Pheonix Feathers – Chapter Eleven
three weeks earlier
Jordan awoke with a start, sitting up so quickly that he almost roused the boy beside him from sleep, staring into the darkness of his bedroom. He'd just had the strangest, most vivid dream of his life. He'd been running in a field of strange, blue grass, under a sky filled by two suns, the name 'Tree' echoing in his head. He'd had four legs, and four eyes too—He realized he must have been an Andalite, and then he'd been wrenched into the sky, out of his body, and dropped somewhere dark, and warm… A word popped into his head, a word he'd only heard mentioned before in the books of the Animorph Marco, the word 'Ellimist.' Ellimist… There'd been a voice, too, a whispering voice… Jordan wrinkled his nose, shaking his head and closing his eyes, trying to make sense of it. Then suddenly, it was as another mind had merged with his own, but not quite because the other mind was his own, so as if a veil had been lifted off his memories so he could finally see them. His name was Flower, and he was chief of an Andalite tribe. His mother was Tree. But no, his name was Jordan, a human boy, and his mother was named Julia… And father was… there was that word again, Ellimist. Jordan struggled to remember what that word meant, but he was too caught up in memories of what fresh, clean water felt like as it ran through his legs, the way his spirit-tree's deep, slow, calm voice filled his head… And then the whispering voice from his dream returned, intoning it's own instructions into his head… Tell no one who you are, my Flower, and tell no one of your powers… you have a purpose, my son, a mission, you are to save he who is to save the world yet again, and that will be impossible if you stray from your path… when the time comes, you will know what to do. You will use the power of the Andalite well.
The voice faded away, leaving Jordan only with the remembrance of whom the world Ellimist referred to. It meant father.
Jordan slipped quietly out of bed, making his way to the bathroom to stare at his face in the mirror. Part of him knew that that was him, had always been him, but there will still the nagging voice in the back of the head which was appalled at the lack of eye stalks, extra legs, and at that hideous human nose. Something occurred to him, his eyes narrowing at their own reflection. "What did he mean the power of the Andalite?" He murmured to himself. There was only one thing Jordan could think of, and that couldn't possibly be… Mind reeling so that he was almost numb to his surroundings, he crept back into the bedroom quietly, and, careful not to wake the sleeping Tobias, opened his ferret's cage, lifting Elliot out slowly. He held him against his chest, concentrating, until he felt the strangest tingling run up his arm, as if a tiny electrical current. He replaced the ferret, locking the cage door, then returned to the bathroom, locking this door, as well. He stood with his back to the sink, looking into the full-length mirror on the back of the bathroom door. Ah, well. He had always wanted to see someone morph for real. He concentrated on a picture of Elliot in his mind, thought of him curled up cutely on his bed, sleeping soundly. Jordan gasped loudly as he realized he was shrinking, the morphing abruptly. Laughing at his foolishness, as well as at the unreality of the situation, he concentrated anew, watching with excited horror as he shrunk down to Elliot's size, with no other changes. Suddenly, thick, black and brown hair sprouted from all over his body. He felt his bones sliding around, his innards dissolving and reforming. He fell to all fours, new, long claws clicking against the blue tile. He looked up at his reflection; swishing his tail to be sure it was really him. He'd done it. He was Elliot. Suddenly, the ferret's mind hit him. Prey? Prey? The ferret wanted food, but in a lazy sort of way, as if it was confident it would get it. More than it was hungry, it was sleepy. It just wanted to go to sleep. And that large, black thing something in the back of Jordan's mind whispered were pajamas, looked pretty comfy… he clambered onto it, and, curling up tight, fell asleep.
When Tobias woke up, he instinctively reached out, eyes closed, to the other side of the bed. Finding no one there, he opened his eyes, sitting up and peering through the open door to the kitchen. If Jordan got up earlier than him, he usually fixed breakfast. Tobias didn't see anyone, though, or smell anything cooking. "Jordan?" He called questioningly. No answer. Furrowing his brow, he got up, quickly pulling on a pair of Jordan's jeans strewn on the floor beside his bed. "Jordan?" He called again. He pulled open the bathroom door, stepping with distaste over the pajamas on the floor. Their place was a bit messy, sure, but did he have to leave his clothing everywhere? He reached down to pick them up. A ferret fell out, yawning and stretching. It looked up at him reproachfully for waking it up. Tobias raised an eyebrow, chuckling slightly. "Were you bothering Jordan this morning? Maybe that's why he locked you in here. Silly Elliot. He scooped the ferret up, snuggling him for a moment, but not long as he seemed to be in an especially hurry to be put down, so he placed him inside the ferret cage, leaving the door open. "Well, you seem to have a lot of energy this morning, so I'll leave you to run around the bedroom for today. Just don't cause too much trouble, okay?" He closed the bedroom door behind him, and began scouring the kitchen for a note, or something. Ah, well. He wasn't too worried. Jordan's job was demanding, and he supposed he could have been called away for an early meeting and forgotten to leave a note. Tobias would call him in a few hours. He made himself a slice of toast, munching on it as he pulled fresh clothes from the clean laundry, and, after combing his hair, left the apartment, locking the door behind him. He had to do inventory today, he remembered, groaning softly to himself. It was a hectic day, and in the midst of it, he forgot altogether to call his boyfriend.
Jordan awoke, dropped unceremoniously on his head. He yawned, then opened his mouth to complain. Nothing came out. It was about then that he realized that Tobias was standing over him. He doubted that Tobias had grown about a hundred feet over night, and the apartment itself with him, so that must mean… Damn it! Jordan yelled to himself in his head. The huge Tobias picked him up, holding his against his chest. Jordan scrabbled against his hands, ferret paws clawing him for all they were worth, though they did little damage as Elliot's claws were kept well trimmed. He would have generally felt bad for trying to hurt Tobias, but he was too panic stricken at the moment to care. What if he was trapped? How long had it been? What if Tobias noticed Elliot in the cage, as he obviously thought that Jordan was Elliot himself? What if he was trapped? Tobias placed him in the cage, saying something Jordan didn't bother to listen to, and then closed the door. Instantly, Jordan leapt from the cage to the bed, willing himself to demorph.
It was difficult, like climbing out of a pit of quicksand, but he did it. He must have been very, very close to the limit, but he was alright. He stared at his hands, fully formed human hands, almost unbelieving in what had almost happened. But he was human. He was fine. And, he went to check, Elliot was asleep under his blanket, so Tobias must not have noticed him. It was going to be fine. And now that the shock had worn off… that had been cool. Jordan smiled to himself, still staring at his hands, remembering that fur that had covered them only moments ago. It might be true that now he had a purpose… but since it didn't appear to have caught up with him yet, he was going to have some fun. After all, he'd always wanted to fly. He would figure out what he had realized last night later, as he would figure out who this person 'who is to save the world yet again' was later. Yes, today he was going to have fun. He stopped to pull on some clothing, and call in sick for the day, before he nearly flew out of the door.