We wouldn't be morphing at the beach this time. Morphing something as large as a dolphin, right at the water's edge, was an open invitation for the Yeerks to find out about us. Instead, Lee guided us to a secluded spot along the river half a mile inland. There was a narrow strip of trees growing along the riverbank, on the edge of a small park. We were only partially hidden from view, but the immediate area was deserted, and we had Tobias to make sure nobody approached unexpectedly. The others were already there, waiting for us. Marco seemed especially happy to see us.

"Oh, good, everyone's here," he said, sounding much happier than he usually did when I'd seen him. "Ready to get this over with?"

(Well, just give us a second to demorph, would you? I can't do this as fast as Cassie can,) Lee said, still more bird than Human.

"All right, this is the first time any of us have morphed something without legs, so how do we want to do this?" Jake said.

"Well, I figure we should just wade in until we're a little more than waist-deep," Cassie suggested, "That should give us enough space to float when we can't stand up anymore."

"Good plan," Rachel said, "Let's do it!"

We climbed down the shallow bank into the knee-deep water, and pushed towards the center of the river. Twenty feet out, the water was finally deep enough, and we began to morph.

The first thing that happened was that my arms turned into a pair of oversized fins. Not quite dolphin flippers - they still had the green, scaled texture of my own skin. Next, the two blades on my head merged together, and migrated backwards down my spine until it rested between my shoulder blades. A third nostril appeared on the back of my neck, and for a few minutes, I experienced the bizarre sensation of being able to breathe simultaneously through four separate orifices. All the while, I could feel my body growing larger. The others must have looked just as grotesque as I did, because Tobias could not refrain from commenting on it.

(Oh, eww. That is way nasty. You look... well, you've got a touch of the Innsmouth look about you, let's put it that way.)

(Innsmouth look? What are you talking about?) Cassie inquired.

(Don't tell me I'm the only one here who's read H.P. Lovecraft,) Tobias complained.

(I tried to read 'Call of Cthulhu' once,) Marco said, (But it wasn't really my thing. Sorry.)

(It's all right. Kind of an acquired taste, really...)

I didn't hear the rest of what they had to say, because my legs and tail had just finished merging together, my few remaining facial features disappeared, and suddenly I was overwhelmed by the Dolphin mind.

Why had Marco been so concerned about conquering my fear of the water? There wasn't any fear that needed conquering. The water was fine. Safe. Welcoming. The only problem I had with it was that there wasn't enough of it. There was plenty in front and back, but not side-to-side. And it was too shallow - maybe I'd be fine if I was alone, but there wasn't enough space for me to play with the rest of the pod here.

(This is no good,) somebody said, (Let's get out of the river. We can't play in here).

(What do you mean 'play'?) Tobias said, (You didn't think this was a game, did you?)

(Yes! A game!) I cried, (We want to play a game!)

(A game! A game! Let's play!) the others cheered.

(Fine,) Tobias sighed, (But not here. We have to go downriver first. To the ocean.)

(That's great!) said a voice that might have been Jake's. (I bet I can get there first!) There was a disturbance in the watter as a dark shape lurched past me and disappeared downstream. And suddenly, all of us were moving, eager to show up Jake and get there first. Dim shapes flashed by in the water: twisted, tangled masses, circles half-submerged in the riverbed, and other indescribable detritus. Some of them came up so suddenly that I barely had time to dodge, and I realized that it might not be fun to run into it. But I couldn't see! If only there was some other way to-

KLIKLIKLIK KLIKLIKLIK

The world around me was revealed in a stunning 3D display, the like of which I had only seen on Yeerk computer consoles - twisted tree roots, sunken shopping carts, discarded tires, rocks, weeds, fish too small to bother eating. I could see everything underwater. But not with my eyes. Somehow, the image had bypassed my eyes and imprinted directly on my brain. What it was almost defies description - it was like nothing I'd seen in any previous morph. There were shadows, but no color. I saw without any light to see by. And after a few seconds, the image began to fade away.

(What was that?) I wondered.

I was answered by a storm of KLIKs, shortly followed by wild exclamations from the others.

(So that's what sonar looks like,) Cassie said, (Oh man, is this cool or what?)

I let out another series of KLIKs, and was rewarded with another picture. No, not just one picture, but several, slightly different. Reveling in my newfound ability to navigate, I raced along to join the others at the river's mouth.

I'm not entirely sure how much sense it makes for Tobias to be an H.P. Lovecraft fan. I'm certain it's not something that was ever mentioned in canon material, but then the target audience was gradeschoolers. Most pop-culture references were for things that contemporary 10-year-olds were familiar with (and because I started reading these books when I was 6, I still didn't get half the pop-culture references. I had a high-school level reading comprehension and a 1st Grade level of cultural knowledge. Very odd combination, now that I think about it, but that's high-functioning autism for you).

On the other hand, I've always understood Tobias as being much more literate than the other Animorphs - I can't think of any specific moments in canon that would imply that, but it just feels right for his character. I figure even if he's not specifically a fan, Tobias is at least familiar with Lovecraft's cosmic horror stories. And since I don't like referencing books I haven't read, that kind of means his taste in books is based on mine (I guess that's true for the others, too).