The Animorphs Alternate-Universe Series

The Faith

Chapter 5 - Why We Are the Way We Are

Tobias

If this wasn't completely random and unnecessary, I'd blame the Ellimist. Given, the last time she went missing, it was completely random and unnecessary but this is more so, so… it wasn't him. Alay paused and sniffed the ground, then growled. This is useless. She hasn't been this way.

The school's crawling with Yeerks, I said. So we have to do this blind, unless we want to get caught. There's no way we could pick up her trail from there, anyway.

If they've got her, wouldn't it be a better idea to start there?

Not really, no.

Screw this. She sat back on her haunches and demorphed. Fur was sucked into black and when she stood, she took a moment to brush dirt off the back of her tight black pants. Alay was the first person I had met who insisted on being fully clothed when morphing - given, what she was wearing didn't really qualify as clothing, but it was very close. Only Rachel came close the an actual morphing outfit, whenever she wore one of her old gymnastic leotards, but in a tight black tank top and even tighter pants, Alay was fully dressed - and fully unamused.

Now what? I asked. She had been in a foul mood ever since Sarah had failed to show up at the meeting, the one where we were supposed to explain Alay's presence to the group. Without Sarah there, the meeting had been general things, and Alay had stayed in the shadows of the rafters, watching. After the meeting was over, we had checked all of the usual places and, since Sarah hadn't been there, we were reduced to checking everywhere else.

"Now we do this the proper way - the best way to find a Weapon is to use a Weapon. And we're starting at the school." If I had been human, I would have rolled my eyes.

You're begging to get captured, aren't you? She raised an eyebrow, then laughed. It wasn't a nice laugh either, just something completely… dark, almost scary.

"Tobias, if I get caught by Controllers, then I honestly don't deserve to be a Weapon. Now…" She looked up at me. "I'm gonna need a favor of you - Will you fly above me and keep an eye on my back-trail? And my front-trail, just in case? I won't need you at the school, not that you'd be useful there anyway, but anywhere there might be some kind of… attack, waiting for me."

I'll do what I can, but I only have an hour on this morph - I think we need to get someone else to help, as well.

"I'll help." Marco stepped out of the bushes behind Alay - I hadn't heard him coming, nor had Alay, by the way she paled and looked positively disturbed.

"Hey now," she said sharply. "Sarah's been teaching you more then she should have been. No sneaking up on me, midget." He gave her a weak half-smile.

"Sorry, psycho." Something was bothering Marco - usually, he would have made some retort to the "midget" comment, but he just seemed to get over it quickly enough. I knew as much as he did how much he liked Sarah - it was obvious every time he looked at her - so it was possible that he was just worried but… this was Marco. Tension gave him something to joke about. This wasn't just worry, it was full out apprehension.

"You better morph something that can fly, 'cause there's no way in Hell you can keep up with me." Alay was in a very subtle way (subtle, as least for her) trying to bring out the old Marco - this serious Marco was obviously as unsettling to her as it was to me. But he only nodded and began to morph owl. As he did this, I demorphed quickly, then remorphed owl. It was tiring but… Sarah was in trouble. There was no doubt about that. And I wasn't going to stop until I found her…

Sarah's mi itala, my sister, the only one I've ever had and the only family I will ever admit to having. I met her on the first day of school - she had moved in with her foster family over the summer and, since her foster family lived out in the country, she rode the bus with me. She seemed to be one of those people who just… did things. When she first stepped on the bus, she didn't hesitate to head to the first available seat, which was the same one as mine. She at least asked if she could sit, but I never actually answered her, she just sat and seemed comfortable to do so. The bus ride was quiet, while I debated whether I should say something to her and while she sat there, braiding her still wet hair.

"You know," she had said. "This is my first time on a school bus." It was a strange way to start a conversation and a strange thing to say period, but it wasn't hard to tell she was just… strange. Strange and loving every minute of it. "Back home, we are usually home schooled, except in the bigger cities, where people can usually afford private teachers." Her accent intrigued me from the start - it seemed to be something all together different from accents I had heard before. I had sat silently, trying to figure out where it could possibly be from while she finished her hair, then leaned one elbow on the back of the seat in front of us and regarded me with a grin. "What is your name?" It had taken me a minute to answer her - between her accent and the fact her eyes had stunned me into stupidity, I had to scramble to remember my name. I admit it - in those first few minutes, I had felt the beginnings of a crush for this strange, beautiful, foreign girl. But that changed when someone leaned over the seat and stuck their head directly between us - it was another new student, one I hadn't met yet, but disliked immediately.

"So… you're new here?" he asked, using a tone I automatically recognized as flirtatious. Sarah, despite her lack of English skills, seemed to recognize it too.

"I am," she had replied coolly. "But not so new I do not know my way around town - thank you for the offer though." There was a stunned silence where the new guy tried to figure out where he had gone wrong and I tried not to laugh out loud. My almost-crush had ended right there and in the next moment. See, while I had been trying had to laugh out loud, I did snicker, which turned the guy's attention to me. He glared at me and opened his mouth to say something, when he was not-so-gently shoved back. He hit the seat with a thud and Sarah got up on her knees to look back at him.

"I was having a conversation with him first, thank you," she told him. "But you may have a male-bonding moment when we are done - and, just to let you know, it may be awhile, so do not hold your breath. Thank you." She flashed him a smile before plopping back into the seat next to me. "Reca merde mia," she had told me flatly, causing me to give her a blank look. Her language was just nice to listen to but I hadn't understood a word of it. She just giggled. "I am sorry. I forgot… well, that is beyond the point. Your name?"

"Huh?" Complete blank moment while my brain informed that any relationship with someone who could tongue-tie people - and knock around people without any remorse- was impossible. Friends would suffice.

"Your name, vercha?"

"Oh… right. Tobias." She nodded briskly.

"Tobi'as, I am Sarah." Sarah… a completely normal name for someone who was about as far from normal as could be - and she had mispronounced my name.

"Sarah," I repeated. "It's Tobias."

"Yes," she said, nodding. "Tobi'as."

"To-bi-ahs."

"Too-bee-us." I decided then that giving was better then continuing what was an impossible argument - she just couldn't pronounce the vowel right.

"Close enough," I finally told her. She had grinned, making me grin back - no crush, but a new friend was always nice. Especially one like her…

That first few weeks of school were an adventure, if anything else. Sarah seemed to be an absolutely normal school girl - she got through most classes okay, excelled in gym, did not so great in English, but was definitely outgoing no matter what she did. Some people liked it, some didn't, but she didn't really care either way. She stuck by me, and introduced me to Jake, who was in her math class - through Jake, I met Marco, Rachel, and Cassie. Back then, Rachel was kind of indifferent to Sarah, but Sarah and Cassie were instant friends, as most people are with either Cassie or Sarah.

And then…

That night, in the construction yard, where we met Elfangor and received the morphing power. We had hid, hearing and seeing the last moments of Elfangor's life - that was the first time I had ever seen Sarah cry. She was angry, frustrated, but I knew watching him die effected her. And then…

"Something is wrong… this is not right." Her voice was a thin whisper in my ear as she gripped my elbow. "We are…"

"Of course this isn't right!" said Marco, who was just to my other side. "He's dying and now we've got to save the world - there's nothing right about this."

"No," protested Sarah quietly. "No… things had changed. This was not the way it was supposed to be… things have changed…"

"What's changed?" I whispered. She looked at me and over the tears, over the anger, I saw fear in her eyes.

"We need to run," she told me. "We need to move. We need to get out of here. This is…" Her head snapped up suddenly and her grip on my arm tightened. "Run - now!" What she had seen or heard was beyond me at that point, only the fact that I was up and running before I had realized I was up at all. Not a moment after we had started running, something had burst onto our spot with a roar - a Hork-Bajir, I would learn later, but at that point, it just seemed to be something out of a nightmare.

"What the hell is that?!" yelled Marco, only to remain unanswered.

"Separate!" Sarah hollered. "Do not stay together! That thing could kill us all in one stroke!" No one asked any questions of her that night - or ever, for that matter. We were all too scared… that any of us even remember that night is amazing…

"Here!" Sarah, despite her orders to separate, had not released her hold on my arm. She yanked me into a dark corner, where we could see the whole lot, but where very few could see us. Kitty corner to us, crouched inside a large cement cylinder was Jake. He saw us and gave a faint nod - behind him, barely visible, was Cassie. Rachel and Marco were nowhere in sight, but they couldn't be far away…

"Sarah," I whispered. "What's changed?" She looked back at me and only shook her head, then pressed her finger to her lips. No talking… why?

We couldn't have been in that hiding spot more then two minutes before Sarah was just suddenly… gone. I hadn't seen her leave, but one moment she was there and the next she wasn't. I peered out around the corner of the wall and saw the crumbling wall that could have been us - the stalking monsters, twenty, at least and… Visser Three.

Visser 16, report to me immediately. A human I hadn't noticed before emerged from Visser Three's shadow. He scared me instantly - the cold look in his green eyes, the maniacal smirk on his face… He was… creepy. Frightening. Evil.

"The Andalite's life force has been… ended, as you very well know," answered the human. The way he sounded, he wasn't any older then I was… "But there is something else - there is someone among the humans who saw running… someone I feel the need to interrogate. Therefore, I must ask something of you - tell your goon squad to capture them all. I will know the one I seek when I see them - then, your people may kill the rest."

Kill…

Oh god…

This one you seek - are they valuable to the Yeerk Empire?

"Very much so, your Vissership," said the human, smiling. "They will be an asset to the cause." Who? Who were they talking about? Which one of us…? Rachel, Jake, Marco, Cassie, myself… Sarah. They wanted Sarah. I knew that instantly - I didn't know why, but they did and she was gone… what if she had been captured already? Captured, while I hid like a coward in the dark corner. I had to… had to do something, at least try to save her…

The spaceship that had been so quietly sitting on the ground quite suddenly gave a low rumble, like an explosion rocked the inside. Then, without warning, it exploded like a solar flare, flooding the construction sight with brilliant light - since I had been staring directly at it, the light corrupted my vision and I had to look away to save myself from more pain. I heard several guttural screams and cries that ended abruptly, then a human scream and a yell inside my head. My vision came back fast enough, but it was dotted with spots when I looked back around the corner to see what I had missed - all of the monsters were dead. Slaughtered, laying in pools of blood and body parts, and, what looked like an Andalite tail randomly mixed into the carnage. What… what had killed them? What could move so fast… twenty, in less then a minute. Twenty bladed monsters of death - dead, completely destroyed.

"RARRR!!!" Correction, nineteen dead in less then a minute - the twentieth had escaped damage and was running at me faster then I had expected something so big to move. Then, it stumbled, eyes wide, letting loose a gurgle of pain as it fell. A sword, of all things, stuck out of the back side of its neck, making the scene look like a half-finished executioner's job. What I had taken for a shadow on its back rose and took a human shape - a human with striking blue eyes and a long braid.

"No one saw that," whispered Sarah grimly. "No one but you, Tobi'as. The light blinded them for a longer time…"

"You… you did this?" I asked, unbelieving. Sarah, my friend… less then a minute… twenty walking, bladed monsters… dead, destroyed… Sarah? "What…"

"What am I?" she asked softly. "I am the same person I was an hour ago… you just know more about me now." The fact she could managed such a coy answer amazed out of my shocked state and I relaxed a little - very little- as she yanked the sword out of the monster. "Tobi'as, this is not how things were supposed to go. Visser Sixteen was not supposed to be here."

"Sarah, how-" She suddenly hugged me, tightly, dropping the sword to wrap her arms around me and bury her face in my shoulder.

"I almost lost you," she whispered, fear a desperate sound in her voice. "Ia… I was afraid…" How anyone could go from so serious to so… vulnerable… only Sarah can do it. The darkness that takes over her when she fights… it isn't really who she is. No one understands that but me. I know more about her then anyone else and… I had been afraid too, that night, afraid that I had lost the only family I had ever had…

"We all were," I told her softly, wrapping my arms around her. "I thought…"

"While this Kodak moment is cute and all, shouldn't we get ourselves out of here and someplace safe?" The sarcastic question was Marco's and Sarah pulled back from me to regard him coolly.

"No place is safe now," she said flatly. "You heard Elfangor - they, these Yeerks, could be anyone, anywhere. No one must know of what happened here - before morning, this will be cleaned up and nothing will have happened. We are alone… all there is, all the hope this planet has, is us."

"Elfangor said the Andalites…" Rachel trailed off uncertainly, hindered by the cool look in Sarah's eyes.

"We cannot rely on beings that have not already arrived in force," she said firmly. "We have ourselves and we damn well begin to rely on that - We. Have. No. Choice."

No choice…

Tobias, whoohoo, Marco to Tobias, come in, Tobias… Hey! Bird! Wake up!! Alay says she's picked up Sarah's trail from the school. I returned to reality from my memories and realized Marco and I were sitting in the tree-line outside of the school. With the night vision of an owl, I could make out a shadowy form coming toward us, but it moved quickly, frighteningly quickly.

There was a wallet in the bushes, said Alay, slipping into the shadow of the tree I was seated in. She blended into it so easily, even with her hair… then I realized that she had pulled it back, hiding all of the blonde under a layer of dark brown. With Sarah's Aen Haihi… that means she either left us a clue or… they did. Because Sarah wouldn't be without that necklace unless under dire circumstances.

Whose wallet is it? I asked. Someone from school?

I think so - the only ID in here is marked with the name of your school. If I'm not mistaken, this chic's in the same grade. She held up the wallet, which had the ID displayed on the front and I heard Marco give a sound of mental disgust.

I know that one, he said. She hangs around with some guys… uh…. Raynen and Kayden… brothers, I think, twins, and she's some kind of cousin… or sibling. They're all very high and mighty on themselves. Egomaniacs, more so then me.

Raynen and Kayden… I know those names, but not from around here. Those almost sound Teslahani… Reinae, the Goddess of Hearth and Kaiden, the God of the Forests…

Teslahani…? I asked. It's gotta be a coincidence. No way there could be Teslahani here… not from your world at least.

Not entirely true, but… they wouldn't be first generation Teslahani, at least.

… huh? Marco and I both had the same confused tone in our thought speak and, in the dark, I saw Alay roll her eyes.

Look, it's a long shot but… a century ago, in our world, Casters were still using Translates - portals made of Caster Elements that could take people across leagues of distances. Something happened that the Gates became… corrupted. They began to transport people to places far, far away from their destination, sometimes into dangerous situations. Three Casters and their four students all drowned when their Gate left them at the bottom of a lake, for example. But the last time anyone used a Gate, the group never reappeared anywhere. It was a Translate that got us here so…

So you think that the people that disappeared came here, I said. Which isn't an impossibility, but a long shot nonetheless.

Alay… Marco sounded uncertain and his morph reflected it by shifting on the branch. Is it possible that… they could have gone on teaching people here to Cast? Alay arched an eyebrow, but nodded slowly.

Yes, Marco, it's completely possible, she said. Especially since we know that there is Casting potential in your people. I take it, then, that Sarah sensed someone Cast today.

At school, he affirmed. The teacher and someone else, she thought. It's possible one of them over heard us and, on top of that, Anya, the girl, is probably a Weapon or, a very athletic and agile Caster.

Casters and Weapons, they're never apart, said Alay, shrugging. And this all makes more sense then it doesn't. A bad awakening wouldn't go unnoticed, I don't think, especially not if there was someone around who didn't know what it was...

She said that, he told us. And then explained it - she got thrown into a barn? I knew that story, the reason behind the majority of her scars. Emily had tossed her into a barn - Emily's seharai raisha had, at least. Then it had proceeded to toss her back out of the barn, through a barn window this time - after that, her father and a Caster managed to subdue her.

Yeah, answered Alay. But that was a while ago. Usually, she avoids the subject all together.

Can we talk about this later? I asked. I'd like to get Sarah back sometime soon. I was worried now - Yeerks, Sarah could handle. She wasn't afraid of Yeerks but… deep down, Casters scared her. No matter what anyone told her, she would be afraid, even if she did have the Casting in her - all because she had seen the true force of Casting and the true anger it could cause…

I agree. Alay slipped the wallet into the tree and tossed her ponytail over her shoulder. Let's go get her back so I can kill her for getting kidnapped.