The Animorphs Alternate Universe Series

The Difference

Chapter 2 - Who

(Sarah)

Is this what you want... to continue this quest?

Yes.

You're putting you're life into a dangerous situation you know nothing about.

So what?

You would risk everything you could have just for them?

You do not understand... they are everything I have. I am nothing without my sister, just a lost half with no one to turn to. And without Alay and Sadie, I am less then that half.

... I understand. More then you will ever know.

There was nothing but darkness around me, an empty abyss devoid of everything but me. I have never felt loneliness like I did when I was trapped in that void. There has always been someone I could turn to, Emily or Alay or Sadie or later on, others who meant as much to me. But floating in that space of pure black, I was utterly and totally alone, cut off even from the bond that tied me to my sister.

Then I stopped floating, stopped moving left and right, back and forth, and simply moved down, falling, feeling the strange sensation of ground rushing up to meet me and yet, having no desire to turn my head and see it. Without anyone to care for, I was as numb and blank as the world around me. But then when that pseudo-ground finally met my vague and hollow body, every cold corner was replaced by a sharp, burning pain. It felt like someone was taking me apart and rebuilding me. Not spared in the least from this blinding hurt was my head, which felt like it was being picked apart and memories were being plucked from my head. Only... they were still there. Times with Emily, before the Academy, with my father in Sehar and Soriander, practice battles, lessons in the Academy with Alay and the others... they were there, but they were not. I would have been greatly disturbed, except for the pain that distracted me.

And then, it was over as soon as it began. All I felt was an odd ache here or there, a ghost pain that reminded me of what had been done, even though I had no idea what I had gone through. The darkness swallowed me up and I was gone again...

~*~

A soft cacophony of voices wrapped around me and dispelled the thick veil of fog around my mind, though my mind felt still partially disconnected from the rest of me. I was aware that my body was still, laying on a soft, yet scratchy surface that was irritating my back through my shirt. The voices slowly untangled themselves and I could make out four voices that seemed to be having a truncated conversation... about me.

"Erek brought her here this morning," said one voice, female, quietly. "He said he found her, unconscious, outside his front door this morning."

"She must have tried to get into that entrance again... she never listens to anything." Male, sounded slightly peeved... all right, more then slightly. He sounded down right pissed. Who ever they were talking about had obviously done something... but what?

"Whatever injuries she had, she obviously morphed off," said another voice, male as well. "She's probably just sleeping right now. I think we should let her sleep and ream her out when she wakes out." Ream out who for what? What exactly had been done? From that matter, where in the five hells was I? And why did my back itch so much?!

In the general scope of things, I realize that my itching back was the least of my worries, but at that point in time, it was the most irritating thing overall. I shifted slowly, attempting to move without making a noise, but then, stealth was never my best skill.

Sarah? came a question in my mind. Are you awake?

"Yes..." I answered without thinking, about a number of things, actually. "Wait a minute... how do you know my name?" It never occurred to me that I was hearing voices in my head... at least, not at first. I sat up slowly on the stack of hay where I was laying (hay. I hate hay) and looked around, taking everything in instantly. That was natural Weapon instinct, to see everything in one glance, and it came in handy in unfamiliar places, like where I was right now. A large barn, with the usual barn things, several cages with injured animals that were as silent as the four humans who watched me with vaguely stunned looks. And then, something else what was not human.

I cannot exactly explain my initial reaction to the Andalite. Being raised in a Yeerk run society, we were trained to subconsciously view Andalites as the enemy. That was why they were the universal bad guys in the second set of Animorphs books... any enemy of the Yeerks was an enemy to the free world. But actually seeing one close up, I had an odd mix of hate and confusion that left me with only one thing to say.

"Damn." One of the humans directed his eyes above me, to the rafters.

"Tobias, what's wrong? Why isn't she speaking English?"

I don't know... she understands it fine, or at least partially... maybe she has a concussion. Sarah. The next moment was the scariest and weirdest moment in all of my life. The voice in my head asked me a very simple question in my own language and all I could do was sit there, gaping like a fish. How... who... I got a very frightening chill down my spine and it forced me to my feet. Anger flooded over the fear, fueled by a score of questions that intertwined and danced inside my skull.

"Who in the five hells are you?!" I yelled. "Get out of my head and show yourself!!" Where was I? Had I been captured? Where were the others, for that matter. "What have you done with my sister?! Where is she?! Tell me!"

"Well, I think that's enough reason to think she's lost her mind," quipped one of the humans on the ground. "Tobias, what is she ranting about?"

I think we have a definite concussion, said the voice, "Tobias". She doesn't know where she is or who I am and she wants to know where her sister is. Sarah, just calm down and get a grip.

"I hate to say it, but what if the Yeerks got to her?" asked one of the females. "Something's definitely wrong."

"Yeerk?" I repeated, feeling the anger double and triple. Who were these people, to think me one of those slugs?! "I am not a Controller, damn it!"

She says she's not, repeated the voice. Damn it, why did it keep repeating everything I said? How hard was it for these people to understand me?

Wait...

Oh hells.

The chip was fried... the Transgate had fried the stupid translator chip! They could not understand me, because, without the chip, everything I said was my own tongue. But I could understand them because the translator had changed every spoken thing into English. Oh, just perfect. Captured by people who could not understand me.

"All right," I said slowly, in what little English I knew I could speak without the chip. Alay had taught me some, when I had taught her Teslahani. I knew enough to get me out of a tight spot, but I had had no desire to learn everything. "Let us start over. Where am I and who are you?" They shared a look, the humans and Andalite, then one of the boys nodded to something I had not heard.

"Sarah, I'm Jake, remember?" he said calmly. "And Rachel, Cassie, Marco, and Ax?" He indicated each person in turn, but I hardly heard him past Cassie's name... oh, Four Gods, it was not possible. Names I knew like the back of my hand, but fictional people, made up characters in a book... It just was not possible. But here they were, in the flesh...

I had not just crossed across miles and distances in my world, I had crossed into a whole different world!