Animorphs Fanfic

Prologue

The battle was raging all around me. I looked everywhere, searching for the source of the cry, but only saw aliens from end to end, side to side. Who could have been the one who screamed so loudly, so desperately? Maybe it had been one of the hosts? Or could it have been one of my allies? I looked around again, but saw only death.

It had been a voice inside my head, so it was more likely to be one of my allies. Crap, how could this have happened? I had volunteered my life to this cause, but now I let one of my own allies get killed by a Hork-Bajir? That was so wrong, it couldn't have happened! I had seen that group in battle, and they were fierce, strong fighters. They had done so much to our enemy that I almost envied them. What I did envy about them was their sense of recognition toward one another, their sense of trust.

Go! a voice suddenly cried in my head. I whipped my head around to find an orange and black Siberian tiger standing close to me. I recognized his voice; he was in my history class at the high school, but I didn't know his name. But his beautiful orange and black face looked straight at me. Look, I don't know your name or who you are, or even what you are, but you need to get out of here. Leave this to us!

Insults? I was disgusted by him. He thought I was weak! No, I'm not leaving! I yelled back at him, as if over a huge crowd. Not until I get these people out of here! I'm not your dummy that you can just toss aside when you're done with it.

He had turned around, but now he turned around again to face me. I never said that, he retorted firmly. It's just that you're not part of my team and I don't want to be responsible for you if you get hurt, it's nothing personal. But what he didn't realize was just how personal it really was. It sounded like, since I wasn't a member of his team, I just didn't matter to him. Although, I must admit, he didn't matter much to me persoanally either, so it wasn't that bad.

You don't have to show any hospitality to me, but I'm not leaving. I don't have to take orders from you, and I didn't ask for anything from you! I don't want to leave these people behind, and I won't just let them get killed! And if you make me leave, you're just asking me to commit murder, I retorted to him angrily. I wasn't about to let him boss me around like that, which he knew, so why was he trying? This was one of the most gruesome fights we had been in lately, and I wasn't going to leave all of these innocent hosts and my own allies alone without my help.

He looked at me and, despite the tiger's beautiful face, I could still see the defiance of the human boy behind the mask.

If anyone should leave, it's you and your team. No one is going to be caught by Visser Three but me. He already knows who I am anyway, so it won't matter. Just go, and I'll hold the rest off.

What are you talking about? We never give up, let alone leave someone behind! he yelled at me angrily.

I glared at him through my own mask, and prayed that he could see the determination in my eyes. Go, I told him calmly. I'll follow, but you need to leave. Now! I'll make sure none of your team gets left behind, I promise.

How do I know this isn't just a trap? You said he already knows who you are, so--

You'll just have to trust me! I shrieked, getting irritated. Now tell them you're leaving, or I'll do it myself, dimwit! Besides, if I were a controller, I wouldn't be able to communicate with you by this kind of communication unless it was the Yeerk's voice, I pointed out.

Good point, he said.

Yeah, I agreed, keeping my voice calm by a lot of concentration. Now call them back, or we'll all die!

I noticed that he hesitated, but I tried to keep calm for the sake of them and for my own butt. Finally, he called in thought-speak to his team, who he and they knew as the Animorphs, Guys, fall back! We've gotta get out of here! There was just one more clue that he wasn't in the military: he was informal. Plus his age, which was the same as mine.

I saw a huge, African elephant galumphing toward me and I quickly moved out of the way before she could trample me, followed by a huge-and-incredibly-strong gorilla, a beautiful grey wolf, a red-tailed hawk, which flew like a bullet past me, an Andalite, with its amazing tail held high behind him, and finally, a horrific-yet-absolutely-beautiful Siberian tiger, all bleeding at one spot or another. They were a very odd group, I must say. I didn't see what was going on after they passed because all the aliens ganged up on me.

They were followed by Controllers, Hork-Bajir and other creatures which I could not name. And I held them all off as long as I dared until I could hold them off no longer and was worried I would become a Controller soon if I didn't get out of there right then, so I backed away as fast as I could, and climbed up the narrow stairs. The occasional creature or controller broke free of the crowd and chased after me, but I attacked them as easily and as fast as liquid with my agile body and amazing muscles. I morphed as I went up the stairs, slowly changing back into my human form, slowly losing my already-poor vision. But I could hear them all, chasing me, clawing at my feet as I backed quickly up the stairs.

When I reached the door, I walked out, feeling for the doorknob and closing it in front of me as I backed out and locked it as quickly as I possibly could. Good thing that shed had a bolt on the outside, not the inside -- and it was metal, which was harder to break through. I heard the crowd on the other side banging on the doors, the Hork-Bajir slicing in vain on the other side.

I sighed in relief and tried not to imagine what would happen if they actually ended up getting out. I didn't care to stay to find out either, so I morphed into a golden eagle and flew straight up into the daylight. Every time, the beauty of that clear, blue sky broke something inside me and I always practiced doing flips and twirls through the air, concentrating on the beautiful feeling of wind passing through my tight feathers, the amazingly sharp eyesight of my eagle's eyes, the feeling of beating my wings up and down, up and down, the heat from exercise that made this whole thing so incredible. Plus, the knowledge that if one of my wings suddenly stopped working, there was only thin air between me and my home, the ground. That was what made this whole thing so exhilarating.