Here's another chapter for you guys!
~Ax~
"What do we learn first?" Prince Jake asked Buddy.
A chorus of growls was his immediate response. Everyone, excluding Buddy, looked down at their stomach.
"It appears we are in need of nourishment," I commented.
"You don't know how much I would give for a Big Mac right now," Marco whined.
My mouth watered at the thought of human food. "We must go to a mall for the Big Macs and cinnamon buns!" I exclaimed.
"Get a grip you two," Tobias growled. "We're cats, remember? It's not like we can walk into a McDonald's and order anything."
"Maybe we could beg for scraps," I suggested. "I have seen dogs do it before. Cats too."
"Slow down, Ax," said Rachel. "I think your stomach is pulling your reins a little too much. You have your Andalite pride, don't you?"
The mention of my native race snapped me out of euphoric state. "You are right, Rachel," I admitted. "I will not throw away my pride no matter how much I crave cinnamon buns. Cinnamon bunzzz." While I had gotten out of my old habit of repeating the sounds of fun words, I couldn't help myself this time; it was such a fun word to say. And it felt different saying it through a cat's mouth instead of a human's.
"You have more to think about than just your pride," said Buddy. "The nearest city is a good day's walk from here. Not only is it impractical to walk that far of a distance for your meal, but the city is also a dangerous place. You could be captured by humans or killed by dogs."
"When in Rome, do as the Romans do!" Marco said brightly. Then he frowned. "Wait, so cats eat mice, right? Shouldn't we have stayed in the barn then? There are plenty of mice in barns, I can attest to that personally."
"The barn cats probably wouldn't appreciate six strangers hunting on their territory," Buddy mewed.
"We should do our best to avoid fights," Jake conceded. "So where can we hunt?"
"The area around here is unclaimed," Buddy mewed. "There isn't much prey around, but there's only seven of us. As long we split up, I'm pretty sure we will find enough."
"I'm not sure splitting up completely is such a good idea," said Cassie with a frown. "Buddy, are you sure this place is safe?"
"Relatively speaking it is," Buddy replied. "But—"
"There's always a but," Marco muttered. "And it's usually ours on fire."
"—I have scented multiple cats that have passed through here. They don't stay long, and they tend to stay in small groups, but I admit that there still could be trouble if you have to defend yourself from two seasoned fighters."
"We'll split into team of two then," said Jake. "Well, two groups of two and a group of three." He looked at Buddy as he said this.
Buddy shook his head. "I'm confident in my ability to defend myself," he mewed. "Besides, I'm pretty sure my hunting will be necessary to make up for some of yours."
"Are you suggesting that we aren't capable of catching our own food?" Marco asked indignantly.
"Yes."
"I concur," I said as I nodded my head. "We are not hunters by nature."
"I am," Tobias said disgruntledly.
"But you don't have wings this time, Tobias," Cassie reminded him gently.
Tobias grunted in acknowledgement. I felt bad for him. While he was born as a human, he spent the past three years of his life as a hawk. Going from two legs, to wings, to four legs would be hard for anyone, especially since the freedom he had while flying didn't compare to his new limits on the ground. Though, I supposed it was still better than being trapped as a human. I had trouble with my human form at first because humans lack a tail and forelegs for balance. While human mouths and hands were fascinating, at least this form was perfectly built for balance, speed, and agility.
"Alright, let's pair off," announced Jake.
"I'll go with you," Cassie volunteered.
Marco snickered, but Tobias silenced him with a quick kick to his side.
"Yeow!" Marco yowled, jumping away from Tobias. The former hawk stared back with a soft glare, just like his default expression while in his hark form. "I'll go with Tobias then," Marco said. "Might as well break off at least one of these lovebirds."
Rachel rolled her eyes. "Fine with me," she said. "Come on, Ax, let's go… that way."
"South?" I offered.
"Horary for mental compasses," Rachel deadpanned.
"Actually, I've been observing the sun's positioning to orient myself," I corrected her.
"Good thinking, Ax," Prince Jake praised me. "I'll go north with Cassie."
"We'll go east," said Tobias.
"That leaves me with west, I believe," said Buddy. Jake nodded. "May Mother Nature give you good hunting." He ducked out of the bush and walked off with the sun illuminating his back as fiery blaze.
"Anyone else get a weird, hippy vibe from him?" Marco asked as he watched the ginger tom leave.
"He's got a strong connection with nature," Cassie said with a nod.
"He's also within earshot," Rachel said casually. "Cats have very good hearing."
Marco blanched. "Good kitty, very good kitty," he said nervously.
"I think you're just making it worse," Tobias commented.
After we had gone our separate ways, I tried to use my nose to smell for prey. Then I realized something. "Rachel, cats eat mice, correct?"
She nodded. "But they—we—can also eat squirrels, birds, fish, and other small creatures," she added.
"But if they're our prey, wouldn't that mean we have to hunt them?"
"Yes…"
"And eat them… raw?"
Rachel sighed. "We're cats now, Ax, we don't have much of a choice," she told me in exasperation.
"I know." I had not survived three years of brutal warfare without learning to adapt to a variety of situations. After all, humans ate meat, and I loved the taste of it. It went best with Styrofoam, but I have since learned that it is highly improper to eat food with its container.
"I will do my best to accustom myself to the diet of a cat," I vowed. I sniffed the air, but I couldn't make out anything in the air. I had to ask another question. "Rachel, how do you hunt as a cat? My nose doesn't seem to be picking up anything that smells like food."
Rachel smirked. "You're not experienced enough to detect scents with your nose," she told me. "Cats actually smell better through their mouths than their nostrils. Watch." She opened her mouth wide for one point seven seconds, and then closed it. "Your turn."
I imitated her actions. Immediately a multitude of scents flooded into my mouth, including some that made my mouth water.
Rachel purred. "Go ahead and see if you can catch anything," she encouraged me with a teasing grin. "I already have some experience with hunting, so don't feel bad if I catch something and you don't."
I was only half listening to her as I bounded towards the most tantalizing scent I could find. My feline instincts quickly took over. I was dimly aware that I was lowering my body as close to the ground of possible. My tail skimmed just over the surface of the ground. My ears were alert and rotating, stopping only when they found my target. As I walked, my body never rose high from the ground. Every step was deliberate; every fiber in my body was alert.
As I crept forward, I found a rabbit chewing on a patch of clover by a small stream. My stomach growled, and for a moment, I feared that the rabbit had heard it. However, the rabbit continued to chew on its clover contently.
I debated on whether I should creep closer or simply try to overtake it. Despite my inexperience with my body and hunting rabbits in general, I could tell that I would stand little chance of outrunning a rabbit from this distance. I took a few cautious steps closer, and then, deciding that I was close enough, I broke out into a sprint.
The rabbit desperate tried to hop away, but I made sure to keep it wedged between myself and the stream. I had purposefully chased it up the current, so the stream only grew wider during the chase. I could see the rabbit edge towards the water and predicted its next action immediately. It leapt towards the other side, but had mistimed the jump and skidded on the stream's bank. I had more carefully timed my jump, so I manage to leap across the stream and pounce on the rabbit before it could recover from its mishap. A swift bite to the throat ended its life.
Only then, as I reveled in the success of my catch, did I finally become aware of my actions. I almost cried—if cats could cry, I mentally noted—because I had given to my newfound instinct so easily. It was like these instincts were second nature to me. Suddenly, I realized that this was how Tobias must have felt when he became trapped in the body of a hawk. He was no longer a human, and after some time he was no longer a human in a hawk's body. Rather, he existed as both a hawk as a human. Two side of the same coin, or so humans say.
My stomach rumbled once more, and I sank my teeth into the rabbit's flesh. It was warm and tender, almost like chicken. I wasted no time in devouring my well-earned meal.
~Tobias~
"And then I said, 'If you're going to kill me, make it quick, or else you won't be returning to your pool tonight.' That human controller turned around so fast I thought she would turn into a human licorice whip. Then Rachel just ran right over her in elephant morph like it was an ordinary day in the park. Splat! Flattened like a pancake, I didn't even need to check for a pulse. I jumped back into the fray—"
"I know, Marco," I growled. "I was there too, remember?"
"But you didn't see it from my eyes," Marco insisted.
"My hawk eyes are better than any eyes you were using during that battle," I said pointedly.
"That's not what I meant, and you know it!"
I grunted but didn't bother to give him an actual reply. Soon after we had left our bush meeting, Marco had decided that a good way to spend the time was for him to rant about previous battles we fought. I wanted to find a way for him to shut up, but until we found something to hunt for breakfast, he had no reason to be quiet.
Then again, I doubted anything would come near us while he rattled on.
"—I mean, the dracon beam was just lying there! It was practically begging to be used against its former masters!"
I came to the realization that I had accidentally tuned myself out to his rambling Well, that was probably a good thing anyway. "Marco," I said through clenched teeth.
"Yeah?"
"Shut up."
"It's not like there's anything around here to hunt anyway," he pointed out.
"Maybe if you'd stop prattling on for five minutes, we might have a chance at actually eating something before noon!" I hissed. I stuck out a paw randomly at an open patch of grass. "You go hunt over there, and I'll go hunt over there," I said as I pointed to a cluster of bushes, knowing that no sensible animal would live out in the open where I pointed to Marco. "Let's make it a competition to see who can catch the most amount of prey."
'What's the prize?" Marco asked slyly.
"First dibs on everything caught," I replied automatically.
"You're on," said Marco. He bounded over to the open grass as fast as his short legs could carry him.
I chuckled internally as I scanned the area around me. My nose managed to pick up many scents around me, but since I was used to using my vision as my primary sense, it was hard to distinguish the prey-scents among the many plant scents. As I instinctively tried to scan the area, I saw a large shadow pass over. I looked up to see a large bird flying overhead. Unfortunately, it was in the way of the sun and my weak cat eyes were unable to look at it clearly. Grumbling, I looked around despondently, realizing that the bird had probably scared all of the prey away by showing of its shadow like that. Which was strange, because no bird of prey would make such a careless error unless it was ignoring everything else for a choice rabbit or something.
Eyes widening in realization, I refocused my attention on the skies to see bird swooping down. I instantly recognized the bird. I could see its mottled feathers of black, brown, and white; its beady amber eyes; its sharp beak and talons; its distinct ginger tail-feathers. I was looking at none other than a red-tail hawk, the creature I had lived as for the past few years of my life.
In my shock, I almost forgot what I had meant to do in the first place. The sight of the hawk swooping down on its unsuspecting target jolted me into the present. "Marco! Duck!" I yowled at the top of my lungs.
I could see Marco turn to face me, and then he quickly looked up to see the hawk heading for him. I'm pretty sure that any normal cat—or human turned cat, for that matter—would've been paralyzed in fear. However, Marco was an Animorph. He only stood still for a moment as he processed his situation, and then flattened his body to the ground at the last possible second.
I had already begun running towards him before the hawk had even passed over his body. "Are you okay?" I asked him as I reached his side.
"Peachy," he replied as he eyed a nick on his shoulder. "So, is that your bratty second cousin once removed, or your mother-in-law?"
"This is no time for jokes," I snapped as I craned my head to keep an eye on the hawk.
"It's not going to try again, is it?" Marco asked as he watched circle overhead. "Don't most hawks usually give up fairly quickly?"
"Not if they're hungry," I said knowingly. While most people would have trouble reading the expression on a hawk's face, I could tell what it was thinking even from this distance. "And this one definitely is hungry enough to try for us again. Maybe if we were a little bigger it would go for something else…"
"Great, hawks like eating midgets. So, what's the plan?" Marco asked as the hawk began to dive again.
"You keep running, I'll take it out."
"…No, seriously, what's the plan?"
"No time," I hissed as I took off running. Marco quickly bounded to keep up with me, but he was falling behind. While I wasn't much larger than he was, my body was much leaner. I slowed my pace to match his. "Keep running and don't stop. I've lived as a hawk long enough to know how to fight one in any form."
Marco didn't waste breath responding, and instead pushed himself to run even faster. I allowed myself to lag behind him a few paces. I didn't even need to turn around to know that the hawk had its attention focused on me. Every predator knew that the slower prey made for an easier kill, and it didn't hurt that I was a bit bigger than Marco.
I took a risk and dropped to the ground early, skidding to lose some of my momentum. The hawk faltered overhead, being unable to compensate for my sudden change. Instead of losing its own momentum to try to grab me, it trained its sights on Marco. I sprinted once again. I knew that I could not outrun a hawk while it was diving, but I also knew the time hawks were most vulnerable.
Marco didn't need my warning this time. We've had enough experience with airborne opponents to develop an instinct on how to dodge them. He threw himself to the side just as the hawk swooped down. The hawk skimmed the grass and started to pull up, but I had already leapt. Due to my small size, I was unable to bowl it over. However, I had ended up snagging on one of its wings with my claws, unbalancing it. The hawk and I crashed to the ground.
I got up almost immediately. While the cat part of me was still howling in pain—I was pretty sure I twisted a paw on that landing—my natural pain tolerance was taking over. The hawk was likewise stunned. Its wing looked out of place, but as far as I could tell it was only dislocated. Aside from some lost feathers, it looked fine.
"Kill it already!" Marco hissed as he ran up, breathing heavily.
I suddenly remembered the reason we were out here in the first place. We were hungry, and the hawk would easily be enough for the two of us to share and still have leftovers. However, I was conflicted. The hawk was a part of me, and it was almost appalling to think of slaughtering it for meat.
"Do it before it wakes up," Marco hissed again. He was only a few feet away from me but didn't dare go any closer. It was a smart choice, considering his size.
He also had a good point. The hawk's gaze was already clearing, and its talons were twitching frantically. I had to make a choice.
The hawk screeched as it finally awoke. I pounced on it, and felt a familiar prickling sensation in my skin. The hawk lay still underneath me, but I didn't even think about eating it now. I jumped off the hawk with what I hoped was a smile on my face.
"Dude! It's getting away!" Marco exclaimed.
Sure enough, the hawk had recovered and was already flapping off the ground. Apparently, my latest pounce had accidentally popped its wing joint back into place. But that didn't bother me, and told Marco so.
"Are you crazy?" he asked. "I'm starving here, I almost got eaten by your distant relative, and you just let him fly away!"
"I'll just have to catch something else then," I said turned up my lips in a smirk. Facial expressions had become difficult to me ever since I became a hawk. Going from a beak to lips left my expression perpetually serious. But judging from Marco's expression, I had succeeded.
"You think it's going to be that easy?" he asked skeptically. "We both know that hunting as cats is not a walk in the park."
"Oh, I know," I replied. "Nothing beats a good pair of wings."
Then the changes began.
First, my whiskers sank into my muzzle. Then my front legs started to dissolve. The bones in them cracked, dissolved, and reformed as my skin stretched like rubber. I fell to the ground as the flesh of my hind paws disappeared, leaving only the raw bone. My vision sharped considerably, while my other senses dulled. Suddenly, all my fur sunk under my skin. It felt weird being a deformed hairless cat, but I only had to endure it for a few more seconds. Feather-patterned tattoos appeared on my skin, before rising into familiar feathers. My feline tail suddenly shrank into spine, and a set of tail feathers grew in its stead. My lips disappeared as my beak was the final feature to appear.
"Dude…" said Marco breathlessly.
I grinned, or at least tried to, considering I had a beak instead of lips. {I can morph,} I said though thought-speak.
Yes, they still have the ability to morph. Come on, they're the AniMORPHS. I can't strip them of their powers! So I... stripped them of their morphs. He he.
Too bad Tobias forgot to hold the hawk down for Marco. Oh well, there's always next time.
Edited 08/08/2019
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