Title: Instinct
Author: iamaslashaddict
Fandom: The Chronicles of Riddick
Pairing: pre-Riddick/Vaako, implied Dame Vaako/Vaako
Rating: PG-13
Spoilers: First half of TCoR.
Warnings: Um… pre-slash, but that's a given. Death, violence.
Prompt: Written for the smallfandomfest with the prompt - Instinct
Word Count: 1095
Summary: Riddick is an instinctual predator living among the sheep.
Author's Notes: This fic has no relation to my Animalis series.
Disclaimer: I do not own The Chronicles of Riddick, nor do I make any profits from this story.
Instinct. It was what Riddick lived on; the thing that directed every action he had taken during his life and the reason he was still alive today. It coursed through ever action he took, whether consciously or unconsciously. That drive to come up swinging when provoked, to snarl and fight when pinned to a corner; to survive for another day. It was who he was… an instinctual predator living among the sheep of the universe.
Riddick had never given much thought to that primal beast inside him, it was just who he was and there was no use to trying to figure out something that was a part of him. It kept him alive though years living on the streets as a kid with nothing to his name but the clothes on his back. Instinct had made him a valuable soldier, allowing him to rise through the ranks and witness the true nature of The Company that hired him, and ultimately, led to his life on the run with mercs at his back and a universe living in fear of him. Instinct had driven him to adapt to that as well, using the fearsome tales of his atrocities to keep most of the universe at bay with only the stupid or fearless mercs choosing to go up against the universe's most wanted sociopathic murderer. And it was instinct that kept him alive on Hades when the lights went out and blood started spilling, allowing him to survive that planet along with Jack and Imam.
Now five years after Hades, instinct was calling to him again, but in a different way than it had ever called before. The call of instinct came when a scent reached him; a mixture of gun oil, metal and cedar. The beast inside of him awoke roaring silently in his head at the scent, clawing and pacing within Riddick at the heavenly smell surrounded him. Sniffing the air to locate it origin, Riddick's eyes snapped to the source of the scent. One of the Necros… a soldier who held his weapon with practiced ease and his body coiled tight, ready for any attack from the amassed group in front of him. His long dark braids fell down his back and his strong muscled body was encased in the heavy armor like the rest. He had sharp angular features and a set of hazel eyes that caught Riddick's for a moment and then continued on as the Necro checked for any dangers in the room.
He was beautiful. The sight of the man made Riddick instantly hard and had the beast nearly clawing to take over and claim what was his, but Riddick held tight to the beast and let the Necros say their peace… let the sheep rollover placidly as they were told to convert or die.
Beautiful came closer to him as the sheep kneeled before the Lord Marshall, his face pulled tight with a frown as he spoke to Riddick. "This is your one chance. Take the Lord Marshal's offer and bow."
"I bow to no man." Riddick growled as he turned fully towards him, letting his beast take over for a moment and exude an aura of dominance toward his potential mate. Riddick eyed Beautiful as he gripped his weapon tighter in his hands and took a halted step back. Beautiful gave an almost unseen twitch and then took a step forward reclaiming his ground again.
"He's not a man. He's the holy Half-Dead who has seen the UnderVerse." Riddick watched as Beautiful walked closer to Riddick sniffing the air as he came, like an animal scenting out its surroundings. Beautiful's frown increased as Riddick's scent reached him and he gave an unconscious sub-vocal whine.
Interesting…
"Look, I'm not with everyone here." Riddick smirked and instinct called to him again, telling him to prove his strength, his capability of protecting his mate. "But I will take a piece of him." Riddick pointed towards the Necro who killed Imam.
Beautiful looked at the soldier Riddick pointed to and then after a moment stepped back. "A piece you will have."
The Necro fell to his own blade not even thirty seconds later as Riddick gutted him with ease. Stepping back, Riddick held Beautiful's gaze and smirked again at his dilated pupils and his heavy breathing. After a few moments Beautiful frowned and ripped his eyes away from Riddick's, taking a few steps back and ignoring Riddick's eyes on him. Riddick growled low in his chest at the rejection as a potential mate. The beast paced within him, wanting to haul Beautiful over his soldier and get away from the planet. It wanted to dominate him and prove again that he was capable of protecting his mate, wanted to bite and claim, infusing their scents together so no one else could ever challenge his claim. Riddick took a few steps towards Beautiful already making plans on how to get them out of the city.
"Stop him!" Yelled Lord Marshall as he came up the stairs, pulling the blade from the dead Necro's gut and stopping in front of him. "Irgun, one of my best."
Riddick titled to the side and looked around Lord Marshall at the dead soldier lying crumpled at the bottom of the stairs. "If you say so."
Holding the blade in front of Riddick he spoke. "What do you think of this blade?"
Riddick gripped it and set it in motion in his hand, weighing and balancing it as it spun. Stopping the blade with a smooth grip of his fingers he handed it back over. "I think it's a half-gram heavy on the back end."
The Necro wrapped his hand around Riddick's as he gripped the blade, trying to make Riddick take the blade back. "In our faith, you keep what you kill."
Eyeing Beautiful, Riddick let his mind work over that sentence, stripping the meaning bare as he thought of ways that he could use it to get what he wanted. A lot of options came to mind, some more plausible than others… some more fun than others. Killing a few Necros was a given, the rest Riddick would have to ponder on.
Later, as Riddick was led towards the lead Necro ship by the female Necro that smelled a little too much like Beautiful, Riddick knew he'd have to make war on the Necros to get his prize. Beautiful was worth the trouble, Riddick could just smell it, and now all he needed to do was wait for his chance and then Beautiful would be his.
The End.