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Post by Ashley Bennett on Oct 5, 2011 23:56:25 GMT -5
Ashley sat on the bridge of the ship, staring at a photo in her hand. It was from a birthday part of sorts for Kyle and her, their most recent one. It had been celebrated by the two of them and their little team aboard The Sanctuary. It hadn’t been anything too big or fancy, but it was still special to her. In that moment she’d felt happy and she’d felt like she knew who she was. Most of the time she wasn’t so sure, she still didn’t know if she really was the person she was now or if she’d just changed to fit her circumstances again. Cassie had seemed to think that Ashley could contribute something to this team, but maybe she’d been wrong.
She stared at the smiling face of her brother in the photo. Would she ever see him smile again? They were still waiting for a signal from his earpiece. They hadn’t been waiting for long, admittedly. She’d demorphed right after getting on the ship and had gone to get this photo before returning to the bridge so she would know right away when they had news about Kyle. Still, there were so many things that could go wrong. Then again, no signal meant he hadn’t demorphed yet. He couldn’t be a controller, but he also wasn’t human. Would he have had a chance to demorph before The One had absorbed him? She didn’t really know. She had to believe they would get him back, though. She’d made too many mistakes in the past. Losing Kyle would not be another of her mistakes… and it was one of her mistakes. She’d lost sight of him. If she’d only found him again sooner… Or maybe if she’d refused to get onto The Sanctuary and had tried to help him. If she were thinking rationally she’d realize that would have only gotten her caught too, but she was too emotional right now. This waiting was killing her inside. She’d abandoned him, and the story couldn’t end that way.
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Post by Jack Flynn on Oct 6, 2011 0:15:05 GMT -5
Jack hated to leave the new girl like this but he didn't have much of a choice. He got someone to set her up in a room close by, so he could go right there and do proper introductions and a proper tour of the ship later. Right now he had to check up on Ashley. He could imagine how she must felt at this point and he knew he needed to be there. She was probably blaming herself, she always did when something went wrong. He needed to get her out of that mind set. Eric reassured him he would say something once they picked up on Kyle's location.
He headed for the bridge and spotted her, she was holding something. As he got closer he could tell it was a photo and he didn't need to see it to guess who was in it. Once he was close enough he spoke to her. "You don't need to blame yourself. We'll get him back. He isn't lost to them, we still can save him," he told her sounding confident, but the worry still persisted in his voice. He wasn't all that happy with the situation either, but they couldn't mope about it right now. They need to be the leaders, the ones that wold have a plan once they found out where he was. He knew Ashley was hurting and he hoped he could help in some way.
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Post by Ashley Bennett on Oct 7, 2011 11:00:03 GMT -5
She heard Jack coming up behind her, but she didn't really react to his presence until he spoke. Jack knew what she was thinking, how she felt. Maybe it was just that she always fell back into this pattern when something went wrong - even times when maybe it hadn't been her call that had made things go wrong. Maybe some of it was just how much time they'd all spent together over the last few years, to the point that the three of them knew the others little nuances and could tell how the other two really felt. It took a moment before Ashley could really talk, something that was more a matter of not wanting to admit she was blaming herself despite that denying it wouldn’t convince Jack. "He tried to hide it, but I knew he felt betrayed. I know him too well. He understood why we had to do it, but that doesn't mean he was completely ok with it."
She paused before going on, but the topic had changed. “Whenever I get like this… I still find myself wondering why Cassie picked me. I guess maybe it doesn’t help that I only question it when I’m upset, when I’m not thinking about myself in a positive light to begin with.” She’d been looking at the photo all this time, but now she looked upward, at Jack’s face. “I don’t understand what she saw that she thought was worth making me into a recruit, especially at that time in my life.” Then again, her actions on that day – when Cassie had recruited them – really didn’t match up with how she’d have acted on a daily basis. In that moment she’d acted as herself, not in the way those around her wanted, and maybe that had made all the difference… But what difference was that?
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Post by Jack Flynn on Oct 7, 2011 12:57:17 GMT -5
Jack frowned at Ashley's words about Kyle. It was hard call, Kyle would understand that. Though he didn't really blame him if he really did feel betrayed. Though they couldn't lose The Sanctuary they had to make that their number one priority no matter what. "He can yell at us once we save him," he replied to Ashley half-joking. Though then the conversation turned back onto something different. It went back to Ashley's doubts, her questioning why Cassie had picked her along with himself and Kyle. It bothered Jack that she still didn't see why after 2 years of fighting.
Well, maybe he could do his best to put those doubts to rest. "She saw what I saw. What I've always seen" he started off, having wanted to say this for awhile now. He hadn't gotten a chance to say it before and that had always bothered him. Now it seemed like he would get his chance. "That you are a good person. That you care about others. That at the end of the day, when push comes to shove, you will put someone's well being ahead of your own. Look at what we've all accomplished, what you have accomplished," he told her and then looked her straight in the eye. "Can you really honestly say Cassie didn't pick the right person? I've always thought she picked the right people."
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Post by Ashley Bennett on Oct 7, 2011 15:24:44 GMT -5
His words made her train of thought stop for a while, practically derailed. His words didn't match what he'd said to her... it was around two years ago now since that day when she'd asked him why he'd moved on from their failed relationship in high school so fast. Back then he said it was because he'd realized she was no different from any of the other popular girls at the school they'd gone to. It had been that which had caused her to push herself so hard to prove that she wasn’t that girl, that she was a valuable member of the team. Which story was true?
She stood up and spun around to face him. “If that’s what you’ve always thought, why didn’t you tell me that two years ago after that mission that went wrong?” I mean…” She paused before adding the rest of the thought she’d had. “Do you really mean that, or are you just trying to make me feel better?” It didn’t really connect that she wasn’t asking the exact same question, or that both things could be true. So many things had gone wrong that day, and Jack’s mood hadn’t been exactly great when she’d asked. Aside from her own thoughts, she’d avoided the topic of their past and her worth to the team since that day. She’d never realized that in the high tension and negative emotions of the day, she’d cut his answer short. Two years she thought she’d needed to prove to Jack and Kyle that her being her was not a mistake, but the only person who needed proof was herself.
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Post by Jack Flynn on Oct 7, 2011 16:03:50 GMT -5
Jack seemed to have caught Ashley completely by surprise. Enough so that she had stood up and faced him. Then again he couldn't really blame her. He had basically said the exact opposite years ago. Unfortunately, it hadn't been the way he truly felt at the time. It was when their relationship was over, but it wasn't when he had told her. After all she had cut him short that day, he hadn't been able to fully say what he wanted to say. He had always meant to finish it off, but something always came up when he would go to do so.
Ultimately, he felt like he was responsible for the way Ashley acted. He was the reason she took every mistake so hard. Well that was going to change. Ashley asked him if he really meant what he just said and why he didn't say that two years ago. "You never gave me the chance to finish," he responded to her. "What I said was only how I felt after we...split apart. You proved me wrong again when we met up with Cassie. That you were the girl I thought were. I've wanted to tell you that for awhile, but you've never given me a chance too. Probably out of fear I had something worse to say," He scratched the back of his head, it felt kind of weird now to finally get this out after trying for two years. "I can't help but feel responsible for the way you act when a mistake happens. I'm sorry," He then grinned though. "Its still your fault for cutting my answer short though," he teased.
Jack then got serious again. "Kyle and I have always thought Cassie was right when picking all of us, including you. I don't know about Kyle, but I never felt that you would have believed that from us," he continued almost done. "I always felt you needed to realize that on your own. That you do belong here. I'll ask you again. Forget what I think. Do YOU think you belong here?" That was all he really had to say. Now it was up to Ashley. He hoped she had realized she did belong with them. Even if Jack and Kyle felt she did, in the end only Ashley could decide for herself if she truly did. Jack believed that wholeheartedly.
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Post by Ashley Bennett on Oct 7, 2011 17:02:02 GMT -5
Ashley just listened as Jack spoke. He had thought she was different. All this time - ever since they'd been recruited - he had realized he'd been right the first time. She was someone different than she'd pretended to be. She always had been. He'd just wanted her to realize that herself. She thought about the things he'd said about why Cassie had - or might have - picked her. You are a good person. You care about others. At the end of the day, when push comes to shove, you will put someone's well being ahead of your own.
She really considered his words, and his question. Did SHE think she belonged here? Ultimately it didn't matter what Kyle or Jack or even Cassie thought. If Ashley herself didn't feel she belonged, then she didn't belong. She considered this. "I've never really understood why I was here," she said finally. "That was why I never thought I belonged. But I guess... you made things a lot clearer. I never considered the idea that the very reason I've chosen to stay all this time - despite not knowing why I was here - was kind of the reason I was here." That didn't really make sense, so she clarified. "I've always stayed because I told myself someone has to do this. There are people out there who can't fight back, and I can. I've always felt like... How can I know there are people who need help and not try to do something? I can't sit by and watch as the world suffers; even knowing that taking action puts me in danger."
She smiled just a little. “I’ve known all along, but I couldn’t see it myself. I didn’t make the connection.” Jack had thought she wouldn’t believe it from him or Kyle but… “Just so you know, if you or Kyle had told me why I was here...” She paused before saying, “Two years ago I wouldn’t have believed you. One year ago, I was looking for the answer and couldn’t see it myself. I don’t know if I’d have believed you or not, though.” She sighed. “Maybe it was just a matter of when you told me. I think I needed to hear it from someone else, but it needed to be after I’d had a chance to really change and to discover who I was. I think I needed to know I was different than the girl I’d always pretended to be, and I needed to know that before I could understand why I was here.” As for her misunderstanding and it leading to how critically she judged her action… call it a mutual mess-up. “But yes, I do think I belong here. I always did, I just didn’t see it.”
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Post by Rue Fraser on Oct 7, 2011 17:52:24 GMT -5
Am I actually staying here? --
Almost straightaway, Rue was set up with a room by someone else, and left in it. There were more details than that, like what that someone else said and Rue's questions about where they were, but they were kind of just left in the air. She sat in her room for now, looking around. She didn't expect there to be a lot to it, though part of her wondered why she was given a room in the first place. What, was she staying here? She did have an apartment down in the city somewhere. Wasn't she going to go back to that, or was it too dangerous?
It would be really nice if she got some answers. Right now. Not to be rude or anything of course.
Rue stood up from the bed in the room and creaked the door open. Were they expecting her to stay in here? She hoped not, for she definitely wasn't. She slipped out of the room, not too far from where she heard two people talking. One of them was Jack, and the other was a girl-- that must have been the other Animorph he was talking to, Ash. When she got closer, she heard what the two were talking about. Even if she had heard the entire conversation, she wasn't sure she would have understood what the two of them were referring to. It sounded out of context to her.
And probably not something she should be standing there listening to. So, instead of simply eavesdropping, she cleared her throat and walked more into the room. "Sorry for interrupting," she started to say, "But what's going on? I know you're the Animorphs, but... yeah I don't really know what's going on right now." [/font]
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Post by Jack Flynn on Oct 7, 2011 18:25:37 GMT -5
Jack listened to Ashley and was pleased by her response. He was glad to hear her realizing that she did belong here. She even had a small smile which was good. "That's good. I'm glad you realized it," he responded to her. Now they only had to wait for them to get a lock on Kyle. Eric hadn't said anything yet, so he could only assume they he hadn't any luck just yet. "Now we just need to wait for a signal and we can go get, Kyle," he said. Though his attention was turned away from Ashley for a minute as he heard a throat clear.
Jack turned around and saw the girl they had saved. It looked like she had left the room they had her wait in. He had almost forgotten about her truth be told. Everything had gone by so fast, probably way too fast for the girl and now they did actually have some time to explain things. She at least knew they were the Animorphs, that was a start anyway, "Sorry. You've caught us at a bit of a bad time," he told her. "Yes, we are the Animorphs. I'm Jack like I said before," he pointed over to Ashley. "That's Ashley and the dog from earlier was Kyle. We're waiting to get a lock on his position to save him. Until then we can try our best to explain things." Jack then realized he had never asked who the girl was. "How bout you? Its been a bit hectic so I never caught your name,"
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Post by Rue Fraser on Oct 7, 2011 19:54:16 GMT -5
There are more questions, don't worry. --
Well, caught them at a bad time. That was typical. It wasn't her fault though. They were the ones that forced her to come on the ship anyway, not her. She didn't walk on by choice. Though, if it hadn't been for the Animorphs, she would be who knows where and doing who knows what... wait, that sounded like what she was doing now. She crossed her arms. As nice as it was to not be dragged off into something dangerous, she didn't like how little she knew about what was going on. Although, that was her fault, but she wouldn't admit to that.
The dog's name was Kyle, and the blond was Ashley. Kyle had been captured by whoever those people were, and they were going to save him. Goodness, was this a normal day for the Animorphs? How could they stand to move so fast like this? It was crazy! She could only take in so much at once. But, Jack asked her for her name, and so she gave it to him. "Just Rue," she answered. "And I've got a few questions. Sorry to be rude." She didn't feel rude though. She wanted answers, and she was going to get them. "Who were those people we were fighting? And what were they trying to do to me?" [/font]
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Post by Ashley Bennett on Oct 7, 2011 21:05:39 GMT -5
Ashley was a little surprised by the sudden appearance of the girl they had saved - Rue as she said her name was. She hadn’t expected her to show up, and to be honest had kind of spaced on her being there. She’d hoped Jack would take a while to show up too, that maybe he’d worry about giving the girl the whole explanation and tour bit before he came to find Ashley. Not as surprisingly, the girl seemed to be acting very no nonsense about the situation, wanting answers and getting straight to the point with her words. Ashley liked that about the girl, but that did leave them in an awkward place. Had the girl never heard of the yeerks? Perhaps she’d known of the original invasion. They’d have to see.
“You’ve heard about us, the Animorphs. So, have you heard about the yeerks? I ask because that was who those were. Or rather they were human controllers enslaved by yeerks, and if need be we can give you the whole nine yards about them. If not… well, that's that much less we need to explain.” As for what they were going to do to Rue - what they would do to Kyle if they didn't save him - that could wait a moment until they were sure Rue knew what a yeerk and a controller were. If she didn’t know that background information, it was harder for her to understand all of the rest.
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Post by Rue Fraser on Oct 8, 2011 16:45:57 GMT -5
Nine yards please. --
Yeerks. She should know what those are, shouldn't she? The fact was that she really didn't. So wait, these Yeerks were inside of those people controlling them? How?! Part of her didn't want to ask though because of the fact that she should know this. She didn't want to look stupid in front of these people that she barely knew. Though, there really wasn't much of an option, was there? "No... I really don't know what these Yeerks are. Are they actually people or something? I don't get it."
If she had paid more attention, she would have realized what the Yeerks were and what they were doing. It was only luck that saved her from getting enslaved, and she would soon know that. She would have likely been enslaved a long time ago had she not moved even-- Seattle seemed to be the only city with Animorphs that were fighting back against whatever was going on, these people, things, or whatever that were doing bad things. That's really all she knew at the moment, and it was sort of depressing. [/font]
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Post by Jack Flynn on Oct 8, 2011 17:43:33 GMT -5
The girl introduced herself as Rue. That wasn't a name Jack had ever heard before. She also didn't appear to know who the Yeerks were. While not unheard of, it was still odd to see sometimes. Especially here in Seattle. Well it looked like they got to explain it to her. "The Yeerks are an alien race. They are parasites and normally look like slugs," he started to explain, though it was still odd to hear aloud. After all a couple years ago and he would have thought anyone saying this was nuts. "They are parasites. They take over other species by entering the ear and taking over the brain. The horrible thing is that you are aware of it, aware that some creature is making you move your own arm while you have no control. Its what would have happened to you if we didn't see you when we did,"
He wasn't going to hold anything back, Rue needed to be aware of what was going on. "Its also what may happen to Kyle if we don't find him," he elaborated hoping she can see why they were in a bit of rough spot right now. "That guy that had a hold of you was what is known as a controller. A person with a Yeerk in their head. And unfortunately there are more than just human controllers to worry about," He looked over to Ashley, figuring she could take over from here.
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Post by Ashley Bennett on Oct 8, 2011 19:34:23 GMT -5
It was just their luck that Rue didn't know anything about the yeerks. But Jack started explaining things to Rue. He started off explaining what yeerks were. Then explained the basics of enslavement and all of that fun stuff, leaving Ashley to pick up when he said that they weren’t the only things to worry about. “Right. For one, the yeerks have enslaved other alien races in the past. This time around we haven’t run into any enslaved aliens, but that doesn’t mean there isn’t the chance there are some out there. As far as the other kinds of aliens that exist... That's a topic better saved for another conversation. As I said, we haven't run into any anyways.” Not any evil ones at least. Last but not least… “Also, there is a being known simply as The One. We’ve never seen him, and, aside from a few controllers who work for him rather than the Yeerk Empire, no one who ever has would be able to tell the tale.”
She paused before continuing. “The One seems to just absorb anyone brought to him. They become part of him. Potentially it’s irreversible. We don’t know. To be honest we don’t know that much about him, but he is a threat. Maybe even more of a threat than the yeerks.” She noticed how Jack had never mentioned much about who Kyle was. Then again, to be honest she preferred that Rue not know that much just yet. Despite that such a rescue would be planned for any member of their team, it did seem like a somewhat selfish act if you knew that Kyle was their co-leader and Ashley’s twin brother.
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Post by Rue Fraser on Oct 10, 2011 21:55:30 GMT -5
That... changes things. --
Aliens. Real, actual aliens. They existed, and they were invading the Earth. Rue's eyes were wide open as soon as Jack said what the Yeerks were, staying that way through his explanation and Ashley's. They weren't lying. These were real. This wasn't just some story they were telling her. It explained everything. It explained why people changed all of a sudden, and why everything just seemed so different. It explained why the Animorphs had this weird looking ship. Well, it was weird to her.
But still... aliens. Slugs that went into a person's ear and controlled them. She cringed imagining the thought. Was that really what was going to happen to her? Gross! Not only that, but the Yeerks weren't just enslaving people, which there were a lot of-- just how many Yeerks existed? Were there more of them than humans? Off topic. The Yeerks were enslaving other aliens. Just how many aliens? That was something they were going to talk about later. It seemed she was just sticking around then, wasn't it? What other choice did she really have at this point?
And then there was the One. Rue didn't really understand what Ashley was talking about with this one, but she tried. The One was this... thing, and it could absorb people. The process was irreversible. Other than that, nothing. He was a big threat though. They had to watch out for him.
"So..." She waited a couple minutes before saying anything. "The Yeerks are these aliens that are trying to control everyone, and the One is someone else who is trying to absorb people... Oh wow." Rue was never the most eloquent person, so this was as far as she got for the moment. But, she probably should focus on something else. Jack mentioned that the Yeerks were going to try and stick a slug in his brain so they could control him, and they had to stop him.
"Do you have any idea where Kyle is? And I guess I'll help." She was stuck either staying on the ship by herself, or doing something. Right now, she'd rather be doing something.
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