A/N Hey everyone! I hope y'all had a fab weekend; I was away so that's why I haven't updated. Thank you SO much for all the reviews...they make me feel all warm and fuzzy inside...:) well here's chapter 3. It was originally going to be a battle scene but then I realized I had no idea how to write one...AH! So I decided I would do a little bit more dialogue. This chapter is dedicated to Natalie because she wanted more Jake and Cassie...well here you go!
It wasn't the favorite part of her job, but she had gotten used to it. At first the smell had overpowered her and she could only take small shifts with her parents. The dirtiness hadn't bothered her until she hit puberty. She was no Rachel, but something about being knee deep in cow poop didn't exactly appeal to her then. Now, it was just part of what she did, part of her life.
Cassie sighed and dug her shovel back into the pile of manure. Yes, this definitely was not the favorite part of her job. But on second thought, it was better then fighting the yeerks. Cassie was different then the others. The rest of the Animorphs enjoyed a good fight. Cassie didn't think that any of them liked going into battle, except maybe Rachel, but the battles had grown on them and grudgingly they accepted them as part of their lives, just as Cassie had accepted shoveling manure as part of hers. Except she had never accepted the battles. To her they were all awful and hellish experiences. Cassie was a pacifist, someone who was against war. If it had been any other conflict she wouldn't have joined a side. But this wasn't just any war. She and the four others had watched as Elfangor had been ripped apart by the mouth of the Abomination, Visser Three. Before that, Cassie had just been a normal teenage girl, frustrated by her parents, doing massive amounts of homework, and trying to get up the courage to talk to her long time crush, Jake.
The thought of Jake made Cassie stop what she was doing. Jake, oh Jake. Out of all of them, she felt like Jake had lost the most. Of course they had all sacrificed something in this terrible war. Jake's brother, Tom, and Marco's Mom had both been made in Controllers. The only difference was that Tom's yeerk, though loyal, had no rank, none that was of importance anyways. But Marco's Mom was Visser One, which was the highest- ranking official of all yeerks, other then the council of thirteen of course. The Animorphs knew that one day they would have to come face to face with Visser One, and Marco would have to either die himself or watch the shell of his Mother die.
Cassie shuddered. What a terrible fate, to have to kill your own Mother. She thanked God every day that her parents hadn't been made into Controllers. But then again...who knew? They never knew who wasn't a Controller only who was.
She picked up her shovel and resumed her work, thinking of all the battles they had fought, everything they had lost. Tobias had lost so much, his own body even! But sometimes when Cassie watched him fly or heard him talk, he seemed a lot happier as a hawk which came as no surprise to Cassie, considering what his life was like before. But nothing could ease the pain of learning that Tobias' true father was Elfangor himself, the one who had gave them their morphing powers. Rachel was the only one he had now, Rachel and the others.
Cassie paused, thinking of her best friend. Rachel; the blond, beautiful, super chick. Sometimes it seemed to Cassie that Rachel needed this war. She wasn't the mall-rat gymnast anymore, she was a warrior. Rachel had lost a lot too, not physically but mentally. She had lost her innocence, her naive ways. But Cassie had too, they all had. They were just kids when this all started, they still were. All of them, including Ax, had felt like they had aged at least 5 years. But it seemed to Cassie that Jake had aged the most. When she looked at him, he seemed like a 30 year old, not a teenage boy.
It's not fair, he should be worrying about pimples and grades! Cassie thought furiously to herself. Not about saving the world!
She was so lost in her thoughts that she didn't even notice when Jake came casually strolling into the barn. Cassie, still thinking about how much life sucked now that the yeerks were here, wasn't paying attention and still angrily shoveling manure. Unfortunately, her aim wasn't so good when she was angry.
"Woah Cassie!" Jake yelled, narrowly missing a cow pie that was flung in his direction.
Cassie gasped and turned. "Oh my God, Jake! I didn't even see you there, I'm so sorry!"
Jake laughed and walked over to her.
"What are you doing here?" She asked. "The meeting isn't till two, and it's only," she paused and checked her watch. "Eleven. So what's up?"
"I dunno." He looked around the barn, absentmindedly. "I just thought I would come over and keep you company." His eyes sparkled a little when he said that, and Cassie had to turn or else she was afraid the red blush that was spreading up her cheeks would give her away. She walked over to the barn wall and took off a pitchfork.
"Well, I'm afraid I'll have to put you to work." she said, and handed it to him. "So, pre-battle jitters?"
"Nah," he said, shoving the fork into the mound. "We've had so many, I don't really get nervous anymore. But this is an important one right? One worth fighting?"
Cassie smiled a secret smile. She knew exactly why Jake was here. It was the same reason he always came over. He wanted to make sure that this was okay with her, this battle.
"Jake, any battle we fight is worth it." Was Cassie's simple reply.
"I guess," he said. "You hate this don't you? Hate fighting."
Cassie stopped and leaned her shovel to the side. She turned to him slowly, contemplating the words before she said them. Finally, she spoke slowly.
"Yeah, a little." she said. "I mean you know me, Ms. Tree hugging nut, right? But sometimes we have to do stuff we hate."
Jake smiled a little, but then all the sudden his smile faded, and for a split second, Cassie swore he looked like he was about to cry. He let his pitchfork drop to the ground.
"I'm so sorry Cassie." He said in a barely audible whisper. "For making you go through this. It's not fair."
She took a few stops towards him and tentatively wrapped her arms around him. He kind of flinched but didn't back away. If it had been anywhere else, with Marco cracking a joke or Rachel rolling her eyes, Jake would have pulled away and laughed it off. But here, where they were alone, it didn't matter.
"It's not your fault Jake." She said, resting her head on his shoulder. "None of this is your fault."
He breathed in deep and then gently slipped out of her arms.
"I hope so," he sighed and leaned up against a post.
"Can I tell you something that really scares me?" Cassie asked him. Jake nodded and she continued. "I don't dream anymore. Everyone else has these crazy dreams, nightmares even. But I never dream about battles, or anything bad that happens. Never."
He looked at her, surprised.
"Do you think that's bad?" She asked. "I've thought about it for awhile, and the only reasonable explanation is that I've lost all feelings of guilt. I mean, why else wouldn't I have nightmares?"
She looked down, afraid that he was about to agree with her. But to her surprise he almost started yelling.
"Cassie! Of course not! When you lose your sense of guilt we're all screwed. You are the one who carries the guilt for all of us." He said forcefully. "I mean I'm not saying that none of us feel guilt, but I know you feel the most, and even though that kills me it also comforts me to know that you always will have that."
"But why don't I dream?" She said, almost pleadingly. "What's your explanation for that?"
He paused and thought for a moment. "Well everyone dreams Cassie." He said. "It's a proven fact. Maybe you just don't remember your dreams." Then his face lit up, proving that he had come to some sort of conclusion. "Maybe..."
"What Jake? Tell me." she said, seeing that he had paused.
"Well maybe your dreams are so terrible your brain actually suppresses them."
Cassie thought about it for a minute. "That doesn't make me feel any better." She admitted.
Jake shook his head slowly. "Yeah, me either." He replied. "But there always has to be an explanation." Then he picked up his fork from the ground and started working again.
After a while, the others came in. First was Ax, punctual as ever, and then Tobias right behind him. Marco came in jogging from his run, and Rachel was last, late in fact.
"Sorry I'm late." She said briskly. "My Dad's forgotten what being on time means."
"That's alright Rachel." Jake said wearily. Cassie looked at him with concern. Neither of them had talked to each other after the others had arrived, for all they knew, Jake had come in just before.
"Alright, let's review our situation." He said. He explained their mission again, capturing the free hork bajir seers from Visser Three, and discussed the tactics to get in.
"They are held in a room surrounded by an intricate alarm system. Ax thinks he can de-program the thing, and get them out of there so he's our techy."
"What is a tech, teckyyy, eeee?" Ax asked.
"It's a computer programmer." Marco replied. "I consider myself one."
"Ha!" Rachel scoffed. "You are a gamer Marco. Someone who wastes his life playing badly written computer games and going by the name StudlyMan117 trying to pick up poor, unsuspecting girls."
"How could he pick the girls up if he is not physically near them?" Ax asked before Marco could come up with a snappy comeback.
It's a figure of speech, Ax-man Tobias answered. Picking someone up means asking them out on a date or something along those lines.
"Oh and I'm sure you're the expert on that Tobias." Marco rolled his eyes. "The only things you pick up for a date are mice and rabbits."
That, and the occasional Eagle. Tobias replied. Rachel smiled but no one seemed to notice the obvious use of a metaphor, except for Cassie that is.
"Anyways," Jake continued. "Since Ax is our only hope in busting these Hork Bajir out, we need to cover him. Rachel, you're on battle morph along with me. Cassie and Marco you'll cause a distraction to get us in and then join us later. Tobias, you'll be our eyes in the skies. Everyone got it? Good."
"Let's do it!" Rachel yelled her signature phrase.
"Oh crap," Marco joked. "Now we're screwed."
They morphed slowly into birds of prey and left the barn. The air was buzzing with anticipation as if it knew that a battle was coming. The last thing Cassie remembered before she left the barn was Marco's calculation of only having a .1% chance of winning. She certainly hoped he was wrong.
It wasn't the favorite part of her job, but she had gotten used to it. At first the smell had overpowered her and she could only take small shifts with her parents. The dirtiness hadn't bothered her until she hit puberty. She was no Rachel, but something about being knee deep in cow poop didn't exactly appeal to her then. Now, it was just part of what she did, part of her life.
Cassie sighed and dug her shovel back into the pile of manure. Yes, this definitely was not the favorite part of her job. But on second thought, it was better then fighting the yeerks. Cassie was different then the others. The rest of the Animorphs enjoyed a good fight. Cassie didn't think that any of them liked going into battle, except maybe Rachel, but the battles had grown on them and grudgingly they accepted them as part of their lives, just as Cassie had accepted shoveling manure as part of hers. Except she had never accepted the battles. To her they were all awful and hellish experiences. Cassie was a pacifist, someone who was against war. If it had been any other conflict she wouldn't have joined a side. But this wasn't just any war. She and the four others had watched as Elfangor had been ripped apart by the mouth of the Abomination, Visser Three. Before that, Cassie had just been a normal teenage girl, frustrated by her parents, doing massive amounts of homework, and trying to get up the courage to talk to her long time crush, Jake.
The thought of Jake made Cassie stop what she was doing. Jake, oh Jake. Out of all of them, she felt like Jake had lost the most. Of course they had all sacrificed something in this terrible war. Jake's brother, Tom, and Marco's Mom had both been made in Controllers. The only difference was that Tom's yeerk, though loyal, had no rank, none that was of importance anyways. But Marco's Mom was Visser One, which was the highest- ranking official of all yeerks, other then the council of thirteen of course. The Animorphs knew that one day they would have to come face to face with Visser One, and Marco would have to either die himself or watch the shell of his Mother die.
Cassie shuddered. What a terrible fate, to have to kill your own Mother. She thanked God every day that her parents hadn't been made into Controllers. But then again...who knew? They never knew who wasn't a Controller only who was.
She picked up her shovel and resumed her work, thinking of all the battles they had fought, everything they had lost. Tobias had lost so much, his own body even! But sometimes when Cassie watched him fly or heard him talk, he seemed a lot happier as a hawk which came as no surprise to Cassie, considering what his life was like before. But nothing could ease the pain of learning that Tobias' true father was Elfangor himself, the one who had gave them their morphing powers. Rachel was the only one he had now, Rachel and the others.
Cassie paused, thinking of her best friend. Rachel; the blond, beautiful, super chick. Sometimes it seemed to Cassie that Rachel needed this war. She wasn't the mall-rat gymnast anymore, she was a warrior. Rachel had lost a lot too, not physically but mentally. She had lost her innocence, her naive ways. But Cassie had too, they all had. They were just kids when this all started, they still were. All of them, including Ax, had felt like they had aged at least 5 years. But it seemed to Cassie that Jake had aged the most. When she looked at him, he seemed like a 30 year old, not a teenage boy.
It's not fair, he should be worrying about pimples and grades! Cassie thought furiously to herself. Not about saving the world!
She was so lost in her thoughts that she didn't even notice when Jake came casually strolling into the barn. Cassie, still thinking about how much life sucked now that the yeerks were here, wasn't paying attention and still angrily shoveling manure. Unfortunately, her aim wasn't so good when she was angry.
"Woah Cassie!" Jake yelled, narrowly missing a cow pie that was flung in his direction.
Cassie gasped and turned. "Oh my God, Jake! I didn't even see you there, I'm so sorry!"
Jake laughed and walked over to her.
"What are you doing here?" She asked. "The meeting isn't till two, and it's only," she paused and checked her watch. "Eleven. So what's up?"
"I dunno." He looked around the barn, absentmindedly. "I just thought I would come over and keep you company." His eyes sparkled a little when he said that, and Cassie had to turn or else she was afraid the red blush that was spreading up her cheeks would give her away. She walked over to the barn wall and took off a pitchfork.
"Well, I'm afraid I'll have to put you to work." she said, and handed it to him. "So, pre-battle jitters?"
"Nah," he said, shoving the fork into the mound. "We've had so many, I don't really get nervous anymore. But this is an important one right? One worth fighting?"
Cassie smiled a secret smile. She knew exactly why Jake was here. It was the same reason he always came over. He wanted to make sure that this was okay with her, this battle.
"Jake, any battle we fight is worth it." Was Cassie's simple reply.
"I guess," he said. "You hate this don't you? Hate fighting."
Cassie stopped and leaned her shovel to the side. She turned to him slowly, contemplating the words before she said them. Finally, she spoke slowly.
"Yeah, a little." she said. "I mean you know me, Ms. Tree hugging nut, right? But sometimes we have to do stuff we hate."
Jake smiled a little, but then all the sudden his smile faded, and for a split second, Cassie swore he looked like he was about to cry. He let his pitchfork drop to the ground.
"I'm so sorry Cassie." He said in a barely audible whisper. "For making you go through this. It's not fair."
She took a few stops towards him and tentatively wrapped her arms around him. He kind of flinched but didn't back away. If it had been anywhere else, with Marco cracking a joke or Rachel rolling her eyes, Jake would have pulled away and laughed it off. But here, where they were alone, it didn't matter.
"It's not your fault Jake." She said, resting her head on his shoulder. "None of this is your fault."
He breathed in deep and then gently slipped out of her arms.
"I hope so," he sighed and leaned up against a post.
"Can I tell you something that really scares me?" Cassie asked him. Jake nodded and she continued. "I don't dream anymore. Everyone else has these crazy dreams, nightmares even. But I never dream about battles, or anything bad that happens. Never."
He looked at her, surprised.
"Do you think that's bad?" She asked. "I've thought about it for awhile, and the only reasonable explanation is that I've lost all feelings of guilt. I mean, why else wouldn't I have nightmares?"
She looked down, afraid that he was about to agree with her. But to her surprise he almost started yelling.
"Cassie! Of course not! When you lose your sense of guilt we're all screwed. You are the one who carries the guilt for all of us." He said forcefully. "I mean I'm not saying that none of us feel guilt, but I know you feel the most, and even though that kills me it also comforts me to know that you always will have that."
"But why don't I dream?" She said, almost pleadingly. "What's your explanation for that?"
He paused and thought for a moment. "Well everyone dreams Cassie." He said. "It's a proven fact. Maybe you just don't remember your dreams." Then his face lit up, proving that he had come to some sort of conclusion. "Maybe..."
"What Jake? Tell me." she said, seeing that he had paused.
"Well maybe your dreams are so terrible your brain actually suppresses them."
Cassie thought about it for a minute. "That doesn't make me feel any better." She admitted.
Jake shook his head slowly. "Yeah, me either." He replied. "But there always has to be an explanation." Then he picked up his fork from the ground and started working again.
After a while, the others came in. First was Ax, punctual as ever, and then Tobias right behind him. Marco came in jogging from his run, and Rachel was last, late in fact.
"Sorry I'm late." She said briskly. "My Dad's forgotten what being on time means."
"That's alright Rachel." Jake said wearily. Cassie looked at him with concern. Neither of them had talked to each other after the others had arrived, for all they knew, Jake had come in just before.
"Alright, let's review our situation." He said. He explained their mission again, capturing the free hork bajir seers from Visser Three, and discussed the tactics to get in.
"They are held in a room surrounded by an intricate alarm system. Ax thinks he can de-program the thing, and get them out of there so he's our techy."
"What is a tech, teckyyy, eeee?" Ax asked.
"It's a computer programmer." Marco replied. "I consider myself one."
"Ha!" Rachel scoffed. "You are a gamer Marco. Someone who wastes his life playing badly written computer games and going by the name StudlyMan117 trying to pick up poor, unsuspecting girls."
"How could he pick the girls up if he is not physically near them?" Ax asked before Marco could come up with a snappy comeback.
It's a figure of speech, Ax-man Tobias answered. Picking someone up means asking them out on a date or something along those lines.
"Oh and I'm sure you're the expert on that Tobias." Marco rolled his eyes. "The only things you pick up for a date are mice and rabbits."
That, and the occasional Eagle. Tobias replied. Rachel smiled but no one seemed to notice the obvious use of a metaphor, except for Cassie that is.
"Anyways," Jake continued. "Since Ax is our only hope in busting these Hork Bajir out, we need to cover him. Rachel, you're on battle morph along with me. Cassie and Marco you'll cause a distraction to get us in and then join us later. Tobias, you'll be our eyes in the skies. Everyone got it? Good."
"Let's do it!" Rachel yelled her signature phrase.
"Oh crap," Marco joked. "Now we're screwed."
They morphed slowly into birds of prey and left the barn. The air was buzzing with anticipation as if it knew that a battle was coming. The last thing Cassie remembered before she left the barn was Marco's calculation of only having a .1% chance of winning. She certainly hoped he was wrong.