Story [Animorphs] Diary of a Free Hork-Bajir (Dear Diary '09) (update 12/28)

Title: Diary of a Free Hork-Bajir
Author: DaenaBenjen42
Fandom: Animorphs
Character: Toby Hamee? and others...
Disclaimer: Animorphs belongs to K.A. Applegate and Scolastic. Am borrowing. Will return when done. (Could be a while.)
Notes: This is for the 2009 Dear Diary Challenge.
Special Note: any text denoted in italics or colors is another person other writing in the same entry. Sort of: they're reading over the other person's shoulder or are passing the journal back and forth.




Entry One


Have started keeping a diary since one of those humans brought me this... I think it's called a book? Must be book. Not sure what else to call it. Anyway... have stared keeping a diary since one of the humans, I think her name is Rachel, brought this out to me along with some 'pens' to write with.

Not sure why she wanted me to write in it, but I like the idea. And someone must record this historic event? which is going to be me, because no one else here can read or write.

My name is Toby Hamee. I am a Hork-Bajir. I am a seer among my people. I am the daughter of Ket Halpak and Jara Hamee, grand daughter of Seerow Hamee, great granddaughter of Aldrea-Iskilion-Falan and Dak Hamee.

I am the first Seer born into freedom since my great grandfather. I am the leader of my people though I am the youngest among them.

And? oh. Mother?s calling me. More later?


TBC?

 

first reply! w00t!

for a first time animorpher, i'm definitely looking forward to seeing where you take this. consider me a reader.

great writing, and i like the missing words at times.

:snoopy

 

omg! i love anomorphs! i used to read it with my kids when the series first came out! got the first book for my daughter when she was in first grade, from one of those scholastic book order things they bring home from school.

You've got a great start here. The Hork Bajir and their planet were so interesting. Please pm me when you update!

 

Oh man, Animorphs! I read those up until about book 33 then stopped. I wished I had kept going, since I was so close to the end!

Great start and I can't wait to see how this one goes.

 

I know nothing of Animorphs but this looks really interesting!

Great first entry, Daena!

 

Trimaj: Welcome to Animorphs, Tri. Thank you, and I really hope you enjoy the ride.

ratna: That?s awesome, ratna. She liking ?em? PM list, check. Yes, the Hork-Bajir were neat. Thank you.

Miana Kenobi: You stopped at book 33? Miana, if possible, go find a copy of book 34. It?s really, really good. Thank you.

mavjade: Thank you, mav. Also welcome and, like Tri, I hope you also enjoy the ride.


PM list

ratna


If anyone would like PMs for this story and is not on the list, please let me know. If you are on the list and would like to be taken off, also let me know. Thank you.

 

Entry two?


So where was I? Oh, yes. Forgot where I left off. Explaining who I am to? myself? Yes. I can do that?

I am Toby Hamee and I am a Seer among my people. No, that does not mean I see the future? it just means that I?m a genetic anomaly. You see? my people were genetically engineered by this race called the Arn to be simple. Which? would have been all well and good but for one thing: the Yeerks. To them, the Hork-Bakir are the perfect host bodies, and natural blades on our bodies that are normally used for harvesting bark off of trees, make us the perfect weapons.

My intelligence, my ability to think on a level equal to humans and Andalites and Yeerks? was a genetic roll of the dice. Sure, my great grandfather had the same ability, but what are the odds of it happening twice in the same family a generation apart? Small. Very small.

My great grandmother, Aldrea? she died thirty years ago and I?ve? met her once. That? looks really odd on paper, doesn?t it? What I mean here is that I?ve never met her HER, but I have met her. There was this Arn who needed help and a? copy of her Illixia? That spelling doesn?t look right, but basically there was a copy of her memories, of herself made sometime during the war on the homeworld and it survived, along with the Arn who needed our help to get the weapons he hid to arm the resistence there.

Getting back to meeting my great grandmother? I wanted her to choose me. Instead, she chose Cassie. I don?t know why. I wanted to ask her, but it?s never felt like the right time to ask. It?s probably best that she?s offworld right now with the rest of them. And no... she's not still carrying my great grandmother's illixica around in her head. I wish she was, but it was put back where it belongs when the mission was over.

Getting back to what this journal is for, though? the historic thing, I mean. We?re winning. That?s why most everyone is offworld right now, but for a few. And I?m going to get the ones who stayed behind to tell the parts that I can not tell because I wasn?t there at the time. So there will be a record of these things for people to know, at least partly.

More on that later, though. Time for sleep.

 

Great entry!

No, that does not mean I see the future?
I love how you put that becuase when I read seer, I immediately said to my self, "okay I get that, can see the future." and then I said "oh, maybe not." I think I pretty much literally had a conversation with myself!

To them, the Hork-Bakir are the perfect host bodies, and natural blades on our bodies that are normally used for harvesting bark off of trees, make us the perfect weapons
Ack! That doesn't sound very good!

I'm very excited to learn more!

 

nice! i like your pacing, you give us just enough information to get our bearings, but not an info dump to overwhelm ... and little loose ends that keep us reading.

as for the original books, i think i ended up liking them even more than my kids did ... shows how mature i am, i guess

"will be watching this fic's career with great interest ... "

 

mavjade: I love how you put that becuase when I read seer, I immediately said to my self, "okay I get that, can see the future." and then I said "oh, maybe not." I think I pretty much literally had a conversation with myself!

That's why I got it out of the way as soon as I possibly could... Seer can mean clairvoiant or 'sees things in a way others do not'. In this case, it's the latter.

Thank you, mav.


ratna: It's not an information overload? Thank you, ratna. That was exactly what I wanted to hear.

 

Entry Three...


Mother told me that we'll be having visitors for a while. Well, really what she said was "They coming. Going to stay. Will be nice." But it amounts to same thing, doesn't it? I'm happy about this because it means that I can more easily get them to help me with this chronical.

By 'they,' of course, she means the younger ones who were left behind as a sort of 'home guard' while everyone else is in space. I don't know why I wasn't told directly. No, I do know: because I would have volunteered to go along, and Dr. Vernen knows that.

That brings me to the subject I want to keep a history on: what we are winning. We are winning a war against a race of parasites called Yeerks. The Yeerks take person over by crawling in through the ear canal to the brain and infesting them. According to my parents, is both torture and slavery. It was all they knew until they escaped, in fact. I was born into freedom because they escaped.

And then there's the Animorphs... they say it short for 'animal morphers,' which is what they do with a gift they were given by a dying Andalite War-Prince named Elfangor. I'm sure there's more to it, and I still don't know where they got the combat armor from, but... that is one of those things I want to ask. There more than five of them: Jake, Cassie, Rachel, Marco, Tobias, Lauren, and Melissa. My parents named me after Tobias.

The Andalites... were the ones who introduced the Yeerks to advanced technology, which the Yeerks stole and are wreaking havok with while at same time enslaving other races. I've only met two Andalites personally: Ax and Tara. Am wondering... does ixilica of my great grandmother count? She was an Andalite before trapping herself in a Hork-Bajir morph out of love for my great grandfather. The Andalites... they're blue and tan, have a body like a deer, but a human torso, four eyes, and no mouths. They speak by using something called 'thought-speech' and eat through their hooves.

And then there is reason we're winning. We got help from somewhere, and I think they call themselves 'Onvayre.' It's hard to say what they're called, but they look like humans... sort of. Humans don't normally have odd streaks of color like green, red, or blue in their hair, or breathe underwater, do they? Dr. Vernen didn't sit down and explain them to me, nor did any of the Animorphs, but... well, if I COULD explain them, I would. I'd like to know just how they ended up here at Earth years before the Yeerks did, for a start.

For now, though... I just greatful they're here.

 

wow, this is great!!! i'm as eager to learn about the visitors as toby is. i never finished reading the series -- my kids kinda outgrew it, life happened ... *sigh* Can't wait to catch up with the gang and see what's going on. lovely writing and lovely to read!

 

Another great update!

The Yeerks take person over by crawling in through the ear canal to the brain and infesting them. According to my parents, is both torture and slavery.
ACK!! *runs and hides* I think you may give me nightmares about that... I have a paranoia about things crawling in my ears! ( )

I'm looking forward to learning more about these visitors!

 

ratna: I know how that is. Life stuff, I mean. Thank you, ratna.

mavjade: Thank you, mav. (You and me both...)


Note: She's spelling it wrong: real spelling is "ixcila" (But let's not tell Toby that...)


Entry Four...


Mother and Father told me something today... I'M GOING TO BE BIG SISTER!!!!! I know the chances are small, but can he or she be a Seer too?

 

Oh how sweet! You have really given Toby a lovely voice here. Very youthful and innocent, but one senses that she also has steel. Lovely rendering.

 

Ratna: Thank you.




Entry Five...



They're here! It's... what they call the 'back-up team,' whatever that means. See, originally, there were just the Animorphs, then... actually, don't know how it happened. How come no one tells me anything but need to know? It's annoying!

The so-called back-up team was in need of place to stay while also actively and covertly continuing to rescue people who had been taken captive. That part of the fight? Interesting. Wish they'd let me participate more, since I can morph too, now. I have two morphs and got to go flying with Tobias on a surveilance mission! Other morph is... a bobcat. Or is it called a cougar? Either way, it big cat-thing with claws, lives in our valley home, and eats rodents and other small animals. It tried to eat a young Hork-Bajir once, which was how I ended up acquiring it. That is what it's called: acquiring. That when you absorb something called DNA and are then able to use to morph into an animal.

Flying is... fun and weird. Everything looks different from the air.

Why can I morph? When the Animorphs got the morphing cube back, they left it with me for safe-keeping. I wonder what they meant by "watch out for Helmacrons"? What is a Helmacron? And what does it have to do with the morphing cube?

You know what? They're odd sometimes. But advice noted. I do watch out for Helmacrons... whatever they may be.

 

Hey, I remember the Helmacrons! Little beings with big egos. K. A. Applegate's answer to the Lilliputians. Can Toby even see them, I wonder .... Animorph backup team should have been more specific.

Lovely update.

 

*smiles* those were really good daena. apologies on the tardiness of reading these.

i love your voice, and the way it's been developed. especially the being a big sister update. short, sweet and poignant.

enjoying this greatly so far.

:snoopy

 

Ack! I missed an entry!

Yay!! For being a big sister!

So it was this back up team that was coming, huh? Hmmm...

I wonder what they meant by "watch out for Helmacrons"? What is a Helmacron? And what does it have to do with the morphing cube?
I wonder that myself!

Great entries!

 

I didn't say it at the top, so I'm saying it here: Many thanks to Trimaj for the betas on the first part and an upcoming part.


ratna: You're right... 'back-up team' is way too vague. (Shall be getting more specific.) Her seeing 'em depends on how good Hork-Bajir eyes are... Thank you.

Trimaj: No worries, Tri. Glad you're liking it. Thank you. (Especially on that 'voice' comment. Needed to know that.)

mavjade: As for what the morphing cube had to do with anything... will get to that. And yep, it was the backup people. Thank you, mav.

 

Entry six...


Jake and Cassie didn't explain what the Helmacrons were to Toby? All right, I'll do it. Toby, the Helmacrons are really little. Maybe 'little' isn't the right word. Microscopic is a better one... also meaning little. Anyway, they're small, so small in fact that the only person who can see them usually is Tobias with his hawk eyes. And... their ships kinda look like toys, but they're not. As for why they needed the morphing cube... to them, it's a power source, and at the time, their ships were damaged. And you know how the Helmacrons are really really really really small? Their egos more than make up for the lack of size.

I'm Melissa, by the way. Toby handed me her journal and said "tell me a story." And after having read her entries, I see why. So that is what we, those of us who stayed behind, are going to do. Tell our story. Where to start, though? There's a lot to tell.

So where to begin? I know, or at least think I do. I'll start at the beginning, or what I remember as the beginning. For everyone else, it was that night in the construction site. For me, it was somewhat closer to home. Or, rather: home itself. I couldn't pinpoint exactly the day when my parents stopping seeming to care, but I knew something had happened. Something was off, and it seemed like they didn't love me anymore. I know now that I was seeing the outside of something very simple: they loved me, they still love me, and to keep me away from the Yeerks, they surrendered themselves. They volunteered.

It's scary, isn't it? To think of controllers that way, that one would volunteer for such a thing. That someone would choose to be infested... but it does happen. People do choose it. Others, the involuntary ones, are forced into it. But The Sharing... that was the point: to get as many hosts as possible under the radar. Eva explains it way better than I do, but that was it, in a nutshell.

And that night at the mall... I wouldn't have been there if Lauren hadn't practically dragged me there to have some fun. Which we did, and then met up with Rachel and Cassie, chatted a while, and then ran across the guys as they were leaving the arcade. Then we walked home together, cutting through the abandoned construction site on the way. And that was how we found out that life as we knew it was about to take a turn for the weird and strange and sometimes horrific: an Andalite ship landed in front of us.

See... high overhead in orbit, an Andalite domeship had come out of z-space to find that the Yeerks were already here in force. There was a battle, and during the battle, the dome ship was destroyed. Or, rather, and we found this out a month later, part of the ship was destroyed, and the other part crashed into the ocean. And the Andalite who landed in front of us was one of two survivors: Elfangor-Sirinial-Shamtul. The other was Aximili-Esgarrouth-Isthill. We call him Ax. It was Elfangor that gave us the ability to morph, to change our form, into any animal that we acquire. And told us about the Yeerks.

And then the Yeerks landed and we got our first look at Visser Three as we crouched behind a wall, scared out of our minds. The abomination. The only Yeerk to have ever taken an Andalite controller. The difference was palpable... sure, he looked like an Andalite, but that was where the similarity ended and the differences began.

Elfangor, dying from wounds suffered in battle... was killed. By the Visser. I... can say no more about that. It still hurts to think of it.

 

another really good update daena. the differences in voice are very easily spotted, and the characters are pretty distinctively different.

not liking the yeerg, and somehow i get the feeling that an andalite one is a verry bad thing.

looking forward to more.

:snoopy

 

Awww... Poor girl!

And you know how the Helmacrons are really really really really small? Their egos more than make up for the lack of size.
I loved that! Hilarious!

I loved that you had another POV... very creative! I loved how you used it to tell us more than your character knew!

Great update!!

 

Trimaj: not liking the yeerg, and somehow i get the feeling that an andalite one is a verry bad thing

Got it in one. Thank you, Tri.

mavjade: Thank you, mav.



Entry seven...



Um... Melissa handed me this journal a minute ago and said to tell a story. She seemed awfully emotional if all this is, is story-telling. Maybe I should ask her which story?

~(~(~(~

Oh. That story. Huh, hadn't looked at it quite that way before. Creepy that my little brother went through all that and managed to not show a single sign when Temrash asked if he'd gone through that abandoned construction site on the way home.

My name, for those unaware, is Tom. I was a controller, and it... wasn't of my choice. I joined The Sharing because a girl I liked was a member. I ended up a controller because I was in the wrong place at the wrong time. I used to play basketball, but that was before. Before 'I' seemed to lose interest and quit the team. Jake is my baby bro.

I... you know what? I'm going to give this back to Melissa now. Been free a while, but it still gets to me at times. Now is one of those.

 

Most interesting...

I really like the passing it back and forth for the different POV's!

Great entry!