Hello! This chapter was extremely long and hard in the writing process.

All the alien talk is written in English, because this is from Nat/Will's perspective and she has a translator implanted in her head.


Tom went home the next day. Natasha had heard secondhand from Jake that he had been grounded. Two days missing was enough to worry the adults, but Tom didn't mind being grounded. He was free, so he was completely ecstatic.

It had turned out they had nabbed him on his second day, so it didn't take as long to kill the Yeerk as it could have. And two days could easily be explained. The story was, according to Jake, Tom had been out all night with Nat, then had work to do at the Sharing all day, and finally crashed at one of his friends' house. He'd meant to call but had forgotten.

In the meantime, Natalie had gotten into a bit of a difficult spot with her fellow Yeerks. Having to check up on them at random intervals, especially when they wanted to be left alone, was starting to make her one of the unlikable coworkers, so to speak. Her mere presence was making Yeerks annoyed, though they weren't going to say anything, for fear of Visser Three. They mostly pretended to ignore her.

"Natasha! Nat, my dad wants to talk to you!" Melissa Chapman, coming to get her. "Natasha, are you hearing me?"

"Yes, Melissa, I hear you loud and clear." She walked back to where Melissa and her dad were at. "Mr. Chapman?"

"Your science project is late. I just would like you to know that as you have already missed ten days this semester, if your grades start to slip, you will be enlisted in summer school. Your friend Rachel is almost certainly headed that way also, so I do hope you don't spend all your time talking to one another. It would be a complete waste of knowledge, and it would be terrible for such a bright girl to end up in a poor job because she wasn't trying hard enough."

"Yes, Mr. Chapman."

"And, Natasha? Next time, don't skip school for a boyfriend. You're a teenager. It isn't worth it, trust me."

"Yes, Mr. Chapman." He left, and Natasha puzzled over what he'd said. It's a code, from a Yeerk to a Yeerk. Will said.

I suppose you've got it all figured out? Or you are perhaps seeing trees where there is only a shrub?

Several ideas and pictures flashed through Natasha's mind, including some mystery novels. Sorry, what? You're not thinking in words.

Sorry. I seem to be doing that more often. Like a whale.

What does a whale have to do with anything?

Nothing, and your little weirdism doesn't make sense. Chapman was trying to tell you that you aren't trying hard enough at your job. And that he suspects Rachel and Tom, and you should check up on them. Also, he's threatening you with the "poor job" part.

Seems like you're a natural Nancy Drew.

I read a lot. Natasha shook her head and walked home, having missed the bus. It started to rain. Damn it! It seemed that Mother Nature had a serious grudge against her, because it came down in gallons. Then, something bigger than a raindrop hit her on the head. She grabbed it out of her hair. It was a tiny frog. It may not be raining cats and dogs, but it sure is more than just water.

The frog might have just been evaporated up into the clouds when it was an egg. Stuff like that happens fairly frequently.

Since when? What reality are you living in?

Currently? Yours. Considering it a sign from something, Natasha acquired the frog. Then she finished trudging home in the downpour.

When she banged open her front door, her mom looked up from the newspaper and said, "You didn't try to walk home in that, did you? Why weren't you home on the bus?"

"Is Dad home yet?" Natasha asked, shutting the door.

"No."

"Thanks to our wonderful assistant principal, I missed the bus." Natasha took off her soaked shoes and socks and proceeded to her room, saying, "It isn't quite raining cats and dogs out there, but you might catch a tadpole if you're lucky."

Natasha changed into pajamas and threw her wet clothes into the wash machine along with the rest of her laundry, then started it. "I'm going to bed!"

"Do you have any homework that's do tomorrow?"

Probably. "No!" Natasha collapsed onto her bed and promptly fell asleep.

She was flying a Bug Fighter. Her copilot, a Hork-Bajir, looked over at her and quickly tried to cut her head off. "Animorph!" he shouted. She ducked and tried to get the hatch to open, then remembered that she was in outer space and if the hatch opened, she would die. No, that couldn't be right. She was only reading a story. But why was the Taxxon trying to eat her if it was only a story?

Wait, that wasn't right either. Suddenly, her copilot was forcing her head into a pool. No! She couldn't become a Yeerk again, Tom was okay. She tried to breathe. It wasn't Yeerk sludge, it was blood. Why was it blood?

It is not blood. You are dreaming. Who was that? Wake up, dunderhead. Natasha woke up at the sound of her alarm clock. Also, you might want to demorph. You're halfway to frog.

"I can't morph a frog," Natasha tried to say, but it came out "Rrrupt, ribbit rrrt rrt." Not bothering to open her eyes, Natasha focused on herself and felt the changes happen.

Now that you're human, open your eyes and look toward your dresser. Natasha did so, and jumped involuntarily. Leaning against her dresser was a halfway transparent girl. She had gray hair, a gray shirt, and faded pink pants. The girl herself seemed pretty faded. I gave your mother quite a scare this morning. I didn't realize she could see me, and I can even project my thoughts to her. She thought, of course, that I was a ghost.

"Well, aren't you? Aren't you a ghost who's been haunting me?"

Will frowned thoughtfully. I'm not entirely sure. The last thing I remember before being in your head is drowning in ink. Maybe I am a ghost, but I can't project a "self" for very long. Only fifteen minutes or so.

"Only fifteen minutes or so is still pretty decent. Are you going to be projecting to others as well?"

Probably not unless I have to. This does cost me energy, like if I was sprinting. Or morphing. And what's the point of scaring people? Will started to fade away noticeably, and disappeared instantly.

Natasha wondered if she was still asleep. She pinched herself, and then went down to breakfast.

xxx

"Hello?"

"Hey, Rachel."

"Oh, hi Nat. How are you?"

"Better, now that the whole Yeerk news has died down. I can't believe people actually believed that stuff."

"Yeah, well, these are humans we're talking about."

Natasha laughed. "Yep, for better or for worse. Say, could you tell Tom that I'm taking a trip, far away? I tried to call myself, but it was his little brother who answered. Very annoying, trying to talk to people when their siblings answer the phone. Always want to know what's going on. I told him to kiss Tom for me because the Yeerks were going to steal me away. It seemed to irritate him, as he hung up on me."

"Like he's really going to kiss his brother? He is our age, you know."

"Yeah, I know." Natasha hung up. Then she took a deep breath to steady her nerves. While this wasn't her first space trip, it was the first time she was going into an active war zone. Besides Earth, you mean. Why do you switch missions so quickly?

Because I work for four bosses, and none of them like each other. Natasha grabbed her bag, which included one change of clothes, her Dracon beam, a book, and a handheld computer. She tied the bag around her waist and slipped off to the meeting place.

xxx

"I might remind you that we are going into a war zone Artiss-seven-four-four, and not a vacation site." Will looked up from the book she was reading. A Sstram was glaring pointedly at her book. It was black as space and a bit monkey-like, with an ape-like face and four chimp feet, but it had a tail like a certain dinosaur, thick and spiky on the end. The Sstram's hands gestured wildly, with its seven fingers dancing like the creature was trying to cast a spell.

Will sighed and snapped the book shut. "What do you want?"

"One of your companions call for you." The Sstram was making no efforts to hide his dislike of those who had just come from Earth. "He thinks that I am a common errand runner."

"Which obviously you are, or you would have told my companion to find me himself." Will left the fuming Sstram. Aboard this ship were Yeerks who were under the orders of three different Vissers. Those under Visser Seven tolerated the rest, but those under Vissers Three and Four had an open rivalry, though not yet to the point of violence. They couldn't do anything about their situation, but they could not get into much trouble by constant arguing and insults.

A Hork-Bajir was walking beside her. Will tripped and her hand automatically shot out at him, grabbing his arm and also knocking him off balance. They both fell to the metal floor and Will quickly acquired him. He was not one of those who went into a trance when being acquired as he immediately got up, shouting, "You stupid human! Worthless, constantly getting off balance and unnecessarily bringing down others! I should-"

"Shut up," said a Gedd-Controller. "Honestly, you are one of the most irritating people that I have ever seen! It isn't Artiss's fault that she was assigned to a human! Leave those of Visser Three alone and try to keep the peace!" The Hork-Bajir angrily stomped off. The Gedd turned to her. "And you do the same!" Then the Gedd ambled off in a different direction.

"Aye, aye, captain." Will continued to walk to where her companions were.

xxx

"The Sstram actually got you?" Sharthum two-one-four asked in disbelief. He was a human, in fact, a famous singer.

"Yes, he got me, though he did make a big fuss about it."

"Of course. None of us have seen you in two days. Where have you been?"

"Bored out of my mind. Where have you been?"

"Artiss, I do not appreciate you sarcasm."

"Neither do I, it's just one of those annoying things that come naturally."

"I have to wonder how much of this is just you and how much is your host, since sarcasm does not come naturally to most Yeerks."


A/N: Thank you all for reviewing and reading and suggesting book titles and anything else I am forgetting that pertains to this story!

Ze Booke Pial:

Animorphs

Eragon

Ze Possible Bookes of Ze Pial:

Bambi

A Brief History of Time

Universe in a Nutshell

Man who Listens to Horses

Shy Boy

(Agatha Christie)

(More that I am forgetting)

Darth Krande, are you suggesting Harry Potter or just thinking aloud?

I just read over the guidelines again, and I saw that I can't do Magician because it's not allowed. Dang it! And I was looking forward to it, too.