The Alien (4 page)

A
s the sun rose above the horizon the next morning, I stood by the small stream where I drink each day. Rough grasses, mixed with fallen leaves and pine needles, ran right down to the water. The sun was just barely visible through a gap in the forest trees.

I said, and dipped my right forehoof into the water. It was the beginning of the morning ritual.

I said, and moved back to crush a small tuft of grass beneath the same hoof.

I spread my arms wide.

I looked with all four of my eyes at the rising sun.

I sighed. This was really pretty pointless. I had never been a big believer in all the rituals. I mean, if you're going to be a warrior, you have to do it. And any
aristh
who gets caught rushing through the ritual is verbally reprimanded.

But still, I was about half a quadrillion Earth miles from my home world. It was hard to see why I should still be acting like a good little warrior-cadet. I was all alone among aliens. Who cared if I performed the rituals?

I bowed low.

I hesitated. Tobias had landed in the tree above.

I straightened up again, then assumed the fighting stance.

With that, I drew my tail blade forward and pressed it against my own throat.

Then I relaxed my tail. This was the part of the ritual that called for contemplation. You were supposed to think about the parts of the ritual and ask yourself if you were living up to all of it.

The destruction of my enemies, my most solemn vow. That was the part that stayed in my thoughts.

I had not destroyed my enemy. My enemy was terrible and powerful. And if I tried to destroy him, I would be the one killed.

But that did not matter. What mattered was the enemy. The creature who had murdered my brother. Not in battle, but as he lay almost helpless.

It was the humans who'd told me the rest of Elfangor's story. As the dome went crashing into Earth's sea, my brother's fighter was damaged by the Yeerks.

He landed in an abandoned construction site. There were five human youths passing by: Jake, Cassie, Marco, Rachel, and Tobias.

Elfangor was dying, and he knew that Earth was now defenseless. He told the five youths about the Yeerk threat. And then he did what he should not have done. He gave them a weapon to fight the Yeerks.

He gave them the Andalite power to morph.

Never in all of history has any non-Andalite been given the power to morph. It's against our major law: the law of
Seerow's Kindness
.

Only one other creature can morph: the Yeerk who invaded and took over an Andalite body. He is the only Andalite-Controller. There are hundreds of thousands of Hork-Bajir and Taxxons and humans enslaved that way, but only one Andalite.

Only one Yeerk has an Andalite body, and the power to morph.

The Abomination: Visser Three.

The humans told me of Elfangor's last battle. How Visser Three had morphed into a huge, monstrous creature. How Elfangor had fought to the very end, lashing out helplessly. How Visser Three had opened his jaws and . . .

The humans don't know it, but if Elfangor had lived, he would have been in huge trouble. He would have been demoted, at very least. He would no longer have been a prince. Elfangor as the great hero would have been finished.

I had faced Visser Three more than once. He was still living. I had no excuse, except that I was still just an
aristh
. If I were a full warrior, it would have been total dishonor for me.

Elfangor would have had the courage. If it had been me killed by Visser Three, Elfangor would have gone right after him.

But I guess I'm not Elfangor.

I said. Actually, I was not fine. Tobias being there reminded me that I had something planned for this morning, and I was nervous. Maybe that's why the morning ritual had not left me feeling calm, like it was supposed to. I was planning to do something very frightening. I was planning to go to school.

Tobias said.

I asked.

I listened.

I turned to face the snake. I saw it coiled in the leaves. What I did not see was when it struck! It was too fast! Too fast to see, let alone avoid.

Luckily, the fangs hit my hoof! I whipped my tail forward and pressed the snake against the ground, holding it immobile. It squirmed and made the rattling sound with its tail.

Tobias advised.

But I had a different idea. I focused on the snake. I began to “acquire” it, absorbing the snake's DNA into my system.

Tobias asked, sounding dubious.

I said. The snake had gone limp, the way animals always do when you acquire them. When I was done and the snake's DNA was within me, I used my tail to flip it away into some bushes.

Tobias asked,

Tobias laughed. He laughed for quite a while.

Tobias said.

I repeated, puzzled.

Tobias said.

We started moving through the woods. I ran at a good speed. I enjoyed leaping fallen logs and dodging through dense patches of thorny bushes. I was getting to know this forest well.

As I ran and leaped, Tobias flew overhead. At times he would rise through the canopy of trees and disappear from my sight. At other times he would flit from tree to tree, silent, swift.

I told Tobias.

Tobias said.

We had reached a narrow spur of woods. Normally, I would not have dared go this far because it was surrounded on three sides by human habitations. But Tobias was overhead, keeping his incredibly keen eyes open for any danger.

I don't know why, but it made me feel better to think that Tobias would be in the sky above me all day.

Sometimes I think Tobias and I could be true
shorm
. A
shorm
is a deep friend, someone you never lie to, someone who knows all your secrets. The word
shorm
means “tail blade.” See, it's supposed to mean a person you would trust so much they could put their tail blade right up against your throat and you wouldn't even worry.

Sometimes I think Tobias and I could be like that. We are both cut off from our own people. We're both alone.

But if we were friends, I would have no secrets from Tobias. And even though he was a hawk in form, he was still a human. And I am an Andalite. And no matter how much I sometimes wished for a real friend, there had to be a wall between my people and the humans. Between me and the humans.

Getting too close to any alien species is a mistake. We are taught that. We may protect them, defend them, care for them. But they can never be deep friends.

I have morphed some Andalite animals. And I have morphed many strange Earth animals. But the animal I morphed the most is the human animal. They are weak, slow, half-blind, and unstable, but no Andalite should laugh at them. Humans rule their planet. And as the human Rachel once said, Earth is a tough neighborhood.

— From the Earth Diary of Aximili-Esgarrouth-Isthill

I
peered through the trees. I could see a wide, grassy field. On the far side of the field were several long, squat buildings. There were large yellow vehicles parked in front. Hundreds of young humans milled around outside the building.

Prince Jake and Cassie had drawn close.

“Hey, Ax,” Prince Jake said. “How's it going?”

I answered.

“Um, you're not going to call me
Prince
Jake today, are you?”

I assured him.

“Well, better go ahead and morph,” Cassie suggested.

Tobias said. He flapped his wings and rose slowly into the sky.

I concentrated on my human morph and began to make the change.

I heard Tobias call down from above.

I morphed as quickly as I could, while being careful not to fall over as my third and fourth legs disappeared. At last, I stood on just two legs. It's both frightening and exciting. I mean, there you are, tottering back and forth with nothing to hold you up. Your feet can't grip, and they are too short to be much help in balancing.

All you can do if you start to fall is stand on one leg while you throw the second leg out to catch yourself. It's very unreliable. I don't know why humans evolved this way. They are the only species on this planet to walk around on just two legs, without wings or a tail to hold them up.

“Hey, grab him,” Prince Jake yelled as I began to lean back.

“Got him,” Cassie said. She helped support me as I finished the morph.

Last of all the mouth appeared, a horizontal split in my face.

“Are you done?” Prince Jake asked me.

“Yes. I am fully human.” The sound delighted me. It's an amazing talent, this ability to make complex sounds. “Human. Mun. Hyew-mun. Human. Huh-yew-mun.”

“Um, Ax? Don't do that, okay?” Prince Jake said.

“What? What-tuh?”

“That. Where you play with every sound like it's a new toy.”

“Yes, my prince. Not a toy. Toy! Toytoytoytoy . . . Sorry.”

“This should be interesting,” Cassie said, looking at Prince Jake.

Tobias came swooping low and rested on a tree branch. he said.

“His
only
day of school,” Prince Jake said quickly. “This is just so he can learn how to be a more believable human. One time.”

Prince Jake held up a single finger, indicating the number one.

“Yes, that is one,” I agreed. “Now, let's go to school. I am looking forward to it. To it. Tewit.”

“Remember, you're my cousin Phillip, from out of state,” Jake said while handing me a bag filled with garments.

“Phillip,” I repeated confidently. “Phillip. Lip. Phill-up. Pah.”

I like the sound the letter “p” makes.

I got dressed and set off toward the squat building that was the schoolhouse.

Tobias said. He sounded just a little wistful in my mind. It was a strange thing, I guess. I, an alien, could go to his school. But he could not.