Post by Admin on Sept 23, 2009 3:29:35 GMT -5
Ray:
The journey had been long and tiresome. So much morphing and demorphing...So much time spent flying. It had been a good thing that flying was enjoyable and that there were thermals to ride or else he probably would have died on the way there. After flying around Vancouver and checking the place out Ray figured it would be best to just hurry up and get to the hideout. <<Gee, I definitely need to catch up on some Z's...>> he thought to himself in thought-speak.
Raven had already filled him in and given him his first two morphs: A Rott/Shepherd mixed dog and a pigeon morph for transportation. She went into the details about the yeerk invasion and how the resistance had been fighting them. He wondered if Raven had thought to tip off Matthias or if he was just supposed to show up like the second coming or something.
At last! He spotted the hideout. Wow even I about passed this place up and I was looking for it! He was sure that the yeerks would never even think of he place as home to a threat. He flew in and landed on the branch of a nearby tree hoping to get a good look at what was probably going to be his future home.
Fin:
Fin had just woken up from a nap. Their new diggs were a lot more comfortable than a little room in the trailer and he was glad the Vancouver faction had moved to the Hunting Lodge. He dug his claws into the bark of the tree and wrapped his leathery wings tighter around himself. It was time for him to go on patrol. Matthias could have done it with his panther morph but a bat was a lot less noticeable than a panther so he normally took the night shifts these days.
He was about to drop from the branch and try to get a little warmer, though his tropical bat never fully warmed up in these northern forests, when a pigeon dropped onto his branch. Pigeons never came this far out from the city. Could this be one of the lost animorphs Matthias had told him about.
<<Hey pigeon, you human?>>
Ray:
Ray had heard the message, but had no idea where it was coming from. If he were human he'd be grinning. It was the first contact with anyone at all since the trip began, unless you count using the bathroom on guy's head whom, controller or not, was just saying all kinds of profane things that you just should not say to a woman. He had been a moron to think that he would just show up like a shadow and not get noticed. Of course there is going to be someone out watching over the place. He'd probably never be able to find the owner of this message if they didn't want him to so he figured the best thing to do would be to answer.
<<Maybe>> he answered back. He knew it would give him away, but there really would be no use in hiding from something he couldn't even see. Pigeons didn't have owl eyes. It was a sad fact of life. Hopefully they would have some place to rest aside from this gnarled old tree.
Fin:
Fin let his sound sight sweep carefully over the pigeon form above him as he hung below the branch. He didn't know why he was so cautious. The pigeon was big compared to most bats but not to him. And seriously, what threat could a pigeon be to a guy who could turn into a panther. All of these logical reasons to abandon caution didn't actually make him less nervous but he decided it was time to level with the guy.
He dropped off the branch and snapped his wings out to their full three foot wingspan and flapped up until past the pigeon's beak. He loved this morph. He was like the gargoyle of the flying world. He wasn't in the air for long though. He aimed towards a branch above the pigeon's head, flipped easily, and sunk his claws into the bark to anchor him. The first couple of times in this morph the trick of landing up side down had been beyond him but he had gotten better.
<<If you're speaking to me then you have to be an animorph so who are you and who are you looking for?>>
Ray:
The arrival of the bat nearly made Ray fly away. The bird instinct cried to run, but Ray caught it at the last second and dug in with his talons. He still couldn't resist jumping noticebly. He had noticed lately that the instincts of the animal could become very powerful in times of peril...Being out in the night just really didn't sit well with this bird, not with all the more powerful things roaming around in the night. Besides, it was out of its standard habitat. It longed to be resting somewhere safe, not out on edge hanging on some gnarly old tree.
<< I am Ray...I'd like to say I'm looking for Matthias, but I'm pretty sure he's already on the lookout for me. If I'm not already speaking to him...>>
Fin:
<<Be glad you weren't found by Matthias. I was found by Matthias, well actually I was found by another member, but Matthias soon caught up with us. He can be a little mean to new people who aren't with the program. Nope, much better you found me. Name's Fin, welcome to Vancouver Ray. I'm suppose to be going on patrol and if I don't Matthias will yell at me and I'll have to pretend to be chastised, and that can be a strain on my acting abilities so better skip it. You can come with or you can go to the Hunting Lodge over there and rest up. It depends on how tired you are. I don't know how far you had to fly to get here."
While he had been talking he his body had started to soak up the cold and he knew he would need to get in the air and warm up soon or he would have to demorph to heal frostbite damage.
Ray:
<< Yea, I'll follow along...let me demorph really quick because I don't know how much time we are going to spend out in the night and I've already used up a little more than an hour.>>
Ray spread his pigeon wings and flew towards the ground flaring at the last minute and touching down with absolute precision. He had been getting good at this morph, but still preferred the dog morph over it just for the simple fact there was so much happiness to the dog. More happiness than he ever contained...As the moonlight began to illuminate the ground below him and the bird instinct getting even more edgy, Ray focused on demorphing...
Lukas:
The weather was cool and crisp, and little to no prevailing winds were blowing. Citizens of Vancouver, their every action manipulated by the alien molluscs inside their skulls, would notice nothing strange about the lone goose flying high over their heads. Sure, geese were usually seen in the famous V formation, but in this season, migration was some way off. Nope, nothing at all strange about the bird.
Lukas enjoyed flying enormously. It trumped any rollocoaster he'd ever ridden and then some. There was just pure, unadulterated fun. Sure, the goose portion of his brain reasoned that there was nothing interesting about flying, it was just a means to an end. It just wished it had some companions to travel with. The human within, however, was having a blast.
Unfortunately, however, all good things must come to an end. And Lukas had spent a lot of time in this morph, undoubtedly close to the dangerous 2-hour limit he had been warned of. As he reached the city's outskirts, he altered his trajectory earthwards, and came in for a none-too-graceful landing. Surely something that would mark him out as an unnatural goose. Looking around, he noticed some thick scrubs amongst the sparse trees, and he waddled over, hoping that the morphing process would be obscured from sight by the vegetation.
As the process of absorbing feathers, shrinking a beak, growing hair and increasing in height completed, Lukas contemplated his next move. Surely he was close to the hideout now. This was supposedly the area of the animorph hideout, or approximately so. He knew what it looked like, and he knew roughly what the leader, Matthias, looked like. However, walking around in Human form, he may be mistaken for a...what was the word he'd been told, controller? There was probably a more appropriate morph for the situation, and it seemed that his land-dwelling form was it.
Focusing hard, Lukas began to feel the bones in his skull grind and shift around, forming a more canine-esque shape. Thick fur began to sprout across his body. His spine creaked and ground as it extended beyond his body, and for an instantr the flesh couldn't quitre cover it. His ears worked their way up the side of his head to finish near the top. His hands and feet warped in shape, and his nails extended to become claws. Finally, after being stood as what looked like a comically oversized woodland creature, he shrank so the appropriate size for his temporary species. Lukas had become a raccoon.
The sense of smell was great. The vision was considerably less than great. However, it was suitable for Lukas' purposes. And he had an idea.
His nose twitched in the air, searching for unfamiliar scents. The smell of humans was certainly present, but Lukas needed something more. Something exotic. Something like a wild animal that didn't belong in Canada. He caught one such odd smell, and began to follow his nose, hoping he was going the right way.
The raccoon waddled on.
Fin:
<Alright Ray. This is the foghorn tree. I call it that because if you're hanging upside down from that tree over there, which I call the orange tree though it doesn't grow oranges, that branch looks like a foghorn. And I call that one the orange tree because it smells like an orange. I don't know why, but it does. And over there is the hour glass tree. I'm sure you can see why, I mean look at it. I fly this route everynight. Do you know how boring that can be? Very boring and yet Matthias has me do it anyway. Does Mel have to do night patrol, no. Just me. Why, because I have a bat morph. I'm pretty sure that is discrimination. I mean, why do I get the lousy hours? Just because my morph was born nocturnal. Nocturnal people are people too and sometimes they like to sleep at normal hours. But when I brought this completely valid point up Matthias gave me an odd look. Whatever, it's not like I ever actually find anything on patrol.>>
He was flying with Ray, the new recruit, and showing him the patrol route. His leathery wings cut through the chill night air and the northern wind cut painfully through his thin tropical fur. Still he was one happy bat. He was alive and he was in the night, his element. He felt like a piece of the black night sky that had somehow got detached and was flying around down here. <<So here is the Lollipop tree. Do you know how bored you have to be to name trees? Try it sometime. And that iiiiiiiis, something I've never seen before.>> He didn't waste time. He veered quickly into the tree next to him and found a perch. <<Ray, get down. Land. I've never seen that and I've been doing this patrol quite a bit if you hadn't guessed. New can't be good.>>
There was a spherical shape floating in the air. Or there had been a second ago. It had zoomed between the gap between the Lollipop Tree and the Orange Tree and had been silhouetted against the moon for a second. If Fin hadn't been giving Ray the grand tour of the forest he would have missed it. He didn't know what it was but he didn't want to find out the hard way.
Ray:
Ray was half bored to death and half still amused at the fact that there was a name for darn near every tree in the Forrest. The pigeon morph was not the best choice for right now, but it made due just for the simple fact it was a pair of wings. He was pretty sure Matthias would have him flying this exact route before too long if not for anything other than to give Fin a night or two off. If Ray had figured anything out during this whole tour it was that people need nights off...or they just go completely insane.
It had gotten to where Fin had started to sound like the school teacher in Charlie Brown when one message did finally come in clearly: <<Ray, get down. Land. I've never seen that and I've been doing this patrol quite a bit if you hadn't guessed. New can't be good.>>. The way with which it was said was the real kicker...literally. Snapping to full attention Ray made a quick swoop to the ground flaring at the last minute and grabbing onto a low branch.<<Must be the warden out looking for poachers...>> he replied in private thought speak not knowing what to make of this. He had never been in contact with the enemy...at least knowingly. How are u supposed to react? The dog would be a senseless morph right now and it was the only firepower he had on hand. The bird morph? Let's just hope this guy or whatever it was wasn't a duck hunter fanatic. Face it Ray...your useless.. he thought trying so hard to find a way to win. Yea right, maybe we'll just luck out and it runs out of batteries... He sat there and and thought of the quote he had often thought of ever since hearing of the invasion "Never give up hope. If on the off chance you do, take up humor: It might keep you going long enough for you to luck out and live." Ray paused about it and sized up the situation noticing that this thing was coming straight for them. Looks like I'll be doing a full comedy routine tonight...
Fin:
<<They have to have some other way of detecting us,>> Fin told Ray. He knew that he was almost impossible to see, especially stationary. His dark black fur gave him that protection. Ray was a little more visible but he had gotten to the ground in good time, so whatever that thing was that Fin had glimpsed must have other ways of finding things because Ray was right, it was heading right towards them.
He bounced sound waves off it again and again hoping against hope that it would change course but it didn't. He did learn something though. Whatever it was it was made of some type of metal, and it wasn't solid all through. It was also almost a perfect sphere and it was floating. All those clues pointed to Mr. Plum in the conservatory with the wrench, or in this case yeerks.
<<We can't hide and we can't fight so that leaves run. You ready to run Ray?>> He had better manuverability below the trees and was much better in the night than Ray's pigeon. Of the two of them he had the better chance of outrunning the thing. Of course that didn't make him ready to volunteer or anything.
But if anyone could run away well it was him so with a purely mental sigh he said, <<yo Ray, I think we are going to have to outrun these guys. I'll go first then after it comes after me, you fly off. Fly back to the lodge if you can find it. Then fly south from there until you find a trailer. Our faction is there and they should know about this. I'll meet up with you when I can, hopefully you don't run into anymore of these things on your way,>> Fin concluded.
Then he waited for the robot to get closer...but not too close. When he thought it wouldn't miss him he dropped from the branch he was holding and opened his wings. He turned immediately and a good thing he did, because a red beam shot through the air he had been occupying. Ok, so these things were better than he thought. He would just have to lead it on a merry chase then.
He flapped and then closed his wings and shot through a small opening between two branches, momentarily losing the robot on his tail. But as he shot a quick glance behind him and fired some sonar he saw a second robot in addition to the one following him. Apparently Ray would not have the easy trip they had both hoped for.
Ray:
It was awsome timing. Seriously it was. Just as the thought it couldn't get any worse formed in his mind a second one came out of no where.Alright he thought in surprise Never think that again. Ray flew off in search of a hunting lodge he hoped he could find. He also hoped that he could live long enough to have a good long laugh about the whole irony of it all. He knew that he had to find that lodge sometime soon because him and Fin both were around the hour and a half mark on their morphs and would soon need to demorph. Ray knew that if he had to demorph and enemies were still around he'd almost certainly have to commit suicide to keep them from taking him due to complete exhaustion. The bird eyes were good, but that didn't help the repetitive nature of the woods any. Dodging and weaving in between trees, his follower now started to shoot. He couldn't see anything at all, but there was a slight noise as the laser lanced its way into the trees. Ray didn't dare look back because the hunting lodge was the only thing he wanted to see and he was sure that it wasn't behind him.
Fin:
Fin ducked, dodged, dipped, weaved (ran out of d's) and basically flew his wings off trying to shake the robot behind him but to no avail. Even though he was flying through a forest and the trees should have slowed the thing down it stayed on his tail. And even though it long ago should have lost him in the dark, it was able to track him. Which meant it was either using sonar, but he imagined even sonar would have been confused by his flying, or tracking his heat signature or using some odd alien technology you haven't thought of, but he decided to work with what he knew.
If he was going to throw this thing off he needed something to take his place. He began shooting sonar into the surrounding trees and at the ground but all he could 'see' were sleeping birds and even if he woke them up it would cost him precious time and they might not be big enough to catch the hunter robot's 'eye'.
Finally he spotted a raccoon on the ground, making it's raccoon way along. He dove for it. Maybe if he could get behind it the hunter robot would go after it instead of him. <<Too bad for you Mr. Raccoon,>> he directed his thoughts to the animal, not knowing the animal would understand him.
Lukas:
Lukas had been making steady progress, pausing occasionally to indulge his raccoon instincts with a good sniff, but for the most part keeping control and ambling on at an acceptable pace. He assumed he was nearing his destination, as the smell of humans was growing stronger, but it was intermingled lightly with the scents of animals unfamiliar to the raccoon brain. Unless humans had taken to riding tigers and walking iguanas, he guessed these odd scents could be attributed to others with morphing abilities. He had no sure way of knowing, but hey, he didn't have any other leads.
That is, until he heard a voice inside his mind, the first he'd heard since that fateful meeting with Cassie. His vaguely canine head snapped up, straining its eyes to pick out the source from the darkness. He quickly detected a bat, diving towards him with some speed. He didn't quite know why, and his shock at hearing words drowned out the meaning behind those words, so his raccoon instincts took over. The small animal lunged at the diving bat as it swooped, interpreting aggression from a smaller animal and responding with its own aggression in kind. As he lunged, Lukas responded to the voice with a sarcastic <<Too bad for me, eh?>>, not noticing the danger lucking directly behind the bat, directly in the path of his momentum.
Fin:
Fin didn't really think about the raccoon's response. It was too late to change course now anyway. But the bat naturally reacted to the raccoon's aggression by flaring it's wings and hissing. If he had been a smaller species of bat he might have tried to make himself smaller, surrender. But he was a Spectral Bat, a hunter of the tropical jungles. He had a three foot wingspan and the claws and fangs of the predator he was so he flared and challenged the raccoon.
It ended up saving the raccoon's life. The dracon beam fired by the hunter robot hit his outstretched wing instead of the raccoon's head and burned it away to nothing. Fin dropped out of the sky in agony, remaining wing flapping uselessly.
He had enough presence of mind to use his claws to crawl onto the raccoon's back. <<I hope you don't mind if I hitch a ride but we have to get out of here.>> He said to the unknown animorph, since that was definitely what this raccoon was, his mental voice full of pain.
Ray:
Ray quickly found the lodge and headed south toward the trailer. He knew he had to lose it before he got the hideout because there was no way he was going to lead this thing, whatever it was back to there. Theres just me and this thing out tonight...Just this thing and I. If only there were more animorphs... Ray thought there would at least be more.....targets! Thats what he needed: targets. But what else was wondering around at this time of night? AHH!!! A slight singe cooked his tail feathers from a near miss and he dove even lower trying to outrun something that obviously wanted him very badly. Everything sleeps at night. Nothing is up...Unless I wake it up....
Suddenly he had a plan...<<Grrrrrr! HSSS!!!! WUFF WUFF!!>> he called in an unusually loud broadcast of thought speak trying to imitate anything that would absolutely scare the daylights (teehee) out of anything near him. The animals wouldn't know the difference at least. Leaves started to rustle as a nearby deer took off. Then several others! A tree full of birds erupted into action as birds flew away after being frightened awake from their slumber. Ray weaved in as closely as possible to these birds and out of the surprised cawing from the birds he heard one shriek as it fell out of the sky leaving a smoke trail. His follower seemed confused and took off after the largest grouping of birds which luckily he wasn't a part of.
Lukas:
<<Your lucky that thing's after us, or I might have to press you for answers as to why you attacked me, then assumed my allegience.>> Lukas snapped at the bat, although he did, apparently, need to keep the flying mammal alive if he was to get any kind of answers. Besides, he wasn't prepared to struggle when the more pressing issue of that laser-firing robot was upon them. He was disorientated, having some creature seemingly charge him and then hitch a lift, and he had no idea were he was going. It seemed he'd need this bat more than he'd suspected.
<< Well,>> Lukas began, before narrowly dodging a blast from the pursuing hunter. That had been close, a couple more shots like that and he'd be done for.
<<No time for pleasantries. I need to know where to go, and I need to know right now.>>
Ray:
Ray got to the trailer and started demorphing. He didn't see Fin there yet, so after sending a public thought speak message to everyone inside he started to morph dog. The eyes of Pigeon hadn't been enough and he knew that the dog's eyes would be the same way, but it wasn't the eyes he needed. No, since they were probably lower than treetops he'd need, rather the ears and smell. He figured he could hear a few animals tearing through the woods at high speed with lasers going off ever which direction. Once fully morphed he started back into the woods hoping he wasn't sniffing out a murder mystery.
Fin:
<<Hide. Burrow or something, whatever raccoons do.>> He hugged himself against the fur trying to make himself as small as possible. It was easier with only one wing.
<<I assume you're an animorph since you're a raccoon and you're speaking to me. Seeing as I'm a bat and I'm speaking to you I just decided we were on the same side. Unity of the forest creatures and such.>> The pain was making him snap. <<We can't destroy that thing, we have to lose it and get back to headquarters. Hopefully Ray made it.>> He didn't want to explain to Matthias, well I found a new recruit but then I got him killed. Oops.
Ray:
Ray ran through the woods trying to be as quiet as possible. His sensitive dog ears hearing nothing but his paws hitting the ground under him and there were so many smells that it gave him no information. <<Fin!>> he called in private thought speak. <<Fin, you better still be alive...HBO's late night...eh...adult shows are about to come on and you can't watch 'em if you're dead.>> The humor was mainly for him out of worry that he'd left Fin to die. If anyone was expendable here it was him, he was the new guy and all.
He was planning on raising some hell if he found them and trying to escape as he had earlier. Then again he could just run into the same one that was chasing him...He put the thought away thinking that if Fin was dead he'd just run away and be some sort of vigilante animorph....
Lukas:
<<Heh, I'll try to lose its attention. I've been told demorphing gets rid of injuries, so we'll need to find a distraction. Then we'll be able to focus on destroying it.>>
Lukas weaved and dodged, trying to avoid the dracon beams which were within a hair's breadth of ending his life, and that of his passenger as well. He sniffed the air intensely as he scrambled along, hunting for something that could distract the attention of his pursuer. The mixture of scents initially gave him nothing. However, he quickly noticed one scent intensifying and scrambled towards it. He couldn't be sure that this wasn't another animorph; after all, he'd encountered this one, there would likely be others. However, as he neared his target, he was fairly sure it wasn't originally a human: the feral instincts of the raccoon informed it was some kind of duck. His eyes picked up thick bushes, and the scent seemed to be originating from them.
Lukas launched himself forwards. The extra speed burst saved him, as he lost an inch of tail rather than his life. He scrambled forward into the undergrowth, coming face to face with a large duck, though the exact name of the species eluded him. The poor bird, confronted by a predator, beat its wings intensely and attempted furiously to escape, bursting from the bushes and taking flight. The dracon beams no longer peppered the ground around Lukas, and the duck's distressed cries quickly ceased.
<<We might be safe here, for a few moments.>> Lukas whispered, not entirely sure of his words even as he said them. Still, chased or not, he need his new found ally capable again as soon as possible. <<Think its safe for you to demorph?>>
Fin:
<<I'll have to.>> Fin was definitely a complainer. He loved to complain but since the raccoon was concentrating on getting them out alive he had figured he better not distract him. That said, he was pretty sure the bat was dying.
He let go of his death grip on the raccoon's fur and fell to the ground. It caused more pain but he was already on his way to being human. When he got there he took a moment to breath and that is when he heard Ray's thought speak calling out to him. He couldn't respond as a human so he started morphing again but this time he chose to become a kit fox.
The kit fox was small, sleek, fast and had good night vision. It would be much easier to hide from the hunter robots on the ground than in the air and he could stay close to the raccoon.
When he was completely fox he called out to Ray. <<Ray I hope you found the lodge and ditched your robot. We are going to try to ditch ours and head there. We should hide out for the night and in the morning I'll take you both to meet Matthias. Oh, and I found another animorph, that's what I meant by you both, because I realize I didn't explain that, and I'm much more of an adult swim type of guy since cartoon network is free and HBO isn't.>> His normal eccentric personality was returning quickly now that he wasn't in pain and he let the raccoon hear the thought speak as well as Ray, even though he would only get half of what was going on.
He turned to the raccoon beside him. <<Name's Glorfindle but everyone calls me Fin. What's yours? And on the count of three we should make a run for it.>>
Ray:
Ray walked his way out into the clearing that was the lodge. No lights were on, but he didn't expect any as he'd heard from Fin that him and Lukas were still on the run. Ray started to demorph knowing he'd need his hands to open the door. That was the main thing he missed while being just about any animal. The ability to be able to do simple things with your hands. You'd never even stop to think about how much you use your hands and how much they'd be missed when they weren't there anymore. For all the cool senses the dog had they paled in comparison to the almighty thumb.
Once fully human Ray opened the door and stepped into the lodge. He couldn't see much and didn't want to turn on any lights, but had a little moonlight shining in. There was just enough moonlight coming through the windows that he spotted a chair in the living room. He shut the door glad for the opportunity to rest. Ray sat in the old recliner and although he didn't mean to, he fell asleep within minutes.
Mel:
The noise of the door opening made Mel wake up, her nature a little wary by now. She peeked out to watch; the person was a newcomer, his face unfamiliar. She wished she had a small, night-able morph, but she didn't. *And, whoever they are, if they aren't coming in with guns or dracons, it had to be another new animorph. Lukas and Matthias weren't back yet but she still wasn't the only one here, and it seemed obvious one of the others had told him to come in. She started to say hi, but he fell asleep quickly and she didnt' want to disturb him.
Fin:
<<Good thing we found that family of quails. Well good for us, bad for them, but at least we don't have robots on our tails anymore,>> Fin said waving his bushy tail. <<So that over there is the Loopy tree. I call it that because of the loop to loops the roots do at the base down there, see?>> He was referring the to the Lollipop tree but it was only the Lollipop tree from the air. <<And over there that is the Orange tree. It smells like oranges, check it out.>> Smells don't change whether you're on the air or the ground.
<<Ah and here is home sweet home, or actually home sweet work in progress. Our official head quarters is a trailer about a mile from here but I'm fixing this place up nice to be our new headquaters. We can spend the night here and find Matthias in the morning.>> He was of course talking about the Lodge.
<<Alright raccoon buddy, time to demorph, unless of course you're really a raccoon and you've been lying to me all this time. I want you to know that you can tell me anything, even if it means accepting that you're a raccoon.>> As he rambled he demorphed until he could open the door and step inside.
"I think we'll be safe for the night but no telling what's gonna happen tomorrow."
Ray:
Awoke to the sound of the door opening. He had no idea who it was that was coming in. "I take it your either friend, foe, or the pizza guy...and I havn't ordered a pizza...So either I'm dead or your alive Fin." He waited to see if he was going to die. Finally after a moments pause he got up and turned around to see pair of forms that would have no resemblence to anything. He knew it was the demorphing process however. "Ah, so you did make it."
Finally they were all to a safe spot. Finally they could rest for the night. But who was the raccoon? "Hey who is the other guy?" Ray asked. At least it was more firepower for their side. Safety and more numbers. Two of the best things he could have asked for...aside from pizza.
Mel:
Mel was a little more relaxed by their conversation. She was a little groggy but it didn't take long to get pretty much woke up. The reason she was here because she was the one still with them who knew the way here. She'd spent the night because though the deer wasn't bad after dark, it was safer to return in the morning.
"Good, you're alive" Any time they returned alive was a good time in her mind. "Yeah, like he said...who's the newcomer?" she asked curiously. At least he wouldn't need to go through the three day watch; if he was already morph-capable he could hopefully be trusted.
Ray:
"Oh hey Melanie." Ray said with a wave as Fin and the newcomer were still demorphing. "I'm taking it we don't get cable out this far" Ray said with a laugh. "I wonder if this place is even stocked with the necessities for living...like a TV..." Ray looked around, but couldn't see much in the darkness. The moonlight through the windows and the open door were the only light that the night provided to him and he wasn't about to flip on a light switch.
The demorphing teammates were silhouetted in the night their main features visible, but the details hidden in the dark. As they grew they reminded Ray of the stereotypical ghost appearance. How mean of a trick would this be on a normal human being? Ray thought mischievously.
Mel:
"I wish." Melanie said with a slight chuckle. "Although it might be all yeerk propeganda by now. I 'd love to have it back too but I guess I don't miss it like I did at first." Melanie also saw the demorphers in the shadows, and wrinkled her face a little. "Even knowing what I do, that's still gross" she said. "I wonder if you ever manage to get used to it."
Lukas:
Lukas remained in morph, silent for the most part. He'd not given his name when asked, and merely followed his new companion, Fin, listening intently and only giving occasional affirmations to statements. They'd lost their pursuers and reached what was supposedly a safehouse, a trailer of some sort. It looked run down, but functional. Lukas had watched as Fin demorphed, still amazed by the process. He'd travelled alone, ever since that fateful meeting with Cassie, and as a result he hadn't really seen much morphing, not being able to watch himself for obvious reasons.
Fin had then entered the trailer, and Lukas had scuttled in afterwards, caution of what searched for them beyond the trees overloading the fear of the unknown interior. They'd come across two others, and Lukas assumed that they were allies of Fin. He'd listened to them briefly, remaining silent, gauging those surrounding him. Three 'animorphs'. One may have been a coincidence, but the presence of three made him suspect that this was the faction he'd been told of. Still, Lukas was inherently cautious of those with whom he was unfamiliar, and though he doubted that they were hostile, he still wasn't sure of them. He began to demorph as his name was asked, as it would probably be more appropriate to be in human form. As the changes surged through his body, lengthening bones and rearranging organs, he continued to listen to the conversation around him. He allowed himself a smile when TV was mentioned, and another when the subject of watching others morph was brought up.
Finally, he reached a fully human form, and looked at the three surrounding him. His eyes remained cold and detached, not hostile, just prepared.
'My name is Lukas Cross. I was told of a faction of...' he tested the word out loud, 'animorphs that were resisting the aliens here. I was told of this by a girl called Cassie."
Ray:
"Well, your in the right place" Ray said with a grin. "Don't worry I'm new too. First night on patrol actually. I wonder what time lunch break is..." The outlines not telling him too much about everyones mood. He didn't know about the rest of them, but he felt good. He had gotten the ability to morph into animals, survived certain death, and now had allies that could also morph.
Ray squinted trying to get a read on the other three, but couldn't really see any facial expression because they were only silhouettes. He knew Melanie couldn't have been in two bad of a mood because he had heard her talk and picked up on how she spoke. Lukas on the other hand gave nothing away when he spoke. Fin? He didn't know Fin all that well, but put him on the kind of person that could handle a lot of stress so he wasn't all that worried about him. Rather than trying to find out by how they acted he figured it would probably be best to just ask. "So, how's everyone tonight?"
Mel:
Melanie was doing a bit of a front in a sense. She was no Marco-not that she ever knew him but the original Animorphs were legend by now- but knew a bit of lightheartness could offset stress and worry if done right. Inside she was worried about the losses they'd suffered and the small-ness of their group.
"I'm kinda new too although I guess I'm not the new girl anymore. I'm lucky to still be here though." she didn't elaborate but knew she was fortunate Matthais hadn't thrown her off the team or something. "Tired...stressed" she replied to Fin's question. "Trying not to kill myself worrying too much...not that that's possible I don't think..."
Fin:
"Nice to meet ya Lukas. Welcome to the Animorphs. Feel free to go out on life threatening missions with us anytime. We don't have life insurance, it would be too expensive, but we have a wonderful health plan," he said waving the arm that the dracon beam had burned off and morphing had restored, "and the food is better than the stuff we got in our high school cafeterias," and then added in a stage whisper, "but only by a little."
Mel:
"Yes,nice to meet you. Welcome to the team. Yeah that is one good thing about morphing. Especially since we tend to get hurt a lot." Melanie said with a nod. "I'd say anything is better than cafeteria food. Of course, getting it here is shall we say quite interesting sometimes with all the yeerks in town."
Lukas:
Lukas broke into a grin. His natural reservations were breaking down, because he'd been alone for a long time, and he'd missed human company. If these guys were animorphs under Matthias' command, he could surely trust them. Besides, they seemed nice enough, and plenty of humour was flowing around. It seemed these people would be his new family, so where was the logic in remaining cold and unpleasant?
"Thanks a lot, and as for the food, anything's better than the trash I had to eat on the way here. Had to fly in morph for several days in morph, stopping loads. That's the problem with the time limit I guess, you have to play with timing, while remaining sure you don't get trapped." He looked thoughtful for a second, but then continued. "As for missions, I'm fine with dealing with danger, and I'm all too willing to get rid of the yeerks. Besides, I may have been dead by now if Fin hadn't literally flown into me out there, so I guess I owe him some help." he said with a laugh. "Though, having said that, his original plan was to sick that robot onto me, so maybe I don't owe him all that much."
Lukas looked around for a chair, and upon spotting one, sank into it with a grunt of satisfaction. His journey had been tiring, and the chase through the woods doubly so. He undoubtedly had to do some things now, having been introduced to the group, but he was definitely looking forward to some shut eye in relative safety.
Ray:
"Nice to meet you Lukas, I'm Ray." Ray said in reply to Lukas's introduction. "You guys actually scrounged and scrimped on the way here huh? Was I really the only one who came prepared?" Ray pulled out a debit card and flashed it like it was solid gold. With a big grin he explained "I had some money I was saving up for a new car, but now I guess it might as well be food stamps for the whole lot of good a new car is going to do...Although a four wheeler would be nice out here...THEN AGAIN so would a big ol' yeti morph haha. Whoever takes a dracon beam for me gets a free buffett" he added with a wink. "If you guys need anything just ask. As far as I'm concerned it's the faction's money now..."
Mel:
"I was too scared to do much but scrounge...I was afraid I'd slip up and get noticed if I spent too much time in the city. " said Mel. "Now I'd think about hunting but it'd be my luck I'd be mistaken for a real deer and get in trouble before I could call out. Now, if I had a big cat or a wolf or something...Personally for getting around out here I could go for one of those big things with all the blades. Just walk though the trees and slice, slice..."
Lukas:
"My credit card was at home when it got torn up by the yeerks, so money's a luxury I haven't had." Lukas grumbled. "Besides, I didn't know that yeerks infested people until I met Cassie, until them I just assumed they killed them. So I avoided population centres on principle, and the only people I met were located in isolated spots out of contact with the yeerks. I occasionally met someone who'd offer me food or give me shelter, albeit under close watch, and I occasionally stole food, but only when I was too weak to hunt. I'm not much of a cook, so almost everything I've hunted was either undercooked or black as charcoal."
"And what d'you mean, those big things with blades? Are these some of the aliens the yeerks enslaved before us?" he asked, as he knew nothing of hork bajir or taxxons, or gedd or leerans or the other races attacked by the yeerks. The only other extraterrestrials he'd been told of were the andalites, and that was only after asking exactly where the morphing power had come from. He'd been too concerned with travelling, and testing out his two new bodies, to think much about other lifeforms.
Mel:
"Sounds like me" Mel said with a chuckle. "Give me a stove or microwave and I'd be okay but open fire is a lot harder to deal with. Plus there's the chance of detection so a lot of the time I'd settle for cold. I did manage to pass once or twice with things like a McDonald's or something but not often, I was too scared.
"I think so. I don't know what they're called exactly but they look a lot like dinosaurs. And they're not something I'd wanna run into, morph or no. I try to stay well away from them."
Ray:
"Yeah" Ray said. "We deffinently need more firepower. We're more suited to clean house with Snow White than fight off a massive alien invasion. I look forward to becoming one with a nice big cat, or perhaps something that can throw its weight around. I don't like this running at all. A straight out battle would be just fine with me."
"On the topic of food, lets just say I hope you guys can cook enough to survive or that this place comes equipped with a microwave..." his stomach rumbled in what seemed to be agreement. "We deffinently need to recruit a pizza delivery guy..."
Lukas:
"I'm taking it you guys haven't got many impressive morphs for battle just yet. I'm much the same. I can morph into a raccoon and a canada goose, and I'm sure I don't need to emphasise how poorly they perform in combat." Lukas said. "I'd prefer being able to do some damage to the yeerks instead of fleeing tail between legs too. Honking and sniffing just can't quite compare to lashing out with claws or crunching with jaws."
"As much as I adore a good pizza, I'm not too partial to the side order of yeerks that'd probably come with it. Well, not without a suitable morph to cause some serious harm anyway. And hoping to find some uninfested guy walking around out there with a king's ransom of pizza and a leaflet to 'Pizza Planet: Animorph style' might be ideal, but I'm not looking favourably at our chances." Lukas' own stomach made its presence known, making rumbling noises seemingly in response to Ray. "Actually, I might be tempted to grab a slice of pepperoni, extra cheese, hold the mushrooms right about now. You guys having anything to eat around here? Or do I have to go outside and feed myself via the healthy, slim fast diet of a raccoon?"
Mel:
I don't have it too badly, deer aren't predators but they can kill if you get on the wrong side of their hooves and antlers. The cockatoo though leaves a bit to be desired" Melanie replied. "I still can't wait though for a predatory morph of some kind, one that can do some damage like you just said. And maybe even take down some venison for us or something. Just as long as it's not me."
Lukas talked about food again and Melanie said "I'm not sure eating in morph will feed your human self ...I never asked though."
Fin:
"My poor compatriots. So hungry. Be hungry no more." Fin walked into the kitchen and opened the freezer. He pulled out some frozen pizza's; cheese, pepperoni and vegetable. "Matthias put me in charge of getting this place ready for the faction to move here and food was top on my list. I'm not sure if he knows I've been making trips into the city to get this stuff but I'm sure he'll approve after a couple of slices. There's also a fridge in the basement full of food and blood. And before you ask, yes I am a vampire." He was actually talking about the emergency blood storage Matthias had moved to the lodge but since vampire references made better conversation starters Fin went with that.
"We have a microwave but I haven't gotten the generator working yet. I'm trying to modify it to run on less gas since we aren't going to want to make gas trips very often, especially at today's prices, but I haven't gotten it yet so the generator is currently in pieces in the backyard. We have a gas stove though, my uncle never converted it to electric, go uncle Mike, and that means we can put these in the oven."
Ray:
Ray was beside himself as he saw the glow of the refrigerator and Fin pulling frozen pizza's out. FOOD! "Well, since Fin is a vampire...and he's got blood downstairs.....I CALL HIS SHARE!" Ray said. He was pretty hungry and as he saw Fin unwrapping what he used to think of as just another meal he was slowly realizing that this would be a feast. He hadn't had a full meal in days. Ray pulled up a stool and sat down at the counter. "We'll there's no complaints here other than the fact I have yet to locate a television, but right now that seems pretty trivial."
This was great. Fin had absolutely thought of everything. He was stunned by how well prepared the lodge had been. Sure it was still used every now and then for a vacation spot, but he didn't think that it would be this well equipped during this time of the season. Apparently Fin had put some time into shaping it up to be a hideout. Hopefully Matthias wouldn't get too irate about him and Fin taking a lunch break on food he didn't even know existed yet...
Fin:
"No way, you can't have my share. Even though we vampires must drink blood to survive we still like to eat food for the pleasure of eating it." He closed the refrigerator, the only appliance he had deemed necessary to keep running and so had improvised a battery for it, and began pulling out plates.
He also pulled out some aluminum foil and put four of the frozen pizzas on them while the oven was heating up. He figured they were all hungry enough to eat one. To make conversation he asked, "so where is everyone from, you know, before all this?"
Mel:
"Chicago" Melanie replied. She was glad for the late night snack since she was getting a bit hungry. "I still don't know why I came so far west looking for a faction...I guess I wasn't totally thinking clearly. But this group did need the help..." She sighed "I only wish I knew what happened to my sister. I'm still hoping to find her one day and de-yeerk her since chances are she's probably one of them."
Ray:
Greenfield, Indiana. Not a very big town, but a hometown no less. It's about 10 miles east of Indianapolis." Ray was hungry, but found the chatter something of a delight as well. It had been a long time since he had sat around with some people and shot the bull. He thought of something witty that instant and added "You know, its been awhile since I sat around with some people and shot the bull...which is totally ironic since we're in a hunting lodge..." It was good to take his mind off of the evil alien invasion for a while. He had to think about it long enough as it was seeing as how he would probably do a lot more running and hiding.
Lukas:
"I'm actually from Vancouver" Lukas said, collecting a stool as he spoke with a distinctly non-canadian accent. "Well, originally, I'm from Doncaster, England, but I was sent here after my parents were died in a car crash. I've come to terms with it, after all, with all the recent events it seems less terrible. They never had to go through everything those alive today have coped with..."
He trailed off. Then, afraid of killing the buzz of conversation with such a painful topic, Lukas swiftly changed subject. " So, pepperoni, eh? Haven't had that in far too long. Should make a change to the food I've been eating recently. Far more tasty." His stomach growled ravenously once more, and he patted it idly, painful thoughts replaced by the tantalising thought of a good hot pizza.
Fin:
"England. That's pretty sweet. Your accent must get you a lot of play around here. Or maybe not because the Canadians have odd accents too but in America you'd be a hit, especially where I come from. I'm from New Canaan, CT. It has to be the most boring, whitest, suburbia town in all of existence. Ever seen the Stepford Wives? That was set in my town."
He put the pizzas in the oven now that it was heated. "I was a weed dealer in my home town and the cops were starting to catch on. Which should have been impossible. I mean kids in CT have absolutely nothing to do with their time so they get drunk and high all the time. The cops leave us alone unless you are being exceptionally obvious so I don't know why I was getting heat from the authorities but I was so I decided to spend the summer with my aunt in Vancouver and let things cool down. And then everything went wrong. I'm hoping to get word about my family from the faction in New York but no luck so far.
Ray:
Ray sat there listening to everyone's stories and after listening to Fin's it struck him that there was no one he was going to look for. No one was around that the was hoping was still all right. His parents were never around, his aunt, as nice as she was, was never really that much a part of his life, and he had no love interest to check up on. He truly was alone. At least now I can go all out without fear of dying because someone needs me. Ray for the most part viewed people that you love, as wonderful as they were, as liabilities that would ultimately, somehow, get in the way of ultimate goal. And when something like this was going on, nothing like that could happen.
"Anyone very good at anything in particular?" he asked, hoping to gain knowledge on any skills his teammates may have. "I'm good with computers. Anyone care to share any of their special skills?"
Fin:
"I'm good with machines. Any type of machine. I'm ok with software but I'm better with hardware. I just like to mess with stuff, fool around, build stuff. That's one of the reasons I'm in charge of modifying this place. Ahh, pizza smell." He knelt down so he could look into the oven but the pizza wasn't done yet.
He gave a dramatic sigh, "Looks like we have a whole 'nother two minutes to go. Who wants what by the way. There are two cheeses and two pepperonis in there. I call a cheese!"
Ray:
"It really doesn't matter to me. As long as its a whole pizza." Ray replied. "So if you think you could get the parts, you could build a computer? I could get us any operating system that we could care to have on it. Windows XP generally takes about 10 tries to crack depending on your source. Plus, I got an Aircard that would work perfect out here. It's technically still with my laptop, but I could goto the store and tell them it's busted and I could use my warranty to get another one. It gets internet anywhere there's a cell phone signal."
Mel:
"I don't really have any talents of my own" Melanie replied. "It's more a little of this and a little of that. I can write but I'm not sure we want to leave diaries or anything behind. I'm a big animal person which makes the morphing kind of fun. Well when I'm not having to fight something anyway. I like computers but most of what I used to do was on the internet. Only I don't know anything about hacking. She chuckled and said "I wonder if there's yeerk social networking or something now. YeerkSpace or YeerkJournal or something. Too bad there isn't an Animorph one. Maybe we wouldn't feel so isolated if we could talk to other factions."
Ray:
"Yeah" Ray said with a laugh. ""Oppi 556, the taxxon, bit me." is the latest hit on yeerktube." Ray's stomach growled again after saying this and he though surely the pizza's must nearly be done. He got up and went to the fridge and got out a coke. He opened it up, took a drink, and went to sit back down.
"So what's Matthias like? i've never me the guy and was wanting some insight on him."
Fin:
Fin was always ready with an answer but this time he held back. He and Matthias weren't the best of buddies. He had pretty much insulted Fin in every way possible when they had met, not the best first impression. Then again Fin himself had been acting a little insane when they met so the same was probably true for Matthias. But Fin always acted insane so that wasn't new. But Matthias was always hard so that wasn't new either.
Since his capture, three day screening and subsequent induction into the animorphs Fin had come to respect Matthias even if he wouldn't pick him for his dodgeball team (or maybe he would so Matthias wouldn't pone him from across the court). So he wasn't sure what to say to the new members. He didn't want to give them a bad impression but didn't want to give them false hope a great loving guy either. He decided the middle road was the best way to go.
"Matthias is one of a kind. You'll just have to meet him for yourself. But don't make a joke, he has no sense of humor or a very twisted sense of humor that only he understands. Pizza!" The last was said as he pulled the pizzas out of the oven. He put the four pizzas on a big plate and brought it into the living room, placing it on the table where everyone could reach it. Then he went back into the kitchen and brought out some plates, ceramic since washing dishes was infinitely safer than buying paper plates, and brought those over too.
"We could each have one pizza or we could all just share. As the great prophet Bar'nai told us, sharing is caring."
Mel:
"Yeah, he can be nice, and he does good being the leader,but he's not a guy you want to get mad" Melanie added. "Especially with that panther morph of his."
"eww...wait, what's a Taxxon? Are they those big ugly worms? Gross." she said, wrinkling her nose.
When the pizza came out, she said "well it's not Domino's but it'll do. Actually back home we had a place called Arenello's that was better than Domino's. They had this sweet sauce...But I've learned to like frozen too" She thought about mimicking the old Tombstone commericals but thought better of it given the circumstances. ".We have Chicago style deep dish all over the place of course but it's too thick for my taste. I can never eat it all."
Ray:
"Ah, I see" Ray replied, although it was quite unclear. Ray took a slice of pizza, which, at the moment, seemed to be ten times more demanding of his attention than any superior he'd ever served. The bliss of the pizza overwhelmed him and he began eating quickly which he often did at meal time. As Melanie spoke about various pizza joints, Ray would have liked to have commented on some of his favorites, but due to the incessant need to keep his mouth stuffed, this seemed impossible. Ray was not a fat person. He thought fat people were funny, not in a cruel sort of way, but in the same balance that he laughed at everything. However, when it came to eating....Ray simply loved to eat. He soon noticed he was eating at about twice the rate of speed as everyone else there.
"Iaf mmm *munch munch* like Jack's *mm* pizza" Ray said in between bites. "Theyfa *munch much* got a *munch* good buffet *munch munch*" Although he didn't talk much when he ate he figured that this light chat was important into getting to know his comrades better. He was never a very chummy guy, but these people seemed cool enough to open up to. You don't run into people your age that can morph into animals every day of the week so I guess I better treat 'em like celebrities or something...
Mel:
Melanie laughed a little at Ray's commenting between bites, not in a teasing way though, just in a fun way. "It's too bad most of the animals are gone now, someone with a predatory morph could get some meat that way. As long as it's not my meat." she generally talked more while she ate. "Thats my big fear about the deer morph. I know that with so few animals there aren't many hunters either but still..." she said. "Well that is there aren't too many animal hunters. They're busy hunting Animorphs now, which is even worse."
"A garden or window box would be good too but too obvious. Hence raiding in town every now and then for food. I like his idea though, morphing controllers...just as long as we don't run into the originals along the way." She knew it could be wierd morphing a person as opposed to an animal...maybe the unwilling controllers wouldn't mind if it helped free them somewhere down the road. And the willing ones were the bad guys anyway, right?
Lukas:
Lukas had sat listening for the most part, his mouth preoccupied with the highly important task of eating. He'd had no comments on specific skills, as physical skills didn't translate to morphs, and he had no significant technical abilities beyond being reasonably bright. Sarcasm probably didn't count as a skill either, but he considered himself to be a good judge of character.
Nothing really worth mentioning.
Lukas could eat a lot of food, but he didn't eat quickly. He savoured every bite of his pepperoni pizza, and while he always seemed to have food between his jaws, he didn't seem to take fresh bites too often. Good food was just one of the things he really enjoyed in life. One thing that he fully intended not to let a yeerk enjoy.
"Morphing people doesn't sound great in my mind. I mean, it'd be handy, but I couldn't be comfortable with it. Especially if it was a female body. It would obviously be a smaller adjustment than becoming an elephant or a lemming, but..." Lukas couldn't find the words. He wouldn't be very comfortable with it, that much was certain.
Mel:
"Yeah, I don't quite" *munch munch munch* feel comfortable with it either" replied Melanie. She was doing her best to enjoy the pizza since she didn't know when she'd get a chance at more. "It's like, invasion of privacy" *munch munch* or something, you know? I'd like to morph a guy once, just to see *munch* what goes on in your heads, but I think I'd only do it if the other person said it was okay."
Ray:
Ray finished up eating. He had scarfed the pizza rather quickly and all the others were still eating. He stood up with his drink and started to pace. Ray liked to pace because he didn't care much for sitting in one spot too long. He had had his power nap for the evening and didn't really see a reason to be sitting when he could be pacing. Pacing gave his idle self something to do. With all those long hours on the computer and sitting in one spot he figured he would probably pace the rest of his life just trying to catch up on lost time.
He didn't really care much for the idea of morphing another human. He could see where it would have its advantages, but it really didnt stike his interests too much. He figured he was just apathetic to the whole idea. However there was something odd that popped into his mind. Ray grinned to himself before saying "You know, it would be funny if we went back to Matthias all morphed as each other."
Fin:
"Let's do it," he said reaching towards Mel even as he said it. But he stopped not wanting to offend anyone. Normally such a consideration would never have crossed his mind but two of the people here were new so best not to scare them off too soon. "I don't see any problem with it. I mean, you would be the best spy ever if you could actually become someone else. Isn't that what makes the yeerks so hard to fight?"
Mel:
It was a funny idea but a risky one. "Well, yeah." she said. "But I'd just as soon sit out...you can do it if you want but Matthias isn't happy with me as it is for screwing up earlier today. I don't want to give him more to yell at me about." But she was still curious. "Darnit, I'm torn up...he already is mad but I so want to see what it's like to be a guy..."
The journey had been long and tiresome. So much morphing and demorphing...So much time spent flying. It had been a good thing that flying was enjoyable and that there were thermals to ride or else he probably would have died on the way there. After flying around Vancouver and checking the place out Ray figured it would be best to just hurry up and get to the hideout. <<Gee, I definitely need to catch up on some Z's...>> he thought to himself in thought-speak.
Raven had already filled him in and given him his first two morphs: A Rott/Shepherd mixed dog and a pigeon morph for transportation. She went into the details about the yeerk invasion and how the resistance had been fighting them. He wondered if Raven had thought to tip off Matthias or if he was just supposed to show up like the second coming or something.
At last! He spotted the hideout. Wow even I about passed this place up and I was looking for it! He was sure that the yeerks would never even think of he place as home to a threat. He flew in and landed on the branch of a nearby tree hoping to get a good look at what was probably going to be his future home.
Fin:
Fin had just woken up from a nap. Their new diggs were a lot more comfortable than a little room in the trailer and he was glad the Vancouver faction had moved to the Hunting Lodge. He dug his claws into the bark of the tree and wrapped his leathery wings tighter around himself. It was time for him to go on patrol. Matthias could have done it with his panther morph but a bat was a lot less noticeable than a panther so he normally took the night shifts these days.
He was about to drop from the branch and try to get a little warmer, though his tropical bat never fully warmed up in these northern forests, when a pigeon dropped onto his branch. Pigeons never came this far out from the city. Could this be one of the lost animorphs Matthias had told him about.
<<Hey pigeon, you human?>>
Ray:
Ray had heard the message, but had no idea where it was coming from. If he were human he'd be grinning. It was the first contact with anyone at all since the trip began, unless you count using the bathroom on guy's head whom, controller or not, was just saying all kinds of profane things that you just should not say to a woman. He had been a moron to think that he would just show up like a shadow and not get noticed. Of course there is going to be someone out watching over the place. He'd probably never be able to find the owner of this message if they didn't want him to so he figured the best thing to do would be to answer.
<<Maybe>> he answered back. He knew it would give him away, but there really would be no use in hiding from something he couldn't even see. Pigeons didn't have owl eyes. It was a sad fact of life. Hopefully they would have some place to rest aside from this gnarled old tree.
Fin:
Fin let his sound sight sweep carefully over the pigeon form above him as he hung below the branch. He didn't know why he was so cautious. The pigeon was big compared to most bats but not to him. And seriously, what threat could a pigeon be to a guy who could turn into a panther. All of these logical reasons to abandon caution didn't actually make him less nervous but he decided it was time to level with the guy.
He dropped off the branch and snapped his wings out to their full three foot wingspan and flapped up until past the pigeon's beak. He loved this morph. He was like the gargoyle of the flying world. He wasn't in the air for long though. He aimed towards a branch above the pigeon's head, flipped easily, and sunk his claws into the bark to anchor him. The first couple of times in this morph the trick of landing up side down had been beyond him but he had gotten better.
<<If you're speaking to me then you have to be an animorph so who are you and who are you looking for?>>
Ray:
The arrival of the bat nearly made Ray fly away. The bird instinct cried to run, but Ray caught it at the last second and dug in with his talons. He still couldn't resist jumping noticebly. He had noticed lately that the instincts of the animal could become very powerful in times of peril...Being out in the night just really didn't sit well with this bird, not with all the more powerful things roaming around in the night. Besides, it was out of its standard habitat. It longed to be resting somewhere safe, not out on edge hanging on some gnarly old tree.
<< I am Ray...I'd like to say I'm looking for Matthias, but I'm pretty sure he's already on the lookout for me. If I'm not already speaking to him...>>
Fin:
<<Be glad you weren't found by Matthias. I was found by Matthias, well actually I was found by another member, but Matthias soon caught up with us. He can be a little mean to new people who aren't with the program. Nope, much better you found me. Name's Fin, welcome to Vancouver Ray. I'm suppose to be going on patrol and if I don't Matthias will yell at me and I'll have to pretend to be chastised, and that can be a strain on my acting abilities so better skip it. You can come with or you can go to the Hunting Lodge over there and rest up. It depends on how tired you are. I don't know how far you had to fly to get here."
While he had been talking he his body had started to soak up the cold and he knew he would need to get in the air and warm up soon or he would have to demorph to heal frostbite damage.
Ray:
<< Yea, I'll follow along...let me demorph really quick because I don't know how much time we are going to spend out in the night and I've already used up a little more than an hour.>>
Ray spread his pigeon wings and flew towards the ground flaring at the last minute and touching down with absolute precision. He had been getting good at this morph, but still preferred the dog morph over it just for the simple fact there was so much happiness to the dog. More happiness than he ever contained...As the moonlight began to illuminate the ground below him and the bird instinct getting even more edgy, Ray focused on demorphing...
Lukas:
The weather was cool and crisp, and little to no prevailing winds were blowing. Citizens of Vancouver, their every action manipulated by the alien molluscs inside their skulls, would notice nothing strange about the lone goose flying high over their heads. Sure, geese were usually seen in the famous V formation, but in this season, migration was some way off. Nope, nothing at all strange about the bird.
Lukas enjoyed flying enormously. It trumped any rollocoaster he'd ever ridden and then some. There was just pure, unadulterated fun. Sure, the goose portion of his brain reasoned that there was nothing interesting about flying, it was just a means to an end. It just wished it had some companions to travel with. The human within, however, was having a blast.
Unfortunately, however, all good things must come to an end. And Lukas had spent a lot of time in this morph, undoubtedly close to the dangerous 2-hour limit he had been warned of. As he reached the city's outskirts, he altered his trajectory earthwards, and came in for a none-too-graceful landing. Surely something that would mark him out as an unnatural goose. Looking around, he noticed some thick scrubs amongst the sparse trees, and he waddled over, hoping that the morphing process would be obscured from sight by the vegetation.
As the process of absorbing feathers, shrinking a beak, growing hair and increasing in height completed, Lukas contemplated his next move. Surely he was close to the hideout now. This was supposedly the area of the animorph hideout, or approximately so. He knew what it looked like, and he knew roughly what the leader, Matthias, looked like. However, walking around in Human form, he may be mistaken for a...what was the word he'd been told, controller? There was probably a more appropriate morph for the situation, and it seemed that his land-dwelling form was it.
Focusing hard, Lukas began to feel the bones in his skull grind and shift around, forming a more canine-esque shape. Thick fur began to sprout across his body. His spine creaked and ground as it extended beyond his body, and for an instantr the flesh couldn't quitre cover it. His ears worked their way up the side of his head to finish near the top. His hands and feet warped in shape, and his nails extended to become claws. Finally, after being stood as what looked like a comically oversized woodland creature, he shrank so the appropriate size for his temporary species. Lukas had become a raccoon.
The sense of smell was great. The vision was considerably less than great. However, it was suitable for Lukas' purposes. And he had an idea.
His nose twitched in the air, searching for unfamiliar scents. The smell of humans was certainly present, but Lukas needed something more. Something exotic. Something like a wild animal that didn't belong in Canada. He caught one such odd smell, and began to follow his nose, hoping he was going the right way.
The raccoon waddled on.
Fin:
<Alright Ray. This is the foghorn tree. I call it that because if you're hanging upside down from that tree over there, which I call the orange tree though it doesn't grow oranges, that branch looks like a foghorn. And I call that one the orange tree because it smells like an orange. I don't know why, but it does. And over there is the hour glass tree. I'm sure you can see why, I mean look at it. I fly this route everynight. Do you know how boring that can be? Very boring and yet Matthias has me do it anyway. Does Mel have to do night patrol, no. Just me. Why, because I have a bat morph. I'm pretty sure that is discrimination. I mean, why do I get the lousy hours? Just because my morph was born nocturnal. Nocturnal people are people too and sometimes they like to sleep at normal hours. But when I brought this completely valid point up Matthias gave me an odd look. Whatever, it's not like I ever actually find anything on patrol.>>
He was flying with Ray, the new recruit, and showing him the patrol route. His leathery wings cut through the chill night air and the northern wind cut painfully through his thin tropical fur. Still he was one happy bat. He was alive and he was in the night, his element. He felt like a piece of the black night sky that had somehow got detached and was flying around down here. <<So here is the Lollipop tree. Do you know how bored you have to be to name trees? Try it sometime. And that iiiiiiiis, something I've never seen before.>> He didn't waste time. He veered quickly into the tree next to him and found a perch. <<Ray, get down. Land. I've never seen that and I've been doing this patrol quite a bit if you hadn't guessed. New can't be good.>>
There was a spherical shape floating in the air. Or there had been a second ago. It had zoomed between the gap between the Lollipop Tree and the Orange Tree and had been silhouetted against the moon for a second. If Fin hadn't been giving Ray the grand tour of the forest he would have missed it. He didn't know what it was but he didn't want to find out the hard way.
Ray:
Ray was half bored to death and half still amused at the fact that there was a name for darn near every tree in the Forrest. The pigeon morph was not the best choice for right now, but it made due just for the simple fact it was a pair of wings. He was pretty sure Matthias would have him flying this exact route before too long if not for anything other than to give Fin a night or two off. If Ray had figured anything out during this whole tour it was that people need nights off...or they just go completely insane.
It had gotten to where Fin had started to sound like the school teacher in Charlie Brown when one message did finally come in clearly: <<Ray, get down. Land. I've never seen that and I've been doing this patrol quite a bit if you hadn't guessed. New can't be good.>>. The way with which it was said was the real kicker...literally. Snapping to full attention Ray made a quick swoop to the ground flaring at the last minute and grabbing onto a low branch.<<Must be the warden out looking for poachers...>> he replied in private thought speak not knowing what to make of this. He had never been in contact with the enemy...at least knowingly. How are u supposed to react? The dog would be a senseless morph right now and it was the only firepower he had on hand. The bird morph? Let's just hope this guy or whatever it was wasn't a duck hunter fanatic. Face it Ray...your useless.. he thought trying so hard to find a way to win. Yea right, maybe we'll just luck out and it runs out of batteries... He sat there and and thought of the quote he had often thought of ever since hearing of the invasion "Never give up hope. If on the off chance you do, take up humor: It might keep you going long enough for you to luck out and live." Ray paused about it and sized up the situation noticing that this thing was coming straight for them. Looks like I'll be doing a full comedy routine tonight...
Fin:
<<They have to have some other way of detecting us,>> Fin told Ray. He knew that he was almost impossible to see, especially stationary. His dark black fur gave him that protection. Ray was a little more visible but he had gotten to the ground in good time, so whatever that thing was that Fin had glimpsed must have other ways of finding things because Ray was right, it was heading right towards them.
He bounced sound waves off it again and again hoping against hope that it would change course but it didn't. He did learn something though. Whatever it was it was made of some type of metal, and it wasn't solid all through. It was also almost a perfect sphere and it was floating. All those clues pointed to Mr. Plum in the conservatory with the wrench, or in this case yeerks.
<<We can't hide and we can't fight so that leaves run. You ready to run Ray?>> He had better manuverability below the trees and was much better in the night than Ray's pigeon. Of the two of them he had the better chance of outrunning the thing. Of course that didn't make him ready to volunteer or anything.
But if anyone could run away well it was him so with a purely mental sigh he said, <<yo Ray, I think we are going to have to outrun these guys. I'll go first then after it comes after me, you fly off. Fly back to the lodge if you can find it. Then fly south from there until you find a trailer. Our faction is there and they should know about this. I'll meet up with you when I can, hopefully you don't run into anymore of these things on your way,>> Fin concluded.
Then he waited for the robot to get closer...but not too close. When he thought it wouldn't miss him he dropped from the branch he was holding and opened his wings. He turned immediately and a good thing he did, because a red beam shot through the air he had been occupying. Ok, so these things were better than he thought. He would just have to lead it on a merry chase then.
He flapped and then closed his wings and shot through a small opening between two branches, momentarily losing the robot on his tail. But as he shot a quick glance behind him and fired some sonar he saw a second robot in addition to the one following him. Apparently Ray would not have the easy trip they had both hoped for.
Ray:
It was awsome timing. Seriously it was. Just as the thought it couldn't get any worse formed in his mind a second one came out of no where.Alright he thought in surprise Never think that again. Ray flew off in search of a hunting lodge he hoped he could find. He also hoped that he could live long enough to have a good long laugh about the whole irony of it all. He knew that he had to find that lodge sometime soon because him and Fin both were around the hour and a half mark on their morphs and would soon need to demorph. Ray knew that if he had to demorph and enemies were still around he'd almost certainly have to commit suicide to keep them from taking him due to complete exhaustion. The bird eyes were good, but that didn't help the repetitive nature of the woods any. Dodging and weaving in between trees, his follower now started to shoot. He couldn't see anything at all, but there was a slight noise as the laser lanced its way into the trees. Ray didn't dare look back because the hunting lodge was the only thing he wanted to see and he was sure that it wasn't behind him.
Fin:
Fin ducked, dodged, dipped, weaved (ran out of d's) and basically flew his wings off trying to shake the robot behind him but to no avail. Even though he was flying through a forest and the trees should have slowed the thing down it stayed on his tail. And even though it long ago should have lost him in the dark, it was able to track him. Which meant it was either using sonar, but he imagined even sonar would have been confused by his flying, or tracking his heat signature or using some odd alien technology you haven't thought of, but he decided to work with what he knew.
If he was going to throw this thing off he needed something to take his place. He began shooting sonar into the surrounding trees and at the ground but all he could 'see' were sleeping birds and even if he woke them up it would cost him precious time and they might not be big enough to catch the hunter robot's 'eye'.
Finally he spotted a raccoon on the ground, making it's raccoon way along. He dove for it. Maybe if he could get behind it the hunter robot would go after it instead of him. <<Too bad for you Mr. Raccoon,>> he directed his thoughts to the animal, not knowing the animal would understand him.
Lukas:
Lukas had been making steady progress, pausing occasionally to indulge his raccoon instincts with a good sniff, but for the most part keeping control and ambling on at an acceptable pace. He assumed he was nearing his destination, as the smell of humans was growing stronger, but it was intermingled lightly with the scents of animals unfamiliar to the raccoon brain. Unless humans had taken to riding tigers and walking iguanas, he guessed these odd scents could be attributed to others with morphing abilities. He had no sure way of knowing, but hey, he didn't have any other leads.
That is, until he heard a voice inside his mind, the first he'd heard since that fateful meeting with Cassie. His vaguely canine head snapped up, straining its eyes to pick out the source from the darkness. He quickly detected a bat, diving towards him with some speed. He didn't quite know why, and his shock at hearing words drowned out the meaning behind those words, so his raccoon instincts took over. The small animal lunged at the diving bat as it swooped, interpreting aggression from a smaller animal and responding with its own aggression in kind. As he lunged, Lukas responded to the voice with a sarcastic <<Too bad for me, eh?>>, not noticing the danger lucking directly behind the bat, directly in the path of his momentum.
Fin:
Fin didn't really think about the raccoon's response. It was too late to change course now anyway. But the bat naturally reacted to the raccoon's aggression by flaring it's wings and hissing. If he had been a smaller species of bat he might have tried to make himself smaller, surrender. But he was a Spectral Bat, a hunter of the tropical jungles. He had a three foot wingspan and the claws and fangs of the predator he was so he flared and challenged the raccoon.
It ended up saving the raccoon's life. The dracon beam fired by the hunter robot hit his outstretched wing instead of the raccoon's head and burned it away to nothing. Fin dropped out of the sky in agony, remaining wing flapping uselessly.
He had enough presence of mind to use his claws to crawl onto the raccoon's back. <<I hope you don't mind if I hitch a ride but we have to get out of here.>> He said to the unknown animorph, since that was definitely what this raccoon was, his mental voice full of pain.
Ray:
Ray quickly found the lodge and headed south toward the trailer. He knew he had to lose it before he got the hideout because there was no way he was going to lead this thing, whatever it was back to there. Theres just me and this thing out tonight...Just this thing and I. If only there were more animorphs... Ray thought there would at least be more.....targets! Thats what he needed: targets. But what else was wondering around at this time of night? AHH!!! A slight singe cooked his tail feathers from a near miss and he dove even lower trying to outrun something that obviously wanted him very badly. Everything sleeps at night. Nothing is up...Unless I wake it up....
Suddenly he had a plan...<<Grrrrrr! HSSS!!!! WUFF WUFF!!>> he called in an unusually loud broadcast of thought speak trying to imitate anything that would absolutely scare the daylights (teehee) out of anything near him. The animals wouldn't know the difference at least. Leaves started to rustle as a nearby deer took off. Then several others! A tree full of birds erupted into action as birds flew away after being frightened awake from their slumber. Ray weaved in as closely as possible to these birds and out of the surprised cawing from the birds he heard one shriek as it fell out of the sky leaving a smoke trail. His follower seemed confused and took off after the largest grouping of birds which luckily he wasn't a part of.
Lukas:
<<Your lucky that thing's after us, or I might have to press you for answers as to why you attacked me, then assumed my allegience.>> Lukas snapped at the bat, although he did, apparently, need to keep the flying mammal alive if he was to get any kind of answers. Besides, he wasn't prepared to struggle when the more pressing issue of that laser-firing robot was upon them. He was disorientated, having some creature seemingly charge him and then hitch a lift, and he had no idea were he was going. It seemed he'd need this bat more than he'd suspected.
<< Well,>> Lukas began, before narrowly dodging a blast from the pursuing hunter. That had been close, a couple more shots like that and he'd be done for.
<<No time for pleasantries. I need to know where to go, and I need to know right now.>>
Ray:
Ray got to the trailer and started demorphing. He didn't see Fin there yet, so after sending a public thought speak message to everyone inside he started to morph dog. The eyes of Pigeon hadn't been enough and he knew that the dog's eyes would be the same way, but it wasn't the eyes he needed. No, since they were probably lower than treetops he'd need, rather the ears and smell. He figured he could hear a few animals tearing through the woods at high speed with lasers going off ever which direction. Once fully morphed he started back into the woods hoping he wasn't sniffing out a murder mystery.
Fin:
<<Hide. Burrow or something, whatever raccoons do.>> He hugged himself against the fur trying to make himself as small as possible. It was easier with only one wing.
<<I assume you're an animorph since you're a raccoon and you're speaking to me. Seeing as I'm a bat and I'm speaking to you I just decided we were on the same side. Unity of the forest creatures and such.>> The pain was making him snap. <<We can't destroy that thing, we have to lose it and get back to headquarters. Hopefully Ray made it.>> He didn't want to explain to Matthias, well I found a new recruit but then I got him killed. Oops.
Ray:
Ray ran through the woods trying to be as quiet as possible. His sensitive dog ears hearing nothing but his paws hitting the ground under him and there were so many smells that it gave him no information. <<Fin!>> he called in private thought speak. <<Fin, you better still be alive...HBO's late night...eh...adult shows are about to come on and you can't watch 'em if you're dead.>> The humor was mainly for him out of worry that he'd left Fin to die. If anyone was expendable here it was him, he was the new guy and all.
He was planning on raising some hell if he found them and trying to escape as he had earlier. Then again he could just run into the same one that was chasing him...He put the thought away thinking that if Fin was dead he'd just run away and be some sort of vigilante animorph....
Lukas:
<<Heh, I'll try to lose its attention. I've been told demorphing gets rid of injuries, so we'll need to find a distraction. Then we'll be able to focus on destroying it.>>
Lukas weaved and dodged, trying to avoid the dracon beams which were within a hair's breadth of ending his life, and that of his passenger as well. He sniffed the air intensely as he scrambled along, hunting for something that could distract the attention of his pursuer. The mixture of scents initially gave him nothing. However, he quickly noticed one scent intensifying and scrambled towards it. He couldn't be sure that this wasn't another animorph; after all, he'd encountered this one, there would likely be others. However, as he neared his target, he was fairly sure it wasn't originally a human: the feral instincts of the raccoon informed it was some kind of duck. His eyes picked up thick bushes, and the scent seemed to be originating from them.
Lukas launched himself forwards. The extra speed burst saved him, as he lost an inch of tail rather than his life. He scrambled forward into the undergrowth, coming face to face with a large duck, though the exact name of the species eluded him. The poor bird, confronted by a predator, beat its wings intensely and attempted furiously to escape, bursting from the bushes and taking flight. The dracon beams no longer peppered the ground around Lukas, and the duck's distressed cries quickly ceased.
<<We might be safe here, for a few moments.>> Lukas whispered, not entirely sure of his words even as he said them. Still, chased or not, he need his new found ally capable again as soon as possible. <<Think its safe for you to demorph?>>
Fin:
<<I'll have to.>> Fin was definitely a complainer. He loved to complain but since the raccoon was concentrating on getting them out alive he had figured he better not distract him. That said, he was pretty sure the bat was dying.
He let go of his death grip on the raccoon's fur and fell to the ground. It caused more pain but he was already on his way to being human. When he got there he took a moment to breath and that is when he heard Ray's thought speak calling out to him. He couldn't respond as a human so he started morphing again but this time he chose to become a kit fox.
The kit fox was small, sleek, fast and had good night vision. It would be much easier to hide from the hunter robots on the ground than in the air and he could stay close to the raccoon.
When he was completely fox he called out to Ray. <<Ray I hope you found the lodge and ditched your robot. We are going to try to ditch ours and head there. We should hide out for the night and in the morning I'll take you both to meet Matthias. Oh, and I found another animorph, that's what I meant by you both, because I realize I didn't explain that, and I'm much more of an adult swim type of guy since cartoon network is free and HBO isn't.>> His normal eccentric personality was returning quickly now that he wasn't in pain and he let the raccoon hear the thought speak as well as Ray, even though he would only get half of what was going on.
He turned to the raccoon beside him. <<Name's Glorfindle but everyone calls me Fin. What's yours? And on the count of three we should make a run for it.>>
Ray:
Ray walked his way out into the clearing that was the lodge. No lights were on, but he didn't expect any as he'd heard from Fin that him and Lukas were still on the run. Ray started to demorph knowing he'd need his hands to open the door. That was the main thing he missed while being just about any animal. The ability to be able to do simple things with your hands. You'd never even stop to think about how much you use your hands and how much they'd be missed when they weren't there anymore. For all the cool senses the dog had they paled in comparison to the almighty thumb.
Once fully human Ray opened the door and stepped into the lodge. He couldn't see much and didn't want to turn on any lights, but had a little moonlight shining in. There was just enough moonlight coming through the windows that he spotted a chair in the living room. He shut the door glad for the opportunity to rest. Ray sat in the old recliner and although he didn't mean to, he fell asleep within minutes.
Mel:
The noise of the door opening made Mel wake up, her nature a little wary by now. She peeked out to watch; the person was a newcomer, his face unfamiliar. She wished she had a small, night-able morph, but she didn't. *And, whoever they are, if they aren't coming in with guns or dracons, it had to be another new animorph. Lukas and Matthias weren't back yet but she still wasn't the only one here, and it seemed obvious one of the others had told him to come in. She started to say hi, but he fell asleep quickly and she didnt' want to disturb him.
Fin:
<<Good thing we found that family of quails. Well good for us, bad for them, but at least we don't have robots on our tails anymore,>> Fin said waving his bushy tail. <<So that over there is the Loopy tree. I call it that because of the loop to loops the roots do at the base down there, see?>> He was referring the to the Lollipop tree but it was only the Lollipop tree from the air. <<And over there that is the Orange tree. It smells like oranges, check it out.>> Smells don't change whether you're on the air or the ground.
<<Ah and here is home sweet home, or actually home sweet work in progress. Our official head quarters is a trailer about a mile from here but I'm fixing this place up nice to be our new headquaters. We can spend the night here and find Matthias in the morning.>> He was of course talking about the Lodge.
<<Alright raccoon buddy, time to demorph, unless of course you're really a raccoon and you've been lying to me all this time. I want you to know that you can tell me anything, even if it means accepting that you're a raccoon.>> As he rambled he demorphed until he could open the door and step inside.
"I think we'll be safe for the night but no telling what's gonna happen tomorrow."
Ray:
Awoke to the sound of the door opening. He had no idea who it was that was coming in. "I take it your either friend, foe, or the pizza guy...and I havn't ordered a pizza...So either I'm dead or your alive Fin." He waited to see if he was going to die. Finally after a moments pause he got up and turned around to see pair of forms that would have no resemblence to anything. He knew it was the demorphing process however. "Ah, so you did make it."
Finally they were all to a safe spot. Finally they could rest for the night. But who was the raccoon? "Hey who is the other guy?" Ray asked. At least it was more firepower for their side. Safety and more numbers. Two of the best things he could have asked for...aside from pizza.
Mel:
Mel was a little more relaxed by their conversation. She was a little groggy but it didn't take long to get pretty much woke up. The reason she was here because she was the one still with them who knew the way here. She'd spent the night because though the deer wasn't bad after dark, it was safer to return in the morning.
"Good, you're alive" Any time they returned alive was a good time in her mind. "Yeah, like he said...who's the newcomer?" she asked curiously. At least he wouldn't need to go through the three day watch; if he was already morph-capable he could hopefully be trusted.
Ray:
"Oh hey Melanie." Ray said with a wave as Fin and the newcomer were still demorphing. "I'm taking it we don't get cable out this far" Ray said with a laugh. "I wonder if this place is even stocked with the necessities for living...like a TV..." Ray looked around, but couldn't see much in the darkness. The moonlight through the windows and the open door were the only light that the night provided to him and he wasn't about to flip on a light switch.
The demorphing teammates were silhouetted in the night their main features visible, but the details hidden in the dark. As they grew they reminded Ray of the stereotypical ghost appearance. How mean of a trick would this be on a normal human being? Ray thought mischievously.
Mel:
"I wish." Melanie said with a slight chuckle. "Although it might be all yeerk propeganda by now. I 'd love to have it back too but I guess I don't miss it like I did at first." Melanie also saw the demorphers in the shadows, and wrinkled her face a little. "Even knowing what I do, that's still gross" she said. "I wonder if you ever manage to get used to it."
Lukas:
Lukas remained in morph, silent for the most part. He'd not given his name when asked, and merely followed his new companion, Fin, listening intently and only giving occasional affirmations to statements. They'd lost their pursuers and reached what was supposedly a safehouse, a trailer of some sort. It looked run down, but functional. Lukas had watched as Fin demorphed, still amazed by the process. He'd travelled alone, ever since that fateful meeting with Cassie, and as a result he hadn't really seen much morphing, not being able to watch himself for obvious reasons.
Fin had then entered the trailer, and Lukas had scuttled in afterwards, caution of what searched for them beyond the trees overloading the fear of the unknown interior. They'd come across two others, and Lukas assumed that they were allies of Fin. He'd listened to them briefly, remaining silent, gauging those surrounding him. Three 'animorphs'. One may have been a coincidence, but the presence of three made him suspect that this was the faction he'd been told of. Still, Lukas was inherently cautious of those with whom he was unfamiliar, and though he doubted that they were hostile, he still wasn't sure of them. He began to demorph as his name was asked, as it would probably be more appropriate to be in human form. As the changes surged through his body, lengthening bones and rearranging organs, he continued to listen to the conversation around him. He allowed himself a smile when TV was mentioned, and another when the subject of watching others morph was brought up.
Finally, he reached a fully human form, and looked at the three surrounding him. His eyes remained cold and detached, not hostile, just prepared.
'My name is Lukas Cross. I was told of a faction of...' he tested the word out loud, 'animorphs that were resisting the aliens here. I was told of this by a girl called Cassie."
Ray:
"Well, your in the right place" Ray said with a grin. "Don't worry I'm new too. First night on patrol actually. I wonder what time lunch break is..." The outlines not telling him too much about everyones mood. He didn't know about the rest of them, but he felt good. He had gotten the ability to morph into animals, survived certain death, and now had allies that could also morph.
Ray squinted trying to get a read on the other three, but couldn't really see any facial expression because they were only silhouettes. He knew Melanie couldn't have been in two bad of a mood because he had heard her talk and picked up on how she spoke. Lukas on the other hand gave nothing away when he spoke. Fin? He didn't know Fin all that well, but put him on the kind of person that could handle a lot of stress so he wasn't all that worried about him. Rather than trying to find out by how they acted he figured it would probably be best to just ask. "So, how's everyone tonight?"
Mel:
Melanie was doing a bit of a front in a sense. She was no Marco-not that she ever knew him but the original Animorphs were legend by now- but knew a bit of lightheartness could offset stress and worry if done right. Inside she was worried about the losses they'd suffered and the small-ness of their group.
"I'm kinda new too although I guess I'm not the new girl anymore. I'm lucky to still be here though." she didn't elaborate but knew she was fortunate Matthais hadn't thrown her off the team or something. "Tired...stressed" she replied to Fin's question. "Trying not to kill myself worrying too much...not that that's possible I don't think..."
Fin:
"Nice to meet ya Lukas. Welcome to the Animorphs. Feel free to go out on life threatening missions with us anytime. We don't have life insurance, it would be too expensive, but we have a wonderful health plan," he said waving the arm that the dracon beam had burned off and morphing had restored, "and the food is better than the stuff we got in our high school cafeterias," and then added in a stage whisper, "but only by a little."
Mel:
"Yes,nice to meet you. Welcome to the team. Yeah that is one good thing about morphing. Especially since we tend to get hurt a lot." Melanie said with a nod. "I'd say anything is better than cafeteria food. Of course, getting it here is shall we say quite interesting sometimes with all the yeerks in town."
Lukas:
Lukas broke into a grin. His natural reservations were breaking down, because he'd been alone for a long time, and he'd missed human company. If these guys were animorphs under Matthias' command, he could surely trust them. Besides, they seemed nice enough, and plenty of humour was flowing around. It seemed these people would be his new family, so where was the logic in remaining cold and unpleasant?
"Thanks a lot, and as for the food, anything's better than the trash I had to eat on the way here. Had to fly in morph for several days in morph, stopping loads. That's the problem with the time limit I guess, you have to play with timing, while remaining sure you don't get trapped." He looked thoughtful for a second, but then continued. "As for missions, I'm fine with dealing with danger, and I'm all too willing to get rid of the yeerks. Besides, I may have been dead by now if Fin hadn't literally flown into me out there, so I guess I owe him some help." he said with a laugh. "Though, having said that, his original plan was to sick that robot onto me, so maybe I don't owe him all that much."
Lukas looked around for a chair, and upon spotting one, sank into it with a grunt of satisfaction. His journey had been tiring, and the chase through the woods doubly so. He undoubtedly had to do some things now, having been introduced to the group, but he was definitely looking forward to some shut eye in relative safety.
Ray:
"Nice to meet you Lukas, I'm Ray." Ray said in reply to Lukas's introduction. "You guys actually scrounged and scrimped on the way here huh? Was I really the only one who came prepared?" Ray pulled out a debit card and flashed it like it was solid gold. With a big grin he explained "I had some money I was saving up for a new car, but now I guess it might as well be food stamps for the whole lot of good a new car is going to do...Although a four wheeler would be nice out here...THEN AGAIN so would a big ol' yeti morph haha. Whoever takes a dracon beam for me gets a free buffett" he added with a wink. "If you guys need anything just ask. As far as I'm concerned it's the faction's money now..."
Mel:
"I was too scared to do much but scrounge...I was afraid I'd slip up and get noticed if I spent too much time in the city. " said Mel. "Now I'd think about hunting but it'd be my luck I'd be mistaken for a real deer and get in trouble before I could call out. Now, if I had a big cat or a wolf or something...Personally for getting around out here I could go for one of those big things with all the blades. Just walk though the trees and slice, slice..."
Lukas:
"My credit card was at home when it got torn up by the yeerks, so money's a luxury I haven't had." Lukas grumbled. "Besides, I didn't know that yeerks infested people until I met Cassie, until them I just assumed they killed them. So I avoided population centres on principle, and the only people I met were located in isolated spots out of contact with the yeerks. I occasionally met someone who'd offer me food or give me shelter, albeit under close watch, and I occasionally stole food, but only when I was too weak to hunt. I'm not much of a cook, so almost everything I've hunted was either undercooked or black as charcoal."
"And what d'you mean, those big things with blades? Are these some of the aliens the yeerks enslaved before us?" he asked, as he knew nothing of hork bajir or taxxons, or gedd or leerans or the other races attacked by the yeerks. The only other extraterrestrials he'd been told of were the andalites, and that was only after asking exactly where the morphing power had come from. He'd been too concerned with travelling, and testing out his two new bodies, to think much about other lifeforms.
Mel:
"Sounds like me" Mel said with a chuckle. "Give me a stove or microwave and I'd be okay but open fire is a lot harder to deal with. Plus there's the chance of detection so a lot of the time I'd settle for cold. I did manage to pass once or twice with things like a McDonald's or something but not often, I was too scared.
"I think so. I don't know what they're called exactly but they look a lot like dinosaurs. And they're not something I'd wanna run into, morph or no. I try to stay well away from them."
Ray:
"Yeah" Ray said. "We deffinently need more firepower. We're more suited to clean house with Snow White than fight off a massive alien invasion. I look forward to becoming one with a nice big cat, or perhaps something that can throw its weight around. I don't like this running at all. A straight out battle would be just fine with me."
"On the topic of food, lets just say I hope you guys can cook enough to survive or that this place comes equipped with a microwave..." his stomach rumbled in what seemed to be agreement. "We deffinently need to recruit a pizza delivery guy..."
Lukas:
"I'm taking it you guys haven't got many impressive morphs for battle just yet. I'm much the same. I can morph into a raccoon and a canada goose, and I'm sure I don't need to emphasise how poorly they perform in combat." Lukas said. "I'd prefer being able to do some damage to the yeerks instead of fleeing tail between legs too. Honking and sniffing just can't quite compare to lashing out with claws or crunching with jaws."
"As much as I adore a good pizza, I'm not too partial to the side order of yeerks that'd probably come with it. Well, not without a suitable morph to cause some serious harm anyway. And hoping to find some uninfested guy walking around out there with a king's ransom of pizza and a leaflet to 'Pizza Planet: Animorph style' might be ideal, but I'm not looking favourably at our chances." Lukas' own stomach made its presence known, making rumbling noises seemingly in response to Ray. "Actually, I might be tempted to grab a slice of pepperoni, extra cheese, hold the mushrooms right about now. You guys having anything to eat around here? Or do I have to go outside and feed myself via the healthy, slim fast diet of a raccoon?"
Mel:
I don't have it too badly, deer aren't predators but they can kill if you get on the wrong side of their hooves and antlers. The cockatoo though leaves a bit to be desired" Melanie replied. "I still can't wait though for a predatory morph of some kind, one that can do some damage like you just said. And maybe even take down some venison for us or something. Just as long as it's not me."
Lukas talked about food again and Melanie said "I'm not sure eating in morph will feed your human self ...I never asked though."
Fin:
"My poor compatriots. So hungry. Be hungry no more." Fin walked into the kitchen and opened the freezer. He pulled out some frozen pizza's; cheese, pepperoni and vegetable. "Matthias put me in charge of getting this place ready for the faction to move here and food was top on my list. I'm not sure if he knows I've been making trips into the city to get this stuff but I'm sure he'll approve after a couple of slices. There's also a fridge in the basement full of food and blood. And before you ask, yes I am a vampire." He was actually talking about the emergency blood storage Matthias had moved to the lodge but since vampire references made better conversation starters Fin went with that.
"We have a microwave but I haven't gotten the generator working yet. I'm trying to modify it to run on less gas since we aren't going to want to make gas trips very often, especially at today's prices, but I haven't gotten it yet so the generator is currently in pieces in the backyard. We have a gas stove though, my uncle never converted it to electric, go uncle Mike, and that means we can put these in the oven."
Ray:
Ray was beside himself as he saw the glow of the refrigerator and Fin pulling frozen pizza's out. FOOD! "Well, since Fin is a vampire...and he's got blood downstairs.....I CALL HIS SHARE!" Ray said. He was pretty hungry and as he saw Fin unwrapping what he used to think of as just another meal he was slowly realizing that this would be a feast. He hadn't had a full meal in days. Ray pulled up a stool and sat down at the counter. "We'll there's no complaints here other than the fact I have yet to locate a television, but right now that seems pretty trivial."
This was great. Fin had absolutely thought of everything. He was stunned by how well prepared the lodge had been. Sure it was still used every now and then for a vacation spot, but he didn't think that it would be this well equipped during this time of the season. Apparently Fin had put some time into shaping it up to be a hideout. Hopefully Matthias wouldn't get too irate about him and Fin taking a lunch break on food he didn't even know existed yet...
Fin:
"No way, you can't have my share. Even though we vampires must drink blood to survive we still like to eat food for the pleasure of eating it." He closed the refrigerator, the only appliance he had deemed necessary to keep running and so had improvised a battery for it, and began pulling out plates.
He also pulled out some aluminum foil and put four of the frozen pizzas on them while the oven was heating up. He figured they were all hungry enough to eat one. To make conversation he asked, "so where is everyone from, you know, before all this?"
Mel:
"Chicago" Melanie replied. She was glad for the late night snack since she was getting a bit hungry. "I still don't know why I came so far west looking for a faction...I guess I wasn't totally thinking clearly. But this group did need the help..." She sighed "I only wish I knew what happened to my sister. I'm still hoping to find her one day and de-yeerk her since chances are she's probably one of them."
Ray:
Greenfield, Indiana. Not a very big town, but a hometown no less. It's about 10 miles east of Indianapolis." Ray was hungry, but found the chatter something of a delight as well. It had been a long time since he had sat around with some people and shot the bull. He thought of something witty that instant and added "You know, its been awhile since I sat around with some people and shot the bull...which is totally ironic since we're in a hunting lodge..." It was good to take his mind off of the evil alien invasion for a while. He had to think about it long enough as it was seeing as how he would probably do a lot more running and hiding.
Lukas:
"I'm actually from Vancouver" Lukas said, collecting a stool as he spoke with a distinctly non-canadian accent. "Well, originally, I'm from Doncaster, England, but I was sent here after my parents were died in a car crash. I've come to terms with it, after all, with all the recent events it seems less terrible. They never had to go through everything those alive today have coped with..."
He trailed off. Then, afraid of killing the buzz of conversation with such a painful topic, Lukas swiftly changed subject. " So, pepperoni, eh? Haven't had that in far too long. Should make a change to the food I've been eating recently. Far more tasty." His stomach growled ravenously once more, and he patted it idly, painful thoughts replaced by the tantalising thought of a good hot pizza.
Fin:
"England. That's pretty sweet. Your accent must get you a lot of play around here. Or maybe not because the Canadians have odd accents too but in America you'd be a hit, especially where I come from. I'm from New Canaan, CT. It has to be the most boring, whitest, suburbia town in all of existence. Ever seen the Stepford Wives? That was set in my town."
He put the pizzas in the oven now that it was heated. "I was a weed dealer in my home town and the cops were starting to catch on. Which should have been impossible. I mean kids in CT have absolutely nothing to do with their time so they get drunk and high all the time. The cops leave us alone unless you are being exceptionally obvious so I don't know why I was getting heat from the authorities but I was so I decided to spend the summer with my aunt in Vancouver and let things cool down. And then everything went wrong. I'm hoping to get word about my family from the faction in New York but no luck so far.
Ray:
Ray sat there listening to everyone's stories and after listening to Fin's it struck him that there was no one he was going to look for. No one was around that the was hoping was still all right. His parents were never around, his aunt, as nice as she was, was never really that much a part of his life, and he had no love interest to check up on. He truly was alone. At least now I can go all out without fear of dying because someone needs me. Ray for the most part viewed people that you love, as wonderful as they were, as liabilities that would ultimately, somehow, get in the way of ultimate goal. And when something like this was going on, nothing like that could happen.
"Anyone very good at anything in particular?" he asked, hoping to gain knowledge on any skills his teammates may have. "I'm good with computers. Anyone care to share any of their special skills?"
Fin:
"I'm good with machines. Any type of machine. I'm ok with software but I'm better with hardware. I just like to mess with stuff, fool around, build stuff. That's one of the reasons I'm in charge of modifying this place. Ahh, pizza smell." He knelt down so he could look into the oven but the pizza wasn't done yet.
He gave a dramatic sigh, "Looks like we have a whole 'nother two minutes to go. Who wants what by the way. There are two cheeses and two pepperonis in there. I call a cheese!"
Ray:
"It really doesn't matter to me. As long as its a whole pizza." Ray replied. "So if you think you could get the parts, you could build a computer? I could get us any operating system that we could care to have on it. Windows XP generally takes about 10 tries to crack depending on your source. Plus, I got an Aircard that would work perfect out here. It's technically still with my laptop, but I could goto the store and tell them it's busted and I could use my warranty to get another one. It gets internet anywhere there's a cell phone signal."
Mel:
"I don't really have any talents of my own" Melanie replied. "It's more a little of this and a little of that. I can write but I'm not sure we want to leave diaries or anything behind. I'm a big animal person which makes the morphing kind of fun. Well when I'm not having to fight something anyway. I like computers but most of what I used to do was on the internet. Only I don't know anything about hacking. She chuckled and said "I wonder if there's yeerk social networking or something now. YeerkSpace or YeerkJournal or something. Too bad there isn't an Animorph one. Maybe we wouldn't feel so isolated if we could talk to other factions."
Ray:
"Yeah" Ray said with a laugh. ""Oppi 556, the taxxon, bit me." is the latest hit on yeerktube." Ray's stomach growled again after saying this and he though surely the pizza's must nearly be done. He got up and went to the fridge and got out a coke. He opened it up, took a drink, and went to sit back down.
"So what's Matthias like? i've never me the guy and was wanting some insight on him."
Fin:
Fin was always ready with an answer but this time he held back. He and Matthias weren't the best of buddies. He had pretty much insulted Fin in every way possible when they had met, not the best first impression. Then again Fin himself had been acting a little insane when they met so the same was probably true for Matthias. But Fin always acted insane so that wasn't new. But Matthias was always hard so that wasn't new either.
Since his capture, three day screening and subsequent induction into the animorphs Fin had come to respect Matthias even if he wouldn't pick him for his dodgeball team (or maybe he would so Matthias wouldn't pone him from across the court). So he wasn't sure what to say to the new members. He didn't want to give them a bad impression but didn't want to give them false hope a great loving guy either. He decided the middle road was the best way to go.
"Matthias is one of a kind. You'll just have to meet him for yourself. But don't make a joke, he has no sense of humor or a very twisted sense of humor that only he understands. Pizza!" The last was said as he pulled the pizzas out of the oven. He put the four pizzas on a big plate and brought it into the living room, placing it on the table where everyone could reach it. Then he went back into the kitchen and brought out some plates, ceramic since washing dishes was infinitely safer than buying paper plates, and brought those over too.
"We could each have one pizza or we could all just share. As the great prophet Bar'nai told us, sharing is caring."
Mel:
"Yeah, he can be nice, and he does good being the leader,but he's not a guy you want to get mad" Melanie added. "Especially with that panther morph of his."
"eww...wait, what's a Taxxon? Are they those big ugly worms? Gross." she said, wrinkling her nose.
When the pizza came out, she said "well it's not Domino's but it'll do. Actually back home we had a place called Arenello's that was better than Domino's. They had this sweet sauce...But I've learned to like frozen too" She thought about mimicking the old Tombstone commericals but thought better of it given the circumstances. ".We have Chicago style deep dish all over the place of course but it's too thick for my taste. I can never eat it all."
Ray:
"Ah, I see" Ray replied, although it was quite unclear. Ray took a slice of pizza, which, at the moment, seemed to be ten times more demanding of his attention than any superior he'd ever served. The bliss of the pizza overwhelmed him and he began eating quickly which he often did at meal time. As Melanie spoke about various pizza joints, Ray would have liked to have commented on some of his favorites, but due to the incessant need to keep his mouth stuffed, this seemed impossible. Ray was not a fat person. He thought fat people were funny, not in a cruel sort of way, but in the same balance that he laughed at everything. However, when it came to eating....Ray simply loved to eat. He soon noticed he was eating at about twice the rate of speed as everyone else there.
"Iaf mmm *munch munch* like Jack's *mm* pizza" Ray said in between bites. "Theyfa *munch much* got a *munch* good buffet *munch munch*" Although he didn't talk much when he ate he figured that this light chat was important into getting to know his comrades better. He was never a very chummy guy, but these people seemed cool enough to open up to. You don't run into people your age that can morph into animals every day of the week so I guess I better treat 'em like celebrities or something...
Mel:
Melanie laughed a little at Ray's commenting between bites, not in a teasing way though, just in a fun way. "It's too bad most of the animals are gone now, someone with a predatory morph could get some meat that way. As long as it's not my meat." she generally talked more while she ate. "Thats my big fear about the deer morph. I know that with so few animals there aren't many hunters either but still..." she said. "Well that is there aren't too many animal hunters. They're busy hunting Animorphs now, which is even worse."
"A garden or window box would be good too but too obvious. Hence raiding in town every now and then for food. I like his idea though, morphing controllers...just as long as we don't run into the originals along the way." She knew it could be wierd morphing a person as opposed to an animal...maybe the unwilling controllers wouldn't mind if it helped free them somewhere down the road. And the willing ones were the bad guys anyway, right?
Lukas:
Lukas had sat listening for the most part, his mouth preoccupied with the highly important task of eating. He'd had no comments on specific skills, as physical skills didn't translate to morphs, and he had no significant technical abilities beyond being reasonably bright. Sarcasm probably didn't count as a skill either, but he considered himself to be a good judge of character.
Nothing really worth mentioning.
Lukas could eat a lot of food, but he didn't eat quickly. He savoured every bite of his pepperoni pizza, and while he always seemed to have food between his jaws, he didn't seem to take fresh bites too often. Good food was just one of the things he really enjoyed in life. One thing that he fully intended not to let a yeerk enjoy.
"Morphing people doesn't sound great in my mind. I mean, it'd be handy, but I couldn't be comfortable with it. Especially if it was a female body. It would obviously be a smaller adjustment than becoming an elephant or a lemming, but..." Lukas couldn't find the words. He wouldn't be very comfortable with it, that much was certain.
Mel:
"Yeah, I don't quite" *munch munch munch* feel comfortable with it either" replied Melanie. She was doing her best to enjoy the pizza since she didn't know when she'd get a chance at more. "It's like, invasion of privacy" *munch munch* or something, you know? I'd like to morph a guy once, just to see *munch* what goes on in your heads, but I think I'd only do it if the other person said it was okay."
Ray:
Ray finished up eating. He had scarfed the pizza rather quickly and all the others were still eating. He stood up with his drink and started to pace. Ray liked to pace because he didn't care much for sitting in one spot too long. He had had his power nap for the evening and didn't really see a reason to be sitting when he could be pacing. Pacing gave his idle self something to do. With all those long hours on the computer and sitting in one spot he figured he would probably pace the rest of his life just trying to catch up on lost time.
He didn't really care much for the idea of morphing another human. He could see where it would have its advantages, but it really didnt stike his interests too much. He figured he was just apathetic to the whole idea. However there was something odd that popped into his mind. Ray grinned to himself before saying "You know, it would be funny if we went back to Matthias all morphed as each other."
Fin:
"Let's do it," he said reaching towards Mel even as he said it. But he stopped not wanting to offend anyone. Normally such a consideration would never have crossed his mind but two of the people here were new so best not to scare them off too soon. "I don't see any problem with it. I mean, you would be the best spy ever if you could actually become someone else. Isn't that what makes the yeerks so hard to fight?"
Mel:
It was a funny idea but a risky one. "Well, yeah." she said. "But I'd just as soon sit out...you can do it if you want but Matthias isn't happy with me as it is for screwing up earlier today. I don't want to give him more to yell at me about." But she was still curious. "Darnit, I'm torn up...he already is mad but I so want to see what it's like to be a guy..."