A/N: Hey guys! Finally, the second chapter. Took me long enough eh? This one is a little longer than the first and goes a little more in depth. I still haven't found a beta so if you would like to offer your services..nudge nudge. Okay, on with the story!
Next to the last story, one about the convict in a transport ship with his least-favourite merc, Adien had drawn him as she saw him. Tall, bald and menacing with his ever present black goggles he stood in cargo pants and a black wife beater on the surface of a god-forsaken planet with the sun behind him and a shiv in his hand. The image was from a nightmare she had had once, where she was trapped on this hellish planet with winged demons chasing her. But then Riddick had appeared slicing and slashing, hacking them all to bits. When she woke up she had immediately set to drawing it. Now it was finished, if not coloured, and she decided to show it to Jack when she came up in a few minutes.
Slipping into her Pj's she crawled onto the bed and leaned back against the headboard and clutched a pillow to her chest as she examined the sketch. Surely he wasn't real, this Riddick fellow. Adien was started from her thoughts when Jack knocked softly on her door.
"Adien, you dressed in there?" she called.
"Yeah, come on in." Jack walked in and sat cross-legged on the bed across from Adien, ready to begin her story when she saw the notebook the girl had in her hands.
"What's this?" Jack asked, plucking it from the girl's unresisting hands.
"Who's…?" Jack trailed off, looking closely at the sketch. Adien watched for a reacting as the older girl's eyes darted from the notebook to her face.
"It's Riddick, right? He's not just some guy in a story though is he? He's real..." Adien said quietly.
She watched as Jack swallowed convulsively and wondered why she was so shocked by the picture. She had heard the description of him a hundred times, was it really so unbelievable that she could draw him? Even her discovery of his existence shouldn't have shocked her this much. Heaving a ragged sigh, Jack looked up at Adien.
"I've got one more story to tell you. You haven't heard this on before. In fact, there's on one that even knows this story save me, Imam and…Riddick. Well, no one that's still alive at least." With that, Jack launched into a fantastic tale of convicts, monsters, love and escape. She didn't leave out anything, even when she wished she could have. The tale went on and on and didn't stop at the escape from T2 but continued to the telling of all those familiar stories by Riddick during their long days in space. The story went right up to her last day with him. There she had to stop, unable to continue because of the burning feeling in her throat.
"Jack? Jack? Come on Jack, what happened?" the girl wondered what had made jack stop so suddenly. After a moment she put the pieces together, since Riddick obviously wasn't here any more that must mean that-
"He left. About a week after we got here he slipped off during the night. I wanted to go after him, to stay with him but Imam held me here, even locked me in my room once. I guess it was for the best. Riddick apparently didn't want me around. Didn't want to have to bother with looking after me, taking care of me. The only thing that kept me 'sane' was his stories. Even now I wonder what stories he's making, which mercs he's running from. I might be leaving in a few days. When I do, I want you to stay here, okay?" she finished, looking at the younger girl seated across from her. Adien glanced up, putting on a mischievous grin.
"You gonna go find him? Riddick I mean. He must mean a lot to you. And when you do I promise I won't chase after you." Looking at her clock, Adien saw that it was almost 1:30 in the morning. The story had taken longer then she had expected. Jack turned to look at the clock as well and said,
"K kid, we can talk more about this tomorrow. Right now we both need to get to bed." Adien slipped under her blankets as Jack quietly padded out of the room. Reaching over she turned off her lamp and laid on her back as the stared into the darkness thinking. So it's true. Riddick is really. But what's with jack? She seems almost obsessed with finding him now. And what about imam? The lover of all that is holy and righteous seems fine with her risking her neck to go find some killer.
Slowly Adien drifted into a fitful sleep full of dreams in which she saw her drawn black and white Riddick slipping out the window and into the night. In another she was floating on her back in a great ocean. She felt peaceful, calm like she hadn't been in years. Breathing deeply she dove beneath the surface expecting to see the sandy bottom but finding only more water, extending forever beneath her. As she swam on, she realized she didn't feel any need to breath. By this time the dream had become lucid and she knew it was just a dream. But she was happy just floating for the night.
The next morning when Adien woke up she could already smell breakfast cooking downstairs. Rolling out of bed she grabbed some clothes and headed for the bathroom. As she got cleaned up and dressed she thought about last night and what jack and told her. She decided to talk with her about it after breakfast. With her stomach growling Adien went down stairs and found imam finishing touches on their food. As she took her usual seat at the table Adien saw Jack coming down the stairs looking tired. Imam looked up with a knowing smile.
"Up late?" Glaring, Jack growled something vaguely menacing. Definitely not a morning person. As for being up late, after she left Adien's room jack went back to her own to make guilt free plans. Since Adien had promised to stay she didn't feel nearly so bad about leaving to chase her convict. It wasn't that she was worried about the girl not being able to handle herself in the world outside. She knew she could, just like Jack had. But she also knew of Riddick's unconscious charisma, the animalistic magnitude that had drawn in Fry and herself. It got Fry killed and ended Jack waiting for five years for him to return. Not anymore though. She was taking things into her own hands, going out to find him herself.
She had hacked into countless merc's systems looking for info on him. Finally, about six months ago, she found him. That is to say, Tombs found him for her. She remembered Riddick's stories about this guy. He said he was heartless, greedy and cruel: sounded like every other merc. Other than Johns, this was the only man Riddick had ever set out to kill and let live. Johns had been dealt with so this Tombs guy was next.
Jack figured she'd leave by the end of the week, which gave her three days to pack up, buy a ship and supplies and say goodbye to the only family she had ever really known. Searching around her room she picked out her warmest clothes and a few outfits for the ship. Lupus 5 was bloody cold and Jack didn't want to freeze to death before she even saw Riddick. Next she searched the house, trying to remember where her stashes of credit chips were. Jack knew she could have given them to Imam for safe keeping but she'd rather know exactly where her money was at all times. Picking up a small vase she removed the false base and took out a small silicon chip. She doubted even Imam knew about this one. When she had stashed everything away she had told him where to find it all, in case he should ever be in need of them. Except for this one; it was the only other thing she had from Riddick.
"If things don't work out with the holy man," he'd said, "take this and get yourself a ship. I know you can take care of yourself." Five years later and it remained untouched. Now she planned to use it to buy herself a small ship just like he had intended. Dropping the chip in to a small black bag, she quickly stuffed it into one of her pockets and sprinted up the stairs with renewed exhilaration about her search.
A/N:Tada! Second chapter done. Any good this time? Thanks to my first reviewers! I've done some thinking about where the story is going and it'll get kind of dark later, but that won't be for a while so enjoy it while you can. As for updates, I've got about half of the next chapter on paper but due to computer problems at home (I'm using my friend's laptop right now) I might not be able to get it typed up for a while.
UPDATE! I've got the next chapter done, all that needs to be done now is the typing it up part and getting it beta'd...I'm really sorry for all the delays so early in the story but since it's summer now I should be able to get a few more chapters up. I'm not promising any regularity but check back every now and then, I might surprise ya!
Another update...: Yeah, so about all those great updates I promised over the summer..School just started again so I'm writing more regularly and now that I've got most of my stuff unpacked from the move I should be able to start updating. I've gotten several chapters worth written, it's just the whole 'getting it typed and uploaded' part that's taking me soooo long.
ClaudZion- Thanks! I've been on the site for a while and just picked up the dialogue style.
BatPhace- I'm glad you liked it! As you can see, I have continued the story a bit more. If you'd like to beta for me just e-mail me sometime and I'll send you my latest draft.
FemmePhantom- It might not be as 'fun' as you think to see them all together...
FluidDegree- Tooms may be putting in an appearance. hint hint
PagingDrHouse-Furyan Goddess- Wow, I love your name! I'll be updating soon, so don't worry.