The cold, something cold hit my mind, like ice. Something bad was coming.

I looked up and there was a shiny ship.

The shiny ships were bad, evil, kill kill kill.

The mantra of my head, I let the red mist catch me and hold me in its bloody fist.

I roared and went after the ships, the black descended and I went blind, letting the stuff in my head do the wet stuff.

I hid in the black.

Haunted by the fleeting image of her delicate littleness.

I awoke up out of the black and I was on the floor, I was dragged out of hiding with a blow to the head, teeth cracked in my jaw.

A Soldier stood over me with his gun drawn; I flew at him and tore him up, tearing at his neck and loving the warm blood hitting my mouth and gulping it down. I snorted and laughed, blood flying from my mouth.

He should have been smarter, faster, not much more than a child, scared, scared like a baby.

Now he was dead, lying down and dead.

Whispers catch at me and I spin, get my feet and sending dust up as I sprinted back to the Reckonin'

I grabbed a rope and yanked myself back up, still relishing the taste of blood, so warm, so delicious.

I clutched at the rim of metal and jumped onto the floor, snarling and hissing at the others and they stopped and stared as I stalked past.

I did the hard act all the way to my bunk, when I was there I felt like I was chucked into water, something trickled down my face and tasted salty through the blood, it was cryin', I was cryin'.

I felt really bad for that Soldier I had eaten. Dunno why or how but I was turning back into what I was. It was her, she was fixing me back into what I was.

I had to find her.

But don't even know her name or where she was.

Maybe I could find her with my head.

I closed my eyes and looked with my head. I could feel her, she was far away and she was…she was looking for me too.

Snapped, something snapped, the link to her snapped, I heard it. Like bones.

I pulled up the tattered blanket around me; a cold was inside me, a real deep hole with no end.

I jumped out my bunk and snatched the blanket, my knives, my two guns and a little glittery blue necklace I had gotten off a pretty lady one day long behind.

I stuffed the blanket and some real food and water into a really tattered rucksack. Then I put the pretty necklace into a pocket, making sure it wasn't gonna be broken and the put the guns into my slung and the knives into the other pockets.

I was ready.

I ran, growling faintly to make sure nobody would jump me.

I got the little ship bay and saw my ship. I called it Streaker when I got it 'cause it was so fast, faster than the yellow comet and faster than any ship out there, 'cause it was the best, well, the best to me.

I ran to it and ran my fingers along its smooth side; the cool metal was nice against my skin.

I looked round then smashed my fist against the green button and jumped into the seat Streaker when the top opened up, have to be quick quick anybody might catch me now.

Powered her up and up we went, I thought really hard and the door flew open and I flew out.

Into the black where there was nothing to stop me from findin' her.

I tried to open the link again and she was waiting, she was stuck inside of her, like me.

The link snapped before I could say anything but she yelled over the snapping noise, she said that her name was River Tam and she was on the Serenity.

I wondered where she might be.

I grinned and followed the nose on the inside of my head.