"What's your name?" She asked softly.
He scanned her a moment, internally pouting after realizing she was taller than him—a known complex of his ever since he was a child. "Naruto… Uzumaki Naruto."
- - -
"Big talk about a scouting party…" Johns trailed off once they were back on top of the ruined ship with their spare person, his jaw aching. "… then we saw this."
Fry saw the huge smoldering scar in the ground behind the ship. Their plummet had left a horrible mark on the planet's skin. One glance was enough for everyone to know that there weren't any other survivors.
"Anyone else having breathing problems?" Paris asked. "Aside from me?"
"Like I just ran, or something…" Jack added, big, almond shaped eyes darting up to the blonde boy next to him. A flush spread across his cheeks when blue eyes caught his gaze with a small grin.
"Feel one lung short," Shazza said. "All of us."
"Well," Naruto shrugged, his shoulders relaxing from the struggle earlier. "I tend to get a bit asthmatic after being locked in a locker for longer than necessary—"
Johns cast him a quick glare, trying to shut him up. "I got the message when you slugged me, alright?"
The tan boy held up his hands in mock surrender, staying silent as all eyes suddenly turned to Fry. They were all looking to her for answers. She blinked a few times, panic and anxiety settling into her gut as she realized she was in charge.
"It's the atmo," She said slowly, trying to make sure she didn't sound like too much of an idiot. "Too much pressure. Not enough oxygen. Might take a few days to—"
"So what the bloody hell happened, anyways?" Zeke cut in, impatient as always.
"Somethin' knocked us off-lane. Maybe a rogue comet. Maybe we'll never know," Fry shrugged, giving him an 'I really can't help you' look.
"Well, I for one, am thoroughly fucking grateful," Shazza said with a smile. "This beast wasn't made to land like this. But cripes, you rode it down." She turned to the others before looking back at Fry. "C'mon, you lousy ingrates, only reason we're alive is 'cuzza her."
The others chimed in agreement, laying thankful hands on Fry's shoulders. The only one who didn't move was Naruto, but that's because he already knew. He stared at Fry, watching as her face betrayed none of her deep, dark secrets. The survivors seemed to anoint her their savior, but Naruto knew better… If Owens hadn't blocked the doors, they'd all be dust in the wind.
Not that he was blaming her… It was something that would've crossed his mind, too.
- - -
"Liquid oxygen canisters," Fry said, breaking out the pressure suits from the main cabin's hold. "Start ripping them out. Quick hits only—try to make them last."
"Well, isn't someone coming for us?" Jack asked, his eyebrows furrowed in question as he rubbed his hand over his shaved head. "Or are we all just gonna die of exposure or dehydration or sunstroke or maybe even something worse?"
They looked at him in shock. How could someone so young be so… cynical? Naruto had to bite back the chuckle that bubbled in the back of his throat as he crossed his arms over his chest.
"Hey," The boy said, hands up, much like Naruto had done earlier. "You don't have to worry about scaring me."
"We're worried you'll scare us," Shazza said, ushering him away with her. "Name's 'Jack', right, love? And you're goin' to Taurus Three like we were?"
"Yeah, but…" Jack was honestly curious as he was led away. "Do we even have enough food to get there? Or will we have to resort to cannibalism?"
At that question, Naruto couldn't hold back his loud guffaw. He covered his mouth guiltily snickering to himself. The three remaining adults looked at the twenty year old in question before turning their attention back to each other.
"I'll see 'bout makin' this air go a bit further, cap'n." Zeke commented, picking up the breathers one by one. "With your permission, a' course."
Naruto blinked in surprise. 'They actually think she's their captain…'
As Zeke and the others went to work, Fry found herself staring at another problem. Naruto stepped up next to her, tilting his head at the sight of the bound muscle and aura of danger that surrounded the man. It made his insides quake nervously, and he had to bite his lip harshly to remind him to keep his hands to himself before he could reach out to touch the villain.
"And him?" Fry asked over her shoulder.
"Big Evil?" Johns looked over, half interest on his face before his gaze strayed to the blonde man standing next to the captain. His eyes scanned the lithe form a moment before Fry's voice called him back.
"We just keep him locked up forever?" She asked, turning to face him.
"That would be my choice," Johns shrugged, standing up straight as Naruto turned to look at him, too. "Already escaped once from the max-slam facility on—"
"I don't need his life story," She waved him off. "Is he really that dangerous?"
Johns paused, a smirk finding it's way onto his face as his gaze locked onto the shorter man's. "Only around humans."
Fry nodded, that was all she needed to know. She looked back to the bound man a moment before leaving. Naruto had a grin on his face as he enjoyed his own private joke. Turning back around, he face the murderer for what he was—Human. Johns took a small step forward, cautious against getting punched again.
"Only around humans, ne?" Naruto questioned, almost playfully as Johns stepped closer and closer.
"Yeah," Johns nodded, eyes falling down to Naruto's tight backside.
Suddenly, the blonde whipped back around, looking up with a glimmer of glee in his bright blue eyes. "Well, then I should be safe."
With that, he left Johns standing there with Riddick still bound up. Letting out a slow sigh, he cast a look at Riddick before following the blonde out. The comment barely registered in his mind, but Riddick almost smirked around the bit in his mouth as he was left to himself.
- - -
They were looking for something – anything—to drink. In what was left of the cargo hold, Paris led them back to his container. Naruto was closest to the rich man, followed by Johns, who was in turn followed by Fry. Paris opened the doors with the help of the small blonde to reveal a cast-holding of objects.
"King Tut's tomb…" Johns said dryly.
"Not really," Naruto said, looking about. "Tut had way more stuff."
Paris rolled his eyes, and led them breezily past the many objects he owned and was selling for a pretty price in the Taurus system. "In this desk here."
Naruto puffed out a quick sigh, kneeling down to open the chest and was scolded for being so harsh on the wooden box. He opened it with ease, and smiled at what he saw within. Cubby holed inside were dusty bottles of Sherry. Vintage Port. Glenfiddich. Bicardi 151.
"This is it? Booze?" Fry peered in, her nose wrinkling with disgust. "That's what you have to drink?"
"200-year-old, single-malt scotch is to 'booze' as foie gras is to 'duck guts'." Naruto commented sagely; he knew he alcohol and this was some of the best he'd seen in a while.
Johns cracked a bottle open, grin on his pale face. "A toast to whatever he just said."
Naruto grinned back, grabbing his own bottle before walking out the door. "I'll need a receipt for those," Paris said snootily. "For all of them."
"Top of my list," Fry stated dryly, joining Johns in his drink when the Chrislams walked in; envy and aversion flitting across their faces. "I don't suppose…"
"One of the Christian habits we didn't adopt—perhaps unfortunately," The leader, Imam as they knew him, said. "We'll have to wait."
"For what?" Johns sneered. "There is no water. You understand that, don't you?"
"All deserts have water, somewhere," Imam said with a small smile. "God shall lead us there."
- - -
Riddick sat in silence, staring at the cutting torch Fry had abandoned in the wreckage after springing Naruto from his cryo-locker. Not such a smart move, leaving a weapon like that so close to him. With his hands cuffed behind him and around the bulkhead, he couldn't get near it. Or could he?
Near the ceiling, the bulkhead is fractured—a slim spot where maybe his chain could pass through. He stood. With a gruesome popping noise, he dislocated both of his shoulders and carried his arms overhead. Passing the chains through the broken spot, he brings his arms down in front of him. With a quick flex he popped them back into joint.
Free, he reached for the cutting torch.
- - -
Pistol in hand, Johns ran, eyes sweeping the landscape. Nothing on the horizon. But something was lying on the ground nearby. It was Riddick's mouth-bit. He walked over slowly, dropping down onto one knee to pick it up. Cursing, he stood and chucked the bit as far as he could, rage seeping from each pore.
"Like we needed another goddamn way to die," He said venomously to himself.
- - -
Hands pillaged the storage lockers, pulling out anything that might qualify as a 'weapon'. It all got hauled back and dumped into the nav-bay. Gathered, the survivors take inventory: Johns had a pistol, shotgun, baton. Zeke and Shazza offered up a pick-ax, digging tolls, and a hunting boomerang. Imam showed them a ceremonial blade. Paris straggled in with antique curios.
"What the hell are these?" Johns asked, holding out one of the items.
"Maratha crow-bill war-picks from Northern India," Paris said. "Very rare."
"An' this?" Zeke asked, scanning a long, leather bound stick.
"Blow-dart hunting stick from Papua New Guinea," Paris stated, snatching it away. "Very, very rare, since the tribe's extinct."
" 'Cuz they couldn't hunt shit with these thing, be my guess." Zeke chuckled, and Naruto looked over the weapon curiously.
"Well, what's the need anyway?" Paris asked, turning to Johns. "If he's gone, he's gone. Why should he bother with us?"
Johns stared the man down, noting how Naruto seemed to pat himself down, as if making sure he hadn't lost something—or multiple things. "I dunno… Maybe 'cuz he can only live out there for so long—he's gonna come back and take what we got. Maybe to skull fuck you in the middle of the night. Or maybe just for the sheer thrill of the kill."
There was a moments pause. Then, they all grabbed for weapons.
- - -
Johns stood atop the crash ship, scanning the land with a scope. He fixated on a blue glow at the horizon, and pulled back to look with both eyes. His face screwed up in an unreadable emotion when he turned to face a grinning blonde. He skidded to a stop, almost toppling into the smaller man. Naruto laughed softly, tilting his head, and glancing over Johns' shoulder at the blue light on the horizon, gripping the bottle of alcohol in his hand.
"Sun rise," He commented. "Looks like we won't be getting any sleep."
Johns nodded, taking a step closer to the blonde. Blue eyes shined up at him with mirth, and watched with a sharp awareness as Johns lifted a hand up to tuck a silky gold lock behind the boy's ear. Naruto's grin was wiped of his face suddenly, as he felt something shift deep, deep beneath the surface. Blinking, he looked down at the metal beneath his feet before panic suddenly settled into his veins like an adrenaline rush.
"Oh, fuck," He whispered, springing away from Johns, and sliding down the side of the ship to land with his feet firmly planted on the dirt ground. Something was under them… Gathering beneath them, and just… waiting.
- - -
Zeke and Shazza had modified the breather units, adding straps and tubing and ball-floats. The prototype was tested on the all to willing Jack. He sucked on the mouthpiece, and found that it worked. It supplied oxygen on demand, rather than in a constant flow.
The Chrislams had converted to traditional Bedouin head-gear, ready for travel. Fry finished wrapping Owens' body, and she looked to the yellow sun, low on the horizon. The red sun seemed inclined to follow.
"We should leave soon," Fry said, standing and dusting off her pants. "Before nightfall, but while it's cooler.
"What, you're goin' off, too?" Zeke asked.
"Johns is leaving you a gun," Fry informed him. "Just do me a favor, huh? Get my crewies buried? They were good guys who died bad."
Shazza stepped up next to her husband, her hand resting on his shoulder. "A'course we will."
Fry and the others rounded the ship to see a blue star floating into view. It rose into the sky and shining brightly down onto the planet they were currently stuck on. It was rising as the others were setting causing a never ending cycle of daylight.
"Three suns?" Jack questioned incredulously.
"So much for your nightfall," Zeke commented to Fry.
"So much for my cocktail hour," Paris grumbled softly to himself.
"We take this to be a good sign," Imam smiled. "A path. A direction from God."
Johns swung down from the top of the ship, his eyes never leaving where the blonde stood only a couple yards away. "A very good sign. That's Riddick's direction. You do not wannna be caught in the dark with this guy."
"I thought you found his restraints over there," She pointed to the setting suns. "Toward sunset."
Johns nodded. "Which means he went toward sunrise."
Tbc
Review please. Much love, Tara… 3