Somewhere Down the Crazy River (6/10)
Friday, July 2, 2010
In this part, Kaylee and River search for Simon and Inara, Jayne finds a jail pasttime, Simon and Inara continue their swamp trek.
CATEGORY: FICTION TIMES READ: 3480 RATING: 10.0 (PG) SERIES: FIREFLY
A/N: Sorry for the long, long, long delay! This part may be a little bumpy! I've tinkered and tinkered with the frelling thing then realized I just need to post it and move on. Thanks for reading!
______________________________________________________________________________
Damn. Damn. Damn. The twists and turns of the canyons pushed Kaylee’s piloting abilities to the maximum. Careful now. Flexing her cramped fingers, she tried to ease the ache that settled over her hands that was the result of her near death grip that she held on the steering column. As she realized she was hunched uncomfortablely over the controls, she took a deep steadying breath and straightened. Her mind conjured an image of smiling Wash.
She slowed the shuttle down to as slow as it could go and still remain airborne. What’s that noise? Her attention was briefly diverted from the danger of the tricky terrain as she sensed something off in the deceleration. She hadn’t flown the shuttle for a long time and she couldn’t help but notice the slight imperfections in the flight performance. Can’t think about that now. After this mess was settled she’d tend to it. After they found Simon and Inara.
“I know. I know,” Kaylee said, cautiously accelerating. Focus. You can fix the shuttle later. Kaylee concentrated on only flying trying her best not to get distracted by her diagnostic evaluation of the shuttle’s performance.
“I could…” River was dying to take charge of the shuttle’s controls.
“I’m sure you could, sweetie.” But you’re doped up. Sure, not as much as night. Last night, Kaylee acutely felt the absence of Simon. Kaylee glanced over at River hoping she wouldn’t sense her fear of River life without Simon.
She heard River’s sharp intake and realized she was heading for a canyon wall. She turned sharply, over correcting so she had to turn again to get straight.
“How much farther?” Kaylee asked, not looking at River again.
“At this speed?” River te
Jayne's game is hilarious, and I love him being stuck between Mal and Zoe.
I suspect the brewing argument isn't going to go well for either of them. If Mal tries to bring up people in their own messes, I suspect Zoe is going to fling Wash's death in his face. It's not going to be pretty.
Poor Simon, poor Inara! How much do you want to bet they've been going in circles? You mentioned them hoping around "every bend" they might find something...
Ack, bug bites. Do you know you can be permanently scarred by too many bug bites?
Also, the snake wake up is great. Either Inara shouted, and also woke up Simon, or she froze, wide eyed, like a deer. I can see either one very clearly.
Loved the downtrodden swamp hikers. Inara's right, if she has to be lost, Simon's a bearable companion. But oy, are they ever lost. The tease with River glancing at the canyon was EVIL! :D
I also love how you're defying cliches! Kaylee, so associated with being a people person.. unable to shake off her discomfort with River, unable to give River much credit, shushing her... this is going to blow up at some point? I like River asserting herself at the end! She's learned some independence!
And I still pity Jayne. The way Mal shies away from confrontation again and again is either going to lead to something very anti-climactic, or something very ugly. I bet it frustrates Zoe, too, actually. If she was tense enough to beat up a stranger, she must be longing to let loose on Mal. Whoa.
Excellent!
But then I thought, this is a sometimes petulant and always unpredictable teenager. River's upset with Simon spending so much time with Kaylee, and Inara planning to leave after everything. She's letting everyone involved in her annoyance stew a little bit, and to let things play out. Perhaps she forsees Inara coming to an epiphany and Simon being ever so grateful to his little sister if she makes them wait a little.
I don't think so... Petulant as River might be at times, I don't think she would risk the kind of harm that could befall them in this situation for what is at best a highly speculative gain. After all, Inara doesn't need an epiphany to stay, she needs to be treated with a little respect by certain people. I don't see her deciding to stay without that, no matter how much time she spends in a swamp. Plus, Inara and Simon could be useful in sorting out the mess Zoe got them all in. River can't see the future, so she has no reason to be sure it'll all work out swimmingly with no more devastating losses.
I think River may have sensed something but couldn't place it... otherwise, she's going to lose some serious sympathy points with me. Tsk tsk.
Look at me, speculating about this like it's the show itself. Hee! Any input, CharlieBZ? XD
I'm wondering when Zoe, Mal, and Jayne are going to put 2 and 2 together and realize Simon would never let River go traipsing off, and that the reason Kaylee is even talking about a jail break out plan is that there's no one else to run it by! My impression is that Mal is so accustomred to thinking these things through with Zoe, and it's taking up so much mental energy, his anger, worry, frustration, grief and guilt over her. He can't get past it yet. Maybe that's not all bad, though - I am sitting here imagining Mal in jail if he knew Inara and Simon were missing and perhaps dead.
And I'll echo Rouka's praise - you did such a great job these last few tense chapters at making Kaylee multidimensional, flawed and REAL! She's coming up against her fears and her limitations and that's not going to be all smooth and shiny.
I'm also so grateful you are avoiding the "River solves it all with her psychic" stuff. Yes, she has this ability but she's also upset, scared, apart from her crew and her routine; worried about everyone, especially Simon; picking up on the worries and emotions of everyone around her; frustrated with Kaylee but trying to keep things working between them. It must be so hard for her to distinguish what to attend to and what to ignore. And, she's on meds! The bit at the end, with her honing in on the guy they need to talk to, strikes me as just right. He's standing out pretty clearly, and she's picking a place to start.
But you're right, River is not all seeing and all knowing, either. To me, it seems like she only can see the future (and I think sometimes she can, or at least can guess at it in an uncanny way), if her vision of the future logically follows the information she has. She doesn't have all the information here. Maybe.
Though if she can sense Simon and Inara, she might know they're alive, and safe, just very uncomfortable. So she might therefore feel like she can take her time, too.
It could go either way, I was just offering a possible reason for River's abilities not coming into play.
Regarding River...I'm operating from the notion that while River is a reader, she doesn't see everything. And, the things she does see, she may not interpret correctly due to drugs and her psychosis.
Plus, it's no fun if she's figurin' stuff out!! :)
Being stuck in that swamp has to be one of the worst scenarios I can imagine. I'm glad they didn't eat the hairy jerky (UGH!) Those two need rescuing really badly; or are they going to save themselves? I'd love for Simon and Inara to do something really action-y.
I wonder how it's going with the update? I saw on lj you saying you thought 'just post it, even though it's not as I want it'. That's what I do all the time! Well, until I stopped completely. But I recommend it.
Anyway, muchos bravos!
Post Your Comments
You must log in to post comments.