Disclaimer: Obviously, I own nothing of the Animorphs, its all K.A. Applegate, bless her soul.

Ok, this get less depressing, and more stupid. But what can a girl do when she's lost in the woods and has no former knowledge of Earth?

As always, remember to press the pretty blue button on the bottom of the screen to review. Flames and criticism won't kill me so I'll endure it.

Enjoy.

Chapter 2

I couldn't run anymore. I couldn't even think anymore.

I collapsed onto the ground, panting, and squinting into the dark.

I was in a large area with many trees. It was called a…tree place? Where had I come up with that word?

No, that wasn't it. Darwin had told me about these. He said the Andalite bandits lived in here. The Andalites were aliens who fought against the Yeerks. However, the Andalite fleet had not reached Earth yet. So while the Yeerks tried to take over Earth, a small group of Andalites fought to hold them off. So far, we knew they adapted to Earth culture and had spies among us.

I had a total of two options. I could find the Yeerks and turn myself over. I could find the Andalite bandits and fight with them. And I could pick the third really-not-an-option option: death.

Life was good, wasn't it?

I leaned against the tree. It wasn't very comfortable, but I admit I was fascinated. The tree was beautiful. It had many, many green flat and thin disks, supported by thin and thick brownish limbs. The main body of the tree was also brown, but much thicker, and had such an interesting texture. I peered closely.

The texture…did it have a pattern? It was so complicated. Earth truly was lovely. I wished I had spent more time here than on that horrible spacecraft. It had been a literal prison for me. But here…everything was different here.

I took a deep sniff. The air was different here, too.

I heard a noise. I turned quickly, looking around. Was it an Andalite bandit?

"Andalite?" I whispered nervously and fearfully. They are scary creatures.

I yelped as I saw a small brown creature with a bushy tail appear. It ran nimbly across the meadow. I marveled at how fast it went.

There was a screech. And then a blur of red-brown scooped up the brown, bushy-tailed creature. It wailed until I heard its neck break.

The red-brown creature flew over to a tree, and sat on a thick brown limb-like thing.

It took my breath away. I watched, repulsed, yet fascinated as the red-brown animal tore apart the once-living bushy-tailed creature with savagery and gobbled it up. It had wings that were covered with a small pattern of flat narrow disks. Its feet were like a Hork-Bajir's, only orangey-yellow. Its mouth was also like a Hork-Bajir's. The whole creature was savage and wild and would've been dangerous if not for its small size. It was smaller than me, yet it managed to catch a small quick creature and ate it as if it did this everyday.

This was Earth, then. I shivered. It was beautiful and complex and dangerous.

I'll admit I was scared, but also proud. Earth wouldn't go down without a fight. And neither would I.

Right then and there, I promised to myself that I would be like that creature there. I would be like all of the creatures in here. I would be fast and dangerous. The Yeerks, all of them, would fear me above anything else.

It then occurred to me, that the creature I was staring at could've been an Andalite in morph. Of course! Darwin had told me about the shapes the Andalites could take on.

Andalites have the technology that allows them to change shape, to morph. They can acquire another's DNA and use that to change into that creature. One of the Andalites morphed a creature such as this. What was it called? I searched my mind for the name. It was a kind of hawk…a red-tail hawk. I decided to talk to it.

"Hello, friend Andalite." I smiled carefully to the hawk, holding my hands in front of me. "I mean no harm." I hoped this would work.

The hawk looked at me like I was an idiot. I probably was. What were the chances that this was the tree-place the Andalites lived in? There were hundreds of tree-places on Earth. What were the chances that an Andalite would be in this morph? For all I knew, this could be a random animal. Besides, Andalites were herbivores. They wouldn't go after Earth animals like that.

Still I decided to wait for two hours. Andalite technology only allowed them to stay two hours in a morph at a time, or else they would be trapped in that body forever. So at the end of two hours, I would see an Andalite appear from that body. Well, if it was an Andalite.

After two hours of sitting in that meadow and doing nothing, I felt ridiculous. I was an idiot. No way was an Andalite about to appear. This probably wasn't even the right tree-place! I didn't even know the correct word for a "tree-place"!

I was doomed to die here. I watched as the hawk flew off. I felt unaccustomed to this hunger in my stomach, the weakness in my bones. The enemy had always been inside of me. This was different.

I wouldn't let the Yeerks find me alive. I'd rather die than that. I'd rather starve to death…But oh, the pain was so intense! I gasped as waves of agony rolled over me. I had to eat.

But how could I know which creatures could be eaten, and which couldn't? How did I know that one of the Andalites weren't one of the animals in disguise?

I looked down at the grass. Andalites ate that. I wondered if I could.

I pulled up a handful of grass and stuffed it into my mouth. It tasted awful, but at least my stomach wasn't as empty.

Six days I had been out here. I was surprised some Earth creature hadn't come by and gobbled me up. But it seemed most of them didn't like humans as their meal. They didn't bother me, I didn't bother them. Some of the most timid seemed to also take the pains to hide from me. On the other hand, without a weapon, I couldn't kill anything to eat.

A few days ago, I passed some round shaped things that one of my Yeerks had mentioned. They were called berries and I remembered that they were edible. I ate them and ended up vomiting most of my stomach during the rest of the day. Apparently, some types of berries were not so healthy for humans. Go figure.

Since then, I had steered clear of most plant life.

I pulled up some more grass. If only I had grabbed a weapon on the way out! A Dracon beam for instance. That would've been helpful, since they did the job cleanly and efficiently. What had I thinking? Anything would've been better than nothing.

I chewed thoughtfully on the grass blades. Ever since getting out of the Yeerk pool, I had been relishing every thought of privacy, every moment of freedom. The simple act of blinking had me near tears. I had never known about such sweet, sweet freedom like this. No one needed to control me.

But now I was realizing what I should've realized long ago: that without the Yeerks I was potentially helpless. I was nothing without them.

I cursed. Where were the Andalite bandits when I needed them? Didn't they appear out of nowhere? That was what I heard some of the Controllers whispering about. They spoke about this or that latest attack by a gang of Andalites disguised as Earth creatures. How they would strike quickly and efficiently, and then retreat and disappear without a trace. I pulled up another handful of grass and put it into my mouth.

I gagged. I felt something squirming around inside my mouth…something small and alive. It bit my tongue hard.

I spat it out. Among the half-chewed grass blades, I saw a small black creature with six legs and a small deadly mandibles crawl out.

I felt my stomach reject the grass. I ran to nearest bush and bent over.

I retched and retched, wondering how I had once been feared and respected as I walked down the Blade ship because of the Yeerk in my head. Now I was reduced to vomiting in the bushes. It was humiliating.

I heaved until there was nothing more to heave. And still my stomach was contracting.

I flopped down on the ground, my stomach aching. Sunset was coming. I had made it a point to always watch the colorful explosion of colors. Even if I died, at least I would be able to remember one good thing about Earth.

However, the last few days I had strained to see its magnificent colors above the trees. This time, I would see it without such obstructions. Goal: I would climb a tree.

Hork-Bajir simply leaped to the tops. Smaller Hork-Bajir grabbed onto the limb-like things on the tree and pulled themselves up. I would do the same.

I looked up at the tree, and grabbed a small thin brown limb-like part. I pulled and tried to get up but the limb broke. There was no blood. It just came apart cleanly in my hand. I staggered back, gasping, looking down from the limb to the tree and ran.

At the edge of the meadow, I looked back fearfully. Was the tree alive? Would it chase after me, after I had torn off part of it? I watched the tree carefully. Would it spring alive now? I tensed.

Trees on the Hork-Bajir world were alive but did that mean the trees on this world were? Trees on the Hork-Bajir world usually didn't move around, but I had heard that some could. I shuddered.

I felt something touch my head. I screamed, whipped around and saw a tree waving its limbs at me. I threw the limb I was still holding at the tree and ran further.

I was terrified, as I ran further and further. I couldn't breath. The trees- were they all connected? Did they all know that I had broken one of them? Were they all out to get me?

They had to be. Why else would that tree hit me in the head?

Or could it have been the wind?

I collapsed against another tree, and then backed away. Would this one also try to kill me?

No, I had to get out of this tree-place. I was not safe here. Maybe the trees were alive, maybe they weren't, but I couldn't take that chance.

I just remember a blur of green and brown, as I ran like never before. And then I saw a blur of blue racing towards me.

I slammed into a blue wall, and fell on the ground. A seven-fingered blue hand reached out to me. I looked at it, and then slowly looked up.

Hello. said the Andalite.

So concludes the second chapter for Madra. Hopefully, the Andalite will be nice and won't chop her head off. Then again, her luck ain't been too good, has it?

Ok, now go review. Sticks and stones may break my bones, but flames will never hurt me. (I hope.)