Post by Admin on Aug 6, 2009 2:02:50 GMT -5
Suji:
Migratory, my ass, Suji thought to herself, feeling her tiny owl wings beating, pushing her through the night. She was tired, and sore in a way that lasted long after demorphing and remorphing. Cassie had given her this morph because it was small, had excellent night vision, and it was one of the only owls known to migrate. So theoretically, it could handle this. She, on the other hand, wasn't so sure that she could do it for much longer.
But she wouldn't stop and rest for very long: Cassie had given her a mission. And seeing as Cassie had also rescued her from what probably amounted to certain, eventual doom--and then given her the ability to turn into animals, no less--she kind of owed the woman. Suji kept on flapping, wings silently beating the cool air around her.
The good news was, she couldn't be far now. All she had to do was find this shack she was supposed to be looking for. Cassie hadn't been able to exactly give her coordinates or anything, but supposedly her instructions would have lead Suji to the general area. It was beginning to get brighter. Crap, Suji thought. Need to stop for the night. Damn. I was hoping this would be the night I got to sleep in a bed. It gets so freaking cold... Still, begrudgingly, she flew downwards into the nearby treeline.
Landing at the base of the treeline, Suji began to demorph. Her morphing suit was grey, skin-tight underarmor: both a long sleeved leotard, and a pair of pants (with footies) made out of the same material. It could be worse. Cassie had told her about what it'd been like when she started out... and Suji had been grateful for this morphing suit. At least it was warmer than trouncing around in a bathing suit. After catching her breath for a moment and stretching, she forced herself to begin morphing again.
This time amber colored fur sprouted from her face, while darker fur ran over her arms and legs. She doubled over, a writhing mass of hairy flesh. It was slow, again--even though she pushed herself, she was just so exhausted. Good practice, she tried to tell herself, but felt disgusted. Finally she was a capuchin monkey--a creature that looked like nothing but limbs and tail, as far as she was concerned.
Up the tree now, she urged the monkeys mind. Up! Get! She let the happy, energetic monkeys brain bubble up, and it quickly carried her up the tree. She stopped herself about half way, where the branches were still sturdy and thick, but there was dense cover. Nestling herself between two big branches, Suji began to demorph for the last time that night: already the sun was rising. Fully human, and fully exhausted, she leaned back against the bark, and went to sleep.
Ash:
Ash winged his way over the city of Chicago, partially following a patrol route, but mostly to remind himself of what a truly enjoyable experience flying as a heron was. He'd just recently acquired a firefly morph, and wasn't quite sure what to make of it yet. He'd only morphed the insect once, and that experience had been surreal enough to keep him out of its form for at least a day or two. The bug's mind was so unlike his own, so far even from those of his other morphs, that it had been truly disorientating for him. Just thinking about it made his head spin. Never mind kid, you'll get used to it soon enough, he told himself, and despite his present reluctance to give the morph another try, he knew this would be the case. He was starting to recover, or perhaps just forget the ordeal of having the insane dying yeerk inside his head. His mind wasn't in the right place to adopt such a jarringly different set of instincts right now, but time heals all wounds.
Reaching the outskirts of the city, Ash altered his course. He didn't need to check much outside of the city's limits, but he needed to fly back to the HQ regardless, so a little bit of light forest reconnaissance couldn't hurt. He beat his wings leisurely, in no particular rush, for he still had ample time to reach the HQ. He'd demorphed on a rooftop a short while ago for a pit stop, and thus he was well under the time limit. He cast around lazily, checking the treeline with little real commitment, convinced he'd see nobody around at this time, especially since he was beyond the confines of the urban environment.
Ash blinked in surprise. There was a girl in that tree! This was either one weird controller, or a free human. Either way, investigating further would probably be a good idea. Ash dropped out of his flight path and decended towards the tree, landing a few feet above the girl. Best not to get too close, or make his presence to obvious, lest he be caught off guard and feel the bite of a dracon weapon. Deciding that prodding the girl with his beak would be at best rude, and at worst a death sentence, Ash instead opted to speak to her through thoughtspeak.
<<Bit of an odd place for a nap.>> He commented pleasantly.
Suji:
Suji hadn't been sleeping well lately, to say the least. With all the traveling at night, constantly morphing and demorphing (and morphing again), all of her short-lived sleeping hours were filled with strange and terrible nightmares. Whether it was being caught longer than two hours in her morphs, or somehow getting caught as some half-monkey half-owl monstrosity, or most popularly, getting caught by a Controller, Suji slept light. That also had to do with the fact that trees were not super comfortable, and if you slept too deeply you were liable to fall out of them.
So, it didn't take her long to wake when she heard the voice: immediately her consciousness rose to the top of the darkness of sleep, and she opened her eyes. She didn't know what she'd been expecting: at most, someone below her had found her out. The words hadn't processed in her head, just the 'sound' of them had woken her up. She looked around, almost slipping from the branch when she looked up and saw the tall, stately figure of the heron. Still, the relation between it and the voice hadn't clicked.
Suji look down carefully, trying to spot who'd spoken. Maybe it had just been a weird dream. She was still exhausted: at most she'd gotten a couple hours in, and it was too light out for a little owl to be flying around looking for another place to rest. She stayed as quite as possible.
David:
David was circling about in the air, soaring effortlessly on his albatross wings. It was his first patrol.
Why do I feel like I have a pair of mattresses strapped to my arms? he thought to himself. Oh yeah, my arms, I mean my wings, are like five times the size of my body. I can't understand how I'll ever get used to- Hey! Is that Ash? It was a pied heron, which David knew was one of Ash's morphs. And it looked like it was following a patrol route. Maybe I should drop down and say hi. Or maybe not... Riley told me to stick to the patrol route...
Suddenly, Ash dropped into the forest. David circled over to where Ash had disappeared into the trees. There was a girl sitting in a tree, looking like she was curled up to sleep! Man, and I thought I'd slept in uncomfortable places! David thought, tucking his wings to his side and dropping to a branch near Ash.
Suji:
The heron was accompanied by a large bird that in no way looked native to the land: it looked like a seabird by the shape of its almost duck-like head, and the distinct beak shape. Plus, she couldn't tell exactly from her position, but it seemed like the feet might have been webbed. And even if some kind of seabird HAD wondered their far inland, Suji doubted that it would have willingly chosen to land next to another bird of an entirely different species.
She relaxed, and stopped bothering with looking below her. "Oh, I get it now." Sighing as she leaned back against the tree, Suji looked at the birds for another long moment, and then gave a wave. "And how are you two? My name's Suji. I've been looking for you lot for forever. Flew all the way from New York, and trust me, I didn't have those nice big wings to do it. Who are your names? Are either of you Raven by any chance?"
She wouldn't be surprised if they didn't talk a lot, or if they dragged her back to their headquarters to lock her up for another three days. Of course, she was really hoping she could convince them she wasn't a Controller, but the idea of being locked away in a confined space after making it all the way here didn't sound too appealing. Besides, no point in not being polite.
Kiera:
Kiera was just outside the door of the HQ, slightly panicking. It was normal for Ash to come back extremely late from his patrols. Kiera could tell he loved flying, maybe a little too much. But David should have been back by now. Had something gone wrong? Had they ran into controllers? Were they purposefully staying out in order to drive her crazy? Panicking wasn't one of her favorite things to do.
A couple minutes later, she was into her Kodkod morph and running around the HQ in a slowly expanding spiral, every second or two, letting out a David and Ash focused thought-speak. <<Guys, where the hell are you?>> she asked, waiting for a response. She tried not too get too far away from the HQ. Raven and Riley were still inside, probably asleep, and unprotected. <<Come on, guys! What the hell? Stop screwing with me!>>
David:
When the girl started talking about Raven and morphing and, most importantly, about having flown from from New York, David started to relax. Wait, he thought. Her being able to morph certainly makes her unlikely to be a controller, but all she's done is say she can morph. Don't relax yet. He edged closer to Ash.
<Hey, Ash, is there some kind of Animorphs password, or code, or something? Just so we know she's really an Animorph without locking her up for three days?> he asked, keeping it in private thought-speak so that only Ash could hear.
Suddenly, he could dimly hear Kiera thought-shouting about something. He couldn't make out any words, though. And if he tried to call back, well, he couldn't do private thought-speak very loudly yet, and he didn't want to include the strange girl in the conversation if she wasn't who she said she was.
Suji:
She wasn't answered right away, but Suji supposed she hadn't really expected to be. She watched as the seabird moved closer to the heron. There was definitely no way these were just average birds. For a moment there was a fleeting thought that maybe they'd been captured, made into controllers themselves... but it passed quickly. After all, she didn't think that they'd still be morphed as birds, which weren't very threatening. Or at least they'd probably be talking to her, whether trying to trick her or intimidate her.
The fact that neither of them claimed to be Raven, plus their hesitation, led her to assume that the faction leader wasn't among them. Whether or not the faction leader believed Suji was one thing, but she doubted that any leader would hesitate to ask her more about where she'd come from. They had to be from that faction though, right? There couldn't be any rogue animorphs running around.
It was also clear that they were speaking to each other--the fact that the birds huddled together made her smile. Obviously it was a human trait; you needed to be close to someone to whisper. But thoughtspeak was different--Cassie had taught her about that. It was pretty endearing, and she felt a little more of her tension ease up. Still, she was tired.
"Look, I can show you I can morph--as if the tight outfit and lack of shoes or any equipment didn't prove it enough. Not that that would exclude me from possibly being a controller, I won't insult your intelligence there--but I'll go with you willingly back to your headquarters. You can put me in confinement if you have to, but really, I'd like to speak with Raven, please." After a moment, she looked between them, obviously trying to analyze the situation. "Really though, I don't care, just please take me somewhere with a bed." She rubbed her face with one hand, holding on the the branch with the other. It was clear that she was tired beyond belief. "Or a floor. Just somewhere I can sleep without being afraid to roll over."
Ash:
Ash continued to watch the girl. He had no idea whether or not to take her claims of being an animorph seriously. On one hand, he didn't honestly think that the girl was a controller, and he didn't want to subject her to three days of solitary confinement. On the other, taking a potential controller into their ranks was a less than prudent move. He'd speak to her in a moment. First, he needed to address David and Kiera.
<<Use your head David,>> he told the younger animorph with a small amount of exasperation. <<If she's a controller, she'll have ample access to any passwords or codes that her host would have known. You can't keep secrets with a yeerk stuck to your brain. I'm just banking on the thought that, if the yeerks had taken an animorph, they'd hae spread the information far and wide to try and demoralise us. The only test we can perform short of locking her away for a few days is giving her oatmeal to eat. Yeerks are driven nuts by the stuff, its common knowledge amongst controllers by now.>> He turned his head and gave the larger avian a significant look, before addressing Kiera. Her voice as faint, suggestig she was some distance away, but nevertheless Ash deemed it a good idea to try and prevent her from worrying.
<<Don't wory, Kiera. David and I have just found a girl in a tree. If you could rouse Riley or Raven for us, it'd help us out a great deal. She claims to be an animorph, although we can't confrim or deny that right now.>> He informed her, hoping she'd be close enough to get his message. They weren't especially far from the HQ, but regardless Ash wasn't quite comfortable with the range of his communications yet. Finally, he probably needed to address the girl, for as far as he could tell, David had said nothing to her yet, and he himself had kept his conversational topics amongst those already confirmed as his companions.
<<This is the heron. You can call me Ash. While I don't doubt that you're telling the truth, it probably wouldn't hurt to show us that you can morph. If you've got a flying morph, we'll escort you back to the HQ, where Raven can decide whether or not to keep you shut away in confinement. I doubt it'll come to that, since you can morph, but its not my place to decide.>>Then, as a relative afterthought, he added, in a somewhat warmer, less formal tone , <<Welcome to Chicago.>>
Ash then looked at David. <<Anything you'd like to add, man?>>
David:
<Uh, well, yeah, welcome to Chicago. My name's, uh, David. And, I guess, nice job flying from New York, I don't think I could do that,> David said, a little surprised. On your feet as always, he thought to himself. She probably wouldn't remember his mumbling though, she looked like she was only just half-awake. This worried David, since if she fell asleep now, well, it was a long way down.
<Ash,> he said privately. <I didn't know yeerks could lift thoughts out of their hosts' heads! That would make them almost unstoppable, wouldn't it?> And that would mean that Karl is in even more serious hell than I first thought, he thought.
Deal with Karl when the time is right. For now, make sure this girl makes it back to HQ without falling asleep. That looks like it's going to be at least as hard as rescuing Karl.
Suji:
Suji almost smiled again when the heron seemed to glare at the other bird. The only reason she didn't smile was because she was certain they were discussing her, and for all she knew it wasn't pleasant. It was a silly but somehow also sobering thought, to know that you were being talked about mind-to-mind, between birds, and they might have been deciding your fate.
Finally, one of them spoke to her again--apparently the one that had woken her up in the first place. Ash and David. Okay, I can remember that.
"Thanks for the welcome, Ash and David. And yeah, I'll morph, hold on. I used an owl morph to get here. Going to suck trying to fly it in the daytime though, it's not far is it?" Figuring that they could answer while she was morphing (and that it didn't really matter how far it was or not--flying would be faster than walking) she began to picture her owl. Then she stopped, and looked down... aaaall the way down to the ground. While her morphing was pretty smooth (maybe even somewhat controlled--she'd learned from Cassie, after all, though she was certainly no prodigy), she'd fallen out of a tree before when trying to morph and demorph her flammulated owl while sitting/perched on the branches. And she hadn't been half as tired as she was now... and when she'd fallen then she'd broken her leg so bad the bone stuck clean out. Of course she'd been able to morph and fix it, but it was a lesson well learned.
"I'm gonna climb down first though." Suji focused on her monkey morph. As much as she thought monkeys were ridiculous--they weren't exactly powerhouses of the animal kingdom--they were useful, as Cassie had assured her. Nimble fingers, the ability to scramble up trees and some urban surfaces, not to mention that the capuchin had a prehensile tail... she couldn't complain too much. Besides, it had a happy, warm mind.
Holding on to the branches, Suji focused on becoming smaller first, and then on the transformation of her feet. The fur that came across her body didn't sprout in patches, but all seemed to rise at once. There was a strange slurping sound as her tail shot out--definitely her least favorite part.
<<I swear I'm not going to morph for a month after this. Unless it's something that hibernates.>> With that said, she scampered over the edge of the branches she'd been holding to, racing down headfirst in a way that the monkey brain was totally cool with, but that felt a little too much like falling to her. It wasn't long before she reached the bottom.
Suji:
Fighting motion sickness and vertigo, Suji began to return to her regular old human self. The fur receded, and her limbs realigned to their proper place. The tail suck back into her body with another one of those noises that was somehow squishy and crunchy at once. She ended up demorphing to a sitting position, not having the strength or willpower to force herself upright. After all, was as the point, if she just had to morph again?
She contemplated suggesting that they just lead her and she walk, but didn't figure that would go over well. Besides, walking barefoot was hardly ever a good idea when you were outside and in an unfamiliar area. As she pulled up the image of her owl morph in her mind, her stomach revolted for a moment: nauseas at the prospect of changing shape again. She couldn't really blame it--it felt like the only time she'd been human in the recent past had been to sleep. Most of her conscious hours had been spent either as a different species, or changing to and back from one. Cassie had assured her that physically the rinse and repeat process wouldn't have lasting effects (exhaustion, despite how interminable it seemed now, didn't count), at least.
Battling down the upset outcries in her gut, Suji held back the urge to complain. She'd already made a point about the long trip and being tired, and even if that didn't begin to describe what she was feeling, she didn't want to be seen as a whiner. First impressions.
She morphed again, this time becoming the tiny, darkly feathered owl. The mind was panicking at the brightness of the light: it wanted to hide and rest somewhere deep and dark, nestled away from bigger predators, until it could do its business at night. She found herself frantically looking about for crevices to huddle in. <<This thing absolutely hates that it's daytime, give me a minute to get a better grip...>> Slowly she tried to reassure the animal mind, enough that she could push it down and overcome it. <<Okay, I'm good. Ash, David, go ahead and lead the way. Might have to fly a bit slowly though, small wings plus I'm anticpating being nearly blind.>> With that she focused on the two bigger birds.
David:
<Might have to fly a bit slowly, though, small wings plus I'm anticipating being nearly blind,> Suji said.
<Well, uh, albatrosses aren't exactly, um, fast, you know,> David said. He was starting to feel a little more comfortable talking to her now, especially with Ash there too. As for the possibility of her being a controller, well, he knew it was bad to make assumptions like this, but a part of him refused to believe that an Animorph would be captured by the yeerks. He found himself trusting Suji.
He judged the distance. They could probably make it back before he had to demorph. He wasn't very good at telling time without a clock, but he couldn't have been in morph for that long. And, well, it's not like the albatross would be a bad morph to be stuck in. Not that he wanted to be stuck in morph. It's just that thye needed to get Suji back to HQ soon; she'd almost looked sick or something when she was morphing into her owl. David didn't know much about morphing, but he knew, or sensed anyway, that that wasn't supposed to happen.
He flapped his wings and lifted from the branch.
Kiera:
At first, Kiera was extremely relieved when she heard Ash's barely audible thought speak. That, however, was short lived. It took her a second to think of what to say. <<A girl in a tree?!?>> She responded, ignoring the urge to run to them. <<What's she doing there? Is she a controller? What's going on?>> Kiera demanded.
<<Nevermind, I'll go get Riley. He'll know what to do. Just stay where you are.>> As soon as she was done talking, she began her unmorph. Stupidly, she tried to do it while moving toward the house. That however was a massive failure as she took a nosedive into the dirt when the Kodkod's front legs became her arms. Quickly, she jumped back up, without bothering to dust herself off. She stood still, just long enough to finish the morph.
Two seconds later, she was outside Raven and Riley's bedroom door, pounding as hard as she could. "RILEY!!" she yelled. "Wake up! We've got a SERIOUS PROBLEM!!!"
David:
<Just stay where you are!> Kiera said. David circled around.
<Never mind,> he said. <It seems we need to sta- OUCH!> He'd been aiming for the branch again, but he'd overshot, and get a beakfull of tree trunk. He flapped madly and managed to right himself, and let his huge wings carry him to the ground.
Wow, David. Really spectacular. Where'd you learn to fly? He felt his crushed beak begin to soften and melt as he started to shoot up. There was a slurping sound as his bones filled in and became heavy. His feathers melted together and became skin, while his wings became thinner and thinner, and fingers sprouted from the ends of each one. His neck got longer and he felt his heart slow down, though it was still pumping madly after his fight with the tree. Looking down, he noticed that he looked completely human... except for his legs, which were still bird's legs. However, even these began to change, growing skin, morphing suit, and extra toes.
Suji:
Starting from a dead landing from the owl morph wasn't fun--but Suji supposed that that was the same with most birds. She fought against gravity, struggling to list herself into the air. The little bird wasn't tired, at least, but it was taking the reserves of her own mental energy to quell its anxiety about being out during the daytime.
However, almost as soon as she was air born, the seabird--David, the other one is Ash--told her that they were actually going to be staying. It seemed strange that he had changed his mind so quickly, but it didn't take Suji long to realize that it was likely from another person-specific thought message. Before she could consider what that meant, however, there was a crashing sound, and it looked like the bigger bird had met with some difficulties. She couldn't see the extent of the damage (her vision would have been perfect at night: now, not so much), but it was obvious that he was demorphing after he landed.
Suji's first instinct was to ask if he was okay, but he looked fine after demorphing, and she knew that that fixed all of the physical damage the morph had sustained. She flapped over and down to him, landing on the ground at his feet--there was a moment where she considered landing on his shoulder, but small as they were, she imagined her talons would be rather prickly. Also, it seemed like it would have been an invasion of personal space.
<<And now you know why I try to use the monkey morph to navigate trees,>> she said, her voice light-hearted and jesting, but not mean. <<So what's the hold up? You are okay, right?>>
David:
David felt his nose, which, a few minutes ago, had been a broken beak. It still stung a little, but he wasn't seeing stars anymore, and he didnt feel like he was going to pass out anymore. He rubbed his nose gingerly, and tried to avoid her gaze.
"Yeah... I'm, uh, I'm fine," he said, embarrassed. "Um, someone's coming, so , uh, we gotta stay here, so, you know, they can find us." Should I be telling her this? I guess if I didn't mention any names it's okay... "You probably might as well demorph."
Suji:
As much as she'd tried not to whine earlier, she let out a moderately loud, thoughtspeak groan at the mention of demorphing again. <<They'll probably just tell me to morph and prove it though, won't they? I guess they might take both of your word for it though--you saw the two morphs Cassie sent me off with. It's not exactly something you can fake.>> As far as Suji knew, she wouldn't be totally surprised if the leader did make her remorph just to be certain.
<<No offense to your suggestion, and also not saying Raven doesn't trust you, but I'm going to stick in this morph for now just to be safe. If I demorph I have a feeling I'm going to have to remorph to get back to your base anyway. And at this point with all the morphing, I'm liable to hurl on someone.>> She looked up at him with her round, jet-black eyes.
<<And really, don't feel bad about the crashing. I fell out of a tree and broke my leg while demorphing earlier this week. My hands were still covered in feathers and I couldn't grab anything. And besides, it's not like your morph even has great landing gear as far as trees go. Webbed feet probably make it hard to perch, right?>>
Ash:
Ash had to stifle a laugh as David crash landed. He'd had some mild concerns for his safety, but overall he doubted any real damage had been sustained. It wasn't anything the demorphing process wouldn't fix. He dropped to a slightly lower branch, to get a better view and therefore better assess the situation, but he still stayed a comfortable distance from the ground. Sure enough, David emerged from his feathered form with nought more than a raw nose to indicate his crash. Well, a sore nose and very flushed cheeks. It seemed that he wasn't in a faction known for keeping composure.
<<I'd agree. It probably wouldn't hurt for her to stay in morph.>> Ash noted. He appreciated what David was saying, but he really didn't see the necessity. If she planned to flee, now would hardly be the opportune time. She would've either left earlier, upon being discovered, or waited til later, once the hideout had been revealed to her. In either case, it meant she was more likely to stick around for now. Besides, she was small than Ash, and he had the advantage of altitude. If she attempted to flee, Ash would likely be able to halt her. Plus, she seemed tired enough to pass out.
Besides, she could morph. He sincerely doubted she had any cause to flee from them. RIley would know better than Ash how to handle the situation, and he was perfectly comfortable with waiting for the more senior animorph to arrive on the scene.
Kiera:
No one was answering. "GRRRR!!!" Kiera screamed loudly. Maybe they were out walking, who knows. It just frustrated Kiera to not know where they were when she felt she should be guarding them. She morphed into her squirrel and took a running leap out the window onto a nearby tree, going in the direction of David and Ash's thought speak. Once she was out to where she thought they could hear her, she adressed them again, and only them. She didn't want this new girl hearing that the faction leader was missing.
<<Hey, guys,>> she said. <<Raven and Riley aren't answering their door. I dont know where they went. I'm just not sure we should take her to the HQ without permission. Just hold on. I'm on my way.>> Her squirrel morph was fast in the trees, something she was happy for. She got to them decently quickly. <<Hi,>> she said to the new girl. <<I'm Kiera. And you are?>>
Suji:
Suji waited in the owl morph. She let it preen it's feathers, which at least made it feel somewhat comforted, though it really didn't like the strong daylight. <<So, uh, know any good jokes?>> She broadcasted to the two of them, trying to pass the time more quickly. Presumably they were waiting for the faction leader, right? Raven. That's who Cassie had told her the leader was.
Then, suddenly, there was a squirrel zooming towards them. The owl fluttered and panicked, flapping across the ground to a location further away before Suji could turn its small body back around the spot she'd been in. She hoped that it hadn't looked like she was trying to escape: at least she'd been able to turn back fairly quickly. <<Rav-?>> She'd already started to ask, but the squirrel introduced itself as Kiera. The tiny owl's chest almost visibly deflated. But she waited to speak, composing herself--she didn't want to sound disappointed to meet this new animorph, even if she wasn't who Suji had been expecting at least. <<My name is Suji. Please to meet you Kiera. Not to be forward, but is Raven on the way? I just thought that that's who we were waiting for...>>
Her voice sounded tired, and even a bit of her exhaustion seemed to leak from the thoughtspeak, spreading the emotion along with the message.
David:
Uh-oh, think of a joke, fast! Spare Kiera having to think up an excuse of why Raven or Riley isn't coming! "Uh, uh, I've got a joke!" David exclaimed. "Uh, so, uh, a woman walks into a store, and she says to the guy behind the, uh, counter, 'I want three tomatoes, three potatoes, and three onions', and the, uh, the guy says 'I'm sorry, uh, we're out of onions.' Um, and then the woman, she says, 'Okay, then can I have two potatoes, two tomatoes, and two onions.' And the guy says, 'Look lady, I just said we have no onions.' And, uh, the lady says, 'Then can I have one onion, one potato, and one tomato?' And the guy says, 'Look, lady, what do you get, uh, if you take the po out of potato?' and she says 'Tato!' And the guy says 'What do you get if you take the to out of tomato?' and she says 'Mato!' and he says 'What do you get if you take the freak out of onion?' and she says 'Wait, there's no freak in onion-' 'THAT'S RIGHT, THERE'S NO FREAKIN POTATOES!' I mean onions!" He smacked his face.
Spectacular. The first time in your life you've ever messed that joke up.
Kiera:
Kiera had to control her laughter at how stupid David's joke was. But, nevertheless, she was appreciative. It gave her a moment to think up an excuse. <<Thank you,>> she said only to David, <<Send out targeted thoughts for Riley and Raven only,>> she said, expanding it to both David and Ash before turning to the owl that was apperantly Suji, a.k.a. The New Girl.
<<It's very nice to meet you, Suji. Welcome to Chicago,>> she said as welcomingly as she could. <<Raven and Riley are out right now. He's probably patroling, and she needed food, so she went to the store. They be back any minute.>> <<Tell them to hurry,>> she added, only to David and Ash.
<<So how'd you end up here??>>
Suji:
Suji would have blinked blankly at David, but the owl's sharp glare didn't really have an 'unfocused' expression. Instead she just stared at him. <<...>> At first she didn't know whether to laugh or not. It seemed so bizarre--she hadn't figured that he would ACTUALLY come up with a joke. And then, something inside her mind broke; like an essential block removed from a dam, her laughter erupted. <<Hahaha,>> she laughed, the sound almost a giggle because of her exhaustion. It wasn't obnoxiously loud, but it had an unrestrained, free quality to it--as if she hadn't heard anything funnier in a very long time.
She was an owl being told a joke about potatoes because they were clearly stalling till their leader decided to show up. And he'd messed the joke up, no less. She wanted to laugh until her gut hurt, and then promptly fall asleep. Of course, being in owl morph meant that she wasn't physically laughing still, it felt good to laugh. Him slapping his face in a typical 'doh!' motion just made her laugh harder.
When she stopped laughing, she focused the intense owl eyes on the squirrel.
Suji did not know if she believed the bit about going to the store. It seemed thinly veiled, but it was harder to read thoughtspeak than normal speech--harder to read with the normal human body language. She didn't want to let on that she thought they were lying; at least, she didn't want to be rude about it. A lot of times it was better to be thought a bit dimmer than you were: people acted more natural around you when they didn't realize every thing they were doing was being scrutinized and recorded.
<<Ah. Flew in.>> She lifted the owl's wings. The bird was barely bigger than a large robin. <<From New York. Cassie sent me here. It's been... been a long trip. I'd really like to see Raven, or at least a place I can sleep inside.>> She fluttered a little, and looked back to David. <<You can blindfold me if you want, keep me in an enclosed space until Raven comes back. I'd just really like to be inside. If it's not doable, I... well, that's okay. If I start snoring though, wake me up, eh?>> She laughed to try to make it sound less serious. <<Wouldn't like to get stuck like this.>>
David:
When Suji's eyes were closed, David stood, sheepishly. He couldn't believe he'd ruined the joke. Karl had always said that David couldn't tell jokes to save his life, but this was his ace, the joke he never messed up on and that always got a laugh.
Well, it had certainly gotten a laugh.
"I'll, uh, go... get, uh Raven." He morphed back into the albatross as quickly as he could, making sure his bright red face was covered by white feathers. <Be back in a few.> He flapped up through the trees.
He didn't actually go very far, he flew in increasingly large circles around where they'd found Suji.
<Raven! Riley! There's an issue! Cassie sent us someone! Hello?> He tried to keep it so that Suji couldn't hear his thought speak, though by now she must have guessed that they didn't actually know where Raven and Riley were.
Riley:
Riley had been around the entire time, he was in his chimpanzee morph, well hidden in the trees. He'd been around the area for a while and new the right placements to remain hidden from observant bids--aka other Animorphs. Raven was asleep, and he was keep an eye on things as the other members patrolled and did various other activities. He noticed Suji before the others and knew exactly who she was, Cassie of course had called and let both him and Raven know about her. When she was approached by other members however an interesting situation arose.
He used his thoughts to let Raven know not to answer the door when Kiera banged--which made him laugh inwardly--and then observed the members at work. What would they do if their leader was suddenly missing or incapacitated? Hopefully they'd handle it well, and as he watched he realized they weren't so bad. Ash had a good head on his shoulders, something that Riley would be sure to tell him later. After David's attempted joke though he nearly fell out of the tree, his human instincts wanting to burst out laughing and the monkey instead muffling grunting noises.
With one swift movement Riley dropped from the tree, already demorphing. He landed a little unsteadily on his feet, finishing his morph until he stood at his towering height of six foot three. It was safe to say his appearance came off as slightly intimidating, though he was nothing but a big softie. He smiled widely, one that reached all the way to his green eyes, "Suji if I caught your name correctly, I'm Riley, sort of the second in charge," he nodded his head slightly. "Raven is out, but I pretty much take charge....Cassie should have mentioned that...." he frowned slightly, "Come inside," he gestured towards the HQ and then glanced at the others.
"Just wanted to see how you guys did in a tight situation," he winked and gave them a thumbs up. "How was your flight, not a fun one...I know I did it on a motorcycle," he chuckled. Before he could morph he had traveled quite a bit, the biggest trip being from his Hometown of New York to Chicago where he had to stop multiple times to rest. Scary as a mere human.
David:
David saw the chimpanzee drop out of the tree as it turned into Riley and groaned. <Riley, you couldn't just show up and spare me having to tell that joke?> He landed and demorphed as quickly as he could, following them as soon as his legs were human. "You owe me."
Just wanted to know how we did in a tight situation... Grr, I'll show him a tight situation. But David was grinning. He knew that he would laugh at this with time. A lot of time.
Suji:
Suji blinked at the demorphing chimpanzee: how had none of them noticed? Bird morphs were some of the most observant, and it wasn't exactly like chimpanzees were native to the Chicago area. Please, she scolded herself. You're so tired it probably wouldn't matter if he'd been an elephant sitting in a nearby tree, as long as he was quiet about it. Still, she resolved to be more vigilant. As least, starting after she had a good nap.
"Cassie should have mentioned that..." His words caused a slight unrest in Suji's cut. What else hadn't Cassie told her. She'd been told that the Chicago faction was one of the most well-established, had some of the longest history, and that it was headed by Raven, who Cassie trusted not only with her life, but obviously with the mission. Still, had Cassie neglected to tell her some things? If so, what and why? Suji fluttered towards the entrance of the HQ, and began to demorph. In all honestly, the only thing that carried her through to the finish was the hope that it would be the last time she had to shape-change for a while. Hopefully until she got a square meal or two (or a thousand) and some sleep.
"Oh, don't be sore about it, David," Suji said, once her mouth had lips instead of a beak, stretching her arms. "That joke was the best thing about my past week." She flashed him a tired, but genuine, smile. "I mean it. Humor's a valuable commodity." Stepping into the HQ, Suji looked around, her expression unreadable--she might have been impressed, or she might have been underwhelmed. The only really clear thing was that she was quickly, and efficiently, analyzing the area. Abruptly, as if the process had just finished (she did not linger), Suji turned towards Riley. "Second in command, though, eh? Nice to meet you, Riley. Strange circumstances maybe, but hey, what else is new?" She held out a hand for a strong handshake.
Ash:
Ash had laughed at David's joke, too. Well, not so much at the joke, but at the zany way in which David had failed to tell it correcly and subsequently realised his mistake. He was relaxed, but alert. He saw no reason to be worried, but being on guard was probably a good idea.
Too late Ash noticed the bipedal shape dropping form the tree branches, and his head snapped around in alarm. However, upon recognising the creature as the demorphing form f Riley, he couldn't help but feel pretty foolish. He'd failed to spot the threat, and though in all fairness his heron didn't have the strongest eyes of the assembled menagerie, he wondered if they'd have been unable to spot an actual threat. Oh well, it wasn't important now. Vigilance would just have to be doubled next time.
<<Hey Riley.>> He said pleasantly, his tone covering his embarrassment reasonably well. <<So, how did we score, in your opinion? On a scale of one to ten, ten being "Hell, I couldn't have done better in my wildest dreams" and one being "Why in god's name did I give these retards the means to turn into animals with higher IQs than themselves"?>> He didn't think they'd performed poorly, but he knew they could've acted better. Riley's success at surprising them had proven that.
Riley:
Riley grinned widely at David, "I couldn't help myself, it was pretty funny," he clapped him the shoulder good naturedly. "Fine fine, add it to my debt," he laughed. Riley seemed at ease now, though he was quite the opposite, squirming inside at Ravens absence. Normally he had one eye open at all times, constantly keeping watch over her but now she was out there pretending to be a Controller so that the Faction could eat...and he had to stay here and keep an eye on the others. If there was anything he hated it was not knowing if Raven was okay or not.
He took a few steps towards the HQ, watching Suji's bird form flutter into the doorway. Riley sidestepped her and plopped onto the couch in an exaggerated motion. "That it is," he agreed with Suji, grinning widely at David. It had been quite hard for him to contain his laughter when he was observing them all due to David. "Yeah, pretty much. Raven's pregnant...which prevents her from being able to morph so I've taken over," he explained. Suji probably could guess that he indeed was the father, that much was obvious by the affection in his voice at the mention of her name.
Riley sat up and shook her hand, returning a firm grip, though careful not to be too hard, his hand was quite a bit larger than hers--as it was most peoples. "Strange is our specialty," he smiled. Then he turned and glanced at Kiera, "By the by, nice set of lungs you got on you," his head hung upside down from the couch now, and he smiled upside-down at Kiera. "As for how you guys did, would it be fair to say a little of both?" he teased, now focusing on Ash. "No, in all fairness you did reasonably well, though theres always room for adjustment." Riley made a note to speak to them individually when he could, particularly Ash.
David:
Yeah room for adjustment, point number one: remember what vegetables the store is out of, David thought. He was embarrassed, but, fr the first time in a long time, he felt he could almost laugh at himself for it. It was a weird feeling, especially for David, who usually didn't take embarrassment well. Point number two: flying into trees is a bad idea.
And so now David wasn't the new guy. Well, not the newest guy, anyway. It would be interesting having someone adapting to the challenges of Animorph life while he did, instead of watching all these veterans running around. And maybe it would be a little easier.
Suji:
Suji watched Riley carefully, though she tried not to show it. He was bigger than them physically, and he was comfortable with that. He reclined when he wanted to, lounged, but snapped up to give her a strong (but courteous) handshake. She would have thought that he was acting if it didn't seem to come so natural to him. He was the perfect picture of an all American guy--easily someone a person could get to trust and follow. As long as his judgment was as sound as his playful-yet-still-commanding-authority personality, Suji didn't think that she'd have any problems with him.
Then he mentioned Raven being pregnant, and moved from the topic just as easily as he'd come to it. Suji blinked several times; in her mind a huge traffic jam started, where one car crashed into the next crashed into the next. It was almost painful to have so many thoughts (her mind was used to moving at a quick pace) running into each other, all backed up at that one point. Not knowing how else to react, Suji laughed a bit under her breath, eyes quickly moving amongst the others. They hadn't seemed to react to the news at all... which worried her further. That had to be a joke, right? A faction leader being pregnant? Moreso: a faction leader not being able to morph?
Suji continued to try to wrap her mind around it: the flow of the conversation had already passed it. What else hadn't Cassie told her... A slow, impossible feeling began to boil in her gut. Quietly, inquisitively, Suji spoke up. "Wait a second. Raven... the leader here, she's pregnant?" Her voice was neutral, but there was obvious confusion on her features.
David:
Well, that's consistent with her not knowing about Riley being in charge. Does Cassie not know? Or did she just not say anything? If it's the second one, that was pretty dumb of her. I mean, we could have almost immediately trusted her if she'd known that; it would have shown she was coming from an "in" source. No, it's gotta be that Cassie just doesn't know. And why would she? Suji didn't look too good. The look on her face when Riley had said that Raven was pregnant had been almost comical. And then Riley had gone on, the conversation had progressed, but she'd just sat there, like she wasn't taking any of it in. It was such a change from her old collected, cool, analytical face that she'd been wearing every time she wasn't asleep or an owl, that it had been all David could do to keep from laughing out loud.
"Um, yeah," said David. "That's why, uh, Riley's in charge." If Riley wanted to say more, he could. Meanwhile, Suji was displaying the first emotion he'd ever seen on her face: confusion. And to think a second ago, he wouldn't have guessed she could feel anything remotely related to confusion.
Suji:
David confirmed what Riley has said. In an instant, Suji's eyes were on his: full bore intensity. It was a thing she tried to tone down, at least whenever she wanted to blend in. She'd figured out over the course of 18 years that people didn't tend to like being looked at that way. It was unnerving to most people because it wasn't exactly a gentle, soft sort of gaze.
Why hadn't Cassie told her? Unlike David, Suji came to a very different conclusion. Cassie had known. Of course she had known. But she hadn't said anything to Suji. Suji could clearly remember the look on Cassie's face before she'd sent Suji packing. 'Anything else I need to know?' Suji had asked. 'Nope,' Cassie had responded, but she'd looked away, down at something else. 'That's it.' And Suji had thought it was a little suspicious, but had never for a second thought that Cassie was lying to her.
She felt very clearly now what that budding emotion had been: rage.
Control! Suji scolded herself. Stop! This isn't the time or the place! Instantly, Suji relaxed her gaze. It might have been as easy as flicking off the switch on a thousand watt bulb: bordering on blistering one moment, cool the next. She made a note to breathe. "Oh. Cassie didn't tell me." And though she forced a small smile, fought for control over her body, Suji still felt that white-hot anger. Suppressing it down, she continued, in that same, slightly surprised, but certainly not angry or accusatory, voice: "I can't even imagine how hard that must be."
Kiera:
Kiera remained silent for a long time, pondering how much it would hurt if she jumped onto of Riley's head on purpose. She had been extremely worried about their absense. She was the kind who liked to mother people, to protect people, which was why Kaelyn's fate affected her so much. The fact that Riley had just been screwing with them made her very angry. At least, if there had been real danger, then her worry wouldnt have been for nothing.
<<Thanks,>> she said flatly to Riley when he mentioned her lung power. If she lost her voice because of this, she was going to be even more angry.
As if she would ever know, morphing into her squirrel would have fixed any damage. She followed them to the HQ, deciding to go straight to her room. Quickly, she lept from a nearby tree into her room and onto her bed. <<I'm going to take a nap, guys. Wake me if something interesting happens,>> she told everyone. In an afterthought, she added, <<It was nice to meet you, Suji.>> Kiera demorphed, slid on her comfy pajama bottoms, and climbed in her bed, hoping sleep would wash away her anger.
David:
I guess that makes two of them. I wonder what's got Kiera in such a huff? Unless someone said she was short and I didn't hear. And did Suji look pissed or was that just my imagination? No, I think she was pissed, and if I'm right, she's really good at keeping that poker face up. I must plan a vacation in Las Vegas and invite her along.
He cracked a grin. Sure. Like Las Vegas wasn't probably full of yeerks. Yeah, I'm going all in: my money and my freedom. Oops, I lose. Down the yeerk pool I go.
Riley:
Riley was calm, unlike two other people in the room at this point in time. As much as Suji might have been trying to hide it, he could tell. The 10 years he spent out there on his own, a rogue human basically riding around and trying to make some type of difference on his own...well he learned to read people. There was only one person he knew that did a better job of it, and that was Raven. Instantly his mind was back on her, was she safe? Had something happened? How many hours had it been since she left? Riley hated being separated from her like this.
Slowly his gaze rose and met Suji's, "Yeah, shes pregnant. Cassie didn't tell you because Raven and I asked her not to tell anyone," he replied simply, shrugging his shoulders lightly. "It's a need-to-know basis, and she probably figured it was better you heard it from the source." Cassie was incredibly smart, and Riley respected her quite a bit, not something he gave out easily. "But yes, that's why I tend to go out instead, do the morphing." In essence he acted as the brawn and she the brains, though he was quite intelligent himself.
Kiera's little fit didn't faze Riley in the least, he enjoyed teasing her, and she should know by now he meant no harm, it actually meant he was fond of her. He wasn't screwing with them, it had been a test, an ample opportunity had reared it's head and he had taken advantage of it. They hadn't had any serious missions yet so it was the closest he could get to seeing who could keep a level head in a not so pleasant situation. "Night Kiera," he replied simply.
Then he turned from his spot on the couch, "Any other questions?" he look at Suji. Riley knew it was a lot to take in, and he had no problem answering whatever she might care to inquire about.
Suji:
Suji gauged Riley. Definitely the protector sort. Probably had a heart of gold. She didn't think it was a bad thing--better to have open and honest teammates, by far. They'd asked Cassie not to tell anyone. Because I'm sure inter-faction gossip is all the rage, Suji thought, but kept her face carefully neutral. Maybe she'd lost a bit of control before, but there was no doubt that she was completely back in the driver's seat now: and the presentation was a seamless one, utterly natural. She nodded at what Riley said. "That must have been it. Sorry if I seemed shocked, but it's been a long trip and I wasn't expecting any surprises when I got here." She cracked a warm smile. "But I guess that's why they're called surprises."
Only she was dead certain that that wasn't the reason--or at least not the only reason--that Cassie wouldn't have told her. She didn't share this opinion aloud. Several other less-than-nice thoughts passed through her head, but she suppressed them easily enough. Nothing she could do about any of them now. Suji feigned a yawn, which turned into a real one almost as soon as she started. The room wobbled around her, and she had to shake her head a bit to clear it.
Other questions? Suji had a quite a few, but most weren't the type that you could come straight out and ask someone--they were of the more personal variety, the kind you had to answer for yourself through observation and interpersonal analysis. 'Which of you would sell me out' or 'who among us would really die for a stranger' or 'who would kill a thousand to save a million' weren't really things you opened with. She rubbed her head, and smiled weakly. "Probably, but they can wait. What I'm really interested is just a place to sleep, if that's okay for now? I don't care if it's a shared room or just a tiny stretch in a corner. Just... resting somewhere safe would be nice."
David:
Oh. Cassie did know. Makes sense that they wouldn't want the news spreading throughout the Animorphs. That might be a little embarrassing. Of course, if we win, historians are going to debate forever why Raven and Riley decided to have a baby, and that seems worse to me. Whatever, not my business.
"If, uh, you need somewhere to just collapse, you can use my bed," David offered. "I'm not tired at the moment, I'll, uh, probably be heading back out on, uh, patrol soon. Besides, I've, um, slept in worse places than the, uh, floor."
Suji:
Suji looked back from Riley to David. She bit her bottom lip lightly, smiling through what might have been a chuckle. David was easy to like: he was very normal, seemed friendly enough too. Not that Riley didn't seem like these things: Riley was surprisingly amiable, but Suji was wary to trust anyone that assumed a position of authority. At least, she held them to different standards. They weren't there to be your friend, after all: they were leaders because they'd shown some aptitude for getting things done. And in the end, a person that got things done wasn't supposed to be your friend. At least, not like a regular friend.
Ash was more withdrawn it seemed, more observant. Suji wasn't quite sure if it meant he was slow, or contemplative, but she would bet on the latter. He probably noticed a lot, but didn't offer up an opinion for everything. After all, he'd been content to let the leadership arrive to handle the situation when he'd found her. She'd make note to pay close attention when he did decide to speak.
Kiera was a little more difficult to figure out. She seemed to have a lot of energy, and not many productive ways to get rid of it. Suji would have to see more of her to really pinpoint her, but for now she was categorizing Kiera as a person that felt before thinking, and probably felt things very strongly, with limited ability to keep her emotions in check. It'd been clear that she was worried or put off about something, but it hadn't stopped her from greeting Suji fairly warmly.
Of course, that all left the woman of the hour, Raven, up in the air. The leader, who was supposedly pregnant. Suji resisted the temptation to leap to all sorts of conclusions, though it was like pulling back on the reins of a horse that was ready to start running. She would see what came of that when she met the faction leader.
Suji had dazed off a bit, and shook her head, blinking as she refocused on David. Don't fall asleep standing up, she thought to herself. She remembered that David had offered her his bed, and her smiled resumed. "That's very gracious of you," she said, and laughed quietly. "If you're really not tired at all, and there aren't any open beds, I might have to swallow my pride and accept the offer. Trust me though, I might overstay your hospitality... I feel like I could sleep for a week. Or at least, I don't know, twelve hours." She laughed again, and though she swayed on her feet for a moment, it wasn't a forced laugh. Honestly, she didn't want to impose, but this kid seemed nice enough that he really wouldn't mind. And God, she did really want to sleep in a bed again.
Suji looked back to Riley: he would know if there was anything open, or if she should allow herself to pose a minor burden on one of her new faction-mates.
Raven:
"Anyone care to help the pregnant woman out?" Raven replied huffily, though there was amusement in her voice. The small woman of barely 5 feet had two large grocery bags in her hands, both of which aptly covered the small bump that had begun to form around her midsection. She still didn't look quite pregnant, and if one didn't look closely enough they'd miss it. For now that was fine with her, she did not enjoy not being able to act out on things as she used to.
Her eyes immediately befell Suji and she smiled, "You're the girl Cassie spoke of, I'm Raven," she greeted, stepping further into the room and handing the groceries off to Riley whom had jumped to his feet as her entrance. "I couldn't help but catch the bit about beds, we have plenty of room still," she smiled wryly at the memory of Tim, Layla, and all the others when they were crammed in here. Yeah...still plenty of room.... "Here, let me show you," she gestured towards the hallway and began walking.
Raven and Riley had not planned to get pregnant, no of course not, who would at a time like this? You had to deal the cards given to you, and she was determined to make the most of it. Unlike the other leaders Raven did things a unique way, without killing and carefully planned out. She made the tough decisions, the risky ones, and she undertook the burden of assuring everyones safety. That all being said, she was still bitter about being unable to perform her duty to her utmost ability, though Riley more than covered what she was forced to miss. They made a most excellent team.
"I hope no one scared you off, you look like you could use a night...or perhaps a weeks sleep," she laughed lightly and pushed open a door, "This work for you?" she glanced inside.
Suji:
Suji smiled at Raven, and though her eyes only swept across the woman once, Suji took in all the information her mind could process and retain in its weakened, tired state. Raven addressed her casually, but not flippantly: welcoming. Though Suji had slowly stepped towards Raven to help with the bags (on instinct, if nothing else), Riley had quickly jumped to his feet to take care of them. Dutiful, almost a watchdog, Suji thought, without malice. Better for him to grab the bags anyway: even if Suji tried to help she'd probably just topple over.
"Hello Raven. Name's Suji," she offered, though she was sure that Cassie had covered that too. Raven told her that they had beds to spare--Suji looked back to David and shrugged. "Guess I won't need to crash your room after all. Thanks for the offer though. Won't forget it," she gave him a bright smile. It was true: Suji did not forget things about people, the good or the bad turns they dealt her. And she tried to repay people in kind.
"Nah, you all aren't a scary bunch," Suji responded as she followed Raven. "And yeah, you hit the nail on the head there: a week at least." Raven opened the door, and Suji peered in over the other woman's shoulder: she wasn't much taller than Raven, but she had enough room to peek around inside. Of course it was nothing like what she'd had before the war; but it would be her own, at least for now. And that was really all that mattered. Hell, she wouldn't have minded sharing it with another girl or two, as long as it meant sleeping on a tiny sliver of real bedding. "Yes ma'am, looks perfect." Suji lingered for a moment in the doorway, though her eyes were trained on the bed. Obviously sleep was calling out to her.
"Thank you, Raven. For... taking me in like this, opening your home, all of that. I really appreciate it, and I'm going to do my best to be a valuable asset to our faction." Suji looked Raven in the eyes as she said it, meaning every word. "All here to save the world, right?" She almost added: 'I'm sure Cassie put me here for a reason,' but that seemed too underhanded. As played as Suji felt, she wasn't going to take that out on Raven. Suji's opinion about the leader, as well as the other faction-mates, would come in time.
Migratory, my ass, Suji thought to herself, feeling her tiny owl wings beating, pushing her through the night. She was tired, and sore in a way that lasted long after demorphing and remorphing. Cassie had given her this morph because it was small, had excellent night vision, and it was one of the only owls known to migrate. So theoretically, it could handle this. She, on the other hand, wasn't so sure that she could do it for much longer.
But she wouldn't stop and rest for very long: Cassie had given her a mission. And seeing as Cassie had also rescued her from what probably amounted to certain, eventual doom--and then given her the ability to turn into animals, no less--she kind of owed the woman. Suji kept on flapping, wings silently beating the cool air around her.
The good news was, she couldn't be far now. All she had to do was find this shack she was supposed to be looking for. Cassie hadn't been able to exactly give her coordinates or anything, but supposedly her instructions would have lead Suji to the general area. It was beginning to get brighter. Crap, Suji thought. Need to stop for the night. Damn. I was hoping this would be the night I got to sleep in a bed. It gets so freaking cold... Still, begrudgingly, she flew downwards into the nearby treeline.
Landing at the base of the treeline, Suji began to demorph. Her morphing suit was grey, skin-tight underarmor: both a long sleeved leotard, and a pair of pants (with footies) made out of the same material. It could be worse. Cassie had told her about what it'd been like when she started out... and Suji had been grateful for this morphing suit. At least it was warmer than trouncing around in a bathing suit. After catching her breath for a moment and stretching, she forced herself to begin morphing again.
This time amber colored fur sprouted from her face, while darker fur ran over her arms and legs. She doubled over, a writhing mass of hairy flesh. It was slow, again--even though she pushed herself, she was just so exhausted. Good practice, she tried to tell herself, but felt disgusted. Finally she was a capuchin monkey--a creature that looked like nothing but limbs and tail, as far as she was concerned.
Up the tree now, she urged the monkeys mind. Up! Get! She let the happy, energetic monkeys brain bubble up, and it quickly carried her up the tree. She stopped herself about half way, where the branches were still sturdy and thick, but there was dense cover. Nestling herself between two big branches, Suji began to demorph for the last time that night: already the sun was rising. Fully human, and fully exhausted, she leaned back against the bark, and went to sleep.
Ash:
Ash winged his way over the city of Chicago, partially following a patrol route, but mostly to remind himself of what a truly enjoyable experience flying as a heron was. He'd just recently acquired a firefly morph, and wasn't quite sure what to make of it yet. He'd only morphed the insect once, and that experience had been surreal enough to keep him out of its form for at least a day or two. The bug's mind was so unlike his own, so far even from those of his other morphs, that it had been truly disorientating for him. Just thinking about it made his head spin. Never mind kid, you'll get used to it soon enough, he told himself, and despite his present reluctance to give the morph another try, he knew this would be the case. He was starting to recover, or perhaps just forget the ordeal of having the insane dying yeerk inside his head. His mind wasn't in the right place to adopt such a jarringly different set of instincts right now, but time heals all wounds.
Reaching the outskirts of the city, Ash altered his course. He didn't need to check much outside of the city's limits, but he needed to fly back to the HQ regardless, so a little bit of light forest reconnaissance couldn't hurt. He beat his wings leisurely, in no particular rush, for he still had ample time to reach the HQ. He'd demorphed on a rooftop a short while ago for a pit stop, and thus he was well under the time limit. He cast around lazily, checking the treeline with little real commitment, convinced he'd see nobody around at this time, especially since he was beyond the confines of the urban environment.
Ash blinked in surprise. There was a girl in that tree! This was either one weird controller, or a free human. Either way, investigating further would probably be a good idea. Ash dropped out of his flight path and decended towards the tree, landing a few feet above the girl. Best not to get too close, or make his presence to obvious, lest he be caught off guard and feel the bite of a dracon weapon. Deciding that prodding the girl with his beak would be at best rude, and at worst a death sentence, Ash instead opted to speak to her through thoughtspeak.
<<Bit of an odd place for a nap.>> He commented pleasantly.
Suji:
Suji hadn't been sleeping well lately, to say the least. With all the traveling at night, constantly morphing and demorphing (and morphing again), all of her short-lived sleeping hours were filled with strange and terrible nightmares. Whether it was being caught longer than two hours in her morphs, or somehow getting caught as some half-monkey half-owl monstrosity, or most popularly, getting caught by a Controller, Suji slept light. That also had to do with the fact that trees were not super comfortable, and if you slept too deeply you were liable to fall out of them.
So, it didn't take her long to wake when she heard the voice: immediately her consciousness rose to the top of the darkness of sleep, and she opened her eyes. She didn't know what she'd been expecting: at most, someone below her had found her out. The words hadn't processed in her head, just the 'sound' of them had woken her up. She looked around, almost slipping from the branch when she looked up and saw the tall, stately figure of the heron. Still, the relation between it and the voice hadn't clicked.
Suji look down carefully, trying to spot who'd spoken. Maybe it had just been a weird dream. She was still exhausted: at most she'd gotten a couple hours in, and it was too light out for a little owl to be flying around looking for another place to rest. She stayed as quite as possible.
David:
David was circling about in the air, soaring effortlessly on his albatross wings. It was his first patrol.
Why do I feel like I have a pair of mattresses strapped to my arms? he thought to himself. Oh yeah, my arms, I mean my wings, are like five times the size of my body. I can't understand how I'll ever get used to- Hey! Is that Ash? It was a pied heron, which David knew was one of Ash's morphs. And it looked like it was following a patrol route. Maybe I should drop down and say hi. Or maybe not... Riley told me to stick to the patrol route...
Suddenly, Ash dropped into the forest. David circled over to where Ash had disappeared into the trees. There was a girl sitting in a tree, looking like she was curled up to sleep! Man, and I thought I'd slept in uncomfortable places! David thought, tucking his wings to his side and dropping to a branch near Ash.
Suji:
The heron was accompanied by a large bird that in no way looked native to the land: it looked like a seabird by the shape of its almost duck-like head, and the distinct beak shape. Plus, she couldn't tell exactly from her position, but it seemed like the feet might have been webbed. And even if some kind of seabird HAD wondered their far inland, Suji doubted that it would have willingly chosen to land next to another bird of an entirely different species.
She relaxed, and stopped bothering with looking below her. "Oh, I get it now." Sighing as she leaned back against the tree, Suji looked at the birds for another long moment, and then gave a wave. "And how are you two? My name's Suji. I've been looking for you lot for forever. Flew all the way from New York, and trust me, I didn't have those nice big wings to do it. Who are your names? Are either of you Raven by any chance?"
She wouldn't be surprised if they didn't talk a lot, or if they dragged her back to their headquarters to lock her up for another three days. Of course, she was really hoping she could convince them she wasn't a Controller, but the idea of being locked away in a confined space after making it all the way here didn't sound too appealing. Besides, no point in not being polite.
Kiera:
Kiera was just outside the door of the HQ, slightly panicking. It was normal for Ash to come back extremely late from his patrols. Kiera could tell he loved flying, maybe a little too much. But David should have been back by now. Had something gone wrong? Had they ran into controllers? Were they purposefully staying out in order to drive her crazy? Panicking wasn't one of her favorite things to do.
A couple minutes later, she was into her Kodkod morph and running around the HQ in a slowly expanding spiral, every second or two, letting out a David and Ash focused thought-speak. <<Guys, where the hell are you?>> she asked, waiting for a response. She tried not too get too far away from the HQ. Raven and Riley were still inside, probably asleep, and unprotected. <<Come on, guys! What the hell? Stop screwing with me!>>
David:
When the girl started talking about Raven and morphing and, most importantly, about having flown from from New York, David started to relax. Wait, he thought. Her being able to morph certainly makes her unlikely to be a controller, but all she's done is say she can morph. Don't relax yet. He edged closer to Ash.
<Hey, Ash, is there some kind of Animorphs password, or code, or something? Just so we know she's really an Animorph without locking her up for three days?> he asked, keeping it in private thought-speak so that only Ash could hear.
Suddenly, he could dimly hear Kiera thought-shouting about something. He couldn't make out any words, though. And if he tried to call back, well, he couldn't do private thought-speak very loudly yet, and he didn't want to include the strange girl in the conversation if she wasn't who she said she was.
Suji:
She wasn't answered right away, but Suji supposed she hadn't really expected to be. She watched as the seabird moved closer to the heron. There was definitely no way these were just average birds. For a moment there was a fleeting thought that maybe they'd been captured, made into controllers themselves... but it passed quickly. After all, she didn't think that they'd still be morphed as birds, which weren't very threatening. Or at least they'd probably be talking to her, whether trying to trick her or intimidate her.
The fact that neither of them claimed to be Raven, plus their hesitation, led her to assume that the faction leader wasn't among them. Whether or not the faction leader believed Suji was one thing, but she doubted that any leader would hesitate to ask her more about where she'd come from. They had to be from that faction though, right? There couldn't be any rogue animorphs running around.
It was also clear that they were speaking to each other--the fact that the birds huddled together made her smile. Obviously it was a human trait; you needed to be close to someone to whisper. But thoughtspeak was different--Cassie had taught her about that. It was pretty endearing, and she felt a little more of her tension ease up. Still, she was tired.
"Look, I can show you I can morph--as if the tight outfit and lack of shoes or any equipment didn't prove it enough. Not that that would exclude me from possibly being a controller, I won't insult your intelligence there--but I'll go with you willingly back to your headquarters. You can put me in confinement if you have to, but really, I'd like to speak with Raven, please." After a moment, she looked between them, obviously trying to analyze the situation. "Really though, I don't care, just please take me somewhere with a bed." She rubbed her face with one hand, holding on the the branch with the other. It was clear that she was tired beyond belief. "Or a floor. Just somewhere I can sleep without being afraid to roll over."
Ash:
Ash continued to watch the girl. He had no idea whether or not to take her claims of being an animorph seriously. On one hand, he didn't honestly think that the girl was a controller, and he didn't want to subject her to three days of solitary confinement. On the other, taking a potential controller into their ranks was a less than prudent move. He'd speak to her in a moment. First, he needed to address David and Kiera.
<<Use your head David,>> he told the younger animorph with a small amount of exasperation. <<If she's a controller, she'll have ample access to any passwords or codes that her host would have known. You can't keep secrets with a yeerk stuck to your brain. I'm just banking on the thought that, if the yeerks had taken an animorph, they'd hae spread the information far and wide to try and demoralise us. The only test we can perform short of locking her away for a few days is giving her oatmeal to eat. Yeerks are driven nuts by the stuff, its common knowledge amongst controllers by now.>> He turned his head and gave the larger avian a significant look, before addressing Kiera. Her voice as faint, suggestig she was some distance away, but nevertheless Ash deemed it a good idea to try and prevent her from worrying.
<<Don't wory, Kiera. David and I have just found a girl in a tree. If you could rouse Riley or Raven for us, it'd help us out a great deal. She claims to be an animorph, although we can't confrim or deny that right now.>> He informed her, hoping she'd be close enough to get his message. They weren't especially far from the HQ, but regardless Ash wasn't quite comfortable with the range of his communications yet. Finally, he probably needed to address the girl, for as far as he could tell, David had said nothing to her yet, and he himself had kept his conversational topics amongst those already confirmed as his companions.
<<This is the heron. You can call me Ash. While I don't doubt that you're telling the truth, it probably wouldn't hurt to show us that you can morph. If you've got a flying morph, we'll escort you back to the HQ, where Raven can decide whether or not to keep you shut away in confinement. I doubt it'll come to that, since you can morph, but its not my place to decide.>>Then, as a relative afterthought, he added, in a somewhat warmer, less formal tone , <<Welcome to Chicago.>>
Ash then looked at David. <<Anything you'd like to add, man?>>
David:
<Uh, well, yeah, welcome to Chicago. My name's, uh, David. And, I guess, nice job flying from New York, I don't think I could do that,> David said, a little surprised. On your feet as always, he thought to himself. She probably wouldn't remember his mumbling though, she looked like she was only just half-awake. This worried David, since if she fell asleep now, well, it was a long way down.
<Ash,> he said privately. <I didn't know yeerks could lift thoughts out of their hosts' heads! That would make them almost unstoppable, wouldn't it?> And that would mean that Karl is in even more serious hell than I first thought, he thought.
Deal with Karl when the time is right. For now, make sure this girl makes it back to HQ without falling asleep. That looks like it's going to be at least as hard as rescuing Karl.
Suji:
Suji almost smiled again when the heron seemed to glare at the other bird. The only reason she didn't smile was because she was certain they were discussing her, and for all she knew it wasn't pleasant. It was a silly but somehow also sobering thought, to know that you were being talked about mind-to-mind, between birds, and they might have been deciding your fate.
Finally, one of them spoke to her again--apparently the one that had woken her up in the first place. Ash and David. Okay, I can remember that.
"Thanks for the welcome, Ash and David. And yeah, I'll morph, hold on. I used an owl morph to get here. Going to suck trying to fly it in the daytime though, it's not far is it?" Figuring that they could answer while she was morphing (and that it didn't really matter how far it was or not--flying would be faster than walking) she began to picture her owl. Then she stopped, and looked down... aaaall the way down to the ground. While her morphing was pretty smooth (maybe even somewhat controlled--she'd learned from Cassie, after all, though she was certainly no prodigy), she'd fallen out of a tree before when trying to morph and demorph her flammulated owl while sitting/perched on the branches. And she hadn't been half as tired as she was now... and when she'd fallen then she'd broken her leg so bad the bone stuck clean out. Of course she'd been able to morph and fix it, but it was a lesson well learned.
"I'm gonna climb down first though." Suji focused on her monkey morph. As much as she thought monkeys were ridiculous--they weren't exactly powerhouses of the animal kingdom--they were useful, as Cassie had assured her. Nimble fingers, the ability to scramble up trees and some urban surfaces, not to mention that the capuchin had a prehensile tail... she couldn't complain too much. Besides, it had a happy, warm mind.
Holding on to the branches, Suji focused on becoming smaller first, and then on the transformation of her feet. The fur that came across her body didn't sprout in patches, but all seemed to rise at once. There was a strange slurping sound as her tail shot out--definitely her least favorite part.
<<I swear I'm not going to morph for a month after this. Unless it's something that hibernates.>> With that said, she scampered over the edge of the branches she'd been holding to, racing down headfirst in a way that the monkey brain was totally cool with, but that felt a little too much like falling to her. It wasn't long before she reached the bottom.
Suji:
Fighting motion sickness and vertigo, Suji began to return to her regular old human self. The fur receded, and her limbs realigned to their proper place. The tail suck back into her body with another one of those noises that was somehow squishy and crunchy at once. She ended up demorphing to a sitting position, not having the strength or willpower to force herself upright. After all, was as the point, if she just had to morph again?
She contemplated suggesting that they just lead her and she walk, but didn't figure that would go over well. Besides, walking barefoot was hardly ever a good idea when you were outside and in an unfamiliar area. As she pulled up the image of her owl morph in her mind, her stomach revolted for a moment: nauseas at the prospect of changing shape again. She couldn't really blame it--it felt like the only time she'd been human in the recent past had been to sleep. Most of her conscious hours had been spent either as a different species, or changing to and back from one. Cassie had assured her that physically the rinse and repeat process wouldn't have lasting effects (exhaustion, despite how interminable it seemed now, didn't count), at least.
Battling down the upset outcries in her gut, Suji held back the urge to complain. She'd already made a point about the long trip and being tired, and even if that didn't begin to describe what she was feeling, she didn't want to be seen as a whiner. First impressions.
She morphed again, this time becoming the tiny, darkly feathered owl. The mind was panicking at the brightness of the light: it wanted to hide and rest somewhere deep and dark, nestled away from bigger predators, until it could do its business at night. She found herself frantically looking about for crevices to huddle in. <<This thing absolutely hates that it's daytime, give me a minute to get a better grip...>> Slowly she tried to reassure the animal mind, enough that she could push it down and overcome it. <<Okay, I'm good. Ash, David, go ahead and lead the way. Might have to fly a bit slowly though, small wings plus I'm anticpating being nearly blind.>> With that she focused on the two bigger birds.
David:
<Might have to fly a bit slowly, though, small wings plus I'm anticipating being nearly blind,> Suji said.
<Well, uh, albatrosses aren't exactly, um, fast, you know,> David said. He was starting to feel a little more comfortable talking to her now, especially with Ash there too. As for the possibility of her being a controller, well, he knew it was bad to make assumptions like this, but a part of him refused to believe that an Animorph would be captured by the yeerks. He found himself trusting Suji.
He judged the distance. They could probably make it back before he had to demorph. He wasn't very good at telling time without a clock, but he couldn't have been in morph for that long. And, well, it's not like the albatross would be a bad morph to be stuck in. Not that he wanted to be stuck in morph. It's just that thye needed to get Suji back to HQ soon; she'd almost looked sick or something when she was morphing into her owl. David didn't know much about morphing, but he knew, or sensed anyway, that that wasn't supposed to happen.
He flapped his wings and lifted from the branch.
Kiera:
At first, Kiera was extremely relieved when she heard Ash's barely audible thought speak. That, however, was short lived. It took her a second to think of what to say. <<A girl in a tree?!?>> She responded, ignoring the urge to run to them. <<What's she doing there? Is she a controller? What's going on?>> Kiera demanded.
<<Nevermind, I'll go get Riley. He'll know what to do. Just stay where you are.>> As soon as she was done talking, she began her unmorph. Stupidly, she tried to do it while moving toward the house. That however was a massive failure as she took a nosedive into the dirt when the Kodkod's front legs became her arms. Quickly, she jumped back up, without bothering to dust herself off. She stood still, just long enough to finish the morph.
Two seconds later, she was outside Raven and Riley's bedroom door, pounding as hard as she could. "RILEY!!" she yelled. "Wake up! We've got a SERIOUS PROBLEM!!!"
David:
<Just stay where you are!> Kiera said. David circled around.
<Never mind,> he said. <It seems we need to sta- OUCH!> He'd been aiming for the branch again, but he'd overshot, and get a beakfull of tree trunk. He flapped madly and managed to right himself, and let his huge wings carry him to the ground.
Wow, David. Really spectacular. Where'd you learn to fly? He felt his crushed beak begin to soften and melt as he started to shoot up. There was a slurping sound as his bones filled in and became heavy. His feathers melted together and became skin, while his wings became thinner and thinner, and fingers sprouted from the ends of each one. His neck got longer and he felt his heart slow down, though it was still pumping madly after his fight with the tree. Looking down, he noticed that he looked completely human... except for his legs, which were still bird's legs. However, even these began to change, growing skin, morphing suit, and extra toes.
Suji:
Starting from a dead landing from the owl morph wasn't fun--but Suji supposed that that was the same with most birds. She fought against gravity, struggling to list herself into the air. The little bird wasn't tired, at least, but it was taking the reserves of her own mental energy to quell its anxiety about being out during the daytime.
However, almost as soon as she was air born, the seabird--David, the other one is Ash--told her that they were actually going to be staying. It seemed strange that he had changed his mind so quickly, but it didn't take Suji long to realize that it was likely from another person-specific thought message. Before she could consider what that meant, however, there was a crashing sound, and it looked like the bigger bird had met with some difficulties. She couldn't see the extent of the damage (her vision would have been perfect at night: now, not so much), but it was obvious that he was demorphing after he landed.
Suji's first instinct was to ask if he was okay, but he looked fine after demorphing, and she knew that that fixed all of the physical damage the morph had sustained. She flapped over and down to him, landing on the ground at his feet--there was a moment where she considered landing on his shoulder, but small as they were, she imagined her talons would be rather prickly. Also, it seemed like it would have been an invasion of personal space.
<<And now you know why I try to use the monkey morph to navigate trees,>> she said, her voice light-hearted and jesting, but not mean. <<So what's the hold up? You are okay, right?>>
David:
David felt his nose, which, a few minutes ago, had been a broken beak. It still stung a little, but he wasn't seeing stars anymore, and he didnt feel like he was going to pass out anymore. He rubbed his nose gingerly, and tried to avoid her gaze.
"Yeah... I'm, uh, I'm fine," he said, embarrassed. "Um, someone's coming, so , uh, we gotta stay here, so, you know, they can find us." Should I be telling her this? I guess if I didn't mention any names it's okay... "You probably might as well demorph."
Suji:
As much as she'd tried not to whine earlier, she let out a moderately loud, thoughtspeak groan at the mention of demorphing again. <<They'll probably just tell me to morph and prove it though, won't they? I guess they might take both of your word for it though--you saw the two morphs Cassie sent me off with. It's not exactly something you can fake.>> As far as Suji knew, she wouldn't be totally surprised if the leader did make her remorph just to be certain.
<<No offense to your suggestion, and also not saying Raven doesn't trust you, but I'm going to stick in this morph for now just to be safe. If I demorph I have a feeling I'm going to have to remorph to get back to your base anyway. And at this point with all the morphing, I'm liable to hurl on someone.>> She looked up at him with her round, jet-black eyes.
<<And really, don't feel bad about the crashing. I fell out of a tree and broke my leg while demorphing earlier this week. My hands were still covered in feathers and I couldn't grab anything. And besides, it's not like your morph even has great landing gear as far as trees go. Webbed feet probably make it hard to perch, right?>>
Ash:
Ash had to stifle a laugh as David crash landed. He'd had some mild concerns for his safety, but overall he doubted any real damage had been sustained. It wasn't anything the demorphing process wouldn't fix. He dropped to a slightly lower branch, to get a better view and therefore better assess the situation, but he still stayed a comfortable distance from the ground. Sure enough, David emerged from his feathered form with nought more than a raw nose to indicate his crash. Well, a sore nose and very flushed cheeks. It seemed that he wasn't in a faction known for keeping composure.
<<I'd agree. It probably wouldn't hurt for her to stay in morph.>> Ash noted. He appreciated what David was saying, but he really didn't see the necessity. If she planned to flee, now would hardly be the opportune time. She would've either left earlier, upon being discovered, or waited til later, once the hideout had been revealed to her. In either case, it meant she was more likely to stick around for now. Besides, she was small than Ash, and he had the advantage of altitude. If she attempted to flee, Ash would likely be able to halt her. Plus, she seemed tired enough to pass out.
Besides, she could morph. He sincerely doubted she had any cause to flee from them. RIley would know better than Ash how to handle the situation, and he was perfectly comfortable with waiting for the more senior animorph to arrive on the scene.
Kiera:
No one was answering. "GRRRR!!!" Kiera screamed loudly. Maybe they were out walking, who knows. It just frustrated Kiera to not know where they were when she felt she should be guarding them. She morphed into her squirrel and took a running leap out the window onto a nearby tree, going in the direction of David and Ash's thought speak. Once she was out to where she thought they could hear her, she adressed them again, and only them. She didn't want this new girl hearing that the faction leader was missing.
<<Hey, guys,>> she said. <<Raven and Riley aren't answering their door. I dont know where they went. I'm just not sure we should take her to the HQ without permission. Just hold on. I'm on my way.>> Her squirrel morph was fast in the trees, something she was happy for. She got to them decently quickly. <<Hi,>> she said to the new girl. <<I'm Kiera. And you are?>>
Suji:
Suji waited in the owl morph. She let it preen it's feathers, which at least made it feel somewhat comforted, though it really didn't like the strong daylight. <<So, uh, know any good jokes?>> She broadcasted to the two of them, trying to pass the time more quickly. Presumably they were waiting for the faction leader, right? Raven. That's who Cassie had told her the leader was.
Then, suddenly, there was a squirrel zooming towards them. The owl fluttered and panicked, flapping across the ground to a location further away before Suji could turn its small body back around the spot she'd been in. She hoped that it hadn't looked like she was trying to escape: at least she'd been able to turn back fairly quickly. <<Rav-?>> She'd already started to ask, but the squirrel introduced itself as Kiera. The tiny owl's chest almost visibly deflated. But she waited to speak, composing herself--she didn't want to sound disappointed to meet this new animorph, even if she wasn't who Suji had been expecting at least. <<My name is Suji. Please to meet you Kiera. Not to be forward, but is Raven on the way? I just thought that that's who we were waiting for...>>
Her voice sounded tired, and even a bit of her exhaustion seemed to leak from the thoughtspeak, spreading the emotion along with the message.
David:
Uh-oh, think of a joke, fast! Spare Kiera having to think up an excuse of why Raven or Riley isn't coming! "Uh, uh, I've got a joke!" David exclaimed. "Uh, so, uh, a woman walks into a store, and she says to the guy behind the, uh, counter, 'I want three tomatoes, three potatoes, and three onions', and the, uh, the guy says 'I'm sorry, uh, we're out of onions.' Um, and then the woman, she says, 'Okay, then can I have two potatoes, two tomatoes, and two onions.' And the guy says, 'Look lady, I just said we have no onions.' And, uh, the lady says, 'Then can I have one onion, one potato, and one tomato?' And the guy says, 'Look, lady, what do you get, uh, if you take the po out of potato?' and she says 'Tato!' And the guy says 'What do you get if you take the to out of tomato?' and she says 'Mato!' and he says 'What do you get if you take the freak out of onion?' and she says 'Wait, there's no freak in onion-' 'THAT'S RIGHT, THERE'S NO FREAKIN POTATOES!' I mean onions!" He smacked his face.
Spectacular. The first time in your life you've ever messed that joke up.
Kiera:
Kiera had to control her laughter at how stupid David's joke was. But, nevertheless, she was appreciative. It gave her a moment to think up an excuse. <<Thank you,>> she said only to David, <<Send out targeted thoughts for Riley and Raven only,>> she said, expanding it to both David and Ash before turning to the owl that was apperantly Suji, a.k.a. The New Girl.
<<It's very nice to meet you, Suji. Welcome to Chicago,>> she said as welcomingly as she could. <<Raven and Riley are out right now. He's probably patroling, and she needed food, so she went to the store. They be back any minute.>> <<Tell them to hurry,>> she added, only to David and Ash.
<<So how'd you end up here??>>
Suji:
Suji would have blinked blankly at David, but the owl's sharp glare didn't really have an 'unfocused' expression. Instead she just stared at him. <<...>> At first she didn't know whether to laugh or not. It seemed so bizarre--she hadn't figured that he would ACTUALLY come up with a joke. And then, something inside her mind broke; like an essential block removed from a dam, her laughter erupted. <<Hahaha,>> she laughed, the sound almost a giggle because of her exhaustion. It wasn't obnoxiously loud, but it had an unrestrained, free quality to it--as if she hadn't heard anything funnier in a very long time.
She was an owl being told a joke about potatoes because they were clearly stalling till their leader decided to show up. And he'd messed the joke up, no less. She wanted to laugh until her gut hurt, and then promptly fall asleep. Of course, being in owl morph meant that she wasn't physically laughing still, it felt good to laugh. Him slapping his face in a typical 'doh!' motion just made her laugh harder.
When she stopped laughing, she focused the intense owl eyes on the squirrel.
Suji did not know if she believed the bit about going to the store. It seemed thinly veiled, but it was harder to read thoughtspeak than normal speech--harder to read with the normal human body language. She didn't want to let on that she thought they were lying; at least, she didn't want to be rude about it. A lot of times it was better to be thought a bit dimmer than you were: people acted more natural around you when they didn't realize every thing they were doing was being scrutinized and recorded.
<<Ah. Flew in.>> She lifted the owl's wings. The bird was barely bigger than a large robin. <<From New York. Cassie sent me here. It's been... been a long trip. I'd really like to see Raven, or at least a place I can sleep inside.>> She fluttered a little, and looked back to David. <<You can blindfold me if you want, keep me in an enclosed space until Raven comes back. I'd just really like to be inside. If it's not doable, I... well, that's okay. If I start snoring though, wake me up, eh?>> She laughed to try to make it sound less serious. <<Wouldn't like to get stuck like this.>>
David:
When Suji's eyes were closed, David stood, sheepishly. He couldn't believe he'd ruined the joke. Karl had always said that David couldn't tell jokes to save his life, but this was his ace, the joke he never messed up on and that always got a laugh.
Well, it had certainly gotten a laugh.
"I'll, uh, go... get, uh Raven." He morphed back into the albatross as quickly as he could, making sure his bright red face was covered by white feathers. <Be back in a few.> He flapped up through the trees.
He didn't actually go very far, he flew in increasingly large circles around where they'd found Suji.
<Raven! Riley! There's an issue! Cassie sent us someone! Hello?> He tried to keep it so that Suji couldn't hear his thought speak, though by now she must have guessed that they didn't actually know where Raven and Riley were.
Riley:
Riley had been around the entire time, he was in his chimpanzee morph, well hidden in the trees. He'd been around the area for a while and new the right placements to remain hidden from observant bids--aka other Animorphs. Raven was asleep, and he was keep an eye on things as the other members patrolled and did various other activities. He noticed Suji before the others and knew exactly who she was, Cassie of course had called and let both him and Raven know about her. When she was approached by other members however an interesting situation arose.
He used his thoughts to let Raven know not to answer the door when Kiera banged--which made him laugh inwardly--and then observed the members at work. What would they do if their leader was suddenly missing or incapacitated? Hopefully they'd handle it well, and as he watched he realized they weren't so bad. Ash had a good head on his shoulders, something that Riley would be sure to tell him later. After David's attempted joke though he nearly fell out of the tree, his human instincts wanting to burst out laughing and the monkey instead muffling grunting noises.
With one swift movement Riley dropped from the tree, already demorphing. He landed a little unsteadily on his feet, finishing his morph until he stood at his towering height of six foot three. It was safe to say his appearance came off as slightly intimidating, though he was nothing but a big softie. He smiled widely, one that reached all the way to his green eyes, "Suji if I caught your name correctly, I'm Riley, sort of the second in charge," he nodded his head slightly. "Raven is out, but I pretty much take charge....Cassie should have mentioned that...." he frowned slightly, "Come inside," he gestured towards the HQ and then glanced at the others.
"Just wanted to see how you guys did in a tight situation," he winked and gave them a thumbs up. "How was your flight, not a fun one...I know I did it on a motorcycle," he chuckled. Before he could morph he had traveled quite a bit, the biggest trip being from his Hometown of New York to Chicago where he had to stop multiple times to rest. Scary as a mere human.
David:
David saw the chimpanzee drop out of the tree as it turned into Riley and groaned. <Riley, you couldn't just show up and spare me having to tell that joke?> He landed and demorphed as quickly as he could, following them as soon as his legs were human. "You owe me."
Just wanted to know how we did in a tight situation... Grr, I'll show him a tight situation. But David was grinning. He knew that he would laugh at this with time. A lot of time.
Suji:
Suji blinked at the demorphing chimpanzee: how had none of them noticed? Bird morphs were some of the most observant, and it wasn't exactly like chimpanzees were native to the Chicago area. Please, she scolded herself. You're so tired it probably wouldn't matter if he'd been an elephant sitting in a nearby tree, as long as he was quiet about it. Still, she resolved to be more vigilant. As least, starting after she had a good nap.
"Cassie should have mentioned that..." His words caused a slight unrest in Suji's cut. What else hadn't Cassie told her. She'd been told that the Chicago faction was one of the most well-established, had some of the longest history, and that it was headed by Raven, who Cassie trusted not only with her life, but obviously with the mission. Still, had Cassie neglected to tell her some things? If so, what and why? Suji fluttered towards the entrance of the HQ, and began to demorph. In all honestly, the only thing that carried her through to the finish was the hope that it would be the last time she had to shape-change for a while. Hopefully until she got a square meal or two (or a thousand) and some sleep.
"Oh, don't be sore about it, David," Suji said, once her mouth had lips instead of a beak, stretching her arms. "That joke was the best thing about my past week." She flashed him a tired, but genuine, smile. "I mean it. Humor's a valuable commodity." Stepping into the HQ, Suji looked around, her expression unreadable--she might have been impressed, or she might have been underwhelmed. The only really clear thing was that she was quickly, and efficiently, analyzing the area. Abruptly, as if the process had just finished (she did not linger), Suji turned towards Riley. "Second in command, though, eh? Nice to meet you, Riley. Strange circumstances maybe, but hey, what else is new?" She held out a hand for a strong handshake.
Ash:
Ash had laughed at David's joke, too. Well, not so much at the joke, but at the zany way in which David had failed to tell it correcly and subsequently realised his mistake. He was relaxed, but alert. He saw no reason to be worried, but being on guard was probably a good idea.
Too late Ash noticed the bipedal shape dropping form the tree branches, and his head snapped around in alarm. However, upon recognising the creature as the demorphing form f Riley, he couldn't help but feel pretty foolish. He'd failed to spot the threat, and though in all fairness his heron didn't have the strongest eyes of the assembled menagerie, he wondered if they'd have been unable to spot an actual threat. Oh well, it wasn't important now. Vigilance would just have to be doubled next time.
<<Hey Riley.>> He said pleasantly, his tone covering his embarrassment reasonably well. <<So, how did we score, in your opinion? On a scale of one to ten, ten being "Hell, I couldn't have done better in my wildest dreams" and one being "Why in god's name did I give these retards the means to turn into animals with higher IQs than themselves"?>> He didn't think they'd performed poorly, but he knew they could've acted better. Riley's success at surprising them had proven that.
Riley:
Riley grinned widely at David, "I couldn't help myself, it was pretty funny," he clapped him the shoulder good naturedly. "Fine fine, add it to my debt," he laughed. Riley seemed at ease now, though he was quite the opposite, squirming inside at Ravens absence. Normally he had one eye open at all times, constantly keeping watch over her but now she was out there pretending to be a Controller so that the Faction could eat...and he had to stay here and keep an eye on the others. If there was anything he hated it was not knowing if Raven was okay or not.
He took a few steps towards the HQ, watching Suji's bird form flutter into the doorway. Riley sidestepped her and plopped onto the couch in an exaggerated motion. "That it is," he agreed with Suji, grinning widely at David. It had been quite hard for him to contain his laughter when he was observing them all due to David. "Yeah, pretty much. Raven's pregnant...which prevents her from being able to morph so I've taken over," he explained. Suji probably could guess that he indeed was the father, that much was obvious by the affection in his voice at the mention of her name.
Riley sat up and shook her hand, returning a firm grip, though careful not to be too hard, his hand was quite a bit larger than hers--as it was most peoples. "Strange is our specialty," he smiled. Then he turned and glanced at Kiera, "By the by, nice set of lungs you got on you," his head hung upside down from the couch now, and he smiled upside-down at Kiera. "As for how you guys did, would it be fair to say a little of both?" he teased, now focusing on Ash. "No, in all fairness you did reasonably well, though theres always room for adjustment." Riley made a note to speak to them individually when he could, particularly Ash.
David:
Yeah room for adjustment, point number one: remember what vegetables the store is out of, David thought. He was embarrassed, but, fr the first time in a long time, he felt he could almost laugh at himself for it. It was a weird feeling, especially for David, who usually didn't take embarrassment well. Point number two: flying into trees is a bad idea.
And so now David wasn't the new guy. Well, not the newest guy, anyway. It would be interesting having someone adapting to the challenges of Animorph life while he did, instead of watching all these veterans running around. And maybe it would be a little easier.
Suji:
Suji watched Riley carefully, though she tried not to show it. He was bigger than them physically, and he was comfortable with that. He reclined when he wanted to, lounged, but snapped up to give her a strong (but courteous) handshake. She would have thought that he was acting if it didn't seem to come so natural to him. He was the perfect picture of an all American guy--easily someone a person could get to trust and follow. As long as his judgment was as sound as his playful-yet-still-commanding-authority personality, Suji didn't think that she'd have any problems with him.
Then he mentioned Raven being pregnant, and moved from the topic just as easily as he'd come to it. Suji blinked several times; in her mind a huge traffic jam started, where one car crashed into the next crashed into the next. It was almost painful to have so many thoughts (her mind was used to moving at a quick pace) running into each other, all backed up at that one point. Not knowing how else to react, Suji laughed a bit under her breath, eyes quickly moving amongst the others. They hadn't seemed to react to the news at all... which worried her further. That had to be a joke, right? A faction leader being pregnant? Moreso: a faction leader not being able to morph?
Suji continued to try to wrap her mind around it: the flow of the conversation had already passed it. What else hadn't Cassie told her... A slow, impossible feeling began to boil in her gut. Quietly, inquisitively, Suji spoke up. "Wait a second. Raven... the leader here, she's pregnant?" Her voice was neutral, but there was obvious confusion on her features.
David:
Well, that's consistent with her not knowing about Riley being in charge. Does Cassie not know? Or did she just not say anything? If it's the second one, that was pretty dumb of her. I mean, we could have almost immediately trusted her if she'd known that; it would have shown she was coming from an "in" source. No, it's gotta be that Cassie just doesn't know. And why would she? Suji didn't look too good. The look on her face when Riley had said that Raven was pregnant had been almost comical. And then Riley had gone on, the conversation had progressed, but she'd just sat there, like she wasn't taking any of it in. It was such a change from her old collected, cool, analytical face that she'd been wearing every time she wasn't asleep or an owl, that it had been all David could do to keep from laughing out loud.
"Um, yeah," said David. "That's why, uh, Riley's in charge." If Riley wanted to say more, he could. Meanwhile, Suji was displaying the first emotion he'd ever seen on her face: confusion. And to think a second ago, he wouldn't have guessed she could feel anything remotely related to confusion.
Suji:
David confirmed what Riley has said. In an instant, Suji's eyes were on his: full bore intensity. It was a thing she tried to tone down, at least whenever she wanted to blend in. She'd figured out over the course of 18 years that people didn't tend to like being looked at that way. It was unnerving to most people because it wasn't exactly a gentle, soft sort of gaze.
Why hadn't Cassie told her? Unlike David, Suji came to a very different conclusion. Cassie had known. Of course she had known. But she hadn't said anything to Suji. Suji could clearly remember the look on Cassie's face before she'd sent Suji packing. 'Anything else I need to know?' Suji had asked. 'Nope,' Cassie had responded, but she'd looked away, down at something else. 'That's it.' And Suji had thought it was a little suspicious, but had never for a second thought that Cassie was lying to her.
She felt very clearly now what that budding emotion had been: rage.
Control! Suji scolded herself. Stop! This isn't the time or the place! Instantly, Suji relaxed her gaze. It might have been as easy as flicking off the switch on a thousand watt bulb: bordering on blistering one moment, cool the next. She made a note to breathe. "Oh. Cassie didn't tell me." And though she forced a small smile, fought for control over her body, Suji still felt that white-hot anger. Suppressing it down, she continued, in that same, slightly surprised, but certainly not angry or accusatory, voice: "I can't even imagine how hard that must be."
Kiera:
Kiera remained silent for a long time, pondering how much it would hurt if she jumped onto of Riley's head on purpose. She had been extremely worried about their absense. She was the kind who liked to mother people, to protect people, which was why Kaelyn's fate affected her so much. The fact that Riley had just been screwing with them made her very angry. At least, if there had been real danger, then her worry wouldnt have been for nothing.
<<Thanks,>> she said flatly to Riley when he mentioned her lung power. If she lost her voice because of this, she was going to be even more angry.
As if she would ever know, morphing into her squirrel would have fixed any damage. She followed them to the HQ, deciding to go straight to her room. Quickly, she lept from a nearby tree into her room and onto her bed. <<I'm going to take a nap, guys. Wake me if something interesting happens,>> she told everyone. In an afterthought, she added, <<It was nice to meet you, Suji.>> Kiera demorphed, slid on her comfy pajama bottoms, and climbed in her bed, hoping sleep would wash away her anger.
David:
I guess that makes two of them. I wonder what's got Kiera in such a huff? Unless someone said she was short and I didn't hear. And did Suji look pissed or was that just my imagination? No, I think she was pissed, and if I'm right, she's really good at keeping that poker face up. I must plan a vacation in Las Vegas and invite her along.
He cracked a grin. Sure. Like Las Vegas wasn't probably full of yeerks. Yeah, I'm going all in: my money and my freedom. Oops, I lose. Down the yeerk pool I go.
Riley:
Riley was calm, unlike two other people in the room at this point in time. As much as Suji might have been trying to hide it, he could tell. The 10 years he spent out there on his own, a rogue human basically riding around and trying to make some type of difference on his own...well he learned to read people. There was only one person he knew that did a better job of it, and that was Raven. Instantly his mind was back on her, was she safe? Had something happened? How many hours had it been since she left? Riley hated being separated from her like this.
Slowly his gaze rose and met Suji's, "Yeah, shes pregnant. Cassie didn't tell you because Raven and I asked her not to tell anyone," he replied simply, shrugging his shoulders lightly. "It's a need-to-know basis, and she probably figured it was better you heard it from the source." Cassie was incredibly smart, and Riley respected her quite a bit, not something he gave out easily. "But yes, that's why I tend to go out instead, do the morphing." In essence he acted as the brawn and she the brains, though he was quite intelligent himself.
Kiera's little fit didn't faze Riley in the least, he enjoyed teasing her, and she should know by now he meant no harm, it actually meant he was fond of her. He wasn't screwing with them, it had been a test, an ample opportunity had reared it's head and he had taken advantage of it. They hadn't had any serious missions yet so it was the closest he could get to seeing who could keep a level head in a not so pleasant situation. "Night Kiera," he replied simply.
Then he turned from his spot on the couch, "Any other questions?" he look at Suji. Riley knew it was a lot to take in, and he had no problem answering whatever she might care to inquire about.
Suji:
Suji gauged Riley. Definitely the protector sort. Probably had a heart of gold. She didn't think it was a bad thing--better to have open and honest teammates, by far. They'd asked Cassie not to tell anyone. Because I'm sure inter-faction gossip is all the rage, Suji thought, but kept her face carefully neutral. Maybe she'd lost a bit of control before, but there was no doubt that she was completely back in the driver's seat now: and the presentation was a seamless one, utterly natural. She nodded at what Riley said. "That must have been it. Sorry if I seemed shocked, but it's been a long trip and I wasn't expecting any surprises when I got here." She cracked a warm smile. "But I guess that's why they're called surprises."
Only she was dead certain that that wasn't the reason--or at least not the only reason--that Cassie wouldn't have told her. She didn't share this opinion aloud. Several other less-than-nice thoughts passed through her head, but she suppressed them easily enough. Nothing she could do about any of them now. Suji feigned a yawn, which turned into a real one almost as soon as she started. The room wobbled around her, and she had to shake her head a bit to clear it.
Other questions? Suji had a quite a few, but most weren't the type that you could come straight out and ask someone--they were of the more personal variety, the kind you had to answer for yourself through observation and interpersonal analysis. 'Which of you would sell me out' or 'who among us would really die for a stranger' or 'who would kill a thousand to save a million' weren't really things you opened with. She rubbed her head, and smiled weakly. "Probably, but they can wait. What I'm really interested is just a place to sleep, if that's okay for now? I don't care if it's a shared room or just a tiny stretch in a corner. Just... resting somewhere safe would be nice."
David:
Oh. Cassie did know. Makes sense that they wouldn't want the news spreading throughout the Animorphs. That might be a little embarrassing. Of course, if we win, historians are going to debate forever why Raven and Riley decided to have a baby, and that seems worse to me. Whatever, not my business.
"If, uh, you need somewhere to just collapse, you can use my bed," David offered. "I'm not tired at the moment, I'll, uh, probably be heading back out on, uh, patrol soon. Besides, I've, um, slept in worse places than the, uh, floor."
Suji:
Suji looked back from Riley to David. She bit her bottom lip lightly, smiling through what might have been a chuckle. David was easy to like: he was very normal, seemed friendly enough too. Not that Riley didn't seem like these things: Riley was surprisingly amiable, but Suji was wary to trust anyone that assumed a position of authority. At least, she held them to different standards. They weren't there to be your friend, after all: they were leaders because they'd shown some aptitude for getting things done. And in the end, a person that got things done wasn't supposed to be your friend. At least, not like a regular friend.
Ash was more withdrawn it seemed, more observant. Suji wasn't quite sure if it meant he was slow, or contemplative, but she would bet on the latter. He probably noticed a lot, but didn't offer up an opinion for everything. After all, he'd been content to let the leadership arrive to handle the situation when he'd found her. She'd make note to pay close attention when he did decide to speak.
Kiera was a little more difficult to figure out. She seemed to have a lot of energy, and not many productive ways to get rid of it. Suji would have to see more of her to really pinpoint her, but for now she was categorizing Kiera as a person that felt before thinking, and probably felt things very strongly, with limited ability to keep her emotions in check. It'd been clear that she was worried or put off about something, but it hadn't stopped her from greeting Suji fairly warmly.
Of course, that all left the woman of the hour, Raven, up in the air. The leader, who was supposedly pregnant. Suji resisted the temptation to leap to all sorts of conclusions, though it was like pulling back on the reins of a horse that was ready to start running. She would see what came of that when she met the faction leader.
Suji had dazed off a bit, and shook her head, blinking as she refocused on David. Don't fall asleep standing up, she thought to herself. She remembered that David had offered her his bed, and her smiled resumed. "That's very gracious of you," she said, and laughed quietly. "If you're really not tired at all, and there aren't any open beds, I might have to swallow my pride and accept the offer. Trust me though, I might overstay your hospitality... I feel like I could sleep for a week. Or at least, I don't know, twelve hours." She laughed again, and though she swayed on her feet for a moment, it wasn't a forced laugh. Honestly, she didn't want to impose, but this kid seemed nice enough that he really wouldn't mind. And God, she did really want to sleep in a bed again.
Suji looked back to Riley: he would know if there was anything open, or if she should allow herself to pose a minor burden on one of her new faction-mates.
Raven:
"Anyone care to help the pregnant woman out?" Raven replied huffily, though there was amusement in her voice. The small woman of barely 5 feet had two large grocery bags in her hands, both of which aptly covered the small bump that had begun to form around her midsection. She still didn't look quite pregnant, and if one didn't look closely enough they'd miss it. For now that was fine with her, she did not enjoy not being able to act out on things as she used to.
Her eyes immediately befell Suji and she smiled, "You're the girl Cassie spoke of, I'm Raven," she greeted, stepping further into the room and handing the groceries off to Riley whom had jumped to his feet as her entrance. "I couldn't help but catch the bit about beds, we have plenty of room still," she smiled wryly at the memory of Tim, Layla, and all the others when they were crammed in here. Yeah...still plenty of room.... "Here, let me show you," she gestured towards the hallway and began walking.
Raven and Riley had not planned to get pregnant, no of course not, who would at a time like this? You had to deal the cards given to you, and she was determined to make the most of it. Unlike the other leaders Raven did things a unique way, without killing and carefully planned out. She made the tough decisions, the risky ones, and she undertook the burden of assuring everyones safety. That all being said, she was still bitter about being unable to perform her duty to her utmost ability, though Riley more than covered what she was forced to miss. They made a most excellent team.
"I hope no one scared you off, you look like you could use a night...or perhaps a weeks sleep," she laughed lightly and pushed open a door, "This work for you?" she glanced inside.
Suji:
Suji smiled at Raven, and though her eyes only swept across the woman once, Suji took in all the information her mind could process and retain in its weakened, tired state. Raven addressed her casually, but not flippantly: welcoming. Though Suji had slowly stepped towards Raven to help with the bags (on instinct, if nothing else), Riley had quickly jumped to his feet to take care of them. Dutiful, almost a watchdog, Suji thought, without malice. Better for him to grab the bags anyway: even if Suji tried to help she'd probably just topple over.
"Hello Raven. Name's Suji," she offered, though she was sure that Cassie had covered that too. Raven told her that they had beds to spare--Suji looked back to David and shrugged. "Guess I won't need to crash your room after all. Thanks for the offer though. Won't forget it," she gave him a bright smile. It was true: Suji did not forget things about people, the good or the bad turns they dealt her. And she tried to repay people in kind.
"Nah, you all aren't a scary bunch," Suji responded as she followed Raven. "And yeah, you hit the nail on the head there: a week at least." Raven opened the door, and Suji peered in over the other woman's shoulder: she wasn't much taller than Raven, but she had enough room to peek around inside. Of course it was nothing like what she'd had before the war; but it would be her own, at least for now. And that was really all that mattered. Hell, she wouldn't have minded sharing it with another girl or two, as long as it meant sleeping on a tiny sliver of real bedding. "Yes ma'am, looks perfect." Suji lingered for a moment in the doorway, though her eyes were trained on the bed. Obviously sleep was calling out to her.
"Thank you, Raven. For... taking me in like this, opening your home, all of that. I really appreciate it, and I'm going to do my best to be a valuable asset to our faction." Suji looked Raven in the eyes as she said it, meaning every word. "All here to save the world, right?" She almost added: 'I'm sure Cassie put me here for a reason,' but that seemed too underhanded. As played as Suji felt, she wasn't going to take that out on Raven. Suji's opinion about the leader, as well as the other faction-mates, would come in time.