The Chronicles of Riddick: Blood Rage

So it seems that I wasn’t to be forgotten like I thought I would be... Though all hell seems to keep breaking loose since I’ve gotten in here. And things weren’t bad enough with the creatures that can only wonder through the prison tunnels in total darkness without the inner battle... The only time in this prison hell-hole that I lost control of her...

I’m glad that Riddick seemed to be able to keep his word, about putting me back in control. But now Astor’s scared of me... And Ramza seems freaked, like he knows something more about what happened than even me.

I’ll be damned to know what that’s about...

Disclaimer

I dun own Riddick, nor anything about or of it. This story was rated M for extreme violence and adult scenes... blah blah blah. Anyway... How come I got no reviews for my previous two chapters, huh?? XD; I want reviews, please!

“So you caught the famous Riddick, eh?”

“Yes’sir, though we lost a few men in the struggle.” Ramza watched as the man behind the desk grin. So far, the plan was working.

“We’ve been on a lookout for that particular one... after all, he escaped from here before he could finish out his sentence.” He stood up from the comfortable chair and walked around the desk, a folder in hand. “And with those Necromongers gone, we don’t exactly have anything to worry about,” he muttered to himself as he flipped the folder open to examine some paperwork. “Tell ya two what,” he then said with a clear tone, looking up at Ramza and Kiley, “we’ll cut ya in for a profit of 70k.”

“Just seventy?” Kiley said as she crossed her arms, looking much more threatening with that look she kept on her face since she left the ship. “I dun know...” She glanced meaningfully at Ramza with an raised eyebrow.

“How ‘bout this?” the man said, gazing at Kiley for a second before looking to Ramza. “You can stick around, think it over, and meanwhile, I could contact my boss and see what he thinks. Should take me less than an hour. If he’s willing to raise the price, I’m more-than-willing to discuss this further with you two.”

“Hm.” Ramza gazed at Kiley, who seemed to relax a little at the prospect. She gave half a shrug, and Ramza nodded in response. He gave the man a small but cold grin as he nodded again. “We’ll do just that.”

“Good, good.” The man turned to the window, watching the process of Riddick being transported from the merc’s ship to the elevator, where he’ll travel alone; no one was willing to stick around him, merely tossing the keys into the furthest corner of the elevator before shutting the gates and pressing the button to lower him to the courtyard. “I’m still amazed that you only lost a few men to him; I’ve heard quite a bit of this convict.” He turned back with a boastful grin. “You must tell me how you’ve done it.”

“Happy to do so,” Kiley said in return, giving a small but not-so-warm smile. They had it rehearsed before they docked. Should be a piece of cake.

Riddick looked around the courtyard as he rubbed his free-wrists after tossing the chains to the side. It changed a bit with its policies, Ursa Luna. Must be a danger to actually enforce a few things. Smirking slightly as he thought of maybe it was him that changed that part, he walked forward in his search. Shouldn’t be too difficult to find the only girl with wings in this joint. He knew enough of her of where to start - the cells in the most deserted part of the tunnels would be a good place to begin.

Many glanced at him as he passed inmates and fellow convicts. A few recognized him for who he was, others merely watched him curiously before turning back to their activity. That was fine with Riddick; he didn’t need others to crowd after him. He already had three people for that, and one of them was the target of this little trip.

A wisp of something white caught his attention, just going around a corner with a familiar fast pace. ‘That was easier than I anticipated,’ Riddick thought to himself as he sped up, following the tunnel after rounding the corner. And there she was, walking at a fast pace that meant that she wasn’t going to stop for anything until she reached her destination. Wondering idly what was important enough to have her going like that, Riddick followed at his own pace. Carefully noting that her wings were bound by something metallic, he lightly pondered on how to remove that before she disappeared into a cell. So he was correct. Though what brought an eyebrow up was when an excited voice greeted the woman. She wasn’t alone.

“R-R-Rosalia, th-thank y-y-you!” said the young boy’s voice.

“Truly, Astor, it would never be a problem to get a portion of food...” answered Rosalia.

The boy, Astor, grinned until he caught sight of Riddick, who casually leaned against the wall opposite of the cell with his arms crossed. With a terrified gasp, he immediately hid in a corner of the cell. Rosalia turned her head to see who it was, and it was her turn to gasp lightly, but in surprise than in fear. Though then she gave a small but grim smile.

“Why Riddick... I did not think you had cared enough,” she said as she turned completely to face him. But it was with a relaxed composure, making Astor glance from where he hid himself. “I thought your exact words were that if we were late, you would leave us.”

“You fail to realize that I meant I’d leave you on that particular planet. You’re the one that decided to be caught by a bunch of Mercs.” He watched as she gave a burst of a silent huff, but she remained to be in good spirits. “So who’s the kid?” At the mention of ‘kid,’ Astor ducked back down behind the large rock, the top of his black hair the only thing to be seen.

“This is Astor, someone who had helped me when I had first arrived,” Rosalia answered as she turned to look to Astor. “It is okay Astor, he is a friend of mine. He is the one that helped me from when I told you about my time in space.”

There was no movement at first, but Astor gradually got the courage to stand up and walk slowly over to Rosalia’s side, grabbing and clutching tightly to a wing. Riddick estimated that he was maybe about eleven, or twelve. Hardly old enough to commit any real crime, really...

“So what are you doing here?” Rosalia asked Riddick as she turned her attention back to the man. She watched as he smirked and pushed away from the wall.

“Getting you out of here, of course.”

Rosalia raised an eyebrow. After all, they were in the middle of a double-max prison. But again, Riddick had told her time and again in an off-handed kind of way of how he escaped from prisons, even from this particular prison they were in. “Okay, I bite... how?” she said after a minute. Astor glanced up at her before back to the man, his eyes inquiring more than fearful now. If Rosalia wasn’t afraid of the man, he felt that he shouldn’t be, either.

“Arranged ride. We just have to wait for the right time.” Slowly walking into the cell, he examined the area with a quick glance before returning his goggled-eyes to Rosalia’s face. “Turn around.”

Gazing at him with a look that looked like she debated about it, she then sighed as she pried Astor from her wings (with little difficulty) and turned to show him what bound her wings together. She felt as he examined the cuff-like mechanism with his purpose-seeking fingers. Astor watched from the other side of Rosalia, his eyes wide as Riddick at last smirked with self-knowledge.

“Not a difficult piece at all. We just need a few certain tools.”

“Like what?” Rosalia asked. But Riddick turned to Astor rather than Rosalia as he considered the boy.

“Plyers. A hammer of sorts. A short rod of strong material.” He watched as Astor widen his eyes a little as though wondering if Riddick was asking him for those things. “Would you know anyone with those kind of things?”

With a numbed nod, Astor made to dash out the cell, but Riddick stopped him with a hand gesture. “Might be better if you told me the directions.” Just in case he had to be ‘persuasive’ with the man. But Astor shook his head vigorously.

“W-we sh-should all g-g-go s-see him,” he said in a mumble. Riddick raised an eyebrow, but he didn’t raise a complaint. So be it. The boy must be used to violence, anyway.

“Lead the way.” With a lazy hand on his side-knife and the other on the cuffed-wings, Riddick followed Astor with Rosalia next to him. When Astor was ahead by a few feet, Riddick let his hand fall from those strange wings to a knife that wasn’t his own. Pulling it out, he flipped it over with a ease flick of his wrist, handing the black-bladed weapon to Rosalia. “You should be careful to not drop your weapons.”

“Like I had meant to... But thank you,” Rosalia said with hidden surprise, taking her blade back with unconscious slowness as though she couldn’t quite believe he actually was returning her knife. She examined the blade for a few seconds, then slipped it into its rightful sheath. It was like getting her best friend back, Riddick lightly observed. Though the way she had looked at him earlier said that she was a little more glad to see him than the blade. That thought almost had Riddick smirk lightly to himself.

They went through a series of tunnels that led up a few floors before they reached Astor’s apparent destination. He looked around rather fearfully at a few points, then entered a cell at last. Riddick followed him without much concern, Rosalia coming from behind with more caution.

A man sat with a knee drawn up to his chin, wheedling at a piece of wood into some unrecognizable shape of his own creation. He looked up with little concern as Astor approached him. “Ah, kid. What’cha want now?” Though when he saw Astor’s company, he sat up straight and turned his sea-green eyes on them instead. “Company of the strange sorts. What do they want?” He addressed this to Astor rather than to the two adults more-than capable to speak for themselves.

“T-tools...” Astor said as he looked up from the floor to the man.

“Tools? What types you’re lookin’ for?” He finally acknowledged Riddick and Rosalia, though he kept glancing at Rosalia with a strange look.

“We’ll need plyers in general, but a hammer and a rod of some sort would definitely help.” Riddick moved to stand in front of the man himself. That seemed to start the bargain.

Rosalia eventually learned that the man’s name was Kyle Tull, and was the man to ask for the tools needed for any job. He knew his trade and did it pretty well, in her opinion.

Though before they could discuss it further, a very loud alarm went off. Kyle turned pale, as did Astor. “Damn, it’s time for the hunt...” Kyle muttered.

“Hunt?” Though as Riddick said this, people were starting to crowd into the same cell. He scowled and forcibly moved back to leave the cell himself. Rosalia and Astor followed, though the boy looked like he would have very much liked to stay in that cell. “Seemed that they’re going to release creatures.”

“I-I-I-I r-r-r-really d-d-don’t w-want t-t-t-to be out h-h-here w-when th-they t-t-t-turn out t-the l-l-lights!” Astor cried as he attempted to sprint down the tunnel back to his own cell. Rosalia stopped him, though, looking confused.

“They turn out the lights during these ‘hunts?’” she said as she kept a firm grip on the boy’s shoulder. It was a good thing she did, for he was trembling hard enough for her hand to be shaken off if it hadn’t gripped onto his shirt.

“Th-they c-can o-o-only be able t-t-to m-move in the d-d-darkness, f-f-for the l-light h-h-hurts them...” While that was cryptic to Rosalia, Riddick growled loudly enough for her to look at him.

“I know those creatures rather well. Let’s not stick around for the lights to get turned off.” He promptly turned and headed down the tunnel with an air of purpose, leaving Rosalia to be puzzled about these creatures before she let go of Astor and hurried after the two of them.

- - -

“What’s that alarm for??” Kiley asked in confusion as she peered out the window into the courtyard. The man that was currently pushing a bowl of noodles of sorts looked up and then grinned.

“Oh, that? That’s to let the prisoners run for cover before we let loose the beasts once the lights turn off.”

“Beasts?” Ramza said with narrowed eyes.

“Oh, dun worry about them bursting in here; they can’t even stand light, so not only do the steel walls protect us, so does the light.” The man waved his hand with ease in his aura. He had no trouble knowing that prisoners were about to be killed and/or eaten. And Ramza and Kiley couldn’t express their distaste for this, for the man might suspect something going on; after all, they’re supposed to be disinterested Mercs with only money in mind. And they were about to be paid about 75k; the boss agreed to raise the price, and they had to act like it was delightful news.

‘Riddick will handle himself well enough. So can Rosalia,’ Ramza tried to consol himself this. But he still couldn’t help but worry. Glancing at Kiley, he could see a slight worried expression, but not about the creatures that were about to be released. It seemed to be something else she was seeing into those few ten seconds. And he couldn’t ask what they were about.

“Oop, there goes the lights,” the man said as the courtyard was suddenly plunged into darkness. At that particular moment, the windows were starting to be covered with steel that slid from above, soon blocking the sight beyond the windows. “Now then, how ‘bout that ramen?” he said with no concern. Though when his back was turned, Ramza grimaced at Kiley, who frowned in return.

Seemed that Riddick and Rosalia were on their own.

“O-ooooooh...” Rosalia felt Astor grip onto her arm when she caught up with him. She couldn’t blame him, for he couldn’t see at all. She could see fairly well once her eyes adjusted, just like a cat could. Glancing at Riddick, she saw him whip off his goggles, and now there was a sheen that appeared every now and then whenever he looked around at her and Astor. That would be his eyes, she knew. “W-what c-c-can we d-do n-n-now???” Astor’s grip intensified to the point of actually hurting, though Rosalia didn’t make a sound over that.

“Do not worry, I can lead you,” she said in a gentle voice, sounding more calm than she felt. “And if it all comes down to it... I will protect you.”

“C’mon, this way,” Riddick suddenly said as he turned to a tunnel that led to the courtyard. Rosalia blinked.

“That is not the way to the cell...”

“There’s something already prowling near that cell. So unless you really want to get into a fight...” He let that hang in the air, and Rosalia had no more complaints.

“Just hold on to me,” she merely said to Astor in a soft voice before moving to follow the man. Her heart pumped a little faster as they were now in the open courtyard, where they could hear the other prisoners yelling for directions or screaming in their panic. To them, the open area was almost more dangerous than the tunnels. But to Rosalia and Riddick, you had room to fight and kill; you don’t get trapped very often in the open like in the tunnels, where you only have two ways of going somewhere.

Something flew just overhead, causing Rosalia to hiss to herself and glare up. She caught a glimpse of a creature flying past before jumping right into a tunnel, where she heard screaming a minute later. With a grimace of pain that shot through her head, she turned away and kept going; the blood was bound to attract a few more of those creatures.

“So how do you know these creatures..?” she asked very quietly to Riddick when she got next to him. She could see that his blades were out and at the ready. It was a good thing he could see in the dark probably better than she could, to some extent. If she had approached him the wrong way, she could very well find herself with a slashed throat.

“An encounter on a deserted planet would have been more than enough for me...” From how he said that, she remembered when he mentioned about a planet where he escaped with only two other people, out of nearly ten that made it alive from the crash of a forty-plus passenger cruiser. There were creatures that only stuck to darkness because the light actually hurt them... And they picked off all the other people.

“These are the same creatures?” Rosalia struggled to keep the panic from her voice, though there was a tinge of a high-pitch in her first word.

“Mm...” She took that as a yes. With narrowed eyes, Rosalia turned to watch to the side and behind them for those creatures. Transferring Astor to hold onto her tail in order to stay with them (though she found that was rather uncomfortable to her, as his grip resumed to their greatest strength), she pulled out her double-sided weapon and extended the blades to their fullest length. She was ready to slice anything that got close enough to attack them.

Five minutes went by with unease as they walked, but sure enough, there was a swish of wings from somewhere behind her. Getting Astor behind her, Rosalia swung as fast and hard as she could; the creature’s head was sliced right in half and dropped dead onto the floor, its blood splattering all over Rosalia. Resisting the urge to shudder in disgust, she looked to see that Riddick stopped dead in his tracks, watching.

“And with the first, the rest will follow...” she heard him mutter, though it was directed at her entirely. It was meant for her ears alone. With a grim nod, Rosalia watched above as the other creatures were suddenly circling like giant vultures. The blood of their fellow creature was suddenly driving them nuts. It seemed that blood was what drove them, no matter that it was prey or their own...

“Fuck...” As she said this, the first of the creatures dived for the attack. “Astor, duck down to the ground, NOW!” She felt him release her tail immediately, and without a pause to see if he had got down to the ground, Rosalia launched up to the sky, her weapon ready to kill. She would protect the boy and her comrade, no matter the cost.

As Rosalia grabbed onto the first in the sky and attempted to attack another while on the first’s back, Riddick was having a field day with the one that approached from the side and was attempting to stalk the boy on the ground. With ease, he attacked the vulnerable spots like he had been killing them all his life. In no time at all, it fell to the ground with its guts spilled out onto the dirt. Riddick retreated away, and sure enough, two other of the creatures had dived onto their fallen comrade to eat at its corpse. With a throaty growl, he turned to see that the boy remained motionless on the ground, in absolute terror and quaking where he lay. Riddick got to him and roughly brought him up by the elbow. “Move it!” he said when Astor remained limp, bringing the boy to life at last. With a firm grip on the boy’s wrist, Riddick broke out in a run, the boy right behind him and trying to keep up.

Rosalia managed to take out two other creatures before killing the one that she jumped on, leaping at the last minute into the air for the next one close enough. She helped keeping the creatures’ distracted, being that she was their first prey to leap high enough into the air to actually attack them. She glanced once in the direction of Riddick and the boy, and saw that they were both heading for cover, or at least cover for Astor. Satisfied enough with that, Rosalia returned to the task at hand, keeping a firm grip with her legs on the one she’s on while slashing at one that attempted to get her. With a smirk, she waited for another to try. When it dived straight down at her, she jumped off and it collided with the one she was previously riding. Though she didn’t see the one that dived at her from behind...

“Shit!!” she screamed when she felt something pierce into her shoulder, making her react instantly by slashing at the claws (or claw..?) that belonged to the attacker. It screamed as well as it tried to retreat, but she managed to use the momentum to turn around. With a yowl, she slashed right through the neck of the creature. It gurgled before free-falling down to the ground along with her. She landed lightly enough as the creature smashed into the ground right next to her. Growling in the pain from what it did to her shoulder, she glanced at its hand that it used to attack her. There, in the middle of its palm, was something like a claw that could shoot out for a long range and retract back into its palm... covered in her red blood. ‘Goddess... Like they really needed an extra weapon...’ she thought to herself with expostulation. Leaping away as three others converged onto their fallen, she felt sick as they started to rip at it. Though when a fourth appeared and it stared right at her as it made noise, she was smart enough to know that it wasn’t the best time to be disgusted.

Riddick looked back in the time to see Rosalia get hurt while she was trying to land on the ground. He almost turned to charge back to where she was about to land, with that creature that got her. But remaining where he was because of Astor, he watched as she killed the creature and land on the ground with no more difficulty. She made for a dash in their direction after a minute of watching the creatures come upon their fellow dead member.

He should have been paying attention above him as well as around him on the ground. As he felt a sudden gust of wind from above him, he shoved Astor to the side and dived away as the creature crashed where he once stood. It leapt onto its feet and growled. Astor screamed as he attempted to make a run, for he could hear the creature right in front of him. With a sweep of its tail, though, it knocked Astor straight into the rocky-wall, and he laid there, either stunned or unconscious. Riddick wasn’t sure which, but it wasn’t good. He heard Rosalia yell the boy’s name, but he was too busy with the creature to care.

“You don’t know who you’re fuckin’ with,” he growled before he launched at the creature with blades ready. This creature seemed to know his movements for what they were, for it dodged and attempted to attack his shoulder. Riddick dodged and went for a leg, slashing its ankle’s tendons. It screamed as it fell with a crash, but as Riddick went for the kill, its tail was doing its work once again; it slammed into Riddick’s knees. Using his falling momentum, Riddick slammed his right blade straight into the creature’s hammerhead-like forehead. It died instantly as the man landed right next to it, gritting his teeth from the pain in his knees.

“Riddick!” Rosalia yelled as he went down, but she could see that he was fine other than for his knees. With a menacing growl, she attempted to reach the boy and man. Two other creatures converged onto her path, making their sounds and whipping their tails behind them gracefully. It was like they were anticipating for the taste of her blood. A growl rose from the girl’s throat as she crouched down, her eyes completely silver. “You want to fucking dance? Then let’s dance,” she said with a rumbled-sort of voice, dashing straight at the one to the right. It brandished its teeth and made a swipe at her, the other snapping at her bleeding shoulder. She had made to fall backwards, avoiding both attacks and slid right underneath the creature she was attacking first. Jabbing into the stomach, she listened as it roared with its high-pitched voice, making her wince from the noise - her ears were not meant to listen to such high-pitched waves, not without hurting. It was like a dog whistle to a canine. She rolled out of the way as it crashed down to the ground, though her weapon got caught under it. Before she could pull it out from where it was, the other creature leapt over the other and pinned her to the ground. She had both clawed-hands at the distance, and was trying with all her might to push it back. It snapped at her with its razor teeth that glistening so bright, they were like silver instead of teeth. When its head couldn’t quite reach, it suddenly pulled back its head and started to use its full weight on her.

‘Oh, what fun...’ she heard within her mind, a sudden leap of fierce-joy of the battle that wasn’t her own. The shock that overcame Rosalia allowed the creature to push forward by a few inches. ‘The struggle, the sheer brutality...’ Suddenly, her arms found strength she didn’t have, pushing the creature by more than five inches away. It screeched at her, apparently in displeasure of not being any closer to the blood it desired. But Rosalia wasn’t very concerned about the creature at the moment. ‘I want to spill blood!”

“Leave me!” she yelled as she struggled with two entirely-different battles at hand. With her face screwed up in high-concentration, she suddenly pulled the creature toward her, to its surprise. In doing so, her legs were free to shoot up and bunch under the creature at last, using its forward momentum to topple it off of her. She got to her feet and crouched once again, facing the creature as it struggled to get off its back and wings, wanting to get to its feet.

Feeling a whip of air behind her, Rosalia attempted to turn around to attack, but the creature got to her first. Its hind legs struck out and rammed into the small of her back. She flew forward over the other creature, smashing into the ground. She lost more than her wind from that attack, though...

She lost to the inner battle.

“C’mon, on your feet!” Riddick said as he got to the boy at last, when his knees weren’t screaming in pain. The boy remained where he was, but Riddick could tell by his quickened breathing that he was conscious again. “Astor!”

A maniac-like laugh reached his ears, causing Riddick to stop what he was doing and glance over his shoulder. Rosalia got to her feet again... but something was entirely off. Even as he watched, her right wing suddenly lost warmth, and whatever warmth remained in the feathers fell to the ground in a shower. The similar effect happened to her horn, as well, which had the highest-amount of heat than the rest of her body. It simply dissolved off her forehead, or something similar to that effect.

‘Rosalia?’ But the name wasn’t for the girl; she wasn’t Rosalia anymore, even though that sounded entirely bizarre as he thought that. The one wing that remained grew so slim that the cuff that previously bounded both wings slid loosely enough for her to yank off with no trouble.

The creature that got flipped onto its back finally got to its feet, screeching out its noise in order to find its target again. Whipping around, it found what it was looking for. Unfortunately for it.

A blur later, and its head was decapitated from its neck. Rosalia, as it seemed, used only her claws, for her blades were all in their sheathes, her guns tightly clasped in their holsters, and her largest blade was still trapped under the corpse of another creature. She wore a smile that spelled death as she turned to the next creature. It screeched and lunged for her. She did the same, and reached the creature in its mid-lunge; her right hand plunged straight into the chest where its heart would be beating. Cackling in triumph, she closed her claws around the beating heart. The creature struggled as it now attempted to get away instead, roaring in the intense pain it was feeling. As they landed back on the ground, the girl had the most force to land on top of the predator-turned-prey. It weakly tried to swipe at her, but with a yank, the creature stilled as its heart was pulled out of its chest.

The girl shuddered, but not in disgust as she watched the heart she just ripped out of the creature slow its beating. The blue blood poured down her arm, adding to the blood she already gained from the splashes that came out of each creature she as Rosalia had killed. She was entirely covered in the blood, plus her own from the previous attack on her shoulder.

She looked absolutely thrilled of the gore she finally got indulged in. Squeezing the organ in her hand, she watched it burst, spraying her in the face with fine blood first before it oozed the thick, blue blood down her hand and fingers. Letting it fall away, she laughed again, licking her lips and tasting the blood. It wasn’t metallic like human blood, she noted. But it had a ting to it, like a sharp taste sour fruits had.

“How exotically different,” she purred, a voice that rang a deep alto tone, not anything like Rosalia’s slight soprano voice... Her eyes closed entirely, a smile continuing to play on her lips. She listened as a loud whirring-like noise sounded through the prison and its tunnels. It seemed to be the signal for the creatures to return to their lairs. The creatures screeched along with the noise, turning toward where they came from and flying at such a high speed that they were mere blurs. Emergency dim lights started to light the courtyard, but everyone were still in their cells and tunnels, cowering and trembling. No one were in the yard, or at least those alive, except for the three that had to fight for their lives. It would take maybe ten minutes for the lights to be switched on, but the dim lights were enough.

- - -

‘Finally...’ Ramza thought to himself as the creatures were, at last, called back to their cells. The creatures had a full hour to devour any lingering prisoners. And all that sixty minutes, he and Kiley were much-too anxious, barely able to pull off that they were disinterested Mercs. Luckily for both he and Kiley, the man that was entertaining them had left to help with the round-up of those monstrous creatures. Ramza had collapsed into the nearest chair with a hand over his face when the door had slid closed. He was in near-hysteria. And he had no idea of what state Kiley was, considering that she could see into the future, even by ten seconds. If Riddick or Rosalia had been killed, she would have instantly let him know.

“Oh no...” he heard. He turned as Kiley slid down the wall she was leaning against, trying to look casual. She was sweating lightly, like she had seen a ghost. With confused eyes, Ramza got up to cross the room, placing a hand on her shoulder. She glanced at him. “Thornara...”

‘Thornara..? Thorn... ....!’ “Thornara of the Exiled?”

- - -

“Rosalia.”

Serenely, the girl turned her face to the man she had seen from a distance within Rosalia’s mind. Her eyes opened at last, revealing pitch-black eyes where the white should have been, her usual brown-and-silver coloring deep red. Through the blue blood, her hair, wing, and tail had all changed colors as well. Brown hair was now black with red streaks. Her wing was as black as a starless sky. Her tail had switched colors, the main color now black and her spots were now white/silver.

“Now who’re you to call me by that disgusting name?” she said, still quite serene with the fact that she was covered in blood. Bending down, she yanked out the blade that Rosalia had previously lost it at, retracting it without the care of the blood and slipping it into its sheath. She then lifted a hand to her face, examining the blood before beginning to lick at one finger.

“Then who are you?” Riddick’s eyes narrowed in dislike, as he hadn’t replaced his goggles back to cover them; this wasn’t their Rosalia, just as he thought. She certainly wouldn’t enjoy the thrill of the hunt, the taste of blood. This was someone else entirely.

“Me?” She raised her eyes away from her current task, raising an eyebrow. Where the horn should be at, was instead a large and deep scar, like someone had snapped it off right from its base a month ago. The x-scar that Rosalia had always had was far-more visible and dark against her almost-white skin. Her red lips quirked into a slow smirk as she watched Riddick. “It’s Thornara.” She suddenly dropped into a crouch, the smirk turning into a smile meant for battle. “Tell me, are you really that dangerous for a mortal? I’ve been dying to find that out...”

Riddick growled quietly, his hand tightening its hold on his blade. But he made no move to raise it. “I won’t fight you.”

“Oh no?” Without warning, she dashed at him, making Riddick react by moving to one side. He watched as she whipped around to bring a clawed-hand down at him, and he didn’t see a way to block or dodge it. But just as suddenly as she attacked, her hand stopped by mere inches. And what’s-more, she looked surprised at the sudden halt. This Thornara turned to watch her hand shake, like it was pushing against an invisible barrier. She narrowed her eyes and seemed to push even harder. The hand stayed where it was, but was shaking more-vigorously. “Well damn.”

She had said that with a light tone, like she was talking about the weather. Stepping back and lowering her hand, it finally stopped shaking. She sounded calm, but her face showed interested-disgust, like she was observing how to skin a rabbit and had to remember every detail, even though she didn’t want to watch. “Seems that she doesn’t want to hurt you.”

‘She must be referring to Rosalia,’ Riddick thought to himself as he slowly straightened up, watching for any more attempts of an attack. But she only continued to examine her hand, seeming to have forgotten all about Riddick. A quick glance to where Astor was, he saw that the boy was sickened by the sight of this girl that wasn’t Rosalia. Sickened, and very terrified. “What are you?” he said in a steely voice.

“Hm?” Thornara was brought out of her thoughts, gazing at the human before her. “An Exiled, of course; forced to be banished to the furthest-corner of the universe by the best way possible.” She raised a blood-stained hand to her face, giving another lick at the blood. “By having our souls removed from our bodies and placed in strong-willed people of our opposite element.” A look crossed her face, and Riddick understood it for what it was; “Not like it worked in my case.”

A gasp from a bystander had her snap her head up in such speed, Riddick reacted and stepped in front of her to block the other person from sight. She growled as she swiped at him, an insane grin on her face. He casually blocked her hand and grasped onto her wrist.

“Let me go, I want blood!” she hissed as the grin dropped, snapping her teeth together arrogantly as she attempted to pry his hand off her wrist. She may be extremely fast and deadly, but she was no stronger than Rosalia herself was. With ease, Riddick grabbed her other hand and held them in a tight grasp, and she yowled out in protest. “It’s been decades since I’ve spilt human blood!”

“So this was what Rosalia meant,” Riddick muttered as he watched her struggle to be released. With a sudden twist with one hand, she slashed at his wrist as she kicked at his right knee. Finally freed, Thornara growled as she stared longingly at where the bystander was at, who had ran for it. Smart of him to do so, for Thornara was now wanting to hunt. Dashing by Riddick, she went into the closest tunnel, Riddick swearing mentally and rushing after her. He managed to catch her at the corner inside the tunnel, slamming her into the wall and pinning her hands in his once again. “Oh no, not on my watch.”

She yowled indigently, desperately wanting to hunt a human that she knew she could kill without difficulty like she had with Riddick. With force, Riddick pinned both hands above her head to prevent her from performing the same trick twice, then stepped onto both of her feet with his. She was now unable to attack like she had before, trapped before the Furyian.

“What’s one human life to you, anyhow?” she said after many curses, yowls and growls, struggling uselessly before finally going limp. “He means nothing to you, none of these people mean anything to you. I can see that in your eyes.” She looked up at him, her black-and-red eyes staring reproachfully like she was denied a Christmas present. “Why bother to stop me from having my fun??”

“Rosalia.”

“What?” She glared at him with suspicion unlike any other.

“She doesn’t kill for pleasure. To allow you to take a life without cause would pain her beyond the usual.” It was like it was the simplest thing in the world. As Thornara blinked in confusion, he narrowed his eyes and was the one to stare back into her eyes, like she had just a minute ago. “Now bring her back.”

“Never!” Thornara hissed with such fierceness that Riddick nearly pulled his face back. Almost. “Not until I’ve had my fun!” She resumed to struggle, but Riddick shifted his weight to press down against one foot more; it ceased her attempt instantly, for her feet weren’t anywhere as strong as a human’s. Four slender toes would break so easily under a sharp stomp by his heel if he chose to do so.

“I won’t say it again.” The tone in his voice hinted that he would force her somehow if she continued to resist. Then his eyes softened just slightly, but they still held a steel-look to them. “Rosalia, you’re strong enough to push her back.”

Thornara made to bark out a laugh, but it caught in her throat as her eyes widen slightly, the red slightly overcome by a weak silver. Riddick smirked as Thornara growled menacingly, but more like it was because she was about to lose than out of defiance. He could tell that he wouldn’t be in her good grace for a very long time to come.

A minute went by as Thornara struggled weakly against both Riddick’s hold and Rosalia’s push for dominance. But eventually, her eyes shifted from black and red to the normal white and brown with feathery-silver along the edge of the brown. As soon as her eyes changed, the rest of her was instantaneous; a new wing pushed painfully from her skin as her other molted the black feathers, growing brand-new white feathers to replace them. Riddick had to pull away when her horn spiraled slowly out of her forehead like she was growing a new one. And as her tail shed the colors to replace them with the original colors, her hair seemed to simply wash the black out like she had washable black dye and was washing it out with water. Other than covered in blood from head to toe, she was Rosalia again.

Releasing her wrists after gingerly stepping off her feet, he expected her to stay upright. But she simply sank to the ground and sat there as though in shock. That, or she was trying not to throw up by making no sudden movement. Riddick couldn’t decide on which.

“Come on, you can’t sit there forever,” Riddick said after studying her still figure. He reached down and took her by the elbow, gently pulling her up little by little, doing so until she was shakily on her feet again. Through her arm, he felt her shaking slightly in a mixture of shock, exhaustion, adrenalin, and strong emotions she refused to show openly. Perhaps anger at herself, disgust, fear, or a combination of all three and/or more. “Alright, a foot in front of the other. Come with me; we’re leaving this hell-hole.”

“Astor,” she finally managed to say through a tight throat. It seemed to have been forced before closing her mouth firmly again.

“Yeah, he’s comin’ too, can’t leave a kid in this hell,” Riddick said, though slightly grudgingly. But it had Rosalia move faster, so he guessed he could deal with one more person.

They found the boy where they left him, but it seemed that he was horrified at the prospect of Rosalia coming near him. His eyes went wide as he watched both adults come near him, and though Astor didn’t try to move, he was shaking. In the end, it was Riddick that convinced him to come with them, though Astor stayed as far away from Rosalia as he possibly could.

Looking up, he could see Ramza and Kiley slowly making their way to the ship. Just on time. Obviously, the elevator was out of the question. He already had that thought up, and why he was bothered to help Rosalia get her wings unbounded earlier. “Rosalia.” She blinked at the name, but otherwise remained impassive to contact. “You have to get us up there, one at a time if you have to. Before the guards realize that you’re quite free to fly.”

With sudden conviction to herself, Rosalia acted quite fast, surprising Riddick to a degree; with forced strength, she swiftly stood between Astor and Riddick, swung Astor onto her back without caring about her bag (to Astor’s absolute terror), wrapped her arms around Riddick’s midriff from behind, and forced her wings to lift all three of them. Just in time, too, for the guards realized that something was wrong besides that many of the creatures they released were killed in action. They ran at the three of them, but when they got around to pulling their guns out, they were quite out of range. Rosalia strained with every few feet she managed to get into the air, so by the time she reached the top floor right in front of the ship, she yelped as her wings cramped-up, releasing Riddick just a few inches from the ground. She would have hit the ground if Riddick hadn’t reacted fast enough to catch her and Astor. Ramza and Kiley gave a start, but as due to the plan, they couldn’t run forward to help. Riddick gruffly placed Rosalia onto her feet without a second glance at her.

“MOVE!” Riddick said as he made to push the two into the ship with Rosalia following behind with a scared Astor clinging to her back. So to the guards, it seemed that not only did two convicts made quick-work with many of their beasts, they were also taking a ship with hostages. In less than a minute, the doors closed swiftly and the ship lifted into the air as the guards that were on the same floor rushed forward in useless attempt to stop them. They cleared the atmosphere in record time, and were gone.