This was a Challenge issued by Stalker of Stories on their new forum. I had time this week and I knew both the fandoms, so I decided to give it a shot. The challenge was:

A Non-Slash Harry Potter/Chronicles of Riddick (or any other Riddick movie) crossover

I was intrigued and was seriously considering it when Araceil mentioned Harry/Luna. I don't know if any of you know this, dear readers, but that is my cannon!crack pairing of choice (for Harry Potter at least)! I it. So of course the cutest bunny you can ever imagine comes up, bites me, and won't let go. Good thing it did though, I got this out in about 12 hours of kinda-work (where I do other stuff, like eat and go to class and read fanfiction...) okay, about 4-5 hours of real work. ;p

Not quite as dark as the movie, Luna and Luna-lovin!Harry just didn't really want to fit into that kind of situation. Which annoyed me slightly as I had to rewrite part of it because of that. Whatever.

Depending on the reaction (if there is one) I may or may not make a sequel. I left it open enough so that I could actually make two or three. But that'd take time and thought that I just can't spare right now. (..)

Anyway, enjoy!

Rating for language and slightly graphic material.

Disclaimer: If I owned this stuff, I probably could afford to go to college and get a car at the same time. So, no. I do not own Harry Potter nor Chronicles of Riddick: Pitch Black. I don't even own a good portion of this dialog, having taken it directly from a wonderful online script that came from pitcherblacker. com so props to them! :)

SPOILERS! For Chronicles of Riddick: Pitch Black and Harry Potter 1-5 (if only because you have to know who Luna is)

To Infinity and Beyond

By: Nenagh24

The glare from two separate suns, one orange, the other blue, shone off of an endless plane of sand, its windswept dunes marred only by a messy patch of blackened shrapnel and red-hot, fresh glass. A soft hiss could be heard on the wind as the newly formed panes cooled, but no movement was seen for a long pause.

Suddenly, a new sound joined the white noise as a large piece of metal, which may have been the hull at one time, simply lifted itself off the ground, hovering for just a moment before flying off to one side at high speeds. Two cryo-locks, as shiny and unharmed as they were an hour ago, lay untouched in the sand, the hull they had been attached to still very much intact.

Another hiss can be heard as one of the chambers popped open, cool air inside dispersing quickly as it hit the dry, desert air, the sandy wind being sucked inside in its place. A hand curled around the edge to push it the rest of the way, forcing it from its position, against gravity. That task finished, a young man, maybe twenty-four, sat up and attempted to look around, squinting as he took stock of the situation. His first reaction, surprisingly, was one of annoyed-exasperation, a sigh and an incredulous look to the heavens, rather than the panic attack that may have struck many others faced with a similar situation.

"This has got to be the worst in-flight service I have ever experienced," Harry Potter, once known as the Boy-Who-Lived, grumbled as he shook some of the remaining dirt from his hair. The sand that had settled over his body during the rapid inflow of dusty-air made his scalp itch. "Which is saying something, especially after taking that plane in the colonies that one time while looking for Faloryinks, which were supposed to tattoo you while you slept on the flight. If we hadn't joined the mile-high club that night, the entire thing would have been a bust, seeing as neither of us could sleep with that nasty little bugger behind us kicking the entire time."

Comments continued along this line, a mumbled stream of consciousness carried on throughout the process of waking limbs and stretching muscles, until a muted noise emerged from the locker next to his. Turning towards it, glasses glinting in the sunlights as he did so, he gave it a fond smile.

"Use the red handle to exit, Love," he reminded, gently, almost all trace of his bad mood gone at the reminder of his companion.

Front panel opening in response to his instructions, a pair of slim fingers poked out of the lid and wiggled at him before curving. Dark brows raised and green-eyes crinkled with laughter as the male realized that they were curled the wrong way, the back of the owner's hand facing the glass cover as the fingers bounced in what little space they possessed, curling in and out as they did as if miming a bunny as they did so.

He gave a laugh as he walked over to the other cryo-chamber and lifted the lid for its occupant. "There aren't any field mice nor forests within sight, Luna, so I highly doubt that any FooBunnies will becoming for your bait anytime soon," this information included an extended hand to help the young, blond woman up. His old schoolmate, now wife of many years, accepted the hand, pouting disappointedly at the lack of malicious woodland creatures, before taking a look around for herself.

Nodding, she turned back to her contemporary, her calf-length skirt rippling slightly in the breeze as she did so. "Thanks for telling me, Dear. With the time it takes to lure one in, I could have been there for hours," she admitted, absently kicking the sand beneath her boots as she did so. "But, it seems that we have stopped unexpectedly or the guide books to Edanna were lying," she smiled, looking slightly to the left of the man's eyes as she spoke to him, her own eyes opened wide to the harsh light.

"No, I think that it is safe to say that this was a most unexpected stop," the man answered, unperturbed by his companion's quirks, taking another glance around at the burnt scrap metal lying around them as he did so. "It was a good thing we thought to put those wards on our pods, or else we might look like the rest of these poor sods." Sorrow laced his voice for the other passengers, knowing that he couldn't have done anything didn't help the guilt. Even in space, witches and wizards weren't allowed to place any magic on a non-magical person without their consent, neither could they inform them of magic without jail time and a hefty fee. Not even the duo's longevity spared them from that law, though they wished it otherwise in situations like this.

A pat to his arm made him turn to face Luna, who looked him straight in the eye with a serious expression, before giving him a compassionate smile with a warm hug to match.

They took a moment to take comfort in each other's presence before pulling back to arms length. Another smile was shared before the young woman turned, one of his hands still grasped tightly within her own, and whimsically weaved her way through the destroyed ship towards the blue tinted sun, boots crunching the brittle glass as she did so. Harry paused for only a moment, swooping down to pick up the container that had been strapped to the metal wall in between their cryo-lockers and checking his pockets for his personal effects, before jogging a few paces to match Luna's steps.

It was almost an hour before they found the strange spires that grew up from the ground, the rest of the crash site lying just beyond. Luna's silvery gaze lingered on the spires even as the pair's feet drew them further on, each aware, but unflinching under the unseen gazes of a horde that screamed 'predator'. One hundred meters from the back of the crash, they heard a scream from one of the spires to their right. Both paused for half a second, each glancing at the other, before starting as one for the earthen formation, Harry discretely flicking his wrist and muttering something as they sprinted forward with now silent steps.

They reached the spire just as another group, hidden behind another large cluster of spires until now, finally identified the screams for what they were. Already, Harry was hard at work, destroying the outer layer of clay, before punching into the hollow core while Luna readied her wand, carefully keeping it out of the sight of the crop of people heading towards them, and conjured a rope from nothing. The witch quickly grabbed a hold of her end before tossing the rest of it down the newly made hole, her dark haired companion grasping the rope as well and beginning to haul the trapped woman out from the bottom of the pit.

Soon, the woman was above ground and safe. Harry was quick to unwrap the chain she had tied about her before anything that had frightened her so could pull her back in, but it wasn't long before the group, most of which were now crouched or standing protectively around her, arrived and started to ask questions.

"So, who might you two be, oh, gallant rescuers?" A rather rugged man who carried a shotgun spoke up first, blatant sarcasm frosting his last words. Harry looked over to Luna for her reaction, but realized that she hadn't heard a word as she dreamily studied the spire and the pit beneath it. He shrugged before turning back to answer.

"Just some more passengers from the crashed ship over there," a thumb jerked in the direction of the mostly destroyed spaceship. "I'm Harry and this is Luna. Our lockers crashed almost an hour away from here, but we were able to follow the path of the shrapnel and find our way to the main crash site, hoping to find more survivors. Looks like we weren't the only lucky ones, eh?" His wide smile and upbeat attitude did nothing to help the opinions of those before them.

"How did you survive the crash? Not even all of those in the front cabin managed to do that." This was from a young child, slightly androgynous in looks, who seemed overly curious, unlike the others who seemed weary to the extreme. He received a bright smile for his courage and curiosity.

"Death didn't think it was our time, I suppose." The response was cheerful, but, though the others didn't catch the hidden sorrow, Luna's hand found it's way back into his, giving it a reassuring squeeze. He couldn't and didn't stop his other hand from wandering to his pocket at the mention of death, however.

The harsh man didn't look convinced that they were anybody worth trusting, but the woman with long dark hair didn't allow him time to make any other comments, inviting them to share the shade cast by the ship with her. As they walked over they chatted about the trek there, while the woman cast the man, or more exactly his gun, a slightly guilty look. An aggravated sigh and a shout not to let them inside with 'him' followed them as they began their tale. It wasn't much of a story, but the woman, Shazza, looked like she needed some distracting.

After they told her their story, short as it was, she started to introduce the other survivors, about half of which had gone inside during the conversation. They found that the hard looking man was called Johns and possessed a badge made for law enforcement, Fry, the woman they had pulled from the pit, was the pilot of their vessel, Imam and his boys were pilgrims headed for New Mecca, Jack, the small boy, was just a passenger looking for bigger and brighter things, and the last man was a merchant called Paris.

Just after her introductions, there were sounds of a scuffle and a new man stalked out of the ship, Johns not following far behind. It was hard to tell if the bald man even noticed them, his eyes covered by a set of darkened welding goggles, but both of the magic users noticed him. He walked like a predator, one that could kill and, not only did he know it, but was proud of the fact. The pair had seen enough like him to know how to deal with anything he might throw at them, but, at the same time, didn't see the need to point out the threat to the others.

They seemed to be all too aware.

Following their gaze, Shazza's face went flat and her voice was as cold as a glacier when she spoke up, "Riddick. He's a convict that Johns was transporting. We thought he was the one who, who..." She trailed off, looking down at the ground, brow crinkling in frustrated confusion. Luna reached out and grasped her arm with a smile, though the comfort was a bit off putting, as she didn't quite meet the woman's dark eyes when she looked up.

"It'll be alright. You'll see," she said, voice soft and almost whimsical. Shazza looked like she wanted to believe the younger woman, but after the death of her closest companion not even an hour before, she couldn't yet push aside her grief to accept the hope Luna offered. Her pained look received a sympathetic smile and a warm hug before the smaller woman walked off after her companion.

During the interaction, Harry made his way over to the ship and started to help the other passengers load water and other necessities onto a makeshift sled they were going to take with them to a deserted settlement that Fry, Johns, and the pilgrims had found not too far from there. He took the time to add the first aid kit he had grabbed from the wall near their lockers as he did so. They also searched for another O2 breather or two to put the extra oxygen tanks in, but failed to find any others. Both magicians refused the offers of air from those around them, having already cast charms to help with the difference in oxygen levels, but, unable to explain that to the others, they made excuses of living in high altitudes acclimatizing them to the thin air.

Soon after, the group was off, walking into the desert once again as Fry and Johns carried a powercell between them and Riddick was forced to pull along the rest of the supplies. Harry offered to help, knowing just how heavy most of the objects were, having held many of them not minutes before, but was warned off by Johns and a bit of snark from the designated beast-of-burden as well. Knowing that to ask again was asking to be loathed for 'pitying' the man or insulting his strength, the dark haired wizard shrugged, flicked his wrist ever so slightly to lighten the load and thicken the oxygen around Riddick, deciding to screw the rules if it would save a few lives on this backwater planet, before sauntering off to the back of the convoy where his wife was waiting.

Along the way, Paris gave the goggled man a confused look, before turning to the leader, Johns. "So just like that. Wave your little wand and he's one of us now?"

Johns scowled slightly, speaking over his shoulder, "Didn't say that--" He was cut off by Luna, "Yes, it would take much more than that to make him one of you. At least one potion." She nodded sagely at the path just to the left of them. Snorting, her companion mumbled, "At the very least. To make a full transformation would take at least four."

This dialog covered up the conversation of those in front for a moment, but cleared up fast enough to hear Jack's question, "So can I talk to him now?"

"No." The answer was immediate, and came from both Johns and Shazza, neither trusting the convict, even after his innocence had been proved. Though that was changing, as Shazza had chosen to walk closer to the back than many of the others, but she claimed it was to talk to the two newly found passengers.

Suddenly, one of Paris' wine bottles fell into the sand, rolling down the dune to quickly for either of the three walking behind him to catch. It slowed to a stop shortly after, but the merchant didn't seem too happy about that, as Riddick bent down easily to pick up the fallen liquor. Paris gathered his courage and walked back, holding out a hand, though whether to shake hands or take his drink back, no one knew.

"Paris P. Ogilvie. Antiquities dealer, entrepreneur," he introduced himself, voice shaking only slightly as he did so. The cleanly shaved man gave him a less than reassuring grin and took his hand, "Richard B. Riddick. Escaped convict, murderer." With that, he popped open the bottle and took a long swallow.

Abandoning his bottle, Paris hurried back to his place in the line, Shazza walking up as well, not used to people just boasting about killing others like that. The two men in the back shared a small smirk at the skittishness of the rest of the group. Paris grumbled as he made it back, "You know, if I owned Hell and this planet...I believe I'd rent this place out and live in Hell."

This would have drawn another chuckle from Harry, but he was currently looking at Luna, who had her hand extended in Riddick's direction. "Luna L. Potter née Lovegood. Quibbler Editor, mythozoologist," she introduced herself, smiling in a slightly distant way as she waited for his response. Riddick only acknowledged the strange woman with a raised brow, a little surprised at what she had just done, yet unwilling to really show it, before slapping the half empty bottle into her hand and shouldering his load once again. Head tilting sideways for a moment, the blond shrugged before taking a gulp of her own and handing it to her husband

Harry didn't even hesitate, taking the bottle and giving Riddick a small toast, before drinking. "Harry J. Potter. Thanatos' apprentice, survivor. Thanks." Riddick barely nodded, perhaps shifting the weight of the sled, and moved forward, covered eyes watching everything.

It was at least ten minutes before they passed the elephant, or this planet's equal at least, graveyard when Luna gave a small gasp of recognition. Her partner looked down at her and lowered his voice slightly, "What is it?"

"Jariboracts! We've landed on Jariboracts," she whispered in a fear tinged awe as she gazed at the third sun rising to their left. His brows raised, recalling the legends she had told him about this place even as her fear drained away. She looked at him, practically skipping as she followed the rest of the group, "You know what this means don't you? Biobaptors are here!"

At that he chuckled, but revised his answer as he realized the rest of the group was either looking back or listening in now that he had drawn attention to them. "Just because this planet may also possess the bugs we are looking for does not mean we are staying here!" Giving a roll of his eyes, he was relieved to find that most of those around them had looked away to more important things, such as not tripping.

"I'm glad that worked," Harry murmured, turning back to his still pouting wife and giving her a peck on the forehead. "Don't worry, Love. With our luck, you'll definitely be able to see your Biobaptors here. Just make sure you gather the information you need this time because I don't think we're ever going to be coming back, alright?" He received a quick hug and a kiss on the cheek for his efforts before they both turned back to the convoy and continued their trek in silence.

Behind them, silver-eyes studied the two foreigners warily. They knew something about this planet and the things that ate Zeke, not only that, but they acted and even looked different from everyone else. After his eyes changed, everything he saw was through a haze of purple, but looking at them was like looking at a five-year-old's finger painting, bright splashes of color covering their bodies, every color arbitrarily splashed around without rhyme or reason. They even shifted on occasion, like when the man, Harry, had flicked his wrist, the color had passed onto himself and the sled behind him. Nothing bad seemed to have come from it, he was even breathing better, if anything, but that wouldn't stop him from watching them closely. In a situation like this, it was better to know how a person would react and they were almost unpredictable. In fact, at that moment, there was only one thing he would have counted on.

The fierce protectiveness of each for the other.

They were too far away from the Coring Room when it happened, all of them were, but that didn't stop the survivors guilt of a few of those on the solar-powered sand-cat. It was especially as Imam and the two remaining pilgrims mourned their lost fellow, skinned alive in seconds by the same things that ate Zeke. They were racing the eclipse, trying to reach even the shelter of the destroyed ship before the monsters could come out from their underground homes. Nerves were high-strung for almost all of those in the vehicle, only the magic users feeling secure, knowing that if their lives really depended on it, they could always use magic. But nerves were much like the common cold, easy to catch and tough to shake.

It was in tense silence that they reached the wreck of a ship, bodies scattering as they attempt to race the sun and each other, hoping against hope that they might make it back to the other ship in time. As Imam and the two remaining pilgrims lashed together a sled for the powercells, Harry helped Riddick and Johns carry the necessary cells over and Luna helped Shazza guide the sand-cat into position.

Suddenly, it was too late. The planet eclipsed the last sun, beginning the month of darkness and the sound of shrieking animals filled the air. A swarm of small, almost bat-like creatures flew out of one of the closest spires and started flying in the groups direction. Everyone ran for the cover of the abandoned spaceship, but Riddick, Shazza and Luna fell behind, having to cover the farthest distance. They weren't going to make it and, after realizing this, they followed the group's instructions, and lay down quickly.

Swarming over them like the tide over a beach, the small flock flew just above their flat bodies, shredding the knife Riddick raised experimentally with their indiscriminate teeth. With all of the noise cutting off everything around her and seeing nothing but a writhing mass of black above her, Shazza began to panic. Only Luna's hand on hers kept her from trying to make a break for the hatch door during a false pause in the swarm. Eventually, they seemed to get called back by the clicking of the others, leaving those on the ground enough time to make a sprint for the doors.

Before heading inside, Riddick turned and removed his glasses to get a better look at what was happening. As he watched, the spires burst open, hundreds if not thousands of what appeared to be the larger, adult forms of the animals they just saw, flew out and started to click, using echo location to 'see' the area around them.

"What is it? What's happening?" Fry asked from just beside him, trying to see into the nightmare she can hear but can't find.

Riddick's eyes never left the scene before him, as the predators spread out, searching for their prey. "Like I said. Ain't me you gotta worry about."

Looking to the other women, Fry looked for support or at least an explanation and, though Shazza looked as bewildered as she felt, Luna just stood staring out into the darkness, much like the man next to her. Her shocked look was cut short as the younger blond's husband came and joined them in staring before voicing the need to shut the door before the horde got there.

As they were turning away, Luna caught sight of the convict's eyes and her own widened further in shock, before she turned to her companion. "Harry!" she whispered, creating quite the oxymoron, "he's--!" A finger covered her lips as emerald-green eyes stared into hers.

"I know, he knows, no one else needs to know, right?" She nodded as he removed his finger and they both moved on as if nothing happened.

"It hurts them. Light actually hurts them..." Fry whispered as she looked down at the carcass in front of the small group. Another pilgrim, Hasan, had died, but, in return, they had learned the creatures' one weakness.

Though most of the others were still fine, if not more than a little shaken up, Harry had been knocked out during the scuffle, Johns pushing him violently out of the way to get through one of the escape passages first. Luna sat with him, exhausted after apparating them both to safety when the rest of the group had left the room and stroked his hair as he 'slept'. It was hard to teleport to a place you've only seen once and in a completely different lighting, especially when there was more than one person.

Jack sat close by with Shazza, the three taking comfort in the fact that each of the others was still alive and well, but hope seemed to be running out and the poor child was shaking, almost reduced to tears even as the other adults fought over whether or not to chance the trip back to the other ship.

It wasn't until both Johns and Riddick stood, weapons poised to make heavy damage, that their small group started out of their thoughts.

"Oh, Trash Baby, you're going to regret this." Johns threatened Riddick, only to have Imam try to intervene and calm them both down. "Please, this solves nothing." He tried to push the weapons away, "Please."

Slowly, the two men backed down and Fry looked over to Jack, trying to calm her down as well as the rest of the survivors, "They're afraid of our light. That means we won't have to be so afraid of them."

Imam looked down at the captain from his standing position, "And you are sure you can find your way back in this dark?"

"No, I'm not," she replied, candidly. "But he can."

All eyes turned to Riddick.

Riddick scouted ahead as well as could be expected. "Looks clear."

Crawling into the main cabin, their first stop on the way out, Johns stands up, almost to get his head sawed off by one of the vicious creatures.

"Fuck me! You said it was 'clear'!" He shouted back to Riddick.

"Said, 'looks clear'." The other man clarified.

"Well, what's it look like now?"

Riddick recheckd the room, before shrugging and restating, "Looks clear."

"Just get the goddamn lights on," Fry interrupts, and the group starts pooling their supplies to make a transport. Soon there another sled was made, this time with straps enough to fit seven, the powercells and the generator for the track lighting they had pulled from the interior of the ship and now had wrapped around them. It wasn't until they were about to leave that Luna was forced to fight for her husband.

"His dead weight could be the difference between us making it and us dieing! We can't take him with us if you can't wake him up!" Johns argued, heatedly.

Luna's dreamy eyes sharpened, "Are you saying he will die if I don't wake him up?"

"Yes!" The mercenary was fed up with this strange woman and her husband and was more than willing to leave both of them behind if it would get them out of his hair. She just gave him a serene smile, as if he hadn't told her that her husband was going to die.

"Why didn't you say so in the first place?"

Within seconds Harry was up and about, Luna acting as if it were the most natural thing in the world for these situations to occur and Johns was left staring after them, mouth open in shock and wondering if he had overdosed on his morphine unknowingly. Another glowing strap was added to the sled, the torches were lit, and they were ready to go.

"Be runnin' about 10 paces ahead. I want light on my back, not in my eyes," Riddick ordered, strapping a line of lights across his chest, then shimmying them around until they light up his feet across his back. "And check your cuts. These things know our blood now."

At Jack's paling face, Luna let her worry show for a split second before resigning herself to the fact that more magic will be necessary and deciding to give in right then. Grasping her wand discretely, she placed a small charm on the young girl in disguise, hiding her menstruation from the noses of the animals around them. She then slipped it back up her sleeve, giggling at the knowing look her husband gave her and attracting the disgruntled glares of those around them. Riddick and Fry ignore it in favor of their own conversation and the others ignore it by example.

Harry simply shrugged off his wife's use of magic. He'd known for quite a while that they were probably going to have to expose it in some way. The longer it could safely be kept under wraps, the better, but he wasn't adverse to using it when the situation called for it. Waiting to do so was also the slightest bit more fun, anyways, and that was hard to find in those days. This didn't prevent him from putting up a detection ward around the powercells, though.

It, therefore came as a surprise to all but Luna when he physically tackled Shazza out of the way and threw his torch into the air above them. Shocked, that is, until the monster flew right into it, then they were shocked for a completely different reason. The ever suspicious and fearful Paris, however, overreacted as Harry walked back to his previous position, stumbling back from the skiff and tripping into the darkness.

Foregoing his harness, Harry followed immediately, shining his torch in the direction the man had fallen in. When he couldn't see him within the first second or so, he flicked his wrist slightly, summoning the poor man to him, and, within a second, the frightened merchant slid up the dune towards them and into the light as the creatures mourned the loss of their next meal and clicked even more savagely. After giving the other man a hand up, Harry slipped back into his light harness and motioned for them to continue and the group moved on as fast as they could take it. The trip went as smoothly as could be expected, that is, until Johns spotted their own tracks on the ground before them.

Within seconds he was out of his harness and in Riddick's face, or rather his back, with his gun pressed to the back of his neck. "We aren't completely stupid."

"Stay in the light! Everybody! Stay in the fu--" Fry tried desperately tried to keep everyone alive even as tempers rose. There was pandemonium until Riddick's voice cut across it all, "Listen." His tone had everyone silenced in less than a second, and it was at that moment that they all heard the cacophony of clicking coming from the gorge in front of them. "Canyon ahead. I circled once to buy some time to think."

"Think about what?" Paris was quick to ask, but Johns was even quicker to put words in the convicts mouth. "About how to kill us and still get these cells to the skiff. Goddamnit, we're just doing the heavy lifting for this prick!"

Ignoring him with the ease of one who has done the same to many others, Riddick answered the question put to him. "About the woman."

"Which woman?" Fry asked, glancing about at the others of her gender.

A pointed look from Riddick had them all looking at Shazza, who blushed, shamefaced, as she looked at the ground. "I didn't want to be left behind, so I thought if I didn't tell ya'..." she trailed off, unable to take the accusing stares much longer. Luna placed a hand on her arm, reaching across the skiff to do so, "Dear, you could have just told me. It is rather a simple fix--"

"Simple fix!" John practically bellowed, "Not if it's what I'm thinkin' it is!"

With that, a shouting match between Johns and Fry broke out, the pilot calling for a retreat as the mercenary who had been so against it not an hour before now mocked her, revealing her secret to all those listening as he does so. She had wanted to release the passengers and leave without them and was only captain because her own had died on the way out of the cryo-locker. Harry could only rub his temples in frustration, knowing that this argument and revelation was doing nothing but bring down the morale, but, eventually, a decision was reached, when Johns grabbed the main light and took it with him forward.

Soon, after another small charm had been cast on another female in their convoy, the group moved forward towards the canyon, Johns walking up beside Riddick and looking suspicious enough for Fry to tell them to slow down and put some space between the two groups. Sure enough, it wasn't long before a fight broke out and the larger group, lead by Harry and Imam, broke into a jog to try and break it up, pulling the lightened, though they didn't know it, sled along with them as they did so. When they got close, the light disappeared, but the winner was soon found when Riddick bumped into Imam suddenly.

"Where's Mr. Johns?" the religious man asked.

Riddick cocked a brow, "Which half?"

"Oh for the love of-- I thought you were just working something out, not killing each other!" Harry cried exasperated. Finally out of patience with the situation, he deemed it impossible to reach the shuttle without any more deaths and made a small then a large gesture with his hand. "Lumos Solarim."

The group blinked before staring above them at the miniature sun that appeared out of no where, Riddick covering his eyes out of habit before he realized that his goggles were fastened once again over his eyes. As the death cries of many an animal sounded around them, Riddick turned to the sun's creator. "You could do this the whole time?"

At the bespectacled man's nod, Fry launched herself at him only to be caught in the air by another flick of his wrist. "Why didn't you do this sooner, you bastard! So many more could have been saved without all the trouble!" She fought in the air, screaming at him for a few more minutes as Imam and his final pilgrim join her in the air, each having tried to attack him in some way. Jack seemed to have held back out of respect for her idol, Riddick, who was just sitting back and enjoying the show, Paris fainted, and Shazza looked as if she was only surprised by the people who performed the acts, not the acts themselves.

Once those in the air have finished ranting and attempting to beat him from their heightened positions, he answered their questions. "For your information, it is highly illegal to do what I just did without justifiable cause. Every death before Johns' was either before we came, while I was unconscious or too far away for me to do anything about. I'm sorry that I was unable to save your friends and family. However, I am not a god, nor anything more than a man who simply has an extra advantage. Even with this power, there are still a great many things that I cannot do even though I wish I could. Again, I am sorry.

"Until now, I've been bending the laws, lightening the loads that we carry, putting a ward or early warning system around us and even summoning Paris here," he pointed to the just waking man, "when I couldn't find him fast enough. Luna has also helped by blocking the scent of both Jack and Shazza from the Biobaptors."

Here, Riddick interrupted, one brow raised above his goggles. "Biobaptors? You named those things?"

"No, silly," Luna giggled, waving a hand in the convict's direction. "That's the species that lives here on Jariboracts, they were named a long time ago! I only named one."

Even Harry paused at that one.

"What do you mean, you named one?" Jack asked, eyes wide at the implication.

The green-eyed wizard turning to his companion and holding out a hand, "Hand it over." The rest of the group looked on with dawning horror as Luna refused to meet his eyes.

"You want to keep one of those things?!" Paris asked, disgusted by the very thought.

Voice sharpening, he called out again, "Luna, now. We are not taking one of them home with us. I don't care how small it is or how well it will like the rest of our menagerie, it isn't coming home. It will only like the rest of our animals because it will eat the rest of them."

With a small sigh, the young woman brought a small egg out of her pocket and handed it over to the exasperated man, who carefully disposed of the egg down the nearest spire, knowing that no harm could come to it for the next twenty four hours with the spells placed on it. That finished, he turned back to the others, ignoring his pouting wife. "Anyway, with this up," he pointed to the sun above them, which was still going strong, "we should be able to make it to the skiff without any further problems."

He released those that he had hung in the air and motioned for them to start moving, "If someone would be so kind as to lead the way?" Seeing as a majority of the group was still suffering from a nasty shock, whether the revelation of magic or otherwise, the group was pretty quiet the rest of the way to the skiff, only speaking when they saw the pile of animal corpses clogging the canyon. Luna was kind enough to make a path through them while Harry concentrated on keeping the light going and answering any questions the curious Jack had while they waited.

"So, how do I get this magic stuff?" she asked.

An indulging smile never truly left Harry's face, but he did cringe slightly, "Well, first of all, you have to be born with it. Then, to be able to do anything with it, you have to be trained, which can be tricky as, not only is the training these days dangerous, but it is hard to find other magic users if they don't want to be found, especially those good enough to teach."

"Oh," she sounded disappointed at this information, but continued on, hopeful, "Are there any other ways?"

"There are a few," the wizard admitted. "But they are restricted to a few select species or rather unsavory rituals. None of these, however, grant you the kind of power that would really be worth it unless the powers came naturally or through some coincidence. The effort some expend to be able to do what amounts to parlor tricks is, in my opinion, more than a little insane. I wouldn't recommend it."

With a sigh, the young girl went quiet for the last few moments Luna needed to rearrange the bodies. From there, it was a relatively short trip to the skiff, if not a little annoying, as every animal was still attracted to them as a food source and loudly died as they came into the light to get them. Soon, all of the powercells were hooked up to the skiff and all of the survivors, Shazza, Imam, Suleiman, Paris, Jack, Fry, and Riddick, made their way onto the ship. Riddick paused at the bay doors, looked back at the two who had joined the group as late in the game as he had, and raised a questioning brow.

"Not coming?"

Harry smiled, "Nah, we have our own ride." Seeing the speculative look on the man's face, the wizard's smile grew. "Would you like to join us?"

Taking a look over his other shoulder at the group behind him, half of which was already sitting down, relieved, his gaze lingered on Jack, who was polishing her goggles before feeling his eyes and looking up, before turning back. "Why not."

The two magic users were now grinning widely, but Riddick simply eyed them, pretty sure he could take whatever they threw at him. "When do we leave?"

Harry gave two small waves of his hand, before reaching out for Riddicks, his other already clasped in Luna's. Riddick hesitated for only a second before taking the other's hand in a firm grip.

"Now."

And the trio blinked out of sight.