The Chronicles of Riddick: Blood Rage

It had been two weeks since I have been picked up by a man. The famous Riddick, of all people at that. I suppose I should count my blessings that I’m still alive. But one can’t help but wonder...

My muscles are becoming stronger as they get used to gravity once again. Of course, Riddick seems to have fun helping me get there, though I wouldn’t quote myself on that. Not how one would probably put it, but there isn’t anyone else around to say if it’s for fun or for some other reason.

Really, though... As long as I’m alive and the man’s keeping to himself, I’m happy. But who knew of what new company was waiting for us...

Disclaimer

I do not own Riddick in any shape or form, nor do I hope to gain profit from making this story. I only want to hear from my readers, so send in those reviews! The only things I do own are those that will never make an appearance in ‘The Chronicles of Riddick,’ such as Rosalia, and the planet Guile. Thank you.

It was day fourteen since Rose was picked up from an otherwise death-sentence in space. She laid in the bed of the other living quarters. Rarely she slept, but because of the week in the sphere, her body was trying to recover the energy she lost from continuously purifying her own breathing air. It was interesting to wake up from her first sleep since she had been rescued, though...

She had been sleeping for about five hours at that time, when she would usually sleep for a mere hour. But the sleep was doing her good, no matter to her complaints. Her alert senses were sharpening again, as were her reflexes. While her muscles were still weak, they were beginning to strengthen.

A presence had woken her from that sleep, and while she was aware that she should be doing something, her muscles weren’t catching up with that thought. As though they suddenly remembered what they should be doing, her hand had reached down and grabbed her new blade to press it against the person’s throat. Before she could even raise it halfway, a blade was already pressed against her throat, stopping her. She had opened her eyes fully and realized who it was.

“What?” she had snapped, annoyed at herself for not even able to react like she should with those sneaking up on her in her sleep. Riddick had perched himself above her, posed like he was ready to kill her. But his aura said otherwise, so she had realized that he was merely checking on her reaction time, for whatever his reason.

“Poor-ass reaction. You’d be dead before you had even reached that blade.” He had backed off then, placing his blade back into its sheathe. Rose had then suddenly noticed that he had his goggles off. His eyes shimmered, and she was unable to grasp why they should be doing that. Of course, though, the room was dark because she was still trying to have her sight back without permanently blinding herself.

She hissed under her breath, much like a cat would when they’re badly-annoyed. But her curiosity took better control than her annoyance. She ended up looking at his eyes with a slight curious look.

“Interesting eyes you have,” she said instead of a biting-remark she had at first wanted to say.

“Hm.” He looked at her with something in his eyes she couldn’t quite get. Maybe remembering something, but she wasn’t sure. But he turned around and was about to leave the room. Rose was just beginning to relax when he stopped and turned his head. “You know you growl in your sleep?” he had said, making Rosalia look at him confused. How long had he been waiting for her to wake up to react, anyway? “Sexy,” he then said with a smirk, Rose blinking before double-looking at him.

“You can stop deluding yourself at any time,” she had yelled at him as he left and the door was sliding shut.

Reflecting on that first day, Rosalia was actually quite grateful that he started the whole routine, no matter than it sometimes annoy her. Her reflexes had improved, and by the time half of the second week had passed, they ended up matched, blade to blade or blade on both of their throats by the other. She had yet to get him by the throat without him doing the same, but she was getting there.

Standing up from the bed, she knew that her body and muscles had improved from its bad condition. She was almost back to the way she was. Somehow, though, she thought she would be in a bad state for a few more weeks. A human would have been stuck in bed for months after four days of space-floating time. Though she had to shrug it off; she should be quite grateful that her body wasn’t like that of a weak human’s body.

Replacing the pendent back over her head to hang around her neck, she left the quarters and joined Riddick in the cockpit of the ship. He gave no indiction that he noticed her other than a mere glance. She dropped into a chair and propped a foot up on another chair.

“How long is it by this point?” she asked, watching the back of Riddick’s chair.

“‘Bout another week, give or take a few days,” he answered without looking at her. Shrugging, Rosalia turned to look out to the stars. “So tell me about the clues of where your home planet might be at.” He had been asking questions every now and then throughout the time. Probably to pass the time for himself. Both of them could have gone to cryosleep for the remainder of the trip. But considering that they’re both experts in the art of killing... that was no option to either of them.

“The only clues I’ve managed to pick up was that it was in a system somewhere around the Aquilan System. That could be any system out of hundreds,” Rosalia replied after a minute. “The planet is supposed to have two moons, and a medium-sized sun. Young one, would have several billion years left before it advances to its bigger but weaker form.” She shook her head a little. “That’s really all I have managed to get. Some from my memories.”

“Memories, you say.” Well, she hadn’t expected Riddick to listen much, but he seemed to be following along. “How young?”

“Barely a year old.”

He chuckled lightly in amusement. “How interesting.”

“Hmph... Why would that be interesting?”

“Because,” he started as he swerved his chair enough to look at her, “it seems to be a better likelihood that your planet is dead.”

She went silent, but she seemed to already know of the possibility. “I know.” She looked back from the stars at him. “But I’d rather find the planet than not at all.” Looking back to the window, her eyes narrowed a little in thought. “Dead or alive.”

‘Very interesting,’ Riddick thought to himself as he looked back to the controls. She seemed less interested with learning his history, or else doesn’t want to push her luck. Not like it would kill her if she had asked, but he appreciated the change of pace for once. He was asked for his history time and again. Why not learn of another’s story without having to reveal his personal history?

- - -

“Compared with what we almost had, this is chump change...”

“It’s a’right, Boss. We’ll make it up with better convicts.” Razor was trying to counsel Victor. It had been quite some time since they’ve lost their ultimate payload to that meteor shower, and barely making it out alive themselves. Of course, they’ve ended up having to recruit a new member when one of their coworkers was murdered. And not by the meteor shower or by some bystander; Victor was quite pissed by the time they’ve left the proximity of the danger.

“Yeah yeah,” Victor growled as he pocketed his share of the pay once it was split between all five of them. The convict they picked up and shipped to Ursa Luna gave them a mere 20k, half of that going to repairs and giving everyone about 2k each with what was left over. Aw well, do with what you have and all that shit, Victor had thought at the time.

“So what was that you almost had?” the newest crew member asked. Ramza was his name, and seemed to be reaching his twenties. Got picked up on a planet before reaching the double-max prison. Had a good reputation as an excellent tracker. It was how they were able to grab themselves a new convict to take and get some sort of pay. He had flaming-red hair that reached his shoulders, and eyes as blue as the deepest oceans, even though there seemed to be a secondary color somewhere in there. With the casual clothing he wore, he doesn’t stand out much in the crowds, which practically made him invisible.

“Safe to say that she’s dead, but she was worth half a mil,” Razor said with a shrug. “Rosalia Laxzi was her name.”

“That one with wings? Wait, did she really had wings?” He wasn’t one to question if it was possible or not, not since he hides his own secrets pretty well. Of course, though, it never hurts to double-check on information.

“Yup, and some yellow horn on her forehead and a cat tail,” said the third, Carl, of the crew. He was lucky to avoid being killed like his previous partner, though he had little to no grief about it. “She had put up no fight when we got her. Must had scared her,” he added with a smirk. But it dropped when Victor turned his glare onto him.

“What did it matter, anyway? She’s dead, and that’s really that,” he snapped.

“Yeeaah, I doubt she’ll be pullin’ off another death trick like she had for the last fifteen times,” Greg said quietly, as though to avoid getting Victor’s attention.

“Ya know, whatever, let’s jus’ get goin’ and find ourselves another convict worth somethin’.” Victor slammed the thruster clutch in, making the craft go into a faster speed. It would speed up the time between them and their destination, Aquila Major. It was ultimately scarred by the Necromongers, but the settlers were determined to revive their planet. In the five years, it was just now beginning to reach a point of being breathable. At least the residents could walk around without masks on now. Excellent place to pick up scum, all-in-all. “Ramza, find us another target!”

“Yes’sir,” Ramza mumbled as Victor passed him to the back of the ship, entering their newest quarters for a drink. The red-haired man hadn’t been all that sure about joining this crew, and he still wasn’t thrilled about being in the same ship as the likes of Victor. But he needed the money as it was the case. Besides, if he was lucky to survive Victor’s wrath and make it alive long enough to get a few pays, he could always bail out on them; he had his own agenda to deal with.

- - -

‘I wonder how she’s doing...’ Rosalia thought to herself as she continued to stare out at the stars. She was thinking of an unusual friend of hers, by the name of Kasai Kage; or Mily, as she liked to be called. Now she was as close to being the same species as Rose was, though there was a major difference between these two. Rose was more feline. Mily was on the brink of being an old, mythical creature of earth called a dragon. And Mily had a home world, one that she was born on and was among her own species. Heh, the irony to Rosalia.

“Being lost in thought could be an unhealthy occupation, you know,” Riddick said, snapping her out of her thoughts to look at him.

“Hey, allow me to entertain myself in some way.” Five more days passed, and by this point, she was really sick of staring at walls or space, even though she was never tired of the stars themselves. There was no room on the ship except for the cargo holds to improve her fighting techniques. She wasn’t keen on the idea of it, though, about either holds. One could malfunction and send her into space, and the other had too much food and other perishables to worry about. By this point, she wasn’t worried about Riddick anymore.

“You could get entertained in some other way.”

“Don’t even give me suggestions.” She rolled her eyes. “Alright then, how about I help out with the com units or something? I’m not completely ignorant with controls.”

“It’s all controlled, but you can watch the scanners for anything in my place.” And without any explanation, he stood and left the controls to Rose. Well, not like she needed to know what he was doing 24/7, she was used to the routine already. Scooting to the front seat and adjusting her wings to droop down the sides of the chair, she looked to the scanners. Well, other than random little objects passing by, there was nothing to be seen. Though after what happened on the Merc’s ship, she wasn’t going to relax just because it looked clear. So she crossed her arms and leaned back, watching the scanners with such intensity of a predator.

With Riddick, he was certain the girl wouldn’t do anything stupid with the computers. He was impressed with her patience and silence. Never known a woman to not yap about whatever crossed her mind. Of course, there was one other woman that he was impressed by her willingness to become something like him. Kyra. A woman he could have fought for and maybe even would ‘rejoin the human race,’ as one person said to him, Carolyn Fry. A number of people had died because of him. Those people that had depended on him for their survival. Even Kyra, who had said she could take care of herself.

It’s a wonder he kept his sanity. Though the only reason he would be, was because he was rather an animal than a human. The primitive side of him was what kept him from death. And not many people are able to grasp what that was like. People were driven by some sort of creed. Greed, lust, pride, hate, wrath... It was all the same for them, to him. Perhaps the only one who might be able to understand that was Rosalia, one who wasn’t truly human herself.

He shrugged as he entered his quarters. Of course, he hadn’t bothered using either rooms until the girl came aboard. Since then, he decided he should use a room for himself, having to share the same ship with another person.

‘The readings are unusual,’ he thought at last, thinking back to the last thing the computers were displaying for him. Since last week, the readings were saying that he had fresh oxygen and pure water, when it really should be recycled air and water, which meant it was losing ions as both elements got reused time and again. It was like he had taken a visit to a planet and supplied his ship with new containers.

Of course, it had become obvious when the girl had fully recovered and was up and about.

“Hmm, it seems she’s keeping special skills to herself,” he said to himself with a smirk. Whether or not she meant to keep to herself, there seemed to be more to her than she let herself to be. And they weren’t being kept out of his notice very well. It just gets more interesting, and it was bringing out the better of Riddick, making him able to feel curiosity after so long.

It seemed it had only been five minutes since he had left the cockpit, but it was about two hours later that Rosalia called to him for something. Cracking his neck as he left the quarters, he stealthily approached the front, even though it was quite unnecessary. She turned her head as he came up, and pointed to what caught her attention. An distant floating asteroid was up ahead, and what was crashed into it was a very distinctive ship.

Switching places, Riddick scanned the ship with quick precision. An Elemental ship. Now that had to be something.

“What’s an Elemental ship doing here, and crashed of all things..?” Rose said with what sounded like a nervous tone. Elementals, beings utterly driven to create balance. Speaks of neutrality, but it all depends on their preference of one side or the other. “I believe I recognize the hull banner of the ship. It would contain an Water Elemental envoy...” At that, her eyes were shimmering, on the verge of being completely silver.

“You’re friends with them, I take it.” Riddick wasn’t surprised that she would know of them. But was she that worried about them? Or just one of them?

“Some.” She seemed to have better control over her emotions, her eyes forced back to their normal color. Though her pupils remained as vertical slits.

Though before she got to say anything further, the com units squeaked to life.

“This is the Tsunami Ice, requesting for any response.” It had a female voice, one that wasn’t particularly worried about her current situation. “Respond, please.”

Rosalia looked to Riddick, who gave a nod. She leaned forward from her seat and pressed a button. “Tsunami Ice, we’ve received your request. Who’re you and how many are alive?”

“Just myself. I’m Envoy Kiley of the Elemental world.”

Rose blinked a few times, then grinned in spite of her usual reserved responses. “You always seem to jam yourself into situations, Kiley Mizu. Though what are the chances of running into you in space.”

“Wait...” The tone sounded surprised. “Is that you, Akshna’Rosalia?”

“You seem popular these days,” the man said next to Rose. She merely shook her head a little. She hadn’t expected to run into the one Elemental that swore she’d never return to her home world until she was a full Water Elementalist (Elementalist is one who could fully master his/her element, as well as what the element represents; time to water, life to earth, ect.)

“Sometimes I am,” she responded to him before turning her attention back to the voice com. “It is. What happened?”

“Oh, the asteroid didn’t appear on the radar fast enough, and the ship ran into it,” the girl replied in a cheerful tone. Both Riddick and Rosalia raised an eyebrow. It doesn’t surprise Rose how the girl sounded in such a situation, and Riddick would have been less surprised if it had been anyone else but an Elemental. Though how an Elemental ship’s radars didn’t pick up on an oncoming object, that was a complete mystery. “You have any room on your ship for one?”

Now that was the question. But it was Riddick who decided before Rose could even voice an opinion. He reached over and pressed the button, nearly trapping Rose’s finger that was previously there.

“You’re welcome aboard, as long as you don’t mind riding with a convict.”

“Oooh, can that be one Richard Riddick speaking?” There was a laugh. “Of course there won’t be any complaint from me. Now I’m burning with curiosity of how the two of you came to be in the same ship!” At that, Rosalia rolled her eyes and shook her head. She was apparently tuned to what the girl’s thoughts goes through.

“You can question it later.”

After some maneuvering to be as close to the ship as possible, a container spaced out from the ship, easily caught in the pincer arms and stored. As Riddick redirected the ship on its original course, Rosalia had went to the back, and returned five minutes later with their newest guest. She had long flowing blue hair that sometimes seemed like it was water, rippling with every step in its high ponytail. Unlike one Elemental that Riddick had the pleasure to know, this one seemed quite young and youthful, even with her turquoise eyes shimmering with wisdom beyond her appearance. Her clothes were multiple of blues as an ocean, expected of an Water Elemental, long-sleeved and the hem of her robe reaching to her ankles. But unlike Aereon, who was an Air, Kiley was more ‘in-style,’ as one could put it; she wore pants beneath the robe, her shoes dark blue and reaching up to her ankles though one couldn’t tell often because of the rims of the pant-legs.

Simple and light in her appearance, but she was quite beautiful. For an Elemental. Could be a young Elemental at the age of eighteen, or one who could retain her young form at any age.

“Riddick, greatest honor to meet you,” she said with some retained excitement as she reached him. Behind her, Rosalia stopped herself from rolling her eyes. But she looked comfortable in this female’s presence. “Kiley Mizu, at your service and in your debt.” She grinned brilliantly, even though all she would get back was a curt nod. “No Rosie, I hadn’t seen our other friend of ours for awhile now, though she’s doing just fine,” she said as she turned to Rose, who had just begun to open her mouth to ask something.

So Rose blinked instead. “Water Elementalists...” she grumbled half-heartedly.

“An Elemental Envoy and a psychic.” Riddick watched the girl behind his goggles closely. “If that’s the case, you should have seen that asteroid coming.”

She turned back to Riddick and grinned again, though lightly. “I can only see into the future about ten seconds beforehand, Riddick.” Then came an exaggerated sigh. “A curse, and yet as I grow older, the further I’ll see.”

“Coming from an fifty-year-old Elemental, that’s saying something.”

“Tut-tut, Rosie-dear! Don’t interrupt an elder like that!” Kiley chided rather playfully. Riddick had a feeling this woman would be rather annoying at times, but perhaps useful. “But ten seconds into the future is a better chance of seeing something useful, isn’t it Riddick?”

“I suppose it would be. But what brought you so far from your world before parking on a rock?”

“I was going to visit Aquila Major and see if it would need an Water Elemental to be of service. After all, we Elementals are quite keen on creating balance, so we’re being sent to planets in the process of being rebuilt.” She gave an off-handed laugh. “But obstacles are often in the way. I’m sure I don’t have to explain that to someone of your calabur! Nor Rose’s, for that matter.” Now she rounded up on Rosalia. “So, what happened?” she insisted.

“And I thought you can see everything that would happen before it did,” Rose said lightly as she had a straight face. Kiley waved it off and pestered Rose for the story. She reluctantly gave the girl of how she was captured on Helion Prime by Merc’s, to then be spaced and rescued. In more detail, of course, since Kiley refused to have it cut short from being a good tale.

Riddick mostly tuned out the Elemental’s chat, though occasionally listening to the other girl’s small sentences. Just what he needed in his party, a chatty Elemental and a silent, deadly woman of unknown origin. But at least it’ll keep things interesting. For the short remainder of the trip.

A tad shorter than the previous two chapters, but still fairly long, I’m happy to report. Grins A little boring, I’ll expect, but it only leads to far-more exciting chapters, wouldn’t you say? And any thoughts on these new characters? Well, you can always send me a review about them. Or anything, for that matter, so send away! I’ll read them! In the meantime, thank you for reading Chapter Three and see ya at Chapter Four!!