Since no one seemed to hate my story, I put up part two. Yet again, all that disclaimer stuff. And, I'll warn you now, this one's...very different from the first one. It's pretty much Rachel, and I decided to add lots of Ellimist. And I just finished it. Also, beware of typos. It's enough work to HTMLize it. I don't want to have to edit it completely too. It's summer isn't it? Uh...never mind...
And I wanna say this, since I was reading my reviews and I saw something I want to comment on (and I don't feel like commenting in the reviews section...) : I agree with you, L'Angel. I write stuff I don't believe. Honest. I wasn't talking. The Ellimist was. I don't think technology can beat nature. Because it can't. That just adds to suspense, in my opinion. So don't think I'm some kind of person who believes in science as their religion. I wouldn't like that. I'm babbling again. I just had to say that. Okee-day. I'm going to shut up.
Here you go:
Look for the rainbow in every storm.
Fly like an angel heaven sent to me. -The Spice Girls
Prologue:
It is a shame, these days, the fact that we are never safe. Especially now. A dangerous criminal is running free, and the police are urging anyone who sees her to tell them immediately…
Off skimmed the article quickly and them laughed a joyous laugh that escaped my lips. He threw down the paper and looked across the table at the by then captured Cassie. "We make her sound as if she is a danger to humans. And the imbeciles will believe it!"
Geap 1245, the Yeerk who controlled Cassie, nodded. "I know. Humans. I cannot see why the Andalites waste their time on them. It's not like they're actually sentient."
I would've said a couple choice words if I'd had the actual choice. But I didn't.
"Of all of them, to think it was Rachel who managed to evade our forces! She can't even morph. It's a wonder."
Geap agreed to that, too. She agreed to all that escaped my—not Off's—mouth. Off was already Visser Three. ((((Author's note: Visser Three is now Visser One, so Tobias's Yeerk, Off, is now Visser Three...if that makes sense...)))) Geap was only of lower rank in the Yeerk hierarchy.
Off made my face turn cold. "But, Geap 1245, that won't be for very long now, will it?"
Geap shook Cassie's head and said in Cassie's most humble voice, "No, Sub-Visser. It won't be very long. We will catch this…Rachel." Then she went wacko and screamed, "NO! You won't catch Rachel, you son of a—" Geap over-powered Cassie in a matter of seconds and said, "Oh, Visser Three, I most humbly apologize!"
"You cannot even control your host! Letting her call me that wretched human curse word! I trust you, though, to accomplish this mission, or for that you will be punished…" He let it hang.
I watched the scene, no longer even able to murmur quietly protest…
The river is everywhere at the same time...everywhere and the present only exists for it, not the shadow of the past, nor the shadow of the future. --Herman Hesse
My stomach was churning. I hadn't eaten for days, really, maybe a cracker here and there. But hunger was the least of my problems. The churning in my stomach was not only a yearning for it to be filled, but also a feeling of loneliness. I was alone, all alone.
I had found a place to stay, though, at least. A little cave that had been formed somehow from the ocean waters. It was cold and damp, but at least it sheltered me from rain and wind and Yeerks.
My name is Rachel. I was the only one free at the time, and I was soon to be even freer, for death was creeping up on me.
I had somehow managed to avoid the Yeerks hunting me. Call it fate, but I was the only one truly living at the time.
At least I had shoes and clothes and shelter. That was enough then.
I breathed in the salty, damp smell of the cave and leaned against the cool wall. The waves crashed into the rocks I was hiding in, but the water didn't reach my hiding spot.
I felt a weird sense beside of me and slowly my eyes moved over to it. A little girl sat there and grinned her missing front teeth at me. Her curly pigtails bounced lightly. "Hi!" she said.
I started to slowly back away from her.
"My, Rachel, you've turned into a chicken. Why would I be here to hurt you, now?"
I didn't say a thing.
"You don't know who I am?"
I shook my head.
"It is I, the being you call—"
"The Ellimist?"
"Oh, yes." The little girl's eyes glittered. "But you may call me Haley."
I stared at him. "Why are you here?"
"Why would I not be? See, Rachel, I have an order from a greater power for you not to die just yet."
"'Just yet'," I sneered. "Oh, gee, I'm so grateful."
"You should be. Because I am here to offer you something."
"And what is that?"
"To give you a more sufficient place to stay. To give you food. To keep you alive. To help you free your friends."
"I don't have any friends. Not now. I'm alone and I'm fine."
"You cannot fool me, Rachel. Humans were not made to be alone. They always need someone, if it were another human, or a cat or a dog. Loneliness is a death for humans."
"How would you know?" I snarled. "You aren't a human!"
"I know. I am an Ellimist."
"Exactly!" I snapped. "Ellimist. Like you said, you're technically advanced! It's not like you can read minds or feel what others feel. That isn't technology! It's nature!"
"Oh, but that's where you are wrong, Rachel. Technology can reach great heights, greater heights than even nature's most highest."
I feel a gnawing at my heart and was afraid I was going to let all my agony out. I'd been through a lot and I was lonely and scared, though I was afraid to show it. I was never one to express their feelings. That's what slowed you down. The same thing with tears. They have no meaning. It's not like crying will solve your problems. I always thought just hiding your feelings inside was fine, that they'd leave soon enough.
The Ellimist, in the body of the girl Haley, said, softly, "Tears have more meaning in life than you think."
I snapped my head around to look at him/her. Had he/her read my thoughts?
"They are there to cleanse and protect your eyes, yes, but they are also there to let pain out. Pain does not just go away. It will come back one day. All things do. I have studied timelines for eons and found it very surprising how an awful thing always comes back to a person and slaps them in the face, as you humans may say. That is the same—"
"You study timelines?" I interrupted.
Haley smiled again. "Yes and no. Timelines change often from how they were in their origin. I study them to help get a better understanding on life. I have found out a lot, but not all. I still do not know who controls life, but you humans seem to have up with ideas. We Ellimists never took in religion. We always figured it was technology that controlled all life…or an omnipotent being. You humans believe in omnipotent beings you call 'gods', although you probably know that. We always believed our omnipotent being was just another alien. Humans seem to have a different perspective, though it may be quite right.
"So my answer is yes, I study timelines. But the answer to your unspoken question, if I control the timelines, is no. I may see them, but I do not think I shall ever seek control of them."
A drop of water trickled down the rock and I watched it, trying to imagine it my timeline, unsure of where it was going, but still going just the same. Call it perseverance, I guess.
My heart ached. Or maybe I had pneumonia and my lugs were heaving in and out in pain and I didn't know.
I was filled with so many emotions at that time that I thought I would cry, laugh, scream, and curse all at the same time. I hate it when I feel that was. It's complete and total confusion and I don't believe in confusion. No, confusion was just another form of tears.
I felt a tiny hand take my own and glanced over at the Ellimist. He/she grinned Haley's not-toothy grin at me and squeezed my hand. "Sometimes even the obstacles help you on your way." Her chubby face turned solemn and she said, "I once heard a human say like is like a road and I have to say that was quite a wise remark."
For some reason I said, "I once read a book with the proverb, 'In the course of a lifetime, what does it matter?' in it."
The Ellimist smiled. "That was wise, also. Because in the courses of lifetimes I have observed, some things matter a great deal, while other things most make the biggest deals out of, don't even make the slightest indention in your life."
"What are you getting at in all this talk, Ellimist?" I demanded.
"I am getting at the fact that you have a turn to take in your road. You're at a fork, Rachel, not knowing which road to take. Right or left? You are struggling at what your point in life right now is. What is needed of you? You don't know. And you are considering just letting yourself die."
"How do you know all of that?" I wondered.
The Ellimist went of, making slight hand gestures. "But if you let yourself die, you are also letting all existence of true humans die. I cannot have that happen. Humans are needed in the future."
"Yeah, we're needed," I growled.
"Humans have something I have seen hardly any intelligent species have."
"And what's that?" I asked, knowing that's what he wanted.
The Ellimist looked into my eyes with those big, bright little-girl eyes. "The way of looking at life in a humorous way. You see all the conflicts in your world and you laugh."
"I don't. That's Marco's job."
"Yes, you do, too, Rachel. No human is without any humor. And if it is of any help, that humor deep inside you is what may help you survive."
I wanted not to believe him. I didn't want to help Earth survive. I wanted leave my duty. I wanted to be free of my woeful heart and mind and soul.
But even death couldn't take that away…
Everyone here hates here everyone for doing just like they do.—Matchbox 20
The Ellimist waved his chubby baby hands around, like it was some ritual. After a moment, a small, glass bottle with a green liquid in it appeared in his hands. The little bit of sunlight that filtered into the cave glittered off of it.
He turned to me. "Hold out your hands, Rachel."
I held them out. They were shaking.
The Ellimist gently set the bottle in my hands. I felt its power run through me.
"This is called a frodem. It's a specific type of weapon we invented over two million years ago."
"What does it do?" I asked, my voice trembling slightly.
"No one knows for certain. All we truly know is it hold great power, and does pretty much like you want. But I redid its programming so it will do only one thing."
"And what's that?"
The girl's eyes looked grave. "Make the Yeerk in a person's head involuntarily leave."
"What am I supposed to do with it?"
"Simply inject it in the human's arm."
"How?"
"With a needle." He made one appear and handed it to me.
I stared at it. I couldn't believe this. "Why? Why are you helping?"
The Ellimist smiled his toothless smile with Haley's toothless mouth. "Trust me, Rachel. Trust gets you a long way."
"It kills you too," I pointed out, the others and my trusting Tobias coming to mind. It wasn't Tobias, I told myself for the hundredth time.
The Ellimist nodded. "Yes, it kills. But you must trust someone, and remember that I haven't gotten you killed yet, so you haven't any reason not to trust me." He had a point.
The Ellimist closed my hands over the needle and Yeerk-poison. A cold feeling resonated from it.
I met the little girl's big, round eyes. The needle pricked my skin. "You want me to trust you?"
He nodded.
"Okay. Then I will."
My hands are small I know. But they're not yours, they are my own. But they're not yours, they are my own.And I am never broken.—Jewel
The Ellimist left, leaving me with a sponge-mattress, blankets, clothes, matches, candles, flashlights, batteries, a portable radio, an oil-lamp, some money, fresh water, and a heavy heart. He promised to give me all the supplies I needed, so long as I did his dirty work. What could I say? I'd die either way. Might as well die fighting the evil of my life.
I leaned back against the cool rocks and toyed with the bottle in my hands. It looked so malevolent, glinting in the faded light. It had a picture of a Saten-like being on its neck. I didn't like that. I threw it down lightly on the bed and pulled my legs up closer to me. I rested my chin on my knees and folded my hands together, hugging my legs. My intertwined hands hung limply just above my shoes. I closed my eyes. I guess I looked like I was praying or something, though I didn't think I was then. But I guess when you silently meditate in wishes of saving your soul you're praying. I think that's what I was doing.
Voices kept playing through my head. People I knew and cared for saying gibberish, mixtures of the millions of things I'd heard them say before.
My mom going, Rachel, eat your homework. I know you love them, but they're good for Jordan.
My dad going, Good, girl, Rachel. Great job of falling off of your food. Do that again, tomorrow.
The voices kept going on like that. It made no sense, but, then again, hardly any of my life ever made sense.
Do the best you can in every task, no matter how unimportant it may seem at the time. No one learns more about a problem than the person at the bottom. --Sandra Day O'Connor
((((Author's note: I admit, the parts coming are corny. But I'd watched "Buffy" before I wrote it and I thought, "Hmmm... That fighting looks neat. Why don't I have Rachel do that?" Warning of my corniness... Also, it may sound like other fics, but, honestly, I'm not copying. It just turns out like that. I wrote this in Febuary, before I read any fics like this...Uh. This is a long note, isn't it? I'm gonna shut up...))))
I went into intense training, after that. The Ellimist made me my own teacher, and she taught me an art of fighting much like karate. I was pretty good at it, too.
My instructor's name was Pretania, pronounced PREE-tan-ya. It was a weird name, but she was a weird person. For one thing, she had blue hair, in dreadlocks. And she convinced me to get a tattoo on my left upper-arm. It was just some tiny flowers in a circle around a big "A", standing for "Animorphs", and it made me look cool, because I always wore a tank top, along with different colored wind-suit pants. You know, with the white lines going down the sides? Pretania said it made me look like some kind of warrior. I guess she was right. Besides, it was fairly stylish.
The training took two months, though it didn't seem that long. I had to be in shape and be ready to fight people. But I wasn't going to be looking for trouble. I was just going to wait for trouble.
I got really good at kicks and punches and getting weapons out in a swift, liquid movement. My experiences in gymnastics before were really helpful, especially the vault. The flips were just reverted from looking pretty to saving my life. But that wasn't the only thing I was taught. I was taught first aid and CPR, because those things came in handy when you're trying to save people. After those two months, I was ready to do some serious Yeerk butt-kicking.
Science has promised us truth. It has never promised us either peace or happiness. --Gustave Le Bon
My first triumph started out with me hiding up in a big oak tree, near a Yeerk pool entrance. I'd been up there an hour, looking through my binoculars every few minutes. I hadn't seen anyone by that time, and was bored. I sat back and started to carve a stick into a nice weapon with my pocketknife. I could hit someone upside the head with it, to knock 'em out.
That's when I heard a stick pop and leaves crunch. I'd learned that animals' footsteps were lighter than humans. Predators' were lighter so their prey wouldn't hear them and preys' were lighter so their predators wouldn't hear them. But humans were loud, no matter how hard they tried to be silent. With those big clunky shoes people wear when they go in the woods, it's as loud as an alarm clock.
I perked up and listened more closely. Sure enough, they were human steps. I slipped my pocketknife into my backpack and set down my new weapon. My binoculars were a new kind Pretania had invented herself. They wrapped around your head and you could push them out of your way on the top of your head, and flip them back down. I flipped them down in front of my eyes and saw almost as clearly as a hawk. As clearly, actually, except my binoculars locked on what I was looking at and moved in closer. Very high-tech.
Also, they had a computer in them that monitored whatever you were observing and told you how close or far away the object was.
I looked around until I spotted my source of movement: a man stumbling through the woods, muttering to himself. The computer put some numbers up that said, "Three hundred feet away."
"Perfect," I muttered to myself. I pushed the binoculars up on top of my head and got myself in a better position. "So he's about a foot ball field away."
I checked to see if the Yeerk-killer was still in its little bag around my left leg. It was. Now I just had to wait.
The man neared and I let him pass the tree I was in before I jumped down. I landed silently. I had good shoes for this and they weren't hiking boots, like his. I'd also learned how to avoid making noises by not stepping on anything that would make noise. Makes sense, doesn't it?
I moved closer to him and tapped his shoulder. He whirled around and then saw li'l old, harmless me.
"Oh, I thought you were some animal," he said, sounding relieved.
"You going to the Yeerk pool?" I asked, casually.
He gave me a suspicious look. "Yes…" he said slowly.
"You are?" I asked innocently.
"Of course."
"Haven't you heard about that free Animorph? That she's haunting the woods?"
He seemed puzzled. "I've heard of the free one, the girl. But of her haunting the woods? Not a thing."
"Oh, too bad. If you had heard of her, you would've thought of bringing a Dracon beam. Such a pity." I punched him in the face and he staggered back.
"Hey!" he yelled, clutching his jaw. "What was that for?" Then it slowly dawned on him. He gasped. "You're the girl! I knew you looked familiar!"
"Gee, if only you'd think it's kind of weird for a girl just to appeared out of no where." I kicked him in the stomach and he swung at me. I dodged, grabbed his flailing arms, and kicked his legs from under him. "Sorry, human guy in there. This isn't meant for you." I tied the Controller's wrists together with some rope I'd had slung over my shoulder in a secure knot and sat down on the poor man. His knees were beneath him.
"You'll pay for this, human!" the Yeerk screamed.
"Aw, really? How's that?" He tried to sit up and kick me but I pushed him back down. "It seems to me that you're here on the ground and I can torture you how ever much I please. I wouldn't talk like that, if I were you." I pulled the bottle and needle out of their bag in a liquid movement. "So, mister, did you come here all alone? Or were you planning on meeting someone?"
He gulped.
I opened the bottle, still keeping the man down sturdily, and stuck the needle in, absorbing the liquid till the needle was full. Then I screwed the top securely back on and glanced at the man, who was staring at me with eyes so wide they bulged from their sockets. "So?"
"Like I'd tell you!" he shrieked.
I frowned and went, "Tsk, tsk," like I was disappointed in him. I pressed on the needle so a little liquid dribbled out, to scare the guy. "Oh well. I guess you don't want to do this the easy way, huh? I'll just have to do tests on you and all and get the information I want that way." I pressed the needle into the man's arm, and the liquid entered him. "Come on out, little slug," I crowed.
"I will never, human! I will take this human to death with—" He was cut off from his sentence because he was involuntarily crawling out of his host's ear.
Once he was completely out and helplessly on the ground, I removed the needle from the poor man's arm. I dug through my book bag and pulled out some tweezers and a container. I picked the Yeerk up with the tweezers and dropped him into the container filled with Yeerk pool liquid. The Ellimist had gotten it for me.
I screwed the lid back on and dropped both of my tools back into my backpack.
The man was still lying there, limp. I guess I'd knocked him out. I pulled my first aid kit out of my knapsack and took some gauze and alcohol out of it and wet the gauze with a little of the alcohol.
The man was coming to a little. I went over to his side and gently pressed the gauze to his wound. He flinched, and his eyes fluttered open. He let out a cry and went insane, trying to get up.
"Hey, hey!" I cried, pinning him back down. "Keep it down, will you? I'm not gonna hurt you. I'm trying to help you."
His eyes were wide and he gasped, "Who are you?" Then, realizing he'd said it, "I'm free! Oh. My. God. I am free!"
"Yeah, I noticed. I freed you. Now sit still while I tape the gauze down." I reached over and pulled some medical-tape out of the box. The man sat still and I taped the gauze down. "There we go." I started getting my things together.
"Who are you?" the man demanded.
"Call me Rachel," I answered, snapping my book bag shut. "What's your name?"
"Fredrick Robinson."
"Well, Fredrick Robinson," I said, cutting the rope around his wrists loose, "get up. We have to hurry. This is a Yeerk pool entrance. People will kill me if they see me."
The man crawled to his feet, like a baby taking its first steps. I threw my backpack over my shoulder and grabbed the stick I'd been carving.
"I didn't just want your name. I want to know who you are," the man said, sounding flustered.
"Come on," I said, starting to weave my way through the forest. He followed, clumsily, but followed just the same.
"Who are you?" the man demanded, his voice starting to sound angry.
I turned around to face him. "Sir, I am sorry, but right now you are in no position to ask me questions. I was the one who saved your life. Is that not enough for you? I saved you, and I can just as easily kill you. I can be your ally, but I can also be your enemy. You do not want me to be your enemy, understand? Now, quit with the stinkin' questions!" I turned back around and pushed my way through the brush.
Fredrick seemed taken aback a bit. He followed behind me and didn't ask anymore questions.
We must be swift as a coursing river, with all the force of a great typhoon, with all the strength of a raging fire, mysterious as the dark side of the moon.—Disney's "Mulan"
I hooked the Yeerk up to a machine Haley (which was what I now called the Ellimist) had made for me. It read brain waves and told the thoughts of the creature hooked up to it. Mr. Robinson was gone now. I'd given him all he needed to survive and let him go his own sweet way. Now I was getting some information.
I sat at a desk in from of a hand-made computer screen. The Yeerk's brain waves ran across it like heart-monitor's heart waves run across a screen. The computer beeped as it translated the Yeerk's last thoughts.
"I feel pain. I'm dying. O Great Visser Three, please forgive me."
Those were all the words. But then the computer flashed the images the Yeerk had. And as I watched them, making notes, I almost had a heart attack. There were images of Tobias, as Visser Three, Cassie as a sub-Visser, Jake, dead, Marco, dead, Ax, a sub-Visser. Images of me, as I beat the Yeerk up. Images of Tobias cackling as he planned a way to kill me.
I suddenly knew I was going to free one of them. Somehow, somewhere, sometime, but I was going to. No matter what the cost. Because the Yeerk in their heads made them my enemies. And I didn't want friends who were enemies.
Don't cry. Know the tears will do no good so dry your eyes.—Natalie Merchant
I was outside of my cave, washing my clothes in a little lake just next to the mountain of rocks were my cave was. A waterfall fell gently into the fresh water and a river flowed away from it, heading into the city area.
The lake was my bath tub and washing machine, also the source of the electricity in my little home. If it wasn't for the waterfall, I wouldn't be living very nice. And Haley helped a lot too.
I was grumpy as I scrubbed my clothes with soap the Ellimist bought me. I wanted nicer clothes. Things that were in style, not just wind pants and tank tops. They were getting to be a bore. Good for fighting, annoying for fashion.
I decided I'd address Haley with the problem when I saw her again.
I heard a stick pop and some leaves crunch in the woods, behind me. I froze. Animal or human? I listened carefully.
CRUNCH…CRUNCH…
Human, definitely. Someone was spying on me. I could feel it in my bones.
I gently set my clothes and soap down and got to my feet just as a Dracon beam shot just inches away from me. I could feel its heat.
Another shot! Another!
I did the only thing I could. I jumped into the water, taking a deep breath before I went under. I'd learned to hold my breath longer than the average person.
The shots still sizzled above me, but I was safe, and the Yeerk knew it. I suppose the Yeerk thought I was helpless too. Such idiots.
I had a pocket knife hidden in my pocket at all times. But it wasn't an ordinary pocket knife. I have time to play around with things here in the woods, being all alone. I'd managed, with Pretania and Haley's help, to put a tiny Dracon beam on one end, while a knife was on the other.
I swam under the water, to the water fall and hid behind it, as I surfaced for a breath. Then I sunk back under the water and took the knife from my pocket. It floated up in the water and I had to catch it, gripping it tightly. I swam from under the fall to see where the Yeerk was. He was coming close, and I couldn't see a face. He had a hood on, but I knew it was a guy, from the figure.
I swam back under the water fall and surfaced, this time not going back under, but crawling silently up the rocks behind it. I was dripping and wet, but I managed not to slip and to walk silently.
I put the Dracon beam on the lowest setting and prayed it would work if it was wet. I peeked out from the flowing water and saw the man bending down and peering into the water. I took aim with the beam and shot, hitting the man in the back. He fell face forward into the water, unconscious.
Oops. He'd drown like that.
I hurried over to him and grabbed the back of his sweat shirt and pulled him up. Then, in shock, let him fall back down.
The guy was…Tobias…
My philosophy is to make the most of all that comes, and the least of all that goes. –Teresa Watkins: Intern at BHS
I don't know why, but I kicked him hard in the stomach. I was filled with such anger at him or maybe the Yeerk or maybe both, that I was happy to hear the sickening crack of a rib breaking.
I cackled madly. "There! See whose the fool now, you _____!"
Haley appeared out of nowhere, crying, "Rachel! Oh, no, now you snap. Pretania! Take Rachel inside. I'll handle this."
Pretania, too, appeared out of the blue, and grabbed my arm. "Hey!" I screamed. "He made me look like an idiot! He's gonna die! Kill him, Haley!" Pretania began pulling my struggling body away as Haley bent down and laid Tobias gently out and got the Yeerk out of his head somehow with out the Yeerk-poison. "You hear me, you little shrimp? KILL HIM!"
That was when Pretania knocked me out.
One of the most dangerous forms of human error is forgetting what one is trying to achieve. --Paul Nitze
I woke up lying on my bed. My head hurt bad, and I wondered where I was. Why I was there.
Then it came back to me, my trying to kill Tobias and Pretania knocking me out. Haley very gently tending Tobias's wounds. I hadn't liked how lovingly she did that. It gave me the creeps.
But what gave me the creeps more was me trying to kill Tobias. Oh, gosh, I was horrible.
I guess I snapped. I had reason. I'd tried to forget my life before I became the lone superwoman. I'd tried to forget my friends, the humiliation of not being able to tell Tobias wasn't himself. Tried to forget how horrible I'd felt.
Seeing Tobias must have made the pain resurface, and the pain filled me up and I wanted to hurt the person causing it. And at that time, I figured it was Tobias.
I sat up. I was on my bed, and laying next to me, with his shirt off and a bandage wrapped around his ribs where I'd most likely broken them, was Tobias. I cringed, seeing him like that. He had a bruise along his cheek and a white bandage around his chest and stomach. His eyes were shut, and I was glad.
I slid off the bed and hurried out of the cave. It was too much, all the emotions in my head. Guilt, of hurting Tobias like that. Humiliation. Joy. Hate.
Too much.
There was no Haley or Pretania in sight, and I was glad. I wanted to be alone. I was supposed to be alone. I'd turned into a loner, and I wanted to stay a loner.
I dove into the lake, feeling the cool, wet, freshness of it. It was nice. Showers or swimming always had a way of refreshing me. Making me feel safe.
I needed that sanctuary right then. Too much in my head.
Too much.
I swam till I was under the fall, which I loved. It had always been my place of peace through the short months I'd lived in that cave.
I crawled up the rocks and grabbed the soap and towels I hid in a hole there. I decided to take a bath. Maybe I'd feel better then.
Maybe.
Whenever things sound easy, it turns out there's one part you didn't hear. --Donald E. Westlake
I got dressed again, this time in a new set of wind pants and new tank top. It was getting old.
I took a deep breath and went back into the cool, damp cave. Tobias was still lying on my bed, one of his arms hanging limply off the bed, the other resting on his chest.
He looked so helpless.
I went up to the bed and studied his face. It looked the same, sweet, innocent. But it looked different. I noticed that he had more muscles than you'd think for a scrawny guy liked I'd known him. I guess the Yeerk decided to make him work out, because it sure looked like he worked out, at least a little.
I was surprised when his eyes suddenly opened. I actually jumped back.
Tobias jumped too, and then he groaned in pain because his rib hurt.
I don't know why, but I started to cry then, when he groaned. "I'm so sorry," I sobbed. "I didn't mean to hurt you! It's just…" I doubled over in sobs.
Tobias stared at me. I could feel his eyes boring into me. His face was blank, but his eyes weren't. He looked ticked.
"You're sorry? You are sorry? God, Rachel. I am the one who's supposed to be sorry. Quit crying. I don't deserve you crying for me."
I stared at him in surprised. I stopped crying. "Of course you deserve me crying for you."
"Please. I am glad you kicked me. Thank you very much. "
I couldn't believe what I was hearing. Or what I was seeing. Or what was happening whatsoever. This hadn't been the type of reunion I'd always pictured. It was ruined because I'd broken his rib, I thought.
"You're glad I kicked you? Well, I'm not."
"I deserved you kicking me. I mean, if it wasn't for me, we wouldn't even be in this mess."
"What mess?" I wondered. I wiped my face dry.
"This mess. I wouldn't…I wouldn't have ruined your life."
"You didn't ruin my life. The Yeerks did."
"Because of me. Don't you know that, Rachel? Didn't he tell you?"
"What? Tell me what?"
Tobias looked sober. "You don't know."
"Know what? ________, Tobias, tell me!" I snapped.
He scratched his face, looking nervous. "Well…I was flying around one afternoon, and I saw my mother. You know how people snap at the worst times, right? Well, I kinda snapped. I saw my mom and I told her everything. She turned out to be a Controller, and…" Tobias blinked back tears. "I'm sorry, Rachel. I know you hate me now. I'm so sorry. You can kill me now and get it over with."
I blinked. Then I said, blankly, "Why would I kill you?"
"Because I lost the fight for you!"
I blinked again, this time very rapidly. "No, you didn't."
"Yes, I did."
"No, you didn't."
"I did."
"If I say you didn't, you didn't." I cursed Tobias. "God, you ask for forgiveness and I give it to you, and you argue about it."
"Uh…um…" Tobias stammered.
This struck me as funny. ((((Author's note: Hmmm…that sounds familiar, doesn't it? "This struck me as funny." Whoever wrote that before, if you are reading this, sorry! It just worked.)))) I started to laugh. Really hard.
Tobias stared at me in surprise. "What?"
"It's just…" I gasped, giggling insanely, "…that…I finally get you back…and…I break your rib…and…and…" I broke down in laughs.
"Well, gee, Rachel. You aren't supposed to be laughing." I saw Tobias shake his head with my blurry, tear-filled eyes. Laughing always made me cry.
A big, fat tear rolled down my cheek. That made me laugh harder. Funny, really, how people lose it at the oddest times. I'd always though I'd be hugging and kissing Tobias if I ever got him back. But in reality, what happened was so different it was funny. Funny. I hadn't thought anything was funny since I'd been left alone.
Maybe the whole "saving Tobias" ordeal wasn't so messed up after all. I got one thing, even if it wasn't what I had expected.
It made me think, that night after my little laughing fit. I was lying on a cot on the floor. Tobias got the bed. I'd insisted, and that really ticked him off. Oh well.
Anyway, I was lying on the squeaky, back-killing bed thinking about what the Ellimist said when we first really became acquainted. He'd said something about humans having humor, and humor being what would someday save us. I'd thought he was just playing around, not being serious, just trying to give me hope. But he had a point. Honestly and truly, would I be alive now if it wasn't for that one laughing fit I'd had when I first saved Tobias? No, I wouldn't.
That laughing brought me back into reality, got me out of my little dead-just-be-a-machine-and-don't-give-a-_______ mode. And I think that kept me alive as long as I lived.
Of course, you don't understand what I'm saying right now. No, you don't at all. Because you don't know what happened later on in my life that was the hardest thing I had to deal with. Or maybe it was the easiest.
I'm becoming confused again. I'll just go on with my tale.
I cannot sing the old songs, I sang long years ago, For heart and voice would fail me, And foolish tears would flow. --Charlotte A. Barnard
I fell asleep at some point, I guess, because I woke up. That usually meant you'd been asleep.
It was light in the cave, or as light as a cave can be without any candles lit or lights on. Tobias was still asleep on my bed, looking peaceful and comfortable and I got really ticked off. My back was absolutely killing me.
I slid off the bed, rubbing my back as I did so. My feet hit the cold, damp rocks of the cave floor. That made me even angrier at Tobias, for some reason.
I stumbled over to my "closet," which, in reality, was an old, beat-up box. I grabbed the first clothes my hands touched and staggered outside to the lake. I felt like taking a bath, for some reason, even though I'd taken one just that night. Maybe it was because I'd slept in that nasty old cot. I don't know.
I went behind the waterfall and undressed before jumping into the cool water. It was freezing, but I didn't care. I was too annoyed at the bed to care.
It was just becoming light. The sun was peeking over the horizon, and the light was orange-red.
That usually meant it was going to rain. My mother said red in the morning meant it would rain, red at night meant it would be a nice day. I don't know if there was any scientific-fact whatsoever in that, but it was usually right.
I got out of the water and got dressed. I pulled a sweatshirt on over the tank top, because it was colder out this morning than usual. Winter was approaching and that wasn't too good for me.
I was sitting on the damp rocks behind the waterfall, pulling my socks on, when I felt as if someone was spying on me. People seemed to like spying on me or something. It was happening often.
I didn't have any weapons with me this time. All I had was a bar of soap. And myself.
I jammed my feet into my shoes and tied the knots tightly. Then I stood and came out from behind the fall. It was dangerous to do, I knew, but I had to see what was what.
I looked around. No one in sight. And no Dracon beams were firing. I should have felt safer. But this just made me feel worse. This was spying. Not killing. Spying. That meant no death or capture yet, but soon to be coming.
And I would be dead if I let the person spying know I had noticed them. So I tried to act nonchalant, and went back into my cave. That was a bad move, and I knew it too late.
Because now whoever was spying on me knew where I was hiding. And that meant my time to get away was short and almost nonexistent.
The speed of the leader determines the rate of the pack. --Wayne Lukas
I started to stuff everything I knew I would need into my backpack: a Dracon beam, my pocketknife, a compass, some food, the frodem, some needles and the syringe, first-aid kit, batteries, flashlights, matches… I put a couple of sweatshirts in it too. Let me tell you this, the thing was full when I finished packing.
I combed my hair through and tied it up in a tight braid so it would stay in place. I brushed my teeth because they were itching and I can't concentrate with itching teeth.
I grabbed my notebook with my map of the Yeerk pool entrances and my notes of what was going on in it. I stomped the near-dead Visser Three, after tearing him away from the wires he was hooked to.
It was his fault they were so stuck on finding me right then. All his fault.
I was getting ready to slip away when I realized I was forgetting something, something important: Tobias.
He was my big problem now. Very big.
He could barely walk with the hurt rib and it could get worst if he did walk. But he would either become a Controller or be killed if I left him. I had to take him.
I went over to him and shook him awake. "Wake up. Come on, come on. We have to hurry."
"Get up. Oh, never mind." I grabbed his shirt and pulled it roughly onto him. Then I grabbed his feet, probably hurting him bad in the process, and stuck them in socks and shoes. I leaned down and put my arm as gently as I could around him and told him to put his around my shoulders. He did so, and I managed to get him off the bed.
"What's going on, Rachel?" he gasped. I knew his rib was hurting him. I didn't want to hurt him. I didn't. But I had too…
"The Yeerks know where we are. We have to get away. Really quickly. I'm sorry, Tobias, but you have to walk. I'll help more when we get into the woods. Now we just have to concentrate on getting away, okay?"
He nodded, wincing in pain as I removed my arm from around him. I straightened my book bag on my shoulders. I slipped out of the cave, with Tobias following, flinching every time he moved.
Once we're far enough away, I'm calling Haley for help, I told myself. He needs help.
I looked around, trying to see if anyone was out there. Of course, that was stupid, because I wouldn't see anyone if they didn't want me to see them. Besides, most had the power to morph now. They had the blue box and the Andalite.
"Hey!" I said suddenly. Duh. "Tobias, think you can morph? Morph to something small an hide out in my book bag?"
He nodded. "Yeah. I think. But we've learned morphing doesn't heal internal breaks, like ribs. I don't know why. That doesn't have anything to do with DNA. But it doesn't work, so I still won't be healed."
"That's okay. I can get us out of here without anyone being able to follow us. You just need to morph something now. Once we're far enough away, I'll call Haley for help. Just morph. Someone's watching us. I feel it."
"Who's Haley?" he asked as he began to morph something small and furry. I didn't know he had a morph that was small and furry.
"Haley. The Ellimist."
He looked surprised, but that's hard to say because his face was turning very mouse-like. "You can just—" He was cut off.
Tobias ended up morphing into a mouse. I don't know why a Visser would want a mouse morph, but it was coming in handy for us. I grabbed him up and stuck him in my backpack.
He finished his question. < You can just call up the Ellimist now? How? >
I didn't bother to answer. I had to get away. That was more important.
I didn't know how to get away, though, really. Someone was out there. Someone was spying on me. I didn't know where or why or who they were.
How do you slip away if you don't know if it's the right choice to slip away?
I was suddenly confused. I had been so sure I had to get away. But why had I been?
RACHEL, the Ellimist's voice burst into my thoughts, YOU THOUGHT YOU HAD TO LEAVE BECAUSE IN FACT YOU DO. YOU HAVE INSTINCT. YOU MUST FOLLOW IT. SOMETIMES IT MAY BE WRONG, BUT RIGHT NOW IT'S RIGHT. GO. HURRY.
"Where the ____ am I supposed to go?" I muttered.
YOU KNOW.
"Oh, just shut up. You're no help. You act like you're helpful, but at the time when I need your help most, you don't help."
WE DO NOT INTERFER WITH THE AFFAIRS OF OTHER SPECIES.
"The ______ you don't! Come on, Haley. What happened to you? You were all for helping me over the last few months. Suddenly you quit? What's up with that?"
This wasn't the time for this. It was not the time. But I had to know. Why wasn't the Ellimist helping me when it was a vital time for help?
< Rachel? What's going on? Are we moving? Is everything okay? > Tobias asked.
No. Nothing was okay. This was a disaster! I was just standing outside my cave, in perfect view of any Yeerk spying on me, arguing with an Ellimist who changed from a helpful "I" to a "non-interfering we" in the matter of hours.
A Dracon beam shot just inches away from me, disintegrating the rock it'd hit.
This was not good. This was not good at all.
Another shot zipped just passed my arm. I could feel the heat.
INSTINCT, the Ellimist said.
Instinct. Instinct. What instinct?
Run away from the shooting, Rachel, duh.
I started to run away from the shooting. I guess there are times when the answers come to you, like my answer came from the idiot person shooting the Dracon beam. I mean, come on, how stupid is that? I knew where they were when they shot.
The shots still rang out behind me, but I was getting away.
I didn't know where I was running to, but I did know the place I was running to was the place that would lead me to where I am now.
Does that make since?
I don't know.
I ran, stumbling over roots and little ditches, even creeks. I didn't notice the tree branches slapping in my face. All I knew was I had to get away. They were following me. I had to run.
Run away or die.
A little more Part II coming, then on to Part III...TO BE CONTINUED...once my writer's block disappears...