Chapter 1: The River's Secret

It was well into the night when Tobias finally settled onto his perch to sleep. He was exhausted but not too tired to see Ax as he ambled up to Tobias's tree. Uncle Ax It was still hard for him to accept that his alien friend was not just a friend but a family member too. If his hawk beak would have let him, Tobias would have smiled. Just think. All of those years being passed from Aunt to Uncle and not even knowing there was another choice.

Ax looked up with his two main eyes while the stalk ones roamed across the meadow.

The mission went well today I think, do you agree? Ax's thought speak sounded just as tired as Tobias felt.

As well as any mission could go I guess.

Tobias, are you ill? You seem different lately. Distracted and aloof.

Nah, I'm fine. A little tired and bored maybe but I can handle it. He knew his voice betrayed his words but thankfully Ax remained silent, before wishing his friend a good night and heading back towards the forest. Tobias wanted more than anything to share what was on his mind but knew that anything he might say could have consequences he couldn't deal with. If only there was someone he could talk too who would understand him without showing pity nor being put in any danger. Yeah...good luck with that.

The moment Ax reached the cover of the trees, he knew something had changed. What, he could not decipher but it didn't seem to be threatening. Besides, he had other things to worry about, like how something seemed to be wrong with Tobias. His feathers had lost most of their sheen and it was obvious he had lost weight. That weight was important for his strength and survival in the wild. It was not long before he drifted off to sleep, his mind still whirling on solutions to imaginary problems.

Morning dawned bright with no hint of rain, only a spattering of light puffy clouds marring the otherwise immaculate sky. Although he was tempted to forgo his morning ritual in order to check on Tobias, Ax knew it would not be welcome and so drifted in the direction of the river. It was such a beautiful morning with the wind blowing towards the river and the heavier human population that Ax did not notice the girl until he saw movement in the corner of one stalk eye.

He immediately froze then hid from her line of view just as she turned to see what was behind her. She shouldn't have been able to hear Ax's hurried dive into shelter but there were many things that shouldn't have been able to happen, yet did. Luckily for the Andalite this was not one of them and the girl immediately resumed her task.

From his vantage point Ax could see that she was a skinny girl with long dark hair about the same age as the other Animorphs, but unlike them she had a strange grace that was oddly reminiscent of a quadruped rather than a biped. Another oddity was that, although he had seen other human groups enjoy camping near his area of the woods, she was alone and carried none of the strange equipment deemed necessary for this activity. Her scent, when the wind had finally carried it over to him showed only faint traces of human habitation that led him to believe she hadn't lived with them for a while.

Curious about this strange girl, Ax settled into a more comfortable position to watch.

Rayva sat uneasily next to the river for a moment before taking a drink from the water. It felt as if someone were watching her, she had spent enough time under the watchful eyes of adults to know what it felt like, but when she looked there was nothing there. She thought she saw a flash of blue but it was so small that all it could have been was a bird flittering through the trees. Nothing else on earth was small enough or quick enough. But what if it's not from Earth. She shuddered and consciously shook the thought away. No. Can't think like that. That is why they started watching me. Aliens didn't exist. She knew that, everyone knew that. So why did she continue having those dreams?

She quickly rubbed some water on her face and arms. She knew she wasn't going to see any people today but somehow she always felt better, clean. With one smooth, practiced motion she dunked her head and hair under the frigid water. The temperature tingled her scalp and took away the last edges of sleep. After wringing it out as well as possible she deftly braided her hair into a single long cord that reached well past her shoulders. It was long enough that it didn't need anything to hold it together.

Now that she was somewhat clean, she pulled open the drawstring of a ratty old backpack and took out a small plastic box and a book. From the box she took a pencil and a knife while at the same time opening the book to a single blank page. Rayva used the knife to sharpen her pencil before she began to sketch the land around the river. A tune nagged her in the back of her head until she started to hum it. She remembered it from a dream she had before the first nightmare. No one else at the orphanage liked it. It was filled with, what was the word the teacher used? Discords. Now that she was alone, Rayva could sing it as loud as she wanted while she drew. It was a beautiful spot and she wanted to capture every bit of it, though as time went on it was easier to see the blank spot that stayed slightly off center.

Over an hour had gone by before she realized she still hadn't eaten breakfast yet. Rayva still had a little food stored away in her bag but it wouldn't last her long. She knew of some local vegetation that she could eat, she just had to find it. It wasn't the right season for acorns but there should be some wild blueberries ready to be picked.

Rayva stood, after packing her things back in the bag, and went in search of food. She didn't notice until much later that the feeling of being watched had disappeared.

It had been over a week of nearly constant surveillance by Ax before he told the others about the girl that had invaded his home. No one was more shocked than Tobias who had lived alongside another person and had not noticed.

Well, what do you plan to do about her? Tobias carefully hid his annoyance at himself as he spoke.

Do?

"Yeah. You can't expect to live next to her unnoticed for too long."

You have a good point, Prince Jake. Ax's response was met by the usual eye roll but nothing was said to contradict the title.

Marco still no more than a joker had only one comment to add to the discussion. "What I want to know is, is she hot?"

The sound of Rachael whacking Marco in the back of the head echoed through Cassie's barn just before she voiced the concern that was on every mind.

"And you're sure she's not a Yeerk?"

Ax blinked once before answering. I am almost certain she is not. I have observed her movements for eight days now and not once has she had any contact with any other humans, hork-bjar or taxxons.

"I guess we can watch her for another three days, taking turns so that she is never out of our sight then take it from there." Jake said once again taking the lead.

The rest of the group either nodded or expressed their assent before the meeting breaking up and the individuals heading home.