(A/N) Hi, hi, hi everyone. Qwerty, thanks for reviewing. Good to have you on board again. Qenies9, thanks for reviewing again. Sharina, thanks for reviewing again. Anonymous-cat, thanks for reviewing again. So you're writing now, are you? Good luck. Tabatha, thanks for reviewing again. Aryawinds, thanks for reviewing. Glad to hear you like the stories. Now it's time for that anticlimactic battle scene that I love so much. I'm thinking maybe one more chapter after this one. But for now here's chapter five.

Follow the Star

Chapter 5: Keeping the Faith

{ Leave the canister and I just might let you leave here alive. Of course, not that it would matter much. You'd be dead within three hours. } The visser sneered at us.

{ Never, Visser Three! I won't let you destroy her! } I shouted back at him.

{ Ah, so you're the one. Tell me, what is it like to fall for a human, Andalite? } he laughed wickedly as he circled the three of us.

He knew? How could he possibly know?

{ That is none of you're business, Yeerk filth! }

{ Oh, but it is my business, Andalite. If it weren't for those weak emotions of yours I would never have come up with this little scheme. Really, I thought Andalite warriors had more discipline than that. } The mockery in his voice was plain to be heard.

Then the answer came to me. Visser Three had once captured Stella. When she escaped he implanted a device in her system that monitored her vitals and her emotional state. That was how he knew about us. He had kept track of her emotional state during that following week. Stella had been somewhat unstable that week after the battle with Visser Three. She had often turned to me for comfort. Many a night I had morphed to human and held her in my arms that week. This was my fault. I had known that she and I were being watched. If I'd only had more self-control then Stella and I would still have our secret. My fault. If we all died here and now it would be my fault.

{ Ax, don't listen to him. This isn't your fault and it isn't Stella's fault. Let's focus on the battle right now. } Prince Jake told me in private thought speech.

{ She'll die, you know. Even if you do escape me, you won't make it in time. Stella will die. Slowly and painfully, she'll just melt away, in agony every second. } Visser Three spoke in public thought speech but he was speaking only to me. He was taunting me, goading me to attack.

And it was working. I felt my own anger bubbling up beneath the calm predator instincts of the tiger shark. My own rage at being so powerless to prevent the deaths of my friends and........my love.

{ Surrender! } he thundered.

{ Never! Not this time! } I shouted back defiantly.

{ Resistance is futile! We can sit here and trade insults and threats until our morph time runs out. Or until you all whither from the quantum virus. It makes no difference to me. But none of you will leave here alive. }

With that the visser began to inflate with seawater, preparing to fire one of the spears loaded inside the body of the Lebtin Javelin fish.

{ I'm thinking now would be a good time to bail. While he's still inflating. } Prince Jake said as he and Cassie turned and hurriedly began to swim away. But I remained, drifting in front of Visser Three.

{ Ax! Come on! } Cassie called out to me.

It would be so easy. So easy to attack now and take him out of the battle before he could even fire a shot. But something held me back.

In that one moment of hesitation, Visser Three fired. Not at me, but at Prince Jake and Cassie. The spear hit its mark.

{ AAAAAAHH!! } I heard Cassie's scream of pain as the spear bit into the middle of her shark body.

{ Cassie! } Prince Jake cried out. He swam to her side. His guard was completely down. He didn't see that Visser Three was preparing to fire again.

Visser Three ignored me. All of his attention was focused on Prince Jake and Cassie.

That was his mistake.

I had been afraid. But I would not fail to attack this time. Visser Three was almost ready to attack again.

I burst forward with renewed strength. I sank my powerful shark teeth into the Javelin fish.

Instead of drawing blood as I had expected I drew seawater. All of the water that the visser had gathered came bursting out through the gash I had created. All of the water rushing out of his body acted as a propellant. He shot off through he water.

{ AAAAAAAARRGH!! } he screamed as he vanished from my sight.

{ We must hurry. No doubt Visser Three has reinforcements on the way even now. } I said as I swam back to Cassie and Prince Jake.

{ We need to get to the surface so Cassie can demorph. } Prince Jake said.

As we began the ascent to the surface I had to resist the shark's instinct to attack Cassie. Her blood had been spilt and to the shark, blood in the water meant pray. It was a difficult instinct to control.

{ Jake......I don't think- } Cassie began.

{ Please don't talk, Cassie. Save your strength. } Prince Jake said as he helped push Cassie to the surface.

Finally we broke the surface. The first thing I heard was the sound of a bug fighter overhead.

{ Oh no. Not now. } Prince Jake moaned.

I couldn't see very well through the falling snow but I didn't need to. I knew that Visser Three's troops were preparing to drop down on us.

{ Cassie, hurry! De- }

Before he could even finish speaking the taxxons dropped down from the sky. At least fifteen of them. Prince Jake and I could take them easily. But could we hold them off long enough for Cassie to demorph and remorph?

{ Cassie! Demorph! Now! } Prince Jake shouted.

{ I can't, Jake. Not in front of them. }

{ It doesn't matter! Do it! They'll be dead in a minute anyway. }

Just then the first of them attacked. I charged forward through the water. I slammed into the first taxxon. It burst open, spilling its vile innards into the water. This would be no battle at all. Just slaughter.

I had taken down at least five taxxons when I saw one of them heading towards Cassie. She is a fast morpher, but in this case, not fast enough. She was in the middle of demorphing. A helpless mass of human flesh and shark fins, still trying to hold on to the canister. The taxxon was bearing down on her. I could not reach her in time.

{ Prince Jake! } I shouted to him. Trying to warn him that Cassie was in danger.

Prince Jake turned and immediately saw the danger. He charged at the taxxon. He smashed head-on into it. But not before it had managed to take a bite out of Cassie's half--morphed flesh.

"AAAAAAHH!" she screamed as her human mouth took shape. But she continued to demorph. Even as the water around her filled with taxxon gore.

I had no time to see if she was all right. Another taxxon attacked me. It wasn't hard to finish them off. When I had taken down the last of them I saw that Cassie had morphed to dolphin.

The three of us swam away from the massacre sight.

{ Are you all right, Cassie? } Prince Jake asked her, clearly concerned.

{ I'm fine, Jake. But we have to hurry. We haven't got much time left. } Cassie answered shakily.

We didn't speak the rest of the way back. When we were close enough to shore to demorph we did so. I struggled to swim through the surf but it was extremely difficult with only one arm and two legs. The entire back of my lower body had disappeared all together. I no longer had a tail. Both stalk eyes were gone.

When I finally reached the shore I lay there in the snow, breathing hard. So cold. So exhausted. I was exhausted beyond imagining but I still had to morph to northern harrier and get back to the barn.

As I began the morph I heard Cassie speaking to Prince Jake.

{ Come on Jake. You have to finish the morph. We need to get back! }

{ I- I can't.......dizzy.......can't see straight. }

{ Jake, You have to finish it. Don't die on me! }

{ All right. I'm done. Let's go. Come on, Ax! } the voice answered, gaining control of itself.

{ Ax, did you hear him? We have to go. } the second voice asked.

Who was speaking? Couldn't think clearly. Everything was spinning. Where was I? What was going on? Who was I?

It took me a few minutes to realize that I had toppled over and landed in the snow. I felt my feathers ruffling in the driving wind.

Since when did I have feathers?

{ Ax! Keep it together! }

I suddenly felt a sharp pain in my back. An image came through the haze. Another bird, pecking at me.

{ Hello. What's your name? }

{ Oh, god. Ax, your delirious. Listen to me! You have to snap out of it! Think about Stella! }

Stella! The name brought me back to reality. I was lying on a beach. Cassie stood over me. She clutched the canister in her talons. The canister that contained the cure for this disease that had Prince Jake and myself reeling.

I struggled up on my bird talons. I shot up into the snow. I almost fell back to Earth the second I had gained altitude.

Cassie and Prince Jake took to the sky right beside me.

{ Am sorry I. }

{ What? } Cassie asked me.

{ Think cannot straight I. } I tried again but I couldn't make the words come out right.

{ Don't bother. I get it. Man we've really got to hurry. Jake, don't even try to give an order now. Let's just get back to my barn. }

Cassie took the lead and Prince Jake and I followed behind. I didn't know how long I could stay in the air. Where was the barn anyway?

Come to think of it, what was a barn?

* * *

"Tobias..........Gwyn?" Stella asked me.

{ Sure thing, Stella. }

I turned my hawk eyes over to the loft. Gwyn was still lying there, asleep. For the past two hours I had had to keep her entertained by morphing for her. Shockingly enough it didn't scare her. She thought it was fun to watch. She had finally dropped off for a nap and I was exhausted.

{ Sleeping like a baby. } I reported.

"Good." Was all she could manage.

Marco and Rachel had both been mumbling incoherently for the past hour. They had both lost consciousness by now. Stella couldn't manage more than little, one-word sentences before trailing off into nothingness. Now she, too, was barely clinging to consciousness.

We had been waiting for hours and I had had to watch the bodies of my friends slowly mutate. The only limb that Rachel still had was half of her left arm. Marco's face looked like it was just melting off his skull. I was just glad he wasn't conscious to see what he had become. It was just horrible to watch. And with my acute vision I saw every detail. Terrifying. But I couldn't bring myself to look away.

Suddenly I heard Stella speak.

"He's not coming back...........he's not gonna make it." She whispered.

She was talking about Ax.

{ You really love him, don't you? } I said sadly.

"So much."

{ Try and relax a bit. He will come back. } I tried to reassure her.

"It's my fault."

As she said this, her head dropped down on the hay. Unconscious.

It was like some terrible prophecy of doom. The way she had pronounced so boldly and hopelessly that Ax and the others would not return. The way that her head had dropped to the floor. The fact that there was hardly any steam rising from her mouth to signify that she was still breathing.

My gaze drifted over to Rachel. For one wild moment it seemed like there was no breath rising from her lips. I fluttered madly down from the rafters and landed awkwardly in the hay by her side. I focused my laser eyes on her lips. Thankfully, blessedly, there was still steam rising from them.

It was so frustrating. Sitting there and watching her die, unable to do anything. She seemed so helpless. Rachel, who always seemed so strong. Now lying, helpless and weak, on a barn floor awaiting death.

It wasn't fair! How could she die.........while I lived on? But then again, who was I to complain? Since when had my life ever been fair?

Suddenly Rachel lashed out with her one remaining stump of an arm. She tried to cry out in her dream-like state but no sound left her lips. Instead they simply formed the words that she had tried to speak.

"Tobias"

I lowered my hawk beak to her face and let it rest on her cheek.

{ I'm here, Rachel. I'm still here. }

Almost immediately she stopped struggling.

Just then I hear a banging on the barn door.

Oh no! What if it was Cassie's dad? What could I do?

But then the door burst open and in walked Cassie. Two birds of prey flew in behind her. Jake crashed to the ground next to Cassie. Ax just kept flying until he rammed into one of the support beams. Then he crashed to the ground.

{ Ax! Jake! } I shouted.

"How are they?" Cassie asked me urgently.

{ They're alive. Barely. Did you get the medicine? }

"Yes, but I don't know how to get it open." She answered frantically.

I suddenly noticed Ax raise his harrier head and fix his eyes on the canister that Cassie held in her hands.

{ Open. }

The canister split open in Cassie's hands to reveal a needle and syringe. The syringe was filled with a strange, green gel.

{ That's it? } I asked.

{ Yes, it.......} Ax's voice trailed off.

I flapped over to him.

{ What? It what, Ax? Come on, Ax, stay with me! You need to demorph! NOW! } I shouted at him.

Slowly I began to see the changes in his bird body.

Just then my eyes drifted over to Cassie and Jake. What I saw made me want to barf. Jake was just a shifting mass of human flesh and twisted human limbs.

"Jake, you have to finish demorphing. I don't know if I can give you the medicine if you're still in morph." Cassie said.

{ But.........I am done. I can't........}

{ Oh, my god. } I whispered.

Cassie didn't hesitate. She plunged the needle into the first piece of solid flesh she saw and shot a quick burst of the antidote into Jake's body. If you could call it that.

She wasted no words. She moved on to Ax and plunged the needle into his still shifting Andalite fur.

When she moved on to the other three I looked back at Jake. I began to see a human body taking shape out of the horrible jumble of flesh and bones. Until at last, Jake was lying on the barn floor, whole.

The same was true with Ax. I was beginning to see a complete Andalite body emerge out of the twisted blue ball.

When I was certain that the two of them would be fine I turned my attention back to the stall that held Rachel, Marco, and Stella.

Rachel was already taken care of. She was no longer disintegrating. She lay still with her eyes open.

{ Rachel, don't look at yourself. Just morph. It's the only way to get rid of the mutation.}

She didn't ask questions. She began to morph to eagle. As soon as Marco was aware of what was happening he began to morph too. To osprey.

Just then I noticed Cassie treating Stella. It was the last of the antidote. It was a cruel trick of Visser Three's. The medicine in the syringe would never have been enough for all seven of us. But what he didn't know was that some of us had natural immunity. Thankfully it had worked out that way. Or we would have had to pick to of us to die.

Stella's eyelids fluttered open. She glanced around the room and then she started to morph.

For a few minutes I couldn't tell what she was morphing. But then I began to see the purple fur, the extra eyes, and the tail blade. A female Andalite.

Marco and Rachel demorphed. Cassie ran to Jake and hugged him close. But Stella did not demorph. Ax helped her to her feet and for a moment the two of them just stood there staring at each other.

Then Ax put his weak, Andalite arms around Stella. She didn't resist. She just let him hug her. It's not something Andalites do from what I've heard Ax say but I guess he's just been on Earth too long.

After a few minutes Ax raised up one of his hands and let it rest on Stella's cheek.

{ I'm so sorry. } she said. Though she could not cry in Andalite form I could hear her sorrow in her voice.

{ For what? It wasn't your fault. Besides, we are all here. Alive and well. } I said.

{ Stella........I was afraid I would never see you again. } Ax said reluctantly.

Stella didn't respond to this. She just rested her head on Ax's chest.

We all just stood there for what seemed like hours staring at the two of them. Then Jake cleared his throat.

"Um........we should probably all be heading home. It's getting late and it's Christmas Eve. Our parents are gonna start asking questions if we aren't home for Christmas."

"What?! We were almost annihilated by a quantum virus and that's all you're gonna say to us?!" Marco asked in mock fury.

"Yep." Jake said with a laugh.

"Well, let's get going then."

As Marco and Jake walked out the door into the snow I heard Marco singing "I'll Be Home for Christmas" way off key.

"Oh man, I feel sorry for Jake. Having to listen to that all the way home." Cassie said with a smile. "I'll see you guys in the morning, okay? I've got to be heading in now."

With that she walked out of the barn and headed up to her house.

I flew from my perch and landed on Rachel's shoulder, being careful not to dig my talons into her skin.

"Tobias, why don't you stay at my house tonight. It's still snowing so hard and.........and you shouldn't have to be alone on Christmas." Rachel whispered to me.

{ Nah, Christmas isn't for the birds. But I will stop by later tonight, though. } I whispered back to her.

She looked ready to argue, but seemed to think better of it. She nodded and began to walk out of the barn. Before going out into the blinding snow I turned one last time to see Ax and Stella. Both had morphed to human. Ax was still holding Stella in his arms. The two of them were locked in a passionate kiss.

{ Have fun you two. Unwind a little bit. It's Christmas. } I called to them.

Ax grinned at me once before Rachel shut the barn door. I lifted from her shoulder and flapped into the snow. It would be difficult to find my way but I knew that I could do it.

As I flew back to my meadow my thoughts were on Ax and Stella. They would indeed take comfort in each other on this night. Christmas Eve, called the holiest night of the year by many.

Maybe one day Rachel and I would share something as deep and meaningful as that with each other. One day..........

* * *

(A/N) Yep, definitely one more chapter.