In the Land of the Gray Sun
a.n. To that reviewer who won't read Riddick/Jack (you're in good company) or Riddick slash, this is for you.
mistakes are mine, etc.
Chapter 1
They managed to catch him with his pants down.
Literally.
Dragging him from some nameless whores bed, Boss Johns and his crew managed to get the drop on Riddick and then gleefully proceeded to beat him to death.
Or somewhere near abouts.
Man sure was pissed about his son deaths and he wasn't even responsible. The bounty hunting Merc had gone down with a ship, last he heard, and he hadn't been anywhere near that.
More concerned about revenge than bounty, Boss Johns had Riddick's body dumped down the garbage chute that fed into the city's incinerator. The city workers in this asshole of a town knew not to question. Just to burn.
Struggling to remove item after item from the main chute to be placed into the burner, no one noticed the trail of blood leading to the non-flammable waste disposal.
Random Space ship / Unknown planet – Days later
Massive bay doors in the belly of the ship opened over the planet below. The shattering noise of debris tumbling over itself to escape the ship could be heard inside the Cockpit. "Man, will I ever be happy to be off this rotation." The pilot grumbled.
"You say that every time. Just dump the load and lets the hell out of here. This place gives me the creeps." His co-pilot replied looking out at the four pale suns.
Closing the bay doors, the pilot agreed turning the ship around toward home.
Unknown Planet
The cold, barren, snow swept planet had more piles of debris than one would think humanly possible. The wind screamed in frustration at the latest delivery which continued its careening voyage down a mountain of refuse, ignoring the motionless foot lying near the top of heap covered in a multitude of trash.
Battered, bloody and freezing, Riddick attempted to rise, struggling against the random junk pinning him down. Breaking free, he emerged like a child being born, staring up at the multiple suns.
Surveying his surroundings from the top of his "mountain," four figures entered his line of sight. Waiting until they passed, he began to slowly and carefully make his way down the snow-covered mountain of debris.
Up close the figures remained a mystery, covered in animal skins, snow shoes and goggles, making it impossible to tell anything about them as they followed a well-worn path through snow-covered valleys.
As the four suns dimmed even more than they already were, Riddick began to stalk his prey, his goal nothing more than the clothing off their backs. Having picked up several sharp objects on his way down the pile of trash, weapons were no longer a worry. As they passed near the wreckage of a space ship, a transport ship of some kind he thinks, keeping his distance; he knows he'll need to make a move soon. He's weak from loss of blood and dehydration not to mention he's about an hour away from becoming an ice pop. Distracted by the landscape beside him, steel crosses, hundreds of them, a burial ground of some sort, he's disgusted when he realizes he's lost sight of his quarry.
The suns have long since turned into glowing night lights not bright enough to bother his vision as he yanked his goggles from his numb face, the wind chilling him to the bone.
Finally, a glow emerges from the distance.
Houses. A settlement. Buildings made of debris. Smoke coming out of pipes in the roofs. Dim lights shinning through their windows. All of the homes are quiet except for the large building in the center which has the sound of children coming from it. Sidling up to the building, Riddick stood looking in through a window. The wind suddenly died down to a soft breeze allowing him to hear other voices echoing off the walls. Men's voices with the occasional tinkle of a female's laughter. There's music playing in the background. Making his way towards the back of the building, he doesn't see the snow lined trench until it's too late, slamming face first into the snow. Rolling over in an attempt to get to his feet he slumped back down as for the first time in his life exhaustion and untreated injuries win out. Just he begins to lose consciousness he realizes that there are feet, several small feet standing beside him.
"Who do you think he is?" Amanda asked looking up at her older brother, the fright evident in her face.
Greg wrapped an arm around his little sister's shoulder. "I don't know. But we better get Dad. He looks like he's pretty bad off." The children took off at a run towards the front of the building.
The owners of the houses crowded together inside the main hall, anxious for any news regarding the stranger, the noise level intensifying along with the length of their wait.
Soon enough, Marty Shinebaum, the appointed leader of their group took his place upon the top of a table yelling to get their attention. "Quiet, quiet down now!"
Questions flew, fast and loose from different areas of the room.
"How many are there?"
"Is it a rescue party?"
Attempting to calm the crowd so that there would be no need to repeat himself, Marty refused to answer any questions until he had absolute silence. "There is only one man. He was found by the Walker children out back. Other than having a few pieces of junk metal on him he was unarmed."
"How could there be only one? How did he get here?" A voice called out.
"Those are fine questions, Liz." Marty answered, "But unfortunately the man was unconscious when we found him. We couldn't ask him anything..."
Marty's reply was cut off by the arrival of Jimmy James pushing his way to the front of the room decked out in his snow crusted coat and shoes, weapon still in his hand.
"Nothing's out there, Marty. Didn't see nobody, no ship, couldn't even find any other footprints."
The pronouncement caused another explosion of voices in the room as speculation flew.
"Alright everybody. Let's just calm down," Marty shouted to be heard over the din.
"We have an unarmed, injured man among us and we're going to do the right thing. The Widow Fry is looking after him now, seeing as she has the space."
The announcement set the women in the building abuzz.
"Well, somebody better keep an eye on him," a male voice cried out from the back.
When Riddick woke again he was on a bed in a small bedroom. Lying silently he observed the woman through his barely slit eyes determining how large a threat she was to him.
An attractive woman, slim and petite with slightly curly, shoulder length blond hair, she was currently wiping away the blood and grime on his body. Sensing no threat here at the moment, he opened his eyes, inwardly smirking at the shocked look on her face as she took in his shined eyes for the first time. Grudging admiration settled in as she didn't move an inch.
"Does it hurt?' she asked quietly, running the rag in her hand across his forehead trailing down his cheek towards his neck.
"Only if it's too bright." He answered his voice coming out somewhat gruff from not being used. "My goggles?"
Leaning forward slightly, her breasts brushed against his arm as she reached out before leaning back, laying the requested item on his chest.
Setting aside the rag, she picked up a bottle pouring a small amount of the contents into a spoon before holding it his lips. Riddick grasped her wrist, his hold tightening to the point she was close to dropping it, before she spoke. "It's only to help with the pain. I swear."
Looking her in the eye, Riddick relented. Easing his grasp he allowed her to pour the liquid into his mouth.
Taking in more of his surroundings as the woman cleaned up around him he made note of a window high up in the wall. There was clothing hanging from pegs and colorful material hanging from various places around the room.
"Would you like some water?" She offered moving back to his side.
Riddick nodded, silently watching her pour water from a colored pitcher into a clear glass.
As she held the glass to his lips, Riddick shuffled up on his elbows allowing her to help him drink. After his thirst was slacked she refilled the glass setting it down within arms reach. With a smile she stood, moving towards the door. "You rest now. We'll try some soup later."
Watching her leave, he could hear her voice in the next room. Drowsy, a noise drew his attention back to the door as a young child toddled into the room on wobbly feet.