This was a hard chapter to write, so I hope I don't disappoint you with it!
I couldn't hear anything except for the pounding of my feet and the blood pumping through my veins. I couldn't feel the warmth from the suns and I couldn't feel the fatigue that burned through my legs. Nothing mattered at this point except getting back to the crash. Aria was there, gunshots were heard, and something was wrong. Something went wrong and I wasn't there to make sure she was okay, I should have never split us up, I should have never left her on her own. Adrenaline pushed me farther, and in the back of my mind I realized that the others were behind me. I just had to get there, I had to make sure she was alright.
I stopped and fell to my knees, I just couldn't keep running. I buried my face in my hands, but looked up as Johns and Fry passed me. My heart was like a jackhammer in my chest, and it beat so hard I felt it would burst. I gulped down as much air as my lungs could take, but I couldn't get enough. I had to get up, I pushed my hands off the ground, standing shakily. I forced myself to run, to get there before something happened to my cousin. I ran as fast as I could, but I couldn't catch up to them. I watched them as they disappeared behind the strange rock formations, pushing myself as hard as I could.
I heard yelling, and what sounded like a fight behind the tall rocks. It sounded like Shazza yelling, but nothing prepared me for what I saw when I came around the corner. Fry was holding back Shazza as she tried to get at the stranger I saw in the bone yard, and Johns had a baton out that he was beating the man with. Anger bubbled up from within me, and a strong protective urge came over me. Without thinking I leapt forward, covering the stranger's body with my own. I received a quick blow to the side, and it felt like the baton hit my back. I yelped in pain and glared at Johns.
"What the hell are you doing?" I demanded, not moving from where I was. I felt someone grab my arm and hall me to my feet, holding me back from helping the stranger. I tried to shake their grip, but they only held tighter.
"Somebody kill him!" Shazza yelled. "Just somebody goddamn kill him!" She thrashed around in Fry's grip, trying desperately to get at the man. Fry loosened her grip just a little to try and adjust her hold, but Shazza used this chance to kick him right in the face. His body went slack and Fry dragged Shazza away.
I yanked my arm from my captor's hold, and turned around to see Imam behind me. He gave me a meaningful look that I didn't understand and walked away, helping Johns drag the man behind him. I stomped after them, momentarily forgetting my weariness. I was confused and angry, and I really wanted to bash some heads or break something to relieve my frustrations.
I basically seethed in anger the entire walk back, and I'm pretty sure that if someone tried to talk to me right then I would have bitten their head off. But why was I so angry? Yeah, I thought that beating people up isn't the greatest thing ever, but this was like a whole nother level of bad intent. It frightened me a little when I felt the protective urge, I don't know him, so why would I feel the need to help him so strongly? If it was a little kid that was being hurt, then my reaction would be normal, but this was a grown man who could probably crush my skull with his bare hands. I even momentarily forgot about Aria when I tried to help the man, and that was what worried me the most. I forgot to check for Aria because some one I didn't know was getting hurt, and I wasn't supposed to care about others, I was supposed to only worry about myself and Aria. We were all that mattered, but I forgot to take care of her first and I dove into something that wasn't my business.
When we got back I saw Aria comforting Shazza, holding her and whispering something to her that I didn't hear. Shazza looked up and glared at me, and I returned the look with equal fire. She brushed Aria off and stormed towards me, not hearing Aria call after her. I noticed that Aria gave me a dirty look from behind Shazza. My anger was gone for a moment after her look, but I didn't get to ask her about it when Shazza started yelling at me.
"What in bloody hell did you think you were doing? Protecting that animal!" Shazza screeched. Her eyes were glassy and bloodshot, and I thought she might have been crying.
"What was I doing? You were beating the man!" I yelled right back.
"He's a brute and a murderer!" she retorted. She was breathing heavily through her nose, but I faltered slightly at the new information. So he was Riddick, the one Johns was talking about.
"And? You don't go around beating people senseless for what they did in their past!" Wait, what? Where was this coming from, and why was I still defending him? Since when was I so big on forgiveness, usually I'm the one who holds the grudge.
"He killed Zeke!" she practically screamed. Tears were flowing freely now, but all I kept thinking was that he was innocent. My mind was telling me she was probably right, but my instincts screamed he didn't do it.
"Did you see blood on him? Where is your proof? He could have tried to help Zeke, you don't know! You only blamed him because it was easy! You didn't think about it, you just assumed he did it!" I stood there, panting. I was absolutely livid, but I couldn't feel the usual hand on my shoulder that calmed me down when I got upset. I scanned the people around me, noticing Aria was missing. The others wouldn't look me in the eye, but I ignored that for now. Everyone else was accounted for, either standing around us and watching, or only a few feet away, but she was gone.
I wanted to go look for her, but Paris spoke up, "It doesn't matter if there is proof or not, I think we should keep the man chained up anyway, he is a danger to us all."
"I hate to agree, but he is too dangerous to let out right now," Fry agreed.
"We should just leave him in there to die, the bloody savage," Shazza spat, still glaring at me. A low growl came from my chest, and my eyes widened in surprise, that was strange. I shook off the stray thoughts and focused on the conversation.
Johns had said something when I wasn't paying attention, but at this point almost everyone except Imam had agreed to let him rot in there. They decided that he wasn't worth keeping around and they were just going to leave him chained up to die of exposure or dehydration. These people disgusted me, and I thought Jack would at least say something, but he was disregarded for being a child.
"So what, you're just going to let him die in there like some kind of animal?" I snarled. "No, you know what, you people sicken me! Treating him like this is revolting."
"He is a damned animal! He deserves what's coming to him!" Shazza yelled.
"No! No one deserves that! Where are your moralities, people? You don't know him, and you most certainly don't know if he killed Zeke! Who are you to play God and hold another's life in your hands? Huh?" I roared. I looked at every person individually, pointedly staring each one of them down until I got to Shazza. "Well?" She didn't look at me, but I could see her jaw clenching in anger. She knew I was right, but she didn't want to admit that.
Shazza stayed silent, and I pushed past her. I walked into the ship and began searching for Aria. I noticed that I was breathing easier, and I no longer felt an entire lung short, just three fourths of one. My muscles still burned, and I felt the pain in my side and back hit me full force. My adrenaline must have masked the pain, and now that there was no more excitement I could feel the after effects of my heroics. I groaned as I clutched my side, Shazza must have kicked me pretty hard. I lifted my shirt and saw a big bruise forming, it was going to look really ugly in the morning. I pulled my shirt back down and continued searching.
"Aira!" I called. I searched through the ship and found her just outside where Riddick was held. She was sitting on the ground, her back against the wall. I heard sniffling, and she looked like she had been crying. I told her not to get close to anyone, that it would only hurt when something happened to them but of course she didn't listen. I squatted next to her, putting my hand on her shoulder. I opened my mouth to try and comfort her but she brushed my hand from her shoulder. I looked over at her and saw the glare in her eyes.
I took my hand back and cradled it to my chest like it had been burned. "What's wrong?" I whispered, almost afraid to ask.
"He killed Zeke, and you defended him!" she exclaimed, standing up and pacing. "First you don't let me go with Johns, and make me stay here with strangers while you go with him, then you stand up for someone like him," she spat. She paced back and forth, flailing her arms to demonstrate her point. "What is wrong with you?"
"Is that what this is about? Me not letting you follow Johns?" I asked, dumbstruck. She wasn't angry about Zeke, she was angry I was with Johns and she wasn't. "That guy is a creep! You should stay away from him anyway!"
"You're just jealous that he was paying more attention to me than you when we met!" she yelled, turning to glare at me with hateful eyes.
I stood up too, facing her and trying desperately to douse my anger before I said something I'd regret. I took a deep breath before asking, "Do you really think I'm that petty, that I'd do something so stupid like that just to get the attention of someone I don't even like?" She was silent, refusing to meet my eyes. She had her arms crossed over her chest and her jaw ticked in anger. "Do you?" This time my voice was quiet and hurt. I sounded pitiful to my own ears, and I cursed myself for being so weak. I felt my eyes glass over, and I swallowed a lump in my throat. I refused to cry, for any reason, and Aria certainly wouldn't make me cry because of her jealous words.
"You've always been like this Chara, always the center of attention. Everybody loves you, I guess you just draw people in, but this time I was the one he liked. This time I was the one he looked at, and you won't ruin it," she said quietly. She said it with such determination and brutal honesty that I couldn't respond. She started walking away from me and I followed after her.
"Aria?" I stumbled after her, my heart feeling like it was torn in two. Did she hate me? What did she mean I've always been like this? I tried to grab her arm, but she spun around and avoided me. She took off again, hitting my shoulder as she went.
"How sad," a deep voice rumbled. I spun on my heel and came face to face with none other than Riddick. He was sitting with his arms spread out and chained to the wall behind him. It seemed like it was darker around him, and I couldn't see his face in the shadows. I sniffled a little, trying to regain my composure.
"Yeah, well, that's what happens when you do something without thinking," I said, turning my chin up and trying to sound indifferent. He just tilted his head to the side and stared at me. We sat like that for a minute or so, and it slowly chipped away at my patience. I cleared my throat, "Please tell me that I didn't royally screw up by trying to help you."
"That depends, did you want to make all of the other survivors distrust you?" he asked. Great, I did mess up everything, and all for the sake of a most likely psychopathic murderer.
"Don't mock me," I snapped. I was clenching my fists at my sides, my nails biting into my skin. He just had to be a jerk didn't he? "I only stood up for you when everyone else wanted you dead! No need to thank me or anything!"
"Hm," was all he said.
"You know, if you keep this damn attitude up, no one will believe you are anything other than a manipulative asshole who isn't worthy of their time" I ground out. I can't believe I just stood up for this guy, but leaving him here to die really wasn't something I agreed with. Even if he is a jerk, he is still a human being, and there has got to be more to him than what everyone thinks.
"What makes you believe that I am?"
"No one is that one-dimensional, Riddick. And I may not know you, I don't pretend to, but my instincts tell me you are more than you seem," I looked right at him then, speaking my beliefs like he even cares. I know that whatever I say will probably just be shrugged off by him, but I had to have him understand where I was coming from. "I may look like an idiot right now, but I will protect those I care about, even if it kills me. That's what people don't know about me, and just because they don't see that part of me doesn't mean it doesn't exist." I don't know why I felt the need to explain myself to him, but it felt good to say that. I thought about Aria then, how I was failing to protect her. "Even if they hate me for protecting them," I added in a whisper.
I headed toward the exit, dreading seeing the others. I would, in the best case scenario, get nasty looks or in the worst case scenario, get shunned. I sighed, this would not be fun, I should have just kept to myself, let everyone do their own thing. But no, I had to get involved, and I had to take the wrong side. I rubbed my temples in frustration, I had to go out there and patch things up or I would be in big trouble.
I was so into my own thoughts that I completely missed the whispered, "Interesting."
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