The Yeerk made my body drive to Cassie's house. He gave me control over my
body once we got up their driveway. I walked up to her door and knocked.
Her father answered.
"Hi! Is Cassie here?"
He looked worried about an adult asking for his daughter. "Yeah, she's here. Why?"
"I need to talk to her. About her homework. I help her at school, and I like to keep up." Told you I was a good storyteller.
Her dad still looked worried, but he told me, "She's in the barn. I'll go get her."
"No! No, that isn't necessary. I need to talk to her privately anyway."
"All right," he said slowly. "But if I find out she's gone missing, I have your face memorized."
I smiled. "Don't worry about that. I haven't kidnapped anyone for forty years or more." I turned and left before he could reply. See, I look about twenty-five or so.
That was stupid, Temrash told me.
Are you telling me how to keep my cover? I asked angrily as I walked towards the barn.
No, ma'am.
"Good."
I opened the barn door. Temrash chose that time to take control. He paused a minute to let my eyes adjust to the dimness of the building.
Hey! I yelped.
Hay's for horses, He said jokingly, using my memory to find that comeback.
Or straw is cheaper, grass is free, buy a farm and get all three, I said back. Then I mentally formed a picture of me slapping a hand over my mouth with an expression of mixed horror and surprise on my face.
Temrash laughed and walked on in the barn.
There were birds and mammals in cages everywhere. We were hit by a cacophony of sounds, from the wailing of sick birds to the howling of hurt wolves.
"Hello?" I heard Cassie say from behind and to the side of me.
"Cassie!" Temrash chirped, using my voice, spinning around to face her. She'd changed some, but that wasn't something new to me when around humans. She was the same old Cassie, though. Just a little taller, with little lines surrounding her eyes and mouth.
"Ariel?" She didn't look as amazed as I thought she would be, seeing me again. "Rachel told me you were in town, I just didn't know you'd come see me." Oh.
"Uh...some special circumstances came up. And it's not Ariel your talking to, Cassie, it's Temrash four one six. No, don't!" he yelped as Cassie's face hardened and started to change. "I'm part of the peace movement!"
She stopped changing and reversed the morph. She still looked very suspicious, though.
Her eyes narrowed. "I'll believe you for now, but you're coming with me. I'll take you to Tobias's territory and have him get the others. Come on. "
She led the way back to her house and went in, yelling "Mom, Dad? I'm going to Rachel's! Be back later!" Then she turned around and left. We followed after her.
She went over to my bike and got on the back seat. "You're driving me most of the way," she informed us.
Temrash shrugged and mounted the bike. He let me have control so he didn't have to take a minute to learn how to use it. I shook my head slightly, put on my helmet, then paused.
"You don't have one," I said to Cassie.
"One what?"
"A helmet. It's illegal for you to be on any kind of bike without a helmet."
She thought for a minute. Then she snapped her fingers. "Would a bicycle helmet work?"
I shrugged. "We can try. But it's a...what? Seventy dollar fine if I get caught?"
Yes, Temrash informed me, shuffling through my forgotten memories.
Cassie got off and ran into her house and came back a minute later with her helmet on. She got back on and I headed on to the state park center.
I parked my beauty in the parking lot and we both started up the trail that headed in the direction to Tobias's territory. Soon we had to get off the trail and follow Cassie's directions converted from air-use to land-use.
When she thought she was near enough for Tobias to hear, she started to call for him. Finally, he came swooping down to land on a branch just a little above and in front of us, saying Sheesh. This had better be good. You scared off a mouse I was after. Oh, hi, Ariel.
"Hello, Tobias," Temrash and I both said, in my voice. Or I would have said it, if Temrash had let me talk for myself.
Cassie didn't look too pleased that my Yeerk had left it up to her for introductions. But she shrugged and said, "Tobias, meet Temrash...?"
"Four one three, of the Sulp Niar pool." He sounded quite proud as he said that, like it was such a big deal.
It is a big deal, Ariel. Most of the higher-ranking Vissers and some of the Council of Thirteen were born in the Sulp Niar pool, he said to me, imagining a smile.
We saw Cassie nod, like answering an unspoken question. Then Tobias took off, flying to the south and the west. "You may as well get comfortable," Cassie told us, "it'll take awhile for all of them to get here."
I nodded, then slouched down by a tree. I stretched, crossed my legs, then put my hands behind my head, looking up at the sky.
"You know, the day sky of this world isn't so different from the one of my home," I told Cassie. "I always wished that someone who knew me there would be looking at the sky the same time I was, and wish I were home."
"You sound like Ax," she said a little nervously. I guess not being sure if you're talking to an inter-galactic slug or an other-worldly half- elf does kind of set you on your heels.
Who sounds like me? Ax asked from the forest out of sight.
"Ariel does. Or her Yeerk. I'm not sure," Cassie replied.
"I'm not her Yeerk, and she's not my host, thank you," Temrash replied curtly.
Yeerk? Ax snarled mentally as he came into sight. Then I suddenly had his very sharp tail-blade against my throat.
"Whoa! Hey, cool it! If you want to kill me, use my dagger. If you behead me I could possibly live in complete, torturous agony for eleven seconds!" But I stayed very, very, very still. I didn't want to die, and neither did Temrash. I wanted to get home, and he just wanted to help stop his people's evil empire.
"Ax, stop it. Please? And how would you know you would live for eleven seconds?" Cassie asked me.
I shrugged when the immediate risk of my death was gone. "I've read the encyclopedia, the latest almanac, the dictionary, and several science and history magazines. You would have to fit in at all in this world."
"Oh. Okay. Anyway, here come the others."
"Yeah, I know," I said nonchalantly. I had been watching every single visible animal that had come into sight since Tobias had left, so I had seen the bald eagle and red-tailed hawk And the two flies on Ax's shoulder, even though they tried to huddle close into his fur. "They've been here since Ax got here, or at least two of them had," I said as I glanced pointedly at the two flies. I shifted my gaze upward. "The other two could have taken a while longer, I'm not sure. I was too busy paying attention to a very sharp tail about to cut off my head."
"How do you do that? Not even the whole Yeerk force on Earth can see every animal all the time!" Cassie inquired.
"Oh, I'm sure I miss most animals, I miss them all when I'm asleep, but you've to remember I don't necessarily have to follow all the rules in this dimension. Especially since not many people have spent most of their adult lives on the road without being equipped with some kind of artillery weapon. And their road isn't mostly through wilderness areas. And they aren't over a hundred."
Her mouth formed the letter "O" as the flies on Ax's shoulder flew to the ground and started getting bigger. The two raptors above came down, the hawk landing on a branch and the eagle on the ground.
The eagle hesitated a moment, then it shook it's beaked head and started to demorph as well.
When they were all human...no, not human. When they were all in their natural forms. Temrash explained everything. Then he did something that amazed even me, who knew him so very well, even if I'd known him only a few hours.
He started to crawl out of my head.
I felt a shudder go up and down my spine. I held my hand under my right ear to catch him. He landed with a plop!
"Is he lying?" Jake asked me.
I shook my head. "No," I assured them. "Except that part about us being friends. We are not friends. I just accept his presence. And don't look so horribly shocked. It's not like I had much of a choice..."
"Well, at least we're sure about it being you saying it," he said. Then paused. "We are sure it's her, aren't we, Ax? Two Yeerks can't fit in one head, can they?"
No, Prince Jake, Ax replied.
"Have I ever told don't call me prince?" Jake asked immediately.
Yes, Prince Jake. Ax told him with absolutely no humor in his voice.
I smiled, shook my head, and started to throw the Yeerk away. Then I hesitated. I could be of use to the Animorphs if I were a Controller. I held the slug back up to my ear.
I felt him go through my ear canal, pushing through bones and tissue to get to my brain.
What took you so long? Temrash asked. I nearly dried up! Then, Oh. You were actually going to just toss me away like a rag? I trusted you!
Yeah, well, I didn't, okay? But I have an idea.
The same one I've had for a while. I just wanted to see how fast you'd pick up on it.
Humph. Well, tell them, then, Mister 'I-know-more-than-you'.
"I can help you, you know," Temrash said. "Oh, and it's Temrash speaking. Anyway, I can help you better than the Chee can. I can rise up in the ranks quickly, and still keep Ariel as a host. She's very strong, and good with almost any bladed weapon. Very valuable. I can actually get information using violence, as well, and help you with fights. So, how about it?"
For some reason, they all agreed. And we formed a new alliance.
"Hi! Is Cassie here?"
He looked worried about an adult asking for his daughter. "Yeah, she's here. Why?"
"I need to talk to her. About her homework. I help her at school, and I like to keep up." Told you I was a good storyteller.
Her dad still looked worried, but he told me, "She's in the barn. I'll go get her."
"No! No, that isn't necessary. I need to talk to her privately anyway."
"All right," he said slowly. "But if I find out she's gone missing, I have your face memorized."
I smiled. "Don't worry about that. I haven't kidnapped anyone for forty years or more." I turned and left before he could reply. See, I look about twenty-five or so.
That was stupid, Temrash told me.
Are you telling me how to keep my cover? I asked angrily as I walked towards the barn.
No, ma'am.
"Good."
I opened the barn door. Temrash chose that time to take control. He paused a minute to let my eyes adjust to the dimness of the building.
Hey! I yelped.
Hay's for horses, He said jokingly, using my memory to find that comeback.
Or straw is cheaper, grass is free, buy a farm and get all three, I said back. Then I mentally formed a picture of me slapping a hand over my mouth with an expression of mixed horror and surprise on my face.
Temrash laughed and walked on in the barn.
There were birds and mammals in cages everywhere. We were hit by a cacophony of sounds, from the wailing of sick birds to the howling of hurt wolves.
"Hello?" I heard Cassie say from behind and to the side of me.
"Cassie!" Temrash chirped, using my voice, spinning around to face her. She'd changed some, but that wasn't something new to me when around humans. She was the same old Cassie, though. Just a little taller, with little lines surrounding her eyes and mouth.
"Ariel?" She didn't look as amazed as I thought she would be, seeing me again. "Rachel told me you were in town, I just didn't know you'd come see me." Oh.
"Uh...some special circumstances came up. And it's not Ariel your talking to, Cassie, it's Temrash four one six. No, don't!" he yelped as Cassie's face hardened and started to change. "I'm part of the peace movement!"
She stopped changing and reversed the morph. She still looked very suspicious, though.
Her eyes narrowed. "I'll believe you for now, but you're coming with me. I'll take you to Tobias's territory and have him get the others. Come on. "
She led the way back to her house and went in, yelling "Mom, Dad? I'm going to Rachel's! Be back later!" Then she turned around and left. We followed after her.
She went over to my bike and got on the back seat. "You're driving me most of the way," she informed us.
Temrash shrugged and mounted the bike. He let me have control so he didn't have to take a minute to learn how to use it. I shook my head slightly, put on my helmet, then paused.
"You don't have one," I said to Cassie.
"One what?"
"A helmet. It's illegal for you to be on any kind of bike without a helmet."
She thought for a minute. Then she snapped her fingers. "Would a bicycle helmet work?"
I shrugged. "We can try. But it's a...what? Seventy dollar fine if I get caught?"
Yes, Temrash informed me, shuffling through my forgotten memories.
Cassie got off and ran into her house and came back a minute later with her helmet on. She got back on and I headed on to the state park center.
I parked my beauty in the parking lot and we both started up the trail that headed in the direction to Tobias's territory. Soon we had to get off the trail and follow Cassie's directions converted from air-use to land-use.
When she thought she was near enough for Tobias to hear, she started to call for him. Finally, he came swooping down to land on a branch just a little above and in front of us, saying Sheesh. This had better be good. You scared off a mouse I was after. Oh, hi, Ariel.
"Hello, Tobias," Temrash and I both said, in my voice. Or I would have said it, if Temrash had let me talk for myself.
Cassie didn't look too pleased that my Yeerk had left it up to her for introductions. But she shrugged and said, "Tobias, meet Temrash...?"
"Four one three, of the Sulp Niar pool." He sounded quite proud as he said that, like it was such a big deal.
It is a big deal, Ariel. Most of the higher-ranking Vissers and some of the Council of Thirteen were born in the Sulp Niar pool, he said to me, imagining a smile.
We saw Cassie nod, like answering an unspoken question. Then Tobias took off, flying to the south and the west. "You may as well get comfortable," Cassie told us, "it'll take awhile for all of them to get here."
I nodded, then slouched down by a tree. I stretched, crossed my legs, then put my hands behind my head, looking up at the sky.
"You know, the day sky of this world isn't so different from the one of my home," I told Cassie. "I always wished that someone who knew me there would be looking at the sky the same time I was, and wish I were home."
"You sound like Ax," she said a little nervously. I guess not being sure if you're talking to an inter-galactic slug or an other-worldly half- elf does kind of set you on your heels.
Who sounds like me? Ax asked from the forest out of sight.
"Ariel does. Or her Yeerk. I'm not sure," Cassie replied.
"I'm not her Yeerk, and she's not my host, thank you," Temrash replied curtly.
Yeerk? Ax snarled mentally as he came into sight. Then I suddenly had his very sharp tail-blade against my throat.
"Whoa! Hey, cool it! If you want to kill me, use my dagger. If you behead me I could possibly live in complete, torturous agony for eleven seconds!" But I stayed very, very, very still. I didn't want to die, and neither did Temrash. I wanted to get home, and he just wanted to help stop his people's evil empire.
"Ax, stop it. Please? And how would you know you would live for eleven seconds?" Cassie asked me.
I shrugged when the immediate risk of my death was gone. "I've read the encyclopedia, the latest almanac, the dictionary, and several science and history magazines. You would have to fit in at all in this world."
"Oh. Okay. Anyway, here come the others."
"Yeah, I know," I said nonchalantly. I had been watching every single visible animal that had come into sight since Tobias had left, so I had seen the bald eagle and red-tailed hawk And the two flies on Ax's shoulder, even though they tried to huddle close into his fur. "They've been here since Ax got here, or at least two of them had," I said as I glanced pointedly at the two flies. I shifted my gaze upward. "The other two could have taken a while longer, I'm not sure. I was too busy paying attention to a very sharp tail about to cut off my head."
"How do you do that? Not even the whole Yeerk force on Earth can see every animal all the time!" Cassie inquired.
"Oh, I'm sure I miss most animals, I miss them all when I'm asleep, but you've to remember I don't necessarily have to follow all the rules in this dimension. Especially since not many people have spent most of their adult lives on the road without being equipped with some kind of artillery weapon. And their road isn't mostly through wilderness areas. And they aren't over a hundred."
Her mouth formed the letter "O" as the flies on Ax's shoulder flew to the ground and started getting bigger. The two raptors above came down, the hawk landing on a branch and the eagle on the ground.
The eagle hesitated a moment, then it shook it's beaked head and started to demorph as well.
When they were all human...no, not human. When they were all in their natural forms. Temrash explained everything. Then he did something that amazed even me, who knew him so very well, even if I'd known him only a few hours.
He started to crawl out of my head.
I felt a shudder go up and down my spine. I held my hand under my right ear to catch him. He landed with a plop!
"Is he lying?" Jake asked me.
I shook my head. "No," I assured them. "Except that part about us being friends. We are not friends. I just accept his presence. And don't look so horribly shocked. It's not like I had much of a choice..."
"Well, at least we're sure about it being you saying it," he said. Then paused. "We are sure it's her, aren't we, Ax? Two Yeerks can't fit in one head, can they?"
No, Prince Jake, Ax replied.
"Have I ever told don't call me prince?" Jake asked immediately.
Yes, Prince Jake. Ax told him with absolutely no humor in his voice.
I smiled, shook my head, and started to throw the Yeerk away. Then I hesitated. I could be of use to the Animorphs if I were a Controller. I held the slug back up to my ear.
I felt him go through my ear canal, pushing through bones and tissue to get to my brain.
What took you so long? Temrash asked. I nearly dried up! Then, Oh. You were actually going to just toss me away like a rag? I trusted you!
Yeah, well, I didn't, okay? But I have an idea.
The same one I've had for a while. I just wanted to see how fast you'd pick up on it.
Humph. Well, tell them, then, Mister 'I-know-more-than-you'.
"I can help you, you know," Temrash said. "Oh, and it's Temrash speaking. Anyway, I can help you better than the Chee can. I can rise up in the ranks quickly, and still keep Ariel as a host. She's very strong, and good with almost any bladed weapon. Very valuable. I can actually get information using violence, as well, and help you with fights. So, how about it?"
For some reason, they all agreed. And we formed a new alliance.