Annie Morphs: An Animorphs fanfiction *unfinished* Chapter 22 is up - 1/23

I know, it was so fun to write. XD And the part about the toast.

Oh, yeah. Sorry, typo. I fixed it.

Thanks.

Whoa... this chapter is like nine pages long. The rest are like one page each. XD I'm loving OmmWriter.

I might not have gotten all the italics into there, BTW. I did it kinda fast.

Chapter 19
Marco raised his hand. "I have a question," he said. "Where do we get the explosives?"
"I've got an idea," Cassie said slowly. "It's really dangerous, but..."
"Oh no," Marco said. "Oh no. Please tell me we're not going to morph and set off the machine."
She shrugged. "I think it's our only option."
Jake frowned. "Can we take the risk? What if we get hit? Or caught in the explosion?"
"Maybe... maybe two of us should get out first," I said slowly. "Just in case the others don't get out of this alive. At least someone will survive to keep fighting the Yeerks."
Jake nodded. "Right. Ax and Cassie."
<I cannot run from battle, my Prince.>
"Ax, you know the most about the Yeerks and technology. If we don't survive, you're the one who needs to keep fighting."
"Jake..." Cassie began, then trailed off. He took her hand and I switched my gaze over their shoulders.
"You're the best morpher," he said. "And you're the only one who knows where the morphing cube is." Then he leaned over and whispered a few words into her ear. She nodded, looking like she was about to cry.
"Come on, Ax," she said, beginning to walk slowly towards the elevator. Ax reluctantly trotted after her.
Jake waited until the elevator doors had slid shut behind them, then turned to the rest of us. "Bird of prey morphs," he said. "Now."
"But what if it goes off when we're in mid morph?" Marco asked.
"That's a risk we'll have to take," Jake said grimly. "We'll have to do it as fast as we possibly can. Tobias, can you keep it busy by morphing a little and then demorphing again?"
<Can do.> He took flight and went across the room to land on the floor in the corner. The rest of us spread out, putting approximately equal distances between us.
"Ready?" Jake called.
I nodded, Marco shrugged, Tobias replied, <Yeah,> and Rachel said, "Let's get on with this already!"
"Okay. One. Two. Three. Go!"
I began morphing, picturing my white-tailed kite. A feather pattern spread across my skin and then lifted into feathers. My nose and mouth melted together and then hardened into a beak. My ears sucked back into my skull and my arms changed into wings. My toes lengthened and changed into talons. The machine's gun barrel swung towards me, then away towards Tobias, then back to me, then at Marco, then Jake.
Now I was a five-foot kite. I shrank until I had cut my height in half. I spread my wings and took flight, joining an osprey, a peregrine falcon, and a bald eagle in the air. Tobias was still on the ground, doing the beginnings of random morphs and then quickly going back to full hawk as the machine swung towards him. We flew around above, distracting the gun from each other.
<Ready?> Jake asked. <Everyone to that side of the room.> We gathered, our sharp bird of prey eyes watching the sphere of energy gather and grow in the gun barrel. We were able to see when it was beginning to launch.
<Move!> Jake yelled. We scattered just as the sphere fired.
I crash-landed on the hard floor. Most of my tail feathers had been burnt off and my legs were useless. I demorphed as quickly as I could; as soon as my human nose emerged I could smell the acrid scent of burning feathers that hung on the air.
"Not enough," Jake said breathlessly as he staggered to his feet and looked at the crater in the roof. "We'll have to do it again."
"Great," Marco muttered.
We had to do it several more times before we even made a sizable dent in the extremely thick stone ceiling.
"One more should do it," Jake said wearily after we'd demorphed yet again.
I pushed a few strands of hair out of my face and prepared to morph. I shut my eyes and let the now-familiar changes begin.
The moment my wings grew from my arms I took flight, joining the others in the air.
We clustered together in front of the crater the weapon had already made, waiting for it to gather enough energy to fire again.
We dove out of the way just in time. The sphere slammed into the ceiling with bone-shattering force. A crack appeared. The ground began shaking. I slammed into it.
The crack was spreading now. A rumbling noise was coming from all around me.
<Everybody out!> Jake hollered. <Now! Through the ceiling!>
Four birds of prey streaked towards the now smoking hole. I remained where I was, too dazed to even think about moving.
<Annie, get up here!> Marco yelled.
<Can't,> I said dizzily. I wasn't sure how much of the shaking was real and how much was just me.
<Demorph and remorph, then!>
<Not enough time,> Tobias said. <It's going to collapse in just a few seconds. Rachel, don't!>
<Incoming!> Rachel yelled giddily. A brown and white blur dove down towards me. I felt long, sharp talons sink into my flesh but I was too far gone to care.
<Get back up here, right now,> Jake said coldly. <We don't need to lose both of you.>
<She's too heavy,> Rachel admitted. <I can't lift her.>
<Crap,> Marco said. <Here we go.> A few seconds later I felt his talons join Rachel's.
<Incoming,> Tobias said, dropping down to help as well. Jake came down too, I think, but there wasn't any room for him and he quickly flew back up to the hole in the ceiling.
Just as the others managed to lift my limp, broken body through the crater, the ceiling shuddered one final time and caved in. Literally tons of stone fell, right on top of the machine. The crushed former weapon gave one last flicker of electricity and then went dead.
I was dropped onto a hard surface.
<Well, bet they felt that one up in the city,> Marco said, landing beside me. <You might wanna demorph.>
<Yeah, I thought of that,> I said grumpily, already starting to grow. <I'm not totally incompetent.>
<Glad to hear it.>
"Gee, thanks," I tried to say through half-formed lips as my ability to thought-speak disappeared with the feathers. It came out like, "Gblie, tblangs." I tried again as what used to be a beak softened into a mouth. "Gee, thanks," I repeated, sounding decently coherent this time.
"No problem."
I rolled my eyes and then took in our surroundings as Tobias finished his remorph back into hawk. We were in a largish, mostly empty room, furnished only by a few boxes scattered here and there. A large portion of the floor had fallen away, not to mention most of the wall that had separated it from another empty room, which was in the same situation.
"What about the Chee?" I asked. "We have to get him out."
"Right," Jake said. "Let's find Cassie and Ax first. Tobias, Hork-Bajir. Everyone just try to blend in. Let's see if we can find our way back to the main Yeerk pool."
"I never thought I would hear those words out of your mouth," Marco said, shaking his head.
"Me neither," Jake agreed. "Let's go." He looked around. "Er... where's the door?"
"Good question," Marco said.
"It must have been where the hole is," I said.
"I could make a new door," Rachel volunteered, her skin already beginning to gray and her nose gradually elongating.
"No," Jake said instantly. "We are not trying to draw attention to ourselves. No elephants."
"Aw," she said, looking disappointed as she reversed the morph.
<We can walk along the edges,> Tobias suggested, already halfway through the change from hawk to Hork-Bajir.
Marco eyed the narrow ledge suspiciously. "Maybe you're not scared of heights, bird boy, but I really do not want to walk on that. Period."
"We could fly," I suggested.
<Oh, just as I finish morphing,> Tobias said. <Thanks.>
"Hork-Bajir are arboreal, right?" I asked. "You should be pretty good at going on that."
"Harbor-what?" Marco asked.
"Arboreal," I repeated. "It means they live in trees."
"Couldn't you just say, 'They live in trees'?"
"Hey, don't knock the vocabulary."
"Yes, ma'am." He turned to Jake. "Bird morphs?"
"Why don't I ever get that kind of respect?" Jake complained, lightly punching Marco's arm. "And yes, that seems like our best option."
<Or bats,> Tobias said.
"Right. We don't know how dark it might get. Okay. We'll split; get the best of each. Rachel and Annie, birds of prey. Tobias, stay Hork-Bajir. Marco, you and I are bats."
"We're going batty!" Marco commented brightly, watching with interest as his arms spread out into membrane-thin wings. I laughed and started my change as well.
When we were all morphed, we flew across the massive hole in the floor, through multiple empty rooms that all looked basically identical to the others with most of the floor fallen away. Tobias walked along the narrow ledges that still remained on the edge. Finally, we reached a room that still had most of its flooring intact. We landed and demorphed, then Jake tried the door.
"Locked."
"I can fix that," Rachel volunteered.
"No elephant, Rachel. Tobias?"
Tobias, still in Hork-Bajir morph, stepped forward and inserted his wrist blade into the crack between the door and its frame. He sliced downward, cutting right through the lock, then pushed open the door. We followed him through. We emerged into the main room of the Yeerk pool.
Nobody seemed to notice us. Marco closed the door softly behind us and then we melted into the crowd, trying to look like we were supposed to be there and staying relatively close together as we looked for Cassie and Ax.
After about fifteen minutes, Jake caught my eye and motioned towards the door with the tiniest motion of his fingers. I nodded minutely and trailed after him, keeping some distance between us so it didn't look like I was actually following. I could see Marco already on the stairs and Tobias vanishing into the shadows in a corner, presumably to demorph and then remorph into something less conspicuous. Rachel noticed us and followed me, careful to keep as much distance between me and her as I'd made sure to keep between me and Jake.
I went up the stairs and pushed open the door, emerging in an empty dressing room. Must have been the one at The Gap in the mall. I slipped out of the dressing room and met Marco and Jake just outside the store. A few moments later Rachel joined us, then Tobias, in his human morph.
"They must be waiting for us up here," Jake said, his voice low.
Or they've been captured, I thought pessimistically, but I didn't say it out loud.
I suddenly noticed that we were attracting a lot of stares in our skintight morphing outfits. "We have got to learn how to morph some normal clothes," I heard Marco mutter.
"Look, there they are," Rachel said, pointing towards the food court. I followed her gaze to see Cassie and Ax at the food court, both also in Spandex. Cassie was busy trying to wrestle the wax paper from a cinnamon bun's wrapper from Ax's hands, as he was attempting to eat it.
"Ax, that - is not - food!" She finally managed to yank it away from him just as she spotted us. "Oh, hey guys. Judging by the earthquake earlier, I'm assuming you did it."
"Yep," I said, sitting down across from her. Marco sat down in the remaining chair and the rest of them stood around the table. I lowered my voice. "We didn't get the Chee, though."
"We don't know where he is," Cassie said, equally quiet. "How can we rescue him?"
"We didn't know where the weapon was either," Rachel pointed out. "That didn't stop us."
"Fair point."
"I think it is safe to assume that the captured Chee is also inside the Yeerk pool," Ax said. "Ool."
"That's great," Marco said. "We go in, we leave, and then we have to go right back."
"Hey guys," someone said, walking up behind me. I twisted around to see Erek pull up a chair from a nearby table and sit on it. "Hang on." A second later we were encased in a translucent bubble of sorts. The babble of voices that surrounded us was reduced to a dull murmur. Erek was back in his normal form: a humanoid, dog-like robot thing. "Talk all you like. My hologram is showing everyone around that we're just talking about the basketball game last night."
"Do you know where the captured Chee is?" Jake asked.
Erek shook his head. "Not a clue. Sorry. The Yeerks are keeping it top secret."
"Smart," Marco commented. "But it doesn't help us. Now what?"
Jake opened his mouth to say something, but Erek held up a metal hand. "Wait. I'm getting something over Chee-net." He was silent for a minute or two, like he was spaced out. Then he snapped back into focus. "Don't worry about it," he said grimly.
"Why?" I asked. "What happened?"
"The Yeerks assumed that they had everything they needed from him. They don't know about his anti-violence programming. They think he's dangerous. They destroyed him. It was just announced to everyone at the Yeerk pool. By Visser Three. Get out, now. Hurry."
He reduced his hologram to envelop only him again.
"Bye Erek," Jake said, pretending to be casual, although underneath the façade in his voice was a tenseness that clearly spoke danger. The disguised android waved and left.
"I thought you were at Max's game!"
I turned around to see Lily scowling at me.
"Oh! I, um... the game finished early and Marco invited me to hang out," I lied quickly.
"So you're Marco," she said, eyeing him closely as she sat down in Erek's chair.
He winked. "Yep, that's me."
"Lily, this is Jake, Cassie, Rachel, Tobias, and... um, Phillip." I pointed at each of them in turn as I said their names. "Guys, this is my friend Lily."
"We were just about to leave, actually," Jake said, standing up. "Nice to meet you, Lily. See you, Annie." He and the others left.
"You want to go back to my house?" I offered, looking for an excuse to leave the mall before the Visser discovered that his machine had been destroyed.
"Nah, I've got homework. I've still gotta do that book report."
"Have you read the book yet?"
She grinned and ignored my question. "See ya." She left as well. I got up and walked outside, then around to the back of the mall. There was another door on that side and it was just as busy. I sighed and reluctantly headed for the abandoned construction site. I didn't want to go there, but it was too far to walk home, I didn't have any money for the bus, and there was no other place to morph.
I shivered as I walked between the half-completed buildings. I'd never been in this far before, but I knew that this was where the others had received their morphing powers. This was where they had learned about the Yeerk threat, and this was where Prince Elfangor-Sirinial-Shamtul had been murdered by the Abomination, Visser Three. As soon as I was out of sight of anyone at the mall, I began to morph to kite as quickly as I could, closing my eyes as the feather pattern drew itself onto my skin. The moment the finishing touches were completed I took off. I had to flap hard to get any altitude, but once I was above the buildings I caught a nice thermal and was able to soar, over the city and towards my house. I glided through the open window of my bedroom and was able to hear someone knocking on the closed door.
"Hey Squirt, Mom says to come down for dinner!" Max yelled through the wood.
I landed on the rough carpet and began to demorph as quickly as possible. As soon as a human mouth emerged from my beak I yelled back at Max, who was still pounding on the door. "Just a sec!"
He stopped and I could hear his footsteps retreating down the hall. The moment the feathers faded into my pale skin I was hit by a wave of exhaustion. Quick morphing is incredibly tiring and I didn't even want to think about how many times I'd had to do it in the last hour or so. I staggered for a moment before regaining my balance. Stifling a yawn, I quickly yanked on a t-shirt and jeans, shut off my iPod, and unlocked the door. I stepped through and headed down the stairs.
Mom and Dad were way too chatty at dinner. Max had essentially won the game for his team yet again and they were pretending that it was a big deal.
I pretty much just sat there and ate in silence, doing my best to tune out the chatter. I must have done a good job, because I didn't even notice it when Dad started talking to me.
"Annie," he repeated, raising his voice.
My head snapped up. "Huh?"
"I asked you what you did today."
"Oh, sorry. I, um, hung out with Lily for a while, then went to the mall."
"By yourself?" Mom asked, frowning in disapproval. She didn't think that I should go anywhere alone for some reason. Maybe she was afraid I'd get raped or something.
"No, I, um, met some friends there."
"Which friends? From school?"
"No, they go to the public school. I met them a couple days ago."
"Names?"
I rolled my eyes. "Marco, Jake, Cassie, Rachel, Tobias and Phillip."
"Marco?" she repeated, her frown deepening. "Jake? Boys?"
I sighed in exasperation. "Yes, boys. Don't worry, Mom, they're really nice. May I be excused?"
She eyed my plate carefully. She was a strict believer in the Clean Plate Club. "Fine," she relented after a moment, evidently deciding that I'd eaten enough.
"Thank you." I stood up and took my dishes to the sink, dropping them carefully into the warm, soapy water. Thank God it was Max's turn to wash everyone's dishes tonight. I was way too tired. I went up the stairs, shut the door, and, not even bothering to change out of my pajamas, fell into bed and slipped quickly into sleep.

I gotta read this tomorrow. xD But I shall!

Kk.

"Why don't I ever get that kind of respect?" Jake complained, lightly punching Marco's arm. "And yes, that seems like our best option."

I’m sorry, Jake, you just can’t deny it. Marco likes Annie way more than you.

Maybe she was afraid I'd get raped or something.

xD OMG. I thought I had that word censored, though? Lol, ah well . . . I’ll check that later.

Anywho, that chapter was epic!! The action was awesome.

Haha. XD

Oops... sorry. XD

Thankee.

Chapter 20
"Hey, girl."
I slammed my locker shut, not even sparing a glance for the boy who leaned against the one next to it.
"Go away, Cooper," I said coldly, slinging my bag over my shoulder.
"Oh, not very friendly. But you know, I don't mind a little attitude. How about a movie Friday night? Just the two of us, together in a dark room. Who knows what could happen?"
I cut him off before he could paint a clearer picture in my head. "I told you last week, Cooper, and the week before, and the week before that. I am not going to go out with you." I started off at a brisk walk down the hallway towards my next class.
"But why not?" he asked, hurrying after me. "You and me, we'd be perfect together."
I sped up. "In your dreams, dude."
He dropped back and left, presumedly to harass another girl. Still scowling, I pushed open the door to the English room and took my seat an instant before the bell rang, signifying the start of class. Mrs. O'Neil whisked inside and instantly launched into a lecture on proper sentence structure. I pulled out my binder and began dutifully taking notes, or at least that's what I started out doing. Pretty soon I snapped back to reality and realized the margins of my paper were covered in doodles of hawks and cheetahs and spheres of energy and the faces of the other Animorphs. I quickly scrubbed them out with my dwindling eraser and tried to pay more attention to the lesson. But I already knew most of the things Mrs. O'Neil was telling us and my mind began to wander again.
I thought back on the dream I'd had the night before. I couldn't remember much, only fragments, but it had been filled with flashing teeth and bloody claws. I couldn’t stop thinking about my first battle. It was inevitable; there was no way I’d stay an Animorph and never fight. I shivered slightly and pulled my attention back to Mrs. O'Neil. Just in time, too.
"Can anybody tell me the last thing I said?" she asked. "Annie, how about you?"
"A sentence must always include a subject," I recited dully.
"Good," she said, looking slightly disappointed, then went straight back to her lecture.
The next ten minutes dragged by. The second hand on the clock seemed to be going slower and slower with every tick. I stifled a yawn and happened to glance at the window just in time to see a red-tailed hawk land on a branch outside.
<Annie, we've got a situation.>
I stiffened. I quickly pulled out a fresh piece of paper and scribbled on it, I can't skip school. He'd see.
<You don't have a choice. We have a huge problem.>
No, seriously, I can't. Security here is much tighter than in the public schools. You can't leave the premises during school hours without express permission from a parent or guardian.
<Nicely worded, but I don't think that's much of a problem for the Ellimist.>
My writing hand froze. The Ellimist? I scrawled out finally.
<That's what I said.>
Well, can he, like... wait or something?
<I don't know.>
Well ask him. There's no way I'm getting out of here.
<Fine.> He spread his wings and flew away. I crumpled up the paper and stuffed it into the bottom of my bag. I looked up at the front of the room, where Mrs. O'Neil was drawing a complicated diagram on the whiteboard. The rest of the class was spent trying to pay attention and mostly failing.
Finally, the bell rang, and the entire class stampeded out. I trailed after them, zipping up my bag as I went. Remembering I had taken my Algebra stuff as well, I headed straight for the Math room, wanting to avoid Cooper at my locker. I took my seat and waited for class to begin.

Later that afternoon, as soon as school let out, I unchained my bike from the rack and tucked the lock into the front pocket of my backpack. I got on and began pedaling. When I reached the corner that would take me to my house, I stopped, hesitating. I made a quick decision and pulled out my cell phone, holding down the "2" button. The little screen flashed green and the words "Calling Mom" scrolled across it. I held it up to my ear and listened to the generic rings. After three or four, someone picked up.
"Hello?"
"Hey Mom," I said, rolling the bike back and forth under my hands. "I'm going to hang out with some friends, okay? I'll be home for dinner."
"Which friends? Lily?"
"No, the ones I told you about yesterday."
She didn't sound happy. "The boys?"
I rolled my eyes, glad she couldn't see. "Yes, the boys. See you at six." I hit the red button, ending the call, and put the phone away. I turned the bike around and got on again, going in the opposite direction from home.
I pedaled fast, wanting to get there as soon as possible. I hoped I was right about when the public school got out. I pushed back on the brakes, slowing the bike down as I approached the dull brown building. Just moments later, the bell rang inside and kids began pouring out of the doors. Glad that we got out earlier, I scanned the crowd for any of the Animorphs.
Marco split away from the mass of excited kids and approached me, wheeling his own bike beside him. "Hey," he greeted me. "Tobias told me you couldn't get out, so I had to stay to meet you." He made a face of mock horror. "The others went to Jake's house. His folks are out and Tom's going straight to the Sharing after school."
"What's going on, though? Tobias said something about the Ellimist."
He shrugged. "No idea. That's all I got out of him too."
"Let's go find out," I said, getting onto my bike. I was about to start pedaling when I realized something. "Which way?"
He grinned and started off down the block. "This way. Race you."
"Oh, you're on." I began pedaling, zipping past him before he could get up to speed.
We alternated. Sometimes I was in the lead, sometimes he was. After a few blocks, I wasn't really paying attention to that anymore. Laughing, I squinted my eyes against the wind as we sped down a hill, using gravity to get up to maximum speed. By the time we reached Jake's house we were both red-faced, panting, and cracking up.
"I win!" Marco announced, trying to laugh and catch his breath at the same time as he got off his bike.
"Tie," I protested, giggling as I propped mine up against the side of the house. He leaned his against mine and led the way up to the front door, still laughing. He tried the doorknob; it was unlocked. He opened it and stepped through. I followed, shutting it behind me.
"Hey Jake!" he yelled, his voice echoing through the quiet house. "Next time you're staying in school and I get to ditch!"
"Not likely," I heard Jake call back. "Get up here!"
We followed his instructions. I followed Marco up the stairs and into Jake's room, where the others, including Ax in human form and Tobias on the windowsill, were waiting.
"So what's going on?" Marco asked, plopping himself down on the vacant beanbag chair in the corner. I sat down on the edge of it and waited for the reply.
<Ax and I were at his scoop when the Ellimist showed,> Tobias began. <He said the Yeerks had begun invading another planet. He-> The thought-speak cut off as another figure materialized in the middle of the room.
Crayak agreed that I would be allowed to choose a small group of champions to fight for the planet.
I winced as the huge voice echoed through my head. Marco looked angry.
"This is going to be the Iskoort all over again, isn't it?"
No. The Howlers are destroyed. The Ellimist, in the guise of a little old man, inclined his head slightly in Jake's direction, then continued. This will be different. The Lyqxa are a peaceful race. They have no concept of war, hatred, greed, or betrayal. The very idea of murder alone could kill one of the meeker ones. The Yeerks have begun searching out the strongest and planting seeds of hatred inside them. Soon the darkness will spread and their world will be plunged into chaos.
"So what do you want us to do?" Rachel asked.
Find the infection. Cleanse the wound. It will heal.
"You want us to kill them?" Cassie demanded.
The Ellimist looked old and weary, even more so than he had before, as if all his unimaginable years were suddenly weighing him down. Sometimes that is all we can do, he said sadly, then vanished.

Aww. xD Poor Ellimist. He got old.

I'm sorry, lol. xDD That was a great chapter!!

He already was old. XD

Thanks.

Yeah, but still . . . *sad sigh* xD

I made one small change in this paragraph.

No. The Howlers are destroyed. The Ellimist, in the guise of a little old man, inclined his head slightly in Jake's direction, then continued. This will be different. The Lyqxa are a peaceful race. They have no concept of war, hatred, greed, or betrayal. The very idea of murder alone could kill one of the meeker ones. The Yeerks have begun searching out the strongest and planting seeds of hatred inside them. Soon the darkness will spread and their world will be plunged into chaos.

I bolded the change.

Chapter 21
We stared blankly at the now vacant space where the Ellimist had been.
<Um... now what?> Tobias wondered.
Jake shrugged, but as he did, his room began to melt away around us. I leapt to my feet as the beanbag below me vanished, sending Marco to the ground. He sat up and looked around in confusion.
<It must be the Ellimist,> Tobias said, taking flight as the windowsill he was perched on faded away. <He's taking us to wherever it is we're going.>
And then the room was gone. Just completely and totally absent. Instead, we were suspended in some kind of impossible space. I could see everything. I mean everything.
I could see inside and outside and everything in between. I could see Cassie's digestive system working, could see Tobias' tiny bird heart fluttering, could see my own eyes, if that was possible. Which it apparently was.
I could see time, I could see it twist and turn and tangle in impossible ways, and then go on to split and twine with other threads of life, threads that seemed so short, compared to the vast distance of time that stretched as far as I could see in every direction, which, as I could see everything, was far. I could even see the thoughts and decisions behind the twists and turns in the threads of life. It was overwhelming.
It lasted exactly a tenth of a second. Then it was gone. It appeared and disappeared with breathtaking speed.
I was on the ground, gasping. "What was that?"
"We're not exactly sure," Marco answered, rubbing his forehead as he got to his feet. “We think it’s the dimension the Ellimist lives in.”
"How does he stand it?" I muttered, getting to my feet as well, if rather unsteadily. I felt a little dizzy and very disoriented.
Jake was already looking around, taking in our surroundings. "Where are we?"
Above us, the sky was a pale lavender. The dirt under my sneakers was a deep scarlet; what seemed to be rocks were lime green. All around us were slow-moving creatures that looked a bit like giant blades of grass, swaying in the lightest breeze. They were about four feet tall and they were all different colors, some yellow, some red, some green, some white, and every once in a while a black or dark purple one would amble by.
"Not Earth," Marco guessed helpfully.
"Yes, thank you, Marco. I had no idea."
"Always here to help, Fearless Leader."
Jake rolled his eyes. “So what are we supposed to be doing here?”
“The Ellimist wants us to find out which... um... Lika... Linka... What was it?” I asked.
“I think it was Lyqxa,” Cassie put in.
“Yeah, those. He said to find out which Lyqxa have been talking to the Yeerks.”
“But how do we do that?” Rachel asked. “They could be any of them.”
“Wait,” Cassie said, looking at them carefully. “The Ellimist said the darkness would spread. Only a few of them are black. Look.”
She was right. Amid the masses of brightly colored Lyqxa were only a few dark strands.
“Ax, is that possible?” Jake asked.
<I have never heard of this species before,> Ax admitted, already back in his Andalite form, <so I do not know whether they can be identified this way. However, it seems a plausible idea to get us started.>
<But don’t they notice?> Tobias asked.
<Most likely,> Ax said. <I do not believe a whole sentient race could be so color blind they did not notice a change of this magnitude. However, they know no suspicion or betrayal. I am assuming they do not care. Perhaps they are merely curious, but feel no urgent need to investigate.>
“Try saying that five times fast,” Marco said brightly.
<But why would I want to say it five times?> Ax wondered. <Is once not enough?>
Marco shook his head in mock disappointment. “You have so much to learn about Earth, Ax-man.”
“Well we’re not on Earth now, so can we get on with this?” Rachel asked impatiently.
“She’s right,” Jake said. “Let’s try following one of the dark ones around until he leads us to the Yeerks.”
“Then what?” I asked.
“We’ll figure out a plan then. Let’s follow that one.” He pointed out a dark purple Lyqxa and we trailed behind it, crouching a little to hide amidst the crowd in case any Yeerks were watching.
Soon enough the infected Lyqxa parted from the mainstream and started off over the empty planes. We were about to start after it when Jake spoke up.
“We need better camouflage,” he said. “If we morph one of the good ones do you think it will darken? After all, we know about killing.”
“It might work,” I said with a shrug. “And who can it hurt? Let’s do it.”
“Hey!” Rachel protested. “That’s my line!”
I laughed. “Sorry.”
Jake reached out to touch a passing red Lyqxa. It stopped moving as he acquired its DNA. A few seconds after he withdrew his hand the thing moved on, rejoining the flow.
Jake closed his eyes and started to morph. First his arms and legs stiffened and then locked. Then they started melting, joining with his skin, which was slowly turning red. Soon enough he was a blade of red grass, four feet tall and swaying slightly. A moment after the morph was complete the color began darkening until it was deep purple, not as dark as some of the others, but darker than any of the normal Lyqxas nonetheless.
<It’s fine,> he said. <There are hardly any instincts. It doesn’t have eyes or ears, though, so don’t try to speak to me. Wait, hang on, there’s some sort of... echolocation, I guess, but different, since I don’t have ears. I can kind of see what’s going on, anyway. Go ahead and morph.>
One by one we each acquired a Lyqxa and morphed. My eyes were the first part of me to go, so I wasn’t able to see what color each of us turned.
<Everybody ready?> Jake said finally. <Let’s follow that Lyqxa.>

Those thingies are so weird, but so cool for some reason. xD Awesome job!

I originally made them lawn mower-like cuz that was the first thing I thought of and then I was like... Um, no. XD So now they're grass-like.

Tanku.

xD Lol, yeah, that is a better change.

Dang it... I got distracted by Nightmare and haven't written anything in a while. xP Sorry.

That's okay . . . you could always make up for it by writing a funny chapter or two right now! ^^

But I'm laaaaazy. xD And once I start another story it's always hard for me to go back to the old one. But I'll try to at least get started on another chapter tonight.

Chapter 22
We waddled around in circles for maybe ten minutes, trying to figure out how to walk and not run into each other. We didn’t do a very good job.
<I think we’ve all more or less got it,> Jake said finally. <Let’s get going before the Lyqxa is out of range.>
We all sent echolocation signals out in the direction we thought it had gone off in. Luckily it was still fairly close, but since we were confined to the same speeds there was no way we could catch up. So we settled for following it, spreading out so it didn’t really look like we were, just in case any Yeerks happened to be looking.
<I’m picking something up from up ahead,> Rachel called from my left. We all sent out echolocation, but I couldn’t “see” what she was talking about.
<I don’t see it,> I said.
<It’s far away, but it’s definitely there,> Rachel said.
<I think I see something,> Jake said. <It’s not very clear, though.>
<Same,> Marco agreed. Tobias and Ax could see a blurred vision too, and Cassie saw only a smudge on the horizon.
<What do you think it is?> I asked, wondering why I was the only one who didn’t see anything.
<I think...> Cassie began, then stopped. <No, never mind.>
<What is it?> Jake asked.
<Well...> She hesitated awkwardly. <I was thinking... Annie’s the only one who can’t see it. And... she’s the only one of us who hasn’t killed, at least not directly.”
There was a moment of silence as the theory sunk in. <Are you saying I’m a murderer?> Rachel demanded finally.
<No,> Cassie replied hastily. <Well... I mean, we all are, kind of. Except Annie.>
The silence suddenly turned very awkward. I felt embarrassed, like I was suddenly better than them, even though I knew they were the only things standing between the Yeerks and the annihilation of the human race and I was nothing, absolutely nothing, compared to that, even though I was now a part of it. I wondered what was going on in the others’ heads, whether they resented me, or were thinking about their level of morality or whatever you’d like to call it. The worst part was, it made sense. I hated to think it, but Rachel really was the most ruthless of all the Animorphs. Cassie was the one who held back, who thought about things like morals and consciences and ethics. And I was the newbie, the one who had never taken a life.
<We should keep moving,> Jake said finally. <Annie, just follow the rest of us.>
<Okay,> I said flatly. We lapsed back into silence as we moved slowly across the plain.
Finally Ax spoke up. <Prince Jake, it has been nearly two of your hours since we morphed.>
<For the last time, Ax, they’re not just our hours,> Marco said in exasperation. This simple line seemed to dissolve the unspoken tension in the air and I relaxed slightly.
<Tobias, you go first,> Jake instructed, his voice considerably brighter. <Keep an eye on the Lyqxa but stay low, just in case.>
<You got it.> A few minutes later he reported, <I’m up. Not many thermals here, though. Anyway, it’s still heading towards the... whatever it is. No one around, as far as I can see. All clear to demorph.>
<Thanks.>
We started to demorph. My legs were the last things to come in, so when I was completely human again I had to pick myself up off the ground. I wiped some of the dust away and turned to the others, who were just completing their changes as well. I turned automatically to the spot on the horizon where the others were seeing the object, but I still saw nothing but empty air.
“We should get going,” Jake said, his eyes darting towards the horizon as well.
“Do we have to go as Lyqxa?” I asked hesitantly. “It’s so slow, and there’s no one around. Wouldn’t it be easier to just go as humans for a while?”
“I suppose,” Jake replied slowly. “But we’ll have to morph again when we get closer.”
I nodded. “’Course.”
“Okay then,” he said. “Let’s go.”
We started off in the direction of the strange object, spreading out a bit automatically. I noticed Jake and Cassie walking side by side and smiled slightly. Even here, on an alien planet, they managed to look like a couple straight out of a romance movie. The classic “boy meets girl” plot line. With a twist, of course.
I felt a set of fingers twine through mine and turned my head in surprise. Marco smiled at the expression on my face. “What are you thinking about?”
“Jake and Cassie,” I replied, nodding my head towards them. “They’re perfect together, but they refuse to admit it.”
“I’ve been telling him that for a long time.”
“And did he listen?”
Marco grinned. “Nope.”
I laughed a little, tightening my hold on his hand. “Didn’t think so.”
He tucked a lock of hair behind my ear with his free hand. The places where his fingers had brushed my skin tingled as I met his warm gaze.
“Hey, you two!” Jake yelled. “Time to morph!”
My cheeks felt hot as I broke the connection by dropping my gaze. “Do you mind?” Marco complained, reluctantly relinquishing my hand. “We were having a moment.”
“Have your moment when we get home, Marco,” Rachel said. “We don’t want to see it.”
“What part of morph do you people not understand?” Jake said good-naturedly. “Let’s go, we’ve got a fight coming up.”
“Let’s do it,” Rachel agreed.
“No surprise there,” Marco muttered to me. I cracked a smile.
<Lyqxa or battle morphs?” Tobias wondered, fluttering down to land on the dusty ground.
“Lyqxa,” Jake decided. “At least until we’ve scoped the place out.”
<I could do that,> Tobias volunteered.
“Sorry, red-tailed hawks may be common back home but it would be a dead giveaway here. Let’s stick with the natives.”
We all began to morph as quickly as possible. This time my eyes were the last things to go, and since I was one of the slowest morphers, being new, I was able to see what colors each of us turned as we completed the morphs. Rachel was by far the darkest, not quite black but not far away. Jake, Marco, Ax, and Tobias were all deep purples, greens, and blues, not as dark as Rachel or the infected Lyqxa, but dark nonetheless. Cassie was medium brown, and I was a vivid red. I didn’t bother to mention this at all.

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Wow, Ax wasn't too vocal in this chapter, was he? xD I think he had one line.

Haha, Ax wasn't very vocal. xD You're right.

Anywho, that was awesome! ^^ I got a fuzzy. Marco's so cute. (Like, not, "OMG HE'S CUTE! " cute, but "aww!! ^^" cute. :3)

xD

Tanku. A fuzzy? xD

"I'm not sure what it is exactly," Shadow stated, beaming. "It's a hormone rush or warm fuzzy or racing heart or something. But I get this nice feeling in my chest when I see affection between people sometimes." She nodded matter-of-factly.

Ahh. I see.

Amazing story so far, Ratty. I'm loving your character development, and you seem to have pinned the writing style of general Animporphs terrifically. ^_^

I can't wait for more. *Huggles*

Aw, thanks, Selene.

Unfortunately, I have three other stories going, a ton of homework, and no idea what's going to happen next, so there probably won't be more for a while. xP