Tobias knew without asking that I needed him to be human.
"There." He indicated a tree with a sweep of two long, thin fingers. "I've been staying in that tree at night, since my old territory is crawling with Yeerks." He laughed mirthlessly. "Who knows how many birds they've captured looking for me?"
I nodded. "When did you figure it out?"
"When Ax came looking for me, telling me that we had a meeting."
My brow wrinkled. "What tipped you off?"
He shrugged. "I hang out with Ax for hours every day, Rachel. I know him better than anyone. I was a little wary anyway, because I knew he'd spent more time than the rest of us in the pool. I guess I was just looking for it." He looked away. "What about you?"
"I saw Jake in Chapman's office. At first Cassie didn't seem concerned, but then she seemed too concerned. She went looking for Marco and barked at me to just get to class and she'd handle everything. But Cassie doesn't give orders like that."
"Yeah." He trailed off and turned to me. "Rachel, what the hell are we going to do?"
"I don't know," I whispered. "I don't. They're looking for us everywhere, especially the old Animorphs." Abruptly, I remembered that he didn't know what I'd been doing for the past few days. "And they almost took the box."
"The box?" Tobias raised an eyebrow quizzically.
"The box," I repeated, like an echo. "The box that gave us the power to morph. The Yeerks have it."
He said a word I would have expected from Marco.
"Some David kid found it in the construction site, and I scared him into putting it down. The girl I was staying with took it -"
"What? You've been staying with someone? Does she know about you?"
"She's a Controller now," I told him flatly. "The Sharing came to help her after the fire, and they knew she'd seen me."
"How?"
He narrowed his eyes and I sighed, realizing how long it would take to explain, and realizing that there were parts of it I didn't ever want to explain. I massaged a hand over my forehead and started from the beginning - from my first run after I saw Cassie to the cat morph at Taylor's to trailing her at school to the construction site to the fire. With every sentence I saw the expression in his eyes darken. The line of his mouth tightened, pulling his face into one rigid scowl.
When I was done, he stood in silence for a moment, then spoke softly. "Why were you following her, Rachel?"
"I had nowhere else to go," I snapped. "I thought everyone was captured. I thought they were going to capture you. I needed a life."
I had the distinct sensation that this was not what he wanted to hear.
"You just wanted revenge," he shot back in fury. "You wanted to kill as many Yeerks as you could and you were glad the rest of us moralizing fools were gone so we wouldn't stop you! You wanted her as a sacrifice, to consummate your new purpose in life, to prove to yourself that you're ruthless. You are sick, Rachel."
His words flowed past without cutting me, but I didn't know how to respond to them. I shrugged, affecting nonchalance.
There was a long silence before I cleared my throat. "Tell me what's happened since I've been gone. Tom told me a little of it."
He would not look at me. "What did he tell you?"
"That Jake had his parents infested, Marco had his father infested, Ax is working on breakthrough Yeerk-Andalite technology and Cassie is an executioner of those in the peace movement." I took a seat at the base of a tree.
He sat down across from me, near the tree where he stayed at night. "Those are the basics. The Yeerk invasion is now completely unchecked. But they're slowing down a little, too. They know that they have all the time in the world to take over an unsuspecting Earth. Their focus is on two issues: finding us, and creating new technology." He paused, staring up at the sky framed between tree branches. "Now that you have the box, we could create a new army to fight them."
"I don't want a new army. I want the others back."
"That may not be an option. Where is the box?"
"I hid it. In the construction site."
"You know that's the first place they'll look."
"No, it's not. They're still looking for me. They'll check Taylor's house first, and then start going through the woods. We have time to get the box." I rubbed the bridge of my nose. "I didn't have that many options."
He sighed deeply and wrapped his arms around his knees. "I know. I'm sorry, Rachel."
"You're still angry at me."
"For what you planned to do to another human being? For leaving her in the fire? Yes. I am. You're not a Yeerk, Rachel."
I shrugged, thinking: Maybe I am. "Sometimes you have to become the enemy to win the war."
"I don't want you to."
I changed a glance at him. I knew why he did not want me to. "Sometimes I have to be, Tobias. Sometimes we both will. We're alone, now. We're all that's left."
"You know we can't stop them." Tobias ran a hand through his hair slowly.
"We have to do whatever we can to. slow them down, then." I swallowed. "You know that at the end we'll be killed. Or captured."
"I know." He smiled and stretched out his hand. "Free or dead."
I took it. "Free or dead."
Author's Note: Chapter 22! It will probably be about ten more chapters before I'm through with this. In the meantime, I looked up one of my old stories, Trial by Fire. I'm trying to decide whether or not to continue it. There's an original character, which I hate writing, but the plot may have potential. Please read it and let me know what you think of it. The link is here: In other news, I'm going to begin a new Jake fic soon, and I'm plotting it out now. Look for it soon in a Just-In page near you!
"There." He indicated a tree with a sweep of two long, thin fingers. "I've been staying in that tree at night, since my old territory is crawling with Yeerks." He laughed mirthlessly. "Who knows how many birds they've captured looking for me?"
I nodded. "When did you figure it out?"
"When Ax came looking for me, telling me that we had a meeting."
My brow wrinkled. "What tipped you off?"
He shrugged. "I hang out with Ax for hours every day, Rachel. I know him better than anyone. I was a little wary anyway, because I knew he'd spent more time than the rest of us in the pool. I guess I was just looking for it." He looked away. "What about you?"
"I saw Jake in Chapman's office. At first Cassie didn't seem concerned, but then she seemed too concerned. She went looking for Marco and barked at me to just get to class and she'd handle everything. But Cassie doesn't give orders like that."
"Yeah." He trailed off and turned to me. "Rachel, what the hell are we going to do?"
"I don't know," I whispered. "I don't. They're looking for us everywhere, especially the old Animorphs." Abruptly, I remembered that he didn't know what I'd been doing for the past few days. "And they almost took the box."
"The box?" Tobias raised an eyebrow quizzically.
"The box," I repeated, like an echo. "The box that gave us the power to morph. The Yeerks have it."
He said a word I would have expected from Marco.
"Some David kid found it in the construction site, and I scared him into putting it down. The girl I was staying with took it -"
"What? You've been staying with someone? Does she know about you?"
"She's a Controller now," I told him flatly. "The Sharing came to help her after the fire, and they knew she'd seen me."
"How?"
He narrowed his eyes and I sighed, realizing how long it would take to explain, and realizing that there were parts of it I didn't ever want to explain. I massaged a hand over my forehead and started from the beginning - from my first run after I saw Cassie to the cat morph at Taylor's to trailing her at school to the construction site to the fire. With every sentence I saw the expression in his eyes darken. The line of his mouth tightened, pulling his face into one rigid scowl.
When I was done, he stood in silence for a moment, then spoke softly. "Why were you following her, Rachel?"
"I had nowhere else to go," I snapped. "I thought everyone was captured. I thought they were going to capture you. I needed a life."
I had the distinct sensation that this was not what he wanted to hear.
"You just wanted revenge," he shot back in fury. "You wanted to kill as many Yeerks as you could and you were glad the rest of us moralizing fools were gone so we wouldn't stop you! You wanted her as a sacrifice, to consummate your new purpose in life, to prove to yourself that you're ruthless. You are sick, Rachel."
His words flowed past without cutting me, but I didn't know how to respond to them. I shrugged, affecting nonchalance.
There was a long silence before I cleared my throat. "Tell me what's happened since I've been gone. Tom told me a little of it."
He would not look at me. "What did he tell you?"
"That Jake had his parents infested, Marco had his father infested, Ax is working on breakthrough Yeerk-Andalite technology and Cassie is an executioner of those in the peace movement." I took a seat at the base of a tree.
He sat down across from me, near the tree where he stayed at night. "Those are the basics. The Yeerk invasion is now completely unchecked. But they're slowing down a little, too. They know that they have all the time in the world to take over an unsuspecting Earth. Their focus is on two issues: finding us, and creating new technology." He paused, staring up at the sky framed between tree branches. "Now that you have the box, we could create a new army to fight them."
"I don't want a new army. I want the others back."
"That may not be an option. Where is the box?"
"I hid it. In the construction site."
"You know that's the first place they'll look."
"No, it's not. They're still looking for me. They'll check Taylor's house first, and then start going through the woods. We have time to get the box." I rubbed the bridge of my nose. "I didn't have that many options."
He sighed deeply and wrapped his arms around his knees. "I know. I'm sorry, Rachel."
"You're still angry at me."
"For what you planned to do to another human being? For leaving her in the fire? Yes. I am. You're not a Yeerk, Rachel."
I shrugged, thinking: Maybe I am. "Sometimes you have to become the enemy to win the war."
"I don't want you to."
I changed a glance at him. I knew why he did not want me to. "Sometimes I have to be, Tobias. Sometimes we both will. We're alone, now. We're all that's left."
"You know we can't stop them." Tobias ran a hand through his hair slowly.
"We have to do whatever we can to. slow them down, then." I swallowed. "You know that at the end we'll be killed. Or captured."
"I know." He smiled and stretched out his hand. "Free or dead."
I took it. "Free or dead."
Author's Note: Chapter 22! It will probably be about ten more chapters before I'm through with this. In the meantime, I looked up one of my old stories, Trial by Fire. I'm trying to decide whether or not to continue it. There's an original character, which I hate writing, but the plot may have potential. Please read it and let me know what you think of it. The link is here: In other news, I'm going to begin a new Jake fic soon, and I'm plotting it out now. Look for it soon in a Just-In page near you!