Warnings: Riddick is more animal than Man; mostly he's just sad in this one.
Status: Closed/Completed Narrative
~*~
People were everywhere.
Riddick thought he might be able to tolerate the moderate environment of Madison Valley if there weren't people everywhere.
Staying out of the town limits was something he could manage for a few hours here or there. It seemed as if there was always someone finding their way into his space regardless of how remote he'd tried to get from the city. All the people weren't bad. There were nicer people in Madison Valley than Riddick had encountered on any colony. It wasn't how nice the people were which was the problem.
It was the fact people were everywhere.
Breathing was hard with the constant crush of bodies around him; Riddick had to fight back the natural instinct to tear into them, establish dominance, ensure he was given a respectful boundary. The animal part of him was too close to the surface sometimes to be ignored. Running for higher ground, distance, obscurity, was all Riddick could do in those moments. The dome was impenetrable. He wouldn't be getting out any time soon from what he had seen.
A couple walked beneath the tree Riddick had perched himself in to sleep away the heat of the day. They were chatting quietly while holding hands. A young couple infatuated with each other normally evoked a sense of nostalgia or envy or -at worst- anger, but, for Riddick, they made his blood boil in his veins. His skin tightened as his body tensed enough for him to feel the density of his bones as they were stressed by his muscles straining to launch him either into the threat below him or away from it at an inhuman speed. He forced himself to stay still until they passed.
Time to move on.
Riddick had picked a tree close to the river in hopes of being too far outside the main park to be bothered. It seemed he was proven wrong yet again. The people had found him despite his best efforts to remain isolated. His thoughts turned to the Settlement once more. There had been so much space. Being there had been the first time Riddick had managed to breathe freely since he'd wound up in Madison Valley. His nightly runs with the Valkyrie or by himself were starting to become more desperate as his feet inevitably found the same paths he'd traversed once or more than once before.
The old god had implied Sigrun was a reasonable woman and Riddick thought it was known she was in charge of the Settlement's lands. She had not seemed unreasonable. Riddick required little to be happy with his lot. As long as he was isolated enough to ensure a lack of foot traffic near his sleeping area, Riddick would be able to relax. He couldn't trust anyone with his sleeping space. Not with his last memories being of conquering a people whose entire motto was 'You keep what you kill.'
Someone was always interested in taking down the king when there was a kingdom to be won in the effort.
Riddick had nothing inside Madison Valley, yet he still felt endangered, threatened, choked by his fellow detainees.
Every slam Riddick had ever been in featured a space he could conquer for himself. It was usually a place no one else wanted or dared to claim. He didn't need anything soft. A rocky ledge high above the rest of the populace was an incomparable solace to his mind's need for solitude. No portion of his life had put him at ease in the company of others. People were just a different breed of dangerous animal from Riddick's experience; he had no desire to fight them day in and day out if he could avoid it by taking over a slice of space for his own.
His thoughts turned to contemplation of the woman from the network -Deirdre- and Riddick thought he had found a kindred spirit in her. She'd seemed to have a desperation in her words which resonated with his own.
Even solitary animals sometimes sought company. Could she be a kindred spirit? Could they more easily sway the Settlement leader by asking for a plot for the pair of them to share than asking separately? Could they tolerate each other better than the crush of people inside Madison Valley proper?
Riddick felt hopeful as he considered her, their options, and the wide open spaces inside the Settlement border. He was a creature built for war, but, in his heart, he longed for a chance at peace.