Elwing: Will you stop nagging about The Homecoming! Just because I haven't updated it in a while doesn't mean I don't like it. Sometimes I find it hard to write because I lose track of where a fic is going and struggle a bit. I have written part of the next chapter, but unless you want it to be really short and unpolished I'd suggest you be patient. When I start to struggle it's usually because I've been working too much on one fic, so after I've had a break working on another fic I'll come back to it again and it should be better for it. It would be helpful if you'd actually come to me with some suggestions rather than just nagging at me to update, and it might get the next part up faster.

I don't mean to be harsh, but it sometimes makes me angry when I'm working hard and struggling with a story and people keep nagging at me to update when I really need to give the story a rest for a bit, or need a suggestion.

As for your second review, Jennifer had seen Visser Three in his natural form. In #6 we learn that's how Tom got taken; he stumbled upon a full member's meeting.

Thanks for reviewing!

Anifan1: That's why i never trust Author Alerts and look at my faves list instead! Glad you liked it anyway.

Keeda: Thanks for your review! Update your stories soon as well!

AN: This chapter is a little shorter than promised, but that's because I want to change POV in the next chapter.

Three days later, Braunan headed back to the hellish underground Yeerk Pool. I had seen that Yeerks need a certain food, which they called Kandrona rays, very three days. That was where Braunan was going. To feed.

He slithered out of my ear, and I had control again. I tried to fight, but two Hork- Bajir (the bladed creatures) had got hold of me. They dragged me roughly to some cages which lined a wall. There were about ten, with ten humans to a cage. There were another twenty for Hork- Bajir, with about five per cage. The Hork- Bajir's cages were a lot more strongly made than those for the humans.

I was put into a near- empty cage with two other humans. One was a girl who was slightly younger than me. The other was my friend Rebecca.

"Rebecca," I whispered.

"I'm sorry, Jenny. I had no control."

"No, I know…."

"Which Yeerk did you get?"

"Braunan 232."

Rebecca's eyes widened. "Oh no," She breathed.

"Do you know him?"

"He was never my Yeerk, but people say he's really cruel. They're not all like that. I'm so sorry you ended up with him."

Tears began to roll down my cheeks. "I feel like I can't fight anymore."

Rebecca grabbed my shoulder and looked strongly into my eyes. "Don't ever give up, Jen. He's just an idiot bully. You'll probably change Yeerk eventually. You can't give up."

"I.. I'll try, Rebecca."

She nodded. "Just remember, you've dealt with bullies before. He's slightly different, but in essence he's just a bully. You can fight him."

"She's right," said the other girl. "I had him before. He's not unbeatable."

The guards then came for me. My short spell of freedom was over. It was time for Braunan to return to my mind.

(Get out of my head,) I said angrily as soon as he had made his connections with my mind.

I felt him seething with anger. (How DARE you!) He shouted angrily at me. (You'll pay for that.)

I trembled mentally. He searched through my mind until he found the memory that caused me the most pain; the memory of the death of my grandmother. She had died young, and during her lifetime she was the only person I really felt able to confide in. I missed her desperately. Of course, Braunan knew all this. He played back the memory of her funeral. It was one of the worst memories of my life, and he knew it.

By the end, I was crying mentally and couldn't stop; that was until Braunan told me to.

(Silence, human,) he said harshly.

I was so afraid that I fell silent immediately. I knew there were worse things Braunan could do than just replay memories; he had allowed me to see what he had done to many former hosts.

(That's much better,) he told me. (Keep it like that, or you know what'll happen.)

From that point on, I was obedient except in very special circumstances, such as when Braunan tried to recruit my family. I had paid for my insolence afterwards. I was a coward, and I knew it. I should have tried to stand up to him more, but it was so easy just to give up hope.

In the course of the following year, I became a shadow of my former self. I never spoke to Braunan, save to beg him not to torture me. It never did any good.

I then received the best news since I had been infested; Braunan was to move to another host, and I would get a Yeerk named Terran 864.

(He's just as bad as I am, human, so don't get hopeful,) Braunan said cruelly. But I didn't think anything could be as bad as what I had just endured.

(Some are worse,) Braunan said.

(You're lying.) I had been taken by a sudden surge of courage

Braunan was angry, but he was at the head of the queue and had no time to punish me.

(Terran'll make you pay for that,) He muttered angrily as he exited my ear.

Braunan exited my ear for the last time, and I breathed a sigh of relief. I walked to the cages in a daze, and spent the whole time I was there staring into space, wondering if this new Yeerk would be merciful.

"Are you alright?" asked an elderly woman.

I snapped out of my trance. "I'm to change Yeerk."

"Is your new one Terran 864, by any chance?"

"Yes, why?"

"I'm his host. Or, his old one anyway. Don't worry, child. He won't torture you like Braunan will have done."

'How does she know all this about me?' I wondered, but my musing was interrupted as the Hork- Bajir came for me, jerked me from the cage and pulled me towards the Pool.

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