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[lytaalex.livejournal.com]

The place was massive, there was no denying that. And despite her time on the Vorlon homeworld, and her service to the Vorlon Ambassador Kosh, Lyta couldn't help but to be impressed. Granted, there were parts of the ship--Stacy, as she called herself--that were unsettling, some downright terrifying, but then there were places like this, the city, that seemed to bring her some comfort. Perhaps it was the churches, the temples, many of which seemed to have been ripped right from Earth and reconstructed here. Why someone would go to the trouble to kidnap all these people, snatch them up without their consent, then only to provide them with a place they could retreat to seemed more than a little odd. Like, despite their abduction, Stacy wanted to make sure than none of them had a reason to miss church.

She didn't know how much time had passed since she'd woken up, or even how long she'd been down in the city, exploring the many buildings that lay beneath its artificial sky, but it seemed like forever. It was almost like a lifetime ago, already, even if it had been only a few hours at most. It was like time worked differently here than it did everywhere else, especially on Babylon 5.

Slowly, she meandered the streets, looking up at the large structures around here. She paused in front of some, taking time to enter a few, but always she continued on, moving aimlessly along the path. Finally, she came to a clearing, an area of grass--the only she'd seen thus far--with a large tree in the center of it. She quirked an eyebrow, stepping onto the grass to get a closer look. The tree itself was unlike any tree she'd ever seen before, on Earth or the Vorlon home world. It was shade of blue and, as she circled it, appeared to be completely symmetrical. Each side was the exact same as all the others. It was as if it had been constructed rather than grown, even though it was plain to see that it wasn't a statue at all and appeared to not only be completely natural, but living as well.

ooc: open, anyone feel free to tag in!:)

Comments

[mynameisax.livejournal.com]

Symmetrical except for the boy who knelt at its base with his forehead and palms pressed against the tree. If it looked like he was trying to communicate with it, it was because he had been communicating with it.

Ax had been stranded on Earth for a very, very long time. Contact with his people had been alternately fleeting and impossible. The only other Andalite he saw with any regularity was the Abomination, Visser One, who Ax had not yet killed in spite of the oath he had made and the dictates of tradition.

Once the Visser had taunted the 'Andalite bandits' by pursuing them in the shape of a kafit bird. Ax still didn't know if Alloran had acquired the animal before he had been infested or if the Abomination himself had actually set hoof upon the grass.

The presence of this Garibah tree on this ship was a thousand times worse. Stacy, or whoever she worked for, had somehow uprooted and stolen one of the most famous and oldest trees on the entire planet. The Guide Tree of the entire Andalite race. Ax had never seen it before, but he had read a great deal about it. It had taken him more than an entire (human) hour to work up the courage to step onto the grass. He'd remained in human morph as a concession to safety, however.

It had still touched him with its strange, slow mind. And he had broken down at its base and cried like a baby.

[lytaalex.livejournal.com]

Lyta looked down at the boy, who looked to be still in his teens, kneeling at the base of the large blue tree. Her expression softened as she considered his age--and the ages of some of the others, a few who appeared to be even younger than he did--and felt a brief swell of anger that Stacy would be so callous as to take someone so young.

Suppressing the anger, burying it, Lyta took a step forward. "Are you all right?" she asked, her voice was gentle but also carried a tinge of awkwardness.

[mynameisax.livejournal.com]

Ax had felt the Garibah touch on another mind with other emotions, so he wasn't quite as surprised as he otherwise would have been. Humans really ought to have some way to see behind them without turning their entire head.

"I am fine," he said, forgetting for a moment that humans cried on the outside as much as they did on the inside.

[lytaalex.livejournal.com]

Lyta nodded. While not taking the answer at face value--he was crying after all--she wasn't one to invade someone else's privacy. Odd, coming from a telepath since, in effect, invading other people's privacy is what they were paid to do. But it was because she was a telepath that Lyta had learned just how fragile a gift privacy actually was.

"It's beautiful," she finally said, looking back up at the tree. "I've never seen anything quite like it before."

[mynameisax.livejournal.com]

Ax snuffled a bit, wiping his nose on the sleeve of his plant suit.

"I have not either. Thurrr," he said. Another lie, but this was not a safe place. The presence of the Guide Tree both soothed and enraged him, because it was familiar and because it just should not be here. It should never be in-doors and it should never not be on the Andalite homeworld. And it was just enough of home to make his hearts ache, even if only one of them was present at the moment.

[lytaalex.livejournal.com]

She didn't have to be a telepath to know that he was lying--but it helped. Lyta had just turned to look at the kid, to confront him on his lie, when her attention was pulled back to the tree. Or, rather, the 'tree.' This was definitely no ordinary tree, aside from the blue coloring and the near perfect symmetry. It was subtle and slight. So slight that she had barely noticed it. And she wouldn't have had she not sensed the deception coming not only from the boy but also from the tree, as if the tree itself were lying to her.

Her curiosity piqued, Lyta slowly lowered her walls and reached out telepathically to the tree. Part of her felt silly, attempting to scan a tree. It took a moment but, finally, she caught it. It was barely there or at least barely noticeable but the tree was alive. Not just in the plant sense, but alive...and conscious... or semi-conscious.

"What is this?" she asked, reaching out with her hand to touch the bark.

[mynameisax.livejournal.com]

"It is a tree," Ax said with a shrug. He'd picked that gesture up from his friends. "Most likely alien or magical. It is not from Earth, trees are not like this on Earth." He petted the grass idly, watching the woman warily.

[lytaalex.livejournal.com]

Who did he think he was kidding? "Do you normally lie this much?" she asked, looking over her shoulder at the boy. "Because you're really bad at it."

[mynameisax.livejournal.com]

"I am not lying," he said, narrowing his eyes. "It is not from Earth -- at least not any Earth I know of -- and therefore, alien. Or magical."

That was entirely truthful. Although now he was suspicious. This ship had proven itself to be very strange, and the people on board the same. "What makes you think I am lying? Kss. May-kss."

[lytaalex.livejournal.com]

"Because you lied about never having seen it before," she answered, arching an eyebrow at him as if daring him to lie to her again.

[mynameisax.livejournal.com]

Ax pushed himself slowly up to his feet, not even bothering to try and hide his suspicion. "And what," he asked slowly, "Made you think I was lying about that?"

He was not going to panic yet. And, if worse came to worse, he could probably over-power her -- maybe not as a human, but he could easily out-run her as an Andalite, render her unconscious, and hold her captive for three days to make sure that there wasn't a Yeerk wrapped around her brain.

Stacy would likely object, but he was willing to take whatever punishment it took to keep his friends safe.

[lytaalex.livejournal.com]

"Because I'm a telepath," Lyta answered. "And because you practically screamed 'I'm lying' at the top of your mind. It was next to impossible not to hear it."

[mynameisax.livejournal.com]

Ax blanched, eyes widening in horror.

Telepaths. Telepaths, he hadn't even been thinking about telepaths. When had humans developed--

Not important. If this woman was a Controller, then the Yeerk knew about his friends, knew who and what the Animorphs really were--

"STAY OUT OF MY HEAD!" he screamed, trying to shove her backwards. He lost his balance though, and fell over.

[anoldtrickster.livejournal.com]

"It's pretty, that tree, but it doesn't really seem to fit here, does it?" Wednesday moves swiftly and softly, enough to perhaps even take Lyta by surprise - as if he'd stepped onto the grass out of nowhere, though to look at him that clearly isn't the case.

[lytaalex.livejournal.com]

Lyta jumped in her skin, briefly startled by the unexpected arrival, then turned to look at the source of the comment. Her expression softened when she noticed a haggard-looking old man that, had she been on Babylon 5, could have easily been confused for one of the homeless in Down Below that had come to the station looking for a 'new life' only to find themselves sleeping in the corridors of the unfinished parts of the station.

"It's beautiful," she agreed, offering the man an salutary smile. "I've never seen anything like it before...but, you're right, it doesn't really seem to go with everything else."

[anoldtrickster.livejournal.com]

"I've the feeling it wants to go home, just like the rest of us," Wednesday says, lightly smiling back. "So much of the city here has been taken from other places... I'd imagine it must all be missed terribly." There's something oddly charismatic about him, despite his worn-out looks - as though he might have been a great orator or leader once upon a time.

[lytaalex.livejournal.com]

"I suppose so," Lyta agreed with a slight nod.

"Or maybe thinking about how people must be reacting to all this stuff missing is our own way of hoping that someone has noticed that we are gone..." she added with a pessimistic tone. She doubted anyone on Babylon 5 had noticed that she was gone, nor would they until there was another emergency and they needed her help again. The same as always. She was someone they came to only when they had to, never because they wanted to.

[anoldtrickster.livejournal.com]

"I'm sure people are missing me... well, or celebrating my absence. There were always plenty who would have been happy to see me go, for one reason or another." He grins wryly.

[lytaalex.livejournal.com]

"Something you did?" Lyta asked, then--thinking of her own situation--reconsidered. "Or something that you are?"

[anoldtrickster.livejournal.com]

"Both, I suppose," he says with a shrug. "Let's just say that a few grudges have run in my family for a very long time. Might I have your name, my dear?"

[lytaalex.livejournal.com]

"Oh! I'm sorry. Lyta Alexander," she said, extending her hand to him with a smile. "And you are?"

[anoldtrickster.livejournal.com]

He shakes her hand firmly - his is well-callused and strong, like he's known years of physical labor. "Call me Mr. Wednesday," he says, and there's a twinkle in his eye, like it's some inside joke that would be ruined if he shared it. "It's nice to meet you."

[lytaalex.livejournal.com]

Lyta arched an eyebrow when he introduced himself. "Wednesday," she repeated the name back to him, her tone revealing her curiosity. "I hope you'll excuse me for saying so, but that's a rather...odd...name."

[anoldtrickster.livejournal.com]

"It is, isn't it? A nice old one, too, practically predates the English language." He has a broad, welcoming smile. "

[lytaalex.livejournal.com]

"Really?" she said, sounding very interested. "And how do you know that?" She couldn't put her finger on it but there was definitely something intriguing about the old man that stood next to her.