Animorphs Re-Read: #3 The Encounter (Chapters 9-12)

Chapter 9

Tobias tells the others to stay calm and look up. They are, of course, freaked out by the large Yeerk ship overhead. Rachel and Cassie both say that the thing is huge. I wish I could think of a good dick joke to use. But none are coming to mind and that's probably a good thing.

Tobias takes time just letting the reader know how big this Yeerk ship is. He is able to look into the bridge and see Taxxons piloting it. I like the description of how big the ship is and how there is a paragraph of two going over the size. It makes you very aware of the size and that it is very impressive.

Then two Bug fighters come out of the ship. Tobias alerts the others to the Bug fighters and Marco points out that they're insignificant compared to the gigantic Yeerk ship. Tobias says the Bug fighters might be scouting the area and Jake says to not look like trouble.

Tobias tries to act like a normal, harmless hawk. A normal hawk who isn't really a teenaged boy inside a bird's body. The Bug fighters shoot right past Tobias and he sees that the normal crew is inside.

Tobias talks about how the Taxxons are the second most common type of Controllers. He talks about how all Taxxons are voluntary hosts and so are as vile as their appearance. Again, Elfangor didn't have time to tell the Animorphs about Arbron. I recently wrote a tumblr post about how Taxxon cannibalism and self-cannibalism is so common that I forgot about it when thinking of cannibalism in the Animorphs series.

The Bug fighters don't show any interest in bird-boy. The Yeerk ship is starting to go down to the surface of the lake.

Tobias asks to make sure that the others are seeing what he is. Marco replies sarcastically, commenting that the Yeerk ship is so big that no one could miss it. Rachel thinks the ship is incredible while Marco takes a more realistic approach. He sees the ship and thinks that them fighting the Yeerks is even more of a useless gesture.

Marco keeps making the ship larger in his mind. I'm only mentioning this since the second state he compares the Yeerk ship to is Florida. That is my home state!

Tobias notices that the group is paying too much attention to the ship so he reminds them to act wolf-like. Marco's response is to tell Jake to pee some more.

From the Yeerk ship three pipes come down and start sucking water from the lake. Cassie remarks that the pipes are acting like straws.

Marco laughs as he realizes one of Yeerk's big weaknesses. Rachel says that she doesn't look at a ship like that and think the Yeerks have a big weakness. But Tobias gets what Marco meant. Marco clarifies that the ship has sucked in some of Earth's air and is now getting water. Cassie gets it and cries out that the Yeerk ship is nothing more than a truck.

I like that Applegate put this into this series. A series aimed at Young Adults. A group of people that lots of people/authors like to talk down to. Like somehow teenagers won't be able to handle certain things. In all honesty, you only really see how dark the series is when you're an adult. The thing Applegate added was the Yeerks acting realistically. Showing that these powerful enemies aren't all powerful. That they have to live off the worlds they invade and that they can't live in a vacuum.

Time is running out for the Animorphs that still have to worry about the two hour limit. So they decide to start to head back home. Tobias, though, doesn't have to worry about a time limit and so stays by the lake. He watches the Yeerks do their thing and then an important plot point catches his eyes.

He sees the hawk that he and Rachel rescued in the beginning of the book. He doesn't think about going towards her, but he does so anyways. The female red-tailed hawk seems to be okay with Tobias coming towards her. He doesn't know why as hawks don't know about friends and she might not even connect him with her freedom.

Then Tobias is frightened of the female hawk.

Remember how I said that I remembered this book as Tobias learning to live with the hawk part of himself? His feelings he has for the female red-tailed hawk are a big reminder that he isn't human. That some part of himself isn't human. It's a reason why I don't mind him freeing the hawk in the beginning as she becomes a big ass plot point.

Tobias starts to think on why he's afraid of the female hawk. About it not being the hawk herself but the feeling that going towards her is going home. He turns away from the hawk and reminds himself that he is human. He tells himself his name and who he is. But then part of himself tells him he's a hawk now and that Tobias is dead.

Tobias, let me hug you! You need a hug now!

As he dives down he notices a problem for his fellow Animorphs.


Chapter 10

The Animorphs, except Tobias, have run into another wolf pack. Between the two packs is a dead rabbit. Tobias knows that Jake has human intelligence on his side but the other wolf has more fighting experience. You know, being a wolf and all. Tobias feels like laughing since the situation is ridiculous. Bird-boy is thankful that this insane incident happened as it takes his mind off his feelings for the female red-tailed hawk.

Suddenly Tobias remembers the time limit. How the others may be stuck in morph if they take too long. Tobias then asks Jake what they are doing since they are on a time limit. Jake says to shut up since they're in a situation. Tobias says to just back away from the situation. Jake says he can't back off or he'll lose and Tobias thinks he's insane.

Cassie explains that if Jake backs away the other wolves may attack. Tobias looks over the situation and asks if this whole situation is because of the dead rabbit. No one answers him since they're all concerned over the possible fight that could happen.

Tobias then has an idea for a stupid, suicidal plan. I like that he mentions that both the hawk and human parts of his mind are in agreement that what he's about to do is stupid. Since it keeps up with the theme of Tobias not really being who he once was.

He screams out as he dives down towards the rabbit carcass. He gains a grip on the rabbit and this is appearing more along the lines of what Rachel would enjoy doing. One of the wolves tries to attack Tobias but he manages not to die.

Rachel cries out to Tobias. This is so a moment that I'm adding to my 'aw! how can people not ship them?' list.

Jake tells the others to run away from the fight while they still can. Tobias drops the rabbit carcass and is able to fly away to safety. One of the Animorphs asks if Tobias is okay and he replies that he only lost a few tail feathers. Tail feathers grow back.

Tobias catches up with the group and worries about time. One of the problems with morphing is that you can't tell how long you have been in morph. And wearing a watch would just look odd. If only gaining the ability to morph also allowed you to have an Andalite's ability to know the time. That would be very useful. But, of course, Escafil wasn't thinking of other races using his device. Or else he might've done something about the clothing problem too!

Tobias decides to get a time reading for the group. And he sees that time is extremely low for the Animorphs. Oh god, I'm going to have nightmare fuel in the next chapter, aren't I?


Chapter 11

All at once Tobias isn't tired anymore. From bird-boy's comments it seems like he looked at a clock. To make some really bad news, it appears the Animorphs have run out of time. Now we all know they haven't run out of time, but they are cutting it extremely close.

He yells out multiple times to morph back now. This instant, no questions asked. He is extremely frightened and I don't blame him. He knows what going over the time limit means and the downsides that occur because of it. He doesn't want that to happen to his friends.

Tobias catches up with the group and Marco asks how much time they have left. He replies none. The other Animorphs, probably thinking of bird-boy, and the others start to demorph. Cassie is the quickest and is half-way done by the time changes start appearing on the others.

Tobias continues to urge the others on. Jake asks how much time they have left and Tobias says two minutes. By the fact that Cassie can demorph, and has been in wolf morph the longest, Tobias should figure out that the clock he saw was off. He should still be worried, no denying that, but he should be smart enough to know that the clock was off by a little bit.

And here is where the nightmare fuel is...

The other Animorphs aren't as lucky as Cassie is. The morphs are happening wrong for the others. Rachel's hands appear from her wolf's hind legs and Marco's head is appearing. In both Animorphs' cases, nothing else is changed. Marco yells out a half-human, half-wolf sound. This is worse than Tobias feared. He figured they would be trapped as wolves like he had been trapped as red-tailed hawk. But they weren't wolves and they weren't humans. They were a sick combination of the two.

Excuse me as I vomit up my small dinner.

I don't care if I used this one before in this post. It's the only one that truly expresses my emotions at the moment.

Cassie, having fully demorphed, goes to each of her fellow Animorphs and tries to help them through the demorphing process. She tells Rachel to concentrate on her human self and to fight the fear.

Marco looks at Tobias as his way to concentrate. Tobias stays still as Marco looks at bird-boy with hate or fear. Maybe both and maybe neither. Tobias is fine with being used as a way to save Marco as being stuck as an abomination. However, he starts to think of how the others must view him. A freak of nature that should never have been. Some pitiable creature.

You poor thing! Let me love you!

Marco, concentrating on Tobias, is able to concentrate enough and demorph. Cassie holds one of Jake's hands between hers and urges him to come back to her. Did I ever mention how damn hard I ship those two? Did I ever mention it? I love Tobias and Rachel, but Cassie and Jake are just so lovely. And this little moment is making my little shipper heart so damn happy!

Rachel finishes demorphing and he sees that the rest are fully human again. He is happy that they're human again. Then the Animorphs start saying how great it is that they're human. That they weren't trapped in mid-morph. They talk a little about what it was like nearly being trapped.

Then suddenly Tobias remembers he will never be human again. He will never again experience the joys of being human. He is forever trapped in the body of a hawk. He looks at his talons that will never be feet and he'll never have hands to touch anyone with. When he says he won't be able to touch anyone again I'm thinking he's talking about Rachel.

I'm not crying! There's just...something in my eye.

The pain and agony of his situation gets to him and he flies away, he even forgets that he's tired. Rachel cries after him but he doesn't listen. He has to get away. Now. He flies away and he mentions that he imagines hearing himself screaming.

The pain of this scene! I need a hug, coffee, and chocolate right now!


Chapter 12

It was very late by the time that Tobias returned to Jake's attic. Tobias explains the layout of his new room. His bed is a drawer with blankets in it. Tobias says that Jake is a nice guy and used to protect bird-boy when he had been human. It's scary that Tobias' mind is deteriorating so quickly. From his statements it doesn't appear that he's hasn't been trapped in hawk morph for even a month.

Holy fuck!

Jake leaves Tobias food. Potatoes, vegetables, and meat. Tobias is in a hawk's body and so can only eat the meat. He hasn't told Jake that because...no reason. I think it might be because Tobias doesn't want to upset Jake, but there's nothing solid here.

Tobias doesn't feel right eating the meat. This is because his red-tailed hawk mind wants a fresh kill. This part reminds me a little of a Taxxon's hunger. How even a Yeerk has trouble resisting it.

Tobias goes into the drawer but the hawk part of him doesn't like it. Hawks make nests, they don't sleep in something that a human would consider comfortable. Tobias wants to be comforted like a human, but that's impossible for him now. In this moment.

He finds himself too restless and decides he needs to fly. Flying at night for red-tailed hawks isn't something that's normally done. It's not something Tobias' hawk body is built for. A red-tailed hawk isn't nocturnal. But Tobias doesn't care. He needs to get out. He needs to fly.

He flies aimlessly but he knows, deep down inside, where he's going. I'll give you four guesses where he's going and the first three don't count.

Tobias lands on the bird house by Rachel's window. He knocks on her window to get her attention. She opens the window and says that she's glad he's there. She was worried about him. Tobias asks why.

Rachel says that the group was very insensitive to Tobias that afternoon. Tobias replies that he understands why the others were so happy and he doesn't hold a grudge against them because of it. I think his reply is very telling of his character. When he was human he was beat up so he has a very submissive side to him. Even though he's now fighting the Yeerks here on Earth, that side of him hasn't gone. It's just changed.

He doesn't want to cause trouble. So he's waving off what happened earlier.

Rachel tells him to come in and he does so. When he comes inside he looks at himself in the mirror. He looks at his HAWK body in detail. His description almost seems like he's telling himself it's a curse that he's trapped in morph.

He finally looks away from his reflection and tells Rachel he doesn't know what's happening to him. Rachel says she doesn't understand. I think she does know what's going on but she doesn't want to admit it. She wants to think Tobias is strong enough to resist the hawk part of himself. That everything will be back to normal in no time.

Tobias wants to smile to make her feel better. But his hawk beak won't allow that.

Tobias says that he thinks he's losing himself and Rachel continues to pretend not to know what he means.

Tobias explains that he felt like he belonged with the female red-tailed hawk that they freed. He wanted to go after her. Rachel says that he belongs with the Animorphs and that he is human. Tobias asks how she can be so sure. Rachel says that a person isn't their body, a person is what's inside. Their heart and mind. And I think I'm close to tearing up!

Tobias counters her point by saying he can't even remember what he looked like. Rachel seems like she is going to cry, but she doesn't. Tobias says that's probably the reason why he came to her. He needed someone to be strong so he could borrow their strength.

Rachel goes to her dresser and shows him a picture of himself when he was human. Tobias remarks that he didn't know she had a picture of him. Yeah, Rachel, what are you doing with that picture? Wink! Wink!

She says the picture isn't that good and that he looks better in real life. Tobias repeats the words 'real life'. Rachel says that when the Andalites come back they'll find some way to fix Tobias. To make him human again. Tobias basically says he doesn't believe her. Rachel replies that she is sure.

Rachel tries to put on a brave face but Tobias can see she's holding back tears. He remarks, again, that hawk eyes don't miss much.
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