Author's Note:

Hmm… Now for something from the actual movie!

Chapter 18: Cloaked in Darkness

Lengthy hours passed, Ariah continued staring at the slowly moving comet high above the RLS Legacy.

Occasionally she would rest her aching neck to continue fiddling with the piece of leather in her hands. It was now becoming something of a tightly knotted chain, after she had separated the three thin layers of bi-coloured leather that made up the string, and braided them together.

Ariah tied off the end of the leather chain with a simple reef knot. She tugged at it experimentally, making sure it was secure, and then she sighed inwardly.

Wasn't there anything to do in the brig? Well, if being in the brig was a punishment then the answer was likely 'no'.

The prisoner pursed her lips into a small frown and she furrowed her eyebrows in thought. Suddenly, a sly smirk appeared across her face as she remembered a particularly annoying and repetitive song that she had fabricated when she was younger.

It required no musical finesse and was entertaining to sing in large groups. She often sung it when she was bored, feeling lonely, or when she was really drunk; at least according to her fellow crewmembers.

Ariah cleared her throat, slipped her arms behind her head, leaned her back against one wall of the brig, and propped the heels of her boots against the bars of her cell's door.

"If I were a space whale!" Ariah began. "A really big space whale; I would wanna be… really, really pink." She paused to whistle. Then she hollered loudly. "'Cause pink whales are awesome!" The moment Ariah finished saying 'awesome' the singing prisoner began the chorus to her ridiculous song. "Swim whale, swim, swim, swim! SWIM whale; swim, swim, swim!"

Ariah stopped singing to laugh aloud. The last few 'swims' echoed off of the brig's wall; accompanied only by her laugh and the hum of the ship's engine. She sighed gently and recalled when she was first caught singing the ludicrous melody with a fond smile.

She had to have been only about seven years old, and had been assigned to do a very monotonous chore by her second set of foster parents: she had to clean her room.

While singing this song, she had been overheard by her foster parents' only son, Kyle, who was two years younger than her. Kyle soon joined in with the singing and also helped Ariah finish cleaning her room. He was always willing to help out others…

The presently eighteen-year-old Ariah chuckled at the thought. Perhaps if she hadn't left that foster home a few months after that particular event, she'd be happily singing this bizarre song with a sixteen-year-old Kyle at this very moment.

Ariah shook off the thought sadly. She had left the foster home and been transferred to another foster home because Kyle's parents had gone bankrupt. They were good people and wanted Ariah to have a better life; so they sent her back into the foster care program.

Of course Ariah had never transferred into another home outside of the planet she was borne on –Treaka- because that would be going against her mother's final will.

Ariah wondered absent-mindedly about where Kyle and his parents were…

Suddenly the ship jolted, which tossed Ariah out of her thoughts and off of the wooden bench she was seated on. The young teenager groaned a little from the pain of her injured side and she heard a loud snap coming from across her cell.

Ariah looked up a split second before the hurricane lamp, across her cell in the brig, smashed against the bars of her cell's door. Ariah flattened herself against the floor of the cell and covered her head with her bare arms. A few shards of the broken glass sliced easily through the skin of her right forearm while the rest of the hurricane lamp collapsed at the bottom of the barred wall.

When RLS Legacy regained its normal stability Ariah looked over her latest injuries.

Crimson blood ran freely from the cuts, but they weren't too deep as far as she could tell by examining them. She gently picked away the embedded shards of glass and regained her composure. 'That wasn't any ordinary jolt...'

"Evasive action, Mister Turnbuckle! All hands to stations!" Captain Amelia's orders echoed throughout the RLS Legacy. "All hands fasten your lifelines!"

The black-haired prisoner climbed up onto her feet as the steam from the boiler room increased. The engine had been forced to full throttle.

The boiler room's attendant –the light orange-skinned alien- lumbered quickly up onto the main deck; apparently there was a need for his services elsewhere.

A blood-red haze developed above deck and scarlet light shone down into the brig. The injured sailor glanced up through the grated window on the ceiling of her cell.

Many sailors rushed fervently to their stations; all of them having a secured lifeline around their waists. Yells of 'a super nova' and 'asteroids off the port side' were heard through the muffled chaos on the main deck.

Ariah growled crossly. She hated being left out, even if it there was a disaster on the main deck while she was in the confines of the brig.

The black-haired prisoner rushed forwards and stretched as much of her uninjured arm as she could between the bars of cell's door. She managed to snatch the skeletal remains of the smashed lantern with the tips of her fingers.

The young inventor quickly twisted the charred pieces of metal into a makeshift lock pick. Then she stood up and began working at the padlock sealing her cell.

After a few minutes of loosening the inner bolts and screws -with some choice curse words thrown around- a promising click emitted from the padlock.

Ariah sighed victoriously and pulled out the lock pick. She squeezed the twisted piece of charred metal nervously against her palm for luck and then pushed open the barred cell door with her uninjured arm.

The escapee rushed down the hazy hallway of the lower decks. A thick steam bellowed from the boiler room and the engine sounded as if it were working overtime.

Ariah hurried down the last stretch of the hallway, luckily meeting no one. After all, the captain did order all hands on the main deck…

"Yeah, baby! Ba-boom!" The aliens working at the laser cannons cheered loudly as they shot away flaming asteroids away from the RLS Legacy. They seemed to be the only ones having a good time in the state of chaos.

Ariah climbed out from the lower decks onto the main deck and pocketed her makeshift lock pick. She spotted a free lifeline tied to the main mast. Ariah quickly secured the twine rope lifeline around her waist, as she didn't have enough time to bother searching the ship for her personal effects.

The black-haired teenager went unnoticed through the crowds of busy sailors.

"Secure all solar sails!" Mister Arrow's voice bellowed across the main deck. "Reef them down, men!"

Ariah leapt into action, she ran down the length of the deck and climbed across the bow to the inner-jib and outer-jib. The few sailors that were at the inner- and outer-jib gear began hauling away at their chosen ropes, trying to stow away the solar sails.

The young female carefully walked out from the bow, intending on untying the ropes that secured the solar sails in their opened position at the bow. She reached the first knot, this one securing the inner-jib, only to have her hands grazed by another pair when she grasped the knot.

Ariah and the person partially hidden by the flailing solar sail looked up at each other simultaneously. Pale blue met copper-brown.

"What the hell are you doing here?" Jim exclaimed the moment he recognized Ariah.

"Watch yer language, Jimbo…" John Silver's voice scolded the cabin boy from the very tip of the bow, where he was untying the knot to the outer-jib.

Then John's eyes met Ariah's.

"What in t'underin' hell are yeh doin' 'ere, Ariah?" Silver yelled.

The two teenagers rolled their eyes at Silver's hypocrisy.

"But seriously, what are you doing here?" Jim demanded.

"The captain said all hands on deck." Ariah stated as she quickly untied the knot holding down inner-jib. She immediately ducked down low as the rope quickly became taut from the sailors hauling on the inner-jib gear.

Ariah looked up at Jim and smiled weakly.

The cabin boy sighed and shook his head in disbelief. "Nothing stops you, Ariah."

"You've got that right." Ariah chuckled.

Suddenly there was another horrendous wave of energy from the supernova, which knocked John Silver off of the bow.

"Silver!" Jim leapt forwards and grabbed the older man by his non-mechanical wrist.

Ariah grasped Silver's lifeline and pulled all of her body weight against it. Her palms and fingers began to develop a tingling sensation of rope burn from the friction of Silver's lifeline, but she wouldn't permit pain to stop her.

After a brief length of time, John Silver's mechanical arm reached up and grabbed a hold of the bow. Ariah released Silver's slackened lifeline as Jim helped Silver safely back onto the bow.

"Thanks lad…" Silver sighed gratefully, pushing the tip of his hat out of his eyes.

Ariah quickly shimmied past the two men, down to the tip of the bow. She ignored the burning along her palms and fingers and quickly finished releasing the outer-jib's knot.

Once both the inner- and outer-jibs were folded away neatly, the three sailors rushed off of the bow before another jolt could fell them.

A few of the sailors working nearby noticed Ariah's unexpected appearance. Most of them shook off the thought as an illusion and resumed their work.

A particularly large asteroid, one that was at least twice the size of the tall ship, came up onto the port side. No matter how many powerful laser cannon blasts were used, it was worthless against the colossally sized asteroid.

They watched in amazement and fear as the enormous asteroid inched its way closer to the RLS Legacy.

Suddenly, when collision was imminent, the asteroid was sucked backwards, towards the collapsed super nova… and into the depths of a black hole.

"Mister Hawkins, make sure all lifelines are secured good and tight!" Captain Amelia ordered from the ship's wheel. Apparently Mister Turnbuckle hadn't been able to steer from the gravity of the situation.

"Aye Captain!" Jim rushed off and hurried to the base of the mainmast to do his job.

Ariah parted ways with Silver and rushed over to help secure the topsail. She climbed aloft and scaled the rope ladder to the topsail. She swiftly dodged other aloft sailors, until she reached the topmost rigging of the mainmast, before the crow's nest.

The tireless teenager met Mister Scroop and Birdbrain Mary at the topmost rigging. They looked at her with identically confused expressions.

"Don't even ask!" Ariah huffed irritably. She took a moment's pause to catch her breath before assuming her position to close the topsail.

Scroop rolled his golden eyes and skittered up to the top of the solar sail. There were a few burn holes in the delicate sail from the flaming asteroids. Ariah took the bottom starboard corner of the sail and pulled on the sail's rope.

The trio of sailors closed the topsail, and then made their ways down the mast to the largest solar sail. Along with the aid of a number of sailors on the riggings and a few hauling on the ropes, the mainsail was folded away.

"Lifelines secured, Captain!" Jim hollered.

The sailors on the riggings quickly made their ways down to the main deck after the exhausting trial of securing all of the solar sails. Most, if not all of them, scaled the rope ladders on the interior side to avoid risking a fall into the outer depths of the Etherium.

Once all of the sailors that had been securing the solar sails returned to the main deck, a particularly large explosion from colliding asteroids jostled them.

Waves of similar energy; either from the black hole of from things colliding with the RLS Legacy's hull, jostled the ship, toppling some unprepared sailors where they stood.

"All sails secured, Captain!" Mr. Arrow declared loudly to the feline captain at the Legacy's helm over that cracks and explosions from the black hole.

"Good man!" Captain Amelia responded. "Now, release them immediately." She stated.

"Aye… Captain." Mr. Arrow was minutely confused about his order but loyally turned to the rest of the crew. "You heard her, men. Release the solar sails." He stated.

"What?" The sailors yelled simultaneously.

"But we just finished-" The body half of an alien complained.

"Tying them up!" The head half of the alien stated.

"Make up your blooming minds!" Birdbrain Mary shouted.

After a series of complaints, the sailors obediently climbed up the rope ladders to their stations. Mr Arrow himself joined them. If the captain wanted the job done, then everyone needed to help.

Ariah was about to join her fellow sailors when one of the lower solar sail's booms swung uncontrollably from the main mast and caught her in the abdomen. She was knocked off of her feet with the air abruptly forced from her lungs.

The polished boom swung outwards and eventually halted; which left Ariah hanging above empty space by only her grip onto the wooden pole and by her lifeline. If either gave away, she'd be doomed.

The shocking cold of space struck her from exposure. It would seem that the might of the black hole had siphoned all of the warmth from the Etherium's regular solar winds.

Ariah's teeth clattered as she tightened her hold on the boom. Having her arms bare and her vest untied didn't help with her exposure to the cold. She tried to pull herself up on top of the boom but a blast from the black hole rendered this attempt futile.

The young sailor shivered profusely from the excruciating cold. She soon found that hanging onto the boom was becoming very difficult.

Ariah then remembered Captain Amelia's order. She looked down the length of the boom; one chord halted the solar sail from fully fanning out.

Without the needed solar energy that the captain demanded; they all would be doomed.

Ariah reached forwards with one goose bump-covered hand and shakily pulled at the chord's knot with her numb fingers. The solar sail instantly fanned out the moment Ariah released the knot.

The young sailor readjusted her grip on the wooden boom; still shivering intensely from the cold. Ariah squeezed her copper-brown eyes shut from the black hole's energy waves that continued to barrage her.

The wooden boom swung uneasily to and from the RLS Legacy's starboard side, always just out of reach when it came close to the railing.

"Hold onto your lifelines, gents. It's going to be a bumpy ride!" Captain Amelia's voice cried out to all of the sailors.

Ariah buried her face into her arms. She used the last of her strength to keep her grip by digging her fingernails deep into the wood of the boom.

Darkness washed over the RLS Legacy as it plunged deeper towards the infinite gloom of the black hole. There was an eerie silence.

One last blast of immense energy burst forth from the black hole, engulfing the limp solar sails with new power and energizing the tall ship's thrusters. The RLS Legacy fired away from the collapsed black hole at top speed.

They had made it… cheers from the RLS Legacy echoed through the Etherium for their well-respected captain.

Ariah looked up from her arms; the unbearable cold enveloped her body. She could feel hypothermia slowly shut down the use and feeling of her dangling legs. Soon enough it would shut down the use of her arms and she would fall from the boom.

Another fleeting thought, that questioned if this was her chance demise, passed the young female's terrified mind. But there was no laser pistol in her back trousers' pocket to save her now. If Ariah had gone missing, only those who had seen her on deck after her escape from the brig would know of her disappearance.

She wondered if they would look for her body. She wondered, how they would feel about her death. Would they mourn? Or would they leave her forgotten in the Etherium to rot like all of the lost sailors of ages past?

The sailor hoped that her final resting place –assuming that her dead body would ever crash-land onto a planet after drifting along the Etherium- would be somewhere among the space whales' normal migration route.

At least those majestic beings cast some visions of awe in the minds of any sailors…

The nearly frozen girl looked up at the boom weakly. The triangular shimmering solar sail was now filled with revitalized energy and waved to and fro in the solar winds.

The Etherium's solar winds were slowly turning back to their regularly warm temperatures. By the time the solar winds thawed out Ariah's body, it would be too late for her to regain enough strength to return to the RLS Legacy's polished deck, because she would've already frozen past revival.

Ariah stopped shivering; her body hadn't enough energy to produce the movement. She slowly exhaled puffs of condensed vapour.

Out of the fire and into the freezer, one would say... the metaphor would've been all too funny to Ariah had it not been referring to her current state. She opened her now-purple lips trying to utter any word for help, but she was quite literally too cold.

Abruptly, and without warning, the boom swung around to the starboard side of the RLS Legacy. The backs of Ariah's legs smacked against the starboard railing of the tall ship and she limply slipped off of the wooden boom.

The exhausted sailor fell unceremoniously onto the main deck back first; right in front of the captain and crew that had grouped around the ship's helm.

Shouts of surprise followed her drop onto the deck:

"What the devil?"

"Miss Clarke?"

"By Flint's name!"

"Ariah!"

Ariah closed her copper-brown eyes and let darkness cloak her vision. It seemed that someone, or something out there had heard her mental plea for aid…

Author's Note:

Thanks to Whisperwings as usual for doing an excellent job of betaing!

To Readers: Sorry this chapter took SO long to update... it's not writing it that takes so long, it's revising and proofreading it! (But thanks so much for the lovely reviews)

MG#6