Once Upon an Alien

Seven- New Allies

After finishing my snack, or should I say lunch, I zipped my bag and took some time to think. My curiosity ran wild as I thought of my friends and family. How was Bastion and the others? Did they follow me? Did they go deeper into the cave? Have they met an unfortunate end? The last thought made my chest tighten.

I then began to think of my parents and sister. My mom and dad and my sister Harper. I felt a warm tear well up, blurring my vision. I missed them so much. I missed my mother's sense of humor and our uncanny ability to copy each other. I missed my sister always asking me if I would watch a movie with her, and I wished more than anything that I had not said no to her the last time she asked. I even missed my dad, even though our relationship was not the strongest. I missed it all, and I would have given anything in that moment to even just know they were okay.

While deep in my thought, I did not hear the footsteps approaching from behind me. When a twig snapped, I grabbed my pack and flung myself down to the ground, landing in a squatting position with one hand holding my upper body up. I peered back at the intruders.

Behind me stood two purple eyed men; alien men. They were both much taller than me, but shorter than Xenophon. Both had silvery white hair shaved into short mohawks and matching purple eyes. It didn not take me long to realize they must be twins or at least brothers.

"Well well well. Look Zor! We found a snack!"

"Why yes we did Zeek, yes we did," the one said with an evil smirk.

I examined them more, noticing the one called Zor had a scar going through his left eye brow, while Zeek had a perfect face. Their faces looked familiar in a foreign way, like I knew them but I could not recognize who they were. I noticed when Zeek turned that a 'Z' had been shaved into the shaved part of his hair. I bet he thought he was the coolest alien around for that, I thought to myself with an inside chuckle.

I reached down grabbing the knives out of my boots, whipping around and holding them in a defensive position.

"Woah! Snack is feisty!" Zeek said with a chuckle.

Zor seemed less amused. I kept my knives showing, making sure they knew I was going to fight as much as I could. I knew if they had even half the speed and strength Xenophon had then I wouldn't last long.

I kept my legs spread, ready to run or attack at any moment. I saw wicked smiles form on their faces, sending a rush of fear down my spine. Suddenly out of the branches above, a loud growl pierced the air.

Out from the top of the trees dropped a large muscular figure, landing on its feet only slightly bending before standing straight up. Another growl came as it looked up at Zeek and Zor. They looked afraid, as this figure was clearly stronger and taller than either of them.

"Oh hey, Xen, how nice of you to join the feast!" Zeek said, his nervous face showing the facade of a smile. Xenophon turned and looked at me, before growling once again.

"If you touch her I will rip your head off, Zeek. That goes for you too," he said, turning his attention to Zor. They seemed to cower at just his voice. They looked surprised at him, before Zor spoke up.

"What's your problem, brother? This human is nothing more tha-," he was cut off by Xenophon grabbing him by the throat and holding him off the ground. Even though he was protecting me, I was scared of him at that moment as power oozed off of him. Zeek looked horrified as he watched his brother being held by only his neck.

"Did I not make myself clear?" Xenophon screamed in Zor's face. Zor nodded and was soon let down. Xenophon then turned to Zeek, glaring at him before walking over to me.

"Are you alright? Did they hurt you?" he questioned with concern in his eyes. I shook my head. He gave a nod before looking back at his brothers, but not before his eyes turned a burgundy red color.They both looked at him in shock as they noticed the color of his irises change.

"You're connected to a human?" Zeek asked. Xenophon nodded, before looking at me.

"Morgan. I am highly displeased to introduce you to my two younger brothers. Zeek and Zor," he said, nodding to them as he spoke their names.

Zor was back on his feet now as he rubbed his throat. Zeek kept a shocked look on his face. Zor just looked pissed, but it was a bit understandable.

"Well this changes things doesn't it brother," Zeek said stepping towards us. Xenophon put himself in front of me, keeping an arm in a guarding position. Zeek rolled his eyes at his brother.

"Relax Xen, we can't hurt her now that we know she's your connection. But that won't stop others, you know that. The only ones who can't lay a finger on her are us and once the rest of our family knows, them too," Zeek said.

"He's right. She is only protected from us. You better hope she doesn't have a second connection with someone worse than us," Zor said. His voice was deep, but not soothing like Xen's. Zeek's voice was a middle tone, with a hint of dare I say playfulness in it and Xenophon gave him a nod.

"Get her scent so you'll know if she is near. Inform the others if you can about this. Only mother and father, Axa too," Xen said.

He pushed me in front of him, holding me by the waist. I felt comfortable in his arms, but when his brothers stepped toward, I instinctively pressed my back to Xen.

"Relax, they can't hurt you now. It's a law with my kind that once a connection is found, their family has to protect the person their family member is connect to," he said while rubbing my side. I nodded lightly, but his words didn't take the entire uneasy feeling away. I mean, these two just wanted to make me lunch a minute ago.

Zeek and Zor walked up to me, one on each side. They took a whiff of the air around me before nodding at Xen.

"Got it. We will help keep an eye on her from now on. You should never have left your connection alone. There are far worse of our kind, both connected and unconnected, and all they will see of her is a human," Zor spoke. Xen seemed angry at Zor's statement, but his face softened.

"You are right, but I did not want to draw any more attention to us than I had to. We could all be put to death for associating with a human," Xen said and Zor nodded in acknowledgement.

Xen had let me go, and was standing a step behind me when Zeek came up and looked curiously at me. I gave him a confused expression as he reached out and touched my cheek causing me to flinch back slightly.

"I've never really seen a human up close or touched one," he said like a curious child. Xen's eyes met mine as he looked at me with an amused look.

"Zeek, go ahead, hug her or something," Xen nodded towards me. I gave him a glare before being engulfed by Zeeks hug and my eyes shot open wide at his quick action.

"Wow! She's like one of us, but she's got so much more," he stopped to think before I finished his sentence.

"Curves?" I asked with one eyebrow up.

"Well... Yeah! That works! She's comfy to hug Xen!" Zeek said with an excited expression and a higher pitch voice. Zor looked curiously at me before walking to me. He hugged me too, examining how it felt to hug a human woman. He nodded, before pulling away. Xen pulled me back to him, giving me a hug as well, only I was glad to give him one in return.

After a moment we released each other and I turned to face Zeek and Zor. They were staring at Xenophon's eyes which were bright crimson red. I giggled, because I knew that meant he liked me.

"Wow, I've never seen eyes get that red over one hug," Zeek teased.

Xen's eyes turned dark as he glared at Zeek. Zor stood by, simply observing me and my interactions with Xen. Even though I was with these aliens who were supposed to be the enemy, I couldn't help but feel comfortable with these new allies. Maybe I would survive this after all.