My name's Tobias. No last name. I could tell you it, but if
they knew who I was, they could easily find my friends. And I really
don't want that to happen.
The important thing to remember is that everyone is in danger. You
know our wonderful planet full of fluffy clouds and good food? It's
under attack. The only chance you have of surviving rests in the
hands of six....creatures.
If you are reading this, you probably know of our situation, so I'm going
to skip the intro.
It was just me and the rest of the gang that Friday afternoon. Marco
and Rachel were debating about Tommy Hilfiger cloths.
"I'm telling you," Marco said. "You would have to be really lame
to wear something a FORTY-SOMETHING YEAR OLD makes!!!!!!!"
"I don't care if he's a hundred, they are cool clothes!!" shot back Rachel,
with a dangerous you'd-better-say-I'm-right-before-I-morph-into-a-grizzly-and-rip-out-your-throat
look.
Cassie stepped in right then. She always interferes when she knows
a fights going to break out. I heard Marco breathe in a sigh of relief.
Marco may have a big mouth, but he was really small. Rachel could have
taken him out without a morph.
Ax, who was running nearby, stopped and stared with his stalk eyes around
at the five of us. Then a girl stepped out of the trees.
She was tall, thin, and very muscular. Very beautiful. She
reminded me of someone, like deja vu. "So," she said in a clear voice.
"These are the Animorphs."
Ax shot to attention. He raised his tail, and whipped it towards
her, going about a hundred miles per microsecond. To all of our suprise,
she caught it in midair, and twisted it around, all the meanwhile looking
...well, bored. Ax fell over into the grass. She looked around and saw
the dazed Ax, who was lying on the ground, and the rest of us staring with
our mouths open.
She sorta laughed.
"Took me three years to get that move right. But hey, living with
the blue furry ones does that to you."
My names Kara. I would tell you my last name. I have no problem with
it. You could come find me, I'd just kill you before you could draw out
your Dracon beam or whatever. But the others I'd dreamt about couldn't
exactly
fend for themselves, and I really
don't want to be responsible for anymore deaths, if you know what I mean.
I am human. I was taken from a human family, and the Ellimist erased
all the memory I had left in that place, with the exception of my infant
twin brother, who could not possibly remember me. I had been placed
in the care of Alloran and Jasper. Growing up with a bunch of Andalites
was fun. My brother closest to me, Jerikini-Isfather was obsessed
with technology. He gave me a bunch of powers, contributing to the
ones I already have.
According to the Ellimist,
I'm some sort of warrior or something. I have the ability to move
things with my mind, I was also given the power to morph. Jerikini gave
me really cool weapons, kind of like lost in space, or
Armageddon stuff. I also get to
see the future, but I can't really control that. I just get glimpses
of it. That's what got me in this mess in the first place.
I had always known I would leave. Alloran and Jasper always made
it quite clear that I was special. If only I'd known how much.
The Ellimist came to me often, but then I started having these dreams.
I kept seeing this group of people, and an Andalite. A short haired-dark
skinned girl, a Mexican looking kid, and a dark haired dark eyed boy stood
in a little group looking scared. Aside from them stood a really pretty
blond girl and a dirty blond boy. The dirty haired boy, who looked
strangely familiar, was trying to get his arm around the girl's waist.
The girl kept pushing him away. She looked mad.
Now all of their faces,
with the exception of the pretty blond haired girl, looked horrified.
The girl looked like she was going to be sick.
That's when the dream stopped. Finally, I couldn't take it anymore.
The next time the Ellimist came to me in my dreams, I didn't resist. When
I woke up, I was in a beautifully furnished apartment. I looked in my closet,
and
saw my normal wardrobe of clothes.
Spandex tops, jeans, jackets, and a few new articles I had never seen before.
That's when I went outside into the woods.
I was mad. "Oh Great!!" I exclaimed. "Another Psycho-Babe!"
Rachel snapped her head around in my direction. I ignored her.
She looked towards Ax. "Relax," she said lightly, like catching a
faster than a Nascar car times ten tail blade was normal. "I'm not
going to hurt you. I'm a friend."
"And how can we be so sure that you are not a human controller?" Ax kind
of demanded, getting up off the grass. I think his delicate Andalite
pride was hurt.
I was about to say something to that effect when Tobias spoke-er-thought
spoke.
< She's not a controller. >
Rachel looked up at him, shocked. "How do you know?"
Before Rachel could ask him anymore questions, the girl spoke up.
"My name's Kara, and I wish you no harm. I'm here because I saw you
in my dream, and the Ellimist said something about fulfilling my destiny.
So I thought, Hey, if I'm ever going to get a decent nights rest, I might
as well do what he wants me to do, right?"
"Why us?" Jake asked.
I answered the question for him. "Oh I wonder, we're only the most
dangerous things to the Visser right now." I snapped.
"Well I know that, but I was wondering how much, SHE knows," he said through
his teeth, sending a significant wave in Kara's direction.
"Well, I know that you are Jake, the fearless leader of the Animorphs.
And you Cassie are Jake's sort of girlfriend, the nature lover, etc.
And Marco, the one who has NO modesty," Rachel laughed. "And you
are Rachel, the fearless and mighty, and up in the tree must be Tobias,
a human Nothlit." she smiled a smile
that comes when you know everyone's in
awe about you.
We all sat on the grass for about a half an hour. Kara talked about
how she was raised by Alloran, although we didn't clue her in on how her
father was doing now, and how she was supposed to fill her destiny or something
like that. She was real tough. No matter how much she
tried, she couldn't keep the anger and restlessness out of her hazel eyes.
Her
brown hair crept over her shoulders, and was kind of wavy. I listened
to her with half of my brain, the other part wondering what this meant,
and wondering what she could do. Finally, I asked her.
"So, Kara, can you.....you know..." fortunately she made since of
my babbling.
"Yeah, I can morph," she said smiling. She stood up. She started
morphing.
Her dark hair first shrank into her skull. Then her face started sprouting
black fur. Her blue eyes turned a dark brown, and widened into the
cat shape. Her hands turned into paws. She was done soon. She stood
there sitting in the short grass. As a Black Panther.
She started to morph back, then I realized something. she was wearing
a spandex shirt tank, or whatever, but she was wearing a pair of Adidas
baggy pants and Nike's.
Cassie noticed the same thing. "How do you morph cloths?" she asked.
Kara answered simply," I practice,"
"Well, its getting kind of late," Rachel pointed out. "I have to
be home for dinner. Hey, Kara, if you need a place to stay, I can
talk my mom into it."
Kara shook her head no. "Actually, I have an apartment. The
Ellimist must have arranged it. I think right now I want to go flying.
"
< I'll go with you, > Tobias said immediately.
Kara smiled up at him. "Funny, I was going to ask you the same thing."
They locked eyes for a second.
She acquired another red-tailed hawk. We then spread our wings, and
took off. I showed her everything. It was weird. It felt
like I had known her so long before. I could tell she felt the same
way. Sometimes, I even felt what she felt, I can't really explain it, I
just did.
< So >I said when we had circled the whole town twice, I was looking
for her to start a conversation.
< Rachel doesn't like me, > she said. I started to object, but
i realized she was right. Rachel was fine when Kara was explaining
herself, but when we agreed to go flying together, she'd started to scowl.
But Kara
didn't need to hear the truth. I
lied.
< Oh, she likes you just fine. > I said, but I think she could tell
I was lying. We flew around a little while longer, talked some.
Then she had to morph out, and went home. I flew back to my tree,
and after a quick hello to Ax, closed my eyes, and fell asleep.
Suddenly, I was in this building. Rachel was next to me. I
tried to talk to her, but she slapped me. Tears were in her eyes.
"Tobias," She said softly. "Stay
away from me!" Then she hunched over, and I knew she was dead.
Cassie
and Jake and Marco, stood in the back.
Then Kara came up beside me. She was
crying too.
"Oh my god, Tobias,
what have you done?" she screamed at me.
Suddenly, I was on the ground. The night sky, and my tree branch
above me. I fluttered up. I flew away. I was going to Rachel's
house.
I was really mad.
Ok, I admit it. I was so green I'd make Ireland look white.
I was jealous. I'd seen that look that they'd given each other. It made
me so mad.
Get a grip Rach, I told myself. But still, I felt sick to my stomach.
I'd always thought Tobias had liked me, you know LIKED. But now I
felt like I was being replaced. I mean c'mon. I really didn't
like the feeling of being
traded in for the enemy's foster daughter.
Let's get real!!
Suddenly, I heard a flutter of wings and talons at my window. <
RACHEL!! > he said, sounding annoyed. < Let me in! >
I really didn't think he would come visit me tonight. I guess I thought
He and Kara would talk all night or something. I had locked my window.
"Sorry," I said. I unlocked the window.
<
Locking me out > he grumbled, but now he didn't sound so annoyed.
"So what's up?" I said coolly.
< I'm had this really bad dream with you and Kara- >
I cut him off. "Kara again!! My god, Tobias, I'm tired, just
leave me alone!'
< Rach? > he asked. < What's wrong. >
I can't explain it right then. I just felt bad. I mean,
I was sick to my stomach with anger, hate and sadness.
"JUST GO!!" I roared. I heard
wings flutter out of my window. Then I did something I don't do a
lot. I began to cry.
Don't ask me why, I mean, it wasn't like I was crying for Tobias or anything,
well, not completely anyway. I just felt it in my blood that something
bad was going to happen. Then I felt a shock.
Suddenly, I was in an old building. I saw Tobias next to me.
He was trying to help me, to support me. I saw Kara near him though.
I thought, He probably wants to be with her and is just trying to help
me. I was hurt.
That thought made me mad. I pushed
him. Then I fell to the floor, and everything went red.
I woke up with A start. Then I morphed to bald eagle, and flew to
Cassie's barn. When I got there, everyone in the group was there.
Tobias was in his human form. So was Ax.
"Something's really wrong," Kara said.
I woke up screaming. My cat, Lu, who had been with me for as long
as I could remember had screamed with me. I saw Rachel dead.
I saw Tobias cry. I saw Cassie faint, and I saw Jake and Marco support
her up, meanwhile both in tears. Aximili wasn't there, he was away.
I felt all they felt, only ten times worse. I got out of bed, slipped
on a clean top and pants, pulled a sweater over my head, and morphed.
When I got there, most the people were gathered. Rachel swooped
in behind me, and demorphed. She sent a cold look in my direction.
Then she said that she had had a really bad dream. We came to a conclusion.
All of us had the same dream, but we were each viewing the dream from our
point. Then the least expected thing we thought would happen happened.
Erek the chee walked in. I heard Marco groan.
Erek didn't even smile. "Something's very wrong," he said.
Then he told us what happened.
It seemed that a very unusual controller had followed us into the woods.
The yeerk had seen everything, but he wasn't supposed to be there, so fearing
the Visser, he talked another yeerk into switching hosts. They had
done so in the abandon factories down town. The yeerks hadn't been
very bright though. Once they were out of the host, the host ran
away, and took the next train out of there. The yeerks were somewhere
in that building. We needed to go there, locate the two yeerks, and
well, eliminate them. We all groaned. Then we morphed to birds and
took off into the night sky.
You may look to the stars when you want to escape
But when you must heal, look to yourself.
I never understood it then, but I knew now. I possessed powers greater
than I know. I jumped down the hole, and landed opposite side of
Tobias. Then I started the chant I thought up in my mind.
I'm afraid I can't tell you what I said though. I don't remember.
Its like a new power took over me. Anyhow, in less then five minutes,
Rachel was sitting up, rubbing her head, and being hugged by Tobias.
She hugged him back. Then she hugged Cassie, and was patted on the
back by Jake and Marco. Then she went up to me, and hugged me tightly.
I hugged her back too. I knew that I had just made a friend.
Rachel,
Skip your next Class. Very important!! Meet me by the woods
in the back of the school. URGENT!!!
-Tobias
A few minutes after the bell rang, I saw Rachel slip out the back door
of the school and head towards me.
"Hey," she said casually, then noticing me in what she thought was human
morph, said, "How long have you been in morph?"
I stopped walking with her and looked at her, barely able to contain the
grin that was creeping across my face. "Two hours, Fifteen minutes,"
I said.
She looked at me first like, "yeah, sure," then "are you serious,"
then, "oh my god that great!" She hugged me tightly, and I hugged
her back. Then, hand in hand, we walked back to the barn where we
met the others.
Kara sees more than she tells, so when the Sario Rip brings unexpected guests from the future, she welcomes them. The others get sucked into matters in future times, and come to realize what the future will have in store for them. Little does she know that the future sometimes needs to stay untold.
Sample Chapter:
I saw them coming in my dreams. I didn't tell Tobias about them though.
We were having the typical brother/sister fights. I mean, I understand
if we had missed the first decade and some odd years of each other's lives,
but that doesn't mean he has to make up for it by fighting all the fights
we would have fought in less then a week.
Anyway. I made sure they were gathered at Cassie's barn. I
smiled as the Rip opened, and out stepped the warrior princess, Faith,
daughter of Tobias and Rachel, and Faith's band of intergalactic rebels.
It was at that moment that I realized what I was dealing with. One
wrong move could alter history. That's when I was
determine to keep the pain and strength
of our futuristic generations away from Tobias, Rachel, Jake, Cassie, and
Marco. I had enough to deal with. I know Tobias would once
more ask about the guy in the photograph. I wasn't about to let myself
go down that path again. That's what got me in trouble to begin with.
At that moment, I related most to the pretty mix between Tobias and Rachel.
I knew all the pain she had
experienced. She was like me, raised
reading prophecies. We shared so much in common. We knew how
we were going to die. We were both probably not going to fight.
I know that sounds very unlike me. I'm not crazy about it myself,
but in reality, I know. The prophecies tell me only so much, but
I can do the assuming. If I don't die, a new princess would not be
called, and the princess that did not get called might be the one to defeat
an enemy that would destroy earth. You, reader, have no idea what
I'm talking about. Which is good. You have never seen
the one you love more than life be ripped to pieces because of one simple
crime: he knew you. He knew your name, he knew of your existence,
and would be a problem if someone wanted to kill you. I knew
that feeling oh to well. It wasn't
good.
Faith, if the prophecies remained correct, knew the meaning of pain all
to well, so intensely that one day she just stopped. She no longer
cried for the people she killed. We are different too. I fought
for everyone. She fought for her family. If it came between
the other humans and her family, she would save her family. She
hadn't been able to do that, and the pain
from that killed her, and only I knew how much.