A well-deserved break - (Animorphs - Tobias' POV)

My name is Tobias. I'm a bird.

Not many people can say that, can they? I'm a freak of nature. One of a kind. Some call me bird-boy. Others call me a nothlit. But I just prefer Tobias. It's nice and simple. That's the one thing I never had; a nice and simple life. I've always been the odd one. Maybe it's my destiny. But I'm not asking for pity. That's something I really can't stand. That look on their faces when they learn what I am and what my life has been all along; I hate it. I've had to deal with weakness when I was human, but not anymore. Now that I'm a bird of prey I can't be weak, because weakness equals death. That's the law of nature. It has toughened me out. Although I'm not completely ruthless, I'm still human inside. I have the physical body of a red tailed hawk and the mind of a human.

How did I turn out this way? Well long story short: A race of parasite aliens known as the Yeerks have invaded earth and are taking over people's brains, enslaving them. I am part of a small group of guerrilla fighters called the Animorphs or the "Andalite bandits" depending on your point of view. We have been given the ability to morph any animals we touch by one of these aliens (the Andalites) but there is one big rule you need to be very carful of; stay longer than 2 hours in morph and your trapped forever.

Yet I don't completely regret my choice. There is one strong point about being a bird; you can fly. And let me tell you this, there is nothing you can do as a human that can get you even close to what I am experiencing. The first time I flew, the flow of adrenaline rush I had experienced was nothing like I could have ever imagined! It's the roller coasters times ten! And also the fact that you're high above everything else makes you feel like you own the world. It's amazing!

But of course there always has to be a downside. Flying as a bird isn't just about flying. You need to pay attention to your environment, and especially a red tailed hawk like me. I'm not at the top of the bird chain; some other birds won't hesitate to go after me. Some are bigger than me; I could never fight a bald eagle and hope to win. I also have to protect my territory from other birds. It's a tough life being a bird.

Right now I was soaring over my field looking for prey. It was early afternoon as I glided through the air. I easily spotted as nice plump mouse running though the grass. Occasionally it would stop to sniff around before running again, probably also looking for food. At some point it found a seed and started munching on it. That's going to be an easy kill, I thought. When I was ready I dived down straight for it. It barely had time to react before I snatched it in a death grip with my talons. Then I began tearing at its flesh. Watching birds eat isn't exactly pretty. It had taken me a while too before I could start hunting like a real bird. I just try not to think about it too much.

After my lunch I started flying towards Rachel's house. I don't know why exactly. It's not like I could go out to the movies or anything. Today was an off day; no mission, and I didn't feel like hanging around my meadow right now. So I might as well see what she's up too.

I flew up to her window, which was open like usual, and landed on the perch she had made for me next to her desk. But to my surprise she wasn't there. Then it hit me. Stupid! You're so stupid Tobias! Of course she wouldn't be in her room on a weekend. She's probably out shopping or out with her family somewhere. Then I started thinking about something I haven't thought about in ages. She has a family. A nice loving one too. Something I never had. I never knew either of my parents. Stop it Tobias! I thought harshly. Stop thinking about that! There's nothing you can do about it, all that is behind you now!

For a few minutes I just stayed there, not knowing what to do. I guess I should go back, I thought, but didn't move. I didn't want to leave. It was like the comfort of this room was keeping me in. Then I noticed that there were papers lying disorderly on the desk and some books also lay there open. As I looked closer I realized it was her homework. Then an idea came to me. It wouldn't hurt if I just had a look. And besides, I know she isn't too keen on doing it anyway, so…

I started to morph my old self. Morphing is unpredictable; it never starts the same way. This time the first thing that started to change was my size. I started growing, and growing. In a few seconds I was half my human size. If someone happened to open the door at that moment they would have seen a gigantic hawk, and would have run away screaming for their lives. That's the normal reaction from normal people. Of course if it were a human controller I would have been fried by a dracon beam. Or taken as hostage and brought to the abomination know as Visser Three; leader of the Yeerk Empire.

Fortunately none of that happened. The next thing that changed was my face. My beak sucked back into my face to slowly form a mouth. My eyes were changing from the sharp hawk vision to my poor human eyesight. My hair was growing, slurping out of my head, and for a few seconds it felt like it was alive, which would have given me shivers if I had had a human body. My ears felt like they just popped out of my head. Right now I had the body of a bird and the head of a human, which would send anyone screaming. Even thought this is not my first morph I don't think I could ever get used to it. Then, as I was finishing off, my soft skin was replacing my feathers, my wings were changing into arms and my feet were the last to change. Finally after a few minutes it was all over.

Rachel always left some clothes for me in her wardrobe. I wasn't naked, but I was wearing skintight clothes that weren't appropriate for everyday use. I quickly put on pants and a short sleeve shirt. Then I pulled out her desk chair and sat in it, which felt quite odd. I need to get used to these human features all over again. I feel like Ax, I thought, which wasn't a nice feeling. I can understand why he has to get used to it since he's an alien, but I was human once so it shouldn't feel too out of the ordinary for me. Yet it does.

I stared at her papers. It read: Solve for x in the following equations:

x - 4 = 10

2x - 4 = 10

5x - 6 = 3x - 8

(x+1)(x-3)=0

2(3x - 7) + 4 (3 x + 2) = 6 (5 x + 9) + 3

I looked at Rachel's workbook to see what she did. It was blank. She hasn't done any. I smiled. Well it's not like she really has the time. When you're an Animorph you lead two separate lives.

I took a pencil, leaned forward, and started writing down. Math wasn't my favorite subject but I wasn't bad at it.

After I had finished those, I searched for her other homework. She had history to do too. Now I prefer history to math. I find it fascinating learning about our ancestors and learning about what made them do what they did. I think that the more we know about them, the more we know about ourselves, and it may possibly even help us with the future, to avoid making the same mistakes they made.

Just as I was about to start writing I heard someone coming, which made me jolt upright and turn my head to stare at the door, slightly panicked. I didn't have time to morph back. I could only hope that it was Rachel.

The door opened and to my relief in came Rachel. She tossed her bag near the wall and when she saw me she instantly froze, her eyes wide in shock and surprise. "To-" She started but then stopped herself. She quickly closed the door and once it was shut relaxed, then went to sit on her bed. I turned to face her in a more comfortable position, still on her chair.

"Hey, what's up? Were you looking for me?" She asked, smiling her usual broad smile.

"Not really." I lied. "I was just passing through and thought I might make a stop here."

"How long have you been here?" Her smile slightly decreased.

"About ten or fifteen minutes I think." I replied.

I saw the relief in her eyes.

"What are you doing?" she asked as she jumped off her bed, went to stand next to me and looked over my shoulder. Her smiled instantly disappeared. "Oh."

I laughed. "I thought you wouldn't mind if I did some of it."

"You can do all of it."

I chuckled.

She went back to sit on her bed, rocking her legs back and forth, but when she caught herself doing it she instantly stopped.

"So… been to any new shops?" I asked, trying to sound casual.

"Well, today I had a sort of family outing. Mom says that we don't do many family activities anymore so she took us to the park for a picnic and then we went to the mall. I bought some new clothes. A few new tops and some jeans." She stated. Then she looked like she was about to say something else but decided against it.

But then her eyes lit up again. "Want to go get an ice-cream?" Her smile came back.

I nodded. She quickly got up "Come on then!" she gestured to me with her hand and went for the door to open it, but just then I said "Wait!" and got up.

"I think I should go out the way I came in." I said, pointing to the window with my thumb. "It will look weird if some guy just left your room without coming in."

She shrugged. "Well I was thinking of sneaking you out, but if you want to go out the window it's fine."

"Ok. I'll meet you on the street a few feet left from your house. There is a narrow passage there I can morph to."

She nodded and left the room. I de-morphed, took the clothes in my beak, and flew out her window. Then I landed in the narrow alley, morphed back to human and walked out. I quickly caught up to Rachel and we walked down the street.

We walked in silence most of the way to the ice-cream stand. Then Rachel turned to me and asked "I don't suppose you have any money on you?"

I shook my head.

"It's fine. I was going to pay you the ice-cream anyways." She smiled.

We finally arrived to the stand. The manager watched us with curious eyes as we decided what to get. He was a chubby man with dark eyes, short brown hair and with the beginning of a stubble.

"Are you two out on a date?" He inquired, smiling.

I felt uneasy, not knowing what to answer. Should I deny or agree? Fortunately I didn't have too.

"That's none of your business old man." Rachel retorted, giving him a stare that closely resembled a glare.

The manager flinched, stunned by her remark. His eyes widened in surprise.

We ordered and he quietly gave us our ice cream. As we walked away I looked over my shoulder and saw him watching us closely, which made me smile slightly. I could understand why it had surprised him. If you don't know Rachel and you only see her, you're first guess would be that she's a naïve, innocent girl. The fact that she's blond and looks like a model you would find in a magazine adds to her airhead appearance, but she's the complete opposite. She's actually a warrior, and a dangerous one at that. Never in a millions years would I want to fight her. In fact, I'm really glad she's on our team, because you do not want to make her angry. Not only can she transform into fierce animals - her favorite morph is a grizzly bear - but her extravagant strength makes her ten times more dangerous than any ordinary grizzly. I admire her very much. I also like her a lot. She is someone special to me.

We took a seat on a bench and quietly ate our ice cream for a while before Rachel spoke up.

"Will this war ever end?" She inquired.

I turned to her but she wasn't looking at me. She was staring straight ahead, licking her ice cream. I took a few moments to comprehend what I had just heard. Rachel, the fierce warrior, Xena Warrior Princess as Marco calls her, was expressing her doubt?

This war has exposed a new side to Rachel; she's usually very eager to go into battle. So it surprised me a bit to hear her say that, but not that much actually. She is human, after all, and the only thing she wants is for it to end. I knew it was more of a rhetorical question she was asking.

"All wars end." I stated, also gazing ahead and lowered my ice cream. But not always in a good way. I finished in my head.

"How many more deaths before everything is over?" She said.

I turned to look at her again. This time she was looking back at me, her blue eyes were troubled, and I could see the beginning of a frown.

"Who knows?" I answered. I knew that wasn't a satisfying answer, but that was all I could say. I didn't know more than her.

I scooted closer to her and wrapped my arm around her shoulder. She leaned her head on my shoulder, and we stayed like this for a few minutes, enjoying the little time we could spend together before we had to go save the world.