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Rachel dreams - spoilers for the end of the Animorphs series

Her pace is steady, if only because anything that isn't steady calls her attention and gives her something to be angry at, and even Rachel finds it difficult to get mad at her own feet. Plodding along with her little bag slung over one shoulder, chewing numbly on some of the bread from yesterday's dinner, hardly looking around her. It's just another road in another state probably with another town that needs a thug tossed out of it or something. Doesn't need her, just needs anybody.

What's the point?

Grumbling to herself, a very tired, very cranky blonde continues on.

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Lucy is her best friend ever.

"Yes. Yes yes yes yes yesyesyesyesyes."

She's already morphing to a shape that can keep up with Lucy - which happens to be, in fact, Lucy.

Upshift and up and away!

The closer to the east coast you fly, the more the ground is carpeted in rustling green.

There are a lot of triffids. New York City is pretty much the northernmost tail end of the spread; they go down the coast for long enough that the other side of the infestation is not remotely visible.

...weird. Rachel wants to ask - badly, in fact - what's the big deal about triffids, what could a bunch of plants possibly do that people couldn't just avoid them? Unfortunately, she can thoughtspeak - Lucy can't.

[When we land, you've gotta tell me... what's the big threat? Killer plants? Why not just drop a truckload of weed killer?]

[Killer plants that have venomous stingers and multiply so fast that in their canon they took over the world in about a week! It is difficult to get enough weed killer to saturate one entire coast of the United States.]

There's a castle by the city. That's new.

Lucy doesn't head for it; she takes them to the roof of a mostly-gutted three-story building in an area that smells faintly but insistently of humans.

"People underground," says Lucy simply after she downshifts.

Rachel downshifts with her. It's easier - the smell of humans calls a little too insistently to the other form's hunger.

And demorphs, quickly.

"They're okay down there? Is this an attack or a rescue?"

"Place with problems. They're fine now. Triffids will come again tomorrow; then, not fine. Need help to stay alive. They'll like you."

Which is a very Lucy way of saying exactly what her narration rather idiotically failed to smalltext last tag.

Yes, but Rachel's narration <3 Lucy's narration, so it's okay.

Rachel smirks, a little humorlessly. "We'll see," is all she says about them liking her.

It depends on how much they see, she has no doubt.

"How do they attack? I need to know how to counter it."

"Poison stingers. Don't let them hit you."

Rachel frowns, thinking about this for a minute.

Smirks.

"Got it."

And starts to morph.

Lucy smiles slightly, waves, and takes off.

Not much for goodbyes.

Rachel doesn't mind.

If she could grin now, she would. If she could chat a little with Lucy, she might. But what she can do right now?

Is run.

And chat a little: [Let's do it!]

...awesome.

TRIFFIDS THIS WAY

Rachel is slightly excited to be doing something. Not that she whoops in Lucy's head or anything.

She doesn't need to.

"RROOAWR!"

Fear, Triffids. Fear.

They're coming up on them now and Rachel's chanting the plan to herself - Jake isn't here to order it, Marco isn't here to make jokes, Ax isn't here to remind them to keep on track, Cassie isn't here to tell them to be careful, Tobias isn't here to... to look out for her.

In, attack, away, back in, attack, away. Don't let them touch, stay one step ahead. Always.

"ROOAWR!"

The stingers slide harmlessly off Lucy's scales as she strafes the knot of triffids again and again, clawing at any that seem likely to get to Rachel.

Not many of them do.

She makes passes - run straight through the thick of them, clawing fast and sharp, then out into safety. Demorph if she has to, remorph again, make another pass. Over and over and over again until she's exhausted by the sprinting and the morphing both.

Until there aren't many Triffids left.

However long that takes.

[Woo!]

Lucy lands and nods agreeably.

They've made an appreciable dent in this wave, and Rachel is happy now. :D!

She is! Rachel is very happy right now! Rachel is...

Still going.

In, attack, out. In, attack, out. Stingers hit her now and again, but they're getting slower.

But so is she.

In, attack, out. Ignore the pain, keep fighting. In, attack, out. Demorph, remorph. In, attack, out.

Adrenaline rush. So high, she doesn't even know she's exhausted and god she missed this.

...ooooookay then.

Lucy is not tired.

Lucy can keep helping.

Lucy will start to worry if Rachel looks like she's getting overwhelmed and not just like she might.

Rachel doesn't look overwhelmed, she gets overwhelmed. Hazard of relying on adrenaline to keep her going when muscles give up.

In, attack, out.

The cheetah stumbles. One stinger became two, maybe even three. It's hard to count, and the cheetah is a sprinter, not long-distance.

In... attack...

--get snatched up by Lucy and out before those next three stingers can hit.

It's good to have friends, isn't it.

Yeah.

Yeah, it is.

The cheetah struggles at first, weak growls and thrashing limbs and then... goes limp.

Rachel demorphs, panting and exhausted in Lucy's grasp, waiting to be set down.

Rooftop.

Landing.

Downshift.

Headtilt.

Flop.

Breathe.

Gaze-meet.

Grin.

"Thanks."

She never said she wasn't a little off.

Soft smile.

"Welcome."

Flop more.

More breathing.

She didn't die, didn't come close. ...maybe.

"So... what's the poison do?"

Paralyze, kill... there are options.