Recap: The real reason was that she knew Johns would die any moment now and she was afraid that another argument would distract Riddick from killing him.
Fry frowned "He can try but I'll make sure he won't get away with it." she told her. Luna thought quickly.
"Uh… please," she sighed deeply, "I don't want anymore fights between us. I know that what he did was cruel but if we fight again we'll never get to the skiff. I mean, these flares ain't gonna burn forever," she told her with a slight stammer. 'Which isn't really a lie. I don't want anymore fights in the group. Who knows how long the next one would take. What if we argue longer then before? What if we argue for too long and it starts to rain? Then we'll never have a chance of getting to the skiff anymore.' She frowned deeply at the last thought.
"She is right. What Mr. Johns did was atrocious but we cannot linger. We have to get to the skiff. Too many have already fallen by the hands of those creatures." piped up Imam. Fry sighed and nodded making Luna slowly let go of her.
Johns glanced behind him at the rest of the group before turning forwards again. "Battlefield doctors decide who lives and dies, it's called triage," he explained.
"Kept calling it murder when we did it." Riddick pointed out, Johns waved it off.
"Either way, I figure it's something you can grab onto," shrugged Johns.
"In other words; sacrifice play," voiced Blade, his face neutral.
"Hack up a body, leave it at the start of the canyon, like a bucket of bait." continued Riddick.
"Trawl with it. We got some extra cable on the sled," said Johns.
They ducked under a large bone.
"We drag the body 40, 50 feet behind us." continued Johns.
"Nice embellishment." commented Riddick with a hint of mocking in his tone.
"Nah, I don't wanna feed 'em. I just wanna keep 'em off our scent., said Johns in a drawl.
"So, who caught your eye?" asked Blade as he glanced over his shoulder at the others.
"No, no! Don't look! Christ. What the hell's wrong with you?" said Johns while placing a hand on his back and making him turn back forwards again.
After he made sure they wouldn't turn around again, he continued. "I was talkin' 'bout Luna," he told them which made Blade tense and Riddick frown deeply. Johns didn't notice.
"The fuckin' bitch has been a pain in my ass long enough. Besides, the way I figured, we're better off without her. She's only holding us up with those wounds of hers. Unlike Jack who's only bleeding. If worse comes to worse, we can kill both of them." he bargained.
Back with the sled, the others noticed the glance, but only Fry and Luna paid attention to it.
'It's almost time.' thought Luna concerned. She knew what would happen next. 'I hope I can keep up.' came the concerned thought, before she sighed again.
Fry walked up to Imam and gently tapped him on the arm. "El-Imam, slow down. Just a little more space between us and them," said Fry suddenly, showing a bit of concern.
"Alright. Enough of this shit. You guys do the girl, and I'll keep the others off your backs," said Johns suddenly, his face dead serious.
The three stopped walking and Riddick had his back turned to Johns as Blade stood next to Johns. His face remained completely blank.
"It's not too big a job for you two, is it?" asked Johns in a mocking tone.
Riddick turned around, the only indication he didn't like what he heard was the frown on his face.
"I'm just wondering if we don't need a bigger piece of bait," commented Riddick calmly.
"Like who?" asked Johns, completely oblivious to the answer.
Riddick stayed silent and stared at him; Blade did the same.
Johns stared right back in his eyes as the answer slowly came to him.
All of a sudden, Riddick slapped the flare out of Johns' hand and twisted around him, as Johns also shot in reaction. Riddick managed to grab the gun out of Johns' holster and tried to shoot him with it. The merc managed to block the gun just out of range when Riddick fired the shot, missing him.
Back with the sled had everyone heard the shots. They saw Riddick and Johns fighting. "Leave the sled! Let's move!" cried Fry as she quickly ran away. Jack followed her, completely forgetting for a moment that Luna was wounded.
Imam and Suleiman followed and everyone ran as fast as they could.
Cursing, Luna tried to follow, but found it hard to keep up with her wounded ankle.
The last thing she saw was Blade standing at the side, just watching Riddick and Johns fight.
Luna started to fall behind the others. She tightened her grip on her torch, hoping to keep herself within the light. However, the bioraptors above her had a different plan. It seemed like one of them had noticed her limping and stumbling behind the others and decided to make her its next meal.
As Luna started to slow, the raptor swooped down, letting out a screech. The screech was the only warning she got when it came after her. Her leg suddenly buckled from exhaustion which saved her just in time from being grabbed by the creature. Instead of that, it only managed to graze its claws over her back and grabbed her shirt instead and ripped it.
It threw her out of the sight of the others and into the vast darkness. her fall caused her torch to roll out of her grasp. She landed hard on her wounded arm and cried out in pain.
Luna bit back tears and struggled to crawl for her torch. She grabbed it just in time to swing the flame around and into the face of the raptor, causing it to shriek and back away.
In the distance Luna noticed that the others stopped and were frantically looking around for her.
"Luna!" Fry cried out, keeping a firm hand on Jack's shoulder keeping her close by. Luna whimpered, slowly crawling to her feet stumbling back down to the ground in the process because of her bad ankle.
The wounds on her back were luckily not that painful and she ignored them the best she could. "I am over here!" She yelled back waving the torch around to get their attention. She noticed Fry started to walk towards her but froze when she heard the raptor's shriek echo through the valley.
Suddenly Luna felt cool breath dancing across her back. A bioraptor stood behind her. Closing her eyes, Luna wrapped her arms around her waist hugging herself.
She leaned forward, hugging herself tighter while she took a deep breath. Then, she spun around just in time to smash the torch on the head of the raptor sending it up in flames.
Luna couldn't help but laugh at the sight. Even though the situation was a serious one, she found it funny how a large walking body with a burning head ran around like a headless chicken.
Chuckling, Luna forced herself back up to her feet. She stumbled towards the others trying to stay in the light.
At the same time, she also tried to ignore the burning creature behind her.
However before she could get very far, she was attacked once again by another raptor. Once again Luna was thrown to the ground with more claw marks being added to her bad arm and side.
Luna cried out and rolled up into a ball on the ground, holding herself together hoping for someone to come to her rescue. Soon Luna felt that cool breath dancing across her body again, only this time it was coming from two different directions.
'This ain't my day.' was the only thought that pressed through her mind as she rolled up tighter to herself. She felt her blood slowly running down her back as pain shot through her back like hot flames. Whimpering, she waited for the worst to come only to feel something splash across her face. Slowly opening her eyes she looked up.
Small bits and pieces of the raptors were spread in a circle around her and caught her sight. Forcing herself to sit up, she took the time to look around and take in the damage around her. "What happened ...?" She muttered, wincing as she brushed some of the rocks out of her wounds.
However, before she had a chance to touch anything, she heard footsteps walking closer to her. Panicking, Luna spun around looking into the darkness trying to see who was there.
But instead of helping herself out, she only managed to anger the wounds further. Whimpering, she pushed herself backwards into the organs of the deceased creatures. Shuddering at the vile feeling, she bit down on her lip.
She continued to push herself through the muck until she bumped into a pair of well muscled legs. Slowly she looked up trying to see who was behind her until she felt something lean down in front of her, brushing their hand against her neck. "You're always causing trouble." Riddick's deep baritone voice stated from in front of her as she heard Blade chuckling from above.
A sigh of relief escaped her lips when she heard his voice but at the same time she pouted and turned her head away from him looking off into the darkness. "It ain't my fault that those creatures have it out for me." she said a bit childishly but didn't care, she was so exhausted.
Her pouting was short-lived when she was suddenly lifted off the ground and into Riddick's arms with a gasp of surprise. Confused, she looked up at him laying her good hand against his chest. She noticed he was focused on walking towards the light and the others.
Sighing in submission, she lay her head against his chest while she tried to keep her eyes open. She watched Blade walk next to them and then glance down at her. "Don't fall asleep." He grumbled. She hummed softly in reply but found it hard to stay awake. All the action and running around had made her really tired but she forced herself to keep awake.
"I'll try." she muttered softly, while she felt her eyes fluttering.
All of a sudden they heard a scream followed by the cries of the others. This caused Luna to focus again and she glanced over at the others. She saw them all staring at something to the right.
She frowned when she noticed that Fry was missing. They watched the rest of the group look around frantically, shining their lights this way and that.
Riddick and Blade arrived by the group. "Missing someone?" asked Riddick, scaring everyone as they cried out.
Jack whimpered. Riddick in the meantime set Luna down. Her feet had barely touched the ground when Jack threw herself onto her, wrapping her arms around her, causing her to stumble back against Riddick and hiss in pain when Jack hit her wound.
"Luna… Fry, she…" Jack stopped and sniffled for a moment. "T-those things… they took Fry…" she whimpered and sobbed. Luna tensed and her eyes widened. "What?" she asked softly, disbelief coursing through her.
That couldn't be true. Fry couldn't be taken. Imam looked down as he wrapped a hand around Suleiman's shoulder. "It is true. We did not see the creature coming, we only heard it but had no time to respond. It took Fry and flew off with her before we could react," the holy man told the threesome grimly.
Luna felt hot tears burn in her eyes and then roll down her cheeks. "No." she whispered "Not Fry," she continued and shook her head before wrapping her arms around Jack.
'This wasn't supposed to be happening! Why was this happening! Fry wasn't supposed to die here!' she thought frantically.
Suddenly a hand was placed on her shoulder causing her to look at its owner. It was Blade. "Tears will have to wait. Those things are gettin' braver. We need to get going," ordered Blade.
Jack pulled her head away and looked at Blade. "B-but what about Fry? A-and Johns?" she asked with a sniffle.
Riddick grunted and Blade shrugged. "It's too late. They're both gone. It happened fast and if we have any choice, that's the way we should all go out," said Riddick seriously. Imam sighed deeply and squeezed the shoulder of his son for a moment.
Jack pulled slowly away from Luna. "Everyone ready? Then let's go," ordered Riddick while he pulled away from Luna.
Instantly she missed his heat and her hand twitched when she almost went to pull him back to her. Exhaustion and pain made it more and more difficult to stay awake and follow the others. Taking a deep breath, she slowly followed the others.
Eventually everyone arrived back at the sled and Riddick walked next to Imam. "So, back to the ship, huh?" he asked casually "Huddle together until the lights go out. That's the big plan?" continued Riddick.
Imam shook his head. "I'm afraid we were blinded by our fear when we saw you start to fight with Mr. Johns. We just followed Miss Carolyn around. I feel ashamed for what we did. We even left Miss Luna behind." he told him and his shoulders sagged.
Riddick growled.
Back with Luna, she limped after the others, but the fight with those raptors had made it clear to her body how tired she was. Not to mention her wounds.
As the others came back to the sled, she slowly limped after them. Once they were all by the sled they pulled it to a ledge of bones and rocks and sat down to rest. One of the bonfires had already gone out while the other was flickering. Luna grunted when she sat down on a medium-sized rock and lifted her shirt to see her right side. There were two cuts that bled a little.
She suddenly heard a growl behind her. Turning around, she saw Blade staring at her, or rather, her wounds. Seeing him lick his lips, made her unconsciously shiver.
"Hey Blade. Is something wrong?" she asked, feeling slightly nervous under his gaze. He stepped closer and kneeled next to her. She watched him with increasing nervousness.
Caught unawares, Blade grabbed her ponytail and yanked her head to the side. She gasped in pain and her hands snuck upwards to his hand, trying to make him let go. She felt his breath fan over her neck, before he sniffed at it.
She whimpered softly and was about to ask him to let her go when he suddenly let go on his own. She blinked in confusion and glanced back. Riddick had Blade in a choke hold and was holding him back. Luna watched him struggle in Riddick's grasp for a few moments.
"Better take care of those wounds, kitten. Wouldn't want something like this happen again," came Riddick's rumbling voice, before he dragged Blade away.
She blinked before she opened her mouth but quickly closed it again. Something inside her always wanted her to call them back.
She shook her head. Now was not the time for that. She wondered what had gotten into Blade, but the answer came quicker then she expected. Blood. He had smelled the blood of her wounds and had gone berserk for a second. It silently made her wonder how thirsty he really was.
"My child," came the voice of Imam making her flinch in surprise and pull her out of her thoughts. The action caused her to hiss in pain when it made the wounds on her side stretch slightly.
"I have noticed you are bleeding. If you want, I could help you with that," he suggested as he pointed to her arm. She glanced down at it and grimaced. It looked ugly and was bleeding quite a bit.
Seeing no other choice, she sighed. "That would be great. Thank you." she said softly and held out her arm. Imam sat down next to her and started cleaning the wound with a piece of his robe that he had cut off.
Once most of her blood was wiped away it looked deep. Imam frowned. "I think that is going to need stitches, my dear," the holy man pointed out. Luna grimaced at the thought.
"Unfortunately we will have to bind it for now so you will not lose too much blood," he told her and ripped another part of his robe and wrapped it around her arm so that the wound was covered.
"Thanks Imam," she whispered softly, and gained a smile for it in return. "You are welcome, my child. Now may I see your ankle? I wish to rewrap it," he told her and she held out her leg. After that he looked at her back. There were two barely superficial scratches and a third that was bleeding slightly but nothing too serious. The man then looked at her side and noticed a deep cut there. It too wasn't too deep to be serious but it wasn't exactly superficial either. The wound was just shallow enough that it didn't need stitches.
After this was done Imam stood up and went over to Jack.
Luna sighed deeply and glanced down at her wounds before her mind wandered to Fry. 'She shouldn't have died! Not so soon!' she thought and mulled over the death of the woman but couldn't seem to grasp it.
She found it unbelievable that Fry died so soon. Now that she had some time to think about it, she mentally cursed whatever God was up there. 'The trip goes the same as in the movie yet there are so many changes that I'm at the same time wondering what will happen next. It just doesn't make any sense! How can Blade be here? How did-' her thoughts were cut off when Imam came back and sat next to her again.
"I have decided that since we are resting for a while, why not pray? At least this way we can perhaps ask God for protection until we arrive by the skiff." said Imam. Luna shrugged. She knew it would probably not help but she didn't want to disappoint the man.
"Alright." she said softly and Imam smiled. Clearly please with her answer and held out his hands. She took them and he closed his eyes and started murmuring in Arabic.
Luna didn't know what to do and just sat there until he was done. Her gaze strayed to the second bonfire and saw that it too was dying out. Imam's praying became slightly louder before going back to a whisper again.
Once he was done, he nodded to her and squeezed her hands in gratitude. "Thank you for praying with me my child. Allah will surely look out for you," he told her and then left, heading towards Riddick and Blade.
Curiosity rose up in her when she saw him walking up to them and stood up to follow him. She watched him walk up behind Riddick who had not noticed him yet. Her gaze wandered to Blade who was cleaning up his sword again.
She felt a bit awkward with nobody talking to her. Not to mention the incident that almost happened. Squirming in her place she saw Riddick and Imam returning to them. The big convict looked very irritated as he sat down.
"It is painless," said Imam "It's pointless," countered Riddick, obdurately "And meaningless," added Blade, as he glanced up at Imam. 'Seems he got himself back under control.' thought Luna randomly.
"Because you two do not believe in God does not mean God does not believe in you," said Imam. "Think someone can spend half of their life in a slam with a horse bit in their mouth and not believe?" asked Riddick suddenly, as he tightened one of the ropes around a cell.
Luna knew what was happening and felt bad for Imam but dared not to interrupt any of them. She always found this a touching scene of the movie. How he talked about his life. It always affected her, but at the same time she was a bit angry at Riddick for saying something like that to Imam.
Riddick's voice brought her back to the present. "Think he could start out in some liquor store trash bin with an umbilical cord wrapped around his neck and not believe?" he continued asking and Luna could sense the hidden anger behind his words.
She clenched her hands into fists and bit her lip. She had read it all up on the internet and knew that it was in fact a Necromonger called Zhylaw who did that. It took all she had not to open her mouth and tell him the truth. It would betray the knowledge she possessed.
"You got it all wrong, holy man." said Riddick, pulling her out of her thoughts again. "I absolutely believe in God." He jerked a knot very tightly and then turned to face Imam. "And I absolutely hate the fucker." he snarled with such acrimony in his words that Imam believed him.
He turned to Blade. "And what about you, my friend?" he asked which made Blade stop his polishing and glanced up at him. "I have no reason to believe in God. My mother was attacked and raped by a vampire hours before I was born. She died and I lived. I grew up on the streets, feeding off the homeless for years before I was finally found.
"Years later vampires killed the one person I could call family. There was no God then when I needed Him and there's no God now." said Blade steely-voiced.
Luna was surprised at that piece of revelation. She knew his mother was killed in the movies but not raped. 'Seems there are more changes then I first thought.' she mused before Imam brought her out of her thoughts again.
"He is with us, nonetheless," countered Imam calmly. "Two of your boys are already dead. How much faith do you have left, Father?" asked Riddick mockingly.
Luna glanced at Imam and saw his jaw ticking. He had said nothing on that last part and just turned and left.
She turned her gaze to the duo and glared at them. "You shouldn't have said that. He's only trying to help," she told them. Riddick and Blade both gazed up at her, both had a cold look in their eyes. "We don't need his help," said Blade curtly "Nor his fuckin' prayers," rumbled Riddick.
She huffed at them. "Maybe not his prayers but you should accept his help. Once you're gonna need help and then, when you need it the most, you're gonna realize there will be nobody there to help you. All because you two are so afraid of being betrayed," she hissed at them and turned to leave.
She could barely take two steps when a large hand grabbed her arm and roughly turned her around, revealing that it was Riddick who grabbed her. "Watch what you're saying, kitten. You seem to know all about us, kitten, but you don't know anything about us." growled the man, his voice held a hint of anger in it.
She gritted her teeth and couldn't stop the next words that escaped her mouth. "Maybe I do know more than I let on," she spat back, before her eyes widened at her mistake. She shouldn't have said that!
Blade stood up and came to stand next to Riddick. Both were staring holes in her skull. She gulped as their eyes narrowed. "That's an interesting revelation, kitten. What exactly do ya know about us?" growled Riddick as his grip on her arm tightened momentarily in warning.
She swallowed again and looked away. A growl came from him and he shook her. "What do you know about us?" demanded Riddick, but she kept her lips pursed.
An impatient grunt came from Blade and she saw him lift his hand out to her when someone cleared their throat. All three looked over at the person and saw that it was Imam. He arched an eyebrow at the scene but nobody answered. Instead, Riddick let go and Blade stepped back.
Luna rubbed her arm and hopped a step backwards as she ignored his gaze. Seeing that nobody was going to answer his silent question, he let it drop. He turned his gaze to Riddick and Blade. "We are ready to go," he told them. Riddick cast one last look to her before he turned his gaze to Imam. "Then let's go," he ordered.
The group walked further and reached the canyon where Riddick stopped and crouched down. The others heard a lot of squealing and wailing around them. So much so that it was almost deafening.
Luna was hyper alert. She knew they were surrounded by bioraptors everywhere and the thought unnerved her. Shivers of fear wracked her body as memories of the hole came to the front. Suddenly the thought of being hit by her parents wasn't so scary anymore. These things around them gave her a whole new meaning of fear.