Hello, all! Hostfanatic here. This is an idea that I came up with a while back, but I haven't gotten a chance to actually type it out. I'm putting the first chapter up just to see if you like it. If you think that I should continue, then I will. Hope you enjoy!

Reviews, please!

Disclaimer: I don't own The Host. That magnificent honor sadly belongs to Stephanie Meyer.

Sigh.

It was so dark, and I couldn't see.

I knew that I would be able to soon, though. I have been prepared for this. I knew what would happen now.

Sure enough, the memory unfolded. This body's last moments.

I can't see. It's dark.

Why on earth did I let her come with me?

I can feel her next to me, shivering. I wrap an arm around her and try to help her. She's so afraid. She's not afraid for herself, though. She never is. Silly. Selfless. She is afraid for me. She's afraid for Melanie, Jamie, and Jared. She's even afraid for Kyle, even though she should hate him. I did when he tried to kill her.

I trembled as I watched the memory. Tried to kill her? Kill the innocent girl I see in the memory? What kind of planet was this before we came to colonize?

Abruptly, I was brutally yanked back into the memory. It was strong and sure, and it made me want to scream.

Bright flashlights sweep across our faces. I wince. Jared must be here.

The glittering eyes that I see approaching us instantly disperses with that theory.

"RUN, WANDA!" I'm on my feet in an instant, ready to hold them off.

"Ian, no!" she cries.

"I'll be right there!" I insist. "Just hurry! I'll catch up!"

She still refuses to budge.

"Don't move!" the voice calls from ahead of us. The Seekers are here! The Seekers will hurt her! They will kill her! They will take her away from me!

I can't waste time forcing her to move. Luckily, I don't have to.

Two figures appear out of nowhere. Jamie and Melanie.

"Wanda, come ON!" Melanie shouts. She and Jamie grab Wanda and pull her away.

"Ian!" I hear her screaming for me, but I can't focus on that.

The Seekers are advancing.

"Don't hurt yourself," one of them pleads, just like with Melanie.

"I'd be more concerned about yourself if I were you," I snarl at him, leaping forward and nailing him hard in the chest with a well-placed kick. He falls in an instant, and I race out of the distant cave. It's nowhere near the other caves. The others will not be found. That's the important thing.

Outside, it is pandemonium. Everyone is fighting. The Seekers are swarming around.

I manage to duck behind a dune, and I look frantically for Wanda. I can't find her anywhere.

Then I see Kyle.

I feel so helpless and sad. The Seekers have targeted me. I know this.

I grab Kyle and pull him behind the dune with me.

"Ian, what the heck?" he splutters.

"Kyle, just listen to me," I whisper. "I'm not sure whether or not I'm going to make it out of here. They've targeted me, for some reason."

Kyle's face darkens. "I've noticed," he practically snarls. He is angry at them, and he should be. Ever since the beginning of the invasion, all we've had is each other. He doesn't want to lose me.

"Kyle, I need you to promise me something."

He looks confused.

"I need you to promise that you'll take care of her if something happens to me," I breathe. "I need you to take care of Wanda for me."

"Ian, don't talk like that—,"

"Kyle, promise me!"

He stares at me for a moment, and then his head lowers. "I promise," he says quietly.

"Good." I get to my feet and rush out from behind the dune. I'm still trying to find Wanda. I have to get her out of here.

Suddenly, something slams into me from behind, hard, and I tumble to the sand. I turn and see a Seeker, looking almost apologetic.

"Please hold still," she says. "I don't want to hurt you."

I snarl something at her that I've never said before in the presence of a lady and try to get back on my feet, but they're suddenly surrounding me, holding me, pushing me back to the sand. I'm lost. It's all over, at least for me.

I hear a cry, and I turn to see Wanda at last. She's running across the desert, running for me.

Panic surges through me. They'll take her, too! That can't happen!

"Wanda, NO!" I scream.

Suddenly, Kyle is there, and he's holding her back. She's fighting him, but he's much too strong for her. She can't go any farther. I go limp with relief, and the Seekers manage to shove me to the sand.

She's sobbing, screaming my name, reaching for me. Her hair is sunlight, and I remember how I convinced her not to cut it because it was just too beautiful. She stretches her arms out toward me, as though they can somehow, impossibly, close the distance between us. The moonlight glows on her skin, highlighting her grayish silver eyes which are wide with panic.

She's beautiful, and I feel a sense of peace and calm even though I'm dying on the inside. The Seekers are taking me, but I have to tell her my last words.

"Wanda, I love you," I scream as they pull me away. "I WILL come back to you, I promise!"

Tears run down her face as Melanie, Jared, and Jamie arrive. Kyle is staring me down, and I can see what he's saying, can read it in his eyes as he keeps Wanda from racing to me and getting captured herself. I will keep my promise to you. I know in that instant that I can trust my brother to keep her safe.

Melanie, Jamie, Jared, and Kyle pull Wanda away, back toward the Jeep, and even though I'm fighting the Seekers as hard as I can, they're still winning. There are just too many of them.

Then one of them sprays something in my face, and the world begins to grow fuzzy and fade away at the edges. I look and see the Jeep roaring away across the sand, and I am relieved. They made it out. They're not going toward the caves—they're going in the opposite direction, and I know that they won't lead the Seekers to the others. They'll lose them and then loop around.

I see Wanda, leaning out the window, tears running down her face as she stretches out her hand toward me one more time, her hair whipping around as the Jeep roars away.

She's the last thing I see before everything goes black.

I gasped as the memory ends, panting hard. Everything was dark once again, and I was alone. I wasn't there in the desert, watching the beautiful girl ride away across the sands. She was so beautiful…so perfect.

Then I heard a voice.

No, it snarled. Stop it.

I was astonished.

Leave her alone!

I didn't have time to process this before I heard other people in the room.

"Welcome, Bending Leaves."

Bending Leaves. That's right. That's my name. I was a Bear first, and then I was a Flower. My name is Bending Leaves. It wasn't the same on the Flower planet, but it is nice. I like it.

I found my eyes and managed to open them. There was a kind-looking Healer standing over me.

"I am Healer Fords Deep Waters," he said, smiling at me. "I trust your journey was pleasant."

"I trust it was, too," I answered, smiling. "I don't remember it."

He laughed, and it was a nice sound. "You have accessed speech. Did the memories go as planned?"

I shivered a little. "Yes," I said quietly. "Healer, they weren't…pleasant."

He put a comforting hand on my shoulder. "They usually aren't," he said quietly. "I'm sorry you had to see that, Bending Leaves. But it's a good thing. You can do your duty now."

I sat up, attentive at once. Souls are always doing what they need to do to help the community grow, expand, and perfect. I was eager to help. All of us were.

"We need information," he explained. "A soul has gone over to the human side, and we're doing our best to retrieve her. The human that you have inhabited was particularly close to this soul, and we're hoping you might find some information about her for us so that we can find her and save her."

"Yes," I agreed. "What is the name of the soul that you're looking for?"

The healer stared at me with a strange intensity.

"Her name," he said at last, "is Wanderer. You might know her as the soul called Wanda."

Ooh! Cliffie. I've always thought about what would happen if a soul was put into Ian's body. What do you think? Should I continue or not? Review, please! I'd really like to know what you think!

Hostfanatic out!