But more about that later.
I was watching Xena: Warrior Princess, when suddenly I had this feeling. A craving, really. Something inside me felt like exploding. I needed to be in a dangerous battle. I felt it in my heart. I wanted to be like Xena: in a battle to the death.
I don't know where the violence wave had come from, but I needed a battle like a smoker needs nicotine. The feeling was so strong, the longing for danger. . .
I felt like throwing up. I litterally needed to fight! I felt that if I did not fight something soon, I'd literally die. That's how sick I'd become.
But I could not just fight anything. That would not do. I felt that there were specific enemies that I must destroy. And I wanted to destroy them. I sensed they were close.
Close.
My whole body ached from the sensation. Then. . . FLASH!
FLASH!
I was underground. In a cavern. Cages were everywhere. Cages that held both humans and aliens. In the middle was a small lake. Millions of grey slugs swam in the sludgy water. Again, my brain seemed to speak, this time with hatred I had never felt before. And these. . . these are your enemies. They must be destroyed.
FLASH!
Suddenly I was back in my house. On the t.v. screen, Xena and Gabrielle were in a combat to the death.
Exactly where I should have been.
Anyway, I was on the camp bus, when I heard a kid I didn't know say, "What if the Andalite Bandits descover our plans for this camp?"
For some reason, I had a dark hatred for that kid. I wanted to beat the mess out of him. But, first of all, at our camp, everyone is friendly. There is no violence or cursing. Second of all, I didn't even know why I wanted to break the kid. He had said, "Andalite Bandits." Who were they?
FLASH!
I was in a dark constuction site. Five kids had there hands pressed against a blue cube. Four of them were the mutating birds in my earlier vision. One of them I had never seen before. A blue alien, similar to the one in my earlier vision, also had his seven-fingered hand on the cube.
FLASH!
I was back on the bus. I had no idea what was wrong with me. Was I going insane?
FLASH!
I never heard the girl finish her sentence. As soon as the words "Visser Three" were out of her mouth, I was back in the construction site. The alien was on the ground, dying. Then a black ship landed beside him. I saw the kids behind a low wall. An alien, almost identical to the wounded one stepped out. He also mutated into this humongous alien monster and devoured the hurt creature.
FLASH!
"Okay, kids!" some councellor said, with enthusiasum. "We're here!"
"Yaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!" we cheered.
I got off the bus, found my councellor, and went to my cabin.
I went up to her and said, "Hi, I'm Monica. Are you new here?"
"Hi. My name is Jessica. I was here last year. My. . . I mean I remember you. I was in cabin 7."
"Oh. Well. . . I was wondering, do you know anyone by the name of Visser Three?"
She glared at me, almost angrily. "Where did you hear about Visser Three?!"
Suddenly, I regretted approaching her like this. I realized that maybe the creature that ate the hurt alien was Visser Three.
"Answer me!" she shreiked.
I didn't want to tell her that I'd heard her and that boy talking, so I replied, "I. . . uh. . . heard some kids talking. Is he the new camp leader, or something?"
She looked like she wanted to kill me, then her face slowly softened into a smile. "Why. . . yes! He wants to start a program for the campers. . . uh. . . us!" she said, hurriedly. "Would you like to help?"
"Uh. . . no thanks!" I answered, and headed for my bunk.
But as I turned away, I heard Jessica mutter, "Oh, you'll help him. Voluntarily or not."
Jessica's words had made me kind of sick to my stomach. Not to mention all the strange visions I've been having. And what about that eagerness for battle?
I was starting to get one of those stomach aches you get when you're really nervous or scared.
I guess I sort-of wandered away from April, because when I looked up, I was in the woods. I could hear voices and could make out a few words. "Tobias. . . have to find out. . . where the. . . in this camp."
I crept closer, until I saw four kids talking to an alien and a hawk.
One of the alien's extra eyes focused on me.
Right on me!
<I demand to know who you are and why you're here!> The sound was in my head! But I could guess who had spoken.
"My name is Monica. I could ask you the same thing!" I said hotly. I was getting angry.
"Ax, maybe you should let her go. She's probably just a camper out for a stroll. Really, she's supposed to be here. We're not."
<Yes, Prince Jake.> The tail that threatened my life was removed, calmly.
But I was neither calm, nor was I ready to forgive that psycho Andalite that had just. . . wait a minute! Andalite? Is that what he was? Yes. But I had not known that. The term "Andalite" had just come into my head.
"Hi, um. . . don't panic or anything. We're just a dream," a short, hispanic boy. . . Marco. . . said. His name popped into my mind. As did the others' when they spoke.
"A dream? Uh-uh. Nope. Not buying it. See, I've already had dreams about you six. Dreams about you mutating into birds. Dreams about little grey slugs in slugy pools. And, just today, I had a really creepy encounter with a camper in my cabin named Jessica, about this Visser Three guy who's doing something at camp."
<Visser Three!> the Andalite. . . Ax. . . sneered.
"Dreams? What kind of dreams?" the nice looking girl. . . Cassie. . . asked.
Then I told them everything.
<Visser Three is their leader,> said another voice in my head. It belonged to the hawk. . .Tobias. . . who had never spoken to me before. <He is the only Yeerk to infest an Andalite. He has the same morphing powers that we have. At the construction site. . . that monster you saw eat Elfangor. . . that was him.>
"Oh. Umm. . . There was a fifth human kid at the construction site. No hawk. . ." I trailed off.
"Tobias used to be human," a tall, blond girl. . . Rachel. . . explained, quietly. "He stayed over two hours, which is the time limit, in his morph. He was trapped as a hawk. But later, an almost omnipotent being, called an Elimist gave him his powers to morph again."
I knew I should have been terrified of what they told me. So terrified that I wanted to scream my lungs out. Only. . . there was no fear. None.
<Now she knows everything. Now we have no excuse to let her live.> Then, the Andalite struck. . .
The tail came toward me. It seemed to be moving in slow motion.
I thought about watching Xena: Warrior Princess. How she caught her enemy's weapon in thin air. Could I do that?
Yes.
I flung my hand up in the air. I grabbed the tail and bent it backwards. Then threw it away from my neck.
Something no human could ever do.
Everyone gasped at me.
"Who are you?" Rachel wondered.
"I-I don't know!" I said. "I thought I was human."
Marco grinned. "You're Xena! You just did her 'catching-weapons-in-thin-air' move!"
They just ignored Marco. <Chee?> Tobias wondered.
<Not Chee.> Ax said, darkly. <Zeerinian.>
<You're a Zeerinian. Your species are born warriors. They look and act exactly like humans. They do not know fear. The Yeerks once tried to take your world. But, since both races could not defeat the other, the Yeerks aimed a comet at the planet and destroyed it. But a few Zeerinians descovered the plan, but coud do nothing to stop it. They did not want to die, so before the comet hit, they stole a Yeerk pool ship. Many of your kind escaped. We Andalites knew that the survivors had found another planet to live on, but we weren't sure which planet.>
"Earth," said Rachel, amazed.
"It makes sense," Cassie said, thoughtfully.
"I had a sudden need for a battle." I told them. "Is that part of being a Zeerinian?"
<Yes,> Ax answered. <When Zeerinians are around your age, their instincts start to overpower their mind. And they can sense an enemy anywhere on their planet. Then they'll have flashes about that enemy. And anyone else involved in that particular war.>
"That explains my visions of you guys." I said. Wow. For a girl that had just found out that she was an alien, I sure was calm. "Um. . . Do you think I could join the Animorphs?"
"Okay," Jake said. "As long as you promise not to betray us. We've had to deal with a traitor named David."
"I promise." I said, honestly.
Marco put his arm around my shoulders. "You are a Xena. But I've already given that title to Rachel. How do you feel about Gabrielle?"