I'm not Alone

Chapter 5

Eidos hopped off the train and stretched, rolling his stiff shoulders, surprised  to see a vast crowd at the station. Apparently inter-galactic train travel was very common in all planets except Earth. At almost every station there was a crowd, and on Earth's galactic station there too was a crowd. A crowd of dust bunnies.

He saw an old man struggling with his bags and before he knew it he was beside him, offering to help. The man spared him a wrinkly smile, thanking him profusely. He gently extracted the luggage from him and trudged forward, perfectly happy to let the old man carry to conversation with small anecdotes. It wasn't too long before they parted, leaving Eidos with a toothless grin.

He looked around, absorbing the new atmosphere. Genyl was a beautiful planet. It was small, but had a few cities, bustling with crowds and chatter. It was a tourist planet, and considered the most popular. It was very similar to earth, but way smaller. In the maps he studies, it looked almost cute.

Demilin had thought that it would be a good place for Eidos to start his journey since it wasn't very out of his comfort zone. Since it was a planet filled with tourists, it would be easier for him to blend in. Tourists were always clueless. She'd gotten a good laugh over this.

Even though he was pretty sure that no one would recognize him, he wanted to keep his identity a secret. He knew that if someone wanted to find him, they very well could. That was the reason he kept his cloak on and the hood up. The cloak was very simple design, nothing fancy. It was its simplicity which made it the most useful. It was a raven black color, the same as his hair. It's hood, when up, reached till his nose, letting others see only his mouth. He took it off only once in a blue moon.

After leaving the station, he opted to just roam around rather than staying at a hotel. As he was walking down an alley, he \was startled by gruff voice saying, "Well, well, well. What do we have hear? You're quiet pretty, aren't you? Why don't you come with me?" Anger surged through him as he walked fasted, heading to the direction from where it came from.
Then he heard a soft, feminine voice which sounded weak, "Leave! Please!"

Till then Eidos had crept up to him, seething with fury. He stalked behind the man, who was an overweight, disgusting man, and put his finger to his lips, telling her to be quiet. She looked barely 13 years old and looked starved, but she bravely kept her ground and kept silent.

That was all he needed to hit the man over his head, faster than the eye could follow. He immediately slumped forward. Eidos didn't waste any time to go comfort the girl and take her someplace else and offer her some water and food. Once she had her fill, Eidos asked her in a soft, soothing voice, "What is your name?"
"Karen." Was all she said, her eyes trusting him.

***

Karen was scared. She had been starved, and beaten and now cornered by a big, beefy man. She had lived off of scraps from the streets or anything someone kind enough gave her. She was used to the looks of disgust and pity, even expecting it, but the look of kindness the stranger gave her was almost foreign. She'd forgotten how it felt.

The way he had moved so gracefully, yet quick to knock the man over astounded her. Though she could not see his face, she already felt like she could trust that tall man with anything. When she was offered all the food and water, the man had, she wolfed down almost everything, leaving him only some bread and cheese. But he didn't say anything to her wild behavior, almost as if he knew what it felt like to be starved, or neglected, or ignored. His kindness knew no bounds.

After she had eaten he had asked a simple question in a deep, yet unbelievable soft voice, "What is your name?" She had simply answered with "Karen." She was so exhausted, that she promptly fell asleep right in his arms, hoping that she didn't make a mistake.

Eidos just caught Karen's frail body and cradled her against him as she slept. He had a surge of protectiveness for the girl, almost as she were his sister. He absolutely hated men like the swine there. He wanted to beat the man up, but if he moved she would wake up, and he didn't want to do that. So he just sat there, hugging Karen's body to his.

***Time skip (a few months later)***

Almost a whole year had passed since Eidos met Karen. Once she had recovered from the incident, she began to unfold her petals, and showed her personality. She was so smart and witty. She was like a little sister to him and Karen thought of him a a brother as well. They mostly just roamed from city to city, solving petty crimes and thefts. It was mostly Eidos, because he wouldn't let Karen in any kind of danger. But that didn't stop her from sneaking out time to time.

Eidos had wished to tell Karen about his life on Earth, but he just couldn't. Maybe in time. Maybe not.

~(Edited)~