I'm not sure if i'm going to keep this chappie or not. Tell me what you think, ok...
Disclaimer; Now i own another race too... the Runchak. Cool name huh?
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Another thing that Rachel and I had in common was that we both had little sisters. Albeit annoying sisters, I have to say.
And a twin boy and girl are a hell of a lot harder to handle. Especially when...
"Eeew! Runny eggs! Here Ryan, you have it"
"I don't want it!"
"Tina, don't do-"
PLOP!
"-that" my final word came out a sigh. I grabbed a dishcloth, and quickly mopped up the mess she'd made. Since my mum had gone to an interview, I was left to deal with trying to get my brother and sisters ready that Monday morning. It's a lot harder than you'd think, especially with Tina being such a pain, and Phoebe thinking her cereal bowl was a hat.
"He did it!" Tina cried, pointing at Ryan across the table.
"Hey, you're the one..."
"Cut it out you two" I said firmly, looking down at my own bowl of cereal. I really didn't feel like eating the sloshy stuff in there. Too many images, too many nightmares...
"But he..."
"Tina" I warned her. She shut up, knowing what that meant. They both finished their breakfast, then hurried off to fight over the shower. I got that sorted out in time too. Then I cleaned up Phoebe, finding she'd gotten her porridge all in her hair. I won't tell you how I cleaned that up.
An hour later, my mum returned, looking beat. But it gave me the chance to get myself ready. I showered, got dressed, and was just wringing out my hair, going to steal my hairdryer back from my mum's room, when Phoebe ran up to me, nearly barrelling me over.
"What's up sweetie?" I asked her, leaning down to stroke her hair. Most of her sentence was garbled, but the only sure thing I heard sounded like 'boy' and I looked up.
"Oh man. You two?" I rolled my eyes at Jake and Marco, who stood a few feet away, both smiling at me.
"Yeah, why not?" Marco winked. Then he looked down at the small creature attached to my leg. Phoebe wouldn't let go of me.
"They knocked on the door a few minutes ago" my mum said as she shuffled around in the small kitchen, probably cleaning up the rest of the mess. Then she disappeared into her room, and I turned back to look at the boys.
"What are you now? My bodyguards?"
"Yeah, I guess" Jake smiled at me.
"Ha ha, very funny" I leaned down and scooped Phoebe up, with her clinging to my neck as I did so.
"Man, talk about family resemblance" Marco came up and looked closely at her. She tucked her head into my shoulder, saying something else I couldn't quite understand.
"Hey, it's all right. I'm a good guy" he tried to talk to her, but she ignored him.
"She's shy" I explained, smiling at him. When I'd dislodged Phoebe from my neck and finished getting ready, I walked to school with the boys, one on each side.
And another day began again. Maths, biology, gym... well, that part wasn't so bad. More classes... bor-ing. Lunch... more stuff that looked like someone had just coloured some mushy stuff. Down to my locker, exchange books...
And then I saw it. A flash of light, from under one of my books. I pulled at it, finding it was my watch. One of the little buttons on it was flashing.
Uh-oh. It was a call. A month or so before I'd moved to America, Ithiell had taken my digital watch and had completely taken it apart. Then, after I'd yelled at him about it, he put it back together, putting a little something else he had hanging around. He'd called it a watch-phone, telling me I could use it to talk to them, and vice versa, if something went wrong. I'd shoved it in my locker and had completely forgotten about it. It was only cause I thought he'd ruined it. But now...
I pulled it out, then looked around. Too many people... hmm, might have to go to the roof...
I shut my locker and bolted up the stairs, finally bursting out into the harsh mid-day sunlight. I shut the door, probably locking myself up here, before going and hiding behind a wall.
Now how did he say to do this again...? I pushed the glowing red button, and in an instant the screen lit up. There was a bit of static, then I saw a face I knew all too well.
"Hey Amanda. What's up?" I tried to sound casual, knowing there was something seriously wrong. Also, if someone was listening to us talk, we wanted them to think it was just a normal phone conversation. We'd been intercepted before.
"Nothing out of the usual. Just a few... hunchy riots here and there" Ah, code. Translated, she meant Runchak. Another alien race that we've had contact with.
"And what about them?" I asked. I still wasn't sure what she was on about, but I knew it involved them. Not a good sign.
"Well, I heard that one of them involved a Samurai sword. Can you believe it?" My heart stopped dead then. Now I knew what she was talking about.
"Did you see it?"
"No, but I heard about it. Maybe you could get a look at one though, since I heard they sell them in your area" For a second, I couldn't breathe. Then I kept going.
"I... I don't think they sell them to minors here. Or anywhere actually" I tried to smile, but Amanda knew me too well. And her eyes told me everything I needed to know.
"Oh well, maybe you could make one or something. You know, practice in the forest with it"
"I... I don't know Mandy. But it's a good idea. I might get the others to come along with me. It's always good to have someone to practice with" I said in code. She smiled, and nodded. But her smile was grim.
"I'll talk to you later. Ian might call later on tonight"
"All right. See ya"
"Yeah, bye" The screen went blank, and I fiddled around with the watch until I was sure the connection was terminated. Then I shook.
This just keeps getting worse and worse...I stared at the hard ground, knowing I had to get back inside, but I couldn't move.
(Jade, is that you?) I jumped about ten feet in the air as I heard the voice, and jumped again when a red-tailed hawk came to land beside me.
"Tobias! You scared me!" I cried with relief, trying to slow my racing heart.
(Jade, is something wrong? Is David... did you see him again?)
"No, but now we have something else to worry about. Something big. Something that could mean the destruction of all life, period"
(I'm guessing we're all gonna need to talk about this?)
"You got that right. You got that very, very right"
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"They're called the Runchak" I explained. All other eyes immediately went to Ax. He shrugged.
(I do not know of this race)
Then all eyes turned back to me.
"They're kind of distant cousins... really distant... to the Chanaibens. They're not changelings... they can't shape shift... and they kind of look like a big furry lizard with cats ears. Their fur is white and fluffy too" I don't know why I added that last part in. I just loved the way they looked. I continued.
"Anyway, their technology is about two or three decades ahead of the Chanaibens, or the andalites" I added, looking at Ax.
"But they only use it to explore. They're forever curious about what makes this work, how does this move... and even how other races evolve. They're fairly peaceful too" I glanced at Cassie. I didn't know why. But I knew she'd like them.
"And how does this affect us?" Marco asked, sitting on a bale of hay. Jake was pacing, lifting his head every now and then to listen to me. Cassie and Rachel had their attention on the goose that Rachel was holding. Cassie had her hand down it's throat, giving it a pill.
"Well, that's where the problem comes in. For a long time there's been a rumour... just a rumour... that they had made something that could open a gateway between parallel universes"
"No way! There's something like that?!" Rachel asked, looking shocked. I nodded. Even Ax seemed dumbfounded. Hah, so there were some things he didn't know.
"It was made to look like a human version of a... well... I know this is going to sound stupid... but... it looks like a Samurai sword. They hid it on earth, centuries ago... and if my information is right... Ithiell must have found a way to track it. Either that or something's happened to it"
"So how do we find it? I mean, it's not like we've got some special radar or anything"
"Maybe we do" I looked down at the watch I still had clutched in my hand.
"I could ring Amanda tonight, and ask her to get Ithiell to help us"
(Why didn't he just fly over?) Tobias asked. I noticed he was preening his feathers. Probably something to do I guess.
"That's what's got me stumped. I'll see if I can find that out too"
(Maybe the fighter needed repairs) Ax suggested.
"Or maybe the Yeerks tracked the fighter back there" Jake spoke up for the first time since I started telling them about it.
"Yeah. Maybe he can't get back here because he's doing everything in his power to lay low. Sounds like something he'd do" I said.
"Think they've been Yeerked?" Marco asked a little harshly.
"No. And I know what you're saying 'you can't be sure, even though she is your friend' but I'm sure. Otherwise, why would she go to all this trouble to get in contact with me about it?"
(Trap) was all Tobias said.
"No, they'd have found us by now... all of us" Jake backed me up.
"Yeah" Cassie said softly "Even if they're in another country, it doesn't take them that long to fly over here..."
"They would have us all Yeerked by now if they were" Rachel added.
"But they don't, and that's the important thing" Jake said, turning to me.
"Jade, I need you to get out as much information as you think we're gonna need for this. We might have to move quickly if something has happened to this sword thing"
"Yeah. He's going to be calling me tonight. I'll get as much as I can off him"
"That's good"
"Yeah, but if that gateway gets opened, it'll collapse all realities, one after the other" I said, and I saw all four of Ax's eyes snap around to look at me.
"What?"
(Nothing. For a moment you sounded like... nothing) he said again, looking away.
"I'll do what I can Jake"
"I know you will"
"Can we do anything?" Cassie asked helpfully.
"Wait until I have all the information I guess" I shrugged.
"This is nuts, you know that?" And I'll leave you to guess who said that.
But now I knew the odds were definitely against us all on this one. If we didn't find it before... everything would die. And what's worse is that I still had David to worry about.