A/N: two abnormally short chapters. So I made up for it by making them into
one chapter. Ya'll, thanks so much for reviewing... I'll try to take any
advice you give and of course I'm taking the compliments!! Okay, everyone,
stick with me through this, there's still a few more twists coming up...
How could we forget Ax??
At times, humans confuse me.
We had been traveling for about half an hour. During that time, we had repeatedly been forced to listen to Marco continuously sing about "following a yellow brick road."
Now he had progressed on to a new song.
"We're off to see the wizard! The Wonderful Wizard of Oz!"
I did not know what "Oz" was, but I assumed it was a mystical place of great importance to the humans, considering how pleased Marco seemed to be from singing about it.
"Marco, if you sing one more song from the Wizard of Oz, I will personally rip your throat out so that you won't be able to sing any more!" Rachel growled.
Marco smiled at her and sang, "Somewhere, over the rainbow..." Rachel lunged for him and he hid behind Cassie.
Prince Jake sighed. "Come on guys, cut it out." He sounded tired.
However, if what I have learned is correct, Rachel and Marco "horse around," as Prince Jake says, to relieve stress and fear over the missions.
I was not looking forward to becoming a flea. Nor did I trust Guide. I could not forget that he had attempted to shoot me with a gun when we had first encountered him.
"Alright, everyone, stop." Prince Jake directed. "Do we all know the plan?"
"Yes Jake. We are aware of exactly how to put ourselves in almost suicidal and definitely life-threatening danger once again."
"Marco, we are helping the Iskoort. Doesn't that make you feel any better?" Cassie asked him.
Marco stopped to think for a moment. "Nope."
"Okay, everyone, morph to flea." Prince Jake instructed, ignoring them.
I focused on the flea. I felt the changes begin. My fur became hard and turned to a shell, while at the same time I felt myself shrinking until I was very small. My stalk eyes were sucked into my head, and I became nearly blind. All I was aware of was the overwhelming urge for blood.
{Okay, Guide? Do you think you could pick us up and out us...uh, somewhere on you?} Prince Jake instructed.
Guide did not say anything, but soon I felt myself flying through the air and landing on something, which I assumed was Guide.
As I struggled to control the urge to taste Guide's blood, I heard Prince Jake call out more instructions. {Okay, Guide, remember, you are unsuspecting and oblivious. Just walk out there and do...do whatever it is that you Iskoort do.}
{Another brilliantly stated sentence by Jake,} Marco commented.
{As if you're one to talk about brilliantly stated sentences!} Rachel retorted.
{At this rate we'll never get anything done,} Tobias grumbled. He seemed to be feeling very irritable.
{Mr. Guide,} Marco seemed very taken with that name. {Come on. Let us in on the action. Give us some play-by-play commentary!} Marco said.
{Play by play?}
{He means, just tell us what's happening, Guide,} Cassie explained.
{Ah. Well, I am walking around innocently and unsuspectingly of any evil that might befall me.} Guide explained to us while I forced myself not to take any of his blood.
{Okay, that sounded completely unsuspicious.} Marco said. Then in what my friends call "a fake whisper," he said, {He sounds like Ax.}
{I most certainly do not sound like that,} I told him haughtily.
{Suuure.}
{Guide, how's it going with you?} Prince Jake asked.
{There seems to be no one here.}
Suddenly we felt movement. Wild, sudden, movement.
{Woah!}
(Could have warned us about that one!}
{Guide, what's happening?} Prince Jake demanded.
{I am being carried off. It appears I have been captured.}
{That's strange. I thought it would take longer.} Cassie commented. I agreed. It seemed almost too quick. And almost too easy.
{Well, at least we're captured now. That's what we wanted.} Tobias said.
{Well, don't hide the details, Mr. Guide!} Marco said brightly. {Who was the lucky person...or thing...to catch us?}
{We were captured by...} There was hesitation in his voice. {By Rafe.}
Chapter 7 (Jake's POV)
{I knew we shouldn't have trusted him!} Rachel hissed.
The situation had become very bad very fast.
I was astonished. How was Rafe the one who had caught us? He was the one who had wanted us to save his precious world. Had he really set us up?
{I have them!} Rafe announced triumphantly, in open thought-speak so that everyone could hear.
Apparently he had. And I had been stupid enough to not see it.
{I'd pulverize that guy if I weren't a flea!} Rachel yelled.
{Yes, that's just one tiny detail,} Marco said sarcastically. Then he laughed. {Get it? Tiny?}
But it wasn't time to get angry or sarcastic or to make lame jokes. We needed to focus.
{Guide? What's happening?} I asked urgently.
{I am being carried to a room. I do not know where I am. Ow! I have just been knocked onto the floor. There is a gun aimed at my head. I am being poked repeatedly with it.} Guide sounded terrified.
I mentally took a deep breath. {Okay, calm down. Now look around. Tell me what you see.}
{The room is plain. Rafe is entering the room now.} Hardly the description I wanted. We heard, or rather, felt loud vibrations on the floor.
{Don't worry, we still have one up on him. He doesn't know we're here,} Marco said assuredly.
{Animorphs.} Rafe's voice. {Get off of Mr. Guide and demorph. Or I shall kill him.}
{Remind us to never listen to you again, Marco.} Rachel snapped. Then, {Not like we listened to you before.}
{Oops,} Marco said sheepishly. A moment later he had to add, {He's got us trapped and he's still calling Guide "Mr. Guide?" You've got to be kidding!}
{Jake?} Cassie asked me, waiting for an answer.
I thought and quickly made a decision. {Do what he says, for now. We don't want anyone to get hurt.}
I braced myself and launched off of Guide. I was falling, falling, falling! I tumbled through the air. Then I landed on the floor without a scratch. I immediately began to demorph.
Once I was human, I looked around me. Guide had been right; there wasn't much else to say about the room other than that it was plain. The only distinctive thing was that there seemed to be a small, very tightly locked cell in the corner. It looked exactly like a prison cell, except stronger.
The others finished demorphing just about the same time as me. The only one who finished before was Cassie, who has an amazing talent for morphing.
"I don't like the look of that," Marco muttered when he spotted the cell, voicing my thoughts exactly.
About twenty other Iskoort trooped into the room.
"I definitely don't like the look of that." Marco remarked almost conversationally.
"Really? I wonder why?" Rachel shot at him.
"There are that many of them against us?" Cassie whispered in wonder.
Rafe smiled wickedly at us, apparently happy that he had gotten us trapped. He pointed towards the cell. {Get in.}
{Make us,} Rachel sneered.
Ten minutes later, they had made us.
Rafe glared over in our direction, probably a little mad because of the scratches and cuts that he had received from a mad Rachel . {There is no way to escape. Don't even try.} He sauntered away. Then he leaned back in. {If you do try, we will kill Mr. Guide.}
Rachel turned to stare angrily at me. "See? I told you fleas wouldn't be good enough!"
I sighed, leaned against the wall, and sank down onto the floor. Cassie came over and sat next to me.
"Don't worry. We'll get out of here," She reassured me. I smiled weakly at her, grateful for the effort.
But the thing was, I knew that we could get out of here. We both knew that we could escape easily. The question was, would we get out of here with Guide alive?
How could we forget Ax??
At times, humans confuse me.
We had been traveling for about half an hour. During that time, we had repeatedly been forced to listen to Marco continuously sing about "following a yellow brick road."
Now he had progressed on to a new song.
"We're off to see the wizard! The Wonderful Wizard of Oz!"
I did not know what "Oz" was, but I assumed it was a mystical place of great importance to the humans, considering how pleased Marco seemed to be from singing about it.
"Marco, if you sing one more song from the Wizard of Oz, I will personally rip your throat out so that you won't be able to sing any more!" Rachel growled.
Marco smiled at her and sang, "Somewhere, over the rainbow..." Rachel lunged for him and he hid behind Cassie.
Prince Jake sighed. "Come on guys, cut it out." He sounded tired.
However, if what I have learned is correct, Rachel and Marco "horse around," as Prince Jake says, to relieve stress and fear over the missions.
I was not looking forward to becoming a flea. Nor did I trust Guide. I could not forget that he had attempted to shoot me with a gun when we had first encountered him.
"Alright, everyone, stop." Prince Jake directed. "Do we all know the plan?"
"Yes Jake. We are aware of exactly how to put ourselves in almost suicidal and definitely life-threatening danger once again."
"Marco, we are helping the Iskoort. Doesn't that make you feel any better?" Cassie asked him.
Marco stopped to think for a moment. "Nope."
"Okay, everyone, morph to flea." Prince Jake instructed, ignoring them.
I focused on the flea. I felt the changes begin. My fur became hard and turned to a shell, while at the same time I felt myself shrinking until I was very small. My stalk eyes were sucked into my head, and I became nearly blind. All I was aware of was the overwhelming urge for blood.
{Okay, Guide? Do you think you could pick us up and out us...uh, somewhere on you?} Prince Jake instructed.
Guide did not say anything, but soon I felt myself flying through the air and landing on something, which I assumed was Guide.
As I struggled to control the urge to taste Guide's blood, I heard Prince Jake call out more instructions. {Okay, Guide, remember, you are unsuspecting and oblivious. Just walk out there and do...do whatever it is that you Iskoort do.}
{Another brilliantly stated sentence by Jake,} Marco commented.
{As if you're one to talk about brilliantly stated sentences!} Rachel retorted.
{At this rate we'll never get anything done,} Tobias grumbled. He seemed to be feeling very irritable.
{Mr. Guide,} Marco seemed very taken with that name. {Come on. Let us in on the action. Give us some play-by-play commentary!} Marco said.
{Play by play?}
{He means, just tell us what's happening, Guide,} Cassie explained.
{Ah. Well, I am walking around innocently and unsuspectingly of any evil that might befall me.} Guide explained to us while I forced myself not to take any of his blood.
{Okay, that sounded completely unsuspicious.} Marco said. Then in what my friends call "a fake whisper," he said, {He sounds like Ax.}
{I most certainly do not sound like that,} I told him haughtily.
{Suuure.}
{Guide, how's it going with you?} Prince Jake asked.
{There seems to be no one here.}
Suddenly we felt movement. Wild, sudden, movement.
{Woah!}
(Could have warned us about that one!}
{Guide, what's happening?} Prince Jake demanded.
{I am being carried off. It appears I have been captured.}
{That's strange. I thought it would take longer.} Cassie commented. I agreed. It seemed almost too quick. And almost too easy.
{Well, at least we're captured now. That's what we wanted.} Tobias said.
{Well, don't hide the details, Mr. Guide!} Marco said brightly. {Who was the lucky person...or thing...to catch us?}
{We were captured by...} There was hesitation in his voice. {By Rafe.}
Chapter 7 (Jake's POV)
{I knew we shouldn't have trusted him!} Rachel hissed.
The situation had become very bad very fast.
I was astonished. How was Rafe the one who had caught us? He was the one who had wanted us to save his precious world. Had he really set us up?
{I have them!} Rafe announced triumphantly, in open thought-speak so that everyone could hear.
Apparently he had. And I had been stupid enough to not see it.
{I'd pulverize that guy if I weren't a flea!} Rachel yelled.
{Yes, that's just one tiny detail,} Marco said sarcastically. Then he laughed. {Get it? Tiny?}
But it wasn't time to get angry or sarcastic or to make lame jokes. We needed to focus.
{Guide? What's happening?} I asked urgently.
{I am being carried to a room. I do not know where I am. Ow! I have just been knocked onto the floor. There is a gun aimed at my head. I am being poked repeatedly with it.} Guide sounded terrified.
I mentally took a deep breath. {Okay, calm down. Now look around. Tell me what you see.}
{The room is plain. Rafe is entering the room now.} Hardly the description I wanted. We heard, or rather, felt loud vibrations on the floor.
{Don't worry, we still have one up on him. He doesn't know we're here,} Marco said assuredly.
{Animorphs.} Rafe's voice. {Get off of Mr. Guide and demorph. Or I shall kill him.}
{Remind us to never listen to you again, Marco.} Rachel snapped. Then, {Not like we listened to you before.}
{Oops,} Marco said sheepishly. A moment later he had to add, {He's got us trapped and he's still calling Guide "Mr. Guide?" You've got to be kidding!}
{Jake?} Cassie asked me, waiting for an answer.
I thought and quickly made a decision. {Do what he says, for now. We don't want anyone to get hurt.}
I braced myself and launched off of Guide. I was falling, falling, falling! I tumbled through the air. Then I landed on the floor without a scratch. I immediately began to demorph.
Once I was human, I looked around me. Guide had been right; there wasn't much else to say about the room other than that it was plain. The only distinctive thing was that there seemed to be a small, very tightly locked cell in the corner. It looked exactly like a prison cell, except stronger.
The others finished demorphing just about the same time as me. The only one who finished before was Cassie, who has an amazing talent for morphing.
"I don't like the look of that," Marco muttered when he spotted the cell, voicing my thoughts exactly.
About twenty other Iskoort trooped into the room.
"I definitely don't like the look of that." Marco remarked almost conversationally.
"Really? I wonder why?" Rachel shot at him.
"There are that many of them against us?" Cassie whispered in wonder.
Rafe smiled wickedly at us, apparently happy that he had gotten us trapped. He pointed towards the cell. {Get in.}
{Make us,} Rachel sneered.
Ten minutes later, they had made us.
Rafe glared over in our direction, probably a little mad because of the scratches and cuts that he had received from a mad Rachel . {There is no way to escape. Don't even try.} He sauntered away. Then he leaned back in. {If you do try, we will kill Mr. Guide.}
Rachel turned to stare angrily at me. "See? I told you fleas wouldn't be good enough!"
I sighed, leaned against the wall, and sank down onto the floor. Cassie came over and sat next to me.
"Don't worry. We'll get out of here," She reassured me. I smiled weakly at her, grateful for the effort.
But the thing was, I knew that we could get out of here. We both knew that we could escape easily. The question was, would we get out of here with Guide alive?