A New Player
Author's Note-
Oh yes. Now it's FITEY'S turn to write a cliché. Of course, in my own twisted perceptive. Oh. Yeah.
Anyway, this is…er…something. Haven't quite figured it out… And yes, I know the title is a cliché itself, but forgive me! At least it doesn't have 'dream' in it.
Oh yeah. It's about a person becoming an Animorph. But this person has a little secret, heh heh…
Chapter One- Cassie
I sighed. I had plenty of work to do- and now I was being given even more chores. Clean the barn, feed the animals and give them their medication, clean my room, vacuum the house. Another day in the Animorphs life. As Marco would say- Ah, the glamour of being a superhero. Or in Rachel and I's case, heroine. I could use some help…
I finished bandaging a badger's leg- he had been caught in a bear trap- and moved on to the next patient. A duck. I fed him and gave him some new bandages, then moved onto the last one.
A mountain lion. Ax had had an encounter with one once, but he got away- this one had been shot, so he needed bandages and meds. The lion was pacing back and forth, but when I cam to it's big cage (we had to make a stall into a cage so it wouldn't jump out- big cats can get a lot of speed in a little time) it stopped, and stared at me, with intelligent eyes.
Not intelligent like a dolphin's or a monkey's, but with a sort of human intelligence. The eyes were slit like a human might slit them, and was staring at me, tail twitching.
Carefully, I got the meds and the bandages in my hand. Moved slowly to the cage. Got ready. Opened the cage painfully slow. Moved to give it it's meds and-
The mountain lion leapt at me, I stood, frozen, but I was wrong- it landed next to me on the ground. Ran out of the barn, into the woods. I stood, panting, breathing with relief.
Fighting aliens was enough. Now my normal life was stepping in for the fun…
Ah, the life of an Animorph.
Chapter 2- Lauren
I walked into the school building, put my junk in the locker, and slammed it shut.
I was in a bad mood.
It's not hard for me to get that way. I'm not a cool, calm person. I'm a 'touch me and DIE' person. You know… A 'don't take my stuff or prepare to get creamed' one. I don't sound like I'm tough, just a pansy using tough words. But believe me; when I want to cause pain I can.
Anyway, I went into class. Sat down. Glared at some guys I don't like. Threw some girls some angry looks. Then I turned to the teacher, who merely smiled weakly, and then began to teach math.
I didn't really pay attention. I mean, I had a rep to uphold. Besides, I was angry. Mad at everything…
Mad at my dad for leaving. Mad at my mom for not caring. Mad at my fosters for ignoring me, complaining about how bad I was- well, why shouldn't I be?
Mostly, I was mad at them for moving. I hated my old town- but it was better than this dump. I had only been here for a few days- but already I had established a routine, a reputation. Certain people avoided me. Bullies praised me. I didn't like the bullies; I picked on people who bugged me, not little twerps that couldn't defend themselves and at least put up a fight. Not kiddy poohs that got all A's and thought they were the best, snotty nosed stuck-ups who needed reprimanding. I picked, punched, and killed the ones who decided they needed to be 'heroes'. In my life there are no heroes.
Just me.
Chapter 3- Jake
I slid into a seat in the cafeteria, with some of the school food. Blue mashed potatoes, gray gravy, and green chips. The school's favorite food colors.
I half-sighed, and poked at my food. The potatoes wiggled like Jell-O. I groaned, made a face, and turned to Cassie, who was sitting next to me.
"Did you remember to bring a lunch?" I asked, hoping against hope.
"Nope. But I got second choice, chicken nuggets."
Chicken nuggets are the only things the school can't ruin. Just don't let them put barbecue sauce on them. Then it tastes sickening. Like…death.
Oh yes, we are the Animorphs. 6 beings with the power to morph, given to us by an Andalite named Elfangor. We fight parasitic aliens called Yeerks. But you probably know all of that…
If you didn't, well, I guess I'll explain later. Or maybe one of the others will…
The point is, school food (with the exception of chicken nuggets) is a lot like death. Foul, toxic, and unreal at the same time.
Now you know why I hate it.
Chapter 4- Marco
I sat in Ax's scoop watching cable. Surfed the channels. MTV, Fox Family, Cartoon Network, TNT, ESPN, etc.
Nothing was on. And it wasn't unusual- during 9-2, it was usually just kiddy shows. Not quality entertainment. At least, on the normal channels. Of course not MTV, VH-1, TNT. But there weren't any good movies or shows on. Just soap operas, bad music videos, and old black-and-white movies.
That was the thing about being 'dead'. Don't get me wrong- but I'd almost want to go to school for something to do. I couldn't go to the mall, the movies, not anywhere. And now, nothing was on TV.
Oh well…
I clicked off the television, and looked for something else to do in Ax's scoop. Finding nothing, I got up and turned on his souped-up computer, and started playing some games on it.
All I'm going to say is: the boy needs to buy some computer games. Or at least a PS2, or PS. Or DreamCast. Heck, anything would be alright- so long as it dated within the year 1990.
I got online, after playing the very limited (not to mention out-dated) games a few thousand times, and surfed the web. My search item: 'shapeshifters'. About a million references popped up.
I don't really know WHY I looked it up. My life was weird enough, so I wasn't into books like that.
One reference caught my eye. I clicked it, and looked at the page. The title was- 'Basic Shape-Shifting/Shape-Shifters for the Basic Mind.'
I rolled my eyes. I was about to back click when I noticed the words- 'Within the months, several reports of shape-shifters have been received. The reports include four teenage kids changing into animals. They also include an alien creature and a hawk within the report. They say-'
So. The truth was out. People knew about us. That wasn't a big deal- Jake had shown some Star Trek obsessees our secret. A boy (now a rat) about our age knew. And somewhere there was a nosy boy who lost his camera that knew. There might be others.
We had seen a few postings on the net before, but this was my first discovery. Otherwise it had been one of the others. I decided not to mention it. I mean, with a name like that, why would anyone bother to check it out?
Chapter 5- Tobias
I was flying over my meadow when I saw it. A mountain lion, slinking along, looking this way and that every so often. I was worried. I didn't think mountain lions could climb trees- I'd have to ask Cassie- but still. They were dangerous, like all cats. I've had experiences with bobcats, and it was a little thing. This was…a lion.
I decided to follow it a ways, and see if it was trying to establish a permanent home or if it was just lost.
I spotted a bandage on its side. It must've been a patient at Cassie's. But why was the bandage still there?
I glided to a tree branch where I could watch it stalk a rabbit. In three liquid movements, the rabbit was down. In two it was gone, bones and all. I hadn't known cats ate everything at once… But this one seemed different.
I saw it look around again, and suddenly, I felt its eyes on me. It nodded to itself, and then turned, and went on his way.
A chill went down my spine. There was something very wrong going on.