controller. They are everywhere.
Andalites. Think centaur. Now think of a centaur completely
covered in blue fur, and a long bulwhip tail with a scythe-like
blade at the end. Think of a mouthless face, with three slits for
a nose and big green main eyes. Imagine the top of the their
head. Now imagine two horn-like projections that can swivel
around in any direction. They are eyes.
Now think of superior arrogance. That is how Andalites are. They
think themselves better than us. I really can't blame them.
We aren't matched mentality wise. Yet.
The Andalites are the ones who set the Yeerks upon the galaxy.
The are the ones who set the Yeerks free from their home planet.
They are the ones who taught Yeerks about ships. They set them
free to ravage across the galaxy.
My name is Jake. I know you already knew all of this. Maybe I was
just telling myself, trying to make myself feel better. If that
was what I was doing, it didn't work.
I looked around the barn. All of the Animorphs were there,
including Ax. Also, our new Animorph, hopefully, was present. She
didn't know that yet though. Right now she was unconscious.
"Is she going to wake up soon?" asked Marco. He was
leaning against a post, his arms crossed. His hair had grown out,
but not much. It now hung just slightly over his ear tops. He had
grown more muscular, but he hadn't grown at all in height.
"How should I know?" said Rachel testily. She was
sitting on a bale of hay, looking at the prone figure on the
ground. She was still beautiful. She had grown yet taller, more
leggy. She could have been a super model, but that wasn't
what she wanted. Her hair was blond, and just a little bit longer
than shoulder length. It was always perfect. I swear that not
even a tornado could mess up her hair.
Cassie was leaning next to the unconscious girl. "Well I
thinks he is going to be okay. Her heartbeat is strong, and she
is breathing regular. That is always a good sign." Cassie
stood up slowly. She had grown a little taller, but not much.
Cassie was still as beautiful as the first day I met her. Cassie's
black hair was cut short, so as not to get in the way of helping
the animals around the barn. I was in love with her.
I nodded my head slowly. "Are you all sure that we want to
do this?" I asked suddenly.
"I don't know if you guys are ready for this,"
said Marco. "But I am not so sure about it. Remember David?"
"Yes," I said softly. "We remember David."
David had nearly been the end of the Animorphs. Not a good thing.
Because of David, we had not even really thought about recruiting
a new Animorph member. The thing with David had happened almost
two years ago.
"Prince Jake?" said Ax.
"I am not a prince. What Ax?"
"What are we going to do with her? The Yeerks are looking
for her just as they were David. She cannot go into public as she
is, and she cannot stay in the barn."
Ax had a point. I really didn't know, and that was what I
was going to tell them. "I don't know Ax. We don't
even know if she will want to become an Animorph."
"What, not want to face danger at every turn, almost get
killed twice a week, and not to mention save the world. Why
wouldn't she want that?" said Marco sarcastically.
I was about to say something back to him when I heard a slight
moan. I looked down to see our potentially new Animorph waking
up. I watched as she blinked her eyes open. I smiled faintly.
Fate had struck again it seemed. Or maybe it was just the
Ellimist.
"Wh-where am I?" the girl asked softly. She sat up
slowly. She was the same age we were, but was small, made to be a
gymnast. She had brown hair that was messed up slightly. Her eyes
were also brown. They were deep, thinking eyes.
"Welcome to Animorphs-R-Us," intoned Marco. He smiled
softly and knelt next to her. "You are in Cassie's
barn." Marco began to help her up.
"Why am I here?" She frowned and looked like a little
lost puppy. The look looked cute on her.
"To save your life," said Rachel quietly. She jumped
off the bale of hay, and stood in front of the girl.
"Save my life?" The girl looked confused.
Cassie nodded her head. "Yes. You were going to be made into
a Controller."
"A Controller?" She looked around somewhat wildly.
"Why did you take me away from my family?"
"I'll answer your first question. A Controller is a
person with a Yeerk in their head. A Yeerk," I held up my
hand to forestall the question. "A Yeerk is basically a six
inch long slug that crawls into your brain. While it is there,
you are completely and utterly controlled. You can't move
your toes, twiddle your thumbs, or look at something unless the
Yeerk wants you to."
They girl's eyes opened wide, then narrowed. "Are you
lying to me? You must be. No one in their right mind would
believe this."
"But it is true. We have brought you here so that you can be
saved from being a Controller." I sighed. "But you now
cannot go into public. You can't go anywhere. I know this is
sudden. Very sudden, and I...we are very sorry."
The girl burst out laughing suddenly. "This is some kind of
trick! I know it!" She turned to Rachel. "Nice job
Rachel. If you hadn't of been here I would have thought this
to maybe be real!" She laughed again.
I sighed. Great, now she thought it was joke. I turned to Ax.
"Ax, morph back. Tobias will you keep an eye out?"
"Thanks Tobias."
"Melissa?" She turned to me. "Melissa, see that
weirdly cute boy right there?" She nodded her head as I
pointed at Ax. "Watch him, and watch closely. He is going to
change. Don't worry, he won't hurt you." I looked
back at Ax. "Okay Ax."
Then Ax began to change. His pink skin seemed to melt, and change
to blue. His mouth disappeared, and two legs were beginning to
grow out of his chest. Suddenly blue fur erupted from the blue
skin, and two stalks began to grow out of his head. Then, with a
pop, his tail spurted out, tail blade and all. His front legs
touched the ground just as he grew two more fingers. Then
suddenly, he was a full Andalite.
Melissa began to scream, and fell down onto a bale of hay.
Cassie winced and grabbed Melissa's shoulders and kneeled
down in front of her. "Shhhh! My father will hear you! If he
comes in here, we will be busted! Please be quiet!"
Melissa looked at Cassie, and stopped screaming. "W-was that
for real, or was that just some trick?"
It is real Melissa, I said to myself. All too real. I nodded my
head to Melissa. "Yes, this is real. Everything you see is
real. At times I wish it weren't though." I said the
last so softly that no one heard it.
"Why have you brought me here?" She stood up and looked
defiantly at all of us.
Marco walked up to Melissa. "To make you, hopefully, part of
the Doom Squad. The Animorphs." Melissa raised an eyebrow as
Marco waved his arm at us. "The Animorphs are us. Me, Jake,
Cassie, Rachel, Tobias, and Ax. We are trying to save Earth, and
get rid of the Yeerks."
"Oookay. What the hell is he?" She pointed at Ax.
Rachel grimaced. "Ax is an Andalite. They fight the Yeerks
as we fight the Yeerks."
"Uh huh. How do I know that it isn't the..Andalites
that are the so called 'bad guys'?"
I sighed. This wasn't going to be easy. "You don't.
You just have to trust us. A hard thing to do, seeing as we took
you from your home, and slammed all this junk into your face."
I shook my head. "The future of Earth is at stake. The
Yeerks will come, kill everything that they don't need, and
take over the whole human race."
Melissa looked thoughtful. She suddenly looked at Ax. "Why
do you fight the Yeerks? This isn't your planet."
Ax looked resigned. He looked at me. I nodded my head.
"So your people let the Yeerks upon the galaxy. Great."
She sighed and looked at me. "So you want me to fight the
Yeerks. But yet I can't, obviously, go into public, or go
anywhere where I would be recognised. Wonderful. Just wonderful."
She shook her head. When she looked up, she had tears in her
eyes. "Why couldn't you bring my mother and father?"
She looked like she knew the answer, but didn't want to hear
it. I said it anyway. "Both of your parents are Controllers.
They became Controllers so that you wouldn't become one.
Visser Three went back on his word. He betrayed you and your
parents."
Tears ran down her cheeks. "So that's why they never
acted like they loved me." She put her head into her hands.
"I'll do it." She looked up suddenly, her eyes
bright with tears and determination. "I will join you. I
will become...what was that word?"
"An Animorph. You'll become an Animorph. Do you know
what this means?" Melissa shook her head and I sighed
softly. "It means battle, possible death, and many other
things that are not nice. You may even end up having to kill your
own parents."
I looked up at Marco and he looked at me. His eyes were dark and
foreboding. I barely held back a shiver. When Marco got that
light in his eyes, it scared me. I knew what it was. It was
insanity.
I looked away from Marco to Rachel. She smiled slightly. She
flipped her hair behind her shoulder and frowned slightly. Tobias
was talking to her privately.
I glanced over at Cassie. She was shaking her head slowly. She
was so beautiful that I couldn't take my eyes off her. I was
in love with her, and I hoped that she was in love with me. She
looked at me and smiled. I smiled faintly back, then looked back
at Melissa.
I frowned slightly when I saw that she was wiping away her tears.
"Melissa, are you going to be okay?" She nodded her
head slightly.
"Yeah. This is just so sudden." She tried to smile, but
her lips only twitched. Marco came up behind her hand held her
shoulders. She jumped, and turned her head and glared at him.
Marco backed away, a slight frown on his face.
"Are you sure you want to become an Animorph? Completely
sure?" I asked her softly, looking into her brown eyes.
She nodded her head. "Yes. I am sure. It is pretty much my
only choice."
"Are you ready to hide from the public, unless you are in
morph? Are you ready to maybe kill your parents, betray friends
that are Controllers? Are you ready for this and worse?"
Marco said this. It sounded so chilling that this time I couldn't
hold back a shuddered. I looked up to see Rachel shaking her head
with a dark, slightly frightened look in her eyes.
"Yes. I will do what I have to. My parents are no longer my
parents. They are not what they seem. They are now strange and
alien to me. No pun intended."
I looked at everyone. We were making our own silent, 'are
you sure' vote. Rachel nodded her head. As did Cassie, and
Ax, (he was again in human morph). Marco sighed, and nodded his
head slightly.
I nodded to myself. "Yes Melissa, you will have to do that.
That and more." I frowned. "Do we have the morphing
cube here, or is it hidden?"
"I have it right here," said Rachel. She unzipped a
little pouch that was wrapped around her stomach. She took out a
blue cube that fit in the palm of her hand. She held it out, and
my gaze fell to it. Everyone else was also staring at it. Even
Melissa.
"What is that?" she asked curiously.
"It is the morphing cube. It is what gives you the ability
to morph." I looked at everyone, and they all looked solemn.
Melissa looked skeptical. "What do I have to do?"
"All you have to do," said Rachel as she handed the
cube to Ax, "is put your hand on one of the sides of the
cube. You will feel a tingle. When I take back the cube, you will
have the power to morph." Rachel had a faraway look in her
eyes, then shook her head and looked at Melissa.
Melissa nodded her head. "I am ready." She slowly
brought her hand up to the cube. She tentatively touched it, and
she closed her eyes. "It tingles," she said in a
sluggish voice. Suddenly her eyes opened, and Rachel took back
the cube from Ax.
"You are now able to morph any animal you touch," said
Ax. He looked at Melissa.
Melissa began to look around the barn. "Can I pick out some
morphs right now?"
Cassie stood up and walked over to a cage that had a some type of
hawk in it. "We all have bird of prey morphs. And this is
the only bird of prey we have, besides that turkey vulture. This
is a Swainson's hawk." She pointed at the bird. It had
dark brown wings and head, with a red upper breast and white on
the rest of the belly and around its beak. It cocked its head at
Melissa and stretched the one wing that wasn't broken.
Melissa shuddered at the thought of turning into a vulture.
"I'll take the hawk. How do I...uh..."
Melissa looked up at Tobias. "Thanks. How do I acquire the
hawk?"
Cassie opened the cage and gently took out the bird. "Touch
it's wing. Think of the animal, how it would feel to have
feathers, to fly." Melissa put her hand on the birds wing.
"Concentrate."
Melissa closed her eyes and the Swainson's hawk closed his.
Suddenly she opened her eyes and took her hand away from the
bird.
"You now have the bird's DNA in your body. You can now
morph the bird, but not right now. We are going to get you some
more morphs," I said. I looked at everyone then back at
Melissa. "I happen to have two of the morphs that you are
going to need. Fly, and cockroach. We have needed all of these
morphs at one time or another. We use much more than what we want
to." I took out two small boxes, on with a cockroach and one
with a fly. I had plucked off one of the fly's wings so that
it couldn't fly away.
"You mean that I have to...morph those things?" Melissa
shuddered.
"Being an Animorph is all fun and games," said Marco
softly. He crossed his arms, and looked at everyone.
Melissa looked disgusted, but stood up straight. "Give them
to me. Hurry before I lose my nerve to acquire them." She
took the boxes that I had in my hand and took out the fly. She
narrowed her eyes at it, then the fly stopped buzzing and went
still. Melissa then threw the fly to the floor and took out the
cockroach. "Disgusting," she muttered and closed her
eyes. A second later she threw it to the ground also, and stepped
on it before it could get away. "I always hated roaches,"
she explained. "What other morphs do I need?"
"You still need a seagull, an owl of some sort, bat, wolf,
dolphin, and some others," I said softly. "You are also
going to need some battle morphs."
"Battle morphs?" She looked at me with a curious glint
in her eyes.
"Great, another Rachel," muttered Marco.
"Yes, battle morphs. Big, strong, deadly animals. Mine is a
Siberian tiger. Rachel's is a African elephant and a grizzly
bear. Cassie's is a wolf. Marco's is a gorilla."
Melissa shrugged. "Sure." She looked at Cassie, who was
taking out a seagull with a broken leg. She walked up to Cassie,
and touched the seagull. The seagull closed its eyes, and then
Melissa stepped back. "What else?"
Marco smiled slightly. "Ever wanted to howl at the moon?"
He looked over at a female wolf that had caught its leg in a
trap. "Now is your chance."
Melissa smiled softly, and walked up to the cage with the wolf in
it. She slowly stuck her hand through it, and the wolf closed her
eyes. Melissa withdrew her hand and smiled broadly. "I
always wanted to be a wolf."
While Melissa had been acquiring the wolf, Cassie had put away
the seagull and brought out an owl. "Here is the only owl we
have. It is a barn owl. They have great hearing and sight.
Perfect night animals." She put the bird out at arms length
and Melissa acquired it.
"What about the bat?" asked Melissa softly. I was
surprised that she was taking it so easily. I hadn't been
like this when he first started acquiring animals. I had been
scared and unsure. Maybe Melissa was, but she certainly wasn't
showing it.
"Here you go," said Rachel. She was holding a bat, and
showed it to Melissa. "Here." Melissa quickly acquired
it.
"Anything else you want me to acquire?" She looked
around the barn.
"As a matter of fact I do. We have a puma and a bobcat here.
I want you to morph both of them. None of us have these morphs,
so you will be the first." Cassie showed her the puma and
bobcat.
"You want me to morph those?" Cassie nodded her head.
"Cool." She quickly walked over and carefully stuck her
hand into the cage of the puma. "Good kitty. Please don't
take my hand off." The cat took a lazy look at her, then
closed it's eyes. Melissa grinned, and turned to head
towards the bobcat. "I love cats," she said. She walked
over to the bobcat and stuck her hand in, and laid it on the cat's
side. "Pretty kitty. I can't wait to become you."
She stood up, and grinned. "I so do love cats. What else do
you want me to acquire?"
I smiled slightly. "Now you head to the Garden's with
Rachel, Tobias, and Cassie. Me, Marco, and Ax aren't going
to go."
"How are we getting there?" Melissa asked. She smiled
like she knew the answer.
"No."
Tobias seemed to sigh.
"Why?" she asked Tobias. She was looking at him
curiously. "And why are you staying as a hawk?"
Melissa gasped. "You are right Marco. This isn't all
fun and games."
"Who is the Ellimist?" Melissa looked at Ax. "He
sounds like a alien, so I will ask you."
"The Ellimist. Ell-e-mist. The Ellimist is a entity that can
do just about anything it wants. Bout. Aaa-bout. It can stop
time, go to the future or the past. It plays by its own rules. It
'helps' us some times, but it is a trickster.
Triiic-ssster. Ster." Ax looked around in disgust, almost as
if the Ellimist was there right then. Who knows, maybe it was.
I stood up. "I have to get home. Rachel, Cassie, I trust you
to help her pick out some good battle morphs. Let her choose what
she wants. Be careful, and do not get caught." I started to
walk out the door. "Pick morphs that you can use Melissa."
I walked out into the sunlight and smiled slightly. It was good
to have a new Animorph, but I didn't know how it would go.
Not yet anyway.
It was a couple hours later, and I was at my house, watching some
TV. I hadn't stayed to watch Melissa's first morph. I
was pretty sure it went well, otherwise I would have been called
over.
I was flipping through he channels on the TV, when the phone
rang.
I picked up the phone. "Hello?"
"Hiya Jake. It's Rachel. Do you want to listen to the
new CD that I bought today?"
"Sure. Where?"
There was a pause. "How about we meet a Cassie's?"
She sounded happy, but I didn't know if it was an act or
not.
"Sure. Be there in a few minutes." I hung up the phone
without saying goodbye. "Mom!" I yelled. "I am
going over to Cassie's to listen to a CD. Be home in a few
hours."
"Okay Jake!" came a muffled voice from the basement. I
walked outside and grabbed my bike.
I quickly peddled my way over to Cassie's, thinking of the
morphs that Melissa might have picked out. I was pretty sure that
she had gotten the dolphin morph that she was going to need, but
I could think of little else.
I pulled up the drive to Cassie's and walked inside the
barn. Everyone was there besides Ax and Marco.
"Where's Marco?" I asked.
"He can't come," said Cassie. She was sitting next
to Melissa.
Melissa grinned at me. "Flying is great!" She was, I
swear, glowing. I smiled. Flying was great fun, even though you
are sometimes you are afraid that you are going to fall out of
the sky.
I decided to get right down to what morphs she had picked. "What
morphs did you choose from the Gardens?"
Rachel grinned. So did Melissa. "I chose a African elephant,
a kangaroo, a giraffe, a male lion, a dolphin, a leopard, and
this real cool looking black Siberian tiger they had there. It
was so pretty. Now we have two tiger morphs between us."
Melissa smiled broadly.
I gaped at her. "You chose all those? You got all those
animals acquired?" Melissa nodded her head. "And you
weren't caught?"
"Surprisingly no, Jake." Cassie smiled. "I was
quite surprised by that also." She smiled and stood up, then
sat beside me. She kissed my cheek. I smiled.
"So what do we do now?" asked Melissa.
I sighed softly. "Now we wait."
It was about a week later, and we had had, nothing to do. No
problems with the Yeerks, or anything as such. I was beginning to
get rather bored.
I was sitting at home, watching TV. As usual, nothing was on.
Surprise surprise.
We had not been completely idol all week long. We had taken
Melissa out, and had her morph every animal that she had
acquired. We wanted to make sure that she could control the
morphs instincts. I was surprised when only the kangaroo and the
puma instincts took over. She said that the rest were pretty
easy.
I believe that she said that the kangaroo mind was calm
altogether, but when it was started at a sudden noise, the animal
went beserk and she lost her war with the instincts.
With the puma she said that it was utterly fearless, and that
deceived her. She let the mind go to far, but then when she saw a
hare, the mind took over. She had won over the instincts, but not
until she had caught and killed the hare.
She also said that she loved the elephant, and the tiger. The
leopard was good, but it was cunning and harder to control than
she thought it would be. The lion too, had been completely
dominating, and also hard to control at first.
I was still a little ansy on the fact that she had an adult male
lion morph. That had been David's battle morph. The one he
had beaten me in. The one he had nearly killed me with.
Also she had stayed the first few days in Cassie's barn,
then we moved her to Ax's scoop for a few days. Then Tobias
found an abandoned tent, and he showed it to Melissa. This was
her home for now.
I sighed softly as I watched the program on the TV. Suddenly the
phone rang and I jumped. I quickly picked it up and brought it to
my ear.
"Hello?"
"Hi Jake. This is Erek. I was wondering if you wanted to go
to the mall. All the others are going to meet there. Maybe we
could grab a bite to eat."
I nodded to myself. Something was up. Erek wasn't human. He
was a android called a Chee. They are a peaceful race that can do
no violence. Even for their own lives. They had holograms that
they almost always kept around them. They were the perfect spies.
"Sure. I have nothing to do right now, so I'll be right
there."
"Bye Jake."
"Bye Erek." I hung up the phone and took a deep breath.
What were the Yeerks up to now?
I was at the mall at a food court packed with people. Me, Cassie,
Rachel, Marco, Melissa, Tobias, and Ax, both in human morph, were
there. Erek was sitting down, eating some nachos.
"So what's up?" Marco asked. He took a quick
glance around the court, then looked back at Erek.
Erek put down the nacho he was about to eat. Ax quickly grabbed
it and stuffed it into his mouth, grinning. I shook my head and
smiled slightly.
"We have a problem." He looked at us all, with a very
serious look. "They have a free Hork-Bajir. His name is
Maw-Yepla. He had walked out of the valley, and was caught by
some patrolling Controllers. They are going to wait for Visser
Three to get there before they question him."
"You mean they haven't made a Controller out of him
yet?" asked Rachel. She looked skeptical.
"No. I guess that Visser Three is going to personally
reinfest him, then torture him to find where the free Hork-Bajir
are. He wants this delight to himself and no one else." Erek
looked worried. "They are going to question him tomorrow."
"Why wait so long?" asked Tobias.
Erek shrugged. "I think it is because the Visser is in some
part of the galaxy, fairly far away. He won't be back until
tomorrow."
"So that's why things have been so quiet," I said
to myself.
Erek nodded. "Yes. But things won't be quiet after they
torture that Hork-Bajir. They'll find those free Hork-Bajir,
and all you have worked for will be destroyed." He shook his
head. "I don't know how you guys are going to save him.
The abandoned building where they will be doing this is going to
be heavily guarded."
"Abandoned building? Ding. Buuil-i-diing. Building. Why not
the Yeerk Pool?" Ax wondered.
Erek shrugged again. "Again I don't know. I think they
know that they have a spy, but they don't' know who. I
think it is also a trap. A trap that you really can't pass
up because of the Hork-Bajir."
I sighed softly. "Where is the building at?"
Erek brightened slightly. "I believe it is that abandoned
factory over on GreenWood Avenue. You know, the one that used to
make car parts?"
Tobias nodded his head. "I know the place. I fly by it often
because it has good thermals. I never see anyone go there though."
I nodded my head. "At least we know where it is. Now I have
another question. Do we go in fighting or do we go in stealthy?"
Cassie looked at me. "I think we have no choice, and will
have to go in ready for a fight. Unless they have some place that
we can demorph, then remorph, it will be the best thing."
Rachel nodded her head. "Yeah. Go in ready for a fight. I
don't know how we will get past the Hork-Bajir and Taxxons,
not to mention human Controllers, but we will. We always do."
"Erek, do you know if there is any place inside there that
we could demorph and remorph into something more dangerous?"
Erek shook his head. "I don't know. I haven't been
in there. There may be, but I have a feeling that every place
will be guarded. Remember, it is probably a trap."
I sighed. I had forgotten that part.
"What if we can't get Maw-Yepla out? What then?"
asked Marco. He was sitting back, his arms crossed. He didn't
look happy. "And what about Melissa. This will be her first
fight."
I looked over at Melissa. She had been so quiet that I had
forgotten that she was there. Marco was right. What about
Melissa? "I don't know. I suppose that the best thing
that we can do," I swallowed. "I suppose the best thing
we can do, if necessary, is kill Maw-Yepla. If we have no choice,
and I honestly don't see a way to get him out alive." I
looked at Cassie. She had a sad, dark look in her eyes. She hated
taking a life, any life.
"I don't like this," she said faintly. "I don't
want to have to kill that free Hork-Bajir. I already feel guilty
for killing the ones that have Yeerks in their heads." She
sighed softly.
I kissed her softly, and I said, "We won't kill him
unless we have to Cassie. I promise." I smiled to help
reassure her, but it didn't work.
I suddenly looked up at Melissa. Her eyes were wide, but they
were wide in anticipation. "We are going to battle tomorrow?
My first battle. I wonder what morph I will chose." She
looked thoughtful. "Either tiger or lion I think."
"I wouldn't be so happy about it Melissa," said
Marco darkly. "Remember, you may die tomorrow."
"Does that matter?" she said. "I have no home, no
family. I can't go into public unless I want to morph. What
do I have to live for except perhaps saving Earth?" She
looked at Marco. "Dying isn't such a bad thing Marco.
It the way you choose to take it that matters."
Marco shook his head. "Another Rachel. Great." He
sighed.
I sighed myself and stood up. "Tomorrow. What time Erek?"
"I believe it was said that the Visser would arrive around
one thirty tomorrow. I am not completely sure on this, but I
think it is a close estimate."
I nodded my head. "Thanks Erek. You have been a great help."
Then I realized that I hadn't taken a vote. I had just
assumed that we would do it. That in itself worried me.
It was noon the next day. We were all gathered in Tobias's
meadow. We had been there since about ten o'clock that
morning. We had decided to go in fighting, with two of us going
in stealthy.
Stealthy. Both Ax and Tobias would be doing that part. Tobias
would be going as Hork-Bajir, with Ax on him as a flea. Then,
after got in, hopefully, Ax would demorph, and kill Maw-Yepla. We
had figured that that was the only safe way. Taking him out would
be too much of a risk.
Me, Marco, Cassie, Rachel, and Melissa would be fighting on the
outside. We would hold back as many of the Hork-Bajir, Taxxons,
and human Controllers as we could. I had a feeling that this
mission wasn't going to go well, but I didn't voice it.
No need to put extra worry into everyone.
I sighed. "Well we had better get going people. We want to
be there before the Visser, and kill Maw-Yepla." I looked at
Cassie. "Cassie come with me a moment." I stood up, and
took her hand.
I drew her into the woods, out of the way of prying eyes. "Cassie,
I know you don't like this idea. But you know it's for
the best."
She sighed sadly. She looked at me, her dark eyes glittering with
unshed tears. "I get so tired of killing Jake. And now we
are killing a innocent Hork-Bajir. It isn't right. He should
have a chance to live." A single tear rolled down her cheek.
"Another loss of a life. Another loss of a person, and I use
that term to the fullest extent, for they are people, that could
help us. I know that sounds as if we are using them, and it even
sounds wrong to me." She sighed again and hunched her
shoulders.
I sighed myself. "I know I said that we would do whatever we
could to save him. I know this seems unfair, and it probably is,
but there is no way we can get him out without something
happening to us. Even as it is, some of us may die today." I
shrugged. "But every mission we take we may die." I
brought her close to me and hugged her. "I love you Cassie,
and I know you don't like this. I don't like this
either. Please don't think that I do." I looked into
her eyes. "I am sorry for this."
She looked into my eyes, then looked away. "I know Jake. I
know."
I kissed her then. We stood there for well over five minutes just
kissing each other. I felt so warm that I couldn't help but
feel better. When I looked at her, I saw that she felt the same.
"I love you too Jake." She looked into my eyes, kissed
my forehead, then went back to the meadow.
I sighed softly. How I loved her.
I followed behind her, back into the meadow. I was surprised to
see that neither Melissa or Marco were there.
"Where are Melissa and Marco?" I asked.
I looked at Cassie. She smiled. She had known! And she hadn't
told me! "You knew Cassie. How come you didn't tell me?"
"Because they have a right to their privacy." She
smiled. "Just like we do, huh Tobias?"
Marco, in love. For some reason I just couldn't picture it.
Marco had been going steadily more unstable over the past year. I
often worried about him, for he now rarely made jokes or laughed.
He just as often scared me.
Marco had had to kill his own mother. About nine months ago,
after he thought he had lost her over the cliff, he saw her
again. He didn't hesitate. As soon as he got her alone, he
killed her. I still don't know how. I don't know if I
want to know. All I know is that ever since then he has been
getting more and more scary.
A crunch of twigs brought me back to reality. I looked up to see
Marco and Melissa holding hands, and smiling.
"Are we ready to go people?" I asked.
"Let's do it!" said Rachel, with her usual
enthusiasm.
We all began to morph birds of prey. The skin on my legs became
hard, and itchy. Then a pattern began to creep down my legs,
forming into bird scales. My feathers too, were beginning to
erupt from my skin. My tail feathers flew out, and my lips became
hard. Soon it was a tearing, ripping beak. The last thing to
change were my eyes. They went from brown, to a angry amber-brown
color. I looked at the others.
Both Cassie and Marco were ospreys, and Rachel was a bald eagle.
Tobias was his red-tailed hawk, and Ax was a harrier. Melissa was
her Swainson's hawk, and I was in my peregrine falcon.
said Melissa as we all jumped
into the sky. Luckily there was a good headwind, and we rose
easily into the air.
We steadily winged our way to the abandoned factory. Then, less
than a block away from it, we landed in a dark alley with no one
nearby for miles. We demorphed, and began to morph again.
I morphed into my Siberian tiger. As the orange and black striped
fur began to slither from my body, I looked at the others. Cassie
was morphing her wolf, while Rachel was going to African
elephant. Marco was going for his gorilla morph, while Tobias was
going Hork-Bajir. Ax was already mostly a flea.
I looked at Melissa. I was stunned by what I saw. Black fur was
sliding down her body, and a long tail squeezed out. It swished
slowly back and forth. Her face began to spread out, and become
longer. Soon she had the face of a tiger. Her hands and feet
became huge paws. Her eyes became blue orbs. As I watched, she
became the black Siberian tiger. She was beautiful. Or at least
the tiger was.
I looked around with my tiger eyes. I felt no fear in the tiger's
mind. Only supreme confidence. I looked at the black tiger, and
involuntarily drew back my muzzle, showing my teeth. There was
another tiger in my territory.
I quickly took over my tiger's instincts.
I began to lope over to the factory, with the others, besides
Tobias and Ax, behind me. Tobias and Ax had to go their own
separate ways to try and sneak in.
Melissa nuzzled up to him.
We waited silently for five minutes. Then ten. Suddenly,
I sighed to myself and began to run towards the compound. The
others followed behind me.
As we neared the fence of the compound, Hork-Bajir began to
stream out. I watched as about two dozen Hork-Bajir streamed from
the factory.
I looked and was very surprised to see that none of the
Hork-Bajir had any Dracon beams. That worried me, but I didn't
let it sink in. I jumped at the closest Hork-Bajir, my teeth
clamping onto it's throat. I drew back sharply, taking it's
throat with me. The Hork-Bajir screamed and fell to the ground,
but not until it slashed my muzzle.
RRRRRRRRRRRRROOOOOOOOAAARRRR! Me and Melissa both roared at the
same time. The noise was deafening. The Hork-Bajir stopped in
midmotion for three seconds, then ran at us again.
I swiped at the closest Hork-Bajir, and it jumped out of the way.
Suddenly it lunged at me, and I jumped out of the way, then with
a quick turn, jumped onto it's back, and bit the back of its
neck hard.
Marco was punching anything that got in sight. Every time he hit
a Hork-Bajir, it went down and stayed down. Already though he was
beginning to weaken from a deep cut in his stomach.
I dove at two more Hork-Bajir, nocking them both to the ground.
Both of them slashed at me, one hit me in the side, slicing a
foot long line. I screamed, and clawed its neck out. The other
Hork-Bajir was standing up, and jumping at me. I turned to face
it, and hit it head on. He put a deep slice in my chest, while my
back legs tore out his stomach.
I took a quick glance up to see Rachel contending with five
Hork-Bajir. One of them she had wrapped up in her trunk, which
she slammed to the ground. Another she kicked ever so casually
away. She turned her head quickly, and stabbed one with her tusk,
then plucked it off with her trunk.
Cassie was lunging and biting, lunging and biting. Never stopping
or slowing down. She had many cuts on her, but they didn't
seem to slow her.
I whirled around, and faced off to another Hork-Bajir. Then it
suddenly occurred to me. Where were the Taxxons and the human
Controllers?
I raked the Hork-Bajir's throat out and called out to
Tobias.
RRRRRROOOOOAAARRRR! Melissa roared and jumped at another
Hork-Bajir. She was badly cut, and was moving slower and slower.
I looked behind me at Marco. One arm was limp at his side, and
his hand was missing. He stumbled, but regained his balance and
punched another Hork-Bajir.
Suddenly Marco stood up, and punched at a Hork-Bajir.
I slashed at the nearest Hork-Bajir. I noticed that there were
less Hork-Bajir, but enough to kill us. I was beginning to worry
again.
I watched in horror as the Hork-Bajir swiped its wrist blade and
ripped open her throat.
Melissa flopped limply to the ground. I could see the gaping
wound, could see her vertebrae through the wound. I knew she didn't
have enough time to morph back.
She blinked sluggishly.
He went around with insane rage and began to punch at things with
both his arms. He charged anything that moved.
I looked at Cassie. She was still dodging and lunging, but she
was getting increasingly slower. I could see a sadness in her
yellow wolf eyes.
Rachel was crying in her head, and picked up a Hork-Bajir and
threw it at the factory. She threw it with so much force that it
went through the wall. I could see what was going on inside.
Tobias was still alive, as was Ax. Ax was in his Andalite form,
and Tobias was still Hork-Bajir. They were fighting for their
lives.
I tore my gaze away, and jumped at the nearest Hork-Bajir. I bit
at its head, then tossed it away. Most of the Hork-Bajir were
surrounding Marco.
I jumped at them, as did Cassie. I tore at their backs and necks,
while Cassie took out their legs, tripping them, then she tore
out their throats.
I was beginning to feel increasingly weaker. I felt a sharp
stabbing pain in my side, and looked to see a Hork-Bajir wrist
blade in my chest. I whirled around, tearing open my side. I
raked at the Hork-Bajir's neck.
Marco sounded lucid.
I heard a thundering sound behind me, and I realized that it was
Rachel.
Cassie leapt at another one, and ripped out it's throat.
Then she flopped to the ground.
I jumped at the last two Hork-Bajir. One jumped at me, while the
other stood there, ready for me. I knocked the one jumping at me
to the ground, my claws digging deeply into its chest. Then,
using my momentum, I lunged at the other one, my teeth and claws
bared. I landed on top of it, and tore out its throat with ease.
He moved ever so slightly. He was still alive, barely. He took
a shuddering breath, then let it back out. He drew another. He his body shuddered ever so slightly,
and he exhaled. He didn't draw another breath.
I cried, then after a few minutes called,
She tried to stand up, but couldn't.
Then I realized that she was crying too.
Tobias was just coming out, one arm gone, along with his tail. Ax
came out after him, almost no injuries on him.
He looked up at the sky.
I looked up too.
He looked at me sharply.
Rachel had picked up Cassie in the remainder of her trunk. Marco
and Melissa still bodies were draped over her back.
(c) Morph53@aol.com
Part 1 - We Decide What is Right and What is Ilusion
By: TeknoKat
The first part of The Never Ending Chronicles. There's a new Animorph. What will happen?
Rated: Fiction K - English - Words: 8,690 - Reviews: 2 - Favs: 1 - Published: 8/7/1999 - id: 1772
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Full 3/4 1/2 Expand Tighten
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