The Animorphs Alternate Universe Series
The Faith
Chapter 13 -
Virus, P-6-
What It Comes Down To
(Tobias)


Silence, broken by the roar of fire. We were surrounded by a dome of the stuff, of fire, and it had incinerated something on the outside of it, but we were barely warm. Controlled Fire Elementals, and very well controlled at that. The Cast was strong, and whoever had Cast it, was strong as well.
asked Ax, privately.
"Tobias, Ax, just stay down!" Alay's yell was muffled slightly by the roar of fire and the fact she was still wrestling with Cassie. I had a distinct feeling that Cassie, Evil Cassie, could get Alay off her with any method of Casting she chose, but… she hadn't. "Whatever Sarah does, keep your heads down! That fire will crisp you faster than a Dracon beam!"
Alay, what the hell is happening? Sarah's grip slackened, but, heeding Alay's warning, Ax and I both stayed crouched above her, with the fire still swirling around above us.
The First Hell if I know! Hellfire, I don't even know if either of you can hear me, but your friend's got a choke hold to kill a bear and it's making it freakin' hard to talk!
"A choke hold?" I whispered to Ax. He had the same look I did - A choke hold? Cassie?
Sarah moved and, without warning, shoved both of us roughly aside. I fell back on my hands and felt a rush of heat as the wall and I came close to meeting. Sarah stood, making the entire dome disappear, thankfully, just as Ax tumbled over. He landed safely right where the dome had been and stumbled to his feet.
"'The hell-?!" Cassie tossed Alay and rolled over onto her stomach, a raging anger burning in her eyes as she crawled to her feet and straightened up. Alay wasn't moving from where she had landed, meaning she was unconscious, and no help at all.

Sarah took a step forward, and Cassie matched her movement, stepping in again, then circling, then stepping, then circling. It was like they were dancing - one step, partial turn, step in, partial turn, repeat. Then, the air gave a rapid double shift and the immediate area surrounding them became a giant Air Cast Shield, encasing them entirely.
"They do not wish for us to interfere, obviously," stated Ax.
"Wrong, Andalite," came a cool voice over our shoulders. "They wish to keep each other in." I leaned my head back and looked into disturbing familiar blue eyes. Wearing jeans and a yellow tanktop, Emily stood over us, in almost the same spot Sarah had stood a moment before. She offered me a weak smile. "We had wished to stay hidden, but allowing this to continue will result in the loss of either of my host's itelan or her friend. As well, both are warriors against the Yeerk Invasion, as are we." We…? Why did she keep saying we…?
"Collaborator," sneered Ax coldly. A sad look flashed through Emily's eyes as she looked at him, then she only shook her head.
"Andalite, there are many things you will never understand," she said softly. "Emily wants her freedom the same as everyone, but, without me, she would be killed. In this, we have made an agreement."
"What do you mean they wish to keep each other in?" Time for a definite subject change, but there was a lot to process now - Emily knew about the Animorphs now, about Sarah's involvement and… she knew Ax was an Andalite. Just how much else did she know?! This could be bad. But…
"As well, both are warriors against the Yeerk Invasion, as are we…"
Was it possible? Were Emily and her Yeerk on our side, hiding in the dugouts of the other team? That was good… right?
"Both are surrounded by raw Caster energy right now, though Sarah's is partially grounded," explained Emily. She wiped her hands on her jeans and lifted them in front of her. "The only way to stop the both of them at once is over power them. We did not see what happened inside of the barn, though we sensed two people lose the raw energy surrounding them. One was the boy called Marco, we know this. The other?"
"Marco?" I asked, confused. "No one touched Marco…" She cocked her head to the side, then gave a quiet laugh.
"Ah, then you do not know," she said, grinning. I opened my mouth, but she held up her hand, letting the other fall to her side. "I will say nothing. Emily wishes Marco to tell you, when he is ready, for she fears he does not know fully what is happening. Who was the other?"
"That is none of your business," said Ax. "What is your plan, Yeerk?" She blinked, hand falling, and an irritation worthy of mi itala began to burn in her eyes.
"Listen, you… you… tedesreca," she said fiercely, and I knew this was Emily, not the Yeerk. "Hilane is doing the best he can with your attitude and, tades ni bailai Shalier, would it kill you to shove your pride for just fifteen minutes, so we get on with this?!" Ax was little taken aback and I was trying hard to laugh at the look on his face - very few times had the host of a Yeerk rebuked him. Most of the time, the host shared the same hatred of Yeerks as he did, but, in Emily's case, it wasn't so. "Veraha!" exclaimed Emily, before she blinked and took a slow breath. When her eyes opened again, they were calm, though bemused.
"Andalite, I would apologize, if she were not on the right track," she said, now back to being Controlled. "Now, please, stay where you are, so that neither of you are injured." She lifted her hands again and, this time, snapped her finger with her left hand, then her right. The tight Air Cast Shields around Sarah and Cassie disappeared and a wave of rolling heat fell across us. Both of them were sweating and panting hard, their skin red, clothes soaked through. "When two seharai raishai trap themselves like that, they will usually heat the air around them until one or the other pass out and then who is left standing, takes the losers energy," explained Emily. "Does that make sense?"
"Unfortunately," I grimaced. That sounded like an easy way to die, forget passing out. Steamed alive inside an Air Cast Shield…
"What now, Ye- what now?" asked Ax, coolly, standing up. I did the same as Emily/Hilane gave a low laugh.
"Now they attack the biggest source of raw Caster energy they have felt all day," she answered, spreading her arms wide. Sarah whirled on her heel and two pairs of slightly blank eyes locked onto the prone-standing Caster Collaborator. I didn't like the smiles that crossed their faces, but Emily was not afraid, even as they both lunged at her with similarly feral looks. Cassie grabbed one arm , placing her hand on Emily's shoulder, and Sarah did the same to the other arm. At first, it seemed as if nothing was happening, then Cassie's entire body went slack and she collapsed without a sound. Ax knelt by her side and carefully pulled her away from the sisters. Sarah, on the other hand, didn't seem so eager to give up.
"Iades… iades hedaen…" she whispered, angrily. "Kih-daie…" Five years… five years since what? Since… since Emily's seharai raisha had attacked her. This wasn't about getting Emily's Caster Energy… it was about revenge.
"Ia deh," said Emily, softly. "Ia deh." And she had expected as much! Emily had expected Sarah's seharai raisha to want revenge for what had happened between them.
But how much damage could Sarah's Elemental Spirit to do Emily, a fully grounded Caster? It was hard to tell, because I didn't know how much power Emily had. But…
There was more at danger then just Emily. Emily, I felt, could take the abuse, but the Caster virus had ravaged Sarah's body. How much could she take of the energy flowing into her?
"Itelan, stop," whispered Emily, placing her free hand on Sarah's shoulder. "Now!" Her voice changed so suddenly, even I was scared - I hadn't expected so much anger from such a seemingly placid person. Neither had Sarah, who jerked away from her sister as if burned, fear in her eyes. Then she too, collapsed, followed quickly by Emily, who fell to her knees with a sigh. Her breath came in short, quick gasps and she wimpered softly, clutching the hand Sarah had held to her chest. I went to her side, to help her, but she waved me off. "They will be okay now," she said quietly. "It will be a struggle for Sarah to understand what has happened but… she will not remember. No one ever does." She scrubbed her face in her hands and offered me a weak smile, even as I moved to Sarah' side. "Please, for her sake, do not tell her of my agreement with her sister. We do not think she will understand…" I nodded - she was right, of course. Sarah saw the world in strict facts sometimes and the fact that her sister had made a deal with the Yeerk controlling her was nothing short of betrayal.
"Ye- Hilane," said Ax quietly. "Thank you, for what you have done." Emily nodded sagely to him and rested her hands in her lap.
"Aximili-Esgarouth-Isthill, I will tell this to you now," she said calmly. "We that remain of the group from Sarah's world, the girl called Sadie and I, are very different. I wish to see the end to this violent method of destruction and conquering and do things as they are done in the world this host body originates from. But Feris, the Yeerk who inhabits the other, wants only to further her own power, by any means possible. I am privy to her plans, for she knows not my true feelings, and what she plans is nothing short of ignorant and fueled only by her greed. If she succeeds, she will not only out your secrets - both of your Andalite given powers and heritage - but also Sarah and Alay's Caster and Weapon origins, which might, of course, lead to the outing of others of the same status." This was all very scary to hear, but even scarier was the fact that Emily and Hilane knew this already, and Sadie as well.
"Hilane, how is it you know so much?" asked Ax, almost as if he were reading my mind. She smiled at the both of us in turn and shook her head.
"Though Sarah cannot feel it as she used to, there is still a bond between both her and Emily, something they shared long before they came here and something that was damaged by Sarah's arrival here and by her own self doubt. It is complicated to explain, but many things Sarah knows Emily and I know as well. Feris knows what she does because Epsil, Alay's Yeerk, was her partner and told her many things she would not have known on her own." She heaved a long sigh. "I have been from the pool for too long. They will wonder where I have gone if I remain here much longer. Jildai, vercha!" The tree line parted silently and out stepped a lanky, though still deadly looking, Hork-Bajir. My guard went up immediately, as did Ax's, but this was not for us. Instead, it ignored us and went to Emily, gingerly picking her up and cradling her against its chest gently.
"Thank you, my friend," said Emily quietly, patting its shoulder. "Before I forget, Tobias, or Aximili, will you give this to Marco and tell him to return it to my sister? I'm afraid Emily borrowed it the day they arrived here and has not had a chance to return it." She pulled something from her hand and held it out - remarkable, Ax was the one who stood to take it, staring at her defiantly as he did so. "Thank you," she said to him, clasping his hand between hers. "Make sure it is Marco who gives it to her. Otherwise, not all will work out as we wish it to." She smirked, and winked at me, as I realized what she meant. Not 'we' as in Hilane and Emily, but 'we' as they and me. Actually, them and Alay, since getting Sarah and Marco together was her big idea.
"Emily!" Alay stumbled to her feet, then fell to her knees again, clutching her ribs with a gasp of pain. "Why?" she managed weakly. "Why are you here?"
"To protect my family, of course," answered Emily coolly, before she looked down at me from her perch against the Hork-Bajir's chest. "And their families, too. Kai Desdah Aendesi!" she called as the Hork-Bajir ambled off into the woods, carrying her as if she was the most fragile thing it had ever touched.
When they were gone, I took a moment to look around - the hole in the barn wall, which Jake was stepping out of off, large holes of ripped ground at random spots, a handful of black soot piles, and Alay, Cassie, and Sarah, all either half conscious and fully out, then Ax and I who were somewhere between lost and confused.
"I almost refuse to ask what happened," said Jake. "Except that I think nothing will make sense unless I do."
"Let's get everyone back inside the barn and demorph," I said. "This will take some time to explain."