Thanks to my reviewers!

This goes for: shadowoftheblackdeat, Flowerchild23, Quiet Slumber, Alyce DreamEater, theheartstourniquet, and two guests!

I love you guys so much, and I appreciate every one of your comments!

I should've updated earlier - generally I update every Sunday or Monday, and I didn't do that last week. I was so swamped with exams, and I just couldn't find the time. However, I managed to write something now! If I'm lucky, I might manage to squeeze another chapter in this week before leaving the country for a month (during which I am not sure if I can update).

So, this week I'll either update this fic, or my HP fic. I'll see.

Do you guys really want an update of this fic, or would you not mind too much the thought of waiting? I'm a bit thorn about which fanfic I should update. I have inspiration for both, so it's mostly a question of choosing between the two.

-x-x-x-

Well, this is just great. Fantastic, really. Since, apparently, something terrible has happened, everyone has been gathered in one big group, and we are all sitting on the ground. Many are complaining, most likely about the sand and dry dirt. I assume that's what they're whining about, but they might be going on about the heat. Who knows, really. I am quite unhappy, because I am seated next to a woman who is crying and weeping, sobbing and saying something about how "Riddick's gonna kill us all!"

What a drama queen.

As I've said before, I assume that 'Ridik' is a word that has something to do with the word 'ridiculous'. They must belong to the same family of words (Like 'hungry' and 'hunger'). Since this is, from what I've seen, the future, then long words like 'ridiculous' have probably been shortened, and 'Ridik' is probably the new word for 'ridiculous'. Like how people shorten the word 'refrigerator' to 'fridge'.

So, I understand the word 'Ridik' and I understand the word 'keel' (it means to kill, to murder). I don't know what 'gonna' means, but with what I do know, I can make a guess as to what this woman is wailing about:

The ridicule of... uh... something, will kill the people here.

That sentence seems dumb and meaningless. I probably translated something wrong.

I know that during the time many people were on the roof, that blond man, who owns the slave I gave water to, came up and said something about 'Ridik'. Maybe... Maybe the act of lying around, drinking cocktails and lazing about, is considered extremely shameful, ridiculous? Ridiculous as in, 'Ridik'? And, well, maybe it's shameful to the point of the ridicule literally killing them?

Yes, I know. It sounds stupid. But I can't exactly ask anybody what's the problem, so I have to guess.

So, since I can't do anything about whatever many people seem so worried about, I just ignore the general panic everywhere. Though, it is starting to become rather vexing, how this woman screams and shouts, as if I'm not sitting right next to her. My hears are bleeding. (And yes, that was me using the English word 'ear' and mispronouncing it horribly. Us French people tend to add a 'h' in front of a lot of words.)

I can't exactly move, because there are a lot of people taking up the available space everywhere, sitting on the ground. I don't want to have to push past several people and annoy them just to find somewhere else to sit. Besides, I am rather nicely placed. Not too close to the centre, and not right at the edge, where I would not be able to hear what is happening.

Though... Now that I actually think about it, maybe it would've been more intelligent of me to sit by the edge of this gathering of people. It's not like I understand anything anyway, so why should I sit somewhere where I can hear what is being said? I feel stupid. I'll probably just have to ask questions to that guy who can speak French, later.

I should've sat further away, so that I could've left right now, and escaped this noise. I could be doing something productive! Instead, here I am, sitting around doing nothing. The only thing that breaks the monotony is the sound of the woman sobbing as if she's living her last minutes.

This situation is so annoying.

The captain of the ship, Ulf something, is talking, sounding stern. He's using words like 'risk', 'murderer', 'safety'...

Yep, you guessed it. I am still as clueless as ever, seeing as I cannot speak English. I really regret never listening in class. Maybe I should rename myself Barbie, and dye my hair blonde? At least my hair will match my cluelessness.

I really want to leave.

I look up, and notice that the slave is no longer on the roof of the ship, by the abandoned seats. He must've drunk a bit from one of the cups left up there, and then left. He's probably off cleaning or lugging stuff around, or whatever slaves are supposed to do. I don't know much about slaves, only what I heard in History class while talking about Human Rights.

Then again, I did see that Disney movie with Moses or whoever he was, the one who cuts the ocean in two and whose brother is that Egyptian guy. In that movie, slaves were generally always working on making pyramids and other monuments, and there was a lot of whipping going on.

Hm...

Now I have this disturbing image in my mind of that blond guy (the one dressed a bit like a police officer) whipping the slave.

I totally knew there was something homoerotic going on here.

Captain Ulf's tone abruptly changes, and it now conveys urgency. I give him my full attention.

"The second ship will arrive soon," he says. "We just have to wait. Until then, I will ask all of you to stay here, where we can see you, so nothing happens to you. If you absolutely must leave, you must inform either me or Miss Fry here," he continues, pointing at the Carolyn Fry woman. "Please be careful. A dangerous criminal is on the loose, and I would prefer it if nothing happens."

The Captain is cut off by the blond man, the owner of the slave. He stands tall, and seems rather intimidating. I don't like him much, though I resist smiling as I remember the funny image of him whipping the slave. It's not that surprising that I don't like blondie, because I generally dislike people that make me feel uncomfortable. Intimidating people either make me feel powerless and stupid, or protected. This man is definitely one of those that make me feel tiny and unworthy of notice.

He says, staring at us all:

"Riddick is very dangerous. I captured him, so trust me when I say, he's a criminal you don't want to cross. He could kill you before you even realize he's there. So stay together. If you leave, alone or even in a group that is too small, it won't be my responsibility if you die. You are warned. Look after the children, so that they don't leave by themselves. Riddick is a ruthless murderer, and he won't hesitate to ghost you."

I recognize some words, but nothing useful. He must be talking about the whole 'so much shame and ridicule that it kills you'. Or maybe I misunderstood the whole thing? I don't know. I don't care all that much.

It seems that they've stopped speaking, and many people are standing up. They are either dusting themselves off, or talking to their neighbours. Many are looking around nervously. I try to follow their gazes, wondering what I'm missing here.

Judging by their panic, I wouldn't be surprised if flesh-eating, hot pink puppies came out of nowhere to eat us all.

A few seconds pass, and no puppies arrive.

... These people must be paranoid over nothing.

(I admit I am disappointed there are no puppies.)

I wish I weren't alone here. I wish I was with a friend, or a family member. I feel so lonely, and a bit depressed.

My family... I've had long periods where I haven't seen them. Sometimes I'm out of the country, visiting my grandparents, and I don't see my parents or siblings for several weeks. But, the fact that I'm here, in an unfamiliar place with no way back to my family any time soon, makes it all seem worse. I feel as if I haven't seen my parents in years, though I know that it hasn't even been a day since I last saw my mum.

Seeing as everybody is just talking, standing around and doing nothing useful, I decide to move, leave, since this isn't very interesting. But, just as I start moving away, towards the ship, there are exclamations all around me. People are starting to look updwards.

I look up, and see a tiny, tiny dot in the sky. It's steadily growing bigger and larger.

The excitement of those around me is swelling. I use my hand to shield my eyes from the strong glare of the sun, and I try to make out what the dot is.

It grows bigger, and after five minutes, I can already begin to make out its shape. I'm not quite sure, but I think it's another ship.

Has it come to help us?

I believe so. After all, everyone around me seems very happy, which must most likely mean that this new ship is good news.

Since our spaceship was damaged, and the captain obviously radio-called for help, another ship must've been sent to aid us off this planet.

Finally, after an additional ten minutes, the ship is within a hundred meters of our ship. It's surprising, because it seems it took only fifteen minutes for the ship to arrive here. Before that, it was just a small speck, and now I can see it landing. I wonder... Shouldn't the speed this ship was moving at, shouldn't it be such that the ship should be, rightfully, nothing but scrap metal right now? Burnt scrap metal, at that.

According to what I think, this ship was moving faster than a meteorite would have been if it were crashing on this planet. And the meteorite would have been on fire. Why is this ship okay? Moving at such speeds is physically impossible.

Now that I think about it, any normal travelling space ship wouldn't be very useful for travelling from one solar system to another, considering how far apart each system is. It would take a gazillion years to go from one solar system to another. The future must have technology that enables ships to move faster than the speed of light, without any repercussions. I would be so very interested in knowing how they do it.

I stop thinking about it as the big spaceship finishes landing. It opens up, and allows a trickle of people to pour out. There are about five of them, all men, and they form a long line in front of the ship. They are wearing similar clothes, meaning they must be in uniform, though it is no uniform I recognize, obviously.

The captain goes to talk to them, and I feel happy as I take in the sight of these new people. It means that the situation is about to change. Normally I would be frightened, since it would mean there would be more chances of me being discovered as an anomaly with no ID, but to be perfectly honest, I was starting to become really bored of sitting 'round here.

The thought of things changing has me perking up.