Chapter Four

My name is Tobias.

Tobias Fangor, that is. I haven't used that name in years. Even longer than the others, for that matter. Once I became a hawk, I lost all traces of my past life. The same happened to the others, of course, but it wasn't as sudden.

I sometimes wonder about those last moments before realizing I would no longer be human again. I used to wonder if whether there was a way out, and that I just failed to see it, so I could escape my life.

I probably would have gone crazy years ago, had it not been for Rachel. She was the first person ever to care about me in my life. She was the one who brought me back from the verge of insanity.

But she was no longer around. She was killed years ago, by the very Yeerks that we were now looking for.

But I rarely think of things like that any more. It will only make me depressed.

Now, I think about the mission. I think about what has to be done, and how I can help out my friends.

I was currently flying over this strange and majestic alien landscape, trying to find any clues as to where we were, and if there was any signs of an intelligent species. Or Yeerks. I found neither, which just confused me some more. The Yeerks wouldn't have been eying this planet if there hadn't been something of use on the surface. And I wanted to find out what that was.

I was now flying over a forest that consisted mainly of fragile purple trees. It was nothing like anything else I have ever witnessed. Off to the south I could see a river, with raging yellow rapids, which led all the way to a magnificent waterfall, falling so far down than even my hawk's eyes couldn't guess at its height.

Seeing that there was nothing suspicious in the vicinity, I caught a nice tail wind, and reverted myself back to the ship's wreckage.

Once there, I could see that Jake had returned. At the moment, he was talking with Marco and Jeanne.

Hello, Jake. Hello, Marco. Glad to see you guys made it back okay.

Jake waved to the sky, acknowledging my presence. "Hey, Tobias. Glad to see you're all right, too. What do you see up there?"

No, not much of anything, I admitted. There's a spectacular looking waterfall due south of here, but everything else is forest. No signs of Yeerks, no signs of a local intelligent species, nothing.

Just as he said that, I heard a faint sound in the breeze. Almost a bellowing sort of noise. And, although I couldn't see it, I couldn't ignore it, either.

Um, guys? I said, looking down at my comrades. I hear something coming from the west. Sounds like laughter, or screaming, perhaps.

Suddenly, Jake was back into leader mode. His smile quickly disappeared, as he looked back up at me. "How far is it, Tobias?"

I don't know, I admitted. But I'm pretty sure its coming from within the forest. The voice was travelling with the wind.

"Okay, we'll check it out," Jake said. "Marco, Jeanne, Santorelli, go battle morphs. Tobias, you'll be our eye in the sky, as always. And Menderash, you stay here to hold the fort down."

"What fort?" the Andalite asked, confused.

"Just stay here, see if you can salvage anything else. And be on the lookout for anything suspicious."

"Yes, Jake," Menderash said. I couldn't help but understand how the guy felt. Back when I was permanently trapped as a hawk, I couldn't participate in all the Animorph mission. Now, I was, and Menderash wasn't.

"Ready?" Jake said. "Remember now, the Yeerks could be anywhere, or anything."

I watched from above as my teammates changed their forms before my eyes.

I watched as Santorelli was getting larger and larger. His arms were growing shorter and thicker, as he finally fell down on all fours. The last thing to form were the two spiked horns, erupting from his face, as the rhinoceros morph went to completion.

Marco was now getting taller, as his skin grew dark and leathery. Long black hairs soon began sprouting on his arms and legs, until it was pretty obvious that he was fully gorilla.

When I looked at Jeanne, it seemd rather funny. Her long black hair was being sucked right into her scalp, as though it were spaghetti. Once she was completely bald, her skin turned a dark green colour, finally erupting in scales. All the while her mouth was stretching outward, creating a horrifying grin. I watched as the mouth began sprouting the immensely sharp ripping teeth of the crocodile.

Lastly, I looked over at Jake. His arms were growing orange and black fur, which soon traveled along the rest of his body. His knees suddenly changed direction, and he toppled over to the ground. By now, his mouth was growing large fangs, as he completed his morph into the Siberian tiger.

"Good luck," Menderash said, as he handed Marco a Dracon Beam. After all, he was the only one with opposable thumbs.

Marco, take the lead, Jake said. Put the Dracon on stun, so you don't hurt anyone whose just gotten in the way. We're hunting the Yeerks, not the local species.

Aye aye, Prince Jake, Marco said, putting the Dracon at his side like a military officer. Kong, he said. King Kong.

More like King Wrong, Jeanne said, revealing her mouth full of razor-edged teeth.

Oh, very good, Jeanne, Marco said. Remind me never to kid around you ever again.

Fine by me, she snapped.

Okay, that was funny, Marco replied. I may have to reconsider now....

People, we have work to do, Jake said, as he sauntered away deeper into the forest. I watched as the others followed.

It wasn't long before I couldn't see them at all. The trees were rather thick, with the only openings being the spots where my friends and I had landed.

Can you see us from up there, Tobias? it was Jake.

Mostly, I said. But vaguely, as these trees block out a lot of the sunlight. Those pink trees are really quite dazzling, its hard to concentrate on what's behind them.

You can do it, he told me.

There he was, reassuring me once again. Ever since the end of war, we haven't spoken that much. He was the one who had sent Rachel to her death, and that was something that I just can't get over. But the guy was trying, and I knew he carried that guilt with him every day. So, I have been trying to listen to him better lately. He was, after all, a great leader.

Then...Jake! Over here! It was Jeanne.

What is it? he asked.

I found a footprint, she said. Not one of ours.

I could definitely hear footsteps now, as Jake ran over to where Jeanne had been. Is it Hork-Bajir? I heard him say.

No, was the response. Much, much bigger.