Where The Wild Things Are [Leroy, Nate, Jamilan]

[Johnny]

Johnny peered out from his perch between Jamilan's ears and stalk eyes. He was a wasp again, but instead of trying to get a free flight over the Atlantic, he was hoping to get a free ride to the den of some poachers.

The day before, after the group had checked into a hotel, conveniently payed for by PHANTOM, they had devised a plan of action of how to capture the poachers. Based on the scanty information given them by the government, they knew the poachers were very close to the town they were at. So they decided to use a bait. They all drew straws and Jamilan picked the shortest one. They were hoping the poachers noticed all of the screaming people who had run into the town yelling "Monster!" It had been easy to arrange. All the Animorphs had to do was have Jamilan walk right by them.

<<How are you guys doing?>> Johnny said to the others. Jamilan was the only one in his natural body. The others were in morphs of their own. And Johnny was getting bored. He could move around so he was going to talk.

[Nate]

<<I'm cool.>> Nate called from where he was soaring in the air in his kestrel morph. He had figured it was the most inconspicuous morph he had for the middle of Africa, considering a grey squirrel wasn't exactly native to the continent, and he wasn't quite sure what would happen to a stray dog here. Maybe they were allowed to wander... maybe they were caught... he didn't want to find out, so he chose his bird morph and had taken to the skies as the lookout in case something else came gearing for Jamilian.

It wasn't his favourite plan, that's for sure. He still barely knew the Andalite, but he wasn't fond of the idea of throwing him to the wolves like this. Not, at least, until he'd found out if the alien was a jerk or not. He'd had to agree it was their only option at the moment, since none of them had thought smartly to pick up an African morph or two at the zoo or circus before they'd left. An Andalite was far better prey for poachers than a duck or a gecko. But it didn't mean he had to like it.

<<Let's just get this over with,>> he sighed.

[Leroy]

When they first left the hotel, Leroy was in his duck morph. He quickly felt much more out of place than he figured Nate was. He was just going to deal with his uneasiness, but then he saw something in the street below. There was a vendor with a couple birds for sale. They were probably poached, but that didn't mean they couldn't be useful to Leroy. In fact, it was entirely possible that the vendor got the birds from the poachers they were trying to stop.

Leroy flew down into a back alleyway and demorphed. He felt even more out of place now than when he was a duck. He was an American in a strange ally in Africa with bare feet and a wetsuit on. He walked up to the shop, trying not to think about it.

The vendor had his wares on the side of the street just past the end of the alley. One of the cages was close enough to reach from around the corner, so maybe he could acquire what was inside without even being seen. He stuck his fingers through the wires of the cage and tried to touch the bird.

The bird was going to have none of that! It backed up out of his reach and bit his fingers. "Ouch!" Leroy couldn't help but say as he stepped out from they alley without thinking. His fingers were still in the bird's mouth as he acquired it. The vendor looked over at him, surprised, then laughed. Apparently he thought it was funny that one of his birds bit a customer. He said something Leroy didn't know how to translate, then hit the top of the bird's cage. It let go.

Leroy shot an embarrassed smile at the vendor, then walked back into the alley, nursing his bleeding fingers. When he was sure nobody followed him, Leroy morphed his new form and flew into the sky. The instincts weren't too hard to gain control over and soon he was back with the group.

<<Anything happen yet? I had to leave for a second to get a new pair of wings.>> Judging by the way they were talking, probably not.

[Jamilan]

((OOC: Sorry about how long this took me. I had muse troubles, and each time I tried to make this post, I got distracted by missing insignificant details. That...and Deep Space Nine.))

Jamilan pranced proudly, making sure they saw his deadly tail; the humans freaked out more this way, and thus he got more attention. He was happy to have been the one to be bait. It meant he didn’t have to use a morph, and instead would have his superior Andalite body at the ready in case he needed to defend himself or the other Animorphs.

<<I am fine,>> Jamilan said, privately to Nate and Johnny. He wondered where Leroy was, then another bird entered the sky, and he swung his stalk-eyes up to it, being wary of Johnny’s wasp form. <<I see,>> he replied. <<Tell me again our policies of...dealing with these poachers?>>

[Johnny]

((DS9 is by no means an insignificant detail. It's a very good one! XD))

<<Nate, come on! We're getting paid for this vacation so let's stretch it out a bit. What harmn could it do?>> Johnny crawled around on the alien's head as Jamilan's stalk eyes began swinging. They were riling the wasp up and it was all that Johnny could do to hold them in check and to not sting Jami. Of course that didn't stop his mouth, but he decided not to say anything about Leroy's tardiness. He had caused a little bit more than enough trouble on the mission already and he didn't want anyone to really be mad at him.

But he did answer Jamilna, honestly and seriously for once. <<Well, number one: no killing, but that's common sense. Number two, set any animals free that may be caged up. Numer three, alert APPARITION when we're done.>> Jami's stalk-eyes stopped moving so much so Johnny crawled back between them and Jamilan's ears. It provided more protection against being seen.

((I'm thinking some poachers should arrive soon. Like in the next two or three posts?))

[Nate]

When Nate spotted Leroy fly near him in his new bird morph, he couldn't help but laugh. <<Wow, that's an attractive animal you picked there, Roy.>> He hovered for a bit when the kestrel's instincts noticed something scurry across the ground, but he quickly pushed the desire aside and went back to flying after Jamilian.

<<My idea of a vacation,>> Nate responded to Johnny. <<...is sitting in the sun on the beach, with a drink in one hand, and a bikini model in the other. Or alternatively, anywhere that doesn't put me in any sort of danger level past mildly bloodied because maybe there was a kick-ass bar fight involved or I wiped out on my skateboard and got a cool scar to show off to all my friends.>> He adjusted his wings a little, changing his course to match theirs on the ground. <<So what if, we beat these lame poachers asap... and then just "forgot" to let SPECTER know right away and then we went surfing? ...do they surf in Africa?>>

[Leroy]

Leroy was having fun testing out his new wings. This morph was completely different from his duck despite being a similar size. Flying took a little less effort, but it also wore him out faster. And having such a huge beak caused some interesting differences as well, but it was hard to explain. You pretty much had to experience it in order to understand.

Leroy was so absorbed into what he was doing that he barely noticed that Nate was probably making fun of his new morph, or that he was suggesting bending SPECTER's rules. <<Yeah, surfing sounds fun,>> Leroy replied absent-mindedly. He decided to try landing.

As Leroy landed almost effortlessly on a billboard, he saw sudden movement. Something was flying through the air headed straight toward their newest team member. <<Jamilan! Net!>>

[Jamilan]

((OOC: If you don't want me to have the shredder, please let me know and I'll alter this post)).

Johnny's wasp form tickled him a bit; instinct told him to swat him away, but of course, Jamilan had plenty of control to not do that to his friend. He was not sure why Johnny kept referring to SPECTER as synonyms of the word that the acronym formed. Maybe he was just trying to be funny. That seemed his type of thing to do.

The Andalite responded to Johnny and Nate quickly: <<I believe we can capture the poachers as well so that SPECTER or other authorities may apprehend them.>> He removed something from a pouch. It was his shredder. He had disassembled it so that it would be unrecognised in baggage check; the alien metals had not set off any human alarms in security.

<<I do believe successfully accomplishing this task gives us the right to a reward,>> he agreed with Nate and Leroy.

<<Jamilan! Net!>>

He wasn't sure who the warning came from, but the Andalite eye-smiled; he had already seen it as it was coming. Not only did he leaped through the air, his added dexterity and endurance from his four hearts assisting him in making the lightning-fast move.

FWAP! RIIIIIIIP!

As he jumped a hair from the net, his tailblade slashed into the fibres, tearing the net open. The Andalite turned his shredder on, its setting already at stun, and sought the source, his many-fingered hand ready to fire upon the first flash of human movement.

[Leroy]

Leroy watched in amazement as Jamilan seemed to effortlessly avoid the net. Seriously, how did these guys hope to catch an andalite with a net? Andalites have blades on their tails!

Unfortunately, they didn't seem to be completely stupid. Leroy finally spotted one of the poachers in a second story window across the street. He was loading a feathery dart into a gun. <<Uh oh, tranquilizers, 8:00. Second story.>> Leroy doubted there was only one guy, too. Hopefully the other poachers didn't have weapons that were more lethal.

[Jamilan]

Eight O’Clock? But it was 3:46 PM; that did not make any sense. It didn’t matter anyway. The Andalite knew what tranquilisers were – a primitive way to render a creature unconscious. The Andalite – grateful to have seen it with his stalk-eyes - dodged as something flew by him and landed in a wall. He wasn’t so lucky on the second try; he felt something prick into his rear, and pulled the feathery needle out. Another landed in his shoulder, and a third was deflected by his blade. The Andalite was feeling his movements getting much slower.

Jamilan felt himself growing weak. He swayed on his four legs, as the poachers watched. With a thud, he fell to the ground, unable to move. Finally, blackness consumed him...

[Johnny]

After Leroy's thought speak was finished, he almost fell over when Jamilan moving. It felt way too graceful, almost like dancing. <<Please tell me you're not dancing, Jamilan. Jamilan? You there? Hello!>> Then Johnny's perch seemed to be falling out from under him. Jamilan had been hit! By something. Probably the tranquilizers since Leroy warned about them.

As the massive shape fell, Johnny scurried acros the plain of ur and managed to get inside one of the alien's ears. There, he pushed himself as far back as possible without crushing himself. <<Um, guys? What's going on? I think Jamilan is unconscious or something.>>

---

Carlton LeMaine stepped out from behind the bushes. A wide grin was on his face. He was going to be famous in all of the undercircles for this. Imagine, he had caught an Andalite! Of course he didn't do it by himself, but that was only a detail. He walked over to the body lying there. It was a truly magnificent creature. A horse's body, a human's body attached instead of the neck, a human head, but no mouth. Curious. Then there were two extra stalk eyes and...a thick blade on the tail.

Oh yes, this creature was going to make him rich! He wasn't sure if it would be more profitable dead or alive, so he had ordered tranquilizers. Besides, tranqulizers were much quieter, a feature useful right beside a city.

"Don't just stand there all day, we're burning daylight!" The husky voice of Reginald Samson reached LeMaine's ears with no problem. Samson turned around and snapped his fingers twice at a few trees and bushes. Three African guides appeared and they came walking towards the Andalite with ropes chains. As Samson and LeMaine watched, the poaching busboys quickly tied the alien's legs together and then it hands. They also secured a block of foam around the tail. Lastly, they placed a hood over the creature's head.

Without anymore words spoken, LeMaine went over to assist them in lifting the Andalite up onto a stretcher-like arangement. Samson looked back up to the second story window and raised his hand. Charlotte smiled and ducked out, already on her way to the lair. Samason grinned at her eagerness and went over to help the loading of the alien.

Within an hour, they had dragged the victim through several city-blocks worth of trees until they had reached a jeep and truck. They loaded the alien up in the truck and they all piled on, heading towards their lair.

---

((You guys can say how they got to the lair, if you want.))

[Nate]

Nate cursed loudly as he watched Jamilian fall to the ground. He really hated this plan. Like, really hated it. He quickly landed on a nearby building's roof so he could stay stationary and watch.

<<Johnny, he's been tranq'd. Poachers are coming out now...>> he watched the two men appear out of the bushes, followed by the other three guides. <<Looks like five men... they're tying him up now. Aw, man, he's not gonna be happy when he wakes up...>> He caught the glance upward at the building he was on and almost freaked out. d**n it, did he see me??! he panicked. He hopped backwards a little. He wasn't that large of a bird... maybe the poacher had been looking at something else? Hmm... <<Leroy, I think someone was in one of these windows, can you see from where you are?>>

[Leroy]

<<I can see the windows, but there is a glare. I can't see through them at this angle. Just act like a bird and we'll probably be fine.>> Leroy wished that he believed himself. After all, he had just gotten his current morph by acquiring a specimen that had been captured and put in a cage.

<<I'm going to try and circle around and get a better view of where they are headed. Johnny, let us know if anyone says something interesting. You're still with Jamilan, right?>>

Leroy eventually found a jeep and a truck that the poachers used to load Jamilan into. He didn't have a very good view since he didn't want to get too close, but he could still tell when the started to drive a way. Hopefully it wouldn't be too difficult too keep up. <<You still there Nate? Lets roll.>>

[Johnny]

<<Jami's been tranqed? Ouch! I'll try to--AARGH!>> Johnny yelled in frustration as he flew out of the Andalite's ear and hit a wall. He scuttled over the hair on Jamilan's head and flew away from the other side. And hit the wall again. <<Umm, guys? I can't help with the surveillance thing. There's a wall or something surrounding Jami's head. I can't get through it.>>

Then a bump jarred Johnny, followed by another bump. <<Although I can tell that these people are talented drivers. They haven't missed a single pothole, bump, or crack in the road. And my exoskeleton is going to be hurting in an hour.>> That was how Johnny spent the rest of the trip.

---

Samson was glad that this would be his last mission for awhile. LeMaine had assured him that the possible profits from the Andalite would be enough to pay for several years of luxury, if not more. The bumps on the neglected road were enough to give him back probelms, and he would definitely be sore in the morning.

"Just a little bit farther," LeMaine said from his seat in the passenger side of the truck. The voice broke Samson out of his thoughts.

"I know where it is, LeMaine." Samson snapped. Yes, he would be glad to be done with this. Working with LeMaine was not worth the fortune he made selling the skin of animals to the highest bidder. Then, the two walkie-talkies crackled to life.

"Eh, what's takin' the two of you so long? I've been here ten minutes already," Charlotte said.

"Don't go getting your trousers in a twist, girl. We're taking the scenic tour," LeMaine said smoothly. "we'll meet you there in ten minutes or so. Go ahead and get the cage ready."

"Okay, over." Charlotte turned her walkie-talkie off. The path she had taken was much easier, being almost a straight, paved road through the jungle. The two thugs she worked with had to take a curvy, twisting, broken road almost twice as long as the one she took. But then again, she hadn't been carrying a tranquilized Andalite on her motorcycle either.

Charlotte unlocked the door to the forgotten lodge and went inside. It was a nice two-story building that was just big enough for ten people to live comfortably. Or eight people and two rooms and a garage for a horde of wild animals, in cages or dead. She hated going in the farthest room in the back. It was where they kept the live animals. And they were loud. But she could sleep undistubred tonight because the only things back there at the moment were a leopard, a lowland gorilla, a zebra, and a few birds and butterflies.

But she had to go back there now. She passed through the room where skins were kept and stopped. She had her eye on the cheetah one, and was planning on taking it for herself when she left. Then she sighed and went back.

Immediately, a leopard roared and a gorilla began pounding its chest. The zebra started bucking the best it could in its cage and made little clucking noises. It was almost cute. But also annoying. She took out her pistol and shot it without even aiming, the tranquilizer dart embedding itself in its neck. The zebra fell silent.

Charlotte took up a broom and unlocked one of the remaining six cages. It was the second biggest. She swept out some of the manure and then threw an armful of straw in there. The Andalites were herbivorous, right? Or at least, that's what she hoped. she didn't want to go all the way to the kitchen to drag our some steaks for their guest. Once that was done, Charlotte went upstairs to take a shower.

[Nate]

((Oops! Sorry guys!!))

<<I'm coming!>> Nate called, taking off from his perch after the poachers' vehicle. He tried his best to keep some distance. Poachers who knew of the value of Andalites would also be on the lookout for more of them, and a bird being too obvious about following where they drove would definitely be something to keep an eye on.

He did his best to keep up with the vehicle, but he knew he was falling behind a bit. The kestrel was faster when it was diving, not flying after things with engines. Thankfully the poachers arrived at their destination before he completely lost them.