Animorphs: The Second Coming

It's many years after the Animorphs. The Andalite's have come and saved Earth. But, the yeerks have not been destroyed. The yeerks have moved on, realizing that the combination of Animorphs and Andalites are too strong for even them. Now, the yeerks have started attacking the Andalite Homeworld. Now it is up to a new group of Animorphs, to save them...

Chapter 1

    My name is Ritora-Fuloa-Maheen. I am human, but have lived with the Andalite's for as long as I can remember. My mother and father were from Earth. They fought against the yeerks. Calling themselves the Animorphs. My mother's name is Rachel. She fought with my Uncle, Jake, Marco, who called her Xena: Warrior Princes. From what my mother has told me, it was the name of a fictional women, who was very brave. She also fought with Cassie, her best friend, Tobias, who was my father. They also fought with Aximilli-Esgarough-Isthil. Who then was an Andalite Aristh. A warrior cadet. Now, he is a great War Prince. After the Andalites went back to Earth to stop the abomination's invasion of Earth, they took young Aximilli, who my mother and her friends call "Ax" for short, and the Animorphs back here. They were the only humans to have seen the Andalite homeworld, until they had children. Now, all the Animorphs have all grown up and are adults. Cassie and Jake have married and had two children, as have Rachel and Tobias. Ax has become a great Prince, like his brother, and Marco...well...what can you say about Marco? He's still the same way he was when they fought the yeerks, according to my mother at least.
    We had thought the yeerks were gone for good after the Andalites defeated the yeerks at Earth. Visser 2, who my mother and uncle and their friends knew as Visser 3, had been destroyed. As had Visser 1 a few years before. There was great rejoicing both here, and on Earth. Earth was finally free, and it was a time of happiness for both Andalite's and Humans alike.
    But now, many of our scout ships have been destroyed. Too many for it to be an accident. We all fear the worse, that the yeerks have built up their forces, and are making their way towards the Andalite Homeworld, my homeworld. The world that has been my home for as long as I have been alive. So, with the threat of the yeerks returning, I, Ritora-Fuloa-Maheen,my cousins Catara-Fitalia-Gooroara and Tom, who my uncle Jake gave a human name, My younger sister, who my mother also gave a human name, Jordan, and Abata-Elfangor-Aximilli, Ax's younger brother, have sworn that we will use our morphing power as our family's did. Destroy the yeerks.

Chapter 2

I ran next door to Catara's and Tom's house. I had to tell them what I had found out. When the Andalites first brought our parents here, they built them houses like they had had on Earth. It was their request that the houses all be near each other, so they could visit whenever possible. Although it went against everything the Andalites were used to, they complied, so the trip over to Catara's and Tom's was a quick one. I knocked on the door, and Cassie answered.
 "Hi, Ritora!" Cassie said warmly, giving me a hug, "What brings you here?"
 "I have to speak to Catara and Tom Cassie. I believe I have found some information about the yeerks."
 "Well, then by all means, come in! Catara! Tom! Come down here now!" Cassie called behind her "Ritora is here! She says she has some information!"
 As I walked into the familiar living room, I heard the sound of Catara's and Tom's footsteps clamoring down the stairs of the house. I shook my head. They could never stay quiet unless their life depended on it.
 "Geez, am I ever glad you two are quieter in morph!" I said.
 "Oh be quiet, Xena" Tom said with a sneer.
 "Tom, you have been hanging around with Marco again, Haven't you??? I swear, if we didn't need you..." I began.
 "Ritora, Tom, please." Catara cut in, we were quiet immediately. When Catara speaks, you're just quiet. She's not mean or anything when she speaks, but the tone of her voice just makes you stop talking. My mom tells me that's how Uncle Jake was. She says that Catara is a pleasant mix of both Cassie and Jake. Tom on the other hand, is pure Marco, even though they aren't related. "Ritora, what did you come over to tell us? Mom made it sound like it was important." Catara continued.
 "It is. I was talking to Prince Aximilli today, and he said that he might have some information on where the yeerks would land, if they should come to the homeworld."
 "Oh my Gosh!" Catara said, putting her dark hand to her mouth. "But I thought the yeerks were destroyed!"
 "The Andalite's thought so too, but with so many scout ships being destroyed lately, the military can't help but be suspicious." I said. I handed Tom and Catara a sheet of paper.
 Yes, believe it or not, Andalite's still use paper to write important documents on. Computers can be hacked into too easily. Well, Andalite computers anyway. And with paper, all you have to do is burn it to get rid of it, not erase programs, when an error is possible that could wipe out every computer on the planet.
 I took out my copy of the sheet that I had just handed to my cousin's. "This is a map of this continent. Do you see the area marked off in Red?" I asked pointing to a red area on the map. "This is a military base. The one that Prince Aximilli is stationed at presently. This blue area," I said pointing at an area not too far away, "Is what the Andalite's have designated as the "human" area. In otherwords, where we are now. And finally, you see a green area very near here"
 "I don't like the sound of this, Ritara," Tom moaned, "If I'm thinking what you're thinking, the yeerks are going to land in that green area, right?"
 "I'm afraid so, Tom." I replied, "This would be the best area for the yeerks to land since the surrounding trees will camouflage any ships that land here. And, as far as the yeerks know, some lone humans live here. They think the Andalite's have chosen to study some humans and this is where they live. They have no idea that humans were even opposing them on Earth. Prince Aximilli says they have all of their ships scanning the surrounding regular space and Zero Space so they can pick up the first glimpses of a yeerk vessel, and be able to give us plenty of warning."
 See, unlike our parents, us new Animorphs don't have to work in secret. We talk to our parents to get help on strategies, the military gives us any hints they can to help us fight the yeerks, even though we know they will also fight the yeerks, it will probably be up to us to fight any yeerks that land here.
 "So, let me get this strait," Catara said "We are here," she said, pointing to the blue area of the map, "and the yeerks will most likely land here?" she asked, pointing to the green area.
 "That's what Prince Aximilli told me," I said. "How true it is, I have no idea, but according to Mom, Ax is a pretty trustworthy guy"
 < Of Course he is, Prince Ritora> a thought speak voice said to me <he is an Andalite, and my brother >
 "Geez, Abata! You scared me half to death! You have got to stop sneaking up on us like that!" Tom said.
 Abata said. That's always how Abata is. Always polite. My mom says that Ax was that way too.
 "Abata, don't call me Prince, Please!" I said "Shouldn't you be calling Aximilli that?"
 < Aximilli is not my prince in this battle, Prince Ritora. If I should go into the military like he did, then he would be. But I am a warrior in a different part of the war. So I need a different Prince >
 "Sure, Abata. Whatever you say. But can you please stop calling me prince?"
 < Of course, Prince Ritora > Abata Said.
 I sighed.
 "Well, Abata," Tom said "I suppose you've already seen this map. Since our fearless leader, Xena, here always seems to show you stuff first."
 "Oh, shut up Tom!" I said, exasperated. "I do not always show stuff to Abata first! He sometimes sees stuff first 'cause either his brother showed him, or he is actually willing to take part in this battle against the yeerks and often stops by my house. Do you have a problem with that?"
 < No, Tom. I haven't seen this map that you are holding > Abata said.
 "Well, Abata, Prince Aximilli has just given me this map. The green area is the military base he is at now, the blue area is here, and the green area is the woods just a few meters from here. The green area is where the military expects the yeerks to land." I explained. "He said we should probably check there every day for a while, in case their ships miss something."
 < They are Andalite ships, they won't miss anything > Abata retorted.
 "Chill, Abata" Catara interupted, "I'm sure Ritora is just telling you what Prince Aximilli said, right, Ritora?"
 "Of course, Catara. Of course." I replied. I was lying, of course. Ax was all too sure of his Andalite forces. He thought that they were supirior over all. You'd think that while on Earth, if he learned one thing, it would be that Andalite's are not the best race in the galaxy, but he didn't, and he apparantly passed that trait onto his younger brother. I have yet to meet an Andalite that didn't have that attitude.
 "But, onto business. When should we leave?" I asked our group. "I think we should go at night fall. With the new technology that was developed, which makes us able to acquire a morph from a morph, we can get owl's from our parents. Abata, I'm sure you can get an owl morph from somebody. What do you guys say?"
 That was Abata, of course.
 "I have to agree with Ritora," Catara said, "Owls would be great for seeing in the dark."
 "Just so you know, I think this is Insane" Tom complained, "Am I just crazy, or is this insane."
 "Yes to both Tom." I replied. "So, is it agreed? We go at nightfall tonight?"
 "I guess,"grumbled Tom.
 "Ok, I'll tell Jordan as soon as she gets home. We meet at the woods behind my house tonight. When the sun begins to set. Together we fight?" I asked. Together we fight is almost our battle cry. It's something we say to encourage eachother, let eachother know that others are there for them.
 "Together we Fight" said Catara and Tom.
 < Together we Fight > came Abata's loan thought speak voice.

Chapter 3

After the meeting at Catara and Tom's, I decided to go home and relax, since I was sure we were going to have a long night. As soon as I got home, I slowly walked up the stairs of my house to my bedroom and lay down on the bed. For some reason, I was already tired, even before we did anything. I can blame it on Tom I thought to myself, he was getting on my nerves today, it must be that. And with that thought, I rolled over, and fell asleep.
 Ratta tat tat "Wha...Huh?"
 "Ritora, it's me, Mom, are you all right? May I come in?"
 "Come in."
 "You came home and looked terrible. Are you Ok?"
 "I'm fine, Mom. Tom just got on my nerves a little bit today. And tonight we're going out to the woods behind the house to make sure no yeerks land." I said wearily.
 "Are all of you going? Have you told Jordan yet?"
 "Yeah, all of us are going, but I haven't told Jordan yet, been too tired"
 "Well, she just got home, and I think she wants to spend the night at a friends house, so you better get to her before she asks me if she can go" Mom said, "You go tell Jordan, and then go back to sleep. I know how those late night missions can take a lot out of you."
 "I will Mom, thanks."
 "Hey, that's why I'm here." Mom said with a smile.
 I grudgingly got up and walked down the stairs. I saw Jordan sitting at the kitchen table, eating, well, a type of cereal I guess. Andalites eat by absorbing nutrients through their hooves, so we have to make all of our own food. Right down to cereal. Jordan's looked like it might have been some kind of fruit cereal. I don't know, I'm not a big expert on Andalite food, well, what humans consider food.
 "Hey, Jordan," I greeted my sister, "What's up?"
 "Nuttin'' much, you?"
 "We've got a mission tonight."
 "Aww, man! And I wanted to spend the night at a friends house tonight!"
 "Well, tell your friend that you've got a mission to go on. I'm sure she'll understand."
 "Yeah, sure, whatever you say, Ritora."
 "I'm going back to bed, I'm tired and we're going to be up late tonight. I'd advise you to take a nap too."
 "I can take care of myself, Ritora," Snapped Jordan, "You're not my boss."
 "You're right, Jordan, I'm just your sister, who happens to care about you." With that, I stormed back up the stairs, with an angry Jordan and a confused Mom watching me as I left.
 Sometimes, I think Jordan is having the hardest time out of all of us here. See, me, Catara and Tom are all about the same age, so we can hang out with each other. But Jordan is 3 or 4 years younger than us, so she only hangs out with Andalites really. And she can't find many friends because many Andalite parents are still a little wary of letting their children play with non-Andalites. It would probably be a little easier if she had an Andalite name, like me and Catara, but, Mom wanted one of her kids to have an Earth name, and Jordan was that one.
 I stormed into my bedroom, slammed the door behind me, and flopped down on my bed. I just sat there for a while, and then I guess I fell asleep.
 "Riiiiiiiiiiitoooooooooooraaaaa! Wake Up!"
 "AAAAAAAAAAAAH!" I screamed, and BUMP fell out of bed. "Who's there?!"
 "It's me, Ritora. Catara. It's time to go. Your Mom let me up here, saying she thought you were still asleep. I guess she was right."
 "I'm awake now. Let me get my morphing suit on, and then I'll be right down."
 "Ok, The rest of us already have our owl morphs. Me and Tom got ours from Dad, and your mom let Abata get one from her. Same with Jordan, even though she seemed rather reluctant to do so."
 "Ok, I'll be right down. Now, Shoo, so I can change," with that, Catara walked out of my room, and down the stairs.
 I quickly pulled off my regular clothes and changed into my morphing suit. See, nobody can morph clothing. The original Animorphs had tried for as long as they were fighting the yeerks, and never figured out how. Same with us. We can only morph tight clothing. I had an old black leotard that had belonged to my mom. Catara and Jordan each had one from Cassie, and Tom got his from Uncle Jake.
 Once changed, I ran downstairs to the others.
 "Geez, am I ever glad you are quieter in morph!" Tom said, obviously trying to mock me. I swung a good natured punch at him.
 "You will never be able to do a good imitation of me, Tom. There is only one Ritara-Fuloa-Maheen." I said, trying to ease the tension in the room.
 < Hurry up, Ritora. I really don't want to be trapped in owl morph forever. > That was my mom. For some reason, I hadn't noticed the owl that was standing on the floor in front of me.
 "Ok." I bent down and touched the owl that was my mom. I was nervous at first. I had never acquired a morph from a morph before. The technology was rather new. As I concentrated on the owl, she went into a trance, she became perfectly still, her breathing slowed, almost like she was asleep. When I finished, I stood up and waited for Mom to come out of her acquiring Trance. As soon as she was out, she morphed back to her human form.
 "I hope you guys don't have to get morphs from me often," She half joked, "that trance is creepy."
 'We've gotta go mom." I said. I gave her a kiss on the cheek.
 "You kids be careful out there.Who knows what might be in those woods at night."
 < Actually I do. There is a variety of plant life... >
 "Abata, she wasn't serious." Tom said. "It just means she worried about the things that are in there, and she doesn't know many of them."
 < Oh. > Abata Replied. 
 "It's Ok, Abata." Mom said. "You guys had better get going."
 "She's right guys. Let's..."
 "Please don't say 'Let's do it' Ritora." Tom pleaded.
 "...Go for it." I finished.
 "No Fair!" Tom complained.
 "Stop whining, Tom" Catara told her brother. "Let's go"
 We filed out the back door of my house one by one. When we were all out, we began to morph.
 Every morph is different. For me, it began with my feet. Suddenly, they were talons. "Ahhh!" I screamed. I looked at my friends in the dim daylight. Catara was the best morpher out of all of us. She was beginning to get feather patterns all over her body, starting at her face, and then going down to her feet. I watched as the patterns slowly became 3-D. My mom says she inherited that trait from her mom. I've seen Cassie morph a few times, and she is the best morpher I have ever seen. It must run in her family.Tom already had the head of an owl, and was about a foot shorter than he had been a minute ago. Jordan looked a little like an angel. She had owl wings, and her normal body. I think she has the same natural talent as Catara has. Abata looked the weirdest of all by far. He was begining to grow a beak out of where a mouth should have been. I say should have because Andalites have no mouths. As I said earlier, Andalites eat by absorbing nutrients through their hooves. As I watched Abata, I saw his stalk eyes shrivel into his head. I think I would have screamed at the sight, but just then an owl's beak sprouted out of my mouth. I watched as feathers began to cover my body. Not in the cool way that Catara's had. They just sorta popped up at random.
 As we all finished morphing, I braced myself for the owl's instincts. Surprisingly, I didn't feel the immense hunger, or constant fear that a lot of animals had. The owl was suprisingly mellow. See, whenever you morph, you not only get the animals body, but it's instincts as well.
 < Everybody Ok? > I asked in thought speak
 < Aside from the fact that I can see, and want to eat, every small rodent that moves, yes. > Tom said.
 < I'm fine, Ritora >Cassie said.
 < As am I, Prince Ritora > Abata said.
 < Abata, don't call me Prince > I said immediately.
 < Yes, Prince Ritora>
 < I'm fine too, if anybody cares > said Jordan.
 < Ok, let's go. > I said, and with that, we flew off in the direction of the woods.

Chapter 4

< Geez, these woods are getting awfully think, awfully fast > complained Jordan as we flew through the silent forest < Maybe we should morph out >
 < Jordan is correct, Prince Ritora. We will not be able to go much farther in these morphs > Abata agreed.
 I argued.
 Abata spoke up, < I believe I could capture a small rodent, Prince Ritora. It's called an agb. It is a little larger than an Earth rat, has sight comparable to this bird's, and has fared very well in these parts, so I should be able to find one easily >
 < Sounds good Abata. Everybody, morph out in that clearing up ahead. We'll wait for you there, Abata, > I said.
 We all demorphed quickly. Abata went off to find an abg while the rest of us waited for him in the warm Andalite night.
 'That was so cool!" exclaimed Tom, "We have got to do that morph again! Flying is awesome and the eyesight. Wow!" he continued "It was as bright as day! You could see everything! Insects crawling up trees, snakelike things crawling through the grass! Something that looked like a mouse..."
 Jordan interrupted him "Whoa, hold on. You were actually paying attention to that stuff?! You're sicker than I thought, Tom"
 "Shut-Up, Kid" Tom said with a smile.
 If it had been anybody else, Tom probably would have made a smart remark or, if it had been me, Slugged 'em. But I think everybody thought of Jordan as the little sister they'd never had. Even Abata, in some odd, Andalite sort of way.
 Before JOrdan could say anything else to Tom, Abata came back.
 Abata said as he strode into the clearing the rest of us were already in. He held out his hands, in them was a creature who looked an awful lot like a rat. But it had huge ears and it's eyes looked like they were about to pop out of it's tiny head. Oh, and it was florescent orange with Day-Glo yellow spots.
 "Geez, that think looks like a night light!" Complained Jordan, shielding her eyes, "You're trying to tell me the yeerks wouldn't notice that?!"
 < of course not, Jordan, > Abata explained patiently, < There are hundreds of these creatures in the woods, look at the ground, over in the shadows. >
 For the first time that evening, we looked at the ground, and saw dozens of florescent rodents scurrying about. It was all Catara could do to stifle a scream. "Oh. My. God. Look at all of them!"
 "Well, we'll blend right in, that's for sure," I commented. "We might as well get this over with. We've wasted too much time already."
 "As long as you don't say 'Lets do it, Xena." Tom bargained.
 "Let's do it!" Quipped Jordan, enjoying the withering glance that Tom gave her.
 "Shut up, kid."
 Jordan grinned.
 After we had each quickly acquired the agb, we began to change.

Chapter 5

It's always creepy turning into something smaller than yourself, but this was the smallest any of us had ever morphed.
 The first change for me was the fur. Suddenly, I had orange and yellow fur sprouting out of my black leotard. While I was admiring my new Day-Glo coat, I saw huge eyes just pop out of Catara's still human head. I suddenly felt sick, and I probably would have been if my pointy snout hadn't popped out at that moment. Even Catara and Jordan can't make the first morph look good. I felt the sides of my face start to itch as my ears moved up my head and grew pointy. I heard a grinding noise as my knees reversed directions and my spine stretched out to become the furless tail of the agb. I continued to shrink, which is a little like falling, except you never hit the ground. I watched as the final shreds of humanity, or Andaliteness, left my friends. Abata's stalk eyes sucking into his head, Catara's green leotard being replaced by orange and yellow fur.
 And suddenly, I started to run.
 Run! To the shadows! Out of the light! Predetors everywhere! Ooooh! Prey! A bug!
 < Ritora! Ritora! > a voice in my head shouted,
 Ritora? who...Wah...< AHHHHHH! >
 <Ritora?! Are you alright? > Jordan asked me, genuinely concerned.
 < Yeah, I'm fine. > I replied, < man, this agb thing has strong instincts. >
 < well, snap out of it > Jordan told me, using an expression we'd heard our parents use numerous times, < We've still gotta find Abata. >
 < Why? >
 < When the agb's instincts kicked in,he ran off. Catara and Tom are somewhere near by. >
 < I'm right here, > Catara's exhausted sounding voice said in my head.
 < I'm here, too > Tom added right behind her, sounding just as tired.
 < You guys sound tired. You stay here, we'll find Abata, > I told them.
 < For once, I agree with you, Xena. > Tom said.
 < we'll be right back. > Jordan assured her older cousins.
 And with that, Jordan and I started out into the darkened wood.

Chapter 6

< Abata! >
 < Abata! Where are you? >
 < Abata! Ritora! I think that's him! See that agb running around in a panic? >
 I called out, < Snap out of it! The morph's got control of you. You're an Andalite! Not an agb! Remember! It's me, Ritora! >
 < And Jordan, too! > Jordan added.
 Abata started to slow down and suddenly stopped < Wha...huh...Ritora? Jordan? What happened? >
 < The agb's instincts took control of you, > Jordan explained in a rush, < We came to find you. >
 < But...But...I'm and Andalite! morphs don't take control over me. > Argued Abata.
 < It's Ok, Abata. We all had similar reactions. Now, let's hurry back to the others. We must have wasted a good half hour already. > I told them
 We ran back to Catara and Tom.
 < Hurry up guys! > Catara said when she saw us, 
 We started running east, Fortunatly, agb's don't tire easily, so we made it to where Catara said the lights were in about 30 minutes.
 < What is that? > Tom asked as the ship came into view.
 < It looks a bit like pictures of old Bug Fighters Aximili showed me, but sleaker. >
 I told him. < Hey, do you guys hear somebody talking? Shhh! >
 < Yes, Visser 1,We are at the coordinates you told us to be at. >
 < Any signs of Andalites in the area? >
 < The closest sentient beings are the humans that live almost a thousand meters away. >
 < Tho...Thos...Those are...But...They can't be! > I stammered < They couldn't have infested Andalites already! >
 < Well, actually Ritora, I think they coulda, and they did, > Tom said, trying to make a joke out of the situation. But we could hear the tension in his "voice".
 < That's it. > I said angrily, < If they were just attacking scout ships, that'd be one thing, but now they are actually infesting Andalites. That's the last straw. We're taking these yeerks down. They won't live to infest another race. >

Chapter 7

After hearing a little bit more of the yeerks plan, we headed home. When we came to the clearing we had morphed the agb in, we morphed out and morphed back to owl to make the trip home easier. There was very little talking on the trip home. I think we were all too upset to talk.
 Jordan and I got to our house at about a quarter 'till midnight. Mom and Dad were up waiting for us.
 "Where have you two been?" Mom asked us, looking close to tears. I'd never seen my mom look so upset before. "We've been worried sick! We thought that maybe you'd stayed in morph to long or...or..." Mom broke down and started to cry. I was shocked, I had never seen her cry. Not in my entire life. I guess the thought of losing her two daughters the way she had lost her cousin once for a few days, or the way she lost her future husband was too much for her.
 She lost Uncle Jake once when they original Animorphs attacked a hospital that the yeerks were using to get new controllers. Uncle Jake accidentally fellinto the yeerk pool and was infested. Thankfully, the rest figured out that a yeerk had gotten in his head before his yeerk could report what he had found out about them.
 She lost my Dad once right at the very begining of the war with the yeerks. My Dad, Tobias, loved his Red Tail Hawk morph so much, he got trapped in it. Thankfully, an elimist gave him back his power to morph, but he still had a Red Tail Hawk's body. After the Andalite's brought the Animorphs back here, Dad thought long and hard and decided, he didn't want to be a hawk anymore, and became a human nothlit, a person who is trapped in a morph.
 "What your mother means is that she was very worried about you two." dad spoke for mom. "Personally, I wasn't too worried. If anybody could outsmart the yeerks, it'd be you two. And I knew Abata wouldn't let you forget about the time limit."
 "We're really sorry we worried you,Mom. But we found out some important information." Jordan apologized. Mom perked up, she wiped the tears from her eyes.
 "Oh, I shouldn't have made such a big deal out of it. I don't know what came over me. I haven't cried in years. Not since my dad moved away. Now, what did you guys find out?"
 "The yeerks are here." I said flatly. "They're here, and have already started to infest Andalites. That's why we haven't heard back from any of the destroyed fighters, all of the crew was infested."
 "Oh my gosh!" Mom and Dad said at the same time. Dad sat down in shock, almost missing the couch, Mom had to grab his arm to keep him from falling to the floor. Jordan stiffled a giggle, I gave her a stern look, she stopped giggling.
 I explained to Mom and Dad what we had heard. "The yeerks intend to keep destroying fighters sent into space. They intend to build up an army of Andalite controllers, so if tail-to-tail combat may happen, it will cause mass confusion among those fighting since they won't know who's on which side."
 "Sounds like they really planned this out." Mom commented. "You'll have to tell Ax in the morning, but first,you two really need to get some sleep. You look exhausted. "
 "Yeah, you're right, Mom." I admitted. Both Jordan and I dragged ourselves up the stairs. I went into my room, changed and collapsed into bed.
 The next morning I woke up early. Since I was sure nobody else would be up, I went to go see Prince Aximili by myself.
 < Good morning, Ritora, You are up early. How may I help you? > Prince Aximili asked me.
 "Last night we checked out the site on the map you gave us, and you were right, the yeerks were there." I told him.
 < Did you hear anything? > He asked me with an urgency in his voice.
 "Yes, we did. The reason you haven't been hearing back from any of the fighters is because the yeerks have been infesting them. They plan to build up an army of Andalite Controllers so that if tail-to-tail combat happens, there will be mass confusion. They're even getting a Kandrona here tonight. And, worst of all, Visser 1 is overseeing this, and she, too, has an Andalite host."
 Abata was furious. < How dare those filth infest Andalite hosts!? If our forces were at full strength... >
 I interupted him, "Prince Aximili, it's ok. Me and the others will take care of them. We're gonna spy on the yeerks again tonight and perhaps find out where the new Kandrona is going to be. We'll get them. They won't live to infest another race." I promised.
 < As long as I'm alive they won't. > Aximili agreed.

Chapter 8

After my meeting with Prince Abata, I morphed a Kafit bird and flew to Catara and Tom's house.
 Ok, so I probably could have walked to their house . But it is just so cool to fly! Especially the Birds of Prey. You've got such a feeling of power! Like, nobody can mess with you. And, when you're a kafit bird, Nobody does.
 I landed in front of Catara and Tom's house. I quickly demorphed and ran up to their front door. I knocked, Uncle Jake answered.
 "Hey,Ritora." He greeted me.
 "Hey, Uncle Jake. Can I see Catara and Tom?" I asked him.
 "Well, they're finishing their breakfast..." Just then he noticed that I was only wearing my morphing suit. I guess he figured that it was pretty important. "Come right in."
 I walked into the living room and sat down on the couch. Catara and Tom came in.
 "Yo, Ritora, what's up? Have you talked to Prince Aximili yet?" Tom asked me.
 "Yeah, I just got back."
 Catara sat next to me on the couch,"What'd he say?"
 "He thinks it's disgusting that the yeerks have infested Andalites..."
 "I am too! Any self respecting person would be!" Tom interupted.
 "And he wishes that his forces were up to full strength so that he could go after the yeerks, but I told him that we would take care of it." I continued. "And we will, won't we?"
 "Of course we will," Catara agreed.
 Tom looked hesitant, "Yeah, we're gonna make those slugs wish they'd never heard of Andalites," He finally said with a grin.
 "Ok, then meet behind my house tonight. Same time, same place as last night. We're gonna go spy on the yeerks again. I've gotta go and tell Abata, and then get home and tell Jordan before she gets too ticked at me for not waking her up to go with me." I told them.
 Uncle Jake walked me to the door since Catara and Tom were returning to their breakfast's. "I heard about your plan. It sounds good to me. But, please be careful, Ritora." He told me, giving me a quick hug.
 I hugged him back, "I will, Uncle Jake. Trust me, I will."
 When I was out of the house, I morphed the kafit bird again and flew to the scoop where Abata's family lived.
 "Abata?" I shouted after I had finished morphing back to human, "Abata? Are ya' here?"
 
 "Abata, don't call me prince." I said as I turned to face Abata.
 < Of course, Prince Ritora. > He replied. < Is something wrong? >
 "No, nothing's wrong, just wanted to tell you to meet behind my house, tonight, same time as last night. We're going to go spy on the yeerks again." I told Abata.
 < Of course, Prince Ritora. See you tonight. >
 "See ya', Abata."
 I quickly remorphed the kafit bird and flew home as fast as I could, hoping that Jordan hadn't woken up yet.
 I demorphed on the front porch of my house and ran inside. Jordan was waiting for me at the kitchen table, with an acusatory look on her face.
 "You went to go see Prince Aximili with out me, didn't you?" She asked.
 "Well, yeah, but..."
 "Why? You knew I wanted to go too!" She interupted me.
 "Jordan, you were asleep, and I went really early..."
 "That doesn't matter! You could've waited an hour for me to wake up! You didn't need to wake up at the crack of dawn just to go out flying and talk to Prince Aximili!"
 I was getting fed up with Jordan, "Yes, I did,Jordan." I almost yelled at her, "Prince Aximili wanted to know as soon as possible if we had found anything. I didn't sleep very well last night and don't you dare try to interupt me again, Jordan," I told her as she was about to open her mouth. She quickly closed it. " So I woke up early this morning and I didn't fly out to the military base. I was too tired to morph so early in the morning. I walked out there, and then morphed the kafit bird to get from the base to Catara's and Tom's house and then again to get out to Abata's scoop, and then one final time to get from Abata's to here." I finished.
 Jordan was too upset to say anything. She just ran up to her room and slammed the door behind her. I sighed and sat down on the couch.
 Somebody else sat down next to me."Hey, Ritora, What's wrong?" Dad asked me.
 "Nothing," I lied.
 "You can't fool me, Ritora." he went on, "now, seriously, what's wrong."
 "Jordan got mad at me again for going to see Prince Aximili with out her. I tried to explain that I had left early and she wouldn't have liked it any better if I had woken her up and she knows that Prince Aximili doesn't like to be left waiting!" I was close to tears, "Why does she always get like that, Dad? Why why why why why?"
 "I don't know, Ritora," He said, giving me a hug, "Want me to go talk to her?"
 I blinked back a few tears. I wasn't about to let myself cry. Not over something like this. "Go ahead, but she's pretty mad."
 "I think I can handle her." He said with a smile. He gave me one more hug and then went upstaris to talk to Jordan.
 That night I went out behind my house to wait for the others. One by one they all showed up. Except for Jordan.
 "Where's Jordan?" Catara asked.
 "She's either going to be late or not coming," I told her, "She's pretty mad at me. I'll be right back. I'm gonna go see if she's coming." I ran back inside the house and up the stairs. I knocked on the door to her bedroom. "Jordan? It's me, Ritora, ya' gonna let me in?"
 "Go away," was her muffled reply.
 "Everybody's waiting out side for you. Are you going to come with us to spy on the yeerks?"
 "Ok, fine! I will!" She said angrily. "I'll be right down."
 I went back outside with the others. "She'll be down in a minute. But be extra nice to her, guys. She's really mad."
 Jordan soon came out with us."Well, what are we gonna do? What are we gonna morph tonight?"
 "Owls again?" Catara suggested.
 "I can't think of anything better." I said.
 Everybody else nodded their heads. Owls sounded good to them too.
 "Owls it is then, let's morph."

Chapter 9

We morphed the owls and headed out towards where we were last night. We morphed the agb in the same clearing we had been in last night.
 "This thing gives me the creeps," Tom said.
 "That's just 'cause you're a big wimp," Jordan told him.
 "Oh, shut up, kid." he told her.
 Since we had morphed the agb before, nobody got caught up in the morph, although Abata did seem a little chacky for a second.
 < Everybody Ok? > I asked just to be sure.
 < Yes, I am fine, Prince Ritora, > Abata told me.
 < Don't call me Prince, Abata >
 < Yes, Prince Ritora. >
 < I'm fine,too. > Catara told me.
 < The cute, wonderful, fantastic, and modest, very very modest, Tom is ok, too. >
 < Yeah Yeah. I'm fine too. Can we just go, Ritora? > Jordan demanded impatiently.
 < Fine, we will, Jordan > I said icily.
 We started off through the woods.
 < You know, despite the fact that I see several large animals eyeing us hungrily, this morph is pretty cool > Tom said.
 < Yeah. But I'd like it a lot more if it wasn't so small. > I told him.
 We ran the rest of the way in silence. When we got to where the yeerks had been the night before, nobody was there.
 < Where are they? > Jordan asked impatiently.
 < Well, it's about 5 minutes earlier than it was when I saw them last night, > Catara said, < maybe they only come at a certain time everynight. >
 < Good point, Catara > I told her. < We'll wait a little while before we give up on them. >
 Exactly five minutes later, we saw the same bug fighter that we had last night land in front of us.
 < Everybody quiet. >
 < Duh, Xena, no we're just gonna de-morph and yell "Hey Yeerks! Over here! Look at us! >
 < Oh shut up, Tom > Jordan told him. I think she was begining to stop being mad at me. But, then again, maybe she just wanted to tell Tom to shut up.
 < Welcome, Visser. Inuss 001 reporting. May the Kandrona shine and strengthen you. >
 < And you, Inuss 001. Do you have the Kandrona? >
 < Yes, Visser. Others are working on camoflauging it a few hundred meters north of here. >
 < Quiet, fool! > And the Visser's tail was at Inuss 001's throat. < There could be spies anywhere, and you're just giving away secret information! >
 We could hear the fear in Inuss' voice. < Yes, Visser. I'm...I'm...I'm sorry. It won't happen again! >
 < See to it. Or I'll feed you to the Taxxons. >
 < Yes, Visser. >
 < Now, finish hiding the Kandrona, and report back to me here tomorrow. >
 < Of course, Visser. >
 The Bug Fighter powered up it's engines and took off. < Abata, how much time do we have left in these morphs? > I asked.
 < Thirteen minutes, Prince Ritora. > He answered.
 < Ok, everybody, let's go back a few meters, demorph, and then remorph so we can find the Kandrona. >
 < And what will we do when we get there, Ritora? > Jordan spat out. Ok, so she wasn't ready to forgive me. < We don't exactly have any dangerous morphs yet. >
 < She has a point, Ritora. > Catara agreed, < Why don't we just leave for tonight? >
 < Did I say anything about leaving? > Jordan demanded, < No, I was just wondering what we would do when we got there. I say we go make sure that the Kandrona is where that Inuss guy said it would be. >
 I said.
 When everybody had caught their breath, we all remorphed and ran as fast as we could in the direction of where the Kandrona was supposed to be.

Chapter 10

We slowed down once we started hearing voices. We didn't want to take the chance of somebody hearing us, or worse, seeing us.
 < Hey, guys? Please, please PLEASE tell me I'm wrong when I say that those look like Hork-Bajir > Tom Pleaded.
 < Sorry, Tom. But, for once, you're right. > Catara told him.
 < Ok, everybody be extrememly quiet. Hork-Bajir have excelent hearing. > I told everybody else. < And be sure to keep your thought speak private. >
 < Yes, mother. > Jordan spat.
 < Prince Ritora? >
 I sighed. < Yes, Abata? >
 
 < What?! > I shouted, almost forgetting to keep it private.
 < They've noticed us since we are just standing in one place, not moving constatnly like agbs normally do. >
 < Shoot, alright, everybody, start wandering around. Give a little bit of control to the agb, she knows what to do. > Hopefully, I added silently.
 I saw the others wander away from me. Since it was dark out and there was a fair ammount of brush to hide us, the agb's mind was calm.
 "Gfrash Get! Gfrash Destroy!"
 < THEY'VE SEEN US! > Jordan shouted in a panic.
 < Jordan! Calm down! > I yelled at her. < Everybody, get out of here! >
 < Gee,ya' think? > Jordan asked sarcastically.
 We ran out of there as fast as we could. Out of the corner of my bulging eyes, I saw dracon beams being fired. < Abata! Tom! Catara! Jordan! Everybody Ok? >
 < Yeah > Tom and Catara chorused.
 < Yes, Prince Ritora, I am 'Ok' >
 < Jordan? Jordan?! JORDAN! > I shouted. < Jordan! Can you hear me? > There was no answer. < You keep going, guys, I've gotta find Jordan! >
 < Ritora, No! It's too dangerous! > Catara shouted.
 
 < Ritora, you're my best friend and my cousin, I can't lose you! > Catara told me in private.
 < Catara, if it was Tom, you'd go back to find him, wouldn't you? >
 < At least let us come with! >
 < No, minimum risk. >
 I turned back and ran before anybody could try and stop me.
 < Jordan! Jordan! JORDAN! > I shouted. < Jordan! If you can hear me, say something! >
 I ran around like mad. Careful to avoid any dracon beams. I saw a few dead agbs who had been hit by dracon beams. Thankfully, none were Jordan. The closer to the time limit I got, the more worried I became. What if she got hit by a dracon beam and is unconsious? I wondered. Suddenly, straight ahead of me, I saw an agb lying on it's side, barely consious.
 < Jordan? > I asked.
 There was a slight thought speak moan in response.
 < Oh my god, Jordan! It's me, Ritora! Morph out! Morph out NOW! >
 < Ritora? > She said weakly, 
 < You've got to! Alright, hold on. Don't move, I"m gonna morph something bigger so I can carry you. But you're going to have to morph out eventually. You can't spend the rest of your life as an agb! >
 I frantically searched for a place it'd be safe to demorph. Thankfully, the barrage of dracon beams had subsided, so I didn't have to keep moving. I ran behind a large bush and demorphed. I quickly morphed the owl so I'd be able to carry Jordan.
 < Jordan, I'm in my owl morph. I'm going to pick you up and carry you a little ways from here. But then you'll have to demorph. Got it? >
 < Got it. > she replied weakly.
 I flew to her and picked her up in my talons, careful not to hold too tightly. I flew to a small clearing just a few meters away. It was a very small one. Not five meters wide.
 < ok, Jordan. You have to demorph. The time limit is almost up! >
 I quickly demorphed from my owl. As I was finishing, the first hints of humanity were returning to Jordan. Ever so slowly she returned to her human form.
 I gave her a big hug. "Thank the Elimists you're alright!"
 "Yeah, yeah. I'm fine, Ok? Geez, Xena, don't get all emotional on me." She told me. "But, I'm glad you're alright too." She told me, hugging me back. "Hey, Ritora? I"m sorry I was so mad at you earlier."
 "Well, I'm sorry too."
 "Hey! Xena! Jordan! Alright! You guys are all right! Of course, I knew Xena was going to be fine, but The Kid here, I wasn't so sure."
 Jordan stood up, walked over to Tom, and hit him in the arm. "Shut Up." She said with a grin. "I'm glad you're all right too."
 "I don't know about you guys, but I am whipped." I said. "How about we call it a night?"
 "I don't think I've heard a better suggestion in my life." Catara laughed
 We morphed our owl morphs and flew home. Mom and Dad were up waiting for us, again. But, thankfully, neither of them looked mad, or upset.
 "Hey, Mom, Dad. What's Up?" Jordan asked cheerily.
 "Oh, nothing, just thought we'd wait up for you."Dad replied.
 "Is everything Ok, Dad?" I asked, "You seem kinda, I don't know, distracted."
 "Oh, I'm fine." he said.
 "Um, sure. Well, we're really tired, so unless you two have any objections, we're going to bed." Jordan said.
 "Yeah, see you two in the morning." Mom said, reaching over to give us each a hug.
 We ran upstairs, but instead of going into her room, Jordan followed me into mine.
 "Tell me that that wasn't weird." she said.
 "Sorry, I can't," I whispered, "Something is definetly up with those two, shhhhhh, I think I hear them talking." I walked over to the door and opened it a crack so I could hear what our parents were saying.
 "Tobias, they're fine. They're perfectly capable of taking care of themselves!"
 "I know that, Rachel, but I still worry sometimes, doesn't a father have a right to worry about his kids?"
 "Yes, but aren't you the same Tobias who said last night that they could take care of themselves when I broke down crying?"
 "I've thought about it since then, and realized there are dangers out there that they can't comprehend."
 "It looks like they're doing a pretty good job to me."
 "Maybe you're right, maybe I am over reacting, but I can't help thinking about what would happen if...if...if one of them got stuck in their morph."
 "Oh, Tobias. You know that Ritora is responsible enough to make sure that doesn't happen to any of them. And, they've got Abata, who isn't about to let them forget about the time limit. Now, let's go to bed, it's late."
 "Hurry! Close the door!" Jordan told me.
 "Get to your room in case they check in on you!"
 Jordan quietly slipped out the door, and I closed mine and jumped into my bed and covered myself with the covers just before Mom and Dad came in to say good night.
 The next morning, after Mom and Dad had gone out together, me and Jordan talked a little bit about what we heard last night.
 "Do you think Dad will make us stop fighting the yeerks?" Jordan asked worridly.
 "No way. Mom will tell him that she knows we can handle it, and she knows how important it is to us. I think he's just worried about us." I comforted her.
 "Well, Ok. Now, let's eat! I'm starving!"
 I laughed, "Ok, ok, I'll get you some cereal."
 After breakfast, I got the rest of our group to come with me and Jordan to see Prince Aximili, we were going to tell him what we saw last night.

Chapter 11

Since it was a beauitful day, we all decided that it would be quicker, and a lot more fun, to fly to the base to see Prince Aximili. But, none of us really wanted to do Kafit birds, we wanted to do something different. Since Abata said that Kafit birds are really the only birds of prey in the area, we decided to ask our parents if we could acquire their bird of prey morphs from Earth.
 We asked everybody what morphs each of them had. Mom had a Bald Eagle, Uncle Jake had a Peregrine Falcon, Both Aunt Cassie and Marco had an Osprey morph. I decided to take Mom's Bald Eagle morph. Tom and Jordan decided to have Marco's Osprey and Catara decided on the Peregrine Falcon. Abata wasn't going to come with us. He said he might meet us at the base though. We quickly acquired the morphs and then went outside to morph.
 The first change for me was the feathers. My dark blonde hair and face was replaced with snowy white feathers, my black leotard was replaced with dark brown feathers. I watched as feather patterns drew themselves on me. Starting on my head and face, and making their way down.
 "I think we've got somebody who could give Jordan and Catara some Competition for best morpher" Tom joked, Suddenly, my beak popped out of where my mouth had been. "I take that Ba--SQUACK!" Tom was going to say more, when his beak suddenly popped out.
 < Look who's talking now, Bird-Brain. > Jordan laughed. She and Catara had almost finished morphing.
 < How many times do I have to tell you to shut up, kid? > Tom joked.
 Me and Tom finished morphing. We waited for the instincts to kick in. Suddenly, I felt the Eagles conciousness bubble up under my own. I didn't feel constant hunger, or fear, like I did with the agb, but I didn't feel the cockiness of the kafit bird. The Eagles consiousness was just sort of their.
 < Everybody all right? > I asked.
 < Yeah, definetly alright. These birds are awesome! > Jordan exclaimed, 
 < Well, I don't think I've ever heard a better invitation, let's fly. > I said.
 We flapped a little bit to get some altitude, before long we caught an awesome thermal and rode it high into the sky.
 < Oh wow! Look! You can see everything from up here! > Jordan exclaimed excitedly.
 < Yeah, much better than that Kafit bird. > Tom commented, < And, I think I like this better since this bird's not as cocky as the kafit. >
 < oh, so you mean you like having a break from being yourself? > Jordan asked in a conversational tone.
 < I'm not going to give that the dignity of a response. > Tom told her.
 < Yes! It's a mircale! Tom can't think of a good comeback! > I shouted, having fun getting into their argument.
 < Shut Up, Xena. > Tom told me.
 < Ouch, I'm hurt, really Tom. > I said sarcastically.
 < Will you three be quiet? > Catara asked, < We're right above the base, let's land. >
 Jordan said.
 We all said we did. < Yeah, you're right, Jordan, let's go guys. > I said.
 We flew down in front of Prince Aximili. He looked startled. < Hello, Prince Jake, Rachel, Cassie, Marco. I did not expect to see you. >
 I almost burst out laughing. < Its us, Prince Aximili. >
 < Oh, I'm sorry,Ritora. I did not know that you had the same morphs that your parents had.>
 <We just got them.> Jordan giggled.
 We all began to morph out. "Now, Prince Aximili, can we talk to you in private?"
 < Of course, Ritora. Follow me. >
 We followed Aximili into his office, he closed and locked the door. < What is wrong? >
 "Last night, when we were out spying on the yeerks, we found out where they are hiding the Kandrona. They had at least a dozen Hork-Bajir camoflauging it in the forest." I explained to him.
 he sighed. < The work of a prince is never done. >
 I swear my jaw just about hit the floor right then. "Ax? I mean, Prince Aximili? Do you realise that you made a joke?"
 He asked. < Well, no I guess I didn't. Now, I wish I could stay and talk to you more, but I can't. Please keep me informed on the situation. > he said returning to his usual self.
 "We will. We plan to go back tonight to see what else we can figure out."
 < Good luck, > Aximili told us, and then walked out the door.
 We followed him out of the building. Once we were back outside, we morphed back to our bird of prey morphs, and flew back home. We each went back to our homes to prepare ourselves for our mission that night.

Chapter 12

We met behind my house again and morphed owls. We went to the same clearing that we had been going to for the past few nights to morph the agb, we then went off to find the Kandrona.
 < You don't think that the yeerks decided to move the Kandrona after seeing us last night, do you? > Catara asked.
 I asked.
 < It's very possible, but I doubt it. Their Visser will tell them something like they don't have the resources or some other bad yeerk excuse for being lazy. > Abata said.
 <Shhh! I think I hear something!> Tom said.
 We all slowed down and spread out, so we wouldn't have a repeat of last night.
 <Sounds like they're building a tower in one of the trees to hide the Kandrona.> Jordan said.
 I looked around. < Yeah, I can see them building one. It looks like a tree house. >
 < So, let's morph something big and destroy it! > Jordan said enthusiasticly.
 < We don't have anything big enough. > I explained reasonably. < Besides, it looks almost done, it'll be more fun if it's all finished, and nobody's around to see it. So, let's come back tomorrow afternoon, and it's bye bye Kandrona Tree house! >
 < yeah! > agreed everybody else.
 We all went home after that. Mom and Dad weren't waiting up for us exactly, since it was still fairly early. THey were sitting on the couch, reading, since Andalite's don't have TV.
 "Hey Mom and Dad!" I said.
 "Hiya Mom, Dad!" Jordan ran up to them and gave them a hug.
 "Hi guys. Back early tonight. What's up?" Mom asked.
 "The yeerks are building a tree house type-thing to hide the Kandrona. We're gonna go back tomorrow and destroy it." I explained.
 "Sounds like fun." Dad said with out looking up from his book. At a glance, it looked like any old book we had laying around the house, but at further inspection, I realised it was one of his old comic books he had brought from Earth. "You two better go to bed, you've got a big day ahead of you."
 Mom sighed, "Unfortunatly, your father's right, for once." She said with a devilish smile, trying to get Dad to react. He didn't. She was worried. "You two go off to bed, I'll be up in a minute to say good night."
 We ran up the stairs to my bedroom where we left the door open a crack so we could hear what was going on down stairs.
 "What's wrong with you,Tobias? Acting like the two of them weren't even there! Just sticking your nose deeper into that stupid comic book."
 "Ummm...Well..." Dad stammered, "I was at a really good part...ummm...Superman was just about to die. Yeah."
 Some papers rustled, "This isn't even the part where Superman gets killed! Don't you think you've had enough death and destruction for one lifetime?" Mom asked.
 "Well, what do you want me to do? Encourage them to go on these silly missions?" Dad asked angrily, "I promised myself after I got stuck in my morph that if I ever had kids, I was going to do all that I possibly could to protect them fromthe life I was leading at that time. Suddenly, they're off about to blow up the yeerks Kandrona! I don't want anything to happen to them!"
 "Didn't we just discuss this last night?" Mom asked, "I thought we had established the fact that nothing is going to happen to them. Ritora, Jordan and their friends are very responsible!"
 "Fine, you're right," Dad admitted, "Now, let's just go to bed."
 "Hurry!" I whispered to Jordan, "Into your room!"
 She slipped out the door and into her room. I closed the door and ran to my bed. I waited for Mom or Dad to come in to say good night, but niether of them came. Must've been too tired. I thought to myself as I slowly drifted to sleep.

Chapter 13

The next morning, I woke up early. Earlier that Mom or Dad. And much earlier than Jordan, but then again, I'm almost always up earlier than her. I quietly crept down the stairs so I wouldn't wake anybody up to get my breakfast. I poured the fruity cereal into a bowl and poured something that was kind of like milk over it. I took my time finishing my cereal, while looking over a data pad with the news from around the galaxy. By the time I was finished, Mom came down stairs.
 "Hi, Ritora." She greeted me.
 "Hey, Mom, waz up?" I asked her, using some Earth Slang that was in the "Teen" section of the Newspad.
 "Waz Up? Have you been reading that Earth Slang section again?" Mom asked. I nodded. "Well, Nothing much is up with me, I'm just tired." She said while stifling a yawn. "Why are you up so early today?"
 "I don't know. Just felt like it, I guess." I said, refraining from using any more of the Earth Slang.
 "I bet I know why," Mom said with a knowing look on her face, "You've got a big mission today, right?" I nodded, "Well, you're probably a little nervous about it. Wondering what might go wrong and other things that the "leader" of a group might think about. I don't know, talk to your uncle about leader stuff. I was the go getter, not the leader. You want to know how to annoy your cousin Tom, then talk to me." She said with a smile.
 "Don't worry, I will." I smiled back.
 "Hey. How are two of my favorite ladies this morning?"
 I turned around in my chair, "Hey, Dad. Waz Up?" I asked, trying out the Earth Slang on him.
 He looked over my head at my mom, "You've been letting her read the slang section again, haven't you?" Dad joked.
 "Hey, she was up before I was, I had nothing to do with it!" She answered, raising her hands above her head like she was innocent.
 Dad walked over by Mom and leaned down and gave her a kiss on the cheek, "Sure, sure. I'm sure it was all Ritora's doing. How are you doing this morning, Ritora? Ready for you big mission today?"
 Hmmmm. I thought to myself, He seems a bit more forgiving of the fact that I'm fighting the yeerks now than he was last night. "Yep, ready and waiting for the other's to wake up."
 Dad shook his head, "Geez, you and that Earth Slang, Ritora. I hope your sister doesn't turn out to be half as bad as you."
 I grinned, "I'm sure she won't." I said while winking at Mom. "I'll make sure of it."
 "Why do I get the feeling you aren't going to do that?" Dad asked jokingly.
 I stayed at the table untill Mom and Dad had finished their breakfast's and read the Newspad. They both like to check what's happening on Earth. After all the dishes had been cleared, Jordan finally came downstairs.
 "Goodmorning sleepy head." I said to her. I saw Mom and Dad shake their heads at the Earth Slang, I pretended to ignore them. "Hurry up and eat, we've gotta go soon."
 "Yeah, yeah, yeah. I'm hurrying, I'm hurrying." She said as she walked even slower towards the kitchen to get her breakfast. I ran ahead of her and poured her cereal fast so she couldn't dawdle. I made sure that the Newspad wasn't at the table so Jordan wouldn't be able to look at the kid's section or the Earth Comics.
 By the time she was finished, Tom and Catara had actually come over to see if we were still going to go or not.
 "Hurry Up, Jordan!" I shouted over my shoulder. "We've gotta go! Tom and Catara are waiting!"
 "Isn't that just like a kid?" Tom asked, "Always holding us up."
 Jordan came out just in time to hit him.
 "Ow!" Tom said in mock pain, "Have you been teaching her to lift weights, Xena?" Apparently Tom read the Teen section of the Newspad too.
 "Can we just hurry up and morph?" Catara asked.
 "Yeah, but first we've gotta go get Abata." I told her.
 Suddenly, a Kafit bird landed right in front of us. Jordan jumped back, startled.
 < No need, Prince Ritora, I am here. > Abata said as he began to morph out.
 "Abata, have I asked you yet to not call me Prince?" I asked.
 "Yes, Prince Ritora, you have."
 I went on, ignoring Abata's refusal to stop calling me Prince, "Abata, we were just about to Morph our Bird-of-Prey morphs to go to the Kandrona Tree House. Is everybody ready?" I asked.
 Everybody nodded. "Ok, then, let's..." I was interupted.
 "Don't say it, Xena!" Tom begged. He got down on his knees, "I'm on my knees! Please don't say 'Let's do It!'"
 "Let's Morph" I continued.
 Tom stuck out his toungue at me. I ignored him and started to morph.

Chapter 14

We quickly finished our morphing. We had gotten used to the bird's, and I could see why our Parents liked to morph them so much. One of the best things was the sight. I can see everything with my eagle eyes! I can see ants, or, what look like ants, crawling over the grass! I don't think anything could compare to these eyes. The talons are pretty cool too. You can tell they aren't just for holding onto branches, but holding onto prey, which, according to Mom and Dad, can come in handy sometimes. But, the absolute best thing has to be flying. Sure, sometimes taking off from high up is a little scary, but after that, it is so, totally, absolutly, the best thing in the universe! We learned from our parents to let the bird's brain do the flying since humans, or Andalites for that matter, know absolutly nothing about flying as birds. Although, you never know, some Andalites may think they do.
 < Man, this is the best! > Tom said once we had gotten up into the air.
 We all agreed with him.
 < Hey, is that the tree house over there? > Catara asked.
 < I'm not sure, everything looks different from up here. > I said, < But I do believe you're right. See how the brush is all trampled around it? And how there's a hill next to it? That's probably the Kandrona. They mustn't have had time to put it up last night. >
 < Well, then why bother destroying the tree house? Let's go for the jackpot and destroy the Kandrona! > Jordan said.
 
 < Prince Ritora, something is not right about this, the yeerks would never leave their Kandrona out in the open like this with out several guards. >
 < You're right, Abata. But do you see any guards? I sure don't.> I told him. < And don't call me Prince. >
 < Of course, Prince Ritora. But we should be careful, the guards could be hiding. >
 < Unless, they're in morph. Since they have gotten some Andalite Hosts. > Tom commented.
 < Always the optimist, aren't you, Tom? > I asked.
 < Yep > he said with what would have been a grin, if he'd had a mouth that could grin.
 < Okay,let's go down everybody, but becareful morphing out. > I told them. < You never know where a controller is going to be. >
 < Or what. > Tom added grimly.
 We all landed on the ground and looked around to see if anybody was there.
 < The coast's clear. > Catara said.
 Apparantly I hadn't been the only one to read the Earth slang that morning.
 < What do you mean, the "coast's clear" > Abata asked.
 < Don't you ever read the slang section in the newspad, Abata? > Jordan asked incrduously.
 < What is this "slang Section"? >
 < Nevermind, Abata, just nevermind. > Tom sighed.
 We started to morph out. Well, Abata was the only one actually demorphing. We wanted to be extra causious, if any controllers were there, we'd be dead, or at least unconsious, before we knew what had happened. But if Abata morphed first, he could take care of any controllers in the area.
 < Prince Ritora, The coast is, as you say, clear. > Abata told us.
 Abata waited impatiently for the rest of us to finish morphing. I think he was still a little worried about any controllers that might have been nearby.
 "This is so cool! The yeerks have just begun to invade here, and already we're gonna strike a major blow against them!" Jordan said gleefully.
 "So, what can we morph to destroy this thing?" I asked.
 "Oh, yeah, good point. We don't really have anything, do we?" Tom said.
 "Abata, do you know of anything nearby we could acquire to morph?" Catara asked Abata.
 appologized Abata.
 "Oh, well, this is just great." Tom said sarcastically.
 < But, On the other side of the military base, there is, well, it's like a wild animal preserve on Earth. There may be a suitable animal there. >
 "Sounds like a plan to me, let's..." I was interupted.
 A dark and cold thought speak voice said. 
 We looked down at the kafit bird that had landed at our feet. It started to demorph.
 "Run!!! It's a controller!" I shouted.
 We all ran in different directions. Hoping that there wasn't any more controllers following us. As I ran, I began to concentrate on morphing the kafit bird. I hoped that none of the others would morph their Earth birds since nay controller would know right away that they weren't from this planet. I began to shrink. But not slowly and gently, I leaped! I felt my arms shrink into wings, and felt the other 10 wings pop out of my chest at various times. My face suddenly explouded into the viciously curved beak of the Kafit bird. As the last traces of humanity disapeared, I could feel the kafit brain assert it's self. It felt extremely cocky. I began to flap all 12 of my wings, and took off flying. As I rose above the trees, I looked around. At about the same time, I saw other kafit birds rise above the trees. I sighed in relief. < Hey, over here > I called out to them.
 < Hey, Xena, glad to see you're allright! >
 < You too, Tom. Everybody else ok? >
 < Well, I almost got hit by a dracon, but otherwise I'm fine. > Jordan stated.
 < Same here. > Catara added,
 < I,too, am fine. Prince Ritora. >
 < Good, let's head back home. I'm whooped. > I said.
 < Aw, do we have to, Ritora? > Jordan asked, sounding just like she did when she was younger and didn't want to leave the park that's near our house.
 < Got any other ideas? > I asked her.
 < Well, we could go kamikaze and get some dangerous morphs from the animal preserve that Abata said something about. > Tom said.
 < Good idea. > i told him.
 < On second thought, I didn't say anything. It would be a very bad idea, Ritora. You may want to live out your life dressing in leather and playing Xena, but I'd prefer to actually stay alive. > Tom said.
 < Fine, go ahead and wimp out, we won't mind. > I told him, knowing it'd provoke him into going.
 < Don't you pull that on me, Ritora. Fine, I'll go. Happy now? >
 < Very. > I told him. < Let's go. >
 < Why am I very afraid right about now? > Tom said.

Chapter 15

The animal preserve was farther away than we had thought. It took almost an hour and a half to get there. We landed on the border of the preserve and morphed out.
 "Abata, what kind of animals are in here, exactly?" I asked.
 < Several kinds, Prince Ritora. Around the edges are some small animals. But the larger animals are towards the middle of this area, where they are less likely to be disturbed. >
 "What kind of animal are we looking for, Abata?" Catara asked.
 < There is a wide variety here. There is a large mammal that is realated to the large cats on Earth. Such as tigers and lions, if I recall my schooling correctly. It's about the size of an Earth alligator or crocodile. And has very short, green fur. About the color of the leaves for camoflauge. >
 "Cool," I said.
 < There are also several other large animals that would be suitable for destroying the Kandrona... >
 Tom interupted him "Abata, I think we have spent enough time chatting about the animals, can we just go in, try and get ourselves killed while acquiring them, and then get the heck out of here?"
 "Tom's right, Abata. You can tell us when we come near an animal that would work." I told him.
 We quietly crept through the woods, not wanting to startle any animals that lived in there.
 I saw something on my left. I snapped my head that way. It looked like the actual bushes were moving. "Whoa, what's that?" I asked.
 < That is the animal I was telling you about earlier. > Abata explained. < A chatma.There are probably several in this area since they are pack hunters. >
 "Would I be able to acquire one?" I asked.
 < It may be possible, but they are some of the most dangerous animals on this planet. >
 "Cool." I said again.
 "Leave it to Ritora to want the most dangerous animal on the entire planet." Tom said in disgust.
 We walked in the direction we had seen the chatma. Abata was ahead of us, cutting away branches with his tail, and ready to fend off any attacking animals.
 < Shh. > He said suddenly. < You stay here, I'll bring the chatma here. >
 We waited patiently for a few minutes. Suddenly, Abata crashed through the underbrush, dragging a chatma behind him on a make shift leash. < Here you are, Prince Ritora, a chatma. >
 "Thanks, Abata. And could you please stop calling me prince?" I inquired.
 < Of course, Prince Ritora. >
 I tenativly stepped forward with my hand out towards the huge animal. "Here, kitty, kitty, kitty." I joked.
 Abata was right, the chatma did look like it was related to lions and tigers. It's head was about the size of a tigers, it had beautiful blue eyes that contrasted the green fur, but the most starteling feature was the teeth. Two huge fangs stuck out of it's mouth like it was a sabre toothed tiger of prehistoric Earth. It's body was long and slinky. With patches of light green and dark green fur. The paws were huge, obviously made so that she could run through the dense forest with out tripping. And then she had an insanely long tail. It was covered with small spikes, obviously a weapon.
 "This is so cool." I said as I started acquiring her.
 After a minute, I was finished acquiring her. Abata quickly led the great beast away before she could come out of her acquiring trance.
 We marched through the forest in a single file line. With Abata still in the lead. We all gradually acquired powerful morphs. Tom acquired something that looked a little like an Earth wolf, but it had the same green fur that my chatma had, and it was about ten times larger. Catara had a reptilian creature that was about the size of my chatma. But, instead of having green colored skin like the animals both me and Tom had acquired, it had blue skin. Abata said it was because the meader, Catara's morph, was also a swimmer, which could possibly come in handy in the future. Finally, Jordon got a primate sort of animal. It was about the size of an Earth gorilla. It had blades on it's elbows, knees, and knuckles. Tom had said it reminded him of a Hork-Bajir, and I could see how he thought that. It had fur that was colored the same as the agb's. Bright orange and yellow. Abata decided to stay himself.
 "Well, we've got some powerful morphs, now what?" Catara wondered.
 "We go back and crush that Kandrona!" Jordan exclaimed.
 "Kid, you're scaring me. That's what your sister is supposed to say." Tom told her.
 "We can't go back today, Jordan. The yeerks will be on the lookout." I explained. "But, maybe late tonight, or very early in the morning tomorrow. Under the cover of darkness. The animals we just got will be fine at night, right, Abata?"
 < Yes, Prince Ritora. Several of the animals you have just acquired are well adapted to darkness. Especially your chatma. >
 "Alright, then it's settled. Around midnight, come to my house, we'll morph and then go destroy the Kandrona." I said.

Chapter 16

    Both me and Jordan went Straght to bed when we got home. Thankfully, both Mom and Dad were out, so they couldn't ask us any questions.
    Around 11:30, I woke up. Since it was close enough to when we were going to leave, I decided I might as well get up. To my surprise, Jordan was already up.
    "Hey" she greeted me.
    "Hey," I replied, "This has to be a first, you being up before me."
    She smiled tiredly, "Yeah, must be."
    "Is anything wrong? You look like you didn't get much sleep, and I know how you love it."I said as I walked into the kitchen to get myself something to eat.
    "Had some bad dreams. About that close call last night and today." She said.
    "Bad dreams? Well, get used to them, you're gonna be having alot more if this war doesn't end soon."
    We looked towards the stairs where the voice had come from. "Hey, Mom." we said almost in unison.
    "Hey, you two. Why are you up? It's late." she said.
    "We've got another late night mission." Jordan said.
    "But starting this late? And what's this I hear about a close call?" She asked while pulling a chair up to the table to sit next to us.
    "We have to start late so we can destroy that Kandrona house and the actual Kandrona. We were going to today, but when we got there we realized we didn't have any morphs capable of doing that, and then an Andalite Controller had morphed a kafit bird and was spying on us. So, we had to get out of there and then we went to an animal preserve type thing and acquired some deadly morphs. Thankfully, none of the controllers had heard about our plans to come back tonight." I explained to her.
    "Ok, I can understand that, but what are these close calls, Jordan?" Mom incquired. She looked worried.
    "Oh, they were nothing. But last night in my Abg morph, I was served a glancing blow by a dracon beam, and then today, both me and Catara were almost hit." Jordan said.
    Mom reached her hand out and put it over Jordan's. "Well, you be careful."
    "We will, Mom, don't worry." I assured her.
    Mom suddenly broke out of her "concerned mom" mood and went back to being the "Rachel that I used to know," to quote Dad.
    "Well, you two better hurry. I think I hear Catara and Tom outside."
    KNOCK KNOCK
    "That must be them." I said.
    I ran to the door and opened it.
    "We were waiting outside for you, but you never came!" Complained Tom.
    "Well, sorry to worry you. We were just talking to Mom." I told him.
    "Worried? Me? Ha!" Tom said, "Like I'd worry about you,the mighty Xena, Catara made us come up here."
    "Xena, Huh?" Mom startled us by walking up behind me. She put her hand on my shoulder, "I'm really going to have to talk to Marco about the example he's setting for you."
    Tom just grinned sheepishly.
    "Well, we've gotta go. See ya' Mom." I turned around and gave her a quick hug, "Jordan! Come on! Catara and Tom are here!"
    There was a crashing through the nearby brush.
    "Abata, too!" I yelled at Jordan.
    "I'm coming!" Jordan shouted back.
    Mom reached down and gave Jordan a very brief hug as she flew out the door.
    "Ok," Jordan said as soon as she got outside, "Can we hurry up and morph? I'm freezing here!"
    "The kids got a point." Tom said, "We have got to figure out how to morph more clothing if we're going to do more night missions. At least it doesn't get too much colder here."
    "Oh. My. Gosh." Jordan said, running up to Tom, "He actually agreed with me! Tom, are you feeling Ok? Maybe you should sit this one out."
    Tom gave her a gentle push away. "Shut up, kid."
    "Well, if it will keep you two quiet for a little while, we'll morph now. Happy?" I asked.
    "Very." Jordan and Tom replied in unison. They gave eachother a mortified look. Me and Catara just kinda smiled at eachother.
    "Are we going to morph our predetors now, or are we going to morph owls, fly to the clearing, morph agbs, run to the Kandrona, and then morph?" Catara asked.
    "We'd get awfully tired. Doing all those morphs so quickly." Jordan said.
    "Aw, is the kid going to stay up to late? Does doing alot of morphs get the kid too tired?" Tom teased.
    Jordan shoved him. Hard. "Shut up, Tom!" She told him angrily.
    "Let's morph our new animals here. We will be able to get through the woods quicker, and we'll be able to get used to the instincts." I said.
    "Good point." Catara said.
    And with that, we started to change.

Chapter 17

The first feeling I had was growing. Growing and Stretching. I felt my spine elongate to become the spiked tail. I looked down at my hands. They were huge! And beginning to sprout fur. First the dark green appeared in patches then suddenly the light green fur grew in the places between. I felt my knees revers direction with a sickening lurch. I suddenly feel forward, no long able to stand on my own two feet.
 As the last changes happened, I looked at my friends, with eyes that were no longer my own. I saw Tom's mouth and nose suddenly pop out of his face to form the muzzle of his animal, a nepo, I saw Catara's feet suddenly split apart to become bird-like. They reminded me of an ancient Earth animal. What was it called again??? Oh, a Tyrannosaurus. As I watched Jordon, I saw the blades pop out of her elbows, knees and knuckles with a loud pop. Or, maybe it was quiet, but my chatma ears could hear almost everything.
 We had all finished morphing. {Everybody Ok?}
 {How could you not be ok in these morphs? I don't know about you guys, but this nepo is awesome! I can hear and see everything!!! Smell everything too!!!}Tom said.
 {I'll bet I can see farther than you.} I challenged him.
 {Yeah, right. Sure, Ritora. I can't imagine anything better than these eyes.} He retorted.
 {Abata? Which animal has better eyes. Me, or Tom.}
 {I believe your morph has better eyesight. Although, Tom's morph has a keener sense of smell.}
 {Ha, got 'cha there, Xena.}
 {Hey, can we get going?} Jordan asked, swinging her bladed knuckles to get a feel for them, {I'm in a destructive mood.}
 {Jordan's right, let's move out.} I told them.
 We must have made quite a funny site. An Andalite leading a chatma, a nepo, a meeder, and an alaim, Jordan's morph, through the forest.
 {Hey, guys, spread out. If any controllers happened to be out in the woods, they'd think it was pretty strange to see all of us together.} I told the group.
 {Good point, Prince Ritora.} Abata said, {We are sure to draw attention to ourselves this way.}
 We spread out, being careful not to make too much noise and making sure that we could still see each other.
 {Hey, hey, I think I see it!}Catara exclaimed. {Yeah, i'm positive I've found their "tree house"}
 I moved a little bit closer to where Catara was, {Do you see anybody near here?}
 {Four, no, Five Hork-Bajir.}
 {Ok, everybody quietly surround these Hork-Bajir. They don't have good eyesight, but they have excellent hearing. Everybody take one.} I ordered. {But nobody attack until everybody's ready.}
 I quietly slunk deeper into the shadows. My liquid steel muscles getting ready to pounce. {Everybody ready?} I asked in the thought speak equivalent of a whisper. They all said they were. {Ok, ready, now!}
 I pounced on the nearest hork-bajir. Swatting at him with my massive paws. I gave the slightest bit of control to the chatma. She knew how to fight. I made short work of the hork-bajir. With just a few scratches. Tom was having a little bit of trouble taking out his hokr-bajir. I bounded over to where he was and swatted the Hork-Bajir from behind, knocking the wind out of it and giving Tom the chance to finish him off.
 {Thanks, Ritora.}
 {Don't mention it.} I told him. I looked around. All five of the hork-bajir were laying on the ground, unconscious or worse. {Everybody allright?} I asked.
 {I'm fine.} Jordan said, {Just a few scratches here and there.}
 {Same here.} Tom said.
 {Ditto} was Catara's reply.
 {Alright then, let's go up and destroy that tree house!} I shouted.
 <That's the Xena I know, > Tom joked, < At least it wasn't the kid this time. >
 Jordan pretended to punch Tom in the arm, being careful not to make contact because of her blades, < Shut up. >
 I leapt over to the tree that the treehouse was in and started to climb up. It was a very tall tree so it took a little while. One by one the others followed me up. Except for Abata, who couldn't climb, and Catara, since her body wasn't really designed for climbing.
 < Hmmm...Looks like the door here is a little too small. > I said, < Guess I'll have to do a little bit of redecorating > I slammed my paw into the the wall of the building. My claws cut it open like an old Earth can opener. I pulled back the wall and looked inside, there were two Hork-Bajir staring back at me. And, to my surprise, an Andalite.
 < Guys! Get up here, now! There are two Hork-Bajir and an Andalite in here. > I shouted at the others. I saw the Andalite grab for a Dracon beam that was laying on a table nearby. I don't think so, yeerk. I thought, and pounced towards the table.
 The Andalite saw what I was doing and whipped his tail forward, < AHHHHHH!!! > I shouted. I turned a little to the left, trying to get out of the deadly tail's way. It hit me on the shoulder. A landed on the floor, hard. I ran towards the table, only a few meters from me now. I couldn't let that Andalite get the dracon beam. Thankfully, the rest of my friends had gotten up and were taking care of the hork-bajir.
 I swung my own deadly tail at the Andalite. He didn't see it coming and was knocked off his feet by the force. He hit the dracon beam on his way down, knocking it to the floor. He scrambled to get up, but I was faster, I jumped onto the dracon beam, crushing it.
 As the Andalite got to his feet, I saw Jordan behind him. I didn't acknowledge her presence, I didn't want the yeerk to look behind him. Fortunately, he had all four of his eyes focused on me. Jordan jumped on his back. The Andalite-Controller feel to the floor at the unexpected weight. I looked over at Tom. He was fighting only one hork-bajir now. I couldn't see the other one, but I did notice that there was a hole in the wall that hadn't been there before. But he were begining to look tired. I didn't know how much longer he'd be able to last.
 Jordan was struggling to keep the Andalite on the floor, but he was begining to recover from his fall and was trying to slash at her with his tail. < Ritora! > She shouted I helped her up off the Andalite's back, allowing her to put her bladed hands on my back for balance. The Andalite began to crawl towards what looked like it might have been a communication device near the door. Me and Jordan both knew we couldn't let that yeerk get help. At the same time, we lunged for him. We managed to push him out of the hole in the wall I had made when I first came up. I heard the sounds of a scuffle below. It must have been Catara and Abata fighting him.
 We heard another scream. I looked over at Tom who was fighting the last hork-bajir. I was just in time to see the last of the hokr-bajir disappeer. over the side of the tree house.
 < Ok, let's get rid of this Kandrona, then destroy this treehouse. > I said, exhausted.
 Jordan, Tom and I started to push the Kandrona to the "entrance" we had made. < Abata, Catara, we're pushing the Kandrona out the front, you two should get out of the way. > I told them in thought speak.
 We continued to push. When we were almost ready to push the Kandrona all the way out, I heard Abata < Ok, Prince Ritora, we are clear. >
 < Ok, on the count of three we give one last push.>I told Tom and Jordan.
 < One...Two...Three! > I put all of my weight into pushing the Kandrona with my side. Suddenly, there was nothing to push against. The Kandrona had fallen.
 KRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAASSSSSSSSSSSSHHHHHHHHHHH!!!
 < Yes! >
 < Alright >
 < WooHoo! >
 < We Did it! >
 We took a short break and then set to work on destroying the tree house. I used my tail to destroy some of the equipment, but mostly I used my claws to rip up the wals and floor. Jordan threw alot of the electronic equipment out of the holes in the walls I was making and then having Abata and Catara making sure they wouldn't be repairable. Tom was helping me tear the place up.
 After about half an hour of doing that, the tree house was completly destroyed. Tom, Jordan and I climbed out of the tree and demorphed, since it was getting close to the two hour time limit. We rested for a while. We were very tired. Finaly, we decided to morph owls and go home.

Chapter 18

    I barely had the energy to demorph in front of my house. When both Jordan and I had finished, we quietly opened the front door and walked in silently. Mom and Dad were sitting on the couch, reading. When we walked into the living room, they both looked up in unison. I guess they saw how tired we were. They didn't talk to us or anything, they just said goodnight, and I was thankful. I don't think I had the energy to talk.
    When I got to my bedroom, I flopped down on the bed, and was immediately asleep.
    KNOCK KNOCK
    "Huh???YAH!!!" I shouted as I almost fell out of my bed. I realized that somebody was knocking on my door. I brushed my hair out of my eyes, "Yeah?"
    "It's me, Ritora, can I come in?"Mom's muffled voice said through the door.
    "Oh, yeah, sure, Mom. Come in."
    Mom came in and sat beside me on my bed. "Hi. What's up? You came in at 3 o'clock this morning and collapsed on your bed. You haven't even changed out of your morphing suit yet. What happened?"
    "We won, Mom. Maybe it wasn't a huge battle, but we won that one. We completely destroyed their Kandrona. The yeerks didn't even know anybody was planning on attacking them, and now they don't have a planet side Kandrona." I said tiredly.
    "That's wonderful!" Mom gave me a hug. "I am so proud of you all. I'll let you go back to sleep, and tomorrow, if all you feel up to it, I'll take everybody out and, I don't know, go do something."She grinned.
    I grinned back, "Sure, Mom. Just let me go back to..." According to Mom, before I finished my sentence, I was already sleeping again. she covered me back up and silently left the room.
    I slept all afternoon. I didn't wake up until around 6 in the evening, and even then I only got up to eat some dinner. Jordan was the same way. As soon as we finished dinner, we went right back upstairs and went to sleep.
    By the next morning, I was refreshed. I went downstairs around 9 to eat breakfast.
    "Hey, Ritora. How's my Kandrona bustin' daughter today?" Dad asked. I guess he had gotten over his fear of us fighting the yeerks. I was glad.
    "Great." I replied. "Great, and Hungary! What's for breakfast?"
    Mom poked her head out of the kitchen, "Well, turns out Ax heard about what you all did and put in a special order to earth yesterday. We've got Pancakes, we've got waffles, we've got Earth Cereal, and lots more."
    "Alright!" a voice behind me said. Jordan came running down the stairs and jumped to her place at the table, "Let's eat!"
    We all just laughed, "Sounds good to me, Mom! Where's that food?"
    It felt good to be sitting around the table as a family. It felt so normal. It was the first time in about a week that I forgot that there was a terrible danger to my homeworld. Sure, there were going to be times in my life that I would face great danger, but as long as there were times like this, I think I could handle anything.