Cody's POV:From the way Cody heard Kelran moving around the rooms of the ship, it didn't seem he was as injured as Cody first thought. Either that, or he was tough enough to brush pain aside in order to get important jobs done. That would be useful in battle. That is, if Kelran joined them. What would he think if he offered morphing ability to Kelran? Who knew?
When everything was done, Cody took flight and left Jason and Kelran to follow Yarin's scent back to his place. It was dark, but his Golden Eagle morph could still see well enough. He flew to Emily's neighborhood, where he saw a large cat.
<A cat might be good. Beggers can't be choosers, in any case.> Obviously the cat was too focused on a nearby rat in a bush to notice the eagle bearing down on it. Cody hit the cat just ard enough to stun it, then quickly demorphed to aquire it. The cat wound up scared out of its mind, but more or less ok.
Once cody was in cat morph, he made his way to Emily's place and squeezed through the gate. He found her room, which had a tree growing next to it, and climbed up to the open window. Inside he saw Emily laying calmly on her bed, but awake.
<Hey Emily. It's Cody. Your superhero.>
"Hey! I was hoping you would come back tonight."
<I stayed out a bit longer than I originally planned to, but something came up. I am, however, here to watch over you tonight.>
"Would you like to come in?"
<Come in? Um...sure. Why not?> He leaped into the room and got up on the bed.
"It must be nice turning into animals." She said. She reached over and started stroking Cody's fur. Was it just because he was a cat, or was she trying to be friendly towards him? She had kissed him before, but he admitted to himself that he didn't know much about relationships beyond one night stands. This wasn't a one night stand kind of situation.
<Well, it does have downsides. One being that it takes a lot out of you if you morph repeatedly.> He said as he stretched out. <Another thing is the time limit. Two hours.>
"After two hours you turn back into a Human?"
<After two hours you get stuck in morph forever.> He said sleepily. It had been a long day for Cody, but at that moment he lay on a nice bed with a girl gently stroking his side. He then started to purr.
"I'm really glad you're here." She said as she laid back down. Before she seemed restless, but soon she drifted off to sleep. He got up and went outside onto the tree. Then he demorphed and took a nap himself.
His nap was later interrupted by three thuds near the wall surrounding the estate. Someone inside the house, sound asleep, wouldn't have heard it. However, Cody was outside and much less dead to the world. He woke himself up, climbed down from the tree, and began morphing a dog. He would likely need more power than a cat, but more subtlety than a crocodile.
He couldn't see them, but he could smell them. They were three male teenagers, but he wasn't absolutely certain that they were controllers. That is, until one spoke in a low voice.
"As soon as we get in, we grab whatever money we can stuff our pockets with, and whatever else we can stick in our bags. If any trouble shows, I'll use the gun." One said as he neared the back door.
Cody could smell the gunpowder in the gun. He strode up inches from them, and none of them knew he was even there before he stuck. He grabbedthe one guy's gun, and part of his shirt that concealed it, and ripped it out. The guy let out a stifled yelp.
"What the...! A dog just bit me!"
"Use the gun. It has a silencer, right?
"I dropped it. I can't find it. Stupid dog!"
"Hey, don't dogs usually do a lot of barking before they bite people?"
Cody put the gun down and growled menacingly. He didn't want to make a lot of noise, but he wanted them to get the message.
"There he is. Somebody kick him or something."
"Man, that dog sounds big. I'm not going over there."
Cody sprang forward, and bit into the nearest warm flesh he could find before jumping back again. That got them running back for the wall. They had a rope, and started climbing, but Cody gave the rope a good tugging to let them know he was still there.
<So much for those thugs.> Cody said softly after they were gone. <Maybe we don't have to worry too much about the Yeerks after all.> Cody went back to his tree to finish his nap before he left at dawn.
Emily's POV:Emily was very happy that Cody came back. She didn't know if she's be able to sleep without him being around, because of Yeerks. She was so happy that she forgot to tell him that he needed to leave before dawn. The gardener usually got up right before dawn to start his chores, and this morning was no exception. She was woken up by loud shouting outside her window.
"Hey you!"
"Aaugh!"
Theodore noticed Cody outside her window and yelled up angrily at him. She leaped up and rushed over just in time to see him fall out of the tree. By the time he recovered, Theodore came up behind him and hit him in the back with the rake. That got him up and running.
"Hooligan! Peeping Tom! Scoundrel! Vagrant! Barbaric offspring!" He yelled as he chased Cody around the corner of the building while swinging the rake.
"Aaaahhh!"
She got on some respectable clothes, and ran outside to help. She found Theodore whacking some bushed with the rake outside.
"I know you're in there, you devil child! You dare tresspass here and stalk Miss Emily! You need a sound beating and a night in jail. Now come out!"
"Mr. Theodore, please. It isn't good for you to get worked up at your age." Emily said. Theodore was old enough to be her grandfather.
"Hmph! I'm calling the police. You go back inside, Miss Emily. Don't let that hoodlum near you."
He stormed off, and she felt a cat rubbing against her leg.
<Man, that was rough. I always thought I was an early riser, but old people have that early bird thing down. He was mean! I'll bet he was the kind of guy that beat his kids to discipline them.>
She picked him up. "I'm sorry I forgot to warn you. Mr. Theodore is like a third grandfather to me, and about the closest thing I have to a good parent."
<Well, I have to go. Get ready for school, and I'll see you this afternoon. If you still want to join, then this afternoon I'll make you one of us.> Cody said after she carried him to the front gate. He then left for Yarin's place.
