March 17, 1999
It was Wednesday.
I spent the afternoon in the woods. Walking, mostly. I found a nice big, smooth rock that jutted over a stream. I spent a lot of time sitting there. I considered breaking into a Holiday Inn several times. Kinda hard with Tobias watching over me every fucking second. It was after 2:30, so they should be getting out of school. Tobias and I were waiting outside Cassie's barn waiting for them. After several failed attempts this morning, Tobias had stopped trying to make conversation with me. After a few minutes of silence he went to go find Ax.
I lost my family. And what had I gained? Six personal slavemasters.
Tobias was friendly to me, but he wasn't human. Not anymore. I don't care if he was once a human, he isn't one now. He doesn't know what it's like for a human with no home. He only knows what it's like to be a hawk.
The Andalite kid, Aximili, was civil to me as well, but to lesser extent than Tobias. I could tell it had this arrogance around itself. Like we were all just stupid earthlings. It was friends with the other Animorphs, but it did not approve of me becoming part of the group. Still, it treated me as more of a person than the others.
To Jake Berenson, the leader, I was a burden. To him, I was an extra soldier, so I might be useful. On the downside, he didn't know me, and I didn't know shit about war. Jake was treating me like a fucking chess piece and didn't really think of me as a person. Still, if I was in charge with saving the fucking world, I'd have personality problems too.
Rachel Berenson, Jake's cousin. The warrior princess. Psycho-bitch. She liked that we had an extra person. "The bigger the army"-type mentality. She was all into the war thing. But, personally, she didn't like me. That was clear. Her feelings were the exact opposite of the Andalite's. She was in favor of me joining but didn't like me. Aximili was against me joining but had no qualms with me personally.
Marco McCabe. If I had to blame any one person for my situation in life it would be him. That fucker couldn't have just left me alone. I would never have tried to sell the damn box if he and his friends hadn't tried to steal it. And the asshole didn't like me nor did he want me part of the group.
The only one who had any real concern for me as a person was Cassie Verenda. Jake's girlfriend and Rachel's best friend. This morning, before she left for school she hid me some breakfast in the hayloft. I found it after her father had left the barn. It was a tupperware container filled with oatmeal. Still warm. Also a thermos filled with orange juice. It was all right. The oatmeal could have used some syrup or brown sugar. Still, Cassie was the only one who worried about such things like "feeding David". I was positive she was the reason that others hadn't lost it yet, and if I were to survive with this brat pack, she would be the key. The thing about Cassie though, . . . .
She reminded me of Steph. The physical similarities are nonexistent of course. Stephanie had a fully formed figure. Cassie is still kinda flat. While Stephanie was klutzy and kind of absent-minded, Cassie seems to have this deep, unwavering awareness. And I have yet to see her bump into anything. And all the colors are wrong. Hair. Eyes. Skin.
Superficial bullshit. Inside, they were the same I realized. Despite the differing colors, the gazes of their eyes are identical. Piercing, soothing, caring.
I shook my head disapprovingly. No, David. Falling in love with Cassie won't bring Stephanie back. And I don't think hitting on the leader's girlfriend will make things easier.
"David?"
I turned my head suddenly. Steph?
No, it was Cassie.
"Yeah?" I replied back.
"We're ready."
I followed her into the barn where Jake, Rachel, and Marco were.
"Help with the cage, will you guys?" Cassie asked.
In the center of their little circle was a divided wire cage. Poles were passed through, front to back, one on each side. Jake, Cassie, Rachel, and Marco each took a pole end. Looks like no one thought of asking me.
The cage held two large birds. Well, actually, one large bird. One huge honking bird, an eagle I thought. Not a Bald eagle, but an eagle just the same. Both birds were being cared for in Cassie's barn. Both were being released.
Tobias came down and landed on a log.
What are you doing with that? He demanded, glaring at the eagle. Of course, he's a hawk. He always glares.
"Relax, relax, Tobias." Cassie said, setting down the cage.
You're not releasing him near my territory. He said defiantly.
"Tobias, this bird has only been at the center for a couple of days. He has a well-established territory back in the mountains. You know golden eagles don't like roosting in trees if they can find a nice cliff. So he won't be hanging around. But we can't get him any closer to his territory, really, because the road back up there washed out."
Tobias continued to glare. He then looked at me. Then Jake.
"David's here to acquire his first morph. The merlin." Jake answered the unspoken question.
Wait. They already chose which morph I was going to acquire? Where the fuck was I? "Which one's the merlin?" I asked.
"The smaller bird." Cassie said. "They're very fast, very agile." she added making it seem like a sweet deal.
I wasn't totally bought. "Faster than the big one?" I asked.
You don't want to be a golden eagle. Tobias said. They're jerks. They go after other birds. Not to mention anything from a rabbit to a small deer. And I'm not kidding about the deer. I saw a golden eagle take down a young doe. Sank those talons right into the back of her head, boom, she went down like she'd been shot.
That thing could take down a deer? Cool. "I want to do the eagle."
Big Jake hesitated. "Any special reason?"
"Yeah. You tell me I have no home. No family. Now I'm supposed to be in the middle of some war with aliens. If I'm in a war, I want to kick butt."
"It isn't always about sheer power." Jake said. "That golden eagle is as big as a bald eagle, and we have problems sometimes with Rachel being a bald eagle because of the size."
"That bird has a seven-foot wingspan." Cassie pointed out. For what reason was beyond me.
I trampled some leaves and grass underfoot. "Did Jake here tell you all what animals to morph? Or did you pick them yourselves?"
"I'm not telling you what animal to morph." Jake said as calmly as he could, but I could tell that I was irritating him. Fuck him.
"Okay, then I'll morph the eagle."
"Here's an idea." Marco started. "How about not being such a jerk? We saved you from the Yeerks. We've been doing this for awhile, all right? We know what we're talking about. And Jake is the leader of this group, so how about if you show some respect?"
"Who are you my father? You don't tell me what to do. No one tells me what to do." I was yelling. I was venting. I've had a shitty week so far and it was only half over. "As for saving me, hah! That's a fucking joke. You wanted the blue box, and now you have it, and you know what I have? Nothing. That's what I have, nothing. So thanks."
"Look kid--" Rachel started, but Jake silenced her with a simple gesture. God, they were all his fucking puppets!
"You guys all think you're so tough and so cool. All these battles you've been in and all. But now, here I am, the new guy, as usual for me, and you don't like me."
"No one doesn't like you." Cassie said.
I thought about outing Rachel's true feelings about me, but she's Cassie's best friend. So I singled out Marco.
"He doesn't." I said glaring at Marco. "I'm not an idiot, you know. I can tell what people think about me. My family moves every couple of years whenever my dad gets transferred. I'm always the new kid in school. So I've gotten good at telling what people think of me. And now, here I am in this different school, and I'm the new kid. So, look, maybe you like me, maybe you don't like me, I don't care. I'm here. If you use the blue box on me I'm one of you. But I'm not going to get pushed around. And I'm not going to be all 'Oh, thank you, wise and wonderful Animorphs, for letting me join.' If I'm in, I'm in all the way. If not . . . I guess I'll walk away and try to figure out what to do. On my own."
My little speech left everyone pretty silent. Marco's face was one of resigning acceptance. Jake's face was neutral. Tobias's face was feathery and unreadable. Cassie's face had fallen into an expression of worry.
Rachel actually had a smirk on her face. "Oh, he'll fit in fine."
"Where's Ax?" Jake asked Tobias
Can't you hear him? You people are so deaf. He's galloping, should appear right about . . . there
The Andalite came running gingerly out of the forest. I am sorry to be late. I had to go out of my way to avoid some human campers. Are we going ahead with the Escafil Device?
"Yes." Jake answered
I swear to God, he hesitated before he answered.
Rachel tossed my box to Ax. The Andalite dropped it and caught it again with the flat of its tail blade. The Andalite raised my box to its hands and held the box out to me.
Press your hand on the square nearest to you. It told me.
"Wait! Shouldn't there be some kind of ceremony or something?" Cassie asked.
"Like what?" Marco wondered. "You want us all to join hands and sing 'The Star-Spangled Banner'?"
"No, I don't know all the words." Cassie admittted. With a cute grin she suggested, "We could sing MMMBop."
I laughed. I couldn't help it. She was cute when she was funny. Like Steph . . .
Focus, David!
I stepped toward the Andalite. Because of this fucker, my father was now counting in base nine. I ignored the impulse to strangle it as I put my hand on the top square of my box. After a few seconds I felt a tingling sensation run through my body.
"It tingles." I shared.
I removed my hand from the box. Marco stepped forward. He stuck out his hand. I took it.
"Welcome to the Animorphs, new boy."
They each shook my hand. Even the Andalite. Tobias just sort of nodded to me and I nodded back. Cassie gave me a sort of half-hug.
Which got a split-second suspicious look from Jake. Heh-heh.
Cassie then cracked open the cage to the golden eagle.
"You just put your hand in very slowly." She instructed. My hand was shaking as I moved it toward the bird. "Now press your palm against the bird's shoulder." I did. The eagle gave me a look, decided I wasn't important, and looked the other way.
Story of my life.
"Focus your mind." Cassie continued. "See the eagle in your imagination. Think about him, what he is, what he represents."
It was a strange feeling. I felt my eyes close as I focused on the eagle who was becoming a part of me.
"Now take your hand away." Cassie said. "You now have the golden eagle inside you. His DNA is in your blood. You can become him."
Fuckin' 'A. "When do I do it?"
"Soon." Jake says. "We also have to get you a morph with some teeth. Cassie? Take David to the zoo. With your access he should be able to get in and out without being spotted, but the rest of us will fly cover. Let him have whatever morph he wants. But also get him a bug or two in case has to get small. We want to be ready." He turned to face me. "We have a little . . . situation. A mission."
"Nothing to worry about, though." Marco said. "Just the usual: Save the world from the alien invaders. You'll get used to it."
Cassie and I were in some rank corridor behind the cages at the zoo part of The Gardens. For the price of admission, I really should have been allowed to ride a few roller coasters, but they wouldn't let me. Uptight motherfuckers.
"This is the Rhinoceros cage. And this one has the tigers." Cassie said in her perky tour-guide voice.
"What kind of battle morphs do you all have?" I asked.
"Well, Tobias and Ax usually fight as themselves, but sometimes Tobias will go Hork-Bajir and Ax will go rattlesnake. The other four of us all have wolf morphs, but I'm the only one who uses it consistently in battle. Rachel will usually fight as either an Elephant or a Grizzly Bear."
So Rachel was the Bear. Rachel was the one who threw me out the fucking wall. "And Marco?"
"A Gorilla."
I rolled my eyes. "Figures. It suits his personality. I saw him use it last night. Your boyfriend used a rhino morph last night. Is that his usually battle morph?"
Cassie seemed a little taken aback by my referral to Jake as her boyfriend. "Uh . . . no. He usually uses a tiger morph. Most of us agree that it's the best of all of us."
"A tiger, huh?" I wondered aloud. I admit it. I was trying to outdo Jake. The best battle morph? We'll see.
Now. I thought. What could beat a tiger? An elephant maybe? Nah, too big. It would be like raptors on a Brontosaurus. A grizzly? Too slow. Only another tiger could beat a tiger. Or at least another big cat, but what? Cheetahs. Leopards. Jaguars. Too small. The tiger bettered them in size. I need one closer to the tiger's size.
"What's in this one?" I asked Cassie.
"Leopards."
"And this one?"
"Jaguars."
"Are all the big pussycats in a row?"
"Yeah." Cassie said kind of laughing. "That's the lion's door at the far end."
"Lion, huh?" I said as I thought. Lions. King of the jungle. They were so close to being as large and heavy as tigers that the difference was not real significant. And unlike a tiger, a lion had a luxurious mane that protected his neck. "Open the Lion's door."
Cassie did, and I stepped in. There were five females lounging around. I wanted a male. Then all of the sudden, he sprang in front of me. An intruder! In my forest??
"David! Be careful!" Cassie said.
The Gold mane nearly matched my own blonde hair. Nature's crown. Proof to all the Jungle that he was King. How was I going to acquire him? Then I got it.
I could the feel the smirk grow on my face. It was what Steph and Jason called my I've-got-a-weird-idea-that-I'm-going-to-try-even-though-it-is-totally-insane smirk. First, I took off my shirt.
"David, what are you doing?"
I knelt down and got on all fours. I lowered my head till I had to look up to see the Lion's face. He looked at me, decided I wasn't an immediate threat and put his paw on my shoulder, inspecting me, touching me. And since, I was not wearing a shirt, technically, I was also touching him.
I concentrated on him. The luxurious mane. The powerful jaws. The body of molten steel. The paw on my shoulder. Almost immediately I could feel that the paw was not pushing down on me that hard.
"It's going through its acquiring trance. Now get out of there!"
No. I was making sure that this magnificent creature was becoming a part of me. After a minute I backed out of the cage and closed the bars. I saw the lion come out of the trance.
"Grrrrrrrrrrrr." It growled at me. I stood there, unwavering, staring at him back. For what seemed like an eternity in a second, we stared each other down.
Then he walked away.
Heh-heh.
I put my shirt back on. "Is that it for here?"
"No." Cassie answered, snapping out of her funk of watching me and the lion. "You need a bug morph." She walked toward a bug trap on the ground and open it. "Yes! Here acquire this." She held up the trap to reveal a stuck, squirming, still alive cockroach.
"That's a fucking cockroach." I said very matter-of-factly.
Cassie shrugged her shoulders. "Touch it."
"I'm not touching that."
"David, you need a bug morph. Sometimes smaller is good."
I wasn't going to argue with that logic. Still, it was a fucking cockroach! The mascot of filth. After much sneering in disgust, I placed my finger on it. Fucking oily. I concentrated on it. And after absorbing the power of two magnificent golden animals, I was now soiling my blood with the DNA of a cockroach.
On the other hand, these filthy motherfuckers could survive a nuclear holocaust, so maybe they weren't all bad.