7. The Second Lust: Acceptance

She had finished feeding in less than an hour. He found it very thoughtful of her to keep Burgo alive till the end; making his death the slowest.

"I was tempted to keep him as a bag lunch, ya know for my next snack time? But he would have been too much of a problem. Bitching and moaning about some chick and her shoes, pssh please." She was walking beside Riddick while she talked on about the now deceased merc like it was nothing out of the ordinary what she had done. He had to laugh to himself about what she was saying. 'Quite the interesting kid,' he thought.

"Um, I'm not a kid first off. Second, you might want to watch what you think. I can read people very well. And another thing, we need to take care of you first before we leave." She was looking at him as if he were injured or something.

"Take care of me? Ain't shit wrong with me kid, so lets just…" He was having the numb feeling again and his knees gave way leaving him with only his hands to keep him up.

"Holy Fuck, what did I tell you. How long since you've been poisoned, huh? Do you even know?" When all she got for a response was labored breathing she knelt down beside him and pressed her palm to his chest, right over his heart. "Damn, your hearts almost beating right out of ya. Over 14hrs since the poison entered you system I'd guess." Kazira lifted her hand up to the small cut over his lip where he had been struck. "Let's see what you got in you handsome." She tasted his blood and in few seconds started spitting and scrapping her tongue. "SHIT! Tastes like sour Parnaza fruit. Ugh always hated those when I was little. How the hell did you get so much in you in such a short amount of time? It usually takes days for it to be absorbed through the pores." She was sniffing him all over trying to find where the largest amount had entered from.

"The… the Whore I was with last night: gasp: She said she used some kind of oil." That was all he could muster before he collapsed. He was out cold.

"Oh you've got to be fucking kidding me." She could hear his heartbeat still. "At least he's still alive. You so owe me for this." Taking him by the arms first she hoisted Riddick over her shoulder. "Damn you're a heavy fuck! So lucky I aint normal."

She used what knowledge from the mercs blood to find the direction to the ship. Walking and talking to 'herself', she was unaware that Riddick was half conscious.

"Kazira this, Kazira that, I am not KAZIRA! I'm Fucking Kimera for goddess sake."

'Oh come now child, your letting your hormones get the better of you. He thought you were me, so what? All that matters now is getting that Parnaza poison out of his system. I still might want that snack on the way home and I refuse to drink bad blood. Gives me indigestion. By the way have you noticed how, being around this mortal makes us act differently in a way we haven't experienced in a while?"

Kimera was getting fed up with all the walking. "Kaz how much farther do we have to go, the sun will be up soon and I don't want to deal with heat too." Riddick groaned slightly "The fuck you talking to girl?"

'She's talking to me Riddick.'

"SHIT!" He pushed off of Kimera's back landing in a crouching position.

"Oh great Kaz just go and scare the sick man with your astral self why don't cha."

Was he looking at another Kazira, and who was Kimera?

"Hey, you're getting worse. I promise I'll explain everything when we get to the ship, but for now you'll just have to trust us when I tell you that we only want to help." Kimera was kneeling in front of him while Kazira's astral form was standing next to him, barely visible with the coming dawn. 'You should listen to her mortal, she wants to help you. While I on the other hand am waiting for you to drop for good so that I can get what's left of you.' Her smile was all fangs. Kimera was glaring at Kazira. 'What, I am. I'm not going to lie to him about it. He needs to know that I am not his ally, you are. Hmph, I've had enough of talking to this mortal, he's a waste of energy.' With that she shimmered out of sight.

"Ignore her; she's just upset that I let her out for such a short time. Now, back to you. I need to carry you; walking will only increase the flow of poison through your blood." She lifted her hand to wipe the cold sweat that had gathered above his brow and he recoiled. She sighed heavily. "I can only imagine what you think of me, but please, let me help you Riddick. I… I want to, I need to. To make up for what I did back there." Her head was hung low and he heard her sniffling.

"Great I made her sad," he mumbled to himself. Rolling his eyes he spoke. "Fine"

Her head shot up. "Really?" Her eyes were so bright now but they weren't green anymore but a golden yellow. The shine was no where to be seen.

"Yes, really. But I don't want that psycho bitch working on me. She freaks me out" He put his hand out; it was shaking from the amount of strength he had to use to keep it from dropping. He was hoping that she took it soon before he had to drop it. Thankfully she did.

"Ok" she said in a small voice. "I a have feeling that you don't normally accept help from others. I appreciate your trust in me."

"Don't make me regret it." He growled that last part at her. From the way her eyes darkened for a split second, he figured he must have brought Kazira out with that threat.

"I won't Riddick. Now let's get going. I think these belong to you." She pulled out his goggles from nowhere and handed them to him. He accepted them happily. "Thought you might need them with the sun coming up and all."

"Thanks" He slipped them over his eyes.

"You should rest." Her voice sounded ethereal again and it had an echo to it.

"I'm not…" He fell to his side out like a light.

"Ha look at that. It does work on him, just need to put a little more kick into it." She lifted him back up onto her shoulder and continued walking towards the ship that was now coming into her line of sight.