Silver Lining - The Host fanfiction

Chapter 8 The Soul

Humanity:
“The quality or condition of being human or humane.”

- Dictionary

 

 

Burns Living Flowers

 

She looked so fragile when I found her. It wasn’t even that hard to track her down. She left a clear trail. I suppose she was too sick to even notice. In any case, I’m glad for it. It would have taken me a lot longer otherwise. There are a lot of hiding places in the mountains after all.

Her fever was so high it almost burned my hand when I touched her.

I may not have been human before, but I’m pretty sure that something like that is not a good sign.

But she’s safe now. A fever is easily cured nowadays. Just a patch of  “Cool” on the tongue and the fever will break within seconds.

Now I’m just waiting for her to wake up. I hope she’s not going to run again. Just in case, I’ll wait for her to come downstairs. If I talk to her, I’m sure she’ll understand that I mean her no harm. I just want to know what it’s like to be human. Why she thinks we are such monsters when all we do is make this world a better place. And didn’t we do exactly that? In little over two years, we have accomplished what humans couldn’t do in thousands of years.
It’s such a wonderful feeling to see a planet succeed.

Maybe Emma can come with me on my next trip. I can compare my findings with her knowledge of this planet. That  would make for an interesting journal. One side of it seen through human eyes, the other one from a soul’s point of view. I wonder if they’ll be very different.

At this point, she’s still asleep. I just checked on her five minutes ago. Just to make sure, I gave her some “Health” too. She scared me a bit. For a second I was afraid it was already too late. I knew I should have left Jeremy and Web sooner, but they insisted for me to stay. It was such an interesting conversation and I’ve learned a lot about the Summer World and the Spider Planet, two worlds I’ve never visited. So I lost track of time. It was already close to sundown when I could finally be on my way towards the mountains.
She was barely conscious when I reached her and she didn’t seem to recognize me. That on its own doesn’t mean anything. She only met me once and she was probably too busy planning her escape to actually pay attention to me. She did mutter something. A name I think. But I’m not sure. I wonder if it was a friend of hers. Is he or she still human too?

Ah, that reminds me. I should call Scales again. He was a Dragon and moved to Earth only a few months ago. We met in the field. He is a painter and often made drawings of plants to decorate my notes. We hit it off right from the start.
His full name on the Dragon Planet was Has Fur Like Scales, but he prefers ‘Scales’ over ‘Fur’. I suppose Fur would sound a bit strange on this planet.
I say Dragon, but the creatures from the Dragon Planet don’t resemble the dragons in Earth legends. They are made of a substance that is like jelly, just like the atmosphere on that world is like jelly. And the creatures move through it by flying, or swimming, however which way you look at it.

The term ‘dragon’ was used to describe them because they breathe a certain acid. They don’t really have fur either, but the substance of their skin doesn’t translate well in human speech.

My other two friends are Core of Stone and Many Eyes in the Ocean. Ocean lived with the Seeweeds and before that she lived on the Mist Planet. That’s where we met. It was a surprise when we found each other again here on Earth. She found her partner here too.

Core came to Earth from the Rock Word, which is light-years away from here. Like me, he has a fascination for nature, mostly rocks. We go in the field together sometimes, but they live rather far away, so I don’t see them as much as I would like.

Though the name Rock World might suggest a desolate place, it is not a barren wasteland. From what Core tells me it’s a beautiful planet. The gravity isn’t as heavy as here on Earth and the planet is surrounded by rings that have magnetic fields. The planet itself rotates against those rings, so on some nights it creates friction, which results in tiny sparks raining down. I suppose it could be compared to the Northern Light here on earth, though it isn’t really a light.

Core lived near the Iron Fields where the magnetic Field was the strongest.
The creatures there are best described as rocks, though they aren’t made of stone. They are of a lighter material and because of the electric field some even float, or levitate. They come in all shapes and sizes too. Some resemble leaves or feathers or even stars. There are regular rocks too.

The Seeweeds are actually close to Earth. A roundtrip would only take ten years. But it’s not a planet I’d likely visit. Maybe because I’ve been on Fire World. The Seeweed Planet is a water planet after all.
Ocean however loves water. I’m pretty sure that after Earth, she’ll try the Dolphin Planet.

I smile at myself and start sorting out Emma’s belongings. She doesn’t own much, but everything is still damp. No wonder she fell sick.
I hang out the clothes and blanket to dry. They look like they’ve been through a lot. I’ll have to make sure to get her some new clothes. I wonder what she’ll like.
The flashlight probably needs replacement. I don’t think it’s healthy for it to have absorbed so much water.

My hand picks up a pocket knife and I involuntarily shudder, wondering what she could have used it for.
There’s a tiny box too and when I open it I find a set of silver colored contacts.
Is that how she survived on her own for so long? I shake my head. That farce wouldn’t have held up if any seeker were to catch her.

The next item I inspect is as lump of paper. I only figure out what it must be when I find a box of pencils next. There isn’t much left of the sketchbook, but maybe I can save some of it by drying the sheets. When they have dried enough I can carefully try to separate the pages. They will probably be crumpled, but I hope they won’t be completely destroyed. I’m sure this meant a lot to her, so I want to save it.

I’ve never taken care of someone like this before. It’s going to take some getting used to, having another person in my house, but I don’t mind the company. I like to be around people.

Emma will probably wake up soon, so I decide to make her something warm to eat. Even though her fever is cured, chicken soup will still be good for her and maybe some tea or hot chocolate? I hope I won’t spook her like last time.
When I tell her I won’t bring her to an insertion center, will she stay? She’ll believe me, won’t she? She must know that souls don’t lie.
On the other hand, if she trusted me she wouldn’t have ran away. Twice.
I sigh. This will probably be a bit more complicated than I accounted for. I’m just hoping she’ll give me a chance.

What is it with humans and their mistrust in others? Is that why this planet was so chaotic and cruel when we came here? Was kindness really that rare?

A sound at the door makes me turn around. And all the words I wanted to say disappear right from my head as two eyes stare at me in terror. Like a deer caught in the headlights. And I have no idea what to do next.

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I know it´s a bit short, but I´m working on longer chapters. How is everyone liking the quotes at the beginning of each chapter? I´m putting alot of time in finding them.
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