A/N: I'm pulling a Host Swap. :P Here's the third one-shot, updated after only one day. It's from the point of view of a very angry Yeerk traitor set on revenge… I think you may know him. :) This, in my opinion, is nowhere near as good as one-shot number two, "Stormings", but it carries a lot of feeling and anger that I worked hard to achieve, so I'm proud of it anyway. :) Hope you enjoy!
This one-shot is based highly on Animorphs #8, The Alien. Read on…
Borders of Heaven and Hell
"Unjust Love"
"They were like shooting stars: Shooting across the sky in a fleeting glimpse of eternity. And in a flash, they're gone." – Nicholas Sparks, "The Notebook".
Eslin Three-Five-Nine
" My name is Gary Kozlar," I said calmly.
A lie, of course. It was all too easy to lie now. Of course, you'll find lying doesn't matter much once your reason for living is gone.
But unfortunately, my little fib did not fool the arrogant Andalite standing about three feet away from me.
( Don't waste my time, ) the Andalite named Aximili snapped coolly. ( That's a human name, fool. That is the name of your host body, maybe. But I know what you really are. )
I sighed and nodded, defeated. " All right, have it your way. My name is Eslin Three-Five-Nine. And you are Aximili, a young Andalite cadet. Brother of Beast Elfangor."
( Beast Elfangor? ) Aximili exclaimed in calm outrage. ( So that is what you Yeerks call my brother? )
" Your brother is dead," I snapped. " And so is the one creature in all the galaxy that I cared about. Her name was Derane Three-Four-Four. Tell me, Andalite… Do you know what's the one thing that they had in common, your brother and my Derane?"
( No. What did my brother have in common with a Yeerk? )
I could not stop the rage from taking over my facial muscles. It seeped in and contorted them into a deep expression of anger.
" They were both killed by the same creature," I said through clenched teeth.
( Visser Three? ) he asked tentatively.
" Yes," I replied. " Visser Three."
---
Visser Three. The person I despised more than anything in the entire universe. Why? Because he killed the person I loved more than anything in the entire universe.
It was a complicated story. Really, it was. Derane and I were as close as you could get. She had been with me in my training and been there for me when I needed her the most. I'd loved her. Really loved her. Most species, like Andalites, and even humans, think that we Yeerks are unable to experience love for another. They are wrong, of course. We feel love. We simply feel it a bit differently than they do. Our love is based more on affection than partnership, really. That is probably due to the fact that when we choose our mates, we realize that we will die in the act of reproduction with them. The knowledge that you will die with someone by your side really does give you an almost siblinglike affection for them.
But now, there was no hope for that. Derane was gone. And I would die alone. In battle or otherwise. Most likely by suicide, I think.
And all that is Visser Three's fault.
But I can't help but wonder, how can Visser Three be so cruel when he is a Yeerk and feels affection like the rest of us? How can he allow innocent individuals to die by Kandrona starvation and not even give a damn? How can he let people like me suffer the loss of their mates, when clearly he has someone on his own mind?
Oh, come on. How can you not see it? How can he not see it? Everyone else sees it pretty well. I've been on the mother ship, I've been countless times in his presence. In fact, I was previously a member of his personal guard on the ship before being restationed here. When you spend every day of your life with a person, you start seeing things about them. Like the light in his eyes when he looked at her. Like the fire in his soul when he spoke with her. Many people presume it's hate between the two of them. In fact, I think even they think so.
But I've been there. I've seen the signs. And I know there's something else there. I don't know what he sees in her, but it's there.
And I don't think he has even a clue.
He wouldn't though, would he? He wouldn't have the slightest clue. He is supposed to be emotionless, or at least that's what they say. He argues with Visser One day and night, he fights with her, torments her, torments himself at night imagining painful, horrid deaths for her to suffer… and the obsession with hating her grew and grew until eventually, it evolved into something else.
He's falling for her. And he doesn't even know it.
What's worse is that sometimes, I don't think his strange emotion for her is hopeless. Sometimes, when she sees him, her eyes glow in the same way. It confuses me… What is there in the evil, cold, cruel Visser Three that a Yeerk the likes of Visser One could love? The nature of their relationship is beyond me, and yet I know exactly what it may be like for them. I do not understand this hateful affection, yet it makes perfect sense.
As I said, I've been there. I've done that.
He still hates her with every fibre of his being, just as she does him. That will never change, I am sure. But yet deep within there is the faintest hint of admiration. Of love. You can see it in his eyes when he looks at her.
Love. I had it, once.
But now, thanks to him, it was gone…
Derane and I, we were different. There was nothing more pure, more amazing than the relationship we shared. There was no trace of dislike, no trace of hate in our relationship. So how can Visser Three hate so strongly, and yet love just as strongly as we did? It is inconceivable to me. Just as it is inconceivable to me that he could let die innocent Yeerks… like my Derane. Oh, how I miss her…
" My Derane…" I told the Andalite softly. " We came from the same pool. We went through training together and were very close. She understood me. She cared about me. But I had an important post at this observatory, while Derane was given a minor post. When you Andalites destroyed the ground-based Kandrona, Visser Three acted quickly. He said he'd found a way to save everyone. But he lied, of course. Too many Yeerks, not enough Kandrona rays. It was simple division. So he shuttled so-called 'important Controllers' up to the mother ship, and the rest…"
I took a deep breath, and noticed, for the first time, the bloody gashes on my arm.
( Was your Derane one of the ones killed? ) the Andalite asked.
" She was 'expendable'," I replied, struggling to keep my cool under the onslaught of emotion. But then, I smiled. " I've had some small revenge already. The Visser's friends are shuttled up to the mother ship every three days to feed. I sabotaged one of the shuttles. Now, some of the Visser's friends are starving and dying. Like my Derane died."
I smiled at the thought of revenge, sweet and perfect and blissful. I savored the cries of the Visser's friends as they withered and died on the ground before them. Visser Three would grieve for them… But not enough. Never could he grieve enough to pay the price for killing my beloved Derane. Unless, of course, the Yeerk he loved, Visser One, was sacrificed. I could kill her. I could go after her and murder her. Then Visser Three would suffer. I would watch him agonize, and I would laugh… Now who's going to mourn? Mourn her death, and remember me. Remember me. This is what you've done to me. It's horrible, isn't it? To know you have to go on even though you can't live without her? To keep on fighting when you've got nothing to fight for? I know what it's like. You did this to me. Now I'm doing it to you.
I hope that someday, Visser One dies a long and painful death. I hope she dies and suffers and begs for mercy. Just so Visser Three can know what it feels like to lose the one he sees above the rest of the universe.
I hope she dies. And I hope Visser Three lives in grief and sorrow the remainder of his days.
For revenge. For Derane.
But no… I abruptly cut my perverse thoughts, ashamed of myself. Why should she suffer? I wouldn't have Visser One pay the price for Visser Three's doing. She wouldn't be victimized simply for being the object of Visser Three's greatest obsession. Visser One was a good, just Yeerk. If I were that cruel, I would be no better than Visser Three himself. That, I could never stand.
So that left me with only one other option to exact my revenge…
( Are you finished, Eslin? ) Aximili asked me, pulling me out of my shameful reverie. ( I've heard your story. Is there a point to it? )
" Ah," I said. " You want the point of the story. Yes, of course, the point. The point is this: Visser Three inhabits an Andalite body. And sometimes he feeds like an Andalite."
You can deny it all you want, Visser Three. You hate her. But you also love her more than the universe itself. What will happen when I take her away from you?
The Andalite did not answer, so I continued. " He feeds like an Andalite, almost alone. He has guards, of course, but they stay back. He is vulnerable. Vulnerable. And I know the place where he feeds."
How vulnerable will you be when I make you pay the price? You're gone already. And you won't even get a chance to say goodbye…
( Why are you telling me this, Yeerk? ) the Andalite asked.
Never to tell her how you feel… the one you desire more than even to invade this planet.
" Why?" I grimaced in rage. I felt sick. " Because I want him dead!"
Dead. Dead, with never a chance.
" I want Visser Three dead!" I shrieked. " He killed my Derane! He killed the only one in the galaxy I have ever had feelings for. He did it. And I want him to pay with his life, the foul, half-Andalite scum! I want him DEAD!"
I'll show you what it's like to lose your mind…
I calmed down, just a little. I pulled out a piece of paper and scribbled something down. Then, I handed the paper to the Andalite.
" Time and place," I said. " You have a day to prepare."
You will not deny it only seconds from death. You'll feel, Visser Three. Yes, you, the unemotional, the cold, the harsh. You'll feel, like I did.
( This could be a trap, ) the Andalite said cautiously.
You won't be denying it for long.
I smirked and sneered. " I could have killed you right here. You have your duty, Andalite. The burden of revenge. Your brother's killer. Your greatest enemy."
I smiled interiorly. Derane would finally, at last, be avenged…
" You Andalites have always been great ones for duty," I said. " So do your duty, Andalite."
Wow. Well, that sure is an angry guy. I put a lot of feeling into that:P I don't think it's quite as good as "Stormings", but it sure is emotional. :)
Please review!
