Aximili's Headache

I do not know when, Aximili said, and flapped hard again to soar further up, keeping an eye on the ground-based Controllers. But I know that they have not given up yet.

Did you think they would?

No.

Aximili strained his wings and forced his way upwards, struggling for each centimeter, until finally he found a decent updraft. It carried him far above the Controllers on the ground, but he could still see them…

Putting them out of his mind, he began soaring away from the mall and out towards the forest. Once there, it would be easier to get rid of any followers.

He flapped his way out over the first trees and decided on a good place to land and take cover under their branches. Folding his wings, he dove down, flared, struck his talons out and elegantly touched down on the forest floor. Then he began demorphing.

Is that wise? Issetha wondered nervously.

They'll send people after us, Aximili said. They will be searching for a bird, mostly. And it is easier to hide under the trees than above.

I'll have to trust you on that one. I've never done this before.                   

With that, Ax quickly localized himself and set off towards camp at a steady canter.

He had not been going far when Issetha said; We're being followed.

She had been in charge of his stalks, being nervous and wanting to keep an eye or two behind them, and now she let Aximili in on what she was seeing. Above them, and far behind, a bug fighter was hovering, watching. They must have been too far away from the city for the fighter to worry about cloaking – that, or the pilot was careless.

Run, the Yeerk advised.

Aximili snarled at her to be quiet but did as he was told. He spun around and ran as fast as he could, ducking branches, jumping logs and throwing himself to one side again and again to avoid trees.

The bug followed from a distance. It could easily keep up, so Aximili dove into the cover of some bushes and hid. He almost wished he was in human morph; Andalites were, obviously, not made to hide beneath bushes.

The bug passed over him, and Aximili waited. Then his ears picked up the sound of footsteps and shouts… Controllers.

He stumbled back up to his hooves and without further delay began running again. He did not want the bug to catch him, but he did not want the Controllers to, either.

When he had fled out of both sight and earshot of both Controllers and the bug he slowed down, every limb shaking from the effort, and sides heaving for breath, but Issetha still urging him on. He gathered some energy and prepared to morph his harrier to fly away. Issetha had been right; however much it hurt him to admit it, she had been right. He should have stayed in morph.

"There he is!"

Aximili's stalks darted to the side – he was unsure whether it was his doing or Issetha's – and he saw the Controllers – humans and Taxxons only, fortunately – approaching quickly. They were still far away enough to leave him time to morph. But they had dracons, and even if he morphed faster than ever before they would shoot him out of the sky before he got away.

We need more distance, Issetha said.

I know, he growled. I know. I have done this before.

He began running again.

It was probably just bad luck when the dracon hit him. He had been zigzagging as he ran, to avoid the dracons, straining his exhausted legs to the limit and pressing for more speed, and either it was a lot of skill from the Controller or plain bad luck.

The dracon hit his back, burning the side of his tail on its way. He froze in the air, halfway through a leap, and then hit the ground and tripped over his own hooves, rolling as he fell.

He drew a sharp breath, felt his mind spinning further and further out of control… the only thing stabile was the repeated commands of Issetha, that got him to his hooves faster than he would have by himself and mentally slapped him back to full awareness. Fast enough to get another chance at outrunning the Controllers.

Thank you, he surprised himself by saying.

Issetha was equally surprised. You're welcome, she laughed.

He made a quick check-through; nothing seemed broken, but he was aching all over and it was hard to tell. One hoof was aching, and his tail was not happy, but he could still stand, still run. Although by the time he was ready to continue his fleeing the Controllers were close enough to get another good shot.

He was halfway through the first leap when a dracon on lowest power hit his head. That easily sent him down to the ground again, head spinning, thoughts tumbling, even Issetha stunned. Where he landed, he stayed.

He could hear the Controllers closing in around him, carefully, not sure if he was only faking or not. Voices around him were muffled, distant. His sight was unfocused, then focused, only to fade again as if a thick blanket was moved across his eyes.

Then a tiger's roar shook the scene and Aximili saw the tiger leaping over him, landing nimbly on a Controller and slamming him down with its weight. The fur on the back of the tiger's neck was bristling with fury when he took a place in front of Aximili, snarling, making it very clear exactly what he was going to do if anyone tried to pass him.

Aximili saw the others taking places nearby, forming a line between him and the Controllers. Then he felt half-human hands grabbing his head, holding a hand near his nose, feeling his throat; checking for breath and pulse.

"It's okay now," Cassie's voice said, cutting through the noise around them. "We're here. Don't worry, we won't let the Yeerks get you."

Aximili tried to speak, but was not sure what to say, and Issetha stopped him with a gentle Hush. He had no time to ponder why, when the world suddenly spun around him and things went dark.

When Aximili woke up the first thing he saw was the face of his Prince, grinning down at him.

"I thought I told you to keep out of trouble."

I am sorry, my Prince, Aximili sighed.

Jake peered at him, but then shrugged. "You're okay, so no harm done. But where have you been? We've been looking for you since this morning. It was the bug fighter that led us to you." He smiled. "Who would have imagined those things would actually be of use?"

At the term 'okay' Aximili almost flinched, as he felt a slight stir from the other mind in his head, and was reminded of Issetha. He felt that maybe he should inform his Prince of what, exactly, had happened…

No, don't, Issetha begged.

Why not? Aximili wondered, making sure she had not yanked any control away from him. To his relief, she had not. She was pulled back into her own corner, and seemed afraid.

He'll… he'll kill me if he finds out I'm here.

Prince Jake is reasonable, Aximili countered. You have done no wrong. And I have an obligation to –

Aximili, please.

The Yeerk was truly terrified, Aximili realized, surprised. She would not have been able to hide that even if she had tried. He refrained from telling his Prince, standing up and again making sure no bones were broken.

"So, Ax?" Marco said. He was standing, not far away, together with the rest of the group. "What, exactly, made you go play hide and seek this morning?"

I did not play, Aximili replied calmly.

"Then what were you doing?"

I… I was pursued, and found myself forced to hide. I had just come out when you found me – and it was lucky you did.

He forced a smile into his eyes, feeling pale. The lie was bitter to his own thoughts and rang falsely in his ears. He stood, almost swaying, and for a moment the evaluating expression on Jake's face made him think that his Prince knew he was lying.

But Jake only nodded. "Fair enough."

Important thing is you're alive, and not infested, Tobias said, from his usual perch on Rachel's shoulder.

This time Aximili did flinch. But by then they had all turned away, and Marco was rubbing his hands, saying; "Now that we found our missing alien, how about lunch? I'm starving."

"It hasn't been that long since breakfast," Rachel reminded him.

"Are you kidding? I'm so hungry, I could eat you." He grinned broadly to himself and then sent her an appreciating glance. "Of course, I could do that any day of the week."

"Watch your tongue," Rachel snapped back. "Or I might eat that."

"She's in a cannibalistic mood today, isn't she?" Marco mused. "So what else is new? Hey, Ax-man – you coming? We might have a cinnabon or two somewhere…"

Knowing they would be instantly suspicious if he declined but for the first time in his life feeling like doing so, Aximili trotted after them with the eagerness they all expected.


_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

Author's Note;

Sorry that took so long. I know this chapter isn't so eventful, but can't make all of them that way.

Next one up later. It's finished; just have to read it through a few times. Shouldn't take as long as this one, at least.