Hope you guys have been enjoying this! Here's this month's chapter!

~Jake~

After the bombshells that had been dropped, we unofficially decided to take the next two days off. Since it would take at least that long for the scouts to reach the city, report our attack, and send another group to replace them, we figured we could use our time and energy on ourselves. The group atmosphere was subdued. Marco's jokes fell flatter than usual; even he wasn't laughing at them. Rachel didn't have her usual adrenaline junkie energy. Tobias barely talked and spent most of his time flying around our "territory". Cassie spent a lot of time in meditation, away from everyone else. Ax spent most of his time rather following me or watching the sky. And I…

I was confused, pained, and guilty.

My memories hadn't returned. I couldn't recall everything that others had said happened. But I could feel that what they said was true, and it terrified me. Tom, my brother, who I had spent the entire war hoping to free, was dead. Dead because of Rachel, my cousin, and one of my closest friends. I knew in my heart that freeing him, especially when his Yeerk worked so close to Visser One, was near impossible. But I never gave up hope. Now, though? All that hope turned out to be pointless.

Then, we had recruited disabled children to fight for us. Yes, they were at least as old as we had been when we were thrown into this war, but the point of us fighting was to protect others from what we had to go through. Disabilities weren't always healed by the morphing process. If you were born with a genetic defect, morphing wouldn't be able to change something integral to your DNA. But if your condition came from a non-genetic disease, then morphing would usually heal your body.

The healing the morphing process gave allowed us to survive injuries that would be fatal regardless of what morph we took. It was one of the most important pieces to our survival in the war. But for those who had disabilities that limited their mobility, if they were forced to demorph in the middle of a mission, they could be helpless and exposed, or simply die, depending on their condition. How desperate had we been to recruit them?

And finally, there's seventeen thousand Yeerks I had ordered Ax to kill. Some scientist said that it wasn't the impact of the fall that killed you, but rather the shock as you reached terminal velocity. I wondered how the Yeerks felt as they fell out of their ship's pool and into the open sky. Yeerks lack the same senses humans have, and their brains are radically different. Did they survive until they hit the ground, lost and confused as to what was happening? Were their last moments filled with panic as they felt themselves falling uncontrollably, knowing that the end of their fall would be the end of their life?

Don't get me wrong, I'm not a saint like Cassie. Seeing a Yeerk, even one that's a part of the Yeerk Peace Movement, will always leave a bad taste in my mouth. I've been a host to a Yeerk once before, and that time will always haunt my memories. But attacking civilians that were sitting peacefully in their home… it makes us no better than them. Is that how far I sank for victory? If so, where else did I compromise my morals? Did I sacrifice everyone around me for the "greater good"?

As everyone was painfully aware, we needed time digest our revelations. But now that our two days were up, we needed to get back to work. The rogues wouldn't be happy about their scouts being attacked, and we had to be ready for whatever reinforcements they sent.

"You okay, boss man?" Marco asked me.

"Yeah," I said, shaking my head. We had finished our breakfast, freshly caught this morning courtesy of Tobias and Rachel. Now it was time for our war council. As soon as I called it to order, that it is. "All right everyone, we've a good break, but now we need to return our focus on our objective."

"And that is?" Marco asked.

"Saving the clans," said Cassie.

"I thought we were only helping them," Tobias interjected.

"Well, yes," Cassie admitted. "But 'saving' has better connotations. It's more direct and sounds noble."

"I doubt their pride would allow them to be saved by us," said Ax. "They wish to be rid of their invaders by their own might, not the interference of others."

"But it's obvious that if they stay curled up in their territory, they'll have no way of repelling their enemies," said Marco.

"How we call it doesn't really matter," I said. "But personally, I like the idea of saving them. We'll just leave the 'helping' part when we're talking to the clans, so we don't offend them." The others nodded in response.

"But now we need to figure out how to proceed," I continued. "Through our interrogation, we have reason to believe that the rogues are organized by some kind of cult that have developed basic brainwashing tactics."

"While these cats are sapient, they're still more simple-minded than we are," said Rachel. "Can we exploit their superstition?"

Cassie shook her head. "Maybe if we knew more about them, but right now all we can do is try to plan around them instead of trying to manipulate them."

"You sure there's nothing we can do?" I asked. "Being able to talk some of them out of fighting, no matter how few, would be a big help."

Cassie hummed as she considered the idea. "The only thing I can think of is morphing, like when I pretended to be a bird goddess when we traveled back in time. But I'd rather we save that as a last resort."

There was unanimous with that. At this point hiding our morphing abilities was second nature to us. Even though we hadn't found any trace of the Yeerks, and we had no loved ones to protect in this place, it felt wrong to reveal our greatest weapon. Especially on a half-baked idea without a real plan.

"So, how do you suggest we plan around our fanatic feline friends, fearless leader? Marco asked.

Rachel groaned, slapping a paw against her face.

"We're going to increase our patrols," I said. "We've been flying around clan territory roughly once a day, inconsistently. We're going to be more disciplined from now on. Groups of two, circling around the lake twice in the day and twice in the night."

"That's going to be time consuming," said Tobias. "Especially since we'll have to demorph at least once during our patrol."

"Depending on the wind and weather, assuming moderately favorable conditions, it will take an average of three earth hours and twenty-five earth minutes for each patrol," said Ax.

"Everyone's minutes," Marco muttered.

Ax continued without pausing, but I saw his ear twitch. "With four patrols in ever twenty-four-hour day, we will have surveillance around clan territory almost sixty percent of any given time."

"That's going to take a lot of time out of our day," Rachel complained.

"Do we really have anything we're doing?" Tobias asked. "I already spend more time flying around than the patrols would take."

"And it's not like we have a second life to live," said Cassie. "No classes, family, or part-time jobs. It's just patrolling, hunting, and practicing."

"Should we make the patrols more frequent then?" Ax asked.

"No," I replied with a shake of my head. "We need time to rest, and some time for ourselves."

"Yeah," said Rachel in a small voice.

Of course. I wasn't the only one with an internal struggle. Rachel probably had it worse than me. She's the one who killed Tom. If it wasn't for her…

No. Tom had been under Yeerk control for years. Whatever the circumstances of his death, I had known it was coming for a long time. Throwing around blame wasn't going to help anyone.

"What's wrong, cat got your tongue?"

"Sorry," I said as I snapped out of my thoughts.

Marco gave me a Cheshire grin. "Don't worry fearless leader. We're all feline out of sorts right now."

"Marco," Rachel groaned.

"Don't worry, Sherlock Marco will put his paw on it!"

"That was terrible," Tobias said flatly, but I saw the corners of his mouth twitch upwards.

I couldn't resist a chuckle myself. As long as Marco was still cracking puns, there was something going right in the world. "Alright, we get started now. Who wants first watch?"

"I'll go," Tobias volunteered immediately.

"I'll keep him company," said Rachel.

"Quick to volunteer when it gives you one on one with your boyfriend, aren't you, Xena?" Marco said slyly. Rachel cuffed his ears. Marco fell over, groaning in exaggerated agony.

"Alright, get a move on," I said, waving them away. "We need to be vigilant from now on, the next attack could come any day now."

"Should we set up a meeting with the ThunderClan, Prince Jake?" Ax asked.

I considered this for a moment. "Not right now," I decided. "When we have a tangible lead, we'll present it to them. I don't want us to come across as desperate for their approval."

"Makes sense," said Marco. "It's always good to speak from a position of strength."

"Especially in politics," Cassie added.

"We're off then," said Tobias, as he began to shift into his raven morph.

"I'm going to go out on a hunt," said Marco as he arced his back in a stretch. "Wanna come, Ax-man?"

"I would prefer to practice my combat techniques," said Ax. "Unless you have need of me, Prince Jake?"

I shook my head. "We'll need to decide who will go on next watch, but I don't have anything else planned for the rest of the day," I replied. "I actually, I might as well join you. Sparring is more effective than solo practice."

"Actually, Jake, could I borrow you for a minute?" Cassie asked, somewhat hesitantly.

"Sure," I replied. To Ax I said, "I'll join you as soon as we're done."

"Understood, my Prince."

Our group went our separate ways. Rachel and Tobias took to the skies, headed towards ThunderClan territory. Marco went west, towards the treeline that made a rough border for our hunting grounds. Ax went north, where there was plenty of open space to practice and no humans around to witness. I followed Cassie's lead towards the east, near the WindClan border.

We walked side by side in silence. Cassie's golden eyes were focused somewhere over the horizon. Her steps were soft, and short enough to force my naturally loner strides into a slower rhythm. While being turned into cats messed up my ability to read body language, it didn't take a genius to know that Cassie was nervous.

"Cassie," I said gently, snapping her back into reality. She gave a small jump, then shook her head with a small smile as she continued walking.

"Sorry, I spaced out," she apologized.

"It's fine," I said easily. "Something on your mind?"

"Yes, well…" her voice trailed off as she looked off into the horizon. "Do you really want to remember?"

I raised an eyebrow at the sudden question. "Come again?"

"Our—your missing memories, do you really want to know what they are?"

My first instinct was to say "yes" immediately, but I held my jaw shut. Cassie was implying that she knew more than she had revealed to the others. Which begged the question…

"Why ask me?"

"Why?" she echoed.

"Yes. The others could want to know as well. Why ask me alone instead of asking everyone at once?"

"The truth hurts," she said bluntly. "You should know that."

I nodded. "But you still asked me?"

"You're our leader, Jake." Cassie came to a stop at the top of a small hill. The morning light shone over the moors, A small, bubbling brook gleamed silver, standing out against the vibrant green grass. Cassie's face softened as she took in the sight, but her eyes were still serious. "Knowledge is the burden leaders carry."

"So, I should be the one to carry your burden," I finished for her. She turned her head, giving me a mystified look. "It's eating you up inside," I stated.

She gave me a sad smile. "Is it that obvious?"

"We've been fighting together for years, Cassie," I replied. "And we've been friends for even longer. I already know how you look when you're trying to keep a secret and it's eating away at you. I believe the others have noticed as well."

Cassie sighed. "Do you think I can convince them that it's nothing they need to worry about?"

"Probably not," I replied. "We're basically family, Cassie. Even if you tell them everything's fine, they'll still be worried about you. Actually, it might be worse if you start denying it."

"I'll just have to hope for the best then," she said softly. She turned her head towards the beautiful view in front of us. "Your missing memories, what do you want to know first?"

I hummed, considering where to start. "First of all, everything we were remembering, it was true, right?"

"As far as I can remember, yes."

"So, we fought the Yeerks with new recruits from hospitals. Did we win?"

"Yes, the Yeerk invaders were defeated. The Andalites came and helped secure the remaining Yeerks."

"The war is finally over?"

"Yes."

I gave a sigh of relief, but the non-committal way Cassie answered gave me pause. Cassie was a pacifist by nature, forced into war by circumstances beyond her control. If the Yeerks were really defeated and the Earth was at peace, why didn't she seem pleased?

I decided to go out on a limb and go for a worst-case scenario. "Who died?" I asked.

"That's a difficult question," Cassie replied slowly. "A lot of people died…"

"Cassie." I refrained from growling her name, but just barely. "Someone important died, who was it?"

Cassie stared into my eyes for several moments, as if searching for something. It was awkward, but I held my gaze. I needed to know. Eventually, it appeared that Cassie found was she was looking for, because she nodded and answered, "Rachel."

"Rachel?" I echoed in shock. "But she's right here—no, does this mean that isn't—?"

"Rachel is alive and well," Cassie assured me. "Just like when you died in the Revolutionary War, we got Rachel back through messing up something in the space-time continuum."

"But how?" I asked. "How did she die? How was she brought back? Why don't we remember it?"

Cassie took a deep breath before replying, "I think you don't remember because it hadn't happened to you guys yet."

I stared at her blankly. "I feel like I'm getting more questions than answers. Are you saying it happened to you, but not to us? You're from the future? A future?"

"I-I…" Cassie's voice dropped as she turned away.

"Cassie!"

"I don't know, okay!" Cassie shouted. Words began pouring out of her mouth as tears ran from her eyes. "I don't know if you guys even got to the end of the war. You remember parts of the final battle, but none of you have said anything about the aftermath. Rachel is alive and doesn't remember how she died even though it happened after an event that you guys can remember. I don't know if you came from different times or if you're all from the same point, but your memories are just badly messed up. I don't know if it's the trauma or Ellimist or Crayak or something else I haven't thought of. All I know is that I'm the only one who remembers everything, and I can't take it anymore!"

Cassie's rant broke as she fell, her body wracking in sobs. I stared at her uncomprehendingly for a moment, but then I laid down next to her, resting my chin on her body.

"I'm sorry," I apologized. "I don't know why I got so worked up. You were the one who wanted to tell me this, I shouldn't have pressed you. I still don't understand everything you said, but I'll let you explain when you're ready. We have time."

Cassie didn't respond right away. Her sobs died down to whimpers as I rubbed a paw across her back. It didn't feel like quite the same gesture as when we were humans, but I could only hope that it would soothe her.

"I guess I'm still an emotional softie," Cassie said with a weak laugh. "No amount of years is going to change that."

"You're strong," I said. "Out of all of us you're the one who's been forced to go against your nature. Fighting, killing, it takes a lot out of us, but I know it's taken the most out of you." I felt her head turn and rest in my side. For a moment, I just took in the feeling of feeling her heartbeat, enjoying her warmth. It's funny. As a human, resting a head on someone's shoulder was a close gesture, but still something friends did. But in our feline bodies, everything we did felt closer.

Probably because we didn't wear clothes.

And… I just made it awkward.

"Jake?" Cassie asked, noticing that I had shifted my body upon my revelation.

"Nothing, just thinking about something," I said quickly. She turned to her head to give me a deadpan look, but then her gaze softened.

"If you say so," she said.

I debated voicing my thoughts aloud, silly as they were, but then we faced a disturbance.

{Anyone in range?} Tobias' thought-speak message cut through our minds.

After quickly glancing around to ensure no one was nearby—a habit by this point—I began morphing into a raven. Cassie, as usual, was already one step ahead of me in the morphing process. After roughly the half-way point in the morphing process—reaching the point where she could access thought-speak—she responded, {Jake and I are here, Tobias. What's wrong?}

Cassie must have used an open broadcast instead of a direct thought-speak, because Rachel answered us instead. {WindClan border, something's wrong. Cats look like they got mauled recently. Jumpy too.}

{Was it the rogues?} I asked urgently. {They shouldn't have had time to launch an attack already.}

{I'm a raven, not a hawk,} Tobias replied grouchily. {It could've been a pack of dogs and I wouldn't be able to tell.}

{Definitely cats, dogs would leave bigger scars,} Rachel commented. {Can't see much else though. We're trying not to get too close since they're in their territory.}

{Good, let's not tempt StarClan,} I said with a mental sigh. {You two continue your patrol and tell us if you see anything out of place. The rest of us will examine the surrounding area. Ax, Marco, are you hearing us?}

{Yes, Prince Jake.}

{Loud and clear, boss man. Just took me a moment to find my feathers.}

{Meet up and go towards ThunderClan territory, see what you can find. Cassie and I will head towards WindClan border. Tobias, Rachel, you two were flying south, correct?} They replied in the affirmative. {Keep going in that direction. Find out where the rogues crossed the border so we can track them down.}

{On it,} said Tobias.

{Marco and I are on our way,} said Ax.

I turned to look at Cassie, who nodded back at me. {Looks like we'll have to talk later,} I said.

{Yeah,} she replied.

I stretched out my wing towards her. {How about we pick this up when we have some time to ourselves?}

By the way her eyes lit up, I knew that if a bird could smile, Cassie would be doing it right then. {That sounds perfect,} she said.

For some reason, I felt butterflies in my stomach at her response. Mentally shaking the feeling off, I took the skies. It was time for business.

Looks like the Animorphs won't have any more time to sort out their emotions. Eh, they had two days, that's enough time. Right? Right?

The story has hit a slow bit, but when the action starts these scenes will be harder to squeeze in. So if you think it's boring... sorry, best to rip of the band-aid here.

Thank you to everyone who's been reviewing to this story. I recently was looking through the crossovers for Warriors X Animorphs, and I'm surprised how few there are left. At least ten stories have been deleted from the section in the past five years... it makes me sad. The lesss stories there are the less likey it is that people will find mine through association. But you guys have not only found my story, you also follow, favorite, and give me feedback. I feel better knowing that my writing is making someone happy!

One more thing...

I decided to go back and edit some of my older chapters to polish up some typos and such. And while I was rereading them, I remembered some plot points that I had originally forgotten when I lost all the notes for this story. I was always wondering why I couldn't find anything to write about for the clan cats, and it turns out one of their major subplots kinda disappeared around chapter 10 or so. Yikes! While I have chapter 19 written out and it only needs editing, I may have to take the next month off to edit the older chapters for polishing and reintegrating forgotten story elements.

Let this be a reminder to you all, always back up your chapters and story planning notes. Otherwise you'll be in my situation.

Alright, that was a really long note, but I needed to get all that off my chest. Now remember, reviews are food for a writer's soul!