Disclaimers see chapter 2. enjoy!
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Chapter 3—the mall and a few new friends
"Where are you going?" mom—not mom anymore, I reminded myself—asked.
"The mall."
"That's nice," 'dad' said.
No "be home by," no nothing…something was up.
"Bun-zuh. Zuh. Zzzzz. The zzz sound feels pleasant on my mouth-parts," I heard on the way to the food court.
((I told you you couldn't miss us,)) Tobias said, seeing me, in his human morph.
"What a surprise, seeing you here, Michelle," Jake said, "You remember my cousin, don't you?"
I grinned, looking at Aximili, "Yes. Paul, wasn't it?" I'd been prepped yesterday.
"Yes. I am Jake's couzzzzzzin, Paul. You are Michelle. Shell. She-eell." Aximili drew my name out again. I raised an eyebrow at Tobias.
((You noticed Andalites have no mouths in their natural form. He finds them fascinating,)) Tobias explained.
I nodded slightly.
"Cassie, Rachel, how are you?" Marco asked as they walked up.
"Fine. And you, Tobias?" Rachel asked, slightly nicer than yesterday.
"Hi, Rachel. I'm fine," Tobias said aloud.
We sat down and ordered food. I myself am partial to cinnamon buns, so I got some too. Though…when Aximili started eating I nearly lost my appetite.
"The strangest thing," I said, "I was going out the door, and you guys know how parents are—like, 40 million questions before they let you go?"
Nods.
"Nothing. Not a single question. They seemed preoccupied. Must be their new jobs," I said.
They got the hint.
"What do they do?" Tobias asked.
"They're counselors. They work with troubled youth at the organization The Sharing."
All eyes turned to me. even Aximili stopped eating his cinnamon bun.
"My brother Tom is a full member there."
"Yeah, my parents are friends with the owner. He ate over once. I wasn't feeling well, so I went to my room, but I met him," I said, each word true.
((I feel sorry for you there,)) Tobias said.
((Same here,)) said Aximili.
The others nodded in agreement.
"I've seen him, but I've never met him," Jake said, "He doesn't know who I am, even though my brother works for him."
I nodded.
"Well, I'd better get home. It's about time to feed the animals," Cassie said, dragging Rachel away.
"Marco, Paul, let's go play some arcade games," Jake said. He whispered something to Aximili.
((Prince Jake asks that we meet at Cassie's barn in an hour,)) Aximili said.
I nodded, "See you guys later."
"So, where to?" asked Tobias.
"Video arcade, walk in the woods, wherever," I said.
((How about a fly in the woods?)) he asked.
I nodded my assent.
((Woo-hoo! This is fun! You do this all the time?)) I asked, lifting my wings to another thermal.
((When I'm not on a mission or something, yeah. Want to meet the original walking talking razorblades?)) he asked.
He wouldn't put me in danger.
((Sure,)) I agreed.
We seemed to be getting more and more lost with each passing moment.
((Are you sure you know where…?))
((It's confusing, but it's meant to be. That way the Yeerks can't recapture the Hork-Bajir. Even though Hork-Bajir are normally peaceful creatures, they're used as Yeerk shock troops. These are free Hork-Bajir. The leaders are Jara Hamee and Ket Halpak, and the young seer is Toby,)) he said, a measure of pride in his voice.
((For Tobias?)) I asked.
((Yeah. I kind of helped free them, so she was born free,)) he said modestly.
((Oh, wow!)) I said, looking at the valley.
"Hello, Tobias. The scouts said that two hawks were on their way. How are you?" asked a small Hork-Bajir. Small in the fact that it was only seven feet tall.
((Fine. Toby, meet Michelle, the newest Animorph. Michelle, this is Toby, the Hork-Bajir seer,)) Tobias introduced.
I demorphed quickly.
"Hi, nice to meet you," I said, raising my hand to shake hers.
"Likewise. I didn't know the Animorphs were accepting new recruits," she commented.
((Her parents are Yeerks. She came to us,)) he explained.
"Ah. Well, we starved three Yeerks from Hork-Bajir today," Toby said.
"Great!" I said, picturing the ugly slugs devoid of life.
((I agree.))
Back at Cassie's barn, I met another of the Animorph's friends.
"I'm Erek King," said the boy. I'd seen him around school.
"Do you have morphing ability, too?" I asked.
"In a sense. I am a Chee. An android programmed by the Pemalites to be peaceful. I use holograms," he said as he shimmered and disappeared. In his place was a robot that looked like a dog.
"Interesting," I said. The hologram shimmered back.
"He's a spy for us within the Yeerks," said Jake.
"Jake said that your parents are Yeerk counselors in The Sharing? Would you mind telling me a few things about them?" Erek asked.
"If you had to, in a battle, would you fight them?" asked Jake, earning himself a glare from Erek.
I hesitated, sorting my thoughts, then said, "first, they aren't my parents anymore. The slugs in their brains are nodding their heads, using their voices. My parents are slaves of their bodies. I'll fight their captors."
"I know that one," Marco said, I once had to push Visser 1 off a cliff. My mom's enslaved by that slug of an alien."
I looked at him, "Wow…leader of the Yeerk invasion on earth, that's harsh. Mine are sub-vissers ten and fifteen," I said sympathetically.
"That's still pretty high up, too. Sub-vissers get close to the thousands," said Erek.
I nodded.
"But it is rather unsettling to hear things like this. Last Monday they were arguing over my usefulness as a host. Evidently Visser 3 decided that if I decided to go to the Sharing, then maybe, but until then he wouldn't waste a Yeerk on me needlessly. Oh, the irony," I said.
Everyone nodded, smiles plastered on their faces.