Disclaimer: I don't own Animorphs. Yadda, yadda, yadda, isn't that a little redundant?
I got this idea from an MSN conversation I had with CrackerJack. Enjoy.
The sky was clear blue and the sun was warm and shining down on the planet. I was indifferent to the horrible life forms that scurried about the trees and the grass near the structure.
It was a memorial dedicated to the brave young human that died in the service of her people.
We had seen it coming. It was in the course of our major interstellar game. And when the life force went weak, I felt something I had not felt since the day I became what I was.
"It's a little unusual seeing you here." An unfamiliar voice spoke.
Actually, it wasn't so unfamiliar. I just never really cared to listen to it. The last time I truly spoke to it was when we began this game.
He stood there. The appearance of an old man, humanoid, symmetrical, and repulsive. This was his form whenever he "interacted" with the game pieces. The things he called sentient life.
Of course, here I was, in a similar form. Although I chose the appearance of a younger male humanoid.
"What are you doing here?" I demanded. I all ready knew he was there, so I didn't look up. Instead, I maintained my vigil on the memorial site.
"You've been here for quite sometime." He replied. His voice was a tone I heard before. Not kindness…not sarcasm I sometimes heard my minion use…I couldn't be sure what to call it. I am not a being who feels emotions; I destroy life. That is my calling. It is what I am.
"Go away." I said simply. I don't know why his presence bothered me so. I knew there was nothing he could do, and there was nothing I could do to push him away. "Go away, or I'll destroy this world. Damn the rules."
"You are willing to destroy this planet? Just because I see what is happening." Was he taunting me? Again, I couldn't be sure. I don't know why I indulged the question, but once I said what I said, I knew that I might eventually lose or game.
"And what is happening?"
"It is obvious. You are mourning."
I had nothing to say to that. Mourning is an emotion. I recognize the emotion as I see it in the eyes of lives I've destroyed. In the aftermath of destruction, mortal beings often cry out to me in hatred after losing their kind.
But to say that I was feeling an emotion…I couldn't say anything to it.
"It is her you are mourning over." He said, delivering an unnecessary gesture to the memorial. "You loved her."
"No!" I responded this time turning to face him. Face my arch nemesis, which I have battled since the first sign of primitive life on this world. "I do not feel. I do not love anyone or anything. I am a destroyer of life."
"And she was a killer." He countered. His demeanor never changed. Looking me straight in the eye of my simulated body he struck a chord deep inside me. "She wasn't supposed to happen. We both knew that. But when she met the dying Andalite along with the others, you and I both watched closely to see what would happen. We both sensed her future would come to an end.
"I of course do not interfere with a species. It was you…you who spoke to her first."
"You made yourself known to them." I accused, annoyed. I was feeling annoyed…this made me upset. I tried to ignore it. "You are the one who rescued them when they were about to be eaten by the Taxxon. If you had let them die…"
"You loved her the day you sent out your emissary to approach the humans called Animorphs. You placated her to kill her cousin, you tapped into her inner strengths and made her twice the aggressor she ever was.
"You gave her the chance to kill Visser One. You gave her powers beyond her wildest dreams. When she refused, it hurt you like a knife cutting deep into your heart.
"You made every attempt you could to rescue her, but in the end, it was the rules that kept you from doing it. You're desire to win the game with me took priority over your feelings because you refused to acknowledge that you had any.
"And now…look at you. You've taken on a human body. In this world you look like a human boy her age. You had this image in mind because you knew this was the image she would want to see if she ever fell in love with you…not your normal image.
"You are beginning to feel emotions of a sentient being. Something you were incapable of doing long ago. You-"
"GO AWAY!" I bellowed. I wanted to transform, to curl away in some obscure part of the universe, to get away from him. But I couldn't move. I couldn't summon my awesome power to push this being away.
I stood there, angry with him. These emotions…these human emotions were taking control of me…
I turned away and looked on the memorial. I remembered her fierce gaze, the way she took to the battlefield. The blood staining her fur when she was not human…the pure killer she was when her halves had been separated.
I saw it all as she looked into the eyes of her killer and I watched as her body was ejected into the vacuum of space. I saw the fire claim her body and reduce her into ashes…I watched as the son of the Andalite took the urn into the air.
I have been here ever since that moment. He was still standing there…watching me, seeing me as I felt a new human emotion take control of me. Something was happening to the borrowed body I had taken.
The built up in my eyes…and they began to slide down the sides of my face.
I looked at my enemy. And I hated him. I felt the hatred for him that she felt for me. Thinking of her never looking on this form I had chosen for her…it hurt me…that's what he said.
"My dark opponent…I have won." He didn't gloat. He just said it. "I have won this round. Here you stand, mourning over the death of this girl. This mortal sentient girl. Even after all the death and destruction you have caused, you are bound by the emotions of grief, mourning, and sorrow.
"You are doomed to remain in this form. To forever look upon this monument of her death, until the very planet itself is gone.
"When you have recovered from this mourning, we will begin the next level. In the meantime…I leave you to shed your first tears."
He left.
I looked at the memorial site. Her name was written in the very marble, a statue with her perfect likeness towered over me…I looked up at it…and cried.
I got this idea from an MSN conversation I had with CrackerJack. Enjoy.
The sky was clear blue and the sun was warm and shining down on the planet. I was indifferent to the horrible life forms that scurried about the trees and the grass near the structure.
It was a memorial dedicated to the brave young human that died in the service of her people.
We had seen it coming. It was in the course of our major interstellar game. And when the life force went weak, I felt something I had not felt since the day I became what I was.
"It's a little unusual seeing you here." An unfamiliar voice spoke.
Actually, it wasn't so unfamiliar. I just never really cared to listen to it. The last time I truly spoke to it was when we began this game.
He stood there. The appearance of an old man, humanoid, symmetrical, and repulsive. This was his form whenever he "interacted" with the game pieces. The things he called sentient life.
Of course, here I was, in a similar form. Although I chose the appearance of a younger male humanoid.
"What are you doing here?" I demanded. I all ready knew he was there, so I didn't look up. Instead, I maintained my vigil on the memorial site.
"You've been here for quite sometime." He replied. His voice was a tone I heard before. Not kindness…not sarcasm I sometimes heard my minion use…I couldn't be sure what to call it. I am not a being who feels emotions; I destroy life. That is my calling. It is what I am.
"Go away." I said simply. I don't know why his presence bothered me so. I knew there was nothing he could do, and there was nothing I could do to push him away. "Go away, or I'll destroy this world. Damn the rules."
"You are willing to destroy this planet? Just because I see what is happening." Was he taunting me? Again, I couldn't be sure. I don't know why I indulged the question, but once I said what I said, I knew that I might eventually lose or game.
"And what is happening?"
"It is obvious. You are mourning."
I had nothing to say to that. Mourning is an emotion. I recognize the emotion as I see it in the eyes of lives I've destroyed. In the aftermath of destruction, mortal beings often cry out to me in hatred after losing their kind.
But to say that I was feeling an emotion…I couldn't say anything to it.
"It is her you are mourning over." He said, delivering an unnecessary gesture to the memorial. "You loved her."
"No!" I responded this time turning to face him. Face my arch nemesis, which I have battled since the first sign of primitive life on this world. "I do not feel. I do not love anyone or anything. I am a destroyer of life."
"And she was a killer." He countered. His demeanor never changed. Looking me straight in the eye of my simulated body he struck a chord deep inside me. "She wasn't supposed to happen. We both knew that. But when she met the dying Andalite along with the others, you and I both watched closely to see what would happen. We both sensed her future would come to an end.
"I of course do not interfere with a species. It was you…you who spoke to her first."
"You made yourself known to them." I accused, annoyed. I was feeling annoyed…this made me upset. I tried to ignore it. "You are the one who rescued them when they were about to be eaten by the Taxxon. If you had let them die…"
"You loved her the day you sent out your emissary to approach the humans called Animorphs. You placated her to kill her cousin, you tapped into her inner strengths and made her twice the aggressor she ever was.
"You gave her the chance to kill Visser One. You gave her powers beyond her wildest dreams. When she refused, it hurt you like a knife cutting deep into your heart.
"You made every attempt you could to rescue her, but in the end, it was the rules that kept you from doing it. You're desire to win the game with me took priority over your feelings because you refused to acknowledge that you had any.
"And now…look at you. You've taken on a human body. In this world you look like a human boy her age. You had this image in mind because you knew this was the image she would want to see if she ever fell in love with you…not your normal image.
"You are beginning to feel emotions of a sentient being. Something you were incapable of doing long ago. You-"
"GO AWAY!" I bellowed. I wanted to transform, to curl away in some obscure part of the universe, to get away from him. But I couldn't move. I couldn't summon my awesome power to push this being away.
I stood there, angry with him. These emotions…these human emotions were taking control of me…
I turned away and looked on the memorial. I remembered her fierce gaze, the way she took to the battlefield. The blood staining her fur when she was not human…the pure killer she was when her halves had been separated.
I saw it all as she looked into the eyes of her killer and I watched as her body was ejected into the vacuum of space. I saw the fire claim her body and reduce her into ashes…I watched as the son of the Andalite took the urn into the air.
I have been here ever since that moment. He was still standing there…watching me, seeing me as I felt a new human emotion take control of me. Something was happening to the borrowed body I had taken.
The built up in my eyes…and they began to slide down the sides of my face.
I looked at my enemy. And I hated him. I felt the hatred for him that she felt for me. Thinking of her never looking on this form I had chosen for her…it hurt me…that's what he said.
"My dark opponent…I have won." He didn't gloat. He just said it. "I have won this round. Here you stand, mourning over the death of this girl. This mortal sentient girl. Even after all the death and destruction you have caused, you are bound by the emotions of grief, mourning, and sorrow.
"You are doomed to remain in this form. To forever look upon this monument of her death, until the very planet itself is gone.
"When you have recovered from this mourning, we will begin the next level. In the meantime…I leave you to shed your first tears."
He left.
I looked at the memorial site. Her name was written in the very marble, a statue with her perfect likeness towered over me…I looked up at it…and cried.