AFTER ALL

Second chapter of the day! This one is a big, important, action-filled one. Unlike the last one, which was full of blah blah blah. Anyways- read, review, and enjoy!

Vaako had given him another tip that morning. Some guy had been forcing his wife to Purify, dragging her kicking and screaming in to see one of the few remaining illegal Quasis. And after she had been subdued, he could use her however he wanted. That didn’t sit right with Riddick.

And so now he was crouched in the deep black of the ship’s night cycle. It was blissfully silent for most people, but Riddick kept picking up minute sounds- the creaks and groans of the ship, breathing. It was, dare he say it, peaceful.

Forget the fact that he was currently crouched directly behind the rather plump, sweaty man. Had it been a bit brighter in the halls, perhaps some lingering light would catch on Riddick’s eyes, perfect circles made of glass. But it wasn’t- it was pitch black, and his prey was alone.

Riddick crept forward just a bit more, readying the short stiletto he used for his plumper victims in one hand- one quick, powerful jab to the base of the skull would do it. Very little blood, if any. Riddick didn’t exactly like his prey to have quite so much meat on the bones- but the man disgusted him. Even now, he was waiting outside the Purifying chamber, tucked away behind a thick column. He was sweating profusely, and Riddick could smell the perverse arousal dripping off the man as he waited for his wife to become the docile little toy he enjoyed so much.

Riddick slunk closer and stood, completely silent. At this point in the hunt, the smell was so thick he had to hold his breath- the pudgy little fuck was truly disgusting…and Riddick didn’t get to say that often enough, being who he was.

He raised the long stiletto and leveled it perfectly, so close he was almost touching the back of the man’s neck. It was a wonder his prey couldn’t sense him, by now. Riddick brought the knife back a few inches, giving him enough room to strike with enough force to sever the spinal column from the base of the skull- it was much too quick a death for the little bastard. But it needed to be done quickly, so Riddick tensed and lashed out-

-he was barely able to graze the surface of the skin before the hallway flooded with brilliant white light. It was almost a physical blow, searingly painful to his incredibly sensitive eyes. Roaring, Riddick dropped the stiletto and clamped on hand over his eyes, trying desperately to shut out the ungodly pain. The overhead lights flickered maddeningly- they hadn’t been used, recently.

And the prey- the sickening, sweaty little wad of blubber, yelped and spun around, just as startled by the light as he was by the sight of his Lord Marshal, snarling just behind him. Almost on instinct, Riddick whipped his free hand out, raking blunt nails across the pudgy little man’s wide eyes. At this point, he was really running almost entirely on instinct, anyways.

The little man turned and ran with a cry of terror, slipping and skidding in a frantic effort to get away from the powerful predator behind him. Riddick found himself giving chase, blindly tearing off after HIS meal, one hand still shielding his eyes from the nauseating light. He could feel the man, always just out of his reach, stumbling ahead of him, eyes saucer-wide.

The stench of pure fear rolling off the prey in waves was enough to keep Riddick on his heels- it was one of the very few times he truly lost control of himself. Later, he would find a way to be ashamed of himself- but for now, he was all raging animal, thundering after the fat, weak little man.

And just as suddenly as they went on- the lights snapped off again, and Riddick skidded to an immediately halt, eyes flying open just in time to see- through the spots dancing around his head- the terrified little rat go crashing over a railing with a horrible wail. It ended abruptly and Riddick, still skidding on the slick floor, stopped himself on railing with a painful whok. He shook his head, rumbling lowly, and peered over the railing. The rotund little mess was sliding down the tip of the spear held by one of the massive statues in the hallway below them, inch by inch. Even in the dark, Riddick could see the man’s face, frozen in utter shock as his body slowly oozed down the spear.

Riddick backed off a few steps, panting raggedly in an effort to calm himself. The last time he had lost himself so fully in the uncontrollable rage that was the Furyan instinct, he had been taking Johns apart. The first time they had met.

Shaking his head, as if suddenly realizing just how terrible this would look had there been anyone around to see it, he turned and stalked off briskly. He was certain there had been no one else in the hallway with him and the fat man, and yet things had gone terribly wrong, anyways. He never let things go terribly wrong. And even a hunter like Riddick would not have let anyone die quite the same way the fat little wretch had- slowly, choking on his own blood and offal. It was sick.

He would have to eat leftovers, tonight- but that didn’t bother him as much as it normally would have. He needed to ask Vaako if the ship was capable of malfunctioning the way it seemingly had, just now.


***

The next morning, Vaako found his Lord Marshal in a toweringly foul mood- to the point that even Jack seemed to be avoiding the man. Several times, she had tried to calm Riddick- and finally gave up when he snapped at her, knocking her hand off his shoulder and storming away for a hot bath.

And so Vaako bore the brunt of it when he came to see his Lord. He had heard- and seen- about the body found earlier that morning. By that point, gravity had taken full effect on the broken corpse- it had simply ripped in two and fallen to the ground. But the blood slicked spear held by the statue of one of the first Lord Marshals had told the full story. The Dame had identified the body, even as numbed as she was by her recent Purification- it was a gruesome sight to handle.

And Vaako was left to wonder why the traitorous little scumbag hadn’t just “disappeared” like the rest of them. He sat in a large, luxuriously plush chair in Riddick’s innermost rooms, waiting for the volatile man to reemerge from the baths. Jack was nearby, busy trying to calm the rattled Hellhounds, who were, of course, picking up on their Master’s mood. The youngest of the beasts- a very young little cub, born aboard the ship, had crawled onto Vaako’s lap and wedged itself between him and the arm of the chair. It would have been painful, had the little creature not been as young and small as it was. Vaako petted it absently, staring at the bathroom door as if it had answers.

Inside, Riddick was not sulking. He wasn’t even really taking a bath. He was sprawled out on the cool tiles, massaging his eyes- still unbearably sore after last night’s encounter with the ship’s lights. He could hear Vaako and Jack outside, talking quietly, and the occasional low rumble from one of his Hellhounds. The Alpha Male had stationed himself directly outside the bathroom door, and if Riddick glanced over, he could see the beast’s nose jammed under the frame, snuffling around in search of him. It was when the Hellhound pup came over and shoved its comparably tiny feet under the door, scrabbling around and whining, that he knew it was time to get up.

When he opened the door inwardly, the little Hellhound pup swung in with it, backwards facing scales caught under the doorframe comically. It was a bit of humor in his otherwise pretty shitty day. Riddick dislodged the little cub and scooped it off the ground- he deposited it in Jack’s lap and shooed Vaako out of his favorite chair, unceremoniously flopping down in it with a sigh. Jack was not the only one to notice that Riddick seemed a bit reluctant to open his eyes.

After a few moments of oddly charged silence, Riddick finally growled, “What, Vaako?”
Vaako had been watching his Lord carefully- it couldn’t be helped. The man looked rather…well, awful. And Vaako felt he needed to know why…and somehow, he would be better at finding out than Jack had been.

“My L-…Riddick. There’s been a bit of activity this morning.” He was worming around the subject, noting the elevated aggression in the Hellhounds, “I thought perhaps you should hear about it.”

Riddick opened his eyes just a bit, small slivers of silver peering at Vaako through his fingers. The First Commander was deeply uncomfortable.

“Riddick…it isn’t…like you, to kill them like that.” Vaako glanced at the door as if someone could somehow be listening. He frowned when Riddick snapped-

“I DIDN’T.” Riddick sighed, the sound coming out almost as a growl, as usual, and slumped back into his chair. “He fell.”

“Well, it still isn’t like you! I know what that man was doing was against your commands- not to mention more than a little perverted- but that was a terrible death. And you could have at least paged me, let me know so I didn’t have to wake up to that lovely little surprise!” Vaako crossed his arms over his chest, giving his Lord a rather bold glare. A few of the Hellhounds rattled their scales at him, and he chose to ignore it. “Besides that, the Captain said someone broke into the control room- and I KNOW it was you! The door had been slammed in, Riddick. Really, could you be any less subtle?”

There was a very brief silence in which Jack had time to glance from Vaako to Riddick and back again- before Riddick surged forward, knocking his chair backwards. Instantly, Vaako was coated in a swarm of clicking, snarling red Hellhounds, who dragged him to the ground by his armor and pinned him in place. It all happened so fast, Vaako barely had time to gasp before Riddick was looming over him. Distantly, he heard Jack give Riddick a verbal berating that was surely ignored. He had trouble focusing his vision on the Lord Marshal’s snarling face, finding it much less painful to simply stare at the center of his chest. One of the Hellhounds had clamped onto his neck and was, very effectively, holding him completely still.

“What do you know, Vaako. And WHO did you tell?” Riddick’s voice was sickeningly low. For a second, Vaako’s mind raced, unable to grasp what he was being accused of. When he finally found his voice, Riddick shoved the Hellhound off his throat long enough for him to speak.

“Riddick- I really. I really have no idea. The door.” He gasped, struggling for a moment furiously as one of the Hellhounds bit down just a tad too hard. “Get them OFF!”

“The door.” Riddick prompted, giving the Hellhound that was trying to take Vaako’s leg off a rough smack- it reluctantly let go. Vaako once again tried to fight his vicious captors, rising up off the ground until he hit a toothy resistance- he gave up and slumped back down to the floor, staring straight up at Riddick. Truly, he didn’t understand the sudden, frightening change. But he knew he was going to become a steak if he didn’t spill it, soon.

“Riddick…I..I told the Second Captain. Of the Ship. I told him…about you. What you eat.” He gave a little yell as Riddick was suddenly on him, knife whipping out of nowhere and poised to take his face off.

“You…WHAT.” Riddick, at this point, could feel Jack trying to tug him off the prone body of his First Commander. He swatted her away, biting the knife just a little more into the soft skin at Vaako’s jaw.

“Ow- I…I trust him, Riddick. He is always loyal to you. Always. A little shy, maybe, but- OW. But he wouldn’t do anything to jeopardize your command. I swear it.” Vaako tried to lean away from the blade, but Riddick held him firmly in place. He managed to look up long enough to stare at the man’s ghostly eyes, hovering just a few inches away. “I wouldn’t, either. Hn. Ow. It wasn’t him. We’ve….we’ve been friends since I got here.”

He could feel a generous amount of blood slipping across his neck and throat, and he sighed, giving up the struggle and giving Riddick a cross stare- if he was going to die, he was going to let his killer know he wasn’t terribly happy about it.
Again, it was silent- save for the low rattling and rumbling form the Hellhounds. And then the pressure on his face was gone. Riddick withdrew the knife, but kept a firm hold on Vaako’s face, drawing back to look at the man coolly. He cast a brief glance over his shoulder at Jack, who was hovering close by, with a iron rod in hand, clearly ready to beat him senseless. He gave her a glare, and she gently set the poker down on his bed.

“Jack. Second Captain’s the stuttery one, right?” He murmured, once she had discarded the weapon. She nodded, coming to stand next to him and peer over HIS should at poor Vaako. Vaako swallowed thickly, still jammed up under Riddick’s hand. “Ok. So he ain’t stupid, then. He’s just pants pissing terrified of me?” She nodded again, once again trying to pull the powerful man off Vaako- who was tolerating it all the best he could.

After a moment of staring directly at the man lodged underneath him, Riddick low one long, low sigh and got up, batting the Hellhounds aside as well. Vaako law prone on the floor for a moment, quietly making sure he was in one piece, before he was suddenly yanked up off the ground and set on his feet. He once again found himself eye-to-eye with Riddick, who had him by the collar of his chest armor.

“Vaako. You listen to me, right. Now. You tell anybody else, and I’m going to make sure they don’t find your body in a trash chute…they’ll find it in several trash chutes. Got it?” He snarled, and let go of Vaako, taking a step back and letting the First Commander digest it. The Hellhounds stopped their growling and went to go sprawl about the room like they normally did- suddenly, everything was back to normal. Jack calmly reached up and gave the back of Riddick’s bald head a light smack, then stalked off rather airly…to go find her Second Captain. Riddick didn’t watch her leave, instead keeping his eyes on Vaako.

And Vaako, for his part, only nodded and reached up to touch the small wound on the side of his face. It stung, but was not as bad as he’d feared. The blood was, however, beginning to run down into his armor. He jumped half a foot in the air when he looked up to see Riddick with a small towel in hand. He stood in a shocked, passive silence and let his Lord mop the blood off his face with surprising gentleness. And very suddenly, it was very embarrassing for everyone involved.

Riddick cleared his throat and made a small noise that might- MIGHT- have been an apology. And then followed it up with, “Good, now get out of here. I really do need a bath this time.”

He turned and slunk into his bathroom again, leaving Vaako to stand there, jaw hanging open a bit. Finally, the First Commander shook himself vigorously and, sparing a glance at the bathroom door, made to leave his Lord’s rooms.

Thus far, none of his important questions had been answered. But he felt like he had been given a promotion, anyways- if Riddick trusted his judgment enough to let him leave relatively intact, then he had made a world of progress.

Then there was that whole towel thing. Weird.