Serenity: Deception

Chapter Three: Part 1

"Who's Inara?" Nate asked, looking from one face to another.

"She's a companion," Kaylee said. "She lives on the ship."

"Rents a shuttle. She typically departs when we've landed on a good and civilized rock," Mal explained to Nate.

"She doesn't?" Nate asked.

"Hell no," Jayne responded. "She don't service none of the crew, ya lusty lemur. If it were the case, hell, I'd have been-"

"Jayne," Mal cut him off.

"What? Just sayin'," Jayne said.

In her room, River danced, away from the eyes of the crew. She always loved to dance. Back home, where she lived with her parents and Simon on Osiris, River used to dance often. Her mother often told her she was naturally graceful. Everything, from a young age, came to River naturally. But dancing was her passion; dancing was River's lasting love, a sustained adoration for the rhythm and motion of her body.

The music played quietly from the speakers, a delicate piano arrangement of low notes wandering in a familiar pattern, while the high notes danced poignantly overtop, melodically longing and despondent. River's movements were fluid, perfected steps of ballet. She revelled in the simplicity of dance. She let it consume her and was freed from her mind, no longer bombarded by thoughts.

The next morning, the crew woke early and departed for New Melbourne's Green Valley. Situated amongst the mountainous terrain of New Melbourne, the green expanse sat in sharp contrast to the harsh exposed rock face of the ridge. The day was ideal for a trip into the valley; the sky was bright blue, painted with white, fluffy clouds and a red sun rising. Summer was hot on New Melbourne but the cooler winds off the great oceans relieved the scorching heat.

River, in a purple sundress that left her arms bare, walked in the long grass in the valley. A breeze made the grass rustle, creating a sound of perpetual gentle waves. She kept walking until she reached a patch of dead grass. The grass here was brittle and crunched beneath her feet. River snapped a stock of the long grass and picked at the seed head absentmindedly. She stepped onto the top of a large rock, most of it buried in the earth and looked toward the mountains where the valley met the base of the ridge. Next to her, a grasshopper climbed a dead grass stock and clung to the top. River calmly extended her hand in one slow, deliberate movement and the grasshopper crawled cautiously into her palm. She cupped her hands and ran toward the group.

"Simon!" she called out, running toward him with the grasshopper in her hands. "I caught a grasshopper. It's green! Or yellow. Greenish yellow. With a little brown too."

Simon turned to see his sister sprinting toward him. River ran quickly, leaving a trail of stomped upon grass behind her. Her pace didn't relent until her foot hit a rock, sending her to the ground. The grasshopper sprung from her hand and in two hops had disappeared. River looked back at the rock that she tripped on and then stood up, suddenly wondering where her natural grace had gone.

"It got away," she announced.

Kaylee spread out a blanket beneath a large tree, the only tree providing shade in the valley. The branches stretched out, the green leaves turned to the sun. Kaylee lay on the blanket upon the soft ground, leaning back, enjoying the sun on her face. Zoe sat beside Kaylee, her legs tucked underneath her. She wore a long flowing dress and twisted blades of grass between her fingers.

"There's trails up the mountain we can take, it overlooks the entire port. Might even see the ship from there," Nate said.

"That could be fun," Kaylee replied.