Chapter 21
Kari
The sun was low in the sky, getting ready to set.
I shifted on the tree branch I was sitting on, and peered off into the distance. Soon the moon would be up, and the Wereing would begin.
My mind drifted to the wolfing. He would probably ignore my warnings and the Rules, and become a werewolf in plain sight. I grinned at the thought of what might happen if that happened.
Finally, my thoughts changed to that other boy, Marco. I hadn't seen him since the day I told him about the 'family celebration', and, to my surprise, I actually missed him a little. Perhaps, just this once…
I shook my head. I wasn't about to bond with a human. If I got too close and changed him as well, he would probably never forget or forgive me for it, and where would I be then? Cold, lost, and hungry in a new town, looking for more prey. I couldn't let my feelings overcome my reason, or the facts. And the facts were if I fell in love with Marco, I might as well be dead.
Shaking my head, I jumped off the tree branch and landed cat-like and headed toward a clearing where I would be able to see the moon.
Chapter 22
Tobias
We flew to the arcade, and, as the building came to view, we spread out more so were about 100 feet apart. I was leading them to the spot in the roof.
One by one, me first, we landed on the roof, and walked to the space where I had scratched away the shingle.
[Well, this should be fairly easy to get into. It's about, what, 1 or 2 inches wide? Easy for a cockroach to get into.] Jake mused. [Are you sure it won't be too hard for you to see, Tobias?] He asked me.
[What, me? Of course not! You are talking to a professional, Jake.]
[We worry about you, Tobias.] Rachel said privately. [Be careful tonight, alright?]
[When am I ever not?] I asked rhetorically. Rachel didn't answer.
[Anyway, should we tour the inside now?] I inquired.
[Alright,] Jake replied. [Should we go back to the woods to get our 'normal' clothes?]
[Nah. Not for a quick survey,] Marco said.
[I agree. It'll take too long. Let's go.] Said Cassie.
[OK. Alright… Anyone see a place to demorph?]
I peered around. Buildings, road, cars…
[Alley!] Cried Rachel. [Let's go!]
Rachel flapped her wings, and then dived into the alley out of sight. Next was Jake, then Cassie, Ax, Marco, and I went last.
Rachel was human already, and was looking disgusted at the ground of the alley, and her bare feet.
Smiling to myself, I morphed human.
"Dogone it, we don't have any shoes!" Grumbled Marco. "Shoes are our friends."
"Shut up, Marco."
Marco sighed, and we walked out of the alley feeling like we had just come from a circus sideshow.
Chapter 23
Cassie
For some odd reason, as we walked into the arcade, there was no one there. That was unusual. I mean, I don't usually go to the arcade, because I really don't like the games and have so much to do, but Jake and Marco talk about it like it's always full.
We walked around a few minutes, and the longer we were there, the more self-conscious I got. My feet were dirty from the alley, my morphing suit a bit faded. For once, I felt like shopping.
Scary.
Marco and Ax looked for cameras, while the rest of us searched for places to morph. I found a particularly good alcove that was shadowed next to a racing game. I made a mental note of it, and moved on to search.
"Pri- I mean, Jake, Marco and I think we found them all," Ax reported in a semi-whisper.
"Alright. Let's go; we found enough places to morph."
Ax nodded, and then we followed Jake out. I felt a knot tightning in my stomach about the thought of tonight. Something big was going to happen. I couldn't ignore it. But I tried.
I was going to regret it.
Chapter 24
Rachel
It was getting late. The sun was setting, and the night was growing fast. Almost too fast.
I felt adrenaline flooding my systems, preparing me for the night. Jake was right; the Yeerks better watch out. We were on a mission tonight, it was going to be a massacre.
I stared out my window, waiting for the phone call that would say they were ready, that it was time. Time to go.
Shifting restlessly, I stared at the blank TV, thinking. Cassie had told me privately on the way back that she thought something bad was going to happen tonight. I didn't believe it, but still, the thought stuck to my thoughts, trying to raise a healthy fear. I couldn't shove it away, and it gnawed on me, eating away my defenses.
Yeah, life was good. The irony was sweet.
Rubbing an eye, I almost jumped as the phone rang.
I picked it up on the second ring.
"Hello?"
"Rachel. It's time," Said Marco's voice.
"Alright, Marco. Where are we meeting?"
"At the barn. Where else, O Might Xena."
"Whatever." I hung up, without waiting for his reply and saying goodbye.
I went upstairs to my room, and shut and locked the door. I opened the window. Then, after stripping to my morphing outfit, I began to morph bald eagle.
After I finished, I realized I was almost to big for the window. I hopped onto the windowsill, and jumped out of the window, without opening my wings 'til I was outside. I pulled out of the steep drop I was in, and flew off towards the barn.
Chapter 25
Ax
Rachel was last to arrive. She demorphed and looked around. "We could have a party in here. We just need streamers, and those hats."
"Hey, I thought I was the comic relief." Marco remarked.
"And you're sooo much better at it," Rachel joked.
"You're words are like you're sword in me, O Xena,"
"Are we ready?" Asked Prince Jake.
"Ready as I'll ever be,"
"No."
"LET'S DO IT!"
[Yeah.]
[Yes, Prince Jake.]
"Good. Let's morph… Tobias, you better come down here."
Tobias floated down to the ground, while we began to morph cockroach.
My eyestalks shrunk, and my face melted. I became smaller, smaller, 'til I was cockroach size. The rest of the changes were a mystery, because my eyes went blind, or just about blind.
I rushed towards Tobias, scurrying over dust and dirt, till I saw a feather, and heard his mental voice.
[Ax, is that you?]
[Yes, Tobias.]
A talon came into view, and I crawled onto it, seeing, or rather smelling the others.
[Hang on, guys. And girls.]
I felt the air from Tobias' wings on my body, as he flew us higher and higher, until the ground was blurry (well, it went blurry after two feet. Or maybe 2 inches).
[This is kind of fun,] Rachel stated.
[Fun? Fun!? This is INSANE!] Cried Marco. [INSANE! I-N-S-A-N-E!]
[Ah, quit being such a baby.]
[We're almost there,] Tobias told us. [Maybe 5 more minutes.]
[Ax, will you keep track of time for us?]
[Of course.]
We flew on, discussing plans for awhile, but after a minute or two, the subject changed to Halloween.
[My mom is taking us to get pumpkins to carve in a day or two.] Rachel said.
[Me too.] Jake voiced.
[I'm getting mine in a week. That way it won't rot before its time.] Cassie uttered.
Marco was silent. I guessed that because his mother was 'dead' his father didn't usually take him to get a pumpkin to carve. That was just a theory, being that I didn't know what one was anyway. In explaining Halloween, they didn't mention pumpkin carving.
[By your silence, Ax, I'm guessing you don't know what pumpkin carving is.] Tobias guessed.
[No, I don't,] I answered.
[I'll explain. It's a big, roundish, orange plant, and you cut off the top, pull out the seeds and guts, and then carve a face into it. That's it in a nutshell.] Marco explained.
[Oh look, we're here.]
[Already?] Jake asked.
[Hold on, I'm going to land!] Tobias warned.
THUMP!
We landed on the roof. Ahead, I saw a red color then black and then red again.
[Can you see the crack?] Asked Tobias.
[Yes,] We all answered.
[See ya later then. Good luck. I'll be waiting.]
We all crawled off, and ran towards the hole. Two by two, we fell in.
[Follow me, guys. I think I see the way.] Jake told us.
I followed the cockroach in front of me, and eventually, I saw a bit of light.
[Here we are,] Cassie said. [I think.]
[Hey, I think that I can see the top of a game!] Marco cried. [Oh…Nevermind.]
We walked on a crossbeam that was as wide as two of us lengthwise.
I felt the beam below us go down diagonally, and I slipped a bit, until my tiny claws caught the wood.
[I think we're low enough to jump off.] Jake mused.
[Alright…]
[One…]
[Two…]
[THREE!!!!!!!]
[AAAHHHHHHHHHHH!] We all screamed.
I twisted and rolled and dipped, spinning around and around as I fell for what seemed like an eternity, until-
WHUMPH!
I landed, along with the others.
[Alright. Let's do it!] Rachel exclaimed.
Chapter 26
Kari
I was getting impatient. It was around 7, and the sun was still setting, with no sign of the moon. I had long since moved from the clearing in the woods, to my hotel room. I knew I'd have enough time to move if the sun finally decided to set.
Sighing, I sat on the edge of my bed and fell over, thinking. About Marco, again.
With his dark eyes, and seemingly sad smile. It was a pity, I thought. Such a pity…
I found that, despite my will, I couldn't resist my feelings. I was irresistibly drawn to him, with his jokes, and his laughter.
Which meant-
I didn't get any further. I noticed the sun setting, going down.
It's solved then. I thought. I'll do it.
With that, I stood up, and moved silently out of my room.
Chapter 27
Marco
Ax and I moved to the place we had found earlier, and Ax demorphed first.
[It's clear,] He told me.
I demorphed next, glad when my eyes returned, even though the room was dim.
"Too bad we don't have a slingshot."
[Do you hear music?]
"No."
Ax looked puzzle. [Are you sure? I'm certain I heard a song. Something about weird things living in the fridge.]
"Ax you've been watching to many music videos."
Ax moved carefully along the path we had memorized in our short stay.
Suddenly-
FWAP! FWAP! FWAP!
So much for the security cameras.
[It's safe, Prince Jake.]
[Thanks Ax, Marco.]
I heard the sounds of morphing.
"Alright, let's morph."
Moving into a shadow, I began to morph my favorite animal: Gorilla. Strong enough to beat up 5 full grown men, strong enough to pull a sapling out of the ground and use a guy as a baseball.
Fur sprouted, and I heard my morphing clothes rip as I gained muscles and muscles, until I was gorilla all the way, even the gorilla mind was present.
I made my way towards Ax, knuckle walking.
[So. Where is the entrance?]
[In the back,] Jake's voice answered in my head.
[LET'S GO!] Growled Rachel.
I saw her being led by Cassie who was a wolf, sleek and dangerous.
Jake led us to the back, the black stripes on him blending with the dark shadows.
We passed the desk where the owner of the store sat, making sure no one busted the games or tried to get their quarters back.
I opened the door to the back room, which was even darker. We searched the dark for a light switch, 'til I found one, well aware of what could go wrong. The light on, we saw a door leading to the back. A long with two security guards.
"AND-" Started one, but, before he could finish, Jake had knocked him out with a swing from his paw. The other guard stood shaking.
"Andalite…anda…lite…"
A swing from Ax's tail put him out of duty.
[Gee,] I began, staring at the door behind the guards. [Could this be it?]
[Would you do the honors, Rachel?] Jake asked.
[Of course!]
Rachel charged forward, and busted the door in. Then, after ripping out, she threw the guards' bodies down the stairwell.
[Ouch. That had to hurt.] Cassie commented.
[Now, we only need to block the entrance.]
Ax stood looking around. [Would that work?] He asked, pointing at a desk.
[Of course!] I replied. I picked it up like a paperweight, and slammed it onto the stairs, breaking one, and turning the desk into splinters.
[Rachel, punch that stair out, would you?]
Rachel fell to all fours, and moved forward. Then, raising a mighty paw, she brought it out the stair.
WHAM!
The floor gave a small shake as not one, but several stairs dented and splintered.
Finally, I took the door, and crammed it back into place.
[That should prove our point.] Jake told us.
[What if it doesn't? I mean, a few stairs, a door, it's easily repairable.]
[Alright, stand back.] Rachel muttered. [This ought to do it.]
She reared back up, and layed several hammer blows onto the ceiling above the door.
The ceiling shuddered, and then I moved in, and slammed my fists into it.
Dust began to trickle down, until…
[LOOK OUT!] Cried Cassie.
I moved just as half the ceiling fell in, burying the door.
[That wasn't so hard,] Rachel said, surveying the damage.
Chapter 28
Cassie
[The poor owner. Of course, he's probably a Yeerk too.] I thought out loud.
[I can't wait till we get to do the one at the mall!] Rachel said.
[Oh great. They'll probably have even more guards and security cameras.] Marco muttered.
[How do we get out?] I asked.
[Oops. I guess we did forget something.]
[Let's just morph something tiny- like a fly- and crawl under the door.]
[Not out the door. We can fly up to the shingle again,] Jake decided.
[Alright.]
We moved back to the main room, where the games were, and demorphed. Then, after I became human, I began to become a fly.
Becoming a fly is not a pretty thing. Morphing any insect isn't. I guess it's a bug thing. Having three body sections, compound eyes, a proboscis, and six legs isn't a fashion statement, unless you want someone to say 'GROSS!'.
I'll save you the details, and skip to the part where we got to Tobias again, and landed on him and flew us back to the barn.
"The moon is almost up!" I said.
"Oh, wonderful. Somebody grab a camera."
"It's the full moon, on Friday the thirteenth. Run, hide, escape, or you shall perish!"
"Hahaha."
We sat in the barn, looking up at the sky. Or, at least, the others sat while I worked. I hadn't had time enough to finish my chores before the mission.
Jake moved to help me, but I told him I could handle it. I only needed to give the goose her pills.
I saw Jake staring at the raising moon in an odd fashion, and he looked puzzled. He saw me looking, and gave me a look that said 'Tell You Later'.
"Well, I have to go. Luckily tomorrow is Friday. I have a test on Monday," Rachel told us.
"Me too," Marco said. "See-ya."
Jake looked my way. "I have a test Tuesday. It seem likes the teachers want to cram in as much homework as they can before break."
"See-ya."
The others left, Tobias and Ax lingering awhile longer to talk, until, they too had gone. Finishing my chores, I gave a look in their direction until they were gone. Then, I shut off the light and went into the house.
Chapter 28
Jake
Full Moon 1
I felt an odd tingling in me, as if I was gaining the power to morph again, as I walked home.
The moon was full and shining on me, and the longer it did, the more I wanted to run and run, and never stop, just to feel the power.
The darkness seemed as nothing, because of the brightness of the moon. Everything seemed sharper, and I was amazed at how much I could see.
My mind drifted to the morning, when I had received that note. "Rules of the Wereing'' it said.
I had it in my jean pockets (we had put on our normal clothes at the barn), but I didn't want to look at it, even though I was trying to remember what it said.
Rule 1: The Wereing takes place in the 12th year if bitten before. In other cases, it starts at the soonest full moon.
Rule 2: To become a full-fledged werewolf, a wolfling must kill and eat something during the nights of the full moon.
Rule 3: A full-fledged werewolf may not cross water, though he can go in water.
Rule 4: A full-fledged werewolf may become a human at any time, but must change during the full moon.
Rule 5: A werewolf cannot tolerate silver in wolf form.
That was all I could remember, but I thought there might be a bit more.
The tingling was getting stronger, and I noticed I could hear better now, and smell.
It was like becoming a wolf…
I shook my head. Why was I thinking of such nonsense? People didn't become werewolves. That was just stuff to scare kids. I hadn't believed it for years… Had I?
But now… I noticed something else. The tingling was so strong, that it almost hurt. Suddenly, I heard my clothes rip. My face elongated into a muzzle. I felt a tail form, and then luxurious white fur covered my body. My eyes sharpened further as they changed.
What's happening? Am I morphing? I thought, panicking. Did I have that disease that Rachel had had when she acquired that crocodile? It couldn't be that; I hadn't acquired any new morphs lately.
Suddenly, I noticed the change was done. I was huge, monstrous. The size of a large pony.
My stomach rumbled, reminding me how hungry I was. I looked around, sensing everything. Somewhere there had to be something to eat…
I skulked towards the shadows, keeping low, moving fluidly.
My mind wasn't at all on the fact that this was odd. I was powerful; mighty. I could hear and smell animals fleeing before me, though there were few. I heard dogs barking at me, but I ignored them.
I slid through the shadows of the night, close to houses, though I still had the moon shining on me. It's very presence filled me with strength and helped my senses.
Suddenly, an odd smell met my nose. It smelled…It was indescribable. It was like…
I saw a flash of…something. Something was out there, something that wasn't afraid of me. Which meant a challenge. A fight.
I moved forward, crawling through the grass to sneak up on the form, when I heard a short, barking laugh that in my head formed words. Sneak up on me? That's a laugh. Foolish wolfling.
I looked around, annoyed. That voice angered me, it seemed to invade my mind. A section of me that was personal. I didn't want anyone to see my thoughts.
There was more harsh laughter. Aw, does Jake not like me? I'm soo sad.
My lip curled, and I thought of tearing that disembodied voice to pieces. I would-
You'd what? Fight me? That's the funniest thing I've ever heard!
The laughter stopped. This time, a low growl spoke.
That would be a big mistake. Even if you did defeat me-, which is a chance of one in a million-, you'd have to face my other wolflings. They seem attached to me. Act as though I'm their mother. Touching, isn't it? Besides Jake- I made you strong. It's because of me you're who you are now. And, you might want to try and actually hide you're thoughts instead of projecting them. I could hear you across the town!
I paused, and wondered how to do that. Should I… What?
Pretend you're thoughts are words you are speaking. You can project them to anyone, everyone, or no one. Explained the voice.
I get it, I thought to the voice.
Good, it said. Now follow me and I will show you how to become stronger, little one.
Finally, I saw it- a huge, massive beast that was much bigger than I. She (for I could tell it was a she now) stood on her hind legs, and I saw for the first time that she wasn't a wolf- she was like a human mixed with a wolf. With limbs that weren't quite feet or hands or legs or arms, but weren't paws either. A face that wasn't a snout but wasn't human either.
I realized that I looked that way too- but seemed… cleaner, less dirty. The beast in front of me wasn't silky-furred, but the fur was knotted and twisted and scared. The thing's face had several huge scars on its nose.
Follow me, Jake.
Pulled by some unseen bond, I followed her into the night.
Chapter 29
Kari
The boy was a full. He followed me without question or care; but willingly. Unlike the others.
He noticed my 'dirtiness' and his own clean fur. I knew that if he did what I told him, he wouldn't look that way in a few days.
I led him to the forest where we were sure to find good game; I had found a good spot where deer grazed, and tried to hide. But I knew the way forests were; I had lived in one for my time as a wolfling, until I too had become fully powered.
We moved swiftly and silently- or at least, I did. I had to stop a few times for him to catch up, though even when he had caught up I had to tell him where I was.
He learned quickly though. He would be a good pupil; I would teach him the ways and the Rules just as I had taught others. My wolflings.
Though I was there in body I wasn't in mind; I was thinking of Marco. Perhaps Jake would know where he was…
First, we had to hunt. I was surprised how eager he was for the power. It reminded me of myself as a young one, with my own master.
Are we there yet? He asked impatiently.
Almost. Look- there is the clearing. Stop! I commanded.
Do as I do, Jake.
Slowly, I edged forward, knowing what was to come.
As expected, the deer looked up, shivering. I stared one in the eyes, and I saw its eyes widen, and I moved forward, never moving my gaze.
The deer stood frozen, as if in headlights.
Suddenly- I leapt!
I howled triumphantly as I brought the buck down, and snapped its neck, holding onto it with my jaws.
Here Jake, have a taste. I said, pulling him to the carcass with a paw hand.
He looked at it, and then at me. Well? Don't you want the power? I asked.
Yes but…
Take it then. You'll be powerful, feared by all creatures.
I…
If you won't have any of it, then I will. I am hungry and this is too good to waste.
Tearing off chunks with my huge teeth, I swallowed without chewing. The venison was wonderful; all I needed were some chips, I thought, smiling.
I saw Jake back away, slowly, disgusted by my eating habits. I grinned at him, showing bloody teeth and fur.
That was all it took. He immediately whirled away, running towards civilization. I wasn't worried; I had two more days. If that time went up; I would have to dispose of him. Or have humans do the dirty work. I didn't kill my own kind…After eating, I found a small stream and drank deeply, and then washed my fur. Shaking the water off, I moved towards the town again, staying in the woods as long as possible. It would be morning, soon. I would find Marco, and then, tomorrow or Sunday, Jake would be like me. A werewolf. For as long as he lived…