Distant Dreams 4
By: Olivia
Narrator: Aximili
Nuttypeanutbuddy@aol.com

   I watched Zizih and Estril race through the beautiful green woods. Estril beat her mother in every race. Zizih pasted Estril for only five seconds, yelling she would win, until Estril pasted her and won the race. It has been tough for my family. Zizih has been in more fights and won than any other Andalite female carrying a child. Estril has been supporting her mother, but is a loose cannon as Marco calls it. It means she dangerous if you get her aggravated. Her tail still holds electricity from the last time she was captured by Visser. She is now six years old, getting too old too fast for Zizih and I. Everyone says I have changed also. I have grown quiet, hard. I started to walk over to my family, but Tobias flew over my head. < Ax! Meeting in the barn! > I started towards the barn, Zizih and Estril behind me. I slowed down so I could run beside Zizih. She noticed me and sped up, forcing me to a race. I quickly caught up to her. We all met in the barn, many animals surrounding us in cages. Prince Jake told us that Eric and other Chee have been captured by the Yeerks, and are held in the new Yeerk pool, and we have to go get them. I had to agree with my prince, but the others were still afraid. Prince Jake insisted. " Come on. I'm afraid to, but that never stopped me. " We had to agree or Prince Jake would go alone. I offered that we obtain cinnamon buns at the mall. We agreed since it would be close to Target. We all flew to the mall as birds, demorphing behind the building and my family morphing to human. The mall was full of humans, probably over sixty percent Controllers. I sat at the normal plastic table, Estril to my right and Zizih on my left, letting her head rest on my wide, human shoulder. I looked everyone in the face. Marco across me was talking about his new game, which was now eighteen years old, along with the others who were also eighteen. Rachel beside him across from Zizih was complaining about her clothes and nails. Estril was wolfing down her food, a meat patty on round pieces of bread and different sized yellow sticks. Prince Jake watching her from across the table, offering some red liquid called ketchup. Tobias and Cassie across from each other, talking about movies. We were waiting for Rachel to give the signal to walk to Target. Zizih cuddled closer to me, but my eyes were focused on Estril's yellow sticks. She glanced at me, noticed I was staring, and pushed the plate to me, encouraging me to grab one. I quickly grabbed a stick and popped it in my mouth. Salt and grease filled my senses. I smiled and sighed. Zizih looked up into my face, wondering what I sighed for. I picked another stick up and showed it to her. She looked confused. " What is that? " I asked Estril. " Jake called it fries. " I looked down at Zizih, her head back on my shoulder. " Open your mouth, I want to experiment. " Her eyes were closed, probably asleep, but her mouth slowly opened. I slowly popped a fry in, making sure I did not make her choke. She smiled and chewed. I laughed at her foolish expression as I ran my hand up and down her back. Marco noticed this movement. " Dude, stop making her blush. Next thing you know, there's going to be little aliens running all over the place. " I was hoping that would never happen. I started to make a comment, but Rachel gave us the signal. " Hey, I heard that there's a sale at Target! Anyone up for a little shopping? " We all had to nod. I got up and threw my cinnamon bun box away. Letting Zizih and Estril walk beside me, we walked into the small store. We all knew that the Yeerk pool entrance was the second stall in the females changing area, so males had to go in as fleas on Rachel.

   Everyone demorphed except my family. Jake tugged and pulled on different hooks, searching for the entrance. Finally, he pulled onto the rim of a small mirror, sliding a hidden door to the right. We all slid inside silently, my family demorphing on the first step. Prince Jake slid the door shut. " Okay, everyone knows the plan. We check the place out, fight if we have to, and try not to be captured. " He glanced over my family as he said captured. His eyes were worn out already, a lifeless blue, dark circles under his eyes made him look twice his age. Zizih’s lion morph rubbed on my front legs and sat at my hooves. Estril grabbed my hand, her face smiling and tail ready to strike. The others went into their battle morphs, then quietly went down the stairs. Hork-Bajir, Taxxons, and human Controllers swarmed the hard concrete floor, waiting to be dipped into the Yeerk slime, others held by Hork-Bajir, thrown in cages, and held until their Yeerks were finished sucking Kandrona Rays. One word to describe it. Horrible. Estril stood tall, while her mother leaned against my legs, shaking. I saw Eric and three other Chee sitting in a barred cage, probably electric bars, ready to short circuit them anytime they touched them. They looked beaten, a sad look in their holographic eyes. I felt Zizih shudder. I ran a hand up and down her furry back. It made her lion eyes smile and edge closer to me, but it did nothing to stop the fear running in her veins. Prince Jake let loose a roar, shaking the walls of concrete, making the Controllers stop in their tracks. We charged, wanting to protect our robotic companions. I went straight for the cage, as many as ten Hork-Bajir in my way. My blade quickly sliced through the sea of monsters, the monsters mostly focused on destroying me than the others. I let the last Hork-Bajir fall to the ground with a soft thunk. My tail was covered in gore; my chest and arms cut bloody, my fur soaked in two kinds of blood. I stepped up to the cage. The door was locked with a small pad of numbers and red and green lights. I was confident that I would find the code. I mindlessly pressed numbers. The red light shined, and my finger was shocked with 600 volts of electricity. I quickly pulled my finger away, cursed, and tried again. I heard the Chee and Eric yell numbers and every time I was wrong, I got shocked with growing amounts of electricity. I quickly tapped in numbers, losing to the pain. < Aximili! > Zizih! I swerved my eye stalks and saw her cornered by five large Hork-Bajir. She snarled and growled, her face bleeding from cuts on her head. She was breathing roughly, blood probably filling her cat lungs. I started to run to her. < No! Save Eric! > I stopped dead in my tracks and ran back to the pad. < Aximili! Try seven, eight, two, three! > I pressed in the numbers and the green light shone brightly. The cage door burst open and the Chee ran out, going up the stairs and out the secret door. I turned to Zizih, the Hork-Bajir closer to her. I could tell she would not last any longer.

   Her eyelids fluttered, swaying side to side as I ran to her. The Hork-Bajir heard me and turned to fend their capture. They stood ready to kill me, myself running to Zizih's aid. Fwapp! Fwapp! Two Hork-Bajir down, their heads rolling across the floor. I charged, mad and upset that they were in my way. Fwapp! An arm rolling across the floor! Fwapp! Another head blow! FWAPP! I sliced the last Hork-Bajir down the middle, blood spraying everywhere. I caught Zizih as she fell, her cat body barely breathing. < Aximili? > Zizih whispered, her eyelids closed. < Yes, yes, it is me. Zizih! Do not fall asleep! Demorph! > I felt her body grow bigger and twin stalks poked from her cat head. My stalk eyes searched for danger, watching the massacre. Prince Jake's claws dug into a human Controller's neck, breaking the human's neck. Cassie chewing on a Hork-Bajir's leg while Rachel ripped his arms out of place. Marco held a dead Hork-Bajir by the legs and swung him around, cutting the nearest monster in half. Tobias dive-bombed the monsters, using his talons to claw out Hork-Bajir eyes. Estril put her power into every blow, shocking her victims before they die of her blade. Zizih gripped my hand tightly, telling me that she was done morphing. I focused my attention on her, helping her on her hooves, making sure we did not slip in the gore and bodily objects. She looked over my wounds, telling me that they were only minor. I thanked her for her services and asked her if she was fine. < Yes, but do not worry about me. > She said that with a pained look on her face. She took on the rest of the battle in her normal form, her small blade that takes two blows to slice off an arm. We slowly took out the Controllers. I was tired, slowing down, Zizih swaying side to side, making her blows lazy and weakly aimed. We all thought the battle was over, but it had just begun.

   My chest burned with every breath, my arms ached, my head was swimming in pain, and my fur was soaked in sweat and blue-black blood. Zizih stood by my side, leaning on me, breathing hard. I announced to the others. < I think we have done what we need to do. > Cassie's dark wolf eyes glared at us. < Whoa! Zizih doesn't look so good. > I focused my main eyes on her face. It was twisted in pain. < I...I am alright. I just need to rest when we get to the scoop. > Marco started up the twisting stairs. < Alright, then to get home, we have to move our lazy- > < HOW DARE YOU RELEASE MY CAPTIVES YET AGAIN! > Zizih raised a hand to her head and her facial features twisted into a deeper painful look. Visser walked down from another case of stairs I did not see. He started to morph, his fur going from a dreamy sky blue to a slimy purple. His head sunk into his body, only two eyes and a large red mouth for a head. He was a shifting blob of purple liquid with eyes, a mouth, and eight, long tentacles covered in small red suction cups. I heard Marco moan. < Oh...My...GOD! > Visser laughed at our total amazement and awe. < You like my new toy, Andalite? I forgot what it was called, but it is very powerful, and very deadly. >

He went after who was closer to him, Cassie. He wrapped her in his slimy grasp, smearing red liquid on her fur. Cassie knew what it was instantly. < It's poison! Run! Don't let it touch you! > She screamed and howled as the horrible water ran down her hair onto her skin, burning her body. I had to get Cassie away from the abomination. I made Zizih lean off me and I ran to Cassie's aid, slicing the air below the tentacle. Visser laughed and a tentacle shot towards me. I sliced the thing in half, letting the remains on his limb twitch and leak the red poison. I aimed my shots and finally sliced the tentacle holding Cassie, making sure that Cassie got away and that nobody else was captured. < Run! Haul butt! > Prince Jake screamed as we ran up the stairs in morph, myself trying to drag Zizih away from the poisonous monster. She slowly made her way up the stairs, pushing aside her pain. < Do not run Andalites! I have only begun to torture you! > Visser called after us, slowly crawling up the stair with a sickening squish on every step. The others and Estril were already fleas on Rachel's body, waiting for Zizih and I to join them. I waited for Zizih to get on Rachel before I did. Rachel reached down, grabbed our small bodies, and placed us carefully on her arm. I felt Rachel pull the secret door open, letting Cassie run through and closing the door behind her. I heard Visser call out, angry that we left him. I felt Rachel morph; her skin vibrating as feathers slowly appeared. I let Zizih rest in the corner of the scoop when we got home, still saying that she was all right but I insisted on taking her to Cassie's barn in the morning. Estril slept with her mother like she did when she was barely a day old. I stared at the blinking box. I quickly turned the T.V off and joined my family sleeping

                                          The End