I know this is a long time coming, and I hope you guys are still around ;) I am suddenly in possession of a tremendous amount of free time, so expect regular updates D
Pheonix Feathers – Chapter 17
Finally, Tobias opened his eyes. The other Animorphs lay on the ground outside of his cage, sleeping deeply. They were obviously exhausted. Tobias assumed that they had been desperately been trying to escape. All except for Jake, that is. He sat on the ground beside Tobias, leaning against the wall, and looking forlornly up at the ceiling. He looked troubled.
Not that Tobias cared, of course. Jake deserved to be upset. He deserved to be hurt, he deserved to… No. That wasn't right, not now. These were his friends, and though it hurt, though he wanted to be away, far away in Jordan's arms… Jordan would be worried about him. He had to get out, get home, and he could only do that with the other Animorphs' help.
Guys…?> he called softly, directing the thought-speak just at the three of them, marveling at how easy it was, falling back on that list. Of course, there was one name missing from it, but he supposed that even the most powerful government agency wasn't stupid enough to kidnap an Andalite war-prince off of… well, wherever Ax was now. And, well… another name was missing, too, but this was not the time.
Hey? Everyone?> He asked more loudly. Jake turned to look at him, eyes staring up at him dolefully. He nodded once, curtly, but said nothing.
Tobias clicked his beak in exasperation, resisting the urge to knock it against the walls of the cube. Cassie! Marco!>
Marco awoke with a snort, sitting up straight and glancing around for the source of the voice with his dark eyes. He looked different, Tobias realized, which surprised him even though he knew it shouldn't. Of course things had changed, had happened while he was gone. He couldn't have expected time to stand still, not just for him.
Though it had in the past.
Marco's older, more lined face finally alighted on Tobias, and he grinned, pushing against the floor with his palms to stand up, and sauntering up to him with a walk Tobias remembered so well that joy welled up inside him just seeing it, this tiny, simple thing, which was part of his friend who he had missed so much.
"Hey, bird-boy! How's it going?" He asked cheerfully, bending over the cage in which Tobias was trapped and, in typical, analytical, Marco form, not looking at Tobias, but examining every inch of the cage for a way to free his friend. Furrowing his brow in disappointment at being able to find one, he looked at Tobias finally, quickly plastering on another grin. "The voice in the sky told us you'd tell us why we're here?" He asked, and Tobias detected, with his keen hawk ears, the undertone of fear in the other boy's voice.
Suddenly Marco was pushed aside a bit to make room for a lithe, pretty black girl, who wasn't, really a girl anymore. She had grown taller, a little, but aside from that she looked exactly as Tobias had remembered her, if a little more mature. Same short hair, braided, same dark, kind eyes. "Tobias? Are you alright?" She asked, worriedly, running her hand across the front of the cage, as if she wanted to touch him like she used to touch the animals in her barn, running her fingers gently over each bone and muscle, checking for injuries.
Tobias laughed, hunching his shoulders and extending his wings as far as the cage would allow him, ruffling his feathers. I'm just fine.> He twisted his head back and forth between the two of them, drinking them in, wondering at how glad he really was to see them. This is just like old times. I'm in a cage, Marco's scared but making jokes, and Cassie's trying to help all the animals.>
Marco chuckled appreciatively, and Cassie blushed. They were back again, like Tobias never left.
But he always knew that he could make it alright with Marco and Cassie. Marco was, well, he was Marco, and Marco wasn't one to hold a grudge. He left people alone, but was there in full form when you needed him, even if you didn't know you needed him. And Cassie, she wasn't one to judge anyone. And… she understood.
Tobias looked past his two friends, intense golden hawk eyes turning to the body, lying prone against the wall. Jake.>
Jake turned to look at him again. His eyes were blank, free of emotion and tears. That scared Tobias tremendously. He remembered being like that. He had been like that for years, hadn't he, flying around forgetting everything, using the hawk as a shield. Jake, he guessed was using this new persona, this strong, emotionless soldier.
Because before, during the war, although Jake had, sometimes, acted in that role, they all knew it wasn't true. Maybe he had to be that way when he had to make life or death decisions, but they could still see Jake in his bickering with Marco, his "don't call me prince" act with Ax, in the gentle, tender touches he shared with Cassie when they thought that no one was looking. He was still Jake. Looking at him now, Tobias couldn't see any of that anywhere.
Jake.> Tobias said his name again because he couldn't think of what else to say. There was nothing that would ever make it alright, nothing that would make Tobias stop blaming him, or make him stop blaming himself, nothing that would make her come back.
They stared at one another for a number of minutes, and though Marco opened his mouth to speak a few times, Cassie grasped his forearm, shutting him up. She knew that something important was happening, through the joining of their gazes, Tobias's hawk eyes which betrayed no emotion, and Jake's which couldn't.
Finally, Tobias spoke again, dropping his head down to examine a talon to break the connection. Come on, fearless leader. If we're going to get out of here we're going to need your help.>
Jake smiled. A small, strained, wisp of a smile, but a smile none the less. He stood, nodding, a thread of light appearing in those eyes. "Alright."
And with that, it was a little better.