Chapter one-Plans and Promises
My name is Noorlin-Sirinial-Cooraf. I knew I had a life before. I have memories of them, indistinct but there nonetheless. My life seems defined by one day now. The day my son, my only son now, called to tell me of the death of my firstborn. Many have consoled my wife and I telling us that Elfangor was a great warrior and hero and died as one. I don’t care. I remember the happy albeit hidebound boy he’d been. War changed him and in the end it claimed his life. War is a hungry beast and it is eating everyone I love. My sons one lost to me forever, the other facing death everyday on an alien planet. My brother, his fighter shot down by Yeerks in orbit of a planet called Earth. My niece lost, presumed dead in the recesses of space, the transport that she had been on being attacked by Yeerks. My wife, though not dead may as well have been. The loss of our sons hit her hard and she has yet to recover. She does have our small daughter Sirena to occupy her time now but I know that the loss of Elfangor and Aximili has left a pain in her hearts that even Sirena cannot not heal.
I have devised a plan. I have hesitated to put it into action until now because of the effect it would have on my wife’s psyche but I cannot wait any longer. I will travel to the planet called Earth and retrieve my son, no matter the danger. I will have to steal a craft and have already stolen some of the technology necessary. When I return, if I return at all, I will most certainly be imprisoned. No matter. I have to do it. I will return having killed Visser three and with my son in tow or not at all.
I was never much of a warrior. That was my brother Jazimil. I of course went the academy but I did not find combat to be in my nature and instead became a scientist. Alloran was sure to be a great warrior and subsequently the Yeerk who controlled him would have access to his tail-fighting abilities as well. I will probably die at the hands of the Yeerk who murdered my son. I am still honor bound to try.
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The suns are sinking low on the horizon. I watch with all four eyes for once, taking in the beauty of the planet I so often took for granted. I would be leaving it all behind soon. I hear Forlay approach and swivel and eyestalk to look at her. Her eyes are sad, she knows me, and knows what I am about to tell her. I reach out a hand to touch her face, knowing it may be the last time I do. Her eyes form the faint ghost of a smile as she returns my caress. I wish I could stay here with the woman I love, with the suns setting behind us and let what comes, come. I resisted the oh-so-tempting urge. I dropped my hand.
//I must go.\\ I said.
I did not have to say another word. She knew where I was going, and what I was going there to do. I feared that if I died she would kill herself but I knew my fears were baseless. My wife was strong. If I were gone she would carry on without me and care for our daughter just as if I still lived. She was not an erratic female like her sister in-law who, after my brother died, killed herself, leaving her barely adolescent daughter to discover the body. We had cared for Eilla as best we could. When she boarded the wrong transport we lost her to the hungry beast called war.
I sighed. It all kept coming back to that didn’t it? War. War and death. Forlay looks disappointed, like she could hear exactly what I was thinking and didn’t like it. I tear my gaze away. She makes this decision so much harder. I turn so my back is to her.
//If you must go…promise me that you will come back. I can’t bear to lose you as well.\\ I don’t know how to tell her what my mind is screaming. There is no way to keep such a promise. I could die, not of my own volition of course, and then my promise would be empty. The same held true if the Yeerks captured me. Perhaps one day I might come back, but it wouldn’t be me anymore. The chances are small, at best, that I will return. Still her eyes are filled with an agony that I feel I must soothe somehow.
//I promise.\\ And as I say the words I give the last part of me that holds onto this world. Forlay does not smile but her eyes are determined now. My words have made her strong.
//Go.\\
And I do.
Chapter two-Pain and Problems
It was raining hard outside the car’s windows. Ha. A suitable metaphor for how I felt at the moment, how I felt most of the time lately. The perpetual clouds of depression, dotted occasionally with lighting storms of jagged pain and loss, and the always terrible thunder that was mom and dad. Tears stung my eyes. I fought to keep them at bay, but they still came nonetheless. It really wasn’t the smartest thing I’ve ever done but what the heck. If I crash I crash. It’s not like my parents care.
Oh sure they act like they care but in truth? No I don’t think so. If they cared surely they’d take time to ask why I’m wearing a sweater in the middle of April. I’m wearing the sweater to hide the lurid red stripes across my wrist marring the otherwise pale, smooth skin. I don’t know why I do it. I get so upset over something mom or dad, or both have done, wonder why Rachel or anybody else for that matter never calls and it happens. It’s like one second I stand there swimming in a pool of my own misery and the next I’m staring at the bright red blood trickling down my arm, covering the small blade I pried from my mother’s razor.
I tell myself I should probably stop thinking like this. I have only one more year left of school and then I can finally be out this place. This town that is full of secrets and lies. It wasn’t so bad when I still had friends. Rachel, Ashley, or heck even Laura. Laura and I didn’t know each other too well but it would be better than nothing. Ashley was a year older than me so I knew she had to be busy with college plans and stuff like that. That didn’t bother me I was used to that sort of distance. It was the perpetual Sharing meetings she went to, and encouraged me to go to as well. I didn’t like the look in her eyes when I told her no. It wasn’t the cheerful face of my friend. It was something inhuman lurking just behind those blue-green eyes that frightened me. Something that whispered inaudibly across the distance between us and said; we will get you…eventually.
Still at least Ashley was there some of the time. Rachel had withdrawn into herself, not allowing anybody in anymore. She still acted like herself in front of teachers and other people like that. Her act was just as fake as Ashley’s smiles. When she thought nobody was looking her eyes seemed older, like she had seen things that no one our age should ever have to see. She was scared, I knew her well enough to deduce that. But of what?
Lost in my own thoughts I didn’t see it until it was too late. The brakes protested loudly as I pressed them as hard as I could. There was a flash of blue, and something that looked like an oddly misshapen deer and then I ran headlong into it. There was a sickening CRUNCH sound as the car rolled to a stop.
“Holy crap, holy crap, holy crap!” I struggled with the seatbelt. It finally let me go and I exited the car quickly. The blue thing had been thrown into the ditch. I scrambled down to it. For a moment I just stared. It did look a little like a deer…at least the bottom half. Slightly bigger perhaps but just as nimble-looking. The upper half looked mostly humanoid…if you ignored the extra eyes, lack of a mouth and a few extra fingers. The tail was what had me staring. It was long and curved but I could tell it wasn’t an ordinary tail. It had muscles, strong ones, I saw as the thing flexed it almost, I thought, as an involuntary response. At the end of this long muscular tail was a blade. It was long and curved and looked extremely sharp. I took a step backwards, afraid of this blue mutant deer or whatever it was. I stopped when it moaned in pain.
I hesitated. This was probably stupid. If someone found me here, the vice principal’s daughter talking to a blue mutant deer thing I’d be hauled off to the Looney bin for sure. Still the moan hadn’t made sound. I had heard it inside my head. Who was to say I wasn’t crazy already?
“Hello?” I said to the deer-thing feeling like the world’s biggest idiot. The thing’s extra eyes turned to look at me. It didn’t say anything but I figured it was having as awkward a time as me so I kept on going.
“Uh I’m sure you noticed you’re hurt.” [/iWay to go Melissa. State the obvious.[i I tried my best to recover my dignity. If there was any dignity left when talking to a blue deer-thing and expecting it to answer you. “Um I don’t know if the hospital can treat you. I could take you to a vet-”
//No!\\ a voice in my head interrupted. It was a deep bass. Definitely not my voice. Was it possible for hallucinations to have different voices or were they all yours? //I do not require medical care.\\
“Are you sure? It sounded pretty bad from my car.” Why was I arguing? I should just leave. Still it felt wrong to hit it and not try to help even if I had gone crazy. As if to prove my point a squirrel climbed onto the deer-thing’s chest, at least I think it was the chest, and sat there. The deer-thing repressed another moan. After a moment it raised a hand and tried to brush the squirrel away. I was surprised when the squirrel didn’t run but instead relaxed into the thing’s seven fingered hand.
“See you do need a doctor! At least let me get the first aid kit from the trunk of my car.” The thing looked at me for a moment.
//Very well.\\
“I’ll be right back.” I ran back up the incline and up to my car. There was a dent in the front where I hit the deer-thing but otherwise no other damage was visible. I popped the trunk and scanned its interior until I found the kit. I grabbed it then slammed the trunk door shut.
“Okay I’m back!” Odd that I was getting used to addressing a mutant deer. I scanned the ditch once. Then again. No sign of the deer-thing, just the squirrel, no two squirrels now, chattering away. Probably talking about the crazy human girl.
Get it together. I told myself. With the first aid kit in hand I climbed the incline again. Instead of popping the trunk I flung the kit in the backseat. Just as I was about to start the car again something in the side bushes caught my eye. Something blue. On closer inspection I saw it was a small patch of blue fur. So it had been real? I turned the key and the engine roared to life. I wondered if I should tell my parents about this. They had asked anyone spotting strange animal activity to report it. This certainly qualified. Still… I remembered all their secret glances, full member only meetings, and how they excluded me from every secret in their life. A petty thought it was true but I smiled genuinely for the first time in weeks. Yes mommy and daddy dearest. Let’s see how you like being left out.
Chapter Three-Panic and Presumptions
Idiot! Idiot! Idiot! I berated myself. Hadn’t I known going in this planet would be filled with Humans? I knew was bound to encounter one. I had also visualized having a Human morph before such a thing happened. The girl had appeared to question her sanity for a moment before climbing back into the combustion vehicle she had attempted to crush me with. The furry mammal I had acquired was looking at me curiously while nibbling on some Earth plant I wasn’t familiar with. The instincts of this creature were screaming at me to run and to eat but I ignored them.
I scampered further, until I was surrounded on all sides by trees. Making sure no one was around I demorphed. I hoped the girl I had run into did not say anything to anyone about what she had seen and had written me off as a hallucination. That belief would be safer for her than telling the truth. I didn’t want to be responsible for her death-or worse.
My plans hadn’t really extended past getting to Earth. I hadn’t actually believed I’d get even that far. I knew now what I must do. My first objective must to be to acquire a Human morph. I needed to find my son, or the Yeerk forces on this planet. I was sure if I could find one I could find the other. The Yeerks, trying to draw in hosts, would be much easier to locate than six rebel fighters who didn’t want to be found. Yes, acquiring a Human would be very necessary.
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I held my breath. I could hear Humans coming. Humans or Yeerks? It didn’t matter in any case. This was a perfect opportunity to acquire a Human morph. I remained very still in my hiding place and waited for the Humans to reach me.
//Humans are very noisy.\\ I muttered to myself. They didn’t make an effort to skirt around anything, instead they plowed straight through bushes and brambles and clattering rocks.
“I’m telling you Todd,” one adolescent male was saying to another about his age, perhaps a year younger. His voice was loud and unpleasant. I hoped I didn’t receive that particular trait when I morphed him. “My kid brother’s nuts. He says we can’t trust our dad. Yeah so what if he goes to The Sharing? Big deal. And you know why he won’t go near our dad anymore?”
The younger male shrugged his shoulders. “Why?”
“Because a magic talking wolf told him not to.” The boy laughed. I was really beginning to dislike him. I decided to make my move then just to make him stop talking.
I stepped out from where I was hiding and both boys froze for a moment. Both of their eyes grew wide and the older boy was mouthing wordlessly. Well they certainly weren’t Yeerks. A Yeerk would have pulled a Dracon beam on me by now screaming “Andalite filth!” Or something to that effect.
//I am very sorry but I must inform you that I am going to knock you unconscious in a moment.\\ The boys just stared. My tail whipped forward and three seconds later both boys were lying unconscious on the ground. I knelt and touched the older boy first. I concentrated briefly and felt his DNA flow into me. I did the same with the other boy.
I blended their DNA and was gratified to see that it leaned more heavily toward the younger boy who had seemed much nicer than his older companion. I recalled their conversation. A magical talking wolf? No that was probably an Andalite. I had not expected to have found traces of them so early. Perhaps my task would not be as difficult as I had thought. And what else had the boy mentioned? The Sharing? Did that vaguely Yeerk-ish or was I simply being paranoid? Still it was worth investigating. And now that I had a Human morph no one would think twice about me investigating right?
I made my way out of the forest and realized why Humans made so much noise. It was difficult to even stay upright let alone control these gangly limbs. How did Humans manage it? It seemed like a very unsafe setup to me. I had learned since my first encounter that caution was to be exercised on the dark yellow and black paths that Human vehicles traveled on. I stepped onto the path, making sure nothing was coming at me. Nothing was but not far away was a small human. She was staring at me wide-eyed. I was fully Human right?
The girl turned and ran toward a white structure behind her yelling loudly; “MOMMY! MOMMY! THERE’S A NAKED GUY OUT ON THE STREET!!!”
I didn’t know what the girl was yelling about. I briefly considered confronting her about it but decided against it. I had to find this “Sharing”.
Chapter Four-Past and principal
I had finally convinced Rachel to stay over at my house, even though she looked kinda nervous being around my dad. Still things got a little more normal, meaning Rachel was a lot less tense, after he and my mom left for a “full member” only meeting at The Sharing. I didn’t really get it, I mean I know he’s the Vice principal and all but she’d never had a problem with that before…before everything went wrong. Before my parents stopped being my parents, and my best friend started avoiding me like the plague.
I was trying to think of something interesting to talk about while we mixed. Mom and dad had set Rachel and I to work for The Sharing’s bake sale this weekend. Rachel and I were currently up to our elbows in cookie dough and the silence was starting to get awkward.
“So-” I began not sure exactly where I was going with this.
“Yeah?” Rachel said. She sounded distracted, and when I looked her eyes were elsewhere on some scene I couldn’t see. I glanced around the room and found nothing to interesting to start a conversation with.
“Oh no-” I stopped dead. I had looked out the window. I looked away, then looked back to make sure I was actually seeing what I thought I was seeing.
“What?” Rachel said finally looking at me.
“There’s a naked guy walking down my street.”
“What?!”
“I’m serious.” Rachel pushed me out of the way, then almost immediately turned from the window blushing.
“Oh my Gosh he is naked!”
“Told you!”
“Should we go help him…?” I asked unsure. Rachel hesitated for a moment. Then she seemed to make up her mind.
“What can it hurt?”
“My virgin eyes.” I muttered.
“Oh ha ha.” We ran out the door not even bothering to put on the shoes we’d left in the front entryway.
“Hey!” Rachel yelled. The man turned. I saw then that he was not a man, but a boy. He was about my age, maybe a year older and I would have said that he was very attractive…if he had not been standing totally naked in front of me. Not totally prepared for that yet you know?
“Yes?” He said calmly.
“Um…” Rachel seemed taken aback by his easy demeanor. “Oh my gosh I feel so blonde for saying this but…you do know you’re completely naked right?” The boy looked confused.
“Naked?”
“Yeah, not wearing any clothes.” She gestured to her own jeans and even moved her shirt to show him. “You know these things?”
“No. I do not. Could you help me acquire some? I do not have any of these clothes that you speak of.”
Rachel and I exchanged a loaded glance both of us clearly wondering if we’d caught an escapee from the insane asylum. But really what choice did we have? We couldn’t let him wander the streets naked, he’d get arrested eventually. He seemed rather nice despite being a little off.
“Sure.” I said. “My house is right over here. We’ll get you some clothes.”
…………………………………………………….
In all honesty when he was fully clothed? The guy was cute. He was still something about him that was kind of off though, but I couldn’t quite put my finger on it. He was sitting at the kitchen table now and staring around the room with wide curious eyes.
“So what’s your name?” The boy’s eyes flicked to Rachel’s face, clearly deciding how to answer. But why did he have to think about it? It was a simple question right?
“N-…Nathan.”
“And your last name?” Rachel pressed. The boy’s eyes flicked around the room again, stressed this time. But why? It was just his last name!
“Smith. He finally said.
“Well this is my friend Melissa Chapman.” Rachel gestured to me.
“And I am Rachel-” Her phone rang then. She looked at the number for a moment and then her expression was serious.
“I’ve got to take this. Do you mind?” I shook my head. A few moments later Rachel stuck her head around the corner.
“Hey I gotta go. Sorry to leave you all alone with cookie duty.”
“It’s okay. See you!”
“See you!” There was a faint thud as the door closed behind her. I turned my back on the boy, trusting that he wasn’t about to pull some freaky moves on me now that Rachel was gone. I started rolling the dough into balls and placing them on the trays. When one tray was completely full I slid into the oven and set a timer.
“What is that? What were you doing?” The boy asked, his voice close behind me. When I turned to face him he was peering curiously at the stove, and fiddling with the knobs on the dishwasher.
“Hey don’t touch that!” The boy looked abashed.
“I am sorry. Did I do something to offend you? I am unfamiliar with your culture…”
“My culture? Are you a foreign exchange student or something?” That would certainly explain a lot, but what culture had people strutting around the streets in their birthday suits?
“Yes…” He said hesitantly, as though unsure of the word.
“Oh. Okay. Well I’ll just ask my dad. He’ll probably know you. He’s the Vice principal of the school here. I mean if you just transferred-”
“No!” There was something familiar about the abrupt command but I couldn’t quite remember where I’d heard it before.
“What?” The boy placed his hands on my shoulders and looked me in the eyes. His eyes were wide and earnest. I couldn’t doubt the sincerity of those eyes.
“Please don’t tell anyone of our encounter. It would make things…difficult for me.” His dark eyes were pleading now. Gosh why was he doing this to me?! It was so unfair!
“Are you in some kind of trouble?” After a few moments I managed to force a coherent thought into words. He paused, thinking.
“Yes…but not the kind that would put you at any risk. Well…at no more risk than you already are.” I wanted to ask him what he meant by that but just then the doorknob began to turn. My parents were home. It occurred to me then how close my face was to this stranger’s. But before I could do anything about it…my father walked in.
