I've noticed an abundance of continued storylines that divert from the actual story, that Ax is presumably dead, and that the others are caught in some deep shit. Not that there have not been fics that have used the real storyline, but I prefer to read fics that keep true to K.A. Applegate's works. See and be amazed.
Any and all reviews are appreciated. Rating may rise later on.
-----silec
They'd been gone a long time. Four years now, with not a trace of where they were. Even now, I hoped, I worried, pushing away my own common sense that persisted in its relentless, hateful logic. They were dead. I could feel it in my heart. And yet I refused to acknowledge even the possibility. At my own expense. At the expense of my live, my livelihood, I would never let go of them.
I had lost nearly everything. Rather than allow myself to believe that he was gone, like everything else I held dear, I would pretend it was somehow his fault. I was not the one who let him leave. I was not the one who let him go, even though I loved him, even though I knew he still loved me. The loss of my position with the government and with the Hork-Bajir people, the loss of Ronnie, was Jake's fault. If I could keep blaming Jake, he would miraculously appear in front of me and I could blame him in person.
But it was all my fault, of course. I was the one who had acted like a child. However, the government, U.S., Andalite, and Hork-Bajir, had not lost all interest in me. I was now their personal handyman. It was not a job I enjoyed very much. Much of it involved travelling from one planet to the next resolving trivial disputes between them. A job that was in no way suitable for an animorph, but one that was deemed apt for Cassie, the weak animorph. Cassie, the humane killer. Cassie, whose very devotion to humanity's side in the war was being questioned, with the newfound knowledge that it was I who had given the Yeerks the morphing cube towards the end of the war.
Rachel was the one who they all loved. Rachel was the martyr. They had erected a huge statue of her at the capital, in addition to her own memorial, which consumed a good few acres on its own. And it was now the consensus across the galaxy that I was the one who had killed her. When the news about Ax and the others would break out, inevitably, I would be condemned for that as well.
It didn't matter much. My superiors wouldn't hurt me. I was a good little worker bee. They allowed me to spend my free time doing whatever I wanted.
Right then I was tending to a small camp I had set on the edge of the expansive Hork-Bajir wilderness. A camouflage green tent, a few bags, and a fire, nothing more. Toby had called me there so she could talk to me. Nothing out of the ordinary. While the others of her kind shared the feelings of the humans towards me, she remained a good friend.
I heard a rustling in the trees above me. My head shot up, scanning the distant redwood treetops and the flickering night sky overhead. I was cautious in this area, always. There, in a tree just beside me. Movement! I tensed, sensing the wolf in my veins and preparing for battle. Standing on a trembling branch, I saw the golden Hork-Bajir eyes, watching me. The deadly green blades. Its tail whipped in challenge, slicing open the trunk of the enormous tree. "Human traitor!" The branch reverberated in a blur as the Hork-Bajir leapt off of it. It was suspended in the air for a few seconds, then hurtled towards the ground as gravity kicked in.
I dived behind my tent and began the morph. It had been some time since I had used it, but the changes came naturally. Fear quickened the transformation. In seconds the thick fur had traveled up and down my skin, and the wolf's senses entered my mind. I heard the loud thud of the Hork-Bajir landing on the leaf-covered autumn ground. Before it could ambush me, I jumped over the tent and met the Hork- Bajir. Baring my teeth, I circled slowly around her. She laughed at me.
Her? I stopped myself, and examined her closely. It was Toby. She stood, a hulking eight feet tall, muscular alien arms crossed, and cackling. I demorphed quickly and brushed the debris from my hands and feet. "Very funny, Toby." She was still laughing. I dropped down next to the fire and poked at it with the long stick that lay at its side.
"Come on, knock it off." She coughed a few times, expelled the last of her laughter, and sat down beside me. Toby had grown so much in the time that I had known her. After the final battle against the Yeerks aboard the pool ship, she was left as one of the few adults among the Hork-Bajir. She had a mate, now, and a small son. Toby was the only seer in her valley, and without anyone else of her intelligence to talk to now. Sometimes she appeared sad or lonely, but whatever pain she felt was instantly erased whenever she spoke of her family. I had never seen them, and probably never would. Toby had tried to explain my innocence to her people, but they would not listen. The Hork- Bajir had their own opinions, and I would not try to change them.
"So, what's going on? Why did you call me here?" As I spoke, she absentmindedly scraped at the rotted log that I was sitting on. Her eyes snapped up.
"There's something going on at the southern end of our valley, Cassie. Andalite and human soldiers have been arriving every day. They're setting up some kind of spacecraft. I've tried to investigate, but they've got weapons surrounding the perimeter of the work area. I'm not going to send any of my own to search, either." She picked at the log until a small, tender piece fell into the dirt.
"So you want me to check it out for you, huh?" She nodded, nibbling on the strip.
"Anything I need to know? Special requests?" She shook her head. "I trust your judgment, Cassie, even if no one else does. Whatever you think is best. But please try not to get the Hork-Bajir involved. They've seen enough." I closed my eyes for a moment, then reopened them.
"Toby, what do you--" Toby was no longer beside me. I looked to the skies. A single tree branch quivered, and a short gust pushed the leaves apart. She was gone.