finding a place

[Jamie]

Jamie sighed softly, she'd just moved fractions since the event in Dallas, and now she was in Brazil. So far from home... Jamie thought softly as she fiddled with her camera. Part of Jamie really did miss Dallas, and then another part of her really missed the fraction she'd been a part of before moving here. It's a new start...besides maybe here i can get a few morphs since there we never had the chance to. She smiled and raised the camera to her eyes, aiming the lens out at the water that moved with the breeze.

CLICK. The camera made its sound before the picture of the ocean came on Jamie’s camera screen. The eighteen year old girl grinned and leaned her elbows on the railing, leaning out over the water to where the breeze could move her hair with it. Peaceful moment... She thought and already knew what she would title the image when she got on her laptop next. She shook her head and laughed softly, thinking of how it would be if she jumped on into the water and morphed dolphin. Well it’d be a bit lonely She said to herself softly, in all truth she didn’t feel like she found her own place among the members of this new fraction. Maybe she would get a few friends out of it...she knew that she wanted to. Besides they were all in this fight together it was always easier to help others if they were close. With a small shrug, Jamie closed her grey eyes and just listened to the sound of the ocean and around her, just letting herself think.

[Drake]

Drake took note of the warm sun on his wings as he rode a gentle breeze through the shipyard. The area was pretty well abandoned, it seemed, save for the faction of animorphs living on the ship docked nearby. But the emptiness was understandable. Most of the buildings in the area had been burnt down or thoroughly looted. Most of the ships in the area, the few that there were, would either be impractical to live on or too damaged to be useful. Even now, as Drake broke out over the water, he soared low over a half submerged barge.

Perhaps the most habitable structure in the shipyard was the one he was headed to right now. The Ebba Maersk. The massive ship was one of the few that was undamaged, and certainly the largest. Additionally, it was difficult to board from the land or the water. As a human anyway.

Luckily for him, being human was optional.

Drake pumped his wings a few times to ensure he wouldn't splash down into the water. He had acquired this turkey vulture morph in Dallas back in the United States. Who would have guessed that it would still be native to the ecosystems of Brazil, half a world away? It was probably his only morph native to the area, too.

He was at the ship now, gliding next to the hull. He angled his wings a little and made miniscule adjustments to his tail feathers causing him to rise higher into the air. Soon he was higher than the deck, then higher than the shipping containers still stored on the deck. He angled to the side and cut across toward the other side of the ship. Drake was planning on going to his room (the captain's quarters), but spotted a figure he was still not used to seeing.

It was Jamie, the faction's newest member, facing out over the water. She looked at peace so Drake wasn't sure if he should disturb her, but on a whim he decided now might be a good time to see what was on her mind. It was a big change, moving all the way to Rio de Janeiro.

As gently as he could manage, Drake swooped down and landed on a railing nearby. <<Getting settled in?>> he asked using though speech.

[Jamie]

Jamie’s mind kept drifting to her old faction; with Sarah, Mitch, Kirk, and Conner...her Conner. Part of the girl still missed them, with them she’d gotten her first morphs, made friends, and actually found a place within them there. Now...it scared her to be without them again, but she was going to be alright. Though, she did feel bad though about what had happened back there. First, she’d heard about what happened at Dallas...and had tried to head home or at least check in, but she never got through. Then a few weeks later while she and the others were out on a mission...Conner never came back out, We never found out if he died or if he made it through...i miss him. Jamie thought, remembering how he’d held her when he had hugged her that day before they had left on the mission.

With a sigh, Jamie opened her eyes and gazed out at the water, letting her thoughts drift to now. She had to laugh at herself, it had been one heck of a flight for a butterfly to get to the boat since it was so hard to get to as a human. well I can morph so it’s all good, even if my only flying morph is a butterfly. She smiled and shook her head, maybe here she could get a bird morph. Right after that throught went through Jamie’s head suddenly a bird swooped down and landed on the railing beside Jamie. Well...that was odd. She thought and then couldn’t figure out what gave her this luck when a voice sounded in her head, <<Getting settled in?>>

Back in the old faction Jamie had been in she had gotten pretty used to thought speech, and had gotten used to her main three morphs since she’d spent a year with only having those three. So she was by now pretty used to stuff like this but because of how she had been sneaking right when the bird...I think the bird...is that guy...Drake! The one in charge here! She thought and laughed softly before smiling. Yeah pretty much, its just so different here. I just gotta get used to being here. She shrugged her shoulders softly. Your Drake right? I’m trying to get voices down...and faces I think I have pretty much, but I kinda am going off of your voice on this one. She smiled, glad to have someone to talk to at least...maybe I’ll make a friend, I gotta fit in sometime.

[Drake]

Drake turned his bald, emotionless head and stared directly at Jamie. <<What, you don't recognize me and my rugged good looks?>> He chuckled a little. <<Yeah, it's me. Drake.>>

With a quick spread of his wings, Drake twisted around on the railing and dropped to the floor. He concentrated on his human form and the changes began immediately. Normally he would have warned a new member that he was going to morph, seeing as it wasn't all that pleasant to watch, but Jamie wasn't quite as new as most.

Drake's legs shot out like stilts as he rocketed up off the ground. His wings were extending at the shoulders, too. Many of the feathers on his torso were dissolving into the fabric of his morphing suit and his teeth were starting to sprout within his beak.

<<I'm sure you will get used to this place soon enough,>> Drake tried to say casually even as the changes were taking place. <<You might even get used to this place sooner than me. Where I'm from it never rained nearly as much as it does here." He tried to smile a warm and friendly smile, but it probably looked more like a scene from a horror movie since his head was still mostly vulture.

[Jamie]

<<What, you don’t recognize me and my rugged good looks? Yeah, it’s me. Drake.>> Jamie couldn’t help but laugh, yes if anything she was going to like it here, especially if the guy in charge was like this, someone she could laugh with. Jamie’s grey eyes followed Drake as he jumped from the railing and dropped the floor. Mostly she guessed what he was about to do, probably about to morph back. She would have looked away and cringed less than a year ago, but now it was more or less a necessary evil that every animorph had to get used to, it wasn’t pretty but it was something that they had to live with.

Jamie did though end up glancing away as he seemed to shoot up from the ground, still mostly bird except for legs. She turned her gaze away for a few seconds, only looking back when she heard Drake’s voice in her head again, <<I’m sure you will get used to this place soon enough>>. Jamie looked at him, he was closer to being back to his human form, and she couldn’t help but smile because he was being so casual, it was kinda contagious. <<You might even get used to this place sooner than me. Where I’m from it never rained nearly as much as it does here.>> Jamie nodded, thinking of home, of Dallas for a little bit. Though when her gaze met Drake’s she couldn’t help but smile, no matter how ‘non’ happy his try at a smile looked she could tell he was trying with his beak and all.

Yeah, I sure hope so. It was so different in the other fraction, and then home...Dallas it kinda rained, but not that much, it was Texas, we rarely got rain. Jamie said, with a small smile, yes she missed home but she hadn’t been there in a while and now she couldn’t go back at all. Though as she turned and looked around the boat, at the ocean, the scenery, and everything else here. It’s beautiful here though, I’m glad I got to join here. She said turning her grey gaze back to him with another smile, she was really glad to come, really glad to try and find her place here. So how’ve you been?

[Drake]

Drake's ears perked up when Jamie mentioned Dallas. It seemed they shared a place from their pasts. He was about to bring it up, but then she asked him how he had been.

Since she probably didn't want to hear about all the things he disliked about being in charge of this faction, or about how he didn't like the idea of being responsible for everyones' safety, he opted to fudge the truth a little. "Everything is going alright so far. As good as I can hope for, anyway."

The last of Drake's vulture features melted away and he leaned against the ship's railing as he spoke. "I mean, the yeerks haven't found us yet, and we have been doing a great job of scouting out the nearby areas of the city. Still, we haven't really done much yet. At least as far as repelling the invasion of earth goes."

Drake folded his arms over his chest and smiled at Jamie. "But maybe we can change that. Now that we have some more manpower."

[Jamie]

Jamie kept her gaze on Drake as he finished morphing, yes it was gross, but she did have the stomach for it at least. After she mentioned Dallas she noticed that Drake did something funny with his ears but she shrugged it off slightly, trying to remind herself to ask about him and her old home later. Everything is going alright so far. As good as I can hope for, anyway. Jamie couldn’t help but nod, she could barely guess how stressful it must be to be a leader of a faction. Being with Conner taught me that much. She thought and smiled softly.

Jamie couldn’t help but grin when she noticed how Drake was his normal self, without the feathers. Now that he was, she remembered the face that had welcomed her here with the other people yesterday. Though he spoke up again, I mean, the yeerks haven’t found us yet, and we have been doing a great job of scouting out the nearby areas of the city. Still, we haven’t really done much yet. At least as far as repelling the invasion of Earth goes. Once again she nodded slightly, turning her gaze back out to the water. It was great to have a home again, even if it was a ship. It had people, and people who welcomed her, I’ll fit in.

Jamie turned her gaze back to meet Drakes smile with one of her own. But maybe we can cange that. Now that we have some more manpower. She laughed and nodded, Yep, we can do it. The eighteen year old couldn’t help but be completely happy about being here. Thank you, for welcoming me and stuff...i’m really glad to be here actually. Jamie leaned her back against the railing and closed her grey eyes for a few seconds before looking back at Drake.

So, just because i’ve mentioned I’m from Dallas, where are you from? She asked slightly, if he didn’t want to say she’d defiantly give him a way out of saying it, but in all truth she just wanted to get to know him...and the others. Besides they were the people she was going to be with for the next long time in their fight against the evil slugs.

[Drake]

Drake gazed out at the water as he replied to Jamie's question. He was glad she asked it. "I'm from Las Vegas, Nevada. Born and raised. That's where I met a group of animorphs and joined their cause." Drake smirked as he remembered kicking a gun out of some thug's hand when he first met his old faction leader, Rian. Then his smile fell flat when he remembered what had happened to Rian. Just another life claimed by this war.

Drake pretended to yawn and scratch his eye when he felt it starting to water. "Anyway, I was eventually transfered to the faction in Dallas, Texas. Your home town. Boy, we had some fun times there. And some frightening times too! I was there when it was destroyed. I barely made it out in time. Not everyone did..." Drake cleared his throat to keep from getting choked up. Ray, Lizzie, Andre... They were some of the unlucky ones.

"After that I went back to Vegas for a little while, before receiving orders to head to Cape Town. But practically as soon as I arrived there, the whole place became a war zone and I escaped with the local faction leader." At least that faction leader was still alive. "We landed at the base in Antarctica, and that's where I was informed that I would be made a faction leader here."

Drake turned back to Jamie at last and did his best to put on a happy face. He hoped his tale had sounded more exciting than discouraging, but he couldn't be certain. "So what about you? What kinds of trials and tribulations did you have to endure to get placed here? I assume it hasn't been easy being an animorph up until now." Drake just silently hoped her story wasn't as nightmarish as his.

[Jamie]

Jamie listened thoughtfully, leaning against the banister of the ship as Drake started talking about what had all happened to him. As he started talking she couldn’t help but smile, Las Vegas, hadn’t that been one of the places Jamie had wanted to visit as a kid before all of this happened. She noticed Drake smile but then watched as it fell away and curiously she wondered what had happened in Nevada that had made him lose his smile just then. She looked back at the water when he yawned and then glanced back at him, hoping that his story was alright.

She listened and sadly it just got worse and worse, but isn’t that pretty close to all of our stories? Tragedy, death, and hurt? She thought as she listened part of her wanted to go over and give the guy a hug but then again...she wasn’t really close to anyone here even if she was a friendly person she was worried that he might not like or agree with a random hug. So what about you? What kinds of trials and tribulations did you have to endure to get placed here? I assume it hasn’t been easy being an animorph up until now. Jamie smiled softly and glanced out at the water before she began, her’s wasn’t near as heart breaking as Drake’s was but it was up there on the list slightly.

Well, I lived in Dallas with my parents since I was born. It was my home and all, grew up there, was in the band and we did great. She smiled, remembering the many competitions she’d gone to with her friends. Though that smile dropped slightly when she started remembering how suddenly half the band had started going to the Sharing meeting, it all started then... She smiled softly, not letting her thoughts show as she decided to go on. Though...after a while mom and dad changed, and so I left. I ended up just driving around and ended up in the Denver, Colorado. Where I found the first fraction I joined. She smiled and thought of Josi, Conner, Ser, and Anya and all the fun they had. It was awesome for I think two years? We were there, we helped where we could and tried to fix things. But it was just falling apart by then. She sighed softly, choosing not to mention how she and Conner had a fling.

So, Jamie chose to just go on. Though something happened and the leader got odd, we never got to get other morphs because he told us not to. It got odd...and well the yeerks came and me and Josi got out, but the others were either killed we think. She shrugged softly and turned back to Drake with a sad smile, she’d lost Conner and the others but now it was more or less time to move on.

We didn’t know who or how they found us. But we got off to a small texas city that we found had Animorphs, we helped out there and told what happened before we got reassigned. I got put here...and Josi got put somewhere else. I haven’t heard from her, but its alright. I’m glad that I’m here though. She softly and bit her lip softly, hoping that there wasn’t any tears escaping her eyes, even though after a few seconds she smiled at him softly.

[Drake]

Jamie's story didn't sound much better than his own. He knew what it was like to lose your fellow faction members. And he would never admit it, but the way she described the way her faction went down, he almost hoped that the lost members died. Only because the alternative was probably worse.

Jamie's expression after she finished her story looked about as happy as his own had. Smiling, but not without pain.

"You know, when this war is over, they'll probably make movies about us." Drake knew it was a huge change of topic, but he had a reason for it. "Big budget movies with the most famous actors. On the big screen all our hardships will seem simple and manageable. The yeerks will be the predictable super villain, destined to be thwarted by the hero. And I'll be there, sitting in the theatre, laughing at how surreal it all is. Because, when it's all said and done, the movie will be more believable than the truth."

Drake turned and put his elbows on the railing, looking out at the ocean. "And in the end, I'll be happy to let people live with the Hollywood version. Nobody should have to live with the pain we endure for this planet. Sometimes a story just needs a happy ending."