Thanks for all of your reviews and other stuff... Haha. Don't worry, I know this story is long, but - like I said before - I like to drag things out, and I like to make suspense. Fret not, young'n, for 'tis almost done! Besides, I like this one, and I hope you (the audience) like it too. From the sounds of it you do, and I hope it stays that way. Haha. Luv y'all! Thankies!

DISCLAIMER: I DON'T OWN THIS SHOW, BOOK OR ITS CHARACTERS! DON'T YOU UNDERSTAND YET?? I DON'T OWN THEM? HOW MANY TIMES DO I HAVE TO TELL YOU THAT?? WHY DO I HAVE TO CONTINUOUSLY TELL YOU THAT I DON'T OWN IT??

(Just making a point.)

XXX

Chapter 13

The Discussion

"I talked to Jamie," Jake announced at our next meeting in Cassie's barn. We weren't able to be there at our last meeting because her dad had been busy with some raccoon's intestines or something like that (I know: ew). He continued, "She admitted to being the Mystery Hunter and now she's officially our ally. She already knew who we were, having memorized our morphs, names and voices previously from being in battles with us so much. She only wants to meet with me, because I'm the, uh…" He hesitated, his face going slightly pink at the words he was about to say. He never liked the concept of being our leader, so even just saying it made him twitchy. I guess he just didn't want to sound too full of himself. "You know," he finished uncomfortably, "leader."

"How do we know she's really on our side?" I asked suddenly. I hadn't really meant to, but the fact that Jamie was my ally was just wrong. I hated her, and now I was supposed to work alongside her?! Ugh! The concept itself was just repulsive! I couldn't believe she had been my idol for at least two weeks! I felt my heart being gripped with fury every time I thought about it. "I mean, how do we know she's not just a Controller trying to get on our good side so she can turn us in later?" Besides, how could he expect me to trust someone who killed her own father? No, a voice told me in the back of my head. No, Rachel, don't think like that. Weren't you the one who decided that she couldn't have done that?

"I've thought about that," said Jake. I snorted incredulously, like "yeah right"! Jake sent me a look and I rolled my eyes, but he continued. "I got her to tell me her entire story from the start and she sounds legit. She's been a Controller twice, but she's been serving the opposite side from Visser Three ever since the second Yeerk. She fought both of them with all she had, and…" He looked at Ax now, his face completely blank. "Ax, I need to ask you something, because I thought this was weird. I've never heard of it happening before, not even the Andalite body Visser Three has been able to do this, that I know of."

(What is it Prince Jake?) Ax asked. Jake cringed at the name the alien gave him, but continued nonetheless.

"Here's what really got me, and it confused me a lot too, but she didn't seem to know it was unusual in any way: she said that she beat the Yeerks and that she got her sister to tie her up the second time so she couldn't go anywhere. The first time she apparently tied herself up. I mean, I didn't see anything else weird about her, except her loss of sight, but considering the crash two years ago, that's not so unusual." He paused, as if debating on whether to tell us more.

(Is that all, Prince Jake?) Ax's voice was expectant.

"Ax, don't call me that."

(Yes Prince Jake.) Jake sighed, knowing that no matter how many times he told him not to tell him that, he would continue.

"No, it's not all. She said… she said the crash was caused by Visser Three and that he killed her friend Petra, and it was how she became a Controller in the first place. The others were all unconscious by then. She was the unlucky one who was still awake, and frankly, I don't care what you say, Rachel, because I think she was still awake for a reason."

"Do you know what that reason was?" I said rudely.

"Rachel, please…" Cassie coaxed, touching my arm. I grimaced, but I stopped bashing the freak anyway.

"There's something else too," Marco said suddenly. It was the first thing he had said in a while, which was weird for him, but I decided to let him speak -- with a look from Cassie.

"There is?" I asked anyway. "Wow, I knew she was a freak, but this many weird things about her is just wrong!" I laughed, but Cass just sent me one of her famous I-know-I'm-not-you-mother-but-listen-to-me-anyway looks. I shut up then, and tried not to open my mouth again after that. It was hard, but I seemed to manage... somewhat.

"She threatened me as a badger today," Marco said, and all of our heads turned swiftly toward him. "I mean, not as an entire badger, but she changed some of her features to be a badger. I think she might be like Cassie -- you know, like she can kind of control the amount of the animal she turns into? She only turned her throat and teeth into a badger's, and she threatened me because I was being kind of an idiot. Rachel, don't comment," he added, as if reading my mind.

I smirked, only just holding back all of the mean jokes I had in store for him. "Later," I reassured him. "I would never make you miss out on something so important, Marco. It's a ritual for us; we can't go for at least a day without making fun of each other. You know that," I said, despite my efforts to keep my mouth shut. I smirked, but for once, Marco was completely serious and didn't even crack a smile. In my opinion he was spending way too much time with Jake. I was trying to lighten the mood, which was usually what he did, but he wasn't even trying at the moment, and someone had to. And I was the most bitter person there at the moment. How ironic, huh?

"Wait, she threatened you?" Jake demanded, sounding outraged. "Why would she do that?"

"I kind of… uh… made fun of her somehow. Don't ask. I was being an idiot, it's over with. I know what will happen to me if I do it again, so it's over," Marco said awkwardly.

(Oh, don't tell me you were yourself around her,) Tobias said from the rafters sarcastically. He was in his red-tailed hawk body and was scouting for other people, just in case they decided to barge in and get freaked out by an Andalite and a talking bird. (Girls hate that -- as long as it has to do with you, that is.) I couldn't help but snicker at that, but I kept it quiet in case someone actually heard it aside from Ax or Tobias, who both had incredible hearing.

"Well apparently she agrees with you and Rachel." Marco sounded depressed now, and I almost felt sorry for him. "But that's not the point." He perked up. "The point is, she's not normal! If she's been a Controller twice and killed both of them with no help, and she's able to control her morphs perfectly, even more than Cassie, it can only mean one thing: she's not human! She can't be! I don't know what she is."

"Alright, let's not get ahead of ourselves," Jake said. "I mean, I don't know what this is, but let's not jump to conclusions. I know she is -- she looks like one, she acts like one, and she's raised by them. I mean--"

(Not necessarily,) Ax cut in, and we all looked at him, his Andalite eyes intent as the ones on stalks swiveled round excitedly. (I haven't heard of a case like this in years. Actually, I've only heard stories about them. I never knew they actually existed.)

"Never knew what existed?" Cassie asked cautiously.

Ax's stalk eyes swiveled round to face us now, looking intensely at all of us as we stared at him expectantly. (Gotika,) he replied simply. (They are the ancestors of the Andalites, they are where the morphing technology began. They are incredibly powerful creatures who not only manipulate their morphing powers, but they are able to override a Yeerk because their minds are adapted to slavery. They have been slaves to the Yeerks for such a long time, I would not be surprised if some of the people on your Earth are Gotika in disguise. Their minds are small and have some sort of shell around them to stop the Yeerks from controlling them completely. There is always some sort of control left over that they have over the Yeerk. And despite the sizes of their minds, they are incredibly intelligent. Possibly more intelligent than Andalites. They are water creatures who are able to control almost anything and/or everything in their environment.)

(Wait, I thought you told us that Andalites made the morphing technology, not any other creature,) Tobias pointed out.

(I did, but that was before I knew that Gotiki actually existed. Well, they did not officially create the morphing technology, but technically they contributed to it.) He paused as if to let it soak in, as if to let us guess inwardly before he continued. Before he did, however, Marco piped up with another stupid question of his.

"Gotiki?" he inquired.

"I think it's plural for Gotika," Cassie said, clearing it up for him.

"Oh. OK, go on," he added to Ax. "Like cactus and cacti?"

"Yes, like cactus and cacti," Cassie replied patiently.

"What's so special about these Gotiki anyway?" asked Jake. "How did they contribute to the morphing technology?"

(We needed something to start with. No one really knew how we acquired the basis for the technology, but it was in the myth about the Gotiki: it was a Gotika's genes that was the basis for the technology, who gave it to an Andalite one day, and the Andalite found out how to use it to make the power our own, because the Gotika noted that we needed it to help defend ourselves against the Yeerks and other threats. The legend says that the one who gave the gene was named Jamaia, a great female warrior, who created a whole new history for the Gotiki by handing over her morphing genes.)

"So this means that the Gotiki have this gene naturally?" I suggested, intrigued. "Does this mean that Jamie is a Gotika?" My resentment increased for some unidentified reason.

"No," Jake argued, as if he knew everything. "No, because Jamie said that when she touched a cube, she felt an instant change inside her. She said she gained the morphing power by touching the cube."

(A/N: This is before David, for all you people who know about his betrayal and all that crudeness.)

(There are many Gotiki who have been sent to Earth in their parents' hopes that they would be the ones to bring this world to peace; they have known about this war for longer than my race has, and have sent many of their race to help you at an incredibly young age, but none have come out to discover what they were and just thought they were human their entire life, their morphing abilities gone because they have not been used for such a long time. But when your friend Jamie--)

"She's not our friend," I snapped, unable to help myself that time. Jake short me a look, but I ignored it.

(I apologize. When your ally Jamie touched the cube, her morphing abilities must have been recalled, as well as her warrior spirit. She seems to have one as strong as Rachel's,) Ax finished, making a huge mistake by saying James was anything like me. I opened my mouth to yell something, but Jake cut in suddenly, making sure I didn't get a chance to talk.

"So she could still have a chance at being a Gotika," he mused. Ax nodded his blue Andalite head. "You know, it does make sense." Another pang of anger hit me at that, but I managed to hold back any snide comments.

"So you think she could be this new Gotika who saves the human race?" asked Marco, almost jokingly. "I mean, yes it makes sense, but she's just another kid like us. Even if she was a Gotika, do you really think she would even know?"

(She must find out somehow. Perhaps another Gotika would come to confront her,) Ax suggested.

(Maybe one already has,) Tobias put in.

There was silence for a long time, while we all contemplated our own theories about the girl supposedly named Jamie. I needed to get close to her again, to see what she really was. But how would I do that without being seen? I hated the idea, but I knew that I needed to, just to get a closer look at her. Just to see who she was with and what was going on with her. Then I remembered the newscast about the transforming owl, and how Jamie was still missing -- yet we all saw her at school the other day. So I guessed she hadn't gone back home, if she was still considered "missing".

I knew now that the owl was her and that she was missing because she didn't want to be blamed for her own father's death, but she would find a way to get back at the person who did this -- at least, that's what I would do. If someone killed a member of my family, I would kill them. But we weren't that similar were we? No, we couldn't be. She was Jamie and I was Rachel. I went shopping every weekend and she hung out with three bullies every weekend. We were nothing like each other. It was impossible for us to get along.

I knew she wouldn't be stupid enough to go to the school again; she only went that one day because she needed to get into contact with Jake, and apparently Marco. She wouldn't go back there, so I would have to find her. She couldn't be far from the forest, if she knew what she was now. There was a small lake near the forest and abandoned coves from golden eagles around it -- wait a minute. Didn't Cassie say she saw Jamie as a golden eagle? Huh. Funny how the world works in my favor sometimes. Although I really didn't want to see her.