Chapter 3

Johns grinned sadistically. He stood in his small ship and looked over the file on the view screen.

"You're getting more careless, Tyana."

Johns furrowed his eyebrows as he studied the information. He had suspected that Tyana wouldn't go down without a fight. He hated her from the moment they met. She was trouble in his mind. She was too easy to distract and not very good at hiding things, but she still had some tricks up her sleeve. Johns had easily retrieved a file from what she had thought were "secret" findings. He was well equipped in trickery…as a merc he had to be. He doubted that she was still alive, due to Riddick, but he didn't care either way.

"Bingo."

Johns studied the coordinates for a small M-class planet. He knew that Riddick would most likely be headed there. Riddick couldn't be underestimated in his ability to figure out the seemingly impossible. Johns could think of nothing but payday as he set his ship to autopilot. The danger of the force, mentioned the file, didn't even enter his stubborn mind.

"Thought you could get away from me, for once, Riddick? You are sorely mistaken. I'm coming for you, bitch."

Johns laughed disgustingly. He was ready for the chase. He lived his life for moments like these.

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"Can I at least pee? I've really gotta go!"

Tyana had been pestering Riddick for what had seemed like hours. His nerves were wearing thin.

"Alright! You can, if you shut up!"

Riddick pulled her off the floor and led her to the bathroom.

"Aren't you going to untie me? I can't do this without the use of my hands."

"I'm sure if you tried hard enough, you could figure it out. It's either that or going back to the control room. You can always make use of your leg if you have to go that bad."

"Okay! Just let me go then!"

He switched her hands from her back to the front so she could maneuver minimally. Riddick stood there as she entered the small, dimly lit room. He just stood in the doorway and stared at her. His eyes seemed to bore into her as the seconds passed.

"Well, can I please have some privacy?!"

Riddick shrugged and slowly began to shut the door, but he paused momentarily.

"Don't try anything, because it won't work."

"I'll be a perfect angel."

Tyana flashed a sarcastic smile as he shut the door with a grunt.

As soon as the door slid closed, her eyes swept the room. She looked for anything that could aide her escape. First, she quickly used the restroom and then continued to search. She could hear Riddick's steady breathing through the thin door. She swallowed uncomfortably. She knew that she didn't have much time. She quickly opened a small compartment located barely above the mirror. She scanned it for any usable items. Tyana was about ready to quit when she found a single razor blade sitting under a couple of folded towels. Her breath caught in her throat as the door slid open. She tucked the blade away quickly and spun to face the doorway.

"Time's up."

'Damn'. She inwardly groaned. She wished she had only had a few more moments to explore the bathroom. Maybe she could've found something more, but she knew that even with a better weapon, she still posed no threat to Riddick.

Riddick put her arms back behind her back and lead her into the control room. He set her against the wall and approached the main computer panel.

"Looks like we're right on time."

"Yeah, to the planet in MY files!"

"What...are you saying this is YOUR planet? Who made you God?"

"I'm definitely not God…if I were…you wouldn't be standing here. You would've been 'taken care of' a long, LONG time ago."

Tyana spit out the words, which were dripping with contempt. She hated having to answer to someone. She liked being her own woman.

Riddick just grunted and turned back to the screen. The computer read that the atmosphere was somewhat unstable. He ignored the fact and began their decent.

"You better be ready, because we're landing."

He tapped a few more buttons, and the ship lurched slightly. A red light began to blink and an alarm began to sound. Several of the ship's systems had been blown. Their landing had been disturbed by the rough atmosphere. The friction was slowly wearing on the small vessel. Tyana clenched her jaw together in an effort to keep it from rattling. The turbulence shook the ship like a small tremor. Soon the quake subsided, and Tyana looked in Riddick's direction. At first Riddick said nothing. He began a system's check to see what had been damaged in the landing. Tyana soon broke his concentration.

"Hey, I'm alive! I would have sworn something worse would have happened. I mean come on, you're in charge."

"Yes, you're alive, and you better keep quiet if you want to stay that way."

Tyana let the conversation drop off at Riddick's threat. He hadn't harmed her yet, but she wasn't willing to push the limits too far. She had a better chance of escape if she was actually breathing.

"Looks like most of the systems are out. We'll need to let the ship finish the internal repairs. It looks like we'll be roughing it today."

He knew that there were only minor glitches, and the ship would still be able to get off the planet. Riddick walked to the back of the room and turned a small dial on the wall in a clockwise direction. A small hatch slowly lowered to the ground. When the door was open, both Riddick and Tyana were speechless at what they beheld. They were greeted by a stunning array of colors. A deep, fleshy green surrounded them as far as the eye could see. A deep blue blanket reached far above their heads. Riddick led Tyana out into the new discovery.

Tyana had never seen anything so beautiful. They were standing in a forest filled with unusual trees, grass, and flowers. The vibrant growths were like those of earth only filled with ten times as much color. The temperature was cold and there was a light breeze blowing. The blue sky was a mix of light and dark shades of color. For a moment all was forgotten: the whole incident aboard the prison transport. Her state of awe quickly faded when Riddick interrupted any chance for further thoughts.

"I'd better get a fire going since the ship's environmental controls are down. Tomorrow we will explore this planet. We can't just be sitting ducks here in the ship. We'll come back for it later. Besides, I'm sure Johns will pay us a visit soon."

Not too much later, Riddick ate some food from the ship while sitting near the fire. After the meal, dusk approached quickly. Riddick then lay down to rest.

Tyana figured that this would be as good a time as any to try to escape. She was formulating a plan when she heard something stir in the bushes beyond the ship.

"Riddick…something's out there."

She turned to wake Riddick up, only to find him already wide-awake, shiv in hand. Tyana trembled, wondering what hideous creatures this beautiful planet could hold. Riddick seemed calm and collected while holding his shiv, poised and ready to strike. Suddenly a strange creature exited the leafy enclosure. It was unlike anything Tyana had ever seen before. It had scaly, reptile-like skin but was shaped almost like a large mountain lion without a tail. It had razor-sharp teeth and made odd grunting noises as it approached them. Riddick sprang forward and tried to drive the weapon into its neck. The animal quickly dodged his attempt and returned it with a quick swipe to Riddick's shoulder. Riddick let out a small yell of pain before composing himself. His next thrust of the shiv made contact with flesh. The beast screamed in pain. It then turned its attention elsewhere.

Tyana was watching in horror and disbelief as the animal lunged at Riddick. She was scared of this creature and what pain it could inflict. Her thoughts stopped dead in their tracks, and she was frozen with fear. The alien beast was running toward her, teeth barred. She screamed as loud as her small lungs would permit. It jumped into the air and was falling toward her. She squeezed her eyes shut and tried to prepare for immense pain. When none came, she slowly opened her eyes to get a peak of the situation. Riddick had snatched the creature away in mid air and was now battling it on the forest floor. He thrust the shiv into its gut over and over again until the corpse was limp and lifeless. Blood covered his hands as he stood staring at the red stained body. For once, it was not the stain of human blood upon his blade.

Tyana sat with a shocked expression on her face. A murderer had just saved her life. The concept was pure irony in her opinion. She didn't know what to think of the man at the moment. Maybe he did have some emotions buried deep within him.

"Th…ank…thank…you. You saved my life."

Riddick grunted and then began to laugh.

"Silly girl, I didn't save you. I just killed that damn thing for food. Gonna have to eat something when supplies run out, right?"

Even Riddick had a hard time believing his own answer. He knew it wasn't true, but he didn't want to admit to himself that she was affecting him. He didn't want to feel anything…no emotions made things much simpler. Unfortunately he would have to deal with these situations eventually.

Tyana tried to shrug it off. She knew he would never admit to saving her, but she felt upset that he just brushed it off as nothing. She knew that she was crazy for trying to change him; she had a feeling it would take a lot to break through the barrier he set up. Tyana felt the heavy blanket of silence between them.

"Well…it figures that out of the small number of alien species on this planet that we'd actually come across one…and a dangerous one at that."

"Huh? Yeah well, you can't be a picky eater."

Riddick brushed off her statement as he skinned the animal with his blade. He butchered it and placed it in a small pack that he had found on the ship. He then set the bag aside so he could store the meat for later use. When he was done, he laid back down to rest. Riddick wasn't sure how cold it would get in the ship if they decided to sleep there for shelter. He chose to stay put.

Hours had gone by and the site was very dark. Tyana was still awake. She knew Riddick would never change, and she knew she couldn't stand to be a prisoner for much longer. She carefully pulled out the concealed razor blade that she had kept from earlier on the ship. She began to work with the small blade and didn't quit until the shackles fell to the ground. Once she was free of her restraints, she glanced over at Riddick. He was breathing heavily as if he were deep in sleep. She looked for some light but found none. She didn't have extra time to search in fear of waking Riddick up, so she left without finding any. Tyana grabbed a few supplies and headed out into the unknown jungle.

Riddick got up and gathered all his weapons and supplies. He smirked to himself. She thought that she had him fooled, but he had known she was awake and had even watched her escape. He had known about the razor blade since she had gotten it on the ship. He was just bored, and this chase after her seemed like a nice challenge. Once he was ready, he knelt down where she had so recently been. He picked up a single strand of her long brown hair. He breathed in her scent and memorized every detail. Her essence was sweet and, oddly, somewhat irresistible to him. Riddick got up and followed her trail into the forest.

Tyana had no idea where to go. She was stumbling around blindly trying to find a refuge or way to escape. The sky held a fair amount of stars, but no moon to guide her steps. She heard the babbling of water to her left. Tyana figured that it must be a river or creek and decided to follow the water's flow. She walked as fast as she could while trying not to trip. She could only see a few feet ahead on the path, lit by the starry night. Tyana was glad to be free again. She sighed softly as she thought about her luck of getting away. The next thing she knew, she tripped and started to fall. She let a soft scream escape her lips. Instead of hitting the ground, Tyana fell into what felt like weightlessness. The strange experience caught her off guard.

Riddick watched in shock. He had been about to make his move and retrieve her when he saw something strange happen. His eyes had been glowing in the dark night as he watched her trek along the river bed. He had seen her trip and expected her to fall. What he hadn't counted on was seeing what she fell into. It was like a massive wall of energy. It was a planetary distortion that she stepped right into. He could see through it as if it weren't even there. If it hadn't been for a slight visual anomaly and Tyana disappearing into it, he wouldn't have noticed it. He approached it slowly. He didn't want to admit that he was worried about where she had gone. He convinced himself that he should follow just to retrieve his prisoner and get further away from Johns.

"Hell, here goes nothing."

Riddick muttered to himself as he stepped into the unknown force.

Scenes and images began to flash before his eyes. He couldn't sort everything out; he was almost in a dream state. He saw people and places. He heard talking and strange gibberish, almost like clicking noises.

"We stick to the plan. We get the four cells back to the skiff. We're off this rock!……………Don't you cry for Johns. Don't you dare…………….I told you I'd die for them, Riddick, not you."

Things ran together, and Riddick couldn't figure out what was going on. He saw a ship, some passengers, a small boy, some kind of law officer, a group of menacing figures, and a woman. The woman was clearest of all in his scrambled vision. She seemed to be a steady point in his confusion, but then she was gone. He couldn't think or decipher as the strange events flashed across his mind. Scenes from his past overtook the current ones. He saw a middle-aged woman toss a baby into a liquor store trash bin with an umbilical cord wrapped around its neck. More images raced around and he had no way to attempt logical thought. All this happened in mere seconds when it felt like hours. As quickly as it had began, it ended…everything went black.