Chapter 19
Takehiro
I couldn't believe what Rachel had said. One minute she was regretting all this, the next, she thinks Zoe can kick butt, as she would say.
"Now concentrate on the merlin," Cassie said, now relieved that Zoe was wearing her leotard. Not that I want to see her naked after her morph! Seriously! She's my kid sister! "And don't worry. It may be creepy at first. But you'll get use to it."
Zoe did as she was told. Her skin started to turn a sort of brown color. She looked down at her arm with wide eyes as big as dinner plates but quickly she went back to concentrate. I guess she just wanted to get this over with.
Outlined feathers appeared over the gray flesh. And suddenly, she began to shrink.
"Yaaaaaah!" she screamed.
"Don't worry," Cassie assured her. "You're getting smaller. It's part of the process."
The outlines of the gray feathers deepened and went three-dimensional, becoming actual feathers.
"I wonder if she's going to do that finger bone-" Marco began.
THUNK!
I hit his head with my bandaged fist to shut him up. He couched down, holding the bump in agony. So what? I'm very protected over my kid sister.
What is the finger bone thing? Having the bones of your arms and fingers shoot out like uncooked spaghetti. Pretty much scary and disgusting from my point of view, if you ask me. The first time I experienced it, I nearly screamed.
However, it did happen. Her arms went shooting out, lengthening. The bones of her arms and fingers shot out.
"EEYAA-KIIIIIIII!" she screeched as her vocal cord changed, along with her mouth. Her mouth hardened and bulged out. Her red lips flushed with a golden-brown color and as her beak formed, the tip darkened black.
Her feet become sharp and all five toes melted into three talons. Her heel came out and an extra talon appeared.
Zoe was small now. About the size of a two-year-old kid. Her clothes were hanging loosely, wrinkled around her wings. She continued to shrink until she disappeared under her clothes. We all saw her struggle under the clothes, trying to break free. I quickly pulled away her clothes and she popped out and shook her head as if she had came to the surface of a lake.
"You can't talk anymore once you're an animal," Cassie explained. "But you can thought-speak. Form your words in your mind and send it to either one of us or all of us."
"It's what you could call 'e-mail'," I declared.
-Creepy...- was her first word. She jumped. -Very creepy!-
"Don't sweat it," Marco said. He got up a while ago. "Wait till you morph into a lobster. You want to see creepy? That's creepy."
"Please, don't remind me of THAT morph," I groaned, rolling my eyes.
-Since when did you become lobsters?- she asked.
"Long story," I said.
-Seriously. It was at the grocery-store, wasn't it?-
"How'd you know?" Jake asked.
-I had a guess,- she said, soundly as if she had rolled her eyes.
"Now that we have an oracle in this team, maybe she can foretell all the answers to the history tests," Marco joked.
Her eyes sharpened as she eyed at Marco. She jumped and flapped her wings, zooming towards him.
"Ki-ki-ki!" she screeched and pecked at Marco.
"Ouch! Ow! Hey! Cut it out!" he screamed as he ran, waving his arms.
"What just happened?" Rachel asked, seemingly surprised.
"I can guess," I said, folding my arms. "Apparently, the merlin's instincts and Kaoru's mind doesn't like what Marco the lobster boy just said."
"Zo - Kaoru!" Cassie shouted, remembering to call her by her real name. "Your name is Kaoru. You're not a merlin. You're human."
The merlin stopped in midair and collided to the ground. I quickly rushed to see if she was alright. She was, but hung her head in surprise.
-Whoa. What just happened?- she wondered. -I was angry at Marco and I felt that I wasn't the only one angry.-
"Which one? You or the merlin?" Marco snapped.
"Well, that's the tricky part of morphing," Cassie said. "Because the merlin's brain, its basic instincts sometimes kick in and the merlin takes over."
-It was weird...- she said. Her voice sounded a bit shaky. -It was like as though a third person or thing was inside me.-
"Third? What do you mean?" I asked.
-...It's nothing.-
"You want to try to fly?" Jake asked.
-F-Fly? How do I do that?- Zoe wondered shakily.
"Wait for us all to morph. Then trust the merlin. She knows how to fly," Cassie said.
As we all began to morph, I watched Zoe hopped around clumsily and tripped and fell. A snicker was heard from Tobias.
-Ha, ha, ha. Very funny,- Zoe said sarcastically.
Once we completed our morphs, we were ready to take off.
It was kind of funny. How do I explain it? Seeing a kid sister who kept herself from the light join a bunch of kids and an Andalite who are fighting against a whole species of Yeerks. Comparing her to David, she's almost the opposite.
Well, almost.
-WOW-HOO!- Zoe yelled with excitement as she caught what Tobias calls a thermal. -This is incredible!-
-Well, she's having fun,- Cassie said in her osprey morph.
-Too much fun,- Marco said, in his osprey morph.
-Does she remind you of someone?- Rachel asked in her bald eagle morph.
-Would you PLEASE stop comparing her to 'him'?- I demanded, in my Goshawk morph
-Compare me with who?-
I nearly jerked my wings when Zoe asked me that question. -I-It's nothing! Really!-
Zoe just blinked several times before turning back to her flight. She caught another high-daring thermal.
-Oh, great! Now we have two Rachels!- Marco said.
Rachel, annoyed by that, just swooped down and raked her talons at him.
-Hey, Takehiro,- Zoe called out. She had that sheer glow in those merlin's eyes. -Want to do a dare?-
Now that caught my attention. -A dare?-
-I dare you to beat me in flying,- she dared.
-Now, wait a minute! We're here for flying. Not sky-diving!- Jake said in his peregrine falcon morph.
-You're on, Kaoru!- I agreed.
-You've asked for it,- she cried, folding her wings, and dove down. I raced pass her.
The thermals brushed against us as we raced downwards to earth. It was like jets having a dive in the sky. Having a very small body and sharp wings, Zoe was gaining speed more than I was. We were speeding pass the sky and towards a lake below.
-Pull up!- I shouted, folding my wings before it was too late.
-I can't!- Zoe screamed, and splashed into the shallows. Guess there is a downfall for being a merlin.
I flapped onto the shore and looked at the soaking bird in the shallows. -Guess I win.-
-Oh, shut up,- she groaned.
A snicker from in the tree resounded.
-You two really are Daredevils,- Tobias said.
-Hey, the more risking the dares are, the more we accept them,- I said.
-Jake says we're heading back, so let's move,- he said by the time, Zoe crawled out of the lake and shook the water off her feathers.
We joined the others soon after and flew back to the barn. We landed just right behind the barn so Cassie's parents wouldn't see us demorphing.
-We better demorph now,- Jake said.
-Demorph?- Zoe echoed.
-Means, changing back to your own normal identity and going back to your usual life,- Marco said. Zoe just stared at him.
-What he means to say is turn human again,- I said, explaining to her in a more simple way.
-H-How do I do that?- she asked, soundly frightened.
-Just concentrate on yourself. Think of who you really are,- Cassie reassured her.
Zoe did and sighed with relief once she was human in her leotard. We all became five humans and one Andalite. Tobias, um, just stayed as he was.
We were waiting, watching Zoe curiously.
"How was it?" Rachel asked.
"Fun," Zoe admitted.
Cassie smiled at her.
"Morphing is not a game," Jake said darkly.
"No," Zoe agreed. This time she was serious. A little shaking but serious. "...It's a weapon. A weapon to fight the Yeerks. And I'm ready to fight them."
John – Yup, Marco, being the wise-guy gets punched by Kaoru. And thanks for helping me find myths. I wonder if I have enough though (Stares at the piles of myths for the Harry Potter fanfic) Anyhoo, thanks for reviewing too!
Tigerlily-2250 – As they say, laughter is the medicine. Thanks for reviewing!