Chapter 4: "Fields of Innocence"

Evanescence

I still remember the world
from the eyes of a child
slowly those feelings
were clouded by what I know now

Kyra sat alone on the edge of a roof on an old, dilapidated building holding her knees to her chest and staring off into the red sunset. This was the seventh planet she had lived on since leaving Helion Prime. She had been here longer than the others; nearly six months.

A light breeze brushed across her smooth face and lifted her hair in its soft caress. Memories filled her mind as she thought over her life: Her escape from her abusive home as a child, her blind belief that she could make it alone in the big universe. The loneliness that struggled with the hope she felt as she boarded a transport heading towards New Mecca all alone. The way her heart had filled with awe as she first glimpsed Riddick chained in the wreckage of the transport, then the way her heart had stopped when he had killed the monster to save her.

In that moment she had fallen in love with the convict with the silver eyes. His power, and the unrecognized honor that seemed to elevate him above other men.

Then when they had finally made it to New Mecca, her beautiful dreams and beliefs began to unravel until they were no longer recognizable.

Now she sat here a woman; alone, hardened: Someone who had survived hell and was saved from it once more by the man she had loved since she was a child: Someone who had left that man because it was time that she accept her fate and give something back to him; the freedom from having to protect her, from having to save her, from having to watch her in her torment.


Where has my heart gone
an uneven trade for the real world
oh I...
I want to go back to
Believing in everything and knowing nothing at all

It had been nearly two years since she had left New Mecca; leaving Riddick standing alone in the night. In that time, she had learned to survive within her own skin. The nightmares still haunted her nights, but during the day she finally felt that she was coming back into herself as her soul and body were finally being cleansed by time.

All that was now missing was her heart.

She had given that up to protect Riddick; to do for him what he had so often done for her. Now everything within her longed for him: Everything within her longed to go back to him, and to believe once more in her beautiful dreams.

I still remember the sun
Always warm on my back
Somehow it seems colder now

Days passed by slowly as she lived; just lived. She saw the beauty of the world; of its soft breezes and brilliant sun rises an sunsets. But somehow they didn't seem to touch her. The sun felt cool, and the beauty seemed faded.

Where has my heart gone
Trapped in the eyes of a stranger
oh why...
I want to go back to
Believing in everything

Kyra stared off into the red sunset, hugging her knees to her chest but all she saw was glittering mercury eyes in a strong, dark face. Her heart was there.

All she could hope was that he was still there waiting for her.

Kyra's gaze dropped as she made the decision and with a slight nod she stood gracefully to her feet.

It was time.

Where has my heart gone
Trapped in the eyes of a stranger
oh why...
I want to go back to
Believing in everything