Disclaimer: Do I really need to repeat this? KA Applegate rules and owns, I don't. yada yada yada.

This is the depressing chapter in which Madra gets to meet the Animorphs and become one and no one trusts her because she trusts no one. It is kinda short and all, but the next chapter is kinda crazy and long, so it makes up for this.

I'd like to thank metamorphstorm and Ember Nickel for all their reviews. You guys RULE.

The rest of you, thanks so much for reading this and- aw man now I'm getting weepy.

Review/criticize/flame, I really don't care as long as you write something.

Love you all.

Chapter 4

"You're humans."

It was the first thing I could say when I saw the Andalite- no, the humans standing there, as they demorphed from their bird states.

We were in a barn. It looks like a red house, with bundles of golden grass everywhere. The place was filled with lots of creatures in cages. Most of them were injured in some way or other. I wanted to ask why they were in there. The only time I had ever seen cages were to keep prisoners in. It didn't make sense for them to keep prisoners.

I hit myself over the head. "Oy! Obviously! Of course!"

The humans looked at me with slightly concerned looks. "I should've known." I explained to them. "All this time, all those attacks, all the secrets-" I paused. "You always were in morph. We never saw more than two Andalites at a time, Andalites who looked the same as well."

"You can't tell anyone." The black-haired and dark-skinned boy said, with narrow eyes.

I waved my hand impatiently. "Of course not. And give Visser Three a way to capture you? I'd sooner die."

"Ooh, I like her." The tall golden-haired girl announced.

"You would." The boy shot back. "Psycho meets psycho…this ought to be good."

The brown-haired boy raised his hand before they could begin to argue. "Listen, we do have a situation here. And we don't need any complications. We need to discuss about- sorry, what's your name?"

I was wondering when we'd get to this. "It's…Madi." I still didn't give out my true name. I knew what would happen if I did. No doubt the Andalite knew all the names of the Yeerk moons.

"I'm Jake." The brown-haired boy said. "This is my cousin Rachel," the golden-haired girl nodded lazily. "Cassie," the short, dark-skinned girl waved. "And Marco." The black-haired boy glared. "You've met aristh Aximili-Esgarrouth-Isthill." Jake continued, "Though it's easier to call him Ax. And that's Tobias." He pointed to the red-tail hawk.

I looked up at Tobias, a question in my eyes. He answered it. (I'm a nothlit.)

I raised my eyebrow. A nothlit was someone who had gone over the two-hour limit in a morph and would stay in that morph forever.

(But I've regained my morphing powers through the Ellimist.) I nodded slowly. The Eliimist was some god who was said to only be in myths. Others said he was real.

"Ok, now that we know each other's names, we can get down to business." Jake said. "We have a few things to discuss with you, Madi. First off, you want to fight with us."

(Unacceptable.) said Ax straight off. (You are young and hardly know of the dangers.)

"On the contrary, I am extremely aware of the dangers and my age is irrelevant." I countered.

"You've never fought before." Rachel pointed out.

(It's a hard life. You'll have to make sacrifices.) Tobias pointed out. (What happened to me- it could happen to any one of us.)

"You'd have to kill others." Cassie spoke softly. I remembered her voice from the night before. "You'd have to face your fears."

"Can you do all that?" Jake asked. "Can you survive it?"

I stared at them. They were being way too collective, too calm and orderly. They were all against me joining, and it wasn't just because I was too young…

"This has happened before hasn't it?" I asked. "You've told someone else about this. What happened to him?"

They exchanged looks. "What?" Jake asked.

"There was a child from a while back. Visser Three suspected you had made him one of yours. His name was David. What happened to him?"

It was Marco who spoke. "He betrayed us. He tried to kill us. He wanted the blue box." His voice was ice cold. "And you know what happened to him?" He looked straight at me.

"We trapped him in morph. He's a white rat now, living out his days on a deserted island." Marco glared at me. And for some reason, that glare, that face, so familiar….

"He deserved it. That's what happened to him." And he settled back onto the golden grass.

All the other humans looked slightly shocked. Obviously, this Marco person wasn't always so morbid. He did have an amazingly strategic mind.

But I understood his hidden threat. Turn on us, and we'll do to you what we did to him.

I honestly didn't mind. I had received worst.

"Understood, Marco." I returned his look. Then I looked at the rest of the humans. "I can do this. If I couldn't, I wouldn't even be here now. You don't know what the Yeerks did. You don't know what I had do to get through it." I paused. "I can do it." I said simply.

Jake sighed, and ran his fingers through his hair. "Let's put this to a vote."

(I say yes.) Tobias called. (It sounds like she can handle this.)

"I can't sentence anyone to this life." Cassie smiled sadly at me. "I'm sorry; Madi, but I don't think so…"

"Well, I think we should have a new member." Rachel flipped her hair. "She'll do well."

Jake nodded. "Ax?"

(No.) They all looked at each other. Marco raised an eyebrow. "Just curious, Ax, but why?"

(Because of David.) Ax said simply. (The risk…it is too great.)

I put that into the back of my mind. Apparently, this David thing had hurt all of them pretty badly. Even the Andalite had been hurt, and Andalites don't hurt easily.

"Fine." Jake said. "Marco?"

His eyes were unemotional. "No."

"Well, then-" Jake started.

In that moment, I knew. I knew which way Jake would go. He couldn't have a tie, so he would go with the side that had the most votes, even though he wasn't very happy with that result. I knew which side would win, and I could see that Marco knew, too. He smirked.

My hands curled into fists. No. I would not let this boy, Marco, win.

Luckily, I had a plan.

I interrupted. "Excuse me, but I was wondering Jake." Jake looked over at me patiently. "You have six members of the team and it seems there may be a tie." My hands started to sweat. I was nervous. I didn't know these people well. There was only a slight chance this would work. Otherwise, I'd look like a fool. I couldn't afford that.

"So I propose that we have one more vote. I propose that I cast my vote."

Instantly, there was a "No." Marco had seen through my plan.

Before Jake could answer, I swung around and demanded, "Why not?"

Marco looked shocked at my defiance, but answered, "You aren't exactly part of the team yet. And last I checked, this was a team vote." He looked at Jake who carefully kept his face in check.

"Yes, and last I checked this vote was about me. It makes no sense that I cannot play a part in this. I should have a choice in my future." I spoke confidently, mocking Marco with my eyes. He flared up instantly.

"You're acting exactly like David did, you little-"

"Marco, that's enough." Jake ordered, and Marco fell quiet. He gave me a level look. "Of course you can vote. But for future reference, I suggest you try not to start a commotion when you're part of my team."

I kept my voice level, and my face blank, as I answered, "No worries, Jake. I'll do exactly as you say."

The leader was smarter than I had thought. He knew what I was up to. I'd have to watch out and stop underestimating.

Jake sighed. He knew as well as I what the outcome of this would be. I had won this small battle. It was a victory, but was it worth too much?

Ax held out a blue box as Jake said, "Welcome to the Animorphs."

Did you like it? Review and tell me.

Poor Madra. I mean, it can't be easy for her. But at the same time, I feel bad for the Animorphs. The David thing hurt them. They're not ready to trust. And neither is Madra.

Depressing, I know. Don't worry, the next chapter will be better.