To make it clear the Harry Potter and Riddick character/world is not mine, they belong to J.K Rowling and whoever owns Riddick. This is a fanfic, which means I'm not the original creator only the writer of this particular story.
Chapter 18: let's walk…
Johns stands atop the crash ship, scanning with a scope trying to get a glimpse of his golden goose. But during the last few minutes he had been fixated by a new phenomenon. A blue glow on the horizon that is growing more for every second.
"What the hell is it?"
Deciding to inform the others the cop packs up and start the climb down. Zeke and Shazza are busy modify breather units by adding straps and tubing and ball-floats; hoping to get the units working before the scouting team leave. They think they got it as Johns approaches and tries the prototype on Jack who has been helping. She sucks on the mouthpiece offered by Shazza and is surprised to find out that it works. She can feel the extra oxygen filling her lungs on demand rather than in a constant flow making it possible to get hits.
While they have been working on the oxygen tubes the Chrislams have been preparing for traveling, they needed to find water and soon. While everyone is kept busy Fry is saying goodbye to her crew while the yellow sun is setting followed close behind by the red one making the sky shift in color. When she is done with the last prayer directed as an apology to Owens she puts on her cap and turns around heading towards Imam and his boys.
"Imam. We should leave soon before nightfall so we still have light but while it's cooler. Zeke, Johns is leaving you a gun in case of trouble."
Getting a nod in confirmation Zeke takes the offered gun and gives back a breather before passing along the other once that is done.
"Would you do me a favor? Get my crew buried? They were good guys who died bad." Fry asks as Zeke helps her hook on the breather to her belt. Zeke lays a hand on her shoulder and gives a squeeze.
"A'course we will."
Before they head out Johns tells the others about the blue light before he steps away to check in on the prisoner. They would get him if it was anything big and as it had been about three hours since he checked on sleeping-beauty it was about time for another look-y. Besides it was about time that the little psycho woke up for Johns wasn't comfortable leaving him behind where he couldn't watch him. Therefore as Fry and the others rounded the ship to investigate the blue light Johns enters the prison-room and moved over towards the unconscious body.
As nobody was in the mood to give Harry a brake he had started to wake up due to the temperature shift in the room. He was happily surprised when he discovered that he was feeling a lot better both physical as well as psychological than expected. His shoulders were aching a bit but Riddick seemed to have popped them into place for him and his body was well rested which told him that he had been out for some time now. The only thing lowering his good mood was the smirking cop that suddenly stepped in front him seconds after he woke for it meant only one thing; He was still a prisoner…
Let's check:
Chained arms? yes
Chained legs? yes
Secured to the floor? yes
Smirking cop dangling a key? yes
Conclusions? Imprisoned and screwed…
It would seem that Riddick had dumped him or hadn´t been able to get him free. No matter, the nap had done him some good as he had a lot more energy than earlier, energy that felt like velvet silk and soft fur which was almost making him want to purr in satisfaction. Not that he would in front of the perv. Besides he hadn´t really cared if he was free or not since there didn´t seem to be anywhere to go, he had just wanted the man out of the bit. Gone with the flow of things since it seemed like a good idea at the time you could say.
Hopefully Riddick would stay away from the others as well as the cop for Harry wanted to get a few more hours of sleep since it seemed to be improving his temperament a well as his health. Also he had a feeling that Riddick was even more of a drama-creator then him and he so didn´t need any more of that it right now, besides the man´s very being demanded high alert from Harry which was something he didn´t feel like handling at the moment.
As the cop took the two steps remaining until he was right above Harry before lowering himself down to one knee Harry started to wonder: Was the man even a cop, he had just assumed it as the man wore a shining badge, weapons and a uniform. After all the man had all the classic sign as being a cop, but as he was in a strange new world, he could have it wrong. Wouldn´t be the first time and probably not the last one. But what did it matter? Not like he could ask the man.
"So at last you decided to gift us with your presence. We were starting to grow worried that you would sleep forever."
'Bla, bla bla! When will that idiot get that I done understa… hold it! What did he say?'
"What?"
"Oh, see who just decided to talk. Eureka!"
"…" Harry is speechless, the man actually makes sense.
"Did you just make sense?" is the only thing he can say when he finally finds his voice again.
"…" Now it's Johns that are surprised, he thought the man couldn´t speak the common language. "What? Mister, the one who have been speaking gibberish here have been you. I have been speaking clean English from the start."
"But I can understand you. How´s that possible?"
"Perhaps your last trip to nut-happy-land made something in your thinker fall into place, what do I know and more importantly what do I care?"
Harry was looking gob-smacked at the man above him who had just poked him in the head with the key in his hand whilst he had spoken understandable sentences. What the hell? His magic was pretty much gone for the moment but still something had made it possible for him to understand the idiot smirking down at him.
That does it, the only thing left is for Cornelius Fudge to come dancing in here dressed in a pink tutu skirt and he knew it was all a prank. After waiting for the punch line and no idiot appearing (if you didn´t count the man hovering menacing above him of course) he ruled that wish out.
Why did this keep happening to him?
Thunk, thunk, thunk.
Johns wasn´t even going to ask why the obviously insane person was smashing his head into the floor, he just wanted him up on his feet so they could go. He had a Riddick to catch and they weren't moving fast enough, Riddick would have too much of a lead soon if they didn´t move.
"If you are quiet done with that little show how about a long stroll in the evening sun, hmmm?"
Johns asked as he started to maneuver the body underneath him so that he could unchain the man from the floor.
"Does it come with dinner and drinks?"
"Oh. We have a smart-ass. NO, but we do offer the carrying of luggage and the pleasure of my company. Who can refuse?"
"… Refusing." Harry wasn´t going to deem the man's efforts to be funny with a response, but he just had to get a punch in when he felt the soreness in his wrist and ankles that only existed because that man obviously had a fetish.
Johns meanwhile did not like the prisoner's attitude and did by *mistake* smash his face into the floor before he pulled him up on his feet. He had never been a man who like smart-assess especially when they were his prisoners, and for a skinny little shit as this one, his patience was even smaller.
Harry used to temperamental assholes knew when to shut up and go along, so when Johns simple re-strapped the chains harder and shoved him towards the exit he kept his mouth shut and head down. His face was going to be swollen from the floor-kiss he just done and he was really tired of getting beaten, so for now he would roll with the punches and bide his time. The cop had to sleep sometime after all, he just had to wait.
Johns recognized the posture in the man in front of him and smirked. He wasn´t easy to trick or to defeat so if the little man though he would get the upper hand, Johns knew he would be waiting a long time. He had been a good cop and was an even better merc, this kid may be an adult but he was green, very green. But if his strategy made him passive and easy to control then Johns had no problem letting him use it after all he had seen it all before.
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Fry, Shazza and the other was looking at the blue light that was growing at the horizon, debating back and forth about what it could be or what it could mean. But it was in the end Jack who took the step and named the blue object that was flaring into view for what it was.
"Three suns?"
They had all understood it when they had seen the half circle that had grown bigger as the minutes ticked by but no one had been as eager to say it as the young girl. It was slowly rising as the other suns were setting, replacing the red sky with soft blue colors.
"My bloody oath..." was all the words Shazza could bring forth for she realized what this new sun meant for their survival. If they by a small miracle didn´t find water very soon they would not make it five days before dying of dehydration.
Zeke makes eye-contact with Fry after embracing his woman trying to give her comfort.
"So much for your nightfall."
"So much for my cocktail hour." Paris said as a follow up whilst giving a tired gaze over the landscape wishing to god that he had taken the other ship, but this one had been 12,000 credits cheaper.
Imam a man of hope and kindness looked with a growing fondness at the new star. He turned around as he heard the other survivors depressing declarations and brought his son closer to the group before he said with his full faith backing him up:
"We take this to be a good sign, blue sun means blue water - a path, a direction from Allah."
Zeke just looked at the man's smiling face and his children happy laughter before making a disgusted face.
"Ever-bloody-wonder why I´m an atheist?"
He says with a dark voice to Shazza before turning his back to the Chrislamic group.
Johns who had heard the last bit of the group's conversation ads his two cents when he and Harry join up with the others. He looks at the direction Imam had been pointing and gives a small smile.
"A very good sign. That's Riddick's direction. You do not wanna be caught in the dark with this guy."
Fry half-turns and gives Johns a surprised look.
"Thought you found his restraints over there. Toward sunset."
Johns give a nod in agreement to her statement before moving closer almost standing right next to her which gives Fry a sense of kinship making her smile up at the cop. Harry almost gags as he sees the man's flirtatious smile back and hopes that the women knows what she getting herself into. That blonde innocent behavior almost screams to you to be cautious for no one can be that kind without wanting something, especially in this environment.
"Which means he went toward sunrise."
"So we are going to move in the direction of a boiling sun and not away from it. Wow you people give a new definition to insanity."
Fry quickly turns to focus on Harry when she hears him speak and takes a small step back as if she fears an attack. Harry who realizes that the women have authority here tries to make himself look week as a kitten hoping to gain her trust.
"He speaks?" she asks Johns while giving the chained man a once over. He looks a bit swollen in the face both other than that she can´t detect anything wrong with him.
"Woke up with it, it seems. He was as shocked as you."
Not really knowing how to respond to that Caroline just nods and tries to take on an authority roll for she want answers.
"So, who are you?"
"Harry."
"Harry? Where are you from and how did you end up in the cargo-cabin? It's not designed to maintain human life."
"Don´t know, just woke up there."
"Okay. Care to elaborate on that?"
"Was at a party, was attacked, woke up in the storage room and BOOM I lived through a crash. You tell me how I got there, it´s your ship…"
Harry who by no means was stupid knew that the real story was hard to sell, so he kept it to the overall information. It was for the best, both for him and the others since Teddy had mentioned a war. He didn´t want any more shit to happen now just because he has magic. They have bigger problems.
"… That will have to do. Why did you attack us?"
Harry just looked at the women.
"As I said, I was attacked and the next thing I´m in a crash. You tell me what you would have done, ask the persons to come in for a cup of coffee?"
"What's coffee?"
Johns and Fry ask at the same time, never having heard of the beverage. Harry just shakes his head and asks if there is anything else they want to know or if he could get out of these chains now. Fry looks ready to relent but Johns isn´t quiet that stupid.
"Hold on. We don´t know him and he helped Riddick, it wouldn´t be safe for us to let him loose."
"But he doesn't seem dangerous." Fry responds and gives Johns a questioning look. The man has a hard time not to just stare at the idiot in front of him and nods.
"Maybe so, but better safe than sorry." When Fry still seems ready to release the prisoner Johns plays his final card. He wants the man in chains for it has a bigger chance to draw Riddick out if he is.
"How about this, we keep him in chains and if he behaves during the trip then we can have a group discussion about it with the others or if you rather want it let him loose on a probationary"
Caroline thinks on it for a couple of seconds before she agrees. It sounds like a good idea and besides she really doesn't want to be the one that carries the luggage they plan on taking along.
Harry just gives an irritated huff while Johns start prepping him for their walk. As the sun rises higher Harry just knows he will be fried in his black clothes and ask if he can at least loose the golden vest. Thankfully Johns in a good mood and allows it, but Harry is still to darkly dressed. One of the Chrislams offers him one of his under-robes, which are in a pale-beige color that is very thin and airy which replaces both the vest and the black shirt. It´s one of the times Harry is happy that he is so short for it fits him just about perfect and lets his skin breathe, at the same time protecting him.
Soon after they are ready and after some parting words Fry, Johns, Harry, Imam and his boys set out in their hunt for clean water. As they walk the blue soon is rising higher and higher up the sky bombarding them with hot air and light, making poor Harry feel like a shish-kabob.
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The trekking is taxing on the group and to pass the time Imams boys are chanting from their holy text as they head in the suns direction. Johns with Harry as pack-monkey, takes the lookout position, ' really did we have to take three bottles of spirits, praying mats and an umbrella? Fry and Imam was lagging behind for they were trying to wrap her head into a traditional headpiece which would protect her from the sun, on her back she carried one of Paris weapons; a big war-pick.
Whilst they walk Fry and Imam had fallen into an easy chat and were finding comfort in each other's company.
"It all so quiet. You get used to the sounds of the ship, the snoring of the crew and then..."
Trying to bring council to the troubled women next to him Imam remember a good story that shared similar traits that could be used as a guide:
"You know who Muhammad was?"
"Some prophet guy?"
Imam nods.
"Some prophet guy… And a city man. But he had to travel to the desert – where there was quiet - to hear the words of God."
Seeing where he was going Fry just nods back and gives him a gentle look.
"You were on a pilgrimage? With your boys? Were you heading for New Mecca?"
"Our faith speaks of a necessary teaching that involves a hadji, that once in every lifetime should there be a great a great pilgrimage. To know God, better, yes, but to know yourself as well. We're all on the same hadji now."
Wanting to get away from the holy mans philosophical ideas Caroline started to look for Johns. At first she couldn't see him until she spots the black hair belonging to Harry. It seems like Johns' scope-locked on something and from the man's posture it seemed interesting.
After climbing the hill and approaching the duo Fry made a big mistake of trying to walk quietly. When she miss-stepped and made a sound she triggered the merc instinct and in the next second had a big gun pointing her right in the face. Jumping in fright she tried to duck whilst Harry tried not to laugh at the idiot.
When Johns had calmed down and apologizes Fry asks what he had seen that had been so interesting. Johns just hands her the scope and point to a big hill up-ahead.
"Tell me it's not a mirage."
What Fry sees in the scope is a collection of strange branches rising up from the ground.
"Trees?"
"What I thought."
"Does it look to have any leaf on it or are they dead?" Harry asks as he tries to get a hold of the scope and failing since Johns is not in a sharing mood.
"No, they look dead. But if there's trees then there has been water."
"Ok, I´m buying that. Should we get going?" Harry says as he gets up from his sitting position after having thoroughly enjoyed it after the little show and tell. Johns gives a affirming nod and the three rejoin the Chrislams before they start the long walk. It looks to be about two to three km before they would reach the bottom of the hill and Harry hoped they would find water and shade for he needed both desperately.
Xxxxxxx
Important notation:
Thanks to my wonderful beta I have gotten some important correction about some off my mistakes and for those of you who really watch the movies I´m sorry for the errors and here are my plans for the future…
Since I have trouble separation the Jack (the boy) from Audrey (the girl) in my text I will from now on only refer to her as a girl, even if it´s one of the survivors talking to her and they believe her a boy.
Second, it seems like Zeeke's real name is Zeke (MY BAD), but he will die soon so I´m too lazy to fix the other chapters, but I will think about it from now on.
I seem to jump between names and description but I want to keep things as they are, but for your sake I will keep it to a minimum (this last point was from a friends perspective).
Hope you enjoy the story