Thankyou whoever reviews this!
Hey Midgett! This little bit's 4 U! And u didn't need to ask me about this idea; hey, i'd read ANYTHING U write! Plus, it's probably been used already, so... meh! ;)
Chapter Eight; A Peaceful Time
Present…
Rtaia
We watched as the others helped make a small fire under the hull of what was left of a small ship. It sparked, then crackled to life. Cassie and the others looked pleased. I watched from a tree not far away, keeping alert and wary of the sounds in the forest. Ithiell was beside me, looking grim. He was upset that he was making mistakes again, like he did the first time when he led us into battle.
When the fire was lit he climbed down, then went over to talk to Aximili and Jake. The other humans spaced themselves out around the fire. Jade had a 'walkman' with her, and I watched as she stuck the small hearing devices in her ears, then as she sang it quietly, warming her hands by the fire.
(Nothing anywhere close guys, unless… they're chameleons or something) Tobias came swooping in, landing on the branch beside me.
"No, they're not. And they stand out like a sore thumb" Robert grunted as he, along with Ithiell, Jake and Marco, helped remove the hull from over the fire. Tonight, we could relax and rest. The fire burned brightly in the dark night, relaxing me only slightly.
"They knock down trees. That's how you know. Although, not always on purpose" Ithiell said, sitting down on the ground beside Jake. Ax joined them on the ground. I looked out again into the night.
Some time later, Jade was curled under a blanket, and Marco behind her. She had lain down and fallen asleep, then began to shiver in her sleep. Marco placed a blanket over her, and when that did not help, he curled himself up behind her. They were both sound asleep.
Robert was below me, sitting and leaning against the tree. Whether he was awake or not, I could not tell. Jake and Ax were talking again, and Ithiell and Tobias were in the tree with me. Cassie and Rachel were taking turns getting the knots out of Amanda's curled hair. The last week or so had made it almost 'unmanageable', so she had said. Humans were a little too domesticated, in my opinion.
Ithiell sighed, looking into the night sky.
(I hear ya buddy) Tobias muttered.
"Ah. Perhaps… perhaps the two of you can go for a fly. It would benefit you both greatly"
"But… that would leave you alone to watch-"
"Ithiell. Go. If you do not I would not like to deal with a 'cranky' leader, as Marco has said"
(Did he really call Jake cranky?) Tobias asked.
"He may have mentioned it once" I replied quietly.
"All right. Tobias, you might need to hunt"
(I don't at night, but… I think for once I'll make an exception. I haven't eaten since yesterday sometime)
"Go then. Fly, feed, and come back refreshed" I put a hand on Ithiell's shoulder, and he sighed and nodded. Then he opened his wings and took off into the night sky, with Tobias right behind.
You are wondering why Ithiell might be 'cranky', do you not? Well, I shall attempt to explain. Every three days, if a male of my species does not climb a tree, and fly for at least a small portion of the day, their Phni gland begins to swell, and the male in question becomes irritable and irrational. It is… like the human term hormones. The females, such as myself, do not have this problem. We can climb whenever we wish. Much of our physiology is still to be explained. Like humans and their 'dreams'.
I sat there, alone, until something below caught my eye. It was Ax, and he was morphing below my tree. When he was human, he carefully tested the tree branch above him, hoisting himself up onto it. He continued to climb the trees this way, as if he had not climbed a tree before. It made me sad in a way. When he reached me, he settled himself where Ithiell had perched, in the L shape that connected the branch to the tree. He seemed fearful.
"Aximili, are you well?"
"Yes. es. sss. I am…quite well. Ell. Llll…"
"That is good to hear. But… why have you climbed the tree? Surely it was not simply to-"
"Rtaia, where did Ithiell and Tobias go?"
"To fly. And to feed"
"Ah, I see. Eee. Quite an exquisite sound. Eeeeee"
"Yes. I see you favour the human form"
"Not as much as when I am myself. I miss my tail, and am still fascinated by the fact that humans do not simply fall over each time they walk"
"Yes. Very curious. But an amazing species nonetheless"
"Yes"
I flicked my ears forward, thinking I had heard some sound, but it was simply Cassie shuffling through one of the bags they had brought with them. She pulled out something that I was told was a 'hair tie' and went back to Amanda and Rachel, who was still trying to painfully pull the knots out.
"Are you… well?"
"I am tired. I simply wish to rest. Not to mention the numerous scrapes and cuts from the last human week has left me… not at my best"
"I apologise for…"
"Apologise for nothing Aximili. You are here now, and that is all I care about" I said going over to him. He looked like he might fall, but did not. I shifted to human, not wanting him to feel alone. He had come to talk to me, risking his… sanity… to do it. I owed him that much.
"Your human form is… beautiful" he looked at me, his breathing becoming shallow.
"Thankyou. You are not… looking bad yourself" I said, remembering the words Amanda had taught me once. It was appropriate for this sort of situation, so I had heard.
He smiled at me "Human speech is still very unusual for me"
"As with me, friend"
Aximili swallowed hard "Just a… a friend?"
"Perhaps more, if you wish it. Come, let us not talk in this tree where you are in such danger of falling"
"But, are you not…"
"Tobias and Ithiell are returning. They will understand"
We climbed down, just before Ithiell and Tobias landed in the tree. Once down, I turned to him.
"You are very brave, Andalite"
"As are you, Chanaiben"
I smiled, taking his hand and leading him away from the others. We climbed into the large hull-like structure of what was left of a Chanaiben fighter.
"Is there something…"
"Yes Aximili. I care deeply for you, and do not wish to go into battle tomorrow without telling you so" I touched his cheek, my human body being filled with adrenaline.
"I… I care for you too. But… if you are afraid…"
I laughed, a human emotion in me surfacing.
"I do not fear many things, Aximili. I have been in the war zone for nearly nine earth years. I was not supposed to graduate from my… training… until I was at the age of rea, but instead my brother got me into the military. I was offered no special training, and worked hard to get on my first ship. Unfortunately, it was the ship that Ithiell's cousin, Fenay, was commanding. I… when I landed here…"
I was unable to continue, this place and my own memories bringing the past back to me. I remembered the shout of the tactical officer, the screams to try and save a ship that had been damaged over a month before, Fenay's last orders… the horrendous impact… being thrown…
"Your eyes are leaking" Aximili said, reaching over and wiping away the wetness that I suddenly realised was there. He pulled his hand back, before I realised I was crying. Damn humans and their emotions!
"It is nothing. Human tears…" I muttered, wiping the tears away with the back of my hand. Seconds later Aximili's hand was on my cheek and I looked up into his eyes. Human, yes, but still his eyes.
"Tomorrow will be a new day, but tonight…" His human lips were suddenly covering my own, bringing an onrush of new emotions I did not even know humans had. Pleasure and fear coursed through me, and I remembered that this was called a 'kiss'.
I returned the kiss, feeling happy for perhaps the first time since I landed on this planet…
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Past…
Jade
I laid my head on my desk, listening with one earpiece to my favourite song. Kiss from a rose, by Seal, was playing loud in my ear. It felt so good… I was drifting…
"Jade? Jade!"
"Whoa!" My head shot up, looking straight at the teacher. She was not happy.
"Jade, I know it's your birthday, so I'm going to let you keep that walkman if you put it away right this second, but what I won't do is treat you any different from the other students" She slammed about ten full sheets of homework down on my desk, making me jump.
"By Monday"
"But… Mrs McKenzie…"
"No butts Jade"
When the bell rang I was glad. I got out of there as fast as I could, glad the day was over. I bumped into Dean on the way out, who practically ran away from me. I smiled at that. At least I'd done some good. Dean hadn't bullied me since that day. In fact, he'd given up the bullying thing.
The last two months had really taken their toll on me. Ithiell had been training us almost non-stop since our new little friend Rtaia popped up from beneath me. He'd found some blaster guns or whatever, and was helping us improve our aim or whatever. Rtaia helped, but she seemed mostly quiet, like she didn't know what to say. She rarely spoke, and when she did most of it was in her language. To Ithiell.
I almost believed those snake things that Ithiell explained were the Terinans, weren't gonna show. But after what I'd seen lately… anything was possible.
I went home, flopping face first into my bed. I don't think I moved until about an hour and a half later, when Tina practically jumped all over me. I grabbed her, making her fall off the bed, then rolled onto my side. Seconds later she was jumping on me.
"Ooof! Tina! Stop it!"
"Birf-day! Birf-day! Birf-daaaayyy!" I grabbed her leg and threw her down on the bed beside me. She just giggled.
"Yes, I know it's my birthday. Stop torturing me!"
Seconds later… the water works. Sadly, with me, it worked every time.
"Oh I'm sorry. Go find mum okay? Pester her for a while" I mumbled, giving her a quick hug before she returned to her high-on-something-sugary attitude. She leapt off the bed, bolting out of my room.
Yes, you heard right, that day was my birthday. My eleventh birthday. Amanda and Robert had already turned eleven by then. Amanda and Connor were coming over for dinner, since their dad allowed it. It was his one night home from his job too. He was usually on night patrol with the police in this town. But he was a good dad, and Conner and Amanda were the proof of that. Matt… the jury was still out on him for now.
I dug my head in my pillow, then looked at the clock; four ten. I had to get ready for my mostly family 'party'. So, I got up, did about twenty minutes of homework, then hopped in the shower. Sadly, an hour later I was in a dress my mother picked out for me. It made me look… dorky.
My cousin Nicolas arrived first, patting my head like he did when I was about Tina's age. Then came another cousin, and my aunt. Word was they had flown over for some kind of official business, and it just happened to around when my birthday was.
"Jade! My favourite first niece" My aunt Nina said in a thick accent, giving me a peck on each cheek, before she and my mum started crying and hugging and all that stuff.
"Luke!" I cried when I saw him, running and hugging him tightly. He laughed and hugged me back. Even if he was mostly in France, I was still close to Luke. He was only two years older, and had always been good to me. We'd written back and forth to each other all the time.
"Ah Jade, it is good to see you. You've grown, and…" he pulled away, indicating to my dress.
"Don't start on me. Mum made me" I warned him. He put up his hands and just laughed. Then Connor and Amanda arrived, both giving me big hugs. I nearly fell over when Connor picked me up, hugging me tight and spinning me around in a circle.
"The big one one! What a thrilling time!" he laughed as he let me go, and when I'd stopped nearly fainting, I shot a look at Amanda. She was grinning. Little witch.
Also the best friend I could ever have.
Well, the party was good, and that night not only did Luke and my Aunt stay over, but Mandy did as well.
After Mandy finished doting on my 'adorable' cousin, we went to bed. And by bed, mean laying on, not sleeping.
"I think Connor's turning… sixteen in about four months" Amanda began as I searched for a song on my walkman. I stopped when she told me, yanking my headphones from my ears and letting them dangle on my shoulders.
"So?"
"So, you wanna come over then"
I smiled "Maybe"
"I like your cousin. He's cute"
"He's older than you"
"So?"
"So… I don't know! We're not old enough for that!"
"Are we? You never know"
"Amanda" I groaned.
"What? In the middle ages, by the time girls were the age Connor is now, they'd be married with a baby on the hip"
"No thanks" I lay back down on my bed, watching as Mandy got out a book from her overnight bag, laying down to read it, her little book torch in hand. I turned off the light next to me, closing my eyes and feeling my exhaustion seep in. I fell asleep, and dreamt of places far away from here.
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sritchstritchscreee…
I was woken by something scraping against the window. I instantly knew it wasn't a tree, because there wasn't one outside. I opened my eyes, and saw Amanda was still sound asleep.
I bolted up, looking over at the window. Sure enough, there was a barn owl, scraping the glass with its talons. I quickly went over and slid the window open. The owl backed up, then swooped through the window, making me cry out in surprise.
"Mummy hand" I heard Amanda mutter as the owl landed on my bed. Instantly, it began to grow. Seconds later Ithiell sat on my bed, looking guilty.
"Much apologies. But there was no time"
"No time?"
"Yes. It is urgent"
"Hang on, let me just wake Amanda. This girl could sleep through anything" I said, making my way around, pretending to ignore the way Ithiell tensed up at her name. I shook her shoulders, until those big brown eyes opened to look up at me.
"What is it?" She asked in a sleep clogged voice. Even now, she looked like an angel. How she did it… I'll never know.
"Ithiell's here. He says it's urgent"
"Oh. Just a sec"
She got up, then staggered around until she hit my bed. Ithiell jumped up, but then relaxed. He was getting more use to us I think. He sat back down as I helped Amanda sit up and look at him through the sleep-gunk that had built up. Hated that stuff.
"What is it Ithiell?"
"I am sorry to have woken you, but Rtaia suggested I contact one of you immediately. She has managed to repair some of the broken equipment in the cruiser. One of it was the communication systems. And…" he hesitated.
"Ithiell, just spit it out or I swear I'll feed you to my little brother and sister!" I hissed. He seemed to take this threat seriously.
"A few hours ago we intercepted a transmission. Its origin is unknown, but we believe it was from a Terinan cruise ship"
"Uh-oh"
"We believe the Terinans will be here in just over a day"
"I say again, uh-oh"
"Massively" Amanda agreed, placing a gentle hand on his arm. It was then I realised what this news meant. It meant we were going into war.
This knowledge, strangely enough, did not make me feel very good.
I know, I know. Uneventful. But I just thought I'd slow it down for a little. I hope u lykd it LittleMidgett!
