Quatre: *blinks* Five reviews in less than a day? Wow!

Yami Quatre: *rolls eyes*

Quatre: Thanks to those who reviewed. And yes, Amiasha Ruri, Yugi is still alive. I wouldn't kill him off!

Yami Quatre: Yes you would.

Quatre: *glares* Anyway, there are two POV's this chapter. Sorry for the spelling mistakes last chapter. AND CAN SOMEONE TELL ME WHAT HAPPENED LAST SATURDAY ON YU-GI-OH? I MISSED IT!

Yami Kenshin: Momentai.

Quatre: And sorry, Jedi Keith, but I am totally blocked on that fic. I dug myself into a big plothole. I'm going to rewrite Shadow Stargate as soon as I finish my other fics. Gomen ne. No worries though, Ame WILL NOT DIE!

Yami Quatre: Serves you right, hikari. The plot hole, I mean

Quatre: *growls*

Yami Quatre: We don't own either YGO or Animorphs. Now, read and REVIEW!!

Cassie

I watched the others drift out after the meeting. I tended to the animals, thinking the mission over. I had to admit, it sounded like we'd have an easy time of it. Up until the part where we had to keep the Yeerks from Kaiba.

Jake was the last to leave. He gave me a lukewarm smile before morphing to falcon and flying away. I finished with a fox before cleaning up and going back into the house.

I greeted Dad as I walked in. He pointed to a package on the hall table. "That came for you today. I don't know what it is, but whatever it is, it's heavy."

"Thanks, Dad." I carefully picked the package up and walked up to my room. There was about an hour until dinner, and I intended to finish my math homework before then.

I finished the last problem just as Mom called me. Gratefully, I ran downstairs.

A half an hour later I flopped onto my bed, satisfied. The mysterious package caught my eye and I sat up, bringing it down to my lap. I opened it and frowned. Who in their right mind would send me a set of solid gold scales?

No matter. I set them on my bedside table, brought out my history essay (due tomorrow) and began to revise it. I'd type it up in the computer lab at school tomorrow.

At about nine, my cell phone rang. I ended up knocking over half of my papers reaching for the phone.

"Hello?"

"It's Jake. Our friend from the north is missing. You remember him, right? The guy with the birds?"

I knocked the rest of my papers to the floor as I sprang upright. Tobias was missing? "Are you sure? He could have gone out to eat."

"Most of the fast food places are closed, and his uncle hasn't seen him."

Not good. "What can we do?"

"I don't know. I'll try calling again in a half an hour."

"Should I tell Rachel? She's rather attached to him."

"Sure, why not. I'll tell Marco while I'm at it."

"I'll right. I'll talk to you in half an hour."

"All right. Later."

"Bye."

I hung up and dialed Rachel's number.

Half an hour later the five of us (Ax included) were in my barn. All of us were worried. What if Tobias had been caught by the Yeerks?

"We'll morph owl and search the forest," Jake directed. "He probably got attacked by a wild animal. If that fails, we'll search the city."

"We should split up," Marco said. "Two of us should search the city, just in case he got held up somewhere."

Jake nodded. "Fine. You and Cassie search the city."

We morphed and took off. On an impulse I flew over to where Tobias had lived as a human. Marco flew over to the Gardens.

I circled the neighborhood. There was no sign of him. I was about to give up when something stirred in an alley. A lump I'd mistaken for trash moved. A tousled dirty blonde head poked out of the alley, blinking blearily.

Tobias! I cried happily.

He looked up. I landed on his shoulder.

"What time is it?"

About ten at night.

He cursed. "Sorry."

How long have you been in morph?

"About eight hours, give or take."

If I were human I'd have winced.

His gaze turned thoughtful. "I wonder…"

He got that faraway look he gets when he's thinking. Suddenly, he started shrinking. I screeched and took off.

What's going on?!

The change was faster than ever. Tobias shrieked happily. I morphed!

Impossible! I said disbelievingly.

Marco flew over just then. Nice to see you, Tobias. Come on. Jake's worried sick.

He nodded and took off.

We all met back up in the barn. Jake scolded Tobias before telling everyone to go to bed.

"We're so tired we can't think straight," he said, yawning as if to prove his point. "We'll talk about Tobias' impossible morph tomorrow."

I nodded and went up to my room. I was dead tired. I pulled the scaled down to the bed next to me as I lay down. Again I wondered why I had been sent these obviously expensive scales.

I fell asleep with my hand curled around it.

Rachel

I woke up to a light tapping at the window. I mumbled incoherently and rolled over, intent on going back to sleep. The tapping came again, more forcefully this time.

Then my alarm rang, and I fell right out of bed.

"Damn!" I swore.

Good morning to you, too.

I shut off the alarm and turned to the window. Tobias perched in a branch, his hawk eyes glaring coolly at me.

I opened the window. Tobias hopped onto my desk and ruffled his feathers. Did you sleep well? he asked.

I shook my head, moving over to the dresser and grabbing a change of clothes. "I dreamt about a weird Egyptian statue that told me something about my destiny. I woke up before it could finish."

Tobias didn't say anything to that. I turned to him. "What?"

Nothing. I just had a dream like that yesterday.

"I see."

There was a knock on my door, startling us both. He quickly flapped out the window just as my mother opened the door.

"Rachel, someone left this for you," she said distractedly, handing me a package.

"What is it?" I asked curiously.

"I don't know. I've got to go. Make sure your sisters get to school on time!" She rushed out the door.

I rolled my eyes. "Figures." Tobias made to come back into the room. "Hey, stay out there for a few minutes, I've got to change."

He dropped from the window ledge. I changed quickly and called him back inside.

He noticed the package on my bed. What is that?

"I dunno." I was busy wrestling my hair into submission. "You can open it if you want to."

He hopped over to the package and daintily sliced the tape with a talon. I grinned. He used his beak to push the flaps open. It's a necklace, he reported.

Finally finished with my hair, I set my brush aside and walked over to the box. Sure enough, a golden eye-shaped necklace lay nestled amongst a bundle of silk.

"Looks cool," I said, picking it up and holding it to my neck, looking around to peer into the mirror. "It matches my outfit, anyway." Fastening it around my neck, I turned around and checked the time.

"Crap! I'm late!" I threw my books into my bag and tore down the stairs, hoping against hope that I didn't miss the bus.

I flopped into the seat next to Cassie. I'd chased the bus three freaking blocks before it had stopped to let me on. Luckily, everyone was too scared of me to laugh. Except Cassie. She grinned like an idiot.

"Did you sleep late?"

"No, Tobias stopped by. We talked. I got a package, too. A really cool looking necklace." I showed it to her as the bus rolled to a stop and picked up more kids.

"That eye's on the scales I got yesterday," Cassie noted. "Odd."

"Where are they?"

"On my dresser, I think. I was in a hurry so I didn't really notice what I did with them."

I rolled my eyes. I couldn't help it. Then I remember a history essay I had to finish (oh, joy) and pulled it out. Cassie smirked.

"Taking a page from Marco's book?"

I ignored her, instead concentrating on trying not to sound like a complete BS-er.

After school we all met up in Cassie's barn. We were discussing Tobias's miraculous morphing last night.

"Any ideas on how Tobias could morph, Ax?" Marco asked.

It is impossible, unless the Ellmist had a hand in it.

"Did anything strange happen to you?" Jake asked Tobias.

Nothing. I'd swiped a package from my uncle and opened it in the alley. It was a strange key. I put it on, felt like I was being fried, and passed out. I don't remember anything after that until I woke up. Tobias looked uneasy.

"Can you still morph?" I asked.

Yeah. But it's really strange…Let me show you.

He fluttered to the ground and began to morph human. It took him a few minutes, like always. This time, though, this rather odd key appeared around his neck.

"See? I morphed earlier today, just to see if I could, and this appeared. I thought I'd lost it in the alley. When I demorphed, though, it vanished again. I wish I could explain it." He tugged the key off and held it up.

"I also had a strange dream when Rachel woke me up yesterday. There was statue that told me that my destiny lay in the shadows. It wore seven weird items. This was one of them."

"I had that dream too," Marco said.

"Me too," I added. "I got a weird necklace in the mail too."

"And I got some strange scales," Cassie put in.

"It looks like we're being targeted by someone. We need to be cautious," Jake mused.

"I think it's the key that's keeping me from being trapped in morph," Tobias said thoughtfully. "It is rather helpful, I think."

"Just be careful," Jake cautioned.

Tobias nodded.

"We'll meet here again Friday to discuss how we're getting to the airport," Jake continued. "And with that, meeting adjourned. Call if you get an item, Marco. I will, too."

We all drifted out. Tobias remained in human morph, so I stayed behind. He looked thoughtful.

"Anything wrong, Tobias?" I asked him.

"Nothing wrong." He looked up and smiled shyly at me. "I was wondering… Since I can stay in human morph for more than two hours, would you like to go out to a movie with me?"

I nearly passed out from the shock. "Are you asking me out on a date?" I asked.

He shook his head. "It'll be a celebration, kind of. Besides, you have to pay. I'm broke."

We both grinned. I offered my arm to him. "I accept your offer. Have any movies in mind?"

"I've been wanting to see Pirates of the Caribbean for ages," Tobias admitted.

"Why not? Orlando Bloom is hot." I grinned and tugged Tobias out of the barn.