Mostly because I don't have one. I live in a meadow. It's very nice there, and I think it's better then a house (most of the time). It certainly was this morning as the rays of golden sunlight touched it, waking up the wildlife and making it glow with life.
Sorry about that. I'm kind of a poetic guy.
Or I was.
Before the Andalite ship crash landed in the construction site. Before Elfangor-Sirinial-Shamtul gave me, and four other kids the power to morph into animals. Before he told us that our planet was being invaded by the Yeerks: evil slug-like beings who enter your head and control your mind so completely that the only thing you can do is think, and hope, and pray that the nightmare will end. But it's not a nightmare. It's real.
The Andalites fight them, as do we. But the Yeerks are winning. They have already captured many, among those being the Hork-Bajir, which are like living lawn mowers, and Taxxons, which are like man-size centipedes. We are the last hope in a losing battle for Earth. Who are we?
First of all there's Jake. He's one of those people who are born leaders. He knows what to do in any situation, and in battles, he makes the calls. He is also an all-around nice guy, and a good friend. Then there's Cassie: picture a small, short African-American girl in overalls who is cleaning a cage. Cassie loves animals (to say the least) and, when it comes time to morph an animal, she's the one who picks it. Besides this, she is also very gentle and kind. So much so that she has moral qualms about our missions sometimes. I can relate to this: sometimes I feel bad too, but what can we do? We have to fight.
Then we have Marco, who is one of those people who just loves to annoy. He is very good at this too. He also makes a bunch of corny jokes every mission. I used to think he was kind of a jerk, but once you get to know him you see that he is really nice, underneath all his teasing.
The alien in our group is Aximili. I call him Ax-man. He was on an Andalite dome ship when it was fired upon (by Yeerks) and sank into the sea. We saved him and he's been with us ever since. He can be really weird, being an alien and all, and you do not want to meet him around chocolate. We're good friends, because he lives in the forest and I see him every day.
The last member of our team is Rachel. She is the bravest of the group (and the most reckless). When we first saw Visser 3, everyone was scared, but she had strength to spare. On every mission she is always there, and she always says "Let's do it!". That's one of the things I like about her.
So, why am I a hawk? Well, on our first mission, I broke the number 1 rule of morphing: Never stay in morph over 2 hours, or you will stay forever. That's why I'm a hawk and not a human. The Ellimist gave me the power to morph again, but in my hawk body. See, when he told me what I wanted was to be a hawk, I was mad, but then I realized the truth: I couldn't go back to being a human. Being a hawk is my life now, strange as that is, and I accept that.
Anyway, as I opened my wings and searched for an updraft, I thought that life was good. Just then I spotted an osprey glide into view.
<Tobias, I know it's early, but Jake called a meeting. It's important.> Cassie called down to me. She circled around, waiting for my reply.
<I'm coming. I'll be there in a minute.> I called out grumply.
Not that I have a choice, I thought. I'm usually in a good mood, but I hadn't eaten yet. Well, they could wait a minute till I ate.
Unfortunately, the small rat I had been eying, saw me, gave a loud squeal, and disappeared among the foliage.
So much for breakfast.
This meeting had better be good.
A loud honking interrupted my thoughts. There were some geese power flying overhead. I watched them for a minute, admiring the easy precision with which they cut through the air, on their migrational flight. It's amazing how far they can fly. Then I caught sight of Cassie's house. I better get to the barn, I thought. I'm late.
As I came down for my landing, I saw that the others were already there.
<Hi guys>, I said in thoughtspeak, as I landed, without a second thought, on a rafter.
"Hi Tobias", Jake greeted me, pausing from cleaning out a raven's cage.
I glared at the raven. They are so rude and obnoxious, without counting in the fact that they're scavengers as well. I mean, they're so lazy they won't even catch their own food. Gimmie a break!
Cassie saw me glaring and smiled. "Don't worry, Tobias. I'll be sure to release him far away from your meadow."
<Don't forget,> I said, jokingly. <Or I might be having a little raven souffle.> Cassie rolled her eyes.
"Since Tobias is finally here, can you please explain why we're having this stupid meeting?? I do have a life besides trying to save the world, you know." This was Marco, of course.
"Ax?" said Jake.
<We are having this gathering, because Prince Jake heard his sibling talking about the Council of Thirteen on the phone. He then mentioned this to me.> said Ax.
"And we care about this because...?" Marco interrupted.
"If you would let him talk, maybe we could find out." Rachel growled at Marco.
"Well...well...alright then!" Marco said, unable to find a good comeback.
Rachel smiled and patted him on the head. "We know how hard you try Marco. The docters say that, someday, you could even regain as much as 20% of your brain!" Marco scowled at her, and then, unable to stop himself, laughed.
A loud sigh came from Jake's direction. Taking pity on him, Cassie said, "Ax, go on about the Council."
Ax continued his little speech. <Well, if the Council is here, it must be serious indeed. They are the yeerk's main ruling body, above even the Vissers in rank. We must->
"Attack!!" cried Rachel excitedly. "If we get this Council, then the yeerks will be at a major disadvantage. It may even be the turning point of the war!"
"Hold on now, Xena, if they're coming here, then they'll be under really tight security. We can't just jump into this." Marco said cautiously.
<I agree,> I said. <We should think this over.>
"When exactly are they going to be coming, anyway?" asked Cassie.
She had been quite, mostly because she was concentrating on getting a pill down the throat of a very irate bird. A baldie, to be exact.
"Well," said Jake sheepishly. "We kind of forgot about that."
<We could go to a meeting of the Sharing, and find out.> I suggested, and waited for his answer.
"Good idea, Tobias. I'll just find out when it is from my brother." he said.
"So, what're we gonna morph?" asked Rachel hopefully.
I could tell she wanted us to use battle morphs. I would have smiled, if I could have.
Apparently Jake reached the same conclusion, because he grinned and said "No attack this time, cuz. Bird morphs. We're just on a spy mission."
"And don't forget it either." Marco said, teasingly. She rolled her eyes at him.
"Guys, I hate to break this up, but I've got to do my book report," said Cassie. "It's due tommorow."
Marco made a face.
<I'm guessing you forgot about it.> I said.
"Exactly. So I gotta go too." Marco said, and winced at the thought of the report.
"Look, we'll meet again tomorrow, ok guys?" Jake asked.
"Yes, oh great leader" joked Marco. There was a chorus of good-byes, until only Ax and I remained in the barn.
<See you later, friend Tobias.> He said and galloped off.
<Bye Ax-man!> I said, and flapped up to the sky.
I mean, when Elfangor gave us the morphing power, it was a curse, yes, but also it changed my life for the better. What if I had never gone to the construction site? Never met Elfangor, never got the morphing power, never became a hawk?
I would be at my aunt's now, because it was her turn to have me. I wondered if they had even realized that I was gone. They didn't care about me, that's for sure. I was just another burden to them. I was almost to Rachel's house, so I shruddered off those thoughts. It didn't matter anyway. I had gone to the construction site, and that's all that mattered.
I swooped down to her window sill, my talons grasping the perch she had made for me. I rustled my wings so she would hear me and waited. I wanted to ask her what she thought about the Council of Thirteen and what we could do about it. There was a knocking on her door.
"Hold on a minute, Mom." I heard her call out. "I'm not ready yet." She opened the window.
"Hi Tobias!" She said.
<Hi. Are you going somewhere?>
Rachel nodded her head. "I'm going to the mall. Do you want to come?"
<Well....are you going shopping?>
Rachel smiled. "How did you guess?"
<Lucky. I would come with you, but I'm afraid I would weigh you down. I'm not exactly great at shopping.> I said jokingly.
"Well maybe later I'll have to teach you. Anyway, I have to go before my mom blows a fuse. See you tomorrow!"
There was a loud yell from downstairs: "Rachel!!"
"Coming!" Rachel yelled back.
"Bye!" She said as she hurried down the stairs.
<Bye!> I said, and hoped she was kidding about teaching me to shop.
It was getting dark now, so I headed back to my meadow.
One of the hardest parts about being a hawk is going to sleep. Unlike humans, hawks don't go completely unconscious. See, even though I'm a predator, I'm not on the top of the food chain. I'm not on the bottom either, but there are still plenty of animals who would love a nice red-tail hawk breakfast. This means that I have to be alert at all times.
Even when I'm sleeping. Which kind of sucks.
I'm also not to fond of owls. They make me nervous. They can fly without a sound, and see on the blackest night. This plus the fact that once night falls, my terrific hawk eyes can see hardly better then human. I know that owls don't attack hawks, but hey, you try saying that to yourself when you're sitting on a branch watching them make their kill. It doesn't work so well then.
Somehow I finally got to sleep, even with the owls and me worrying about the Council. When I woke up, I immediately made my kill, just in case there was another emergency meeting. There was no osprey in the sky, however, so I assumed we would meet at the agreed on time (ten o'clock). Since they all got up at about 9:00, that would give Jake enough time to get the information from his brother and time for everyone else (except me and Ax) to get to the barn. This left me plenty of time to soar the thermals; maybe I would even do a little thermal-hopping.
In fact, I didn't have time for any of this, because as soon as I was up to a nice height, I saw a group of birds below me. This was hardly unusual, except for the fact that they were all birds-of-prey. Also that they were headed straight for my meadow.
<Guys? What happened?> I asked worriedly as I glided down a thermal to meet them.
<Jake heard his brother saying that the Council is going to come today. We have to attack.> said Cassie nervously.
<So? Can't we attack later?> I failed to see the need for urgency.
<That's what I said. But it seems our friends the yeerks have found an ancient weapon, and the Ellimist wants us to stop them.> Jake said seriously.
<What?> Now I was confused.
<We have to stop them,> He repeated again. <Before they use it. To erase us from existance.>