Despite the exhaustion, I couldn't seem to sleep. Thoughts were running through my head at high speed. Ax had assured the others that he could take care of me all by himself and they left, but I had the feeling that it was not quite the case.

"We're not alone, are we?" I asked.

((We are alone,)) Ax sighed. He was lying down, similar to the way a horse would. I rolled over in my makeshift bed of jackets and sheets on the floor of the small shack we were in.

"Sure?" I asked. "I won't be mad if there are others."

((We are alone,)) Ax repeated.

That wasn't going anywhere. He seemed hostile. I decided to make conversation instead. "How do you pronounce your name?" I asked.

He said it slowly so I could follow. I repeated it until I got it right.

"Can I call you Aximili?" I asked.

((Why?)) he asked.

"Because it sounds cooler than Ax."

Ax nodded. I guess he'd picked up a lot of human gestures.

I stared at his face intently, examining his nose and his eyes. They were a startling gold. I reached out my hand impulsively to touch the fur on his cheek. I must have taken him by surprise, because before I had even come close, his tailblade had flicked and was hovering inches from my chin.

"It's okay," I said. "I'm not going to hurt you or anything."

I made contact with his cheek and there was a sudden angry shudder that travelled all the way down his body and he drew back from my hand, flicking it away with the side of his blade.

"OW!" I yelped, nursing my hand that at first felt as though it must have been broken.

((Do not,)) Ax said firmly, ((do that again.))

"Sorry," I muttered, not quite sure what I had done that was to horrible.

I looked at the ceiling of our little shack. If it rained tonight, we were screwed because the roof had gaps and the wood was rotted. I was annoyed that of all places I had to be here, in a shack, being watched by an alien. I suppose that by then, I was past the stage of freaking out, now I was just plain uncomfortable. Not that I wasn't still concerned about my sanity, I just chose to accept it, just in case it was actually real. I missed my mom and dad and even my older brother, and though it was sort of cool to see an alien, I just wanted to go home.

But wait. Wasn't this the excitement I'd always wanted? Honor and the exhilaration of the fight? I could have that. It's just that I wished I could be with my family at the same time.

"Aximili?"

((Yes?)) he responded in an irritated voice.

"What do you think of me?" I asked, almost afraid of the answer.

Aximili considered his answer for a while before replying. ((I believe that you are very strange indeed. Very likely a yeerk, but it is strange that you know so much about us and the yeerks still have not attacked. That leaves two possibilities: you are a trap set by the yeerks, or you are sincere. The sooner is more likely by far.))

I didn't understand most of what he had said, but it gave me the impression that I wasn't to be trusted. It wasn't exactly reassuring. Maybe if I was nicer…

"You had a brother, didn't you?"

((Yes.))

"What was his name again?" I wasn't exactly sure that what I had told them before was correct. Besides, I had already forgotten the name I had given. I was a little ashamed of myself for not remembering. After all, I had read the books so many times as a kid.

((Elfangor-Sirinial-Shamtul,)) Aximili replied curtly.

"Oh. He was a warrior, wasn't he?"

((A Prince.))

"Oh." Damn. If I kept making mistakes, I wouldn't get anywhere. "I'm sorry for your loss."

((He was brave,)) Aximili said. ((I am also sorry he is gone.))

"Couldn't he have morphed? I mean, to save himself?"

Ax glared at me with his main eyes. Now I'd done it. Me and my big mouth.

I waited for his tail blade to rise to my throat, but the moment never came. Instead, his expression softened a hair. ((I ask myself that every day,)) he said, turning his main eyes away and instead keeping a stalk eye on me.

There was a very awkward silence between us. I didn't want to bother Aximili, for fear of causing my own tragic death.

I eventually fell asleep, drowning in an uncomfortable silence. But I was tired and sleep was very welcome. The next day, I got a small meal consisting of an apple and a peanut-butter and jelly sandwich. I laughed when Tobias swooped in with it in his talons. He dropped it and settled on a fallen beam near the back of the shack. Ax left, probably to have breakfast.

((What's so funny?)) Tobias asked when I couldn't stop laughing. He sounded annoyed.

"That is one of the weirdest things I've ever seen. A delivery hawk."

Tobias glared at me. Of course, hawks always glare, but I think that was a special glare reserved for people that really pissed him off. I stopped laughing.

"Maybe I should start wearing a hat?" I asked, remembering that Marco was once told that.

Tobias laughed in thought-speak, shaking his hawk head. ((Did you come up with that one on your own, or did you have help?))

"Actually, I read it in one of the books," I admitted. "Marco asked if hawks go to the bathroom while they fly, like seagulls."

Now how was it that I remembered that and not Aximili's brother's name? Maybe it was just the funny things that stuck out.

Tobias seemed astonished. ((I barely remember that. How did you know?))

"It was in the books," I said simply. "You should know the books, they're famous."

Tobias ruffled his feathers. ((Marco looked it up. There is no author named K.A. Applegate, nor is there any series called Animorphs.))

"That doesn't fit!" I said. "I've looked it up a million times on the internet, and there are about a million sites. Are you spelling it right?" I realized how hungry I was and took a bite out of the PB and J.

((No there aren't. We used the spelling you gave us. There are no websites mentioning anything about us.))

I ran that over in my head a couple of times. There was something seriously wrong with that. There was a long pause before I spoke again. "Am I insane?" I asked.

It took Tobias by surprise. ((Well, I'm pretty sure that I'm real.))

"This coming from the talking bird," I said. "No offense."

((Yeah. There's basically no way I can convince you. Just like there's no way you can convince me that you're telling the truth.))

"Like I said, send Cassie on in. She'll figure out if I'm telling the truth. Bring her in right now."

((Can't,)) Tobias said.

"Why not? Too busy working at the barn? It's summer. What could possibly be getting in her way with no school?"

((It's spring,)) Tobias said.

"Not as of the end of June. Did you already forget when school ends?"

((No. It's April.))

"WHAT?" I asked shrilly. "How is it April? It was July last time I checked! Did time move backwards?"

((Be quiet!)) Tobias hissed. ((Someone might hear you!))

I tried to calm myself by taking deep breaths. After a while, I asked again. "How can it be April?"

((I don't know. Maybe you were wrong about the date.))

I laughed. "As if I could get it wrong. School was out! Are you screwing with me?"

Tobias made no reply to that. I thought about my situation. I flashed from my room to the beach, there was no series of books here and the time change… It was all connected. I must have gotten sucked into the book! Okay, crazy as it sounds, that was the only logical explanation. Ha! Logical.

I explained my theory to Tobias. It was his turn to laugh.

((That is the craziest thing I've ever heard. And I'm a talking bird!)) He fluttered to the floor and looked at me closely. By then I had finished my PB and J and was now moving on to my apple. I stared him in the eyes. ((You sure don't act like a yeerk.))

"An if oo willy think I'm a weerk, oor ooing a willy cwappy impwession o an andarite," I retorted with my mouth full.

Tobias fluffed his feathers again. ((Okay, you caught me.))

"You don't have to pretend like the others aren't human either. I know they are."

((You're not supposed to know that.))

"But I do. Don't worry, the secret's safe with me. I'm not telling anybody. Besides, who's going to believe me if I say that a bunch of people are actually not aliens?"

((Yeerks will.))

"Even if I do, they'll just kill me or something anyway. Why would I want to do that?"

((Fair enough.))

Another pause. The sun was shining through gaps in the roof, and I wished that I could go outside and enjoy it. Instead, I placed myself in a sunny spot and enjoyed the heat.

"What are you going to do with me?" I asked. "I mean, when you find out I'm not a yeerk."

((It's up to everyone else,)) Tobias said.

I'd already made my decision. "Until I find a way home, I want to fight."

((What do you mean?))

"I mean I want the morphing power so I can help you. Please?" Was my family even here? Could I find them and go back to normal life, or maybe fight from home? Even then, would my family still be the same one I know? Or was I stuck here in the land of Animorphs with no family?

((That's not likely.))

"Why not?"

((We have enemies that aren't yeerks,)) he said. ((You could be a spy.))

"ARGH!" I yelled. "Stop it! All the stupid theories you come up with! Just put Cassie inside me so I can stop needing to defend myself!"

((In our line of work, you can't be too careful.))

"I know, but I'm sick of getting accused of crap that never happened. I'm not a yeerk and I'm not working for any enemies! I'm just way confused about being stuck here inside a book!"

((This isn't a book.))

"How do you know that?" I demanded angrily.

Tobias didn't speak to me for the rest of his shift. After midday, Aximili came back, and he didn't seem eager to talk to me either. Tobias joyfully left me in his charge. It didn't make me feel any better.

I spent the rest of the day in boredom. It really didn't seem fair that everyone had already judged me. Finally, I heard a male voice in my head. I had a feeling it was Jake, because Marco was not the leading type. ((Ax, come outside. Leave Alex inside, we have the place surrounded.))

Ax obeyed. As soon as he was gone, I rushed to the door, hoping to overhear some of the conversation. There was nothing to be heard though, not even whispers. I sat there angrily, waiting for something to happen.

JAKE

Four of us were in wolf morph and Ax and Tobias were as themselves. I didn't want Alex to hear us, and I definitely didn't want to be unarmed if she tried to escape. And if someone showed up nearby, four wolves would definitely scare them off. We just hoped that in that case, Ax wouldn't be spotted. We surrounded the cabin, watching at all times and speaking in private thought-speak.

((So what have we got?)) I asked.

((She is not at all careful. A yeerk would be more cautious with their words,)) Ax said. My impression was that his experience with her had been less than fun.

((What about you Tobias?))

((I agree with Ax. Though it might be a trick. She told me she wanted Cassie to infest her so we'd know she was telling the truth.))

((That's good enough reason for me. Go for it Cassie!)) Rachel said.

((She wants the morphing power,)) Tobias said.

We all looked up at him, circling in the sky. ((What?)) four voices asked.

((She told me that she wants to fight with us. She said when we find out she's not an enemy, she wants to fight with us until she can find a way back.))

((Did you tell her that the books don't exist?)) Marco asked.

((Yeah. She's taking it pretty hard. She's convinced that she got sucked into one of the books.))

((Nut job,)) Rachel said.

Marco agreed.

((How much does she know?)) Cassie asked.

((She knows you guys are human,)) Tobias said, ((and she knows I was human. She also knows really weird things, like things we've said in the past. Or more specifically, things Marco has said. She kind of got to me, not in a good way, but not really in a bad way either. It's like she asks questions without worrying about the other person.))

We considered that for a while. ((Ax, what do you think about her?))

((She is strange. She did not remember Elfangor's name. I…)) he trailed off.

((Go on Ax.))

((I agree with Tobias. She makes me uncomfortable.))

((So, what do we do?)) Marco asked.