Kaoru
"Those raptors you saw with blades are Hork-Bajir. They have Yeerks in their brains. An entire species are already enslaved by the Yeerks. And those large worms, bigger than Yeerks are Taxxons. They are also controlled by Yeerks but they don't care much except kill," Jake said.
I was in the barn with what the whole gang who calls themselves the Animorphs. It was afternoon by then, after that incident seeing a friend turn into an alien.
They began explaining to me about Yeerks, about the invasion. I learnt some vocabulary. The people who had Yeerks buried in their minds are Controllers. Mr. Chapman is one of them. I had always thought there was something odd about that man. When I heard he became a Controller so Melissa, his daughter wouldn't get involved, I felt guilty of what I just thought. He only became one just to save his daughter.
All of this seemed weird and totally wacky. Half of it I didn't believe but seeing everything happened, I had to believe.
"So almost anyone is a Controller?" I asked.
"Yeah. My brother is one," Jake said.
"My mom is one, as well," Marco said ghed.
"I didn't believe him at first, but when you called me, I didn't know what to believe. And when I saw you get hurt, even if you were a dragon, I got scared. I thought I was gonna lose a brother. I guess that's why I went insane."
I gazed down at the sword beside me. Apparently, I left it here and found it under all that straw. Lucky Cassie's parents didn't find it.
-So a Yeerk knew what Zack was,- Ax said. He was in his Andalite morph, now that I know it was him.
"Huh?" I said, confused. "You don't really mean...?"
"Yes, Zoe. Your brother was in fact the lizard man," Marco said.
"Do you want me to bite you the next time I become one?" Zack asked, shooting another glare. Marco backed away.
I suddenly giggled. "Hey, I don't like to be called Zoe anymore," I said, catching everyone's attention. "Call me Kaoru instead."
-Kaoru?- Tobias echoed. I was not sure where he was but he'd said that.
Zack's expression was panic when I said my true name. He kept on telling me to be quiet by showing signals with his fingers to his gritted teeth.
"It's my real name."
"So, your name isn't Zoe?" Jake asked.
I nodded. "I was called Zoe as a codename back in Japan. We all decided to do so."
"We? Who are you referring to?" Marco asked. I saw Zack trying to escape this one.
"Well, Zack, aren't you going to tell them?" I asked him, with a grin on my face.
"Tell us what?" Rachel wondered.
"How about another day, Zoe?" Zack asked nervously. I glared at him when I did say to call me Kaoru.
"Okay, Takehiro."
Zack was shocked when I told his real name.
"Wait a minute. You changed your name too?" Marco asked, looking at him with one raised eye.
"S-So what of I did?" Zack said defensively. I grinned.
"Fine, I'll explain. Back in Japan, our friend, Misao decided to use codenames. We were fooling around back then. You can call us by our codenames in real life," I said. "But at other times, like at our place, call us our real names. So tell me, how is it you are the dragon, Takehiro?" I purred, my elbows on my knees.
"First off, Kaoru, do you really want to know?" he said.
"Try me."
He sighed. "Cassie?"
"You know the wild animals who were fighting the Yeerks yesterday?" Cassie said. I nodded. "Us. That was us. See, Visser Three and Ax aren't the only ones who can morph. So can we. So can you. Any animal you can touch, you can become. Like a dolphin, a shrunk or a wolf."
"An elephant or a grizzly bear," Rachel said.
"A gorilla, a shark," Marco said.
"A Komodo dragon, a goshawk or a K-9," Zack said.
"A tiger, a fly, a cockroach," Jake said. "Any animal. Any size. But only for two hours at a time. You can never stay in morph for more than two hours."
"Why?" I asked and was that a big mistake.
"Kaoru, you do hear Tobias around here?" Zack asked.
"Um, yeah," I replied. "Why?"
"My friend. Meet the final member of the Animorphs," Marco said like someone from a circus. "Meet Tobias."
Before I said anything, I heard a swooshing sound from above and landing beside me on a bale of hay was Tobias. Trapped in a red-tailed hawk morph.
-Hello,- he greeted with a wave of his wing.
I looked down at the bird, my jaw half opened. "How...? What...? When...?"
"She's stunned," Marco intoned again.
"This...is unreal," I said.
"Nothing is unreal," Rachel said, crossing her arms, not in a manner she was upset.
-And thanks for bringing me to Cassie's place the other day,- Tobias said.
I realis3E
"A tiger, a fly, a cockroach," Jake said. "Any animal. Any size. But only for two hours at a time. You can never stay in morph for more than two hours."
"Why?" I asked and was that a big mistake.
"Kaoru, you do hear Tobias around here?" Zack asked.
"Um, yeah," I replied. "Why?"
"My friend. Meet the final member of the Animorphs," Marco said like someone from a circus. "Meet Tobias."
Before I said anything, I heard a swooshing sound from above and landing beside me on a bale of hay was Tobias. Trapped in a red-tailed hawk morph.
-Hello,- he greeted with a wave of his wing.
I looked down at the bird, my jaw half opened. "How...? What...? When...?"
"She's stunned," Marco intoned again.
"This...is unreal," I said.
"Nothing is unreal," Rachel said, crossing her arms, not in a manner she was upset.
-And thanks for bringing me to Cassie's place the other day,- Tobias said.
I realised why he said that. "You're the bird that I rescued?"
He nodded his beak.
"Y-You're not angry at me for, um, kicking the tree? ...Are you?" I asked timidly.
-Maybe... Maybe not.-
"Now I'm scared. I'm talking to a bird."
"Don't worry. You'll get used to it," Zack said, patting my shoulder.
"Wait! That means...YOU HEARD WHAT I JUST SAID TO YOU THAT DAY?"
-Every single word.-
I felt like crawling to the nearest hole and never see the daylight again!
-But if you hadn't, we wouldn't have known who you truly were.-
I glanced at him surprisingly when he said those words.
"Now that you know all this, you'll have to be part of the Animorphs, no doubt," Rachel moaned.
"But the question is..." We all turned to Zack who was casting a worried face. "Are you ready."
"...I guess...I'm ready for what's ahead," I said. I hope.
Then Jake produced the box. THE box. The box that nearly was what everyone suspected me of stealing.
"We're sorry that...we thought you stole this," Jake apologized.
"What is it, anyway?" I asked, seeing that this box was important to them.
-It is called an Escafil Device,- Ax stated.
"It's what gives us morphing power," Cassie said.
Jake tossed it to Ax, which however, Ax missed the catch. But before the box could hit the straw-covered floor, Ax whipped his tail forward, turned the blade flat in quick speed, and caught the box. I gulped nervously. Guess Andalites' tails are faster than their hands. He raised the box to his hands.
-Press your hand on the square nearest to you,- Ax said.
I hesitated. "Um... Shouldn't there be some ceremony or something?"
"Now where have I heard that before?" Marco wondered, looking at Cassie.
"We can always join hands and sing Galaxy Mirage," she said
We all laughed. Including me. For a long time without friends, I felt contented.
Ax held out the box in one hand. I stepped forward and pressed my hand down on the cube. I felt a buzzing feeling, like electricity. But it didn't hurt me. Kind of tinkled me.
-You may remove your hand now,- Ax said.
I did, thinking that the experiment had failed. I didn't feel any different. But I had always felt...inhuman.
"Welcome to the Animorphs," Marco uttered, slapping my back.
"Can...Can I try it?" I asked.
"Sure," Cassie said. "But first, you need a morph. Let's try a bird morph."
I was distracted from her speak when I heard a caw in a distance. I looked away and saw two cages. In one cage was a golden eagle. In another beside it was a merlin.
It cawed wildly in the cage, as if wanting to get out. Then I saw it. Its fear. Its fear of the golden eagle. I shook my head. What was that about?
"Something wrong?" Zack asked.
"Hey, Cassie, I know this is stupid but...I think you should move that bird away from the eagle," I told her. She gave me this look as if I was strange. "It's afraid of the eagle. I think an eagle attacked it."
"H-How'd you know? Dad said that it was attacked by a bird by the looks of its scratches,' Cassie said.
I looked down. How'd I know? That made me wonder. Then again, a lot of things made me wonder. "I don't know... I just saw...its fear."
"You saw its fear?" Takehiro echoed dumbfounded. "How can you see its fear?"
"It just...came up. Like the visions. I don't know what these things mean..." I groaned.
There was silence. Then Ax spoke out.
-Could it be Eyes of Karine?- Ax stated.
"Eyes of what?" Marco spoke.
"Hey, didn't Zoe, I mean, Kaoru, say that back at the warehouse?" Rachel asked.
"It was the Yeerk. Not her. The Yeerk," Zack corrected her with a mild growl.
"Okay, okay, the Yeerk shouted out that word. Karine, was it?"
"What are Eyes of Karine, Ax?" Jake asked.
-Karine is exactly a source of 'living' power. They are divided into minor but influential powers which two are the Eyes of Karine and the Shields of Karine. The Eyes of Karine can see through anything: minds, the future, the past, anything. I don't know much. They taught about Karine in class but I was— -
"Not paying attention," Marco finished. "We know."
I held my breath so I wouldn't giggle. It wasn't hard to imagine Andalites having class.
-However,- Ax continued. -We, Andalites, don't completely understand it basically. Only the Fa'derias knows its capability.-
"Fa'derias? Who are they?" Rachel asked.
-They are another peaceful race in the other part of the universe.-
"So we now know there's more life out there in space besides Yeerks, Andalites, etc, etc, etc," Marco said.
-What puzzles me is how Kaoru has the Eyes of Karine. Only the royal family of the Fa'derias has its capability. Prince Yoshiko-Kitonashu, Princess Kagiso-Iekikaa and Princess Myrnayi-Aurdorea, candidates for the heir of their home planet possessed this power. However, they disappeared a long time ago. No one knows where they could be now. Due to their disappearance, a civil war has broken on their home planet.-
I nearly gasped. Kagiso Kikuchi. That was my mother's full name. I looked at Takehiro. He looked at me. We were thinking the same thing. Could our mom and this princess be linked? No way, it couldn't be.
"Then...those visions I kept on having...and what I saw in the merlin...?" I said.
-More or less, those visions are what you see through the Eyes of Karine.-
"Hold it!" Zack suddenly said. "You make it sound like Kaoru's a Fa'deria."
-I didn't assume, Takehiro. But it is strange for a human to have the Karine.-
"Maybe the Yeerk was delirious or lying. Because my kid sister is not a Fa'deria! And I'm not either because we're both twins, we share the same blood and-"
"And the same bedroom," Marco intoned.
Zack was ready to punch him in the face to silent the joker up.
-I don't think Yeerks would try to lie when they're screaming their heads off,- Tobias said. -Or forcefully popping out of heads either.-
-If the Yeerk did read that she has the Karine, then Kaoru does have it,- Ax explained. –We do not have any other reason.-
"The more I hear about this Karine, the more I feel like those visions are bad," I mumbled.
"Kaoru, don't say that. Some of your visions you told me weren't that back," Zack said brotherly. "Truth be told, they helped us a lot in our missions... Before you knew about us, that is."
"Speaking of visions, when did those visions started?" Jake asked.
"...They started when I was a kid. I'd thought they were just dreams. And when I was in a car accident, I didn't get anymore until my eyes were repaired. When we moved here, I started to get more and more each day," I said. I started to fiddle with my fingers. "It's not a bad thing, right?"
-I wouldn't say,- Ax commented. -The Eyes of Karine are still a mystery to all of us. Perhaps you are gifted in a way.-
I blushed and furiously fiddled with my fingers.
"Seems someone has a crush on the alien," Marco uttered, with a grin.
"What are you grinning about?" I barked, glaring at him.
"You really like him, don't cha?"
I grounded my teeth. I grabbed his collar and looked straight in his eyes. "Would you like to repeat that with a broken jaw?"
He shook his head and I let go.
"She really is like Zack! I can see the similarities now," he choked.
"Better watch your back, Marco," Zack droned. "Cause you'll have twice the trouble behind your back."
Cassie laughed and gazed at me. "So which bird morph would you like?"
-Please, tell me you're not gonna be the eagle,- Tobias asked, his tone sharp.
"And why do you ask?" I asked.
-They're jerks. They go after other birds, and other small animals.-
"And I guess one attacked you before?" I inquired.
-Hey! How'd you – Oh, wait. You read my mind, didn't you?-
"No. I'd just guess," I laughed timidly. "And I prefer the merlin. They're faster, right?"
"Yeah," Cassie replied.
"Then I'd go for the merlin. Miaso always says that agility beats strength better. To overcome your opponent, you must be swift in both mind and body," I said.
She looked at me, surprised, then smiled. "Go ahead then. Press your palm against the bird's shoulder."
I reached out to the merlin, which I would expect it to jump around, frightened, stayed still. It gave me a look that said "thank you" in a way.
"Focus your mind. See the merlin in your imagination. Think of her, what she is, what she represents."
I closed shut my eyes. I imagined the merlin, flying. I felt it as a part of me.
"Now take your hand away," Cassie said softly. "Now you have the merlin inside of you. Her DNA is in your blood. You can become her."
"Now here comes the disgusting part..." Rachel mumbled.
I was puzzled why she said that but I was to find out soon enough. We went outside.
"You ready?" Jake said. I nodded.
"HOLD IT!" Cassie cried, which nearly frightened me out of my shoes. "Zoe, I mean, Kaoru, doesn't have a morphing suit."
"Morphing suit?" I echoed.
"Basically, you need tight-skin clothes to morph, otherwise, your clothes will get shredded."
"Now that, I wouldn't like at all," I mumbled.
"We can always buy her one," Rachel suggested. I guess in her mind, she likes to run through the stock of every store she sees.
"I don't think we have anything to worry about," Zack said. "We had martial arts earlier, right, Kaoru?"
"Yeah... Oh, that's right. I'm still wearing my leotard," I said, patting my hand in my other hand. Then I realized something.
"YOU LOOKED INTO MY WARDRODE?" I screamed, grabbing his collar.
"N-No! Don't you know that we always wore tight-skin under karate uniforms?" Zack stated panicking.
I took a breath and calmed down.
"But you did look in her wardrobe, seeing that you share the same room?" Marco asked.
I shot an icy glare at him, before grabbing his collar and launching him to orbit. "BAKA!"
He crashed. I walked up to him furiously and glared down at him. "Wipe those thoughts out of your brain or I'll do it myself!"
"Y-Yes, ma'am!" he said.
"You know something? I'm starting to like her," Rachel said. Zack stared at her before sighing deeply.
tigerlily-2250 – Sorry I couldn't update soon. Took me longer than expected. But hope you like this chapter.
John – Well, I have a habit of writing stories based on anime so yeah, I added in Anime in Animorphs. Thanks for reviewing.
A/N: I may be a little slow as I go on to the next story as I'm working on a HP fanfic with a friend, which will be about a Japanese school of magic. Thinking of Japanese myths, ghosts and characters is harder than I thought. Man, my head hurts. But I'll try my best of updating!