Hello, I'm rather unknown. You might know my sister though, Vixenrath. I'm her older brother. Our styles are a little similar, but that's because we correct each other's work. So this is Animorphs, which I don't own. It has a new character in it, because my sister promised not to add any clichés, but that's my sister, not me. Me, I'm her older brother, and this is my story, which I do own.
1
The Talent
I sat up on my cot, drenched in sweat, and angry. They had tortured that poor centaur, then they had the nerve to kill him! He wasn't normal (he was blue, but, even so, he was a centaur, so that was weird enough) but neither were they! One of the centaurs, (there were two, right?) had changed into a monster! Like a nightmare I had when I was smaller, only I can't remember when I was really young. Being sixteen, you would think that I would have no problem recalling memories from my youth, but from the age of ten, I had no memory. Just this little clearing with this little tent that I called home. Shuddering, I glanced at my watch, and was glad that I did, I would be late for school if I didn't get moving.
Shrugging out of my sleeping bag, I dressed quickly, searched for a clean pair of socks, and unzipped my tent. Just if you're wondering, my name's Maxine, I live on my own, in a little tent, out in the forest that has become a national park. I have no family, memory, friends, and that I go to a school about two hours away by bus. The sun hadn't come up yet, and that's the best time to get up. Stirring the embers from last night's fire, I threw a few more logs on, and got a nice fire going. As I walked back from the camp sight's bathroom, I dried my fingers and palms, on the towel and rid myself of the soap residue; then dug some sausages out of the cooler that I kept my food in. Sticking them on metal stakes, I post them over the fire, and searched for my hair gel.
I have inch-long black hair, which I spike into sharp-as-razors-spikes. With a white tank top (not the ones with the spaghetti straps, but the thick ones that cover most of your shoulders.) blue-jeans that are way too baggy to be allowed at school, and a red, dragon-print plaid shirt, un-buttoned, I was a little intimidating. Mix that with jade-green-almond-shaped eyes, hazelnut dark skin, and a towering height of six feet four inches, I can be downright scare-the-shit-out-of-me scary. I turned the sausages, and packed my messenger-bag-backpack with the homework from the night before. I might look like someone that steals others lunch money and beats up the new kid for a few laughs, but I'm really a nice person that passes all classes. Grabbing my food, backpack, and placing the cover over the fire-ring to smother the fire, I ran down the road, and caught the bus just before it left. Showing the bus pass to Kyle (the driver) I flashed a white smile at him, asked him what he was planning for the weekend, and took my normal spot in the back of the bus.
So I sat there, for two hours, munching on the piping hot sausages, and thinking over the dream. I've had the dream for a while now, and it always turned out the same. Now that I thought about it, it seemed that it was more of a video recording than a figment of my imagination. With that in mind, I wondered if anyone else had dreams like I did; reoccurring. I decided to watch some of the others in my class today, and see if any of them were out of the ordinary swing of things. Even though it was only a week 'til summer vacation started, and that it was Friday, they would still be half-asleep in math. With that thought, the bus arrived in front of the school, and I rushed to my locker.
My locker is unknown territory. Unless you have no fear of getting lost, you shouldn't open it. It's a full-length locker, so you could easily fit the school geek into it, no problem. But as for getting him out, you'll need a machete. Hanging from the hooks inside are branches from home; my P.E. clothes; some birds nests; and pencils with strings tied to them. Coating the bottom was paper, books, p.e. shoes, and more miscellaneous items that I think might crawl out of my locker if I hold the door open too long. Grabbing my books for first and second period, and tossing in the others that I had brought along for the night, I slammed the door closed, and ran down the hall to science.
Golden fang
'This has got to be the most boring class in the world.' I thought as we received our tests that we took on Monday, and saw that I got another "A", what a surprise. Rolling my eyes, I glanced at my watch, another half-hour of class left- o-joy. I looked around at the others in the class, and the girl next to me was the only other one that ever got an "A". she was an African-American girl, with soft brown eyes, and a love of animals that came to school with her on her over-all's. I didn't have a problem with it, I thought that it livened up the place a little. It was rather nice, actually, to have some one next to me that also lived out-side of town. I couldn't remember her name off the top of my head at the moment. It was Cassious, or Clearia, or something like that. She was too quiet for me to remember. That's when I remembered something. She was part of that group. The group in school made of a tall guy that eats like crazy, a computer geek with long hair, a jock on the basketball team, the blond model-girl, and that dweeb that dropped from school a little while ago. That's what hit me. They had all started to hang out together, and the dweeb dropped out. Both happened at around the same time as my dreams started.
I leaned over, and tapped her on the shoulder. She looked at me, and backed up in her desk to the furthest away that she could get from me. Raising an eyebrow, I tried to ignore it.
"Hey, you're friends with that basketball jock, right? What's his name again…? Jake, right? Yeah, I remember now! Do you guy's know anything about the old construction site? Or about a blue centaur/deer-like thingy? Being an animal expert, I hoped that you could tell me what it was? I've seen it before, but I just don't see why it bothers me every day. Could you help me out?" she pulled away even further.
"Are you crazy! A blue centaur? Centaurs aren't real, let alone be blue. And people say that you're the smart one in this class! Proved me wrong!" she turned away, and took down the notes that the teacher was writing on the board.
I sighed, and copied down the notes as well. I was stupid, why bring up something like that around someone that is serious about real animals, not things in dreams! She must think that I was stocking her or something! Those thirty minutes seemed to take forever, and so did the rest of the of next three periods. I was still preoccupied about it when I went to my locker at lunch, and found her there. Along with the rest of her friends. (excluding the dropout.) The jock and the blond girl grabbed my arms, and dragged me outside, behind the gym, where there was no one around. Now don't get me wrong: out numbered as I was, I could easily take them on alone.
I dropped my shoulders, bet my knees, spread my feet to brace myself, and watched them carefully. The looked at each other for a moment, then the longhaired computer-geek stepped forward.
"How much do you know?" he asked.
"Know what?" I asked him.
"About the, what did you call it? Blue centaur?" he continued. I noticed that the lame jokes that he normally cracked in English were gone, but for once, I was seeing him a serious guy.
"Oh, that. Not much, but I see it in my dreams every night. So what!" They stared at me, and then looked up at the sky, gesturing for something to come down from the sky. A second later, a Red-tailed Hawk zoomed out of the sky, and landed lightly on the blond girl's shoulder. Also, a tall boy steeped from the shadows, and stared at me. He had a packet of hot-sauce in his hand, and was sucking on it greedily.
"What are the dreams like?" The girl with the hawk on her shoulder said. Now that I was completely freaked out, I told them everything. About the nightly scene in the old construction site, the two centaurs, one that changed into a weird thing that ate the other, and of the walking lawn mowers and black jam-bugs. They talked to each other for a moment, and I noticed that I was still in my defensive position, and I relaxed from it just as they turned around.
"Don't go anywhere, okay. Just tell us if this is the, 'centaur' that you see." The jock said. Then the guy with the hot-sauce started to turn a shade of blue. His feet grew, tore the shoes he was wearing to shreds, and became black hooves. His hair disappeared, and two straws with eyes on top pooped out of his head. His hands developed more fingers, and an extra set of legs; also with hooves; ripped holes in his shirt. A tail, like a scorpions snaked out behind him, and his mouth disappeared. I blinked, stared, and worked hard to keep my mouth closed. I swallowed.
"Yes." I said quietly. They looked around.
Do you know what this is? asked a voice. Spinning around, I didn't see anyone else in the area. I turned back to the group that was expecting an answer.
"You heard that, right?" I asked.
That was Tobias, it's called "thought speak." Answer the question. I sat down hard.
"No, I don't know what he… she… it, is. Why would I? Would one of you kindly explain what the hell is going on?" My voice was slightly husky, and my vision blurred a bit.
"Meet us here, after school, and we'll explain it to you." The jock said, handing me a map. The boy that had turned into a deer/centaur was back into the human shape, and was getting dressed in new cloths that he had brought along. I nodded, the bell rang, and as the others went to their classes, I checked myself into the nurses office.
I left the office after school, still in a daze, and I boarded the bus as normal. Looking at the paper, I took it to a stop just out of town, and followed the dirt road out to a farmhouse in the middle of nowhere. Going to the front door, I found a note taped to the door.
Come to the back of the house.
Cassie
THAT was her name! Cassie! I knew it started with a "C"! going around the house to the barn, I walked into the open door to the dark interior. The floor was covered in hay, cages were cluttered around the room, and they were full of injured animals. In the far corner were stacks of hay-bales, and the group that had met me at lunch. The boy was the deer thing again, and the bird was in the rafters. Cassie, the African-American girl stepped forward, grabbed my arm, and dragged me to the pile of hay. I stood in the middle of the circle, and they sat around me on the bales, like a room of judges. Then they explained to me the whole mess.
An hour later, I sat in the middle of the ring. The explaining had ended, and Rachel, the blond model girl, was searching for something in the refrigerator. The others talked about things like movies and teachers, and I heard Tobias, the bird up in the rafters who was really the dweeb the dropped out of school, once in a while. It was like I had tuned them out to the best of my ability. But Ax, the deer thing, and Tobias wee hard to tune out since they were in my mind. A moment later, Tobias was calling my name.
Maxine, Maxine! We need you to pay attention again! I looked up, and found that Rachel standing above me with a small blue cube. Ax also stood beside her, and swished his tail back and forth. Standing, I looked from him, to her, and around at the others.
"What are you doing? What are you going to do? I won't tell anyone, I swear!"
"No, you won't" sad Marco, the long-haired geek, "because you're going to become one of us, and if you tell anyone, then they'll kill you too. See how it works"
Put your hand on the cube. said a voice that I was quickly recognizing as Ax.
In a daze, I put my hand on one side of the cube, and Ax took another. Rachel let go, and the box was glowing. I felt a shock run up my fingers, into my spine, and my legs go numb. Then, it was over. Just like that. Rachel took the box, and hid it away again. I didn't know where, but at that moment, I didn't care. Cassie came over to me, smiled, and gestured to the cages around the room.
"Welcome to the Animorphs, I suggest that you find an animal to your liking, and absorb one quick. He have a lot to teach you."
Still in a daze, I walked through the maze of cages, and mulled over what they had said. What they had told me was crazy! But, at the same time, it made sense. If I touched an animal, I could absorb an animal's DNA, and become that animal. I've wanted to do that for some time. But save the world? That took some time to get used to. Suddenly, I came across one of the creatures in my dreams. The, what were they called? "Hork-Bajir" I think they called them. The red thing was asleep in the corner, not in a cage, but free, all two hundred pounds of pure muscle and blades of it. They were bad, right? They tore that poor, Andalite? – apart piece by piece! Had it heard every thing? I wove through the cages, and found Cassie. She and the others raced over to the Hork-Bajir, and started to laugh.
"Toby's alright! She won't hurt you!" Jake said, and woke up the weed-whacker. It sat up, and smiled with its beak up at us.
"So there's a new one, right?" it asked. The others nodded. I had a sudden idea. I knelt in front of it, and looked it up and down.
"Can I absorb it?" I asked, turning to the others.
"Sure!" it answered.
So I hesitantly put my hand on its forehead, and wanted to become one with it, like the others told me too. It relaxed under my fingers, and I felt a tingle run up my arm again. After a moment, I withdrew, and looked at the others.
"Now imagine your self as the Hork-Bajir, and you should become It. And I suggest that you take off your cloths as you do it, or they'll rip. They don't change with you." said Cassie.
So that's what I did. I trusted them completely now. I don't know why, I just did. Staring at the wall, I "saw" an image of a Hork-Bajir appear before my eyes, and I instantly grew taller. Not that I had far to go, being 6' 4" has it's advantages you know! So I shot up, felt some of my hair grow longer, and become stiffer, harder. I turned a violent shade of red, and my shoes, hardly on my feet at all in the first place popped off my feet. My knees moved up my legs, and my foot grew longer 'til it looked as though my knees were backwards. My spine lengthened, and a tale with sharp barbs swayed behind me. My arm bones became longer, sharper, and poked out of my elbows becoming arm blades. My face elongated, hardened, and my muscles tensed. I had become the Hork-Bajir.
My vision was dulled, but I could hear without any problem. The faintest traces of a feeling of hunger leaked into my mind. I suppressed them, and turned to the ones that had done this to me.
It's powerful, and hungry. Does it normally want to run into the forest outside? I asked them. They stared at me. They had spread themselves out, and it looked as though they were ready to catch me if I ran.
Yes, and I'm surprised that you could stop it from doing just that. said Tobias.
I walked around, and felt the rippling mussels press against the confines of my flesh. I walked around a bit more, then asked them how to turn back.
"Imagine yourself in your mind, and you'll be back." Rachel explained. "but you might want to go in a corner, and bring your cloths." Well, I didn't take off my shirt when I… morphed.?.?. but my jeans, and my over shirt were on the floor. My socks were shot, but my shoes at least were fine. Scooping them off the floor, I stalked over to the corner. I say "stalked" because that's what I did! I had fun being a majorly huge leaf eater that was a walking hazard to all stray limbs! If you haven't experienced it, you don't know what you're missing! Over in the corner, I squatted, and re-imagined myself. As soon as that was over, and I put my cloths on, I went back over to the others.
"K, so this is how it works." I started on them, "I believe you now. Hands down. I'll help save the planet from the big-bad-slugs, and I'll even come to all the little weekend 'get-togethers' on the weekend if there is any need for me to be there. But don't expect me to hang at school, k? that just 'ain't my swing." K, so I'm passing English with an "A", but that doesn't mean that I have to talk like an English major unless my English teacher is around. So I don't. no biggie, just the way I walk is all. The others looked at each other.
"Fine with me." Shouted Marco, "Just don't beat me up, okay?" I glared at him. I still have a rep you know!
"We may need you to join us at a moments notice though." Said Jake, who I learned later was the leader of the little freak-show that we call "Animorphs". They told me to go home and practice over the weekend, and to not stay in morph longer then two hours, and to not let anyone see me morph, and to get a wide range of animals, and to stay within contact range, bla bla bla, bla bla… you get the drift. So I hopped on the bus, and toyed with the idea of the different animal forms I could get. When I got home, I opened the fire-ring, unzipped the tent, tossed my bag into a corner, and flopped onto the cot. Covering my eyes with my arm, I let my mind go blank.
Golden fang
A loud clank outside woke me up three hours later. The tent flap was still open, and the cover of the fire-ring was on the ground just were I had left it. Rising groggily, I stuck my head out of the tent, and saw a red-tailed hawk perched on the picnic bench that was on the far side of the camp. It had knocked over a thick chain that I never used to keep the trashcan in place. I walked over to the bench, picked up the chain, and tossed it over to the fire-pit. I looked back at the hawk, and found that it didn't fly away as others would have if I had come this close, let alone throw anything.
"It's Tobias, right?" I asked the hawk.
How did you know? it answered.
"You didn't fly off. What are you doing here any way?"
Jake told me to find out where you lived.
"Well, you found me. Hungry? I was about to make something. I think that I've got some rabbit that I bought. I'll warm it up without cooking it and you can have it."
Sure, I'd be grateful. Flying after a bus for an hour is tiring you know.
He hopped from the table to my shoulder, and went on over to the ice cooler. Kneeling down, I shifted through the continence, and found a rabbit, and a chicken leg. Sticking the logs into the ring, I rummaged through the tent for my lighter. Once the fire got going, I stuck the metal stakes from the morning into the flames, and laid the food on the stones. Righting my camping chair, I leaned back into it, and put my feet up onto the stones of the ring. Not next to the food, they were on the other side of the ring.
Why are you out here?
"Got no other place to go."
Where's your home?
"Right here."
Why don't you find someplace in town?
"Why don't you give up the life of the Animorphs and become human again." It wasn't a question, but a suggestion. It made him quiet.
"I've been out here for a while. When I was ten, I woke up with an unopened tent, a cot, sleeping bag, chair, and a bank number that led to hundred grand. That, and a note that said:
'Happy tenth birthday Maxine, love Mom and Dad.'
That's as far back as I can remember. So I stay here, and deal. No other reason to it I guess. Just that I'm stubborn." He stayed silent. 'Thank heavens.'
Setting up the rabbit onto the spike, and the chicken next to it, I hung them over the fire. Ten minutes later, the rabbit was warm enough for the hawk, but not quite cooked. I laid it on a little camping table that I had near by, and turned my chicken over. Tobias and I chatted for a while, then I asked:
"So, does 'Head Honcho' not trust me enough to let me go home alone?"
No, he just wanted to know where you live is all. And I can't fly too well n the dark, plus you live too far for me to make it to Jake's in one morph, so I'll just wake him up in the morning. Mind if I crash here for the night?
"Since you're sleeping on a branch anyway, I don't have a problem with it. If you would rather be in the tent, that's fine too. I don't care."
Thanks.
"No problem."
So you don't really have a problem with becoming one of us?
"Not really. I've seen weirder. And I always just play along. So, are we going to a zoo or something?"
Jake was hopping to do that tomorrow, hence me finding out where you live so that they could pick you up. Cassie's mother was going to drive us. You might need to take the bus to Cassie's though. I doubt that she'll drive all the way out here.
"No problem. Works for me. I got a bus pass any-who, so's it's no skin off my nose."
I took my chicken, and ate it right off the stick. Then I cleaned up, and relaxed with a hawk on my shoulder 'til the fire died. Then I went into the tent, Tobias found a branch, and I blacked out.
Golden fang
Tobias was gone before I woke up. That was fine, I didn't need him here, I'm a big girl, I can get up at a decent time. Hoping onto the bus, I took it down to Cassie's farm. Just as I stepped off the bus, my cell phone rang. Now my cell phone isn't fancy. Just a palm-sized box with an antenna, and a black faceplate. I gave my number to Jake, and that's who called me.
/ Max, you on your way/
"I just got off the bus, don't worry."
I hung up without any further words, and walked down the road to the farmhouse. I found the little group in the barn, and found that they were dressed in bike shorts, swim suits, and dance leotards. I suddenly felt out of place with my baggy cloths; same as I wore yesterday, only these were clean, and I wasn't wearing any socks with my boat-like shoes. Also, they all had their hair down, even Cassie, who normally had tight braids. Like I said, she sits next to me in science. Even Ax, who was in human form, had short hair that was unstyled. I was the only one with my hair firmly held with gel.
"Do your parents know what we are?" I asked Cassie, who shook her head, and led the others out of the barn.
We piled into the van that smelled of animals, and sat for an hour in the warm car as Cassie's mom drove us to the "Gardens". The others had put on cloths to cover their "morph cloths" as I later found out was a necessity for them. I figured that if it worked for me yesterday, why change? We came to the zoo, and found that the others were all short on cash. The prices had risen, and they couldn't get in.
"Why don't you just fly in?" I asked them.
"You don't have a bird." Answered Rachel.
"Good point. Well, I guess that you guys owe me then. How many tickets are we getting?" I asked them. They stared at me like I was crazy. "I'll pick up what's left o' the tab is all. Don't get all drop-jawed on me. I'm bein' nice for once an' this is how ya' thank me?"
"You're really going to do that for us?" Asked the brown haired jock… Jake, right?
"Yeah? Is it that big o' a deal? You an' your group trusted me enough to induct me into your cult an' all, so I figured that I should at least help out with the finances. This job can't be too easy on the cloths, meaning that it can't be too easy on the wallet, see what I mean?" they stared at me. That's when I had my first qualms about this job.
You like?I update soon!
