XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
At 1041 hours
Thursday 13th May
LEAH
We returned to the fortress/mansion and demorphed. I was weary when we entered the meeting room, so I dropped down onto a couch, as Mom and Dad sat next to me. Jake, Adam and Sam sat across from us, while Marco was on the other couch
"Is everything alright?" asked a voice
I looked up to see that Cassie and John had entered the room, looking at us with worried looks. Or at least Cassie was, John was just staring off into space
"We got attacked by David," started Jake
"What?"
"And we all seven of us fought him to a draw," finished Marco
Cassie came over and sat next to Jake, after Sam had moved aside for her
"But how can that be?" she asked, looking at us, "how can he come back?"
"Crayak gave him his morphing powers back and the ability to be human like me and morph," replied Dad
"As long as he kills every one of us," said Mom
"And he has the perfect morph," said Adam, "with one howl, he could kill us all"
"We won't let him kill us," said Jake, "We draw him out and strike"
"How do we do that without killing ourselves?" asked Marco
"We're not sure if his fortress is fortified. With an army like us, he probably won't need defences, like our weapons, as he'll have Howlers and Yeerks"
"But he would have some sort of wall, won't he?" said Marco, "just because we don't have walls, doesn't mean they don't"
"Marco's right, we need to sneak into their fortress and find out all their defences so we have a better chance of winning," said Adam
"What's the best morph we have?" asked Jake
"John and I have a rhino morph," said Sam
"Tori's got a cobra morph and I don't have any infiltration morphs," I pointed out
"What about you, Adam?" asked Dad
He shrugged before answering
"I've got a cockroach, does that count?"
"Okay, this is how we're gonna bust in," said Jake, "Rachel, Ax and Tobias will go in as elephants. Morph at a distance away, but close enough so you don't have to travel far. Marco and I will be rhinos, along with Sam and John"
"Hey, fearless leader, what can I do?" I asked
Everyone looked at me. I grinned sheepishly
"Got it from Marco"
"Hey, don't all look at me at once"
"You're lookout. Then, Tobias, Adam, Tori and myself win go in and infiltrate, trying to find anything"
"Hey, Jake, I think there might be Yeerk stuff and even though we've known them for years, we still don't know Yeerk language," Marco pointed out
"Alright, we'll take Ax with us. Anyone else want to come?" asked Jake
"Don't have a morph for this kinda thing," answered Sam
Cassie and John both shook their heads. Marco grinned. Mom frowned
"Why can't I go?"
"Do you want to go instead of Dad?" Adam asked
"When there's a fight in that fortress, I wanna be there," she answered
"Okay, honey, you can take my place, I'll be lookout," said Dad
"Just as I thought," Mom said smugly
"Marco, you, Cassie and the others wait outside as back-up. If anything goes wrong, well, we'll get to that when it happens"
"No worries, fearless leader"
"So, are we ready to start this?" asked Jake
"When shall we do it?" asked Sam
"Does tonight sound good?"
"They wouldn't be expecting it really," said Marco, "sure at night they would, but not so early though, later in the night"
"Early in the night, even better," said Dad
"About nine o'clock?" said Jake
"Yeah, okay, I'll write down in my reminder that I'm to go on a suicidal mission tonight at nine o'clock," said Marco
"Leah, go and tell Ax and Tori about this mission," said Mom
I left the room and went to the right hand wing, where I found Tori in her room
"Hey Tori, we've got a mission"
"Uh-huh"
"And you're going on it"
"What?"
She
spun around in her chair
"We're to fly in tonight at nine o'clock, barrage through the defences and you're to morph into the cobra," I said
"Oh man, that sucks"
"See ya tonight"
I left the room and headed straight for Ax's room. And when I opened the door, I was surprised at what I found. The floor was entirely made of grass, there were a few trees in each corner and a stream ran across the far wall, running off a water feature. Ax was at the stream, with one hoof in the water. He saw me with his stalk eyes
(Hello Leah)
"Hey Ax, whatcha doing?"
(Merely drinking. I'm to perform the mid-morning ritual soon)
"There's a mid-morning ritual?"
(Well, I made it up just then. Was it humour?)
"I guess so"
(Since you're here, I was wondering if you would like to join me)
"How would I go about that?"
(Acquire and morph me)
"Serious?"
(Of course. Tobias did it one, but unfortunately…)
He trailed off and looked away, before turning to me
(Would you like to?)
I was excited. I knew Dad had morphed Ax and was the only one. And since I was of Andalite heritage, I felt giddy that I was getting in touch with it. I placed a hand on Ax's back and focused on him becoming me. He went into a trance, until I pulled away and began to morph
Stalk eyes shot out of my head, as two front legs burst out from my waist. My mouth melted and disappeared altogether. Blue fur grew all over my body, as I was pitched onto my front legs. My organs sloshed around to align in their new places. And lastly, the tail formed, standing erect over my shoulders. I looked up at the tail blade
I felt giddy, as the Andalite's instincts surfaced. It felt cool, calm, and ready for combat and…optimist
(Cool) I said
(It is wonderful to be an Andalite) said Ax (Now, let's begin)
(You just made this up, right?) I asked
(That's right)
(So, do you know what to do?)
He looked at me
(From dusk to dawn, we remember our ancestors)
I repeated his words
(Freedom and honour is the cause, for every living creature worthy)
Again I repeated his words
(I, Aximili-Esgarrouth-Isthill, give my life to protect others)
(I, Leah Forlay-Jordan Berenson, give my life to protect others)
Ax placed his tail blade at his throat and relaxed it. I followed suit
(Now, let's have a drink)
I placed my right hoof in the water and I felt coolness run up my leg and into my body
(Didn't you want to tell me something?) he asked
I remembered the mission and told him all about it
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX