AN: heya! This is the long awaited(?) sequel to Light in the dark, and continues from where it ended. So if you haven't read that, go and do so. But if you're familiar to the story then I invite you to enjoy this fic. And please, tell me what you thought of it. Feedback is what I live for!
Sorry if it looks a little strange. For some reason this still changes my formatting. sigh typical.
Disclaimer: Don't own anything related to Pitch Black or the Chronicles of Riddick. 'Deep shadows and Brilliant highlights' is the name of an album by HIM. Got nothing to do with that either.
Rating: PG-13 There be some bad language in this one kiddies.
Deep Shadows and Brilliant Highlights
CHAPTER 1: Crimson clad / parting gifts
"What's taking them so long? They should've been back by now! What if something's happened!"
Imam looked at the upset Jack with growing worry. He wanted to help the girl, but what was there for him to do? He wasn't sure if Fry and Riddick were still alive, so he couldn't tell her they were ok. And that was part of the problem, he knew the girl wanted him to tell her that they were fine and that they were going to return at any moment, but he could not lie to her, so instead he said nothing. All he could do was keep her from running out looking for them, although her fear would do a better job at that.
"Why aren't you saying something?" Imam was drawn from his thoughts by the panicked girls question.
"There is nothing we can do but wait. Wait and pray."
"Is that all you can say?" she took a deep breath and tried to collect herself. "maybe we could go look for them?" immediately realizing that meant going out where there were bloodthirsty aliens, she regretted the question. Trying to calm herself down a bit, she sat down opposite Imam and began to nervously pluck at the lint on her shirt.
"There's nothing we can do, is there?" The desperate innocence in her voice reminded Imam, once again, that this was just a child. A child much like the ones he had been on this journey with; oh how he wanted to trade places with them, but now he had this child who needed to be comforted. Still, he did not know how to ease her mind, as the only ones who could do that were somewhere out there, in the dark.
Then suddenly the sky was lit up, only for a second, but that was enough time for the two survivors inside the skiff to realize that something was going on, something that was in their favor.
"Lightning!" exclaimed Jack while running to the door. "Lightning, won't that burn those things?" hope was shining in her eyes now as she looked back to Imam. "Cos that might really help, they might... cos if those things get burnt..."
"Let us hope so." the muslim said, a trace of hope in his voice as well. 'Allah, be merciful.' he prayed to himself.
Her nerves getting the best of her, Jack kept glancing out into the dark, hoping to see a sign of Fry and Riddick as the lightning lit up the compound. But for the longest time there was nothing. Nothing but darkness filled with screams as the creatures burned in the flashes. They were going to make it, they had to, she did not want to die out here.
And then she could see someone moving on the ground in the far corner of the compound. At first she thought it to be a trick of her eyes, or maybe another one of those creatures, but her vision was soon aided by the oncoming thunderstorm and she saw that it was indeed human.
"Riddick!" she shouted at the figure. A second later Imam had gone past her and out into the night, to stand at the base of the platform. It took Jack a second but she was soon by Imam's side, hopeful glances to the place where she had seen her hero.
As the night was again lit up, Imam too saw the wanted criminal, and saw that he seemed to be carrying something. At that exact moment Jack decided to comment on the issue.
"Where's Fry? I can't see her? And what's that Riddick is carrying...?" having been afraid for so long, Jack had felt elated to see Riddick in te distance knowing that nothing would stop the man from reaching them now. But then as it hit her that she could not see Fry, and that Riddick was indeed carrying something, and having problems doing so, the fear once again got hold of the young girl.
"That's not...I mean, she can't be...he would have left her if she was...right?" she stumbled through the sentence and looked to Imam to confirm or deny what her mind was telling her.
"We shall have to wait and see." was the reply from the holy man. Jack was not satisfied at this, but there were more urgent things to deal with at the moment, like helping Riddick.
Imam seemed to have the same idea as he rushed into the skiff, only to return a moment later with some light to secure Riddicks path.
The second Riddick came into view of the skiff he could hear Jack shouting for him. Ignoring both her and Imam for the moment, he got in and proceeded to see how bad the damage to Carolyn was.
"Jesus! What happened to her?" Jack was not about to stop asking questions before she got some answers, no matter how much Imam was trying to quiet her down. But Riddick did not answer, only continued to look over the wounds Carolyn had. He was worried that she was still unconscious, but realizing that it was probably the best way for her to be at the moment. Anything to spare her some pain. 'Where did that thought come from?' The thought flew trough his mind but was forgotten the next second as he received a med kit from Imam.
There was practically nothing in the kit but bandages and some pain killers that were over 20 years old. Cursing silently to himself for the continued bad luck, Riddick grabbed the bandages and did the best job he could with them. Hopefully they would keep her from bleeding dry until they got to somewhere that had a med lab. But first they had to get the hell away from this rock.
Lifting her up in one of the seats he then strapped her in, mindful of her wounds.
He grabbed Jack and pulled her to sit in the seat next to Fry. "Keep pressure here no matter what." He ordered and pushed the girls hand to rest on Carolyn's stab wound.
He then looked at the holy man who seemed to get the point as he sat down on the other side of the unconscious woman and held her steady.
Riddick got into the pilot seat and started pushing buttons and flipping switches and then the skiff began to come to life. Jack and Imam looked at each other and smiled a little: they were finally getting off of this planet, together. But then suddenly the lights went off as the skiff was powered down.
"What's going on?" Jack's voice was scared as she voiced the question.
"We can't leave…" the survivors looked at Riddick, panic written in their eyes. What did he mean, they couldn't leave? "…without saying good-night.." And then they were off.
Once the skiff was on its way, flying on autopilot to what they all hoped was safety, questions arose. Safety was a good thing, but where could they find it? The very fact that Riddick was in the same place made sure that safety would not come easily, being a wanted criminal would always draw the wrong kind of attention, no matter how discreet you were trying to be. But they didn't really have that much of a choice, they would have to go to the nearest place and pray they would go unnoticed. That, or they would have to watch Fry bleed to death. The woman in question was still unconscious and showed no sign of waking up anytime soon. 'Not good, not good at all. Gotta be something we can do, but what. There ain't shit on this skiff that'll help' the now 'dead' Riddick thought. If they didn't hurry it might be that Carolyn would never wake up again. And that was not an option.
"She's going to be okay, right?" It was Jack who had finally asked the question that had been floating around in the small skiff. "It's not like she's gonna die or anything... right?" There was a slight hesitation in her voice as she added the last word. It was a childlike plea, but she didn't care. She could play tough some other day, now she just wanted one of the men, or preferably Fry, to tell her that everything was going to be alright. If they would just say it, she would believe them. Sitting there next to the unmoving docking pilot, feeling the blood slowly seep out of the wound Jack was trying to keep pressure on, was not exactly giving her hope for the best.
"She's strong."
"Y-yeah... She's a fighter, she's gonna be just fine. We're all gonna be fine." It sounded desperate even to herself, but maybe if she said it, it would come true. Jack could cling to that, Fry was strong, she'd come back for them once and she would do it again.
They'd decided to try and make a comfortable spot for Fry to lie on on the floor of the skiff. Jack was still sitting beside her putting pressure on the stab wound while Riddick was now trying to do something about the claw marks. They'd also noticed that Fry was bleeding from the head, something that they really had not needed. Now even if she survived the trip, she could have brain damage. And while they could stop the bleeding, at least somewhat, there was nothing they could do about any internal damage. So now every minute that passed was another closer to the soon to be inevitable doom that was facing them: Fry would die.
Since Jack had asked the question a few hours ago, no one had breached the subject again. Talking about it would make it too real. So in stead they all concentrated on something else: Jack on what Riddick had first told her to do, Imam was praying and Riddick was trying his best to patch Fry up.
All the while Riddick's mind was fuming. He was getting angrier by the second. How dare this woman bring him the notion that he was still human, or rather that he could be, and then go and get herself almost killed? For him no less. If anyone was to kill her it would be him, the primal side of his mind screamed. He was the killer, he was Death, and how dare she take that choice from him? What the hell was she thinking anyway?
And why the hell weren't they getting anywhere?
Finishing with his task, and with a quick glance to Jack checking that the girl would know what to do, Riddick got up and stalked to the pilots chair. When had his life become so complicated? Things had always been so easy, so simple: he did what was needed to ensure his survival. But now he was suddenly feeling something for this group of survivors. People that he for some reason hadn't left on that planet, a thing he probably should have done. 'And I would have, had that woman not affected me.' For the second he had looked into Carolyn's eyes as she stood in the dark before him with her challenge; fear, determination and a million of other emotions shining in her he had known things would never bee the same. Whatever it was he had seen in her had changed him. Had made him realize that he really did care, as much as he could. That he really wanted them all to survive, that he wanted to find out exactly what it was with Carolyn that had changed him. She had been so willing to risk her life for the others, and now it would seem that her life would indeed be forfeit. 'Unless we get somewhere!' This part of space was mostly unfamiliar to Riddick. And it was pretty much guaranteed that neither of the other survivors knew it either.
When Riddick snapped back from his thoughts he noticed that quite some time had passed. Maybe as much as a couple of hours. And still they were no where closer to safety.
"Riddick!" at Jacks shrill cry he was instantly to his feet.
"What?"
"She feels really cold."
And now they were truly running out of time.
End part 1.
To be continued...
So, what did you think?
And now for some replies (ok, so there's a lot, like 3 pages!) for 'LITD' feedback.
Thank you so much for the feedback. And I hope you all liked this one as well... feel free to review.
Magickal: giggle well, we all have our own opinion. Thank you very much for reviewing though, even if you hate the pairing. But the story will continue as R/F, but if I ever write a R/J one, I'll let you know. And yep, there are some sickos out there, unfortunately. Gotta try to avoid those.
Saturnlec: and here's the sequel! Very late, but it's here.
Zanna Avons: Sequel alert! And they're off the planet... but stuck in space... heh... I'm evil... And please, if you could, I would really appreciate you telling me what I spelt wrong.
Alena: Sequel, as requested. Hope you like.
Barbara LeMaster: Thanx! About 'chronicles', I liked it, but it wasn't really what I was expecting. 'Pitch black' is still my fav.
Niki: I was sooo pissed. Hence the fic... and now the sequel. Hope you like it!
Alien Outcast: Tadaaa! Sequel! Here you go. Hope you were serious about the mailing cos I'm gonna send you one. And yup, I started out not wanting to change it... but then I did anyway. And voila: this and the prequel!
Lil Lady Cedes: And the sequel finally showed up! It actually seems that there's quite a lot of people that got ticked about her dying. And presto: fics.
Rogue Angel 715: Why thank you! A lot's gonna happen, hope you stay and find out.
purplestarr19: Hope you like this one.
Eadha Ohn: Nice to meet you too! gulp I hope you like this... so don't want to find out about the 'or else'... ;) Anyway, yes it's a F/R. And there will probably be a happy ending. If not in this one then in the sequel...to the sequel... Jeesh, it's becoming a series!
Shondie: Exactly! Why would you kill off such a groovy character? Sometimes I wonder what those 'hollywood people' are thinking... sigh but that's why we get fics... hope you like the sequel.
Bunny angel: Don't worry, this is strictly F/R. Well, it will be when I finally get there... No muse? You poor deprived person. I hope you find one someday.
Hotmidnightstar: Muse has been kicked and is working... at least for the moment... thanks for the motivation.
JMJ: Well, it's a sequel, not a new chapter but I hope you read this as well. The bit you already read will appear sometime in the future.
WhimsicalRose: awww... thanks! blushes now I'm feeling guilty for not updating sooner. Thanx for the kind words.
Dieselbabe: Crying? Aww... this is good (feedback, I mean) cos it was meant to be sad. Hope you like this sequel.
Phoebemon: thank you. One order of fluff, coming up! Not really sure when though... just wait for it. It'll pop up sooner or later.
Jo: Actually, in the PAL version credits she's entered as "Jack/Jackie", and I think I read somewhere that she was supposed to be named Audrey. Very perceptive of you though. I was sort of playing with both names to test them out. Thanks for reviewing.
Laura: Thanks! Did you ever get my mail? I love to talk to people about things concerning my fics so I hope you didn't freak out or anything.
MikkTorrent: Thank you! Well, I figured I'd try to keep it somewhat to the plot. I just wanted Carolyn to survive. And here's the sequel...
Moon goddess2: thank you. I figured lightning would fit cos of the rain. Can't go from hot to cold without a little lightning. At least not where I live. giggle well she did throw herself at him... literally...
Ninia: Thank you. This is written on the way I perceived the line. And it's more romantic my way... well, not. But I needed it this way for the fic. I personally I think she puts more weight on the 'them' part then the 'I'd' one... Ad that way it fits. Ugh, did anyone understand that?
Fang: I kick ass? okay, I can live with that. ;) And sure you need to write one too. fics are great. And I love to read. I would really appreciate it if you could tell me what I spelt wrong. Hope you enjoy this fic as well!
Oh Dark Sheep of Doom: Hey, hope you got my email. You'll just have to keep reading to find out... well, no. Since I'm a helpless romantic there will be a happy ending... When I finally get to the end.
Natalie: Sorry, but this is a F/R. But if I ever write one with J/R I hope you'll read that. She'll just have to be a lot older, if it's to be a romantic one. Thanks for reviewing.
Tears: Here's the sequel! Thank you. Hmm... I'll think about your idea. Might use it someway. Well see if I can fit it to the current plot.
IceQueenK8: Thanks. Finally there is a sequel and it's a F/R one. Hope you like.
Allie: Thanks. I hope you like this one as well.
Phew! Now that that's done I can get back to writing the next chapter.
Remember to review!