<Sam and Jas, eh?> I repeated in open-thoughtspeak, then I switched to private-thoughtspeak directed soully at Sam and Jas:
<<Greetings, fellow morphers! I'm Eddie, and I'll be your backup today. Any trouble you can't handle, I'll do my best to protect you from it.>> I thoughtspoke in a tourguide-esque sort of way, friendly and trying not to undermine their own abilities to defend themselves.
Switching back to open-thoughtspeak, I s****ed at Torrence's reaction to noticing what I'd morphed into - But not in a mean way.
<Heh heh heh heh. Yep, that's me alright. Stalkie-stalkie, catchy-Andalitey. Isn't he just beautiful? He's gotta be my favourite morph so far. - I wondered when I'd get chance to become him; This seemed the ideal opportunity.>
Kasey's yelling stopped me in my tracks. Briefly.
<Hide? Hmm, not such a bad idea... Let's ambush it!> I suggested, the hint of a potential battle exciting me a bit. <Err, I mean: I'll get in an ambush-position, then somebody thoughtspeak at it and find out if it's friend-or-foe. If it's foe, it'll soon be DEAD-foe.> My CL morph grinned as only a big-cat can grin: Prey was close; Large, dangerous prey maybe, but prey all the same.
I trotted closer to the dog ahead of me, keeping my supreme eyesight ahead to try and catch a glimpse of this so-called boogeyman. At about 10 feet behind the dog - Sam, I'd been told, - I went vertical and shot up a large oak tree, settling into the branches in such a way that I could drop or leap down onto anything within about an 8-foot radius of Sam's current position.
I saw a Red-Tailed Hawk drop from the sky, coming in for a landing. I guessed it was probably Kasey, as I knew she'd acquired one. The bird disappeared into some shrubbery, reminding me of the bushes I'd remorphed in, so she was probably thinking along similar lines. Thoughtspeak emanates from the vicinity of that bush, reinforcing my assumption that it'd been Kasey in morph. She calls on Torrence for assistance.
<Take your time, girls. - I got this covered for now. While I was practising back at my appartment, I discovered that morphing/demorphing in a hurry SERIOUSLY takes it out of you - You'd do better letting the morph progress at its usual pace, so you can remain alert in your new forms.> I advised in open-thoughtspeak, though excluding the 'boogeyman', of course.
I spotted a snake disappearing into the undergrowth, but didn't bother to try and track it - I had bigger prey in mind. It was probably that Jas guy... Torrence had said he'd gone snake, after all... It had impressive camoflage and had soon vanished from even my impressive feline eyesight, yet I still preferred my CL's coat to the snake's pattern.
<I'm in position to attack anything that comes near Sam where she currently is. I suggest waiting until Kasey's finished morphing before we lure the 'boogeyman' here. - Are you going into Black-Leopard morph, Kasey?> I asked, trying not to remember what she wasn't wearing when we'd all acquired it. - This was easier to achieve while I was in morph, of course, so my attention was soon focussed back onto the boogeyman ahead of us, hidden by some trees I'd guessed. I had no idea how dangerous this guy would look when I finally caught sight of him/her/it/whatever.
The other Chee seemed to think it had been their idea for me to pretend to belong to the group of morphers. This annoyed me, as it had been my idea in the first instance - They'd just agreed with it and taken it as their own idea. I didn't correct the Chee conversing with me though; It would only lead to unnecessary and time-consuming conflict, possibly ending in some sort of punishment I didn't want to contemplate.
[I am to spy on the group and gauge their trustworthiness by what they do with the Escafil device? Very well then, that is what I shall do. In my opinion, spying is unnecessary - They believe me one of them, not one of the Chee after all. Nevertheless, I shall spy undetected unless they have real need of my assistance to prevent one of them dying, for example. Fair enough?] I asked, confirming the first part of my 'mission' for them.
[As for the Escafil device, I shall leave its fate up to the Andalite, provided she has enough wits to decide. I heard the humans' plans, and was part of them. They intend to return it to us for safe-keeping and I'm prepared to take it on-trust that that is indeed their true intention. WHEN they return it to Kasey's house, I shall arrive there to take delivery for us. It will then be up to the Andalite what is done with it, if she can answer. I am glad you have sorted the security issue; Now I won't have to lie when I assure them it will be safe in Chee possession.] I hinted almost imperceptibly at their prior failure, paying them back for their mistrust of my morphing friends and taking my ideas as their own, yet in such a subtle way as it wouldn't create more trouble for me.
[Is there anything else, before I depart?] I asked, wondering when they wanted me to leave.
