Blood Light
On a dead planet with one long night of danger, a young woman crashes with the survivors of the Hunter-Gratzner who can light up the darkest of shadows. Set during the movie, "Pitch Black". M for language and mild sexual content later.
This is a work of fiction. The Chronicles of Riddick and all rights to said media are owned by Universal Studios. The character Stella Marx is entirely fictional and in no way is in the original story. All rights to the OC are mine.
Stella rummaged through the cargo section, looking for her suitcase while everyone else scrambled for the necessities. She had to move a pile of scrap metal before she found it at the bottom. The chrome finish was pretty scuffed up, there were even a couple of dents in it, but the thumbprint scanner on the lock handle still worked. Quickly, she opened it and pulled out a cream colored, short-sleeved jumpsuit. Hidden in the shiny, sectioned belt that came with it were razor-thin throwing knives. She changed out of her summer dress, making sure that she was alone in the cargo section, sliding on the matching calf-length brown boots afterwards. She continued adding to the ensemble, shoving a five-inch-long hunting knife in to the custom-made sheath in her right boot and strapping on an inch-wide bracelet that doubled as a container for her darts. After she was done, she pulled out a hair tie and tried to braid her hair. She'd never braided her own hair before, but she thought that it would be easy.
Ten minutes of frustration later, she was thinking of cutting off all her hair. She finally decided to put it in a plain ponytail when she felt rough hands gathering her hair from her temples. She froze, thinking it was Johns.
"I used to do this for a woman I knew when I was a kid." Riddick rumbled as he deftly separated her hair into four sections and wove them together. For some reason, knowing it was him and not Johns made her relax. "Name was Lupa. Used to take me in at night so I could have a roof over my head. Used to to comb it out and braid it for her at the night. Hair was so long that she couldn't do it herself." She stood there silently as he wrapped the hair tie around the end. She turned to him.
"What happened to her?" She asked.
"She died." He said bluntly.
"I'm sorry." She wanted to do something to comfort him, but she as still a little scared of him. "I never had anyone to teach me how to braid my own hair. No sisters. I wish I did, though." He said nothing. An awkward silence stretched between them. She cleared her throat. "Well, I-"
"What was your grandfather's name?" He asked suddenly.
"What?"
"Your grandfather. His real name." Her stomach turned when she comprehended his question.
"Wh-...I-I don't know what you're talking about. His name was Marx, like-"
"Don't bullshit me." He growled. "What was his name?" She shivered at the threat in his tone.
"S-Satoli. Boniface Satoli." She waited for him to walk away, to tell the others who her grandfather really was, but he just stood there. Her eyes started to prickle.
"Prince Satoli. The Blue-Blood." He whispered to himself. Her resolve crumbled.
"P-please d-don't tell!" She sobbed, her voice trembling. "I-I'll give you wh-whatever you w-want! M-My family is v-very rich, I c-can give you all of m-my money-"
"I don't want your money." He said quietly. "Calm down."
"B-but i-if Johns f-found out, h-he'd arrest m-me f-for n-not t-turning him i-in-"
"Johns won't arrest anyone. " He said. "Your secret is safe with me." She swiped at her eyes, blinking away her tears.
"R-really? Th-thank you." She knelt down and started throwing her stuff in the suitcase haphazardly. "H-he wasn't bad. He was actually a kind ruler, but when the Council found out that he was an assassin in his youth, they decided to overthrow the monarchy. They didn't want it to get out. They were planning on selling the both of us to the Slavers." She slammed the suitcase shut and threw on her cloak. "I don't blame them. My grandfather said the new government won't last." She turned to look at Riddick, but he was gone.
Stella walked a little ways ahead of the group, the hood of her cloak up to protect her from the glare of the sun. After a few minutes of walking by herself, she heard someone walking next to her.
"How you holdin' up?" She heard Johns ask.
"I'm fine." She said, taking another hit of oxygen. They walked in silence for a while.
"Look, I'm sorry if I moved too fast for you. It's not every day you get to kiss a beautiful girl." She blushed at his compliment.
"No apologies necessary. I-I'm not the most experienced with men. I've been very protected."
"I kind of figured that out when your grandpa yelled at me for 'making eyes' at you in the ship." She avoided his gaze.
"Why do you keep saying that?" She asked
"Keep saying what?"
"That I'm beautiful."
"Because you are, Stella." he smiled at her. Butterflies started dancing in her stomach at his look. Maybe being stranded isn't so bad... She thought.
"I can appreciate antiques, but this...?" Paris said as he returned from examining the ship. "This is something else."
"It'll work." Johns said.
"There's nothing we can't repair as long as the electrical adapts." Fry added.
"I can help with the system repairs on the piloting mechanisms and see if there's any rewiring that needs to be done." Stella said. They all stared at her. "Ships are my hobby." She said simply.
"Ummm, if you can check the piloting mechanisms, that would be great." Captain Fry said.
"It's not a star jumper." Shazza commented.
"It doesn't have to be." Riddick announced from a few feet away. They al turned to stare at him. "Take a two-seater like this back up to the sol-track shipping lanes. Stick out a thumb. Bound to get picked up." Stella glanged at the others to see Johns give Captain Fry an 'I-told-you so' look.
"Can I get a hand over here?" Fry said in answer to it. Stella thought it was a good time to check the outer wiring connectors. She grabbed the toolbag and went to the front outside hull latch. She went to work unlatching the front radiation shield and the secondary stabalizers to get at it. When she finally got them open, a mess of tangled and chewed wires spilled out. She studied at the tangle in disbelief and went back to talk to Fry.
"Was the front panel open when you got here?" She asked Fry as Shazza was connecting the power cell to the main system.
"No. It was closed, why?"
"It looks like someone was trying to convert all of the power to the stern lights. The whole thing is a huge mess of stripped and twisted wires. I'm going to have to sort and re-fuse all of them to the original scematics. It'll take at least two hours and I need some fusing tape for it."
"There's a utilities shed over by that old greenhouse." Johns said. "Here, I'll show you where it is." He stepped out and gestured for her to follow.
When they got there, Stella saw in the dim, dusty light that there were tools and metalworking supplies packed in every inch of the place. A fine layer of dust covered everything. She spotted a roll of fusing tape on the worktable, its surface crowded with tools.
"I found some-" she felt Johns grab her arm. With a yank, he spun her around and covered her mouth with his. She felt the edge of the worktable dig into her lower back as his lean body pressed agaist hers. His lips moved provocativly over hers, begging her to open her mouth for him. Tentativly, she did. He moaned deep in his throat as his tongue delved into her mouth, flirting with hers. This wan't like the tender first kiss. This was frantic heat and passion. His hands moved freely over her body, unlacing her cloak and letting it drop to the floor. He pulled away to examine the way her outfit hugged the curves of her body. His burning, blue-eyed gaze seemed to be an X-ray.
"This is nice. I like this." He panted, his arms pulling her as close as they could get. There was a huge ruckus as Johns lifted Stella up and deposited her onto the worktable, knocking off half of the tools with the sweep of his arm. All she could do was cling desperatly to him. Her arms went around his neck, his hips between her legs. She tossed her head back, so that Johns could graze lips and tongue up and down her neck. He nippped and licked, drawing out little whimpers and moans from her. His mouth made its way to hers again as his hands found the hem of her shirt, taking advantage by slipping inside to stroke the silky skin of her back. One of his hands came up to cup her left breast. She panted at the feel of his rough hands on her bare flesh. Her head was spinning. Her body was on fire. She didn't know what Johns was doing to her, but it felt good. She couldn't stand it. She couldn't...
Throught her half-closed eyes she could see in the doorway the shadow of-
"Riddick!" she gasped, her eys wide as she pulled away. Johns looked at her in disbelief before following her shocked gaze to the doorway.
"Fuck!" Johns exclaimed, pulling away from Stella. She jumped off the table and hastily threw on her cloak, scooping up the forgotten fusing tape from the floor. They stared at each other for a few beats before Riddick strolled away, a hint of a grin on his face.
"Can't get a few damn minutes..." Johns muttered, pissed. Stella didn't stay for the rest, rushing out to find Riddick. He was waititng in a secluded alley between two houses, leaning against the wall of one.
"I thought I told you to keep away from Johns?" He said casually. She licked her lips nervously. They tasted like dry dirt and chapped skin.
"From what I inferred from your tone, it was a recommendation." She stated. "Besides, he's been nothing but kind to me-"
"If you think playing tonsil-hocky and pawing at you like a dog is 'being kind', then I can be kind, too." In an instant, he was towering over her, a mere inch away. She gasped and tried to back away, but he seized her arms, trapping her where she was. "What do you think? Should I 'be kind' to you?" He rumbled softly. He leaned in so close, Stella could smell him; male sweat and something else, something feral. She kind of liked it. He took a deep breath through his nose, moving over her head and down the side. His exhaled breath hit her neck, making her shiver. Just the thought if him kissing her set her body afire. Sweet gods above!
"A-are you using your vulgarity as your weapon, now?" She said, trying to put as much distance as he would allow, which wasn't much. He chuckled right next to her ear. This wasn't good.
"Nah. I use weapons as weapons. Vulgarity is more like a sidekick." He whispered. Her throat went dry.
"Please, Mr. Riddick, I have to get back." She whimpered, trying to tug her arms out of his iron grip. Suddenly, he let go, making her stumble.
"Run along now." He said "You don't want to keep the rest waiting."
Stella went back to the ship in a daze and settled into the task of detangling, reorganizing, repairing, and reconnecting the damaged wiring. It was a good way to keep her thoughts away from Riddick. Captain Fry checked on her when Stella started, but blanched when she saw how much work Stella would have to do. As soon as she was done, however, Stella got a surprised look from Fry.
"You did that?" The capain asked.
"Yes. Spaceships were my hobby back on Tarsier. What worries me is that this job was done without any amount of skill. They seemed to just rip out the wires and reconnected them in a haphazard manner. Another thing that worries me is that there are signs of claw marks all over these panels. It is as if there was a large animal crawling all over this place." Fry said nothing, a concentrated look on her face.
"The only animals i know on this planet right now are those things in the caves underground." She said slowly, thoughtfully. "But they seem to be sensitive to sunlight."
"Then how did they manage to claw up these panels?" Stella asked. Fry frowned at the ship, like it was the source of their problems and not their only way of getting off of the planet.