Animorphs 11 The Forgotten

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in Brazil, in this time, my own body had been awake and
fighting and morphing for almost twenty-four hours.
The rain was just absolutely pouring down from the sky. Tobias
couldn't even think about flying. I could see I wasn't the
only one exhausted.
"So this would be the "rain" part of rain forest," Marco said.
"They don't do anything halfway around here, do they?"
We trudged through the downpour, drinking our fill from the
water that drained down off the leaves.
But finally, I could see that no one could go any farther. At
least I couldn't. Time was running out --we had just about
three hours. We had no solid plan. It was the worst possible
time for a rest. But there was no going on. Not yet.
"Let's take a break," I said.
"Where?" Marco asked.
I flopped down in the mud and rested my back against a tree.
"Right here, man. Right here."
Cassie came and sat beside me. The noise of the falling rain
made our conversation private.
"How are you doing?" Cassie asked me.
I shrugged. "I'm fine. Why wouldn't I be?"
She looked at me skeptically. "Jake, I know you. I can see it
on your face. You're worried. And you're mad. Since I don't
think you're mad at any of us, I'm guessing you're mad at
yourself."
I looked away. "Everything will work out," I lied dully.
"You know, it was kind of funny seeing you and Polo together."
"Yeah? Why?" I didn't really care. I was too tired to care.
But Cassie was being kind, and I needed some kindness.
"Because you're the same, you and Polo. He's you, and you're
him. The leaders. You know, he took a risk putting down his
spear. We might have killed him and his people. There was no
way he could know if it was the right thing to do. He just
made the best decision he could. That's all anyone can ask
from any leader."
I felt for Cassie's hand in the rain. It was too dim and gray
to see her face well.
"I'm so tired," I said.
Cassie laid her head on my shoulder. "I know, Jake. Rest. Just
rest."
6:49 P.m.
I woke up suddenly, with the feeling that I had slept too
long.
I opened my eyes.
Black night. Night so black it was like being smothered in
black felt.
But not everything was dark.
Six inches away from my face, two eyes glowed green and gold.
I could smell foul breath. I could feel its breath on my face.
Jaguar!
The big cat stuck its nose closer to me, trying to decide who
I was, and what I was doing in its forest. I might have wet my
pants right then from sheer terror. I don't know, because I
was soaked to the bone from the rain, which had finally ended.
I was sitting in mud, feeling the adrenaline pump into my
veins. Feeling fear again.
I was going to live or die depending on what the jaguar
decided. Was I food? Or was I not? If the cat was hungry, and
if I smelled like prey, it would sink its massive yellow fangs
into my neck and it would all be over in a second.I wouldn't
even get the chance to scream.
Then, a faint memory of hope! There was one thing I could do.
No time to morph, but . . .
As slowly as I could, I raised a trembling hand to touch the
jaguar's spotted fur. I focused my mind. I concentrated
fervently on acquiring the jaguar. And I prayed the jaguar
would act like most animals act when they are acquired. I
hoped it would go into a trance.
When I opened my eyes, the jaguar closed his.
"Marco!" I hissed. "Cassie! Rachel! Ax! Tobias! Somebody!"
"Wha? Huh?" Marco said groggily. Then, "Whoa! Whoa! Wake up,
you guys! Jeez, Jake, what are you doing? That jaguar could
chomp you."
"Really? I hadn't thought about that, Marco. Thanks for
pointing that out to me. Now, look, I'm acquiring him to keep
him calm. Here's what we do. One after another, we acquire
him, then we move off. Ax?"
Ax said.
"You think you can outrun this big kitty?"
"Okay, then Ax, you acquire him last, and run for it. Just in
case he's in a bad mood."
Five minutes later, we were all a safe distance away.
"You know, you were probably fairly safe, Jake," Cassie said.
"I doubt jaguars eat prey your size."
"What's cool is we all have a jaguar morph now. Perfect for
traveling the rain forest at night," Cassie pointed out.
"Speaking of which, it's late," Rachel said. "Ticktock."
Ax said.
"Two hours to find the Blade ship, smuggle aboard, and hope
Visser Three knows how to get us all back to our normal time,"
Rachel said. "Wonderful."
"The jaguars are predators," Cassie pointed out. "That means
senses adapted for hunting in the rain forest. They would be
able to find the Yeerks, if any animal could."
Marco laughed. "Cassie, you're just looking for an excuse to
morph something new."
"Cassie's right," I said. "Look how dark it is. I can't even
see you guys. No streetlights, no house lights, no car lights,
even moonlight and starlight can't penetrate the trees. We're
helpless in this dark. Barefoot, lost, and blind. We need
eyes. We can morph owls, but we don't know what dangers the
rain forest might hold for a plain old horned owl. Jaguars, on
the other hand, look like they can take care of themselves."
"Let's do it," Rachel said. "We're totally helpless in this
darkness."
"We need a way to carry the Bug fighter's computer with us,"
Cassie pointed out. She tore a strip of cloth from her
shirttail, twisted it, and threaded it through a small hole in
the computer core.
"I'll take it," I said. The computer was my stupid mistake. I
should carry it. Cassie slipped it over my head. It hung like
a big, dorky medallion.
I took a deep breath. "Okay, boys and girls and Andalites.
Let's morph."
some moonlight.>
Tobias said.
The jaguar was a strange morph for one reason: because it
wasn't strange at all. It was just like morphing the tiger.
The jaguar is smaller and stockier than a tiger. But it is
still one of the big
cats.
But for the others, it was their first experience with a big
cat. As my jaguar eyes came on and the darkness grew much
lighter, I could see the final transformations.
I saw the long, yellowed teeth grow in Cassie's mouth. I saw
the pattern of large, hollow spots spread across Rachel's
skin. I saw the claws sprout from Ax's weak Andalite hands. I
saw the way Marco fell forward to land on all fours as his
tail extended like a snake behind him.
Marco said.
the rush!>
Rachel crowed.
afraid!>
I knew the feeling. It's different being an animal at the top
of the food chain. An animal that doesn't worry much about
being killed. It's not arrogance, really. It's an absence of
fear. Just like a tiger, a jaguar may be startled, surprised,
alarmed, but never afraid. It may run away in the face of
humans or loud machinery, for example, but somehow it isn't
afraid when it does that.
I saw Rachel take a swipe at the air, testing the speed of her
paws.
Cassie said.
about a million things.>
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