CHAPTER 7
We were instantly in a different place, a vastly different place. For one, I was much closer to the ground. I had resumed being a hawk. I looked around.
Walls. I hate walls. No wind at all. No head wind, no tailwind. Not even a breeze.
I saw Ax standing just to my left. Tabitha, her eyes wide not with fear, but with wonder, was to my right. We seemed to be in a brightly lit hallway, which was quiet for now.
"Yo, you... you're from… You're from my dreams!" Tabitha whispered looking at Ax.
I looked around again, and heard footsteps. ((Ax, people. Hide now.))
He looked around with his four eyes for someplace we could go in. He saw a door, opened it, found it was empty and dark, and then ushered us in.
((Ax can you turn on the light?))
((How would I do that?)) he replied. Duh, of course Ax wouldn't know how to work human light switches. He hadn't been in his human morph that often, and all of his technology was based off of thought-speak.
"Here, let me do it." Tabitha went over and turned on the light. On the light went and we took a look at where we were. I saw wood on the walls, a few books on a small table, and a plush chair. I fluttered to the chair and landed upon it for a better view.
I saw the books with the hawk vision I had. There was a New Testament, an Old Testament, a Koran, and a few others I didn't recognize.
((Ax I think we are in a hospital, and I think this is like the praying room or something.))
"Actually, it is a 'meditation room', and we can lock it if you want," Tabitha said, nearly scaring me off my perch.
I had forgotten she was there. Most people, unless they were a controller often ran and screamed when they saw Ax.
She didn't do either, and she wasn't a controller. I considered this carefully for a moment or two. ((Ya, go ahead and lock the door.))
"Ok, now first things first. What are you?" she asked Ax.
((I am an Andalite. Why are you unafraid?))
It occurred to me then that Ax was just as freaked out about this as I was, and he didn't have the introduction given to me by the Ellimist.
"I see one like you in my dreams."
This answer seemed to suffice for now. Ax then turned to me and asked, ((Where are we? What are we doing here?))
I told him about the Ellimist. He stiffened. To the Andalites, the Ellimist was often depicted in fairy tales as a trickster.
((What does he want with us this time?))
((I don't know, Ax-man, but he wants to show us something.))
"Wait, hold on. The bird, you're talking, and you sound like Tobias. How is this happening?" She then started to look scared. That relieved me. With this much weirdness I was scared, so she should have been wetting her pants.
((Well, uh...))How much do I reveal to her? I thought to myself. The Ellimist said that memories could be erased, as needed. At least as he saw needed. I didn't trust him, so I stuck with the truth in its most minimal form.
((I have the technology to change from one beast to another, but I can only stay that way for two hours at a time. Over that and I become stuck. The Ellimist-))
"The one who brought us here?" she asked.
((Yes. He gave me the technology back, and warped time so I could then morph my body. You see it is an alien technology developed by the race of my friend here, Ax.))
The only thing Tabitha could manage was "Wow."
((Yes, very much "wow".))
"So why are we in a hospital?" she asked.
((I have no idea. Oh, Ax, a hospital is-))
((I know what a hospital is, Tobias, I saw them on "The Young and the Restless". They seemed to cure memory failure, and other human ailments.))
Ax has a television, and sometimes it gets strange.
"Why are we here?" the girl asked impatiently.
((I don't know, but I think Ax and I should morph into humans, even if the clothes are funny.)) You see, we have never figured how to morph clothing, except the minimal skin tight garb we call morphing outfits.
(This may seem a little strange, but it'll be okay.) I said, trying to reassure Tabitha.
I started the morph. I am always struck by the irony that unlike my other friends, I have to morph into a human. But I guess, so does Ax.
Every morph is different and as I watched Ax his front legs and feet got sucked into his body like spaghetti. His blue fur then faded as his arms stretched, and his too many fingered hands molded themselves into 10 fingers. Hoofs to toes, and a chasm opened up to form a mouth.
I was going along similar changes, my feathers flattened first so I looked like a plucked chicken. Then I grew, taller and taller. Arms grew out of wings, and my feet grew from talons.
A minute later we were done. I looked over at Ax, then Tabitha and said, "Let's go find what the Ellimist wants us to see."