LittleMidgett; aw no... i really did that? Oh well, this chappie will make up for it, ok? ENJOY!!!
Aerionna
My name is Aerionna-Sirinal-Istren. And I had just been told we were about to fight the Yeerks.
"WHAT?!!" Toni exploded, her normally icy blue eyes opening wide.
"Did you… did you have a vision?" Michelle asked, her mouth set in a grim line as she helped Phoebe keep on her feet. I was also shocked at this sudden change of events.
Phoebe nodded her head, a hand pressed against her face "It was… I saw animals fighting… the ones you've just…"
"Could they have been our parents?" Alex asked, his eyes still on her. Phoebe shook her head. She then let go of Michelle and indicated for all of us to follow her to the ship. We did, and I took the chance to walk beside Kay. His real name was Kinalayn, but I always felt better calling him Kay. He also had a nickname for me. It was Aer. Yes, unusual, but he meant so much to me. On our trips to the Andalite home world, he was the only one to not look at me and Elfangor as some cross-breed 'freaks'. He was… he was my true shorm.
(This is… this is the moment we have been preparing for, for quite some time) I said in open thought-speak. I kept one stalk eye on Kay, and the other searching for any potential threats. My main eyes were on the others.
"Yes. It is Aerionna. It's just… I can't believe… you're all still kids…" Phoebe looked haunted now.
"But we're the only chance this place has. Sure, your ship could probably do some damage if it was a cruise ship or something, but it's not. So… we're the next bet" Alex said. We all froze. Phoebe turned to him.
"How… how did you…"
"Because all the equipment you have on that ship is research and medical stuff. Plus, if you've repaired the ship from parts you've found, I'm pretty sure you wouldn't stand much of a chance with a small fighter" That caught all of us off-guard. What was even more surprising was when Phoebe laughed out loud, then went over and hugged him. He tensed up, but didn't step away.
"Oh, you're your mothers' son all right. Jade always used to see things everyone else missed. But… I knew you father as well. They were pretty well matched, those two"
"Yeah, well, enough of the history lesson. What are we gonna do now?" Toni asked, a small dark curl falling in her eyes for an instant. She brushed it away a little angrily.
"Prepare, and then strike. One of the Yeerk ships will be passing by this area, no more than three miles east of here, in forty two hours. They're going after the few water reserves on the planet. They plan to drain the water, and create a Yeerk Pool out of the base. If they succeed, it's all over"
"How do you know all this?"
"Because… I see it all happening. I thought… I saw animals approaching them… then a vicious battle… but, what I see isn't always clear"
"So… we could die in this fight?" Megan asked, trembling a little. While we talked, we continued to move back towards the ship. What she said sent a shiver up my spine.
"Yes. But…" Phoebe trailed off, not sure what to say next. We all took a moment to let this information set in.
(Do not worry Aer. I will be fighting alongside you. My condition does not stop me from using a shredder and my own tail) Kay said privately to me. I turned my stalk eyes to look at him.
(Yes, but… I am still afraid. I do not wish to die, or to put Elfangor in danger as such)
(Yes, but if you do not fight, who will? The Yeerks will take this planet as their own, and then… there will be no stopping them)
(Yes, I know. They will not take this planet, I assure you) I touched my tailblade to his own, out of sight of the others, to assure him. He returned the gesture.
"Just think about it" Nicole said suddenly, breaking through the silence that threatened to envelope us "Our parents… every one of them… are fighting to save us all. They could…" she swallowed, before continuing "They could be dead already. So… it's only fair we do something for them too. For this place. For… for everyone. Fight for our parents, or… or in their memory"
I knew the courage it must've taken to make that speech, and I understood her words. She was right. My father… my mother… who was I to run from this war, when I could do something to help? When we all could.
"As much as I hate to admit it, Nikki's right" Megan said, barking a harsh laugh "They're risking their necks so we can keep ours. What are we gonna do? Sit back and let them? Nuh-uh. Not me. If I can fight, I will"
"Huh? Did I just hear Meggs say that??" Seth asked, shocked. Alex nodded, smiling.
"I agree with her. For once" Brother and sister smiled at each other, and Megan punched him playfully on the shoulder. He in turn put an arm around her in a half hug, then let go as we reached the ship. I trotted up the ramp, and caught up to Elfangor.
(Are you… all right brother?) I asked, and he looked up at me. Those eyes were courageous eyes. I had never seen him so determined before. It was uplifting to see.
"I'm fine sis. Just… I agree with what Megan said. I'm going to fight the Yeerks, and get them off our home planet. I'll… I'll kill every last one of them if I have to"
I nodded (As will I brother. As will I)
He smiled at me, then did something he was fond of doing. He'd done it ever since we were little. He placed a palm just above my cheek, careful not to get my eyes with his claws, then stepped beside me and took my arm and placed his head on my shoulder. It was a sign of comfort when we were both little. I smiled down at him.
(Oh Elfangor… when we win this fight, we will make sure… I will make sure no-one will ever hurt you again)
"I can say the same to you"
And so, we all went to 'prepare'.
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The days passed, and we waited. Finally, it was time. Phoebe made sure we all ate and slept at the appropriate times before we did. We left the ship, and Phoebe guided us in the direction of this water reserve. Kay would come along too, as he had said he had experience in fighting the Yeerks in tail combat. It would be useful in combat. She dropped us of nearby, but not too near, to the gigantic lake.
We all walked away from the ship as it took off. Phoebe had said she would be searching for a ship on the land that had not been destroyed. Perhaps that would be more useful to us. Although I doubted she would find one. If the planet had been deserted, it would mean they would need every single ship to either get civilians off the planet, or to fight the Yeerks. Still, if there was a chance there was one around… anything could help now. Even just a little.
So, we walked into the morning sun, all of us on edge as Phoebe's ship cloaked and took off. Elfangor was in the air, playing lookout for us. He was also checking the area ahead of us. He landed next to us after being quite high for a long time.
"Phoebe was right. There's a ship… smaller than the ship I saw before… the Blade ship… but it's still pretty big. It's moving towards the Miprin lake and… well… she was right. If we don't stop that thing, this war could be over in just a few days"
"I'm not going to let that happen" Seth's tone was sharp, and Sean nodded in agreement.
(The Miprin lake?) Kay queried.
(It is one of the largest masses of natural water on the planet. If they succeed… they would have billions of Yeerks stationed here, and…)
"Well, what are we waiting for?! Let's run for it!" Toni said.
"No, we don't want to waste our energy. And running draws attention. Don't worry, I know how you feel" Nicole said, her voice tight.
"Well then, let's morph" Cody said.
"Are we close enough to? I mean… are we sure…" Megan trailed off, looking a little 'on edge' as humans say.
"I think we are" Elfangor said "The lake is not too far. We should make it"
"Uh… I have a really dumb question" Michelle interrupted "How are we going to fight a big ship… as animals??"
"Easy. We get inside it" Seth said.
"And how are we supposed to do that?"
"Lure them out to us" Nicole said, seeming to be thinking hard about the situation.
(I may have a way. If they… if they see us out at the lake, they may… they may come out to check the situation) I said.
(Or they may just shoot us where we stand) Kay countered harshly.
"Kay's right. But… so is Aerionna. We need to get them out somehow, and if we need to take risks… then so be it" Sean said, looking at each one of us. By now, we'd stopped walking, and we simply talking to one another. What was left of a large stretch of trees were in front of us, and I knew we were very close.
"All right… how about… we morph and shift, then get into two or three teams. We give them multiple targets. They can't possibly shoot all of us if we're spread out" Michelle said, and Nicole nodded.
"Sounds good. But… Elfangor, think you can have another look up there? And tell us what you see?"
"Sure" Elfangor nodded, then opened his wings and flapped upwards.
(Be careful) I told him privately.
He flew up high, until I could almost not see him, before he rejoined us on the ground.
"There's like… twenty Hork-Bajir, all spread out along the rim of the lake! The ship is there, but from what I can see, all its doing is just hovering there. I could be wrong though"
"That doesn't matter. What's important now is that we've got a target now. And if we attack those Hork-Bajir…"
"Then they'll have to come out" Nicole finished for Alex, nodding.
"Ok, here's the plan; three groups, but you'll have to stay together as much as possible. All right… Megan, Cody, Toni and Elfangor in one. Sean, Michelle and Kay in another. Alex, me, Aerionna and Seth in the last one. We all split up and go different directions, and fight with everything we have. Don't stop for anything. And if you get hurt and can't fight anymore, pull back and fix yourself up. Ok?"
Nicole looked at each one of us to make sure we all understood. Then, she began to morph. Only this time, she became a leopard. Cody morphed gorilla. Megan became a polar bear, and Michelle went back to bull. Toni became an elephant, and Seth went wolf. Sean became the lion again. Alex went white tiger, and my brother became a gigantic crocodile. Kay and I stayed ourselves.
(All right. Everyone ready?) Nicole asked when she was done.
(Yeah, sure. You be ready to go into war) Megan muttered (This is insane)
(All right then, let's go!) We all kept moving, picking up the pace a little more. As soon as we saw the lake and the Hork-Bajir, we all broke into a run. I flattened my body out as I ran full-tilt at the lake, seeing our team was all ready beginning to split up into three. Then, I think they saw us.
TSSSSEWWW!!!
TSSSSEWWWW!!!
(Keep moving!) Nicole yelled (Whatever you do, don't stop!!)
So we did, with red beams of light narrowly missing all of us. And then, we struck.
I heard the screams of terror and fear from the others as I whipped my tail forward, severing the arm of the Hork-Bajir that had been shooting at me. In seconds, his head was in the same way.
I jumped out of the way as another Hork-Bajir blade tried to cut me in two. But he seemed to forget Andalites have more than two eyes. I brought my tail forward, cutting a neat gash in his chest. He leapt forward, and my tail 'sliced and diced' him up. But… he was still advancing! The bloody mess came forward, arms still reaching for me. I jumped back, cut his throat open, and he went down. Those eyes… such sad eyes… how could I justify killing this creature?
(Look out!) Alex screamed, and I turned my eyestalks as a tiger landed on the Hork-Bajir that had been advancing on me. In seconds, he was a bloody mess like his comrades.
(Thankyou Alex) I said, watching as Seth shot towards another, then leaping up and grabbing its throat, ripping and tearing until it fell. I swivelled my stalk eyes around and saw the others were all fighting in the same fashion. With everything they had.
We all fought on, until… finally, there were no more left. And now…
(The ship! Look!) Michelle cried as we all converged again. I looked over and saw the ship was turning, coming towards us.
(NO!! SPLIT UP!!) I screamed, running from the others. Behind me, I saw them all get the message and split up. The ship shot above us, then…
(It's landing!! Oh my god!!) Nicole cried. I noticed Elfangor, still a crocodile, slip into the water. Good. He would be safe. But the rest of us…
I stopped far enough away, then turned and watched as the ship landed, then a hatch opened. Michelle stopped beside me. We were both breathing heavily.
Then came a voice that I never thought I would hear again. That voice was my mothers.
Huh? Huh? Want to guess what happened?
LittleMidgett; thankyou! Thankyou! Finally someone with some brains!
And by tha way, you gave me the idea for this last part. Thanks!!