Courage 3
By Taka
Author's notes: Please stop telling me that Jenny is whiny. I am aware of this fact. She will get better, I promise. And she is certainly not intended to be a Marco clone. Thank you.
"Shhh!" Kali whispered, elbowing me.
"Hey, don't you tell _me_ to hush!" I hissed back. "I'm the leader here, and-" Ari elbowed me sharply in the side.
"All right," I said after a moment, rubbing the sore spot and frowning. "We need to get our morphs and get out of here, before someone catches us. Just find a morph you think you'll like but that will also do a lot of damage. Um…split up. Ari and I will go together, and Tala and Kali, you go the other way. That way if we get caught, we won't all be caught. Meet back here when you're done."
The others nodded, so I opened the partially concealed door at the back of the duck pond (which wasn't locked- I guess they didn't expect people to get down into the exhibit). Inside, I grabbed Ari's hand and started dragging her off, as the others headed down a different corridor. "Dammit!" I yelped, bumping into something in the dark- some food supplies or something. "Well, shall we try this door?" I asked of Ari. She shrugged, so I opened the door and peeked in.
"Cool!" was the next word that came out of my mouth. "A lion!"
"Andy!" Ari hissed, pulling me back. "Any sane person would be frightened, not go 'cool'!"
"Well, we are here to acquire morphs, and a lion seems to be a good one," I pointed out.
"All right, go pet the lion then, just be slow and quiet," she replied, rolling her eyes.
I grinned my daredevil grin, cracking the door open again and slipping into the lion's den. Literally.
OK, I admit it, I was a little scared. But the lion didn't look especially concerned as I crouched down and tentatively put a hand on his haunch, so I figured I shouldn't be too worried, either. Closing my eyes I concentrated on the lion, allowing my eyes to flutter open a second later to see that the lion was in an acquiring trance. Slowly backing off, I returned to the entrance to the exhibit and slipped back out.
"Glad to see you're in one piece," Ari said. "Let's go this way; we're probably in the feline wing of the exhibit." She paused a moment. "I think…if we go this way, we can find the elephant exhibit. That's what I want. Did you know that elephants actually mourn their dead? They even cry."
"Hmmm…" I murmured noncommittally, following her as she slipped through the darkened halls. I assumed she knew where she was going since she had a very good sense of direction.
"Here, I think this is it," she whispered, and opened the door. Her sense of direction proved accurate as she entered the elephant exhibit and tentatively touched one of the huge animals on the trunk. It paused in its feeding as it fell into a trance, and we snuck back out while it was still dazed.
"OK, let's go meet the others," I whispered, allowing her to take the lead back down the hall.
"Hey," Kali said, looking incredibly thin in the tight black clothes that we'd found we could morph. "We're done, so let's get outta here."
"Sure," I agreed, beginning to morph.
"Andalite!" a voice hissed, and a flashlight was suddenly flashed on over me. Startled, I stumbled backwards, shedding some of the feathers that had already sprouted from my arms. The man revealed in the dim lighting from the flashlight fumbled at his belt. "You're not an Andalite! Humans have gotten the morphing power?"
Be careful! Kali spoke in my mind. I could see her morphing into something…black behind the man. That's a dracon beam! Incinerator weapons used by the Yeerks!
"I…don't know what you're talking about," I chuckled nervously.
"Don't play dumb with me!" he said, finally getting loose his dracon beam and bringing it to bear on me.
Just then, a flying blur of black struck him, and his arm was just…gone. Red began gushing from the spot his arm used to be. I heard a muffled squeak from Ari, but I was more focused on the controller, as the black panther that was illuminated strangely by the dropped flashlight crouched and leapt again, front paw dealing a blow to the man's head that snapped his neck with a sickening crunch.
Kali's shape slowly began to form out of the panther. I got up, shakily, glancing at my clothes which now sported bloodstains. I reminded myself to breathe, trying not to hyperventilate.
Tala was crouched against the wall, blond hair barely visible as her black clothes blended into the night. She looked as though she was trying to stay calm. A little to the right I heard Ari being sick in the bushes, and it was her I went to.
"Are you all right?" I asked, rubbing her back. Ari was not prone to violence at all, and considering the effect the gruesome scene had on me, I was surprised she wasn't worse off.
She nodded shakily and wiped her mouth on her sleeve. I wrapped my arm around her waist and helped her up.
"How could you?" she whispered, directed towards Kali. "How could you kill him?" It was hard to tell, but I was pretty sure she was crying, or at least holding back tears.
Kali just looked at her. "Easily. It was him or us. I chose us. In addition, the Yeerks will suspect we are Andalites unless we give them reason to suspect otherwise."
"But you're making yourself no better than them!"
"No," Kali replied. "They wish to take our freedom from us and have attacked our planet. This is merely self-defense."
Tala pushed against the wall and got up. "Why don't we debate this in the morning, and get out of here before we're caught."
I nodded. "Good idea. We'll meet at eleven at Tala's. Any Saturday conflicts?"
The other three shook their heads. "I'll get the message to Jenny. Let's go." And again I morphed pigeon, this time without result, and took off.
By Taka
Author's notes: Please stop telling me that Jenny is whiny. I am aware of this fact. She will get better, I promise. And she is certainly not intended to be a Marco clone. Thank you.
"Shhh!" Kali whispered, elbowing me.
"Hey, don't you tell _me_ to hush!" I hissed back. "I'm the leader here, and-" Ari elbowed me sharply in the side.
"All right," I said after a moment, rubbing the sore spot and frowning. "We need to get our morphs and get out of here, before someone catches us. Just find a morph you think you'll like but that will also do a lot of damage. Um…split up. Ari and I will go together, and Tala and Kali, you go the other way. That way if we get caught, we won't all be caught. Meet back here when you're done."
The others nodded, so I opened the partially concealed door at the back of the duck pond (which wasn't locked- I guess they didn't expect people to get down into the exhibit). Inside, I grabbed Ari's hand and started dragging her off, as the others headed down a different corridor. "Dammit!" I yelped, bumping into something in the dark- some food supplies or something. "Well, shall we try this door?" I asked of Ari. She shrugged, so I opened the door and peeked in.
"Cool!" was the next word that came out of my mouth. "A lion!"
"Andy!" Ari hissed, pulling me back. "Any sane person would be frightened, not go 'cool'!"
"Well, we are here to acquire morphs, and a lion seems to be a good one," I pointed out.
"All right, go pet the lion then, just be slow and quiet," she replied, rolling her eyes.
I grinned my daredevil grin, cracking the door open again and slipping into the lion's den. Literally.
OK, I admit it, I was a little scared. But the lion didn't look especially concerned as I crouched down and tentatively put a hand on his haunch, so I figured I shouldn't be too worried, either. Closing my eyes I concentrated on the lion, allowing my eyes to flutter open a second later to see that the lion was in an acquiring trance. Slowly backing off, I returned to the entrance to the exhibit and slipped back out.
"Glad to see you're in one piece," Ari said. "Let's go this way; we're probably in the feline wing of the exhibit." She paused a moment. "I think…if we go this way, we can find the elephant exhibit. That's what I want. Did you know that elephants actually mourn their dead? They even cry."
"Hmmm…" I murmured noncommittally, following her as she slipped through the darkened halls. I assumed she knew where she was going since she had a very good sense of direction.
"Here, I think this is it," she whispered, and opened the door. Her sense of direction proved accurate as she entered the elephant exhibit and tentatively touched one of the huge animals on the trunk. It paused in its feeding as it fell into a trance, and we snuck back out while it was still dazed.
"OK, let's go meet the others," I whispered, allowing her to take the lead back down the hall.
"Hey," Kali said, looking incredibly thin in the tight black clothes that we'd found we could morph. "We're done, so let's get outta here."
"Sure," I agreed, beginning to morph.
"Andalite!" a voice hissed, and a flashlight was suddenly flashed on over me. Startled, I stumbled backwards, shedding some of the feathers that had already sprouted from my arms. The man revealed in the dim lighting from the flashlight fumbled at his belt. "You're not an Andalite! Humans have gotten the morphing power?"
Be careful! Kali spoke in my mind. I could see her morphing into something…black behind the man. That's a dracon beam! Incinerator weapons used by the Yeerks!
"I…don't know what you're talking about," I chuckled nervously.
"Don't play dumb with me!" he said, finally getting loose his dracon beam and bringing it to bear on me.
Just then, a flying blur of black struck him, and his arm was just…gone. Red began gushing from the spot his arm used to be. I heard a muffled squeak from Ari, but I was more focused on the controller, as the black panther that was illuminated strangely by the dropped flashlight crouched and leapt again, front paw dealing a blow to the man's head that snapped his neck with a sickening crunch.
Kali's shape slowly began to form out of the panther. I got up, shakily, glancing at my clothes which now sported bloodstains. I reminded myself to breathe, trying not to hyperventilate.
Tala was crouched against the wall, blond hair barely visible as her black clothes blended into the night. She looked as though she was trying to stay calm. A little to the right I heard Ari being sick in the bushes, and it was her I went to.
"Are you all right?" I asked, rubbing her back. Ari was not prone to violence at all, and considering the effect the gruesome scene had on me, I was surprised she wasn't worse off.
She nodded shakily and wiped her mouth on her sleeve. I wrapped my arm around her waist and helped her up.
"How could you?" she whispered, directed towards Kali. "How could you kill him?" It was hard to tell, but I was pretty sure she was crying, or at least holding back tears.
Kali just looked at her. "Easily. It was him or us. I chose us. In addition, the Yeerks will suspect we are Andalites unless we give them reason to suspect otherwise."
"But you're making yourself no better than them!"
"No," Kali replied. "They wish to take our freedom from us and have attacked our planet. This is merely self-defense."
Tala pushed against the wall and got up. "Why don't we debate this in the morning, and get out of here before we're caught."
I nodded. "Good idea. We'll meet at eleven at Tala's. Any Saturday conflicts?"
The other three shook their heads. "I'll get the message to Jenny. Let's go." And again I morphed pigeon, this time without result, and took off.