Disclaimer: I don't own Riddick or any of the place names or characters from Pitch Black or the Chronicles of Riddick. Flame's mine :)
Please R&R, constructive criticism is appreciated.
When I woke up I could only remember one word. Flame. That was my name. But who was I? I had no idea. I knew I was sixteen. I was Flame. That was it, no childhood memories, no parents, nothing. I got over it pretty quickly, I was a survivor after all.
The next few years weren't too hard for me. Forget the fact I had no idea who or even what I was or where I came from, I was carefree. I trained. I learnt to fight. I was eighteen when I killed for the first time. I haven't stopped since.
Furia, The final year
"Lord Marshal, we have located the final group of rebels. They await you in the square." Arken announced as he approached the Lord Marshal.
"Thank you, Arken. We'll be along presently." The purifier responded to the general. Arken saluted and went back down the hill into the town. The night sky was streaked with the asteroid-shaped shadows of the necromonger ships. The Purifier sighed as he looked on the remains of his homeworld and proceded with his lord to where the final resistance of Furia was waiting.
I stood with the others in the square of the town. We were surrounded by guards. This is it. I thought to myself. I've watched them kill my parents and my race, and now they'll kill me. An image of an amazing house perched on the rim of a volcano popped into my mind before I pushed it away. I had watched my parents die in that house. They were hiding me. So many had died for so little. Once our leaders had realised the necromongers where going to convert or destroy every last one of our race, they told the parents to guard the children. So they did. But it was all for nothing. The only thing we had left was our stubborn resistance. We would not be converted. The Lord Marshal came down the hill, followed by the purifier, a traitor to our kind. They approached and the purifier began his recruitment speech. I'd heard it three times. There was a new addition this time, I listened as he spoke.
"You are children, you have so much ahead of you, you should join us, and be great! I was once one of you-"he was abruptly cut off my me spitting at him and shouting;
"Blood traitor, you don't deserve life!" my friends quickly joined in and the purifier faltered, lost for words. He hadn't expected us to resist so violently. I laughed. Then I keeled over from the wave of ice that had just hit me. I couldn't breathe. I lay there, gasping, as a shadow, the source of the ice, fell over me. I looked up into the dead eyes of the Lord Marshal.
"To resist is to die child. Do you want to die?" I struggled into a sitting position without breaking eye contact.
"I'm already dead you son of a bitch, I died with my race." Then I blacked out.
A figure crept along the darkened streets of Helion Prime's capital. It was tall and slim, cloaked entirely in black. I had grown up a lot in the last five years. I'd started out as a bodyguard, now I was a full time assassin. I was two, actually. There was me, Flame, the infamous killer, I took out high profile people for high profile clients and the only payment I accepted was in precious gems. Then there was the me people didn't know about. I worked under the name Jewel. I advertised at a low cost, suggesting I wasn't a great assassin. Then I waited. The only clients who were going to come anywhere near me were poor ones. When I did get a bite I made them tell me why they wanted the person dead. If I decided it was a good reason, I did the job at low cost. If the client was a complete arsehole, I didn't take the job at all. Then I took relish in taking out the hit against them. It was a cruel world.
I kept my eyes open as I made my way back to my apartment, the job was done, but you could never be too careful. I sighed with relief as I walked into the room. I was ready to sleep. But all thoughts of rest were driven from my mind as I realised I wasn't alone. There was someone sitting on my sofa. A male someone. I didn't let men into my apartment. I had no use for them.
My hand tightened around the knife I kept in my belt.
"Bad choice." My hand relaxed. "Good girl. Now move away from that block of kitchen knives and we'll talk." I reluctantly obeyed. The guy was big, I could tell from his deep voice.
"Who are you and what the hell are you doing in my apartment?" Good, I'd kept my voice steady.
"You may as well not bother, I can smell your fear from here. Who I am doesn't matter. I'm here 'cause somebody decided it was the end of the line for you."
I laughed. "I hope they offered you more than what the bounty on me's worth."
His head turned and his eyes caught the light. They were silver. My breath caught in my throat as I realised who was sitting on my sofa. "Riddick." I breathed. Then I blacked out.
I stood with the others in the square of the town. We were surrounded by guards. This is it. I thought to myself. I've watched them kill my parents and my race, and now they'll kill me. An image of an amazing house perched on the rim of a volcano popped into my mind before I pushed it away. I had watched my parents die in that house. They were hiding me. So many had died for so little. Once our leaders had realised the necromongers where going to convert or destroy every last one of our race, they told the parents to guard the children. So they did. But it was all for nothing. The only thing we had left was our stubborn resistance. We would not be converted. I looked to my left for reassurance. Riddick looked back at me, his blu-grey eyes catching the light from the asteroids.
"Alright Flame?" he asked, grinning.
"This is it Riddick, they're gonna take us out unless we give up. Getting scared?" I grinned back.
"Yeah right, just hope I get a chance to take a couple of the bastards with me!"
…
I came to find I was lying on the floor of my apartment. Riddick had his boot on my chest and was looking down at me.
"Jesus, I know I'm scary but nobody's ever fainted before." He was grinning, the same way he used to when we were kids, a crooked sort of smile that used to reach his eyes. It didn't now. They were silver orbs, separate from his face. He didn't remember me. My name, he needed my name, just like I had needed his to remember. I wasn't an idiot, I wanted to check first. Ignoring his comment and his foot, I asked if he'd been given a name with the job.
"Why the hell should I tell you that? In a few minutes it's not gonna matter to you, I just wanna know why you're talking about bounties before you go."
"Riddick, you're an idiot." He growled and increased the pressure on my chest. "You should check out your hit better. Then maybe you'd realise that I'm one of the most wanted people in the galaxy you big dumb ape!" He was pissed. I didn't care.
"What is it then? Huh? Your name?" His voice was dripping with menace. I really didn't give a crap, what was he going to do?
"Flame." He blinked, then swayed on the spot. He was reliving those last few moments just the same way I had. It had been three years since I'd first woken up, and this was the fifth time I'd blacked out to relive some past memory. They were fragments, parts of my past life that I couldn't figure out how to piece together. He stopped swaying and looked down at me again.
"How many times has that happened to you since you woke up?" I asked.
"Eight. You?"
"Five. Riddick, who are we?" He considered me for a minute before answering.
"That guy who took out the hit offered me ten thou. I'll take it and his sorry ass." He turned towards the door, then looked back. "Furia. "Our race"? Furians. Don't know if there's any left besides us. Stay alive." Then he left. That was it. He shows up, says he's gonna kill me, then walks out the door when he realises who 'me' is. Cold hearted bastard. That was Riddick.
