Disclaimer: Okay, once again, I do not own anything belonging to the Animorphs story. Anything of that nature belongs to the Almighty K.A. Applegate. The only thing I own is my original character, her storyline, and this story idea. Yay, I own something!!!!
Author's Note: Thank you so much for all of the reviews!!!! They're the best motivation in the world! Please keep them coming!!! I'm so sorry that I haven't updated in forever, but I've been so stressed for time (and plagued with writer's block!) that I haven't been able to think straight, let alone write! But now that I've graduated high school and have a month and a half of summer until college, hopefully I'll be able to turn out these chapters a lot faster! Until next time, ja ne!
Chapter 4: Introduction
No one spoke for several long moments. Seven pairs of eyes remained steadily fixed on the motionless body at their feet.
I hate to be Captain Obvious, came Marco's quiet voice, but that's no Andalite…
"Rachel, demorph to human. Marco, as soon as you feel you can, go gorilla," Jake said, tensely, once again resuming his role as leader. "We're going to need some firepower when she wakes up if she proves to be...," he paused, searching for the right word, "… disagreeable."
"Say no more, one monkey man coming right up," quipped Marco, cracking his knuckles in an exaggerated display before coarse black hair began to sprout from his hands.
Cassie knelt beside the girl's body, which was lying almost face down, and brushed the long strands of dark, honey-colored hair away from her neck. She felt for a sign of life and, satisfied at the steady pulse beneath her fingers, she sat back on her heels.
"Something is really not right, Jake," she said quietly, never taking her eyes of the form before her. "No one has found the morphing cube, I know that for a fact. And we know of no other race that can morph except for Andalites." She turned to the creature behind her. "Isn't that right, Ax?"
Yes, as far as we have discovered in the universe, we have yet to come across any species capable of shape-changing or replicating our advanced technology, said the blue-furred alien, his almond-shaped eyes narrowing, which makes this situation quite unusual.
Jake took a step forward and crouched beside the body, his face a mix of emotions. "Nevertheless, we can't figure out anything until she's awake." Reaching for her shoulder, he gently turned the girl over onto her back and brushed the hair off of her face. His eyes widened a little and he drew in a quick breath.
Oooh, can we keep her? Can we keep her? said Marco, hopping up and down and clapping his hands, despite being a full-grown silverback gorilla. Even Tobias' gaze seemed to intensify.
The girl was stunning. Her well-boned face, framed by dark blonde locks, boasted full lips, heavily lashed eyes, a pert nose, and a stubborn chin. Her skin fairly glowed with a healthy tan and, although she was unconscious, she still appeared to be full of life and vivacity.
Well, Rach, it looks like you've got some competition, leered Marco, grinning with his heavy gorilla muzzle.
Rachel gave him a withering look and looked to her cousin. "So what do we do with her now? I don't trust her in the least and I sure as he—"
Jake, we gotta move out man, came Tobias' voice as he swooped back into the clearing. There's a bunch of redneck hunters headed this way. They're drunk from the looks of it, but not to the point where they wouldn't remember a blue deer with extra eyes and a gorilla and go blabbing it around some bar where slugs could be listening.
"Point taken," said Jake, nodding. "Marco, grab her and let's get moving guys. No time to morph, just book it on two feet."
You won't get an argument from me, fearless leader, quipped Marco as he lifted the girl and gently slug her over one of his huge simian shoulders as he and the rest of the group moved quickly out of the clearing.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
After a few moments of sprinting, the seven slowed their pace to normal and Marco, ever the gentleman he thought he was, shifted his burden to a more comfortable position, cradled in one huge arm. He and the others continued on in silence, each brooding over the events that had just transpired.
"Is the circus in town?" came a clear voice, shattering the quiet.
Startled, Marco dropped the now-conscious girl with an unceremonious thump onto the hard ground. She glared up at his simian form, rubbing her now-sore rear, and moved to stand up.
"Ax," came Jake's command.
Instantly, the Andalite cadet whipped his tail over his head and froze the scythe blade a hairsbreadth from the girl's throat, stopping her in mid-motion.
The girl merely stared back, unimpressed by the unspoken threat. She turned her brilliant blue gaze to each of those gathered until, satisfied with what she saw, settled them on the alien before her.
"If you desire an inquiry," she stated simply, "it would be much easier and more comfortable if I could at least stand up." She threw a meaningful glance in Jake's direction.
After a moment's hesitation, he drew himself away from her gaze and nodded silently to Ax's inquiring stalk eyes.
The blade did not move an inch.
Okay Ax-man, you can back down now, quipped Marco, hoping to break through the seeming trance-like state the blue-furred alien was caught in.
Moments later, with what seemed like a shrug of frustration, Ax slowly drew back his tail, his main eyes never leaving the girl's.
Nodding her thanks to Jake, she stood and brushed off her hands.
He regarded her with hard eyes. "Understand that in no way do we trust you, and that our good nature rests solely on your cooperation."
"Warning taken," the girl responded indifferently. Her gaze seemed to become critical as she searched the taller boy's face, finally coming to rest on his eyes. "You've taken your assumed responsibility as leader to seriously, Jake."
The boy twitched at the mention of his name, and his demeanor changed to an air of shocked curiosity.
"You've let this war burden you too much." Her eyes took on an almost sympathetic, knowing look. "It has taken its toll on you, and, if you continue to allow the weight to remain solely upon your shoulders, it will destroy you." Just as quickly as they had softened, her blue eyes turned icy-hot as she stared intently at the young man before her.
Sensing the tension, Cassie, ever the peacemaker, gingerly stepped between the two teens. She looked questioningly at the blonde-haired girl who had turned their world upside down. "How do you know our names?" she asked quietly, her eyes intent despite her soft tone.
Blue met brown and, after a moment's pause, the strange girl closed her eyes in what seemed to Cassie to be a gesture of acceptance.
"I know more than any of you can begin to imagine," came the answer.
Each of those gathered found themselves drawing back from the girl, whether in awe or fear, none could ascertain for certain. For in those few words, the girl's voice was no longer bound to their world. An immeasurable sense of age, sorrow, burden, knowledge, and something unexplainable filled her words, either in reality or in their minds. But each present felt touched by something otherworldly, and feared to speak or move, for apprehension of what repercussions might come.
After several long moments, heavily lashed lids opened to reveal the girl's piercing blue eyes, and the others were returned to reality.
Tobias fixed the blonde with his stare as he ventured quietly, What are you?... Something tells me that you're not human, or at least not completely. And you're not an Andalite, but you can morph. He shifted restlessly on his overhead perch, unable to rid himself of another nagging, almost familiar feeling that plagued his subconscious. So what are you?
"You expected an Andalite, did you?" she said, seemingly amused. "And I suppose that your friend Aximili did little to convince you otherwise. Typical of Andalites to be so wrapped up in themselves that they refuse to fathom little beyond what they foolishly assume and decree to be the laws of the universe." She glanced pointedly in Ax's direction.
Ax's fur bristled with the insult and, no longer able to hide his bruised ego, lunged at the girl and arced his tail forward to rest quivering at the girl's jugular vein.
Jake moved to stop the alien, but his cousin's strong arms held him in place.
"She can talk the talk, Jake," she whispered fiercely, "but can she walk the walk. Let's see if she can hold her own." The rest of their comrades in the clearing held their places.
"How dare you…" The Andalite's voice shook with barely controlled rage. As the others around him held their breaths, the blue-furred alien pressed the tip of the blade into her neck, drawing forth a small stream of crimson. "How dare you speak of my people in such a manner!"
The girl, although frozen a millisecond from death, seemed unconcerned. "I speak of what I know, and nothing more," she responded casually, her eyes never leaving his.
Ax's four eyes flashed. "And how is it you, human child, know so much about Andalites?" he queried, pressing his tail blade deeper into the skin of her neck.
Her eyes bore into his as she answered "Because…"
In a matter of seconds, Ax was no longer looking into blue eyes, but violet, almond-shaped ones set in a mouth less face framed in bluish-purple fur.
"Because I am one," said the female Andalite before him.
