I ran as fast as my hooves would carry my fat little body. Phew. Oh, I needed to get in a good run every now and then. Oh the pain. Oh my sides were killing me.
I wheezed up to the Rachel. Oh, a few more mornings of this and I would die.
I was feeling panicky. Oh no... Leetherin would surely end my career with this. I could hear Galnuit getting the end of it now.
Dr. L'ainishikaa left a mental patient to his own devices! Just let him roam around the Andalite countryside. Who cares if he's married to that female? He could have violated her! A marriage for him shouldn't have even been allowed! What was the Council of Civilian Affairs thinking? So what if he was a great warrior? He's a mental case!
Oh no... I would never work as a doctor again. I'd be pushed back down to cleaning the hospital floors and changing colostomy bags on injured warriors. Ugh...
No. Not back to there. Never back to there. And never back to life as some little helpless housewife.
Then I thought of Hanike, and my guilt slowed me down.
(Aaaagh!) I yelled, clutching at my head, which now ached. I let my arms fall to my sides and gazed longingly off into the distance.
Oh...why did it have to be so difficult? Why couldn't I just spend the rest of my life being the little happy housewife?
Because you'd never be happy...
Tobias
I swooped into the Rachel, commanding Ax to leap off of my body once I hit the floor of the main room and to go back into one of the hallways or rooms and demorph.
(I am going now.) he said, as I hit the floor in the main room.
(Go. Hurry.) I said. (And keep away from the warmth! We don't need you demorphing on someone's body!)
"Hee hee hee." Menderash said, slurring and swaying up the ramp.
"Menderash!" Jake said. "Where's-"
(Hey guys!) I said, brightly interrupting him. (Where's Ax-man?)
Leetherin was there and he stomped up to me, rather intimidating, since I was an already edgy bird with a heart pounding from flight and he was a big stompy Andalite with a bad grumpy attitude at the moment.
(That is precisely what we were wondering, son of Elfangor.)
I nearly groaned aloud again. Son of Elfangor. For crying out loud, my name was Tobias! What was up with these people and their parentage obsession?
It made me sound like some little pansy kid who was trying to live up to his daddy's legacy. Not that my dad's legacy was crap to live up to anyway...
(I don't know.) I said truthfully. (I think he's somewhere in there? Right guys?) I asked, hinting to them. They grinned knowingly and looked more at ease.
"Yeah!"
"Yeah sure man, whatever. Cool."
"Yeah Baron."
"YEAH! hic!" (Menderash!)
Menderash swayed up to Leetherin. "HE'S ON THITH SHIP AN' HE'S BACK THERE!" he yelled, motioning towards the rooms farther back.
(Get away from me, you disgust me!) Leetherin said in pure loathing. He knocked Menderash away from him with his tail, knocking the drunkie to the floor.
Menderash leaped up angrily.
"Soo... want to fight eh?"
(Oh no.) I said softly.
"Queens first!" Menderash yelled.
(Why you-)
Menderash punched Leetherin.
The two launched into a fight that ended up in Jake in tiger morph pulling Menderash off of Leetherin's back where he had been riding and Marco in gorilla morph restraining Leetherin's tail. Finally, Menderash subdued and sleeping drunkenly under a control panel, Leetherin pushed away from Marco and roared.
(THAT'S IT! THAT'S IT! THAT IS ABSOLUTELY IT! I WILL NOT TAKE ANYMORE OF THIS RIDICULOUSNESS! )
L'Aini came forward. (Please! My patient will wake up! He is taking a nap!)
(I DON'T CARE ABOUT YOUR PATIENT! LOOK AT MY HEAD!) he pointed at a bulging knot on his own head courtesy of Menderash.
Just then, Ax, who had demorphed from flea morph came in.
(What is going on?) he murmured fake sleepily.
(What?) Leetherin's head snapped around from looking at L'Aini to looking at Ax. (How?)
(Come on Leetherin.) Dr. Sardis said, sounding fully disgusted. (There's nothing more to see here. )
He stopped by L'Aini and said something privately to her on the way out.
The stupid young warrior who kept leering at L'Aini and quickly privately examining her rear with an eye occasionally, grabbed Leetherin's arm and pulled him along too. He winked at L'Aini again on the way out. She closed her eyes in disgust and looked away.
He must have said something to her too. She looked agrieved.
With Marco demorphing and Jake already demorphed for a few minutes now, I made my way over to L'Aini.
(Hey babe.) I said softly, morphing to Andalite.
She looked at me, her eyes full of grief and sorrow and pain.
(Save your morphing Warrior Tobias.) she said softly. (I just want to go home...)
And crying, she left.