We strolled quite uncaringly for a while. The Animorphs' feet were raw and
bloodied. Then I smacked myself on the forehead.
"Ow!" I exclaimed, not realizing how hard I hit. "Anyway, I have an idea, and I think I'm a total idiot not to have realized it before."
"And what is that idea?" Jake asked.
"Tobias, you can go up and scout around to see if there are any towns or villages nearby," I said.
"That's a good idea. Why didn't I think of that?" Jake asked. I shrugged and Tobias took off.
"You guys can go ahead and take a nap if you want to. I know it's been a while since you slept. I'll keep watch, though I don't think it's necessary. This woods seems quiet enough," I said.
The others looked a little uneasy at the thought of lowering their guard in such an unknown place, especially Rachel and Ax.
"Hey, don't worry! With me on the alert, your as safe as if you were in your own room." Rachel sighed and shook her head, and Ax rolled his main eyes, an expression he'd obviously picked up from humans over his nine or ten years on earth. But they relaxed noticeably. (A/N: Okay, about that nine or ten years bit: The Andalites came, but with little defense. They were pulverized by the Yeerks, but not before they got an emergency distress call out....in radio waves. That's why it's taking so long. Don't worry, there will be a story about that... At the end...I think)
I crawled up a tree and sat on a sturdy branch about ten feet above their heads so that I could see farther and still reach the ground quickly.
One by one they settled down and dropped off into sleep. Ax was the last to sleep.
He looked up at me with his main eyes while searching endlessly with his stalk eyes for danger.
"What?" I asked when I realized that he wasn't just glancing at me.
He sighed in my head and said, We have a saying on my homeworld--A warrior should never be too confident in his abilities. There are always those stronger than he.
I laughed and shook my head. "Aximili, trust me. I know both my strengths and weaknesses. I have only survived my one hundred and twenty- odd years by knowing them. I know I could not fight off an army of blood- lusting ogres single-handily. But I do know that I can fight off a raiding party of goblins by my self. And I know that I can stand watch without help, seeing as the only thing I will be doing is waking you all up if there is trouble. You do not need to worry, friend. If you are a light sleeper, you will be in no trouble at all."
He smiled then, just with his eyes. I smiled back, then laughed.
"Get some rest," I told him. He nodded, and fell asleep standing up like a horse. But he left his two stalk eyes open and moving.
I smiled and shook my head. I guess he still didn't believe I was good enough to stand watch. A long time ago, that would have offended my honor. Now I didn't care.
That seemed strange to me. Just twenty-five years ago, I would have challenged Ax, a person I considered a good friend, to a duel to the death for not trusting me. Now I only smiled and shook my head.
Must have been your world. A world where only a few people even consider honor a part of their lives.
I sighed at that thought and leaned against the trunk of the tree.
Nothing happened as the others slept, except Tobias came back.
When he landed on the branch beside me I was about to leap down and wake the others. But then I figured, they were sleeping like contented babies, why wake them?
"So, you find anything?" I whispered.
Yeah, he told me. A little town a few miles from here.
"Did you find a signpost or anything? And is there an inn?" I asked.
No signpost, but there was a building near the middle of the place that was bigger than the others. Could be an inn, I guess, he said.
"Or the mayor's house," I muttered.
No, I don't think so. I heard a lot of laughter and conversation inside. I landed on the roof and I heard the clinking of glass. I'm pretty sure it's an inn, he stated.
"The mayor could be having a party," I said.
Why are you always on the down side? he asked me in slight frustration.
I grinned. "You gotta see all points of everything on this world," I told him.
After that he flew off, saying he was going to look for some dinner. It was getting rather late, I noticed.
I sighed and for the next couple of hours I tried not to nod off. It had been twenty-some years since I had to stay watch by myself, but that doesn't wash away almost a hundred years of doing it nearly every night. Still, I had trouble keeping awake and alert.
Around nightfall Jake and Rachel started stirring. Ax was already awake.
When Jake sat up and blinked in confusion I guessed he thought he was at his home waking up in his room. I could sympathize. I'd felt the same way for the first year or so I was stranded on his world.
"Where--" Jake started to ask then stopped and sighed. "Oh."
Rachel mumbled something in her half-consciousness. I smiled when I realized it was an old elven saying I'd taught her once.
When she sat up she stated it again, looking up at me in the tree.
"You taught me that," she said.
I chuckled. "Yeah, about seven years ago." Then I yawned and asked, "Hey, could one of you take the next watch? I'm beat."
Jake smiled and said, "Sure, I will."
"Thanks." I leapt down from my tree limb. They looked at me in amazement and I realized jumping from a tree limb that's ten feet in the air is something amazing to them, even after knowing me for years.
I sighed, shook my head, sat down, and propped myself up against the trunk of the tree, letting my chin dip down to my chest as I went to sleep.
I slept for about an hour or so before I felt a touch on my shoulder. I was up in an instant with my sword halfway drawn before I even looked up at Jake questioningly. (He'd grown quite a bit. I was only five and a half feet tall, and he was nearly six and a half)
"I heard a noise over there in the bushes," he told me without voice.
I nodded while my mind raced over the possibilities. Since I didn't know where exactly I was I didn't know what could be hiding around here. Could be goblins, ogres, orcs, trolls, anything.
Then I heard it, too. A loud rustling right across from me in the center of a natural ring of flowering bushes. I stepped silently over to them and rustled around with my sword.
I nearly leaped out of my skin when a furred animal jumped out and hopped around in confusion.
Then I started laughing at my own jittery-ness. The others joined me a few moments later.
It was a rabbit.
"All right," I gasped after a minute of laughing my head off. "Don't take this as a sign to be less alert, got it? You never know what'll come up on this world. We've got everything here from dragons to dwarves. Almost everything's a surprise."
They all nodded seriously, but burst out giggling every once and a while. I sighed, shook my head, then snorted in suppressed laughter.
Chapter five, The Um...Whatever
The others went back to sleep a few minutes after what we'd dubbed the "Bunny Incident." Except for me and Ax. Ax was standing watch, and I couldn't sleep. The adrenaline was pumping through my veins from the surprise of being attacked by and killing a rabbit. (A good dinner in a few hours.)
I looked up at the moons and stars.
"Hey, Ax?" I whispered.
Yes, Ariel? he replied.
"Where's your home star?" I asked curiously.
I am not sure. The arrangement of stars here is very odd. I am not even really sure there is an Andalite Homeworld in this dimension, he answered.
"That must be pretty depresing, not knowing that your family exists in this universe," I commented.
Yes, was all he said.
"Ax? What do you think happened to send us here?" I asked.
I'm not sure. It could be Sario Rip. Or, considering that you have magic in this universe, someone could have drawn us from our universe to this one. Or, according to your observations on the history of our universe, we could have gone back in time. Very far back. It could several other possibilities as well, he said.
"Why this universe if it's a Sario Rip?" Ax had explained that phenomena to me once. I was fascinated by scientific explanations of nature, and caught on to it quickly.
That could be your doing, Ax told me.
"My doing? Why?" I asked. What were you thinking of as you attacked the new Yeerk Pool? Ax answered my question with a question.
"Um...I'm don't really remember..." I started to say. Then, "Oh. I was thinking about how fun it had been to hack down ogres here."
Ax gave me a curious look at my reply, but didn't say anything else.
I sighed and looked up at the moons, trying to remember everything that had kept me alive here that I hadn't needed on Earth.
I laid down and tried going back to sleep.
* * *
In the morning we woke up and started off towards the town Tobias had spotted. It didn't take us long, but my friends were exhausted by then anyway.
"Dude, you guys gotta get into better shape," I teased, having not even started breathing hard.
"You try walking in a forest like this barefoot for, like, four hours," Rachel retorted.
I laughed. "Okay," I stated. "`Ere, who wants my boots? How about my socks?"
"I got first dibs on the boots," Marco said.
"I'll take your socks!" Rachel exclaimed.
I laughed even harder at their whimpy-ness. I sat down to pull off my footwear.
It just so happens that the town Tobias had spotted was farther away than expected. Figures.
"Ow!" I exclaimed, not realizing how hard I hit. "Anyway, I have an idea, and I think I'm a total idiot not to have realized it before."
"And what is that idea?" Jake asked.
"Tobias, you can go up and scout around to see if there are any towns or villages nearby," I said.
"That's a good idea. Why didn't I think of that?" Jake asked. I shrugged and Tobias took off.
"You guys can go ahead and take a nap if you want to. I know it's been a while since you slept. I'll keep watch, though I don't think it's necessary. This woods seems quiet enough," I said.
The others looked a little uneasy at the thought of lowering their guard in such an unknown place, especially Rachel and Ax.
"Hey, don't worry! With me on the alert, your as safe as if you were in your own room." Rachel sighed and shook her head, and Ax rolled his main eyes, an expression he'd obviously picked up from humans over his nine or ten years on earth. But they relaxed noticeably. (A/N: Okay, about that nine or ten years bit: The Andalites came, but with little defense. They were pulverized by the Yeerks, but not before they got an emergency distress call out....in radio waves. That's why it's taking so long. Don't worry, there will be a story about that... At the end...I think)
I crawled up a tree and sat on a sturdy branch about ten feet above their heads so that I could see farther and still reach the ground quickly.
One by one they settled down and dropped off into sleep. Ax was the last to sleep.
He looked up at me with his main eyes while searching endlessly with his stalk eyes for danger.
"What?" I asked when I realized that he wasn't just glancing at me.
He sighed in my head and said, We have a saying on my homeworld--A warrior should never be too confident in his abilities. There are always those stronger than he.
I laughed and shook my head. "Aximili, trust me. I know both my strengths and weaknesses. I have only survived my one hundred and twenty- odd years by knowing them. I know I could not fight off an army of blood- lusting ogres single-handily. But I do know that I can fight off a raiding party of goblins by my self. And I know that I can stand watch without help, seeing as the only thing I will be doing is waking you all up if there is trouble. You do not need to worry, friend. If you are a light sleeper, you will be in no trouble at all."
He smiled then, just with his eyes. I smiled back, then laughed.
"Get some rest," I told him. He nodded, and fell asleep standing up like a horse. But he left his two stalk eyes open and moving.
I smiled and shook my head. I guess he still didn't believe I was good enough to stand watch. A long time ago, that would have offended my honor. Now I didn't care.
That seemed strange to me. Just twenty-five years ago, I would have challenged Ax, a person I considered a good friend, to a duel to the death for not trusting me. Now I only smiled and shook my head.
Must have been your world. A world where only a few people even consider honor a part of their lives.
I sighed at that thought and leaned against the trunk of the tree.
Nothing happened as the others slept, except Tobias came back.
When he landed on the branch beside me I was about to leap down and wake the others. But then I figured, they were sleeping like contented babies, why wake them?
"So, you find anything?" I whispered.
Yeah, he told me. A little town a few miles from here.
"Did you find a signpost or anything? And is there an inn?" I asked.
No signpost, but there was a building near the middle of the place that was bigger than the others. Could be an inn, I guess, he said.
"Or the mayor's house," I muttered.
No, I don't think so. I heard a lot of laughter and conversation inside. I landed on the roof and I heard the clinking of glass. I'm pretty sure it's an inn, he stated.
"The mayor could be having a party," I said.
Why are you always on the down side? he asked me in slight frustration.
I grinned. "You gotta see all points of everything on this world," I told him.
After that he flew off, saying he was going to look for some dinner. It was getting rather late, I noticed.
I sighed and for the next couple of hours I tried not to nod off. It had been twenty-some years since I had to stay watch by myself, but that doesn't wash away almost a hundred years of doing it nearly every night. Still, I had trouble keeping awake and alert.
Around nightfall Jake and Rachel started stirring. Ax was already awake.
When Jake sat up and blinked in confusion I guessed he thought he was at his home waking up in his room. I could sympathize. I'd felt the same way for the first year or so I was stranded on his world.
"Where--" Jake started to ask then stopped and sighed. "Oh."
Rachel mumbled something in her half-consciousness. I smiled when I realized it was an old elven saying I'd taught her once.
When she sat up she stated it again, looking up at me in the tree.
"You taught me that," she said.
I chuckled. "Yeah, about seven years ago." Then I yawned and asked, "Hey, could one of you take the next watch? I'm beat."
Jake smiled and said, "Sure, I will."
"Thanks." I leapt down from my tree limb. They looked at me in amazement and I realized jumping from a tree limb that's ten feet in the air is something amazing to them, even after knowing me for years.
I sighed, shook my head, sat down, and propped myself up against the trunk of the tree, letting my chin dip down to my chest as I went to sleep.
I slept for about an hour or so before I felt a touch on my shoulder. I was up in an instant with my sword halfway drawn before I even looked up at Jake questioningly. (He'd grown quite a bit. I was only five and a half feet tall, and he was nearly six and a half)
"I heard a noise over there in the bushes," he told me without voice.
I nodded while my mind raced over the possibilities. Since I didn't know where exactly I was I didn't know what could be hiding around here. Could be goblins, ogres, orcs, trolls, anything.
Then I heard it, too. A loud rustling right across from me in the center of a natural ring of flowering bushes. I stepped silently over to them and rustled around with my sword.
I nearly leaped out of my skin when a furred animal jumped out and hopped around in confusion.
Then I started laughing at my own jittery-ness. The others joined me a few moments later.
It was a rabbit.
"All right," I gasped after a minute of laughing my head off. "Don't take this as a sign to be less alert, got it? You never know what'll come up on this world. We've got everything here from dragons to dwarves. Almost everything's a surprise."
They all nodded seriously, but burst out giggling every once and a while. I sighed, shook my head, then snorted in suppressed laughter.
Chapter five, The Um...Whatever
The others went back to sleep a few minutes after what we'd dubbed the "Bunny Incident." Except for me and Ax. Ax was standing watch, and I couldn't sleep. The adrenaline was pumping through my veins from the surprise of being attacked by and killing a rabbit. (A good dinner in a few hours.)
I looked up at the moons and stars.
"Hey, Ax?" I whispered.
Yes, Ariel? he replied.
"Where's your home star?" I asked curiously.
I am not sure. The arrangement of stars here is very odd. I am not even really sure there is an Andalite Homeworld in this dimension, he answered.
"That must be pretty depresing, not knowing that your family exists in this universe," I commented.
Yes, was all he said.
"Ax? What do you think happened to send us here?" I asked.
I'm not sure. It could be Sario Rip. Or, considering that you have magic in this universe, someone could have drawn us from our universe to this one. Or, according to your observations on the history of our universe, we could have gone back in time. Very far back. It could several other possibilities as well, he said.
"Why this universe if it's a Sario Rip?" Ax had explained that phenomena to me once. I was fascinated by scientific explanations of nature, and caught on to it quickly.
That could be your doing, Ax told me.
"My doing? Why?" I asked. What were you thinking of as you attacked the new Yeerk Pool? Ax answered my question with a question.
"Um...I'm don't really remember..." I started to say. Then, "Oh. I was thinking about how fun it had been to hack down ogres here."
Ax gave me a curious look at my reply, but didn't say anything else.
I sighed and looked up at the moons, trying to remember everything that had kept me alive here that I hadn't needed on Earth.
I laid down and tried going back to sleep.
* * *
In the morning we woke up and started off towards the town Tobias had spotted. It didn't take us long, but my friends were exhausted by then anyway.
"Dude, you guys gotta get into better shape," I teased, having not even started breathing hard.
"You try walking in a forest like this barefoot for, like, four hours," Rachel retorted.
I laughed. "Okay," I stated. "`Ere, who wants my boots? How about my socks?"
"I got first dibs on the boots," Marco said.
"I'll take your socks!" Rachel exclaimed.
I laughed even harder at their whimpy-ness. I sat down to pull off my footwear.
It just so happens that the town Tobias had spotted was farther away than expected. Figures.