Gyn Wolf's Story: Chapter Two-Home Base
Gyn stirred and groaned as her ribs screamed at her, unmercifully. Her back felt better and she dimly remembered Riddick cutting her out of her torn and bloodied clothes to patch her up. She laid on her stomach for a moment and listened, nostrils flaring. He was in the next room. She listened closer. Asleep, she realized with a start. He’s sleeping. Good.
Growling low in her throat she pushed herself upright and swung her bare legs over the edge of her cot, placing her feet on the cold floor. Her boots and socks were gone. She was only wearing a tiny scrap of panties and the ship was cold. She rubbed her arms and dug around for some clothes. She found a pair of pants and a t-shirt that obviously belonged to Riddick, for they were way to big, but she pulled them on anyway and then found her boots and socks, tugging them on her cold feet.
Then, with cat-like grace, she sulked out of the room and into the cockpit, sniffing for Riddick. She found him asleep in the pilot’s chair, his eyes closed. She stood next to him, staring curiously, head cocked to the side. He was gorgeous, she realized. Smelled good, too. Very male. She bent towards him and licked her lips and the edges of her teeth hungrily, debating whether or not to lick him. He had a cut below his left eye, the skin was swollen. Her animalistic instincts told her to lick it, soothe it with her tongue. She gulped. With a snarl she pulled back, removing the temptation. She wasn’t built for this. To long without a man, she chided herself.
Deciding she’d better go do some control exercises to speed along her recovery to full mobility, she headed back in the direction of her cot. There was a sudden whoosh of air, and she dropped to a crouch and leapt sideways, spinning around. Riddick stood looking at her, shiv drawn. He’d tried to grab her from behind, but she was to fast.
Trying to keep the admiration for her speed and agility out of his voice, he said, “What were you doin’?” He was wondering how she could move like that injured and suddenly, he knew, she couldn’t.
She stood crouched, teeth bared and growling, holding her ribs. She was trembling with pain from her sudden movement, breathing in short gasps.
Riddick relaxed and slid his shiv back into his pants. He took a step towards her and held out his hand. Gyn drew back and stood very slowly, grasping her ribs with her arms and hands. “I’m sorry, lady. I’m not used to being watched while I sleep. It was just instinct to try and jump you like that.” He dropped his offered hand to his side.
Gyn nodded, her lips now covering her teeth and the growl subsiding. “It’s all right. Just protecting yourself.” She nodded again, but the pain grabbed ahold of her right then and she cried out, stumbling and then falling against the wall, barely keeping herself from collapsing.
Riddick had ahold of her in less than a second, swinging her up into his arms. She laid against his chest, eyes closed. Her breathing was labored. He gently laid her on the cot, careful of her ribs and back. He could hear her heart pounding an irregular beat and his lips pulled into a frown. “How long were you in there? I know it was at least a week.” He sat beside her.
Her eyes fluttered open and she gazed at him. “Yeah... I- I was in there for,” she paused for breath, “about two and a half weeks. I know I must not look so great.” She tried to smile, but merely managed to twitch her lips.
He smiled and pushed a short hank of blonde hair off her forehead. “Not to bad,” he whispered.
Gyn suddenly felt that something was happening. His deep, gravely voice, slid over her like rough velvet. She felt a connection with this man. He wasn’t much different from her, he could even be from Trys-Ornay with the way he moved and the sensitivity of his senses. He didn’t pull his hand away from her hair. Instead his glowing silver eyes stared into her wolf silver ones intensely. She licked her cracked lips, tasting the blood that was still dried to them from her beatings. Riddick copied the movement, his tongue running along his full lower lip, her eyes followed the unconsciously seductive movement. They were both perfectly still, like hungry predators, waiting for their prey to make a move so they could strike.
His hand fisted gently in her hair. He sucked in a harsh breath and finally pulled away his hand, but he didn’t get up from the side of her cot. “There’s something here, you know.”
She didn’t reply, just kept her eyes on him intently. They were pain glazed, but still intense.
He ran the tips of his fingers over one bruised cheek. He’d never felt this gentle protectiveness for anyone. Not even Jack, not like this anyway. He bent towards her, his eyes locked on her bow shaped lips, then he pulled back. “I’d better check your ribs and back and then let you sleep. We’ll be landing soon.”
She acknowledged that she’d heard him with a low sound in her throat.
He helped her out of his oversized t-shirt and unwrapped her ribs. Surprisingly, they seemed half way healed already, the bruises that had been black the night before were now a nasty yellow green color. The stripes on her back were scabbed over. He figured it was one of the characteristics of the Trys-Ornay people. Fast healers. He’d heard that about them. Valuable ability.
He re-wrapped her ribs, which although they seemed better, were obviously still broken. There might even be a few more cracked ones, and they were all bruised bone deep. More ointment on her back and bruises along with a long drink of water, then he pulled the t-shirt back on over her head. Then she was sound asleep, exhaustion finally taking over.
He wondered when she’d slept last. Not been unconscious, but actually slept. He figured it had been a long time. She was dehydrated as well. Lost a lot of weight in that hell hole, too. Her ribs showed through her skin, her shoulder bones jutted out, but there was a sleek cover of muscle as well. He’d feed her when she woke up.
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Gyn slid in and out of sleep, dreams fluttering in and out of her subconscious.
Nightmares. Her brother and sister, cornered like animals, teeth bared and
growling. She could see her little sister standing protectively between their
much younger brother and the Company Rangers, who pointed and laughed at them
like zoo animals.
Her sister leapt forward, dodged the bullet and jumped on the first Ranger. She pulled out her blade and slit the man a new smile below his jaw, from ear to ear. Blood spurted up to cover her face. She licked her lips and lifted her head, baring her teeth at the other Ranger.
The man stepped back, pointing his shotgun at her. Gyn jumped on his back and snapped his neck from behind. They ran over to their brother.
“He’s only seven, Gynce. What do we do with him?” Gyn’s sister, Ven, asked.
Gyn dropped to her knees and pulled her brother close. “Shh, little man. It’s okay now.” She glanced up at Ven. “I can’t take care of you two. And don’t call me Gynce.” Gyn was the oldest at twenty-four, Ven was just seventeen, and poor little Brand. He was just a kid.
Ven stared at her sister and swiped the blood off her face with her shirt sleeve. “You’re leaving us?”
Gyn glanced sharply at her sister. “It’s not like I’m going to abandon you. I’m leaving you at a minor’s camp. It’s a four day flight from here. I’ll be back soon. You’ll be safe there, and you can work. It can’t be like it was when Mama and Daddy were around. It’s different now.”
Brand held her desperately. “Please, don’t leave us, Gyn. Please say you’ll stay.”
She pushed the hair out of Brand’s face. “Hey, don’t you worry, little one. I’ll be back.”
He sniffed. “Promise?”
“Of course. The three of us are a team, right? A new brand of vengeance. Always.”
But then Brand and Ven’s faces faded out and she was in the cell, chained to the wall. The guards were beating her again. Their fists slamming into her stomach and ribs. They kicked her legs, back handed her face. Then the crack of the whip, cutting into her skin. She tried not to scream, to clench her teeth, but she couldn’t hold out any longer. She opened her mouth and let out a bloodcurdling howl of pain.
Suddenly someone was shaking her and she opened her eyes to find Riddick standing over her, clutching her shoulders in an iron grip. “Wake up,” he bit out. Not all there yet, she struck out at him. He grabbed her hand before it could connect. “Its me! Riddick!”
Recognizing him, she went slack in his grip. “You need to eat,” he said. She shook her head no. “Yes.” He got up and left then came right back with a bowl. He put it to her lips and forced her to drink the hot, meet flavored liquid. She sucked it down and he made her eat a large hunk of beef jerky, and then drink more water. She tried to get up. “Where are you going?” he asked, pushing her back down.
“I ate, I drank, now I have to take a piss. Is that okay with you, Riddick?” she said bluntly.
He smiled then, even chuckled a little. “Yeah, okay. The units up towards the front, on the left.”
She nodded and hobbled out of the room. He laid back on the cot. She was something else. He wondered what she’d been dreaming about. They were about twenty minutes away from the landing site.
When Gyn came back into the room she looked composed and her hair was in some semblance of order, sort of. She ran a hand through it, shoving it up into wet blonde spikes.
“You washed your hair,” he said.
She nodded and sat down again. “I need to concentrate,” she said, crossing her legs.
“Muscle control?” he asked.
Gyn nodded again. “Yes. It will help me heal faster.”
“You heal pretty fast already, though, don’t you?” It wasn’t really a question.
“You could say that. Its a normal healing rate where I’m from, but its faster than most people.” She closed her eyes and he could tell she was doing the exercises by her breathing and the sudden slowing of her heart rate.
He left the room and began guiding the ship into dry lock. They were there.