A/N: You know, you guys should be glad that I live so far away from my school. If it weren't for the fact that it's a half an hour-long drive to get to my school, I would probably never have time to work on this. :-P Well, please R/R! I'm tired…. It's too early to be awake and writing… To quote Marco from one of the books, "You know, before I met you guys, I never knew that there was a sunrise. I knew that it set in the evening, and when I woke up, it was back in the sky again, but I never actually saw it rise." That would be my life. I say that all people on FFN start a motion to have school start later! Ten o'clock would be good, or even eleven. They can make it so that it ends later, if they really have to, but they need to start it later too. WE NEED OUR SLEEP! lol.
Chapter 10
I finally asked the question that had been bugging me for a while. Okay, is it just me, or does this area look really familiar?
I was noticing the same thing, Cassie answered me.
Me too, said Tobias.
I scanned the area with my powerful Hork-Bajir eyes. They were not nearly as good as my eagle eyes, but they were good enough.
Above me were a few more branches, and then open sky, and beneath me were leaves, branches, trees, and more plants. We were so high up, I could just barely see the ground.
Ax, how much time do we have left if we want to save Guide? Jake asked.
Forty-five minutes have elapsed since Guide fell. He has between fifteen minutes to one hour and fifteen minutes.
Alright, Jake said tensely, hurry up. We don't have that much time.
Prince Jake, you do realize that I am not very certain that this will work, right? I do not think that the One can really form Kandrona rays right here.
Jake pursed his lips. I know. But it really is the only thing we can think of, and it's better than nothing. And we have to do something about the One no matter what.
We continued on in silence, when we finally came to a clearing near the narrow end of the valley where it was obvious that a many very large trees had once stood. I guessed that the Yeerks cut them down when they were still on the Hork-Bajir planet. I looked across the gap, trying to see how hard it would be to get across. It would be hard, but I was pretty sure that we could make it. I finally looked down, to see what grew where the dead trees would have once before blocked out all the sunlight. There were saplings and small plants all struggling to survive in that one small area of sunlight. However, there was something strange on the center of the clearing. There were quite a few large, dead logs that looked as though they may have been in some formation years ago, but were no longer. All around them, the grass was dead and had some discoloring substance on it. I finally recognized where we were.
Cassie! I called to my best friend. It's the old Yeerk pool! The logs over there were the sides, and the dark stuff on the grass must be the evaporated sludge that hasn't quite washed away yet. That's why everything looks so familiar!
She glanced down. You're right, she laughed. That explains everything.
It's the old Yeerk pool, I said in open thought speak, so that everybody else could hear.
It was above ground? Tom asked.
Yes, Tobias said, there was a dam made out of those logs down there, and this entire area was a Yeerk pool.
The chadoo that was my cousin Tom chattered angrily.
We got it real good, I said smugly, savoring the memory of watching Yeerk pool sludge drain through the hole we created in one of the trees holding up the pool.
"Yes, it was a major blow to the Yeerk forces on this planet, I would guess," Toby said, sadness touching her voice. I did not understand why, at first, but then realized that this was the battle where she had to say goodbye to her great-grandmother, Aldrea-Iskillion-Falan.
It was you? Tom asked, unbelievingly. I heard reports about the main pool on the Hork-Bajir homeworld being destroyed by a large group of highly trained Andalites. They never even guessed… He trailed off.
Surprise! Marco said brightly.
"Old Arn say this was bad place. Old Arn say friends helped wreck it," Indi said. "There was still building. Hork-Bajir break building."
I was surprised. That was one of the longest speeches I had ever heard a Hork-Bajir, besides Toby say.
What do you mean that you broke the building? Jake questioned.
"Building was still there. Hork-Bajir ruin."
Okay, I guess there was some store house that we did not ruin, and the Hork-Bajir took it down, Marco commented.
Gee, do you think? I asked sarcastically, but then I laughed, to let him know that I was joking.
What was in the building? asked Jake, still searching for information.
Big machine. Hork-Bajir no break.
Jake looked excited, and said, A big machine could be anything, maybe even a bug fighter or something of the sort that we could use. We should go down.
"Yes, that would be a good idea, I believe," Toby said eagerly.
We descended quickly down the enormously tall tree, and as we came closer to the ground, I saw the wrecked building Indi had been talking about. Standing in the center of the ruins was the machine.
That's no bug fighter, Marco said.
No, it's not, Jake agreed.
We all studied it for a moment, but I could just not figure out what it was. It looked very familiar, but I simply could not place it.
Finally, Jake said, Ax, do you have any idea what this is?
Yes, Prince Jake, I do. He did not elaborate.
Well? What is it? Tobias probed.
I assumed that you knew.
We don't, Ax. Just tell us what it is, Jake said crossly.
It is a Kandrona, Ax stated matter-of-factly.
Why didn't you just tell us in the first place? I exclaimed, exasperated, as everybody broke into excited chatter.
Please don't assume we know things like that, Jake groaned. Do you think that we could use it? I mean, if that spaceship Aldrea had started up after so many years, this should be no problem. And then we could just get some water near it, put Guide inside the water, and he could feed?
That should work, yes, Ax answered.
I grinned with my Hork-Bajir face. Let's do it!
Man, Marco complained, I hate it when she says that. Now I know that this entire trip is insane and we're all going to die!
I grinned at him, batted my eyes with a bit of difficulty, as they were Hork-Bajir eyes, and jumped the rest of the way to the ground, soon followed by everybody else.
A/N: Wow, I'm really getting these out fast! Go me! Now, two more things: As for who will and who will not conquer the world, my theology teacher has joined in the fight, and he thinks that cockroaches will take over for some inane reason. Don't ask me where he got that, because he's completely, totally, utterly wrong. LOONS will take over the world! The other thing is to PLEASE review! Please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please,
please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, PLEASE review! I'm aiming for one hundred! And after that two hundred! And after that one thousand! And after that, ten thousand! And after that, well, you get the idea… Anyway, expect the next chapter soon!