DISCLAIMER: See Ch. 1.

A/N: Well, only a few more chapters left before this is all wrapped up… but first, time to show a new morph or two… after all, you can't have Animorphs without morphing, now can you? (BTW, I'd just like to apologize in advance if I don't describe the morphing process so well.)

Also, this chapter is dedicated to Aldrex, whose fics "The Forgotten" and "The Recalled" are simply awesome. If you haven't checked them out and read them yet, then I heartily recommend reading them.

CHAPTER 17

Tobias

Over time, I had come to make acquaintances with the Kelbrid, or more specifically, Saventi, Skiba and Vegren. For some reason, I was just interested in the Kelbrid and their way of doing things (and I was pretty sure it almost had nothing to do with the fact that we were birds one way or another, contrary to how Marco joked about it).

Okay… so maybe it did have something to do with that. Being a human definitely had its perks, but so did being a bird – or more specifically a bird of prey, like a hawk.

Whatever.

A new program was being introduced… Andalite warriors would come to Earth and acquire all sorts of morphs which they could use in battle. The planet practically provided a whole cornucopia of "morphable" creatures with DNA for them to acquire. Cassie would provide more info on the animals they were acquiring.

In addition to that, they also acquired Hork-Bajir and Kelbrid morphs. With permission from the members of both races, Andalite warriors acquired DNA from both alien species, mixed them together with the Frolis Maneuver, and came out with their own unique Hork-Bajir and Kelbrid morphs.

One day, just as Ax was finishing his own unique Kelbrid morph, I thought out loud, "It must be great to have a Kelbrid morph."

Vegren and the few other Kelbrid warriors looked wryly at each other (well, or so I thought), and the next moment, the Kelbrid karmaad said to me, "If you wish to gain a Kelbrid morph… then I do not see why not."

"Thanks, Vegren." With that, I acquired his DNA and that of three other Kelbrid warriors.

And then, with Ax coaching me through it, I went through the process…

First, I had to go through each of their morphs separately before finally making my own. I had seen Ax do this with my friends years ago when he made his own human morph, and so I at least had a reference to go by with that.

I morphed Vegren first…

Feathers began to sprout all over my body, with whites mixed it with light and pale grays, with fuchsias and blues here and there. My feet grew into claws with talons, my hands also growing in a similar way. My mouth extended into a half-hard beak with the edges of the beak almost acting like lips. Little rows of teeth also grew inside my mouth, teeth designed for eating and consuming both plants and prey alike. My legs felt strange at the knees, since Kelbrid have that trick of allowing their legs to bend either way. My dirty blond hair sprouted into a magnificent crest of feathers, and my eyesight became sharper, almost as good as a hawk's. And finally, there was the pair of wings that defined a Kelbrid, those two angel-like wings which grew between my spine and my shoulder blades. I could feel my center of balance shift because of those wings, which were relatively light and yet strong.

I wanted to explore more as a Kelbrid, but held that off until the very end, because I still had this process left to complete…

I went through all four acquired morphs, mixing them into my own… until finally, I could sense I was done.

Finally, I spoke. "So, how do I look?" My words almost came out like rough squawks. Apparently, these Kelbrid vocal cords could take some getting used to.

"It is… unique," Vegren said after a moment.

I raised an eyebrow. "Uh… I don't look ridiculous, do I?"

(I wouldn't say that,) Ax volunteered.

I moved for the first time on my nimble yet strong legs, getting used to the unique knee joints. I also learned to fold my wings back when I walked, as not to slow myself with drag when they were left open. Walking up to a shiny Kelbrid fighter, I observed myself in the reflective surface.

Not bad, I thought to myself. I almost feared for half a second that I would look so ridiculous that it looked as though I had gotten splattered in several different colors of paint or would even end up looking like a Jackson Pollock painting. But this… oh, this was so much better.

For the most part, my feathers were a brilliant shade of blue, mixed in with some light gray and a little bit of white as well. My main body looked like Earth's daytime sky with some clouds mixed in, or maybe like a male Andalite's fur. My crest of feathers on top of my head looked almost like my dirty blond hair as a human. I could see that I had a very powerful build, and I was probably as strong as a typical male human marine.

However, since I had also made my own morph, I wasn't wearing any kind of Kelbrid armor or whatever. Technically, I was naked, but judging by how the Kelbrid were covered with the same amount of feathers pretty much over their own body, I guess they didn't need to wear clothes for the same reasons we humans did (to cover certain regions of the body).

"When I said you looked unique, what I meant was that you somehow morphed a pattern of feathers not seen among Kelbrid," Vegren stated.

"I see," I said, still observing how I looked. Then turning back to Vegren and the other Kelbrid warriors, I said, "It is wonderful, thanks again."

"It is no problem," Vegren said casually.

Struck by a sudden idea, I decided to try something out…

Moving my wings, I tried to fly as a Kelbrid…

It took a few tries, since I had to get used to this new center of gravity and figure out how to be most aerodynamic, but once I figured it out… it was so wonderful, to fly as a Kelbrid.

In fact, it was amazing enough just to be a Kelbrid. As someone who's lived his life either as a human or as a bird, this new form almost seemed like a wonderful fusion of both other forms, like a kind of morphing Zen or something. It offered the best of both worlds, with the dexterity and strength of a human combined with the flight and movement of a bird. The eyesight was not as strong as a hawk's, but still quite strong; the sense of smell was improved somewhat; and did I mention flying?

Ax told me through thought-speak about when I had only ten minutes left in morph, and after one last dive through the air, I swooped back and demorphed.

We spent the rest of the night talking, including possible tactics we could learn and use while in our brand-new Kelbrid morphs.

TBC…

A/N: So, how was this chapter overall?

Next chapter is Cassie again, mixed in with something from Toby Hamee's perspective… –Quillian