Post by Admin on Sept 23, 2009 21:05:28 GMT -5
Meredith:
"I need a heart that carries on through the pain. When the walls start collapsing again. Give me a soul that never ceases to follow. Despite the infection within."
Meredith Scott was praying. It was something she did often, silently and aloud. The one she had said was part of an old song, and a suitable plea to the Almighty. Her eyes opened suddenly, pupils narrowing against their gunmetal gray backdrop. Some ill omen hung in the air. Meredith felt restless. She fidgeted with her hands, and her brow furrowed. She hadn't yet voiced her fear to the other animorphs. The fear that her mother or father - Controllers, both - were looking for her. She had run away, after all. Suspiciously, suddenly. In Vancouver.
Meredith bit her lip. She couldn't keep her new comrades in the dark, especially when there could be danger. Silently, she got up from her place, in her 'room'. A creaky bed, accompanied by a floor lamp and an old rug. It was fairly late, and most everyone else was probably asleep, aside from those on patrol. Meredith got up quietly, slipping out into the hall and then the kitchen. Her fingers closed around a fairly clean cup, which she promptly filled with water. She felt sick. Maybe sitting back down would help. The living area was dark, and patches of moonlight cast foreboding shadows in the room.
Meredith sat down on that old arm chair she picked as a seat when she'd first arrived. "Our careless feet leaving trails, never minding the fragile dirt that we all end in." sighed the animorph. That line of the song didn't help in the least. If anything, it made her feel worse. She wanted to - no, needed to talk to somebody. But she sat there, minutes ticking by, torn between the urgency to voice a potential threat and her own fear that petrified her like a neurotoxin.
Fin:
<<Do mine ears deceive me or do I hear another nascent rapper among our little band of brothers?>> Fin padded up to Meredith and jumped up onto the kitchen counter at which she was sitting. His silver coat sparkled slightly in the low light that was left on. He sat down and began grooming himself, eager to stay all sparkly. He was quite sure that this and his cute cat looks would help him win the ladies' affection in the future now that there were three of them to pursue. Well, Aida seemed to have something going on with Matthias but Mel and Meredith were still available.
<<If you plan on going into the rap game then we should be a group. My personal rap name is going to be Findrizzle. Findrizzle from the Know-Nothin New Canaan. What about yours?>>
Mel:
Melanie chuckled at Fin's thought-speak, in her own cat morph because it was easier to see in the low light. She too often had a hard time sleeping, sometimes due to nightmares but also for reasons much like Merediths although neither could know what the others thoughts were.
She felt like she'd abandoned her sister by leaving Chicago, and what was worse, if she ran into her now, she might well have to kill her like she did the controller in the woods. Melanie of course could not know that Melissa was in the peace faction and risking her own life for the war. She also wondered about their parents; she thought them dead but it was hard to know these days.
The two cats were very similar to each other, she could see it now. She was just a bit larger than Fin with a slightly broader head and a coat pattern of all rosettes, rather than Fin's combo of rosettes and stripes.
Mitch:
Mitch walked into the living room. He was heading towards the kitchen for a glass of water when he saw Meredith and two cats, who he remembered were Fin and Melanie. Then he listened to fin's voice in his head. His lips curved into a smile as he shrank. Anout two and a half minutes later, Mitch was a skunk. He loved this morph. It had senses like his own and it could hear fairly well, at least, going by the hearing on his othermnorphs. Plus, the skunk mind was so cool because it had the best weapon in the world. A stinky spray.
He started talking. <<Good morning everyone. I take it that I am not the only one who can't sleep?>> Mitch crossed the room and climbed up onto the somewhat broken-down couch. He curled up so that he would be cmfortable and watched everyone else. <<I wonder if anyone else is up?>> In a thought-whisper, he sent to everyone in the lodge <<If you are awake, come to the living room.>> Then in a private thought-speak to the other people in the room, <<There. If anyone else is awake, they should hear that.>>
Matthias:
<<What is everyone doing up?>> Matthias' question echoed in their heads, though the leader himself was unseen. Out on patrol, but staying very close to the lodge itself, he had picked up on all the conversation. This was his favourite time to patrol, because it meant his owl morph was at its most useful, and could always grab a bite to eat if necessary.
Perching on the windowsill outside the living room, Matthias kept his eyes on the trees after taking a quick glance inside to see who was all there. Chronic insomnia...looks like it's contagious. Matthias was not entirely surprised; psychological affects were to be somewhat expected when one was a teenager and busy fighting a war. He imagined Cassie had many, many sleepless nights in the past.
Meredith:
Meredith was surprised by the sudden appearance of a cat next to her. A cat asking about rapper names. "I haven't thought about it, really." murmured Meredith in a warm tone, giving Fin a firm scratch behind his ears. She smiled, but it wasn't a happy smile. It was unsure and almost sad. "I just like poetry."
Suddenly, activity! People! Well, animals. Another cat appeared, whom Meredith presumed to be Melanie. And then came, Mitch, in his skunk morph. And before she could stop him, he bid for anyone who was awake to come to the living room. Great. Then she heard another voice, though not one from the lodge. Matthias, keeping his watchful eye on things, had joined the conversation from outside. Meredith looked around hopelessly. She was the only one not in morph. And it would be difficult for Matthias to hear her if she spoke with her voice. So she joined the party.
Her strawberry hair bleached, lighter and lighter, into a creamy white. It shortened and spread over her frame, which was changing to suit her newest morph. A Great Pyrenees. When the morph was finished, she was a large, white dog. A sheep dog - a guardian. This dog was trained to defend scores of sheep from wolves and bears. Which may have been a mistake, considering the cats in the room. But the Pyrenees was HAPPY. And that rubbed off on Meredith. <<I was just thinking and couldn't sleep.>> she chirped, her tone much too cheerful for her feelings on the subject. <<Is there a chance that the Yeerks will be looking for me? I did leave my dad for my mom, and ditched her when we reached Vancouver. I mean, that's not something a kid just switching custody would do.>> Meredith trotted to the window. <<I don't want to put you all in danger if I raised suspicion.>>
There. She said it. It was a lot easier to get out when you were that giddy, dog HAPPY. Unfortunately, the others probably weren't in the euphoric Pyrenees state-of-mind.
Brandon:
Sub-Visser 52 awoke with a start, sitting up suddenly, blinking wildly. Brandon's eyes adjusted to the light properly. Or, lack thereof. It was early morning, judging by his wristwatch. Much to Bidaut 1901's chagrin, the take-off had taken much longer than it should have. And after 'suggesting' another pilot take over, they had to scramble to find a replacement. And to move the body. But now they had begun their descent into Vancouver - Canada's hardest hit city and the home of the country's largest Yeerk Pool.
"Report." Bidaut articulated automatically.
"Approximately fifteen minutes until landing, Sub-Visser." It was the replacement pilot. He sounded just a tad nervous.
"Good. Call ahead for arrangements. Ilicir 576, host name Adrienne Scott, is to meet our party at the One Wall Centre."
"Yes, Sub-Visser."
Bidaut smiled to himself. This pilot was much better.
<<Another holding place. Joy.>>
<<Quiet.>> Bidaut snapped. Brandon knew how to thwart his good moods by being sarcastic. His host quieted, but Bidaut could feel his sour thoughts and attitude simmering. He was not pleased with this mission. All the more reason to go through with it.
Mel:
They weren't the only ones who couldn't sleep, Melanie saw. Several others were up including Matthias <<This morph doesn't mind...cats like being up at night to a point... but I suspect I'll be tired when I demorph. Too hard to sleep though, partially because I can't stop thinking about things and partly due to the nightmares.>>
Melanie was a little surprised but interested to hear of Meredith's problem even though it wasn't the same as hers. <<Yeah same here.>> she replied. <<I don't know about my parents...I fear they're dead but I don't really know. But I worry about running into my sister if she follows me. I'd hate to have to trample her like I did that guy not long ago. I almost wish I could go back to Chicago to find her but it's too dangerous.>>
She made a comment brought on by having two cats in the room, and Fin's body language attempts to look cool. <<Wouldn't it be wierd if two people with similar morphs...went at it...if you get my drift...in morphs?>>
Fin:
Meredith scratched behind his ears. He liked that. Of course it was only what he was owed as the king of the universe. At least that was how the cat felt about it. But then she turned into a dog. What a pity. Dogs were just not worth a cat's attention. They were worse than humans. At least a human could be an adept servant. A dog could only wallow in the miserableness that was their existence, doing nothing to further the glory of the cat's very being. Oh well.
He turned his mind away from the cat's easy arrogance. <<We couldn't mate Mel, both our cats are female. I'm all down with the rainbow but even I wouldn't take it that far.>> As often with him he seemed not to be paying attention but that was because he was letting his mind do its work uninterrupted.
<<As for your parents. They shouldn't be looking for you. They know you are free, they know you are on the loose, but so are many other humans. We should be fine. They will probably assume that you will eventually be picked up by yeerk patrols and made a controller or die somewhere. The only exceptions to this are, 1, one or both of your parents is a high ranking controller in which case having a free child would be an embarrassment and a set back to an ambitious yeerk or, 2, they suspected that you could morph. You never showed them your morphing ability did you?>>
Lukas:
Lukas had had no more success sleeping than the others, and instead had sought to occupy his mind with the various activities that being a raccoon entailed. He'd climbed out of bed, awoken by a harsh nightmare which, thankfully, he had some difficulty remembering. He'd then morphed his smallest morph, and begun to have a good root around in his bedroom. After soom time of this, he'd heard murmurs coming from downstairs, and had waddled off to investigate. Upon reaching the door to the living room and nudging the door with his nose, he'd discovered the others, all in morph. Where he saw friends, the raccoon saw its ancestral enemies: the dog, the cats, the owl perched on the windowsill. The skunk didn't give him a great deal of concern, but the others did. Swallowing his animal instincts, Lukas waddled into the room.
<<Nice night for it.>> He remarked, having not been paying a great deal of attention to the conversation as he made his way to the room. The raccoon's mind had been more preoccupied with finding the source of the noises and thoughts, rather than the content they conveyed. Now, however, he parked himself on the carpet and gazed around the room at the others, intrigued.
Mel:
<<I'll have to hope it's the same way with Melissa...my sister>> said Melanie. <<That the Yeerks wouldn't bother with her looking for me...anyway she won't know I'm way out here. I just hope that eventually I might find a way to find her. Not that I'm anxious to leave here, I'd miss you all too much.>> she added.
<<Oh.Well it'd be kinda icky anyway. You know I had a hard time telling which this cat was...I could tell yours was female by the scent but I never thought to take a look and see what was what if you know what I mean. And now I'm gonna spend the rest of the night wondering why I ever made that remark>>
Matthias:
<<So are we, Melanie.>> Matthias agreed with her last statement from his perch. <<And Fin is right...>> He lowered his voice to a stage whisper, <<As odd as that sounds to say.>> Picking up his normal tone again, he explained, <<There are enough free humans out there that the Yeerks won't waste their energy hunting for one in particular...with the two exceptions that Fin mentioned. So long as they don't know you're an Animorph, and they aren't particularly high up the food chain, you should be fine.>>
Matthias had always had mixed feelings about the fact that his parents were dead. On the one hand, it meant that he would never have to fight them. On the other hand, it meant he could never free them. A lot of the other Animorphs had something to fight for. All Matthias had was the cause that Cassie had provided; because we can. The Animorphs were the only ones that could fight, and so they had to.
Mitch:
Mitch noticed the raccoon as soon as it came into the room. <<Hello...uh...Lukas right? Well you have to be Lukas since Meredith is the only other raccoon and right now she is a dog.>>
Then Mitch joined the other conversation going on. <<Well, you guys don't have to worry about any of my family showing up. The only ones in this country are dead and I was an only child.>>
Then Mitch said, <<I wonder if anyone else can't sleep. What about Aida? Or is she out on patrol?>> Mitch shut up since he noticed that he was becoming a major chatterbox. He just kept talking so now he decided to listen. The main conversation apparently consisted of the faction talking about family who were controllers. Melanie was wondering if morphs could mate and she wanted to know what gender her cat was.
Mitch:
<<sorry. Next time I'll keep it to myself.>> Mel replied. It was much like the reaction to her comments about fried yeerk during dinner; she really had to learn which comments to say and which to keep quiet.
She listened to Matthias, glad he thought the same way the others apparently did about relatives. <<Come to think of it most of us probably have one relative or another who's a controller. So it's good they aren't wasting time looking for us.>> she commented. <<Yeah I don't see her either>> she replied to Mitch about Aida. She noticed he talked a lot too, which made her feel less alone in that department.
Meredith:
Meredith would've frowned if she could have. <<I don't think they ever saw me. My father certainly didn't, because I couldn't morph when I left him. I had some close calls with mum, though, before I really suspected her or we came here.>> She wished the could remember precisely. There were iffy moments - but, then again, she would have remembered being
caught.
<<I don't really know much about Yeerk ranks aside from Visser and the like. But my dad was often on the phone with strangers - and he seemed to be doing a lot of snapping. Uncharacteristic of an underling if you ask me.>> She sat on the floor and hunched her canine shoulders, looking dejected. It was nice to know that she wasn't alone. And her team's points made sense, and brought some solace. <<I just wanted to make sure you all knew.>>
Matthias:
<<Great.>> Matthias drawled from the window, <<Now we know who to blame if a high-ranking Controller storms the area on a warpath.>> He cocked his head to the side, spying a mouse and trying to decide whether or not his owl wanted to eat it. <<Don't worry about it, Melanie. From what I heard, the original Animorphs had similar issues. Long as they don't know you can morph, and really even if they do, it won't matter. They're hunting for us anyway, it won't make a difference if someone wants you dead a little bit more.>>
Dropping from the windowsill like a rock, Matthias reppeared a moment later, his morph's stomach satisfied. <<You know, you guys, as long as you're all up, at least one of you should come out and patrol with me. Do I see any volunteers or do we have to draw straws?>>
Mel:
Melanie was almost glad she was human and not cat because it would have fought the owl for the mouse-and probably lost too. "Well at least out here I'm probably in less danger than if I'd stayed in Chicago, from my sister anyway. I just hope I can find her one day and de-yeerk her if she is one of them."
Matthias asked if anyone wanted to help patrol. "Sure, why not, my cat's a good morph for the dark, going through the bushes and such. Unless anyone else wants to do it...or even if they do." Too many wasn't good but if three went it wouldn't be that bad. Two, three, it was pretty much the same for her.
Meredith:
Meredith demorphed. Even she wasn't in the dog's cheerful state of mind, she felt better. Not euphoric, but better. "I'll go, Melanie." she spoke up, then pursed her lips, something she did when she concentrated. Coarse, gray fur patterned across her skin as she shrunk. Her hands and feet darkened and shriveled, forming sharp, small claws. As her eyes swirled into umber, a black ribbon settled across her face. Finally, dark rings painted across her bushy tail. Raccoon. Bandit of the night.
Meredith trotted to the door, and, stretching up on her haunches, twisted it open. The raccoon inside her smiled. Such ingenuity. <<Let's go.>> mentioned Meredith, who took off, pausing just a few feet outside of the lodge.
Brandon:
The landing was smooth. Smoother than most Bug Fighter landings, anyway. The Sub-Visser exited the craft, pushing creases out of his suit with idle hands. A short, stout man was waiting at the landing zone, with a limousine and SUV just behind him.
"Good morning, Sub-Visser. Welcome to Vancouver." he smiled fakely.
Bidaut stepped up to him, smiling. He raised his brows suddenly, keeping the grin and looking around. He didn't exchange pleasantries. "So. We're after a little lost girl. A suspicious little lost girl. Tell me, you have had Animorph activity in the area, have you not?"
The fat man's smile faded fast. "Wh-why yes, Sub-Visser." He was flustered. Jittery. The Yeerk made Brandon pull a folded piece of paper from his coat pocket. Her unfolded it and shoved it in the man's face. "See this?" It was a map, with a red dot on the outskirts of Vancouver. "This is where Ilicir 576 lost the target. She wouldn't have ventured into the city. Free-humans are so untrusting these days. A shame."
"You will take a unit and begin searching the woods immediately. If you see any animals, shoot them. The target has red hair, and is an adolescent. Inform me if you find anything interesting."
The fat man turned tail and motored away in the SUV, which would soon hold as many Controllers as it could. He didn't understand why so much energy was being devoted to finding one filthy human.
But Bidaut did. He laughed wickedly to Brandon. <<You can't stand this, can you?>> He taunted. <<Hunting down a child. We're going to infest her, and she'll be our slave. All to salvage the reputation of an ambitious Yeerk.>>
<<It's your turn to shut up.>>
Bidaut grinned, an smug expression. If anything, he was just doing this on a whim. <<Let's go meet little Meredith's mommy.>> mocked Bidaut as he climbed into the limo. They took off for One Wall Centre.
Mel:
"Should we both go or is two enough?" Melanie asked Matthias. She watched Meredith morph, also smiling at the creature's abilities. Its hands were almost human and very useful at times.
Even as she waited for a reply, she morphed to her cat, waiting while she shrunk, and acquired her ears, tail, spotted coat and paws. <<I'm glad I can control this morph well and that you're as big as you are or the cat might want to taste you...which would be bad because raccoons are dangerous fighters.>> she said.
Mitch:
From his pertch on the couch, Mitch said, <<Uh, if I said that my swan can't patrol until daytime, my hissing cockroach just can't patrol, and my skunk is pretty slow, does that mean that I can get out of patrol? Huh?>> Mitch really didn't care if he patroled or not. He just wanted to see if he could get out of it.
Mitch got up and hopped off the couch. He spoke to Matthias, <<I'll hold down the fort here. I don't think anything will want to mess with me and my tail.>> Mitch waddled over to the door and sat down beside it. If anyone came through the door that he didn't recognize, Mitch was going to spray them. He knew that wild animals wouldn't go near a skunk, and that humans had very healthy fears of skunks, so he figured that aliens wouldn't like them either.
Mel:
Mel could kind of tell Mitch didn't really want to go patrolling. She wasn't exactly keen on it herself; she knew she'd be beat when she demorphed, but was going anyway. She thought it was better than sitting around here trying unsuccessfully to sleep. She glanced back over her shoulder through the doorway.
<<Yeah I bet they would. I'd hate to mess with you. I don't know that it would affect the robots but the controllers would hate it. They'd be running for the tomato juice.>> Really he was the perfect morph to hold down the fort so to speak. He didn't look intimdating but held a nasty surprise.
Tisoc:
Tisoc was not pleased with pulling this limo duty. She didn't really want to have anything to do with the higher ups, it was better to stay out of their way, but she had been assigned and an assignment was an assignment. In fact she was really here as an informant. Tisoc had no idea why she kept pulling these spying assignments. Was there something in her background that promoted her as a spy? She should look into that and get it changed.
Anyway, since she was currently assigned to the One Wall Center in order to try to root out the yeerk peace movement the Sub-Visser of Vancouver had decided that adding another little spying job couldn't hurt. Sub-Visser 63 was not happy about having another Sub-Visser on her turf, let alone a higher ranked one. And all over one lost girl?
Last month Sub-Visser 63 had gotten word of the location of an entire enclave of animorphs in the area. She had quickly had them disposed of, hoping that the leaders in New York would not hear that she had let such an infestation as the rebel group was seen as, linger in her city for so long. But the operation, that had taken such man power, had leaked and now everyone knew that Animorphs had been in Vancouver.
Sub-Visser was trying to prove that she had killed them all and so far she didn't seem like she would be replaced anytime soon. That is, until this guy showed up. He could mean that she was in serious trouble and on her way out, unless she could learn something to black mail him with.
That is where Tisoc came in apparently. She glanced in the rearview mirror, catching a glimpse of Sub-Visser 52. How the hell was she supposed to get information out of this guy? Asking was out of the question but maybe if she could get him talking.
"How was your trip sub-visser?" She asked, her voice coming out in the low baritones of her teenage boy human host.
Brandon:
"How was your trip sub-visser?" the driver asked, a teenaged boy. He barely looked old enough to drive vehicles by human standards. Bidaut smiled, folding his host's rough hands into his lap. "Pleasant." he summed up. "A bit of trouble in the beginning with some incompetence, but that was taken care of." His eyes lost focus briefly, and his smile widened. He was reliving the pleasure of killing that fool who was slated to fly the Bug Fighter originally.
The Sub-Visser leaned forward, eyes back on the young driver. "What about you? You didn't have as far as I, but how was your drive here nonetheless?" He sounded so genuine, so sincere. A farce, of course. Brandon's personality spilling through. Bidaut 1901 found that his host's exceptionally likable demeanor had saved his hide several times. So why not use it more?
Lukas:
<<I'll stay here, too. Just in case they get beyond the hellish reek, it can't hurt to hold back a little more muscle.>> Lukas had replied resolutely to Matthias. He'd been involved in most patrols of late, and it would be nice to get a chance to relax for a bit, even if he was so wired now that he couldn't sleep. Besides, he told himself, they needed a capable fighter at the lodge as a just-in-case measure, and he had the second best combat morph next to Matthias, though, due to the array of cats and deer, wasn't saying a great deal. He wasn't sure if he was telling himself that just to dissuade himself from going out into a more trouble-enriched environment, or whether he genuinely believed it to be the case. Oh well, it didn't matter.
The discussion about relatives had very briefly made his mental cogs turn, but he'd dismissed his immediate thoughts instantly. His family members weren't controllers. They weren't alive at all. His parents and sister had died quickly in that crash, blissfully unaware of the terrors which would come later. As for his brother and aunt, well...the house hadn't been in a pretty state when he'd gotten there, and he didn't even want to think about what he'd seen upon crossing the threshold.
Instead, he wondered about Meredith's family. If her father was highly ranked enough, would he send men out to find his daughter? And would she be found, here? Unlikely, the yeerks knew of animorph around Vancouver, and the possible presence of a specific person wasn't likely to alter the intensity of their search for the hideout. Having said that, they'd already lost one building, and a number of faction members, to the yeerks, there was always a chance that it could happen again.
He was distracted when Meredith returned to human form, before melting down into raccoon morph. His own raccoon mind studied its fellow creature with a keen interest, watching it progress towards the doorway. The topic Mel had mentioned previously lurked in the back of his mind, and he hastily crushed it, slightly appalled. Not the right time. Not now. He hastily bit into his right paw, partially to quell an itch that had presented itself, and perhaps partially to derail his own train of thought.
Matthias:
At first, Matthias had thought to protest when he received two volunteers instead of just one, but both Lukas and Mitch seemed resolutely determined to stay put, and extra firepower outside was always a good thing, and not only because it was another set of senses. Relenting, Matthias hopped off his perch, <<Fine. Mel and Meredith, you're with me. Lukas, Mitch, try not to wake anyone else up, will you?>>
It really was a good thing that none of them had anything resembling lives, because their sleep schedules were completely whacked. Between running away, patrolling, and scavenging, there was hardly a good night's sleep to be found. So when there were nights like tonight when they could afford to rest, it bothered Matthias that most of his faction didn't.
Thinking about such things also brought to mind another issue. They weren't doing anything. As of the moment, they were still really recovering from the attack on the trailer, but that meant they were just sitting ducks, hovering there, waiting for the Yeerks to come and get them. They couldn't afford to do that; they needed to take action, and soon.
Meredith:
Meredith stalked out into the night, feeling very stealthy. The raccoon was a little nervous of the owl so close by. Creatures of the night such as themselves weren't known for loving company. Just the same, Meredith made a point to keep Matthias in her sights, at least for the first while of the patrol. She hadn't been on very many yet, and wasn't quite used to it. Patrolling was an odd activity in that it was dull, but at the same time, highly nerve-racking. Trying to listen for every sound, each flicker of light. Your mind could make itself go crazy.
A ways away from the lodge, Meredith paused behind a large, rotten tree that had been reduced to a decaying stump. <<Whoa, guys.>> warned the Animorph, peering from behind the natural barrier. <<I'm seeing lights. Like, flashlight lights. And I hear a lot of footsteps.>> The raccoon was tense. So was Meredith. But she made herself stay still. But when there was a sudden shriek of a dracon beam, and the scent of the charred meat of a now-dead woodland animal, it became considerably harder.
Mel:
Melanie listened to Matthias's thought speak, fearing for a moment what he might say but quickly relaxing before anyone noticed. She was edgy, troubled for some reason, her cat nose aware of strange scents in the air. It was hard to tell what was what though with what had gone down in the woods so recently. Still, this scent seemed fresh...
Melanie skittered into the bushes when she saw and heard the flash, searching for a hiding place. <<I need my deer...I'll go as fast as I can. I don't think I can be seen. I'm sorry, but the cat's too small.>> She made sure to target her thought speak this time. She hated going back to human but had little choice. The cat was useful but too small to fight in open battle. She urged her body as fast as it would go, feeling the energy drain but trying not to think about it.
Luck was with her and in the dark, she was able to finish her morph without being seen. She was only regretful that she didn't have a panther or bird of prey like Matthias. But this morph would do its job well enough.
Meredith;
<<Oh, God.>> Meredith breathed. <<They're killing everything that moves. Dracon beams.>> Quickly, Meredith clamored into the hallow stump she had been behind, pressing herself to the sides. Controlled panic set into her voice. Edgy. <<They're heading straight for me.>> her thought-speak wavered. <<What should I do?>> A pigeon wasn't a night flyer, and the pyrenees would be likely to be seen with its white coat.
Why were they here? The thought lurked in her mind. That her worries were right. It could be that the Yeerks were just looking, couldn't it? Yeah. Right. Meredith's raccoon heart hammered in her chest. Voices. Clear enough to here. One grumbled, "I can't believe we're wasting our time looking for one kid." Meredith choked on her own heart. It skipped, giving her a painful sensation in her chest.
"Don't let the Sub-Visser hear you whining."
God, no.
Tisoc:
The Sub-Visser's tone sent chills through Tisoc's body. It was friendly and that was bad. Most Sub-Vissers treated their insubordinates like chess pawns, at least the intelligent ones did. The stupid ones treated them like action figures and threw them away like you would throw away a toy. Tisoc had served under both types. The current Sub-Visser was a chess player. Her previous one had been a brat.
But every once in a while you found one like this. They were the real danger. At least the others were honest, and so, predictable. But this one, well unpredictability was the worst thing to be found in a leader. At least if you wanted to keep your head it was and Tisoc wanted to keep her head, or Bryan's head at least.
She looked into her mind, trying to find her host and found nothing but emptyness. She hated those moments. A host was not suppose to be able to disappear like Bryan seemed to be able to do and that made her nervous as well.
All that nervousness and she was bound to make a mistake.
In this case she ran a red light and had to swerve quickly to avoid a crash. They were back on track and driving smoothly in a matter of seconds but...She looked in the rearview mirror trying to judge the sub-visser's reaction.
Brandon:
The Sub-Visser noted the driver's nervousness. A good sign for him. The Yeerk gripped the seat's cup holder when they ran a red light and almost caused catastrophy with distracted, albeit brief, poor driving. Bidaut sensed no fear from Brandon. He didn't expect it, considering the kind of life he had lived as a district attorney. There were plenty of crazy things going on there. Bidaut's only reaction was a slight grimace, more of concentration than displeasure.
<<Geeze.>> Brandon finally commented, sounding disapproving, but unfazed. <<You Yeerks suck at driving.>>
Bidaut ignored the comment and ran a hand through Brandon's sandy hair. He gave the driver a look, though. It said 'Get me where I'm going and don't ever drive for me again'. It was a long message to put in an expression, but Bidaut thought he pulled it off nicely. They were getting close to their destination, anyway. There were more important matters at hand.
Matthias:
Shit. <<Duck and hide, Meredith. Melanie, you too. We're not going into a fight until we know what we're up against.>> This was a little more like it, Matthias reflected. Despite the fact that they could all die at any moment, it was times like this that Matthias remembered why he had taken this job from Cassie. He could see what they had to do, and he could get it done.
Offense wasn't an option. Not yet. They didn't know how many Controllers there were, but they did know that there were several, and that they were hunting. Yeerks didn't go around obliterating the ecosystem for no reason. They were looking for the Animorphs actively, and they were too close for comfort.
<<Get them away from the lodge.>> Matthias felt his thought-speak slipping as he demorphed. He needed the agility of the panther over the owl right now, and its fighting ability if necessary. When he was a feline properly, he continued, <<Away from the others. Into the forest, quiet as you can and stay behind cover. Try to get some idea of how many there are. They're still in human form. So long as we're in the forest, we've got the edge. Use it to your advantage. It's the only one we've got.>>
Matthias was about to add more when a jet of red light zipped by his head, burning a hole in a nearby tree trunk. Leaping to one side, Matthias disappeared into the trees, <<They've seen me, at least. They know I'm here, so don't stay too close to me.>>
Mel:
Mel knew he was right; it could be suicide to charge in without knowing how many Yeerks they were fighting and what species. She backed up, feeling conspicuous,and demorphed back to human to stay out of sight. She was considering going cat again but hadn't decided yet.
She heard a fluttering sound and looked around. It was sad to see again and again injured or dying animals with dracon injuries. The human race wasn't the only one sufffering from the alien invasion. The source of the sound was a barn owl, slightly stunned by the last dracon flashes but not badly injured. Melanie contemplated. *It's risky, but I need a night capable flying morph* she thought. Plus though this was the northern edge of barn owl range, it wouldn't stick out like the cockatoo.
She touched the bird gently, focusing, acquiring the DNA. Then she focused, letting the changes begin. Some of it was like the cockatoo but there were obvious differences. The barn owl feet were meant for striking flesh, for killing rather than the parrot family's dextrous hand-like feet. So was the hooked beak,unlike the cockatoo's crushing beak. The eyes were as good or better than her cat's, she thought as she flapped up silently to perch on a branch.
Fin:
Fin toyed with the dracon beam in his hands and idly aimed it at a tree and pulled the trigger. The tree exploded.
"What are you doing! Hit the animals not the trees." A controller yelled at him.
Fin just shrugged. "I thought I saw a bat. Why are we out here anyway. I mean, we already killed all the animorphs. Even if this kid is an animorph why would she come here, they're all dead." He took careful aim this time and shot a barn owl. The shot hit its mark and the owl went down, not really hurt. "Got that one," Fin said with a smile at the nearest controller. The guy just grunted.
"I don't know why we're out here but orders are orders. You want to be the one to disobey orders?" Another controller chimed in from where he was standing, looking into a hole in the tree trunk to see if any animals were hiding in there.
"Who's orders?" Fin shot back quickly. "63's or 54's. They're pretending to get along with each other but we all know that 63 is possessive and, right now, 54 is pissing all over her territory. I'm worried about getting caught in the middle you know. We bring this girl back, well maybe it makes 54 look good to kill her but that makes 63 look bad. So what if 63 gets her hands on us first, kills the girl and kills us to eliminate the witnesses. I don't know guys, I don't like this situation." The controllers looked up at him and stopped shooting the forest. They looked worried. Good, then Fin had done his job.
Fin had been a little offended that Matthias had forgotten to give him any orders. He, obviously the most important one in the room, Fin was still a cat at the time, so Fin had decided to go for a walk, but as a human instead of as any animal. He took a dracon beam with him that had been laying around the Lodge, a left over from some battle or near death experience or whatever.
He often did that, take the dracon beam out for some target practice. If he was going to pass as a controller in order to be a successful spy then he would need to look good with a dracon beam. That is how the controllers had found him in the woods, shooting things. It was maybe the only reason they had not shot him out right. In fact, they had assumed he was one of them.
Fin hadn't chosen this night to test out his spying skills but it looked like that is what was going to happen anyway.
"How 'bout we start working our way that way," Fin said pointing over his shoulder and away from the Lodge. "We'll still be looking for the girl technically, but we will also be working our way back towards civilization."
And how would he escape? He wasn't sure about that part yet. He was just making this stuff up as he went along.
Matthias:
<<If your plan wasn't as brilliant as it is insane, I'd be very upset right now.>> Matthias informed Fin from the safety of the undergrowth. Having caught wind of the boy's voice, Matthias had paid very close attention indeed to what he was saying to the other Controllers. He's doing a frighteningly good job.
Knowing now what Fin was up to, Matthias could direct the others accordingly, <<The Controllers are heading east. Drop southwest and circle back to the lodge when you're a good distance away. If you've got a Controller on your tail, don't head home. Wait til you lose him. Remember, for all the Controllers know, this forest is Animorph-free. Let's keep them thinking that way.>>
That took care of one issue, but like Fin, Matthias was aware of the other one. Fin's plan was only genius until he got the Controllers out of Animorph territory. After that, it just became insanely dangerous. They needed to make sure Fin could get away too. A plan slowly beginning to form in his head, Matthias paced silently after the Controllers.
Mel:
Melanie was fairly shocked as she heard Fin talk to the controllers but he did seem to be doing a good job. <<I just hope you get your tail back alive>> she called to him in private thought speak. She'd hate to see him get hurt. <<by the way, the owl will be okay, you didn't kill him though I did morph him>> she added. <<just letting you know so you don't shoot me.>>
She took off, staying in the trees, enjoying the silent flight of her new morph. She could see fairly clearly with the owl's eyes but the controllers hopefully didn't see her as they weren't chasing her. <<I am so not taking any chances here>> she said semi-privately to the other Animorphs as she followed the rest of the group.
*I wish I could have battle claws* she thought to herself, thinking of the owl book series she had enjoyed before the war and the metal weapons the birds had worn. Fire or ice weapons weren't an option either, they'd reveal her right away.
Fin:
This was one time when he agreed with Matthias. In fact if he had done this intentionally he would have punished himself. But he had just been out here and run into a bit of bad luck. Still, he was going to make the best of it. He wished he could have responded to the others but he was currently thoughtspeak incapable, a draw back he would have to consider next time he decided to go human on a mission.
He and the other controllers started walking east, taking half hearted shots at animals but since Fin's little speech the other two didn't seem so enthusiastic about finding anything. But the trees would come to an end in a few minutes and they would come out on a road. No doubt the controllers had left some sort of transport vehicle there and then Fin would have to go with them.
This was the first time that he had really faced a situation he wasn't sure if he could get out of on his own. He was now faced with the prospect of trusting Matthias with his safety. Did he? He wasn't sure. He had never really trusted anyone with his own safety, always having a back up plan or, more accurately, a back out plan that would get him out of any situation.
But that wasn't true tonight. I seriously hope you have a plan Matthias.
((Time question. In Brandon's part of the thread it is daytime but over here it is the middle of the night. Which is happening first?))
Meredith:
Meredith breathed a brief sigh of relief, air leaving her lungs in a forced exhale. She hasn't realized she'd even been holding her breath. Fin's complaining was welcomed, especially when a controller's foot snapped a twig much to close for comfort. The group, which was fairly large, moved away. Inside the deadened stump, Meredith demorphed and remorphed as quickly as she was able. Afterwards, she pawed out and stalked the conglomeration of controllers, using the raccoon's stealth and keen night senses. <<Good luck, Fin.>> wished Meredith to him in private thought-speak. Then she headed the other way, more southerly, in the direction Matthias mentioned.
Now was not the time for brash actions. She knew that. But something bothered her about leaving Fin. Taking a pell-mell and haphazard route, the inexperienced Animorph caught sight of the lodge, careful of watchers in the darkness. The raccoon should be able to see them, but it still made her exceedingly nervous. Once in the clear, Meredith scampered onto the porch and dashed inside, slowly demorphing as she went. When her human face emerged, it was full of heartache and suffering. "I'm sorry." she murmured.
(OOC: At some point, Sub-Visser 52 needs to have a confrontation with the Animorphs himself, and that's when we can see some action, I suppose. As for the time, Brandon landed in Vancouver in the early morning, like, around one o' clock. So it's about the same timeframe. His is a little ahead of ours.)
Lukas:
Lukas had struggled to bite back his annoyance when Fin announced he was heading out with the others. He had several reasons for irritation: one, it made him even more furious at himself for staying at the lodge when action could've been had. Two, it kicked his chances of going outside away, because there was now more pressure to remain at the hideout as a guard, what with Aida presumably sleeping, and he couldn't leave Mitch to guard solo. Wasn't very honourable. Finally, Fin had merely disregarded all the complex decisions Lukas had been making himself and just went out to explore. He resented him for his attitude and his willingness to please himself, partially because it lead to his abandonement of the current (if boring) plan which Lukas had stuck to, and partially because he wished he could be so carefree himself. He just wanted to lose himself in the familiar rush, and there wasn't much chance of that now.
He hadn't spoken to Mitch, as he had no current interest in small talk and wanted to spare the younger boy some harsh words, as he was having difficulty keeping obscenities in as it stood. If he opened his mouth, he didn't think he'd control what came out very well. And that was hardly fair to Mitch. Instead, he'd resorted to silently pacing. When he heard the door open and close, he turned, and stormed towards it, expecting Fin.
"Fin, you-" He snapped, before the entrant came into view. Meredith's expression quelled his anger somewhat, and replaced it with confusion and worry. "Meredith? Sorry, I was expecting...nevermind, what happened? What's the matter?"
Meredith:
Meredith bit her lip as is quivered, and she was sure tears were welling up in her eyes as her stomach knotted up in anxiety. She controlled her voice better than she thought she would be able to. "Controllers in the forest. Looking for me." she managed, "Fin distracted them. As himself. He's stuck with them right now, and they're probably out of the woods by now." She sucked in lungful after lungful of air, her chest burning and limbs shaking. She still wasn't entirely accustomed to morphing, at the process had worn her out, she realized.
"I don't understand." Anger rose in her voice. "This shouldn't be happening." She looked to Lukas fiercely, but not toward him, but as if expecting an answer that she knew couldn't be given anyway. "And Fin's in danger now." She wanted to add 'because of me', but knew that there was no use moping like that. It would sound like she wanted pity. And she did not.
Mel:
Melanie tried to keep in the trees, glad for her silent wings. But she could see the controllers here and there down below and it made her nervous. She did as Matthias asked and headed away from the lodge before beginning to circle back and head home. As she did, she spotted something below.
Dracon flashes were still going off on occasion, and one suddenly whizzed by her, smoking some feathers in the process. She wove through the trees, using darkness and silence to her advantage,playing a deadly hide and seek game, and she slowly maneuvered into position, then spilled her air, streaking downward and raking the controller's eyes. As he cried and moaned, she hauled tailfeathers out of there, hoping she'd lose him.
Mitch:
Mitch had listened to all of the chatter in his head for awhile, following along. When he started hearing about Controllers attacking, Mitch said, <<Guys? Do you need my help out there? You know, as a distraction for you?>> Mitch was worried about the others enough that he forgot about Lukas even being there. Then Meredith came in and told the two of them what was happening.
<<Meredith, is there any way we can help? Maybe cause a distraction for Mel or Matthias or possibly rescue Fin?>> asked Mitch. Mitch wasn't sure what he could do to help though. Fin at least. He could however help Matthias and Melanie by making the woods a VERY unpleasant place for humans to be, courtesy of his morph. But he had no idea of what he could do to rescue Fin. He mmight be ab le to sneak inside the vehicle with his cockroach morph or he could follow it with his swan morph. That was about it.
Matthias:
Matthias was at a crossroads. He had sent Melanie and Meredith home, and now and he was getting communication from home base, asking if they needed backup. To make things worse, he, Fin, and the Controllers had moved so far away from the lodge that thought-speak was beginning to fade out. He needed to make a call on what to do next, and he had to do it quick.
<<Everyone, stay back. We bring anyone else out, we risk exposure of all of us. We can't afford that. Is everyone home yet?>> That was probably what worried Matthias most of all; had Melanie and Meredith made it back, or was one of them leading a Controller straight to the lodge?
As far as Fin went, Matthias did have a plan. It was risky to a degree that Matthias was not totally comfortable with, but at the same time, it would also work. Yeerks didn't tend to look after their own all that much. <<Fin, what say you and I give the Controllers a little scare? Pretend you see me and run into the trees when you can. After that, you can do your best mauled-by-a-wild-animal noise. Just make sure you're flat, because I suspect they're going to flood the area with Dracon fire if they don't just turn tail and run. When you're out of sight, get under some real cover and morph as small as you can. I'll keep them away from you if I have to.>>
Mel:
Melanie fortunately had seemed to lose her pursuer and fluttered into the lodge, looking to see if the others had all made it back. All seemed to be there except obviously Matthias and Fin. She thought about landing and demorphing, but she was edgy, still unsure what would happen or when.
Ultimately, she did, as the others except for Mitch had already demoprhed. She could see Meredith's upset though a little dimmer as her eyes became human again. She avoided any pitying, sensing it would make things worse.
"No one's getting caught without fighting to the end" she said, trying to help without sounding pitying, but not sure how she was doing. Softer, she added to no one in particular "They better make it back alive" Sadly, she knew inside that they could not really fight to the death if they wanted to keep the faction alive. The whole thing confused her and she wasn't sure what she'd do in a given situation at the moment.
Fin;
Fin listened to Matthias' plan. Ok, not completely cool. This was going to be dangerous and here he was hoping to just waltz away. Plus he had to figure out how to do it without giving away the fact that there were animorphs in these woods because if he just pretended to be mauled the controllers would know who'd done it.
They were almost back to the road by now and Fin was quickly coming to the point where he would have to make a decision. What would scare controllers away? Well obviously they're superiors but Fin wasn't a superior and there wasn't one conveniently around to bail him out.
But did one have to be really around? No, of course not.
Fin put a finger in his ear like he had seen secret service officers do. "Sir? Yes sir? No sir? Maybe sir." The controllers were giving him odd looks but also slightly scared ones. Fin put a worried look on his own face which only heightened their reaction. "Yes sir. We checked sir. The whole woods sir? Well there are a lot of woods. No, I'm not questioning your orders."
Fin was really getting into the swing of it now. "Of course we will check the entire woods sir. What are we looking for sir? Animorphs? Didn't we kill all the animorphs? Of course we killed all the animorphs, I wasn't questioning that we killed all the animorphs sir. The human girl? Yes I am and idiot sir. Yes you did tell me she has the morphing power. She could have a potentially very dangerous morph?"
Now Fin looked frightened and looked up at the other controllers. They started looking around nervously and jumping at shadows. "If she has an incredibly dangerous morph shouldn't hork-bajir be out here sir? No sir, I am not afraid to have my throat ripped out by a ferocious animal." His fellow controllers began to unconsciously huddle together.
"Of course, everything for the empire sir. I will personally check every acre of woods sir. Yes sir. Understood sir." Fin lowered his finger and looked at the other controllers sadly. "Well, looks like we have to stay and search the whole damn forest gentlemen."
"You stay and search the damn forest!" One burst out, jumping at the hooing of an owl. "I'm not staying here. They sent us out here with a powerful animorph on the loose and all we got are dracons. Not even night vision."
"But he said to stay," Fin said, pushing them.
"Who said?" The controller looked at him.
Fin hesitated and then started walking toward the trees. "Who? What do you mean who. Who do you think. And I'm not as afraid of an animorph as I am of kadrona starvation." The other controllers milled around. He had pretty much convinced them that they should stay and complete the search. Good, now to convince them back the other way.
Fin walked deeper into the woods. "I'll start over here and this time we'll-EEEEEEEEE-AAAHH!" Fin screeched. He was surprised how much fun it was to screech. It was such a high pitched and panicked sound.
He dropped to the ground and immediately started morphing into the kit fox. It would be able to run quickly through the forest and its senses worked almost as well as a bat's or cat's at night. <<Your turn fearless leader,>>Fin said as soon as he was morphed enough. Dracon beams were already burning the air above him.
Matthias:
<<You missed your calling, Fin.>> Matthias deadpanned, <<You should have been an actor.>> Well within range to hear the entirety of the conversation, even if his tree cover prevented him from seeing everything, Matthias was smiling internally at the excellent job Fin was doing of freaking the hell out of the other Controllers.
Matthias' part was deceptively simple now that Fin had played up the 'dangerous animal' part. All he had to do was drive the point home. There was very little scarier than a riled wild animal. Taking in a breath, Matthias let loose with a deafening roar, the best his panther could muster.
<<Okay, they know you found something, they're probably going to assume I'm an Animorph. Hightail it, we need to split up. Head home, I'll meet you there once they're convinced I'm long gone out of this forest. Good work, I'll see you later.>> Matthias began heading through the forest, deliberately making as much noise as was possible, acting as if he had been hit. On the way to where Fin was, Matthias had spotted a bear that had been stunned by someone's - presumably Fin's - straight shot. That could easily pass as the creature that had let loose with the roar. All that was left was to bring them to it and then disappear.
Meredith:
Although wanting to morph again in order to answer Matthias' thought-spoken inquiry, Meredith could not summon the energy. She sat down abruptly, her hand finding a support so that she didn't land too hard as to avoid a bruised derriere. Forcing herself to stop from moping, she spoke, concealing the fear-replaced-with-anger that welled up in her stomach and seemed to suffocate her heart. "We've got to stop this. It won't end here." Not that it was going to end anytime soon, this hell. But she certainly didn't want a personal problem to get in the way of the bigger problem.
Meredith answered Mitch, delayed. Her answer came in an affirming nod when the 'voice' of their fearless leader cut through their minds, telling them to stay put. The inexperienced Animorph sighed a prayer for Fin and Matthias, quick but sincere. Then she looked to Lukas, who, though probably as clueless as the rest of them on what to do, seemed to bring her comfort.
Lukas:
Lukas weighed the pros and cons of directly disobeying Matthias, a grimace marring his features as he glared out of the window. On the one hand, doing as he was told would keep him safe and intact. It'd lessen the risk of controllers picking up on their location. And Matthias wouldn't chew him out or pull rank on him. On the other hand, he fancied a good scrap, and plus the more firepower they had to bear on the yeerks, the better. He also felt partially responsible for Fin's predicament, having not stopped the younger boy from leaving earlier. Going out to help my relieve some of that guilt, whether he deserved it or not. He gritted his teeth and clenched his fists as the obvious fact that he had little to no choice in the matter. He had to stay. It would be foolish to leave, regardless of any other feelings involved. Matthias and Fin could probably get out of their more easily if he wasn't there, and if he charged out, it'd likely exacibate matters.
He turned away and looked around the room. Mitch was the only one still in a morph, so he could probably relay the current state of affairs to Matthias, assuming he was still in range. Mel was clearly worried, and her words suggested that she was trying to boost her own morale as much as anyone else's. Finally, his gaze wandered and was met by that of Meredith. She was obviously upset, and although Lukas considered saying something about it not being her fault, he didn't. Her eyes held sadness, and fear, but also resolve. He admired that greatly, and decided to hold his tongue. His expression softened, and he held her gaze for a couple of moments longer, before turning and looking back out of the window.
"C'mon guys." He said quietly.
Fin:
Once fully kit fox Fin hightailed it out of there. <<Good luck Matthias. Bring home a souvenier for me. Something that says, I took on my first controllers and all I got was this lousy t-shirt. But I know how much you really want to pick out your own gift so I won't give you any more guidence on that.>>
Fin ran through the nighttime woods, the sounds of the controllers falling behind. Soon enough he saw the Lodge ahead of him and he ran in through the door. <<Hello family! Miss me?>>
Matthias:
<<I'll try.>> Matthias replied wryly to Fin, dropping low to avoid Dracon fire before moving forward again. The Vancouver faction leader hoped that all of the others were back safe by now; he was leading the bulk of the Controllers to an unconscious bear, but there still could have been stragglers going after Melanie or Meredith. He just didn't know.
Five minutes later, despite nearly losing his tail to a particularly well-aimed shot, Matthias had successfully ditched the Controllers at the bear, where they would, with any luck, vaporize it and then return home triumphant and leave the forest alone. Of course, that would be in a perfect world, and how often did that happen?
Matthias' cynicism was well founded when he ran into a stray Controller on the way back to the lodge. Tempted to attempt to knock him out and bring him back for questioning and starvation, Matthias was reluctant to kill, but had no other option as there might still have been other Controllers out and about. Wiping the blood off of his claws, he padded back the rest of the way to the lodge without a hitch.
Perching at the edge of the clearing, Matthias hesitated, <<Fin? Melanie? Meredith? Someone talk to me? Is everyone okay?>>
Mel:
Mel had finally remorphed, back to deer this time, just in case a fight was brewing. She hoped not but it was hard to tell, She had no idea who was still out there, controller-wise. Fin came in, much to her relief. <<Yeah, we did. Glad you're still in one piece.>> Matthias called out and she turned her attention to him.
<<I'm here...we all are as far as I can tell. FIn just came in...Meredith is here but exhausted and MItch is still skunky. I ran into a controller on the way here but the talons to the eyes trick distracted him long enough for me to hightail it out of there and lose him. Aida's here somewhere too.>>
"I need a heart that carries on through the pain. When the walls start collapsing again. Give me a soul that never ceases to follow. Despite the infection within."
Meredith Scott was praying. It was something she did often, silently and aloud. The one she had said was part of an old song, and a suitable plea to the Almighty. Her eyes opened suddenly, pupils narrowing against their gunmetal gray backdrop. Some ill omen hung in the air. Meredith felt restless. She fidgeted with her hands, and her brow furrowed. She hadn't yet voiced her fear to the other animorphs. The fear that her mother or father - Controllers, both - were looking for her. She had run away, after all. Suspiciously, suddenly. In Vancouver.
Meredith bit her lip. She couldn't keep her new comrades in the dark, especially when there could be danger. Silently, she got up from her place, in her 'room'. A creaky bed, accompanied by a floor lamp and an old rug. It was fairly late, and most everyone else was probably asleep, aside from those on patrol. Meredith got up quietly, slipping out into the hall and then the kitchen. Her fingers closed around a fairly clean cup, which she promptly filled with water. She felt sick. Maybe sitting back down would help. The living area was dark, and patches of moonlight cast foreboding shadows in the room.
Meredith sat down on that old arm chair she picked as a seat when she'd first arrived. "Our careless feet leaving trails, never minding the fragile dirt that we all end in." sighed the animorph. That line of the song didn't help in the least. If anything, it made her feel worse. She wanted to - no, needed to talk to somebody. But she sat there, minutes ticking by, torn between the urgency to voice a potential threat and her own fear that petrified her like a neurotoxin.
Fin:
<<Do mine ears deceive me or do I hear another nascent rapper among our little band of brothers?>> Fin padded up to Meredith and jumped up onto the kitchen counter at which she was sitting. His silver coat sparkled slightly in the low light that was left on. He sat down and began grooming himself, eager to stay all sparkly. He was quite sure that this and his cute cat looks would help him win the ladies' affection in the future now that there were three of them to pursue. Well, Aida seemed to have something going on with Matthias but Mel and Meredith were still available.
<<If you plan on going into the rap game then we should be a group. My personal rap name is going to be Findrizzle. Findrizzle from the Know-Nothin New Canaan. What about yours?>>
Mel:
Melanie chuckled at Fin's thought-speak, in her own cat morph because it was easier to see in the low light. She too often had a hard time sleeping, sometimes due to nightmares but also for reasons much like Merediths although neither could know what the others thoughts were.
She felt like she'd abandoned her sister by leaving Chicago, and what was worse, if she ran into her now, she might well have to kill her like she did the controller in the woods. Melanie of course could not know that Melissa was in the peace faction and risking her own life for the war. She also wondered about their parents; she thought them dead but it was hard to know these days.
The two cats were very similar to each other, she could see it now. She was just a bit larger than Fin with a slightly broader head and a coat pattern of all rosettes, rather than Fin's combo of rosettes and stripes.
Mitch:
Mitch walked into the living room. He was heading towards the kitchen for a glass of water when he saw Meredith and two cats, who he remembered were Fin and Melanie. Then he listened to fin's voice in his head. His lips curved into a smile as he shrank. Anout two and a half minutes later, Mitch was a skunk. He loved this morph. It had senses like his own and it could hear fairly well, at least, going by the hearing on his othermnorphs. Plus, the skunk mind was so cool because it had the best weapon in the world. A stinky spray.
He started talking. <<Good morning everyone. I take it that I am not the only one who can't sleep?>> Mitch crossed the room and climbed up onto the somewhat broken-down couch. He curled up so that he would be cmfortable and watched everyone else. <<I wonder if anyone else is up?>> In a thought-whisper, he sent to everyone in the lodge <<If you are awake, come to the living room.>> Then in a private thought-speak to the other people in the room, <<There. If anyone else is awake, they should hear that.>>
Matthias:
<<What is everyone doing up?>> Matthias' question echoed in their heads, though the leader himself was unseen. Out on patrol, but staying very close to the lodge itself, he had picked up on all the conversation. This was his favourite time to patrol, because it meant his owl morph was at its most useful, and could always grab a bite to eat if necessary.
Perching on the windowsill outside the living room, Matthias kept his eyes on the trees after taking a quick glance inside to see who was all there. Chronic insomnia...looks like it's contagious. Matthias was not entirely surprised; psychological affects were to be somewhat expected when one was a teenager and busy fighting a war. He imagined Cassie had many, many sleepless nights in the past.
Meredith:
Meredith was surprised by the sudden appearance of a cat next to her. A cat asking about rapper names. "I haven't thought about it, really." murmured Meredith in a warm tone, giving Fin a firm scratch behind his ears. She smiled, but it wasn't a happy smile. It was unsure and almost sad. "I just like poetry."
Suddenly, activity! People! Well, animals. Another cat appeared, whom Meredith presumed to be Melanie. And then came, Mitch, in his skunk morph. And before she could stop him, he bid for anyone who was awake to come to the living room. Great. Then she heard another voice, though not one from the lodge. Matthias, keeping his watchful eye on things, had joined the conversation from outside. Meredith looked around hopelessly. She was the only one not in morph. And it would be difficult for Matthias to hear her if she spoke with her voice. So she joined the party.
Her strawberry hair bleached, lighter and lighter, into a creamy white. It shortened and spread over her frame, which was changing to suit her newest morph. A Great Pyrenees. When the morph was finished, she was a large, white dog. A sheep dog - a guardian. This dog was trained to defend scores of sheep from wolves and bears. Which may have been a mistake, considering the cats in the room. But the Pyrenees was HAPPY. And that rubbed off on Meredith. <<I was just thinking and couldn't sleep.>> she chirped, her tone much too cheerful for her feelings on the subject. <<Is there a chance that the Yeerks will be looking for me? I did leave my dad for my mom, and ditched her when we reached Vancouver. I mean, that's not something a kid just switching custody would do.>> Meredith trotted to the window. <<I don't want to put you all in danger if I raised suspicion.>>
There. She said it. It was a lot easier to get out when you were that giddy, dog HAPPY. Unfortunately, the others probably weren't in the euphoric Pyrenees state-of-mind.
Brandon:
Sub-Visser 52 awoke with a start, sitting up suddenly, blinking wildly. Brandon's eyes adjusted to the light properly. Or, lack thereof. It was early morning, judging by his wristwatch. Much to Bidaut 1901's chagrin, the take-off had taken much longer than it should have. And after 'suggesting' another pilot take over, they had to scramble to find a replacement. And to move the body. But now they had begun their descent into Vancouver - Canada's hardest hit city and the home of the country's largest Yeerk Pool.
"Report." Bidaut articulated automatically.
"Approximately fifteen minutes until landing, Sub-Visser." It was the replacement pilot. He sounded just a tad nervous.
"Good. Call ahead for arrangements. Ilicir 576, host name Adrienne Scott, is to meet our party at the One Wall Centre."
"Yes, Sub-Visser."
Bidaut smiled to himself. This pilot was much better.
<<Another holding place. Joy.>>
<<Quiet.>> Bidaut snapped. Brandon knew how to thwart his good moods by being sarcastic. His host quieted, but Bidaut could feel his sour thoughts and attitude simmering. He was not pleased with this mission. All the more reason to go through with it.
Mel:
They weren't the only ones who couldn't sleep, Melanie saw. Several others were up including Matthias <<This morph doesn't mind...cats like being up at night to a point... but I suspect I'll be tired when I demorph. Too hard to sleep though, partially because I can't stop thinking about things and partly due to the nightmares.>>
Melanie was a little surprised but interested to hear of Meredith's problem even though it wasn't the same as hers. <<Yeah same here.>> she replied. <<I don't know about my parents...I fear they're dead but I don't really know. But I worry about running into my sister if she follows me. I'd hate to have to trample her like I did that guy not long ago. I almost wish I could go back to Chicago to find her but it's too dangerous.>>
She made a comment brought on by having two cats in the room, and Fin's body language attempts to look cool. <<Wouldn't it be wierd if two people with similar morphs...went at it...if you get my drift...in morphs?>>
Fin:
Meredith scratched behind his ears. He liked that. Of course it was only what he was owed as the king of the universe. At least that was how the cat felt about it. But then she turned into a dog. What a pity. Dogs were just not worth a cat's attention. They were worse than humans. At least a human could be an adept servant. A dog could only wallow in the miserableness that was their existence, doing nothing to further the glory of the cat's very being. Oh well.
He turned his mind away from the cat's easy arrogance. <<We couldn't mate Mel, both our cats are female. I'm all down with the rainbow but even I wouldn't take it that far.>> As often with him he seemed not to be paying attention but that was because he was letting his mind do its work uninterrupted.
<<As for your parents. They shouldn't be looking for you. They know you are free, they know you are on the loose, but so are many other humans. We should be fine. They will probably assume that you will eventually be picked up by yeerk patrols and made a controller or die somewhere. The only exceptions to this are, 1, one or both of your parents is a high ranking controller in which case having a free child would be an embarrassment and a set back to an ambitious yeerk or, 2, they suspected that you could morph. You never showed them your morphing ability did you?>>
Lukas:
Lukas had had no more success sleeping than the others, and instead had sought to occupy his mind with the various activities that being a raccoon entailed. He'd climbed out of bed, awoken by a harsh nightmare which, thankfully, he had some difficulty remembering. He'd then morphed his smallest morph, and begun to have a good root around in his bedroom. After soom time of this, he'd heard murmurs coming from downstairs, and had waddled off to investigate. Upon reaching the door to the living room and nudging the door with his nose, he'd discovered the others, all in morph. Where he saw friends, the raccoon saw its ancestral enemies: the dog, the cats, the owl perched on the windowsill. The skunk didn't give him a great deal of concern, but the others did. Swallowing his animal instincts, Lukas waddled into the room.
<<Nice night for it.>> He remarked, having not been paying a great deal of attention to the conversation as he made his way to the room. The raccoon's mind had been more preoccupied with finding the source of the noises and thoughts, rather than the content they conveyed. Now, however, he parked himself on the carpet and gazed around the room at the others, intrigued.
Mel:
<<I'll have to hope it's the same way with Melissa...my sister>> said Melanie. <<That the Yeerks wouldn't bother with her looking for me...anyway she won't know I'm way out here. I just hope that eventually I might find a way to find her. Not that I'm anxious to leave here, I'd miss you all too much.>> she added.
<<Oh.Well it'd be kinda icky anyway. You know I had a hard time telling which this cat was...I could tell yours was female by the scent but I never thought to take a look and see what was what if you know what I mean. And now I'm gonna spend the rest of the night wondering why I ever made that remark>>
Matthias:
<<So are we, Melanie.>> Matthias agreed with her last statement from his perch. <<And Fin is right...>> He lowered his voice to a stage whisper, <<As odd as that sounds to say.>> Picking up his normal tone again, he explained, <<There are enough free humans out there that the Yeerks won't waste their energy hunting for one in particular...with the two exceptions that Fin mentioned. So long as they don't know you're an Animorph, and they aren't particularly high up the food chain, you should be fine.>>
Matthias had always had mixed feelings about the fact that his parents were dead. On the one hand, it meant that he would never have to fight them. On the other hand, it meant he could never free them. A lot of the other Animorphs had something to fight for. All Matthias had was the cause that Cassie had provided; because we can. The Animorphs were the only ones that could fight, and so they had to.
Mitch:
Mitch noticed the raccoon as soon as it came into the room. <<Hello...uh...Lukas right? Well you have to be Lukas since Meredith is the only other raccoon and right now she is a dog.>>
Then Mitch joined the other conversation going on. <<Well, you guys don't have to worry about any of my family showing up. The only ones in this country are dead and I was an only child.>>
Then Mitch said, <<I wonder if anyone else can't sleep. What about Aida? Or is she out on patrol?>> Mitch shut up since he noticed that he was becoming a major chatterbox. He just kept talking so now he decided to listen. The main conversation apparently consisted of the faction talking about family who were controllers. Melanie was wondering if morphs could mate and she wanted to know what gender her cat was.
Mitch:
<<sorry. Next time I'll keep it to myself.>> Mel replied. It was much like the reaction to her comments about fried yeerk during dinner; she really had to learn which comments to say and which to keep quiet.
She listened to Matthias, glad he thought the same way the others apparently did about relatives. <<Come to think of it most of us probably have one relative or another who's a controller. So it's good they aren't wasting time looking for us.>> she commented. <<Yeah I don't see her either>> she replied to Mitch about Aida. She noticed he talked a lot too, which made her feel less alone in that department.
Meredith:
Meredith would've frowned if she could have. <<I don't think they ever saw me. My father certainly didn't, because I couldn't morph when I left him. I had some close calls with mum, though, before I really suspected her or we came here.>> She wished the could remember precisely. There were iffy moments - but, then again, she would have remembered being
caught.
<<I don't really know much about Yeerk ranks aside from Visser and the like. But my dad was often on the phone with strangers - and he seemed to be doing a lot of snapping. Uncharacteristic of an underling if you ask me.>> She sat on the floor and hunched her canine shoulders, looking dejected. It was nice to know that she wasn't alone. And her team's points made sense, and brought some solace. <<I just wanted to make sure you all knew.>>
Matthias:
<<Great.>> Matthias drawled from the window, <<Now we know who to blame if a high-ranking Controller storms the area on a warpath.>> He cocked his head to the side, spying a mouse and trying to decide whether or not his owl wanted to eat it. <<Don't worry about it, Melanie. From what I heard, the original Animorphs had similar issues. Long as they don't know you can morph, and really even if they do, it won't matter. They're hunting for us anyway, it won't make a difference if someone wants you dead a little bit more.>>
Dropping from the windowsill like a rock, Matthias reppeared a moment later, his morph's stomach satisfied. <<You know, you guys, as long as you're all up, at least one of you should come out and patrol with me. Do I see any volunteers or do we have to draw straws?>>
Mel:
Melanie was almost glad she was human and not cat because it would have fought the owl for the mouse-and probably lost too. "Well at least out here I'm probably in less danger than if I'd stayed in Chicago, from my sister anyway. I just hope I can find her one day and de-yeerk her if she is one of them."
Matthias asked if anyone wanted to help patrol. "Sure, why not, my cat's a good morph for the dark, going through the bushes and such. Unless anyone else wants to do it...or even if they do." Too many wasn't good but if three went it wouldn't be that bad. Two, three, it was pretty much the same for her.
Meredith:
Meredith demorphed. Even she wasn't in the dog's cheerful state of mind, she felt better. Not euphoric, but better. "I'll go, Melanie." she spoke up, then pursed her lips, something she did when she concentrated. Coarse, gray fur patterned across her skin as she shrunk. Her hands and feet darkened and shriveled, forming sharp, small claws. As her eyes swirled into umber, a black ribbon settled across her face. Finally, dark rings painted across her bushy tail. Raccoon. Bandit of the night.
Meredith trotted to the door, and, stretching up on her haunches, twisted it open. The raccoon inside her smiled. Such ingenuity. <<Let's go.>> mentioned Meredith, who took off, pausing just a few feet outside of the lodge.
Brandon:
The landing was smooth. Smoother than most Bug Fighter landings, anyway. The Sub-Visser exited the craft, pushing creases out of his suit with idle hands. A short, stout man was waiting at the landing zone, with a limousine and SUV just behind him.
"Good morning, Sub-Visser. Welcome to Vancouver." he smiled fakely.
Bidaut stepped up to him, smiling. He raised his brows suddenly, keeping the grin and looking around. He didn't exchange pleasantries. "So. We're after a little lost girl. A suspicious little lost girl. Tell me, you have had Animorph activity in the area, have you not?"
The fat man's smile faded fast. "Wh-why yes, Sub-Visser." He was flustered. Jittery. The Yeerk made Brandon pull a folded piece of paper from his coat pocket. Her unfolded it and shoved it in the man's face. "See this?" It was a map, with a red dot on the outskirts of Vancouver. "This is where Ilicir 576 lost the target. She wouldn't have ventured into the city. Free-humans are so untrusting these days. A shame."
"You will take a unit and begin searching the woods immediately. If you see any animals, shoot them. The target has red hair, and is an adolescent. Inform me if you find anything interesting."
The fat man turned tail and motored away in the SUV, which would soon hold as many Controllers as it could. He didn't understand why so much energy was being devoted to finding one filthy human.
But Bidaut did. He laughed wickedly to Brandon. <<You can't stand this, can you?>> He taunted. <<Hunting down a child. We're going to infest her, and she'll be our slave. All to salvage the reputation of an ambitious Yeerk.>>
<<It's your turn to shut up.>>
Bidaut grinned, an smug expression. If anything, he was just doing this on a whim. <<Let's go meet little Meredith's mommy.>> mocked Bidaut as he climbed into the limo. They took off for One Wall Centre.
Mel:
"Should we both go or is two enough?" Melanie asked Matthias. She watched Meredith morph, also smiling at the creature's abilities. Its hands were almost human and very useful at times.
Even as she waited for a reply, she morphed to her cat, waiting while she shrunk, and acquired her ears, tail, spotted coat and paws. <<I'm glad I can control this morph well and that you're as big as you are or the cat might want to taste you...which would be bad because raccoons are dangerous fighters.>> she said.
Mitch:
From his pertch on the couch, Mitch said, <<Uh, if I said that my swan can't patrol until daytime, my hissing cockroach just can't patrol, and my skunk is pretty slow, does that mean that I can get out of patrol? Huh?>> Mitch really didn't care if he patroled or not. He just wanted to see if he could get out of it.
Mitch got up and hopped off the couch. He spoke to Matthias, <<I'll hold down the fort here. I don't think anything will want to mess with me and my tail.>> Mitch waddled over to the door and sat down beside it. If anyone came through the door that he didn't recognize, Mitch was going to spray them. He knew that wild animals wouldn't go near a skunk, and that humans had very healthy fears of skunks, so he figured that aliens wouldn't like them either.
Mel:
Mel could kind of tell Mitch didn't really want to go patrolling. She wasn't exactly keen on it herself; she knew she'd be beat when she demorphed, but was going anyway. She thought it was better than sitting around here trying unsuccessfully to sleep. She glanced back over her shoulder through the doorway.
<<Yeah I bet they would. I'd hate to mess with you. I don't know that it would affect the robots but the controllers would hate it. They'd be running for the tomato juice.>> Really he was the perfect morph to hold down the fort so to speak. He didn't look intimdating but held a nasty surprise.
Tisoc:
Tisoc was not pleased with pulling this limo duty. She didn't really want to have anything to do with the higher ups, it was better to stay out of their way, but she had been assigned and an assignment was an assignment. In fact she was really here as an informant. Tisoc had no idea why she kept pulling these spying assignments. Was there something in her background that promoted her as a spy? She should look into that and get it changed.
Anyway, since she was currently assigned to the One Wall Center in order to try to root out the yeerk peace movement the Sub-Visser of Vancouver had decided that adding another little spying job couldn't hurt. Sub-Visser 63 was not happy about having another Sub-Visser on her turf, let alone a higher ranked one. And all over one lost girl?
Last month Sub-Visser 63 had gotten word of the location of an entire enclave of animorphs in the area. She had quickly had them disposed of, hoping that the leaders in New York would not hear that she had let such an infestation as the rebel group was seen as, linger in her city for so long. But the operation, that had taken such man power, had leaked and now everyone knew that Animorphs had been in Vancouver.
Sub-Visser was trying to prove that she had killed them all and so far she didn't seem like she would be replaced anytime soon. That is, until this guy showed up. He could mean that she was in serious trouble and on her way out, unless she could learn something to black mail him with.
That is where Tisoc came in apparently. She glanced in the rearview mirror, catching a glimpse of Sub-Visser 52. How the hell was she supposed to get information out of this guy? Asking was out of the question but maybe if she could get him talking.
"How was your trip sub-visser?" She asked, her voice coming out in the low baritones of her teenage boy human host.
Brandon:
"How was your trip sub-visser?" the driver asked, a teenaged boy. He barely looked old enough to drive vehicles by human standards. Bidaut smiled, folding his host's rough hands into his lap. "Pleasant." he summed up. "A bit of trouble in the beginning with some incompetence, but that was taken care of." His eyes lost focus briefly, and his smile widened. He was reliving the pleasure of killing that fool who was slated to fly the Bug Fighter originally.
The Sub-Visser leaned forward, eyes back on the young driver. "What about you? You didn't have as far as I, but how was your drive here nonetheless?" He sounded so genuine, so sincere. A farce, of course. Brandon's personality spilling through. Bidaut 1901 found that his host's exceptionally likable demeanor had saved his hide several times. So why not use it more?
Lukas:
<<I'll stay here, too. Just in case they get beyond the hellish reek, it can't hurt to hold back a little more muscle.>> Lukas had replied resolutely to Matthias. He'd been involved in most patrols of late, and it would be nice to get a chance to relax for a bit, even if he was so wired now that he couldn't sleep. Besides, he told himself, they needed a capable fighter at the lodge as a just-in-case measure, and he had the second best combat morph next to Matthias, though, due to the array of cats and deer, wasn't saying a great deal. He wasn't sure if he was telling himself that just to dissuade himself from going out into a more trouble-enriched environment, or whether he genuinely believed it to be the case. Oh well, it didn't matter.
The discussion about relatives had very briefly made his mental cogs turn, but he'd dismissed his immediate thoughts instantly. His family members weren't controllers. They weren't alive at all. His parents and sister had died quickly in that crash, blissfully unaware of the terrors which would come later. As for his brother and aunt, well...the house hadn't been in a pretty state when he'd gotten there, and he didn't even want to think about what he'd seen upon crossing the threshold.
Instead, he wondered about Meredith's family. If her father was highly ranked enough, would he send men out to find his daughter? And would she be found, here? Unlikely, the yeerks knew of animorph around Vancouver, and the possible presence of a specific person wasn't likely to alter the intensity of their search for the hideout. Having said that, they'd already lost one building, and a number of faction members, to the yeerks, there was always a chance that it could happen again.
He was distracted when Meredith returned to human form, before melting down into raccoon morph. His own raccoon mind studied its fellow creature with a keen interest, watching it progress towards the doorway. The topic Mel had mentioned previously lurked in the back of his mind, and he hastily crushed it, slightly appalled. Not the right time. Not now. He hastily bit into his right paw, partially to quell an itch that had presented itself, and perhaps partially to derail his own train of thought.
Matthias:
At first, Matthias had thought to protest when he received two volunteers instead of just one, but both Lukas and Mitch seemed resolutely determined to stay put, and extra firepower outside was always a good thing, and not only because it was another set of senses. Relenting, Matthias hopped off his perch, <<Fine. Mel and Meredith, you're with me. Lukas, Mitch, try not to wake anyone else up, will you?>>
It really was a good thing that none of them had anything resembling lives, because their sleep schedules were completely whacked. Between running away, patrolling, and scavenging, there was hardly a good night's sleep to be found. So when there were nights like tonight when they could afford to rest, it bothered Matthias that most of his faction didn't.
Thinking about such things also brought to mind another issue. They weren't doing anything. As of the moment, they were still really recovering from the attack on the trailer, but that meant they were just sitting ducks, hovering there, waiting for the Yeerks to come and get them. They couldn't afford to do that; they needed to take action, and soon.
Meredith:
Meredith stalked out into the night, feeling very stealthy. The raccoon was a little nervous of the owl so close by. Creatures of the night such as themselves weren't known for loving company. Just the same, Meredith made a point to keep Matthias in her sights, at least for the first while of the patrol. She hadn't been on very many yet, and wasn't quite used to it. Patrolling was an odd activity in that it was dull, but at the same time, highly nerve-racking. Trying to listen for every sound, each flicker of light. Your mind could make itself go crazy.
A ways away from the lodge, Meredith paused behind a large, rotten tree that had been reduced to a decaying stump. <<Whoa, guys.>> warned the Animorph, peering from behind the natural barrier. <<I'm seeing lights. Like, flashlight lights. And I hear a lot of footsteps.>> The raccoon was tense. So was Meredith. But she made herself stay still. But when there was a sudden shriek of a dracon beam, and the scent of the charred meat of a now-dead woodland animal, it became considerably harder.
Mel:
Melanie listened to Matthias's thought speak, fearing for a moment what he might say but quickly relaxing before anyone noticed. She was edgy, troubled for some reason, her cat nose aware of strange scents in the air. It was hard to tell what was what though with what had gone down in the woods so recently. Still, this scent seemed fresh...
Melanie skittered into the bushes when she saw and heard the flash, searching for a hiding place. <<I need my deer...I'll go as fast as I can. I don't think I can be seen. I'm sorry, but the cat's too small.>> She made sure to target her thought speak this time. She hated going back to human but had little choice. The cat was useful but too small to fight in open battle. She urged her body as fast as it would go, feeling the energy drain but trying not to think about it.
Luck was with her and in the dark, she was able to finish her morph without being seen. She was only regretful that she didn't have a panther or bird of prey like Matthias. But this morph would do its job well enough.
Meredith;
<<Oh, God.>> Meredith breathed. <<They're killing everything that moves. Dracon beams.>> Quickly, Meredith clamored into the hallow stump she had been behind, pressing herself to the sides. Controlled panic set into her voice. Edgy. <<They're heading straight for me.>> her thought-speak wavered. <<What should I do?>> A pigeon wasn't a night flyer, and the pyrenees would be likely to be seen with its white coat.
Why were they here? The thought lurked in her mind. That her worries were right. It could be that the Yeerks were just looking, couldn't it? Yeah. Right. Meredith's raccoon heart hammered in her chest. Voices. Clear enough to here. One grumbled, "I can't believe we're wasting our time looking for one kid." Meredith choked on her own heart. It skipped, giving her a painful sensation in her chest.
"Don't let the Sub-Visser hear you whining."
God, no.
Tisoc:
The Sub-Visser's tone sent chills through Tisoc's body. It was friendly and that was bad. Most Sub-Vissers treated their insubordinates like chess pawns, at least the intelligent ones did. The stupid ones treated them like action figures and threw them away like you would throw away a toy. Tisoc had served under both types. The current Sub-Visser was a chess player. Her previous one had been a brat.
But every once in a while you found one like this. They were the real danger. At least the others were honest, and so, predictable. But this one, well unpredictability was the worst thing to be found in a leader. At least if you wanted to keep your head it was and Tisoc wanted to keep her head, or Bryan's head at least.
She looked into her mind, trying to find her host and found nothing but emptyness. She hated those moments. A host was not suppose to be able to disappear like Bryan seemed to be able to do and that made her nervous as well.
All that nervousness and she was bound to make a mistake.
In this case she ran a red light and had to swerve quickly to avoid a crash. They were back on track and driving smoothly in a matter of seconds but...She looked in the rearview mirror trying to judge the sub-visser's reaction.
Brandon:
The Sub-Visser noted the driver's nervousness. A good sign for him. The Yeerk gripped the seat's cup holder when they ran a red light and almost caused catastrophy with distracted, albeit brief, poor driving. Bidaut sensed no fear from Brandon. He didn't expect it, considering the kind of life he had lived as a district attorney. There were plenty of crazy things going on there. Bidaut's only reaction was a slight grimace, more of concentration than displeasure.
<<Geeze.>> Brandon finally commented, sounding disapproving, but unfazed. <<You Yeerks suck at driving.>>
Bidaut ignored the comment and ran a hand through Brandon's sandy hair. He gave the driver a look, though. It said 'Get me where I'm going and don't ever drive for me again'. It was a long message to put in an expression, but Bidaut thought he pulled it off nicely. They were getting close to their destination, anyway. There were more important matters at hand.
Matthias:
Shit. <<Duck and hide, Meredith. Melanie, you too. We're not going into a fight until we know what we're up against.>> This was a little more like it, Matthias reflected. Despite the fact that they could all die at any moment, it was times like this that Matthias remembered why he had taken this job from Cassie. He could see what they had to do, and he could get it done.
Offense wasn't an option. Not yet. They didn't know how many Controllers there were, but they did know that there were several, and that they were hunting. Yeerks didn't go around obliterating the ecosystem for no reason. They were looking for the Animorphs actively, and they were too close for comfort.
<<Get them away from the lodge.>> Matthias felt his thought-speak slipping as he demorphed. He needed the agility of the panther over the owl right now, and its fighting ability if necessary. When he was a feline properly, he continued, <<Away from the others. Into the forest, quiet as you can and stay behind cover. Try to get some idea of how many there are. They're still in human form. So long as we're in the forest, we've got the edge. Use it to your advantage. It's the only one we've got.>>
Matthias was about to add more when a jet of red light zipped by his head, burning a hole in a nearby tree trunk. Leaping to one side, Matthias disappeared into the trees, <<They've seen me, at least. They know I'm here, so don't stay too close to me.>>
Mel:
Mel knew he was right; it could be suicide to charge in without knowing how many Yeerks they were fighting and what species. She backed up, feeling conspicuous,and demorphed back to human to stay out of sight. She was considering going cat again but hadn't decided yet.
She heard a fluttering sound and looked around. It was sad to see again and again injured or dying animals with dracon injuries. The human race wasn't the only one sufffering from the alien invasion. The source of the sound was a barn owl, slightly stunned by the last dracon flashes but not badly injured. Melanie contemplated. *It's risky, but I need a night capable flying morph* she thought. Plus though this was the northern edge of barn owl range, it wouldn't stick out like the cockatoo.
She touched the bird gently, focusing, acquiring the DNA. Then she focused, letting the changes begin. Some of it was like the cockatoo but there were obvious differences. The barn owl feet were meant for striking flesh, for killing rather than the parrot family's dextrous hand-like feet. So was the hooked beak,unlike the cockatoo's crushing beak. The eyes were as good or better than her cat's, she thought as she flapped up silently to perch on a branch.
Fin:
Fin toyed with the dracon beam in his hands and idly aimed it at a tree and pulled the trigger. The tree exploded.
"What are you doing! Hit the animals not the trees." A controller yelled at him.
Fin just shrugged. "I thought I saw a bat. Why are we out here anyway. I mean, we already killed all the animorphs. Even if this kid is an animorph why would she come here, they're all dead." He took careful aim this time and shot a barn owl. The shot hit its mark and the owl went down, not really hurt. "Got that one," Fin said with a smile at the nearest controller. The guy just grunted.
"I don't know why we're out here but orders are orders. You want to be the one to disobey orders?" Another controller chimed in from where he was standing, looking into a hole in the tree trunk to see if any animals were hiding in there.
"Who's orders?" Fin shot back quickly. "63's or 54's. They're pretending to get along with each other but we all know that 63 is possessive and, right now, 54 is pissing all over her territory. I'm worried about getting caught in the middle you know. We bring this girl back, well maybe it makes 54 look good to kill her but that makes 63 look bad. So what if 63 gets her hands on us first, kills the girl and kills us to eliminate the witnesses. I don't know guys, I don't like this situation." The controllers looked up at him and stopped shooting the forest. They looked worried. Good, then Fin had done his job.
Fin had been a little offended that Matthias had forgotten to give him any orders. He, obviously the most important one in the room, Fin was still a cat at the time, so Fin had decided to go for a walk, but as a human instead of as any animal. He took a dracon beam with him that had been laying around the Lodge, a left over from some battle or near death experience or whatever.
He often did that, take the dracon beam out for some target practice. If he was going to pass as a controller in order to be a successful spy then he would need to look good with a dracon beam. That is how the controllers had found him in the woods, shooting things. It was maybe the only reason they had not shot him out right. In fact, they had assumed he was one of them.
Fin hadn't chosen this night to test out his spying skills but it looked like that is what was going to happen anyway.
"How 'bout we start working our way that way," Fin said pointing over his shoulder and away from the Lodge. "We'll still be looking for the girl technically, but we will also be working our way back towards civilization."
And how would he escape? He wasn't sure about that part yet. He was just making this stuff up as he went along.
Matthias:
<<If your plan wasn't as brilliant as it is insane, I'd be very upset right now.>> Matthias informed Fin from the safety of the undergrowth. Having caught wind of the boy's voice, Matthias had paid very close attention indeed to what he was saying to the other Controllers. He's doing a frighteningly good job.
Knowing now what Fin was up to, Matthias could direct the others accordingly, <<The Controllers are heading east. Drop southwest and circle back to the lodge when you're a good distance away. If you've got a Controller on your tail, don't head home. Wait til you lose him. Remember, for all the Controllers know, this forest is Animorph-free. Let's keep them thinking that way.>>
That took care of one issue, but like Fin, Matthias was aware of the other one. Fin's plan was only genius until he got the Controllers out of Animorph territory. After that, it just became insanely dangerous. They needed to make sure Fin could get away too. A plan slowly beginning to form in his head, Matthias paced silently after the Controllers.
Mel:
Melanie was fairly shocked as she heard Fin talk to the controllers but he did seem to be doing a good job. <<I just hope you get your tail back alive>> she called to him in private thought speak. She'd hate to see him get hurt. <<by the way, the owl will be okay, you didn't kill him though I did morph him>> she added. <<just letting you know so you don't shoot me.>>
She took off, staying in the trees, enjoying the silent flight of her new morph. She could see fairly clearly with the owl's eyes but the controllers hopefully didn't see her as they weren't chasing her. <<I am so not taking any chances here>> she said semi-privately to the other Animorphs as she followed the rest of the group.
*I wish I could have battle claws* she thought to herself, thinking of the owl book series she had enjoyed before the war and the metal weapons the birds had worn. Fire or ice weapons weren't an option either, they'd reveal her right away.
Fin:
This was one time when he agreed with Matthias. In fact if he had done this intentionally he would have punished himself. But he had just been out here and run into a bit of bad luck. Still, he was going to make the best of it. He wished he could have responded to the others but he was currently thoughtspeak incapable, a draw back he would have to consider next time he decided to go human on a mission.
He and the other controllers started walking east, taking half hearted shots at animals but since Fin's little speech the other two didn't seem so enthusiastic about finding anything. But the trees would come to an end in a few minutes and they would come out on a road. No doubt the controllers had left some sort of transport vehicle there and then Fin would have to go with them.
This was the first time that he had really faced a situation he wasn't sure if he could get out of on his own. He was now faced with the prospect of trusting Matthias with his safety. Did he? He wasn't sure. He had never really trusted anyone with his own safety, always having a back up plan or, more accurately, a back out plan that would get him out of any situation.
But that wasn't true tonight. I seriously hope you have a plan Matthias.
((Time question. In Brandon's part of the thread it is daytime but over here it is the middle of the night. Which is happening first?))
Meredith:
Meredith breathed a brief sigh of relief, air leaving her lungs in a forced exhale. She hasn't realized she'd even been holding her breath. Fin's complaining was welcomed, especially when a controller's foot snapped a twig much to close for comfort. The group, which was fairly large, moved away. Inside the deadened stump, Meredith demorphed and remorphed as quickly as she was able. Afterwards, she pawed out and stalked the conglomeration of controllers, using the raccoon's stealth and keen night senses. <<Good luck, Fin.>> wished Meredith to him in private thought-speak. Then she headed the other way, more southerly, in the direction Matthias mentioned.
Now was not the time for brash actions. She knew that. But something bothered her about leaving Fin. Taking a pell-mell and haphazard route, the inexperienced Animorph caught sight of the lodge, careful of watchers in the darkness. The raccoon should be able to see them, but it still made her exceedingly nervous. Once in the clear, Meredith scampered onto the porch and dashed inside, slowly demorphing as she went. When her human face emerged, it was full of heartache and suffering. "I'm sorry." she murmured.
(OOC: At some point, Sub-Visser 52 needs to have a confrontation with the Animorphs himself, and that's when we can see some action, I suppose. As for the time, Brandon landed in Vancouver in the early morning, like, around one o' clock. So it's about the same timeframe. His is a little ahead of ours.)
Lukas:
Lukas had struggled to bite back his annoyance when Fin announced he was heading out with the others. He had several reasons for irritation: one, it made him even more furious at himself for staying at the lodge when action could've been had. Two, it kicked his chances of going outside away, because there was now more pressure to remain at the hideout as a guard, what with Aida presumably sleeping, and he couldn't leave Mitch to guard solo. Wasn't very honourable. Finally, Fin had merely disregarded all the complex decisions Lukas had been making himself and just went out to explore. He resented him for his attitude and his willingness to please himself, partially because it lead to his abandonement of the current (if boring) plan which Lukas had stuck to, and partially because he wished he could be so carefree himself. He just wanted to lose himself in the familiar rush, and there wasn't much chance of that now.
He hadn't spoken to Mitch, as he had no current interest in small talk and wanted to spare the younger boy some harsh words, as he was having difficulty keeping obscenities in as it stood. If he opened his mouth, he didn't think he'd control what came out very well. And that was hardly fair to Mitch. Instead, he'd resorted to silently pacing. When he heard the door open and close, he turned, and stormed towards it, expecting Fin.
"Fin, you-" He snapped, before the entrant came into view. Meredith's expression quelled his anger somewhat, and replaced it with confusion and worry. "Meredith? Sorry, I was expecting...nevermind, what happened? What's the matter?"
Meredith:
Meredith bit her lip as is quivered, and she was sure tears were welling up in her eyes as her stomach knotted up in anxiety. She controlled her voice better than she thought she would be able to. "Controllers in the forest. Looking for me." she managed, "Fin distracted them. As himself. He's stuck with them right now, and they're probably out of the woods by now." She sucked in lungful after lungful of air, her chest burning and limbs shaking. She still wasn't entirely accustomed to morphing, at the process had worn her out, she realized.
"I don't understand." Anger rose in her voice. "This shouldn't be happening." She looked to Lukas fiercely, but not toward him, but as if expecting an answer that she knew couldn't be given anyway. "And Fin's in danger now." She wanted to add 'because of me', but knew that there was no use moping like that. It would sound like she wanted pity. And she did not.
Mel:
Melanie tried to keep in the trees, glad for her silent wings. But she could see the controllers here and there down below and it made her nervous. She did as Matthias asked and headed away from the lodge before beginning to circle back and head home. As she did, she spotted something below.
Dracon flashes were still going off on occasion, and one suddenly whizzed by her, smoking some feathers in the process. She wove through the trees, using darkness and silence to her advantage,playing a deadly hide and seek game, and she slowly maneuvered into position, then spilled her air, streaking downward and raking the controller's eyes. As he cried and moaned, she hauled tailfeathers out of there, hoping she'd lose him.
Mitch:
Mitch had listened to all of the chatter in his head for awhile, following along. When he started hearing about Controllers attacking, Mitch said, <<Guys? Do you need my help out there? You know, as a distraction for you?>> Mitch was worried about the others enough that he forgot about Lukas even being there. Then Meredith came in and told the two of them what was happening.
<<Meredith, is there any way we can help? Maybe cause a distraction for Mel or Matthias or possibly rescue Fin?>> asked Mitch. Mitch wasn't sure what he could do to help though. Fin at least. He could however help Matthias and Melanie by making the woods a VERY unpleasant place for humans to be, courtesy of his morph. But he had no idea of what he could do to rescue Fin. He mmight be ab le to sneak inside the vehicle with his cockroach morph or he could follow it with his swan morph. That was about it.
Matthias:
Matthias was at a crossroads. He had sent Melanie and Meredith home, and now and he was getting communication from home base, asking if they needed backup. To make things worse, he, Fin, and the Controllers had moved so far away from the lodge that thought-speak was beginning to fade out. He needed to make a call on what to do next, and he had to do it quick.
<<Everyone, stay back. We bring anyone else out, we risk exposure of all of us. We can't afford that. Is everyone home yet?>> That was probably what worried Matthias most of all; had Melanie and Meredith made it back, or was one of them leading a Controller straight to the lodge?
As far as Fin went, Matthias did have a plan. It was risky to a degree that Matthias was not totally comfortable with, but at the same time, it would also work. Yeerks didn't tend to look after their own all that much. <<Fin, what say you and I give the Controllers a little scare? Pretend you see me and run into the trees when you can. After that, you can do your best mauled-by-a-wild-animal noise. Just make sure you're flat, because I suspect they're going to flood the area with Dracon fire if they don't just turn tail and run. When you're out of sight, get under some real cover and morph as small as you can. I'll keep them away from you if I have to.>>
Mel:
Melanie fortunately had seemed to lose her pursuer and fluttered into the lodge, looking to see if the others had all made it back. All seemed to be there except obviously Matthias and Fin. She thought about landing and demorphing, but she was edgy, still unsure what would happen or when.
Ultimately, she did, as the others except for Mitch had already demoprhed. She could see Meredith's upset though a little dimmer as her eyes became human again. She avoided any pitying, sensing it would make things worse.
"No one's getting caught without fighting to the end" she said, trying to help without sounding pitying, but not sure how she was doing. Softer, she added to no one in particular "They better make it back alive" Sadly, she knew inside that they could not really fight to the death if they wanted to keep the faction alive. The whole thing confused her and she wasn't sure what she'd do in a given situation at the moment.
Fin;
Fin listened to Matthias' plan. Ok, not completely cool. This was going to be dangerous and here he was hoping to just waltz away. Plus he had to figure out how to do it without giving away the fact that there were animorphs in these woods because if he just pretended to be mauled the controllers would know who'd done it.
They were almost back to the road by now and Fin was quickly coming to the point where he would have to make a decision. What would scare controllers away? Well obviously they're superiors but Fin wasn't a superior and there wasn't one conveniently around to bail him out.
But did one have to be really around? No, of course not.
Fin put a finger in his ear like he had seen secret service officers do. "Sir? Yes sir? No sir? Maybe sir." The controllers were giving him odd looks but also slightly scared ones. Fin put a worried look on his own face which only heightened their reaction. "Yes sir. We checked sir. The whole woods sir? Well there are a lot of woods. No, I'm not questioning your orders."
Fin was really getting into the swing of it now. "Of course we will check the entire woods sir. What are we looking for sir? Animorphs? Didn't we kill all the animorphs? Of course we killed all the animorphs, I wasn't questioning that we killed all the animorphs sir. The human girl? Yes I am and idiot sir. Yes you did tell me she has the morphing power. She could have a potentially very dangerous morph?"
Now Fin looked frightened and looked up at the other controllers. They started looking around nervously and jumping at shadows. "If she has an incredibly dangerous morph shouldn't hork-bajir be out here sir? No sir, I am not afraid to have my throat ripped out by a ferocious animal." His fellow controllers began to unconsciously huddle together.
"Of course, everything for the empire sir. I will personally check every acre of woods sir. Yes sir. Understood sir." Fin lowered his finger and looked at the other controllers sadly. "Well, looks like we have to stay and search the whole damn forest gentlemen."
"You stay and search the damn forest!" One burst out, jumping at the hooing of an owl. "I'm not staying here. They sent us out here with a powerful animorph on the loose and all we got are dracons. Not even night vision."
"But he said to stay," Fin said, pushing them.
"Who said?" The controller looked at him.
Fin hesitated and then started walking toward the trees. "Who? What do you mean who. Who do you think. And I'm not as afraid of an animorph as I am of kadrona starvation." The other controllers milled around. He had pretty much convinced them that they should stay and complete the search. Good, now to convince them back the other way.
Fin walked deeper into the woods. "I'll start over here and this time we'll-EEEEEEEEE-AAAHH!" Fin screeched. He was surprised how much fun it was to screech. It was such a high pitched and panicked sound.
He dropped to the ground and immediately started morphing into the kit fox. It would be able to run quickly through the forest and its senses worked almost as well as a bat's or cat's at night. <<Your turn fearless leader,>>Fin said as soon as he was morphed enough. Dracon beams were already burning the air above him.
Matthias:
<<You missed your calling, Fin.>> Matthias deadpanned, <<You should have been an actor.>> Well within range to hear the entirety of the conversation, even if his tree cover prevented him from seeing everything, Matthias was smiling internally at the excellent job Fin was doing of freaking the hell out of the other Controllers.
Matthias' part was deceptively simple now that Fin had played up the 'dangerous animal' part. All he had to do was drive the point home. There was very little scarier than a riled wild animal. Taking in a breath, Matthias let loose with a deafening roar, the best his panther could muster.
<<Okay, they know you found something, they're probably going to assume I'm an Animorph. Hightail it, we need to split up. Head home, I'll meet you there once they're convinced I'm long gone out of this forest. Good work, I'll see you later.>> Matthias began heading through the forest, deliberately making as much noise as was possible, acting as if he had been hit. On the way to where Fin was, Matthias had spotted a bear that had been stunned by someone's - presumably Fin's - straight shot. That could easily pass as the creature that had let loose with the roar. All that was left was to bring them to it and then disappear.
Meredith:
Although wanting to morph again in order to answer Matthias' thought-spoken inquiry, Meredith could not summon the energy. She sat down abruptly, her hand finding a support so that she didn't land too hard as to avoid a bruised derriere. Forcing herself to stop from moping, she spoke, concealing the fear-replaced-with-anger that welled up in her stomach and seemed to suffocate her heart. "We've got to stop this. It won't end here." Not that it was going to end anytime soon, this hell. But she certainly didn't want a personal problem to get in the way of the bigger problem.
Meredith answered Mitch, delayed. Her answer came in an affirming nod when the 'voice' of their fearless leader cut through their minds, telling them to stay put. The inexperienced Animorph sighed a prayer for Fin and Matthias, quick but sincere. Then she looked to Lukas, who, though probably as clueless as the rest of them on what to do, seemed to bring her comfort.
Lukas:
Lukas weighed the pros and cons of directly disobeying Matthias, a grimace marring his features as he glared out of the window. On the one hand, doing as he was told would keep him safe and intact. It'd lessen the risk of controllers picking up on their location. And Matthias wouldn't chew him out or pull rank on him. On the other hand, he fancied a good scrap, and plus the more firepower they had to bear on the yeerks, the better. He also felt partially responsible for Fin's predicament, having not stopped the younger boy from leaving earlier. Going out to help my relieve some of that guilt, whether he deserved it or not. He gritted his teeth and clenched his fists as the obvious fact that he had little to no choice in the matter. He had to stay. It would be foolish to leave, regardless of any other feelings involved. Matthias and Fin could probably get out of their more easily if he wasn't there, and if he charged out, it'd likely exacibate matters.
He turned away and looked around the room. Mitch was the only one still in a morph, so he could probably relay the current state of affairs to Matthias, assuming he was still in range. Mel was clearly worried, and her words suggested that she was trying to boost her own morale as much as anyone else's. Finally, his gaze wandered and was met by that of Meredith. She was obviously upset, and although Lukas considered saying something about it not being her fault, he didn't. Her eyes held sadness, and fear, but also resolve. He admired that greatly, and decided to hold his tongue. His expression softened, and he held her gaze for a couple of moments longer, before turning and looking back out of the window.
"C'mon guys." He said quietly.
Fin:
Once fully kit fox Fin hightailed it out of there. <<Good luck Matthias. Bring home a souvenier for me. Something that says, I took on my first controllers and all I got was this lousy t-shirt. But I know how much you really want to pick out your own gift so I won't give you any more guidence on that.>>
Fin ran through the nighttime woods, the sounds of the controllers falling behind. Soon enough he saw the Lodge ahead of him and he ran in through the door. <<Hello family! Miss me?>>
Matthias:
<<I'll try.>> Matthias replied wryly to Fin, dropping low to avoid Dracon fire before moving forward again. The Vancouver faction leader hoped that all of the others were back safe by now; he was leading the bulk of the Controllers to an unconscious bear, but there still could have been stragglers going after Melanie or Meredith. He just didn't know.
Five minutes later, despite nearly losing his tail to a particularly well-aimed shot, Matthias had successfully ditched the Controllers at the bear, where they would, with any luck, vaporize it and then return home triumphant and leave the forest alone. Of course, that would be in a perfect world, and how often did that happen?
Matthias' cynicism was well founded when he ran into a stray Controller on the way back to the lodge. Tempted to attempt to knock him out and bring him back for questioning and starvation, Matthias was reluctant to kill, but had no other option as there might still have been other Controllers out and about. Wiping the blood off of his claws, he padded back the rest of the way to the lodge without a hitch.
Perching at the edge of the clearing, Matthias hesitated, <<Fin? Melanie? Meredith? Someone talk to me? Is everyone okay?>>
Mel:
Mel had finally remorphed, back to deer this time, just in case a fight was brewing. She hoped not but it was hard to tell, She had no idea who was still out there, controller-wise. Fin came in, much to her relief. <<Yeah, we did. Glad you're still in one piece.>> Matthias called out and she turned her attention to him.
<<I'm here...we all are as far as I can tell. FIn just came in...Meredith is here but exhausted and MItch is still skunky. I ran into a controller on the way here but the talons to the eyes trick distracted him long enough for me to hightail it out of there and lose him. Aida's here somewhere too.>>