Inspiration for this story was newbienovelistRD, who rocks as a writer! Ben 10 and all its aliens belong to Cartoon Network and Man of Action. I own nothing.

A Starry Friend

Rachel Jocklin was running down the road. She had been at the mall and had lost track of time. She was now running to get home before nightfall.

As she was running through the woods to take a shortcut, she tripped when her foot hit something that was solid but gave way slightly. A cry of pain was heard as she stumbled to get her balance back. She then turned to see what she tripped over.

It was a strange being with a black body that seemed to have stars in it and had three horns on his head and white hands that were twice the size of her hands. She then noticed his arm was at an angle it shouldn't have been in and his side had a gash in it that was now bleeding again, no doubt a result of her accidently tripping over him.

"Oh, you're hurt," she said, kneeling beside him. She moved her hand to touch his shoulder when he suddenly reached up and grabbed her hand, squeezing it hard. Rachel gasped as it hurt and she gritted her teeth.

"Hey! Let go! That hurts!" she said, trying to get her hand free. When she couldn't, she punched him hard, not realizing until too late she had hit his injured side again and he howled in pain. She was going to get up and leave, but seeing him shudder as he tried to stand made her think twice.

She got up and he put a hand out to stop her. "Stay away!" he warned, his voice sounding slightly robotic and almost space-like. His hand began to glow silver. She stood there for a moment and placed her hands up where he could see them.

"I'm sorry I hurt you," she said. "Please, let me help you. You're injured badly."

He looked at her with his green eyes that seemed to be searching for any hidden deception, but then he cried out suddenly and fell to his knees, jarring his other arm which made him groan loudly and he fell on his injured side, grunting in pain and going still as pain shot up the whole left side of his body, making tears come from his eyes.

Rachel now knew she couldn't leave him there and so tried to roll him over carefully. Using her first aid kit, she first bandaged his side and wrapped it to keep the bandages in place before she turned to his arm, now convinced it was dislocated. She placed her hands on it and looked at him.

"I'm sorry for this," she said, knowing it was going to hurt him.

He looked at her, the tears of pain still visible, but he seemed to be calming down. "Please," he begged in a pain-filled voice. "Make it stop hurting."

She bit her lip. "I'll try, but this will hurt, pushing your shoulder back in place."

He nodded and Rachel got ready to push his shoulder down. Taking a deep breath, she suddenly shoved downwards.

Hard.

The most inhuman scream she had ever heard escaped the strange creature as he suddenly flipped them both, landing hard on Rachel as she landed back on the ground with a grunt. He trembled and slowly stood up, looking at her and holding out his hand to help her up. She looked at the hand cautiously and then took it, letting him help her stand.

"I'm sorry," she said again. "I didn't mean to make it worse."

The strange being rolled his shoulder around to get rid of any lingering pain. "It's alright," he said. "It doesn't hurt anymore and neither does my side."

While he was inspecting her handiwork, she looked at him more closely and her eyes lit up suddenly. "You're a…Celestialsapien, right?" she asked.

He seemed surprised. "Yes," he said. "But how did you know?"

He sounded suspicious and Rachel began to back up as he approached her. She got nervous. "Uh, gotta run!" she said quickly and took off running.

She didn't get far when suddenly she was knocked down by the black and white alien, who pinned her. "Tell me," he demanded her. "How do you know what I am?"

She didn't respond and was now afraid as she knew he was powerful. He seemed to look at her for a moment and then he placed a hand on her stomach, pressing down slightly, his fingers poking her side as a result and she giggled.

"Don't do that!" she giggled, squirming to get his hand off her stomach and side.

Realization dawned on the alien and he at once started tickling her. Rachel laughed her hardest and struggled to get away, but she was no match against this alien, who seemed to be having a good time tickling her.

He stopped after a few minutes and she got her breath back. "I've been studying you guys for a while," she admitted. "My friends like to learn about other aliens in the universe."

"I believe you," he said. "My name is Alien X. You must be Rachel."

She looked surprised. "How do know my name?" she asked.

"I've been watching you and my friends for a while," he answered. "Chromastone and Four Arms are good friends of mine."

Rachel smiled. "Well, then, why don't you come with me and join us?" she asked.

Alien X's eyes seemed to smile at her as he then picked her up and held her close to his broad chest, flying off into the night to the Jocklin Mansion as Rachel watched the stars streak by and hugged her new friend, who returned the hug.

"Oh," he said, remembering something. "Thank you, for helping me and healing me."

Rachel smiled up at him. "You're welcome," she said, resting her head against his shoulder and enjoying the rest of the ride home on her new, starry friend.