Consumed

Part Two- Consumed

____________________________________

And we'll only be makin' it right
Cause we'll never be wrong
Together, we can make it to the end of the night,
Your love is like a shadow on me all of the time,
I don't know what to do, I'm always in the dark....

____________________________________

Something poked into me. <Aah!> I cried as a sharp, shining
object withdrew itself from my wing.
All my sleepiness and grogginess subsided and I awoke fully.
I was in a box; Ramonite, I guessed. One wall was clear and the
top had just shut on me.
I was staring at Rachel. It wouldn't have been that bad a sight to
wake up to if her eyes hadn't been alight with cruelty; if her mouth
wasn't sneering at me.
It hit me.
Rachel- Yeerk-
<NOO!> I screamed to myself. <You fool- it was all a trick- why
didn't you see?!> Rachel didn't love me, she never could have.
It was simply a Yeerk trick. I had been blind!
'Why, hello, Tobias,' she said calmly. The voice had an adult tinge
to it, as if Rachel was just a skin covering the person inside. Which
she was, in a way; her beauty hiding the disgusting slug.
<Y.. yeerk...> I finally managed.
'Why, yes. Astute. Slow, but astute.' A smile spread on her face,
one with cruel mirth. 'Did you guess before? Or will you admit
I played my part to perfection, son of Beast Elfangor?'
 Desperately, I cried: <Rachel! Fight it!>
'Oh, you needn't tell her to fight, human,' the Yeerk said calmly.
'She's already fighting. And screaming. And weeping. She's quite
disappointed in you, Tobias.'
It was all too fast. I felt like curling up into a ball and dying.
Rachel...
'Of course, without you, I wouldn't have done it. You attack Visser
Three. You leave Rachel. Of course she would be made into a host!
She was practically unconscious.' She grinned at me. 'You blindly
believe that a human loves you, a freak! Your naïvete almost makes
me smile. Then you drop your guard totally- next thing, I am Visser
Seventy-Two. Are you proud at what you have helped me accomplish?'
<The others-> I croaked.
'Will all be made into hosts, soon. And as for you...' She shook her
head. 'Visser Three- no, now Visser One- will arrive. Then he will
kill you. Elfangor's son will die.'
<Death is better than being a host,> I said.
She smiled cruelly again, and it tore at the shreds of my soul.
'Tell that to your beloved Rachel.'
The Yeerk left me, weeping angrily to myself.
Have you ever had a moment of single clarity? One moment where you
can see all? I had one then. Rachel was taken, Jake, Cassie, Marco
and Ax were not. I had to get out of here, and get them to safety.
<Yeerk!> I suddenly cried to her.
Rachel's face turned around to sneer at me. 'If you're going to beg
for mercy, it won't work.'
<No, I'm going to do something better. How angry would Visser Th- One
be if I committed suicide before letting him kill me?> The sudden
anguish in her eyes told me more than words.
'Guards- stun him,' she said shortly.
I had already begun to morph Hork-Bajir. I could feel my bulk pressing
against the sides.
'Get him out- no, not that way!' The Hork-Bajir guard had opened the
top. I leaped out with my deformed limbs and attacked the Visser.
'Aah!' she cried, flailing her arms. No, this wasn't my Rachel.
I put my blade to her throat. 'I can kill you,' she threatened.
I laughed. 'You're helpless when morphing. I can kill you in a second.'
'You wouldn't kill your Rachel, would you?' she asked hopefully.
I lifted her up easily and stared her in the eye. 'My Rachel died last
night. Now, I want safe passage out of here.'
She shrugged. 'It doesn't matter whether you get out or not. We're
taking over this town, then, the world! It's lost to the Yeerks.
You've lost, Tobias! The Animorphs have lost!'
I tightened my grip and walked to the stairs. No-one tried to stop
me- the Visser held them back.
We reached the end of the steps and I looked through the door.
The school entrance. I dropped Rachel roughly and began to run.
I don't know whether they sent people after me. But I morphed as
I ran. I was pure terror, and that fueled me.
Pure terror and guilt.
I flew to Jake's first. <WAKE UP!> I screamed outside his window.
A pair of sleepy eyes greeted me there. 'Geez, Tobias, you'll wake-'
<Rachel is a controller. They are taking over. They've won!>
I was slightly hysterical at that point.
Jake woke up. 'What?!'
<We can't waste any time! They'll be going after everyone, you,
your family->
'Have you got the others?'
<No.>
'Get them.' Jake looked thoughtful. 'I think we're going to have to
hide our families. Where?'
<Not with the Hork-Bajir. There's not enough time.>
Jake sighed. 'Tell everyone to come here. Don't say to tell their
families anything, okay?'
<I'm going. What about your cousins? Jordan? Sara?>
Jake looked stern. 'They'll be the first ones the Yeerks go to. If
we can save them, we will; if not.' He left it hanging.

'Go!'
I visited everyone. Marco was all for telling his father there and
then. <What if he's a Yeerk?>
'He's not! I-'
<Just shut up and get your butt to Jake's!> I was only then realizing
what I had done. Just like how Elfangor had created the Abomination,
Visser Three, I had created the second Abomination- Rachel. And now my
world would suffer because of me.
I flew into Jake's room. Everyone was there- except there seemed to
be a big, gaping hole where Rachel should have been.
Aximili flexed his deadly tail.
<What are we going to do, Prince Jake?>
The door opened. Ax prepared to fight whatever came through.
It was only Erek. 'I heard about your situation,' he said calmly.
'I suggest you move. Visser Three has totally taken over the police
force and anyone of importance in this town with Rachel's help.'
He looked at me, and I wondered if he had known all the sordid
details.
'We need to get our families and get out of here,' Marco said.
'There is no time.'
'We'll make time!' Marco sounded venomous.
'I've already lost a mother. I'm not losing Dad.'
'There is no time,' Erek said more forcefully. 'Look out the window!'
I looked out. I could see a black limo coming down the street.
<Visser Three,> I said. <And Visser Seventy-Two.>
Everyone stared at me. 'What?!" Cassie asked.
I sighed. <Rachel- is a Visser already.>
Cassie began to cry quietly. Marco began sprouting feathers.
'What are you doing?' Jake asked him.
'I'm going. I'll take Dad to the Chee. I'm not losing him.'
Erek sighed. 'If you must. But hurry!' He turned to us.
'I'll lead you to our home. You will be safe there, for a
little while.'
I had a thought. <The Hork-Bajir,> I said, my eyes filling with
consternation.
Then I calmed down. <The Ellimist will block the valley.>
The others morphed silently to bird. It was all so confusing.
One moment, we lived in a semblance of normality- the next,
hiding out with the Chee.

I guess that ended my life as a child. I grew up, then, with
the Animorphs.
Marco returned with his father, and later with some other free humans.
They grew hard to come by.
The Yeerks took over the town. Of course, the Yeerks knew there
were Chee out there, but we blocked off the entrance. They
obviously thought the humans had bolted for safety. So, we didn't
get caught.
The Chee kindly hollowed out a living space for all the free humans-
of which there were only about thirty. We all changed in there,
Cassie wilted like a flower. Ax grew stony, thinking the world lost
to the Yeerks. Jake played 'Heroic Leader of the World' which pissed
me off. But then again, everything pissed me off. I was introspective,
going over every detail of my last night with Rachel and saying,
'Why didn't I notice that? You fool! You stupid, dreamy fool!'
Marco, surprisingly, was the strongest one. He believed that we
could get free humans and mount a rebellion. I hadn't the heart to
tell him that there wasn't a chance. The Yeerks had won, and we were
stuck in the Dog heaven with the Chee.
He also approached me a lot. 'Tobias, why don't you talk to us any
more? You're usually outside the base, hunting, trying to get yourself
killed! It isn't your fault.' He was sixteen when he said this.
His hair had grown again, and his dark eyes studied me seriously.
<Isn't it, Marco?>
'No, it isn't. It was just a mistake. We'll rescue her!'
I glared at Marco. They didn't know about my mistake, exactly how
Rachel had caught me off guard.
I didn't want to tell them. What would I say? 'Well, see, I thought
Rachel was in love with me, so I let my hormones do the thinking!'
Instead, I flew high above the city and watched the changes take
place.

The Yeerks had won. The forests were cut down; grass dwindled into
barren desert. Every city was a dark space-port. It grew harder for
me to get out without being seen.
Then, they discovered us.
I was sitting around, watching the others talk. We only had
40 humans; I was eighteen. I felt far older.
I heard a rumbling noise. <What's that?> I asked sharply.
Jake looked at me in some surprise. I didn't speak often. 'What's
what?'
He had grown tall, hulking over the diminuitive form of Cassie,
who he was sitting next to.
I listened again. It sounded like... I don't know. A tank. A-
Some earth crumbled down from the ceiling. Then more, then a whole
shower. 'Jake!' a Chee said, running in. It was Chee-Linnus, an
android the others knew but I didn't talk to.
'What is it, Lin?' Marco asked. He'd grown muscular, but he was
still short.
'Yeerks have been detected. Erek sent me- you must leave! Now!'
'We'll fight!' Jake yelled as the rumbling grew louder.
<We must protect you,> Ax said to the android. He was looking like-
well, the same, just a little bit bigger. And sadder eyes.
'You must not,' Linnus said, looking back. 'We will hold up this
place forever, if needs be, but you could not hope to survive! Out!'
'They finally kicked us out,' Marco joked weakly.
Jake glared. 'Come on. Through the tunnel. We'll morph when we get
to a safe place, then come back for the Chee!'
<What safe place?> I muttered.
We ran through the tunnel to the outside. It looked like it was dusk
outside, even though it was probably only 10 in the morning.
Large machines that looked like crosses between tanks and
earth-movers hulked outside. A troop of Hork-Bajir assailed us.
There must have been at least fifty.
'They called out the cavalry!' Marco breathed. We stopped dead.
A helicopter whirred above us. 'Capture them!' a very familiar voice
said.
'I want them alive. Half of you- down to the Chee. The rest,
capture the Animorphs.' The voice laughed cruelly. 'Of course,
they don't have to be that alive.'
My heart skipped a few beats. <Rachel,> I said grimly and began
to fly up.
<Tobias, no!> Ax called desperately.
'I'll get Rachel. You guys get away!'
I could see them run to a ruined shell of a building, already
morphing. Rachel's voice, much louder, yelled again. 'Don't just
stand there! Get them!'
Do you know how hard it is to maneuver with blades spinning just
above you, creating an invisible tornado? It's hard.
I rocketed into the open hatch. <Hello, Visser Seventy-Two,> I said.
Rachel merely blinked. 'Don't be silly. Haven't your little Chee
friends told you? I am Visser Ten now. ' She grinned mirthlessly.
'Time flies, doesn't it?'
She grabbed a Dracon beam and aimed it at me. 'Don't move, Animorph.'
Visser Ten squinted and looked at me. 'My, this looks familiar.
Hello, Tobias.'
I shrieked and went for the pilot, tearing and ripping with my beak.
'Aah!' the unfortunate human cried, ribbons of blood appearing on his
cheeks.
The helicopter took a dive. I fell out, tumbled, and righted myself.
I could see the scene below- a tiger, wolf, gorilla and Andalite
fighting a horde of Hork-Bajir. I dived down and ripped at one's
eyes.
<Tobias!> Jake yelled to me. <I'm going to distract them! Get the
others. Go!>
<I'm not leaving you!>
<GO!> Jake's voice was rigid with command.
<Yes, Jake.> To the others, I said, <Come on! I'll lead you- we'll
go behind those buildings and morph into birds.>
<Jake!> Cassie called, distressed.
<No, Jake. We ain't leaving you, man.>
<Prince Jake! We will fight with you to the end!>
<Go!> Jake said again, tearing savagely at a Hork-Bajir. It fell and
didn't get up again.
Cassie lingered- most likely sending a message to Jake. I went back
and herded everyone to the ruins where they morphed into birds.
I flew up. Jake was surrounded by Hork-Bajir.
<Oh, God!> I said, horrified. I tucked my wings and dived
kamikaze-style.
I sank my talons deep in the Controller's eyes. He stumbled back,
out the circle. Shapes, just beside me! Ax, Marco and Cassie had
joined the fight, bird-style.
<Get out of here!> Jake roared and leaped, meaning to pin a
Hork-Bajir. By some freak move, the Hork-Bajir raised it's
arm-blade in a perfect angle. The blade shoved it's way into
Jake's tiger head as he turned it.
He died instantly.

Sometimes I wonder whether that should make me feel better.
The fact he died instantly. Like that's supposed to lessen the pain.
Not surprisingly, it never does.

The tiger body flopped to the ground, the claws sunk in the
Hork-Bajir's neck. For the Hork-Bajir, it would end,
but not instantly.

That never made me feel better, either.

<JAKE!> Cassie cried. It was an awful thing to hear- a cry of infinite
pain and loss. She dived, scraping two Hork-Bajir and sinking her
talons into a third.
'Idiots!' a voice, cold and calculating, came from the helicopter.
'You killed the ringleader. Visser One was looking forward to
decorating his head on a pike.'
<We have to go!> I said. I felt sick.
<Tobias- Jake,> Marco sounded lost.
<We have to get to the Hork-Bajir! Do you want to die as well?>
I didn't care whether they hated me. I had lost Rachel; now I had
lost my leader and my friend.
<Jake!> Cassie cried again.
<Come on, Cassie! He wouldn't have wanted you to get killed!>
<Prince Jake-> Ax started.
Marco pulled himself together. <He's dead. Let's go!>

So Jake was the first one to truly die. Sometimes I'd wish it
had been me; Jake had a purpose. He was our anchor.
I was a lost soul, bitter and consumed.
Yes, we found the Hork-Bajir valley. Inside, the vastness was
covered in trees; the Ellimist had done it's job well.
Toby, now almost adult, looked at me. 'Tobias?'
<Yes.> I flew onto her arm.
'We feared you were dead. Ket! Jara!' She called them, and they
came over. They looked very much the same.
'Friend Tobias?' Jara Hamee asked.
<Yup. Hi.>
'We thought you dead!' Ket said excitedly.
<I'm not. But some of my friends are.>
'I'm sorry,' Toby said gently to me. She looked at my friends,
who were demorphing. 'Jake and Rachel?'
<Rachel is worse than dead. She's a controller.>
Toby nodded grimly. Then she raised her head. 'I knew that you
would come back if you were still alive.'
<Yeah, well, now I'm here.> I explained the situation to her.
Ket and Jara listened, probably didn't get half of it, but got the
major points.
'Friend Tobias stay,' Jara said.
Ket nodded enthusiastically. 'Tobias here. Stay here.'
'Thanks... For giving us shelter,' Cassie said awkwardly to Toby.
Cassie looked more tired than I'd ever seen her.
'Just wonderful,' Marco muttered. 'Stuck in a valley, forever doomed
to eat pine-bark with space goblins.'
'I'd thought some humans might come after the Yeerks took over,'
Toby said, leading us away. 'So I planted vegetables. You humans
eat them, don't you?'
'Oh, yes, vegetables are fine,' Cassie said.
<How did you know the Yeerks would take over?> I asked her.
She looked at me. 'I went travelling outside the valley. I saw the
Yeerk's weapons out in the open. So I prepared.' Toby led us to a
honeycomb of caves in the rock wall that surrounded the valley.
'You'll be safe here.'
<Thanks, Toby,> I said.
Aximili waved his tail around. <She is right. We are safe. There are
many Hork-Bajir and one Andalite.>
I guess it was mildly funny. But I was too queasy and depressed to
laugh. I hunted a little- probably the best food I'd had in a long
time- and found a new perch in a tree outside the caves.
That was home number two. We were a little happier there; well, as
happy as you can be when you've betrayed the only person you'd ever
loved and watched the person who led you fail.
Happy, no?

One day, we heard a commotion outside. I flapped to the next tree
whilst Cassie, Marco and Ax ran to see what it was.
A female figure was holding up Fal Tagut like he was a small baby.
Linnus.
'Marco!' she said, annoyed. 'Could you tell them I'm not a Yeerk?'
'Linny?' he asked, bewildered. He turned to Fal Tagut. 'She's a
friend, Fal. Nothing inside her head! Free!'
Fal Tagut stopped struggling and Linny set him down.
<What are you doing here, Linnus?> Ax asked her.
She looked at us. 'The Chee...' Her voice almost seemed to be caught
in her throat. 'They failed.'
<What?!> I asked. <The Chee lost?>
Tears ran down her face. Although I knew they were holographic,
she really meant them. 'We wouldn't fight, wouldn't defend, wouldn't
move. They either took the humans away or destroyed them.'
'Dad?' Marco asked desperately.
Linnus pulled a piece of bloodstained paper out her pocket and shook
her head. 'He was already wounded. He didn't want to be taken.
"Linnus," he said. "Help me die; don't let them put one of those
things in my head." I tried to heal him, but it didn't work. He
wrote this note, and then I gave him an injection. He went to sleep.'
Linnus looked at Marco. His face was the same as it had been in the
tunnel; empty. 'I'm sorry.'
Marco silently took the letter. He took it into the cave and read it.
I don't know what was in it, but he spent a lot of time in his
roughly-formed room over the next few days.
<What happened to the Chee?> I asked Linnus. She looked blank.
'The Chee can be destroyed. They were ...destroyed...' She took a
shuddering breath. 'The Yeerks put them through everything they could
think of. Liquid metal. Acid. Finally, after this torture, their
bodies were strewn across the ground.' She looked away. 'I watched.'
<Did any other Chee survive?> asked Ax.
She shook her head and began to walk away. Cassie, who had been
silent all this time, stopped her. 'Linny, stay with us. Don't commit
suicide by going back there. There's so much you can still do.'
'What?' asked Linnus, half-roughly, half-depressed. 'There's nothing
left.'
'Yes, there is,' Cassie said firmly. 'There is always something left.
Never forget that! Rescue some dogs. Rear them. Protect the last
essence of the Pemalites. You owe them that.'
Linnus looked at Cassie, then walked out the entrance of the valley.
She came back some hours later, carrying a whole armful of puppies.
'I found them in a ruined building,' she said, her face finally
smiling. 'Their mother wasn't there.'
'So you're taking my advice?' Cassie said.
Linnus nodded. 'Like you said, I have something to live for.' She
sat down quietly and began dribbling something in their mouths from
her fingers.
So Chee-Linnus stayed with us. We now had the last of the free
Hork-Bajir, the last of the free humans, and the last of the free
dogs. All we needed now was to get into the Guinness Book of World
Records.

Before the Yeerks had total reign over Earth, Ax and Linnus went out
of the valley to scrounge metals and electronic equipment the Yeerks
left on their junk-heaps. When they came back, they spent about three
days setting up what looked like a massive radio.
<What on earth are you doing?> I asked irritably.
Linny looked up. 'Nothing from Earth, Tobias. We're going to hook
this up to my systems and try to call the Andalite Homeworld.'
I glared. <Like they'll ever give us assistance. I haven't seen any
Andalite ships around for the past five years, have you?>
'Shut up, Tobias,' Marco said irritably from the cave entrance.
I hadn't realized their machine would work, but it did. Ax had a
silent conversation with the head Andalite, Lirem-Something-Or-Other,
and came back looking rather sick.
'What's the matter, Ax?' Cassie asked.
Ax's "voice" was barely a whisper. <They want me to go back.>
'What?' Marco asked. 'They can't- you-'

'When?'
Ax continued to look dazed. <When- uh, in about two Earth days,
I believe, the transport will come. I gave them my co-ordinates.>
<Fantastic,> I said coldly. <We'll be down to three members. It'll
be really fun when the Yeerks come in and we only have three
morph-capable people!>
'It's not like you'd be helping, Tobias!' Marco said, angry.
'All you've done for the past three years is sit and stew with
this crazed notion it's all your fault! When we try to help you,
you just tell us to shut up and leave you alone! We've left you
alone! You're not helping to-'
He shut up, because I had flown away.

Looking back now, of course he was right. But I thought I didn't
need any of them. I didn't even need Tobias. All I needed was my
anger, my hurt, my guilt, and I was set for the rest of
my sorry life.

I didn't see Ax leave. When I knew that he had, I didn't care.
It would have scared me if there was enough Tobias left in me-
the fact I didn't care my shorm and uncle was leaving without
saying good-bye.
I didn't talk to the others for long periods of time. I would
fly off; first just in the valley, then around the desert
surrounding it, then finally to the city.
The Ellimist's created world had been right in all aspects except
one; the first time I had visited the city the Yeerks had created,
everything was covered in misty, grey light. Now, everything was
black. It suited me, somehow.

I lived for another two years. A horrible truth dawned on me;
I was immortal. Every time I morphed, I reverted to the young,
original hawk. Beyond death, I would haunt this valley until it
was uninhabited and until I went insane.
Cassie noticed. 'Tobias-' she started hesitantly. She knew that the
slightest thing would happily send me off in anger. 'Have you noticed
you're not aging?'
<Oh, no, I haven't. I've just been living in this body for
years now.>
'Living?' Marco snorted. 'More like only existing. You don't live,
Tobias. Hell, you aren't even Tobias any-'
'Shut up!' Cassie hissed angrily to Marco.
I looked with my laser-sharp glare at Marco. <He's right about one
thing.>
'What?'
<I'm not Tobias any more. Tobias is no longer alive.>
Cassie, with softening eyes, said, 'Tobias, it's okay to grieve-'
<Grieving? Is that what you think I'm doing?>
'Well, yes. Aren't you grieving for Rachel, that she's now lost to
the Yeerks?'
I almost laughed. <I'm not grieving. I'm angry that I'm so stupid.
I'm angry that I'm so blind!>
'It isn't your fault, Tobias,' Linnus said, coming into the
conversation suddenly.
<Yes, it is,> I said. I was suddenly tired. I was always having mood
swings when I talked to Cassie, Marco and Linny. I'd feel angry,
insanely angry, then tired, then often sad. <A lot of things are my
fault. I think... I'll have to go and make them right.>
Cassie interpreted the situation immediately. 'I'm not letting
you go and get yourself killed.'
<Letting who go? Tobias? Or the strange person that's living in
his shell?>
Cassie got a strange look on her face and whispered something to
Linnus. Then she straightened. 'Look, Tobias, you won't tell anything
to me, right?'

'I once read a story about a girl who- well, it doesn't matter,
but she wouldn't tell her secret. So this king said to her, 'If
you won't tell your story to me, tell it to that old stove in the
corner.'"
<Meaning?>
'Meaning Cassie reads too many fairy-tales,' Marco said with a grin.
She rolled her eyes. 'Meaning, if you won't tell it to me, will you
record it? So one day, when you're ready, you'll let us hear?'
<Why?> I was confused.
'You need to bleed, Tobias. Rachel is this wound that won't heal,
because you keep picking at it with all your hollow guilt and sorrow.
If you bleed, if you let the guilt and sorrow come out, you'll heal.'
That's how this started. I knew it wouldn't work; but I did it to get
Cassie off my back. Linnus and Marco made a strange little machine
that I could record my thoughts to. They all promised they wouldn't
listen; for some stupid reason I trusted them. Maybe it was old
Tobias speaking. Maybe I was sick. Who cared?

I told everything. It all came out in a maddened rush as I remembered
things I hadn't thought about in years. Of course it was hard; but
I never cried.
Never physically, anyway.
Something about saying everything I felt gave me a spark of hope.
Could I still make a difference? Something Rachel had said to me,
years ago, still burned.
What were we doing? We were trying to destroy the Kandrona-
'But things are connected in millions of ways,' Cassie was saying.
'They say a single butterfly, beating its wings in China, can start
a tornado in America.'
<Yes,> I'd said, <but how does a butterfly know when to beat its
wings?>
'It doesn't,' Rachel said. 'I guess it beats its wings the best it
can, and hopes it will all work out. It's a butterfly. It just does
what butterflies do.'
I wasn't a butterfly, but I was Tobias. What things mattered to him?
I hadn't listened to him for so long I had forgotten.
<Life. Love. Hope.>
What do we do?

It was time to start listening, again.

I talked to Linnus that night. <Linny? I'm going away again.
Tell Cassie not to worry, okay?>
Lin looked at me keenly. 'You're going back, aren't you?'

'It hasn't been assaulted for a while, has it?' Linnus' human
hologram smiled a sad smile. 'I'll be there with you in spirit,
my friend. I wish you wouldn't go without help.'
<It's a win-win situation, Linnus. Whatever happens, I win.>
I hesitated. <Linny, if I don't come back... Open the recording.
I want them to know the truth.>
'Done.'
I didn't look back, not once. In a way, I never looked back again
for the rest of my life.

I flew around the city, carelessly flying above the hunter robots
that were stationed around. I was too small to really interest them;
they were looking for bigger animals and ships.
I flew down to the open Yeerk Pool. People were still in the cages.
What cut me was that they still cried for help- they still had hope.
In this hell, they wouldn't find any.
I hid in a wrecked building- not knowing why. Did I think I could
make some difference? Give hope? I didn't know what I wanted anymore.
A Bug fighter hovered over the pool, then landed, spraying brilliant
colour
everywhere. I'd known she would come back; this was the rat's nest,
and she was the biggest vermin of all.
A desperate plan formed in my mind. She had to come back to soak up
Kandrona rays; Rachel would be free for that little time. I'd rescue
her-
A number of questions should have formed in my mind.
What if she's guarded? The Visser's not going to give her up easily.
And if she's sedated, Tobias? What do you do?
They didn't.
The Visser walked down the a ramp. Four Hork-Bajir and one human
walked with her. They disappeared from sight to underneath the pool.
I was ready- I had begun to morph fly as she had come in off the
Bug fighter. The ramp shut just after I hauled myself in.
Underneath, it surprised me. It was a pretty nice office- carpet,
plants, nice chair, all the stuff you'd expect to find in a human
office.
The Visser was walked to another room. This one had no carpet.
All it was was a bed with strange metal straps. A table was nearby,
loaded with more drugs and hypodermic needles. The Visser pushed a
button, and part of the floor moved away to reveal a small Yeerk pool.
The human held her arm gently, and she moved her ear down to the grey
liquid. A Yeerk slithered out.
Rachel immediately began to pull away. But the human shoved a needle
in her arm and pumped her full of whatever it was. She slumped,
and the Hork-Bajir strapped her to the table.
The human walked away, leaving only the Hork-Bajir. I watched him
walk up the ramp and away.
Silently, I demorphed and morphed to Hork-Bajir. I called to the
guards. 'Andalite bandit! In the Pool! Everyone up, now!'
About two Hork-Bajir came up. 'What?'
'Don't stand there! The Visser needs you up there, now!'
I guess they were pretty dumb. 'The Visser?' one said fearfully.
'Yes. Get! I'll take over!'
They both ran up as I went into the Pool room. 'Where did they go?'
asked one. I picked up a hypodermic needle. 'Hopefully the same place
you'll be going,' I said and pumped him full. He looked dozy for a
moment, then slumped.
Quick as lightning, the other attacked me. I shoved him up against the
wall with my arm-blade at his throat. 'I can kill you,' he bluffed.
'Not before I kill you.' The words seemed familiar, terribly
familiar.
'What do you want?' the guard rasped.
I shoved him over to the next wall, grabbed another needle and
helped him to sleep. 'Heh-heh,' I couldn't help saying, pleased.
Looking over at the drug tray, I realized I had a problem. There
were three kinds of needles. One had to be a stimulant, the other
I knew was the tranquilizer, but I had no idea about the other.
'Sorry, Rachel, but I guess I'm going to have to go for luck,'
I said to her sleeping body. To myself, I said, okay. Whoever loves
me, let me pick the right one!
I picked a dirty-yellow one and took Rachel's arm. With my clumsy
Hork-Bajir fingers I pumped it.
The effect was immediate. Rachel's head jerked violently, and her
whole body shuddered. She looked at me. 'Go away! Don't put that
slug in my head! Just kill me! Just-'
'Rachel, it's me,' I said softly.
Rachel squinted at me. 'I'm having another of those dreams, aren't I?
In a moment, they'll come and take me away and put him in my head...'
She began to cry angrily. I undid the straps and carefully lifted her
off, trying not to stab her. She fell weakly to the ground, as if she
had forgotten how to walk. 'I'm not dreaming, am I?' she said to the
floor.
'You're not.' I lifted her face off the floor. 'Rachel, it's me-
Tobias.'
I didn't know what to expect. Screams? Her trying to attack me?
I was expecting her to turn away and say, 'Betrayer.'
Instead, she looked at me. Being a Yeerk hadn't made her any less
beautful on the outside, but now she was Rachel. That in itself
was beautiful.
'Tobias?' she whispered. Then she threw her arms around my neck,
ignoring my blades. 'Tobias, I'm sorry, so sorry- I betrayed you, I-'
'What?!' This wasn't the answer I wanted. 'You didn't, you were a
Yeerk- I should have known, I hurt you-'
'You? Hurt me?' She made a noise that was supposed to sound like a
laugh, but came out a raspy cough. 'Tobias, she knew you loved me,
that I loved you and took advantage of it! I betrayed you with that.'
She began to cry again into my neck.
<Well, isn't this a tear-jerking conversation?> a thought-speak voice
jeered.
Rachel started, then began to morph. I looked up. <Ax?!> I said,
horrified.
<No longer. I am Visser Twenty-Five.>
Rachel had half-morphed to grizzly. <We infiltrated the home-world.
I personally oversaw the infesting of Ax.> She sounded like her heart
was going to break. <We have to stop him.>
<There must be some other way!>
<No other way. Let's do it!> She roared, and rushed Ax.
Thwap! His tail sliced a large chunk out of her shoulder. It didn't
matter, because her momentum carried him into the wall of the next
room.
<Guards!> Ax cried. About 20 Hork-Bajir ran down the ramp.
<So, you see, Rachel, Tobias,> he said.

<Do what he says,> I hissed to her. <I'm not losing you again!>
<To be a Yeerk again? No, Tobias. Free or->
<Hold on.> I had an idea. I turned to Ax.<We'll both go freely if
you just let... us... have one last moment.>
<If you'll both go quietly? Yes, but please don't make me physically
sick.>
<Tobias?> Rachel said to me. <You know I love you, but->
<Okay, look like you're completely lost in what I'm saying.>
Rachel turned to me with her bear head. <Okay, now what?>
<On the count of three, charge into the other room. Ax'll be
expecting it, but we just have to take the chance.>
<Okay.>
<One, two, three!>
We both hurled ourselves into the room and shut the door. It was made
of some very thick metal; obviously the Visser liked privacy.
<We need to do something, and we need to do it now!>
Rachel had a look around the room. <Tobias, how would you like to
destroy the Yeerk pool?>
<What?> I was checking the door. Although it was locked, about three
Hork-Bajir were pounding on it.

<Rachel, death means nothing to me any more.>
<You know I love you...>
I laughed rather sadly. Someone had gotten a Dracon
and was busy demolishing the door.
Rachel pulled up a computer screen out of the wall. She tapped on
it for a while, then hit a button. <We have three minutes to get out
of here. Let's go!>

180.
We unlocked the door and faced three Hork-Bajir. The rest
had gone out.
<The Pool is about to explode!> Rachel taunted. <Hope you like fire!>
They all took one look at each other and ran off.
<So. You've set the explosives off,> Ax said mildly.
170.
<Yes, you Yeerk scum. Are you going to run or stay here and fry?>
I asked.
<I'll see your deaths before I die!>
Rachel moved forward, but I stopped her. <My turn.>
I looked at my uncle. <May I be forgiven for what I am about to do,>
I said to Ax.
<What? Die?> asked the Visser.
<No.> I lunged with an arm-blade towards his chest. He caught it with
his tail.
140.
<Tobias, a Hork-Bajir against an Andalite?> I could hear the tension
in her 'voice'.
Ax whipped up his tail again and it dug deep into my chest.
<Tobias!> Rachel cried. I fell to the floor, weakening. Rachel whacked
Ax once, not caring that he about sliced her paw off, and sent him
reeling across the room. <Morph!>
I did so. I felt my arms dwindling down into hollow bones, my eyesight
sharpening-
Ax had gotten up and to a computer console, obviously overriding
Rachel's plans.
130.
170.
180.
Overriding.
Rachel tore into him from the back with a growl. Ax screamed in
thought-speak- his tail was now hanging on by a few threads.
She pushed him out of the way and began to talk with the computer
in thought-speak.
180.
Overriding.
I flew onto Rachel's shoulder. Another Hork-Bajir had come into the
room to assist Ax.
<We'd better hurry up!>
<I'm TRYING!>
I was too busy watching the numbers on the screen when Ax fired a
Dracon beam. It burned off half of my right wing.
<AAAH!> Pain! Sudden, searing pain like nothing I'd ever felt!
<Tobias!> Rachel picked me up and glared at Ax. Then she sent a last
command to the computer.
180.
100.
80.
50.
3.
2.
1.
I heard a deep, rumbling noise, and then I was deafened with the
sound of the explosion. A rock fell on Rachel and I, and then
I knew no more.

<Tobias?>
I didn't want to wake up. I was dreaming... I was on my perch
in the Hork-Bajir valley, and Linny was waking me up...
<Tobias? Are you okay?>
I had opened my eyes, but it was still dark. And dusty.
<Rachel?>
<I'm here.> She sounded subdued.
<Where are we?>
<The rock's surrounding us. Tobias->


<How can you after what I did?> I said, more speaking to myself.
<Tobias, I was the one hurting you. I'd forced you... > Rachel
trailed off.
<If you could go back- would you still do it?>
<Yeah. But hopefully, I wouldn't have a slug in my head.>

There was a long silence in the cave. If there had been light,
it would have found a hawk and a grizzly stuck in pools of their
own mingling blood.
<What are you doing?> Rachel asked Tobias.
He was startled. 
<Marco did something with computers and he didn't hurt himself?>
They both laughed silently, although they were getting weaker.
Tobias went back to his recording.

_____________________________

I guess this has turned into my hirac delest. What do I say?
I'm not eloquent as Elfangor. I haven't just saved the world.
<Tobi?> Rachel asks, reading my thoughts. <Do you think we made a
difference?>
 I feel myself losing blood. I'm so tired...
<Don't go to sleep,> Rachel says immediately. 

Cassie, Marco, don't weep for me. Someone once said,
'It's better to forget and laugh than to remember and weep.'
My life's not flashing before my eyes, but everything else is.
Songs I never sung. Words I never spoke.

Every waking moment I...

<Tobias? Don't go before I do.>

Fly too fast and soar too high...

Drifting further from your love...

Forgetting why I'm meant to fly...

It's getting dark.

Every... waking....

moment...

__________________________________

Then, in the silent darkness, the hawk weakly presses against
the bear's chest, a delicate bundle of feathers. Then they
slowly stop breathing.
__________________________________

Cassie sighed and turned off the recording. Her kids,
Tobias and Rachel, both aged 14 stared back at her.
'Man, Mom,' Rachel breathed finally. She looked nothing like
Cassie's Rachel- more like a small Marco gone female. 'So that's why
we're named after them.'
'That's so sad,' Tobias said, tears pricking his large, dark eyes.
'Yes, it is.' Cassie looked away. 'I still miss them.'
She had been listening to the recording every day for the past
twenty years.
_________________________________

The End... Of the Beginning...

I take no responsibility for this fanfic! - Guardian

'Every Waking Moment' belongs to Tamara Houghton.
'Total Eclipse Of The Heart' belongs to Bonnie Tyler.

Don't sue! Puh-leeze!

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