Adasta sat quietly on the edge of her bed, picking at her fingernails. I wonder what Riddick's friends will be like, she thought. She was anxious to meet them, because she hadn't talked to anyone other than Riddick for a very long time. A 'very long time to Adasta was, on average, about four months. But they liked each other's company. Riddick liked to hear stories, for some odd reason, and the society that Adasta had grown up in was chock full of stories and legends. Mostly they were the happy ending type stories, but there were always the sad ones. The one she had first told Riddick, of the Guardian and the Protector, had been weighing heavily in the back of her mind lately. She rolled her eyes and flopped onto her back, looking up at the ceiling. Today was her birthday, and, by tradition, she was supposed to be married off today. Then I'm lucky, she thought solemnly. She sighed and closed her eyes.

"We're getting ready to land, I'll need you in the copilot's seat." Riddick said, coming through the doorway.

"Okay," She said, getting up and trailing behind him. Ever since her little speech about him having a good side, she had felt awkward around him. It wasn't that she was shy, they had gotten past that. She just felt weird. Oh well, she thought slowly. I'll figure it out if the god's permit.

"This is for forwards and backwards, this is for speed, and this is the hover mode button," Riddick explained, showing her all of the miscellaneous gadgets on the console of the ship. "And this," He said, pointing towards a red button, "Is only for star jumping." He was met with a confused expression on Adasta's face. "Goin' so fast that no one can see us," He said, a hint of exasperation in his voice. Adasta picked it up immediately.

"I'm sorry," She said solemnly, bowing her head slightly. He thinks that I'm stupid, she thought sadly. I should have known that.

"For what? You didn't do anything," He said, raising his eyebrows.

"I… don't know." She said almost silently. She looked up at him through her amber bangs. He was looking at her through his goggles.

"Hey, it ain't your fault," He grumbled, sitting in the copilots' seat. "Now sit your ass down and let's see if you can fly."

Fright pounded through her. How could he expect her to fly so quickly? He had just shown her the controls. Now or never, she thought, sitting down slowly and taking the controls in her hands. She pushed forward slightly, and felt the ship move. Then, gaining more confidence, pressed forward harder, sending the ship shooting ahead. A big smile broke across her face as she flew between the stars. She saw a planet up ahead, then looked over at Riddick.

I am so glad I am wearing these goggles, he thought. He didn't want her to see him with his eyes squinted shut. Never, ever, had he expected someone to catch on so quickly. Some catch on fast, he thought. Maybe she was smarter than he thought. He didn't notice that the ship was slowing down and had stopped. He heard her stand up and move, so he took control of the ship.

"We'll be in New Mecca in about thirty minutes," He said, steering the ship towards Helion Prime's atmosphere. "Hang on to somethin'," He said, looking over at her. They speeded towards the planet so fast, Adasta didn't have time to notice what they were doing. As they began nearing the planet, the ship began vibrating a bit, then more, until it was shaking completely. Oh shit, oh shit, oh shit! Adasta thought. "Ready!" Riddick yelled, as Adasta looked over at him. All of his muscles were tensed up, as he struggled to control the ship. They flew straight down, and Adasta was positive that they were going to crash, but just as it seemed inevitable, Riddick pulled out of the nose-dive and brought them horizontal.

Holy shit, Riddick thought. I knew I was tryin' to scare her, but I scared myself. Shit. He looked over at her, and was amused by what he saw. She was squashed into the back of the seat, hand on the armrest, gripping so tight that her knuckles were white with strain. Her golden eyes were wide with fear, and her mouth was partly open.

He poked her shoulder gently. "You can breathe again---"

"Don't touch me," She commanded, eyes staring straight ahead.

"Why not?" He asked, amused.

"Because I'm dead," She stammered.

"Oh, come on," He said, landing behind a particularly large dune of sand. He unstrapped himself and stood, stretching. Then he undid her and hauled her to her feet. "You're not dead." She stood uncertainly, her legs wobbly. Adasta groaned, leaning against the wall, putting her hand to her forehead.

"I feel like it," She muttered, staggering to the bedroom, and collapsing on the bed, closing her eyes. Adasta found comfort in the darkness behind her eyelids, sinking and immersing herself in it. She sighed happily, rolling onto her stomach.

"Get movin'," Riddick said, poking his head through the doorway. "We ain't got all day," He said. Adasta stood, and ran a hand through her uncombed hair.

"Do you have the decency to let me use a brush?" She grumbled at him from the bed. He chucked one at her.

Pain exploded in tiny stars in her mind. "You bastard!" She howled, holding her injured head. "That hurt!" She picked up the brush and threw it at him. It hit him in the face also, but he made no move to block it. "I'm sorry," She said, looking at the angry red welt on his cheek. Her head bowed once again, just as when he was teaching her how to pilot. Riddick's curiosity got the better of him, this time.

"Why do you bow your head like that?" He asked her nonchalantly.

Adasta didn't respond quickly. Instead, she sat up and put her chin in her hands, contemplating her response. "Because…" She began slowly, "I am a girl, and girls are supposed to know everything, I guess." She looked down at the floor. "We are shunned if we act stupid." Her voice was quiet and solemn.

"Oh," Riddick said. "What assholes." He looked out the window. "We need to get goin', and I want you to meet Jack, and you two can go shopping." Her eyes brightened considerably at the mention of shopping. She would get to barter again! Adasta thought happily, as Riddick handed her the brush and she pulled it through her hair. It snagged at a base of a particularly large knot, or a 'rat's nest', as her mother used to say.

"Ouch!" Adasta cried out painfully. She rubbed her scalp tenderly. "Stupid knot!"

"Here," Riddick said gruffly, walking over to her. "I'll get it."

"Are you sure?" Adasta asked uncertainly. Surely the large, extremely muscled man knew nothing of brushing hair. He'd probably even pull hard.

"Yeah," He said gruffly. Riddick took her hair gently in his hands, rubbing the red spot where she had almost ripped her hair off. He massaged it gently, then looked at the knot, tugging on the strands of her curly, burnished golden tresses. Her hair was like woven butterfly silk; soft, beautiful, and shimmering.

Her eyes were squinted shut, as she awaited the what seemed inevitable pain of him pulling her hair, but instead, he soothingly and tenderly massaged her head with his fingertips, driving the pain away. Then, he softly and slowly tugged the knot apart, and brushed her shoulder-length hair free of tangles.

Riddick could not believe what had just happened. He, the biggest, baddest, most malicious man on the face of the universe, was combing a nymph's hair as if she was his most precious lover. Yes, she was a nymph, she had told him that, but they were not lovers. They were friends, as much as Riddick didn't want to be. But he did have a thing for hair. Especially curly, soft, amber hair, and legs. Long legs. Both of which Adasta had. Shut up! His reasonable side commanded. She's like a sister! A freakin' hot sister, the animal said. Inside, he rolled his eyes at the both of them.

"Thank you," Adasta said, turning and looking up at him. Then, she wrapped her arms around him and hugged him. Oh, how she loved the feeling of his beautifully sculpted muscles tensing. He was a handsomely crafted man, with tanned skin that looked rough but was velvety and soft. Once, she had seen him in his dojo, working out, and was mesmerized by what she saw. He had moved so fluidly, so quickly, so… deadly. Every muscle stood out, glistening with sweat and exertion. Only for a second had she watched him, before she turned and walked away.

He had not expected her to hug him. A thank you, sure, but a hug? Completely unexpected. Cautiously, he hugged her back, pulling her willowy frame to him. They stood like that for a long moment, then she pulled away and smiled at him.

"Can we go now?" She asked excitedly. Inside, she was anxious to get away. On H'Karun, a gesture such as a hug to a male not in the family could get you exiled. She seemed to feel the Elder's eyes on her now. She brushed the feelings off of her quickly. Her mind went back to the Protector and the Guardian. Maybe they could stop at Haravium, H'Karun's holy planet/sanctuary. It wasn't too far from Helion Prime. She could probably do research in the Sacred Records there, too. Research would probably be the best thing to do at this point, as being that there was a census every year at H'Karun, dating back to the First Coming, where the Protector and the Guardian had began their lineages. Only those of their blood could end what they had begun so long ago. She sighed mentally. Lots and lots of research, she thought miserably. But she felt as if the task was hers, and had been laid upon her shoulders. She would talk to Riddick about Haravium later.

"Yeah," Riddick responded, looking at her. He turned and went to the bridge to 'fiddle with the goddamned mechanics', as he had said. He locked all of the doors and did everything, then got some clothes together for him and Adasta. He was positive that Imam and Jack would want them to spend the night. It would be courteous, and Imam was all about being nice and respectful, including courteous. And Jack would most certainly be curious about Adasta, and then Adasta would show Jack her abilities, and Imam would go psycho or some shit, then yeah. Now he was having doubts about bringing Adasta to New Mecca. Oh well. Can't fight the inevitable, he thought. Riddick put the clothes in a duffel bag and set it aside. He caught a faint light scent of lavender from one of his tanks. He frowned slightly, bringing it up to his nose and inhaling deeply. It was lavender, which meant that Adasta had been wearing it. The shirt also smelled of the earthy/rosy aroma that was uniquely Adasta. He sighed and put it in the bag. Finally, she would be able to buy her own clothes and stop wearing his. He had to admit, his clothes did look cute on her. But he had a limited amount of clothing, and now he had to cut it in half because of her arrival. Oh well.
Riddick grabbed his bag and headed off to find Adasta, who was playing in her room with some sort of poisonous plant thing.
He heard her giggling from down that hall, and knew she was up to something.

"What are you---" His words were cut short when a spiny dart shot out of some plant, and struck the wall next to him, hydrochloric acid dribbling out and burning furrows in the wall. "Holy fuck, Adasta!" He yelled, looking at the Venus flytrap thing. "What would you have done if that would have hit me!"

"I was just experimenting," She said shamefully. "I didn't know that it would shoot at you," She looked up at him through her bangs like she did when she was upset.

"Tell me before you 'experiment' again, will ya?" He muttered. Great, he thought. Now I have to worry about mutant acidic plants running around. I feel like a goddamned baby sitter.