A/N: I do not own anything... :) Enjoy this new chapter.
Hounds
"I am not a drama queen. And it looks like Linny's all grown up now." The man said while moving back down the ramp.
"Real original," Carolyn said while mockingly clapping her hands.
Coming down the ramp herself now she looked around trying to see where the cat and hound had been coaxed back to.
She was still extremely wary of the creatures. Carolyn looked back to the man and couldn't help the smirk that spread across her face.
He hadn't changed all that much and he was staring at her now as though the sight of her left him slightly stunned.
He was tallish, brown-haired and green-eyed with a square jaw, sharp nose and the fine eyebrows that - oddly enough, though she didn' remember it - were normal for the entire race of Furians.
The man was in his prime, though not quite as big as she remembered Riddick being, but then that could just be faulty memory on her part.
The convict tended to leave a rather 'large' impression on the psyche.
Still looking the man over, an echo of a memory ricocheted through her skull of a young boy promising to marry her when they grew up.
"You look very familiar? Do I know you, because I have the distinct impression that you haven't changed much over the years." She asked cautiously.
"Ah yes, that's right... your brother mentioned that you have amnesia." He held his hand out to her, as though to help her down the ramp, "My name is Conway Cait."
His surname meant 'cat' and his given name meant 'hound of the plains', so it was a bit contradictory to a lot of humans, but made perfect sense to Furians.
Cautiously, she took the proffered hand and let him lead her down the rest of the ramp. When she got to the bottom and turned around she saw the Hound on top of Rose.
It jumped down, startling Carolyn half out of her skin. The creature was brilliant green with equally bright blue, lateral stripes down the length of its strong back (covering the top of the tail), across its shoulders and hips and also down by the paws.
The massive, muscular creature turned to face her, its dark (almost black) eyes lacking the silvery shine that had been on the other two creatures' eyes - and was immediately affectionate; wagging his tail, licking her face and then sitting down and sniffing at her.
Most draft horses are taller at the shoulder than a grown man. This hound was about the size of a large one. It was very understandable that Carolyn was certain that this creature would kill her by accident in its attempts to be friendly.
"This," Conway said, indicating the Peacock-hued Hound, "is Ma'iek. He was raised with you until the Necromonger Purge."
Carolyn stared wide-eyed at Ma'iek, trying to remember it - him - but nothing came to her.
"I'd let you get used to him before having you two live together-" Ma'iek interrupted Conway with a terrifying, basso growl that vibrated their bones.
"But," Conway went on without skipping a beat, "he'd turn me into a fiery, screaming torch."
Carolyn turned to face him, her eyes wide and asked, "Pardon?"
"Oh, yeah... you wouldn't remember that - and Ma'iek will you stop growling at me? I'm not stupid enough to try and keep you away from her."
The growling stopped with a grunt.
"Thank-you. As I was saying... the male Hounds can breathe chemical fire via glands in their lungs. Females have a venomous bite."
"Ah. Those are very tough lungs." She said while scratching the back of her neck.
"Yeah, the rest of them is like that too. Now let's get you settled in."
Of course, as Conway said. No more than ten minutes later and she was being escorted to her quarters while they pulled Rose all the way into the hanger before the radiation damaged her AI matrix.
Carolyn looked around her quarters as Ma'iek got himself on his couch (yes, he has his own couch).
The living space was large, with everything far enough from each other to accommodate the Hound's massive size.
She spent some time looking around and finding out where everything was before going into the spacious bathroom and getting cleaned up.
It was only then that she realized that she was covered in blood. That fact took a second to sink in as her skin paled and she felt faint. The next thing she knew she was heaving...and then dry heaving.
After that Carolyn hurriedly jumped in the shower. She scrubbed herself more thoroughly than she ever had in her life.
Once she had her...pajamas (apparently she hadn't gotten changed before killing a bunch of people) and underwear in the tub to soak she then crawled into bed naked.
She dreamed of Riddick - and woke up in the middle of the night to run to the bathroom and throw up again.
Carolyn told herself over and over again that even Riddick could not kick a machete with enough force and precision to go flying across the room, take off about half a grown man's head and still embed itself in the ribbed, sheet-metal wall. For some reason, she didn't quite believe herself.
Ma'iek made worried noises outside the closed bathroom door while pawing at it.
She knew instinctively that he could tear right through the metal if he decided that he wanted to.
Carolyn sighed. That thing scared the living daylights out of her, but she wanted her bathroom door intact and if he broke it then she would probably end up having to explain about her nightmare.
For some reason, she was very reluctant to do so. So she let him sleep with her for the rest of the night.
The entire time he kept his head on the bed, which was more than a little frightening, but she eventually fell back to sleep.
She woke to a vague echo of a dream that reminded her of what had happened back on that planet which she didn't want to think about. They faded quickly enough and she got on with her day and trying not to be afraid of Ma'iek.
A/N: Hello! Hopefully, you enjoyed the chapter. If you feel like it leave a review.
Til next time
~Lee