A/N- Hoping to make up for lost time, I add another chapter to the story. Thanks reviewers!
Korean pearl- Yep, a Kacheet is the Kelbrid word for frollis maneuver. Hopefully this chapter should show a little of Zak's reaction, but I'll go into greater detail next chapter, which will be from his point of view.
Wraithlord42-Thanks!
Tigerlily-2250-Thanks again. This chapter shows who was coming in the door, although you probably already guessed that, huh?
Panthergirl-Well, read this chapter to find out who was coming. Thanks for being a faithful reviewer!
Birdie num num-Competition will evolve slightly, but in later chapters. Thanks for reviews!
Morph-Uh-oh, because they're gonna get discovered. Read to find out!
DH-Thanks for saying it was believable, and yes I will try to update more often.
I don't know why I gave Zantar the morphing cube. Technically, it was illegal. Zantar was untrained and unapproved to receive the morphing power, but I guess I felt sorry for him. I mean, he spent his whole life on a planet entirely foreign to his kind, raised by aliens. I thought maybe, if he could morph human, he would be able to see a little more of this strange planet before leaving it behind. Because of course that is what would happen in the end. I briefly considered the fact that Zantar might feel emotionally attached to this place and these aliens, (who wouldn't?) and want to stay here, but surely he would get over it in time. He belonged with his own kind.
Even though I anticipated he would want to use his new powers soon, I wasn't prepared for what I saw when I entered his hollow house. I had been sent ahead of the others, to tell everyone we were coming. When I got inside, I saw a strange, yellow-headed boy in baggy clothing, and it didn't take an Andalite to figure out who this stranger was.
DEMORPH! I practically bellowed in the room. Everyone jumped. Great, Alanthi, you've scared them witless. Regaining my own wits, I calmly stated, Zantar, you must demorph, the other Andalites are coming. Now.
What was that you were saying, Alanthi? Uh-oh. Mendanosh turned to face me. And who is the strange young human?
"Oh, uh, this is Zachary, my friend from school!" Sabrina smiled brightly, but I could tell she was strained.
Hah. Humans are horrible liars, Tremain entered behind Mendanosh. Can you not see it captain? The young human there is our renegade Andalite. Someone has given him the morphing power. See, he has already begun to demorph.
I turned to look, and there was a patch of blue fur spreading down his arm. It was beginning to disappear, but the damage had already been done.
And it is obvious who gave him the morphing power. That headstrong girl! Tremain turned to me, tail raised, as if to strike me. But, surprisingly, Mendanosh blocked the blow.
Hold your tail, Tremain. Aristh Alanthi surely has some good excuse for what she has done.
Great. Now I had to think of a good reason to get me out of trouble. Even so, my outlook for promotion was turning bleaker.
I…I thought he deserved it. I held my chin up as I said this. It had seemed right at the time, and it still seemed right. No matter what Tremain said, I wouldn't let him put me down.
You thought he deserved it. Why?
He is all alone on a strange world. I thought he could put the morphing power to good use and see more of it before we leave.
Mendanosh considered this for a moment. Then he said, This was not authorized. However, punishment is suspended for now.
What?! Tremain asked.
What do you propose we do, Tremain? Lock her up, cut off a hand? No. She is important to this mission, and has broken no major law. A minor punishment will be decided for her when we reach the home world again. He turned his attention away from Tremain and towards Zantar. Then he voiced the question everyone had avoided yesterday. Now, young man, we need an answer from you. I spoke to the home world last night, and they replied you would be welcome there. They assume you will come back with us on our ship. I understand that you feel much affection for your adopted family, however alien they are, though; and would probably be able to work it out so that you can stay on this planet permanently. We have fulfilled our mission here, and cannot stay longer than three more days. Have you decided where to live, yet?
Zantar looked bewildered. He hadn't been able to say a word since we had broken unceremoniously into the room, and now was called on to make a life-changing decision quickly. "I… I ha-have n-not. Ot." He played around with the words, not pronouncing them the way true humans did. I supposed it must be very interesting, and reminded myself to acquire a human later and try it.
Mendanosh seemed disapproving, but he said, I understand. You must not delay too long, however. Perhaps Aristh Alanthi will be able to help you make your decision, while she catches up on her own duties. I had been so busy watching over the 'prisoners' I had not been able to collect all of my samples.
You mentioned that your friend Sabrina knew a lot about earth-plants life forms. Perhaps both of you can help me? I said, glancing an eyestalk towards Mendanosh. He nodded.
"Yeah, that'd be fun," said Sabrina, but she cast a wary eye towards me. I wondered why.
For some reason, Zantar remained in human morph while we hiked in the woods. He'd thrown on some of his father's old human clothes and shoes for the hike, although his mother promised they would go shopping for better fitting ones. And then we were off.
Zantar kept falling down, every time we went uphill or downhill. He couldn't get used to only two legs. Finally Sabrina came up behind him and held on to his arm while we walked. Another thing is he kept talking. About anything, just to see what kinds of sounds he could make. It was cute, in a way, but sometimes it got annoying.
"Huh-ay. Hey. Look-uk at the tuh-ree-suh. I have to bend-duh my head-duh up to see-ee them! Suh-ee. See."
But after I got over that, it was actually kind of fun. Sabrina pointed out some plants and labeled them for me, and Zantar was always making the human smile. The earth-forest reminded me of home, in a way, except the trees did not understand you. When I asked Zantar about this, he just said, "Tuh-rees do not talk. Taw-kuh. They do not understuh-an-duh ee-thu-er. Either."
Sabrina was interested. "On your planet, trees talk?"
Well, they don't really talk. But they can understand your emotions, some of the time. Each Andalite has a guide-tree. It's a tradition.
Sabrina's eyes lit up. "Wow! I sure wish I could see that!"
Zantar had looked interested while I was talking, but now he turned away. I would have said nothing about it, but Sabrina turned and said, "Oh! Zak, I'm sorry."
He just smiled faintly and said, "It is nothing. Ing. I just-ust don't know what to decide." Sabrina remained concerned, despite this statement.
Trying to distract them, I said, I have never morphed a human before, and am beginning to feel left out. May I? I turned to Sabrina.
She looked uncertain, but then her eyes lit up and she said, "Okay." I held out my hand and we shook, both becoming calm and quiet. I wondered sleepily why I was also becoming calm; perhaps it worked on both beings during the acquiring process. Oh well, it was probably nothing.
After our hands parted, Sabrina rummaged in her pack between the samples I had collected. She pulled out another set of human clothing, and handed them to me, saying, "I sometimes pack an extra pair, in case I fall in the mud or get abducted by aliens." I turned to look at her, curiously.
I thought you had not met any aliens before Zantar. Were you captured by the Skrit-Na? I asked, thinking of the aliens who capture other species, perform experiments on them, and release them, all on a whim.
Sabrina laughed. "No, no. I was being sarcastic, and referring to my experience with you and your friends."
I am not familiar with this type of speech. Is it meant to be humorous?
Sabrina rolled her eyes. "Sometimes, but its mostly ironic or it refers to something exactly opposite of what you are saying. Just go ahead and morph, already."
Still slightly confused, I started the morph. Unfortunately, my front legs were the first to go, and I nearly started a chain reaction by falling on Zantar. Luckily, Sabrina was able to hold us up until we regained balance. My eyestalks split and became long black fur that spread over my head as my face molded itself to human. My hooves spread themselves wide, becoming human feet, and my tail shrank away. Before my fur disappeared, Sabrina left Zantar hanging onto a tree while we crouched behind a bush to finish the morph.
I don't think I will ever understand human clothing. It can be very bothersome, and hard to put on, as you must get all the right limbs in the proper holes. And there were some useless undergarments that were needed as well, according to my human guide. But finally I was set.
I tried to stand up, but could only do it with the support of both Sabrina and the tree next to us. I shakily made my way back to where Zantar was standing. He grinned at me. I grinned back, and said, "Huh-ey! Hey! This-is is s-s-so am-ay-zing! Ing." I hadn't meant to stutter the way Zantar had, because it had been annoying, but now I couldn't help doing it myself. It was very amusing to make these mouth sounds.
Sabrina rolled her eyes and said, "Great, now we've got two of them." But I could tell she wasn't really annoyed, because she grinned afterwards. Then her eyes 'lit up' (This is a human expression, and it usually means a human has an idea,) and she said, "Hey! Both of you haven't seen all that much of earth really, have you?"
Zantar and I exchanged glances. "Wh-what do you-oo mean? Ean. This is earth," I said.
"But you haven't seen much of human civilization, have you? Come on. Haven't we taken enough samples for today? Let's go to the mall."