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

Yes, that morphing cube had a lot of adventures! Do they still have it with them?

 

ratna: Yes... Toby has it. Thank you.


Entry seventeen...


Your turn.

For what?

To tell a story, Tom.

Why?

Because I want you to.

Melissa...

What?

I can't.

Sure you can. You saw things from the other side. Surely not all of it was horrific.

Did Jill tell you to heckle me?

Not in so many words, no... When did you first know you liked me?

This isn't like we'd be passing notes in class, Melissa. It's Toby's journal.

And yet we're passing the journal back and forth having an argument on paper. Pretend it is.

Alright... It was when I saw you at our front door a day or so after... Jake must have been a controller. He acted really odd for him, and then he began acting normal again, but subdued. I don't remember what you were there for.

To see you, even though I knew you weren't you you. An experience like that, with one of our own becoming temporarily the enemy, however unintentionally... you remember the phone call, right? The one telling you not to give up?

Yes. When did you know?

That you were a controller or that I like liked you?

The second one.

It took a while, but I think I knew it right about the time we found out that androids built by an extinct race had been living on Earth since the time of the Pharaohs. And had created dogs with the essence of the Pemalites. The Pemalites were a race that got attacked by this species called the Howlers and wiped out, and the Chee, the androids, escaped with dying Pemalites... whom they grafted onto Wolves, which looked like them, a little. Pemalites had three legs... and their space ship kinda looks like Snoopy.

What?

Now you know why your dog is always in such a good mood. As for how and when... we were at a Sharing function in morph and I saw you off to the side being all supervisory. That's when I knew. You might not have been totally yourself yet, but that did not matter. I could see it shining through when the Yeerk let his guard down.

See what shining through? And what does this have to do with androids?

The person under the control. And Marco found out that a friend of his was a Chee at that function, which is what it has to do with androids.

So... the Yeerks have been infiltrated by androids AND they are attacked on a weekly basis with guerrilla tactics? No wonder they're losing.

Not the point, you know. We got help. A lot of help. That is why we're winning. And... judging by the look on your face, Tom, I'm guessing I have to tell it now? Okay... some more happened before that. We're getting there.

 

So ... Melissa and Tom, eh? Nice.

... some more happened before that. We're getting there. hee hee!

 

ratna: Yep, Melissa and Tom. (And we get there right about NOW.) Thank you, ratna.


Entry eighteen...



So after Rachel acquired a crocodile, we found out she was allergic to said croc DNA after she accidentally morphed to elephant in her bedroom, and went on a talk show because she saved a kid who had fallen in to the crocodile environ... and also "burped up" the DNA... You know, next time any of us come down with an allergy to something and it's REALLY important, I think we'll know to ask: "What did you do with the extra animal?"

Why?

The melee on the Barry and Cindy Sue Show... Bart Jacobs, the animal guy, did not bring a full grown crocodile to set that day. Rachel did. And poor Jeremy Jason McCole? Power House just isn't the same without him... the little traitor. Also... that red-and-purple monstrocity of Visser Three's? Not the only water creature in his arsenal. He also has this thing called a Lebtin Javelin Fish which shoots spears. Don't wanna see that ever again, either.

Oh, and Tobias got his morphing ability back, even if hawk is STILL the body he's stuck in for a permanent body right now. Interesting story there... he was taking Rachel and Lauren on a tour of Yeerk pool entrances he'd found and came across Toby's parents as they were escaping from captivity. That was a madcap couple of days while we first figured out that these two Hork-Bajir were free and escaping of pretty much their own will, that Ket was pregnant with what turned out to be Toby, and helped get them to this valley they now call home. As a sort-of reward for the effort that he put in, the Ellimist gave Tobias what he wanted, and Tobias has been a morphing red-tailed hawk ever since... and his original human DNA as one of his morphs, too.

What about the extra help?

You don't wanna hear about the Andalite toilet first?

Huh? What Andalite toilet?

That's what they're studying out at Zone 91. An Andalite toilet... Ax called it an "outdated waste receptacle of a type no longer in use." Oh, and the Yeerks infiltrated the place as horses. Yes... horses threatened all humanity.

So that's why they modified the Horses to be able to speak Galard. How do you know about it?

Cassie's father got called out for a sick horse, and took Cassie and Rachel out to the Dry Lands on a sort of... house call? Anyway, according to Rachel, the horse in question had been bitten by a snake, and when they got there was trying to dial the phone. Cassie's father missed a Yeerk crawling out of it's ear because he went to go get his medical things or something. And then, because the Yeerks were in the area and seriously not wanting their horse-modifications discovered on examination, they fried the horse to ashes, and Cassie got knocked out.

Anyway, in order to find out more, Marco, Cassie, Rachel, and Lauren went out to Zone 91 for a better look around a day or so after that. They spotted the horse-controllers, and then got caught by base security and had to lie about their identities to the military. Poor Captain Torelli... wait, seeing as he chased US around The Gardens, I think he deserved people thinking he was coo-coo for wanting to find Fox Mulder, Dana Scully, Cindy Crawford, and Jessica Tandy.

There's more to this story, isn't there?

Yep. In order to not get caught again, we went to the race track to acquire some horses.

And?

Let's just say that it led to Cassie acquiring the horse who was predicted to win the Kentucky Derby, her ending up IN the race, and winning it. Probably scared the bejeebers out of that jockey, too.

So we, as a team, went back out to Zone 91, morphed to horses, and joined up with the horse-controller herd. That's right... they picked up a herd out there. And then there was much chaos at Zone 91 because the Army or the Air Force, or whomever is out there, weren't expecting horses to invade them and get all the way to their lab. Problem for them: they didn't know what they were looking at because they'd never been aboard an Andalite ship... or rather, because Visser

 

scared the bejeebers out of that jockey

here we go!!

 

ratna: Thank you. (And now, now that we're not the New South Wales Fan Force... update!)



Entry nineteen...



I'd say this is weird, but I live weird regularly. Heck, sometimes I think I eat it for breakfast half the time... before I get to actually eat breakfast. First and foremost? I was right. It was them. Is them... whatever the right term is, I don't care. As impossible as it should be for them to even be here, they are.

Melissa, you're getting ahead of yourself. It's not my fault we shocked you by coming home early. I didn't even remember that we WOULD be coming home early as it is. I wonder if I can get out of actually writing a mission report if I say "Oh, Toby made us do it twenty years ago. You want me to make photocopies?" And... no, I don't think anyone would go for that. Which... bummer, really.

This is Ranko, by the way. She and her team were temporary visitors to the dimension when we were inadvertently kidnapped there by Aniya. And... as it later turned out, in a very weird string of events, also part of our backup. Man, that was a weird week, her being suddenly younger and not knowing us. What was it again, anyway? Some kind of training mission?

Well, yes. Not everyone could go back in time, and all of us needed training. As for your getting kidnapped... that's kind of a long story and you (as well as Tom and Toby) are lucky that I got to read the mission reports. She was mad at him.

Who? And at whom?

Aniya. She was upset and looking for alternatives, ways to end the war and lower the body count. So she kidnapped you guys. Well, not Tom, but you know what I mean.

You mean we are some kind of experiment?

No. That's not it and you are missing the point. She intervened and gave you a choice to come home... to lots of help waiting for you. Remember that conversation she and Esherat had in the Power Chamber?

Barely. Something about not being able to forgive and an affair that had taken place? Sorry, but it's kind of a blur.

Don't be sorry. It's two and a half years ago for you... and less than three months for me.

Who is Esherat?

The Ellimist.

Or, as we love to call him: The All-Powerful Galactic Pain In The Butt.

He's calmed down some since they finally got married, you know. So, that day in the power chamber was the first time they'd really talked in like 400 years, and he had to apologize for cheating on her with her best friend. I say 'cheating' because they'd been betrothed before their world was destroyed by invading forces. Or... not destroyed. It's still there, recovering slowly over time, but the environment was impacted so badly that no one lives there, even now.

Is that some kind of common tale, or something? Worlds getting invaded and destroyed?

Not as common as you'd think, Tom. Also, because she pulled it off, this quasi resetting of the equation, Aniya got her man. Granted, she had to talk Salana into helping, but that must have been easy compared to making Esherat realize she was right.

Why would talking Sala into helping be hard?

Ever watch the Beetlejuice cartoons?

Um... not a lot... why?

Sandworms.

Oh. That explains so much. You know, it's weird talking to you when I saw you a week ago right before you and the others left for space. You're different, but not THAT different... only word I can think of is 'weird', so let's go with that one.

You think it's weird? The last time you were this young to me, I was eight years old! Which, for you, WAS a week ago. Time and relativity: fun.

You can't tell me what is going to happen tomorrow, can you?

You're kidding, right? I wasn't here to be able to tell you.

That's not what I meant.

I know it isn't, but you are asking something I can not answer. Not even if I wanted to. Rule #1 of time travel: do not tell

 

... now that we're not the New South Wales Fan Force...

Seriously, that was quite the bit of interdimensional weirdness!

So there is a battle happening 'offstage' as it were .... does that mean that our journalers are safe? Or are they about to have visitors of the not so nice kind .... ?

 

Didn't realize I'd fallen so far behind!

Glad to catch up and see what I've missed! Man, you're really making me wish I continued reading the books.

 

ratna: It really, really was. (And... can I answer that one with an entry or two here eventually? It?ll make more sense that way.) Thank you, ratna.

Miana Kenobi: I am? Thank you, Miana.



Entry twenty...



But you don't remember what the plan was?

No, just the outcome and the in-between. Also, I wasn't in on the planning, just the briefing because Uncle Chenro commandeered me for a security drill that took more than three hours that morning.

Security drill?

Yeah... we were under a military alert and most of my training was medical up to that point. I knew how to fight because of the latent memories that came with my morpher, but mom wanted to be certain I could handle myself, so he put me through some paces. Sparring with Thunder's security staff when I actually do know six ways to knock them on their butts? Fun. And then I got chastized for not actually going full bore and then actually had to learn things. I love my uncle for chewing me out for my own benefit, you know?

Getting back to Aniya and Esherat for a moment, because I still can't believe this happened in so public a forum. We were talking about something when he popped in with roses and tried to apologize to her. Or start apologizing, that is, for his and Palora's behavior. She wasn't exactly happy to see him.

I looked up as he approached and smiled. "Hi, Esherat. How's it going?"

"Huh?" Aniya asked as she turned to look at him. "Oh. If this is about 252, Esherat, go away. I'm working on it." I think 252 refers to some kind of shorthand call sign for our dimension, but I could be wrong about that.

I was confused for a moment before I realized what was going on. I mean, we were 20 or so years in the past and I knew these people. Somehow, I'd gotten the asumption that they'd always been on good terms with one another. "Ah. I'll see you later, Aniya." I nodded to Esherat, who was very obviously confused because he had no idea who I was, and left the two of them alone. As alone as one can be in a room with ten people, a phantasm, and a robot, that is.

"Who was that?"

"That would be Ranko Matire. She's here on a training mission, I think. She's one of the changes you were so adamantly against." I'd turned around just in time to see her glaring at him. And really... they'd argued about timeline changes? And I was one of those? Still awkward and weird. "Why are you here, Esherat?"

"I'm sorry that I hurt you." He pulled out a rose. "I apologize for my actions and I am sincerely sorry for what happened with Palora. Can you forgive me?"

Aniya opened her mouth to say something, but nothing came out, so she shut it again. Instead, she took the rose from him, smelled it, and then kissed him squarely on the lips.

Across the room, a few of us were watching in mild shock, except for me. "So that's how they got together. I always wondered about that."

In a flash of blue, Palora was standing next to me. When she saw what Aniya and Esherat were doing, she smiled. "It's about time."

Back over by the viewing globe, Aniya stopped kissing Esherat and smiled at him. "I can and do forgive you. Never do it again."

Esherat smiled down at her. "Deal. I love you, Aniya Corrin."

"It's Ravin," Aniya corrected him. "I changed it about two hundred years ago. And I love you, too, Esherat Dowali. Always have."

"Even when we were fighting because our parents dragged us into an engagement neither of us wanted?" This sounded weirdly familiar...

"I was young then," Aniya said wryly. "We both were. And by the time I was ready to tell you, you had an affair with my best friend. I was so mad that I went out and did something that earned me a reputation as a troublemaker. Merkye would have been proud."

"That's why the Shreeya Fighter Incident happened?" Esherat wondered. "I thought you did it because you wanted to change the time line." I want to know what the Shreeya Fighter Incident was. Seriously, I do.

Aniya shook her head. "No. I did it because I wasn't thinking straight. Aside from you and Palora going to bed, C

 

Entry twenty-one...



It's still weird and disturbing that a woman like Aniya would put a choice of weather or not to let her help us save the world... to a group of teenagers consisting of a bird, six humans, and an Andalite.

Actually, Ax is over 21... which is three and a half in Andalite years. Conversion is something like 7 Earth years to One Andalite year. He just seems younger due to being not from our planet.

Ah. It's still disturbing. So was that meeting.

There's something I don't understand... You look eighteen or so as an eight year old?

Long story of long stories, Tom. And yes, due to certain factors, that is very much the case. Why?

Curiosity.

Well, we're about to sate it a little, okay?

Lead onward, oh red maiden of electricity.

Funny... I don't remember ever playing basketball with you. Did I?

Only once. You don't still happen to electrify the ball, do you?

Of course I do. That's half the fun!

Before we get to the meeting, I'm filling Toby in on some things. I didn't go with the others because I was needed here... my parents are still controllers and there are things to do here. So who all stayed? Myself, two Shifters, Tom, several Guardians, members of the Yeerk Peace Movement, Allison, Hildy, and their kids Mary and Danny, Marco's parents Eva and Jeremy, and several members of the team calling themselves the Elements. Oh, and some Onai soldiers, too. (Toby? You're right. What they're called IS hard to spell. Must be the differing accents...)

It's pronounced On-vay-ri, actually. Mom spells it in English as Onari, Onai, or any varient thereof. And look! You got totally unexpected extra help because we're home early! And, um... by 'us and we', I mean myself and my team who weren't supposed to be here until next week or next month (whenever it was supposed to be, still confused) to pick the Elements up so we could all go home together.

So you're not averse to going into to town to do stuff?

Not at all. If we're here now, that means we were before.

That's really confusing, you know.

Try living it, Tom.

And really: I'm NOT backup, even if I don't get to go on missions that often! My parents, or rather... the Yeerks pretending to BE my parents would notice if I was gone too often and would get suspicious. More suspicious, that is, than they otherwise would be. Plus, though I do not get to go on many missions, I do get to spy plenty... half the time in fly morph or something equally small. Find out some interesting things that way... Wait. Maybe I am backup after all. Not that that's a bad thing, really.

Melissa, you're there when they need you. That's what counts.

The battle armor... we have that because she wanted us to have an edge. Its something called 'ninjetti'... my animal spirit is a Fox. It's funny, but I didn't have a Fox morph before becoming ninjetti, and now I can't imagine life without it. So... we got both an edge and back up.

And that meeting... we were still there because the frisbee had yet to completely charge.

Frisbee?

Dimensional portal changer device thing.

Oh.

 

Frisbee?

Dimensional portal changer device thing.

Love that!

 

ratna: Thank you for enjoying that one, ratna. And thank you for reading.


Entry twenty-two...


This Toby. They'll be back. They had to convene meeting and discuss plans. It... very odd story they tell, isn't it? Odd, but interesting. Maybe everyone will write a little if ask? Want to hear how Loren was found, too, because no one explained that one, either. How can she both be here and out in space at same time, anyway? Very odd.

Going to join meeting now.

~*~*~*~

We back from meeting. Plan made for a method of attacking Planet-bound Yeerk problem with subtlety... and, for some reason, one or more of persons who appeared out of swirly mass of energy seemed nervous. I wonder why that is?

Am giving back to Melissa now.

 

Entry twenty-three...


Where were we in this? Oh, right. The meeting. So this meeting, well it was something else... once we agreed to going home with an edge, Aniya told us who we'd be returning to. Ranko and her team were still hanging around, too, which was odd.

Not that odd. The Frisbee needed a couple days to charge, or we'd have been on our way sooner. You don't want to know about the one time it needed three or four weeks to charge and we were stranded far from home.

Why not?

Let's just say there was this girl who found out we weren't from around there and Peter was an idiot and didn't shush when I told him to. Not my fault that she picked up languages right quick.

Am I going to get the details of that one when you can finally tell it?

If I take you to lunch in, say, twenty years, don't be too surprised at the subject matter and remember that you DID ask.

Okay... Anyway, about that meeting... she laid it all out, and then let us decide. I guess it's ovbious what we decided, but then she led us through a bunch of slides regarding the back up we'd be getting. Ranko, I still don't get how your mother's hair changed colors like that...

That is something I still can't explain, really. Has to do with a bond on a genetic level and how my biological father's DNA interacted with hers... which, if Aunt Samara ever really explained it, I could really explain it better to you. Chalk it up to being weird, even for us, and leave it at that.

I think I will, thank you. As I was saying, she led us through slides of people we'd need to be on the lookout for. Among them was Jake's therapist, a substitute teacher, a female Andalite, the extra dimensional double of a guy we'd just spent days getting to know in the power chamber...

Back up. Who is the double?

Ryan.

Oh. That's... odd.

Who else? Ranko?

Fifteen teenagers, my extra-terrestial relatives who fell through a wormhole accidentally and ended up here at Earth in 1980 and met my mom, also by accident. Oh, and Diana's team, including, but not limited to, Wild Cat, Tiger, Katie Scott, and Tara, the female Andalite you mentioned. Speaking of Katie... it's been a long time since I've had to think about it, but... is she still having readjustment issues?

You mean she actually gets better and sleeps regularly eventually?

I'll take that as a yes. That's good... Diana may want to yell at me when they get back, but we can definitely use that to our advantage.

You've lost me, Ranko. How is Katie not sleeping going to help anything?

It means she has an overabundance of power. Combine that with elements and animals and what can't we do?

I get it. Good thinking.

I try. Now all I have to do is convince Katie to get some sleep this afternoon. Or... convince Ryan to con Katie into taking a nap. That could work... Getting back to that meeting, though. We had to leave in the middle of it. What happened after we had to leave?

Aniya told us about Roger and Regina. Rachel freaked.

She did? Try Mom and Dad's reaction to finding out about the Yeerks the hard way: being captured while on a night out together. That's how we ended up with those two, and also why the Yeerks STILL don't have a clue that there's a Federation ship out in Jupiter orbit.

So... Roger and Regina...

Were Yeerks. They aren't anymore, Tom, but they were. Long story there, but basically... one of my relatives is a genetacist. And... other than that, I don't know how they did it. Their names were originally Tavrenga 647 and Etral 975, not that it really matters now.

Doctor and Professor Vernen were captured?

Yes. It was a very weird six hours, all right? And no, they didn't even last that long because a ship full of empaths is hard to fool.

Wait just a minute. How did they sneak past a ship in orbit? That... i

 

Oh wow... I've gotten way, way, WAY behind and I am so sorry!

This is a great story and it deserves to have a lot more reviews!

I'm hoping to keep caught up now, assuming DRL doesn't decide to eat me!

 

mavjade: for DRL and thank you, Mav.



Entry twenty-four...



That very odd. Now one more person can change into animals. Was not expecting that one, but feel that should have been.

Melissa took Tom to acquire... Now who I get to tell more story? They left in middle!

Oh, I know. Wildcat!

 

A/N: Okay, for those like Mav who have read Obsessed With Flowers, I have a bit of an explanation regarding names. The narrators here are not the same characters as the Widia and Temaru in that story. Same names, different people, completely different universe, and I didn't know when I started writing Flowers that I would have an opportunity to tell this story here at the boards. Now that I get to tell it, explaining I am obligated to do to prevent confusion. There... that's enough explaining. On with story now.


Entry twenty-five?


This... is actually less crazy than Aniya saying 'I messed around with a time line and now I need volunteers'. She didn't phrase it that way, but I got the feeling that she wanted to. Hi. I'm Wildcat... it's not really my name, but that's what everyone calls me. Turn into a Panther at a social function by accident and run amuck one time, and people remind you of it for eternity with a nickname. My name is really Widia Parmiza, so I guess it's close enough to count.

At least yours is particular to you. Mine...

Fits you perfectly, Tiger. Her real name is Temaru, by the way. Toby came to us, handed me the journal, and said 'tell the next part of the story.' So we are going to do just that. Aniya sent them home to replacements... us, but returned them back to the point at which they vanished through that portal.

Problem was that they had to find all of us, and in some cases we found them instead.

Which wasn't easy, considering how well we all blend in. And the first all team meeting we had? I'm still not certain why Marco poured water all over Jake and Cassie... other than to get their attention, that is.

They were kissing, it was his right to interrupt them.

And if someone had ever done that to you?

I can turn into my spirit animal much faster than Jake can morph, Widia. Plus, you would have been much more upset than me.

I hate when you're right, Battle Sister.

No you don't.

Are you two going to actually tell this story, or are you going to tease one another all afternoon?

We're going to tell it, Aftran. Patience.

My name is Ella now, and I am being patient. Probably more patient than Toby is.

Yes, I do know that. Speaking of stories to tell... are you?

Of course.

Good. So where was I? Oh, right... Marco poured water all over Jake and Cassie to get their attention, and we all introduced ourselves. It was rather confusing, that first meeting... but then, twenty or more people meeting in a clearing in a forest is confusing all by itself, isn't it?

Definitely confusing.

 

A/N: The mini-challenge for June is Water? Okay...


Entry twenty-six...


So we were all gathered in this clearing, and Marco poured water on Jake and Cassie... they'd arrived before everyone else, lost track of time, and failed to notice when people started showing up. I think it was the last time they got that lost in one another right before a meeting...

No it wasn't, but Cassie isn't here to defend herself on that account.

...Aftran?

What?

That's one thing no one needs to know.

This is a priviledged information thing, isn't it?

Yes.

Sorry. Force of habit... you can stop laughing now, Tiger.

Ah, let her. Release of tension is good!

Sorry about that. It's just... the thought of Aftran knowing what they were doing because of her... shall we say extra-curricular abilities?

Sounds about right. Or nature of the Yeerk species. Take your pick.

That thought was hilarious, even if the situation was not.

I'm flattered. I think... And now Wildcat is laughing at me...

 

Entry twenty-seven...

Since Wildcat's hands are shaking too much from laughing now, I'll tell the next part from Cassie's memory. She and Jake were having what had been meant to be a private moment that ended in being splashed and embarrassment. And then the three groups were introduced to one another formally. See, the day before, Dr. Vernen's team had saved their butts, and her team and Diana's already knew eachother somehow. Maybe it was an adult thing, I don't know...

Not an adult thing. More like an Aniya thing. She put some things in motion and we ended up running into one another, kicking some Yeerk behind, and joining forces. Pardon my mention of the butt-kicking, Aftran.

No need for that pardon... I know how you mean it. The entire Yeerk Peace Movement knows how you mean it.

But still... just to talk of it that way to you.

There's a reason my name is Ella now, Tiger. I might hate human math, but it's still better to be involved and be present... even if it is my people dying out there until we can get them to see that invasion is not the only way.

Back now. What do you mean by that?

By what? Invasion not being the only way to get hosts? It's simple: symbiosis. And... going by your expressions, neither of you were present for the Iskroot incident.

No, we managed to miss that one. What was it?

The Animorphs saved a species called the Iskroot from the Howlers once. The Iskroot were really two species, not one... the Isk and the Yoort. When I saw that in Cassie's memory after being rescued from the Yeerk pool, I wanted to immediately run and tell everyone I could. We don't have to be parasites who enslave. It means so much, just to know that.

It does.

Getting back to that meeting... the third group was the extra group of teenagers ranging in age from 19 to 15 years of age who just all seemed to blend in so well that one would think they'd always been around. Except they weren't, there are things they can not reveal, and they bare more than passing resemblence to various members of the Animorphs, Diana's team, and Dr. Vernen's team. And I still don't know if the last names they gave are their real ones or a cover... it's hard to tell with them.

Could be both.

Not that it matters what their story is. They're here, they're helping, and that's what counts.

 

Very interesting. I really don't know anything about Animorphs, but I felt that you did a great job of explaining what everything was in an understandable way, so that readers like me could understand

 

LukeSkywalker_2001: That was exactly what I was trying to do here. Thank you.


Entry twenty-eight?


And... where was I? Oh, right. That first meeting in the woods... I think they picked that particular spot because it was where the portal opened up, actually. Right there... what better place to hold a meeting?

It was? All the more significant and important, then that a life changing event be memorialized twice.

Agreed. So let's see... wait. You two were there. Why am I the narrator?

Anne told us to give you lessons in English if we could. Now's a good a time as any. Go on. Tell.

All right... So just as Cassie heard distantly Melissa say, "Uh, Lauren, I think you should go save your boyfriend before Jake kills him." That's when the wetness happened and Jake turned a glare on Marco. Why, exactly, he'd brought a pitcher of water to a clearing in the woods, I'll never figure out.

Lauren came over and pulled him away, gently chiding as she did so. "They would have stopped eventually, you know."

"Sometime tomorrow, maybe," Marco griped, seemingly unrepentant. Then he winked over at Cassie and Jake, and Cassie got over her embarrassment, turning to Jake with a shrug, saying... "He does have a point. You did call this meeting, after all."

Sorry to interrupt here for a moment, Aftran. English written tip for you: Normally only one person speaking per paragraph.

Really? Thank you. Getting back to this... Jake in Cassie's memory sounded very put-upon: "Yes, but I was expecting everybody to late." Which... I don't get. If he was expecting them all to be late, why not just say an hour later and then pretend they were late when they arrived?

"Never happens that way," Cassie told him sincerely. And, underneath her bravado, there was a feeling of utter, utter embarrassment to be caught in so private of a moment. This was after they'd been kidnapped to Iskroot and after running into me that first time, which would have made it... five, six months?

More like four months, really. A lot can go down in a very short amount of time.

 

Entry twenty-nine...


Date: November 17, 1999
Location: Hork-Bajir Valley
Status: ...I'll let you know about our status when I know for certain what it is we're doing. So long as it doesn't involve a talking, shape shifting Zebra saving the day, I'm fine with it.


Aftran and Wildnat had to go talk to Ranko about something, and I was just walking by, minding my own business when Wildcat handed this journal to me and said 'write something.' Ket is pregnant? I'd say I was surprised, but I stopped being surprised long about the time a friend's mother met her husband in that karaoke bar. Before that, even.

Hi. My name is Chris, and though I COULD tell you my last name if I wanted to, I'm not going to. Even Toby's journal isn't completely safe and secure in that respect. And yes... am slightly paranoid. Spending a year or so helping fight a war against parasitic aliens who would raze the planet of all plant life and enslave everybody will do that. Less paranoid than most, because I know we win, but still paranoid that one little thing, any little thing, could change that outcome. I don't know how telling Toby my last name in writing could alter time, but... yeah. I'm not going to say and just leave it at that.

Toby wants to know how we found Loren, among other things, because all she knows are vague details... and she's the walking weapon, not me. And it is wise not to argue with a girl who has blades on her wrists... and other places. Dad calls her people 'walking salad shooters'... he's odd, my father. Even twenty years from now, he's odd. Seeing him now, I get why. War, any kind of war, does things to people. (Sorry about the 'walking salad shooters' thing, Toby.)

Reading through the entries, I think I know what they were going to tell next, so I'll go there first, and then go forward from there. I'm part of the team known as the Elements and we're from... another time, I guess is the best way to put it. We were sent back to help, even though I still think they didn't really need our help.

That first hour or two while we were getting ourselves oriented to our home town where things are way different? Weird, I'm here to tell you. Things are either missing, in the wrong place, or... I'll stop there. You get the idea. Different, the way one would expect due to time going forward or backward noticeably.

As for Loren, who is Tobias's mother and was missing for years and years... Elsie, my girlfriend, and I were on a date a year ago. (Was it a year ago? Sure feels way longer than that...) Or would that be 'trying to HAVE a date'? Which ever it is, we usually get WAY sidetracked due to her ability being related to the paranormal. The spirit world never seems to give her a break. At all. Which... gets really frustrating at times, but I'm learning to live with it. Not ever letting her walk into a graveyard again, though, if I can avoid it at all possible.

So anyway, we were headed to the mall to see a movie when something from the construction site across the street 'called' to her. I could tell she didn't want to look into it, but badness follows us if we avoid the small things, so look into it we did. Or, rather, she did while I stood there like an idiot and yawned.

You did not stand there like an idiot, Chris. You were supportive!

Are you telling this or am I?

You, for the moment. You want the journal back?

Yes.

All right... I'm telling the other stuff, though. Here. Have fun.

That was her, obviously. She pulled it out of my hands. Personally, I think Elsie's forgotten that I write better case reports than she does. Which probably means we've been here too long and not actually had to WRITE any case reports... Am I homesick? Must be.

Getting back to the story here... While I stood there, watching her as she opened herself up and investigated, I was making certain I was close enough to stop her if she went berserk, but far enough away to not disturb her too badly.

She crouched down by this piece of wall for a minute or two, studying it, then went all glowy. The glowy is both good

 

A/N: It's funny, really. The above was originally the seventh entry, not the twenty-ninth.


Entry thirty...


So we were standing there, me wondering out loud if the time doohickey needed destroying right that minute, and she made a really good point: "No, it's only a problem if it's used and since it's buried under the foundation of a building, it isn't really dangerous.... Besides, it can't be destroyed by someone other than a Time Guardian."

Which was the best news I'd heard that week, honestly. It made me grin and hold out my hand. "Great. Let's go and catch a movie like we planned, all right? ... Well, barring the supernatural, that is."

"I'm not that bad, Chris," she tried to defend it, but I know better. I live with her crazy antics day in and day out and I'm the only one she can't fool. We've been through too much together for her to be able to pull the wool over my eyes.

"Indian Burial Ground, loud angry ghosts, and the beach when we were five," I reminded her. "You are and you know it."

"But you love me anyway."

She had me there. "Yeah, Angel, I guess I do."

"You guess or you do?"

At this point, we had stopped walking and I took her in my arms, smiling the whole time. "I love you with my whole heart, ghost's and all." True. I do. (I only whine occasionally because some times it gets repetative. Very repetative.)

And speaking of repetative, that was when she had her second realization of the evening. Seems going all glowy had led to a vision or two. "Good. And, speaking of the supernatural, could we just go to the food court and talk? I just figured out what a part of that first vision was about and I need to talk about it." Elsie knew she needed to talk it out for it to make any sense whatsoever. That's the way her ability works sometimes... though half the time, it seems like we're talking to a ghost while TRYING to figure it out.

She leaned up, we shared a kiss, and then she smiled apologetically. "Sorry, but it might be important."

"I would love to help you talk it out, Angel." But does it always have to happen during a date? I tell ya, the spirit world is WAY too opportunistic!

Of course it is. They have nothing to do but watch people all day long, and then someone who can see or hear 'em passes by, and poof, instant opportunity.

Are you reading my aura for cues or something?

No. Occasionally reading over your shoulder.

Ah... can I finish?

If you want.

Thank you.

So... by the time she needed to talk to figure it out, we were at the food court in the mall. As we sat down at a table near our friends, Leah and Johnathan, who were on Patrol under the guise of having a date. This is not the same as actually HAVING a date, as they were really watching everyone but each other... there's an entrance to the Yeerk pool in one of the dressing rooms at The Gap and an exit in the movie theater. The thing we didn't realize at the time was that Wildcat and Tiger, who normally take the evening sweep before a holiday, weren't there. Being that this was the day before Thanksgiving Day, one of us should have thought to ask where they were. More on that later, though.

We invited them over, and Elsie said the oddest thing: "I know what happened to Loren." Why was this odd? Well...

Leah: "Uh, Elsie? Lauren is at that event with Rachel in New York." You see... None of us were thinking 'oh, right... woman we know in our own time whose son is currently a bird with morphing capabilities. THAT Loren.' Why not? Because, as embarrassing as it is to admit, time travel and distance from our own time had left us somewhat... swiss cheesed, so we'd forgotten certain things. And Lauren had gone with Rachel and her family to New York to see the Thanksgiving Day Parade in person, so... we can be forgiven slightly for mistaking the two.

As Elsie explained: "No, not her. Michelle's grandmother, Loren. You know... the person who told me to find... herself."

Jonathan was the first to get his voice back, as I was busy trying to remember anyone asking something so bizarre as to be found when

 

A/N: The "what was your first fic" thread gave me courage to continue, so... post!


Entry thirty-one?


So where was I before I had to play referee with Dawn and Elsie while they compared notes on who has more control? (For the record? That would be Dawn. Vincent is so lucky... or maybe not, depending on how one looks at it. Less excitement, more intense things happen when she IS affected.) Oh, right... Elsie had figured out, or thought she had at least, where Loren was. Which was, so she thought, in a coma in some hospital in town. Having been present when she had the vision that led to this, but not having actually seen said vision myself, I was understandably baffled. So, for that matter, was Marco, having only just entered our conversation.

Leah asked her the particulars of where and when she had it (less than an hour before, construction site where something less than pleasant happened), and then she sent Jonathan to get Tobias from the woods. Or would that be both Tobias AND Michelle, since she sleeps out there in a tent alot? I'd say why that is, but...

Since when is my connection to him a secret, Chris? Toby knows I'm a family member, so you do not have to write in code.

I'm starting to wish I'd gone with the others. And yes, I realize that. How'd that go, anyway?

What? Me getting paged in the dark?

Yes.

Pretty much that: me getting paged in the darkness of my tent and then having to wake up a very sleepy and disoriented red-tailed hawk. He said something along the lines of "Ah, Mom, Aunt Cammie, we already fought today," before completely coming to and realizing that I wasn't either his mother nor his aunt. And we had had a rip-roaring fight against the Yeerks that morning in an abandoned warehouse that they'd been using to store their brand-new Kandrona, remember? That's why he was so tired and disoriented.

Something like that is hard to forget. What's the plan, by the way?

Here and now? Still confused, but I think they're planning some kind of holding action or something, and dang it. I really wish I wasn't so swiss-cheesed about this. It's frustrating.

That it is. Not much we can do about it except live it, though.

I know. You good on this now?

Yep. Thanks.

Anytime... and I'm glad you two didn't go with the others. Life's boring without you around.

As I'm telling about how Elsie managed to find a missing person by having a vision or two amid the rubble of the construction site, I don't think I'm inclined to disagree.

Anyway... getting back to the story here... Leah went to get Ann from Thunder because we needed a hacker, while Marco got filled in on what was going on. Once he understood what we were talking about (which, by the way, was weirder than normal, us having to fill HIM in when usually it's the other way around), he started thinking of places for us to go and figure this out. Leah came back with not only Ann, but also Ranko, and Rose and Travis joined us in the mean time. (Did everyone have a date night planned but Marco? I'm surprised we also didn't end up with Jake and Cassie!)

No, Jonathan ran into them while heading to the woods to get Tobias, so they weren't left out entirely. Just... you know, not at the mall.

I stand corrected. So after everyone got filled in two or three more times and Ranko made some comment about not being able to go home until late due to bad cooking, Marco suggested we go to Erek's house. Why? Well... what better place to talk about finding missing persons than that of an android who can jack himself into the phone system?

 

A/N: Continuity note? this is rather not how Loren was found in the cannon. That involved the Yeerks finally getting smart and using the DNA that the Animorphs left behind after every fight to finally start IDing them. (And now I shall cease with the book 49 spoilers for anyone who has not read it yet and still wants to.)


Entry thirty-two?


So we were at Erek's house, trying to figure it out, and... let's just say for the sake of argument that this was weird on a scale of one being my girlfriend ending up in a trance to ten being 'it's raining Hork-Bajir and Taxxons, and Visser Three wants to eat us for lunch rather than detain us.' This... well, this was an even five. Maybe six.

We had Ranko (the eight year old medic in training who is more than a little obsessed with Number Munchers), Elsie, Ann (who once hacked the planetary defense grid by accident... it was messy, very, very messy), Leah and Rose (non-identical twins who can rival Elsie on a bad day for weirdness), Travis (Ann's brother... who, if I remember right, kinda helped Ann hack the defense grid), myself, Marco (puns, bad jokes, morale... strategy), and Erek the Chee (the aforementioned android not of this earth). On second thought... this was totally a six. With a potential for disaster written all over it.

As if it weren't enough that it was this group of odds and ends all gathered together in one room in the house of an android... it was Leah who laid down the plan. And more than three people who all pulled out their bags of weird tricks to actually figure out that, in fact, Loren had been laying, hidden in relative plain sight, unconscious in the NeuroICU of Hope Memorial Hospital for the better part of ten years in a coma. What we managed to piece together later was that she'd been brought in anonymously, severely injured, with no ID whatsoever on her person... and then never woke up from the persistent state of deep sleep for whatever reason.

But before we (or rather Leah and Rose via a technique that Elsie fondly calls a 'gypsy ball' but is really just another way to use energy) could even start to narrow down the location, it was Ranko, reading Elsie's laptop screen over her shoulder, who gave us a small surprise. See... Elsie types everything in Navajo due to a case we had where there was this ghost of a Navajo code talker involved and he taught us both how to understand and word the language. And, while we knew that Ranko was pretty good at translating languages in her head from an early age due to something her aunt had done with her, what we didn't know was that one of the languages she could read was, in fact, Navajo.

I remember that. Sorry, Chris. I still read over people's shoulders. Bad habit, I know. And I couldn't read it fluently, just enough to understand it in fragments.

How's the plan coming?

We're going to, at the very least, scare the pants off them. Weather they're actually wearing pants or not.

Oh. Good.

I wonder... you think Tally would want to take part in it, too?

Bad idea... or maybe good idea if you want the Yeerks terrified. Go talk to her, see what you can come up with.

Like I was saying, it was that small surprise that caused Leah to make Ranko promise to keep secret whatever she saw on Elsie's laptop. The response to which was: "I promise, sister dear." Honestly, I don't know which version of our leader startles me more... the eight year old sarcastic language sponge, or the twenty-seven year old who is, at this moment, planning something where the Yeerks are gonna be so scared of us that they faint dead away.

And then they focused on figuring out where Loren was... which led to Ann wondering which hospital they were talking about because, at some point in time, it gets renamed from Crystal Cove Memorial Hospital to Hope Memorial Hospital. Once that little detail was covered, Ann was able to hack (rather illegally) into the hospital records using Erek as a kind of modem. Then there was small discussion on what to do regarding what th

 

A/N: I was going to make everybody guess at the references last entry, but I changed my mind. So, in order, the references to which Chris and Elsie were referring to were these. The comatose pregnant lady was a real, and somewhat tragic, event that happened in Germany in the 90?s. Senna would be Senna Wales from the Everworld books, also by K.A. Applegate. The top secret project in New Mexico is Project Quantum Leap. Guy going to be hit with a subway train was Michael Wiseman from Now and Again.


Entry thirty-three...


Leah's crazy plan was actually pretty simple: get in, grab her, and get out. Only problem with the plan was the 'sneaking past the staff' part of it... with an unconscious woman in tow. Which is where the plan got a little more complicated. Turns out that Ranko, who, even at the age of eight, looked unnervingly older than she really was, was up to the task of donning a lab coat and lying through her teeth to get us in after visiting hours. After all, her mother works there and she knows the place like the back of her hand.

Erek came along because he wanted to see this play out, and Ranko... pretended to be bringing a 'family' to identify a Jane Doe. The nurse on duty waved us by, and we held it together long enough to make it to Loren's room without breaking the somber mood we were trying to affect for the benefit of the nurse.

Which lasted about as long as it took to close the door. I'll not say anything more than that.

So there we were, the eight of us in Loren's now cramped hospital room, now at a loss and wondering what to do. She wasn't hooked up to a ventilator, only a nasal canula, and aside from being utterly unconscious (which Ranko confirmed with a pen light of all things), appeared to be healthy. Sallow, but healthy.

Leah and Rose were going to try to wake her up right there with some of their own energy, but both Elsie and Ranko told them not to. It would have been a drain on their combined life energy just to maintain it. So, instead of doing that and getting a woman who hadn't been mobile at all in years and years to move kind of under her own power, Rose helped Ranko to unhook the monitors and removed the canula, and Erek gently picked her up. And then, with another pass by the nurses, we got out of the building.

And then, protected by Erek's hologram, the eight of us teleported to Thunder. I still don't know who was more surprised: Eshara when we handed Loren over to her safekeeping for treatment, or Tobias when we told him what had happened. Probably both.