Why So Serious?/Firepower

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Matthias:
It was just way too quiet. That was really all that Matthias could think about as he hovered near the trailer. They'd been getting ready to move, and for Matthias' taste it was not a moment too soon. He'd been antsy ever since he and Melanie had found Fin. The trailer didn't feel right; he had even taken to eating and sleeping outside of late.

It's empty, right? Matthias thought to himself as he landed on a tree and began to absently preen, Oh, no, wait, I gave them the day off. It's just Melanie, Fin, and those two new guys that are... Matthias' thoughts were interrupted when movement caught his hunter's eye. It's just one of the guys inside. You're letting this paranoia get to you, Matthias. Fluttering down from the tree, Matthias began to demorph, looking up into the skies to see if he could spot any of the others coming back from patrol.

Ordinarily, Matthias' speed in morphing was an asset. On this particular day, however, it nearly cost him his life. In slightly more than a minute, Matthias was walking towards the trailer. He had nearly reached the door when he felt the hairs on his back raise up in alarm. Something is very wrong here... Calling out the name of one of the members, Matthias paused with his hand on the door, suddenly hearing absolutely no movement inside, which was very odd considering that there were half a dozen people in there.

Matthias stepped back away from the door, beginning to morph again. In this world, you couldn't trust anything but your instincts. Black fur had barely sprouted from his skin when he saw it: a face in the window. It wasn't one of his members, and it was holding something in its hand. They found us! Matthias backed away from the door as the face disappeared. A moment later, Matthias felt his world collapse for the second time in his life as the trailer exploded in a ball of flame worthy of Hollywood.

Thrown clear into the woods by the blast, Matthias began morphing purely on instinct, wanting to heal any injuries he had before his body realized it had been hurt. Not knowing who was in range, Matthias just bellowed in thought-speak to each of his members in turn, <<EVERYONE INTO THE WOODS NOW!>>

The outhouse where new members were occasionally held for three days was the only safe place that every member knew about, and it was the place that they would know Matthias meant. As soon as he was fully panther, however, Matthias did not take his own advice. He waited there, hidden in the leaves, watching the wreckage. First he would have to see if the Yeerks were here, then he would look for survivors. Guilt would come later; they had to act NOW.

Why blow us up? It was the only question that Matthias' brain could handle, If they knew where we were, why didn't they just come and capture us?

Lukas:
Well, an explosion. Never a good sound, in Lukas' experience. Especially not when he was landing. Certainly, the sight of a goose crashing into a thorny bush might amuse some, but being that goose was markedly less pleasant. Still, Lukas knew that there were bigger issues at hand than a few pin pricks from thorns, and this thought was backed up by the subsequent bellowed order from Matthias.

<Alright, I'll meet you at the outhouse> Lukas replied, his calm thought not betraying his confusion. Whatever had happened, it was bad for them. That much was evident from Matthias' warning. Better head there quick and hope for answers.

Unfortunately, it appeared that the impact may have caused more harm than he initially thought. His left wing felt broken, and blood was trickling down his feathers. his blood. Lukas immediatly began to demorph, his growing, shifting bones mending themselves and his flesh melting together to conceal any wounds. After a few minutes, Lukas was in his own human form once more. He dragged himself from the scrub and, the instant he was free of the leafy bindings, he began to remorph, becoming a fresh canada goose once more. He angled himself in the direction of the shack, and, with a slight run, launched himself from the soily earth. As he flew, he wondered.

What could have happened? I may not have known Matthias long, but its hard to miss the urgency of his message. Undoubtedly, terrible news awaited Lukas.

Ray:
Ray had been out all night and was now seriously ready for some shut eye. A good twelve hour hybernation would put things right, but only if he could manage it. He was pretty sure his faction would need him to be more productive than that. Ray had been patrolling the woods with Fin looking out for trouble all night. It was in the earlier hours in the morning after the sun had come up did he hear the faint cry of what must have been a fellow faction member. <<EVERYONE INTO THE WOODS NOW>> which had come after a very loud explosion.

He could see the smoke rising from his height, but little else. <<Hey Fin! I think we missed something....>> he yelled out to the fellow patroller. He also thought some other indecent thoughts about how he should have been able to catch that coming whatever it was. <<We've got to get back....RIGHT NOW!>>

Ray took off flying as fast as the pigeon morph could manage and dove into the cover of the woods. Once he was in close he flared his wings and hit the ground just a little carelessly. He was demorphing now and a lot slower than he could have ever asked for. He knew that the bird morph was the best option for a quick get away, but tactically another morph was more suitable he thought. He didn't know much about the situation and whatever had made that explosion had obviously brought some serious weapons to the battlefield. No, he needed something that would allow him to get more information about this situation. Besides, he thought with a grin, might run into something interesting enough to pee on...The black and brown fur began to sprout.

Fin:
Lalalala, Fin sang to himself inside his head. It had been a pretty hectic night. Found a new member, got chased by hunter robots, found a new member again, escaped from hunter robots. All good things. He wanted to go back to the Hunting Lodge and chill but he knew he should probably get the new recruits to Matthias or suffer his wrath, and panthers could be surprisingly wrathy. He laughed to himself. Matthias had a snake morph and a panther morph. All he needed was a bear and he would be the entire Jungle Book all by himself.

As they flew past the lodge Fin gave it a wistful glance. He spent most of his days there, getting it ready to house an entire faction, but their official place of residence was still the trailer he had spent three days locked up in.

He let his sound sight sweep over the forest below, painting the world in silver inside his head. His powerful wings beat the cold predawn air as made his way back to the trailer. Birds soared, bats flapped, but they were infinitely more maneuverable and that had saved his life more than once tonight. It just might save his life again he thought as he heard Matthias' panicked thought speak order. Well, not panicked precisely, but definitely urgent, yes he detected a sense of urgency.

<<Hey Fin! I think we missed something...>> I think you're right he thought to himself but he didn't have time to say it because Ray hit the ground and started demorphing.

For a moment Fin thought about following his example but decided against it. <<I'll fly ahead, scout it out, and let you know what you're in for. I hope that dog of yours is as powerful as you say, he might be needed. Or she,>> he added as an afterthought, <<your morph could always be female. Hmmm, that would be interesting. I wonder if I'm female, what's the difference in bats?>> He continued the conversation in his head. I mean, how come they never teach you anything useful in school like how to tell a male bat from a female bat. That could turn out to be vital information one day, like today, and we don't know it. A shame.

He seemingly hadn't been paying attention to his surroundings but as he came up to the clearing where the trailer was located he flipped easily and dug his talons into a branch. He looked out over the mess that was the remains of the trailer. Well this isn't good. He concentrated on staying completely still and pretended to be an icicle. The only part of him that moved was his mouth as he let his sound sight sweep the air around him. When he thought it was safe he let go of the branch, dropped down, and snapped his wings open, catching enough air to glide back the way he came.

<<Ray and Lukas if you're in range, trouble. I'm pretty sure the entire trailer just got blown up. The trailer was our headquaters but I guess you'll never get the grand tour now. We have to find Matthias. Shouldn't be hard. Look for the big, mean, pissed off panther.>> He started to follow his own advice and began searching the area. <<Or a snake,>> he added on second thought. <<He could always be a snake.>>

Ray:
Yes, at last! Ray was fully dog now. The ears heard it all. Plain and simple. The fiery burning a hard thing to miss with such sensitive ears. It was diffidently out of place and the smell reinforced it tenfold. Even being this far into the woods it was surprising how much better the these two senses ever were to anything Ray had been used to as a human. He took off after hearing Fin's message about the pissed off panther. It wouldn't be too hard finding anything that was pissed off seeing as everything else was probably scared senseless. The dog? The odd smells and sounds kept it alert which was a good thing because Ray needed his mind to be working on some sort of tactical plan...Finding Matthias would be a good start, but where to go from there? He knew he wasn't the leader by a long shot...hell, he hadn't even been given a chance to accept the role of a peon much less work his way up, but he was sure Matthias could use some ideas. <<I hear you loud and clear Fin. You must be around here somewhere. We need to designate a meeting spot is what we need to do...>> Ray said in private thought speak. The last thing they needed was last minute battle plans being sent straight to the enemy.

Running through the Forrest was pretty simple for the dog. He wished he could be more in-tune with the woods, but he knew it would take a wolf morph to do that. The dog, all 130 pounds of him, was surprisingly quite nimble when it came to avoiding trees and leaping over logs. Ok Ray thought, Right now we're supposed to run around in circles finding things that don't belong, the whole woods is possibly surrounded with all kinds of who-knows-what aliens ready to feast on dog like starving Asians on a chow hound, and I've not even met the ringleader yet! He debated on howling until someone came to him and then having it out, but decided against it. This morph could probably take on one target and even that would be a coin flip providing it wasn't hork bajir or taxxon. Human? Whole other story. But then again they probably had dracon beams....

With all this incessant rambling going on Ray didn't even notice he'd almost walked out of the woods toward the trailer and quickly jumped back. He turned around knowing that the trailer had no tactical use anymore other than a beacon and most likely a trap. He set off now to go find the most unlikely character in the woods...and no it wasn't the Deku tree.

Matthias:
What the hell does he think he's doing? Matthias had been watching Ray from the trees for the last few moments, his panther morph perfectly still as he listened and scanned for signs of life. There were none. No Controllers coming forth from the wreckage, no sounds of vehicles approaching from the distance...and no friendly survivors. Ray was lumbering around in his dog morph; strong, yes, but a moving target as far as the hunter in Matthias was concerned.

Matthias was about to yell out at Ray in thought-speak when it hit him. Ray and Lukas were new; it was possible he didn't know about the damned outhouse yet. <<Ray, get out of here. There's nothing we can do. If anyone's still alive, they'll meet us at the outhouse about half a kilometre into the woods. No point in staying around here. No rescue is coming.>> Matthias thought-speak voice sounded hollow. <<Fin! Melanie! Where are you two?>> Matthias had seen Ray now and heard from Lukas, but Fin and Melanie had been radio-silent, so to speak.

We just lost more than half the faction in one blow and all we have are questions. You win this one, Yeerks. But we're not through yet. With his mind sedated for the moment, Matthias got down to business, <<Everyone. Outhouse. Now. Do not, I repeat, do NOT go anywhere near the trailer. It's gone. There's nothing left, nothing we can do. You just endanger yourself and the rest of us by investigating. We'll go back when things have cooled down, but we need to regroup. Remember...>> He sighed, <<This is war.>>

Ray:
<<Outhouse. Got it.>> Ray replied to the eerie hollow voice that he just knew belonged to Matthias. Ray had not yet seen Matthias, but that didn't matter at the moment. What did was following the battle plan. Ray took off toward the direction of the outhouse now wondering just how many of them were left here in Vancouver. Sure, he knew that they were small in numbers, but so far he'd only heard of four names that he would be working with.

The dog's big coat mixed well with this cold Canadian weather and the dog didn't seem to tire very easily, but he knew that once he was demorphed he may not even have the strength to remorph. He was just that tired. Flying from halfway across the country on a nonstop flight, running from aliens on midnight patrol, then this had really taken its toll. It was all crazy sure, but Ray hadn't had the hardest time believing it. Why be so determined to all of this off? It would do absolutely no help at all when the truth was right in front of you or you were a part of it.

Fin:
Fin was hanging from a branch and keeping an eye on the panther below him. The black fur coat wasn't the best camouflage in this environment, especially not during the day, but Matthias was crouching completely still and it was hard to see something that wasn't moving. Of course none of that mattered to his sonar which had found him easily enough. He wondered if Matthias could hear him. Humans wouldn't be able to but what about panthers? He was pondering this question when he got his answer. <<Fin! Melanie! Where are you two?>> He would have answered but then Matthias went into order giving mode so Fin held his peace until he ordered everyone to the outhouse.

Outhouse? I know where that is. <<Hey! I know where the outhouse is!>> He shouted like a little kid in a classroom who knew the right answer, though he kept the thoughtspeak private so that only Ray, Lukas, and Matthias would hear.

He dropped from his branch, he loved doing that, and flew towards the last place he'd seen Ray. <<Follow me,>> he said to Ray, dipping low enough so that he was in the dog's line of vision and then staying that low. Flying that low was dangerous but also exhilarating in the challenges it presented.

<<Oh, Matthias, I'm with Ray.>> Fin added as an afterthought though the notification was now unnecessary.

Mel:
<I have no idea> Mel had replied privately. <And I don't like it> She had intended to demorph and wait nervously for whatever yelling at she was going to get. But the deer was on full alert. <<I don't like these smells...but I can't place why>> she said. Then,when Matthias yelled, she ran. The blast sent her rolling, tumbling...

Slowly, she climbed to her feet, disoriented and with a painful right hind leg. One antler was missing and there was blood on her head from it.
<<I'm here>> she called privately to the other faction members,not wanting anyone else in the area to hear as she limped toward the outhouse. <<I think I broke a leg...and I look like that deer from Open Season with the one antler thing...but I'm alive>>

Ray:
Ray ran as fast as he could without passing Fin up. It was a little challenging trying to watch a bat while running through a dense woods, all the while trying not to pass it up for fear that something was behind you. The outhouse. he thought. What a glamorous place for such a glamorous job! The grim sarcasm keeping his mind off of the fact he could be killed any second now. It was a good thing too because if panic set in....No it wouldn't because he was the master at thinking of dumb things like this to keep his mind off of it. He had thought he heard another voice enter his head, but was too preoccupied with the current task at hand to comprehend it.

Ray was tired of this running away from unknown things. His humorous side kicked in full force simply because there was nothing else left to do. He was tired of just up and running when every little thing happened. He wanted to know what he was up against. He wanted to know how badly the odds were stacked against him. He wanted backed into a corner. Hell, he would even settle for a cheap shot so long it was some form of retaliation. Maybe not today, but sometime there would be vengeance. He didn't know what it was about the cold feelings he had felt since the beginning of this whole thing. He did know one thing though: once they were expressed in a manner of his choice it would be the other way around. They would not only have the hope, but the power to grant mercy...or deny it.

Matthias:
Matthias was moving slowly toward the outhouse when he got word from Fin and Melanie at last. <<Melanie, demorph, remorph, and get your butt to the outhouse. The rest of us will be there already. Stay hidden.>> Matthias was in damage-control mode now. Half of his faction was dead, and he needed to make sure the other half didn't fall to pieces on him.

<<Everyone. When you get to the outhouse, demorph. We've got a long trip ahead of us and I want everyone to have the full two hours to make it. No one is becoming a nothlit because they lost track of time.>>

Matthias was already demorphing as he saw the outhouse come into sight, and was fully human by the time he approached it. They were as safe as they were going to get. It was time to talk.

Waiting until everyone was present and human before he began, Matthias took a deep breath. "Alright, look. I'm no good at sympathy speeches or anything like that. We lost half our faction today. I don't know how they found us, and I don't know why they blew us up rather than try and take us alive. It doesn't matter. What does matter is that we're shaken, but we're still here, and we have to keep it together."

He turned to Fin, "We're going to travel in pairs to the lodge where Melanie first ran into Fin. Ray, you go with Fin, but for God's sake, stay out of sight. It's forest pretty much the whole way, so you should be alright. Keep away from the open sky when possible if you're flying."

"Melanie, you take Lukas, if you remember the way there. I'll meet you all at the cabin. I'm going to stay here for a while, wait for things to cool down. There are two invaluable items in that trailer that I hope survived. We'll see."

"When you are all there, designate someone, I don't care who, to come back quietly in case I need help. The rest of you can finish shaping up the place for us to live in. That's our new headquarters. We can mourn then."

He sighed, and smiled weakly, "Okay, I'm done rambling. Anyone have something to say?"

Ray:
No, Ray didn't have anything at all to say.There was absolutely nothing he could say that would help this situation in any way shape or form. Ah the perks of being the new guy. Get to sit around and have no clue what's normal and what's not. He was sure that losing faction members like this wasn't normal at all, but he couldn't help but think that it probably wasn't an entirely new concept to them either. Tactically or otherwise, Ray was out of things to say so instead he concentrated on demorphing. He was extremely slow this time not really in any immediate danger and really having no reason to push it to the limits. He paused for a minute or so in human morph looking completely out of place in this woods and feeling as much in regard to the team. He never really was a person that particularly enjoyed teams, not that he had even fully met this one yet.

All through school the teacher usually had to tell him which group to join even if she let them pick their own teams.He knew though that this was a different sort of team though, one that depended on him surviving and him depending on it. He hated the dependence to something feeling as though it were the biggest liability he owned, and yet, the only reason he was alive. He knew he now had people to fall back on, but that didn't necessarily mean he wanted to. The whole prospect of someone giving their life for his was one that was foreign to him and also completely unnecessary. He didn't like the fact that someone would do that because if he was a fool enough to put himself in a predicament that didn't mean someone else should die because of his mistake. Thats just not the way it was supposed to work. If he was going to die he was going to die.

He finally gathered enough strength to start the remorph and this turned out to go even slower than the demorph. He finally got it completed and was now waiting on Fin to collect himself, not for the guidance, but for the extra set of eyes. He was fairly sure he still knew where the lodge was, but there was a tactical advantage to having two of them out in case they needed to run from something.

Fin:
Fin quickly demorphed and remorphed back to his bat. He had a kit fox morph but he figured it was better to have a pair of eyes (and ears) in the sky and a some legs on the ground, than to have just one or the other.

When he was ready he began flapping off in a direction that wouldn't lead them directly back to the Hunting Lodge. If anything was following them then he wanted some time to figure it out before it tracked them back to their new home.

A couple of minutes out he spotted a controller making it's way through the woods back toward the outhouse. It was a young boy with a spear but that didn't mean anything in a world where the enemy was hidden inside your skull.

He called down to Ray. <<What should we do? Head back to the outhouse and warn Matthias or keep going and let him fend for himself?>>

Lukas:
Lukas shook his head solemnly as Matthias spoke. He hadn't known his now-deceased teammates well, and though he was certainly very sorry about thier demise, he couldn't thing of anything fitting to say on their behalf. Instead, he listened quietly, focusing on the perilous task ahead. As Matthias finished talking, Lukas nodded and turned to face the window, grimacing as he felt his bones hollow and reshape for the morph into goose form once again. As his body twisted and moulded itself, he felt his heart race, and he vowed within once again to make the yeerks pay for their transgressions.

Finally, the changes completed, and the large bird flapped his wings and launched himself onto the windowsill , before turning this head to look back into the room.

<<Good luck everyone>> He said, hoping that there'd be a full compliment of animorphs when they regrouped. Then, fixing his glassy avian eyes upon Melanie, he said <<Well, shall we tango?>>

Mel:
<All right> Melanie obeyed, hiding, demorphing and then remorphing. When she got to the outhouse and demoprhed, she listened to Matthias closely.

"If it's okay, I'm going airborne as well." she said. "It may be a cockatoo but it's a lot easier morph to hide than the deer." Plus she felt safer in the air,able to fly like crazy for cover if trouble came than on the ground. She focused on the bird morph, still not totally used to the shrinking and assorted changes that took place as she went from human to pscittacine.(sp?) Her arms got broad and flat and her feathers came in. Her legs got scaly and her heels split to form the rear facing parrot toes while her real toes melted together to form the front. Her lips and nose pushed out and hardened as her teeth disappeared to form the beak. But she loved the wings, and the fact that the bird had some natural intelligence, unlike the mostly instinct driven deer.

<<Sure.>> she replied privately to Lukas after she finished her morph and took off after him. <Boy, are we an odd couple. Goose and cockatoo. I know the deer would have fit into the landscape better but this way I can stay out of sight easier and you'll have an easier time keeping me *in* sight. I just hope this bird isn't the type to tire too quickly. Just be careful you don't pass me up since your wings are so much bigger than mine. Sorry, I'm rambling again..bad habit.>> she made the morph sigh as much as a bird could.

Melanie recalled Matthias' words about things that were necessary. *like the morph store...that had better have survived or we're all in trouble* she thought.

Ray:
Ray took off after Fin as soon as he had morphed. After about 5 minutes or so Fin had already spotted trouble. Ray had thought he had picked up an odd scent and Fin was quick to verify the extra presence. <<What should we do? Head back to the outhouse and warn Matthias or keep going and let him fend for himself?>> Fin asked. Ray thought for a second thinking that this guy was probably tracking them somehow. He needed disposed before they could go any further to their future home. << Both>> Ray came back coolly. <<You go warn Matthias....and I'll bring em back to fend for himself. If there's more then we're already had, but I don't think so. Either way we've got the element of surprise and little else so we might as well use it. I've got the more obvious morph so he shouldn't notice you disappearing. Me on the other hand...>> Ray barked and ran towards him showing himself. He knew the guy was already onto them, but he was singling himself out. He turned to his left and started off at a brisk pace. <<Don't worry I'll give you guys a few minutes. If theres any backup be ready to split.>>

Fin:
Fin turned in the air and began flapping his way back to Matthias but they were already near the outhouse and it wouldn't take him that long. <<Good luck,>> he called back to Ray.

As he came once again into the clearing he landed on the outside of the outhouse and directed his thought speak in, <<Matthias, we got an unknown human out there and headed this way.>>

Mitch:
Mitch and his skunk had been looking for food of any sort to replenish their food supply. So far, they had half way filled their bag up with various sorts of nuts, berries, leaves, roots, eggs and several other things. Suddenly, he saw a bat flying away and he thought, what is a spectral bat doing this far north? He knew it was a spectral bat from reading all kinds of encyclopedias and field guides on animals. But why was it flying this far north in the daytime? Suddenly, he watched his skunk lift his hindlegs up and curl his tail over his eyes. Mitch knew what that meant. That meant that there was an enemy nearby so he raised his spear and poised it for action.

Suddenly a dog walked out of the bushes in front of him. It looked at him and began walking away. Mitch decided to follow it, as it might lead him to prey or another source of food. Besides, I can always kill it later. He then focused on watching everything that was going to happen.

Ray:
Ray glanced behind him to make sure that this guy was following and surely enough he was. After leading him in a rather big circle Ray headed back to the outhouse. What was odd about the whole thing is that there was a skunk following them as well. <<Skunk, are you with us?>>Ray asked of it first thinking that it was someone he hadn't met yet from the faction. After nothing but a startled momentary pause by the skunk he figured either it didn't want to cooperate or there really was a just a natural inhabitant of the woods wanting to know what the hell is going on around here these days.

After giving it an extra couple of minutes he neared the outhouse and called in advance <<Special delivery for Matthias>> he called in private thought speak. <<One outnumbered threat with all the fixings.>>

Mitch:
Mitch kept following the dog through the woods. It seemed to have a purpose as it never got sidetracked and it never stopped. Maybe the dog has something to do with the bat I saw earlier. But where is the dog leading me? Suddenly, Mitch noticed the skunk suddenly jump back. That's odd, skunks never do that. They always threaten to spray and they never show fear or run away.

Mitch decided to keep following the dog, although he was getting hungry but not ready yet to kill the dog. Then he looked up ahead of the dog and saw a clearing. After walking a couple more steps, he saw the edge of a building or something. But what would a building be doing out here? Sensing a trap, Mitch held his spear out and stepped off the dogs path and made his own way towards the clearing. Of course, the skunk followed.

Mathias:
Matthias began morphing as fast as he could when he got Fin and Ray's warning. As soon as he had the panther's senses, he had a lock on the boy. <<Pet skunk?>> He asked Ray, <<Or is that a morpher?>> Matthias was constantly aware of the idea that it was possible for the Yeerks to have gotten their hands on a morphing cube. If that happened, their one advantage was gone.

<<If he thinks he's going to take on anything in these woods with a spear, he's mistaken.>> Not knowing whether this boy was hostile or not didn't put Matthias in a better mood. Now they had to deal with him as well. <<Stand by, guys. If I take him alive, you two get to escort him, and the skunk, to our new hideout. I don't like leaving the Escafil Device behind any longer than I have to.>>

Matthias waited behind the outhouse until he could smell that the intruder was more than close enough. Days like this, he loved being a cat. In a single bound he was atop the small building and a moment later he was atop of the boy. The spear had worried him for a second, but Mitch had held it too low to deal with a threat dropping from above. <<Somehow I don't think this one's Yeerk.>> Matthias added to Fin and Ray. <<Controllers don't carry spears.>>

Mitch:
Mitch walked into the clearing, still keeping an eye on the skunk. He walked over to the small wooden building. Bad mistake. To compensate for his lack of hearing, his sense of smell was better than most other people's. Mitch's nose was plagued by the noxious fumes and immediately backpedaled several feet. When he was clear of most of the stench, he turned around just in time to see the skunk get in its threatening position. Before Mitch could think, a massive weight landed on his back, and smashed him into the ground. With his one non-swollen eye, Mitch saw a black paw beside his head. A black panther! Those are dangerous! Then he came to his senses and thought, What is a black panther doing in Canada? I doubt there are any zoos nearby. What does a spectral bat, a black panther, and a really smart dog have in common?

Suddenly, a wave of overwhelming stench washed over him. It was ten times worse than the shack. The skunk! Taking advantage of his situation, he gritted his teeth and reached for his spear which had fallen out of his hand. He grabbed the part right under the blade, reached back and plunged the tip into the panther's side. He pulled it out and plunged it in again and again until the shaft broke off. Then he put his hands underneath him and attempted to push the panther off of him. Then the skunk obviously sprayed the panther again as the stench rolled over himself and the big cat.

Ray:
<< Fin! I don't know how well you can manage it, but try getting that skunk the heck outta here!>> Ray shouted to Fin in private thought speak << I know I could, but that horrid stench! Try not to hurt it because it may be a morpher.>> His dog nose couldn't take it as he involuntarily backed away after trying to aid Matthias. He glanced around for any sign of an ambush, but nothing was coming. The boy was alone, yeerk or not. <<Matthias, if it is a yeerk he already knows who we are! I'm suggesting we talk to him if not for anything else it should add to our surprise element and maybe calm him.>> he said in private outspoke to Matthias. <<Fin, if you can separate the skunk from the boy then he's out of weapons and we'll have him!>>

Ray crouched ready to strike. The dog mind was wanting to bark so badly and Ray knew that if he did it may alert more unwanted guests so he did his best to keep it muffled to a low growl. Boy, I hope we've got some vacancies in the new pad...

Fin:
Fin looked at the full grown skunk with distaste. His sensitve sense of smell was not helping in this situation and besides, it was a full grown skunk. A baby skunk, no problem, a rat, a squirrel, a mouse, a bird, a bat, all these things could be his prey. But a full grown squirrel. But that is what he must do, even if he smelled for a week after. Would morphing get rid of the smell?

He dove for the skunk and had to break off his attack as it turned and hissed at him. He turned and tried again. This time he got through the skunk's guard and was able to sink his claws deep into the animal's shoulders. His momentum was enough to get them off the ground though he could carry it. But that hadn't been his plan.

He aimed toward a tree and as they got close, let it go so that it flew headfirst into the tree trunk. He circled back around and noted that it wasn't dead, just stunned. It looked dead though, and smelled worse than dead.

<<I don't think I'll get a skunk morph. They stink.>> As he turned back he could see that Matthias he suffered some injury from the spear. It it had been a human with a spear, against a panther there would have been no contest but because Matthias had tackled the boy he had been able to use his spear, and the fact that Matthias didn't want to kill him, to his advantage.

<<I would quit with the spear kid, before Bagheera decides you're not worth keeping alive,>> Fin said, directing his thought speak to the young man.

Mitch:
Mitch abruptly failed at dislodging the panther. Then he watched as the bat came back and carried off the skunk. After alot of flapping, the bat threw the skunk into a tree. The skunk was still alive but it was out of the fight.

Then something strange happened. Something in his mind went, <<I would quit with the spear kid, before Bagheera decides you're not worth keeping alive,>> Where did that thought come from, Mitch thought. Am I crazy? Why would I be thinking of Baghera from The Jungle Book? Suddenly, Mitch thought, perhaps the panther is Baghera. Mitch looked around and saw the bat staring at him. Perhaps the bat was telepathic. That could explain how he heard something, for the first time in his life. He stopped struggling and waited for more directions.

Matthias:
<<Ow.>> Matthias muttered in public thought-speak. Mitch's strikes had been poorly aimed and weak, but they had hurt, and Matthias was losing more blood than he liked. Not to mention the repulsive smell that he had to deal with now. <<Kid, listen to the bat. You're a little boy with a spear. Do you really think a full grown panther couldn't have just taken your head off?>>

<<Right, I need to get out of here and demorph before I bleed too much and pass out.>> Now his thoughts were only directed at Ray and Fin, <<I'll leave it to you two. He can keep the skunk if he must, and try and do something about the smell, otherwise we'll do a tomato juice raid tomorrow. Get this kid out of here, find out what his name is, and give him the lowdown. Tell him everything he needs to know. I'll catch up with you when I've taken stock of what's up with the trailer.>>

<<Listen to the dog, kid.>> Matthias got off of Mitch, staggering a little, and began to pad off into the woods, <<And don't worry, you're not crazy. Well, no crazier than the rest of us.>>

Ray:
Ray thought that the urge to bark was bad! Ha! It was hundreds and hundreds of times harder not to go off and tell this kid he was an animal god and these were his underlings sent from the heavens because the Apocalypse was upon them...Which it kind of was, but he wasn't the dictator of it. And the ones that were behind it certainly weren't gods.

<< I'd just love to tell you that I'm in the same predicament Eddie Mcdowd was in and I've just got to do good deeds to become human again, but its much less simple than that...>> Ray started out trying not to be as harsh as the reality that he was explaining really was. <<I don't need to do that because I can become human whenever I please...Actually it's my true form. I morph. I can morph into anything I want so long as I've got it's DNA in me. Whoopee! Technological breakthrough extravaganza huh? We'll turns out we actually just use it as a weapon. Trust me theres nothing I'd rather do than go on a nonstop morphing spree, but we've got a world to save. By the looks of things you probably haven't been in town lately, but its filled with yeerks and controllers. Yeerks infest your brain and take over control of you which makes you a controller. It's hard to know who they are because they blend in just like we do. We can explain it in detail later, but until we get to where we need to go I need you to think something over: "Do I want to be a mindless slave or one bad mother morpher?">>

Mitch:
With the voice in his head, Mitch was sure he was going crazy. Then he heard a differnent tone in his head, telling him what to do. Then he felt the panther get off his back. Maybe the panther is the voice I heard last. As Mitch stood up, he realized that his left leg was hurt. He managged to stand up completely and used the shaft of the broken spear to balance himself.

Then he listened with his mind to a third voice in his head telling him about becoming animals, mind controlling creatures, and the fact that these telepathic animals are human. Mitch tried asking them through sign language how they changed into animals but they didn't seem to be able to understand so Mitch grabbed the pencil and pad of paper from his bacck pocket, wrote it out, and held it up so the animals could read it.

Ray:
Ray had seen the guy make gestures with his hands which looked foreign yet there was something familiar to it. It took him a few moments, but once he saw him pull out paper and start writing he knew that the guy was deaf. Ray didn't know much sign language, only a thing here or there and a few other choice things...<<We can morph because a more peaceful alien species sent it to us a long time ago. It was their way of saying "Sorry we couldn't make the party, but here's this anyway.">> Ray explained <<The morphing cube will grant anyone whom it comes into contact with, the power to morph into anything they acquire afterwords which consists of physical contact. We need to get to this hideout we got first though so lets make tracks. Just follow me and our buddy Fin will watch from the skies.>> Ray turned in the direction of the lodge and waited until the others were ready. He was ready to get anywhere that consisted of four walls.

Mitch:
Mitch decide that the dog was the last voice since it told him to follow him and then the dog left. And the dog 'said' that a person named Fin would be flying so that must be the bat. Left with no other choice really, Mitch decided to trust the voices so he walked to a tree, picked the skunk up, and then limped after the dog. Besides the panther might return at any moment.

They passed all different kinds of plants and burrows, and Mitch kept swiping handlfulls of berries and things and stuffing them into the sack. After several minutes of traveling, Mitch wrote on his pad, Would it be possible for me to be able to change into animals? He ran up to the dog, poked the dog's shoulder, and held the pad in front of its face.

Lukas:
Lukas smiled mentally as Melanie went off on her tirade, and as she finished he nodded and took flight from his perch. He flapped hard to increase his altitude, and had soon cleared the treetops, allowing the goose mind to manipulate its tireless flight. He flew on, listening carefully to any directions passed on from Mel, and after a brief flight north, he spotted a wooden structure. Doubtless it was the lodge to which they had been sent, and without waiting for any confirmation from his partner he swiftly descended towards it, landing roughly upon the roof. Looking around, he saw no trace of the others, which troubled him. They might not necessarily have travelled as quickly as he had, but certainly some trace of them should have beeen evident by now. However, he could presently see nothing.

<<Where are they? They should be at least close by now.>> He whispered to Melanie. Then, curiosity overcoming him, Lukas directed his thoughts to the others, thoughtspeak uninhibited by the trees which hindered his vision. <<Are you guys alright? Need any help? I can't see you yet.>>

Fat load of good he could do, he thought bitterly. Geese were fairly large and aggressive, but no match for a human-controller. And as for the raccoon, well, his best hope was to first contract rabies, and that wasn't much of a bright choice. He just hoped his companions could hear him.

Ray:
Ray paused after noticing that the guy had written something else for him to read. The dog eyes weren't the best and it took him a second, but he finally got it. <<Ha ha, aside from invading aliens, assured gloom and doom, and being part of the few surviving free people left, then yeah. I believe that Matthias would have the morphing cube. He's the panther. Me, the panther, the bat, and anyone else you may meet at this lodge should be considered friends. Anyone else could potentially be deadly. Trust no one else...Hell, be weary of us even if it makes you feel any better...I'm weary of everyone from time to time, but that's just me. We need all the people we can get, so don't worry about being left out of the little circus act we got goin' here.>>

After a few more miles they finally were close to the lodge to which Fin, the boy, and he were the last ones aside from Matthias. Melanie, and Lukas were already there apparently because he had just heard Lukas send out a call. Ray answered <<Yeah, we're right here>> Ray replied as he stepped out of the brush into the clearing that was the lodge. <<We picked up some help along the way...We're all fine now though.>> He announced. <<Before we get started with proper introductions I'd like to call 1, 2, 3 NOT it on being the one who goes back for Matthias.>>

Mitch:
Mitch had listened to the dog who seemed to make sense. Then they continued walking along in silence when a forth voice appeared in his head asking where everybody was. The dog answered and a minute or so later, they were in a clearing with a log cabin. Mitch looked up and saw a Canadian goose on the roof of the house. That must be the fourth person. Then the skunk started moving in his arms so Mitch put it down on the ground.

Then the dog "said" something about going to get a Matthias person. Perhaps that is another one of these people? These were strange people. Even after the dog telling him that they were people, Mitch still had a hard time of thinking of them as anything else besides telepathic animals. He took out the paper and pencil again and wrote, How do you talk with your thoughts like that? And how can I hear them?. Then he did as before and held it up in front of the dog.

Ray:
Ray turned to Mitch as he noticed that he had written again. <<We use thought speak to communicate. I cannot use the dog's means of communicating to form a sentence>> he explained. <<This thought speak is embedded into the technology that allows us to morph. I can use my thought speak to communicate directly to you or I can announce it publicly for everyone to hear. Right now I'm using private. Another thing about morphing is that we can be in morph for up to two hours. After that we are trapped in the current morph forever. Morphing drains energy from you and makes you tired and it also takes some time to complete with two or three minutes being the norm.>>

Ray sat down and started scratching behind his ear then proceeded to lie down. The idleness was killing him, as was the fact he hadn't had a good rest or sleep in what seemed like forever. He lowered his head on his paws and glanced around at the people whom he would probably die standing beside...

Mitch:
Mitch understood what the dog said, although it was a little far-fetched. He still had several questions like if there were others like them, what kinds of animals can they become, how many they can become and on and on. But Mitch decied to just ask one. He wrote on another piece of papar, Can you communicate with your mind when you are human? While he waited, Mitch began to feel uncomfortable just standing around with a lot of telepathic humans slash animals.

Meanwhile, the skunk was walking around the area sniffing things and digging in the ground. The skunk had forgotten about the dog so when it wlked over to Mitch and dropped a dead grasshopper at his feet, the skunk automatically flipped its tail over its head and sprayed the dog. Immediate;y Steve wrote, I am so sorry about that! I'm sure the skunk didn't mean anything.

Ray:
Ray had been lost in thought...So many things to think about that his mind seemed to be on autopilot as he lied there in the soft grass letting everything around him naturally go about its business. He saw more written material. <<Ah, no you cannot. I can't read your human thoughts no matter how hard you try to communicate with them.>> he replied. The dog mind was content and the human mind, well it was too tired to care about much at all. He had another hour before he had to be back to human anyway and since he called not it on going back to get Matthias he would probably lounge lazily guarding camp. He...<<AH!!!>> all of the sudden Ray had gotten a terrible stench and jumped up and involuntarily let out a bark. This menace would have to go! It's encroaching upon HIS territory it.... He noticed the boy with the paper again and he remembered that he was human not dog. <<Ah well, its the nature of the beast...which can take over from time to time when you are in morph...You've got to deal with the animals wants, needs, fears, and abilities.>> He said more amused than angered now. Ray had always liked animals and found the skunk to be a funny character despite the horrid stench. He backed away and went to lay underneath a rather large shade tree that was close to the lodge, but far enough away to see that he would not scare the skunk.

Lukas:
Lukas had been watching quietly, asking his own questions in silence. What would become of them? Who was this new person? Who or what caused that explosion. It was a surprise when Mel's voice rang through his brain. He'd heard her say something earlier, but it hadn't been clear. However, looking around he spotted what he'd previously just assumed: Mel wasn't actually with him. Instead, she appeared to be out of sight, and she'd smelled something unusual. Lukas assumed it was just this newcomer that'd been detected, but he thought better to go and make sure.

<<It seems Mel fell behind...>> Lukas admitted, somewhat sheepishly. <<I'll fly back to her and see what's wrong, she said she smells something amiss. It may just be this guy and his foul-smelling kitty-cat here, but I'm just going to check. I'll be right back.>>

Without waiting for acknowledgement or agreement, Lukas raised his wings and launched into the air once more, this time searching for Melanie.

He had a good idea where she was though.

Ray:
Ray listened to Lukas speak and when he flew off Ray wasn't planning to follow unless of course trouble arose. He figured that Lukas would probably go back for Matthias while he was out so he could multitask. He had about a half hour left so he decided it was best to demorph. <<I'm going to demorph now Mitch. I may appear quite odd for a couple minutes or so.>> Ray took a couple minutes to demorph and once he was done. He looked at the shocked look on Mitch's face and to it he replied "It's cool I'm fully human now."

He was looking around now with all the colors he didn't have as a dog and was enjoying the scenery when he thought he saw something move out in the brush. It didn't take him long to identify it as a Moose. The moose had a full set of antlers and was very large. He knew moose were very common in Canada and wasn't at all surprised to see it. He knew you were supposed to mind your own business and they'd mind their's. He had read about this when he picked up a traveler's guide just outside of Vancouver at a rest stop where he had demorphed. He also knew that they could run up to 35 miles per hour and were excellent at kicking with the front legs as well as the back. The antlers would definitely hurt and maybe even impale someone...A very suitable battle morph he thought. He walked over to it cautiously reaching out a hand for the moose's tough hide...

Mel:
Melanie moved through the trees, enjoying the flying, but soon realizing it wasn't as good an idea as it had originally seemed. Lukas' wings were much bigger than hers and she couldn't go fast enough to keep in front of him, while he couldn't slow enough to stay behind her.

<<I'm going to find a place and go deer again...it'll be easier.>> she said privately, in case they were being watched. She looked around carefully, and not seeing anyone, found a place well hidden enough to land, demorph and remorph to deer.

A bit later, as they were nearing the lodge though not in sight of it yet, Mel caught a scent. <<I think we have company.>> she called up privately. <<Just one I think, from the scent. Let's try and see if it's a Yeerk or not...if it is, I should be able to handle it if you can draw his attention away from me.>>

Lukas:
Lukas tore through the air on his powerful wings, scanning the forest below for Melanie, or any of her morphs. He just hoped she wasn't in Fly form - a bird he may be, but he was no raptor. Sure enough, he soon saw a deer, and thought he'd try his luck, hoping it was his partner.

<<Mel, what exactly is it you smell? The lodge is close, and others are there already. Ray seems to have found some new guy with a skunk, who he says is clean. It may be that you smell just that guy. If not, then we'd still better power on, safety in numbers and all that. I'll cover you if there is danger, I've yet to get my beak dirty.>>

Lukas circled overhead, not an easy feat in his long-distance geared form, but a task he managed to accomplish as he awaited a reply from Melanie.

Mel:
<<Ew, that's one morph I'd hate to be on the wrong end of>> Melanie replied. <<No, this one's unfamilar...at least as far as I can tell from what I smelled in this morph before.>> She finally spotted the blurry form up ahead, unable to make out sharp details with deer eyes but thinking he looked like a hunter type. Except normal hunters don't carry dracon guns.
<<Man, these controllers are EVERYWHERE>> Melanie complained as she heard a shot, still keeping it private as she dodged behind a tree. <<Draw his fire, if you can get that thing pointed away from me, I can take him out. These antlers can kill if I do it right. I saw it on TV.>>

Fin:
Fin had scouted for the party as it made its way through the woods. He honestly suspected to see anything in these woods after the past few hours. He wondered if the presence of the hunter robots had been linked with these attacks. And if that was true then they were probably still out there looking for survivors. He corrected himself, they were definitely still out there. They hadn't destroyed the robots last night, only lost them and they would still be roaming the woods.

He was glad when they made it to the clearing safely though he didn't think the lodge would accord them with anymore safety than the trailer had. As people talked and chatted as if they were safe Fin got more and more frustrated. When a moose came into the clearing he decided it was time to say something.

<Look, not to ruin our little camp-out here but we can't just hang around outside waiting for something to spot us and blow us to little bits. If that deer was frightened enough to approach a house that smells of humans, dogs, skunks, panthers and god knows what else then I don't want us to be visible when whatever it is running from shows up. How 'bout we get into the house and down to the basement. Not that it will protect us from dracon beams but it might shield us from any other type of sensors. I'll go back for Matthias. Not to pull rank on you guys, but besides for Melanie, I've been here longer than you and know these woods better. If I have to make a quick escape I'll have the most chance of getting out alive.>>

When he was done he dropped from his branch and began winging his way back towards the trailer, hoping this would be the last time he would be making that trip.

Ray:
Ray did not need told twice to go inside. He had been waiting for this all day. He walked to the door, opened it, and stepped inside holding it open for those that would follow. "You all heard the bat..." he called outside letting the others know to follow. He glanced around a little bit as he waited.

He figured that this was more roomy than the old trailer would have been, but he'd never actually been in the trailer. It was a little more classy, a little more roomy, and, well a little more him. As soon as he could get some rest, and if they didn't have more important things to do concerning a major battle with the dictators of the galaxy, he'd go buy some stuff for his room. Might as well enjoy the place if I've got no where else I can go. Hopefully Matthias and Fin would make it back in good condition and the aliens wouldn't find them. Then he could focus on buying a nice high-tech yeerk fighting computer. No, he wasn't insensitive to the war at all, it was just if he was going to survive missions, he'd rather come back to something nice than nothing at all.

Mitch:
Mitch had just been standing around watching everything going on. The dog said something about demorphing and it began to grow. Mitch was shocked and fascinated all at the same time as he watched it lose fur and totally change into a human. Then the guy said something but Mitch could only read the the first couple words the guysaid since he talked to fast and Mitch couldn't read lips very well.

Suddenly a bull moose walked into the clearing and the person who became a dog touched it and the moose went into a trance. Interesting. Perhaps these people are also able to control animals as a side effect of the alien technology. What other powers do these people posses? Then he watched as the goose fly away.

Then the bat reappeared and told them to go inside the house and to the basement. The guy who became a dog walked over to the door, opened it and said something that Mitch could just barely read. Following the guy's example, Mitch waked into the house and followed the guy towards the basement.

Ray:
After finding the stairs down to the basement, Ray led the way down. At least there was a power pole outside...There was a switch at the top of the stairs and he flicked the lights on. Yep, smells like a basement all right. He took the stairs down and looked around through the surprising cleanliness of the basement. It wasn't clean per se, but it was well kept for a basement. All the clutter was to the walls and there was plenty of space to walk around.

Ray wondered how long it would be before he could come out and wondered if it was worth it to drag a sofa down here...He pushed some old maps out of the way on a counter, pulled himself up, and took a seat. As he sat there he thought, I wonder if the delivery guy comes out this far...

Mitch:
Mitch was completely focused on watching everything around him and on following the dog person into the basement. When he stepped into the basement, he immediately noticed the musty smell that was common for this kind of room. He watched as the guy sat on a counter and concluded that he should sit down as well. He walked towards the far wall and shoved a crate out of his way. He sat down cross-legged and motioned for the skunk to come to him. Then he picked the skunk up and began grooming it with a whittled brush that he had made weeks ago. Meanwhile, he leaned back and took in his surrounding while he brushed the skunk.

The only clutter was around the walls so that there was a walkspace in the middle. The floor looked like cement and the walls looked like they were made of wood. There were several boxes and crates against the wall that Mitch was leaning on and there was a variety of stuff just all along the edges.

Finally, his curiosity got the better of him so he put the skunk down and stood up. He wiped his hand over the top of a box and blew the rest of the dust away. The words on it read "Canned Food". He did the same thing to the rest of the boxes and they all said the same thing. It looks like these people were preparing for a famine.

Once Mitch was satisfied with his knowledge, he resumed his position against the wall with the skunk on his lap.

Ray:
After about fifteen minutes Ray got up and paced. He was dead tired, but knew it wasn't the time to sleep and he wasn't much of a guy that sat around when he wasn't occupied with doing something. Pacing, yes, now that was what he did. Back before this all went down he would pace in his room for long periods of time. It soothed him sort of because when he was sitting around doing nothing at all he got ancy.

Looking around the room he had found a whole lot of nothing. There were boxes of food, but little else. He wondered if it was safe to have his aunt FedEx his laptop and some clothes out here. He'd have to ask. Maybe if he just had them sent to somewhere in town he'd be able to get them. Ray wasn't worried yet about Fin and Matthias, but he knew they'd make it back pretty fast as a panther and a bat. He'd give them another ten minutes. He didn't want to give it much more than what was needed because he knew that they would prioritize getting back and anything that held them up would probably be dangerous. Here or not in the next ten minutes, I'm going back up.

Lukas:
<<Got it, I'll get his attention.>> Lukas called. He pulled out of his flight into a dive, not an easy accomplishment for the goose body. However, it was doable, which in the end proved to be the important thing. He dropped silently, aiming squarely for the controller's head. He approached from the man's left, where he wouldn't be noticed until the last second. Moments before impact, he honked harshly.

The man's head snapped around, torn from his watch on his previous target. His eyes widened as he noticed the large waterfowl inches from his face. Fortunately, his stance suggested he'd been bracing himself for another shot, which left him vulnerable to a flank attack, which became an exploitable weakness. Lukas' chest collided with the man's nose, hard. He was thrown off balance by the blow , and landed hard upon the ground. Lukas yelled out in triumph, but his cry was short-lived. In his panic, the Controller had squueezed a couple of shots from his weapon. One of these shot off through the woods, not colliding with anything in view. The second neatly clipped off Lukas' wing.

<<Ahhh!>> Lukas screeched, as he fell to the floor in a heap. He was bleeding profusely, and he'd probably bleed to death fairly soon if he didn't demorph. However, the Controller had begun to pull himself up, looking around for his weapon, with the obvious intent of finishing off the fallen goose.

<<Mel, I may have drawn his fire...>>

[Admin]

Mel:
With the man's attention fo cused on Lukas, Mel charged full force, throwing everything she had into the impact that came a few seconds later. The controller saw her but didn't have time to react. She winced to herself as she heard and felt the sickening impact of antler against flesh and bone.
She sank a bit deeper into the morph for a few seconds, snorting and grunting as she pawed and struck with her hooves, the deer's mind panicking at having its antler stuck. Finally regaining herself, she called out privately to Lukas. Fortunately she did register the sound of crunching metal and she hoped she'd disabled the dracon in her panic.

<<Get somewhere safe and demorph...I think I've got it>>

Finally she got loose and the controller slumped to the ground, wounded. Melanie knew what had to come next even though it made her sick. He couldn't be allowed to live. She reared, striking the human's head full force with her front hooves, and then again, and again. She realized part of her drive was general fury at the alien slugs for what they'd done.
When she was sure he wasn't moving, or breathing, she looked around for Lukas. <<Well, time to go explain this to Matthias. At least he hopefully can't yell at me much more for this one.>> As an afterthought she located the gun and smashed it again with a hoof blow, wishing she could take it to Matthias but knowing it would be way too obvious.

Matthias:
Matthias, blissfully unaware of what the rest of his team was going through, was hunting through the wreckage of the trailer. It wasn't an easy thing to do, seeing the charred bodies of what had once been his faction members, but there was something more important than them.

I will be damned. Matthias thought to himself as he brushed aside what was left of the refridgerator and discovered that the safe containing the blood looked to be in good shape. Opening it revealed that not all of the containers had survived, but a good many had. Creating a makeshift bag out of the wreckage, Matthias tied up the vials that survived and moved on to finding the other thing that he had come back for; the morphing cube.

Several minutes of digging later, he had it. It wasn't easy, but Matthias managed to get the phials around his neck and the morphing cube in his mouth and he was setting off as a panther. He didn't get far, however, before the cat's advanced senses warned him everything wasn't alright. When he saw Fin flying his way, he worried only the more, <<Fin, what's going on? Did everyone get to the lodge alright>>

Great, just what we needed. MORE trouble. I can't fight like this; I've got to get these into a safe place. Matthias made a mental note to take stock of what they had when they could finally settle down in the lodge.

Ray:
There was still 5 minutes left to Ray's mental time clock, but he just didn't have the patience. Maybe they were near and in trouble. He thought about it and began to morph into the dog. He wasn't really going to just run off because that would not be wise. Instead he was morphing the dog for the ability to use thought speak.

<<I'm going to see if anyone is close.>> he told Mitch and walked up the stairs out through the basement door and called to each Fin, Lukas, and Matthias in private thought speak. He knew that thought speak could travel a considerable amount farther than regular human speech, but not too terribly far. Too bad Yeerks track cell phones or we could all just have one and I'd be able to call them right now... he thought absently as he called. He knew that this wouldn't do too much, but if anyone had gotten close and needed his help he wanted them to know he was within range.

Lukas:
Lukas watched silently as Melanie finished off the controller. It hadn't been a clean, dignified death, but it was no less than the yeerk deserved. As for the human host, well... he was probably better off dead.

After this display, Lukas crawled under a nearby bush to demorph, his movement slowed by the heavy bloodloss. His thoughts became clearer and more focussed as he grew in size and lost his beak and feathers, accompanied by the restoration of his severed limb. After this, he remained sprawled beneath the vegetation in human form, wearing only his tight morphing outfit. He remained still, wondering whether to return to goose morph or adopt his raccoon form. The latter could remain closer to Mel, in case of attack, but the former could move faster, and act as a lookout. His mind made up, he began to sprout feathers once more. He heard Mel's voice in his head once again, and tried to answer verbally, but all that came out was a fractured honk as Lukas's mouth reformed itself into a goose bill. He cursed inwardly, and tried again once he was in avian form once more.

<<Don't worry, you did exactly what you needed to, I would've done the same thing. He can't really yell at you for that. Besides, I was involved as much as you, so if he does get pissed then at least you won't be suffering alone.>> He said, in what he hoped was a reassuring tone. <<Alright then, I'll try to keep pace with you, if I start to pull ahead then I'll circle around. No point staying here and crying over spilled yeerk.>>

Lukas spread his newly reformed wings, and prepared to take off. <<Best be quick, his friends might be along shortly, and the others might all be waiting for us to report in. I think we're beyond the reach of thought speech from the cabin, so we'll need to re-establish contact.>>

Mel:
<<Good point...They're probably starting to wonder, too.>> Melanie replied. She almost had to laugh if she could have at Lukas's pun about spilled yeerk but didn't, she wasn't in the mood right now. <<And thanks. I think he'll understand this part, even though he may still lay into me about what happened earlier today.>>

She still felt like she wanted to be sick though. She'd known this was war and war meant dying, but now it had hit home more. <<On one hand, it's better him,,,the dead guy that is... than me or you. On the other hand, I hope I'm never in that situation again, though I'm not holding my breath>>

Fin:
Fin had stopped on his headlong flight towards the outhouse when he saw that Melanie and Lukas were in trouble. But they handled it well and he figured it was more important that he report to Matthias than stick around.

As he came out of the woods he saw a panther strapped to a refrigerator and holding the morphing cube in his mouth. <<If that isn't you Matthias this is going to make one weird story when I get back to the lodge. I can tell it while everyone is gathered around the fireplace drinking hot cocoa. "Well I flew out of the woods and don't you know there was a panther trying to steal our morphing technology...">> As he was saying this he was flapping to get above the trees even though it was more dangerous up there with no cover. <<So anyway, Ray and the new kid are relatively safe. They made it to the lodge. The skunk too in case you were worried. For a while there it was touch and go but he woke up in a pretty chipper mood and decided to spray Ray. The smell will be in the area for weeks. Ray got a battle morph in the form of a moose. Biiiiiig moose, big antlers. Lukas and Melanie are still on their way to the lodge though they ran into some trouble. Mel killed a controller. Squashed his head open like a watermelon with those sharp, dainty Bambi hooves of her's. That's what I'm talking about. It's time Bambi got some back. Aaaaand,>> he said as he cleared the trees and took a look and listen around, <<I think you're all clear to go. I don't see anything in the area but I would get under cover pretty quick. I came back as back up so I'll just watch your back from up here.>>

Ray:
After giving the series of private messages one last time and having no luck he returned downstairs. <No luck, might as well wait just a little longer...>> he said to Mitch. He was originally going to go out, but he decided against it. He didn't want to leave just to have Matthias and the gang show up a few seconds later. The basement now smelled very musty to his dog nose as he idly sniffed around. He figured it was best to stay in dog morph because then he could better communicate with Mitch and he also thought to rest before demorphing.

He padded his way back to the counter and jumped up onto it. The dog was surprisingly nimble when it came to jumping. The jump didn't seem to take that much out of the dog. The dog had this sort of "happy" energy to it, which seemed funny to Ray. The dog brain didn't mind doing things such as jumping or running all over the place because in it's mind it was happy because it was content. The dog viewed Mitch as company which filled its social needs, it wasn't hungry at the moment, and really had no threats. The skunk was a curious fellow to the dog and Ray both, but Ray held off on going over to sniff it. He already had enough stench on him to last awhile...

Matthias:
Oh this is just bloody perfect, now isn't it? Alright, Matthias, think. What's the first priority? Getting these to the lodge. What's second? Hiding them. What's third? Regrouping and checking on everyone. Okay, let's do it. Matthias took a deep breath mentally and moved out, padding faster - but not too quickly for fear of breaking the vials - toward the lodge.

<<Good work, now get out of here. We need everyone back in one place, and safe. Is Melanie freaking out over killing someone? If the Controller had a Dracon, just incinerate the body, otherwise we'll deal with it later.>> This was starting to turn into an exceedingly long day. At the very least, everyone that had headed off appeared to be safe. Hopefully they would only be moreso after they got secured away. That gave Matthias an idea however, <<Search that Controller if you aren't vaporising him. The last thing we need is a tracking device leading more Yeerks straight to him. Alright, fly. I'll be there shortly.>>

Fin:
<<I don't know if she's freaking out. Hopefully not because I'm allergic to sympathy so I couldn't comfort her if I wanted to, except I don't because of previously mentioned allergy. Um, search then vaporize, got it boss. You sure you don't want any cover? You look a little conspicuous and there are controllers all over the woods. And robots. I don't think I got a chance to tell you about the robots. I'll go deliver your message to Melanie and Lukas now. Call if you want cover.>>

He flapped away.

Matthias:
Robots? There are fricking HUNTER ROBOTS around? Shit, they figured we'd flee into the woods. We're walking right into them. Knowing full well that Fin was quite right about him looking conspicuous and now able to smell the Controllers in the area, Matthias made a swift decision. Selecting a particularly proud-looking tree, he slashed a gash in the bark under the lowest branch to identify it later and buried the cube and the vials between two roots.

Now, the hunted becomes the hunter. Moving a lot faster now that he was alone and unburdened, Matthias raced through the undergrowth, easily dispatching the first Controller he came to. Demorphing briefly, Matthias commandeered the Controller's Dracon beam and blew the body into fragments before setting out on foot, weapon in hand.

I don't like this. Matthias mused to himself as he vaporised his third opponent. It's too easy. The Controllers aren't paying enough attention to their surroundings. Did they said the dumbest members of the group to make sure the Animorphs were dead? Nothing in this entire scenario made any logical sense, and that worried Matthias immensely.

In another ten minutes, Matthias had burned his way through a few more Controllers - now dual-wielding Dracon beams - and a hunter robot, and had finally arrived at the lodge. Now just to make sure we're all here and in one piece.

Mel:
Mel finally made her way up to the lodge, glad to be out of danger for the moment. In the process, she'd wound up headbutting and dodging her way through two robots, and actually sort of enjoyed taking out her frustration on them while she kept Lukas from being hit in the air. She couldn't see him well with her deer eyes but kept contact in thought-speak. She still felt slightly nauseous from what had happened but was pretty well under control at the moment.

<<I made it, Matthias>> she called out privately. <<Lukas should be here somewhere, too>> Focusing back and forth she called<<Where are you, Lukas? These eyes are fairly useless for seeing much in the sky. But we've kept thought-speak contact, Matthias, so I know he's with me. Sorry about being late, but we ran into controller trouble in the woods. Don't worry, he won't be telling anyone anything. There are robots too.>>

Fin:
Fin went back to try to find Mel and Lukas but by the time he got there they were gone. He landed near the crushed carass of the controller and looked around, trying to find a dracon beam so that he could incinerate the body. That's when his friends from the previous night showed up and he had to make a run for it.

Damn robots. He was able to outfly them but he couldn't head straight back to the lodge lest he lead it there. He found a knothole that was big enough for him to squeeze into and settled into wait. Great, now the others are going to think I died enroute.

Ray:
Ray had easily heard them speaking outside with his dog ears and started up the stairs to meet them. <<Hey Mitch, they made it back. Let's go.>> He got to the top, demorphed, and walked outside. The battered and beaten looks on his allies' faces said it all. "I told you guys to stay away from the poison ivy. Tsk tsk. Do I have to check you for ticks now too?" he jested glad to see them back. He was sure Fin would have something witty to say back as was the norm. He waited for it. It didn't come. "So uh...Fin...need some quiet time or something? Tell me you've seen him."

He looked around for the bat morph or perhaps the fox was was still hiding in the brush. No sign of Fin at all. "Did he ever link up with you Matthias?" he asked worried. "Guess he didn't know that the first ten that show up get a free anti-yeerk t-shirt..."

Matthias:
Everyone but Fin. Good. "Yeah, I've seen him. I told him to get his ass back here. I'm surprised I beat him back though, but I'm more worried about our current situation. We can find Fin in a bit, maybe he's just taking a piss." Matthias glanced out the window with a sigh. "The morphing cube and blood are buried in the forest. When Fin told me there were Controllers about, I decided I needed to move."

"Normally, I'd be all for fighting our way out, but I don't want to draw attention to the lodge. I killed a couple on my way in, hopefully the rest will give up on us. Still, take no chances. Ray, stay up here and watch for Fin. Everyone else, get down to the basement. We're going to pretend we're not here. If Fin's not back in an hour, we go looking." Matthias wasn't too worried about Fin; odds were he'd ran into a bit of trouble, but since he wasn't screaming at them in thought-speak, he was probably alright.

Ray:
"Ah, Yes sir" Ray replied. "Here at the Animorphs HQ we'll leave the light on for ya." Ray walked over to the window where Matthias had stood and glanced out it. It was a very nice day out and a pity that a bunch of abnormal, psychopathic, aliens were out looking for blood in it. It would be a great day to go roam the woods for hours on end. As the members filed downstairs one by one he wondered what their lives must have been like before this all started. Surely they had all been normal, innocent beings once in their lives. Now they were disposable ammunition in a war they couldn't possibly win.

He wasn't the soft type, hell he wouldn't mind going into an all out battle. Maybe I'm just that crazy. he thought. No, not crazy, if it's going to come I might as well be ready to run into it with an all out attitude. Yes, at least he would be more apt to take action when it was needed. None of this nonsense about hippies and failing to kill when it was needed. Besides, what was worse? Eternal slavery or dying free? Obviously the latter.

Mitch:
Mitch 'heard' the guy's voice in his head telling him that it was okay to go upstairs. Before Mitch could do anything though, the guy came back down with morre people. He took the pad of paper out again and wrote on it, Who are you people? What do you want with me? He held it out for them to see as he picked the skunk up so it wouldn't spray anyone.

Mitch was confused. What was happening? Who were these people? Mitch was very curious but since everyone was human, Mitch wouldn't be able to communicate with them very well. Unless they write everything down. Then I could read what they wrote since I can't read lips well.

Mel:
Melanie carefully made her way inside, hooves slipping a bit, and focused on her human self to come out of morph. She was aware that they couldn't relax until everyone had made it, but Matthias and Ray had already demorphed as well. <<I'm demorphing now>> she called to Lukas <<but we can still hear you if you need to call for help. I just won't be able to answer you.>> she called before her thought-speak went dead.

Lukas:
Lukas swooped down into the basement, just over the headsof the others, and landed in the corner.He looked arounnd, taking stock of the situation. Looked like someone was missing. Well, Matthias, Melanie, and the new guy were all there, and Ray was waiting outside, which meant...

<<Sorry I didn't respond earlier, I was keeping an eye on some hunters. They seemed pretty worked up about something, and it took a lot of concentration to stay out of their sight. >> Lukas reported, looking around at the assembled group. <<And, looking at the turnout, I guess we can establish who they were worked up about.>>

Lukas briefly considered remaining in goose morph for a moment, and then dismissed the idea. If a rescue mission were to be attempted, he'd likely be the last one Matthias would send. Everyone else had larger, more dangerous morphs than him, and while a goose may be irritating, and a raccoon may be fierce, they were no match for Mel's deer and Ray's dog, and Matthias had so many more appropriate morphs it was almost comical, though Lukas didn't feel much like laughing. HJe hated being so powerless; so weak. He wanted to fight, but at the moment, it wasn't much of an option.

He swore internally and began to demorph, his goose features becoming humanoid once again. As soon as his mouth had developed, he asked the question he felt necessary.

"I'm not sure if the robots will wait an hour, Matthias. Do we need to help Fin, or do we leave him to cope?" Both options had merits and flaws, but fundamentally it came down to risking the life of one member, versus potentially risking more lives and possibly even compromising the security of the lodge.

Ray:
Ray had been watching the window as he could just barely make out Lukas's thought speak. So, Fin was in trouble then. He waited hoping that Fin would lose them easily enough or for Matthias to send out a search party. Ray debated on leaving just then without warning, but thought, With my luck I'd probably get shot right of the....bat. Even with such a dire situation, Ray forced a smile at the play on words.

Ray knew that he would probably volunteer if Matthias was to send out someone to look for Fin. His dog morph could be used for listening and smell. Or perhaps his Moose morph would be inconspicuous enough. That is unless the Yeerks go around shooting anything that moves...Oh well, he'd think up a good enough reason to go at any rate. He mused at his own excitement towards the action. He didn't think it to be healthy to have this much of an attitude towards fighting and risking his neck, but it was more of an opportunity to make him worth the trouble of recruiting.

Mel:
Melanie was glad when she finally heard, then saw Lukas, though she still worried about Fin. She could hear him though she couldn't reply, obviously. "I'll go deer again and go too if you want me to" she said once she had a human mouth. "I just wish we knew how many were out there. It feels like a never-ending fight...which, I guess the whole thing is anyway."

Matthias:
Matthias rested with his back against the door. The decision he was already making in his head would not be a popular one and it would not be an ethical one, but it was the right one. "Look. The Yeerks found us in the trailer...somehow. I don't know how, and though I would like to, we don't have the time to try and find out. This is a huge forest; the fact that they haven't found us yet can be attributable to that."

He sighed, "The point I'm trying to make is that we have to let Fin fend for himself for the moment. Think about it; by all account, we should be hauling our tails out of here as fast as we can go. There are Controllers and hunter robots around, and we just lost our hideout and half our faction. The Yeerks are expecting us to run. If we don't run, we catch their attention. We don't want them to find this place like they did the trailer. We don't want them to think that we had somewhere to run TO. Fin is smart; he could probably outrun the hunter robots this far, but he doesn't want to lead them straight to us. It's the same reason that we're not going for the cube and the blood just yet; we need the Yeerks to believe that we got as far away from the trailer as possible."

He looked from one face to the next, "No one is morphing, and no one is leaving. We're staying in hiding, and in the basement at that. If we send someone out to help Fin, we risk everyone's life, including his. I'm cutting our losses. When it quiets down, we'll go see what we can find."

Ray:
Though it was muffled through the basement door Ray had heard every word. He knew it all to be true as he surveyed the edge of the woods from the lodge window. He knew he was not really looking for Fin so much as anything that was a threat. They were hoping Fin would get lucky or just get temporarily detained, but other than that they couldn't do much.

He wanted to morph into something to be ready for anything that could come up, but the only thing he could think of that would even possibly work would be the dog and even then it couldn't see out the window very well. No, human form would have to do. Whatever came Ray would have to somehow detain long enough for his teammates survive. Ah, the perks of watchman. he thought, although he really didn't mind being posted here. He'd rather be here where he could at least see outside rather than waiting on the door to be busted open by aliens or robots. He paced. There was nothing to do now but wait.

Fin:
Scurry, sniff, flinch! Scurry, sniff, flinch! Scurry, sniff, flinch. There's more to life than panic- Fin stopped himself from mentally singing the rest of the song and stuck to the part that would keep him alive. Scurry, sniff, flinch. He was creeping through the woods as a fox and hoping that he wouldn't attract the hunter robots attention.

They were certainly out in force today. He had seen a large number of innocent forest critters get fried and he didn't plan on being one of them. Scurry, sniff, flinch. He would move a bit, sniffing as he went and then freeze whenever he found the least bit of cover. He was putting his imagination to work on coming up with a new pose for every time he froze. This wasn't just for amusement. He was trying to look as unfox-like, or for that matter, as unanimal-like as possible.

After what seemed like forever he was standing almost perfectly still at the edge of the clearing that housed the lodge, only his sensitive nose twitching, picking out the scents to be found on the wind. Had the yeerks made it this far? Was he walking into a trap? But he couldn't really smell anything, or more specifically the overwhelming stench of skunk pray was masking anything else that might be here.

He would have to risk it. He took one last look around and then made a desperate dash for the door. After spending an hour slowly creeping from one bit of cover to another an all out run in those last few feet of open space felt like a mistake, but he made it to the door without misshap.

He pressed his slight fox frame into a corner of the door frame trying to pretend he wasn't there. <<Hello faction, I'm home. I would love if someone could open a door. Maybe we should install a doggy door for these occasions in the future.>>

Mel:
Melanie knew sadly Mattias were right. At the moment they were down one faction member. But if they went out to look for Fin, they would be down who knew how many more. They simply couldn't take the risk.

Fortunately, she heard his thought speak soon after and saw that he was okay. His comment made her chuckle. "It might come in handy when you think about it. For those times when we don't have hands. Although I'll never fit through it." She wasn't sure if he heard her or not and she couldn't thought speak but she'd said it anyway. Though she wanted to let him in, she was going to stay back and let Matthias go for it. Then if there was any danger they didn't know about, she wouldn't get yelled at for rushing into things.

Matthias:
<<Were you followed?>> From the moment Matthias first heard Fin, he had been shrinking rapidly into his panther form, ready for combat if necessary, and wanting to talk to Fin. I don't hear shots...or movement...I think he's alone. <<Melanie, go open the door.>>

Matthias was standing off to the side, ready to pounce at whoever - or whatever - came in the door with Fin. <<Mel, close it as soon as he's in. Fin, get as far inside as you can when that door opens, we take no chances. Everyone else, out of sight. Now.>> Matthias was beginning to fray his last nerves; today was just not a good day. They couldn't afford to leave the morphing cube and blood out there too long, but they couldn't just go browsing with hunter robots and Controllers around. They were trapped.

Ray:
Ray saw the fox dash across the clearing and was looking for anyone else out there which there seemed to be no one. Fin alerted the group before Ray could and he gave Mel the right of way by standing to the side of the basement door until she came up. Ray waited as Matthias gave the gameplan and as soon as Melanie would come up he'd head down. It was quite a tense situation the group was in.

It seemed to Ray less like a war and more like a very creative way to play fugitive. If he was in morph he would have commented on how epic of a piss that must have been, but he wasn't and he bit his tongue. They didn't need to make any more noise than neccesary. Ray crouched and waited for the fun to begin.

Mel:
Melanie complied and opened the door, then stepped back. Knowing she'd feel safer, she morphed back to deer, mentally willing the changes to happen as quickly as she could manage. She wished she could have morphed first, but she needed hands to open the door. The animal wanted to run away from the big cat in the room, but Melanie was able to keep control fairly well. She sniffed the air, trying to see if she could smell anyone besides Fin and the rest of the group's own familar scents in the air outside.

*who am I kidding, the air's saturated* she thought. *And...does metal smell? Probably not so I can't detect the robots. But I don't smell any strange human scents too heavy at least*

Ray:
As soon as Melanie was through the door, Ray crept downstairs. The open basement didn't seem so open anymore due to there being so many people in it. He walked over to his usual counter spot and sat down. He leaned back and rested against the wall. He wondered how long they would have to stay down here for and how long it was going to be before they got a chance to counter attack. Would they even be able to counter attack at all? Maybe they would just be on the run for the rest of their time spent here...

There wasn't much conversation going on at all and Ray didn't feel like initiating one so he kept thinking things over. He wished he had more of a selection of clothes and his laptop. That would be next on the list if there wasn't a mission to do right away and if they could get out of hiding. All of this running through the woods and spending the night out in it had given Ray a longing for the city. Sure, there were probably more controllers there, but he would blend in a whole lot better.

Fin:
Fin ran inside and down into the basement. <<I'm almost 94% sure that I wasn't followed. I mean it hovers somewhere around %93.72 but let's just close the door and hide anyway, shall we? It's pretty thick out there. If I didn't have some well developed running away skills I might have been in trouble.>>

Once he was down in the basement he began to demorph. He looked around at Lukas, and the new kid with the skunk. Up the stairs he could see Mel's deer and Matthias' panther. So few. "I think that's it Matthias. Gang's all here."

Mel:
<<It looks that way. Though i'm sure we all wish there were more of us in the group.>> Melanie replied, focusing her thought speak to them as she nudged the door closed with her rack *opening doors requires hands, but closing is another story* she thought. Realizing how few they were made her mourn those they'd lost all the more even though she didn't know them well. It was good they'd gotten new members but the loss was still a bad one, and they would be missed. It made her wonder just how much a small band of teens could accomplish, but she'd do as much damage to the yeerks as possible while she was alive, and it was obvious they all felt the same, here and in the other factions accross the country.

Ray:
Ray watched Fin appear as well as Melanie who had come back to join the group. There wasn't much to say at this point because everyone knew full well that they were waiting on a speech from Matthias and any other chatter would be disrespectful. He shot a glance at each of his team members individually waiting on their eyes to connect with his before proceeding. Each one had their own past they had to live with. His had been fairly easy to live with, but what about the others?

Ray knew that those had died had been just like this group right here. They had heard a speech or two from Matthias in a group just like this. They had their own pasts that they lived with while they were here. They died free soldiers...He didn't know if this was enough to comfort them in their deaths, but to Ray it would be enough. So long as he earned his recruitment. He would do this by saving a life, salvaging a mission, or freeing some people from yeerks...Once Ray had saved a life and bought his worth through these means he could go all out...Until then he had to survive.

Fin:
Everyone was quiet. It was a respectful silence, everyone was waiting for Matthias to speak.

"Can I go upstairs to get some food before we start. All that morphing, flying, hiding. It takes it out of a guy and I haven't eaten a proper meal in two days." He went over to the boxes on the wall where Mitch was sitting and rifled through them for a second before he picked up a can of oranges. "I would eat these but the can opener is in the kitchen. So are the utensils for that matter."

Mel:
Melanie demorphed, a bit tired herself and glad to be human again. She was a bit hungry too but could wait until the talking was done. Internally she was still replaying the events of earlier in the evening, but she was determined not to let it affect her too much openly. She had a good idea that Matthias would say it was war and things like that are necessary sometimes. It had been either him or her, and she wasn't about to die without a fight. She said little else, waiting for Matthias to speak.

Lukas:
Lukas, who had morphed into raccoon morph, his most inconspicuous form, and dived under a table, remained in his morph and position as the danger seemed to pass, at least for the time being. A fat load of help he'd been. He couldn't fight, at least not well, and if that human had shot a couple of inches to the left, he wouldn't be here now. Another casualty to the worthless alien slugs suffocating the planet. He'd had to watch Melanie take him out alone, unable to help her out beyond providing a temporary distraction. If any more controllers had been present, the gig would have been well and truly over, for himself and possibly for Mel as well. Who knows, the controller had been close to the cabin, if he'd had backup then it may have been discovered and all their hopes may have been lost.

And he'd have been powerless.

Lukas hated such a lack of control. It was one of the main reasons he feared infestation. He hated not being able to steer his own fate. No, it was his lack of forms which made him vulnerable. It was his lack of confidence which let him down. He'd done his best. He'd distracted the controller, allowing him to be taken out. He wasn't alone anymore, he was part of a team. He didn't need to be a machine, just one of the cogs turning. He'd done well, hadn't he?

Deep down, he felt he hadn't.

Mel:
Lukas didn't speak, well thought speak since he was still morphed, but his behavior said he was just as shaken and uneasy as she was. She didn't start talking right away, she wasn't sure what to say or if anything could help. She herself was glad there had only been one controller plus the bots or she wouldn't have done as well as she had. Finally she ventured "I thought...that is...for what we had to work with, we did pretty well today. Though I hate the fact that we only got away because there was just one guy. I do hope Matthias lets you have a decent fighting morph soon. Then we'll be even better next time we get paired up."

Matthias:
"No." Matthias replied to Fin. "First we wait. If you weren't followed that means the Yeerks don't know where we are. As I was telling everyone before, I don't want them to know we're here. I want them to think we've morphed something small and disappeared, getting as far away as we can from the old base. If they know we're around, they'll know it's for a reason. And with the morphing cube and the blood lying buried out there, I don't want to give them any reason to stick around."

He sighed, "Fortunately, I thought ahead, so we won't be totally bored. Ray, there's a small freezer in the room behind you. Go open it up and carefully extract the contents. It's not much, but we should be able to get you guys some more morphs for the moment."

Lukas:
Lukas listened quitely, saying nothing. As much as he'd like one, Lukas didn't feel deserving of a new morph just yet. As far as he was concerned, he hadn't earned one. The escape had been difficult and fraught with danger. Ray and Fin had found a potential new member, though Lukas naturally didn't trust him. True, he himself had only been there a very brief while, but just finding someone wandering through the woods, incapable of morphing? After the yeerks had attacked? Sure, he may be innocent, but it seemed foolish to trust him fully. Lukas didn't say anything, because he was curious as to how Matthias would trust this guy. He himself had had to prove himself with a demonstration of his morphing ability, and a message from Cassie, but the other couldn't do such a thing. He'd just have to be tied up for kandrona starvation, it seemed.

Anyway, Ray and Fin had found him, and Mel had dealt with a controller. He'd done little to make an impact. He'd have to prove himself worthy of progression later. For now all he could do was wait for a chance to prove himself. For once, he was sure he'd rise to the occasion.

Mitch:
Mitch stayed in his position against the wall. Alot of stuff had happened. The guy who could become a panther appeared and gave a speech. Mitch could only read about a third of it. Then when the guy turned into a panther again, Mitch noticed that the panthere was as good as new. The wounds from his spear had disappeared.

Then Mitch wondered what was going to happen next. The dog-guy went upstairs, and a bat flew down the stairs and became human also. And now there was a girl there. Mitch started stroking the skunk again, mostly because he was nervous, but also to calm it down so that it would not spray anyone. He knew from recent experience that it was almost impossible to get skunk spray out of an enclosed space.

Mel:
Mel watched the new guy, who still seemed uneasy with the whole thing. Actually many of the group seemed troubled, which wasn't surprising. It did make her realize again what they were really: Just a group of scared, inexperienced kids. Yet they were making some small difference with each strike against the yeerks at least. It made her wonder again though how much they would ultimately accomplish.

Ray:
Ray went over to the freezer and opened it up. "Lock and load..." he said coolly to himself. He wasn't in a bad sort of mood by any means, just very tired and wanted to join in with Fin on the food. He looked at the vials and there wern't many. He looked around the room and noticed that not everyone would get one at this moment. He knew that these wern't all and they wern't done for. Matthias had the other vials out in the woods hidden and the others could make it up later. This was a more of a since-we're-all-here sort of thing. "Hey Matthias what do you think we should do with Mitch?" Ray asked as he rummaged. "Theres not enough morphs so that we can all go crazy, but we've got enough so that there will be new eh...blood...in the group." Ray chuckled at the pun. Even if it was life and death and seriousness why not have fun with it? It was all good until one got careless and a professional humorist such as Ray would do no such thing.

After much rummaging and looking through the morphs, Ray found one he particularly liked. It was labeled: "Dominican Clouded Boa" Ray paused for a minute. "Hey Matthias could I have this one?" he asked still staring the vial which contained the snake's DNA. He knew that now was not the time to go around begging like a little child to have some cool morph, but he needed more firepower when it came down to the time to fight. He figured this one would be one of the better ones in a fight out of the lot that he held. He knew that the decision would ultimately rest with Matthias. "So, how do we want to do this?" he asked finally.

Fin:
Fin put the can of oranges down with an exaggerated sigh but it was all for show. If Matthias had said he could go upstairs and get the can opener he probably would have quit the Vancouver faction and left as soon as possible since he wouldn't have trusted a leader who made such a decision. He had just felt the need to break the silence somehow and his stomach had growled and provided inspiration.

New morphs. He thought about what part he wanted to play in this little war effort and decided he didn't want to fight much. Not that he didn't want to fight at all, he wouldn't be here if that was true, he just felt his skills leaned more towards scouting and spying than melee.

"Hey Matthias, you got any cats in there? A good cat morph could help me get around to places I currently can't go as a fox or a bat."

Ray:
After gently putting his snake's blood sample on top of the fridge, away from the rest of the set, he rummaged looking for a morph that was cat-like for Fin's request. It took him a minute or so of examining, but when he saw the word "Bengal" he about passed out. Instantly an image of a huge Bengal Tiger popped into his head. One that could knock your head right off your shoulders with the swipe of its paw. After further examination he noticed the word "Cat" in parenthesis. "Here's one for you" he said passing the vial off to Fin before continuing to rummage.

"I thought it was a full grown tiger" Ray admitted with sheepish grin. He still had a multiple vials to go through. For an emergency stash this really wasn't that small of one. "I still got some more if anyone's interested..."

Lukas:
Lukas had decided. He definitely needed a new morph. Something large and powerful. Something that could fight. Something that could win. It did't matter what. Sure, he'd love a fierce, agile predator, like a leopard or a tiger or a wolf. Or something with raw power, like a rhinocerous or a hippopotamus. He knew he wasn't likely to be entrusted with such morphs yet, though, as he'd done little to prove himself. Maybe a horse. A big horse.

"Ray, is there anything large and powerful in there? I need something that can actively participate in combat. It doesn't have to be a crocodile or a tiger, just something that can stand up for itself. I've been dead weight so far, and that needs to change." Lukas said, his eyes blazing brightly. "With Mattias' permission, of course." He added quickly, looking to the faction leader. Though if Matthias refused to empower him, he'd be quite annoyed.

Not that he could do a lot about it.

Matthias:
"Should be a Shire Horse." Matthias commented absently, leaning against the wall and watching the proceedings. "You can have that Lukas. Give me the blood, Fin. That'll do fine for you." Ray's decision to get himself a snake was a strange one; the boa wasn't nearly as deadly as the cobra that he wielded, but Matthias supposed it was a good a stealth morph as any. Collecting the vials that Ray had already selected, Matthias thought about what to do with Mitch. Almost 99% sure that he wasn't a Controller - the Yeerks didn't bother with disabled human hosts - it was still naive to assume anything.

"Fin, hold out your hand." Dropping the cat DNA deftly onto Fin's palm, Matthias replaced it in the freezer. "Now, go ahead and try that one out, and then escort our newest member to some room in this place with a lock. Preferably the bathroom. His skunk can go with him. We'll bring him food later. Oh, and do me a favour. Ask if he's been like that since birth. If not, tell him there's a good chance learning to morph will heal him. If he has, don't get his hopes up."

Now who does that leave...just Melanie? Walking over to join Ray at the freezer, Matthias sorted through the very limited selection of morphs they had and came up with two more. "Guess you get the leftovers, Mel." He commented, peering at the labels. "A sea lion and another cat. You've been here long enough to warrant two more, I think."

Ray:
Ray took the stopper out of the top of the vial, held out his hand, and tipped over the vial slightly letting a small bit of it fall into his palm. Ray concentrated on the blood he held in his hand and thought of a big brown boa constrictor. There had been one at a demonstration he went to one time at a pet store. He remembered how big around the thing had been. He didn't like snakes all that much as a human, but being one wouldn't be so bad.

After he was finished he took a towel off of the dryer that was sitting nearby and wiped his hand off. As he did he thought of something. "Hey Matthias, I lived with my aunt when I was over in Chicago and told her I was coming here to do special computer classes for college. Do you think I could write her and have her FedEx some of my stuff to some place in town and go retrieve it?" Ray asked.

Mel:
"I didn't speak up right away because I wasn't sure you'd trust me with any more yet" said Melanie. "It's been a strange day...I screw up royally, then end up probably doing pretty well not long after." she sighed. "Thanks for not kicking me out or something worse though." She'd been unable to shake a fear of being forced into a nothlit form."That's okay, I do need something aquatic...the cat's fine too. Although I really can't wait until enough time has passed and I have enough experience for me to try a bird of prey." She got busy taking out the vials' stoppers and acquiring the morphs.

Fin:
"This is just a cat right, not a tiger. Tigers aren't subtle." He closed his eyes and imagined a cat, a generic cat since he didn't know what type of cat he had. He just ran through all the images of cat's he had ever seen. Hoping it worked though he didn't really have a chance to test it at the moment, Fin turned to Mitch.

He signed to him, Come. He knew about 60 words in sign language. It sounded like a lot but actually it wasn't even enough to hold a decent conversation. Hopefully the kid would understand that and if not, hey, he could always mime everything out.

Matthias:
"No." Matthias replied shortly to Ray. "You are not going anywhere, and you are certainly not contacting anyone. I really hate to say it, but your dear old aunt is probably a Controller now. In case you haven't figured it out by now, the Yeerks are everywhere. And I mean everywhere. Just because there's a faction in Chicago doesn't mean anyone's safe there, and certainly not most civilians."

Matthias was having serious trouble believing that Ray could be that naive, but he was going to shoot down anything that any members of his faction might come up with. He didn't need anyone getting themselves killed because of something stupid called hope.

Ray:
"Yeah, I took that into consideration when I suggested modifying the address to somewhere other than here. All I would do is have her send it somewhere that we aren't and then go get it, but I'm grasping your concept just fine. Thought aborted." Ray replied. He knew that she very well could be a controller, but didn't see the harm in getting his stuff. He knew what Matthias was trying to eliminate and went along with it just because it was a pretty good reason.

Ray took his usual seat on the counter resting his head on his hand. He signed the words "I want a bacon cheeseburger" to Mitch with a grin and wink because no one else would know what it ment. He knew some other vulgar stuff and oddball sign language, but not enough to understand anything Mitch would try to say. If everyone was going to be down here a while they better at least have a grin on their face.

Mitch:
Mitch had been watching everything he could, trying to soak it all in. He noticed how everyone seemed to look up at the panther guy, as if he was their leader. He probably is, thought Mitch. Then he saw the man say something to the bat-guy, who then signed to Mitch, Come, and walked away. Mitch stood up shakily since his legs had gone to sleep and hobbled after the person. His mouth stretched into a grin because he could actually communicate with someone easily now.

As he followed the person out of the room, he saw the dog-guy sign to him, I want a bacon cheeseburger, and then wink and smile. Mitch laughed and signed back, "And a large order of fries." Mitch then left the room before he lost track of the bat-guy. He followed him towards a room that appeared to be a bathroom. What is this all about? he signed to the person. Why did you take me to a bathroom?

Mel:
Mel practiced with her morphs, to get a feel for them. She focused first on the seal, and her body started to grow.

"Someone remind me never to get fat" she said as she watched herself. "It's gross." Her legs shortened and shrunk, and she had to catch herself to keep from topping over forward. Her upper arm shrank a little, then the lower arms elongated and flattened to form the front flippers. What was left of her legs and feet did the same, though part of them remained leg-like-sea lions could walk in a sense, unlike true seals, which hauled along on their front flippers.
Her face elongated and shifted, forming into a pointed muzzle, and sprouted whiskers. Her ears shrunk smaller, though unlike a true seal, so-called 'eared' seals still have small ears. Her skin darkened and her body hair thickened into a coat of fur.

She felt the sea lion's mind, playful, curious...almost fun.
<<This is perfect if we ever need to go swimming. A dolphin would be my first choice for wate morph but this works just as well. I'm just glad it's not an elephant seal or a Steller's...I'd hate trying to haul a body that big around if I had to leave the water. And hey, I can catch us some fish for dinner, or I could if we weren't dodging robots and controllers>>

She took a few moments to accustom herself to the animal's senses and then demorphed, glad to return to her slim human form.

She now focused on the cat, happy for a feline morph. It wasn' t Matthias's Jaguar or *the* Jake's tiger or anything but still useful. She began to shrink, much like she did when going into cockatoo morph. As she neared her final size, her joints reversed and she crouched on four legs. A spotted skin pattern rippled over her body, almost like liquid filling a jar. Her fingers and toes shrunk and reshaped into paw-digits, her fingernails growing into sharp cat's claws. She again felt her face change, this time pushing out into a muzzle that was pointed but not so much as the seal's. Her ears shifted upward, into the standing rounded triangles of small cat ears. Her canine teeth elongated into small but deadly fangs. Her tongue sprouted small barbs, similar to sandpaper or shark skin. Whiskers sprouted on her face and forehead. As the morph neared completion, she felt a lump extend and grow from her rear, elongating into a tail that acquired the same spotted pattern as her body.

The cat's mind was what she suspected many housecat minds must be like. It was a small cat, somewhere in t he 20 to 25 pound range, a little larger than the largest housecat breeds, but it believed it was a big cat and that nothing could harm it. It was surprisingly playful too though. She pounced and sprang, loving the cat's ability to jump high.

<<Not bad...although the deer is best for long distances, I can hide easier with this one. Into the bushes, up a tree...and I love the cat senses. I can hear just about everything, and although the eyes are generally blurry, no movement can escape me. oh and the nose...maybe not dog-quality but good just the same.>>

<<Oh and by the way...we'll need to keep an eye on the food and make sure it stays closed up. I think I smell mouse around here somewhere. At least I hope it's mouse and not rat...they're just creepy.>>

Relaxing for a moment, Melanie jumped up on a chair, watching the others, her tail twitching a little. *I could get used to this....not nothlit-used to of course but used to it* she thought.

Ray:
"Mouse patrol eh? I like it" Ray commented. "At least we know the food is safe. There might be some tuna around here in one of these boxes if your interested...oh wait you can catch your own" he jibed light-heartedly. "I don't think anyone wants me to try the moose unless your a claustrophilic which I wouldn't guess any of you are, so I'll just do the Boa."

Ray focused his mind on the Boa he had seen at the demonstration he had seen. He felt as though his arms were being glued to his body and stopped instantly. He laid down so as not to fall on his half-morphed face. As he was getting thinner he was also growing longer. His legs were fusing together and there was a pattern now very apparent on his body. It took him all of about 2 and a half minutes to fully morph. The snake's mind was calm. It did not fear the humans at all and looked at the cat as a possible snack, but other than that, so long as nothing messed with it, it would not disturb the peace of it's surroundings. As far as comfort was concerned the Boa did not like the fact that the ground was cold. The overall temperature of the room seemed chilly to the Boa as well, but nothing it couldn't survive in. Ray laid sprawled out and almost immediately went into a coil out of instinct. Since he was in an inactive environment there was no reason to not take up a resting position. The tongue sensed the same musty feeling the basement had as he had smelled through his human nose.

<<Anyone want to break out the apples?>> Ray jibed again, this time in thought speak.

Lukas:
Lukas, having obtianed his specified vial of blood and used it for for the DNA acquisition, replaced the stopper firmly in its original position. He was pleased. A shire horse would definitely carry a fair bit of power, enough to handle a human easily at least. And as he had yet to encounter any alien controllers, he hoped that such dangerous species may be non-entities for the present. He smiled as he heard Matthias' instructions to Fin, as they echoed his own thoughts. The newcomer was certainly in for a rough couple of days,but he felt no sympathy. This was a necessary evil, and he'd much rather allow this to happen then see all of today's survival efforts come to naught as a controller infiltrated their ranks. And if the boy passed the trial...well, not if, when he passed the trial, he'd surely be much happier for it. Being able to communicate without speech was an invaluable tool for all of them, but for the deaf boy... he'd be entering a whole new plane of existence. He'd be able to hear in morph, and perhaps out of morph as well if his condition wasn't genetic. Lukas almost envied him, wondering how fantastic it would be to hear after being unable to do so for years.

He watched with muted interest as Melanie first bulged out into a sea lion morph and then shrunk down into a feline form, and as Ray's limbs cemented themselves to his body. The idea crossed his mind to try out his new morph, and was instantly dismissed as laughable. there wouldn't be the room for it. Ray had already pointed out his moose's excessive size, and shire horses reached the same height and were considerably heavier and bulkier, if lacking the massive antlers. He'd like to try out the morph as soon as possible, as it was certainly important to familiarise with the instincts of an animal before using it excessively. Instead of morphing he turned to Matthias.

"Should I go assist Fin? If we're going to hold this newcomer for several days, we probably need two people: One to tie him down and restrain him, another to explain what's going on. I guess, since he seems to be deaf, we'd need a morph to thought speak to him. I don't know quite how proficient we all are in sign language."

Matthias:
"From the looks of things, pretty good at it." Matthias replied. It had not escaped his notice that some members of the faction had been communicating with Mitch already. "And Fin can handle it. I don't think the new guy is a Controller, but we have to take the precautions anyway. He's followed us this far, I don't think there will be any trouble. The only question is whether he'll be able to talk when he comes out."

Matthias didn't like inefficiency, and devoting more people to a task than he had to sounded like the definition. "Now, hopefully soon the Yeerks will head off. When they do, Melanie, you're staying here with Fin and the new guy, and the rest of us are heading out. We need to find the spot where I buried our things and retrieve them. Then we need to head back into town and get some food and supplies. I shouldn't have to tell you that even if we don't see any Yeerks around, we still have to be quick and quiet."

Ray:
Ray was glad to be one of the ones going back out. He wanted to put in some more time for his faction and the cause. He wanted to be in the middle of it if anything were to go down. <<So, Matthias, how exactly will our formation be? I think it would be best to talk tactics now since we're merely in a waiting period.>> Ray prodded as he rested in his Boa morph. <<I know you want this done as efficiently as possible and I'd think that the most efficient that we could be right now is talking strategy and filling in this extra time.>> Ray wasn't trying to take over or anything, just merely suggesting it. If he wasn't out there he wanted to at least be talking about it.

Lukas:
Lukas smiled. He was getting a chance to go back out, to redeem himself, in his own eyes if nothing else. He might even get a chance to give his new morph a good field test, though he hoped it wouldn't come to that. Quick and quiet didn't usually go hand in hand with guns blazing. Still, if things got rough, it was reassuring to know he could hold his own. Matthias had chosen the team well, he noted, picking those with both fast, relatively innocuous flying morphs and viable combat morphs. It shouldn't be too bad.

He listened to Ray's suggestion, and nodded his agreement, though he didn't doubt Matthias was thinking about it. It seemed he was not a man to be underestimated. He leaned against the nearest wall and waited to discuss their options.

Fin:
"I thought you might want to freshen up a bit, look good for the ladies of which we obviously have an abundance." Fin made sure to face Mitch when he said it so that Mitch would understand as much of it as possible. He opened the door to the bathroom so that Mitch could go in before him.

Once they were in the bathroom he faced Mitch and tried to figure out how to talk to him. He ran back out and got a permanent marker from the basement and ran back to the bathroom.

Pictionary! He drew a skunk and a boy on the mirror then drew an arrow between them and pointed at Mitch. Then he gave him a huge goofy smile and two thumbs up.

Mitch:
Mitch got his answer quickly. He got most of what the guy said but he couldn't figure out if he was joking or not. There were times like these that he hated being deaf. Then the guy began drawing on the bathroom mirror. The guy drew a person and a skunk. Then he drew an arrow between them. Mitch had no idea what the guy was trying to get across and he wasn't in a mood for games. Mitch signed May I? and took the marker out of the person't hands. Under the pictures, he wrote, I can read you know.

Mitch's temper was beginning to rise. He hated it when people naturally assumed that he couldn't do things like read or write since he was deaf. Not being able to hear had nothing to do with reading or writing.. Mitch began petting the skunk that he had just picked up to try to calm himself down. It wouldn't benefit anyone if he exploded.

Fin:
Fin wiped the comment away and waved his hand in Mitch's direction with a "psh" sound. Of course he could read and write, he had a pad didn't he, but Fin personally thought pictionary would be so much funner, not to mention mentally stimulating. But if he wanted to do it the boring way...

Fin wrote, "morph" below his picture. Then he motioned for Mitch to take out his pad so that he could get a detailed description of what was going on.

Mel:
Melanie wasn't sure whether to be happy or sad about the assignment as she hopped down and demorphed for the moment. She wanted to be able to go out and be on the mission with the rest of the team but someone had to stay here and help out. And at least she had a morph now that could see in low light. She had a visual of herself taking a look around from the trees or bushes but hoped she wouldn't have to. Maybe she should be glad to be one of the ones staying inside, she thought.

"All right" she said to Matthias and walked back to where Fin and Mitch were. She just hoped the skunk didn't get any ideas about spraying.

Mitch:
Mitch took out his pad of paper and a pencil as the guy had motioned. He wrote on the pad, What does "morph" mean? I am assuming that you are talking about me turning into a skunk, the same way you can turn into a bat because of an alien race's technology?

Then the girl walked into the room. Mitch wondered what she was doing there. Perhaps she is here for security and to observe me. It wouldn't surprise me. But maybe if I gain acess to this technology, perhaps I can strike back at my parents murderers. But I wonder what this girl can become. And I wonder if these people can become multiple animals.

[Admin]

Matthias:
Matthias smiled. Ray got down to business. He liked that. "I've marked the tree. Slash below its lowest branch. It's within a minute or so of the trailer. We'll go out one at a time, in the smallest morphs we have to avoid detection. When we're in the woods - seperated but within thought-speak range - demorph and remorph to something larger and faster. Then head out to the trailer, but don't go into the clearing. When you can see it, start scanning the woods. Stay as quick and quiet as you can. When you find it, alert the rest of us. Don't go digging it up yourself."

Matthias could only imagine how badly it might go if they dug too quickly and shattered the vials, or if a Controller stumbled upon them as they were uncovering the only weapons the Animorphs had. No, they had to be very careful right now. Time was also a factory, because Matthias hadn't buried it very deep; it was a hurried job with panther claws. Anyone might stumble onto it. He just hoped the coast would be clear soon."Ray, go see if we've still got company out there. I don't hear anything, but that doesn't mean they aren't there."

Ray:
<<Aye, captain.>> Ray replied and started demorphing. After the usual two and a half minute mark he had been averaging he was fully human and took the stairs up. He went over to a window and as quietly as he could pushed it up and open. Then he got out of sight and concentrated on his pigeon morph. If anything, it would look as though a bird had just exited an abandoned lodge is all.

Once Ray was fully pigeon, he prepared himself for the hard part which was to fly out the window. It was hard to get air within the lodge, but he did and circled back around to the window flapping a lot harder than he would have liked to and made it out the window, but not without brushing it. He was now back outside and immediately took to the sky, as high as he could manage. The woods may have looked pretty thick but if you were this far up you could see down between the trees pretty good. He flew out about a half a mile to make it look as inconspicuous as possible and circled around looking for anything that shouldn't be there, which by now would be robots or aliens. He kept an eye out for humans too, but if they're gig was up he figured that they would have sent for the cavalry by now. It took him about fifteen minutes to go full circle around the lodge at a half mile out seeing everything. Aside from various wildlife and the old moose he had acquired, there was nothing else out there.

Ray flew back to the lodge and landed in a tree, once again managing to look as ordinary as possible. He sent the report to Matthias via private thoughtspeak: <<All clear Matthias. There's nothing within a half mile radius and to my knowledge we dealt with the last thing that saw us so we should be good. If we don't make too much noise the robots shouldn't come back because there's no way they could tell us apart...They'd have to tear up the woods because of all the wildlife and by then we'd hear them coming.>>

Fin:
Fin nodded. Then he asked for the pad and wrote but we got to make sure you're clean. Three days of surveillance will make sure you are not pulling a yeerk 007 on us. He handed the pad back.

"Hey Mel," he said, turning around to look at her. "What's going on out there? What's the plan?"

Mel:
"Matthias and the others are going to get what we had to leave behind" she didn't think either that Mitch was dangerous but wanted to watch what she said just as a precaution. "And then they're going into town for more food. We stay here with the new guy." She wasn't sure of his name yet. She wasn't sure entirely how to act with a deaf person but she wanted to try and be as normal as possible. She gestured for the pad after Mitch read so she could write down her name and introduce herself.

Mitch:
Mitch read what the guy wrote and was getting ready to respond when the girl motioned for the pad also. He handed it to her and picked the skunk back up. He was really hoping that the skunk wouldn't spray anyone or anything. That could seriously make a bad impression. And it was almost impossible to get it out of an enclosed space.

He thought, Well, maybe they just won't notice since we're in a bathroom. But still, you had better not spray skunk. Mitch still wanted to know why he was in a bathroom.

Fin:
"Ah! Holding down the fort. An impressive responsibility. I feel all warm and tingly inside." He turned to the mirror and wrote down 'GlorFINdle Larson' and underlined the FIN so that Mitch would know to call him that. He handed the marker to Mel so that she could write down her own name on the pad.

"Wait, did you say food? Why is he going to get food? We have tons of stuff. Granted most of it is either frozen or in a can but hey, we're rebels, we're suppose to be livin' rough."

Mel:
Melanie shrugged. "Don't know, guess you'll have to ask him" She wrote down her name on the pad, "Melanie or Mel". Looking for something to say, she said to Fin "sometimes I think that would be a heck of a battle morph..." she said, nodding at the skunk. "No one would even go near it. Oh, you know what's funny? My morph could be your morph's grandparent or something. The cat morph I got is the wild part of the breed you got."

Mitch:
Mitch read the names and smiled. Finally, he could put a name to a face instead of thinking, the girl or bat guy. So the guy was Fin, and the girl was Mel. Then Mitch looked up and got the strange feeling that he was missing out on a conversation here. Then he caught something about morphs being grandparents and something about a skunk battlemorph. He wrote on the pad, What do you mean, battlemorph? What has that have to do with the skunk?

He handed the pad to the girl, Melanie for her to read. It was times like these that he wished he could hear and talk. Like most deaf people, Mitch couldn't really talk since the words wouldn't form on account of never hearing the sounds.

Fin:
"Really I didn't know that." He leaned over Mel's shoulder so that he could see the pad and read Mitch's questions. He then turned to the mirror and drew a really bad picture of a Hork-Bajir and then drew a lion biting its head off. Next he drew another Hork-Bajir and drew a skunk with it's tail in the air. He wrote the word Terrifying over the Hork-bajir's head.

After admiring his own art work he turned to Mitch to see if he understood. That's when he realized that Mitch might not know what the Hork-Bajir were. Gah, they would have to explain a lot.

Mel:
"I wonder if he knows what those are. What are they called?" Mel asked. "I know they have blades and are definately terrifying. Hok or Hork something? Now that'd be an awesome battle morph."

Hoping she could help, she quickly wrote "fighting animal" when Fin was done. "How we fight." She wondered if she should show him or not.

Mitch:
Mitch looked at Fin's drawings. What is up with this guy? Everything is a picture. Then he noticed what Fin was actually drawing. He drew a lion thing and something that looked like his skunk, and two things that resembled bladed basketball players. He pointed to the unknown creatures and signed, What are those?

Then he wrote on the piece of paper for Mel, What do you mean, "how we fight"?

Lukas:
Meanwhile, Lukas had been the second one to move outside. After confirmation from Rayt had been received, Lukas waited for acknowledgement from Matthias and then began to adopt his own smallest morph, the still comparatively large raccoon. The goose morph was considerably larger, and due to colouration, somewhat more noticable. As his body shrank down, Lukas noticed his vision begin to haze a bit, and his hearing and particularly sense of smell grow more powerful than they had previously been. He didn't doubt that Ray had been correct in saying the immediate area was clear of controller activity, but it was always good to get a second opinion. And while a pigeon may have better vision than a raccoon, there's more than one sense useful in detection.

Once the morph reached completion, Lukas waddled up to the doorway, sniffing the cool air. He could smell humans, but the scents were distinctively familiar, being those of his allies. His ears twitched, and detected nothing but the rustling of the trees in the breeze. He rocketed forth from his position, towards the nearest tree, and immdiatly dug his claws in upon doing so. He quickly scampered out of human reach, and crawled onto a thicker branch overlooking the lodge. His vision was strong enough to detect Ray in a nearby tree, and he bobbed his head at him. It seemed almost pointless now to be in this morph, but as far as the yeerks were concerned, better safe than sorry.

He watched the doorway he'd recently entered the open air from intently, waiting for Matthias to surface so that the next phase of the plan could follow.

Fin:
Fin didn't catch the entire sign conversation but he understood, "what?" Fin sadly gave up on his art work. It just didn't seem to be working. He wrote on the pad, Hork-Bajir. He pointed to the drawing. Then he thought maybe he should go back a couple of steps and wrote, brain stealing aliens from outerspace have taken over earth.

He handed the pad to Mitch to read never once considering that what he wrote would have been completely unbelievable before the invasion and that he probably would have been considered crazy. Instead he turned brightly to Mel, "Hork-Bajir. They're called Hork-Bajir. Scary looking things but I hear they are slaves, just like us. Well not us, but the other humans."

Mel:
"Figures" Melanie sighed. "The yeerks really knew what they were doing getting them...not many morphs could even begin to take them on. I heard about the giant worms...who would let a slug into their brain on purpose? Ewww. That goes even more for the people who've done it. They have got to be messed up in the head."

"It sounds crazy but we aren't. We're serious." Mel wrote after Fin.

Matthias:
It wasn't often that Matthias found himself wanting to be a bug, but this was one of those times. His hornet was one of the smallest morphs out there, and it had excellent mobility, perfect for what he needed right now. If you're going to go small, go nasty. Matthias reflected as he began to rapidly shrink. He loved the hornet for its speed, and more importantly, the amount of annoyance and pain it could inflict on something larger. Hornets were not honeybees; they were vicious little things.

Buzzing out of the crack under the door, Matthias zipped over to the edge of the woods. <<Okay, spread out and move out. You don't have to stay in these morphs now if you don't want to, but remember to stay hidden. Any sign of movement, get out of the line of fire. We do not, repeat, do NOT want a fight today. Stay within thought-speak range and call if you find it. Tree with a slash underneath the lowest branch, near what's left of the trailer. Go.>>

Taking his own advice, Matthias immediately began to demorph, knowing he'd never discover what he wanted in the body he was in. Two and a bit minutes later he was a panther, and on the prowl. The big cat wasn't particularly at home in the forest, but it still knew what it was doing, and Matthias covered extensive ground quickly to make up for the lost morphing time. No sign of the Yeerks. Is that good or bad?

Mitch:
Mitch read what Fin and Melanie wrote. He wrote back, I do know about some of this. The guy who can become a dog told me about becoming animals, different aliens including the ones that take over minds. This is all pretty confusing. Can you prove anything about the aliens? For all I know, this could be an elaborate hoax.

Mitch started stroking his skunk again as he waited for either person to answer his questions.

Ray:
Ray knew that he could do just about any morph at all would suffice for looking for the scratched tree, but Ray figured it would be just as easy to stay in pigeon morph. He took off after his two partners and went low and slow. Ray paused every now and then to glance around. The birds eyes were good for picking up on all the little details of the woods. He would easily be able to spot a marked tree and may be able to find it just by seeing the fresh dirt, seeing as how his eyes picked up jut that much detail.

After about ten minutes of roaming around Ray easily picked out the large, slightly marked, oak tree. He took to the sky, directly above the tree and circled. <<Matthias, I'll make a loud chirp. Be ready for it and follow where the sound came from. If you can find a clear spot, look for me in the sky. I'm flying directly above it.>> Ray called to Matthias in private. He also sent this same message to Lukas. He knew better than to talk publicly when there might be danger present. Ray let out a chirp that was about as loud as the bird could go without making it wound unnatural.

Mel:
Melanie looked at Fin. This was going to be a bit difficult, she could tell now. "How *do* we prove it?" she asked. "I mean, we can morph for him, which makes a pretty good statement , like "we are far from normal" but even that doesn't exactly prove the alien part." She hoped he had an idea.

Fin:
Fin shrugged and then began to morph back to the bat. Once he was fully bat he flew up and landed near Mitch. <<Kid, we are humans that can turn into animals. The fact that aliens exist shouldn't be a big mental leap.>> As he spoke he thought, why didn't we do this before? So much easier. <<Also, no offense, but why would we go through so much trouble to trick you? And for what purpose. Unless of course you are a the inheritee of a fortune and proving that you are mentally unsound will give us access to your money. Are you the inheritee of a fortune?"

Mel:
Melanie followed suit, though not as smoothly as Fin. She started to morph to deer, but realized that it would not be a good idea, a human and a large deer morph in this little bathroom. So she reversed back to herself and then morphed to cat.
<<You're not going crazy if you can hear us in your head. It's called thought speak.>> Even though they were the only ones around, Mel still took the precaution of sending only to the other two in case there were still controllers in the area outside.
<<He's trying to be funny,sort of, I think, with that question about the fortune but it's his way of helping to make a serious point.>>

Matthias:
<<Way ahead of you.>> Matthias was already really close to where Ray's tasty looking pigeon morph was sitting, and was at the tree again in a matter of seconds. He had the advantage of knowing where he was going in the first place. <<Keep an eye out and get Lukas here.>> He instructed Ray as he dug, <<It will be more efficient for him to take the cube while I carry the blood. You need to stay on lookout.>>

How often do you see a pigeon in a forest? Matthias asked himself absently, then again, do the Yeerks know what species is native to anywhere? Surely they've learned something by now. Pulling the bundle of blood free with his teeth, Matthias pawed away until he unearthed the cube as well and then sat in front of them protectively, waiting for Lukas to show up.

Mitch:
Mitch was amazed by the transformations that Mel and Fin had undergone. Then he "listened" to Fin ask him why they should prove it and went on about an inheritee of a large fortune. Mitch smirked at the obvious attempt at humour that Fin threw in. With a smile, he wrote, How'd you know? Who told you? Prank or not, Mitch was beginning to like this guy. He was actually somewhat funny, which was more than anyone ever attempted around him, always thinking that he was stupid because he couldn't hear or really talk.

Then he wrote in response to the girl, Of course I am not crazy. The panther was real enough to me. He knocked me down. And then he turned into a human. And if you guys posess the same ability, that means that this is no illusion and you speak the truth. At least you do. ?It is somewhat hard to tell if Fin is serious or not.

Lukas:
Lukas brought up the rear, with raccoons being slower than pigeons and panthers. He heard Ray's chirp, but didn't arrive until a couple of minutes later.

<<Sorry guys, my legs are short, and I lack wings>> He grumbled, unwilling to morph into the slightly more obvious goose or horse morphs. If they were being subtle, the ambling raccoon was the way to go. He looked up at Matthias, and fought the urge to flee. Raccoons don't care for animals larger and much more aggressive than themselves. He raised onto his hackles for a second, before fighting the fear down.

<<So, what's the plan? I'll assume we're taking these back, need me to change into something a bit more suitable?>>

Fin:
Fin looked over Mitch's shoulder which was easier when you were hanging from a ceiling fixture over his head. <<Serious! God I hope not. I try to be completely unserious whenever possible.>> He wrapped his wings around him in a imitation of a human who is faking being offended. Then he decided he was trying to hard to communicate with body language and just said instead, <<I'm highly offended that you even believe me capable of seriousosity. Anyway, do you have any specific questions or do you just want us to paint a general picture about who we are and what we do? On a side note, what's your name?>>

Mitch:
Sooo, this guy's a clown. Well, let's see how he takes this. Mitch wrote out, My name is Mitch and I am horrified that I could ever think of accusing you, of all people, of being serious. I think I will take the latter. Now where do you keep the paint? And what colors? I like blue myself.

Mitch was satisfied. Even if this was a hoax, it was still better than living alone in the woods, although it was a little hard to communicate with these people.

Matthias:
<<Actually, you're big enough.>> Matthias replied when Lukas finally showed up. <<You'll be a little slower getting back, but you can take the cube with you. If you want to morph into something else, that's up to you. Ray, stay with Lukas. I'll meet you two back at the lodge. Remember, quick and quiet. The Yeerks could still be around.>>

His speech given, Matthias left the morphing cube behind and headed back to the lodge, the bundle of vials safely hanging from his mouth. He kept his pace slow, not wanting to risk breaking anything, and disappeared into the undergrowth.

He didn't see any trouble on the way back, nor did he hear or smell the presence of any humanoid creatures, which was good. Demorphing when he arrived, Matthias pushed the door open, looking in to see where everyone else was. Not seeing anyone in the immediate vicinity, he headed downstairs to lock up the vials in the freezer before slumping down on a couch. What a day this had been.

Mel:
Melanie twitched her tail. <<That would be fun if we had the time sometime...if we survive this war we could make a fortune with animal paintings>> she said with a cat chortle. Then, privately, she said to Fin <<I still think he needs some convincing>> She hoped he had an idea because she had never had to convince a newbie before, she didn't know the how-tos like Matthias did.

Ray:
Ray scanned the area in which Lukas stood as a raccoon. His eyes scanned all the little details of the forrest. While he liked the pigeon morph, he figured that it just wasn't him. It was practical, but that was all. He figured that the next time he got the chance he would look into other bird morphs. Flying was by far the best part of this whole morphing thing. <<Your all clear up to about a half a mile. You've got time to change morphs if needed. On the way back home I'll fly low and you just make a B-line for the lodge. If anything happens I'll run a diversion and you just get the hell out of here. The payload is more important than both of us.>>

Ray started on another swoop around Lukas. The woods was about as serene as he had ever seen it. He knew better than to think it was perfectly safe however. In times such as these, a feeling of safety could easily be one's downfall. And now was not the time to screw things up.

Fin:
The idea of making animal prints astounded Fin. <<We have to do that. As soon as possible we have to get some paint and morph and walk around on some paper with paint on our paws, or wings or whatever. It will be modernistic and after all this is over it will sell for a ridiculous amount of money. The original paw prints of the animorphs. We'll be war heros so they will be worth way more than Mitch's fortune. That should convince you Mitch. We don't even need your money, we can make our own. We're gonna be millionaires. You could join us in our little life of luxury. All you have to do is get the morphing power, use it to fight a war and not die.>>

Mitch:
Mitch could barely control his laughter now. This guy Fin was so insane! He wrote out on the paper, Alright alright. I'm convinced. You guys are telling the truth. Besides, I'm dirt poor. Literally. I lived in the woods for months. On a side note, how can I get the morphing power? Then perhaps I may partake in this ambitious rise to fame after this no-win war. Does it have to be paws and wings? what about hooves, antlers, beaks, webbed feet, or antannae?

Mel:
<<There are lots of possibilities...it mostly depends on what we have in the store and what Matthias thinks you're ready for. I'd show you my deer, but it would get a bit tight in here if I did. Same thing with my seal. Sea lion I mean.>> said Melanie. She still wasn't sure what Mitch was thinking since there was no tone of voice to hear but hopefully some progress was being made.

Mitch:
Mitch was still getting used to this whole "listening" thing. It was so strange to go all your life without hearing and all of a sudden you can. Mitch wrote, Would I be correct in my assumtion that Matthias is the guy who can become the panther? Would it be possible for me to "morph" into animals like you guys can?

Fin:
<<Yup. You'll get the morphing power and be able to turn into animals. You'll also be able to use thoughspeak like we do when you're in morph and you'll be able to use the animal's senses. Oh, and yeah, Matthias is the panther. Here's the catch, isn't there always one, you gotta stay in here for three days and by in here I mean this bathroom. The peeps we're fighting need food every three days so to make sure you aren't one of them we gotta hold you. Actually they pretty much ignore handicapped candidates, not like us, so you're pretty much cleared but we gotta do it just in case.>>

Mel:
<<I didn't much care for that part either, but yeah, it's a requirement.>> said Melanie. <<At least maybe this is better than back at the trailer where I went through it. There weren' t that many rooms so I got tied up for the three days. Not fun. Oh, There is another catch too...if you stay morphed more than two hours, you're permenantly morphed. Nothlit-ed. But that and the rest, there are a few more minor things, will be explained later.>>

Mitch:
Mitch smiled slightly and wrote, If I am Yeerk free because I can't hear, than why on earth are you holding me here?

But let's go ahead and get my three day wait started. I doubt that I will like to stay in this bathroom one second longer than I have to. But before it starts, could you go ahead and take my skunk outside please? If he is ket in here as well, well, it might get messy. Besides, he still needs to eat and you guys wouldn't happen to know a skunk's favorite food now, would you? I don't. That's is why I think it would be best for all of us if he is taken outside.

Mel:<<I don't know, you'll have to ask Matthias on that one when he gets back.>> Melanie replied. <<Unless Fin knows anything about it. I understand the normal three day waiting period but I'm not so sure about you.>> Melanie just knew she didn't want to say or do anything to cause more trouble since she'd avoided getting yelled at this last time.

When he asked about the skunk, she said <<I guess one of us could. I morphed to talk with you but I could get human again and do it or Fin could. Hopefully whoever does it won't get sprayed. And no, not sure...this is when I wish I had the Internet to use. Or a library to go to at least. Maybe someone else knows?>>

Matthias:
To say that Matthias did not really want to get up again would be an understatement. However, he also knew that he had to. He needed to see where Fin was at with Mitch, and find out what was taking Ray and Lukas so long to get back. Who keeps a pet skunk anyway? Matthias wondered absently as he pushed himself up off the couch and headed upstairs.

"What're you two doing?" Matthias had sent Fin, and only Fin, to lock Mitch up and explain the rules to him. Why was Melanie there? And why was Fin carrying on such a lengthy conversation? Had he even asked the question he was supposed to ask? Matthias highly doubted it.

Mel:
Melanie was surprised by the thought-speak call and a little confused. <<I thought I was doing what you told me...I thought you said to stay here with Fin and guard Mitch. But I'm sorry if I misunderstood you earlier.>> She wondered how there had been confusion, and what he *had* actually said if she had heard wrong.

<<Anyway, Fin's doing most of the talking, I'm just watching them, although I morphed so that I could talk a little as well. Plus, I figured if anything came close or tried to come in, I'd hear it or see it, plus maybe smell it with this morph.>> She knew it was hard to sneak up on a cat. <<and I swear we haven't revealed anything we shouldn't.>> she added.

Fin:
<<Oh hey boss man. We are making progress. It was slow going at first cause he can't speak and he can't hear but morphing works to fix the communication thing. At least on our side of it but we gotta read all his responses. Anywho, I'm guessing he's been deaf since birth cause he can't speak or at least very close to birth. Is that right?>>

This last was directed at Mitch since Fin had been including him in the thought speak. <<By the way Mitch, this is Matthias our resident faction leader and panther extraordinaire. He looks all scary, even out of morph, but he always looks like that so don't worry about it.>>

Matthias:
Matthias dropped to the ground, and a minute and change later, he was a Great Horned Owl, cocking his head in Fin's direction. <<Melanie, do yourself, and my headache, a favour and please stop assuming I'm going to be mad at you for every little thing you do. You want to talk to the new guy, that's fine. It's just...not what I told you to do. I'm not too worried about the risk of this guy, though, Yeerks don't like damaged hosts. No offense.>>

So Fin hadn't asked the question that Matthias had told him to ask. Well, that figured. They'd get an answer now, at any rate, <<We'll find out for sure when he learns to morph, at any rate. Maybe we'll start him out with that pet skunk of his. Oh, that reminds me, is he feeding that thing? Maybe we should let it out to forage for insects or twigs or whatever the heck skunks eat.>>

Matthias had to laugh at Fin's introduction of him, and performed the closest he could get in the owl morph to a sweeping bow, which did look fairly impressive with his wing outstretched. <<That's right, we haven't formally met. Well, I'm sure we'll have plenty of time to do that...provided this place doesn't explode just like the last one did...>> It still kept Matthias up at night, wondering why the Yeerks had gone to such a tactic, and how they had known where the HQ was anyway.

Lukas:
Lukas had heard Ray's plan, and agreed with it. It was sound, and it should work. He wondered whether he should go into his horse morph for the first time, and then decided against it. He didn't really need the speed at the moment, he needed stealth. He yearned for the speed, power and excitement the horse would bring, especially with it being his first time in the morph, but for once caution prevailed over Lukas' natural lust for excitement. This surprised him, maybe he was becoming a bit more mature about things.

Or maybe he was just in shock.

In any case, he retained his raccoon form, and gripped the cube awkwardly in his paws. He then began to shuffle along, locomotion restricted to his back legs by his load. After several metres, he changed his mind.

<<Screw the raccoon, I need some speed. I'll be a couple of minutes, Ray.>> He called, and then focussed upon his human form. His bones warped and twisted, growing to human size and shape. They remained this way for a moment, before Lukas adopted a new shape. His face grew long, his back broad and strong, his legs wide and powerful. He fell onto all fours, and a coarse tail grew from his rear. Finally, short black fur erupted almost instantaneously from his body. the new body was certainly a lot more inspirin than his previous one.

Then the instincts kicked in. Confidence. The horse was a big, strong beast, and it knew it. A small amount of fear, inherent to most herbivores, was present, wavering but subtle. The horse wanted to run right now, but it found itself with a greater desire. Food.

The horse lowered his head and began to pull at a dandelion amongst the roots of a great tree. The jaws made quick work of it, and he wrinkled his nose, trying to find more. As he swept his head along the floor, his snout impacted upon a small, cube-shaped object.

<<The cube!>>Lukas said, to nobody in particular, as his mind suddenly came back. He'd been expecting the horse to be more fearful, and in preparing for that had been swept away by its lack of fear. but now he saw what he must do. He was running a little late, but hopefully Matthias wouldn't be especially angry. He just had to keep the cube safe.

Picking it up in his mouth, Lukas broke into a trot. the trees were too dense for a full-blown gallop, so he'd have to make do. His speed was undoubtedly much greater, however, and he only arrived slightly later than he'd thought. He couldn't see Matthias, however, and he assumed Ray was there, though he couldn't presently see him.

<<Matthias, apologies for my lateness>> He said privately, hoping Matthias was inside the lodge and thus thought speak range. <<Nothing bad happened, I've got the cube, and I've gotten accustomed to my new morph. I'll take the cube inside.>>

Lukas began to demorph.

Mitch:
Mitch listened in on this new conversation in his head with interest. He only responded at certain times. like when Fin asked if he was born deaf. Mitch nodded his head and kept listening. When Fin introduced him to the Owl, Mitch wrote, Pleased to meet you. So now I know who is the leader of animal-people who have seemingly rescued me.

The rest of the conversation centered around Matthias chewing Melanie out. Mitch didn't really like this conversation. He didn't want to listen to Melanie being berated and he kind of felt sorry for her. But there was nothing he could do. He decided to answer Mathias's earlier question. He wrote on the paper, Actually I already suggested that the skunk be taken outside since none of us knows what a skunk eats.

Matthias:
Matthias paused when Lukas started talking to him, paying attention, and then relaxing when it was good news. <<Perfect. Stash it downstairs near the blood. I'll find a new hiding spot for it soon enough. Then take a rest. You can tell Ray that too. We're done for today.>>

Turning his attention back to the matter at hand, he read what Mitch wrote and frowned. Born deaf meant that morphing wouldn't help him. A pity, but that was the way the cookie crumbled. <<Right, Mel, demorph and get the skunk outside. Don't get sprayed if you can help it. Then you're off duty, we're taking the rest of today off. Been through enough to try and worry about anything else. Fin, whenever you're done chatting with Mitch, you can take a rest too. Someone has to remember to go get the skunk in a couple of hours though. I'll go get Mitch some food.>> It was exceedingly awkward to try and half-walk, half-fly to the kitchen to pick up the haversack with Mitch's three day provisions, but Matthias managed it.

Mel:
<<Sorry, I'll try not to do that. Guess I'm still a little nervous>> Melanie replied. She didn't add anything about that morning, but that was the main reason why. <<We were just going to take him outside though we don't know what he eats>> she said in reply about the skunk. She then stayed quiet while Matthias introduced himself to Mitch.

When she was told, Mel obligingly demorphed, taking a couple minutes as usual to go from cat to human. She didn't speak after Matthias's directions to Ray but wondered if this place had any electricity at all for a blood fridge. "I've petted one of these before but it was de-scented. Hopefully I can avoid getting sprayed>> She went about trying to pick the animal up without getting hit and carrying it outside.

Fin:
<<Hmm, owl. Interesting choice. Wise, or at least wise looking. Didn't he look all wise.>> He was watching Matthias leave. Actually Matthias looked very much like food/rival to Fin. His bat didn't relish the idea of taking on an owl when there was easier prey around but it could be done. Now the skunk on the other hand...

<<Mitch, I hate to do this to ya but I'm going to have to go. We don't have any electricity here at the Lodge as of yet since I'm still working on the generator so I have to go finish the generator.>> He let go of his perch and floated to the ground and began to demorph. <<I'll be back in a couple of hours though,>> he said before losing thoughtspeak.

Mitch:
Mitch nodded at Fin as he left. Now he had absolutely nothing to do. He was alone. Matthias was bringing food, Mel was taking the skunk outside, and Fin was fixing the generator. Mitch sat on the toilet seat and just stared at the door. In his mind, he was replaying all the day's events. First he had woken up to a normal day out in the woods. When he was gathering food, he the dog. The dog explained some things to him as he led him to the outhouse. Then Matthias pounced on him. After a pointless struggle, Mitch was taken back to the lodge.

Then Melanie and Fin explained all about themselves and the rest of these Animorphs to him. Now he had to wait three days in this bathroom. There was nothing to read or to do. Unless seeing how much toilet paper it takes to clog up the toilet, but he didn't think anybody would appreciate him doing that. So Mitch just sat and stared.