Yes! Chapter 1! I decided to post this at the same time as the prologue because frankly, I didn't like the prologue. Now this chapter has heavy Animorphs world building, but to people who are new to the Animorphs, Hakuna Matata. Hopefully there's enough information in this chapter to give you a solid introduction to their characters.


~Rachel~

A very musty and familiar scent tickled my nose as I slowly woke up. If it wasn't for the fact that I felt too comfortable to be sleeping on hay, I would've though I spent the night in Cassie's barn. I rolled over as I tried to get my nose away from the smell, but it was everywhere. The argument that I was in Cassie's barn became stronger when, I felt an itchy stalk of barn hay scratching the edge of my mouth. Those dratted stalks probably covered my hair already; I could already see the hours of work it would take to fix this bed head.

Oh, right, I almost forgot to introduce myself. I'm Rachel. It's just Rachel, my last name is confidential. Before you ask, no, I am not a government spy or undercover private investigator. I'm a typical sixteen-year-old girl who likes to shop, hang out at the mall, practice gymnastics, and fight aliens on a weekly basis. If you're confused, be prepared for a long-winded explanation of how I've lived my teenaged years. If you accepted fifth sentence of this paragraph without any questions, feel free to skip this next part.

When I was thirteen years old, four of my friends and I decided to take a short cut home from the mall through an abandoned construction site. As luck—or something else—would have it, an alien spaceship crashed down in front of us. It was like being in a cheap sci-fi movie, except there was no little green men saying, "Take us to your leader!" Instead, a four-eyed, mouthless blue centaur with a scorpion tail walked out of the ship. He was half-dead, but he took the time to warn us that our planet was being invaded. In fact, the invasion had been going on for decades.

Yeerkshe had called them—were parasites that looked like little more than long, grey slugs. They could slip into the ears of unwilling hosts, and then they wormed their way to the brain. From there they could control the host by overriding their brain's control of the body. We called the Yeerks with human hosts human-controllers . One of their many advantages was their access to all of their hosts' memories, which allowed their infestation to remain mostly unnoticed. Close friends and family members would be able to notice a difference in the host, but who would ever assume that the changes would be caused by a parasitic alien invader?

The one exploitable weakness of the Yeerks is their need to feed. The food their host eats provides no nourishment to them; instead, they have to exit their host to absorb Kandora rays. Since Kandora rays weren't naturally found on Earth, they relied on a machine to create artificial Kandora rays over pools where countless Yeerks would swim in. Basically, the Yeerks would get an artificial suntan while bathing in a small swimming pool. It must be a fun activity for a Yeerk, but looking at all those writhing slugs waiting to acquire a host made me sick.

Now, where was I? Or right, the centaur—Andalite, actually—was Prince Elfangor. He told us that his people would be coming to aid us, but they would take at least three years to reach us. By that time, the Yeerks would've already won the war. As a last-ditch effort, he used a small blue cube from his spaceship to give us a power his race had produced through advanced technology, morphing. With the ability to morph, any animal we touched would have their DNA stored in our bodies, and we would be able to use that form for two hours at a time. Elfangor gave us as much information as he could, but then he ushered us away before he died. Well, that's the nice way of putting it. Actually, one of his enemies—who soon became the bane our existence—ate our new alien friend alive. The memory of that still gives me nightmares.

After making we made a swift and rather cowardly retreat, we decided that we would use our powers to defend Earth until the reinforcements arrived. Since we were officially a "superhero team" our group clown Marco decided we should call ourselves the Animorphs. Since the dubbing of our group name, we've acquired a new member, another Andalite name Ax, the kid brother of Elfangor. We've been fighting for about three years, waiting for the promised Andalite reinforcements to allow us to end this war once and for all.

What happened last night? I wondered I tried to make sense of what was going on around me. Then, I mentally shrugged. Breakfast smells ready, so all other questions can wait, I decided.

I immediately rolled over and stood up, only to clumsily fall to the ground again. "Ouch," I muttered. Then I licked the roof of my mouth with my tongue. Gah! It feels like I have fuzz all over my tongue! I inwardly complained. To make it even worse, my balance is horrible! What did I do to myself last night?

I stared at the barn ceiling as if I was looking for answers. Then I frowned. "That doesn't look right," I murmured quietly. This roof resembled the one in Cassie's barn, but after all the time we had spent there, I could tell that this not our old meeting place. Wait, our old meeting place! Suddenly, I remembered that my friends and I had fled our homes a few months ago when we realized Yeerks were at the verge of discovering that we were human children instead of a handful of leftover Andalite warriors. I wasn't safe in a barn; I wasn't safe anywhere around civilization! I immediately sprang up again but fell flat on my face this time.

"Come on, legs, work," I grumbled softly, hoping no one was nearby to see or hear that. My legs felt fine, so I decided to look down to see why I was having trouble. When I did so, I nearly screamed.

Luckily, my life in an alien war allowed me to adapt to even the craziest of circumstances. Which is why, despite my shock, I managed to keep my head when I realized that my entire body was covered in fur. In fact, this wasn't my body at all. I quickly realized I was in a cat morph, but it was an unfamiliar one. The only cat morph I had was Fluffer McKitty, the pet of my friend Melissa, and he was a black and white house cat. The cat body I was in had very long fur that was brown in color, except for my paws, which were a reddish ginger. But not only was this body strikingly different in appearances, it also felt different. McKitty had very soft instincts of hunting and playing, as expected of a neutered housecat. This cat's instincts were geared towards fighting and survival. Not only was its mind built for survival, but so were its muscles! As McKitty I was surprised to find I could jump three times my height, but as this cat I literally felt like I could do it. My muscles weren't bulky, but they were solid. Whatever cat I had acquired wasn't a fat housecat or a scrawny alley cat, it was a prime wildcat.

Still, I was bothered that I didn't remember acquiring or morphing into this cat. A panicking thought hit me. How long have I been in morph?

Earlier I said that the time limit for morphing was two hours, right? Well, I didn't quite explain that properly. One could stay in morph for longer, but then they would be a nothlit: a person trapped in morph, forever. Tobias, my not-quite-boyfriend, was trapped as a red-tail hawk after our first battle against the Yeerks. Luckily, he managed to regain his ability to morph a few months later, but he was an exception to the rule. If my fears were true, then I would be stuck as a furry feline ball of muscle for the rest of my life. I quickly imagined my human self, my long and flowing blond hair, my tall and slim feminine figure, and my striking blue eyes. I held my breath for several seconds, but I couldn't feel any changes to my body.

I hung my head as the reality sunk in. "It's not the end of the world, Rachel. Tobias lived as hawk for three years and he's happier than ever. I could do the same." Unsurprisingly, my pep talk did nothing to lift my spirits. I decided to switch tactics and see if any of my teammates were in the area. {Jake! Cassie! Marco! Ax! Tobias!} I tried to call out mentally.

My bad, I forgot to mention earlier that while we were in morph we were capable of using thought-speak—a form of telepathy—to communicate. Using thought-speak allowed us to have private conversations as long as we were in the same general area, which is why I began to get really worried when no responded after a few seconds. {Jake? Tobias! Is anyone there? Cassie! Marco, this had better not be your idea of a joke! Aximilli-Esgarrouth-Isthill! Hello? Anyone there? Hello!}

I waited a few moments, but I still received no response. It was official, they were rather out of range, or unable to respond. Both situations were not encouraging. I sprang to my feet—no, paws—and looked around for a way to escape… wherever I was. As I surveyed my surroundings, I realized that I was not in ordinary barn. From my perch in the loft, I could see horses standing in their stalls, and riding equipment hanging on pegs on the wall.

"What am I doing in a stable?" I wondered aloud. Deciding that I wasn't going to get any answers by standing around, I looked for a way to reach the ground floor. The closest thing I had to a landing pad was a stall divider that a good couple of feet below the loft I was standing on. With practiced ease I slipped into my feline instincts and made the jump. It was short, but it felt exhilarating. I then jumped down into the stall, landing in a pile of hay next to the stall's occupant. The horse neighed and took a few steps away from me, but it thankfully didn't go into a panic.

The feline in me was dying for more exercise, but I had other things on my mind. I had to go find the others, and it was obvious that I wasn't going to be able to reach them through thought-speak. Since I obviously couldn't shout for them, I was going to have to search the hard way. Slipping under the stall's door, I spied the door to the barn slightly ajar. I began to make my way to it when a sudden caterwaul had me twist around in surprise.

A horse was neighing and moving restlessly in one of the stalls. I sighed. It was probably just some barn cat. I had turned towards the door again when I heard a familiar voice yell, "Honey, someone shrunk me!"

Only one person could have been making ridiculous movie references while screaming in utter terror. "Marco?" I darted towards the stall and skidded under the door. With disappointment, I realized that there was only an unfamiliar small grey cat rolling around and scaring the horse. Then I heard it talk.

"My legs! I can't find my legs!" the cat exclaimed as it—he, I mentally corrected—kicked out his short legs. "Eek! Not my legs! Not my legs! Not my legs! I really don't like this dream! I've never been a cat in my nightmares! I need to wake up! Battling Yeerks is better than this!"

"Marco?" I asked cautiously.

The grey cat ceased his frantic rolling as his eyes met mine. "Xena?" he asked. Then he rolled onto his legs. "Woah, you know, I've dreamed of you before, but not like this! Are you here to take me to the land of reality?"

I rolled my eyes. Marco was famous for his ability to make light out of any serious situation. "Marco, this is reality," I told him. "Wake up and smell the daisies."

He jumped to his paws. "Okay…" he said slowly as he sized me up. "Yeah, not buying it. If this was real then I would definitely not be, well, here. Plus, I'm a cat. A tiny, fuzz brained, cat. Seriously? I wouldn't dream of myself being this short. This is beyond insane."

"Are you trapped in morph too?" I asked.

This time he rolled his eyes. "Nope! I just decided to stay in the body of this cute little fuzzball for the fun of it!" he said chirpily.

"Marco, we're trapped in cat morphs and I really don't need your sass right now," I growled. I couldn't tell if he really thought he was dreaming or if this was just his way of coping, but I seriously did not have time for this.

"Xena. Xena. Xena. Simple figment of my imagination, Xena," he said as he shook his head ruefully. "You should know that I wouldn't be tricked so easily." He attempted wag a finger, but he ended up only waving his paw. "I know as well as the next Animorph that we can only communicate through thought-speak while in morph. If we were really trapped in morph, you would be mewing."

I stopped short. He was right. "Do you think… we're sharing the same dream?" I asked. It's possible. In fact, it wouldn't be the strangest thing that's happened in the past three years.

He shook his head. "My dear, Rachel, I am dreaming. You are simply a figment of my imagination." Then his eyes narrowed. "Unless this is some sort of Yeerk trick."

Unfortunately, he made a good point. The Yeerks had a variety of technology at their disposal, and I doubted that we could really dismiss dream simulation as a possibility. "If this a Yeerk trick, then I'm not part of it," I assured him. "And I can prove it."

"How?" he asked suspiciously.

I pounced on him, catching him completely by surprise. I made good use of my larger size and weight, keeping him pressed to ground with still one paw free. His eyes widened in terror as I unsheathed my claws and brought them closer to his face. He fixed his eyes in a steely gaze, determined not to show weakness in front of me. I took my time to aim, and brought my paw down.

"Ow!" he yowled as I cuffed his ear with the flat of my paw. "What was…?" his voice trailed off as I started giggling. He took the opportunity to wiggle free of my grip, but I was laughing too hard to care.

"Your… face…" I got out between gasps. "Priceless!" I fell on my side as I continued to laugh at his expense.

"Ho hum," he grumbled as he began to groom his messy fur. He spat out a few stray hairs when he realized that he was doing. "Wait, I'm not dreaming?"

I snorted as I rolled to my feet. "No duh, idiot."

"That means we're both trapped in cat morphs," he realized. "But I've been sending out thought-speak messages! Did you just ignore them all?"

I paused. "No," I replied in the confusion. "Did you hear any of mine?"

He shook his head.

There was an awkward silence as we digested this information.

"So… any ideas?" I asked him.

He thought about it for a moment. "Let's recap. We're both trapped in cat morphs. Neither of us is receiving thought-speak messages; which means we both just can't receive them, or we aren't actually sending them. Neither option sounds pleasant. From this I can conclude… we need to find the others and figure out what's going on."

If I still had hands, I would have facepalmed. "Way to string me up there, genius," I grumbled. "Now how do you suppose we find the others without thought-speak?"

"Simple, my dear Xena," he replied with as close to a British accent he could muster. "We shout at the top of our lungs until they hear us."

I raised an eyebrow. "No, seriously, how do we find them?" I asked.

"Just watch and see, my dear," he said with a wink. Then he yowled. I winced at the sharpness, and the horse in the stall with us shared the same feelings. Marco soon changed his tune to a screech of alarm as we escaped under the stall door.

"What's happening?" I could hear Jake ask.

"Prince Jake!" Ax's voice filled with panic. "Why do I have a mouth?"

"Guys? Where are you?" Cassie, thankfully, sounded more confused than panicked.

"My wings!" Tobias screeched from the loft. "What's happened to me?"

"They sleep through your comedy act but decided to wake up now?" I grumbled.

Marco gave me a sly smirk before addressing the other Animorphs. "Attention, my fellow Animorphs! I'm afraid we are all trapped in the bodies of domesticated felines! Please remain calm and try to make your way down to the first floor, in front of the third to stall to your right from the door. Thank you and have Yeerk free day!"

I cuffed his ear. "Did you seriously think that would help?" I asked as I heard the sounds of shifting hay.

He shrugged. "It got their attention and gave directions. I'd say it was pretty effective."

From one of the empty stalls a large ginger tabby stepped out. "Marco?" it asked in Jake's voice.

"In the flesh!" Marco replied perkily. Then he looked himself over. "Well, kinda sorta," he amended.

"What's going on?" A slim black cat asked as she clambered out of a pile of hay on the far side of the barn. Surprisingly, I could hear her quite clearly despite the distance. A perk of super-sensitive cat ears.

"Cassie?" I guessed.

"Rachel?" she asked as her eyes widened. It almost looked like she was about to cry.

"Prince Jake? Tobias?" A long-legged grey cat asked as he ducked out from a stall. "Does anyone know what happened to us?"

"I'd gladly give them a piece of my mind if I did," a tortoiseshell growled from a loft. Two swift hops later and he was standing with the rest of us. "If this is someone's idea of a joke, I do not find it funny." His eyes were narrowed into thin slits.

Now that we were all together, I took a closer look at each of our new bodies. Marco had a very short coat of grey fur. I took note of a thin silver stripe that ran from the back of his neck to the start of his tailbone. His eyes were deep amber color; and, as usual, he was easily the shortest member of our group. He stood at least a head shorter than I did, and I wasn't a giant by feline standards. Still, I could see that despite his stature he was not lacking in muscle. His body was very compact for someone of his size.

Cassie's fur was sleek and completely black with no markings at all. Unlike Marco and I, she had a lean and lithe body. Despite this, I could see toned muscles under her fur. Her eyes were golden, reminding me of her wolf morph. Cassie stood taller than Marco—no surprise there—but still had to tilt her head up to look me in the eye.

Tobias easily had the most distinctive appearance of our group. He had a mottled tortoiseshell pelt, which I remember Cassie telling me was unusually for tomcats. His underbelly was white, and his tail was distinctly ginger. His eyes were a familiar golden amber color that I recognized from his old hawk body. Mentally, I decided that this was really starting to look like someone's idea of a bad joke. Tobias had a lean body type like Cassie, but he was slightly more muscular. And although he wasn't right next to Cassie for comparison, I approximated that they were around the same height.

Ax was easily the tallest of our group. He stood almost a head above me with those long legs of his. Speaking of his legs, while I first I thought their length made him look more like a spider, now I could see that each leg had lean muscle built in it. His fur was grey, but when I took a second glance, I realized it had a blue tinge to it. Before now, I hadn't even known that was a thing. His eyes were green just like his eyes in his normal Andalite form. His tail was disproportionally long too, but thankfully didn't have anything crazy like a piece of bone jutting out at the end.

At this point, I was unsurprised that Jake looked like a miniature tiger. Technically, he was a golden tabby, but those tabby markings gave him stripes dark enough to make him look like a golden tiger. His eyes were amber, which only enforced his tiger appearance. He at stood eye level with me, but he was considerably bulkier. I could literally see the muscles rippling under his striped fur.

"Does anyone see something completely wrong here?" Marco asked, as he looked everyone over.

"Don't remind me," Tobias hissed as he lashed his tail angrily.

"We all appear to resemble our battle morphs," Ax noted.

Jake nodded. "Some of us also have a bit of our human selves as well." He pointed his tail towards me. "Rachel, your eyes are still the same shade of blue as they normally were."

I sighed in relief. I still had some part of me that was familiar, even if it wasn't quite the same as being human.

"It's not that!" Marco exclaimed. "Did anyone fail to notice how short I am?"

"I believe that it is normal for you to be lacking in stature," Ax replied factually.

"Connect the dots Ax-man! There is no way I would agree to morphing into a tiny little kitten!" Marco complained. "I'll bet you my entire fur coat that this rather Crayak or Ellimist's fault!"

"Who else could it be? Santa Claus?" I asked sarcastically.

Crayak and Ellimist were ridiculously powerful beings capable of warping reality. They were mortal enemies and contested each other in "games" to avoid an actual fight that could blow up the entire universe. Ellimist was on more of the side of "good", so he frequently had us do his dirty work in his games. Crayak was completely evil, and loved using the Yeerks to attempt to destroy us, and various parts of the galaxy. Frankly, I didn't trust either of them, but at least Crayak was open about his evil madness instead of taking a moral high ground. If I had to bet on which one decided to turn us into cats and leave us in a random stable, I would put my money on the dodgy-but-occasionally-useful Ellimist.

"I can't demorph," Tobias grumbled.

"We must've gone over our time limit while we slept," said Cassie sensibly.

"I am afraid I cannot recall us morphing into domesticated felines," said Ax. "Especially ones with such symbolic imagery."

"Does anyone remember what we were doing last?" Jake asked. "I can recall something about a campfire, but beyond that my memory is drawing a blank."

"I can remember that there was something about a big battle," said Marco thoughtfully. "But the details are fuzzy."

"I thought we were waiting for Andalite reinforcements," I said in confusion.

"I remember we were planning something," said Ax thoughtfully. "But I cannot recall what."

"I remember hunting for mice," Tobias grumbled. "I almost had it too."

There was a pregnant silence. We all turned to Cassie with questioning looks on our faces. "Sorry, I can't seem to recall anything clearly," she said apologetically. The others accepted this grudgingly, but I was suspicious. I had noticed her tail flick as she said that, and although I didn't have a grasp on feline body language, I knew Cassie well enough to know she was hiding something. However, I decided to let it go, since Cassie would never hold something back unless she knew she needed to. If she were going to tell us, she would do it in her own time.

"So… do any ideas, fearless leader?" Marco asked Jake. "Just to give you a run-down; thought-speak isn't working. We can communicate with each other by talking despite being trapped in morph. We don't know where we are. And finally, this has all the fingerprints of one of the Ellimist's games."

Jake was silent for a few moments as his forehead scrunched up in concentration. Then he sighed. "Looks like we'll have to do some exploring," he decided. "Let's get outside and see if we can find some clues. It's hard to think in the smell of hay and horse sweat."

We all nodded and turned towards the stable door, but to our surprise, a ginger cat was stitting the open gap between the door and the wall.

"Uh, guys? When did he get here?" Marco asked as we instinctively moved into a defensive semicircle.

"Probably while we were all talking, genius," I snapped as I kept my eyes on the cat.

Suddenly, Tobias straightened up. "Did anyone else realize we just got worked up over a cat?" he asked.

We all paused. "Must be the instincts," said Jake as he relaxed his position, the rest of us following in suit

"Prince Jake, what should we do about it?" Ax asked.

"You do realize I'm a he and not an it, correct?" the cat asked as he raised an eyebrow.

"It speaks!" Marco exclaimed.

"He's a he, Marco," Cassie reminded him.

Marco shrugged his tiny shoulders. "I just wanted to say that line," he said unapologetically.

"You certainly are a strange bunch," the cat remarked as he looked us up and down. "I hope this is a result of a night's sleep with horses and not your usual behavior."

"I take offense to that!"

"Marco…" I growled warningly.

I could tell this cat was not to be taken lightly. He acted friendly enough, but the way he held himself reminded me of Jake. My feline brain was trying to say something about him, but I couldn't figure out what. He didn't look all that intimidating. His build and size were similar to mine, but he didn't seem to have my aggressive temperament. He had bright ginger fur and golden eyes that somehow made him seem older than his physical appearance suggested.

"Who are you?" Jake finally asked.

The ginger cat dipped his head in a quick bow. "My name is Buddy," he introduced himself, "and I have been sent here to be your guide. Let me be the first to welcome you to the outskirts of the Clan Territories, Animorphs."


~Lionblaze~

One moon ago…

"Has anyone seen Jayfeather?" Lionblaze asked his fellow clanmates as he wandered through camp. Several of them shook their heads as they resumed grooming themselves in the fading warmth of leaffall.

"He's out collecting herbs," said Leafpool as she approached him. "Why do you ask?"

"I haven't seen him since sunrise," Lionblaze replied with a worried frown. "It's already sunhigh, and I'm getting a little..."

"Worried?" Leafpool finished for him questioningly. She raised an eyebrow when he didn't respond immediately. "Your powers may have faded, but don't you know that Jayfeather know how to take care of himself?"

"I know that he's not helpless," Lionblaze muttered defensively. "I just… had a bad feeling about him."

Leafpool looked at him strangely. "Jayfeather and Dovewing are the ones with the ability to sense things beyond what any normal cat can," she mewed. "Are you sure you're feeling alright?"

"Yes! No. I don't know," Lionblaze admitted. "I'll just be relieved to have him back at camp."

"He's probably out checking on the beds of herbs," she said comfortably. "I'll go see if I can find him and convince him to come here and eat something."

"I'll come to," Lionblaze offered eagerly.

Leafpool chuckled. "Don't think you can trick me into let you out of camp with your paw messed up like that." She indicated one of his forepaws that he was keeping slightly off the ground. "Jayfeather wanted you to remain in camp until he gave you the go ahead."

Lionblaze groaned. "Can't you just give me the go ahead instead?" he pleaded. "You're a medicine cat! I mean, you have the training and experience," he corrected himself. Leafpool was a medicine cat in all but name. Bramblestar had seen no reason for her to not practice her skills, but the official title was still held by Jayfeather.

"I wouldn't let you out of camp right now even if I still was the clan medicine cat," Leafpool mewed with a shake of her head. "Knowing you, you'd probably push yourself even harder instead of taking it easy on that paw of yours. You stay in camp; I'll go fetch your littermate."

Lionblaze flattened his ear as he watched his mother leave camp. He normally wasn't the kind of cat that worried about everything, but being stuck in camp was getting to him. He was a warrior, and he liked being useful. Now he was stuck in camp, as helpless as one of the elders.

"Hey! Young'un!" Purdy called out to Lionblaze. "Come over here!"

Lionblaze grumbled under his breath as he made his way over to the old tom. Purdy had spent his life as a loner, hence his non-clan name. However, he had earned a spot in the elders den for his assistance in helping the clans make their journey to the lake. He was a nice cat and all, but he was a bit full of himself and liked telling stories that had dubious amounts of truth.

"Yes, Purdy?" Lionblaze asked the old tom politely.

"What do you think you're doing, moping around camp like that?" Purdy admonished him. "Young'uns these days, they get a little twist in the paw and suddenly the entire forest is crushing down on them. Now I remember one time there was this tree-"

Lionblaze cut Purdy off before the elder could launch into another tall tale. "Thanks for the advice, Purdy, but I'm not moping about my paw."

Purdy paused. "Then what else could you be sulking about?" he asked.

"I'm not sulking about anything," Lionblaze grumbled. "I'm just bored."

This caused Purdy to laugh. "Just bored, he says! Just bored!"

"Yeah, yeah, very funny. Cinderheart already gave me a full lecture."

Purdy strained to stifle his laughter. "Aw, I'm just pulling your tail. Greystripe and Dustpelt are nice denmates and all, but this is even more entertaining than sharing stories!"

"Great…" said Lionblaze drily. "I'm going to get something from the fresh-kill pile, want me to get you something?"

Purdy shook his head. "Thanks, but Cherrypaw and Molepaw came by here with a rabbit not too long ago. I think those two are trying to butter up us old cats to cats to persuade Brablestar into speeding up a certain ceremony."

Lionblaze rolled his eyes. "Their six moons of training are almost over. They'll probably become warriors in less than a moon if they pass their assessments," he meowed. "There's no reason for them to try to rush things."

"Tell that to them," Purdy said with a purr as he flicked his tail towards the camp entrance.

Lionblazed turned to see Molepaw and Cherrypaw bounding into camp with their mentors following leisurely. Molepaw was carefully biting down on the tails of two mice, and Cherrypaw had a large blackbird in her jaws. The smell of fresh-kill made Lionblaze drool slightly as he realized that he had been in too grumpy of a mood to eat at dawn. He let his feelings of hunger sit for a moment though, since the clan had to be fed first. He would have to wait for the other non-warrior cats in camp to eat before he could pick out his own meal. At least it's still leaffall now, he thought in relief. If it was leaf-bare, I might've had to spend the day without a decent meal.

Patiently, he waited until Daisy and Brightheart and her kits had chosen their pieces of fresh-kill before making his way to the pile. He picked up a scrawny squirrel and moved it near the warrior's den to eat in peace.

"Mind if I join you?" Lionblaze looked up to see Jayfeather gazing at him with his blind blue eyes. A plump mouse was resting by his paws.

Lionblaze shrugged. "Sure."

Jayfeather waited until both of them had taken a few bites before saying, "I don't need you worrying about me."

Lionblaze winced at his brother's harsh tone. "Sorry, I guess I'm just a little jumpy since I'm stuck in camp," he apologized.

"Get used to it," Jayfeather said coldly. "Our powers are just about gone; you're not as invincible as you once were. And considering how you have a knack for getting into trouble-"

"Coming from the cat who snuck out of camp more than anyone in clan history," Lionblaze shot back.

"-it's more than likely you'll be confined to camp for injuries more serious than a sprained paw," Jayfeather finished as he ignored Lionblaze's interruption.

"You're such a downer, you know that?"

"I'm realistic," Jayfeather grumbled.

Lionblaze grinned as he dove back into his squirrel. Age had only sharpened Jayfeather's biting remarks, but Lionblaze knew that underneath that gruff exterior was a cat that rivaled him in adventurousness and courage.

Suddenly, two cats burst into camp, sending a spike of alarm through camp. Lionblaze had no trouble making out Dovewing and Ivypool even from the distance.

"What's going on?" Some cat meowed.

"Are we being attacked?" Another asked.

Dovewing and Ivypool shook their heads. "We need to see Bramblestar," said Dovewing urgently.

"He's out on a hunting patrol," said Squirrelflight. "You can wait in his den."

Lionblaze unsheathed his claws and flexed them slowly. "Don't even think about it," said Jayfeather disapprovingly. "I know what you're thinking, and unless the ShadowClan are invading, there's no way I'm letting you out of camp."

Lionblaze sheathed his claws with a grunt. "I just wish I knew what spooked those two."

"If Bramblestar thinks that the information should be shared with the clan, then you'll know along with the rest of them," said Jayfeather. "Until then, all we can do is wait."


(Edit Note: This ended up being a pretty beefy chapter. Perfect! Unfortunately, I don't think I can maintain this length for the others.

Anyway... as you probably noticed, this story has the Animorphs appearing in the Warriors universe. Why? Simple, it was the most logical way to cross them over. The Animorphs are teenaged soldiers devoted to defending earth to alien invasions. The clan cats are sentient felines with the occasional (scratch that) rare superpower. Warriors series is no stranger to supernatural events, and the Animorphs or no stranger being put in strange situations.

(Edit Note: Well, there is more to why this crossover happened, but...)

I would say more, but that would discourage you from asking questions. I Hope you liked this chapter. If not, shoot me a review. If you did like it, reviews still appreciated. Reviews are food for the author's soul!

Originally posted-06/18/2015

Edited-06/02/2019.