Prologue: Origins

[Damien]

Damien gasped sitting at the base of a rather large tree, in the middle of a forest no less. A hole was in his shoulder. Not that he couldn't morph out of the injury but he didn't have time now. He had to contact the others and quickly. When he broke off from the others to get their morphs he couldn't find them, he took a little longer than he should have. A little while after a security guard came and he had to run. For some reason unknown to him he went home to fetch his laptop and his mother was waiting there. Why couldn't he predict that!? It was obvious she would be there waiting for him. He managed to snatch his laptop and run. He had escaped into the forest and been running form the yeerks after him since and he never had a chance to morph and escape. He was hit by a dracon beam an hour ago. He needed help. He couldn't run from these controllers forever. He needed to call someone, but he didn't know any-one's phone number that would help him out. Wait... or did he?

Struggling against the pain in his shoulder Damien pulled out his cell phone and flicked it on. Didn't Mr. King call him? Alice's father! Maybe he could help. He should be the last number on the caller I.D. Biting his lip he found the number and hit call back, holding it to his ear and heard the rings taking place. Each one seemed to drag out into ten minutes.

[Seryna]

Jethsa Rescue team
Torrence

<Jas!  Are you okay?  Eddie?  Torrence, Kasey...anyone?> she yells frantically, hoping only they could hear her.

<I'm okay!>  Torrence responded, trampling underbrush as she surged out of her hiding place.

<What laser?>  Having been busy completing her morphing, she had not seen the Dracon beam- but she could feel the dissipating heat and see the scorched earth.

<Whoa! That's the laser! Where'd that thing go?!>


Jethsa  shifted on the floor, but was unable to rise.

<That was a technology that my people possess.> Jethsa explained to Vincent and all of the humans in morph.  <It would have ended the Hork Bajir, as this ship does not have the capacity to provide for the creature if we freed it.>

Are there more of you somewhere?  I could have sworn I just heard about two or three different yells in my head in different 'voices'.  Did one of the uh... others in the back room get better?

<I was unaware that you had discovered my deceased comrades.>  Jethsa replied to Vincent, with a sharp edge in her 'mental voice'.  The edge faded as she continued.

<There are some of your species outside- they are the Black lab and other animals, possible due to another technology of my people that is currently located here.  It was our task to locate it...>
A touch of sadness touched her thought speak, but she did not elaborate as to why. She introduced herself to Kaseys' second question.

<I am Jethsa - Samarane - Castant.  I have previously met Alec, Sam and Jas.  Where is Alec at?
Jas, I can evaluate the literature I received on your planet and- ah yes, a measure of distance acceptable to this task.  Every one who remains outside the ship, please move towards Jas for your safety.

Vincent, thank you for your assistance.  You may wish to sit down.>

GM

On the heels of Jethsa's advice, those outside became aware that they wern't out of danger yet.  With a lurch out of the trees, the Hork Bajir reappeared. It resumed its race towards Sam, a truly terrible sight to behold as it bore down on the dog.

Unseen except to Vincent, Jetha's stalk eyes closed momentarily as the invisible ship once again fired.  The beam struck true this time, causing the Hork Bajir to vanish, although it did so very close to Sam.

The ship suddenly appeared to the morph capable humans outside.  A ramp began to lower, leading within the ship.

On board the ship, Jethsa suddenly collapsed. While she had previously been holding her torso and head upright, she now sprawled across the ship floor.



Blue Box
Alec stopped digging to wag his tail happily, causing his whole lower body to wiggle with it.

<Oh good, I'd like that!>  He resumed digging, soon scrapping cloth with his nails.  The cloth that the Blue Box had been wrapped in before being buried- they had found what they came for!

<I did good, didn't I?>  Alec asked with the boundless happiness of a canine.


Christina

<Those dog morphs really make a play for curing depression, don't they?>  She laughed in Alec and Reece's head. 

<Woot, you got it! Now what?>



"King residence." The pleasant male voice replied to Damien.  Mr. King had actually been conversing with his fellow Chee regarding the Chee posed as his 'daughter' in this time.

After several moments, he triangulated the call's location, curious to discover that the call was being made from a cell phone in the middle of the woods.

[Damien]

"Mr. King,"Damien said quickly through the phone. "I-It's Damien... I got separated from the others when we went to the zoo for morphs. You where-"he paused biting his lip to keep from screaming in pain, however it was obvious he was in pain from his voice. "That I had the number to that could help me since you're Alice's father. I don't have any time to morph, I-"he was cut off. "Argh!"he cried out in pain as he was disconnected. He soon discovered it was because his phone was vaporized, a hole in the tree behind him, and the palm of his hand was singed. He looked up to see a human controller standing over him.

"Who where you just calling there?"asked the female controller with a smirk,"No-one can help you now."

Without thinking or hesitation Damien scrambled to his feet and rammed into the controller with his uninjured shoulder catching her off guard and knocking her to the ground. He reached down and snatched the dracon beam away form her knocking her int he head with it so she was unconscious, not hard enough to kill her. Grunting in pain he turned around and began running, as fast as he could in his current state. He couldn't afford to stop and morph...

[Kit Cloudkicker]

Kasey begins to slink toward the ship, her predatory senses alert to the changes around her in the forest. She makes her way up the ramp, pausing at te top to cal out to her fiends in thought speak. <You coming?>

[Myitt]

<Oh no, no,> Sam cries as the Hork-Bajir bounds toward her.  She leaps backward, branches scratching through her black coat. 

TSEEEEEEEEEEW!

Sam's doggie hair stands on end and she whimpers as the bladed alien simply vanishes.  Gone, in a flash of burning light.  She hears Kasey's call and tries to move, but she can't--she's frozen by fear.  <I...I...oh my God, that thing just...Jas?  Where are you?> she whispers.

[FuBar]

The Blade-Monster lunged again. My CL's instinct was to pounce, but I made it pause long enough for the blue lazer-thing to disintegrate it before I left the tree. My CL was very annoyed that its prey had been stolen and it growled discontentedly with a sneer.

Taking control once more, I leapt daintily from the tall tree and landed as easily as though walking down someone's porch step. I held my gaze staring at the spaceship that had appeared before us in awe. The CL brought me to my senses; It found non-living objects rather boring, especially when they stopped moving. After the ramp decended, I trotted toward and up into the ship, showing no fear - The CL feared nothing, which rubbed off on my own attitude and allowed me to stride confidently.

The CL brain was interested at the appearance of the Black-Leopard, but I assured it there was no threat and no prey, so it lost interest and I could walk with Kasey with no further interruption from it.

<Way ahead of you, Kasey.> I said in reply to her query. I hoped she had a hold on her BL-brain to stop it thinking of me as threat or prey...

At the top of the ramp, I looked into the interior and saw what could only be the alien we were after rescuing: The Andalite called Jethsa. My CL-brain stirred, wondering what to make of her... The tail-blade looked troublesome, though it was quite obvious she was in no condition to be able to use it. - Before the CL could deem her as potential prey, I stepped in and assured it taking a bite would be a bad idea. Instead I approached cautiously, taking in her scent for any information it could provide me.

<Miss Jethsa? Are you hurt so badly that you cannot morph out of your injuries?> I asked, concernedly. A memory came back to me of Alice and the question she wanted to ask the Andalite, but I just couldn't bring myself to ask anything so vulgar of someone in her current condition.

[Seryna]

The controller slumped to the ground, unmoving, as Damien moved away from her.  However, she had not pursued Damien alone.

The Collaborator that was Damien's mother found her fellow Collaborator unconscious and bent down, reviving her roughly and giving her a tongue lashing for allowing a child to escape her.

"We have orders to capture him, but he's proven violent and difficult to subdue.  The Forrest provides ample places for him to ambush us."  The blonde Collaborator stated, frowning into the Forrest.

"Leave him for now."  The other decided. " Come with me, we'll ensure he won't be able to leave the Forrest."

The two women moved purposefully towards the tree line and civilaztion.



Jethsa Rescue Team

Jethsa remained unconscious and unresponsive, unable to hear or reply to any queries made of her.

Torrence paused near the ramp, unsure if she'd be able to fit inside the alien ship.

<What's going on in there?>  She wondered.  <Can Jethsa demorph?  Why isn't she answering us?>




Alice was contacted via Chee - net by the Chee posing as her father to human Society.

[There has been a complication.  I was just contacted by one of the humans with the ability to morph, Damien.  He was expressing that he'd been separated from the others when the call was lost.  I am unable to
raise the cell phone he called me from.

I'd like you to look about for him, ensure his safety.  Here are the coordinates that the cell phone call came from.]

GPS coordinates were sent directly to Alice, she recognized it as being in the same Forrest as the others were at presently.

[Kit Cloudkicker]

Peering into the ship, Kasey looks from the wounded Andalite lying on the ground, to the human standing near her. Jumping to a conclusion, she lets loose a snarl, and darts forward toward the boy, teeth bared.

[SigardTormel]

The laser had fired and hit the alien before he even got time to realize what Jethsa had said. Wait what did she mean that there are humans that are animals out there?  How does that even make sense? Vincent wondered as he turned to look at Jethsa.

"What do you mean th-" Vincent started to ask before he realized that the large burn on her side had once more taken Jethsa from consciousness.  Sighing he walked over to her and wondered what he could do to help her. It was too bad he hadn't brought a water bottle with him today so that he could try to gently wash her burn to make sure it didn't get more infected then need be.  As it was he started to brush as much dirt and as many leaves from her fur from around the wound as he could.

Looking up momentarily at a clicking sound he saw something out of the corner of his eye on the ramp.  Turning his head that way he nearly had a heart attack at what he saw.  A large cat that looked like it was either a cheetah or a leopard stood there looking back at what looked like a donkey or maybe a mule.  "Wh- wh- wh-wh-what the F***!?  HOLY S**T!" Vincent cried as he fell backward and tried to scoot back on his butt using his hands.  His eyes were wide and his face had paled at the sight of the feline and they stayed that way as he stared with fear in his eyes his mouth working soundlessly.

[Myitt]

The shouting breaks Sam out of her terrified spell, and she bounds through the woods, approaching Jethsa's ship.  Her dog body is still trembling, but she recognizes the ship as Jethsa's.  <Jethsa?> she calls, padding up the ramp.  <What's going on?>  She freezes when she sees the big cat, her friend Kasey.  And Jethsa!  But who was the boy?

She doesn't register the growl emitting from her throat.

[FuBar]

<Hold on, Kasey! - From the look on his face, the boy looks harmless. Also, do you really think HE could have done this to Jethsa? If you looked closely you'd see he's been trying to tend to her wound; Not the actions of an enemy.> I warned my friend, padding around between her and the boy and staring her down.

Her BL morph had my CL on sheer size and power, but we were both equally deadly feline predators and neither's instincts would be to get into a fight with the other, if at all possible to avoid it. I kept an hear trained on the boy anyway, just in case.

<Hmm, I wonder what the chances are of being able to fly this thing...> I mused aloud in the heads of those nearest me.


I acknowledged the new Chee-Net request as a superceedence to my previous orders. If it was possible to carry out both requests, I'd still try of course.

Examining the coordinates I'd been sent, I saw they were leading me to a much closer section of woodland than the section near Kasey's neighbourhood, so I'd be able to arrive there much quicker.

I rode my fake scooter into the edge of the woodland where Damien had made the call to my 'father', but once I was confident of not being observed by anyone or anything I dissapeared the scooter hologram and associated helmet etc, continuing on foot and in Cseirouna-form so I wouldn't have to restrict my abilities as much as I did in Alice-form.

When I reached the coordinates of Damien's last phone call, I stopped and sniffed around. My optic sensors picked up evidence of Dracon fire and various human-looking footprints. Though I couldn't immediately tell which were Damiens, it appeared after a while that two sets went one direction while the third set went off by itself. Judging that Damien was probably alone, being chased by two persuers, I followed the single set of footprints and distinguished his scent from them, making him easier to track...

[Damien]

Damien held his shoulder as he ran. He was slowing down the longer he kept going. He was losing to much blood... he had to morph or he was going to die, or worse. However the thought of the yeerks right on his tail kept him from morphing knowing if this was true the controllers would catch him mid-morph and completely defenseless. The problem was he didn't know if the controllers were really following him or not, but he knew he couldn't take that chance. He was jarred out of his thoughts by his foot becoming caught in a root. With his lower body stopped but the momentum of his upper body still going he suffered the effect of 'tripping' and fell onto his stomach, his laptop flew form his hands. Pain exploded through him and he screamed out. His head swam, he couldn't think straight, his vision began to fade. He struggled desperately to stay awake. He could vaguely hear footsteps coming up behind him. He had no choice. He had to morph or he would lose consciousness, and wake up a controller or not at all. He closed his eyes tightly and began focusing on one of the animals he had acquired from the zoo. This one would be able to travel quickly through the forest so he could get away... he hoped. A guenon monkey. He felt the changes begin to take place. He felt himself shrinking...

[Luke Skywalker (Ossanlin)]

Jas shied back from the heat of the blast as the new alien vaporized in mid-step towards Sam.  <I'm right here Sam...>  Jas looked around himself and realized he didn't know where "here" was.  He watched all the others walk into the ship and slithered towards the opening.  He slithered up the ramp and looked around, he saw Jethsa lying on the floor with a massive burn on her side.  He scented the air and death hung heavy in the air....something had died in here, and recently.  He looks around and wonders about the boy in the relatively spacious ****pit.

<Hey, man, who're you?>

[Breekan1]

Reece scoops the box up out of the ground and cradles it in his arms. "Alright, we should go find the others at the space-ship and see if they need our help, yeah?" He smiles at Alec. "You've done way good, bro. Totally rad. Now you just need to take us to where the ship was- can you do that?"

[Seryna]

Torrence

<Yes, what's going on?>  Torrence seconded Sam's query.  <Kasey, what are you doing?  Why is Eddie saying someone looks harmless?

Is he right?  How 'come he picked up something that Kasey didn't? 
Sam, Jas, can you guys see what's going on in there?>

Torrence craned her neck, glancing into the ship.  She couldn't see much past Sam.




As Damien took the time to morph, Alice managed to close a great deal of the distance to him.  As she glanced about, she spotted the rapidly sinking creature- just as it spotted her.  Did Damien recognize her?


<Awesome!> Alec enthused.  <Yeah, I think I know.  Somewhere over here.  Come on!>

The Black Lab began to bound off into the woods. Careless, he made a great deal of noise and quickly left Reece in his dust.