Chapter 10 (Cassie)
Suddenly, the door creaked. A ray of light fell over Jake's face. He squinted, as though trying to see past it. Then, everything stopped. Nothing moved. The door stopped opening, the dust particles in the air, illuminated by the light from the half-open door, stopped dancing. Dead halt. Silence.
I looked back at Joseph. Whatever this was, he was caught up in it too. It looked like he had blacked out or something.
We were all looking at Jake with the same expression on our faces. Complete confusion. Probably Lee more than most. Her Andalite might have told her everything about the Yeerk invasion, but I don't suppose he had given her any hands-on experience.
"What just happened?" She was almost shaking. But you see, we'd seen the Ellimist stop time before. Not really a big thing anymore.
"He's just stopped time. Nothing to worry about." That was Marco. He spoke in an off hand manner, so you couldn't tell if he was innocently telling Lee what she wanted to know or making fun of her asking the question.
Helloooo, called Tobias. Anyone home?
I heard Rachel mutter sourly, "Nope. Now could we all go home?"
The Ellimist either didn't hear her or decided to ignore it. I'd go for the latter.
I shot bolt upright in bed. I was in a cold sweat, and I was shaking uncontrollably. The sun was starting to peep through the curtains, and my clock told me that it was ten in the morning. I quickly pulled some clothes out of my wardrobe and put them on before running headlong down the stairs. If it wasn't just some meaningless dream, I was guessing I wouldn't be the first one in the barn.
And I guessed right. Ax and Tobias were already in the barn when I got there. Ax in his human morph as always. Rachel and Jake arrived shortly after me, and then Marco and Lee drifted in shortly after one another. I looked around at everyone. "I'm guessing we're all here for the same reason?"
"We all had that weird dream?" I watched as everyone nodded in agreement to Marco's guess.
"Just to make sure, that was Joseph wasn't it? I mean, I've never met the guy before." Jake was looking pointedly at Lee and Marco as he asked the question. Nobody else knew what Joseph looked like.
They nodded grimly. "I'm still not sure what to make of it," said Marco uneasily. "But if the Ellimist's involved I'd say it's got to be fairly important."
What's all this about him being the Ellimist's son? He looks like a normal kid to me. Tobias paused as though he was thinking. Unless he's half and half or something.
"Half Ellimist?" Jake was deep in thought for a moment. "Ax? Is that possible?"
"It is possible. Two species can mate to have offspring that resembles both. An example would be your lion and tiger. If they were to mate they would produce what you call a Liger."
"Or a Tigon," I put in. Ax nodded. "But he doesn't resemble the Ellimist at all," I pointed out. "He looks like a regular human boy."
"Maybe he does not resemble the Ellimist in looks," confirmed Ax thoughtfully. "But maybe he resembles him in other ways."
"Like what?" Marco sounded sceptical. "Are you telling me that he could have super-powers or something?"
Far from the laughter he was expecting, Ax said solemnly, "Quite possibly."
Marco frowned. "Okay, that was way weirder than I was expecting."
"Does that part actually matter?" Demanded Lee forcefully, "How are we planning to get him out of there?"
Anyone up for a little morning flying? Tobias stopped preening himself and looked to Jake. He nodded.
Let me tell you this right now, morphing is weird. It never happens the same way twice but it always manages to look just as gross. I know, I've watched the others morph often enough, and it isn't pretty.
We were all stood there, stripped down to our morphing outfits, about to turn into birds. Try to tell me that that doesn't sound completely crazy.
Watching the feathers form is always interesting, weird but interesting. My skin started bunching up, like lots of small mountains. They bunched further and further and then eventually spread out so that they looked like pink feathers. My mouth was, by this time, half way melted into a beak. My teeth were being sucked into my gums. And I hadn't shrunk at all. Suddenly, without warning, the ground shot up to meet me. It was like I was falling without my feet ever leaving the ground. The skin around my feet became suddenly tougher, and talons sprouted from my toes, which had already melted together. My fingers became the end feathers of a wing. I stretched my wings and flapped them cautiously. I was an osprey, also known as Pandion haliaetus. Go ahead, check it out if you don't believe me!
So, let's look at the facts. I was a girl who could turn into a bird, amongst many other things, and how did I spend my free time? Running air surveillance.