Letting out a low, alcohol scented sigh, he finally said, "Naruto Uzumaki. Immortal traveler, ex-ninja and half-demon extraordinaire."

Riddick looked over in an incredulous surprise. "You're kiddin' me, right?"

"Nope," Naruto shook his head, picking up a little speed as he smirked back at the man. "I haven't joked around in over three thousand years."

- - -

They'd arrived at the settlement. The skiff was in shambles; barely useable. Fry was trying to get the power cell they'd been dragging aboard the ship as the others walked around it's exterior.

"I mean, usually I can appreciate antiques, but, uh…" Paris trailed off, looking up at the skiff in mild disgust.

"Little ratty-ass thing," Johns commented, humor laced in his voice as he watched Naruto dive in to help Fry with the power cell.

Fry grunted, smiling at Naruto as he helped. "Nothing we can't repair—"

"So long as the electrical adapts," Naruto pointed out as he cut in.

"Not exactly a star-jumper," Shazza said, looking the skiff over with a critical gaze.

"Doesn't need to be," Riddick rumbled out, following Johns' gaze to Naruto and back… Interesting. "Use this to get back up to the Sol-Track Shipping Lanes, stick out a thumb. You'll get picked up. Right?"

"How'd you know that?" Fry asked in disbelief.

Riddick chuckled, catching Naruto's attention before he spoke. " 'Cuz it was my plan…"

- - -

Fry's hands worked with rapid speed and precision as she adapted the power cell to the skiffs older, but reliable electrical system. She shocked herself and cursed, jerking a hand back as the cell kicked in. Lights flickered on throughout the ship. Fry smiled triumphantly at Johns.

"Okay, that should buy us a systems check," She said, standing and making her way over to the screens. "But we'll need more cells."

"How many?" He asked.

"15 6-gigs here… 90 gigs total," Fry muttered to herself, eyes scanning the screens. "Our ship carries 20-gig cells. So… Five. Five total to launch."

"25 kilos each, huh?" Johns grimaced.

"Old sand-cat outside," Shazza offered in. "See if I can't get it up and chuggin'."

"Do it. And if you need an extra hand, tap our problem child out—" Johns cut himself off, looking around with wide eyes. "Where's Naruto? And where's Riddick?"

- - -

He was walking the ghost town, and found dead gardens… upended chairs and furniture… Broken skylights… Behind him, Jack and the youngest of the pilgrims stalked the curious monster in their midst. Naruto wasn't far behind them, a playful grin on his lips as he crept up on them. Riddick froze, and in sequence all three of the others froze. They all watched as he bent down, digging in the dirt for something they couldn't see.

He excavated a pair of broken eyeglasses… A shattered light… and a child's toy. It was a small tin robot, timeless. He thumbed the solar panel clean, and the robot warbled to life. It's legs moved in sequence with it's arms, walking in air as it's eyes flashed red.

Riddick stood and pulled at the doors. Locked. He peered in through a small filthy window, catching a glimpse of movement within. There was nothing a second later. Pulling back, Riddick glanced down. Kicking some windblown trash from a door side sign, he studied it for a second before looking back to the building.

Johns appeared out of nowhere, there to keep Riddick on a short leash. "Missin' the party. C'mon…" He turned away, leading the man back to the skiff.

"Missin' the party. C'mon," He tossed over his shoulder, and Jack jumped out, running after them.

Naruto was about to follow as well when he spotted the pilgrim boy ducking into the Coring Room. With a frown, the blonde followed. He had to squint in the dim light of the larger room when he entered, and slowly but surely started searching for the small, adventure seeking Chrislam. The blonde could barely make out the sight of a vertical coring drill as the center of the room.

- - -

"…and for this, our gift of drink, we give thanks in the name of our Prophet, Muhammad, peace be upon him, and to our Lord, Jesus Christ of Nazareth, and to his father, Allah the Compassionate and the Merciful." Imam said with a large, white smile.

"The strangest religion…" Paris muttered to himself.

He finished going around the group, pouring cloudy water into their each of their goblets. Riddick received the last of it, the part with most sediment. They all took a long drink of the aqua; nothing had ever tasted finer. No one noticed the two mission people…

"Perhaps we should toast our hosts," Paris said, waving a hand about. "Who were these people, anyway? Miners?"

"Looks like geologists," Shazza said. "Advance team, moves around from rock to rock."

"Musta crapped out here, huh?" Johns chortled, taking another drink from his cup.

"But why did they leave their ship?" Jack asked, and everyone fell silent.

It was a question no one had chosen to deal with yet. Imam finally realized that there were two water glasses unspoken for. His smile slowly faded into a deep frown.

- - -

An attached solar panel began to move above, orienting toward sunlight. When it caught the full brunt of the suns rays, storm shutters unlatched on the roof. Naruto looked up sharply as the noise caught his attention. That sound then brought up another sound… A sort of skittering.

Bright blue eyes scanned with a fluid rapidity, searching quicker and quicker for the young boy. Finally finding him, he rushed over and pulled him the close. The boy was staring straight up into the rafters, eyes squinting as if he was trying to see. Naruto looked back up. Was there something in the horizontal beams he hadn't seen?

- - -

"Well…" Johns cleared his throat awkwardly, looking at Jack. "It's just a skiff. Disposable, really."

"Like an emergency life-raft, right?" Paris joined in.

"Sure," Shazza nodded. "Coulda had a real drop-ship take them off-planet. Long gone."

"A toast to their ghosts, then…" Paris said, raising his goblet.

They all followed suit. One by one they raised their glasses high into the sunny sky. Only Riddick was the one to stay level. He took a gulp of his water, and pissed in the metaphorical punchbowl.

"Didn't leave, these people," He said low, eyes down. "Whatever got Zeke, got them. They're all dead."

They all looked over, horror etched across their faces.

"What, you don't really think they left with their clothes on the lines?" He continued. "Photos on the walls?"

"Maybe they had weight limits," Shazza argued. "You don't know."

"I know you don't uncrate your emergency ship unless there's a fucking emergency," He snapped back.

"Rag it, Riddick," Johns growled. "Nobody wants your theories on—"

"So what happened?" Fry interrupted. "Where are they, then?"

Fry seemed to be the only other one there willing to look at the reality of thing. Or at least glance it's way. At the window of the skiff, Imam scanned the outside. Worry was written on his face, and he turned to the group with sweat on his brow.

"Has anyone seen the young one? Ali?" Imam asked, voice cracking. "And the short one? Naruto?"

Riddick glanced between Imam and Fry. "Has anyone checked the coring room?"

- - -

The shutters were yawning open, spreading daylight over Ali and Naruto. Soon, the room was being flooded with light and those beams hit the rafters. They were encrusted with thick nests of… something. The skittering grew louder, and more agitated.

With lightening reflexes, Naruto pulled the young boy with him into a sliver of daylight in the wall. The breach they'd crawled through. The blonde moved quickly, shoving the boy through, but he wasn't fast enough to get out himself.

The sunlight hit the first nest, and the room exploded with life.

- - -

A scream echoed through the settlement. All eyes turned in the same direction as they hear the blood curdling cry. Imam rushed forward, muttering his student's name with worry. Everyone followed right after, all of them heading right toward the sound of the noise.

- - -

It was complete chaos in the room. More and more nests were exploding into individual creatures. Winged hatchlings moved like bats in a fire, talons hacking and slashing. Naruto was dragged away from his exit, small cuts appearing on his tan face. He yelled in anger and in fear, swiping at each winged beast with clawed hands.

He heard Ali scream for him outside, and Naruto yanked out his kunai. Falling back into a defensive pose, his chakra whipped around him. It was bright like a light and it burned them away. Naruto's eyes were red and slitted, like a cat's would be, as he took on wave after wave of razor sharp talons.

He could only kill so many…

The lock on the sliding doors was broken. People and daylight poured into the room. Naruto looked over his shoulder, everything flooding back into him with a snap of his fingers. He gasped, stumbling back a few steps as the hatchlings swarmed. They moved with a gang-intelligence as they circled the room in a wave of darkness. They were like a smokey, black cloud as they soared high into the rafters. Then, they plunged into the coring shaft, carrying their squeals and skitters with them down into the pitch. A shocked silence fell upon them as they all stared at Naruto's torn form.

He was shaking again, his skin shredded with lines of red. His heart hammered in his chest as he turned to face the group. Fry and Shazza gasped in silent horror at the bloody, mangled sight of the boy. Johns took a step forward as the blonde wavered; swaying on his feet. Knees buckling beneath him, Naruto slumped to the dirt covered floor.

"The boy," He croaked, blood slipping across his lower lip. "Ali… is he okay?"

Imam nodded, breezing past all others to embrace Naruto's quivering form. "Thanks to you, he is."

"Good," He sighed, licking away the blood with a quick dart of his tongue.

Johns, Fry, and Shazza inched forward, curiosity getting the better of them. They peered down into the coring shaft where all those things had disappeared to, and cringed at the sight below. It was littered with human bones. The skeletons of the settlers were scattered about and picked clean.

Tbc…

Review please,

Much love,

Tara

ALSO! I'm starting a poll- - -

A) ends with Pitch Black and epilogue

B) continues on into Chronicles of Riddick

or

C) has a Pitch Black alternate ending –could end there—but I also continue into Chronicles of Riddick