He woke up, subtly tensing his muscles to test his range of motion while keeping his eyes closed, listening for whoever or whatever was inside this place with them. But he only had a few moments to notice the feel of soft grass under his arms, before he heard the sound of Cassie screaming and sat up suddenly. Before he could so much as open his mouth, however, Tommy found a sharp, pale-colored blade pressed against his throat.
(Do not move. I stunned you and your companions to find out what you are, but if you move, I will destroy you.)
Breathing more slowly and evenly, even as he saw the others beginning to wake up all around him, Tommy turned his attention back to the one who'd seemingly ambushed all of them as soon as they'd made their way into this place.
"What the⦠oh hell. Please tell me that's a real Andalite and not Visser Three."
Marco's voice drew all of their attention, but the only one who actually moved was the Andalite himself.
(Visser Three?! Do not speak that name!)
Tensed nearly to the breaking point, Tommy forced himself to stay as still as he could stand, even as he saw the Andalite holding the sharp blade of their scorpion-like tail poised just above Marco's face. He didn't know if there was anything that he could actually do, and Tommy found himself hating that helplessness more than anything. He'd made a promise to himself to protect these kids, so that made it even worse when he found that he couldn't.
