Pitch Black Cyn

Al was perceptive.

Without being able to see, she was already aware of Cyn’s content expression and the way Riddick’s muscles seemed unable to tense properly.

Lifting her head from Jack’s newest ‘discovery’, she quirked an eyebrow at the two.

“Three hours?”

Cyn’s grin was answer enough, and Al shook her head in mild amazement.

“Never thought I’d meet someone with stamina like hers…”

Smirking now, she sat back further into the shade she’d found, ears twitching beneath her bandana.

“Kind of a relief, actually…”

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Once she heard there was water, Al’s thought went almost immediately to taking a shower.

Her pants were becoming sticky thanks to the earlier orgasm, and she wanted to clean the sweat off her skin.

Filling a bucket to the brim after sating her thirst, Al stepped onto a clear patch of concrete before tipping the contents onto her chest.

Though the water was chilled, she relaxed as it washed over her skin.

Clothes sticking to her body like a second skin, the blond cleaned out her pants and found a clean towel to dry off with.

Knowing that Cyn was watching from a rooftop across the way, probably forgoing a cat-nap in order to enjoy the show, Al did everything with deliberate slowness.

Years of experience had taught her how to push Cyn’s buttons perfectly.

Tying up her hair with a strip of leather, Al was about to undress and air-dry when Johns interrupted.

“Where are they?”

“Where are who?” She countered, straightening out her bandana while smiling to herself.

“You know who I’m talking about.” The merc insisted, gaze straying from her face along the curve of her neck and shoulders.

“I’m not a telepath.” Al retorted sharply, muscles tensing under the scrutiny.

“Perhaps you’d like to go find one.”

His grip tightened on the gun strapped to his leg, and she went completely still, prepared to move at a moment’s notice.

A sharp snarl made Johns back away, wary of Cyn’s claws but refusing to seem like a coward.

“One day, your little kitty won’t be there to stop me.”

“I doubt that.”

Mock-lunging, Cyn sent the man running, and Al relaxed minutely.

“Stupid mercs, always showing up at the worst time…” The cat-girl mumbled, turning to her smaller mate with a lopsided smile.

“Think he tastes like chicken?”

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Everyone gathered into one of the more spacious buildings for an important talk, each holding a cup of water.

Sitting on a tall crate with Al on her lap, Cyn sipped the liquid calmly, half-listening to the conversation.

Something about fuel cells, lack of people, and general aggression, from what she could tell…

Al, on the other hand, was following the proceedings closely, watching how the group operated and reacted.

Her ears twitched and flicked into different positions constantly, taking in every tone and breath available.

Then Jack walked in…

“…Well, if it isn’t the winner of the look-alike contest.” Paris finally voiced, tone slightly sarcastic.

“Jeez, you’re acting like the kid grew an extra head.” Cyn scolded.

“Get your heads back in the game!”

Johns looked ready to say something back, most likely an insult, but Riddick moved forward from his place against a shadowed wall, a strong deterrent.

Smiling crookedly, Cyn downed the rest of her water.

Oh, how Johns wanted to shoot that look right off her face…

“Where’s Ali?” Imam wondered, looking around nervously for his youngest son.

“Did you check the Coring Room?” Riddick voiced lowly.

The entire group seemed to freeze at the implications, and Al was the first to move, jumping down from Cyn’s lap.

She had a soft spot for little kids, no matter how she denied it…

“Oh, COME ON!” Cyn complained, running after her smaller mate.

“Can’t you people watch kids for more than five minutes?!”

Al reached the Coring Room first, her light-weight frame and strong legs making her much faster.

Reaching the front doors moments later, Cyn lowered her shoulder and rammed into the metal.

It buckled harshly under the force of her tackle, the doors flying off their hinges and over a wide-eyed Ali’s head.

A massive creature, like the one that had attacked Al, shrieked and dove in an attempt to secure it’s prey.

With a wall-rattling roar, Cyn lunged, morphing into her basic animal form.

She became a massive jungle feline, about the size of her new prey and powerful, with massive ax-like blades on her tail and canines like those of a saber-toothed tiger.

Pouncing on the winged monster’s back, Cyn sunk her fangs into the leathery neck, a hind paw slamming down on the dangerous tail ready to gut her.

Al only moved inside enough to grab Ali’s hand and drag him out into the light, watching the fight with only slight worry.

The others ran up just as the humongous feline ripped out the creature’s throat, its death-shriek cutting off prematurely.

Ripping off the bloody chunk of flesh, Cyn swallowed it as she stepped off the body, blue blood smeared on her jowls.

Johns instinctively raised his gun, not wanting to get eaten by anything that could so easily dispatch such a predator, but the large cat suddenly stopped.

Ears flicking backward, she crouched low, hissing slightly and locking eyes with Al.

“There are more.” The bat-girl warned, pushing the merc’s gun down.

With a sharp roar in warning, Cyn jumped out of the way as a nest of small fledgling creatures suddenly burst into motion.

Everyone jolted back in fear, but Al stood her ground, taking a deep breath.

Letting out the loudest high-pitched screech she could, the bat-girl kept it up as chaos exploded amidst the flying mass, causing them to retreat down into the cellar.

The screech died down as the flapping of leathery wings faded into the underground passages beneath the sand.

Breathing heavily, Al cocked her head towards the shadows.

Pulling her top down securely over her stomach as she stepped into the light, Cyn straightened out her clothes and smirked.

“Scary, huh?”

No one knew if she was referring to the monsters or to herself…

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Jack and Ali were practically glued to her side after that, and Cyn nearly smiled at the thought that the two youngest children felt safer with a ‘cannibal’ then with a ‘cop’.

‘Smart kids.’

Sitting out in direct sunlight, Cyn popped her joints with ease, half-grinning at the awed, disgusted looks she got for it.

It was more fun to distract them than she thought…

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Leaning against the railing around the cellar pit, Al tilted her head as she ‘saw’ all of the bones within.

“Other building weren’t secure, so they ran here. Heaviest doors. Thought they’d be safe inside.” Riddick stated, goggles pulled up as he joined her.

“But someone forgot to lock the back door.” Al agreed, turning slightly back towards the group.

“Told you. You don’t prep an emergency skiff unless there’s a f***ing eemergency.”

At least Fry and Shazza had the decency to be ashamed…

“We should leave as soon as possible.” Al informed, voice blank and all-knowing.

“There was a time when they could come above ground before, and it wouldn’t be wise to stick around for the repeat performance.”

No one could argue with that, and Al took it as a sign of acceptance.

Turning away from the mass grave, she brushed past Johns while heading for the door.

Only an unrelenting grip on her arm halted her progress, bruising her pale flesh.

“Watch yourself, little girl.” The merc whispered lowly.

“Or I’ll f*** a few manners into you.”

Through the visor, the heat of Al’s glare was too great to ignore.

“You’ll be one of the first.”

Johns had no idea what she meant by that, but there was such a sense of dark foreboding that he knew it instinctively.

She had everything planned down to the last detail, and Johns wasn’t part of the end result.

Even when Riddick pulled Al out of his grip and her eyes were directed elsewhere, Johns felt a chill, deep in his soul…