Andalites and Animorphs #1

Warning: If you have a weak stomach, you might want to skip the last two paragraphs of Chapter 1 and the sixth to eighth paragraphs of Chapter 1 in Book 2. Thanks!

Chapter 1

_____Rowx_____

My name is Rowxaliss-Tamsin-Tallure. I'm an Andalite. An aristh. An expert in Xenobiology. A freak. I'm an ASAE (Andalite Shifter Anomaly of the Electorate [author's note: Pronounce the acronym a-SAY]). But I'll get into that later. We Andalites fight the Yeerks that plague the universe. But I'm here to tell you about the invasion of Earth.

You already know about the Animorphs, Aximili-Esgarrouth-Isthill and his brother, Prince Elfangor-Sinrial-Shamtul. So I'm telling you how they found me, and of my search for my shorm, Lazer-Sammos-Dammate.

It started on the dome ship Freedom Search. I was being transferred to another one. The famous Star Sword, home to the famous Prince Elfangor. On Freedom Search, I was on my way to being the first young young Andalite warrior in the last 100 Earth years.

But on the Star Sword, things were different. Despite the ship's good reputation on training arisths, being female, and too young according to the captain, I was forced to dismiss my hopes of ever becoming a warrior. I was ordered to the dome where there would be other arisths. Unfortunately, there was only one. The younger brother of Prince Elfangor, Aximili. He and I met, but never really talked to eachother. Eventually, we forgot about eachother. I then went on a little trip. An experiment to be exact. I was being placed with a male warrior. His name (which you already know, but I'll tell just for the sake of making this longer) was Lazer-Sammos-Dammate. War Prince Lazer-Sammos-Dammate. I was taken as his co-pilot. I was in charge of weapons, while he got to take the helm. Of course the male would get the helm. I had started out as just his co-pilot, but we had become more than that. We had become shorms, in Earth terms, very close friends. Anyway, we were attacked.


Prince Lazer, we are under attack! I screeched.

I can see that, aristh! Fire at will! He said, trying as hard as me to be official. Since this was an experiment, the Electorate was monitoring our movements, so we couldn't act anything but like a cadet to a warrior, instead of shorms. To the computer, he said, Computer? Maximum burn! We were in a junky Model 10, so the acceleration threw me against the back wall. I scrambled to the control panel and punched up the stabilizers.

I put my hand on the console. Fire.

But it was too late! We were hit, and were going down. We had been hit at point-blank range. Point-blank. There was no chance to get off the ship, or to land it safely. And we were going to crash.

Prince Lazer Lazer, what do we do? I asked, truly terrified for the first time in my life.

The ship is going to capsize. We'll be thrown clear of the explosion. I think that-

Explosion??? You never said anything about this being a chemical engine!

This model is a piece of junk! I figured you'd know!

I covered my face with my hands. This is just great I muttered.

He put his hand on my shoulder. Don't worry, Rowxaliss, we'll get out of this. I promise. I'm sounding mushy, aren't I?

Instantly emotionless again, he shouted, Electorate! This is War Prince Lazer. We have been hit. We're going down. Send the closest units to the third planet of this system down on a search-and-rescue mission. Turning to me he said, full of compassion, Avoid any aliens. Hide in their forests, and try to find the nearest water source. I'll find you. Inside I was choking, for I was possibly losing the best friend I ever had.

Then we hit.

Chapter 2

_____Rowx_____

I woke up in a lighted area near a meadow. I suppose I lost consciousness. I walked around for awhile until I heard the trickling of water. The noise of mouth sounds filled the air. Remembering what Lazer had said, I remained hidden. Then I decided to listen to them.

"It sure is good to be human again." I heard a voice sigh. I should have caught it.

"Oh, Jake, you were never exactly human to begin with."

I heard some rustling, and then I walked away. The last thing I heard was...

Yes. You... you found an Andalite!

That last one got my attention. Thought speech, the word Andalite. OK, this is getting weird. There are no Andalites on Earth except for the Abomination! Maybe I had allies on this planet... But no. They weren't coming for at least 2 Earth years. So who was it? Aximili...Lazer I said with an unidentifiable awe.

But it was too late. The humans were gone.

Chapter 3

_____Rowx_____

Perhaps I should explain what I said earlier. An ASAE is an Andalite who has had DNA of another species injected into him or her. They are able to shift to that species. Shifting is another kind of morphing, only faster and more fluid. Lucky me, my shift was human, but I preferred not to use it. I could make the shift look like ANYONE so long as they were human. A definite plus, however, was the fact that I could stay in that shift for as long as I wanted to and I could morph from the shift (read: My shift can serve as my natural form). And that the Yeerk scum didn't know about ASAE's.

So, for the next year or so, I spent my life in the woods, hoping my cousins would come to rescue me. It was tedious. But it all changed when one day I heard a voice from overhead...

Ax man, what's hanging? Woah, man, what happened to your tail???

See, the only noticeable difference from a female Andalite and a male is that the females have another blade, more like a knife then the standard male tail blade. If you picture the standard tail, and then add a straight, longer blade onto the base of the regular blade, you have a female Andalite tail. Apparently, whoever was addressing me noticed. I stopped feeding and I looked up with my stalk eyes, while keeping my main eyes on the lookout for danger. I saw it was some sort of bird. Who are you?

Whaddya mean, who am I? It's me, Tobias... He finally came through. Hey, you're not Ax! He seemed to hover in midair for a second, as if terrified. Visser Three? Oh, man.

Instantly I looked up with all of my eyes. Don't say that name again, I said in a weirdly calm voice.

Okaaayy... Never mind. You're not him. So who are you?

I'm Rowxaliss-Tamsin-Tallure.

He kind of stared for a moment, and said, Whatever. Follow me.

How do I know I can trust you? I don't even know what you are.

I'll put it this way. You stay here, you'll be found, be it by Controllers or by humans, but you will be caught, Rowx.

Rowx?

Look... He seemed frustrated. Just bear with me, okay? I've had a busy day.

What are you?

I'm something called an Animorph; my name's Tobias. Me and a few others were given the power to morph from a dying Andalite prince.

Who is this prince?

Prince Elfangor-Sinrial-Shamtul.

Chapter 4

_____Rowx_____

NO! You're lying!

Hey, I'm sorry. I'm just stating the facts, okay?

Fine. I'll come with you.

The bird who called himself Tobias flew down and morphed a human. We walked for awhile, then I was shocked at what I saw.

For right there, drinking from a nearby stream, was Aximili-Esgarrouth-Isthill.

Chapter 5

_____Rowx_____

Aximili looked shocked. Or, at least, as shocked as my kind can look. He had looked up. His stalk eyes stood erect, and his tail was nervously twitching.

Hello, Rowxaliss.

You too, Aximili.

Tobias looked at Aximili, then back at me. "Hold on a sec. You guys KNOW eachother?????"

Of course. Rowxaliss and I have known eachother for a long time.

I mumbled, Unfortunately. I did not like Aximili much at all. I felt his family's high status would make him arrogant. Later on, though, I found out how wrong I was.

"I take it you two don't like eachother." Tobias said. I must have spoken louder than I thought.

You could say that. Now, Tobias, Aximili, it's been swell, but I really have to go. With that I left, but staying close enough to hear what they said about me.

"So what's the buzz on him?"

Him? That's a female.

"It's a SHE? Whoops..."

You thought she was a male? She won't be too happy if she hears that, Tobias.

"So don't go telling her. Keep going."

She was a female on the way to being the first pre-adolescent warrior in about a hundred Earth years. She-

"Ya know, I'm starting to think Marco was right. They are your years, too, now, Ax."

YES, Tobias. Thank you. Aximili said in a stiff, impatient voice that was unlike him. ANYWAY, she was boarding our ship and we met. She didn't like me much, but we ran into each other many times. She threatened me into a tail fight once, and I bet if I had another chance I would have won... We're being watched.

I flinched. I had tried to move away, but seeing that my attempts had failed, I came out and faced Aximili. You want another tail fight? I'll give you another one.

"Hey," Tobias interrupted, "I'd love to watch you two kill eachother, but I've gotta split."

Split? Aximili and I both asked.

"Lea-" the boy said, morphing back to his natural hawk form. -ve.

Ah.

And the hawk boy left.

Chapter 6

_____Tobias_____

As I flew away, I tried to figure out if this Andalite would be a valuable ally, or a plain old nuisance. I decided to call the gang together, starting with Jake. I first met him when some jerks decided to find out if my head would flush in the toilet. Jake's kind of the born leader type, but he doesn't admit it. He's tall, with brown hair, and the type of kid who you can totally trust not to hurt you. I know that sounds corny, but that's the way I feel. I found Jake walking home from the arcade with a long look on his face. Hey, man. What's the matter?

Looking around to see if anyone was looking, he looked up at me, and mouthed the words, 'Marco beat me at Doom'.

That's it? Well, I have some big news, Cassie's barn tonight, OK?

More mouthing. 'I'll be there."

Next on my list was Marco, who I assumed was still in the mall. I found the dumpster that Jake stored the normal looking clothes behind. I morphed back and took out a pair of jeans and a T-shirt, plus some Airwalks. Then I headed towards the mall.

Marco was at the Doom console, playing against this kid who looked way too normal. Marco is the sarcastic, witty type that is the exact opposite of Jake. And yet, they're best friends. Rachel says that lots of the girls think he's cute, but I'm really not in the position to give tell. The other kid was Erek, a very normal kid, until you got to know him better. Erek is a Chee, a kind of peace loving androids that live as humans, and love dogs. Oh, yeah, and they use these three dimensional holograms to pass as humans. Their creators were destroyed by a hostile race that used biological weapons. "Hey, guys. What up?"

Marco pushed away the joystick and said, "Well, I was winning against an amazingly easy opponent until you came along." To Erek he said, "One word, bud: Rematch."

Erek shook his head, turning his pockets inside out. "I'm broke, no way! So, Tobias, what's going on?"

"I was thinking, maybe we could hang with Jake and the others later tonight? It's a nice day out, sweet ther- I mean, I thought it would be sweet there, hanging out with everyone." I said, catching my revealing line. If there were Yeerks around, they would spot us in a second.

"Fine by me. You, Marco?"

"I'm there."

"Cool. See you guys later!"

Next stop, Rachel. She's Jake's cousin, and looks like a super model. You know, that 'I can wear anything I want and I'm darn proud of it' look? She has perfect teeth, is strong, and all around, her looks are deceiving. She's tough. She loves fights, and is stupidly brave. She was hanging with Cassie, who is a short, black girl with a love of animals. She was wearing overalls and a checkered shirt. "Hey, Cass, is your barn free tonight? I called the gang together. Phillip has a friend from out of town here." Phillip is what we call Ax when we're in public. Under my breath, I muttered, "Way, way out of town."

She nodded. "Yeah. See ya then." Turning to Rachel, she said, "You heard that, right?" I didn't stay long enough to hear her answer. Soon I would learn the answer to my own question about Rowx. She would be an ally and a nuisance.

Chapter 7

_____Jake_____

When I heard that Tobias had news, I had immediately assumed that he had found another Yeerk pool entrance. How wrong I was.

We were all huddled in Cassie's barn, waiting for Ax and who Tobias called Rowx (Because he couldn't remember her full name). According to Tobias, she was an extremely defensive female Andalite, and she and Ax didn't seem to get along well. We didn't have to wait long for Ax, but Rowx was a different story.

"I tried to get her to come, but she's a stubborn female. I am sorry if I have ruined the meeting. Guh. Meeeettinn-guh. Muheetinguh. Muh-m-m-m! That is a very satisfying sound." Ax excused.

"Oh, yeah, Ax. I could just spend hours saying Muh'. Must be very entertaining; maybe I'll try it sometime." Marco added.

"What can you tell us about her, Ax?" Rachel asked.

"She's an ASAE."

"A WHAT???!!!???"

"An ASAE. It's a Andalite Shifting Anomaly of the Electorate." Ax said, acting as if everyone should know what that was.

"Which is?" Marco prompted.

Ax did what seemed to be the Andalite version of a sigh. "She's an Andalite who has had human DNA injected into her. She can shift, or morph really fast, to human as long as she likes. And she can morph from that form. The Yeerks do not know about this technology yet."

"Ax, it's fine. It might be better if we met her on our own instead of trying to get her to come here. So why don't we bump' into her?" I said.

"And how do you suggest we do that, oh Fearless Leader?" That was Marco. He knows I hate it when he calls me that.

"Simple. We morph an animal, and we have Tobias guide us towards her."

"And what animal do we use?"

"What I had in mind was an Andalite."

Chapter 8

_____Cassie_____

"No."

They all looked at me. "No what?"

I shook my head. "No, it's not right. Ax is a sentient species, it would be wrong to acquire him."

"Without his permission, Cassie. But if it's OK with Ax, it'll be fine. You morphed Rachel once. So if Ax agrees" Jake looked towards Ax.

"It is fine with me." Said Ax, morphing back to Andalite. He closed his eyes. One by one, we touched Ax's forehead. His stalk eyes closed, and when I touched him last, he woke' up. That was an interesting experience. However, I would not want that done again. Then he morphed back to human.

"Now we have a slight problem, Ax. Wouldn't Rowx notice if she bumped into you five times?"

"Yes. Yes-suh. Yesss."

"So what would we do? She's the only other Andalite I'll willingly get near. I can't stand being near him." We all knew who Rachel meant when she said him. Visser Three. The only Andalite Controller in the universe. Head honcho of the earth operation. The Yeerk that would enslave us all when he got the chance.

Chapter 9

_____Marco_____

I'm Marco. The amazingly cute and only sane Animorph. Rachel said, "So what would we do? She's the only other Andalite I'll willingly get near. I can't stand being near him." That surprised me, so I decided to try another one of my clever, hilarious jokes.

"Xena, chickening out? Get rid of that leather ensemble and put on Tobias's wear!" Ouch. That wasn't as clever and hilarious as I thought it would be.

"Shut up Marco!" Rachel glared at me, then looked at Tobias sympathetically. "And he's not a chicken, he's a red-tailed hawk." You see, Rachel and Tobias like each other. As in like.

I started pacing around the barn. "So, lemme get this straight. We each have Ax acquired, and we can't go near our Gabrielle until we've gotten another Andalite in us. Great. This is gonna work out real well, Jake."

Gabrielle? What is a Gabrielle? That was our resident alien, if you couldn't tell.

"Gabrielle. As in Xena: Warrior Princess Gabrielle. Come on Ax, where've you been?"

On a Dome ship. I have never understood who Xena is, however.

I sighed. "ANYWAY, what do we do?"

Rachel rolled her eyes at me. "You expect us to know? It's Jake's idea!"

Jake said, "Alright, alright already! So that was a screw up! But look on the bright side, if we ever need to, we morph Andalites. I don't know, like when we're in the Yeerk pool! Sheesh, am I supposed to think of everything around here??"

Evidently so. We heard a thought speech voice. And it wasn't Ax or Tobias. We all turned. It was another Andalite. I assumed it was Rowx.

For the first time, we heard Ax whine. Ooohhh, go awaaayyy!

Don't whine at me, Aximili. You might lose a limb. That was Rowx.

"Nice and polite, aren't we?" I whispered to Jake. He rolled his eyes very slightly.

Rowx took a step towards me. I guess Ax took that the wrong way, cause next thing I knew, Gabrielle had a nice long cut across her left eye. To tell you the truth, it looked kind of cool.

Tobias, what are you? Rowx asked. I was surprised. That kid was tough. She didn't even flinch about her new scar, and she just kept that mouth (brain?) going. She did put her hand to her eye though.

"Hey, do you need something for that cut?" Cassie inquired.

No. I'm fine. Tell Tobias to answer my question.

Jake looked at Tobias. "Go ahead."

I told you. I'm an Animorph.

And what are they? She asked indicating us.

They are the others. That's Marco.

Rowx nodded at me. I nodded in return. "Hey, Gabrielle. Welcome to Earth, the only place where Visser Three can get a good whupping." I advertised in a game show announcer voice.

That's Rachel, Rowx.

"You mean Xena. That's Xena, Gabrielle."

Silence human-

"Hi!" said Rachel, jumping in before Rowx could end my life on this quaint little planet. "Ignore Marco, he leaves you alone eventually.

Rowx just looked puzzled.

There's Jake.

Jake nodded in acknowledgement.

And that's Cassie.

"Hello."

Over there is Erek. He's a Chee."

"Otherwise known as an android."

Ax glared at Rowx. "You know me." Then he turned away.

"OK, people, that was a nice introductory, but if you don't mind me asking WHO IS SHE?????" That was me.

You annoy me, human. I have a simple and easy request.

"And that would be?"

SHUT UP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

"Eep."

"Marco, chill. I could understand her request perfectly well."

"As we all can." Said Rachel, arms crossed. Turning to Rowx, she cheerfully said, "So who are you?"

I'm Rowxaliss-Tamsin-Tallure.

"OK. Now, Jake, wasn't that easier than that other plan?"

"Yes, MOM."

Is that sarcasm? Ax inquired.

"Yep."

You're Jake, right? Rowx asked quizzically.

"Yep."

Will you shut up? Asked Rowx again.

"Sure."

Are you a prince?

"Yes- I mean, nope." Jake started, but it was too late.

Very well, Prince Jake. You are my prince until my cousins come.

"Here we go again!" I said. Everyone laughed, except for the Andalites, who didn't get it, and Jake, who was not very pleased.

Chapter 10

_____Rachel_____

The meeting progressed, but not very much. We couldn't ask Rowx almost any questions without being threatened to be cut into little Animorph pieces. But it was pretty obvious she and Ax didn't get along. Finally, Marco got the nerve to say, "Geez, what's your problem?"

I don't have a problem. Well, actually, I do. The Andalite standing right in front of me.

Rowxaliss, get out of here.

"I have an idea. If you two are going to fight, why don't you both get out of here?" That was Tobias. I guess he hates fights because of his experiences with them.

Fine.

I'll go with them, Tobias privately said to us humans, Those two aren't fit to be alone.

Chapter 11

_____Tobias_____

I followed the Andalites over to my meadow. There, I listened to their conversation. See this line? Said Ax, using a stick to draw one. This is my area. Do not cross it, if you know what's good for you.

What line? I don't see a line. Rowx stepped over it. Oh, do you mean this line? Good grief, I thought, they're like a bunch of five year olds!

That's it, Rowxaliss! Now I do want another fight. Come on, I'll put some tail into you! Ax raised his tail into a defensive position.

Oh, yeah, Aximili, that's really a mature thing to say.

Just shut up, all right!?!?! Huytax!!! I assumed that was Galard, the interstellar language Ax had mentioned before.

Hoping I was still in range of the others, I said, Guys! Come quick! Our resident aliens aren't getting along too well! I think you guys should tell them to back off!

Don't worry, Tobias, we're right here. It's me, Cassie. I'm going wolf. I scanned the ground for her, and saw her, already in wolf morph, coming at the two of them. Hey, break it up! I heard her say.

Yeah, added Marco, another wolf. What do you think this is, Galactic Gladiators? Back off!

Go away, Marco. This fight doesn't concern you.

Well, it does now. Rachel stepped into the clearing, totally, absolutely grizzly.

There was a very interesting creature in the meadow as well. It was Erek. He had hooves like a horse's and a tail like a cat's. He had the body of a wolf, only it was striped like a tiger's, the head of a wolf's as well, but it had a horn. You know, like one of those unicorn thingies that little girls are into? But the had this fleshy, soft tip, like silly putty. I guess Erek made it that way so he couldn't hurt anybody. But I tell you, I've seen Erek's dad pin down a grizzly. Without hurting it. Now that's an accomplishment. Anyway, Erek used this creature's mouth to talk. Only he wasn't talking. He was yelling. "WILL EVERYONE JUST GROW UP?!?!!!???"

Rowx and Ax stopped circling eachother. Cassie stopped shouting. Marco stopped backing away. Rachel stopped snarling. Erek was frozen in mid-jump. Everything but Jake, Ax, and me, had stopped.

Chapter 12

_____Jake_____

"Ax," I said. "What happened? Wait, don't answer that" I groaned. "I already know."

YOU SENSE CORRECTLY, JAKE.

It was the Ellimist.

Ax was shaking, as he always did when the Ellimist was around. Andalites, being a very holier-than-thou race, don't like the thought that there's someone above them, I guess. I was shaking too, only out of anger. The reason? The Ellimist had decided to visit us in a human form. What made me angry was the fact that he decided to take the shape of Tom.

Chapter 13

_____Tobias_____

Jake looked ticked. I put my handwait a minute, I had hands! The Ellimist must have made me morph human. Anyway, I had put my hand on Jake's shoulder, restraining him from jumping at the Ellimist. "Jake, it's not Tom, it's not Tom" I repeated over and over.

Jake shook himself out of his trance. "I know, I know" But apparently he didn't. Jake was getting large and striped. Jake was becoming a tiger.
"Jake Don't!" I called. Then I mumbled. "Great, just great." I tried to morph to hawk, but I couldn't. Now I was getting mad; no one kept me from my absolute freedom. "Jake, what are you doing!"

I'm getting angry, Tobias, that's what. If this sleaze-ball thinks he can do that to Tom

"Jake, THAT'S NOT TOM!!!!!!!! JAKE!" But he didn't stop. When he was done morphing, he roared.

ROOOOOAAAARRR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Suddenly, Jake was thrown back. The Ellimist had thrown him back with a wave of his hand. He shifted to the form he had first appeared to us in.

"Human, once I gave you and your friends a chance to escape. I showed you what would happen if you continued fighting. But a new life line has joined your own."

Ooohh, am I supposed to turn cartwheels or something?

Prince Jake, I don't think it is wise to question the Ellimist

"Ah, your Andalite friend does have some commonsense."

"Jake, Ax, I think what the Ellimist is saying is that someone else had joined us. I think it's Rowx." I said.

"Yes, that is what I mean. There is another as well." The Ellimist said.

This is all fine and dandy, but I'd like to know who the "other as well" is.

The Ellimist laughed. "You'll find out. You always do."

Ax, who was growing impatient, raised his tail and...

Chapter 14

_____Ax_____

OW! I screamed. I had taken aim for the Ellimist. There was a flash, and the next thing I knew, a split rock was in front of me. I had cut a rock.

Come on, "Aaaaxxx", scared to fight me? That was Rowxaliss. She was taunting me, using the humans' nickname for me. Aximili want his mommy?

Rowxaliss, you're annoying me

Hey, break it up, peoples! The amazing Marco is here to save the day!

The day Marco is who we have to turn to to save us is the day I start to hate shopping But anyway, you guys are acting like babies! Come on, is this how you guys want to be like in the mall? If that's how you two are gonna act Rachel threatened, letting it hang for awhile.

Then we'll never let either of you near food in a human morph again! Came a voice from overhead. Tobias.

That caught my attention. The humans would never take me to the mall again? No more cigarette butts? Pizza? Would Cassie let me come over to indulge on her father's delicious chili? I decided it was wise not to fight with Rowxaliss. But she did not. I had turned away from her, and the next thing I knew, her tail blade was at my throat.

I win.

Chapter 15

_____Jake_____

I win. Rowx said triumphantly.

Rowx, what are you doing? I asked.

Kicking Aximili's sorry hindquarters, that's what! What do you care, anyway? This is my life!

That doesn't give you the right to take someone else's! I exclaimed.

Rowx removed her tail. You thought I was going to She started laughing, as Ax did. They collapsed, they laughed so hard!

Prince Ja.. HAHA! Prince Jake, allow me to explain Ax said, standing up.

There's nothing- I said, morphing back. "-to explain." At least, I meant to say that. What came out was, "-boo explade." How could he excuse Rowx for trying to kill him? And why?

But Prince Jake-

"No buts, Ax. There's no excuse for-"

But she wasn't going to kill me! It's what arisths do when they get into fights! Whoever gets their tail to the opponent's throat wins! She did not have any intention of killing me! Ax took a breath, and although he tried to control himself, he started laughing again. He and Rowx looked at each other, giggled in a very un-Andalitish way. Then they remembered they were mad at each other. Why did you start a fight, Rowxaliss? Very immature.

I started the fight? I did? Now look who's being immature!

"Will you two just knock it off?!?!?" I sighed.

Each Andalite took one stalk eye to look at me. Fine. The turned away from eachother.

By the way, Ax-man, when you were fighting with Rowx, you said something in Galard I think you said, Huytax'? What's that mean? Tobias asked.

Once again, Rowx and Ax looked at each other and started to laugh. It's it's Galard for well, I'd better not say.

Rolling his eyes, Marco said, "Yeah, yeah Whatever you say," Turning to me, he said, "So much for the neat mouthed Andalite theory."