Animorphs Book 56: The Rebirth

[Horsefan1023 (Seal)]

OK, shut up and write more, Nothlit.

Sorry, thant was rude, I just want more story.

[DinosaurNothlit]

Chapter 10 (Tobias)

It felt like a long trip to the Hork-Bajir home world, even though it probably didn't actually take more than a day or two. There was nothing to look at besides the blank whiteness of Z-space, and nobody to talk to except Cassie. Of course, the loneliness didn't really bother me. Cassie, on the other hand, wasted no time in getting to know every single one of the other passengers, a small but motley group of Hork-Bajir and humans.

Cassie did spend some time talking to me. I didn't really care one way or the other, of course, but she seemed to appreciate anything that took her mind off the boredom of the trip.

I learned a little about Ronnie, the guy that Cassie is apparently seeing now. I had never really figured out why she and Jake hadn't been able to make it work. She'd told me that the war had changed him, that he wasn't the same as the boy she'd fallen in love with. I had the feeling that there was something else, something deeper than that between them. But I'm not Cassie. I can't really read people like that.

To tell the truth, the whole situation kind of made me frustrated with her. Here was Cassie, with a chance to be with the one she had always cared for and who had always cared for her for as long as I could remember, and then she goes off with someone else.

If I had gotten that chance with Rachel, the chance to be with her after the war . . .

But it was stupid to think about that now. I shouldn't be mad at Cassie for refusing to live the life I wished I'd had.

We talked about Cassie's experiences after the war, her progress with the Hork-Bajir. And there was another thing that I couldn't understand. How had Cassie managed to be so well-adjusted after the war, when Jake had completely fallen apart? If anyone should have been messed up after all the things we had seen and done, Cassie would have been my first bet. But there she was, still saving the world, as if nothing ever bothered her. How did she do it?

Cassie talked to me for parts of the trip, but most of the time, I spent by myself. With no prey to hunt, and no territory to protect, I had some time to think. Of course, during the boring stretches of our last mission, I had exhausted quite a few of the topics I would normally ponder. So I thought about Cassie. Thought about her and Ronnie, and wondered how she had managed to cope so well.

It was then that I realized what really bothered me about her. Why it was that she couldn't bear to be with Jake, why she needed Ronnie. I don't think I would have seen it if it weren't for the fact that it was almost the same thing I had done after the war.

She had never dealt with her feelings about the war. She had simply run away.

Cassie had run away from the war. And Jake, well, Jake was the war to her. Jake had represented all the terrible reality of their past, and in running from Jake, she had run away from everything.

Ronnie, I realized, was her shield from all that. He had never been part of the war, so he didn't remind her of all those terrible things she had seen and done. She could look into his eyes without seeing all that loss and pain. Pain which she herself could not bear to feel.

I guess once I came to realize all that, I had to forgive her in my mind. I knew as well as anyone how painful the past could be, and how tempting it was to just run away and hide. What I had done by living as a hawk, Cassie had done with Ronnie.

As I was thinking about Cassie, she caught me staring at her. "What?" she asked, rubbing her cheek like she thought maybe I had been staring at something on her face.

<Nothing,> I said, quickly looking away. <Just thinking.>

"About me?" Cassie asked.

<No,> I lied. <Just . . . never mind.>

She got the hint, and let it go. It didn't matter much, anyway, because we were finally coming out of Z-space. The ship turned to let us see the Hork-Bajir planet, which I was seeing now for only the second time. I gasped, impressed by the lush, green valleys contrasted against the utterly barren plains. There was much more green now than there had been when I'd seen the planet before.

As our ship made a descent into one of the valleys, I looked around at the newly-rebuilt platforms in the trees where Hork-Bajir were working and frolicking, the clusters of young saplings where the ground was bare of older and grander trees, the awful ugly scars in the ground where Yeerk pools used to be. All the signs of a planet slowly recovering from Yeerk domination.

And ironically, perhaps the source of an entirely new war.

Our ship maneuvered into a small clear spot that was obviously intended to accommodate spacecraft. We disembarked amid a crowd of passengers, waiting a while for them to disperse to whatever various tourist destinations they had come to see.

Jake had told us that the Yeerks would probably be in the Deep, an area that had been fairly abandoned ever since the extinction of the Arn. So that's where Cassie and I were headed first. We were just waiting to make sure nobody would follow us.

Once the landing area had cleared out, Cassie and I morphed to Hork-Bajir. We figured we could cover more ground that way, and plus we didn't want to draw any more attention than we had to. Once we'd finished morphing, we took to the trees, climbing easily up the bark like giant reptilian squirrels. We swung swiftly from branch to branch, the trees blurring by as we bounded through the forest.

We were moving downward almost as fast as we moved forward. It was dizzying, flying from tree to tree towards that precipitous drop, the blue fog of the Deep getting ever closer below us.

Soon, the trees gave way to smaller plants, and we had to walk the rest of the way. We trekked through the fog, half-expecting to be ambushed at any moment, even though we knew the Deep was supposed to be empty.

We demorphed at some point, as our morph time began to run low. Cassie kept walking, while I flew. Normally I'd be worried about flying when I could hardly see, but I figured there was nothing here for me to run into. Flying was weird, though. The air felt thicker, almost like I was flying through a liquid.

Eventually, the fog began to lift. As it did, I thought I saw a small figure. But the mist was still too thick to see what it was. Whatever or whoever it was, it saw us too, and quickly fled.

<Hey, wait,> I yelled, flying after it. It ran clumsily, no match for my speed. I caught up to it easily.

But when I did, I didn't quite believe what I was seeing. The creature before me had two arms, four legs, two stubby wings, glittering eyes, and bright yellow-orange feathers covering its body.

It was an Arn.

[Horsefan1023 (Seal)]

Dang.  You post fast, Dino!  Post more!  Moremoremoremoremor emore!

[Zana89]

This story is awesome! I love it! I hope you post more chapters soon Keep 'em coming!
I have only read Animorphs books 1-19 + The Andalite Chronicles + Megamorphs 1, 2 & 4 (and I'm reading # 20 now), so I don't know everything that happens later, but I love this story anyway
And you're a terrific writer

[DinosaurNothlit]

Thanks, both of you.

And Zana, if I may, I'd encourage reading a few of the last Animorphs books (say, 53 and 54), if you want a little more background on the story that is to come.  Otherwise, there may be a few things that could confuse you.  Not to mention the always-dreaded plot-spoilers. 

Oh, and 34 would be another good one to read.  There's a lot of stuff that happens in book 34 that The Rebirth alludes to and builds on.

Don't feel like you have to, of course.  It's just that I think you might get more from it that way.  And we do have those e-books now, so why not use 'em, right?

[Zana89]

That's a good idea
I would like to read them all in order, though... But I also want to read your story without getting confused... Haha, tough one

[DinosaurNothlit]

Yeah, I know exactly what you mean.  I'm extremely anal about doing everything in order, myself.

The final arc (45-54) is pretty discontinuous from the rest of the series, though.  So that could be a compromise, if you're looking for a middle ground.  But I totally understand wanting to read them in order.  I guess it really depends on how fast you can read versus how impatient you are.

[Zana89]

Ah, okay. Maybe I'll read books 45-54 then. But I'm not sure, I really do want to read them in order

[Horsefan1023 (Seal)]

They do mention past books if you read them in order, and only give a brief explanation.  So, reading them in order is a great help.

[DinosaurNothlit]

Chapter 10 (Ax)

I did not spend long on earth after our return from Kelbri. I spent a few weeks 'hanging out' with my human friends and eating delicious earth foods. But eventually I was forced to return to my duties as an Andalite Prince.

I took a new fighter, and once again flew away from earth. Back to my birth people, back to chains of command, orders, rituals, codes of honor.

I stayed with my family for a while. With the Blade Ship no longer posing a threat, there were no more missions for me. Even as a prince, I was nothing more than a figurehead, now. Most of the Andalite high command had been reduced to redundancy.

It was not the case, however, that there was nothing else that I could be doing instead. After being captured by the Kelbrid, I was suddenly the leading Andalite expert on not one, but two alien species. As such, I was considered a potentially important asset to the diplomatic attempts that were now being made at settling the differences between Kelbrid and Andalites.

However, I turned down all the offers for such a position. I tried to explain why such attempts were futile. But many other Andalites thought that if trade could be established between our races, the results would be beneficial to both. Perhaps they were right, in a way, but in any case, I knew it would take a long time to reach any sort of understanding.

For months, no other orders came for me. So I had nothing to do except go back to the home world, back to the scoop where I hadn't lived since I was a child.

But at least it was nice to see my parents again. It was good to go back to a place where I wasn't a prince anymore, where I was just my father's little Aximili-kala. Of course, I would be lying if I said it was like being a child again. It would never be.

Still, it was good to taste the grass of home.

One day, almost two months after I had left earth, I was running across the fields, feeling the soft and succulent grass crunch under my hooves. A normal evening.

I saw my father from a distance and slowed my run, raising a hand in greeting. He returned the gesture.

<News for you, Aximili-kala,> he said, holding up a communications reception device.

I was expecting another offer for a diplomat position, but I was surprised to hear my father say that the message was from War-prince Galuit-Enilon-Esgarrouth. I had first met Galuit before he had been promoted to war-prince, during the battle for Leera. I had heard stories of how he had continued resisting the Yeerks in many battles since then.

I opened the message interface on the device my father handed to me. It was a recorded message, not a direct communication.

<Prince Aximili-Esgarrouth-Isthil,> Galuit began respectfully. <You have more experience waging guerrilla warfare than any other living Andalite. It is because of this, not because of your admittedly commendable leadership as prince, that I am calling on you. We need someone who can fight without being seen or heard. We have a situation. You are needed on the Hork-Bajir home world.>

[Horsefan1023 (Seal)]

Oh my.

[DinosaurNothlit]

Chapter 12 (Cassie)

As we marched down into the Deep, Tobias flew off into the fog, out of my sight. A few moments later, he called back. <Cassie?> he said, sounding slightly shaken. <I think I just saw an Arn.>

"What? Alive? But, but, how can that be?" I stuttered, my voice taking on an eerie flatness because of the thick air.

<I'm not trying to explain it,> Tobias said, sounding just as incredulous as I felt. <I'm only telling you what I saw.>

"Well, where is it now?" I asked.

<I don't know. I lost sight of it for just a second, and then it was gone.>

I sighed. "Well, maybe this air is playing tricks on your mind."

<I know I saw it, Cassie. Hawk eyes don't lie,> he said, then fell suddenly silent. I thought I saw him fly over me, and then he shouted, <Cassie! Behind you!>

I turned. And there it was. There was no mistaking that four-legged, winged build, the glittering eyes, the gaudy color.

"Explain yourself," I demanded before it could try to run off again. "Why aren't you extinct?"

But the Arn apparently didn't want to stick around and chat. It immediately took off again, and quickly disappeared again in the thick mist. I gave chase, but I couldn't see what I was chasing.

"Get back here, you little-" I grunted as I ran.

I heard a high-pitched cry, followed by Tobias exclaiming, <Ha, I got 'im! Right in the leg! Okay, now I'm acquiring him to make sure he doesn't go anywhere. Hurry up, Cassie!>

I ran towards where the two of them should be, and found a sleepy-eyed Arn with Tobias digging his talons into its left rear leg. I grabbed the Arn by the neck, and Tobias flapped away and began to morph to Hork-Bajir.

The Arn came out of the acquiring trance with a panicked look in his eyes. "I don't want any trouble, just let me go!" he begged.

"Not until you tell us why you aren't dead," I said, as menacingly as I could.

"Nobody was supposed to know!" the Arn moaned. "They'll kill me if anyone finds out!"

"Why? What's the big secret?" I asked. "Tell me!" I shouted after the Arn kept silent.

<A guy by the name of Quafijinivon once told us he was the last Arn,> Tobias pointed out. <Now, why might that not be right?>

"You knew him?" the Arn asked, surprised and possibly a little awed. "Quafijinivon wasn't lying. Although heaven knows how he actually knew that fact." Then the Arn looked abashed, like he had revealed more than he meant to.

"He also told us he had something like two years left to live," I said, straining to remember that mission. "That was at least five years ago."

To my surprise, the Arn made a nervous chittering noise. I think maybe he was laughing. "On that point, he did lie to you. Did you actually fall for that? Do you not know how impossible it is to predict when one will die? It is like trying to predict which way the wind will blow. It cannot be done. Even with Arn technology."

I tried to hide my growing annoyance. "That's entirely beside the point. The point is that he was the last Arn, and he was dying. So how are you here?"

Tobias was fully Hork-Bajir at this point, and the Arn kept casting panicked glances in his direction. He gulped and glanced down at my hands still around his neck, looking for a way out but knowing he had no choice except to answer our questions.

Finally, the Arn gave a nervous sigh, and said, "You have to promise me. Promise me they won't know! You can't tell anyone, you can't act on this information, you can't do anything that might lead them back to me."

<We promise,> Tobias instantly said.

"Quafijinivon's motives were, shall we say, less altruistic than he may have led most people to believe," the Arn began.

<Huge surprise,> Tobias snorted derisively.

"You know that he created a force of Hork-Bajir to drive the Yeerks off of this planet, correct? I believe his story was that he was doing this to give the Hork-Bajir a shot at revenge. This was not . . . entirely correct. Rather, he did it to give himself more time," the Arn said carefully, obviously stalling, as if he were still worried about revealing too much.

<More time for what?> Tobias pressed.

"He was . . . there was . . . the backup plan," the Arn stuttered. "We had prepared for the eventuality of our own extinction, of course. We had kept an extensive bank of Arn DNA for decades before the Yeerks even came to this planet. What Quafijinivon wanted was a distraction. So that he could re-create his kind."

I gasped, shocked and maybe even a little sickened. But I should have guessed this. The Arn cared nothing for anything but their own survival. I should have known that they would have seen their end coming, and would have been ready to do something about it.

"Can you let me go now?" the Arn pleaded.

"Not so fast," I said. "You still haven't told us why all the secrecy. Why do you want to keep everyone thinking that you're still extinct?"

"That, I can't tell you," he said anxiously. "What they'll do to me if I tell you that is worse than death!"

I looked at Tobias. He nodded, and I released my grip on the Arn. He had told us enough. We would have to figure the rest out on our own. The Arn, grateful that we were letting him go, quickly disappeared into the mist.

[DinosaurNothlit]

Chapter 13 (Rachel)

I awoke to find myself lying on a cold surface, even though I couldn't remember falling asleep. I opened my eyes, and the moment I did, I knew something was wrong.

I jumped to my feet, adrenaline pumping, immediately ready for a fight, before I realized that it was . . . me, that felt wrong. My body . . . felt different than it should have.

I looked down at myself, and was shocked when I saw reptilian skin and vicious blades.

I was a Hork-Bajir! But how?

Then, a terrifying thought occurred to me. How long had I been in morph?! Biting down the sudden knife edge of panic, I focused on my human form.

I concentrated for a long time. Nothing happened.

<NOOO!> I screamed, more furious now than scared. How dare I be stuck in morph when I'd had no control! It wasn't fair! What was going on?!

<Ahh! Not scream so loud, voice in head!> another voice complained. What in the . . .

It was then that I noticed the other thing that was horribly wrong when I woke up. I could feel the presence of another consciousness within my mind. Inside my own head!

<Yeerk!> I screamed, fury and panic building. <Get out of me! Get OUT!>

<Is not Yeerk!> the other voice said fearfully. <Nenan is Hork-Bajir!>

I calmed down a little, and thought about this for a second. Trying to piece together what was going on, but getting nowhere. <Am . . . I a Yeerk?> I asked cautiously.

<Not Yeerk, either. Is bottle-spirit.>

<I'm what?> I asked, getting more and more confused.

<Bottle-spirit,> Nenan replied simply, like he thought I was being thick. <Arn have bottle, says lots words, bottle-spirit come out.>

That took a moment to process. But when I finally pieced it all together, I was even more furious than I had been before.

<I'm an Ixcila?!> I demanded, outraged.

<That what Nenan said,> the Hork-Bajir replied, amused. <Is bottle-spirit. You slow.>

I looked around through Nenan's eyes, taking in my surroundings. Looking for someone who would explain what was going on. Preferably, whoever or whatever had summoned my Ixcila.

I was mad, and I needed something to take my anger out on.

I was in what appeared to be a cell, of some sort. The walls and ceiling were stone, but there were two walls that were made of a faint blue, nearly transparent barrier that I was guessing was a force field.

And on the other side of that force field was a sandy-tan-colored creature with four legs, stubby wings, and glittering eyes. An Arn.

"I want an explanation, right now, Arn!" I yelled at him. Or possibly her. I couldn't tell the difference.

"First, answer my questions," the Arn said, completely unfazed by my outburst. Definitely a 'her,' judging by voice. "Who are you?" she asked. From her annoyed tone, I guessed that she had already asked that same question several times already.

"You don't even know who I am?" I said, taken aback by the notion that the Arn who had summoned me didn't know who I was. But I shook off the surprise and went right back to being angry. "The name's Rachel, and I'm going to-" I paused mid-threat, however, when I realized yet another thing that wasn't right here. "Hey wait a minute. Quafijinivon said he was the last Arn. What are you even doing here?"

The Arn, however, had given me a funny look when I said my name was Rachel. "Rachel . . . isn't that a human name?" she said, almost as if talking to herself. "What was a human Ixcila doing in Quafijinivon's-" She stopped, then the look on her face changed to shock. "Rachel was the name of one of the Animorphs!" she said, awestruck. "Are you . . . ?"

"So now you know who I am," I said, quickly beginning to lose my last shred of patience. It figured that Quafijinivon would spill the secret of our identities to his Arn buddies, and that only served to make me more angry. "Now tell me who the hell you are."

"I am Quahyliera. I inherited a small portion of the great Quafijinivon's possessions when he died. Including an Ixcila. I . . . I did not know whose it was."

"Okay, next question. Why are you alive?" I demanded.

"It was all part of the great Quafijinivon's plan. He created a force of Hork-Bajir to hold off the Yeerks while he finished his work on resurrecting the Arn. We had always kept a vast library of Arn DNA, in case of our own extinction."

I narrowed my eyes. "This doesn't make sense. None of it does. You're talking like Quafijinivon is long-since dead, and I just talked to him yesterday. And how did he work so fast? And why didn't you guys wait just a little longer before revealing your comeback? Until the Yeerks are defeated, at least! I mean, what's the point of coming back from extinction, only to go extinct a second time? It doesn't make sense."

The Arn cleared her throat. "Do not forget that you are an Ixcila. Many years have passed since your mental data were harvested, and so you remember things from 'yesterday' which in fact occurred much, much longer ago. Quafijinivon died four years ago. He died shortly after the Yeerks were defeated on earth."

I rocked back. "The Yeerks were defeated? We . . . we won?" I couldn't believe it. We'd won! The war was over!

What else had I missed?

While I was thinking about everything I had just learned, I felt Nenan trying to wrest back control of his body from me. For now, at least, I supposed I could let him have it. It wasn't like there was anything I needed to do in this cell.

"Thank you," he said through our shared mouth. Then he hesitated for a second, as if he wanted to say something, but not quite sure if he should. I could literally feel his anxiety.

"Rachel?" he asked uncertainly. "Bottle-spirit ask what missed. Nenan remember. Bottle-spirit . . . " Nenan closed his eyes briefly in respectful sadness before going on.

"Rachel was Animorph who die."

[dolphin4077]

Awesome story, love the latest development

[CDJV]

Awesome story! I'm glad Rachel's getting quasi-revived. I felt her death was something Tobias didn't really deserve.