ROAR!
Around me a battle raged. Six Andalite bandits together fought: a bear, a wolf, a tiger, a hawk, a gorilla... and an aristh in his true Andalite form. Together they took down many of the Yeerks I have known all my life... and most of them... I hated.
It had started sincerely. I had noticed as a group of three teenage humans walking in. One was a boy who had tannish skin, brown hair, and dark brown eyes. He looked... odd, shall I saw. Not quite all male, he had sort of a feminine touch to him, also. Next to him stood a boy with dark brown eyes and light skin. His hair was a dirty blonde. He had a deep face with no emotion at all, it seemed. Next to him was a girl. She had light skin, blonde hair, and blue eyes. She was basically what humans would call ‘pretty’, though I never truly understood it myself. I recognized none of them except for that girl... could she possibly had been from my host’s school? I did not know for sure.
They had slipped into the shadows, which, to me, was suspicious. So I went over to investigate. I heard odd sounds, like a grinding sound as if it was wood against wood or metal against metal or... bone against bone.
I peered further and saw a flash of blue, then deep, glowering green eyes that glared straight at me...
“ANDALITE!” I had shouted, pointing at him.
<I will kill you for that Yeerk filfth!> the Andalite leapt out toward me. For some reason he had hesitated. I did not know why. But that hesitation saved my life. I was able to duck in time, dodging the strike of his tail. I spun around and pulled out my Dracon Beam only to find he was already surrounded by Hork-Bajir.
I began walking away. This was not my fight. I would surely be killed: all I had for a host was a human. I turned back, for I felt as if someone was staring at the back of my host’s head. There was. The Andalite aristh.
He narrowed his eyes at me, as if to say: <Next time, Yeerk, I won’t hesitate. And then where will you be? Dead.>
I stared icily back, unafraid, as if to say: “Next time, Andalite, neither will I to shoot you. And then where will YOU be?”
We both knew what each other was saying without really saying anything to each other.
So there I stood, with a fight among me. Visser 3 would soon be contacted and coming. I wasn’t glad. That irritable fool was...
Let me back up and explain.
Most Andalites think all Yeerks are the same: they don’t care about controlling a host against their will. But there are some of us, more than a hundred, that are forming an alliegance, a sort of movement, against doing that.
My host, Ana, already knows. She is, shall I say, a very good friend to me. We have had many disputes, but none where it got out of control and the deal was off. What was the deal? That I would be able to stay in her, under a few conditions: 1: let her have some freedom. She wanted to be able to hug her parents at night. She wanted to be able to speak to her friends. And she couldn’t do that while I controlled her. I understood that. She should be lucky.
Yeerks don’t have parents. And they don’t show affection through physical touch.
2: If things got worse, if hope began failing, if her/my life became in danger because Visser 3 suspected we were part of that movement, I agreed to leave her, and only enter another host under the same conditions.
3: Search her mind as little as possible. She was entitled to her own privacy. She was entitled to her own thoughts.
I told her I’d abide by those conditions, but we never really found the need to test them in any way. We have agreed with many things, and unexpectedly have become friends. So we combined our names. A thing between us. Using Aur, from mine, and Ana, from hers, we have become ‘Aurana’. The oddest things come to the oddest species...
But there was one thing I could not abide by. That was to agree to get along with the Andalites. I hated them. With every appearance they angered me. They did not care whether it was one Yeerk or another, just as long as they inflicted pain. Yes, they have done some good things. They saved Aftran. I was there to see it. They have balanced Visser 3’s position: The council of thirteen was just about fed up with him. They have foiled his plans many times, but not once have I seen them try and make peace. Make agreement. Just fight and kill, not for the sake of humans, but for the sake of themselves and their foolish pride.
THWUMP!
Next to me a Hork-Bajir had fallen, which shook me out of the dream. I saw a wolf coming straight for me. I turned and cowardly ran. I felt like a fool. Until I realized fools didn’t come up with ingenious plans. And I had one. A trick, sort of. I grinned to myself, thinking, “Let’s just hope they do what they usually do and retreat.”
See, I’ve always wondered what happened after all of the battles. Where did they go? What did they do?
I was soon about to find out.
I exited the Yeerk pool out into the Gap, a section in the human’s mall. I exited the Gap and sat down on a table sitting right outside of it. Then I thought better of it: The Andalite aristh had gotten a pretty good look at me, and he might recognize me. So I stood up and walked over to a little creavace on the side, sort of in between the Gap and another store. I stood there, waiting for the Andalite bandits to come.
Just when I was beginning to become bored, I saw them. There were more than I had first spotted. I had first seen three humans. Now there were six. Six Andalite bandits, all in human morph, and vulnerable beyond imaginable.
There stood the odd human male. The one that was male, but had a feminine touch to him. Then was a dark skinned girl. She looked... upset sort of. Sad. I wondered if maybe they had lost the battle, but that seemed not to be it. Then came the familiar blonde female, looking somewhat exhilirated. I also recognized a boy standing right next to her; he had orignally been the ones I had seen entering the Yeerk pool. He had dirty blonde hair and the same, unemotional face. Then there was another dark-haired boy, with light skin and brown eyes. He stood next to the dark skinned female. Lastly came a boy, one humans call a ‘Mexican’. He had black hair and brown eyes, but a sort of dark tannish skin.
I only caught glimpses of their conversation.
“... meet back at the... th... d..y ..fter tommorrow... alr...?” the dark brown haired boy standing by the dark skinned female was saying.
“Ri... Jake,” the dark-skinned female said. “I’ve... get home... do ...work... cant’ believe my... tea... They ex... me to do all o... ...is home...”
“Ah... ...at... ...tive work yo... chers... ...ive you-ou-ooh. Give. Live. Div. Vvvvv,” the boy that had sort of a feminine touch to him said. He was... well... odd. I kept my eye on him.
“I’ve got to... my little...ters... ...-sit,” the blonde female said.
“Ye... have to... father... not feeling... ...ll,” the boy with the dark tannish skin said.
“See... then... bye.”
They all parted. I decided to follow the boy that had spoken wierdly. Slipping out of the shadows, I followed him out of the mall. Trying not to look conspicuos, I sat on a bench as he went down the street and into the woods. I stood up and followed him.
Once inside to woods, I at first saw nothing. Then I heard a screech and looked up to see a bird, soaring above. I walked over to a tree and climbed up it to see the bird fly over, off into the distance. I smiled as I saw it dive down, reaching it’s final destination.
“Tommorrow, Andalite, tommorrow.”
**************************
The next day I spent waiting and worrying. I decided to strike in the evening, that way if I was to get into trouble, at least my host’s parents would begin to worry when I did not return home during dinner.
I wasn’t sure if I’d make it. The Andalite was swift, and cunning. But also a fool. It shouldn’t be too hard. At least that’s what I was trying to tell myself all day.
Once I saw the sun reaching a point where the sky was still blue, but further on it was beginning to turn a navy blue, I walked into the woods. Occasionally I climbed trees so that I could find the point I was looking towards, but I finally reached it.
Softly I crept closer to the meadow, until suddenly the woods ends, and there accross lay a field of grass and flowers and... an Andalite.
He seemed to be deep in thought, which was good for me because I actually hadn’t expected coming upon him at all.
“At least you know where he is,” I thought to myself. Smiling, I was about to turn and leave, when the Andalite felt my presence. First his stalk eyes slowly went up. They caught sight of me. My breathing stopped. So did my heartbeat.
“Oh, no,” I gasped.
The Andalite snapped his head up and a wave of anger washed over him.
I turned and ran.
I ran blindly into the woods. I foolishly paid no attention to my surroundings, and finally found out I had been running the wrong way. I heard the Andalite close behind. He would catch me. And kill me. There was no hope for me now.
Or maybe there was...
He was so close behind me he could have reached up and grabbed me. But he was running too fast. I dodged to the side unexpectedly and continued running. I did not stop, even though my sides ached and my lungs burned.
I finally came upon a gorge. I was trapped, practically. If I did not think up of something, I’d surely die. So I did. I had become skillful of climbing trees from doing it so many times. So I sped up the tree.
I sat myself down on a branch, a breathed heavily a couple times before I froze: I heard the Andalite coming.
I completely halted, and tried to slow my breathing down as I saw him enter. He looked around angrily. But never did he look up. My chest heaved, and slowly I let out one breath after another. One was too sharp... too clear. I stopped instantly. Had he heard?
<Yeerk filfth,> he muttered. <I suppose she took another turn. What am I standing around here for?>
Apparently not. I watched as he disappeared through the trees, and began to climb down, pleased with myself.
Then I saw a blur of blue.
I saw him coming. With hatred in his eyes. I froze in mid point, still at the upmost branches of the tree. I knew he couldn’t reach me, so I was about to relax.
When I noticed his tail was not aimed at trying to get me. It was at the tree.
FWAP!
I could barely think what was happening. All I knew was that he had cut down the tree. I looked down and saw I was not going to land on the ground.
I was to be thrown down the gorge.
I screamed the whole way.
I was going to die. There was nothing else to it. The Andalite won. For good... I closed my eyes, losing the faintest glimmer of hope. I really, really should have kept that hope...
I was grazing in the land by myself. I wanted to be alone.
I had so much to think about, it all collided in with my own thoughts until the only thing I could think about were the things I cared about most.
My nephew, Tobias. My older brother, Elfangor. My friends. My parents. My home world.
I was so deep in thought I did not hear or noticed the crunching of leaves. I’m not sure. Maybe I did, but just thought it to be an Earth animal.
But it was no Earth animal, as I had found out later.
The crunching of leaves came closer, but still I did not notice. I did not notice until I felt a presence there, looked up, and across the meadow, in the midst of trees, stood the human girl.
I jerked up, and anger washed over me. She was the same human girl I had seen at the Yeerk pool. The same one that had pointed at me and shouted ‘Andalite!’. The same human-Controller.
I began running toward her with agility and speed I had never had before. Anger does these things to you. Right now, I wanted to kill her. To rip her little body into shreds, to see her cry out as my tail struck through her.
It was sick, the thoughts I had. War changes people. And war had changed me. What I was planning to do was insane, as Marco would have said. But my thoughts bubbled up from my mind again.
What they did to Elfangor. How they had killed him.
How Elfangor’s death had change Tobias’ life. How, also, Tobias was trapped in that Yeerk pool, and then, trapped in the morph.
What they did to my friends.
What they did to me.
I was running full speed now, soaring over the grass. The girl turned and began running through the trees.
Zig-zagging, running full speed, she ran.
I would catch her in one of the human’s Earth minutes or so.
I now had come to the end of the meadow and had entered the trees. Ahead would be the mountain, and a gorge that I loved to stand at and watch the Earth’s burning sun set.
Through the trees I bounded, and if anything got in my way I cut it without hesitation. My hooves beat hard on the cold, dirt forest floor. The leaves of trees and bushes whipped at my face as I sped through them.
I could see the girl clearly, now. It would only be a matter of seconds.
Then- a trick!
Just as I was about to grab her arm, she swerved to the side and picked up speed again.
I was still running quickly, and so I had to stop before I ran into a tree, change direction, and build up my speed again.
By then I had lost sight of her through the depths of the trees.
But I still heard her. I still heard her feet beating on the ground, her hair swishing side to side, and her heavy breathing.
She was heading toward the gorge.
Which was lucky for me, for I knew a shortcut that I could take.
Perfect.
I slipped in through the familiar pathway through the trees that I had made from going this way many a time. I knew these parts of the woods. There was no way the human-Controller could get away.
I would find her.
And I would kill her.
I soared over the trees and rocks that normally would make anyone trip if they didn’t know or see where they were going, and stopped just as I came to the gorge.
I looked around. I could not see her.
Maybe she had not yet come. I hid amongst the trees and waited for her.
One Earth minute passed. Then another.
I heard the squawking of the birds, the buzzing of various Earth insects, and... the breathing of a human girl.
I tried not to make a motion that I had heard her, but I knew.
I heard her above me. Which meant she was in one of the trees. But which one?
She had obviously made it here before I did. I suspected she had heard me coming; I had been careless while I was gliding through the trees; panicked, and had to find a place to hide, quickly.
What could be better than hiding in a tree?
I got up and pretended to look angry at not finding her.
<Yeerk filfth,> I muttered to myself and those around me. I made sure the Yeerk had heard what I said. <I suppose she took another turn. What am I standing around here for?>
I dove in through the trees again, but this time, did not go far. I stayed behind some leaves and bushes, where I could see her, but she could not see me.
I hear her breathe a sigh of relief, and then begin to climb down the tree.
I did not think before I acted. For if I had, I would not have gotten myself into such a mess, as I would soon learn.
I felt the anger wash up over me again. I lept over the trees.
She saw me coming.
Too late!
I would never be able to reach her with my tail. So I used it to slice the tree down.
It would be so easy. It would come crashing to the ground instantly, for it was not a very strong tree. Then, with the human on the ground, I would be able to decide her fate.
And I would have killed her right then had I not realized that the tree was pretty tall.
And the gorge was right there.
And as the tree bended over, so did she.
I heard a cry for help. There she was, hanging for her life by a limb of the tree, high over the gorge.
The gorge was pretty deep, and also very steep. One side was completely vertical, which was the other side.
The side she was hanging over was diagonal, but anything that fell on it would most likely slide. Down, down, down, to the bottom of the gorge.
“Help me! Please,” she begged. “Oh, God, help me!”
I started to turn away. She would surely die. Not my problem. But then, hearing her pleas, I remembered Aftran.
I remember the first Yeerk that, out of all of us, Cassie gave compassion for.
The Yeerk Cassie had risked her own life for to make peace between each other.
She had realized that there was still a concious, human girl there that treasured life, and felt pity.
It was a bold thing to do. But she understood the ways of life.
And in the end, when Aftran had kept to her promise by staying in the Yeerk pool, been found out, and was about to be interrogated, Cassie risked her life alone to save her. And we all ended up trusting Aftran, and gave her the power to morph one single time, to be free from the Yeerk pool forever.
I could not just walk away. That would be savage and cruel. And I was not a savage and cruel Andalite.
I turned toward the tree. I had not cut it down completely, as I had expected, and it hung down from one thick root.
One snap and it would all be over.
One swish of a tail, and I would not have to worry about that Yeerk anymore.
She would be gone.
But so would the human.
I walked over to her, and held out both of my weak, Andalite arms.
<Grab on!> I yelled.
She stared at me with awe, suspicion, and fear. Who wouldn’t? “Why would you want to help me?”
I sighed. She was wasting time. <Don’t ask. Just reach for my hand before I change my mind.>
She reached forward, and just touched the tip of my hand. Not enough! Just not enough.
She drew back, tired, and hung helplessly down. Her shoulders were stiff from fatigue. “I can’t do it.”
<You must,> I said. I had no idea why I was doing this. It was stupid. It was foolish.
But my concious would bother me about it for the rest of my life if I did not do it.
She began to swing the branch. It cracked. She took one last swing toward me, just as the branch snapped.
She screamed. I reached forward and grabbed her hands.
But I made a mistake. I should have used my tail instead of my weak Andalite arms.
Her weight was too great for me, and I was definetly not ready for that snap. My legs lost their balance, and she pulled me along with her, down into the deep gorge.
We slid down the rocky side, the dirt rising around us, filling and choking our lugs.
A burning sensation came as my body rubbed roughly against the gorge, and I suspected I was bleeding uncontrollably.
My hooves scraped over the rocks, and began chipping.
The human-Controller was still holding on to my hand, but she began squeezing it tightly without knowing it out of fear.
I looked down, and all four of my eyes began to water from irritation of the rocks and dirt. I closed the eyes on my head, and raised my stalk eyes. Over the dirt cloud, I saw a ledge.
<Keep hold of my hand,> I told the Yeerk, which I really did not need to since she already was clenched on to my hand.
She nodded, and the ledge came up closer.
It was coming up... up...
Up!
I slanted my hooves and skidded on the ledge. More clouds rose up around us, but we were slowly coming to a stop.
Unfortunetly, the Yeerk had not seen in time, and was not expecting the ledge to be there.
With the unstable human legs, she tripped, stumbled, and fell.
Over! She was over the ledge!
She yanked down on my weak Andalite arms again. This time, I was ready.
I swung my tail over, right next to where she was.
<Grab on!> I yelled to her.
“It won’t work!” she yelled back.
<Why not?!> I demanded.
She pointed to something. “The ledge will break. It is already starting to crack under your weight!”
I was about to answer, when I heard a crumbling sound. I spun around and saw peices of rock breaking down.
<Wh-> I began, when the ledge just crumbled to bits and peices of rock.
That’s it. It just crumbled. Didn’t slide, didn’t just break off at one part, totally, completely, all-together crumbled.
<AUGH!> I yelled.
“AUGH!” the human-Controller agreed.
We descended down, tumbling and falling now instead of sliding in result of the uneven, rocky surface. One of my stalk eyes scraped against the rock, bruising it shut. My back right hoof bent back so far I heard a crack! and after the agonizing pain I felt I knew it was broken.
Tumbling and turning over rocks, I waited for the end to come, for the bottom to finally rush up at us and end our suffering.
Finally, the ground did come. In four seconds, about three more tumbles on the sharp, rocky surface, and we would be able to rest.
One! My hooves kicked out and scraped against the rocks.
Two! I completely twisted around and a sharp rock jabbed into my side.
Three! The end was near, and I saw a tunnel. Everything around me dimmed, and I saw nothing but blackness except for the light at the end of that tunnel.
I ran toward that tunnel over grass. Over fields I knew, but could not see for it was so dark I could not even see my hand in front of my face.
I was there! I was almost reached within that light, that tantalizing light I wanted so much!
Four! The light dimmed into nothingness, and for the first time I felt alone, for there was nothing but black darkness all around me.
I woke up, dazed and confused. Everything hurt, and I was stiff.
I sat up, dirty, my leg broken, bloody, and tired. Then I remembered. The fall. The sliding.
The Andalite.
I looked down and saw I was still holding the blue, seven fingered hand with my own. I quickly drew it back.
I turned completely around to see him there, one of his stalk eyes swollen, his leg twisted, and looking as if he was in as much pain as I.
Both of us met each other’s eyes, and scrambled backwards.
In a flash, my hand was on my Dracon Beam, and I pulled it out pointed toward him.
But he was definetly not stupid. In that same moment, his tail whipped up, not quite with as much speed as it would have been had it not been bruised and bloody, and was inches from my neck.
I stared at him with cold eyes, my arms forward, keeping my ground. We were both silent. But we understood each other perfectly.
We both knew out of hatred and anger we would kill each other once we had the chance. And we knew it would be pointless.
We needed to survive in this harsh, cruel alien land. With so many animals and complications, it would make things easier if it was just simpler.
But things weren’t simple.
And so in order to survive, we had to put aside our past differences, accept the way we were, and try our best to trust each other.
It was going to be a long night.
Slowly, I flipped the Dracon Beam back so it faced toward me, and shoved it into my pocket. At the same time, he drew back his tail.
<So... I believe you have some explaining to do,> the Andalite said.
“Ha!” I scoffed. “You also have some explaining.”
<What explaining? The meadow...> his voice trailed off. I grinned.
“So, that is your home. How quaint,” I smiled with triumph.
<I will destroy you before you even begin to tell any of your Yeerk scum friends!> the Andalite exploded. <Kill you!>
“What do you want from me, Andalite?” I sneered.
<I have a name, Yeerk,> he said with descreet, Andalite arrogance.
“So do I,” I said.
He fell silent, and I leaned against a rock. I looked up.
We were in deep. One side was completely vertical, and the other side, in which we had fallen, was slanted steep and smooth, except for the rocky bottom part which seemed to do the most damage to us. To our left was a wall, but to our right was pitch blackness. The gorge could go on for miles, or stop right there. I did not know, I could not see well enough.
I took in a deep breath and decided to take my chance. No matter what, I could not stay here with the Andalite.
I turned and stood up on my one good leg, but mistakenly I put down my other leg. I winced in pain, shot my leg up off the ground, and then toppled backwards.
In a flash the Andalite was there and caught me.
“Get your hands off me!” I yelled and I pushed him away.
<Considering I just saved you from banging your head on this rocky ground, you should be grateful.> the Andalite smiled with his eyes cockily.
“Thanks,” I muttered ungratefully. Now I knew I couldn’t stay there with... with him. I turned and tried climbing the rocks again.
<What are you doing?> he asked me.
“What does it look like I’m doing?” I growled. I stood up on one foot, and with the strong arms of the human girl, I pulled up.
Rock after rock, I climbed on, with one leg helping to support me and the other just hanging limply. I was only a little high, now. About what humans call one story high.
<You’re going to kill youself,> the Andalite said from below.
“Why would you care?” I asked.
<I don’t care about the Yeerk,> the Andalite kept a low, dangerous voice. <I do care about the human, though.>
I laughed. “You Andalites never care about humans. You never care about anything except for your arrogant selves. The only reason you are here is just so you could kill us. Then, you’ll leave these humans, feeling proud of yourself that you didn’t kill the Yeerks to save the human race, but because you killed us because you hate us. You don’t even know us!”
<I don’t have to know them to know they’re nothing but filfth.> the Andalite said. <And besides, you’re wrong. I do care about these humans.>
“Lies. All lies,” I muttered.
<They are not lies. You’re the one that doesn’t know the Andalites.>
I ignored him and continued climbing, but I was growing weaker, and tired. I made it to two stories when I reached up, grabbed a shaky rock, and lost my balance because it crumbled.
“Augh!” I screamed. I fell. I felt something leaving my pocket, but paid no attention to it. I closed my eyes, waiting for my fate. Waiting for my body to crash down on the hard ground below.
But instead, I fell on living flesh. A sharp stab of pain went through my back, because bone against bone does not mix well. But I was alive. Breathing a sigh of relief, I opened my eyes.
Again the Andalite caught me, but this time not with his weak Andalite arms. I had landed on his back.
<This is beginning to be a habit,> the Andalite said. I got off.
The Andalite rubbed his back painfully.<A human falling on an Andalite back is not good.>
I looked at him, puzzled. “Thanks. But... why did you save me?”
The Andalite shrugged. Which was strange, since I’d seen humans do it and figured it was a human concept. Maybe this Andalite had been around some humans. <I really do not know,> he answered.
I looked down and saw what it was that left my pocket. It was my Dracon beam, and it had crashed to the ground and now was nothing but a peice of silver junk. I picked it up, looked at it skeptically, and threw it away.
I sat down, and saw the Andalite had been walking on three legs. One of his legs had also been broken while we had fallen into the gorge.
“You’re leg’s broken,” I pointed out.
<I know that,> the Andalite said.
“Why don’t you just morph, then demorph. It’ll fix it right up,” I said.
<Why do you think?> the Andalite asked.
I nodded. It was that he didn’t trust me. Which was perfectly understandable, because I had little trust in him, also. But as I kept seeing how much it was hurting him, I couldn’t take it anymore.
I began to tear peices off the bottom of my shirt.
<What are you doing?> the Andalite asked.
“Well, I have to do something,” I said. I reached forward.
The Andalite backed up as I did, and I smiled. “Don’t worry, I won’t poison you or anything.” I wrapped the bandage around his leg and tied it tight. “I’m no vetinarian, but I’ve seen other humans do it.”
The Andalite looked at me quizzically. <Thank you.>
“What’s you’re name?” I asked him.
<Aximili-Esgarrouth-Isthill. But my friends call me Ax.>
“Ax? That’s a little short. I didn’t know Andalites shortened names like that,” I said. Ax shifted his weight side to side nervously. “I believe I shall call you Aximili instead.”
<I require your name, also,> Aximili said.
“My Yeerk name is Aur 1-6-2. My host’s name is Ana. But we decided to combine our names, as we have combined forces, so it’s Aurana,” I answered.
<Combined forces?> Aximili asked.
I nodded. “You haven’t heard of the rebellious Yeerks that want peace?”
<Oh, yes, I’ve heard of them,> Aximili nodded. Another strange thing he did that was originally a human concept. <I have definetly heard of them.>
He fell silent, and I laid my head back. I was still very tired, and I needed my rest. Aximili, the Andalite, might want to harm me. He might want to kill me. But while we were still down here together, we may as well make the best of it.
“So... how is it that a young Andalite like you come to a savage planet like this?” I asked him. “I thought only adult fighters fought the Yeerks.”
Aximili hesitated to answer. At first he did not say anything.
“Oh, come on,” I said. “We’re in a gorge, we’ll be here for I don’t know how long, and I’m pretty sure both of our families would be worried. Well, at least my host’s family.”
<I don’t have a family here on Earth. They’re back on my home planet,> Aximili looked toward the stars that dotted the sky with his two stalk eyes, even though one was bruised. It looked as if he was sad, and I was pretty sure that he was homesick. Then, a thought seemed to come to him. He swiveled his stalk eyes back in my direction. <Actually, I do have family. One, really. But... to some of my fellow Andalites he would not be considered family.>
I looked at him puzzled, and was about to demand an explanation, when I heard a scratching sound.
At first I thought it was just a small earth animal, a squirrel or a badger or something. But then I heard sniffing, and then a sound that told me what the animal was. A deadly sound, for a deadly pack of animals.
Growls.
And not just any growls.
The growls of a pack of wolves.
We spun around, and there, in the darkest part of the gorge, came yellow eyes.
<Wolves!> I cried, happily. I looked at Aurana to see how she was handling this.
The look on Aurana’s face was of pure terror. She turned around and stared at me.
“How could you be so joyful at a time like this? That pack is going to tear us both apart!” she said.
I looked at her skeptically. A thing humans do when they think another is being foolish.
<First of all, a pack of wolves down here means a way out. Second of all, do you really think that I cannot kill wolves with my tail?>
She nodded with cold, normal Yeerk eyes. “I see. Let’s see how fast that tail of yours really is.”
The wolves had most likely picked up Aurana and my’s scent. A wolves sense of smell, I’ve been told by Cassie, is exceptionally strong. They can smell meat from up to a hundred miles away. And this pack definetly looked hungry. If I failed... I did not want to think about that now.
I did not tell Aurana this, I never would admit anything to her, but I was not exactly sure I could beat this pack.
There were, in total, an exact amount of eight wolves. I could most likely beat them, but my tail was still weak from the fall, and I wasn’t exactly that fast. It was not possible to kill them off with one swipe of my tail.
It had been a long day, and a tiring night. I was weak, hungry, and beat. It would be possible for these wolves to impose worse pain upon me.
But I had to have confidence. No matter what, I must always have confidence.
I stepped forward, and the wolves growled even louder. Took another step, and this time the pack began to descend on me.
The leader of the pack was a large wolf, with sharp yellow eyes and ruffled grey fur. He was a strong one, I could see that.
I continued to walk toward them, and at first they hesitated.
Then- a leap!
With one bound the leader was on me, ripping at my flesh.
I swung my tail around and cut deep into his fur. He howled in pain, when another wolf began gnawing on my leg. Then another.
Sharp stabs of pain came from all around. I knocked the leader off and swung at the one on my leg.
He growled and dodged the shot, and instead I cut into another wolf that was attempting to attack me.
The one I had first swung at snapped his jaws around my leg again, so hard until I thought he would rip it right off.
I sliced my tail into his leg, and he jerked away wimpering with now only three legs.
More came from behind me. A wolf clamped down on my tail. I cried out in pain and snapped my tail high in order to swing him off. At first he did not, he hung onto my tail, peircing his sharp teeth into my tail, but when I tried again I sent him sailing into the rock wall.
More! Around me. I struck at one. Again and again until I was sure the wolf had fallen.
One clamped it’s jaws around my arm. I swung my tail over blindly and only took off his ear. It was enough to loosen his grip. A little.
Again I whammed my tail into his side, swung it over, and slashed into his fur. He continued to keep his hold, and another wolf bit into my side. Then another.
I whipped my tail around and slashed into him again, while in the process continually shaking my arm to make him lose his firm grip.
Again! I slashed my tail into his side. Again, he loosened his grip only a little.
I stumbled and a wolf rammed it’s head into my side. I got up all the energy I had to smash my tail into the wolf still clamped into my side. Finally with a wimper, he let go.
I snapped my tail and swiped it at the wolf that had been gnawing on my leg.
WHAM!
FWAP!
Again the wolf whammed itself into me. I stumbled again, barely taking a peice off another wolf that had been attacking.
WHAM!
Again, the wolf struck, this time getting it’s teeth into it. I whipped my tail around me and struck it, cutting deep into his head.
The growls came louder until they were all around me.
Again and again I struck. I snapped my tail around, oblivious to the pain. There seemed to be none.
Another fell. Then another! And another! Then another, but he got bravely up and continued fighting.
And that’s when I heard the scream.
“AAAHHHHHHHHH!” I swung around to see behind me. A wolf had decided to leave me and attack Aurana.
A wave of anger washed over me. I stumbled over, my leg was broken and another leg had been ripped of completely, to Aurana.
She jumped back as the wolf snapped at her. She nursed her right arm with her left; it had been gnawed on by a lucky strike from the wolf.
Another wolf jumped in front of me, blocking my way to saving Aurana. They were the last two wolves.
Pain came from everywhere, and so was the blood. My blood and the wolves was mixed together so much I could not tell whether it was my blood or the wolve’s that lay splattered on the ground, or matted on me.
I smashed my tail into the wolf, cutting so deeply it went up, stuck to my tail, when I lifted the blade up. I snapped it into a wall, and after the wolf collided into it it fell onto the ground.
Aurana screamed again as the wolf descended upon her, jumping on her and ripping at her. She fell to the ground, unprotected. Just as the wolf was about to rip her up, I swung my tail around and crashed it into the wolf with such force the wolf skidded on the cold floor of the gorge and slammed into the wall with a stop.
It was over. The wolves were beaten. But so was I.
There was blood, everywhere. And I was so weak. So very weak...
I collapsed on the ground. Aurana rushed over to me.
“Morph!” she screamed. “MORPH!”
<Which morph?> I asked, dazed and confused.
“I DON’T CARE, MORPH HUMAN FOR ALL THAT MATTERS!” she yelled at me.
The yelling was a deafening sound, a sound that I wish would stop. But it was true. I had to morph.
I began morphing. But I was so tired. So weak from the fight. It wasn’t in enough time. My time was up...
Darkness fell around me, enveloping me, covering me, and finally, taking over me...
Aximili began morphing, but all at once lost conciousness. Strangely enough, he continued the morph.
Once he was fully human I sat next to him to see if he would wake up. He didn’t.
He wasn’t even breathing.
I tested his pulse. Nothing. There was no pulse.
He began looking blue, like he was trying to breathe, but couldn’t.
What was wrong? Why didn’t the morph fix him?
Was it too late? Was I too late?
I tested his pulse again. Again there was nothing.
I searched my host’s mind for something. Anything.
<There is something you could do,> Ana spoke to me.
<What?>
<It’s called CPR. It’s where you pump his chest to get his breathing started again.>
<And then what?> I asked her, but she hesitated to speak to me.
I searched her mind. It was something called mouth to mouth.
Mouth to mouth?!
There was no way I was going to do that. No way. I would do the CPR, but I was never going to do ‘mouth to mouth’. I didn’t care if he died or not!
I kneeled next to Aximili. Tested his pulse. Still nothing.
Sighing, I placed both of my hands on his chest and pumped. One... Two... Three!
Still nothing. I waited a few seconds, then decided to try again.
One... Two... Three... Four!
“Come on!” I shouted at him, even though I knew he couldn’t hear.
His eyes were shut tight, and his hair was matted. His face continued to turn blue, but not the color of Andalite fur. The color of suffocating.
One... Two... Three... Four... Five!
Still nothing.
<Just do it,> Ana told me quietly. <He saved your life countless times. You need to repay his kindness.>
I was about to mutter, ‘what kindness?’, but it was true. He had saved my life from the wolves. And from falling. And from the gorge, even though it was his fault anyway. I sighed. It did not matter anyway, the ‘mouth to mouth’. It was a human thing. To Yeerks, it meant nothing. I had to take it that way.
I lowered my mouth onto his and breathed out into it.
I pumped his chest again.
One... Two... Three... Four... Five... Six!
Breathed in deep, then breathed into Aximili’s mouth.
“Come on!” I shouted in despair.
One... Two... Three... Four... Five... Six... Seven!
I took one more deep breath, sucking all of the air I could in, and let it all out into Aximili’s mouth.
And that’s when he decided to wake up.
His eyes fluttered open in amazement, and he yelled.
I quickly backed away from him because he had yelled in my mouth and startled me.
He coughed tremendously a few times, then looked suspiciously at me. “What do you think you were doing?”
“Saving your life, that’s what I was doing,” I muttered.
“By kissing me? Kissing. Issing. Ing. Sssss.”
I couldn’t help it. I laughed, then blushed. “Someone’s been watching way too much human t.v.”
“Well, I do enjoy watching Days of Our Lives and other television shows... vision... lision... issssion...”
“No, what I meant was that it’s something called CPR and mouth to mouth. It’s where I pump your chest and breathe in air into your mouth so it gets you breathing again. I guess it worked.”
“Ah. So-oh that explains plains plaaaains it-tuh.”
“Why do you do that?” I looked at him oddly.
“Do what-uh? Tuh? What?”
“Play with your words like that?”
“I find it amusing. Ing. Museing,” Aximili said, grinning.
“Ah. Okay. It’s the fact you Andalite’s don’t have mouths. I get it,” I nodded in understandment. “Well, I really would dislike being around you with food.”
“Yesssss. I enjoy oy cinabuns buns uns muns very much. Ch. Cccchhhh,” Aximili sat up and viewed the scene of the dead or seriously injured wolves he had been the result of.
I shook my head. I just did not understand him. First he’s full of hate and wanting to kill me, then he’s ready to save me, then he’s ready to kill me again, then he changes his mind and saves me from tripping and falling or just plain falling off of the wall. Then he saves me again from the wolves, and he acts like it’s no big deal, and now were sitting and having a perfectly normal converstaion together even though we’re supposed to be hating each other.
I stood up and surveyed the seen. “Well,” was all that could be said.
“Well. Luh. Well-luh. Lllll,” Aximili said.
I grinned. “I suppose we should get going, considering there’s a way out of here.”
“I suppose ose pose suppose we should-ah. Ldd. Lldd,” Aximili stood up but fell backwards.
I was there in a second and caught him immediatly.
Normally I would have smirked at him. Or at least acted arrogant. But instead I just smiled and said, “Well, now it’s my turn.”
I helped him up. “Maybe you’d better demorph.”
“Yes. Yes-suh. I fell inconspicuos que us conspicuos in human morph. Morph. Orph,” Aximili instantly began changing as blue fur swept all over him.
I stared. I had never actually seen morphing before, except when Visser 3 had when he was trying to kill the Andalite bandits, and to me it was the strangest thing.
Once he was completely finished with demorphing, he began walking toward the darkness, where the wolves had come.
I hurried to catch up with him, and accedentally my hand brushed up against his. I quickly shot him a look of embarassment, but he had not seemed to notice, so I looked back into the shadows where our exit lay.
At first we walked in silence, but I became instantly bored and conceded to start a conversation.
“So... how are you liking it here on this planet?” I asked him.
<I suppose it is alright. Humans are... not what they seem. They are clever. Witty. Definetly not as stupid and intellectually disadvantaged as I had thought they were at first,> Aximili said. <Although they are technologically deprived, they never cease to amaze me.>
I grinned. “I’ve had the same thoughts. When I first entered my host I suspected it to be like in a Hork-Bajir. Strange, unknowledgable, um... and shall I say... dumb. But when I actually got to know her better... see her point of view...-”
<-Search her thoughts...> Aximili interrupted.
I looked at him cockily. “I am pleased to say that I have never done that entirely, only to the consent of knowing how to behave like her so her family, friends, and aquantances would not notice a difference in her actions.”
Aximili looked surprised. <You truly are... different.>
I shot him a knowing look. “And so are you.”
Aximili laughed. <How so?>
“Well, let’s see. You try and kill me, then you try and save me, try and kill me, try and save me. Try and save me again, and then again try and save me. If it weren’t for your conscience or whatever kept you from killing me the first time, I’d have been dead by now,” I told him.
His eyes shined. <I’ve always wondered...>
“Wondered what?” I asked him.
<Well,> Aximili hesitated. We stopped. <I’ve always wondered if... you know... Yeerks had feelings other than hatred and anger and arrogance, other feelings they refused to show.>
I looked up into his main eyes. “Why would you think of anything different?”
<Because that’s all I’ve grown up to know and expect. That’s all that I have come accross, or been told of. That’s what I’ve been taught at school, and that’s what I’ve seen on the battlefield.>
I spoke softly, with a touch of anger in my voice but also a sense of knowledge and understandment. “Tell me something, Aximili. Do all Andalites have many different feelings and opinions about the same exact things?”
<Well, yes.>
I turned and began walking again. “Then that is your answer.”
Aximili trotted and caught up for me. His hand brushed up against mine.
Later on, I could have sworn up and down he had done it on purpose. Now, I thought it was just a coincidence.
As we walked, I sighed a big, heavy sigh.
<What is the matter?>
“Nothing except the usual.”
<Usual what?>
I looked at him. “Have you ever felt you just wanted to break away from your people? That you wanted to run from your problems, but you knew you couldn’t? That you wished you could just...” I threw up my hands. “Just do something to turn your life around so that you could live a nice, normal one?”
Aximili seemed to smile with his eyes. <My friends and I have felt that ever since we began fighting in this war.>
“Well don’t think you’re alone because you aren’t,” I muttered bitterly. “I mean, of all things I had to be born a Yeerk. A Yeerk! A worthless slug that lives off of a big ball of rays, a ball that could in seconds be shattered and put my very life on balance.”
<Well, I had to be born an Andalite,> Aximili said quietly.
“What’s so bad with being an Andalite?” I asked him. “You have stable, powerful bodies, intelligent minds capable of things I’ve never even would be able to dream of. You were born in a world of honorable, well-known-”
<And arrogant,> Aximili said. <Arrogant fools that want to do nothing but show everyone how good they are. You were right about one thing, Aurana. Normally, I would have not cared about anything but myself and if the Andalites defeated you I would have cared only because I killed you off for my own, selfish reasons and not to save these humans. Most Andalites do wish to do only that and nothing else.>
“What changed you mind?” I inquired.
<I got to know these humans. I got to see what sort of things they were capable of, what sort of thoughts went through their mind. Sometimes I look back and see how foolish I had been, back on the Dome ship, before the Blade Ship shot us down, how I wanted to kill you all without a thought of any human.>
I nodded. “That’s not how it is now, is it?”
<My human friends have a saying: War changes people in more ways than one. I suppose war has changed me, and many, many others.>
I cocked my head. “Human friends?”
<Well, yes,> Aximili said quickly. <I have morphed human before and attended a human school; even a human movie; and many a time the mall.>
I grinned. “Oh, so that’s where I’ve seen you before. Let’s see... I saw you in Mr. Pardue’s room the day his Yeerk was dying. It was one of my older descendants.”
<Oh. I’m sorry.>
“It’s okay. He was evil. Selfish,” I said. “Imagine Visser Three in a lower position of rank, and that’ll be him.”
<Not a very pleasant thought.>
“You have that correct,” I smiled. “I also saw you at that dance. Well, the first few minutes of the dance, and then you scaring off that one girl... I believe her name was Allison. I was distracted, and after that you were gone.”
<Ah. The yamphut disease incident.>
“The what?” I was totally confused.
<The yamphut disease is a very serious disease that could have killed me had it not been for one of my friends,> Aximili said.
I smiled. “I always had suspected there was something different about you. It was the way you talked, and acted, and how you were afraid of the school bells.”
<They were extremely loud and to me seemed to be of some beast. You witnessed that?>
“A lot of humans did.”
<Ah.>
“So... what do you think of the human’s mall?” I asked him inquisitively.
<Very pleasing. A place where many foods of many types are sold in exchange for round metal disks and green paper.>
I grinned. “I really am hoping you did not lose yourself with the different foods they have to offer.”
<Well, some humans believed me to be mentally ill, and I was assisted out for disturbing the peace a few times. How was I to know not to eat the ‘plate’ or a whole tray of cinnabuns at a time?>
I burst out laughing. “You ate a plate and a whole tray of cinnabuns? Amazing. That must have looked very strange to other humans.”
Aximili smiled again with his eyes. I loved it when he did that.
“So,” I murmured. “What do we do when we finally get out of here?”
<I suppose we will have to make a deal. You don’t speak with your people about me, and I won’t speak to mine about you,> Aximili suggested.
“Fair enough,” I nodded. “Alright, it’s a deal, then.” I grinned to myself. Making a deal with an Andalite. Well, I never in a million years would have expected this to happen.
We finally reached a slanted rock that enabled us to climb up easily without killing ourselves. Once we got up there, I believe we both sighed a syncronic sigh of relief that we were finally out of that wretched gorge.
Aximili turned to me. <I’m trusting you, Aurana, to keep your deal.>
“Of course,” I said, which I normally would have said as coldly as I could, but for some reason couldn’t. “You too, Aximili.”
<Alright.>
We turned the opposite directions and began walking away.
<Wait.>
I spun around hopefully for a reason I did not know. “Yes?”
Aximili nervously dug his hoof in the ground, as if he wanted to say something, but couldn’t. <What... what excuse do you expect to have to your host’s parents?>
My face fell. I did not know why expected something else. I didn’t even know what to expect from him!
I suppose Ana had seen something that I had not, because I sensed her laughing at me.
<What are you laughing at?> I asked her.
<You guys look so cute together,> she responded.
I was confused. <What do you mean by that?>
<Oh, just the usual. Dates. Movies. Love.>
<I do not love him!>
<You thought he was cute,> she giggled. Humans, for some reason, especially teenage females, love giggling. I had no idea why.
<No I most certainly did not,> I said without knowing if I truly did or didn’t.
<Yes you did. You opened your thoughts to me without knowing it. You thought he was cute, and you liked him sorta kinda. As in like like,> Ana seemed to be having a good time making fun of me.
<I did?> I was confused. Usually, in human terms, like like meant that I was in love, but not deep love, just normal love, as in I wanted to spend time around a certain person. This person, in this case, was Aximili. I denied it. <No, I didn’t. I don’t like him as in like like, I don’t like him at all! He’s an Andalite. I’m a Yeerk. We don’t belong together.>
<Oh really,> Ana was skeptical. <So next time you find yourself just liking to be around him, or wishing you could see him again, or take notice in his shining and smiling eyes, we’ll just blame it on human emotions. Okay?>
<You anger me, Ana. We’ll... talk.>
I turned my attention back to Aximili. He was patiently waiting for me to answer. “I’ll just say that I took a walk in the woods and tripped. I got knocked out, but I’m fine now.”
<Oh. Alright.>
We turned away once more but I had a thought so I turned back. “Aximili?”
He turned back, looking hopeful for some odd reason. <Yes?>
“What... what about your friends? What excuse do you have?”
<They won’t notice I was gone. They... were out, um, finding information about recent plans you Yeerks have. Also, we don’t share the same meadow.>
For some reason I was glad. “Oh.”
<Aurana...> Aximili looked as if he was about to tell me something, but then quickly changed his mind. <Oh, um, nothing.>
“Alright, then,” this was taking forever. Just say it! “Um, goodbye, then.”
<Goodbye,> Aximili hesitated for only a second, then turned away. I did the same.
We walked quickly away from each other. When I became out of hearing range, I sighed sadly.
“You need to pull yourself together, Aur,” I told myself. It was the first time in a long time since I’d called myself by my real name. It was strange, saying it aloud. “What were you even thinking? You hate his guts.”
I had no idea what I had been thinking. But I suspected Ana had.
I got to civilization and stumbled with feighning pain into my host’s house. Her mother spun around and gave a cry of alarm. Her father ran and hugged me. For a reason out of spontaneous reaction, I pulled away from her mind, and let my host hug her parents. She explained everything as I had told her, and then was immediatly sent up the stairs to rest.
There I climbed into her bed and fell into a deep sleep.
**********************************************
“Hello? Pay attention,” Aur 1-6-1, my brother, in his host Derek wavered his hand in front of my face. I realized I’d been day dreaming. Not about something. But someone. It was the next day, my parents had permitted me to go to school. For some reason I wanted to go, although the way I was feeling I did not know why. I supposed I had been struck with a strange desire to see him again afterschool, though a reason for that I did not know, either.
I snapped back to reality. “Oh. I apologize.”
“You have been day dreaming all day. What exactly happened last night?”
I eyed the bandage that had been wrapped around my/my host’s ankle. “I told you, already. I went exploring in the woods, tripped on a root, and fell. I had to limp back home. What’s the deal?” I snapped.
My brother looked taken aback.
“I’m sorry,” I said, leaning my head on my hands. “I’m just in a bad mood.”
“That’s alright,” My brother smiled a little. “I know how your temper can accelerate.”
I flipped my hair back with my hand; it had been on my shoulder and tickling my face; and closed my eyes. I do agree with Ana, human schools begin too early in the morning.
“What’s that?”
My eyes flipped open. “What’s what?”
My brother reached up and pulled something off of my forehead. “That’s not your hair.”
I stared at the peice of hair. My breathing stopped. It was blue. That wasn’t hair. It was fur.
My brother’s eyes narrowed as he stared at the fur. Or actually, Aximili’s fur.
“It’s blue,” he seemed to whisper. His eyes opened wide, and it was then that I knew that he knew. “Andalite...”
“You lied to me,” my brother growled. “How could you?” Without letting me answer, he went on. “You didn’t just ‘take a walk in the woods’, did you?”
I shook my head ‘no’. I could barely speak. My mouth was dry and it felt as if a stone was lunged in my throat.
We were in the library. After my brother had discovered my secret, he looked at me. I tried to lie, but couldn’t. When had seen my face, full of guilt and shame, he walked away wordlessly, dragging me with him, leaving his lunch on the table. There he’d forced me to sit down, and in order to cool down had taken a few deep breaths. Little or no people were here, and we were in the far back corner, a dark place humans rarely went.
“Let me just explain!” I told him.
“Explain? Explain what?” my brother looked at me coldly. “Yes, Aur 1-6-2, I have no idea what went through your mind last night while you were out doing who knows what with the enemy. There is something going on here and I want to know what.”
“I... I followed him into his meadow, after that fight...” I began. I told him the whole story, ending at when both Aximili and I went our separate ways.
My brother looked as if he was about to say something to me, but just through up his hands, frustrated.
I sat back on my chair angrily.
“So,” my brother began in a low, dangerous voice. “You just let him go?”
“I had to. He had that tail, I had nothing.”
“You could have shot him when you woke up,” my brother said icily. “No, I couldn’t have!” I lost all the little patience I had. “His tail was inches from my throat!”
“Alright, alright, calm down,” my brother’s voice began lowering. “I suppose we should just go and confenscate him, then.”
“NO! We made a deal!” I practically shouted.
My brother stared at me hard, as if he was trying to figure me out. “Defending an Andalite?” he sneered.
I leaned back again. “No. He trusts me, and I don’t go back on my word. I trust him to do the same.”
“Since when do you trust an Andalite?!” My brother asked.
“We are not like Visser 3 or any of those wretched Yeerks that think humans are nothing but pigs, Aur 1-6-1, and don’t you forget that,” I said concisely.
“Just because we oppose controlling beings against their will doesn’t mean we don’t oppose the Andalites!”
I stood up and slammed my fist on the table. Then, tersely through clenched teeth, “I will never judge any being for what race they belong to. And don’t you ever force me to do so.”
I spun around and walked out.
After school had ended, instead of waiting on the stairs for my brother as I usually do, I began automatically walking toward the woods. The meadow. Aximili.
I had to consider that maybe if I was him one last time it would clear things up and I could get on with my life.
I had no idea how cloudy things were about to become.
I got to the meadow, not really noticing my surroundings. I was focosing on nothing and no one but Aximili. I saw him standing there. He looked up, eyes full of surprise, and saw me.
We stood there for one silent moment staring. then, timidly, I walked up to him.
“Um, he... hello, Axi... Aximili,” I stammered.
<Hello. What... what brings you here?>
“Oh, I... I just wanted... I...,” I laughed uneasily. “I just wanted to see you again. You know, to say ‘hello’, because you.ve... you’ve been...” I couldn’t finish the sentence.
<I’ve been on your mind lately,> Aximili finsihed for me.
I cocked my head. “How did you...”
<I know because you’ve been on mine.>
There was an uneasy silence. Aximili dug his hoof in the ground. I twindled my fingers. But the whole time we kept an interlocking gaze.
Suddenly this... this feeling came over me. I did not understand it. Could not understand it, because I’ve never felt it before. But I instantaneosly reached forward, and slipped my hands into his.
I pulled it away in shock once I realized what I had been doing.
“Oh, my gosh... I’m... I’m so sorry... I didn’t know what came over... over me,” my face turned bright red. I turned and was about to walk away when I felt a hand on my shoulder. I turned back.
<It’s... it’s alright,> Aximili seemed to smile with his eyes. <I... I kind of liked it.>
I gave an uneasy laugh. “Really? You’re lying.”
<No, I’m not. It was comforting.>
I laughed again and pushed my hair behind my ears. “Oh.”
I looked up into Aximili’s eyes, and at the same time we both reached our hands forward and held them together. He was correct, for I found it to be very comforting.
We stood there for the longest time. I do not know how long for sure, though. I supposed it only lasted for a second.
Then-
“AURANA!”
<AX-MAN!>
“Oh, no,” Aurana whispered.
<Come with me,> I pulled her deeper into the woods and we hid behind a tree.
“I... I heard your friend.”
<Yes, I know.>
“Why did he call you Ax-man? It is... unusual.”
<I’ll explain later. Right now both of us must be quiet.>
Using my two stalk eyes I peered over to get a glimpse of a human boy standing at the edge of my meadow.
<How does he know where my meadow is?> I asked Aurana. I eyed her suspictiously.
“I don’t know... I didn’t tell him,” she said with a worried look on her face. “He must have followed me!”
<AX!> Tobias called again. He soared over the treetops.
“AUR!” the human yelled again. I realized he had to be a Yeerk. I also realized he had not heard Tobias.
I turned to Aurana. <We must separate. Go to your friend, and I will mine. The opposite ways, though. You go through the meadow, and I will go deeper into the woods.>
Aurana nodded. “Until again, Aximili.”
I smiled with my eyes. <Until again.>
She let go of my hands, which I now realized we had continued holding, and went our separate ways. After galloping deeper in the woods and making sure Aurana was gone, I shouted. <TOBIAS!>
<I’m right here, Ax, you don’t have to yell.>
I was Tobias swoop down and give me a long, hard stare with his fierce yees. <Why didn’t you answer me the first time?>
<I... I did not hear you.>
<That’s a lie, Ax.>
<What do you mean?> A cold dread crept upon my hearts.
<What do you think I mean? I saw that girl, Ax. that’s why I called down to both her and you. I tried to scare her away. I didn’t want you to be discovered. But I saw her... and you... together... You forget, I have strong eyes.>
<I know.>
Tobias was close to losing his patience. <I heard the girl and that other guy... I guess it was her brother, talking. He mentioned the word ‘Andalite’. He’s a Yeerk, Ax, and so is she.
<I know... I cannot tell you anything.>
He was trying hard not to go off with me. <Why do you mean, ‘you cannot tell me anything’? Are you keeping secrets from us again?>
<No, I... We made a deal, a deal that was to be kept.>
<We’re going to have to tell the others about this one.>
<No! They would want to kill her.>
<Why do you care?>
I shrugged helplessly. <I truly don’t know, Tobias. It’s just this feeling that I get when I’m around her... I find her attractive even in my Andalite form. She makes me smile... I couldn’t stand not to be around her. Every time I spend time with her, I completely forget that she is a Yeerk. As a matter of fact, I don’t even care.>
<I don’t understand this, Ax. I thought you hated Yeerks.> Tobias kept his voice low and solemn. I wished with all my hearts I could tell him the truth... but I couldn’t. Or could I?...
<Neither do I,> I answered. <Deep down inside of me there is still anger that burns, but it just seems to die away with each coming of Aurana.>
<I thought that her brother called her Aur.>
<It is Aur,> I insisted. <Aur 1-6-2. But her host’s name is Ana, and since they are with the Peace Movement, they have decided to bond their names as they have their friendship, so it became Aurana.>
<Do you get... embarassed when you’re around her?>
<No, not exactly. Just... nervous. Not nervous as in I don’t trust her, nervous as in... oh, I don’t know. I’ve never had any of these feelings before.> I paced around, keeping my stalk eyes toward the ground.
<Never?>
<Never.>
I placed my hand against a tree and leaned on it. I closed my main eyes, and tried remembering the time when I first met Aurana, and how angry and hateful I felt towards her. I tried to feel that same way, but it was impossible.
<What can I say? She’s so... I’d protect her the best way I can, Tobias. The others... excluding Cassie, would want to kill her on the spot. I can’t let that happen.>
<You like her? As in like like?>
I shook my head. A thing I’ve picked up from humans. It was then I realized how I really felt toward Aurana. <No, I don’t like her. I... I love her, Tobias.>
I left Ax, dropping his hands. I hesitated to go... but I knew I had to. I bid him goodbye, and as soon as I stood up I instantly missed holding his hands. Checking first overhead to see if the Andalite in bird morph was gone, I walked quickly out to meet my brother.
He eyes me darkly. “Is this the meadow?”
I continued walking until I was past him. “How could you?! Why did you follow me?!” I yelled at him.
He spun around and grabbed my shoulder. He pulled me towards him with such anger and hatred in his face it made me afraid. He looked as if he was ready to attack anything... and anyone... as soon as they broke his temper. “Answer my question first. Is this the Andalite’s meadow or not?”
I knew he would never hurt me. I hoped. “I will NOT answer anything!”
“Why can’t you trust me? I’m your own brother! Why can’t you do a simple thing as that?”
I sighed. “It’s not that. It’s our promise.” I heard the hawk screech again. “Look, we’d better leave. I don’t want the other Andalite to see me.”
We walked out of the meadow, but once we were in the woods we began talking.
“I understand you want to trust him. But you can’t. The Andalites are our enemy! I can’t stand by and let my little sister-”
“By one second,” I cut in.
“By one second,” my brother added patiently, “Just run off with some Andalite and think that they are trustworthy.” I was about to protest, but he went on. “You may think you’re absolutely safe with him and you can trust him, but you can’t!”
“You don’t know that! You’ve never even met him before! But once you see he’s an Andalite you automatically think that they are the enemy! That they are untrustworthy! We are born in a world of this hatred and treachery, and we pick it up! We hate beings we don’t even know! We haven’t even met! Not all one species thinks and acts the same.”
“That is true,” my brother glanced down as if there was something interesting on the ground. “But it doesn’t mean we can trust every Andalite we meet.”
“I don’t. I was with Aximili for one full night. One full night! And we managed not to kill each other. We saved each other’s lives numerous times! But not once did we betray each other and instantly let our hatred for each other’s races get in the way.”
“I know sister... do you truly want it that way? You cannot trust him, but your desire has become just plain foolishness.”
“I know we are two different species. It would be almost impossible to get involved with him,” I said bitterly. “But I think fate has brought us together.”
“Fate is a human thing.”
“Fate is for anyone who believes in it. Human, Andalite... or Yeerk.”
“It’s nothing but a mistake!”
“It would be a heartache to let him go.”
“I don’t ever want to hear you say that...” my brother stopped. He placed his arm on my shoulder. “I want to protect you from harm.”
“Don’t you think that if I truly hated him, I would know? I hate the Andalites as much as you do. It’s just... Aximili is different. He’s not like that.”
“How do you know that?”
“It’s just a feeling. It’s like I know in my heart already that he’s... he’s the one,” we continued walking and were nearing the streets. We had to finish this converstation. Quickly.
“Tell me, do you truly believe that?”
“There’s nothing and no one else in the galaxy that could change my
mind.”
“I... I must go,” my brother turned and walked hurriedly down the sidewalk.
“Does this mean you’ll let us be?”
My brother didn’t answer. He just continued walking.
“I... guess not,” I whispered, turning and walking to my host’s house. I should have been walking in the air. On cloud 9, as humans sometimes say. But instead the weight of guilt and shame kept me level-headed and down to Earth.
**********************************************
“...and so she totally bugged out. I mean, she freaked! It was so funny. But she deserved it, anyway. That sister of mine is beyond getting on my nerves. Doesn’t she get on your nerves, too, Ana?” Correy was asking. She was Ana’s best friend. In a way, she was my friend, too. She just never knew it.
“Mhmm,” I mumbled aimlessly.
“What’s wrong? You seem sad,” Correy said.
“Oh, it’s nothing,” I quickly shot her a look.
It was the next day at school, during lunchtime. I’d had a pretty restless night, and I was beyond tired. I waited patiently for the school day to end so that I could see Aximili again.
<Please, will you tell her?> Ana asked me.
<What, that I’m in love with an Andalite?> I asked sarcastically, a human thing I have gotten used to doing.
<No. Just that you’re in love, but don’t say his real name. Say his name he has in human form,> Ana said.
<Um... and that is?>
Ana seemed disgusted. <Don’t your remember Mr. Pardue’s class? His name is Philip.>
<Oh. Yes. Alright.>
“Really, I know when something’s wrong. What is it?” Correy pressed.
“Well, there’s this guy,” I hesitated to go further.
Correy looked interested. She leaned forward. “Yes?”
“His name’s Philip and he’s so sweet but my bro-” I stopped myself just in time. “But Derek doesn’t approve of it.”
“So? Derek has no control over your life. He’s a jerk, anyway. Always acting like he’s more superior than people younger than him,” Correy grinned.
I grinned back. I supposed my brother couldn’t act, because he DOES act like he’s superior towards everybody. Like he could control me. “Yeah, I know. I guess it doesn’t really matter, then.”
“When are you going to see Philip again?” Correy asked me.
“Afterschool.”
“Cool, can I see him?”
“No!” I answered quickly. Correy looked surprised. Hurt. “Um, it’s just that he... he and I want to be alone. Today’s kind of a ‘special day’ for us. We’re going to just take a walk in the woods, you know, just to get away from life’s problems.”
“Oh,” Correy grinned again. “Still, I can’t believe this. Is he cute?”
I looked dreamily down at the table. “Yes. He has these amazing eyes that seem to smile when I make him laugh. So bright and green and full of life.”
“Wait, his eyes are green?”
I realized what I said. “Um, yes, of course! He has green contacts,” I lied.
“Oh. Okay, go on.”
“It’s not just how cute he is that makes me like him. It’s his personality, also. So full of wonder, and strange mystery. I can’t get him out of my head. He is so comical, also. His understandment of life and his view of the planet is so different than I’ve ever seen before.”
“View of the planet? Ookay, Ana, you are weirding out on me.”
I snapped back to attention. “Oh, did I say that? Sorry, my mind wandered.”
“You can hardly think straight,” Correy said. We finished our lunches and stood up. From then on I chose my words carefully and thought closely about what I was going to say.
Afterschool I walked quickly off of school grounds and into the woods. I was beyond waiting patienly for he day to end. I only hoped my brother hadn’t spotted me or anticipated that I would go into the woods. That would ruin everything.
I trudged over roots and branches when I heard a snap! from behind.
I froze mid-step and listened closely. I almost went ahead when I hear leaves crunching not over the weight of an animal, but a person.
I whirled around. There Correy stood with a guilty look of shame on her face.
“Correy?”
“Oh! Uh, hi, Ana,” Correy stumbled over the words.
“What are you doing here?” I asked her.
“I... uh... well... I was just...”
“Just following me,” I finished for her.
“Ye... yeah.”
I threw up my hands. “I cannot believe this. First my brother, now you.”
“You’re brother?”
“I mean, Derek. I just consider him my brother, since he acts like he’s one,” I lied again.
Correy raised an eyebrow but didn’t say anything. “Well, actually, there is someone else about thirty feet behind me. I think it is Derek. He’s... well, let’s just say he isn’t very good at being sneaky.”
Sure enough, a minute later my brother stepped into view. He saw me standing there, glaring at him, and began muttering to himself. I stepped in front of Correy.
“I thought I told you now to follow me,” I glared at him.
“I thought I forbade you to see him again,” my brother shot back.
“You don’t own me! You can’t and won’t tell me what to do.”
“I told you NOT to see that... that Andalite fiflth!”
“And... Andalite?” Correy asked fearfully, her voice quivering. I turned around and stared at her. My brother had not even seen her and I had totally forgotten she was there. Her lip trembled as she spoke. “You... both of you are one of them, aren’t you?”
Tobias was silent for a minute.
I turned away. <I... I apologize, Tobias. I shouldn’t have said that. It’s just...> I looked up. <I don’t know what to say. I had an experience that I never expected, and what I got our of it was something so remarkable, so... wonderful. I, in fact, do not understand it myself. But it was there. And it was real.>
Tobias turned his fierce deep brown eyes to stare at me. <You really love her that much?>
<Yes. No. I don’t know,> I said. <I... my mind is telling me she’s the enemy. She’s evil. She’s a Yeerk, so don’t love her. Kill her. But my hearts are saying something truly different. That she’s trustworthy. That she is, in fact, good in a way most would not expect. That she’s the one.>
<You should listen to your hearts more often.>
I did not expect such a thing coming from Tobias. Or maybe I should have. I came to realize he was correct: I should listen to my hearts. I may just find the answer I’m looking for.
I turned to him. <I... I suppose I shall have to tell you what happened. The only reason I refrained from saying so was that we made a promise. We knew that if either one of our acquaintances found out about... us... then they would want to kill the other.>
Tobias seemed to nod. <Yes, that is true... but Ax, it’s me, Tobias. You’re talking to the kind of guy that wouldn’t harm a flea... um... unless necessary.>
<You are right. I should have never doubted you in the first place.> I tried smiling using my eyes. <Alright, I’ll tell you.>
<I’m all ears.>
I did not understand what Tobias meant by that, but I just went ahead and began speaking. I told him the whole story. It all came pouring out easily. When I was finished, it was if a weight was lifted from my shoulders, and the great burden I’d had before was gone.
<Wow.> Tobias seemed to be short of words. But he seemed to be grinning. <So, you really thought she was kissing you?>
<Well, after continually watching Days of Our lives on that primitive human television of yours, I believe I can identify what is kissing and what isn’t.>
<She seems really nice, Ax. Someday I’ll have to meet her,> Tobias tilted his head side to side as if impatiently waiting for something.
<Yes,> I nodded. <Someday.>
<So it doesn’t bother you that she’s a Yeerk?>
<No. She actually hates herself. Well, her species form. I have thought of a solution, but...>
<But what?>
<The others, especially Prince Jake, would be highly angered if I was to do so. I believe they would have to get to know her first, although I don’t think she’s quite ready yet.>
<What’s your solution?>
I hesitated. But I told Tobias. His reaction was immaculate enough, but I sensed he disapproved of it.
<Wow, Ax, that’s a... that’s a big step.>
<Tobias, if only you knew her! I do not even care. Not one fragment.>
<I’ve never seen you so happy,> Tobias looked at me as if he was trying to figure out something.
<You’ve never seen me in love.>
<That’s true,> Tobias sighed a deep, heavy sigh.
<Do you wish to go now?>
If Tobias had been human he would have looked at me with raised eyebrows. But he wasn’t. So he looked at me surprised as best as he could.
<How did you know that?>
<I suppose I am understanding human emotions a small amount more.>
<Yeah. Well, I need to go hunt anyway. I won’t tell a soul what you’ve told me. You don’t have to worry about that.>
<I’m not.>
<Alright. Um, good-bye, then.>
<Good-bye.>
Tobias flew off.
I shot a look at my brother. A ‘what are we to do?’ look.
Correy turned and began runing. “YEERK!” she screamed.
I took off after her. “Correy! Wait! Let me explain! Correy!”
TSEEW!
My brother had reacted without thinking. He instantaneously pulled out his Dracon Beam and shot. It burned straight into Correy’s leg.
“NOOOOO!” I yelled. Inside, Ana was screaming. I fought to gain control. This was something I myself had to handle.
Correy stumbeld over rocks and branches a bit, but finally collapsed.
I rushed over to her and kneeled beside her, panting. “Correy, wait-” I began.
“Get away from me, Yeerk, GET AWAY! You’re going to take me again! You’re going to take my whole family! GET AWAY!”
“No... Correy... Please...”
<Don’t hurt her. Please, don’t hurt her!> Ana yelled at me. She was crying the best way she could. In her heart. Again she fought to gain control. I wouldn’t let her. Couldn’t let her. Now was not the time. <I HATE YOUR BROTHER! It’s all his fault! All his fault... He shouldn’t have hurt her.>
<It’s okay, Ana,> I told her. <It’s alright.>
<No, it’s not alright! Look what you’ve done! She’ll never trust me again. She’ll realize how I never really have spoken to her. She’ll never want to be my friend again. This is my best friend! How could I have done this to her? How could I...>
<I’ll explain everything to her, Ana,> I told her. <I... I’ll tell her my secret. Everything! If she is truly your best friend, she’ll understand.> I turned back down to Correy. She was sobbing now.
I took off my sweatshirt and wrapped it around her leg. She jerked away but I tied it again, carefully and softly so it wouldn’t touch her singed skin. She looked up at me, questioningly. I did not make eye contact with her. She took this as a bad sign.
“Please... don’t take me again! Don’t take me...”
My brother sat next to me, his face red from embarrasment. “Do not worry. We will not dare do such a thing. You don’t want to be controlled, you don’t have to be.”
“But... but... you’re one of them.”
“No, Correy, we’re not like others,” I said soothingly and softly, hoping she would be able to trust me. “We’re from the peace movement. We are from a group of over a hundred that believe in accepting infestation only if it is voluntary. No excuses.”
“All this time I’ve actually been speaking to you and not Ana?” she asked painfully.
“Not the whole time. Up until the middle of the school year, when Ana went to one too many Sharing meetings. You tried to stop her, didn’t you?” I recalled Ana telling me this a while ago.
“Ye... yes. I knew what was going to happen. I thought she was able to avoid it. I was wrong, I guess,” Correy looked down and wiped her face. “Can... can I...?”
“Can you what?” my brother asked.
“Can I speak to her?”
I nodded, and closed my eyes. I loosened myself around Ana’s brain, giving Ana her body back. I held on to one part, only halfway. Half of Ana could hear the conversation, and half of I could.
“Correy, she’s telling the truth. I know you can’t believe it, but it’s true. They’re not going to hurt me, and they’re not going to hurt you, either. Heck- even if I said I didn’t want her infesting me she would do it! But I can’t. We have a job to do. In Aur’s natural state she cannot fulfill her mission of getting Yeerks to start doing voluntary controlling. She has to have a host. Me...”
“Why does it have to be you? You’re my best friend. I don’t want to lose you. What about speaking to your parents? Don’t you miss that? Don’t you miss hugging them?”
“That’s the thing with Aur and I. We’re friends. Not as close friends as you and I, but friends,” Ana gave a little laugh. “Hard to believe, but true. We’ve made a deal. I am given some amount of freedom. When emotional issues come up, such as hugging my parents, she lets go and lets me do so. I’ve even spoken to you numerous times, like when that jerk at school, John, made fun of your mother? I was there. That was me, comforting you.”
Correy nodded. “Alright. I understand.”
“Are you alright?” Ana asker her.
“Yes,” Correy nodded. “I think I am.”
“How did you come about to find out about us, anyway?” my brother asked her.
“Well, Ana should remember last year, when my mother was dying of cancer?”
Ana nodded.
“She was actually a controller, then. The Yeerk was, I suppose, from the movement, because they and my mother were... friends. Like you and Aur. The Yeerk didn’t want to leave my mother. She was willing to die with her. So on her deathbed, in the hospital, my mother ordered everyone out, excluding me. It was there she told me about the Yeerks. I don’t know if I was speaking to her, or the Yeerk, but I suspected it was both. Anyway, she said not all are like her. There are evil ones... ones willing to do anything to be the best. She told me not to trust anyone, and that any person could be a Controller. Before she died... she gave me a warning. To never let anyone know about what she has told me. And... if someone does find out... to run away. Run away, and never look back. She’d rather me to die by some normal things. Starvation, fatigue, disease. Anything but become a Controller. Anything but letting them kill me. She said for if I stop running, if I hesitate for even a second, I’ll end up in a fate worse than death. Most Yeerks aren’t like hers. Most Yeerks wouldn’t care...”
Correy’s voice died down, and small drops of tears rolled down Ana’s face. Her eyes were blurry, and when she blinked, had a sort of glassy look to them. I was glad I wasn’t in control, for I would have been crying, too. But sometimes it feels good to just let emotions get out that way.
Ana sensed this. She let me control her again, and as soon as I did, more tears came.
“So, she was the one,” my brother said quietly. I looked at him, but even though I saw no tears, I thought he sounded a bit choked up.
“What do you mean?” Correy asked.
“The one who began it all,” I said. “She was the first.”
“When others heard of what she did, that began the movement,” my brother smiled sadly. “It soon spread all around the Yeerk pool. Everybody knew. Soon a few; those who wished to take action as to making deals with their hosts; began a sort of group. No one knew who they all were. In order to get in, you had to prove yourself. You were put under constant survellieance by some of the top spies for a week or two. If you passed, you were in.”
“It’s not an easy job to do,” I said quietly. “You have to ignore snide remarks made to the hosts and uncaring actions of those Yeerks who are evil. You have to show no sign that you are part of the movement. You have to act just like everybody else does. If you are caught, you are considered a traitor to the Yeerk empire. A fool. You would have to either commit suicide or...” I couldn’t finish.
“Or you would be put under interrogation, and then, killed. It’s hard work. Many have been put to the test. But we all think it’s worth it.”
“Because it is,” I finished for him. “Because it truly is.”
“It was because of your mother that Yeerks have stood up for peace,” my brother said. He sighed. “Many would have never had the bravery to do so. On behalf of all those who are in the peace movement, I thank her.”
I nodded. Correy did, too, but through small sobs.
“Just remember, Correy,” I told her, “Not all species think and act the same. Not all species are all for one thing. Not humans, not Yeerks, not Andalites.” I stole a glance at my brother. “There is always a straggler. Always. One who wants to be different. Our minds are set to different opinions. Different points of view. One who wants to break away from the normalities of their world around them, stand up, and express themselves the way they wish to. And in that one, there is always another.” I stood up and checked my watch. “Oh, I’m late.”
“Late? Why were you in the woods, anyway?” Correy asked.
I gave a sly grin. “You do remember who I was talking about earlier today.”
Correy’s face lit up from a previous blank one. “Oh, yes. Philip.”
“If you see him, in his natural form of course, just remember what I said about how in all races there are those who are different.” I stole another look at my brother. “And I believe I’ve found that one in this race.”
I turned away. My brother stepped forward to stop me, but I turned back to him. “No, brother. Give him a chance. Get to know him. But right now all I believe in is loving him. Yes, he is different. Yes, he is willing to give up a little to get a little. And yes, so am I.” I turned fully around to face both of them. “Me and ‘Philip’ had a deal. You two weren’t supposed to find out about us. It was to be kept secret. Please, don’t let this get out between the two of you. And please, don’t confront him. He wo... he will dislike having others knowledgable of our relationship. I want to tell him a different time.”
I began walking toward the meadow again. “I ask you to not follow me any more,” I told them. When I reached it, there, as expected, was Aximili. I walked up to him and instantly our hands reached forward and touched. We clasped them together.
<What has happened? You look overwhemled,> Aximili asked me.
I smiled. He was getting pretty used to human expressions. I wondered... but, no. That was impossible. “A friend...”
I checked with Ana first. She allowed me to tell him.
“A friend, the best friend of my host, just found out that I am a Controller. Turns out her mother was the first one.” I quickly told him of the whole story of how the movement had came to be. When I finished, he just nodded and smiled with his eyes.
“How about you? How was your day?”
<Nothing much... Aurana, I actually have a confession to make. The hawk, the Andalite we saw the other day, forced me to tell about... you know... us...>
I looked down as if the grass were interesting. “Yes, I, too have something to tell you. My brother knows...”
<I supposed that after I had seen him in the meadow. How had he come to find out?>
I grinned. “It wasn’t my fault! Your fur was in my hair, and he just happened to find it before I was able to brush it out.”
Aximili laughed. We began walking. My mind was lost in thought.
<Seems to me like you are doing some serious thinking,> Aximili spoke.
“I am,” I admitted.
<About what?>
We stopped. I turned around to face him. “Us. We are...” I sighed. “Beyond different. Already others know about us. Who’s next? Other Andalites? Other Yeerks?” I looked up and gazed into his eyes. “I just don’t know what to do.”
Aximili brought his hand up and touched the side of my cheek. <Would you be willing to meet the others? My friends, I mean?>
I nodded. “Yes. It would be wrong to keep this from them.”
<Then that is what we will do.>
I smiled. “You’re wonderful, Aximili. But would they understand?”
Aximili sighed. <I do not know. I barely understand this myself.> We both laughed. <But I don’t care whether they do or don’t.>
Suddenly a feeling came over me. I had no idea what it was. I never had experienced it before. But I had a desire to do... something. I did not know what.
Aximili sensed the same feeling. We leaned forward and my eyes began to close... but I pulled away. My face turned a bright red after I realized what we were about to do. Besides, he had no mouth. Just three slits. Still...
“Oh, I... I’m sorry,” I felt like a fool and gave a sheepish grin.
<That is quite alright.>
I had no idea what came over me. But instead of trying to stop and understand it, I slipped my hand into Aximili’s and we began walking again. Still, I held on to my dreams.
Aurana got up and began walking toward the meadow. “I ask you to not follow me anymore.”
Correy was puzzled. “What’s so special about Philip?”
“That’s the Andalite,” I muttered.
“Andalite? I thought they were evil. Like that one guy, Visser 3.”
“No,” I shook my head. “Visser 3 is the only Yeerk that has controlled an Andalite host. He is... beyond evil. He kills without any mercy or cares.”
“So... most Andalites are good,” she said.
“Basically no,” I said wrathfully. “They are the arrogant ones that care about nothing but themselves.” I crept through the trees and looked out from behind a tall, forked tree. “But I cannot stop what an Andalite’s feelings. Nor can I stop my sister’s,” I said bitterly.
“What do you mean?”
