A/N: another chapter. Enjoy, read, and review when you're done.
Out of all places to be, we were back here. In the blink of an eye, we had disappeared from the mall and reappeared in the Iskoort world.
"Told ya something was wrong," Marco mumbled as he stumbled to his feet.
"Okay. WHAT is going ON?" Rachel demanded, also getting up. "I thought we would never be back in this place!"
Personally, I was clueless. It was so random! One moment I had been sitting at a table in the mall, debating whether or not I should grab Cassie's hand, and the next moment I was in topsy-turvy land, the place I had least expected-and wanted- to be.
"Tobias? Ax? Demorph," I told them. They both began to do so.
"Why are we here? How did we get here?" Marco asked. He seemed just as annoyed and confused as I was.
"The Ellimist?" I guessed. I slowly stood up, dusting myself off.
Marco shook his head. "I don't think so. That guy may be sneaky, and he may not keep his promises-" at this I saw Rachel glance quickly at Tobias, who looked away. "-but I think he would tell us if he was going to casually whisk us off to this crazy place again."
"Whisk?" Rachel snickered. Marco ignored her.
"And also, what about the mall? Don't you think that people might notice something if six kids suddenly disappeared from a table? And why are we here? There has to be some reason. We don't just randomly appear in places. Someone must have brought us here, but who?"
"And why of all places, HERE?" Rachel exploded. "Whoever did this could have at LEAST brought all the things we bought with us!"
"You mean, all the things you bought," Marco clarified. Then he grinned at her. "And you're just mad because you don't want to get another haircut like the last time we were here."
The prior time we had come here, we had had to pay for a guide with Rachel's hair. About six inches of it, anyway. And it was easy to tell that Rachel still wasn't too happy with that whole agreement.
"Look around," Cassie said, interrupting all of us. We all glanced around. It was the same. Same nonsensical, multi-colored, twisting, turning, slanting, distorted, seemingly unstable towers and steps that looked like something a kid had thought up with Legos in his spare time. Tobias realized what Cassie was saying first.
{It's quiet. Not like last time. No Iskoorts running up to us, begging us to do things. The place seems deserted.}
"I'm not so sure that's a bad thing," Rachel muttered, obviously still mad about the whole hair issue.
"Maybe not a bad thing," I said, "but a strange thing. Something must have happened. Last time we came here, all sorts of people were chasing after us, trying to get us to buy things from them and to sell things to them. And now, no one's here. There has to be a reason why."
"We don't even know why we're here. How are we supposed to know why the stupid people who live here aren't here?" Rachel all but yelled. Maybe she was feeling the same restlessness that I was feeling.
"I don't know." I felt uneasy. Everything felt strange. It was too quiet. There was no one around. Everywhere felt like a ghost town, and it was beginning to make me feel anxious. That is, more anxious than I already felt. Which was pretty anxious.
Cassie seemed to sense what I was feeling and smiled encouragingly at me. I took a deep breath and tried to smile back.
{Prince Jake?} Ax was now in his natural form, and apparently feeling safer. {I believe that it might be more beneficial if you all morphed. We do not know what may be out here.}
"Yeah. You're right. Everyone to bird," I said. "We don't want any of us to fall. This time, Erek's not here to catch us. Plus, if we're birds we'll be less likely to be noticed. And we can see better."
"Who's gonna notice us?" Marco snorted. "There's no one else around!" But he too began the transition to bird.
Five minutes later, we were in the air, and I felt slightly better. Slightly. There was still the edgy feeling lurking around. It wouldn't go away. And neither would Marco's ranting.
{See what happens when we try to do something normal? It never works out. NEVER. Either we end up having to go on some insane suicidal mission, or Ax gets some weird sickness, or we get zapped to another planet, or whatever. It just doesn't work for us!}
{Yeah, we get the point, Marco,} Rachel said.
He went on as if he hadn't heard her. {See? I told you that something bad was gonna happen! But noooo, no one wanted to listen to Marco-}
{And no one wants to listen to Marco now! So will you please do us all a favor and shut up?} Rachel said in a bothered tone.
I tried to block them out. The air felt heavy. Was that even possible? I had to figure out just what had happened in that millisecond when we had been transported here.
{Look! There!} On the ground we saw a lone Iskoort. The only one we had seen since we had abruptly arrived.
{Anyone notice anything about this particular guy?} Tobias asked.
I studied him. He looked vaguely familiar...
{Guide!} I shouted out. The Iskoort who had guided us around the world when the Ellimist had brought us here to battle the Howlers. Would he remember us? I hoped he would. Maybe he would have some answers.
{Guide!} I said, this time directing my thought-speak towards him. His head snapped up, and he focused his gaze on the six birds-of-prey wheeling towards him.
{Ax, demorph,} I said privately. {Everyone else, stay bird.} We didn't all need to be helpless ad stuck mid-morph. And if Ax morphed, he would have his tail.
{Yes, Prince Jake.}
{Guide,} I repeated. {Do you remember us?}
He twisted his ugly, distorted Iskoort face into a strange look. It seemed almost like a look of...fear. But who was I to judge alien expressions? {Yes.} His gaze was focused on Ax, or more importantly, on the gleaming tail that was emerging. {Yes, I remember the Andalite.}
Ax was almost finished now. The shifting mass slowly was becoming more Andalite than bird.
Wait a minute... why would Guide be scared? And why would he only remember "the Andalite?"
Suddenly, with lightning quick speed, Guide pulled out a strange looking gun. {Yes,} he sneered. {I remember you.} He steadily aimed the gun at Ax.
{Do not move, Andalite.}
Out of all places to be, we were back here. In the blink of an eye, we had disappeared from the mall and reappeared in the Iskoort world.
"Told ya something was wrong," Marco mumbled as he stumbled to his feet.
"Okay. WHAT is going ON?" Rachel demanded, also getting up. "I thought we would never be back in this place!"
Personally, I was clueless. It was so random! One moment I had been sitting at a table in the mall, debating whether or not I should grab Cassie's hand, and the next moment I was in topsy-turvy land, the place I had least expected-and wanted- to be.
"Tobias? Ax? Demorph," I told them. They both began to do so.
"Why are we here? How did we get here?" Marco asked. He seemed just as annoyed and confused as I was.
"The Ellimist?" I guessed. I slowly stood up, dusting myself off.
Marco shook his head. "I don't think so. That guy may be sneaky, and he may not keep his promises-" at this I saw Rachel glance quickly at Tobias, who looked away. "-but I think he would tell us if he was going to casually whisk us off to this crazy place again."
"Whisk?" Rachel snickered. Marco ignored her.
"And also, what about the mall? Don't you think that people might notice something if six kids suddenly disappeared from a table? And why are we here? There has to be some reason. We don't just randomly appear in places. Someone must have brought us here, but who?"
"And why of all places, HERE?" Rachel exploded. "Whoever did this could have at LEAST brought all the things we bought with us!"
"You mean, all the things you bought," Marco clarified. Then he grinned at her. "And you're just mad because you don't want to get another haircut like the last time we were here."
The prior time we had come here, we had had to pay for a guide with Rachel's hair. About six inches of it, anyway. And it was easy to tell that Rachel still wasn't too happy with that whole agreement.
"Look around," Cassie said, interrupting all of us. We all glanced around. It was the same. Same nonsensical, multi-colored, twisting, turning, slanting, distorted, seemingly unstable towers and steps that looked like something a kid had thought up with Legos in his spare time. Tobias realized what Cassie was saying first.
{It's quiet. Not like last time. No Iskoorts running up to us, begging us to do things. The place seems deserted.}
"I'm not so sure that's a bad thing," Rachel muttered, obviously still mad about the whole hair issue.
"Maybe not a bad thing," I said, "but a strange thing. Something must have happened. Last time we came here, all sorts of people were chasing after us, trying to get us to buy things from them and to sell things to them. And now, no one's here. There has to be a reason why."
"We don't even know why we're here. How are we supposed to know why the stupid people who live here aren't here?" Rachel all but yelled. Maybe she was feeling the same restlessness that I was feeling.
"I don't know." I felt uneasy. Everything felt strange. It was too quiet. There was no one around. Everywhere felt like a ghost town, and it was beginning to make me feel anxious. That is, more anxious than I already felt. Which was pretty anxious.
Cassie seemed to sense what I was feeling and smiled encouragingly at me. I took a deep breath and tried to smile back.
{Prince Jake?} Ax was now in his natural form, and apparently feeling safer. {I believe that it might be more beneficial if you all morphed. We do not know what may be out here.}
"Yeah. You're right. Everyone to bird," I said. "We don't want any of us to fall. This time, Erek's not here to catch us. Plus, if we're birds we'll be less likely to be noticed. And we can see better."
"Who's gonna notice us?" Marco snorted. "There's no one else around!" But he too began the transition to bird.
Five minutes later, we were in the air, and I felt slightly better. Slightly. There was still the edgy feeling lurking around. It wouldn't go away. And neither would Marco's ranting.
{See what happens when we try to do something normal? It never works out. NEVER. Either we end up having to go on some insane suicidal mission, or Ax gets some weird sickness, or we get zapped to another planet, or whatever. It just doesn't work for us!}
{Yeah, we get the point, Marco,} Rachel said.
He went on as if he hadn't heard her. {See? I told you that something bad was gonna happen! But noooo, no one wanted to listen to Marco-}
{And no one wants to listen to Marco now! So will you please do us all a favor and shut up?} Rachel said in a bothered tone.
I tried to block them out. The air felt heavy. Was that even possible? I had to figure out just what had happened in that millisecond when we had been transported here.
{Look! There!} On the ground we saw a lone Iskoort. The only one we had seen since we had abruptly arrived.
{Anyone notice anything about this particular guy?} Tobias asked.
I studied him. He looked vaguely familiar...
{Guide!} I shouted out. The Iskoort who had guided us around the world when the Ellimist had brought us here to battle the Howlers. Would he remember us? I hoped he would. Maybe he would have some answers.
{Guide!} I said, this time directing my thought-speak towards him. His head snapped up, and he focused his gaze on the six birds-of-prey wheeling towards him.
{Ax, demorph,} I said privately. {Everyone else, stay bird.} We didn't all need to be helpless ad stuck mid-morph. And if Ax morphed, he would have his tail.
{Yes, Prince Jake.}
{Guide,} I repeated. {Do you remember us?}
He twisted his ugly, distorted Iskoort face into a strange look. It seemed almost like a look of...fear. But who was I to judge alien expressions? {Yes.} His gaze was focused on Ax, or more importantly, on the gleaming tail that was emerging. {Yes, I remember the Andalite.}
Ax was almost finished now. The shifting mass slowly was becoming more Andalite than bird.
Wait a minute... why would Guide be scared? And why would he only remember "the Andalite?"
Suddenly, with lightning quick speed, Guide pulled out a strange looking gun. {Yes,} he sneered. {I remember you.} He steadily aimed the gun at Ax.
{Do not move, Andalite.}