Rayen: Here it is. The final chapter of Walking in Darkness.

Alou: Wow. it's been how long since you post that first chapter?

Rayen: All most six months. SIX MONTHS. *whistles* I am really proud of this actually.

Jack: How so?

Rayen: To be honest, I wasn't expecting it to become as popular as it became. *rubs the back of her head* I actually thought people would complain about Alou's part in everything. *grins* But I guess I wrote everything in a balanced way that didn't make her seem too perfect.

Alou: I suppose that makes sense.

Rayen: Yea, anyway, Since this is the last chapter, I think you all get the gist on the disclaimers, so please enjoy this final chapter!

Chapter 24: Freedom

.

I tapped Jack's arm as she continued to stand between me and Riddick. "Find the first aid kit."

Riddick clearly looked at me confused, especially when I scooted out of my seat and started moving the shreds of his pant legs. "Princess, what the fuck are you doing?"

"I know you're hurt. I'm gonna return the favor and patch you up."

"You don't need—"

I growled, squeezing rather harshly on a wound, causing him to growl in pain. "Yes, I do."

Jack handed me the first aid kit, and I opened it and dug around inside trying to find some hydration peroxide. The teen knelt beside me, and then put a bottle in my hand.

"Thanks Jack," I opened the bottle and turned back to Riddick.

"I said no," he growled, and in answer I just dumped the bottle over his wounds, causing him to yell and grip the chair arms. "Damnit! That fucking hurts!"

"Then don't tell me no when your bleeding all over the floor," I snapped, setting the half empty bottle aside and grabbing a piece of gauze to wipe his wounds clean.

He growled, glaring down at me, I'm sure as I ran my fingers over the wounds to check for rocks or any other debris. "You don't have to fucking do it. I can do it myself."

I squeezed again, making him yelp, which made Jack snigger in the background. "Richard B. Riddick, if you fucking argue with me again I will give you another cut."

He went silent as I resumed working on his leg, cleaning everything out of them before reaching into the kit again. "Huh… knew I liked you for something… feisty."

"Don't annoy your nurse. She can make things hurt worse," I said with a smirk as I threaded a surgical needle and then pour peroxide over it and the thread before I started stitching up his wounds carefully.

"How are you doing that without seeing?" Jack asked curiously.

I smiled. "Since I can't see, I have to memorize things in a hurry, and since I've already measured every inch of the wounds, stitching him up isn't that hard." I kept working as I spoke, smiling as Riddick didn't complain anymore as I continued to work.

After a while, I finished, putting everything away before I started to stand. However, my ankle was really starting to hurt, so as I tried to get up, it gave out, and I found myself falling towards Riddick, who immediately caught me.

"Alright. That's enough straining that ankle for now," he growled, scooping me up and sitting me back in the other chair. "Now you sit there and stay put."

"Riddick—"

"No. You are going to sit and rest."

I sighed, but nodded. "Fine.

.

A few days later, we were cruising in the Sol-Track lane, waiting for some ship to catch our hails. I was still in pain from my ankle, so Riddick gave me small doses of morphine to help keep the edge off, as well as cut the stitches and redid them in proper light after properly cleaning them again. Jack tended to Riddick's legs for me, and Imam had managed to find some freeze dried food.

I was curled up as best as I could in the chair, dozing lightly. I felt a hand gently taking the shiv out of my hand, and then a pair of them carefully drape a blanket over me. I opened my eyes, the large shape of the convict moving back from me.

"Riddick?"

"You looked cold," he said quietly, and I watched as he sat down again. "How's the ankle?"

"Better… the doses of morphine are keeping the edge off… Once we get to New Mecca I bet it will be fine…" I said sleepily, not feeling like sleeping, but I knew if I did, Riddick would not let anything hurt me.

"Good," he sighed, checking over the computers and sending another hail out.

"How much in supplies do we have left?" I asked as he moved from his chair.

"I'll check… but I don't think it'll last too much longer…" he walked back, and I turned to watch as his shape looked through the storage box. "I'll send out a wider ranged hail…"

"What if no one picks us up?" I asked as he came back to me. "What will we do then?"

"I'll get you all there somehow…" he growled softly. "I promise."

Before anything else could be said, there was a loud noise like a returning call, and he quickly sat down as a voice called over the coms.

"Unidentified Skiff, identify yourselves."

Pushing buttons, he returned the hail, and spoke. "This is William Johns. I have three civilians on board with me and we are low on supplies. We're heading for New Mecca."

"Kinda a piss-poor ship for that kind of run in this sector," the voice said. "What are you doing out here?"

"Crashed back on a backwater planet. Lost a lot of people," Riddick said, and I kept quiet as he weaved his words carefully. "Barely made it off ourselves." There was radio silence, and I listened Jack and Imam stirred. And Riddick flicked off the coms again. "They're Mercs… They probably have already figured out I'm not Johns."

"What do we do?" Jack asked.

"I don't know…" he growled. "But I do know we have to hide at least Alou…"

I blinked. "What?! Why?! And HOW?"

He stood, moving to a storage box, pulling out shit and tossing them around before gathering extra blankets and other soft objects. "This should do it…" he stood and started walking towards my spot. "Come on, Princess."

"Riddick—"

"We gotta keep you safe, they'd go after you because not only are you pretty, but in their eyes you're the weakest, and with your ankle, you'd never be able to fight them off or escape," he scooped me up. "And I did not spend a whole damn eclipse keeping you alive to let these fucking bastards hurt you." Once turned, he looked towards Jack. "Bring the morphine out of the first aid kit, and an oxygen mask and tank from the cabinet."

As Jack did that, the convict carried me over to the box, and gently laid me inside, and I felt my heart race in fear. "Riddick, I really don't—"

He put a finger against my lips. "Please… just trust me. I promise I'll come back and get you before you know it. Once it's safe. I'm gonna hook you up with the oxygen to help you breath, and the morphine to help you sleep. It's the best I can do without proper cryo supplies."

I swallowed, whimpering softly. "Ok…" I replied as he leaned down, making sure I was comfortable before helping me slip on the mask, and settled the tank alongside me.

"Here's the syringe with the morphine," Imam said, and Riddick took it from him as he gently rubbed my arm where he was going to inject it into my system. "And they are trying to hail us again."

"Alright… Princess, just relax…. Catch up on your sleep…" he said it very softly as he slowly injected the morphine into my system. "We'll be back before you know it."

"Promise me something…" I said softly, gripping his arm, earning a grunt. "Keep… Jack… safe…"

"I will… Sleep…" his voice growled softly, and the numbness of the morphine slowly took over as he closed the lid of the box after turning on the oxygen tank.

.

When I woke up, it turns out Riddick had gotten a better star-hopper for us—after killing a lot of mercs—with enough supplies and cryo juice to get us to New Mecca. And it also turned out that I had been out for almost four days because of the setting of oxygen he put me on so he knew I wouldn't run out. That kept the morphine circling my system for longer than normal because of it.

"Easy… I'm not gonna put you in cryo for a few days. You need to get the rest of the drugs out of your system," Riddick growled as I started to get comfortable in the copilot seat.

"Cryo doesn't work on people like you and me, Riddick," I sighed, staring unseeing at him. "Primitive side's too active for us to properly shut down for it."

He chuckled, and I heard his chair turn towards me. "So, you were awake the whole time on the other ship."

"Eh, I napped off and on… til we crashed," I shrugged. "You were wide awake weren't ya?"

"I heard you shifting. I thought maybe you were sleeping fitfully if anything. At the time, I didn't really think anything of it. I was too busy getting creative with ways of killing Johns… I kinda like how it ended up happening better than all those."

I smiled. Again… how does this man not make me scream in terror when he talks about killing people? I leaned to the side slightly. "I bet."

He chuckled, and I heard the tell-tale signs of him checking the systems as he went to take care of Jack and Imam to make sure their cryo-sleep was working right, and I stared forward… wondering what stars I was staring at blindly. As I watched a sky that I'd never see again, tears escaped the corner of my eyes, and down my cheeks without me noticing.

"Hey, don't cry for him. He don't fucking deserve anyone's tears. Especially yours." The growl was low, abrupt, and obvious in who it was from as I jumped as a finger wiped away one stream of tears. I swung a hand at him, as I was startled and unsure where he was. His hand gripped my wrist tightly, and another cupped my cheek, a thumb brushing away my tears. "It's just me. I'm kneeling in front of you." My other hand found the top of his head as I gasped for air from my self-induced panic attack as he gently eased his hold on my wrist. "Easy. You're alright. Deep breath."

Once my breathing subsided, I smacked his arm. "Don't fucking scare me like that!"

He chuckled, and resumed wiping my face of tears. "Don't fucking cry for Johns—"

"I wasn't fucking crying for that bastard! Why would I cry for some asshole who wanted to kill a little girl who just happened to have her period at the worst possible time? You can't blame and punish her for something that is biological!" I snapped, kicking him back slightly as best as I could with my good foot.

"Then why the fuck are you crying?" he snarled, gripping the arms of my chair as he tried to intimidate me by standing over me. "Cause the way I see it, we were talking about little ol' Johnsie's death, and before I know it your fucking crying over here."

"I'm fucking crying because I can't fucking see the stars!" I roared, my tears starting again. Not because of him trying to intimidate me. Not because of Johns. Because I couldn't see the stars—I couldn't talk to my mother.

My mother always told me when I was a child, if something ever happened to her, she would go up to heaven, and move into the brightest star in the Constellation Dame Maria—Lady Mother. She said that way she knew she could watch over me. And if I ever needed to talk, I could just find that star and talk to it. She'd hear me.

When I had Ginger, she would find it for me, pointing my hand to it so I could talk to my mother after I lost my sight. She'd locate it, show it to me, then leave me alone so I could speak to her in private.

Now I had no Ginger. I had no sight. I could not find my mother so I could talk to her. I couldn't…

"Damnit Alou, tell me what's wrong!" Riddick snapped me out of my thoughts.

"I need… I need to find Deiparae Omnes…" I whispered, choking back another sob. "Is it in sight? Please… just tell me that…"

There was a long… uncomfortable silence. I could hear his fingers digging into the fabric of the chair arms, then release, then dig again. Like that ticking sound you hear from any old pocket watch. Then, there was a sigh, and he stood straight and moved over to his seat, and I heard clicking. "I gotta look it up… I can't tell stars from each other… Just give me a minute," he told me, and I stood slowly, limping over. "Sit—"

I wrapped my arms around his shoulder, crying into his shoulder as he stiffened. "Thank you…"

A hesitant hand patted my arm. "Easy… I'm just looking it up for you… why do you need to know where it is anyways?"

"It's… it's kinda stupid…" I whispered, nuzzling his shoulder.

"I won't think so I promise," he growled as he clicked on something.

"My… my mother… before she passed away, told me if something ever happened to her," I spoke softly, and I felt him gently move me so I was leaning more against him than the chair. "That when she went to Heaven, she would go to the brightest star in the Dame Maria Constellation… so I could always find her if I wanted to talk to her… Until my… "accident"…" I stressed that word, earning a soft growl from the convict. "I could find Deiparae Omnes on my own… then… my maid… Ginger… she would point my hand to it so I knew where it was…"

"And now it's up to me to be your eyes… As best as I can," He finished, gently taking my hand and placing it against the glass. "She's right there… about two clicks out." Standing, he scooped me up so I was sitting in his seat. "I'll be over checking Jack's vitals if you need me." I blinked, tears of joy and gratefulness filling my eyes. "No need for those. Just… do what you need to."

As he walked away, I was quiet for a moment, before I spoke. "Hey, momma…"

.

When we arrived on New Mecca, Imam had a doctor look over and make sure my ankle was healing properly. Riddick never left my side, except at night so I could—attempt—to get some sleep. Somehow, I ended up finding him wherever he was at night, my dreams filled with the predators of the planet, which he and I started calling Hell. We would talk quietly into the night, and somehow in the morning, I always found myself waking up in my room.

Jack was enrolled in school, much to her disappointment, and Riddick only taught her the bare minimum when it came to self-defense. Which often lead to her screaming at the convict that he could teach her so much more, and him pointing out she shouldn't need it here, to which she would counter that she would need it if they—implying Riddick take her with him—ever had to leave. Riddick would then vanish at that point, leaving a pissed off teenager in his wake, and me and a priest to try and calm her down so she could do her school work. Imam would usually make sure she would actually do that.

I however, would find myself tracing Riddick's scent, following him to where he worked as a laborer in the market. There, we sat talking quietly, telling each other our stories. I told Riddick about my mother, and everything she taught me, and Ginger. He told me about his life in countless foster homes and orphanages, about how he went through so many that he that all the faces of the caretakers just seemed to blend together, and he couldn't name which household bully was his least favorite or easiest to beat for top spot in the yard.

I wanted to avoid talking about my father at all costs—I felt if I talked about it, he would find me… and I would end up where I had been… being shipped off to be some man's blind trophy wife—even that would not be proper terminology—I would be bought and paid for like a piece of furniture… or a dog. I would only be there for my husband to—supposedly—flaunt around and in exchange for whatever rank said man would give me with his name, I would produce heirs to his name and be an obedient darling woman who only speaks when spoken to and never of important matters. Riddick tried to make me talk about him. Sometimes purposely baiting me, wanting me to bite. But… I somehow knew enough about the way his mind worked that I was able to dodge the questions.

.

It had been almost six months since Hell. And I awoke as I heard my door close softly. I sat up, dressing quickly as I poked my head out and looked down the hall to see the form of Riddick moving down the hall with a small bag.

He's leaving… I grabbed my own bag I had ready for when he did leave, and I followed him out of the house at a distance, keeping my eyes focused on his form as I followed him silently.

We ended up in the port, and he was opening up the back hatch as the sun came up, and I was only relying on my sense of smell as I walked to the edge of the ramp as he climbed aboard. I waited only a moment, then let one foot land on the ramp to let him know I was there.

"You should be in bed," he growled softly. "Getting your beauty sleep."

"Ain't no beauty sleep when my dreams are nightmares, and my Convict Knight is sneaking out in the middle of the night," I retort. "A Princess can't live without her Knight."

He chuckled, and his bag hit a wall before landing on the floor. "You can get a better knight."

"I don't want nor need a better knight," I stated, walking up. "Besides, I'd rather deal with mercs than get married to some wimpy brat."

"You'd have a castle."

"Don't need it."

He stood over me, and his scent—that wonderful scent—overwhelmed my senses. This… this scent was home. This scent was safety. Wherever this man went, I would follow until he told me with his own words, that he no longer wanted me around. And then, I would leave. Until then, I would run where he ran.

"So, where are we going?" I asked quietly.

He chuckled, and gently wrapped an arm around my shoulders. "Where no one will find us for a while."

"Sounds wonderful."

To Be Continued...

Jack: So when are you posting the next one?

Rayen: When it has been written and edited.

Alou: Smartass. Got a rough ETA?

Rayen: No... I don't... Because I have to do the same with this one, make sure it is balanced, while also try and improve what a lot of people claim is the worst of the series-Personally I think it is dark fury but that is just me...

Alou: Good point... there is also trying to cover the time jump.

Rayen: Working on that part currently actually...

Riddick: Does at least have a name?

Rayen: Yep. Standing in Darkness. *smiles.* As a heads up, all the stories in this series will contain "In Darkness". the second takes place during Chronicles of Riddick. Hope to see you all soon once I post it. I might post a small project I'm working on off and on to sorta keep you satisfied until I get Standing in Darkness done. See you next time!