Author's Note: I am SO SORRY that I took so long to update this.
Mob: LONG? It was THREE WEEKS! You were on the SECOND PAGE! IF YOU'RE NOT SORRY YET, YOU WILL BE IF THIS CHAPTER WASN'T WORTH THE WAIT!
Me: Well, I least I didn't abandon my story for three MONTHS like Blue Dragon!
Blue Dragon fans: HEY!
Me: No offence! I'm a Blue Dragon fan myself. I recommend all her fics—I just haven't gotten her on my favorites list yet! But come on...THREE MONTHS?
Mob: JUST TYPE THE DISCLAIMER AND GET ON WITH THIS CHAPTER!
Disclaimer(s): The Animorphs are not mine. Elfangor is not mine. Arbron is not mine. Tom is not mine. I feel that Esp SHOULD be mine, because I altered him to be the way he is in this fic, but as he is still Esplin Nine-Four-Double-Six Lesser of the Sulp Niar pool, he still belongs to K. A. Applegate.
Chapter Eight: Arbron's POVI was hungry. This was nothing new—I was trapped in Taxxon morph, and Taxxons are always hungry. But I was more than hungry right then. I was angry, scared, and in a potentially dangerous position. And the Taxxon way to deal with that was to eat whatever/whoever was making it angry or scared, or putting it in danger.
In fact, if Elfangor hadn't been there, I probably would have tried to eat someone.
This was also induced by the fact that I hadn't eaten for several days. Taxxon hunger made it quite easy to sympathize with Aximili. He had no reason to be ashamed of eating. Although that shame could be because human bodies are much more self-controlled when it comes to the appetite. As Tom had said, I was a bottomless pit—a common trait among Taxxons.
[Hello? HELLO? Arbron, this is Elfangor. Do you read me?]
[What?] I asked, jolted. [How am I supposed to read you? You don't have text in your fur, and even if you did, Taxxon eyes wouldn't be good enough to read it.]
[It's an expression, Arbron. I'm asking if you can hear me and understand what I'm saying.]
[What's the point of that?]
[Well, it did get you attention quite effectively. Now I can ask my real question and get a real answer.]
[What question?]
Tom rolled his eyes. This seemed to be his favorite activity. "Have you been paying any attention at all?"
[Not very much, after that Bottomless Pit comment.]
"Since when do you take that offensively?"
[I don't. I was just thinking about how applicable it is to me.]
[ARE YOU GOING TO ANSWER MY QUESTION OR NOT?] Whatever he might say of my volume, Elfangor had just performed a flawless Living Hive impression. I presumed Esp was in control of Tom's face, because he was the only one who didn't flinch. His twin bellowed like that all the time.
[That depends. What is the question?] I was calming down, now that I knew my friends were in no danger.
[How did you follow us here from underground?] Elfangor also seemed to be calming down. The change in mood was so sudden it was almost disturbing.
[Never underestimate a Taxxon's sense of smell,] I told him. [This particular one happens to be a tracker.]
"So... you can follow people above ground, but stay underground yourself?" This came from the one who looked (from what I could see with Taxxon eyes), sounded, and smelled like Tom. Jake, he said his name was. Tom's little brother. Although maybe 'little' wasn't the right word, as he was fairly large.
Large meant semi-filling... and humans were so appetizing...
I gave myself a mental slap. If Tom found out that I had seriously considered eating his brother, he would literally kill me.
[Yes, but only if I know what scents to sniff for,] I explained. Talking kept my mind off of my stomach. [I have to have smelled the person at least once to recognize them. Like a human police dog.] Tom had made this comparison when I first told him about it. I didn't quite understand it, but it seemed to get the point across.
[The Yeerks were using tracker Taxxons when those two Hork-Bajir escaped,] the bird said suddenly. [Do you remember, Ax? You told me about them.]
[Yes.] Elfangor's brother seemed to be struggling to remember something. After a moment, he spoke. [A tracker Taxxon is a special breed. They are fairly rare, but very effective when searching for either a missing person or a dead body. The one problem is their tendency to try and eat the body or person they find, although that made them perfect for the Yeerks' purpose. They also tend to be larger, stronger and smarter then normal Taxxons.]
[How do you know all this?] Elfangor demanded. [Since when have you been a Taxxon expert?]
Aximili looked embarrassed. [Well, I... I did a report on Taxxons to... to make up for my failing grades in exo-biology. There was a list of species to chose from, and...Taxxons were the only ones I'd heard of. I... I didn't pay much attention in exo-biology class. My report just barely kept me from failing.] He looked at Elfangor apologetically, (again, from what I could see with Taxxon eyes,) then became fascinated with the floor.
[Wait a minute, back up, two Hork-Bajir escaped?] I turned my pathetic compound eyes upward, towards the hawk.
"Oh, did I forget about that, too?" Esp demanded, slapping Tom's forehead.
"How would you have even known?" Jake asked him skeptically.
"Well, Esi was only totally enraged about it for two weeks, so I'm not sure why it stood out in my memory. Does it matter?"
[Ellimist was involved. He helped the Hork-Bajir, not that he admitted it,] Tobias put in.
[ELLIMIST?!] Elfangor shrieked. Then, scornfully, [I should have guessed.]
"Can we get back on topic?" Jake requested.
"What topic?" the smallest human (Marco, I believe,) wondered. "Did we ever have one?"
"We were discussing where Elfangor was going to stay next," Cassie reminded him. "I think we've covered it, actually. So, Arbron, are you going to stick with Elfangor or stay in the construction site?"
I swirled my upper body to face Elfangor. [You're leaving the site?] I demanded.
[I'm going to be staying with my brother. It's an issue of convenience,] he said defensively.
I turned back to Cassie. [I don't stay in the site. I stay with the rest of the Taxxon rebels, up in one of the mountains. I just have tunnels to the places I go a lot.]
Esp made a bizarre choking noise, which he often made when trying not to laugh. He may have been the one advocate for Yeerk-host cooperation, but he certainly used Tom's vocal chords far more than Tom did. I seemed to be the only one who could almost always tell who was speaking when.
After about five more minutes, the 'Animorphs' as they called themselves, all had to leave. Tom left along with his brother. Aximili morphed bird and fluttered up to join Tobias. He perched, and looked down towards Elfangor, his head cocked.
[Aren't you coming?]
Elfangor glanced at me, hesitating. He clearly wanted to go with his brother, but didn't want to leave me behind.
[Oh, go ahead,] I told him. [I'll catch up.]
[How? If I use a bird morph, I'll be in the air.]
[I'll find you once you've landed and demorphed.]
[Oh.] Not looking very reassured, Elfangor began morphing nonetheless. I headed back into my tunnel.
Inside the tunnel, with five feet of dirt and rock between me and the surface, my old Andalite claustrophobia kicked in. Of all the Andalite instincts to stay with me, why did it have to be that one? The darkness, the damp, and the pressure of dirt against the skin was comforting to a Taxxon. Any of these sent the average Andalite into panic—especially the last one. It was like my own mind was trying to drive me crazy.
I waited for five minutes before I sniffed, picking up a faint trace of Elfangor's scent and zeroing in on it. As always, I emerged six feet away so as not to eat him by accident. I also had to be careful not to come up right under anything else. Once I had tried to surface inside a building—even Taxxon digestive systems are not designed for moldy concrete.
Careful as I was, I squirmed up almost directly under Aximili. I was amazed at the fact I hadn't noticed him, that Elfangor didn't slice me in half, and that Aximili slept through the entire thing.
[Be careful!] Elfangor snapped in private thought-speak.
[Why is he asleep?] I asked. [I thought that you two would be up all night catching up on each other's recent lives.]
[He's had a very stressful day, Arbron. It's only natural for him to be tired.]
[You sound like his parent, not his brother,] I teased.
[Well, why not? Our parents are eighty-two light-years away. I'm all he's got.] Then, more quietly, Elfangor added: [I have to protect him. He's all I've got.]
[You've got me,] I protested.
[I know, Arbron. But that's different. You're my shorm. Aximili's my brother.]
I felt rather sorry for Elfangor right then. My sense of humor (a rarity among both Taxxons and Andalites) had been worn out with my last joke. [Don't get overprotective, Elfangor. You don't want your brother to become a coward.]
Elfangor gave me a very dirty look. [What are you implying?]
[I'm not implying anything. I'm just stating a fact,] I said defensively. [What about Tobias?] I asked suddenly. Wow, THAT was certainly a safe subject. Did I have a death wish or something?
[What about Tobias?]
[He's your son, isn't he? You told me while we were hiding on the Blade ship.]
[He doesn't know that,] Elfangor snarled. [And anyways, how am I supposed to tell him?]
I hesitated. That was a tough question. How was Elfangor going to tell Tobias? More importantly, would Tobias believe him when he did?
Author's Note: Look, I realize that it's technically a cliffie, but it's also one-thousand-five-hundred-and-twenty-one words.
Mob: IT'S STILL A CLIFFIE!
Me: Well... it's fun to do cliffies. I can now sympathize with all my fellow writers whom I formerly criticized for their cliffhanger endings. They're so much easier!
Mob: (Various people raise torches/pitchforks.) DIE! DEATH TO CLIFFIES! DIE! DIE! DIE!
Me: Wait! I have a bit more to say! (Pitchforks and torches lower slightly.) Elfangor will be a bit overprotective of Ax for a while. Ax will not be too happy about this. Tobias will learn that Elfangor is his father in the next chapter. He will be in shock about this. The next chapter is from Rachel's POV. Hopefully, I will write her personality accurately, and Rachel fans will be overjoyed about this. I will post it... once it has been typed. My fans (if I have any) will hopefully be pleased about this.