Disclaimer: I do not own the Animorphs. I do own Caitlin. That's it.

Chapter 19

The forest spread far below me like a green carpet. It was a pretty good day for flying, and I knew I wasn't alone as I winged my way towards the valley. Jake had given the command. We were supposed to take turns watching Caitlin for a while. At least three days. That had been the orders, three days to make sure we hadn't been too late in rescuing her. Maybe longer if Jake decided it was necessary. I wasn't going to the valley on official Animorphs business though.

(Hey, Caitlin.) I called down in thought speak as I spotted her. I could see her glancing around, looking for the source of my voice. (Up here.)

I folded my wings and launched into a dive, adjusting my tail feathers and swooping towards a log near where Caitlin was pulling a large piece of wood. She looked at me, setting the wood down as I demorphed.

"Hey." I said again with a smile as I finished, the last of the tail feathers being absorbed into my spandex shorts. She hadn't turned away this time; she'd watched the morph the whole way through.

"Hey," She greeted me softly. There was a pause before she grabbed hold of the timber she had been hauling. When she spoke again it was once again with the sarcastic air I had grown accustomed to, "It's about time you showed up."

I took hold of the end of the wood opposite her, glancing towards the sky. It didn't take long to spot the rusty feathers of the red-tailed hawk. I had no doubt Tobias knew I had spotted him. With the eyes of a bird of prey, he could have seen a ladybug steal a glance at him. Don't ask why I hadn't told the others I was planning to help Caitlin out today. I didn't think they would be upset, with the possible exception of Rachel. I just hadn't mentioned my plans.

Caitlin looked back at me with the hint of a smile as we walked towards the clearing she had started her hut in. There were maybe a half dozen Hork-Bajir helping her out, more if you counted the members of the colony that were harvesting branches from the treetops.

A familiar voice spoke up from behind, "I figured you'd show up."

I turned to look over my shoulder and saw Cassie, smiling brightly as she held a tool box. Jake stood behind her, one of the smaller pieces of wood balanced on his shoulder. "What, you guys came to help and didn't invite me?"

Jake just shook his head, "I tried to call you this morning, but your dad said you were still asleep. Anyways, Cassie had a feeling you'd show up on your own."

I had overslept, that was true, it was already well past noon. And I had planned to show up anyways. I smirked and shrugged, "Okay, so you caught me. I take it Xena opted out?"

(Guess again.) No sooner were the words out of my mouth than a huge African elephant lumbered out of the woods hauling a tree trunk. I don't even wanna know how I managed to miss her, (Even if I had decided not to come, Cassie insisted.)

"You know, this doesn't really require morphing." I pointed out. Which was true. The massive tree trunk she was hauling could have been cut up in the woods and carried over in smaller pieces.

(Want me to drop this log on you?) Rachel asked sweetly, batting her elephant eyelashes. Which is actually a really creepy effect.

"Uh…no, that's okay," I rubbed my hands together in mock enthusiasm, not really looking forward to spending the day doing manual labor. Though I have to admit it was better than fighting off Yeerks, "Right, so where do we start?"

"We already started." Caitlin chimed in with a smirk, "But you can get started helping dig the foundation."

"Foundation?" I looked towards the pile of wood and sighed as I saw the group of Hork-Bajir using their blades to dig a square hole in the ground with Toby's supervision.

Caitlin thrust a shovel into my hand with a smirk, "It's not too complicated for you is it?"

"No. I just thought I'd be helping with the hauling." I admitted, adding with a grin, "You know, being the big strong man I am."

Caitlin shook her head, rolling her eyes as she responded, "Well…you don't look too strong to me…and you certainly aren't big."

She waved a hand over the top of my head to indicate how short I was as she made her last point. I winced, "Ouch. Short jokes…that's a low blow."

"It would have to be to hit you." She grinned at me as she pointed towards the construction, "Now go dig."

"I dunno. If you're gonna insult my stature, then I might just leave." I crossed my arms and looked towards the sky, "It would be nice to just spend the day flying around."

"Just get to work, Shorty." Caitlin insisted, "Or I might just have to agree with the elephant and have a log dropped on you."

There was a soft thought speak laugh from Rachel, who found the comment more amusing then I did. As I glanced back, Jake was grinning. Cassie looked once again like she knew something I didn't.

I waved a hand in surrender and moved towards the hole, "Fine, fine. But you owe me."

I buried the shovel in the ground; digging was a lot harder than it looked. Maybe Rachel had the right idea, morphing to get the job done. After all, I was built for looks, not power. A quick switch to gorilla and the shovel would be easy enough to lift. Better yet, I could morph into an animal that was naturally good at digging. I thought for a moment, running through the list of DNA that swam within my veins. Did I have any digging morphs? Dogs were pretty good at digging…and moles. Moles were tiny; dog seemed like a pretty good option though. And if Jake didn't seem upset with Rachel for going elephant, he wouldn't mind if I took a short cut.

So, I focused my mind of the Irish setter I had acquired what seemed like ages ago. There was an itching sensation all over my body as soft red fur began to grow. My ears seemed to turn to Play Dough and stretched down towards my neck, turning into the floppy ears of the dog. I fell forward onto my hands, which had become roughly padded feet. A long, luxurious tail sprouted from my spine, wagging even as it grew. Finally my nose pushed out, and suddenly I could smell everything! Seriously, everything. The musty earthy smell of dirt, the strange alien scent of Hork-Bajir…everything.

I panted happily as I sniffed the air. I wanted to go for a run…I wanted to play! After a few moments I pushed aside the dog's instincts and focused my attention on the task at hand. I padded over to the hole, and ripped at the dirt with my stubby claws. The earth went flying. Digging was definitely much easier as a dog.

(You know, Marco,) Rachel teased, dropping a log nearby, (This job doesn't really require morphing.)

Authors Note: Well, there's chapter 19. Since the actual Animorphs books are only 27 chapters on average…I figure I might end this at 27, and make a sequel to continue the story, like with the David trilogy. shrug whatever…Anywho, check out my new homepage! It's got links to my deviant art account, and if you're into anime as well as Animorphs, you may want to check out my original story "New Life". Just click the link in my profile!