Chapter 1: No Name World
"This is bad!"
"No shit, Girl!"
Riddick tried to steady the violently shaking skiff as Deirdra sat in the co-pilot's seat, holding onto the edge of the panel. Faith screamed when the ship thrashed to one side as she and Fisher sat strapped into the passenger seats against the wall.
"This'll be the second time we crash on Furya!" Deirdra snapped.
"This ain't Furya!" Riddick shot back, making her snap a wide-eyed stare of disbelief at him before the ship jerked violently, skipping off a of the top of a mountain on the planet they were crashing onto.
Deirdra screamed this time when she looked out the windscreen at the incoming rocky desert before they bounced off another mountain top and onto a plateau.
"Get out!" Riddick shouted, unstrapping himself and Deirdra did the same, slamming her hand down on a button on the panel before racing after Riddick toward the back of the ship.
Fisher unstrapped himself and Faith before grabbing her hand and racing after Riddick and Deirdra as the gangplank opened to let them out. They all jumped out just as the ship reached the cliff and toppled over, but their feet didn't quite reach solid ground. Riddick, Deirdra and Fisher were fast enough to catch the ledge, all three hanging on for their lives as Faith screamed in terror, dangling by her arm as Fisher still held her hand and she watched the ship crash and become rubble below them.
"Faith!" Fisher shouted, his voice echoing through the air and she shot her gaze up at him. "Stop moving and don't look down!"
Deirdra was suddenly next to Fisher, leaning over with a hand out toward Faith, having scrambled up to the surface. Fisher struggled to pull Faith up high enough to reach Deirdra's hand, but just as he thought he'd lose grip of Faith's hand, Riddick's hand grabbed Faith's other wrist and helped Fisher pull her up to reach Deirdra's. She grasped Faith's hand and hauled her up, Riddick and Fisher shoving her up by a leg each until she was safely on solid ground with Deirdra.
"Get back!" Riddick shouted, making the girls frown in wonder but when Deirdra caught the crack in the weak ledge the men were dangling from, she shoved Faith back before attempting to reach for Riddick and Fisher…but she was too late.
Deirdra came to a skidding stop, almost toppling over the cliff when the ledge cracked and she watched in horror as Riddick and Fisher fell toward the rubble of the ship. Faith scrambled toward the edge and screamed when she saw them disappear in the thick dust then looked to Deirdra with tears instantly springing to her blue eyes, the red-head staring down at the dust and rubble in disbelief.
"W-What do we do?" Faith breathed.
Deirdra shook her head and backed away from the edge, stumbling and falling back onto her rear as she stared ahead, still in shock. Faith shuffled toward her and sat next to her, pulling her knees up to sob into them as Deirdra replayed everything that had happened in her mind.
It had all happened so fast. One minute, they were trying to figure out if this planet was Furya, and the next, their thrusters were taken out by passing asteroids, sending them crashing into it.
And now…this. The two men she loved more than anything in the universe had just fallen to their deaths in front of her eyes, leaving her and Faith – a girl she thought of as a daughter, as she'd thought of Fisher as a son – alone on this No Name world.
"No," Deirdra breathed, making Faith look up at her with a frown as she sniffled, lifting a hand to wipe her tears away.
"What?" Faith sniffled as Deirdra only continued staring ahead and Faith watched her in wonder when she finally stood and stared down at the drop, shaking her head.
"No," Deirdra growled, clenching her fists before screaming, "No!"
"Deirdra! Wait!" Faith called when Deirdra shot off toward the direction she thought she could climb down the cliff.
Faith ran after Deirdra, catching up with her as she reached what seemed like a way down the cliff-face. Faith couldn't keep up with Deirdra, even as they climbed down a nature-made trail down the cliff toward the wreckage. The girls said nothing to each other as they both climbed down, Deirdra nearly slipping a few times in her haste to get there. Once they finally reached the bottom, Deirdra stumbled over the rocks to make her way toward a spot where she could see the entire wreckage, trying to look for Riddick and Fisher.
"Deirdra!" Faith cried, watching the red-head start to toss rocks around, trying to find them. Faith gave a sob before calling, "Please, stop! They're gone!"
"Shut up!" Deirdra screamed, still tossing the rocks around. "Riddick's been buried before! I was there! He survived that, and he'll survive this! Him and Fisher! Now get your ass over here and help me!"
Deirdra tossed once last rock aside before gasping when a hand suddenly clamped down on her wrist.
"Riddick!" Deirdra called, a grin brightening her face as she began pushing more rocks away, his hand still on her wrist. Faith stared on in disbelief before racing toward the spot where Deirdra was digging to help her. "Riddick! We're here! Hang on!"
The girls continued digging as his hand still remained on Deirdra's wrist and once they dug most of him out, they noticed his other arm wrapped around Fisher. Faith grabbed onto Fisher's arm to drag him out of the rubble as Deirdra pulled on Riddick's arm and he shoved himself out, growling in pain. They were both covered in cuts and scrapes and blood, Riddick had a significant gash down the left side of his face, and Fisher was unconscious.
"Fisher!" Faith called, shaking his shoulders as he lay across her lap. "Fisher, wake up!"
"Shit!" Riddick growled in pain as he sat above the rocks, yanking his left leg from the rocks…to reveal a compound fracture in his shin.
"Damn, that's bad," Deirdra breathed as Riddick hung his arm around her neck to stay sitting upright, Faith still trying to rouse Fisher. Deirdra lifted a hand to wipe the blood from his head, but he slapped her hand away as Faith tried lightly slapping Fisher's cheeks to wake him.
"Wake the Kid up," Riddick ordered Deirdra, lowering his arm from around her neck to let her make her way to the younger couple, but she didn't move.
"If Faith can't wake him, I won't be able to," she insisted.
They both jumped when they heard a hard slap and looked to the teens just in time to see Fisher jump and sit up, quickly. Faith wasted no time in throwing her arms around Fisher and sobbing into his shoulder, making him wince at the pain coursing through his body…namely his left arm.
"Babe – ow!" Fisher blurted, making her gasp and pull back to stare at him as he cradled his arm. "Dislocated."
"I'll fix it," Deirdra offered, standing to swap positions with Faith and met Fisher's gaze. "On three, ok?"
He nodded, taking in a deep breath then letting it out as Deirdra took his arm into her hands, preparing to pop it back into place.
"Three."
She shoved his shoulder back into its socket, making him shout in agony and tense before he slumped forward and leaned on Deirdra, catching his breath. Some screeching from above, made them all look to the sky to see ugly, winged creatures circling above, looking for anything to scavenge.
"We need to find cover," Deirdra advised pulling off her jacket to make in ersatz sling for Fisher's arm.
"We need to find water," Riddick countered, looking ahead to the horizon of rough terrain and rocks. "We'll head that way."
"You can't walk on that leg," Faith objected, looking to him in shock.
"No choice, Blondie," Riddick retorted, attempting to stand without Faith's help, but he fell right back down with a growl of pain.
"You've gotta get that set right, Riddick," Deirdra suggested.
"No shit," Riddick muttered.
"Don't start with me, Big Ugly," Deirdra snapped, standing to step toward him. "I just pulled you out of your grave. The least you can do is be grateful. Oh, screw that. Look who I'm talking to."
"Maybe Faith and I should go scout for water," Fisher suggested as Deirdra sat down in front of Riddick's broken leg.
"We should stay together," Faith countered. "Who knows what's out there? We've only seen the birds."
"Blondie's got a point," Riddick commented then growled in pain when Deirdra grabbed his foot to lift it and snapped the bone back into place, making him shout in even more pain.
"We need to make a splint," Deirdra thought aloud, looking around the wreckage.
She rummaged through the rocks and wreckage around them, finding two, semi-flat pieces of metal and two long screws. She was thankful they were intact as she made her way back toward Riddick, holding up her supplies and meeting his gaze.
"This is gonna hurt like hell," she warned.
"Whatever, just do it," Riddick shot back, preparing himself for the pain as she waved Faith to her, Fisher sitting next to Riddick. "Kid, get out of arm's reach, unless you want that arm dislocated again."
"Faith, hold this right here," Deirdra ordered, positioning one of the pieces of metal on one side of Riddick's leg.
After some struggling and groaning in pain from Riddick, Faith was holding the piece of metal against his leg and Deirdra was aiming one of the screws through a hole near his knee. Riddick growled in pain as Deirdra shoved the screw through the hole and into his leg, holding the splint in place before she did the same thing at the bottom with another screw. The process was repeated with the second piece of metal and the other two screws, and Deirdra quickly shooed Faith away so that she could duck under Riddick's arm to let him use her for a crutch as he stood.
"We need to get moving," Deirdra told the teens as Faith stepped toward Fisher to help him up as well.
"Where are we going?" Fisher wondered as he and Faith followed Riddick and Deirdra away from the wreckage.
"Looking for water," Riddick replied, limping next to the Deirdra as she supported him on her shoulders.
"But if we keep moving, those things up there won't attack," she added.
"You hope," he shot back.
"Don't scare the kids," she retorted.
They were silent for some time as they focused on their search for water, and soon they came across a pool, making their pace quicken toward it. Fisher was the first to race past Riddick and Deirdra, toward the pool and fall to his knees at the edge, dipping his hand in to take a drink, but he stopped short as Faith came up next to him to do the same.
"Wait!" Fisher ordered her, making her stop and look to him in wide-eyed confusion as Riddick and Deirdra stepped up to watch him. "The water isn't right…"
Riddick knelt down to one knee and scooped up some water as well to smell it.
"Shit!" he snarled, slapping the water before sitting fully and sighing in agitation. "Great. Foul water, no food in sight in this desert…we're screwed."
"Love that optimism, Big Ugly," Deirdra sighed.
They all froze when a howl caught their attentions, making them turn in the direction they heard it come from to see several lean, long-legged canines with huge ears and long, thin tails. The four stared at the dogs for what seemed like ages before the animals came racing toward them.
"Gotta hide," Deirdra blurted.
"Get in the water," Riddick ordered. "All of you. Now!"
"Wait! I can't swim!" Faith cried as Fisher grabbed her arm and began pulling her toward the pool, Riddick and Deirdra shuffling in as well.
"You don't have to swim, just hold your breath," Fisher assured her as they all splashed in and he grabbed her waist to pull her close. "I've got you, babe. Deep breath."
Faith did as she was told just as Fisher took in a breath as well and they both ducked under the surface, just as Riddick and Deirdra sank down as well. The four stared up at the surface just as the dogs gathered around the pool, looking for the four of them. They were frozen for a moment longer before Deirdra spotted something out of the corner of her eye. An eel glided past her, making her eyes widen before she looked to Faith, hoping the teen didn't see it…but it was too late. The blonde's blue eyes shot wide when she saw the thing swim past her and she began thrashing in panic to get away from it, but more eels emerged, surrounding the four.
Fisher planted his hand over her mouth and nose to keep her from making any bubbles, and held her even closer with his other arm. She turned her gaze to him in panic but he only shook his head, reassuringly, and she shut her eyes tightly before hugging him close. Riddick and Deirdra swatted eels away as he kept his gaze on the surface, watching the dogs at the edge of the pool until they disappeared. Riddick surfaced first, making sure the dogs had gone before climbing out completely, followed by Deirdra, Fisher and Faith.
"We're still screwed," Riddick muttered as Deirdra climbed out to sit next to him and Fisher pushed Faith up onto the edge as she gasped and coughed for air.
"Downer," Deirdra muttered.
"Guys…" Fisher called in warning, making the other three turn to him…before they saw what was behind him.
The dog growled at them from the other side of the pool before leaping toward them, making all four scatter. Deirdra grabbed Faith's hand and yanked her to cover as Riddick backed away against the nearby rock and Fisher raced after Faith and Deirdra. The dog ran after the girls, but Fisher put himself between them as Riddick ignored the pain in his leg and joined him, both kicking at the dog to keep it at bay.
It leapt up toward Riddick, sending them both to the ground before he raised his arm to let it clamp down with its sharp teeth, making him growl in pain. Fisher grabbed a club-shaped bone and started hitting the dogs head with it to get him to let Riddick go. Fisher swiped the dog's head sideways, making it yowl and release Riddick's arm before it stumbled back and away from them, shaking the rattling from its head before growling at them again.
Fisher stepped ahead of them all, waving the bone in front of the dog when it growled at them and looked ready to attack again. The dog still growled but stopped and watched the bone when Fisher threw it with all his strength in a random direction. The dog looked back at Fisher before turning and running after the bone, making the four all sigh in relief. Riddick leaned back on his elbow as Deirdra knelt next to him to look over the wound on his arm as Faith threw her arms around Fisher when he turned to her.
"Good one, Kid," Riddick groaned when Deirdra used her sleeve to wipe the blood away. "We need to find drinkable water."
"If those dogs can survive out here, then it's gotta be here somewhere," Deirdra added, looking around the area to keep a lookout for more animals.
"We gotta get moving," Fisher advised, looking up at the circling winged reptiles.
"Toward that cliff," Riddick directed as Deirdra helped him to his feet again, but this time he didn't lean on her while Fisher kept his arm around Faith. "I think I see some water over there."
"How can you tell?" Deirdra frowned in wonder, stepping next to him. "Isn't it too bright for you? Where are your goggles?"
"Where do you think?" he shot back, nodding back toward the place he and Fisher had nearly been buried alive.
She glared at him as they all continued on before touching the matching goggles she had hanging from her neck. She pulled them off and handed them to him, making him frown down at her as they came to a stop. He stared at her with his glowing eyes before taking the goggles and pulled them on over his eyes then continued onward, Deirdra right behind him as Fisher and Faith only stepped a few feet ahead of them.
They all continued toward the cliff until they came to the bottom where there was an open sort of cavern, a huge puddle of watery mud at the base where the water was falling. Clean, fresh and cool. They rushed toward the water falling from the edge of the cliff to drink, Riddick first before he turned to be the lookout. Deirdra looked to him and took his wounded arm gently by the wrist and into the water, making him flinch before he turned to look at her.
"This needs to be cleaned," she told him, washing the wound out before wetting her sleeve and wiping the blood from his face around the gash on his head.
"Still acting like my own personal nurse, huh, Girl?" he smirked in a low tone, making her smirk back at him.
"You know it, Big Ugly," she smirked back.
Faith did the same for Fisher, cleaning away the blood from his cuts and scrapes as he smiled down at her.
"Sorry I scared you back there," he murmured, making her look up to meet his gaze as he smiled back at her, to which she blushed before continuing to wipe away the blood. "I'm glad you were able to get back from the edge. I…" Faith frowned up at him in wonder when he trailed off before he looked away from her, then continued, "I don't know what I'd do if anything happened to you, Faith."
"Hey! Lovebirds! Get outta sight!" Riddick growled as he and Deirdra huddled in an alcove, sending Fisher into action and making him grab Faith to do the same in another alcove just as the dogs that had been following them came into view of the pools surrounding them.
They all waited in the shadows as the dogs approached, curious at one of the puddles, making the other four watch it as well. A slithering thing slowly rose from the muddy water. It looked like it could have been a face, but they could all tell it was more tail-like than head-like. It's swaying seemed to hypnotize the dog watching it as two more came slithering up as well.
The center tail suddenly disappeared and the body of the thing lunged from the muddy water to sink its teeth into the dog's rump as it tried to escape. The dog twitched as it lay on the ground at the edge of the pool before its attacker dragged it into the water when it stopped moving. Its companions fled, afraid to be taken as well as they saw it dragged into the pool.
Faith panted in panic as she took a small step back. The sound of soft clacking as her foot touched something caught her attention, making her frown in confusion before she looked down at what she'd knocked her foot into. The long skull of one of the dogs made her eyes widen before she caught movement from the huge pool of water around them…and saw the huge tail of one of the serpent like creatures they'd just seen a smaller version of.
"F-Fisher," Faith breathed, not taking her eyes off the thing and making him turn to her with a frown before he caught sight of the thing that had her paralyzed with fear.
"Riddick!" he shouted before the thing lunged forward.
Fisher shoved Faith out of the way just as the end of the tail hit the ground at his feet, knocking him back as it flipped out of the water to hover its huge jaws over him. Riddick quickly grabbed a huge, straight bone and used it to whack the thing in the jaw and send it back into the water with one swift blow. Faith and Deirdra both scrambled toward Fisher to help him up as Riddick watched the water to see if it would come back for another attack.
"Whole damn planet wants a piece of us," Riddick snapped, tossing the bone aside and lifting an arm toward Deirdra who hurried to duck under it, helping him limp away as Fisher gripped Faith's hand to lead her away as well, both following Riddick and Deirdra.
"We can't stay in the open," Deirdra murmured. "We can't risk another attack with the two of you injured."
"Is that a cave up there?" Fisher called, gesturing toward the distance ahead, and they all looked up to see what looked like an abandoned building of some kind made of tall rocks. "Looks like a good place for shelter."
"Let's have a look," Deirdra suggested, and Riddick only nodded in agreement as they made their way forward.
Once inside they noticed a huge slab of stone erected in the center of the room and surrounded by holes dug into the ground. The room stretched toward their right to an identical scene as they stepped further in.
"You and Blondie in that one," Riddick ordered Fisher, pointing to the farthest hole from him. "Shove that slab over it for cover."
"I'm a bit one handed, here," Fisher retorted, waving his only good arm.
"Figure something out, Kid," Riddick shot back.
"Riddick—"
"It's alright, Dee," Fisher cut into Deirdra's scolding. "I'll have to be able to take care of myself and Faith, even when I'm injured. I'll figure something out."
"But—"
"He's gotta learn, Girl," Riddick cut in this time, making the red-head turn a glare to him, her dark eyes meeting his silver ones and he groaned when he saw the look in them. She was silently telling they were going to have words later, making him growl, irritably, "Get in the hole!"
"Don't yell at her!" Faith cried, making everyone's attention turn to her in shock at the outburst. "We're stranded on a desert planet where every single thing wants to kill us for lunch and you're yelling at her! Stop it!"
"Babe, it's ok," Fisher murmured to her, wrapping his good arm around her shoulders as she bowed her face into her hands. "That's how they talk to each other. You know that. Come on, sweetheart. Don't cry."
Riddick sneered before stepping toward the monolith and began pushing against it with all his might, the other three watching him in wonder as he used his anger to shove the thing over the hole. It broke in half as it fell, a few more chunks coming off as it hit the stone floor, leaving a gap in the halves to allow them to climb into the hole. Fisher looked to the other huge slab standing next to them and decided to follow Riddick's lead. He made his way toward the slab as Riddick only began lowering himself into the hole, Deirdra watching the two teens.
"Fisher, what are you doing?" Faith asked as she watched him lean his good arm against the slab and start shoving. "You'll heart yourself! Stop it!"
"Get back!" Deirdra called to Faith as she grabbed her arm to pull her back when she attempted to help Fisher.
Deirdra pulled Faith back just in time to keep her from being hurt as the slab fell forward as it had when Riddick had done the same with the first slab. Fisher lost his balance and tripped forward onto the lower half of the slab falling onto his good arm with a grunt, making Faith rush forward to help him as Deirdra released her.
"Fisher, are you alright?!" she shuddered, trying to help him up and he groaned as he sat up, looking to her with a small smile.
"Don't worry about me, babe," he assured her in a pained groan before shuffling to sit up and scoot toward the gap left by the broken slab. "Let's just get in the hole so nothing else attacks us, yeah?"
"Riddick—"
"Yeah, yeah, hurry up," Riddick grumbled before ducking into the hole.
Deirdra rushed toward the slab as Faith helped Fisher into the hole and the girls nodded to each other in understanding. Faith climbed in with Fisher as Deirdra sat herself at the end of the slab and pressed her feet to the end of the slab to shove it forward and connect with the other half, closing the gap over them. She strained under the weight, but didn't stop until the two halves were connected securely, and then sighed in exhaustion when she could finally relax before standing to scramble toward the hole where Riddick was now peeking out at her.
"What?" she frowned as she stood next to the hole, and he only smirked back. She knew that smirk.
"Get in the hoe and I'll show you 'what,'" he retorted.
"You can't show me anything, you horny bastard. Not with that broken leg," she shot back, climbing into the hole with him and lying next to him.
They both reached up and pressed their hands to the stone slab above them before looking to each other.
"Ready?" he asked.
"Ready," she nodded.
They both used all their strength to lift the slab up and move it until it connected to the other half above them. Once it was secure they released, now covered in darkness that only Riddick could see through. He wrapped an arm around Deirdra and pulled her closer, ignoring the pain in his leg, but she shoved back on his chest.
"Don't make that leg any worse than it already is," she warned, making him sneer before he gave up and laid back.
"There are bad days, and then there are legendary bad days," he muttered. "Guess which one this is?"
"The latter," Deirdra replied, without hesitation before sighing, "Crash landing on a desert planet only to find four different creatures, two of which have already tried to kill us, and now real food or even water for nourishment. Not even a ship to get off this damn world. Yup, I'd say that's an epically bad day."
"We'll find a way to survive," he assured her. "All of us. But first, we gotta heal up and zero the clock."
"Zero the clock?" she frowned in wonder, knowing her could see her. "What do you mean?"
"I went and did the worst crime of all," he muttered. "I got civilized. And it's your fault. You tryin' to make me a father and 'good husband' and shit."
"Oh, of course it's my fault," she shot back. "So what's your plan, Mr. Civilized?"
Riddick took in a breath as he pulled her a little closer and murmured, "Gotta find that animal side again."