Review responses:
Anifan1: Yeah, it is a little fast paced. I plan to re- edit this whole thing once it's finished, preferably with the help of a beta- reader. I'll keep your tip in mind. Oh, and it'll take longer to finish than you think; I'm planning to write an AU Parts 2 and 3 after I finish the next chapter.
LilManiac: Well, Part 1 (the part that'll stick to canon) has 1 more chapter to go after this one. But I will write an AU Parts 2 and 3. I've tried to write it so that people who don't like AU stuff can just read Part 1, but people who do can read the whole thing. Is that good news or bad news for you?
AllOrNone: Thanks, it's easy to accidentally switch too quickly when I get carried away with writing. I'll fix the mistake when I re- edit this after it's all finished.
Elwing: Yeah, I like Cassie as a character, but my fave character from Animorphs has got to be Aftran, which is why nos 19 and 29 are my faves. And yeah, I like 29 better as well, but KAA needed 19 to be able to write 29, I suppose.
Here's some internet fanfic translations for you, as you asked about beta and OOC.
Beta- reader: Someone who helps you edit your fic and gives you a second opinion before you post it.
OOC: Stands for out of character. IC stands for in character.
Thanks for the tip about pace, I'll keep that in mind for when I edit. I will re- vamp this fic entirely when I have loads of time (and have finished it). I care if I don't get 6 reviews for the homecoming, because there's no point me posting it if no one is enjoying it. But seeing as though you like it so much, you can count for the two reviews I'm missing and I will update. Thank you!
A/N: I think it's time I gave you all a brief outline on my plans for this fic. It will be in three parts
(all posted as the same story so you can find it more easily). Part 1 sticks to canon, and there is only this chapter and the next before that part is finished. Parts 2 and 3 are AU, because I don't think that two books in the series with Aftran in them are enough! She's such a great character. So I plan to have her re- introduced. It would be cool if anyone could tell me at what point in the series I should do that (between which two books). I have a rough idea, but nothing concrete. Oh, and tell me if you think I should post parts 2 and 3 or whether it is a very bad idea. If I'm going to put it up, I want at least one person to be reading it, otherwise there's no point. So tell me what you think!
I wrote this from memory as I currently don't have my copy of the Sickness for the dialogue. So, if there's a few words wrong or missed out, don't sue me. I can remember most of the dialogue, though; I've read the Sickness about a million times.
OK, you can get onto the story now!
I waited, terrified, for what seemed like years, yet was only a single feeding cycle. I kept some sense of the hours passing by the comings and goings of Yeerks to and from hosts, and knew I was running out of time.
On the third day, a Yeerk swam up to my cage. It smelled like Illim, and I waited for him to speak. But he didn't. I felt his sonar waves, and with my own sensed him circling the cage.
(Illim?)
There was no reply. Had Cassie..? No, she wouldn't morph a Yeerk, would she? And if so, where were the others?
I had no further time to think, as I heard the Visser's thought speak boom through the pool complex. (I am ready to interrogate the prisoner.)
The Yeerk outside my cage jumped slightly; obviously this meant something. Who was he? It can't have been Illim.
(Bring Aftran 942 to me,) the Visser ordered. My cage began to move towards the surface of the pool.
I was desperately afraid, now. But I knew I had to still hold out as long as possible.
My cage broke through the surface, and I felt the chain being unclipped. Human hands grasped the cage and carried it for a while, before they retreated and Andalite hands grasped the cage latch, opening it.
I felt fingers dig cruelly into my sensitive flesh, and squirmed desperately as I was pulled up and held high.
(You will tell me everything about the so- called peace movement,) the Visser announced in public thought speech. (And then I'll have to use my imagination and come up with a long, slow, painful way for you to die.)
I trembled in fear.
Suddenly, I felt the Visser grab me tighter and snatch me upwards. Then, he let go and I was falling through the air. A human hand grabbed me, and I felt the vibrations of human feet on the metal pier.
We fell into the Yeerk pool, and the human swam deep below the surface. (Cassie?) I asked uncertainly.
She can't have heard me. I slipped from her fingers, but tried to stay close to her.
The next thing I remember is Cassie's thought speech; I was so confused that the other events have faded to a blur. (Aftran! Get between my talons. Now! Hurry!)
I obeyed, sliding between sharp claws. They tightened around me. My flesh was defenceless, and the pan was intense. I think I must have blacked out, for I felt nothing until we plunged into cooler air.
I heard Cassie's thought speech. (As Marco would say if he were here; that was interesting. Let's never, ever, do that again.)
I was too frightened to appreciate the joke. If he were here… well, where were the others? A horrible thought struck me. Had they refused to get me out?
I'm not doing this to save you, Yeerk. Rachel's voice, from so long ago it seemed now, echoed loud in my head.
Ax: I'll destroy you for this.
Was that the truth? Perhaps then, now that I could not betray them, they would abandon me, allow me to die of Kandrona starvation. Perhaps, in their hatred, they would refuse to end my life painlessly.
Of course, I knew that they couldn't save me, no one could. But I wanted to die quickly.
I felt myself being slid into water, and hurried footsteps moving away.
I swam around in tight circles. What was happening? I was still terrified, not thinking clearly. If I had been, my sonar would have told me that I was in Cassie's barn.
A hand slid into the water, grabbing me roughly by the tail. I was yanked up and carried at a run, then lifted. My sonar detected a familiar shape. An ear.
Desperate to understand what was happening, and with my instincts being more useful than my conscious mind, I crawled inside despite my vow.
Some calm part of my panicking mind registered that this was not a species I had infested before. As I entered the host mind, I realised that he was unconscious; but his memories were easy to open.
I learnt that this was Aximili, and that he had a disease. I discovered that I was (or should be) in Cassie's barn. I also found out that the others weren't there to get me out simply because they were too sick. That was a relief, at least.
(Cassie?) I asked uncertainly, using his thought- speech capacity.
"I'm here. I got you away from Visser Three. You're inside my friend, Ax," She explained hurriedly. "There's a gland in his head which is about to burst any second. Can you feel it? Can you tell me where to cut?"
(The Tria gland, I have accessed his memories..) I said.
Could I feel it? It was very difficult to feel much in an unconscious host. I stammered nervously, only just recovering from my earlier torment. (I.. it is unusual to attempt this… no nerve endings.. no way to feel.. what?.. wait!) I was speaking in half sentences.
'Get a grip, Aftran. You sound like Samilin', I muttered to no one. Great, now I was talking to myself.
"Wait? Wait what?" Asked another voice.
(Got it. But, Cassie, it feels very warm.)
"Just tell me where to cut."
OK, I had to get a grip. (The Tria gland is in the back of the head. It's even with the bottom of his ears. Dead centre.)
"OK, I'm going to make the first incision. Stay out of the way."
(Well, duh,) I muttered. She chose to ignore that statement.
I could hear her giving instructions to someone else. I grew nervous. She was taking too long.
(You have to hurry, Cassie,) I said. (It doesn't look good in here.)
After what seemed like a month, I felt air come into Ax's skull, and felt the Tria gland being removed. The air was then cut off; Cassie must have replaced the section of Ax's skull she had cut through.
(His blood pressure is going down. His heart rates are slowing down, too,) I reported to reassure Cassie.
Then, suddenly, the Andalite woke up, and realised he couldn't move.
(Wha..) he said. And I thought Andalites were supposed to be intelligent?
(Cassie, he's coming to,) I called.
A split second later, he figured it out.
(AHHH! AHH! AHHHHHHHH!)
(And he's starting to scream!) I yelled to Cassie. To the Andalite, I snapped: (Calm down, you idiot!)
(GET OUT OF MY HEAD, SCUM! NOOOOOOO!)
I was hurt at being called scum. Even Karen hadn't called me that. I'd got 'slug' a couple of times. And 'snail' once. But not scum.
"What's wrong?" Cassie cried, worried. "Am I hurting him?"
(No.) I said in a toneless voice. (He's screaming because there's a Yeerk in his head.)
"Ax, listen to me," Cassie called, trying to help. "The Yeerk is Aftran. She helped me save your life!"
(NO! You should have killed me. I would have slit my throat before I let this filth inside my head!)
(He's totally freaking. He says you should have let him die. He would have killed himself with his own blade before he let a Yeerk infest him.) A slightly more polite translation of Ax's words.
"He doesn't understand," Cassie told me with conviction. She was trying to make me feel better.
(Yes, he does. I'm coming out.) I was getting a headache, anyway. Ax beat all my previous hosts for how loud he could yell.
(OUT!) Ax screamed.
(Alright, I'm going, I'm going. Don't bust an artery, one near- death experience is enough for one day.)
(What?)
I had sounded slightly 'human'. It was a very easy thing to pick up, I realised. (Never mind.)
I slithered out of Ax's ear, and felt myself being lifted and slid into some water. We Yeerks need to be in a host or liquid environment to survive; I guessed that Illim must have explained this to Cassie. I was pretty certain now that she had morphed him.
After realising what a pin in the tail Andalites could be, I almost felt sorry for Visser Three. Strong emphasis on the 'almost'.
I will never go anywhere near an Andalite brain again.
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