After an unusually restful considering what he was going to have to do later Saturday morning, Marco made his excuses to his father, then headed out of the house to find somewhere to morph in secret. Finding a good spot, he focused on his reliable old Osprey morph. Winging his way into the sky, he thermal-hopped until he found himself catching sight of other birds.
Birds that might just turn out to be the very people that hed set out to meet this morning. Following along, making sure to keep the other birds of prey in sight, Marco found that only two of them were heading for the island: the raven and another Osprey. Cassie and Slade.
(Hey, fancy meeting you two here,) he said. (Wheres Shara? Or did she make it out to the island before I got this far?)
(I think she might have,) Cassie said. (She wanted to test something we were working on last night, so I think shes on the island now.)
Wondering for a couple seconds what Cassie had meant by that, Marco mentally shrugged and kept flying. It probably wasnt that important, or maybe it was just private. And, since Shara had been considerate enough not to press him for information he wasnt going to give even in spite of her obvious curiosity he was going to do the same for her.
Once all of the Animorphs had gathered together on Royan island, though Marco could see clear evidence that some of them had arrived before the others. In the case of certain people, way before.
(Wow, Shara,) he said, catching sight of the fully demorphed, shorter blonde. (When did you start out for this place? The crack of dawn?)
(Well, lets just say I have my ways of getting around quickly,) she said, seeming amused.
(Ill say,) he chuckled mentally, landing and demorphing even as he formed the words and transmitted them.
As his human features emerged from the birds, Marco heard Shara laugh briefly. He also saw Jake demorphing, with a guardedly serious expression on his face. Sighing as his humanity reasserted itself completely, he decided to get the inevitable over with sooner rather than later. He pretty much knew what it was.
Heading off a short distance, while the others who were still half-morphed or more finished with their demorphing, he faced Jake squarely and raised his eyebrows.
"Marco, are you all right?"
"Sure. Why wouldnt I be all right?" he asked, hoping Jake knew a rhetorical question when he heard one.
Apparently he didnt. "Because if you were all right, youd be busy telling everyone how insane this is, and how were all gonna die. Youre weirding people out, being so tense."
"Shara and Slade seem perfectly fine," he said, not wanting to concede the argument.
Jake gave him a Look. "The people who know you. And Slade doesnt count."
Marco Looked right back. "Youre telling me its more comforting if I act like were all going to die out there?"
"Its what most of them have come to expect from you," Jake said.
"Well then, Ill try harder to be entertaining," he drawled.
Jake rolled his eyes, then took a quick, discreet look around. The rest of the Animorphs were down at the beach, fairly close to the waters edge. They were all trying to pretend that they didnt notice Jake trying to talk with Marco. All of them, that was, except Slade, who didnt care, and Ax, who probably didnt understand the significance anyway.
Not that those two things made Marco feel better about the situation; Rachel would probably think that hed needed Jakes help to psych himself up for the coming fight. He still hadnt forgotten that crack shed made about him being afraid of sharks.
"Look, Marco, were going to be heading into a possible fight down there," Jake said tersely, jerking his head toward their fellow Animorphs. "All Im saying is, maybe its time you told the others whats going on with you."
"Nothing is going on with me, Jake."
"Marco, your mother is down there," Jake said sternly.
Flinching, Marco bit the inside of his cheek. Hed been trying not to think about that. "How is it going to help the others if I tell them that I might have my own problems going into this?"
"I wasnt thinking of helping the others, Marco," Jake said, looking surprised at the idea. "I thought it would help you."
"No," he said, shaking his head violently. "It doesnt help me to have people pitying me, you know? I went through like a year of pity after my mom died. Supposedly died. I dont like pity. Pity makes you feel small and weak. Id rather have someone hate me than pity me."
"No one hates you, Marco," Jake said with a sigh.
"But they would pity me," he retorted.
Jake couldnt answer that; Marco knew he wouldnt have been able to.
"Hey," Rachel called, sounding vaguely annoyed. "Are we doing this, or are you two going to stand there yapping all day?"
"Were doing this," he said forcefully, making his way out to the beach. "But, Ill tell you guys right now: this whole thing is insane. Insane! Morphing sharks so we can infiltrate some underwater Yeerk complex? Whats gone wrong with our lives?"
As Jake passed him on the way to the water, Marco turned to him and muttered: "Happy now?"
"Okay. Are you guys all ready?" Jake asked, not seeming affected in the least.
"Ive been ready," Rachel grumbled.
"I think the only ones who needed any prep-time were you guys," Shara said, clearly trying to be understanding.
"Everyone, remember: this is a new morph for most of us. There are going to be a lot of new instincts to deal with. So be prepared," Cassie said, sweeping them all with a serious gaze, and lingering a bit on Slade and Shara.
He didnt really know why she bothered; if there were any two people who knew what being a shark was like, it would have to be them. When Tobias fluttered down out of the scraggly trees to land on Rachels shoulder, the rest of them waded out into the cold, foaming surf. A bird, an Andalite, and six humans, two of whom werent exactly all that human anymore.
"Were a scruffy, weird-looking bunch, arent we?" he scoffed, grinning.
"And short," Rachel added "helpfully", smiling with mocking sweetness. "At least, some of us are."
"Well all have the same sized dorsal fin in a few minutes, mighty Xena," he retorted, grinning right back.
"Hes got you there, Rachel," Shara said, laughing.
"Hey, Tobias, you do realize that there arent any mice underwater, right?"
He was playing the part that he had crafted for himself, over the months that he and the others had been fighting the Yeerks: the joker, the reckless exaggerator. The one that always seemed to look on the lighter side of things; most things, anyway. It was a good cover, but sometimes he could forget to maintain it.
That wouldnt be good.
Wading out into the water, amid the rougher waves that hadnt been there the last time the Animorphs had visited this tiny little island, Marco tried to put all of the myriad thoughts that had been troubling him since the start of this mission out of his mind. Closing his eyes, the better to bring his attention inward, he tried to call upon the mental picture that he had formed of the shark as it had thrashed around in Sharas grip. It was a thing easier said than done.
The urges to kill and to protect to kill Visser One and to protect his mother roiled within his mind as he contemplated this next phase. They would be going down into the heart of the enemys stronghold, and there was a better-than-average chance that he would have to confront her them it.