Author's Note: The polls are closed. Congratulations to all the two people who voted for Elfangor.
Disclaimer: I don't own the Animorphs. If I did, this would be in the books, and I'd be paid to write it.
Chapter Four: Elfangor's POV[Calm down, Aximili,] I said gently. He was obviously scared. His main eyes were huge and his tail was twitching. I would have said more, but my brother suddenly became hysterical.
[CALM DOWN? HE'S A YEERK! HE CAN'T BE TRUSTED! WHY SHOULD I CALM DOWN?]
"Do you always talk about people you don't like as if they aren't there?" Esp asked Aximili. "Just because I'm RELATED to Esi doesn't mean that I AM Esi." Aximili ignored him.
[You can trust him,] I said calmly.
[Do YOU trust him?] Aximili demanded.
[Yes.]
[WHY?]
[He saved my life. He caught me once while I was demorphing. If he had turned me in, he would have been amazingly rewarded. Instead, he gave me a Dracon beam and suggested I remorph to something less conspicuous. I used a Hork-Bajir I had acquired, and he snuck me down here in a Bug fighter we... borrowed.]
"That was before my Hork-Bajir host was killed in an attack on the Yeerk pool and I was transferred to Tom," said Esp. Tom sneezed again.
"I didn't realize it was dusty in here," said Jake.
"It isn't. Dust isn't what's making me sneeze," Tom answered. "It's my allergy."
"To what? You aren't allergic to anything."
"That's not true," Esp piped up. "Tom has a severe allergy to Andalite fur. You know, Esp, I could've told them about that myself. You're point being?"
"Just a sec," said Jake. He suddenly looked suspicious. "How do we know that you're not just trying to gain our trust so you can kill us?"
"Midget, why in the name of the universe and everything in it would I want to kill you?" Tom demanded indignantly. I could understand why. If Aximili had accused me of something like that—it was unthinkable. I would do anything and everything I could to protect him.
"Well, 'Tom', if that is really you, YOU probably wouldn't," Jake answered coldly. "But how do we know you aren't just working for the Yeerks for some reason and Elfangor isn't really Visser Three in morph?" I considered being offended, but decided it was rather pointless. It might even serve to confirm their fears.
Tom sighed. "You don't. But you could morph Esp and infest us to make sure."
"Okay," said Jake, although he looked slightly sick. "Marco and I will morph Esp and infest you guys at the same time. Ax will stay out here to make sure you don't kill us."
"Okay," Esp said with Tom's voice. He crawled out and Jake and Marco acquired him.
I wasn't thrilled at Tom's idea, but I also couldn't stand the idea of my own little brother not trusting me. If this reassured him, then so help me, I would do it.
"Pick one," said Tom, gesturing to the floor. Two small slugs were squirming around down there.
[Which one is which?] I asked, assuming Tom would want to talk to his brother. Tom shrugged.
"I can't tell. Does it matter?"
[I suppose not.] I reached down and picked up the one closer to me. [This is the most disgusting thing I've ever done,] I thought to myself. I took a deep breath, and, very hesitantly, brought the Yeerk up to my ear. It hurt a bit when it went in, but then my ear canal went numb.
[Um... hi,] said... whichever one it was. [This is Jake,] he said, probably hearing my thoughts.
[Incase you can't tell, this is Elfangor,] I responded formally. I was, by this point, fairly sure Jake was the leader. Both Marco and Aximili seemed to turn to him for instructions.
I felt the uncomfortable sensation of someone looking through my memories. Suddenly, one my memories opened wide. I felt like it was sucking me in.
It was the space battle above Earth. The Blade ship had just appeared. I noticed that most of the other fighters had already been destroyed. The Dome ship had to separate the Dome to be able to fight. I felt my hearts stop. If the Yeerks shot the Dome... Aximili was on there!
The Blade ship fired. The main section of the Dome ship was destroyed instantly. Shock waves struck the Dome itself. It fell towards Earth, burning as it entered the atmosphere.
A Bug fighter seemed to realize I was distracted. A Dracon beam hit my fighter, but I barely noticed. My mind was racing. I was only thinking about Aximili.
He was dead. And it was my fault. I had tried to keep him safe—and I just put him in danger. If I had let him come with me, at least I could have protected him. My fighter could dodge Dracon beams easily. But it was to late. Aximili was dead. And it was my fault.
[I had no idea...] the human called Jake said. [That's why you were shot down? Because you were worried about Ax?]
[Why do you call him that?] I wondered distractedly. The pain of loss was still fresh in my memory. I could barely hear Jake's response.
[His full name is too hard for us to pronounce. Should we... um... tell Ax about this, maybe?]
[NO!] I cried. [Don't tell Aximili.] I felt pathetic saying this, but I couldn't allow Aximili to know. I didn't want him to blame himself for my apparent death, the way I had blamed myself for his.
[I don't see any evidence of sinister intensions,] Jake told Marco, using my thought-speech. Marco used Tom's nose to snort derisively.
"No evil plots in here, either. Tom's seen some of Esp's memories, too, and they seem clean."
After coming out, demorphing, and apologizing for being suspicious, Jake made Aximili apologize for his suspicion as well. The apologies were mostly made to Esp, who insisted that they were unnecessary.
"You had every right to be suspicious."
[In that case, may I take back my apology?] Aximili requested.
"NO, Ax," said Jake firmly.
"Um... guys? Something just occurred to me," said Marco. "We REALLY need to tell everyone else about this. Supposedly DEAD Andalites don't show up very often. Yeerks who are willing to join us are even harder to find."
"You're right, Marco," said Jake. "You go find a phone and call Rachel and Cassie. Ax-"
"Or, you could just ask to borrow my cell phone," Tom interrupted. He pulled it out and handed it over to Marco.
"Ax," Jake continued, "you go find Tobias. Tell him to be at Cassie's barn in half an hour."
[Yes, Prince Jake,] Aximili said, already morphing into a bird I vaguely recognized as a northern harrier.
"Don't call me Prince."
[Yes, Prince Jake.]
"You sound like you've had this conversation before," said Tom.
"We have," Jake informed him.
Author's Note: Whew! Finally! It's done! I typed this whole chapter in third person the first time through, with separate sections for the infesting part. Then I had to put in Elfangor's name in the title (AGAIN) and change all things about it to "I", "me", and "my" (along with a few of his personal thoughts to add some detail) after the majority voted for him.
I know Tom had no known allergies in the Animorphs books, but, like Esp being Visser Three's twin, it becomes very important later on.
No personal offence was intended to the person who voted for Aximili or those who would have voted for Esp. I merely went with the majority of the votes. Check the reviews if you doubt my sincerity.