AN: Since we have now veered from the movie's plot, I will put a disclaimer that this chapter is going to vaguely reference something that happened in the prequel graphic novel, and I would recommend looking up Angharad's backstory.
Chapter 7: Just an object
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River's POV
They continue on as dusk sets on the plains. The clouds cover the small sliver of moon that hangs in the sky, and obscures their visibility. Furiosa is still doing repairs down below as the wives sleep in their seats. The raggedy man has switched with the girl and is driving, while she holds Eurion, Angharad's baby, in her lap. Eurion, gold in Welsh, like the color of the baby's eyes. It was a perfect name.
As she looks from the sleeping baby in her arms, she can hear the sleeping woman in the back seat who's heart is so conflicted.
"I didn't want it." Angharad's slumbering thoughts drift into the girl's mind. "I tried to get rid of you. How could I have been so afraid of something so small? So innocent?" The girl's heart aches for Angharad.
"So, um, ahem…" The raggedy man clears his throat. "Where is this… this Green Place?" He quietly asks her.
She looks at him. "It's a long night's run, heading east." She lies mindlessly. But a small reflection a short distance away catches her attention.
"Stop." She says forcefully as she sit up in her seat. She feels the raggedy man look over at her, but she doesn't take her eyes of the spot where she saw the small flash.
He downshifts the rig and it crawls to a stop. The women in the back seat begin to stir and the girl quickly hands the baby to a still sleepy Angharad before jumping out. Her feet land with a thud on the ground and she takes off into the night. She feels the confusion behind her, hears the pad of his footsteps, but her mind is consumed by the twisted metal that had caught her eye.
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Max's POV
I followed her towards the wreckage of, well, I didn't know exactly what to call it. It was some type of vehicle, but unlike anything I had ever seen. It was almost as big as the rig, but had no visible wheels. Not that you could really tell if it was supposed to have wheels, the thing looked like it had been stripped bare of anything important or useful.
As I get closer, I see her pry some type of door open and dart inside. I turn and see the other women wandering closer, but warily keeping their distance. Inside, I hear the sounds of metal hitting metal, like someone looking for something underneath the wreckage.
I tentatively take a step inside and duck below the low hanging wires and other bits hanging from the ceiling. It's dark inside, but small holes of light peak through the side of the walls from where metal has been stripped away by looters. Something moves around in front of me and I squint to make out what. The soft mumbling of nonsensical words and whats sounds like something else tells me it's the girl.
"Should be here… always had one… failsafe… duh liou mahng …where is it?"
I take a few more steps forward and bus more wires away from my view, and see her half underneath some type of console. Her foot taps nervously on the ground as more bits of metal come flying out from underneath.
The more I look around the small area though, the more confused I get. But my thoughts are quickly interrupted by the one of her voice.
"An Endo/Exo-Atmospheric Shuttle… capable of breaking atmo… standard version a part of the 03-K64-Firefly." She says from under the console, her voice becoming slightly more frantic.
There is an electrical hiss as she pulls something out from underneath the console and emerges shortly after. She turns it over in her hands as if willing something to happen. She glances down at the object, her hair cascading in front of her face… she looks so much like a ghost, and their voices trickle into my brain.
"Where are you, Max?"
"Where are you?"
"Help us. You promised to help us."
"Help… her."
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River's POV
"Just an object. It doesn't mean what you think..." her voice echoes in her mind.
She feels the salty tears slowly from in her eyes. Feels them trail down her cheeks. She's never felt so alone, and it was all her fault.
"Captain Daddy said he would always find me. She was their witch… and now she's just broken." She says as she turns the pulse beacon over in her hands.
The river of tears are streaming down her face when she unknowingly throws her arms around him as if he's some type of anchor in the storm of her mind. When she looks at him, his expression still unreadable but his thoughts a flurry.
"Ghosts… broken promises…guilt." It was like looking in a mirror.
She realizes her mistake quickly, and takes a step backward, afraid of what her proximity could stir in her mind… or his. Momentary weakness. You don't touch without permission. She should know better. She nervously plays with the pulse beacon in her hands and looks down averting her face from his. But after what feels like an eternity of silence, his rough hand comes to rest under her chin and tilts it up. His fingertips are calloused, but to her its like soft feathers. Her breath catches in her throat as their eyes meet.
"If you can't fix what's broken, you'll, uh...You'll go insane." He says to her in a hushed voice.
Her mind reeks with cackling laughter. If only he knew how insane she was. But she doesn't say anything, she simply lets his words hang in the silence between them. Now it's almost as if his fingertips are on fire, stoking the flame in the pit of her stomach. He looks like he wants to ask her something… his mouth about to speak when a voice calls to them both.
"Furiosa wants to get moving again." Capable says from the door.
He quickly drops his hand from her chin and turns to leave. But she can still feel his fingertips on his skin. She lets out a breath she didn't know she was holding and quickly follows suit. But not before shoving broken pulse beacon into the side of her boot. A reminder of past mistakes.
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Max's POV
He doesn't know why he did it. Why he felt compelled to tell her those words. But there was just something uncomfortably familiar about her in that moment. It was like looking at a broken piece of mirror reflecting him before… before they died.
This world was broken, but for some reason he didn't want to see her break any more than she already had. There was an innocence still buried in the depths of her eyes that he wanted to protect.
"Help… her Max."
"Help her."
He shakes his head violently to dislodges the figments in his mind. Hears her soft footsteps in the sand behind him. No one asks anything as they climb back into the rig, but Furiosa throws him a questioning glance.
The only response she gets though is a small shrug of his shoulders.
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River's POV
"Checking for supplies." She says as Furiosa's gaze turns from the raggedy man to her when she hops back up into the rig. "Bone dry." She offers up quickly before the older woman can prod any further.
No one else asks anything more as Furiosa throws the rig into gear and they continue driving in to the night. But that doesn't mean their minds are quiet. No, she hears them all loud and clear… questioning who the girl really is, or more correctly what she's capable of doing.
But she can't think about that… their thoughts now. They were getting closer. Closer to the rotten quagmire, and she needed to mentally prepare.
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… Elsewhere in the Verse…
Apart from the hum of Serenity, it was quiet on the bridge of Serenity as Mal disconnects the wave from Fanty and Mango. But ever since River had up and disappeared, everything had been quiet. The tension however, was thick enough to cut with one of Jayne's knives.
Simon and Mal didn't talk unless there was some doctoring to do on Simon's part. Mal had grown tired of the unspoken words the Doctor seemed to be glaring at him any chance he got. As if Mal hadn't done everything he could to look for River over the past few months. But the Doctor's impatience was wearing thin on the Captain… and they were running low on fuel and credits to keep Serenity in the air.
Mal walks from the bridge to the kitchen where the rest of the crew were eating dinner. "Wash set course for Beaumonde after you finishing eating."
"Sir?" Zoe asks as a way of getting further explanation.
Mal's request is met with a few questioning looks from his crew. "Fanty and Mango have a job for us."
It's this comment that breaks the tension, and Simon immediately jumps up from his seat and glare at the Captain. "We can't stop looking."
"Have to, need the credits and the fuel." Mal says as he returns Simon's glare with one of his own.
"And I need to get paid." Jayne says as he shovels protein into his mouth.
"Jayne." Inara hisses at him for his callousness.
"What? Just saying is all." He continues with food in his mouth.
Simon looks more frantic now. "But we can't leave, what if…" But Mal cuts him off before he can protest any further.
"Your sister has run off Doc, we may never find her and unless she wants to be found we probably wont."
"We're just gonna turn around and leave? Leave one of the crew behind?" Kaylee asks Mal now.
Mal winces at her words and Zoe chimes in. "Sir, there was a time we would never have left anyone behind."
"This ain't the war Zoe." Jayne says between another bite.
"She's just a child for god's sake." Wash says as he grows frustrated with the merc's attitude.
And it seems everyone is up in arms over the discussion of moving on. Mal pinches the bridge of his nose as everyone starts yelling around him. It's only when Jayne and Simon begin throwing out physical threats that Mal's eyes snap open and he pounds his fists on the table effectively silencing everyone.
"This ain't up for discussion no more!" Mal yells. "We got mouths to feed and ship to keep flying. We spent as much time as we could lookin' for River, but unless something miraculous happens, we…"
But Mal is effectively silenced as one of the alarms form the bridge kicks on and echoes throughout Serenity.
"Kaylee what the hell is that?" Mal asks in confusion as he looks at the mechanic.
"Wash and I rigged an alarm, so if the shuttle…" And Kaylee's eyes go wide as she runs out of the kitchen and towards the bridge, the rest of the crew following hot on her heels.
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AN: I am so sorry it's taken me forever to update this story. I 1) lost my motivation because my thesis sucked all energy out of me, and 2) the last part of this chapter stumped me for the longest time. Anyways, hope you all enjoyed! Until next time, stay shiny ;)
Translations:
duh liou mahng - sonofabitch