The ghosts that we knew

Chapter 3

~Now I'll be bold

As well as strong

And use my head

Along side my heart

Raise my hands

Paint my spirit gold

Bow my head

Feel my heart slow~

Carolyn's small craft was immediately buffeted by high winds and flying snow as she entered the atmosphere of UV-6, her visibility near zero. She struggled hard with the controls, cursing under her breath the entire time. The best she could do now was to simply look for a safe place to land, which was few and far between according to her instruments. The whole damn planet was made up of ridges with hardly a solid piece of land anywhere. Frustrated beyond belief, she continued to fight with the ship.

Not far away, Riddick could hear the sound of a small craft while out hunting. He leaned into a crevasse as the craft came near not knowing or really caring who or what was on board. Gathering up his catch of the day he headed towards home as the sound of the craft faded into the distance.

Lying on the bed in his "home," Riddick slipped a picture out of his pocket. Taking a long look, he brushed the photo with his thumb before tucking it back into its place.

A sound, muffled in the wind, far-off, but audible, drew him back to the present. Dressing, he walked outside alert, seeing nothing in the murk of the storm, but he didn't have to see to know where and what made the noise.

As the ship leveled off, Carolyn cursed again, knowing she was still in trouble. She knew better than to bring a hop ship, but there just hadn't been time to do much else.

The ship was just barely skirting the mountaintops, still being battered by storm winds, so giving up on finding an entirely solid surface she finally just aimed for what looked to be the flattest piece of ground she could find. Only when she hit the ground it wasn't that level causing the unstable craft to go skidding on the icy surface.

Carolyn held her breath as the craft careened down the slope at an angle catching on the uneven ridges, which spun her around and tilted the ship causing a wing to be ripped off the tiny craft. Carolyn rode the controls, just like she did the last time she was in a crashing ship, out of habit. Nothing she did would matter now.

The ship was only gaining speed as it dipped precariously in the other direction, the ridges shearing off the other wing as the craft tumbled end over end, slamming into the side of a mountain. Nothing moved inside the craft.

Reaching the crash site, Riddick stayed hidden for several minutes watching over the area. Not seeing any movement he carefully maneuvered through the ridges to the solid ground encircling the mountain that the ship had came to rest against. Busting out the front glass panels he could see the pilot still strapped into his chair which had broken loose and been thrown into the back of the small craft.

Reaching out to check he could feel a pulse under his fingertips. Flipping the chair over he stumbled, backing away from the ghost in front of him. Composing himself, he quickly went through the ship nabbing the first aid kit and what little food he could find.

Un-strapping her from the chair, he took off one of his many layers securing it to the unconscious woman. Throwing her over his shoulder he tucked a thin survival blanket over her and gathering his pack headed back out the way he came.

Dropping Carolyn onto his bed, Riddick divested them both of their snow-covered outerwear, covering her cold body with the furs laying on it, before starting a fire.

Pulling out the first aid kit, he opened a few antiseptic pads and butterfly bandages as he attended to the gash on her temple. Wiping the rest of the blood off of her face he lingered for a moment, his thoughts wondering, before flipping the furs back looking for any other injuries besides the drop in her core body temperature.

Cleaning up some minor cuts and scrapes on her arms, the only other thing of concern was a slightly swollen ankle. Taking her boots off he had begun to bind it when he heard her voice.

"Richard?"

It was weak and gruff but still the same.

And it was the first time he'd heard his name in years.

Briskly tying off the wrap on her ankle, he slid around to face her. "You still suck at landing."

Carolyn smiled weakly with a slight shrug to her shoulders as she began to shiver uncontrollably. "Always seems to go badly when I try to rescue you."

Riddick frowned at this reminder, before toeing his boots off and crawling under the furs with her. She immediately sought out his warmth, burrowing into him as he drew the covers up over her. "And just what are you trying to rescue me from this time, Carolyn?"

"Mercs." She replied through chattering teeth as she snaked a cold hand up under his shirts.

Pushing her away he pulled his shirt off before pulling her back, her cold cheeks resting on his chest as her arms and legs snaked around him, causing her to cry out from her tender ankle before settling down.

"Mercs, huh?"

She nodded her head from where it was buried in his neck, nearly smothered by his beard. "Had to warn you, bounty on your head, Mercs coming."

She felt him tense up under her, "How soon?"

"Don't know. Had a three day lead when I left."

He relaxed and she started breathing again. "Get some sleep," he told her as he wrapped her up in his body. "Nothing we can do about it till they get here."

Carolyn woke up wonderfully toasty. When she went to stretch she realized there was a hand stroking up and down her side, running over her scars. Smiling, she rolled over before screaming and scrambling back into the wall behind her, whimpering as the pain in her ankle flared in protest.

"It's not that I'm not happy to see you, Carolyn, but I kind of wish you hadn't come. I was just getting used to the quiet." He said with a smirk as he sat up exposing his bare chest.

Letting out a sigh of relief, Carolyn crawled over next to him touching his jaw where his beard started and then reached up to brush a strand of hair back away from his face looking into his eyes. As she leaned into kiss him, he grabbed her waist pulling her onto his lap. Leaning back to look at him again she bit her lip waiting to see if she was going to be accepted or not. Gripping her shoulders he drew her near, his tongue dancing over her pinched lip. Moaning, she gave him access further into her mouth.