Richard's Animorphs Forum

Aaaaand here's a new topic since the David Trilogy is over. Next in my series rewrite, we have The Pretender. Here's my take on Tobias discovering his true identity and heritage.

Chapter One

My name is Tobias. It's a nice name, strong but unique. It sounds independent, or even important. I guess I was independent before all this happened, if you take no one caring where I was as independence. But I was never important. If you had walked past me in the mall, you'd just keep going. Unless you wanted my lunch money. I guess I was something of a bully magnet. But see, back then it didn't really matter. No one seemed to care what I was doing or who I was doing it with. So, if no one cared what happened to me, why should I? I guess that's why I never really stuck up for myself. It wasn't worth it.

I never really paid much attention to my name before everything changed. It was just a name. Now, it's pretty much the only thing that defines me as a human being. I like to think, someday, that it's a name that will be remembered. Maybe it's looking too far ahead, or childish or whatever. But I hope that, when this is all over, I won't be forgotten.

There are defining moments in our lives. There are moments when, through one choice our lives proceed along one path and through another, they proceed in a very different direction. Three of my life's defining moments happened in one week. The first occurred when I chose to go with the others through the construction site next to the mall. It was there that the Andalite ship crashed, and I met the being who asked us to save the world.

That's right, Andalite. Don't try to look it up, because it's not in any encyclopedia you could find. Andalites are aliens, as in, from another solar system. You couldn't mistake an Andalite for a human with big ears or a ridged forehead like you can on shows like Star Trek. When you see an Andalite, you know you're not looking at prosthetics. Picture a deer with blue fur and a sort of human upper body like a centaur. They don't have a mouth, but they have extra eyes to make up for it. They have the normal sort of eyes in the normal place, but they also have a whole other pair that are on stalks atop their heads that they can move around to see in every direction. To complete the alien effect, they have a long, scorpion-like tail that rears up above their shoulder. Andalites are definitely dangerous with those things. But they're not the bad guys. They came to help us, to stop the real bad guys from invading our planet. Those would be the Yeerks.

If you want to know what a yeerk really looks like, imagine a pale gray slug. They don't look dangerous at all. Actually in their natural form, the yeerk has no real defenses at all. But they are a plague. You see, a yeerk has the ability to squirm into the brain of another creature, through the ear canal. They flatten and spread themselves out, and take over. The person they crawl into is completely helpless. They have no control over their own body. So if you really want to know what a yeerk looks like, take a look around. The kid you walk to school with, the teacher that lets you off early, the policeman that comes to your school to talk about drugs, any of them could be a slave of the yeerks, a Controller.

The Andalite, whose name was Elfangor who crashed told us all this. We wanted to get him help, but he was too badly injured in his crash. And he knew the Yeerks would come for him, to destroy any evidence of his existance. They didn't want people to know about aliens, it would ruin their plan of a silent invasion, where they could gradually take over the world before anyone knew what was going on. But before they arrived, Elfangor said that we were the only ones who knew what was going on. We had to save the Earth.

I know what you're thinking. A group of kids are going to stop an alien invasion? Well, we weren't exactly bursting with confidence either. But Elfangor gave us one small weapon, one advantage. He gave us the ability to become, to transform into, any animal that we could touch. We could fight them with this morphing ability, taking on the form of animals to attack the yeerks any way that we could. It was a pathetic power when put against the might of the Yeerk forces, but it's all we have. It's all the Earth has.

The kids I was with, they weren't exactly friends at the time. I knew Jake, because he stopped some guys from picking on me in the bathroom at school once. So I figured he was cool and maybe I could hang out with him a little bit. I didn't expect him to suddenly be best pals, but I thought he wouldn't mind if I sort of stayed in his vicinity. That was the type of person Jake was, even back then. He had a charisma that drew people to him. I recognized it then, and thought that if I was around Jake, I wouldn't get picked on so much. Jake has a very personal stake in this war. His older brother, Tom, is one of them. Jake wants to set him free.

Jake's best friend was Marco. Everyone knows a Marco. He's the guy that's cute, funny, and thinks he's about ten times cuter and funnier than he actually is. Not that I noticed his cuteness or anything. It's just that girls tended to talk around me like I wasn't there. Most people were like that. If you weren't pushing me into a locker, I was invisible. Like Jake, Marco has a reason for fighting against the yeerks. His mother, who he spent two years thinking of as dead, is Visser One. A Visser is like a General. They lead the Yeerk Military forces. It was Visser One who prepared the Earth for the invasion before passing it off to another.

Then there was Rachel. On one hand, Rachel is beautiful. She's tall, with long blonde hair that seems to shimmer in the right light. So you could easily mistake her for a helpless model. On the other hand, that would be the fist she decks you with because you called her helpless. She's a great girl, but woe to the person who underestimates her.

The other human person we began this war with is no longer with us. Her name is Cassie, and she was Rachel's best friend. She was gentle, kind, and a champion for nature. Her parents are both vets, so she sort of grew up with that saving things mentality. She was a remarkable girl, but she's moved beyond us. I mean that literally. A nearly all-powerful being named the Ellimest took her as his sort-of assistant and now she's off saving entire species. Which, I guess is what she always wanted to do. Actually, it's more complicated than that, but it's not my story to tell.

Where we lost Cassie, we gained someone else. Melissa Chapman, the daughter of the school's vice-principal, who happens to be one of the most important Controllers on the planet, found the blue box that Elfangor used to give us our powers. After she saw the morphing in action, we had to tell her what was going on. She chose to join us in our fight. I know she believes that she will someday be able to free both of her parents from the yeerks control. The same way Jake wants to save his brother, or Marco with his mother. She's smaller than Rachel, actually even smaller than Marco, who is pretty short. She's also got blonde hair like Rachel, but Melissa's is much paler, almost white.

Then there's Ax. His real name is Aximili Esgarrouth Isthill. He's an Andalite, like Elfangor. Actually, he's Elfangor's little brother. Ax was left here when the Andalite ship was destroyed, stranded as the only survivor. Now he fights with us, cut off from his people, fighting for a planet that isn't even his. His stake runs personal as well though. When Elfangor was killed by Visser Three, the only yeerk to ever take over an Andalite body, it became Ax's responsibility to slay his brother's killer. His honor depended on it, and honor is a very important thing to the Andalites.

As for me, I never thought I had a real personal reason to be in this war. I mean, other than saving the planet, there wasn't anything special that drove me to fight the yeerks. At least, I didn't think there was, until I found out what the second defining thing to happen to me in that week was. But at the time, I didn't even know it had happened. I wouldn't find out until much later, just how important that construction site meeting had really been.

At the moment, I was looking for lunch. But I wasn't going to a Taco Bell or digging through the fridge. No, instead I was sitting in a tree, watching the grass twitch ever so slightly as the nice plump mouse ever so cautiously poked his way out of his hole. In a moment, he'd be far enough out and I would spread my wings and swoop down. It would be a quick kill, because my talons are sharp and I have no desire to make it suffer. Then I'd eat.

I know you're probably grossed out right now, but I don't have a lot of choice in the matter. You see, I'm still Tobias the boy who was picked on, but I'm also Tobias the red-tailed hawk. That morphing power that I told you about? It comes with a price. If you stay longer than two hours, that's your body, period. When I became stuck in this form, that was the third defining moment of my life in the same week.  For the longest time, I thought that I'd be always be a hawk, with no choice in the matter. Then the Ellemist gave me my power to morph back. However, hawk is still my 'original' form. I can even morph into my old human body. But after two hours I have take my wings back, or I'll never be able to morph, which means I won't be able to fight. I have to fight this war. Now more than ever.

The mouse was out of the hole. It was lunchtime. I shifted on my branch and prepared to dive, about to launch myself from the tree when a voice called out my name. I froze, or at least my brain did. Unfortunately, I was already in mid-lunge so I didn't so much soar off the branch or freeze in place as try to do both at the same time, resulting in a really goofy looking dive straight from tree branch ten feet down into the dirt. <Aaaaaaahhh!!> Oh well, at least I had the presence of mind to scream like a little girl. I wouldn't want to leave the humiliation incomplete or anything.

I heard rushing footsteps, and then gentle hands pulled me out of the dirt. They set me down again and I shook myself off. <I'm fine. I'm fine. What is it?> Looking up, and well, up since hawks are short, I found Rachel and Melissa both looking down at me with concern.

Rachel, who had set me up, asked. "Are you okay? Tell me you meant to do that."

<Of course I did.> I responded huffily while testing my wings. Luckily, nothing seemed broken. <It's a new sport I'm inventing. I'm not sure what I should call it. How about Dirt Divers, what do you think?> I flapped up to land in a lower branch and turned to glare at them. Not that I was angry. It's just that a hawk only has the one expression.

"What about Concussion Seekers?" Melissa suggested while putting both hands on the ground, turning over into a handstand. Melissa and Rachel are both gymnasts. I guess Melissa's more into it than Rachel has been lately.

<That's a good one.> I peered down at the girl, who was now fully upside down and holding it. <Do you have any idea how distracting that is?>

Melissa smiled just a little and nodded. "Sure. But so is your habit of flying off to kill a rodent whenever everyone's talking."

<I only did that the one time. And that was to get ammo in case Marco pissed me off again.> I ruffled my feathers a little and eyed that mouse one more time.

"Guys, we came here for a reason." Rachel cut in. "And also, ewwww." She shot me a look before glancing to other girl. "Melissa found out something, Tobias. You should hear it." She sounded a little hesitant, excited but nervous. I wasn't sure why.

Melissa pushed off her hands and fell over into the dirt, rolling back to her feet with a cough. "Yeah, Tobias... I ummm, I've been listening to my parents. You know, in case anything happens." Both her parents were important controllers, so it made sense that she might over hear something that could help us. "My dad, he's been really... absent lately. Even more than usual. He's spent the last week muttering to himself and telling my mom, that is, the yeerk in my mom, that nothing's wrong. But he keeps going through all these old year books, and the phonebook. Like he's looking for someone."

She trailed off, and I was confused. "Okay, so Chapman... I mean, Mr. Chapman is looking for someone. So? Is it someone I can help find?"

Melissa frowned and looked down with a thoughtful look, so Rachel answered. "Melissa says that her dad got really excited last night. He said 'There's a boy', but then he got mad again when he looked through his records to find out who it was. He stormed out, so she snuck down and got a look at his records. He was looking at our class from last year. Tobias, he was looking at you."

That threw me. <At me? Why would he look at me? You think he's noticed I'm not living anywhere I'm supposed to be?> When I was trapped, we set it up so my aunt would think I was living with my uncle, and vice versa. Not that either of them showed that much interest anyway, but it was best to avoid attention. We didn't want the yeerks having any reason to think I was a part of this and going from me to the others.

This time Melissa answered. "That thing my dad kept muttering, like it was a ummm... a memory. It was like a memory he couldn't quite fully get. The only thing I ever understood about his mumbling was the name Loren."

I froze. Loren had been my mother's name.

Rachel's next words echoed around inside my mind for a long time. "Tobias, we think Chapman knows your mother somehow. We think she's important to the yeerk that's controlling him. And he's looking for her."

There was just one problem with that theory. My mother was dead. Wasn't she?

Thanks! Glad you like it. And all I can say is that I hated that they never really got into the aftermath of learning about Tobias's father either. And I will correct that.


Chapter Two

An hour later, Rachel and Melissa had gotten Jake and Marco while I found Ax at his scoop. Now everyone was gathered by the tree in my meadow. As usual, Marco was complaining.

"All I'm saying is, Batman has the Batcave. Superman has the Fortress of Solitude. Even the friggin Power Rangers had their command center. What do we have?" He gestured around the field. "Weeds. Not that it isn't great for you, Tobias, but I'm thinking recliner and a big screen. Maybe a fancy garage."

Jake rolled his eyes. "Marco, you don't have a car. Furthermore, you can't drive." Everyone was avoiding the subject of why we couldn't meet in our usual spot, Cassie's barn.

Kicking aside a rock with a look of distaste, Marco settled against the tree next to mine. "Hey, we've only got fourteen months before we can get permits. Then we'll have a brand new AniCar." He paused and took in the reaction to that. "No? Morphermobile? You people are no fun."

Shaking his head, Jake corrected him. "No, I meant you literally can't drive. Ever. We put it in the group charter."

Blinking, Marco questioned. "Hey, when did we get a charter?"

Jake smiled thinly. "When we realized we needed something in writing forbidding you from ever driving again. Trust me, the trash cans are thanking us right now."

Pointedly ignoring Marco's objections, Rachel looked to me. "What do you know about your mother, Tobias?"

I thought back. <Not much. I was pretty much a baby when she...> I paused. I'd been about to say 'died'. But Chapman obviously thought she was alive. "... disappeared, I guess. I don't remember much about her. Or my father.> I hesitated before sighing. <Actually, I don't remember anything at all about my father. For all I know, he could alive too.> I was grateful then for the hawk's glare. It made it easy not to show the hurt I felt at the idea that both of my parents could be alive and never have wanted me any more than my aunt and uncle did. Actually, even less.

Marco spoke up then. "I think the better question is, why would Chapman be looking for her? What connection does Tobias's mother have to Chapman or the yeerks?"

All of us turned to look toward Ax, who stood in his natural Andalite form, keeping a wary stalk eye pointed toward the edge of the field. I was watching for anyone approaching as well. Even though we'd mostly gotten used to Ax's appearance, he'd completely freak out anyone that happened to stumble across us. Not that it was very likely. The only time anyone had a chance of sneaking up on a hawk was at night. During the middle of the day, like this, forget it.

Slowly, Ax responded to everyone looking at him. <I do not know of any contact between the Earth and the yeerks during the time during or before the time that Tobias's mother would have vanished.> His stalk eye turned to Marco, as we all thought about what happened to Marco's own mother. <But I could easily be mistaken. My irrelevent species class was rather long and I didn't care for it.>

Rachel shot Ax a look. "Who're you calling an irrelevent species, furbutt?"

Ax lowered his tail in what I'd come to know as an Andalite gesture of surrender. <I was not speaking on Human merit. But that is the name of the class where you are discussed. It was only one session.>

Shrugging, Marco stepped over to Ax. "Sure, we only merit one boring session in a boring class now. But wait until your people get ahold of our sticky buns. They'll have mandatory six month on site courses."

Noticeably perking up, Ax swung his stalk eyes around. <There are delicious sticky buns?>

"No sticky buns, Ax." Jake shook his head. "We need to find out what Mr. Chapman knows about Tobias's mother."

Sitting cross legged on the ground, Melissa asked. "What about that..." She trailed off, obviously trying to remember. "The uhhh... Chee. If it's a yeerk thing, maybe they'd know."

"Maybe..." Jake frowned doubtfully. "But if, like you said, he's been keeping it from your mom too, then maybe the rest of the yeerks don't know about it. Anyway, we should ask. So we need one group to go find out what the Chee know and another group to infiltrate--" He cut himself off and blushed slightly. "I mean uhh, go with Melissa to her house and see what Mr. Chapman has."

"I volunteer to visit the Chee." Marco said quickly. "Fate of the world or not, no one will ever get me willingly into an assistant principal's house. That place is evil."

"Marco." Rachel glared at him to shut up and glanced back over to the other girl.

Melissa shrugged and spoke quietly. "It's okay. I'm used to it. Even before he became an evil slug parasite bent on world domination. Kids just don't like Principals." A light scowl settled over her face. "But I took back that world's greatest dad mug." This was accompanied by a nod of satisfaction, like she had accomplished a great victory.

<I'm going into Chapman's place.> I announced. I'd thought it through, and didn't think the Chee had anything. Erek was usually quick to let us know something, and if the yeerks were openly looking into my parents, he would have told us. <I want to see what he's got.>

"Okay." Jake agreed and looked around at all of us. "Ax should go too, in case they've got security. Rachel has reason to be there. So, Tobias, Rachel, and Ax go with Melissa. Marco and I will go talk to the Chee. And guys, be careful. Have a cover story for why you're there. School project, something believable that he won't check up on."

"Yes, daddy." Rachel teased before looking up to me with a wink. "Come on, this'll be easy."

<Aww man.> I muttered. <I really wish you hadn't said that.>

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"I really really wish you hadn't said that." I repeated, awhile later as we all stood in Melissa's living room. Both of her parents were out, and Ax had searched the place for any recording devices. He found several, and reprogrammed them to show nothing of our visit. But he wasn't having as much luck with the security on Chapman's computer.

I was shifting from foot to foot, uncomfortable on two legs. "Have you got it yet, Ax?" I looked out the window again, half expecting to see a squad of Hork Bajir running up the steps. Not that I didn't trust Ax when he said there was nothing recording us and no alarm. I just hated not having my wings. It made me jumpy.

"Very nearly." Ax, in his own human morph, was bent over his task. He was so engrossed that he didn't even play with the sounds like he usually does when he's playing human. "The Yeerks have upgraded their security protocols. It should not be long."

Rachel sighed and tapped her foot impatiently. "We should have been in and out of here by now."

"It's okay." Melissa said from where she sat in a recliner holding her cat, Fluffer McKitty. "They won't be back." There was a hint of her old sadness as she added softly. "They're never back."

Finally, Ax called out. "I have it! Now..." His fingers danced over the keyboard. "This is a very inefficient way of communicating with technology. A simple thought-speak program would increase the speed and reliability by several times--"

"We'll get right on inventing that, Ax." Rachel interrupted. "Just tell us what we need to know. What about Tobias's mother?"

Ax ran the search, and then we all crowded around and leaned forward to read the screen. I squinted and muttered. "Stupid human eyes. You people are blind. Apes my butt. We must have evolved from moles."

Rachel read from the screen. "Graduated from high school in... wait, what?" She read back over the past few lines. "This doesn't make sense. If you look at the time from her birth to graduating high school, that's eighteen years. But if you look at the time from middle school to graduating high school, that's only two years. There's like four years missing. What is this, Boy Meets World?"

I blinked in confusion. "Huh? What do you mean?"

"See, look." Rachel touched the screen. "Born in this year and graduated in this year. Eighteen years. But she started middle school in this year and graduated high school two years later. It's like... someone changed all the records in high school but forgot the middle school ones."

Melissa frowned and asked tentatively. "What would do that?" Her eyes drifted from the computer screen to me. "And why?"

"I don't know." I said. "I told you, I don't remember her. What else is there?"

Rachel continued to read. "She got married pretty soon out of college. Some guy named Alan. They took her name. You think that's your dad?" When I shrugged, she checked. "Chapman can't find anything at all on him. According to these records,  he just shows up at the university one day and signs in. He disappeared a few years later. No sign of him at all in all this time. Your mom's been a little busier. It says she went to a bunch of therapists after your dad vanished. She saw hypnotists too. And.. spirit advisors. And a bunch of other mojo junk peddlers. It's like she was looking for something. Or trying to remember something."

"What would she be trying to remember?" Melissa asked after a moment of quiet while we all looked at each other.

Rachel shook her head and went on. "After that she went to a bunch of government agencies. She was... " She paused and looked up at me quickly before going on. "She was reporting an alien invasion. She said they took her husband back and made her forget him, but she still had pieces. She said they were coming, and they'd get into everyone's heads."

It was so quiet after Rachel stopped talking that you could have heard a pin drop. Finally, I found my voice. "She knew... my mom... she knew. She knew and she left."

"Tobias..." Rachel put her hand on my back, sounding strained. "Maybe she had to get out of the way. Maybe she--"

I gritted my teeth. "Keep going. I want to hear what happened to her."

Hesitating, she finally turned back to the screen. "There's not much else here. She became a teacher. She worked with real little kids. I guess this is after she left... after you stopped seeing her. She kept active in all these UFO groups. But mostly it says she worked with kids. Maybe she missed you."

I refused to let the mixture of hope and anger show. "Anything else?"

Rachel watched my face for a reaction before sighing a little and looking back over the information. "That's about it. She vanished completely three years ago. No one knows where she is. She just showed up for one last day of school and..." Suddenly, Rachel's eyes widened. "Oh my god."

"What?" I said quickly. "What is it?"

Looking from the screen to me, Rachel spoke quickly. "She only saw three students just before she left. Three kids. Two of them moved away. But one of them is still around. The last person to see your mother still lives here, Tobias. And Chapman just found out about her."

"What?" My mouth fell open and I shut it. "We have to find out who she is, where she lives."

Rachel was already standing. "We already know all that."

"We do?" Now all three of us were staring at her while she seemed to have moved into mission battle mode.

Casting a look over her shoulder as she started for the door, Rachel snarled. "Yeah. The last kid to see your mother? It was Karen, Tobias. The girl that Cassie met. The girl that had a yeerk before Cassie convinced her to let the girl go. The girl who knows who we are."

Now I got it. Jerking out of my frozen state, I started to demorph. I needed my wings back, and fast. Beside me, Ax was doing the same. Rachel and Melissa looked to each other before starting to morph into their own birds. I said the words that we were all thinking.

<If Chapman goes to Karen expecting to find a willing yeerk to give him information and doesn't find one, he'll drag her down there and stick one in her head. And if he does that...>

If he did that, we were all completely hosed.

Chapter Three

It took half an hour to fly across town to where Karen's house was. Finally, I spotted it below. <There it is. The one with the big deck out back set just above the hill.> We were spread out over about two hundred yards, since the idea of birds of prey flocking together is enough to make even the most amateur bird watcher realize there's something not quite right going on.

<They appear to have made a mistake in the course of construction.> Ax spoke thoughtfully. <The apparatus that humans use to clean themselves is outside. Which is of course where any Andalite would put it, but Marco and Tobias have made it clear that humans are to bathe inside. Unless they are 'at the pool' to do what is called 'scoping chicks'. But what is a chick and how does one scope it?"

<Yes, Tobias.> Rachel started a false pleasant tone that was entirely too dangerous. <Please tell us what a chick is.>

<I... uhh. No habla English.> I started a steep dive to check out  the house.

Rachel followed from the other side. <Coward.>

<Damn straight.> I replied. <Would you want to piss you off?>

She thought about that. <No. Definitely not.> Then she laughed. And I laughed a little, and it was almost like we were normal. Except for the fact that we were a few dozen meters apart on opposite sides of a house, peeping through windows with bird eyes. Leo and Kate we were not.

Then again, Leo drowned in icy water, so maybe I'd rather be Tobias after all. With my luck, it would be shark infested icy water. Mutant shark infested icy water. I don't have the best luck with water. We have an understanding though. I stay out of it as much as possible and it doesn't drown me.

<Found her.> Rachel reported a moment later after we had a chance to peer through the windows. She had better luck than I did since eagle eyes are designed to see through the reflective surface of the water. <She's in the living room on the east side. Looks like she's watching Spongebob.>

Ax piped up from above where he and Melissa were circling. <Who lives in a pineapple under the sea?>

We were all silent for a long moment, until Ax added somewhat sheepishly. <I have three hundred and fifty human television channels and entirely too much free time.>

<Aaaanyway.> I said, changing the subject. <We've got a chance here if Chapman hasn't made it yet. He probably had a meeting or something. It's Saturday, so he could be done any time.>

Melissa spoke up. Her small merlin had to be getting tired. I knew I was. <How do we do this?>

<Like this.> Rachel replied and went straight for the window. <Hey, Karen!>

<Oh, right. Silly me.> If it were possible, Melissa would have been rolling her eyes just then. <Trying to balance a little girl's emotional stability with the urgency of the situation, carefully weighing each action and reaction when all we had to do is yell 'hey, karen'.>

<I remember emotional stability. That was was fun while it lasted.> I quipped before going on. <She's had a yeerk in her head. She knows what's going on. She's seen us.>

<Oh yeah. Well....> She responded a little slowly. <I know what's going on. I've seen you. I can turn into a bird too. But it still freaks me out. I just thought that umm... maybe suddenly screaming her name in her head might umm... hurt more than it helps?>

<Sure, but you know. Rachel's idea of patience is not beaning Marco with a rock before he's had a chance to tell his joke.>

Her thought-speak voice came back, softer then. <You sound proud of that.>

I hesitated, then responded. <Yeah, I guess I am.> Rachel could be violent, crazy, and tempermental. But she was my violent, crazy, tempermental girl. Or at least as mine as we had ever had the chance to work with in this insane world we lived in. There was something there, something strong there, but somehow we constantly skirted the edges of it, never directly confronting the feelings we had. At least the feelings I had. I wasn't positive about Rachel, but I thought... maybe. And trust me, when you have a girl like Rachel, and can think that she maybe feels that way about you, it's enough to let you wait.

That or I was just a coward, like she said.

Rachel called up to us. <Karen's coming out on the deck. She's home alone.> She arced around the side of the house and the three of us followed suit, each finding a spot on the railing to perch as the little curly red haired girl stepped outside.

Stopping as she found four birds of prey staring at her, Karen hesitated. "Ummm. Cassie?"

<Ouch.> Rachel muttered, then hopped down to the deck. <Keep an eye out. I'm gonna demorph so she can talk to me.> Even as she spoke, the already large bald eagle was growing bigger as the feathers slowly began to dissolve. Karen was watching with rapt fascination.

<I'll watch for Chapman.> I said, then amended for Melissa. <I mean your dad.> I took off once again, but I didn't go far. I just flapped hard a couple times and landed on the top edge of the roof where I could perch and view the road. From here I'd be able to see Mr. Chapman's car coming when he was still two minutes away. It was safer to have a look-out, and that was my job. Besides, I didn't really want to hear Rachel explain to that little girl what had happened to Cassie.

I was only waiting for about ten minutes when I spotted it. Just turning onto the road was the white suv I'd seen in Melissa's driveway several times. That had to be her father. I focused on the windshield and confirmed it a moment later. He was talking on his phone angrily. <Rachel, guys.> I called down there. <We're going to have company in a minute.>

Rachel responded with a hint of annoyance. <Karen's having... issues. You're going to have to stall him.>

Groaning, I pushed off into the air. <Issues, what issues? And stall him? Rachel, that's five thousand pound car. I'm a three pound birdy. How does this end? And why are you morphed?>

Rachel grumbled. <Something about not wanting to trust us because of a mean monkey. Not without Cassie. I changed places with Melissa. She's better with kids. And you took out that yeerk tanker ship. That was like a hundred times bigger than this little thing.>

<I was armed that time, but thanks, Rach. Real encouraging. I'll remember to paint a new silhouette on my beak after this.> I flew from the house then, while the SUV was still a minute out. Here went a few pounds of nothing against several tons of metal. Round one. Ding!

This was going to be tricky, beyond even the obvious. I had to somehow avoid tipping Chapman off that we were protecting Karen, because if he figured that out, the girl would never be safe. He'd hunt her down. The entire yeerk armada would be after Karen. We couldn't protect her from that kind of search, not for long. So he couldn't connect us to her.

Chapman had to slow for a stop sign about three blocks from Karen's home. That was my best, my only chance. I pumped my wings hard, trying to build up height and distance while circling around to the right spot. As fun as flying is, it's also a lot of work sometimes. Especially when you're trying to be quick. This was dangerous, insane, and highly stupid. And Rachel was going to be pissed as anything that she missed it.

I was going to have to time this just right. Chapman would stop for the sign because the very last thing any yeerk, any yeerk besides the Visser that is, wanted was to draw attention to themselves. He was in a position of authority. He'd stop for the sign, but he wouldn't linger. I had to start my attack before he actually stopped, or he'd be gone by the time I got there.

The stop sign was coming up. I groaned inwardly before spilling the air from my wings as I tucked them tight and dove, homing in on a spot ahead of the SUV. <Awww man, this is gonna suck.> I said to myself before restraining the hawk's natural urge to call its challenge. The vehicle was directly under me now, when the brake lights came on. It slowly coasted to a stop, and I saw Chapman's head turn left, then right. The brake lights went off then as he prepared to step on the gas. But I was there. I hit the right rear wheel from an angle, trimming my left wing sharply to bank at the last second while I dug both talons sharply into the tire and ripped, the way I would into a rabbit.

My talons stuck for just a second before ripping through the tough material. But that second was long enough for my wing to catch the side of the car. I felt the wing snap instantly and cried out as I was bounced off the wheel well before thankfully being flung sideways into the field of weeds along the edge of the road. I hit hard, bouncing twice before coming to a stop with my poor broken bird body lying in the dirt. Shakily, I raised my head to look at the massive metal machine. <All right.> I said groggily. <We'll call that a tie.>

Thankfully, the vehicle didn't get far before the wrecked tire forced Chapman to pull to the side. I heard him cursing as he slammed the door to get out. Then I laid my head back. I should probably let the others know that they had a few minutes while he changed the tire. I'd do that in a minute. Right now I was just going to close my eyes for a minute. Just gonna take a tiny little nap, and forget the excruciating pain in my broken wing.

I was woken some time later by a sharp pain in my wing that made me cry out. I blinked my eyes open and saw Rachel through bleary vision. She was lifting me out of the weeds. "Shhhh. It's okay. He's over there. Be quiet, okay?" She was whispering. My eyes closed briefly before snapping open again suddenly. That hadn't been Rachel's voice. I squirmed in her grip. Trap! It was a trap! Chapman had figured out what happened and brought in back-up. She was taking me off to be infested.

Weakly, I started to call out a challenge, but her hand caught my beak and held it shut as she shushed me and backed away through the weeds. "Shhh! Look, Andalite, I'm getting you out of here, okay? Just be quiet for a second, because don't think you want Chapman to find you any more than I want him to find me. I was watching him and saw what you did. You've gotta be an Andalite, right? You've got to be one of those bandits."

She carried me away from the weeds, back through the opposite side of the field. I managed to lift my head enough to see her clearly, and then I froze. I nearly cried out for a completely different reason. The girl carrying me wasn't a girl. She was a woman. And beyond that, even though I hadn't seen her in years, I knew without a doubt that she was my mother.

My mom was carrying me away from Chapman's car.

My mom knew about the yeerks, about the andalites, about everything.

Except that she was carrying her son

I struggled for an entirely different reason now. I had to see her better. I had to see my mother. Misinterpreting me, she shushed me again and held me up once we were hidden by the trees. "You're an Andalite. I know you are. So you can thoughtspeak. Talk to me. Please. Just tell me one thing." She paused and then spoke in a pained, but hopeful voice, her words irrevocably changing my life.

"Is my husband with you? Do you know where Elfangor is?"

I have to admit, the Titanic reference was totally a coincidence, but thanks. That's pretty cool.

Chapter Four


From this day onward, I will fear no heart attack. I will live immune from stroke. I will laugh at the idea of an aneurysm. Because if it had been physically possible for me to ever suffer any of those things in my lifetime, they would have occurred simultaneously at that moment.

Absolutely nothing could have prepared me for those words. Out of anything that she could have said at that point, calling Elfangor her husband was my mother's nuclear trump card. For long moments after she asked me about him, my mind came to a screeching halt. She was calling him her husband. She knew Elfangor. She knew everything. My mother was... Elfangor's wife? How was that even possible?! Did that mean...

I must have made a strangled, confused noise, because my mother stopped to roll her eyes. "Yes, Andalite, your precious warprince Elfangor went and married a lowly human. Here's a tip, get over it. The yeerks, they say that he's dead. They say that creep killed him. Tell me they're wrong. It's just stories, just bragging. Tell me where Elfangor is. He has to be leading your group. No one else would know earth the way you guys have to, doing everything that you've done. Only someone whose lived here would know how to keep you hidden. Only someone from Earth could manage that and he's the only one of you that's lived here, so where is he? Tell me!" There was a note of desperation in her voice, like this was the only thing she was holding onto, and even if she had been of no relation to me at all, my heart would have broken for her then, knowing what I knew.

Elfangor had lived here, he'd been on earth, probably for years. He was married to my mother! My mother was his... did that mean that I was... that he was...

<Elfangor was my father!> The realization came to me and I blurted it out even before I realized what I was saying. But it made sense. The pain I still felt about his death, the closeness I'd felt to him even in that short time, all of it made sense. It all fit, but it was all insane. Elfangor couldn't be my father, could he? Was it even possible for a morphed creature to... well yeah I guess that was a stupid question. And one I absolutely did not need to think about just then. My mind was already bent in half.

I realized that I'd said the words outloud a second later as Loren stared at me. Her eyes were wide, and for a second I thought she'd realized who she was holding. Then she spoke quickly. "Ohhh god, your father? He had children back with his own people... of course he did." She shook her head as though trying to cope with that idea. "Of course he would, right? I'm sorry, all this must be crazy for you. Look, just... demorph, okay? It's safe here, trust me." My mother gave me a warm smile and I felt my heart turn over. "I won't let anyone see you."

I wanted to demorph, or rather, morph. I wanted to be my human self. I wanted to wrap my arms around my mother tightly and hold on so she'd never go away again. I wanted to tell her everything that had happened and make her explain the rest of it. I wanted to bury my face in her shoulder and cry, because she was my mother and she was here. I desperately wanted hands, so I could touch her face. I wanted a nose so I could smell her hair and never forget what she smelled like again. I was not a bird. I was a boy. I wanted my mother.

But I couldn't do any of those things. I couldn't change form, I couldn't let her see who I was. I couldn't even let on that I knew who she was. Because, as unlikely as it seemed, she could still be infested. This could all be a trap. An overly elaborate, completely coincidental trap, but there was always a chance. Maybe they figured that Ax was here and she was supposed to lure Elfangor's nephew. I had no idea, but I did know that it nearly killed me not to tell her exactly who I was. If I hadn't been a bird for so long, if showing emotion wasn't almost foreign to me by now, I would have broken down.

Instead, I just focused my laser sharp gaze on her face, committing every contour to memory. She waited expectantly, and I studied her with the intense longing of a man visited by his daughter for the last moments before an execution.

She waited, and I studied, but I had the feeling that I was forgetting something.

When I heard a tree fall over as an elephant trumpeted, I remembered what it was. <Oh ****, Rachel, wait!>

The tiny clearing was suddenly full of angry African Elephant as Rachel yelled. <Put him down!> Then her trunk wrapped around Loren's body and lifted her up, as easily as Loren was holding me. She opened her hands in her surprise, dropping me into the weeds with a cry.

I hit hard and shoved myself over with my good wing. <Rachel, wait! She's my mother!> Somehow, I managed to remember to direct the cry only to her.

That made her stop suddenly, her trunk limp as Loren fell from it to land with a surprised grunt on the ground. <She's your WHAT?> Rachel's voice was as confused and shocked as I felt. <Tobias, your mother is... I mean, isn't she...>

<She's right there.> I struggled to my talons weakly. <I don't know how, but it's HER, Rachel.>

Then my mother was on her feet, dusting herself off with an annoyed look as she pointed a finger at the massive animal that could have literally sat on her and squished her flatter than a manhole cover. "You Andalites are insane! You're insane! I'm trying to help you! I'm on your side! You think you can just walk up here as an elephant and toss me around for fun? Demorph so I can strangle you with your own tail, you arrogant jerk!"

Rachel lifted her large head to me approvingly. <Okay, I like her.>

I was too busy staring at my mother again in surprise to respond. Where had she come from? Where had she been all this time? How did she meet Elfangor? Was he really my dad? What the hell was going on? Finally, I managed to ask. <Where... where are the others?>

<With Karen.> Rachel replied, keeping her attention on Loren. <When you didn't come back, I came to check. I saw Chapman's car, and for a second, I thought he... I thought you...> Her voice broke slightly but she caught it. <Anyway, I morphed and I was about to go ahhhh... ask Chapman if he had you, but I heard something over here and saw her with you. I thought... your mother was... I mean, how?>

I replied a little slowly. <I don't know, Rachel. But there's more. A lot more. She said that Elfangor was her husband, and... I think that means he... Elfangor.. was my dad. My father was... he was Elfangor.>

If I'd thought Rachel couldn't be more surprised than when I told her who my mother was, I was wrong. She nearly fell over. <Your dad!? Your dad was... oh Tobias, I'm so... I'm... oh god. Your father was our...But that means you're... what are you?>

<Like I ever know what I am?> I muttered sarcastically.

Loren raised both hands, waving a little. "Hi. Still over here. You wanna include me in your conversation?>

I hesitated, looking to Rachel. She didn't seem to have any answers, so I took a breath and decided to take a chance. She couldn't really be a yeerk, not at this point. I was going to tell my mother exactly what was going on. No matter what happened after that, for this moment, my mother was here. Nothing could tear my attention away from her.

Which was, of course, when the five hundred pound gorilla knuckle walked in.

<Yo.> Marco said, lifting a hand to cover his brow as he looked to my mother. <Who's the babe?>

<Babe?> Rachel echoed, then looked to me pleadingly. <Oh let me tell him. Please let me tell him.>

<She's my mother.> I said, the note of surprise at those words still evident. <My mom. She's my mom. Mother, my mom, my... mother.> I kept repeating it, as thought doing so would make it any clearer.

Marco sat down abruptly. It looked funny, a gorilla just plopping down like that. He blinked, then rubbed a large hairy hand over his rear. <I've gotta stop doing that every time I see a mother. Dude, Tobias, no offense, but your mom is hot. And kind of familiar somehow.>

<No offense?> Rachel seemed to be echoing Marco a lot today. She looked at me. <You know, I still have this huge trunk. I can pitch him across the freeway for you. I would really, really like to do that.>

While they argued, I just kept staring in awe at my mother, who was apparently tired of being seemingly ignored. She walked between the three of us and held up her hands. "Okay, guys? Your'e obviously confused, which I guess is understandable what with one of the primitive rock pounders knowing who you are. But get over it. I can't believe I'm the one saying this on earth, but, take me to your leader."

<Oh yes.> Marco said quickly. <Let's take her to Jake. He has to see this for himself. We'll never be able to prove it otherwise.>

Finally it occurred to Rachel to ask him. <How did you find us, anyway?>

<We were on our way to Chapman's place when Ax found us. Jake should be back with the rest of them by now. They sent me to figure out what was taking you guys so long.>

Rachel leaned her head down to pick me up gently with her trunk, then started to back out of the clearing. <All right, well you watch her and Tobias and I will remorph and then we'll go meet the others. And Marco, try not to hit on her. You're supposed to be an Andalite, and Andalites don't hit on humans.>

No, they just marry them.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

<She's your what?!> Jake nearly exploded out of his crouch. He was a wolf, sitting outside Ax's scoop, which is sort of like a very natural house made out of a hole in the ground. It was the only safe place they'd been able to think of to take Karen. The three of us had escorted Loren across the forest to find it. Actually, Marco and Rachel had escorted her, saying little. I hadn't trusted myself not to spill everything to her, so I'd flown ahead to warn the others we were coming.

<My mom.> I confirmed. <She's my mom, Jake.> I perched on a low branch and looked at Jake and Melissa, the latter of whom was currently a doberman, both sitting on either side of  Karen. The girl herself was napping against a tree. The trip, and all the excitement, seemed to have worn her out.

<But how is that possible?!> If Jake had possessed hands at that moment, they would have been flapping around in confusion. <Your mother, she's there and she knows about the yeerks? But we didn't tell... and they didn't. How?!>

<I don't know, Jake. I don't know. All I know is I thought she was dead and she's alive.>

Ax was nearby, dipping a hoof in the stream to drink. Andalites absorb food and water that way. <This is a good thing, is it not?>

<Yeah and, Ax-Man... there's something else.> I hesitated. <She... She said that Elfangor was her husband.>

Slipping on his front hooves, Ax nearly took a header into the stream in his rush to turn around. Water splashed up everywhere as he whirled, focusing all four eyes on me in a rare occurance while taking a few quick steps toward my tree. <She said what?!>

<Believe me, you're not as shocked as I am. She says he's her husband. I mean was her husband. Ax, I think he lived here for awhile. I think that's why he fought so hard to save us... why he was willing to break your laws to give us a chance. I.... I think he's my father.>

There, I'd told him what I thought I knew. I watched Ax carefully. Would he be ashamed that his brother had married outside of his species? Would he hate that he was now in a way related to me? Would it change what he thought of us humans? Would it change what he thought of his brother? Melissa and Jake seemed just as interested in his response to this as I was, remaining silent, at least as far as I knew.

Finally, after several long moments, Ax reached one delicate, seven-fingered hand up to me, slightly touching my feathers. <Tobias, my shorm. If what you say is true, then it has laid to rest my one fear of my brother's last actions. I feared that he would not have known for certain that the race he was giving this gift to was worthy of it, that he was blindly breaking our laws without knowing if you were deserving. Now I am sure that he did know.  You were always my friend, and now you are my family. And that my brother would choose the woman who would be your mother as a lifemate, she must be a remarkable female. I must meet her.>

The bushes shook as someone crashed through them nearby, making us all look around that way. It was a good thing we were interrupted at that point, because I couldn't have spoken just then. I was so affected by his words that I couldn't find my voice. I'd expected him to be angry, or at least begrudging. Instead he'd accepted me, accepted what had happened and embraced it. Maybe Ax was more like Elfangor than he thought.

Through the shaking bushes came my mother, panting and coughing. She stopped when she saw Ax. "Oh thank god... one of you isn't hiding in morph. I..." She took a moment to catch her breath, holding up a hand "I... your friends.. they saw a truck. There was a truck with a..." She coughed a little, obviously having run for quite some distance through the trees. "... truck with a cage in the back. One of those little hork-bajir was in it, just a kid.>

Jake was on his feet then, moving over to her. <One of the free hork-bajir children? Where is the truck? What happened?> Just like that, he took charge without a second's pause, snapping to his leader mode as he questioned her.

My mother at once focused on him rather than Ax. Maybe it was his 'I know what I'm doing here' tone. Or maybe it's just that way that Jake has with grown-ups all the time, that he's responsible and they can trust him. "The... gorilla and the bird went to follow them. I don't think they were yeerks. The men in the truck kept talking about the monster or the demon." She seemed to notice the sleeping girl next to the dog then, quickly moving that way. "Is that Karen? What is she doing here? What--" She blanched. "Oh god, he was going after her, wasn't he? Chapman was going after Karen."

Ax answered for us. <Yes, we retrieved the child because the adult Chapman believes she is infested with a yeerk when she is not. But if he were ever to find that out, he would infest her immediately.> He hesitated slightly. <She knows many secrets we do not wish the yeerks to have.>

Loren nodded slowly, though she obviously didn't understand what one little girl could possibly know. It was all I could do not to morph into my human self right then and hold her, begging her not to leave again.

Melissa seemed to notice my yearning, that or she just had the common sense to realize what I had to be feeling. <Should Tobias tell her? I mean, she's his mom. She'd want to know. He deserves-->

Whatever she was about to say I deserved was cut off by a shadow blotting out the sun, making me instinctively jerk back in case some mob of crows was trying to pick a fight. Instead, Rachel shot down out of the sky, the massive wingspan of her bald eagle being what blocked the light. She came in hard, flared almost too late, and caught the branch almost directly next to me, sending the thing rocking with her momentum when she hit. <They've got--!> She paused. <Hey, that was a pretty hot laaaaaaahhh!> Her last words turned into a cry that joined my own as the branch decided it had had enough and snapped, sending us both to the ground in a heap of feathers.

We were tangled for a moment, until Loren moved over to pull us apart. I felt a slight rush of heat at the idea of my mother seperating us, until Rachel managed to get out what she was trying to say. <They took Marco! Those creeps with the cages hit him with this other truck and he stopped moving. They hauled him in.>

My mother frowned, and I realized Rachel had been using public thoughtspeak. "Who is Marco?"

Rachel went silent, and we all looked to each other until Jake stepped forward. He seemed to make a decision. <We need to save our friend. Will you stay here with the human girl?>

Loren didn't hesitate. She nodded. "I'll stay here with her. You can trust me."

Jake regarded her briefly before saying softly. <We are.> He turned to me then. <Tobias, I know this is hard, but you have to focus. We need you. Can you focus on this?>

I couldn't look at him, because it would mean looking away from my mother. <But Jake, my mom. She's-->

<I know man.> Jake sounded torn, like he hated himself for pushing me, for asking this. <But we have to save Marco. And the Hork-Bajir kid. Please.>

Finally, relunctantly, I looked away and sighed. <I'll help save them. But I'm telling her the truth, Jake. If she's still here when we get back, it proves she can be trusted. I'm telling her after this.> I met Jake's gaze, bird and wolf staring at one another, until he lowered his head in agreement.

Ax spoke up tersely. <There is another problem.>

We all looked at him, in that way that dared him to give more bad news. But Ax is always immune to those looks, and went on. <If my calculations are right, Marco has been in morph for approximately forty eight of your minutes. He cannot demorph while he is being observed without giving away his identity. And the odds of this information not getting back to the yeerks are extremely low.>

Melissa continued his thought for him. <So if we don't free him in just over an hour, Marco's either going to be trapped as a gorilla...>

Jake's voice was grim, as he finished their words, starting off into the trees at a run. <Or the yeerks find out who we are.>

I hate you.

For leaving me hanging like that.  Please, I need more :]

cant wait for more this is as good as the series if not better

Sorry to take so long to respond, especially since I've really missed this story.  Great update as usual.  It was a really nice thing to come home and be able to read after a long plane ride. 

Thanks for commenting, guys.

Chapter Six

Chapter Six

People talk about these things called frozen moments. It's a period of time after something dramatic where the whole world seems to stop. In that single eternal second, life beyond one solitary thought does not exist. Sometimes there isn't even a real thought. Sometimes there's nothing more than an emotion. Sadness, fear, anger, all of these can be your companion through these moments. But for me, in that frozen moment after I revealed myself to my mother, in those immortal seconds, I felt one thing far different. I felt hope.

In that time, Loren simply stared at me. Her mouth was open but no sound emerged. She just watched in wonder as I slowly held up a hand to give her the world's most awkward wave. "Ummm... surprise?" My voice was shaky, and cracked a little. I wasn't sure how much of that was from lack of use and how much was from the tension.

I don't know what went through my mother's mind in those moments. I'll probably never truly understand exactly what she thought, or what she felt, to see her lost son emerge from the form of a bird before her eyes. All I know is that I saw first disbelief, confusion, doubt, and then I saw joy. And in the second after the felicity appeared in her gaze, I was off the ground. My mother, though she was hardly that much taller than I had become, lifted me from the ground. I have flown by the power of my wings through clouds that stretched for miles. I have coasted over the ocean and felt the wind through my feathers and freedom in a way that so few will ever truly understand. But I could soar for the rest of my life, and never again feel the weightless flight of pure, unchained liberty and safety that I felt in those oh so brief seconds when my own mother lifted me only three inches.

Of course, that's how Tobias the human felt. Tobias the bird wanted to screech and flare his wings. Tobias the bird was terrified and angry about being held so tightly. Hawks don't really do hugs. It's the whole arm thing. As much as I wanted to relax in my mother's tight embrace, part of me was uncomfortable, and even upset by it. It was a disconcerting conflict. I had to remind myself to try to return her hug, but I knew it felt stiff and uncertain.

The sound that emerged from her was both cry of joy and sob. She held me for several seconds before letting me drop back to the earth, but her hands continued to grip me tight. Her expression was wonderous as she looked me up and down. "Tobias... Tobias." She repeated the name like she needed to in order to try to understand what was happening. "What are you doing here? How did you know..." She trailed off then as she seemed to realize exactly what had just happened. "Oh my god! You're a... you were a..." Her mouth opened and then shut as she took on a confused expression. "But the morphing shouldn't be genetic. I remember Elfangor... explained..." She sounded slightly doubtful. "Unless that's hazy too. But you're Tobias. You're my... my son."

I raised my hands to clutch her arms. "Mo--" My voice cracked. Who was I to call her mom? I didn't even know her. "Mom... It's okay! It's me. It's Tobias. I..." I hesitated. How could I explain this in as little time as possible? "Elfangor came back to earth. He gave us the morphing power, so we could fight. Me and my friends."

A flash of recognition came to her eyes. "You're the Andalite bandits. Oh my god, all of you are the Andalite bandits. You're human. You're... my..." She looked dazed.

I didn't have time to ask how she knew what we were. "Mom, I swear I'll explain things later, and ask you... a lot." But I couldn't resist. I had to know. "Elfangor. He's really...?"

Her head bowed in a nod. I thought a slight blush came to her cheeks, but couldn't be sure because she looked away for a moment. "Elfangor-Sirinial-Shamtul is your father. Al Fangor. He... he gave you the morphing power. Of course. He would. He's got to be so proud of you now." She turned back and squeezed my shoulders with an almost pleading look. "He's... he really did... die... didn't he?" Her voice sounded odd, like she was trying to keep it together and strong because that's what a mother is supposed to do, but couldn't quite manage it.

The sense of loss I felt, that I had felt even before I knew who Elfangor was to me, returned. But I knew it had to be nothing compared to what she was feeling. That loss of balance that came on the desperate edge of hope. I wanted to tell her he was with us. I wanted more than anything to have my father and mother reunited. But I couldn't. All I could do was slowly nod. "I'm sorry, m--" It was still hard to shape the word. "... mom. He saved us. But he was injured. They--I mean he... Visser 3..."

She held up a hand and nodded. Her eyes closed, and I could see the tears that formed in her eyes even as she clutched me tighter. The stark reality of it struck me. Elfangor was a hero to the Andalites, and to us. But to my mother, to Loren, he was a husband. She had married him, an alien who had to have been raised as different from her as anyone had ever been. Yet they had loved each other. She had loved him so much that she had a son with him.

Then the old jealousy and confusion came up. Somehow he had been forced to leave, to go home to the Andalite homeworld. But where had she been? Why did she give me up to an aunt and uncle who wanted nothing to do with me? Had she been hiding from the yeerks all this time? And if so, then why? Couldn't she have taken me with her?

I had a lot of questions, but they had to wait. "Mom." I said stiffly, feeling like crap for pushing this on her. "I need your help. Please.  My friends are in danger."

She looked up, frowning in confusion momentarily. "Friends..." She sounded lost for a moment before coming back to herself. "Your friends. Wait, there was an Andalite." Her hand came up to touch my hair, a gesture she kept half repeating as though afraid I was going to vanish any second.

"Ax." I nodded. "He's Elfangor's little brother. I... guess he's your brother in law. I don't know how the Andalite in-law thing works."

At first I thought she was crying, but after a moment I realized it was laughter. Her shoulders were shaking. "Humans. The yeerks are completely losing their minds trying to find the 'elite Andalite guerilla insertion team', and they're... you're not andalites. You're humans. You're my son. My son is fighting the yeerks." For a second, she didn't sound like she knew exactly how to react to that.

"We're fighting them together, me and my friends. But they're all in danger. They were captured by Visser 3. And Marco... he's the gorilla, he's only got twenty minutes left in morph. The others are stuck too. We have to find them. We have to help them. But I can't... I can't do it by myself. I need... I need you."

"Friend Tobias?" The voice came from the side, and both of us turned. The Hork-Bajir kid was there. I'd forgotten about him. He looked puzzled but happy, as the free Hork-Bajir often did. "Friend Tobias save Bek."

I nodded to him, distractedly. "I'm sorry, uhhh, Bek. We'll take you home. I've just got to save my friends, and then we'll take you back to the valley. Just... just stay here with Karen." I knew I was brushing him off, and how crazy it was to tell the hork bajir child to stay with the human child in the middle of the forest. As Marco would have said, it was completely insane. But I was almost frantic.

Which was when Karen herself woke up. The little girl pushed herself up uncertainly, blinking around before her gaze settled on Bek. "Ahh!" She quickly darted behind the tree that she had been resting against. "Monster!"

Bek himself jumped just as much as Karen had. "Bek no see monster!" He threw himself behind the first bit of cover he could find. Unfortunately, this happened to be the exact same tree that Karen had used, resulting in the girl letting out a screech that had to hurt his ears as she backpedaled on her hands and knees. Bek didn't help matters by scrambling to follow her, thinking the monster was behind him.

"Guys! Guys, stop it!" I yelled, irritated. We didn't have time for this.

"Tobias." Loren said simply and took a step that way, dropping down to her knees to put a hand on each of their shoulders, careful of the Hork-Bajir kid's still forming blades. "Karen, this is Bek. He's not a monster. He's a kid, like you."

Karen raised her hand to point. "He's a... he's a..." She struggled with the word. "a... hurkbasheer."

"Sure." Loren nodded slowly. "But he's not a monster. They're not monsters, any more than you were a monster when you had a yeerk inside you. You know how you told me how it felt? Just a few minutes ago before you fell asleep again. You were lonely and scared. So is he, and he wants his family." This made Karen's lip quiver a little, and my mother quickly reassured her. "We'll find your parents too, Karen. You've been strong all this time, and very brave. But you have to be brave a little longer, okay? My... Tobias and I need to save his friends, and then we'll be back. You and Bek stay here and be very quiet. Hide."

As Karen nodded, still uncertainly, Bek tentatively put his hand out to her. "Bek help hide. Hork Bajir Hide good." The girl hesitated and then slowly touched her own little hand to his. She still looked nervous, but at least she wasn't outright terrified.

I turned back to my mother. "We have to help them. I don't know how. But they're still at that stupid circus place. Unless the ship already picked them up. We have to hurry."

This time she didn't hesitate. "You're right. If that creep gets your friends up to his ship, he'll infest them as soon as he can. He'll give them to his lieutenants and then..." She didn't have to finish the thought. "But I can't even get there in twenty minutes, let alone with time to do anything." She paused. "But let's go."

I was already demorphing back to hawk. "You can ride on me. We can come up with something on the way." Somehow, it didn't seem at all strange to me to think that my mother and I were going to be able to do something about all this. It was odd, considering I didn't know the woman at all. I knew more about Elfangor than I knew about Loren. Maybe it was the way she had stood up to Rachel in her elephant morph. Or maybe it was some deeply ingrained familial trust. Whatever, I didn't have time to reflect.

"Umm. Tobias." She gestured. "I can't ride a hawk. I mean that would be cool, but I don't think you've thought the physics through here."

Oh boy. How did I tell her about my situation. "I..." I started before my voice disappeared as I became more hawk than human. <I'll explain later, but I have to be a hawk to turn into anything else.> I knew I was avoiding the issue, but I didn't care. I just had to save the others. The second I was fully demorphed, I immediately started another morph. We had all acquired horses during an earlier mission, and it was that dna I reached for now.

The changes started with my wings. My shoulders arced up and over, grinding noisily as they extended straight out in front of me. While they grew longer, they seemed to fold in on themselves. Suddenly my talons shot out like weeds and I was tottering on a pair of bird legs three feet long. I was Big Bird....-Horse-Andalite-Boy! My life was less strange when we were sucked into Zero Space through a cosmic morphing oops and picked up by an Andalite Ship to save a planet of telepathic frogs.

My feathers seemed to dissolve while my beak grew longer and softer. Then my shoulders twisted once again and it became impossible to stand on two legs. I toppled forward, catching myself on my wings/front legs. So for a moment, I looked like a bird with no wings, a deformed beak, and skinny horse legs. Splurtt! Oh, and a horse tail. How nice.

Finally, my main body began to grow and I felt more of the horse appear. Within moments, I was a proud racehorse. I was antsy, skittering back and forth. More than anything, this horse wanted to run That was good, because I was going to have to haul my butt at warp speed if I wanted to get back in time to do anything before Marco was trapped forever. <Get on!> I yelled to my mother.

She grasped my shoulder and hauled herself over my back like she'd done it a hundred times. Looking back to the two kids, she raised a finger to her lips. "Shhh. Remember, hide." I figured that they'd be okay as long as they stayed here. We were right near Ax's scoop, and no one ever came out this way. I waited for them to nod and then leapt forward. Soon, I was racing through the trees with my mother holding tight around my neck while her legs gripped my sides.

It had taken Jake and the rest of us a long time to get to the petting zoo, but I was cutting that time in half by making as straight a line there as possible. At least I hoped I was. I had to slow down a few times or risk a broken leg from the uneven terrain, but for the most part, I ran through the trees like the speeder bike chase in that Star Wars movie. While I ran, we talked. Not about each other or what we had been doing all this time, or about how we felt, but about how we were going to save the others. Tentatively, we came up with a 'plan'. I use this in the loosest sense of the word, because if she heard it, even Rachel would have wanted to talk it out longer. But we didn't have any longer. We only had right now.

Somehow, we made it back to the petting zoo in one piece despite my hellbent crazy running. By some kind of miracle, the others actually were still there. All five of them had somehow been herded into the largest cage and seperated to various corners so that the yeerks could watch each one of them to make sure no one morphed to escape. There were four hork bajir guards posted at the cage, and more scattered around. Meanwhile, Visser 3 was standing before the cage, angrily demanding for what had to be the hundredth time for them to demorph. Apparently he wanted to do the infestation right here, instead of giving anyone a chance to get lost on the ship, or for anything else to go wrong. There was even what looked like a miniature yeerk pool sitting in the back of the open van, just waiting.

At least the first part of our plan would be simple enough. Once Loren got off my back, I made the transition to Hork-Bajir. Then I promptly fell flat on my back and tried not to die. The running, the quick morphing, the emotional roller coaster. I just wanted to curl up and never move again.

Feeling my mother's touch on my shoulder, I lifted my head slightly. She didn't say anything. She didn't need to. We both knew the facts, and by now she knew how exhausted I was. But the others needed me. It was that simple. Somehow, I managed to push myself up once more and looked to the woman who should have raised me. She returned my look with a kind, compassionate and knowing gaze and nodded. She was ready.

I started to turn, but she grabbed my arm, squeezing firmly. "Tobias, I want to talk to you after this. About everything. After we save your friends, we have to talk." She hesitated before adding with a firm, yet begging look. "Be careful. Please. Please be careful."

<I... I will.> I felt confused. What should I say right now? Awkwardly, I added. <You... be careful... too.>

That's all the time we had before we had to move. Marco would be down to a couple minutes, if that. I could see the gorilla pacing around anxiously. I knew that Marco had to be going nuts in there. I gave my mother one last look and then crept out.

This part of the plan was simple. All I had to do was join the other Hork-Bajir and mill around near the cage looking intimidating. Then, while everyone was distracted, I would set my friends free and they could all run into the woods and demorph. Distracted by what, you might ask?

"Hey, creepazoid!" Loren was suddenly standing near the edge of the trees, waving a hand over her head. "Remember me?" Remember her? I had no idea what that was about, but as all the Hork-Bajir's attentions shot to the woman on the other side of the grounds, I had to move, not think.

I made a beeline straight for the cage, arriving in time to hear Marco saying to the two remaining guards. <Come on. Whichever one of you lets us out gets a big sloppy kiss from King Kong.> The two of them were too distracted to even notice me as I stepped right up behind them and drove each wrist blade into their backs. Marco blinked as they both fell. <So... Tobias? Or do I have to buy lip gloss?>

<Shut up, Marco.> That was Rachel, of course, as she heaved herself up.

She said something else, but I wasn't paying attention. I was focused on the sight at the other end of the lot. The human controllers had immediately drawn their dracon beams, but Visser 3 screamed for them to put them down as he rushed forward. He seemed shocked. <The human...> His voice was full of contempt. <Finally.> Then he sprang forward and his tail whipped around, slashing with blinding speed. This one he didn't want for a host. This one, he just wanted to kill. And his tailblade was going to take my mother's head off with the ease of flicking butter from a dish.

I think I might have screamed, but none of the guards noticed. We were riveted on what I felt were going to be the last seconds of seeing my mother alive.

But the tragedy I expected didn't happen. Instead, Visser 3's tail hit the edge of a heavy stick that Loren had yanked from behind her back at the very second that the Visser leapt at her. She didn't hit his blade, as it would have gone through the stick like paper. Instead, she had blocked his tail just under the blade itself. Then, while Visser 3 stared dumbly for a half second of slowed reaction, she cracked him upside the head with a vicious two-handed backswing that broke the stick and knocked him reeling while yelling. "I bet you remember me now, huh!?"

<Tobias!> Marco screamed at me. I got the feeling he and the others had been shouting for my attention a couple of times. <Dude, kind of in a rush here!> He was already starting to demorph, since seconds counted right now. I jolted and spun back, slashing out with my blade to cut the lock. It sparked and fell, and he immediately shoved the door open and threw himself in a few bounds straight into the trees even as he shrunk rapidly.

I prayed that we had been fast enough and turned back as Jake shouted orders. <Everyone scatter. Get... get the woman and get the hell out of here. We don't need a fight. We can't take a fight. Move!>

He didn't need to repeat himself, because I was already moving. I started across the grounds, bounding toward the Visser. He had already recovered from the blow to the head that broke the stick, Loren's only defense. Though he looked a little crosseyed, he also looked pissed, and with a terrible yell, struck again. This time, my mother had no defense, nothing to protect herself with. She stood with her back to the tree as the tail blade shot out at her, and I frantically threw myself forward. Too far! There was no way I could stop him. There was no way he could miss.

And yet, again, his blade was blocked. Not by me. I was still too far away. The Visser's tail was stopped by another Andalite's. Ax! He caught Visser 3's blade on his own and shoved it away from Loren's face, breathing hard from his leap to get into place. His shoulders shook, but he glared defiantly at the older, larger Andalite, putting himself between my mother, his brother's wife, and the Abomination.

<Leave the human alone.> He said to Visser 3. <And fight me... tail to tail.>