The Generation
Chapter 11- Michael
I was coming downstairs when I heard somebody talking to the coach. "Aren't you going to tell Max?" Asked a teenage boy's voice.
I flattened myself against the wall. I heard Judy gasp and drop a plate. "How did you?"
Don't try to call
There are some bridges that burn
Beyond recognition beyond repair
"You left the window open, it's just big enough for my Osprey." What was an Osprey?
"I'm not going to tell Max if I can help it. How could I prove it to him?" Coach asked. "And besides, it probably won't matter. But how did you figure it out?"
Don't say you've changed
There are some forces that turn
Beyond recollection, beyond my stare
"Bad call, you see, he's already starting to show the signs. He's got our medic quite confused. You see, miss Judy, even if you deny it, that's not going to guarantee that it won't happen. The fight is getting desperate." Who was speaking? I couldn't place it. "Think on that Judy. Your actions could have dire consequences, for all of us. Max is willing to give up everything for freedom, are you?" The tone of voice was hostile, accusing.
"My son, I will not let my son follow my fate. Do you hear me?"
When I feel the cold in the dark
I know you're there
There was not answer, simply the rush of wings.
~Max~
Kenny and Tyson had gone to the grotto early to acquire the Hork Bajir morphs, they'd practice once we got to the valley of the Hork Bajir.
Long ago, I was a woman in pain
A woman in need
I ran to you
We would take the travel in shifts. Half of us would stay on the ground in wolf morph. The other half would fly in the air. After an hour and a half, we'd switch. The forest fire had been put out, but the yeerks were almost certainly watching the burned area, and having to go around would cost us more time. So we stayed in human form, wearing morph outfits, while we walked across the burned area.
"Hey Max!" Rachel tossed me a brown bag labeled Mc Donald's. "Have a couple of sausage biscuits! We'd better eat them hot and save as much bread as we can for lunch. I brought some sushi for lunch, as well as some sandwiches."
Marco looked at me out of the corner of his eye. It was an appraising look. I met his eyes and blushed. "Thanks Rachel. I sure was hungry."
Long ago, I did not understand
You were making me bleed
I ran to you
"You'd better be sure that Tyson doesn't eat it all." Kai joked.
"HEY!" Tyson protested. "I'm not that big a glutton."
"No, you're a baka with two stomachs!" Hillary pulled him into a combination headlock and noogie.
I rolled my eyes and pulled on my headphones. "Rock Melissa Ethridge..." I murmured.
This was my favorite song on the CD, very soothing. My mother used to sing this song for me when I was younger. I sang softly as I walked between Rachel and Tyson and ahead of Cassie and Jake.
"When I feel the cold in the dark
I know what you do.
"I will crawl through my past
Over stones, blood and glass
In the ruins."
"That's pretty." Ax said. "Pre- ty ty ty, puh ri ty."
"Uh... thanks." Ax was disturbingly attractive, almost effeminate in his human morph. But if I hadn't known what he was I would probably have been put off by the way he minces words. "My mom used to sing that for me when I was younger."
"Andilite music, ka, mu-si-cuh is much different from human music. Most of it- it-uh I find grating-inginging." Ax explained. He tripped on a root and cried out.
I helped him up, with nothing more than jammed wrists and scraped palms. "Thanks, anks anxsuh. That is the other thing about humans... how do you keep from falling over, ver, over?"
"We evolved in the trees I guess." I explained. "Marco's gorilla? That's the animal closest to the human on the evolutionary tree, or the Chimpanzee. We had to be able to balance to keep from falling out of the trees."
Reaching under the fence
As I try to make sense
In the ruins
"That explains, lains ains it." Ax nodded.
Toby Hame met us at the edge of the forest. "Ready to go?" She asked.
"Yeah." I nodded.
Together, we began to morph. I closed my eyes, focusing on the Red Tailed Hawk inside of me. I imagined the head changing first. My face bulged out and out. My nose and lips grew hard and turned yellow, then grew and curved to become a beak. My head became more streamlined and my eyesight became so strong that since I still didn't have a hawk's visual cortex, it gave me a headache. Then I had a hawk's brain and the pain faded.
I focused on making the feathers ripple down my back and made the tail sprout out, growing like a weed. Then my right arm began to stretch out and out, into a wing. My bones became hollow and light. My fingers stretched into wings. I made the same happen to my left arm.
Yellow scales and down rippled up my right leg and down my left. The bones thinned. My toes and feet melted together and separated into wicked, hooked talons.
"Show aaaaackaaa!!" Kenny's sarcastic comment was cut off by the growth of the Harris Hawk's beak. He had a shrinking hawk's body and oversized wings. Then his head began to change and he could use thoughtspeak. //Show off.//
I know your heart has held its own fear
Its perfectly clear
What they did to you
But I'd finished morphing by then, and I rose into the sky. First Tyson, also a red tail, then Rei, followed by Kai, Hillary, and Kenny rose up after me. We split off in different directions and followed the relentless movement of six strong, fast wolves and three powerful hork bajir through the trees. I was more than ready for a break when Ax called up. //It is time to switch Prince Jake, Prince Kai.//
//Don't call me prince.// They chorused. I chuckled, then dove.
Switch! We were the ones running now. Flash flash flash! The trees darted by. No! I was the one darting! Tree! Tree! Tree! I almost fell headlong into them except that the wolf sense prevented the crash just in time. Every so often Toby would call back to us from this or that tree, "HURRY UP!" And we corrected ourselves, always moving in the direction of her voice, or her tracks, or her footsteps, until...
In my heart it's the screaming I hear
I won't let them come near
Since my love knew you
//Prince Jake, Prince Kai. It is time to switch.//
//Don't call me prince.// Kai stopped dead in his tracks and began to morph. Jake and the others swooped down.
I picked up the small travel bag that I carried in my mouth, checking my watch. "Its only nine o clock??" I demanded. "It feels like twelve at least!"
"Can't slow down." Jake grunted. "I takes until around noon to make it if we don't stop."
I put the watch back. Cassie picked up the bag in her mouth. I had already started to morph. Tyson was too, Golden Eagle this time.
//Time!// Wolf!
//Time!// Red Tail!
//Time!// Wolf again.
Finally, we reached a solid wall of rock. I'm not sure why, but my eyes seemed to slip away from a crack in the rock, as if some kind of reverse magnetism was drawing my eyes away from it. I began to demorph. Toby, Saro, and Sola waited patiently for us to finish. Cassie and I finished first. Tobias couldn't come of course, he was keeping an eye on my mother.
After about five minutes we were all finished. "Ready you guys?" Jake asked.
Yes, was the general agreement.
"Let's hurry up, this place gives me the creeps." Tyson shivered as he eased his way into the narrow passage.
I will crawl through my past
Over stones blood and glass
In the ruins
I followed him, taking his hand. "Gives me the shivers too." I shook. "It feels like I'm being watched."
"We probably are." Kenny said darkly as he followed us.
I was reminded of those strange, dark passages in Chinese palaces. You know, the ones that go on forever, and then when they open up it seems like you've emerged into an entirely new world? That's what it felt like.
Finally, after what seemed like forever, the light in the narrow pass became brighter. We emerged onto a huge meadow filled with wildflowers. To my right was an enormous forest. The trees were almost as big as redwoods. There were many kinds, oak, pine, elm, chestnut, beech, birch, and many, many others. To my left, the meadow continued, facing a cave complex in the mountains.
And waiting for us was easily sixty, seventy hork bajir. Tyson tensed, but the hork bajir waited until all of us came through behind their leader. Toby lead us right up to them. I fell into step behind Kai and Tyson.
And then I saw her, far on a hill. She was centaurine, with indigo/violet fur, long stalk eyes, and a tail more muscular than was feminine. She was slightly smaller than Ax, with a delicate grace that Ax didn't have. An andilite, a young one. My hearts leapt. Hearts?
I shook my head in confusion, I was not an andilite! I had to convince myself of that. The urge to join her was so strong, to run, to fly over the meadow!
I will reach under the fence
As I try to make sense
In the ruins
She galloped down the rise of the hill to meet us, and listened patiently as Toby moved to the fore of our procession. "MY PEOPLE!" She called out loud enough for all to hear. "I came to Jake in the middle of a battle, saving his new Animorphs, his morphing human folk! In turn, Max..." She crooked a finger for me to come. "Max here, saved two of our people. These are Sola Hamel," Sola stepped forward, preening proudly. "And Saro Jagil, Saro is different! He has come to help us see a new way!"
There was a murmur of whispered gossip. "He different..."
"We thank Max..."
"Yes thank Max!"
They spoke up. "THANK MAX!" They cried. I felt my skin flushing.
"Max, Kai, Tyson, Kenny, Rei, Hillary, these are my parents Jara Hame and Ket Halpak." She turned to Jake and nodded respectfully to the young andilite. "This is Ezemili Ani Maradak, pilot of the blockade courier, Kafit."
The andilite nodded, sweeping into a graceful bow. //Pleased to meet you Prince Jake. My parents told me about you. They wanted me to bring you a copy of Elfangor's Hirac Delest. And they have specifically ordered me to follow your leadership until war's end.//
"Pleased to meet you Ezimili." Jake shook her hand.
Ezimili blinked at the gesture. //Did I miss some kind of ritual?//
"Its convention Ezimili, to shake hands when meeting a new person."
//Ah, I will have much to learn.// Ezimili answered. //I watched the human Television, searching for news, in order to learn basic courtesy, but I fear I have missed this one.//
//I have never heard of a blockade courier.// Ax said calmly. //Is it a new kind of ship?//
//Yes, it is a smaller version of a blockade runner.// Ezimili explained. //It is meant to land small amounts of troops or supplies, as well as become a ground based communications center, however, it has no weapons. If I had been attacked, I would have been killed. My ship, thankfully, was meant to come out of zero space in the upper atmosphere of a planet. It was mere children's play.//
//Ezimili, what was your specialty in combat?// Ax asked. //Our main weapon in this battle is morphing technology.//
//How convenient.// Ezimili laughed. //That was my combat specialty at the academy.//
"It looks like she'll get along fine here." Marco chuckled. "You've got a new companion Ax."
I smiled. Then Ax said something I wish he hadn't. //Max, if you are up for one more morph, I would like to explain your situation to Ezimili, but I think best while running.//
I nodded and focused on the Andilite morph. What first, Tail! I focused on the Tail appearing first! Ezimili's stalk eyes shot upward in surprise. Not before I was halfway through the morph. Four legs first, back hooves next, fur rolling up my body with the changes, I morphed slowly. I was a very odd sight. Picture me Andilite from the waist down, with fur slowly rolling up my body, spreading into my hands. The extra fingers sprouted when the fur reached my hands.
The fur reached my face and I felt my jaws lock together. At the same time I felt two new hearts spread through my body, beating, thumping with joy. My internal organs were rearranging to deal with grass instead of hamburgers, water instead of soda. My lungs grew and expanded, becoming larger, stronger.
The fur inched up my face. I was clinging, I realized, clinging to humanity. I sighed, letting my nose flatten and divide into two large and one small slit. My hair melted into my head, replaced instead with eyes on stalks.
I felt the power of the tail, held erect and hovering about shoulder length. I felt the strength of legs that could carry me for days and miles. I felt hearts that leapt with the joy of being alive! I tasted the grass beneath my feet and saw everybody, everything around me without even having to turn around.
I tried moving my jaw, but of course I couldn't, so I spoke in my head. //I'm ready to go Ax.//
Ezimili smiled, arching her tail blade. //This is an andilite handshake, clash your tailblade to mine!//
I did as I was told, CLANG! Ezimili met my blade with energy and purpose. She did the same to Ax, and so did I, then we were away across the meadow!
Night after night
Carving it out
//Meet you in a few hours!// Ezimili called.
I heard Tyson say, "You know, he moves like he was one, but that ability to control morphing is way, way too cool."
Ax shook his head. //Where to begin, where to begin?//
//It started with a training mission to look at an underground passage that our friend Tobias found.// I explained. //Tobias is a nothlit, he's kind of like our spy. He spends his days following known controllers and mapping yeerk pool entrances. What he found was a hidden entrance to an andilite sanctuary filled with andilite plants and statues of the bit beasts that we call Dark Dranzer and Dragoon.//
//What and what? What's a bit beast?//
I sighed and explained about the sport of Beyblades. //Many bit beasts are recognizable by description, at least, the more famous ones are. Dragoon is one such famous beast, my friend Tyson is currently its keeper. Dark dranzer is not famous, but infamous. It is said to possess anyone who uses it. Our team Captain, Kai, sealed Dark Dranzer away with a soul seal. In order for Dark Dranzer to break free and possess somebody else it would have to kill Kai.//
//And a captain is like a prince?// Ezimili asked. //That is a very brave thing for Prince Kai to do, I can see why seeing such a familiar face would be frightening, go on.//
//We had gained the morphing power a few days before, and since then I've been dreaming about andilites, dreaming things that I couldn't possibly know. And I've had flashes, even before I acquired this morph, of parts of me suddenly being andilite. We found a possible lead about the andilite who made the cave, which we named, the Grotto. The lead led to Mr. Dickinson, the leader of the BBA, who was proven not to be a controller, and yet knows about the fight between andilite and yeerk. He said that the andilite princess who made the cave died in a fire, ironically caused by Kai as a baby and Dark Dranzer.//
Ezimili looked at me, all four eyes suddenly. //Who was this princess of which you speak?//
//Judin Olarn Sorath, she was, as your people thought, not killed on the hork bajir world, she was killed in the fire.//
//A fire? NO! Judin was originally assigned to the fire fighting team on the andilite and yeerk worlds as an aristh and a warrior, before becoming a princess and a captain. That she be killed by a fire is inconceivable!//
//Max's Garibah confirmed the story, as did the records in what was left of Judin's fighter.// Ax explained. //However, Prince Kai believes that the record was forged. We were discussing where to go from here when Toby Hame arrived to tell us you had come.//
Ezimili eye smiled. //Prince Kai is a very smart human. Judin probably found some way to disappear and forge the record, the question is HOW?// She asked. //Judin was my sister, and the only female to reach the rank of war princess. She was promoted to prince after evacuating our base on the yeerk world, two of your years later she was assigned to the hork bajir world. If you think Aximili, that you are the only one with a shadow to live in, Elfangor did to, he lived in Judin's. Judin probably disappeared by morphing. She was a powerful estreen and a formidable warrior.//
//That does not dismiss the fact that there are four humans, not controllers, who know about our existence.// Ax explained. He leapt over a fallen log. //And what of Max's trouble? If I didn't know better, I'd say his Andilite morph is causing these dreams and flashes, the Olarn Faron effect that we learned in school, but that should end when he demorphs, and it didn't.//
Ezimili shrugged. //I remember stumbling over an entertainment broadcast in which a pointy eared human in a blue uniform once said, 'When we have eliminated the impossible, what ever remains, however improbable, must be true.'//
I laughed inwardly at the thought of an andilite watching Star Trek. //Live long and prosper.// I chuckled.
//I think Ezimili sister, that you have stumbled onto the joys of human television.// Ax chuckled.
I will carry it down to the waterside
That evening we gathered around the holographic transmitter. Ezimili pressed a sort of headset behind my ear. She put one on all of the others. Finally, she moved to the control panel and pressed out an access code and a few numbers in a language that I didn't understand, but realized was andilite.
//Ezimili, you made it!// Two andilites appeared in front of us. The Hork Bajir gathered around to hear the discourse. We were sitting in a half circle around them. Jake and Kai were a little bit in front, I was slightly behind, because they would be speaking about me.
Ax stood up. //Prince Jake, these are my father, Noorlin Sirenial Coraff, and my mother Forlay Esgarrouth Maheen.//
"Pleased to meet you." Jake said politely. "This is the lieutenant I'm training, Kai. He's captain of the Beyblade team known as the Blade Breakers."
//Bey? In our language Bey means spirit!// Forlay exclaimed.
//My mother is a linguist.// Ax said proudly. //And my father helps make escafil devices. He knows every last piece and equation that goes into their make.//
"These are the members of my Team." Jake gestured to each in turn. "My best friend Marco, my cousin Rachel, Rachels' friend Cassie, Tobias was on a mission, so he couldn't come, and of course your son."
"These are my team." Kai followed Jake's lead nervously. "Rei, our strategist Max, Tyson, our technician Kenny, and Hillary."
//You will have to tell me about these Beyblades of yours'.// Forlay said eagerly. //Are they, as implied, spirit blades?//
"Sort of." I said with a nervous chuckle. "Some beyblades have spirits, they're called Bit Beasts, hang on." I pulled out my Beyblade and let Draciel out. "Come on out Draciel!" Draciel appeared, arching an eyebrow inquiringly. Sometimes I wondered just how much of what was going on did Draciel understand? "This is a bit beast, they're all different, and each one picks just the right beyblader. Beyblades began with research in gyroscopes. But the more we learn about you andilites, the more I think that an andilite somewhere along the line influenced the game and its technology."
//That may be true.//
//Mother, I have good news and bad news.// Aximili said calmly.
I will crawl through my past
Over stones blood and glass
In the ruins
Ax told them everything we know, including my disturbing dreams. They looked at each other. //We knew that our daughter was too stubborn to die.// Noorlin laughed. //She's a regular two spirit that one!//
"A what?"
//A girl with the spirit of a boy.// Noorlin answered.
"Kind of like a transsexual?"
//That used to be the term, I think a closer definition is a tomboy.// Forlay explained. //My daughter earned her princess rank by supervising the evacuation of our forces on the surface of the yeerk world. You see, I find it very unlikely that she would have been killed in a mere domestic fire.//
Reaching under the fence
As I try to make sense
In the ruins
"You think she's still alive?" Jake asked.
//I think she might be closer than you think.// Noorlin said with an eye smile.
Ax jumped. //But the odds against it are approximately 3 Billion ninety nine million two thousand and one!//
"Ax man, we humans have something called the law of averages. It states that anything will happen that can." Marco was looking at me meaningfully.
"Waaaaaaiiiiiit a minute!" I protested. "You're saying that my mother is an alien who was trapped in human morph, but managed to demorph enough to give me all these strange powers?"
Marco smirked. Ax blinked, looking thoughtful. "BECAUSE I'M TELLING YOU THAT CAN'T HAPPEN!!!" I yelled at the top of my lungs. "I'M A PERFECTLY NORMAL HUMAN BEING AND BEYBLADER WHO JUST SO HAPPENS TO HAVE A HIGH EMPATHY RATING!!!"
But if I am to heal
I must first learn to feel
In the ruins
I got up, threw off the transmitter, and ran away. I morphed Wolf and I just ran, ran and ran and ran. I didn't care about time limit anymore. My mind whirled in confusion. I saw red sky and blue, blue grass and green! The lines between reality became blurred, confused. All the time my mind screamed, 'WHY WHYWHYWHYWHYWHYWHY!!!!'
Everything I knew about reality, about who and what I was, was reduced to ruins that one, fateful night.
I will crawl
I will crawl
Through the ruins!
~tbc~
SOOOOOOOOOOBBBBBBBBBBBBB!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! NO CLAMP NO!!
Marco: What's wrong?
(sob, sniffle) Clamp killed of Shuichiro in Wish!! Pooooorrr Kohaku!!! BWWWWWWWAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Rachel: Well that's what you get for reading volume one of that new comedy Reality Check! Which is absolutely hilarious, and following it up with the last volumes of Animorphs and Wish.
Marco: You read three books in a day?
Yeah what's the problem with that?
Marco: As Fate IV would say, 'You're a Horror Unimagined by Man.'
Right, time to go and start the next chapter.
Chapter 11- Michael
I was coming downstairs when I heard somebody talking to the coach. "Aren't you going to tell Max?" Asked a teenage boy's voice.
I flattened myself against the wall. I heard Judy gasp and drop a plate. "How did you?"
Don't try to call
There are some bridges that burn
Beyond recognition beyond repair
"You left the window open, it's just big enough for my Osprey." What was an Osprey?
"I'm not going to tell Max if I can help it. How could I prove it to him?" Coach asked. "And besides, it probably won't matter. But how did you figure it out?"
Don't say you've changed
There are some forces that turn
Beyond recollection, beyond my stare
"Bad call, you see, he's already starting to show the signs. He's got our medic quite confused. You see, miss Judy, even if you deny it, that's not going to guarantee that it won't happen. The fight is getting desperate." Who was speaking? I couldn't place it. "Think on that Judy. Your actions could have dire consequences, for all of us. Max is willing to give up everything for freedom, are you?" The tone of voice was hostile, accusing.
"My son, I will not let my son follow my fate. Do you hear me?"
When I feel the cold in the dark
I know you're there
There was not answer, simply the rush of wings.
~Max~
Kenny and Tyson had gone to the grotto early to acquire the Hork Bajir morphs, they'd practice once we got to the valley of the Hork Bajir.
Long ago, I was a woman in pain
A woman in need
I ran to you
We would take the travel in shifts. Half of us would stay on the ground in wolf morph. The other half would fly in the air. After an hour and a half, we'd switch. The forest fire had been put out, but the yeerks were almost certainly watching the burned area, and having to go around would cost us more time. So we stayed in human form, wearing morph outfits, while we walked across the burned area.
"Hey Max!" Rachel tossed me a brown bag labeled Mc Donald's. "Have a couple of sausage biscuits! We'd better eat them hot and save as much bread as we can for lunch. I brought some sushi for lunch, as well as some sandwiches."
Marco looked at me out of the corner of his eye. It was an appraising look. I met his eyes and blushed. "Thanks Rachel. I sure was hungry."
Long ago, I did not understand
You were making me bleed
I ran to you
"You'd better be sure that Tyson doesn't eat it all." Kai joked.
"HEY!" Tyson protested. "I'm not that big a glutton."
"No, you're a baka with two stomachs!" Hillary pulled him into a combination headlock and noogie.
I rolled my eyes and pulled on my headphones. "Rock Melissa Ethridge..." I murmured.
This was my favorite song on the CD, very soothing. My mother used to sing this song for me when I was younger. I sang softly as I walked between Rachel and Tyson and ahead of Cassie and Jake.
"When I feel the cold in the dark
I know what you do.
"I will crawl through my past
Over stones, blood and glass
In the ruins."
"That's pretty." Ax said. "Pre- ty ty ty, puh ri ty."
"Uh... thanks." Ax was disturbingly attractive, almost effeminate in his human morph. But if I hadn't known what he was I would probably have been put off by the way he minces words. "My mom used to sing that for me when I was younger."
"Andilite music, ka, mu-si-cuh is much different from human music. Most of it- it-uh I find grating-inginging." Ax explained. He tripped on a root and cried out.
I helped him up, with nothing more than jammed wrists and scraped palms. "Thanks, anks anxsuh. That is the other thing about humans... how do you keep from falling over, ver, over?"
"We evolved in the trees I guess." I explained. "Marco's gorilla? That's the animal closest to the human on the evolutionary tree, or the Chimpanzee. We had to be able to balance to keep from falling out of the trees."
Reaching under the fence
As I try to make sense
In the ruins
"That explains, lains ains it." Ax nodded.
Toby Hame met us at the edge of the forest. "Ready to go?" She asked.
"Yeah." I nodded.
Together, we began to morph. I closed my eyes, focusing on the Red Tailed Hawk inside of me. I imagined the head changing first. My face bulged out and out. My nose and lips grew hard and turned yellow, then grew and curved to become a beak. My head became more streamlined and my eyesight became so strong that since I still didn't have a hawk's visual cortex, it gave me a headache. Then I had a hawk's brain and the pain faded.
I focused on making the feathers ripple down my back and made the tail sprout out, growing like a weed. Then my right arm began to stretch out and out, into a wing. My bones became hollow and light. My fingers stretched into wings. I made the same happen to my left arm.
Yellow scales and down rippled up my right leg and down my left. The bones thinned. My toes and feet melted together and separated into wicked, hooked talons.
"Show aaaaackaaa!!" Kenny's sarcastic comment was cut off by the growth of the Harris Hawk's beak. He had a shrinking hawk's body and oversized wings. Then his head began to change and he could use thoughtspeak. //Show off.//
I know your heart has held its own fear
Its perfectly clear
What they did to you
But I'd finished morphing by then, and I rose into the sky. First Tyson, also a red tail, then Rei, followed by Kai, Hillary, and Kenny rose up after me. We split off in different directions and followed the relentless movement of six strong, fast wolves and three powerful hork bajir through the trees. I was more than ready for a break when Ax called up. //It is time to switch Prince Jake, Prince Kai.//
//Don't call me prince.// They chorused. I chuckled, then dove.
Switch! We were the ones running now. Flash flash flash! The trees darted by. No! I was the one darting! Tree! Tree! Tree! I almost fell headlong into them except that the wolf sense prevented the crash just in time. Every so often Toby would call back to us from this or that tree, "HURRY UP!" And we corrected ourselves, always moving in the direction of her voice, or her tracks, or her footsteps, until...
In my heart it's the screaming I hear
I won't let them come near
Since my love knew you
//Prince Jake, Prince Kai. It is time to switch.//
//Don't call me prince.// Kai stopped dead in his tracks and began to morph. Jake and the others swooped down.
I picked up the small travel bag that I carried in my mouth, checking my watch. "Its only nine o clock??" I demanded. "It feels like twelve at least!"
"Can't slow down." Jake grunted. "I takes until around noon to make it if we don't stop."
I put the watch back. Cassie picked up the bag in her mouth. I had already started to morph. Tyson was too, Golden Eagle this time.
//Time!// Wolf!
//Time!// Red Tail!
//Time!// Wolf again.
Finally, we reached a solid wall of rock. I'm not sure why, but my eyes seemed to slip away from a crack in the rock, as if some kind of reverse magnetism was drawing my eyes away from it. I began to demorph. Toby, Saro, and Sola waited patiently for us to finish. Cassie and I finished first. Tobias couldn't come of course, he was keeping an eye on my mother.
After about five minutes we were all finished. "Ready you guys?" Jake asked.
Yes, was the general agreement.
"Let's hurry up, this place gives me the creeps." Tyson shivered as he eased his way into the narrow passage.
I will crawl through my past
Over stones blood and glass
In the ruins
I followed him, taking his hand. "Gives me the shivers too." I shook. "It feels like I'm being watched."
"We probably are." Kenny said darkly as he followed us.
I was reminded of those strange, dark passages in Chinese palaces. You know, the ones that go on forever, and then when they open up it seems like you've emerged into an entirely new world? That's what it felt like.
Finally, after what seemed like forever, the light in the narrow pass became brighter. We emerged onto a huge meadow filled with wildflowers. To my right was an enormous forest. The trees were almost as big as redwoods. There were many kinds, oak, pine, elm, chestnut, beech, birch, and many, many others. To my left, the meadow continued, facing a cave complex in the mountains.
And waiting for us was easily sixty, seventy hork bajir. Tyson tensed, but the hork bajir waited until all of us came through behind their leader. Toby lead us right up to them. I fell into step behind Kai and Tyson.
And then I saw her, far on a hill. She was centaurine, with indigo/violet fur, long stalk eyes, and a tail more muscular than was feminine. She was slightly smaller than Ax, with a delicate grace that Ax didn't have. An andilite, a young one. My hearts leapt. Hearts?
I shook my head in confusion, I was not an andilite! I had to convince myself of that. The urge to join her was so strong, to run, to fly over the meadow!
I will reach under the fence
As I try to make sense
In the ruins
She galloped down the rise of the hill to meet us, and listened patiently as Toby moved to the fore of our procession. "MY PEOPLE!" She called out loud enough for all to hear. "I came to Jake in the middle of a battle, saving his new Animorphs, his morphing human folk! In turn, Max..." She crooked a finger for me to come. "Max here, saved two of our people. These are Sola Hamel," Sola stepped forward, preening proudly. "And Saro Jagil, Saro is different! He has come to help us see a new way!"
There was a murmur of whispered gossip. "He different..."
"We thank Max..."
"Yes thank Max!"
They spoke up. "THANK MAX!" They cried. I felt my skin flushing.
"Max, Kai, Tyson, Kenny, Rei, Hillary, these are my parents Jara Hame and Ket Halpak." She turned to Jake and nodded respectfully to the young andilite. "This is Ezemili Ani Maradak, pilot of the blockade courier, Kafit."
The andilite nodded, sweeping into a graceful bow. //Pleased to meet you Prince Jake. My parents told me about you. They wanted me to bring you a copy of Elfangor's Hirac Delest. And they have specifically ordered me to follow your leadership until war's end.//
"Pleased to meet you Ezimili." Jake shook her hand.
Ezimili blinked at the gesture. //Did I miss some kind of ritual?//
"Its convention Ezimili, to shake hands when meeting a new person."
//Ah, I will have much to learn.// Ezimili answered. //I watched the human Television, searching for news, in order to learn basic courtesy, but I fear I have missed this one.//
//I have never heard of a blockade courier.// Ax said calmly. //Is it a new kind of ship?//
//Yes, it is a smaller version of a blockade runner.// Ezimili explained. //It is meant to land small amounts of troops or supplies, as well as become a ground based communications center, however, it has no weapons. If I had been attacked, I would have been killed. My ship, thankfully, was meant to come out of zero space in the upper atmosphere of a planet. It was mere children's play.//
//Ezimili, what was your specialty in combat?// Ax asked. //Our main weapon in this battle is morphing technology.//
//How convenient.// Ezimili laughed. //That was my combat specialty at the academy.//
"It looks like she'll get along fine here." Marco chuckled. "You've got a new companion Ax."
I smiled. Then Ax said something I wish he hadn't. //Max, if you are up for one more morph, I would like to explain your situation to Ezimili, but I think best while running.//
I nodded and focused on the Andilite morph. What first, Tail! I focused on the Tail appearing first! Ezimili's stalk eyes shot upward in surprise. Not before I was halfway through the morph. Four legs first, back hooves next, fur rolling up my body with the changes, I morphed slowly. I was a very odd sight. Picture me Andilite from the waist down, with fur slowly rolling up my body, spreading into my hands. The extra fingers sprouted when the fur reached my hands.
The fur reached my face and I felt my jaws lock together. At the same time I felt two new hearts spread through my body, beating, thumping with joy. My internal organs were rearranging to deal with grass instead of hamburgers, water instead of soda. My lungs grew and expanded, becoming larger, stronger.
The fur inched up my face. I was clinging, I realized, clinging to humanity. I sighed, letting my nose flatten and divide into two large and one small slit. My hair melted into my head, replaced instead with eyes on stalks.
I felt the power of the tail, held erect and hovering about shoulder length. I felt the strength of legs that could carry me for days and miles. I felt hearts that leapt with the joy of being alive! I tasted the grass beneath my feet and saw everybody, everything around me without even having to turn around.
I tried moving my jaw, but of course I couldn't, so I spoke in my head. //I'm ready to go Ax.//
Ezimili smiled, arching her tail blade. //This is an andilite handshake, clash your tailblade to mine!//
I did as I was told, CLANG! Ezimili met my blade with energy and purpose. She did the same to Ax, and so did I, then we were away across the meadow!
Night after night
Carving it out
//Meet you in a few hours!// Ezimili called.
I heard Tyson say, "You know, he moves like he was one, but that ability to control morphing is way, way too cool."
Ax shook his head. //Where to begin, where to begin?//
//It started with a training mission to look at an underground passage that our friend Tobias found.// I explained. //Tobias is a nothlit, he's kind of like our spy. He spends his days following known controllers and mapping yeerk pool entrances. What he found was a hidden entrance to an andilite sanctuary filled with andilite plants and statues of the bit beasts that we call Dark Dranzer and Dragoon.//
//What and what? What's a bit beast?//
I sighed and explained about the sport of Beyblades. //Many bit beasts are recognizable by description, at least, the more famous ones are. Dragoon is one such famous beast, my friend Tyson is currently its keeper. Dark dranzer is not famous, but infamous. It is said to possess anyone who uses it. Our team Captain, Kai, sealed Dark Dranzer away with a soul seal. In order for Dark Dranzer to break free and possess somebody else it would have to kill Kai.//
//And a captain is like a prince?// Ezimili asked. //That is a very brave thing for Prince Kai to do, I can see why seeing such a familiar face would be frightening, go on.//
//We had gained the morphing power a few days before, and since then I've been dreaming about andilites, dreaming things that I couldn't possibly know. And I've had flashes, even before I acquired this morph, of parts of me suddenly being andilite. We found a possible lead about the andilite who made the cave, which we named, the Grotto. The lead led to Mr. Dickinson, the leader of the BBA, who was proven not to be a controller, and yet knows about the fight between andilite and yeerk. He said that the andilite princess who made the cave died in a fire, ironically caused by Kai as a baby and Dark Dranzer.//
Ezimili looked at me, all four eyes suddenly. //Who was this princess of which you speak?//
//Judin Olarn Sorath, she was, as your people thought, not killed on the hork bajir world, she was killed in the fire.//
//A fire? NO! Judin was originally assigned to the fire fighting team on the andilite and yeerk worlds as an aristh and a warrior, before becoming a princess and a captain. That she be killed by a fire is inconceivable!//
//Max's Garibah confirmed the story, as did the records in what was left of Judin's fighter.// Ax explained. //However, Prince Kai believes that the record was forged. We were discussing where to go from here when Toby Hame arrived to tell us you had come.//
Ezimili eye smiled. //Prince Kai is a very smart human. Judin probably found some way to disappear and forge the record, the question is HOW?// She asked. //Judin was my sister, and the only female to reach the rank of war princess. She was promoted to prince after evacuating our base on the yeerk world, two of your years later she was assigned to the hork bajir world. If you think Aximili, that you are the only one with a shadow to live in, Elfangor did to, he lived in Judin's. Judin probably disappeared by morphing. She was a powerful estreen and a formidable warrior.//
//That does not dismiss the fact that there are four humans, not controllers, who know about our existence.// Ax explained. He leapt over a fallen log. //And what of Max's trouble? If I didn't know better, I'd say his Andilite morph is causing these dreams and flashes, the Olarn Faron effect that we learned in school, but that should end when he demorphs, and it didn't.//
Ezimili shrugged. //I remember stumbling over an entertainment broadcast in which a pointy eared human in a blue uniform once said, 'When we have eliminated the impossible, what ever remains, however improbable, must be true.'//
I laughed inwardly at the thought of an andilite watching Star Trek. //Live long and prosper.// I chuckled.
//I think Ezimili sister, that you have stumbled onto the joys of human television.// Ax chuckled.
I will carry it down to the waterside
That evening we gathered around the holographic transmitter. Ezimili pressed a sort of headset behind my ear. She put one on all of the others. Finally, she moved to the control panel and pressed out an access code and a few numbers in a language that I didn't understand, but realized was andilite.
//Ezimili, you made it!// Two andilites appeared in front of us. The Hork Bajir gathered around to hear the discourse. We were sitting in a half circle around them. Jake and Kai were a little bit in front, I was slightly behind, because they would be speaking about me.
Ax stood up. //Prince Jake, these are my father, Noorlin Sirenial Coraff, and my mother Forlay Esgarrouth Maheen.//
"Pleased to meet you." Jake said politely. "This is the lieutenant I'm training, Kai. He's captain of the Beyblade team known as the Blade Breakers."
//Bey? In our language Bey means spirit!// Forlay exclaimed.
//My mother is a linguist.// Ax said proudly. //And my father helps make escafil devices. He knows every last piece and equation that goes into their make.//
"These are the members of my Team." Jake gestured to each in turn. "My best friend Marco, my cousin Rachel, Rachels' friend Cassie, Tobias was on a mission, so he couldn't come, and of course your son."
"These are my team." Kai followed Jake's lead nervously. "Rei, our strategist Max, Tyson, our technician Kenny, and Hillary."
//You will have to tell me about these Beyblades of yours'.// Forlay said eagerly. //Are they, as implied, spirit blades?//
"Sort of." I said with a nervous chuckle. "Some beyblades have spirits, they're called Bit Beasts, hang on." I pulled out my Beyblade and let Draciel out. "Come on out Draciel!" Draciel appeared, arching an eyebrow inquiringly. Sometimes I wondered just how much of what was going on did Draciel understand? "This is a bit beast, they're all different, and each one picks just the right beyblader. Beyblades began with research in gyroscopes. But the more we learn about you andilites, the more I think that an andilite somewhere along the line influenced the game and its technology."
//That may be true.//
//Mother, I have good news and bad news.// Aximili said calmly.
I will crawl through my past
Over stones blood and glass
In the ruins
Ax told them everything we know, including my disturbing dreams. They looked at each other. //We knew that our daughter was too stubborn to die.// Noorlin laughed. //She's a regular two spirit that one!//
"A what?"
//A girl with the spirit of a boy.// Noorlin answered.
"Kind of like a transsexual?"
//That used to be the term, I think a closer definition is a tomboy.// Forlay explained. //My daughter earned her princess rank by supervising the evacuation of our forces on the surface of the yeerk world. You see, I find it very unlikely that she would have been killed in a mere domestic fire.//
Reaching under the fence
As I try to make sense
In the ruins
"You think she's still alive?" Jake asked.
//I think she might be closer than you think.// Noorlin said with an eye smile.
Ax jumped. //But the odds against it are approximately 3 Billion ninety nine million two thousand and one!//
"Ax man, we humans have something called the law of averages. It states that anything will happen that can." Marco was looking at me meaningfully.
"Waaaaaaiiiiiit a minute!" I protested. "You're saying that my mother is an alien who was trapped in human morph, but managed to demorph enough to give me all these strange powers?"
Marco smirked. Ax blinked, looking thoughtful. "BECAUSE I'M TELLING YOU THAT CAN'T HAPPEN!!!" I yelled at the top of my lungs. "I'M A PERFECTLY NORMAL HUMAN BEING AND BEYBLADER WHO JUST SO HAPPENS TO HAVE A HIGH EMPATHY RATING!!!"
But if I am to heal
I must first learn to feel
In the ruins
I got up, threw off the transmitter, and ran away. I morphed Wolf and I just ran, ran and ran and ran. I didn't care about time limit anymore. My mind whirled in confusion. I saw red sky and blue, blue grass and green! The lines between reality became blurred, confused. All the time my mind screamed, 'WHY WHYWHYWHYWHYWHYWHY!!!!'
Everything I knew about reality, about who and what I was, was reduced to ruins that one, fateful night.
I will crawl
I will crawl
Through the ruins!
~tbc~
SOOOOOOOOOOBBBBBBBBBBBBB!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! NO CLAMP NO!!
Marco: What's wrong?
(sob, sniffle) Clamp killed of Shuichiro in Wish!! Pooooorrr Kohaku!!! BWWWWWWWAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Rachel: Well that's what you get for reading volume one of that new comedy Reality Check! Which is absolutely hilarious, and following it up with the last volumes of Animorphs and Wish.
Marco: You read three books in a day?
Yeah what's the problem with that?
Marco: As Fate IV would say, 'You're a Horror Unimagined by Man.'
Right, time to go and start the next chapter.