Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

I walked down the cold, January streets of Brooklyn. My 21st birthday was nearing closer, but my willpower was thinning. I couldn’t get my damn life together. Living back with my abusive parents wore me down, and today had been when the last thread -tethering me down to this world - broke.

“At least we aren't beating you!’ they said over and over, yet the next hour, my father would grip my arm until it bruised, screaming mere inches from my face, the spit coating my skin in a disgustingly sour warmth, “You are such a disappointment! Why don’t you save? Why don’t you ever leave your disgusting room! You filthy, shit!”

“My hours were cut! I’m trying, I really am!” I’d scream back, the unshed tears eagerly waiting to burst past the dam.

“More fucking excuses! You obviously aren’t trying hard enough!”

His hand on my wrist would tighten until I screamed, “Stop! You're hurting me!”

It was as if - after that fight that happened moments before the present - brought back all the times he hurt me. Restricting the food I bought for dinner. He’d stay up till three o’clock to make sure I didn’t sneak down to eat the dinner I had missed. The only time I left the ‘moderate’ safety of my room was when I knew for a fact my father wouldn’t spot me, because I was scared of what he’d do, of what we’d both do.

So it’s 10:00pm, I’m walking alone, a half full bottle of antidepressants in my hand, and a bottle of some dumb expensive burbon I stole from my father, in the other. The idea of bringing a jacket, or slipping on shoes, completely leaving my mind as I numbly left the house. Wandering. Debating. Concluding.

I came to a stop when I spotted a small, out-of-sight alley. I sat on the ground, feet numb and unfeeling as I stumbled through uneven pavement, and litter. My tears finally exploded, In a wave of heartbreak and self-loathing. I was tired, oh-so tired. I leaned against a rundown building, taking a few big gulps of the bourbon before dumping the whole bottle of the, once useful, medication in my palm before tipping it back and swallowing the pills with a hefty amount of alcohol.

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I could feel myself slipping, fading in and out, seeing double out of my half-lidded eyes. The high of my body reacting to the substances making me drowsy. The shivering stopped hours ago - wait - or was it minutes? Seconds maybe? The sounds grew bleary as you heard heavy footfalls, shattering glass, and stepping on crinkly bags as they grew closer.

My eyes finally failed me as I began to delve into slumber. That is, until I felt a dull slap to my cheek. I let out a weak, incoherent mumble.
“Wake up! Come on, open your eyes.” It sounded like the voice was underwater.

I tried to open my eyes, taking a bit for my eyelids to budge. When they finally did, my eyes couldn’t focus. My pupils rolled to the back of my head, my body trying to resist my last bit of livelihood.

“Ohhh, no you don’t!”
Am I moving? I vaguely feel a jolt. Is my soul being tugged out of my body, now? It’s so cold, peaceful even. Is this it? Finally free from the mundane torture?

The dull splatter of vomit to a hard surface brought my ascending soul back to my waking shell.

“That’s it. You’re okay. You’re alright now.” The masculine rambles of the mystery person enveloping me, made me snap my eyes open. His frantic petting of my head seems more of a gesture of soothing for himself rather than me.

I kept coughing, hacking, gagging, and gasping, but it finally ended in groaning. It was then that I noticed his long fingers were pressing down on my messy tongue.

I finally collapsed into him, he removed his fingers, and let out a long shaky exhale. “What did you do?” I croaked.

“Mm? Made you purge. Had to get all that gunk out of your system.” He shrugged like It was life or death he just dealt with.

“Why.”

“I didn’t catch that?”

“Why did you do it?” I weakly whispered.

“What do you mean? You told me to..” His voice faded to non existence.

Chapter Text

I awoke with a pitiful feeling in the back of my mind, I sat up with foggy awareness. The room was white and sterile, but the bed was surprisingly comfy. I got up to stretch, but felt an IV in my arm tug me back.

“Uh-uh-uhhh! Sit back down. You’re still dehydrated.” A softly scolding sound came from a familiar voice. I turned my head to the left to find a comfy, out of place, armchair with a whimsical looking man relaxing in it. He looked about as drained as me.

I laid back down against the plush pillows then opened my mouth to talk, but the words didn't come to me. My mind was still so fuzzy.

“That sure was a close one, wasn’t it?” His voice teasing, as the flood of memories rush towards me.

My demeanor completely changes, sitting up more, then hanging my head in embarrassment. “You know, I’d thank you, but you really shouldn’t have bothered.” I let out an exhausted exhale, “Help me get this needle out and I’ll be out of your hair.”

His eyebrows scrunch up in mild shock for a long thoughtful moment, before relaxing back in his chair, closing his eyes and resting his head back. “You may think you’re lost, alone, a bad person. You have no idea who you are, and no chance to figure it out, but you’re wrong.”

“And how do you know that?” I trail off quietly at the end.

“Because I’ve been there.” He turned his head, locking gazes with me, a soft, tired grin on his lips, and a deep hollowness in his eyes. “I was alone when I was.” He takes a long pause, “but you don’t have to be.”

That made me glance through my hair, barely catching eye contact. His eyes were distant, it was almost as if his mind was in a different time. Lost in memories? No, not memories, he wasn;t thinking of the past, but rather it seemed he was lost in his future. Somehow it was like he was dreading the start of his life from thus on. Like me, just like me.

“The dreadful trouble you went through for someone like m-,” I was interrupted.

“Don’t!”

“I- Wha-”

“Don’t say that.” His stern, yet dreary voice, drew me into a dizzied, disrupted state. My mind was fully at a standstill. “I know you’re scared,” I went to protest, yet couldn’t get a word in before he continued. “I’m scared two. You might not understand now, but Earth is such an incredible world.”

The scoff came out harsher than I intended. “You’re delusional. The world isn’t incredible; it hasn’t been for a long while. Us people have corrupted it!”

“Maybe to you, but I can show you how wonderful and absolutely impossible this planet can be. And-and not even just Earth, but any planet, star, time, you name it!” He was on the edge of his seat, a hair’s width from sliding completely off.

“ Are you high or something? What are you even getting at?” I stared, unbelieving, yet somewhere in the back of my brain, a spark went off.

When he saw that flicker in my eyes, he jumped into action. Quickly, and haphazardly, taking out my IV, then jumping up, taking me with him. I stumbled as he dragged me through the halls to a circular room. A beacon of light moving as if it were breathing, and a flurry of buttons, switches, screens, and levers.

He let go suddenly, and I started to fall forward before he steadied me by my shoulders.

“Woah there, I know it's pretty cool, but you don't gotta faint on me.” He joked with a newfound confidence that has seemed to develop after the vulnerability he showed earlier. “So, did my proposal ignite any passion in that little ol’ body of yours?”

My face started to flush, whether from my current condition of confusion, or the comment, we’ll never know. ‘Wait! Wait! Wait!” I backed up to sit on some steps before the whiplash would make me lose my balance. “P-Proposal!?” I choked out, “What proposal?”

“To come with me of course! To show you the universe and more!” He flung his arms around as if to gesture to the weird room we were in. “ Any time, any place! You name it!”

“Wait? You were serious? You mean it wasn't some huge metaphor about living your life and yada yada?” Somehow his clarification seemed to calm me no matter how whimsical his words were.

“Oh, metaphors, useless old things they are.” he gave a face of disgust, “They just beat around the bush, if you have something to say just say it?” He continued to ramble to - mostly - himself.

“I mean how is that even possible?! You must be some sort of crazy crackhead! Yeah that’s it.” I tried to convince myself, yet deep down it was like a strange connection was telling me he’s speaking the truth.

‘Oi! I am not a crackhead!”

My still exhausted body and my swirling emotions finally reached their peak, and I finally bursted.

“I don’t even know you!” My body, coated in a blanket of hysteria, belted so loud, it echoed around the mechanical room.

“Ah. Well, that’s easily fixed. I’m The Doctor. Time Lord, Traveler of space and time. Now you.” He trailed off, and stuck his hand out, awaiting an introduction and a shake of the hand. Quite formal considering the absolute insanity we’ve already been through.

I stuttered for a second, hesitantly washing away the hysteria before they both disappeared altogether. I wiped my sweaty palms on the day old jeans I was wearing.

“Edith Turner; you can call me Eddie. Just a boring girl from brooklyn.” As soon as I took hold of his hand, my anxiety, fears, shame, all vanished with a flash.
“All right Eddie!” He sped to the beacon in the center, honestly, now looking at it, it’s probably the control panel, “Where to first!?”

“Anywhere but here, Doctor!”

And with a tug of his arm, the room shook.

“Allons-y! Oi, that’s new?”

With a violent jolt, we were off.

Chapter Text

The adrenaline started to wear off as a twinge of fear took its place. The rattling, banging, shaking, quaking of the ship scared me. Were there maintenance policies on space ships, because if not, there really should be.

“Is it supposed to be this rackety?” I yelled over the loud sound of chaos.

“It?!”

“Yeah! The ship!”

“She is a TARDIS! Not just a ship!” He sounded offended and that perplexed me.

“What is a-!” The ship - sorry - TARDIS - came to a stop, “-Tardis?” I finished my statement calmly since the noise halted with the ship.

“She stands for ‘Time And Relative Dimension In Space’ also known as: T-A-R-D-I-S, TARDIS!” He explained a little exacerbated, but still with this frill of excitement he always seemed to have.

“Alright, alright! So, where are we then?”

“Step out and see for yourself.” He gestured to the doors.

Hesitantly I obliged. The doors cracked open to a spotless ornate carpet of a deep ruby red. The doors lining the hallway had a sense of class, as if only people from old money could afford to stay here. Each door had a golden plated number.

“A hotel?” I spoke. Unsure if we even left Earth. If this was all some sort of trick.

“No, but close, what’s your second guess?” He said, bending by his waist to come down to my eye level.

“Not a Hotel?” I deadpanned.

“Oi! You’re no fun!” He pouted like a disappointed child. “Okay, okay. Follow me.”

“Aw, did I crush your spirits, Doc?” I spoke tauntingly, a faux pout on my own face.

“Oh shush!” And thus he grabbed my wrist, leading me through the matching double doors at the very end of the hall.

The doors opened to an elegant scene. It looked as if it came straight out of the Titanic itself. The wide open event space, with its gargantuan chandelier, added warm golden light that casted the room in a feel of luxurious richness. The carpet continued down the spacious grand staircase, into an even more spacious room where the wealthy, and, albeit, gorgeous, occupants mingled and conversed in relaxed delight. Though, the best part of it was the walls. The walls were a half-dome of glass showcasing the vastness of space. Highlighting the shimmering watercolor of a nebulus. Flowing and dancing itself as if peacocking its breathtaking beauty.

A hand weighed heavy on my shoulder. I yelped at the startle and only then did I realize I’d been gawking.

“You still with us, Eddie, my pal?” His tone was filled with playful humor rather than any hint of sincere concern.

“Fuck.”

“Hm? What’s wrong?”

“You weren’t lying..?”

“Well of course I wasn’t-“

“You. Weren’t. Lying?”

He paused in concern.

“You weren’t lying!?” I dragged the last syllable in childlike glory as I zoomed down the stairs.

“Wait-!” He yelled after me.

I only stopped when my face squished against the glass window. “Wow..” I murmured. I leaned back as I saw the Doctor's reflection closing in behind me.

“‘Wow’ is correct.” He turned me around by my shoulders and smiled down at me. “Well, should we take a look around?”

“Yes! Absolutely yes!”

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We approached a table of food and refreshments. The delicacies were foreign and, frankly, looked quite unappetizing, but at least all wine is made universally the same way - or so the doctor explained, whether it’s true or not is still yet to be learned.

I sipped at my glass of wine when suddenly I felt this impending foreboding danger. Like it has always been here, but it’s coming closer. Considering this odd sensation, I noticed it felt different than my typical anxiety or paranoia. This was a fact. I felt that this was a fact. It’s not like I can explain it, I just know it somehow.

The Doctor, having noticed my pause, waved his hand in front of my face.

“Somethings wrong.” My speech was urgent but it came out emotionless. I didn’t feel nervous. I felt no uncertainty.

“What do you..?”

“They’re coming.” I wasn’t the one formulating my words anymore. They were automatic. An extension of my unconscious self.

Like I foretold; they came.

“Get down!” I felt something push me to the ground. No- it was someone! And just in time at that! These giant albino mosquitoes flew down from the ceiling’s air ducts.

“What are those things?!” I looked up at the raggedy man as he perched on top of me, shielding me from the bug-like creatures.

“They’re Culecs. A parasitic alien species known for feeding on humanoid tissue.” He gripped my arm to help me up. “Ugly little things.” He gave a ‘blegh’ to accentuate his disgust. He started into a sprint, dragging me behind him.

“Where are we going?!” He let go of my wrist, letting me run for myself.

“The main deck! The crew must’ve known these buggers were here!” After running up one flight of stairs already I (understandably) started lagging behind. After another flight I was by myself catching my breath.

I took a second to sit against the wall on the third floor platform. I took a few moments - a long few moments - to calm down and recollect myself before I fully realized the position my out-of-shape, soft body had left me in.

I got up, gripping the wall, and after one more deep breath, I ran straight for the event room once again, back to the center of it. If the Doctor was going to handle the crisis from the control center, I’ll handle the damage control.

Going through another hallway of guest rooms, I
burst through an identical set of double doors as earlier. Emerging onto the third floor balcony, two floors above the original grand staircase, I saw the grisly scene of half consumed bodies. Humans and various humanoids of other species lay rotting, as the dozen or so survivors huddled behind a pile of tipped over tables. No more of the parasites to be seen. Probably thought there weren’t any more bodies to consume.

“Hey!” I whisper shouted down to the others, yet they didn’t hear me. Looking around frantically, in a moment of panic, I flung myself onto the tall curtain at the end of the railing. Climbing down half way, until my grip slipped and I started to slide down all the way.

I landed a few meters away from the company, startling a little girl into screaming.

“Hey, hey!” I put my hands out both palms up. “It’s just me. I’m trying to help you.”

“Who are you?” The girl’s mother demanded.

“Yea! And why should we listen to you anyway!?” An elderly, blue-tinted, man spoke up.

“We-well…” I took a moment to think.

“Spit it out, lady!” A young boy yelled.

“Well, I’m the captain! Captain Eddie at your service!”

“You’re the captain? Really?” The boy spoke again.

“Can you help us?” The little girl asked. Cute puppy eyes shining in hope.

“I sure can, sweetie.” I ruffled her hair.

“What other choice do we have?” Her mother spoke up, and thankfully her small statement seemed to stir up a resounding agreement.

“Okay, Captain! Show us the way to safety!” The elderly man spoke again.

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I led them to the top deck, staircase after staircase, they seemed to lag behind. The mother, already long before, decided to carry her daughter to help speed up their haste. The elderly man seemed to struggle the hardest. I stopped, the crowd stopped with me, and walked through to meet the blue mustached alien.

“What’s your name, sir?” I asked with as much faux confidence and authority as I could muster.

“Zoro Zorglo.” He responded weakly, out of breath.

“Well, Mr. Zorglo, shall we?” I went to his side and gripped his elbow and hand, helping up the last two flights of stairs as the rest followed.

Just as we turned the last corner of the stairwell, we saw a hoard of Culecs flew towards us.

“Go! Go! Now!” I yelled at the group as I followed behind. “Into the supply closet! Everyone!”

I ushered everyone in and closed the door behind us, my back keeping the door firm. After a nerve wracking few moments, the loud fluttering of wings, seemed to have stopped.

“Is it safe now?” The little girl whispered.

“I think so, let me check.” I murmured back. As I slowly opened the door, stepping out to look, it seemed safe.

Then the clink of metal hitting metal sounded in the back of the closet. Yet, nothing seemed to have moved. The coast was still clear.

“Alright everyon-“ I was interrupted by the sudden thundering of parasitic wings. The teenage boy grabbed the door and shut it before I could get inside.

My heart sank to my stomach as my body was lifted to the air. Carried like a rag doll by this beastly, and disgusting buggish-parasite. We flew through the hall at a sharp speed. Only getting relieved as I was flung onto the hard ground. Rolling until I hit a mass. Not any mass, though; it was the ship’s control table. I was finally at the main deck.

“Oh! Hello, Eddie! Fancy seeing you here! Was wondering where you’d gone.” He bounced on the balls of his feet as if it were any other normal day.

I groaned and rolled my eyes before getting to my feet and dusting myself off. “All the survivors are hiding in a storage closet down the hall as we speak. There’s only 4 of them that I could find in time. I’m sorry I couldn’t do more.”

the buzzing sound of flapping wings could be heard once again.

“Sorry to break off this oh-so touching reunion, but I do believe we were discussing something, Doctor.” She spoke almost seductively, taunting. She approached him, finally coming into view from the shadows with a group of the parasites tagging behind her, following her lead.

She was grotesque, her crew uniform ripped to shreds, exposing an almost pearlescent carapace that coated her stomach and chest - her vital organs. Her eyes were a sickly bloodshot red, but her skin was the worst of all, random coarse hairs stuck off of the insectile appendages that sprouted from her back. The flesh around where they sprouted was scabbed over. The gaunt look of her face was like a pale corpse. The only explanation was that she was somehow the aliens’ queen.

“Here I’ll do us all a favor and take care of this meddlesome brat that so rudely interrupted us.” She shrugged as if she were only slightly annoyed by my mere existence.

“Wai-wait! Hold up!” The parasitic ex-human quirked her thinly trimmed eyebrow in bored anticipation. “I’m-I’m the captain! So, I, as captain, command you to- uh- to get off my ship!”

Her giggle started soft, yet turned into cackles so hard she doubled over from the effort her lungs were making. “Captain? Captain?!” She took a deep breath to compose herself. “You must be kidding me!” She stepped up to me slowly, grabbing my collar and lifting me to my tip toes. Nose to morbid nose. “I’m the captain.”

She threw me down before gesturing to her parasitic minions.

“Take her to the hive!”

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In a flash, the Crulecs grabbed me and flew out of the room. The winding hallways and lightning speed made me nauseous. I barely held the bile in.

They threw me down a poorly lit, metal cavern. I anticipated a sharp fall, yet instead landed on a sticky, string-like substance, cushioning me.

When my dizziness finally subsided, I started to glance at my surroundings. The engine room was reduced to a stuck, sticky and slimy web. No longer functioning, we were stranded.

I tried to pry my arms off the, once helpful, webbing. Yet my limbs were stuck. My choppy, short dark hair tugged on my scalp as I tried to assess my surroundings.

As I submitted to the stringy mess I’d literally fallen in, trying to come up with a plan, my mind wandered to my new companion. The doctor. Worried, hoping he was fairing well with that witch upstairs.

A ringing erupted in my ears, painful and sharp, but as it subsided I could hear the familiar voice of the man who brought me here.

“Doctor?!” I shouted out loud, but only echo responded back. The cavern was dark, so it wasn’t surprising I couldn’t see him. “Doctor are you here?!” Yet the answer sounded right in my ears.

No. Not in my ears. Between my ears. It was like the familiar sound of my own thoughts, except it wasn’t me causing it.

After a pause, another voice sounded. The queen.

“We were negotiating were we not?” Her voice hissed. Irritation evident. Patience running thin.

“Ah, yes. I was asking you to leave the ship. Give it back to the survivors.” He spoke nonchalantly.

“And what will I gain from that, exactly?” She huffed. “I mean seriously, without little ol’ you and your little ol’ pets, my babies will have nothing to eat. They’d be absolutely patched. Now you wouldn’t want that, would you?”

“With all due respect, these are people. Sentient beings with lives of their own. And lives that are not for sale or consumption, may I add.” The Doctor’s obvious frustration started to crack his calm demeanor.

Another pause. A tense standoff.

“How about this?” He sighed, “give Eddie back, and if they are unharmed, I will think about giving you the rest.”

He couldn’t actually be considering that? Is the man who saved my measly life, really willing to give up so many others so easily?

“Alright, fine. Follow me.”

He’s gotta have a plan right? He can’t let this happen, at least not without a proper fight.

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What felt exponentially long, yet was probably only ten minutes, passed before I heard a banging on the floor above me. Two people appeared on a catwalk above the engine - above me.

“Eddie!” The familiar man ran to the stairs at the end of the catwalk. “Are you Alright?!” He avoided the webs with ease that I couldn’t imagine.

“I’m fine, Doctor, just a little stuck is all.” I grunted while trying to get up, demonstrating my sticky situation.

He gripped at my collar and tugged, then my leg, then my arm, trying to help me with brute force alone. The queen looked down at our struggle in sadistic glee.

“Back pocket.” I whispered.

“What?” He blurted.

“Shhhhhh! She doesn’t expect me to get loose. Look at her face. She is expecting defeat. Failure. She wants to devour us, then take the survivors anyway. Your deal wouldn’t work even if you were going to actually go through with it.”

“How-“

“Later.” You sighed. “Now, back left pocket, you should be able to reach my pocket knife without touching the webbing, but be careful.”

He nodded, before carefully reaching below me. I could feel the pocket knife leave my pants. And with a small flourish, he held up the prize between his pointer finger and thumb.

“Now cut me loose!” I whisper-yelled, and he got to work.

After a beat too long of silence, the villainess spoke up. “See, she’s unharmed. Now, about the food you offered me?” Her grin was wicked, her elongated tongue slid over her teeth, yet she still hasn’t noticed I’ve gotten loose. The Doctor’s tall frame had shadowed where I was, the necessity of my visibility was all but forgotten by the parasite Queen. I climbed up the metal stairs as The Doctor distracted her.

“Yea, well about that?” He spoke, a faux hesitance to his voice. Teasing almost. “You see those people - not food, may I add - are going to stay right where they are.”

“What?!” She screeched, yet was cut off, by a little shove to her mutated back.

“Oopsie?” I innocently spoke.

The queen fell to the webbing, getting tangled on the way down.

The doctor ran up to meet me. “Alright let’s hurry and get everyone to an escape pod before she gets untangled.”

We rushed back to the supply closet I left the group in, thankfully not a long distance.

“It’s me! Eddie!” I knocked on the door.

“Eddie? You’re okay!” The little girl ran out the door hugging my legs tight.

“Hey, girlie! Good to see you again!”

“We are here to take you to the escape pods, so everyone, follow us!” The rest of the group followed close behind, until we reached the pods. The doctor runs in first and sets the coordinates to the nearest space port.

“Alright everyone, in, in, in!” And thus we closed the shuttle door, said our farewells, and they were off. Finally safe and sound.

We hurry up to the Tardis to finally take off.

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As soon as he gets us orbiting some strange place in the universe, out of harm's way, I crash.

I slip onto the ground against the railing of the control room. I couldn’t talk, I couldn’t move, I couldn’t think. I couldn’t. Breathe. I couldn’t breathe! I scratched at my throat, willing the air to reach my lungs. Tears stung my reddened face.

I felt hands on me. They’re back! They’re on the tardis! They’re trying to get me!

“Get off!” I sobbed out, the wheeze echoed in my esophagus.

“Hey hey, shhh. Shshsh. It’s just me, Eddie. It’s just me. You’re okay.” His soothing voice reached my ears and my lungs broke free from their chains allowing the air to burst into my body with a force so hard, I coughed. I coughed. And I coughed.

“Do-Doctor!” A painful gasp racked my shivering body, and I started to claw at my arms. “I-I. I couldn’t-! I-!” He grabbed my arms and turned me, letting me lean against his chest as he rested his back against the railing.

“I know. I know. Shhh. You’re okay now. You did your best.” He brushed one hand through my hair, repetitively, soothingly.

“B-but I-!” And the sobs turned into quiet tears. Body still quivering.

“I’m proud of you, Eddie. You did so well. You’re doing so well for me.”

I looked up at him with tired, tear stained eyes. My breathing was finally under control. Body just limp, from over exertion.

“Let’s get you to bed, hm?” He got up and reached a hand to me, yet instead of taking it, I reached both my arms out to him. “Oh alright.” He rolled his eyes at me and tried to withhold his grin, before picking me up, arms around his neck, and legs around his torso.

He carried me through the tardis halls, to a room I’ve never seen before, and laid me out on the bed. “Alright little Lemur, get some rest.” He took off my shoes, tucked me in, then ruffled my hair before leaving.

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Moments later, he stood in the control room. A scan of Eddie on the screen.

“What have I gotten myself into?” He whispered to no one, but the tardis.

Chapter Text

During breakfast a few mornings after the incident on the cruise, the doctor asked me a really peculiar question.

“So? How did you do it?” Head resting in both hands on the table, leaning over towards me as I munched on the toast I had smeared with a hefty amount of strawberry jam.

“Again, Doctor, what do you mean by that? What did I do?” I inquired, honestly bored of the confusing conversation that he had chosen to bring up so early in the morning. Too early in the morning.

“The psychic paper!”

“Yea, that information doesn’t really help much unless you explain to me what ‘the psychic paper’ even is.” I mimic his voice.

“Oi! I do not sound like that!” I just smirked at him incredulously. “And! The psychic paper is obviously a paper that is psychic!”

“Yea, obviously.” I huffed sarcastically and rolled my eyes. “Still not descriptive enough, doc.”

“Oh well then nevermind that! The important thing is that you, a normal human, were able to transfer a message to me through it.”

“Okay, Doc, I think I’d remember doing that.” I stirred absentmindedly at my dirty chai.

“Yes, you’d think! Which is what makes it even more confusing!” He stood up and gripped his hair, exhausted by the mental gymnastics he was currently putting himself through.

With a final sigh, he plopped down back in the chair and slouched.

“Don’t you know any fancy alien wizards or something that can just tell you what’s going on?” I slurped the last of my tea.

“Brilliant! Yes, brilliant!” He grabbed my wrist and pulled me up and out of the room, down the hall and to the control room. “You know, I’ve heard of this planet called Florielle! The priestesses there are supposed to know all things psychical! Heard it’s lovely this time of the year.” He smirked and pulled the lever.

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We seemed to have arrived at our destination, according to the halting of the TARDIS, at least. We walked out and I immediately stopped. The sight stole my breath. The atmosphere was a bright periwinkle, while the land was towered over by large green stemmed, green petalled stalks that shot to the sky. The ground was covered in a pale tan dust and crawling flowers of royal purple, magenta, dusty pink, and all the colors in between.

I took a deep breath as the air came back to me and the floral scent of perfume permeated my senses. I sighed in content like I was basking in the sun of a fresh spring morning. Yet, curiously, there was one thing missing; where was the wildlife. I couldn’t hear a single buzz of a pollinator or chirp of a bird, it was odd to say the least.

“Hey, doctor?” I inquired.

“Hm? What is it Eddie?” He responded absentmindedly while inspecting one of the green tree-like stalks.

“Do you hear that?”

“No, I don’t hear anything, why?” His attention swung to me.

“Exactly. Why don’t we hear any wildlife? It’s eerily silent.”

“Oh, I’m sure it’s fine. Maybe all the fauna are out somewhere else.”

I hesitantly shrugged it off, but I still wondered how these plants worked, if not pollinators and with the lack of wind, how do they reproduce?

I walked to a pair of lavender-like flowers and picked a newly bloomed bulb. As its pretty petals were severed, I felt a tinge of pain and sorrow. I reasoned that I was just personifying the plant, that maybe I was pushing my own feelings onto it, because flowers can’t feel pain. Right..?

“Here, Doctor.” I spoke as I brushed the flower into his hair. “Now you’re gorgeous!”

“Oi, I thought I was plenty pretty before, thank you very much!”

I gave a huff of a laugh at our antics.

“Shall we venture towards civilization, my dear Eddie?” He held his elbow out for me.

“We shall!” I pretended to curtsey before taking his elbow and we ventured down a makeshift path. One that was created from natural wear and tear from people walking through the ground regularly.

We wandered through the plants, some huge, some low to the ground. I glance at my companion, the mysterious spaceman, and wonder how he can keep his upbeat attitude even when no one’s watching.

Saying it’s been a busy week would be an understatement. My life has completely changed, yet why do I still feel like everything is wrong. That I’m wrong. I should be carefree and happy, like him, yet the moment he turns away, my eyes droop and my smile falls. It’s exhausting really. Exhaustion was what I was trying to escape. Well, that and some other reasons, but all lead me to my exhaustion.

“Hey, Doctor, can I ask you something?”

“Hm? What’s on your mind?”

I hesitate. I don’t want to dampen his mood with redundancies of my own insecure, human, mind. This is probably all above him anyway.

“Well?”

“Hm?” I suppose I had taken too long to respond.

“What did you want to ask me?”

“Ah well-“ again, I can’t just bother him with my mundane internal struggles when he went through all the trouble taking us to this planet for my sake. “Do you think the people here will really be able to tell us what’s going on?”

He side eyes me in suspicion contemplation, before responding. “Oh don’t worry you’re little head, Eddie, my girl, if they can’t help, we’ll just find someone else who can.” He tousled my hair like I’m some frightened little girl.

Maybe I am.

⛧_-_-_-_*_-_-_-_☾_-_-_-_*_-_-_-_⛧

I zone out, lost in my head as we walk. My surroundings are droning on in the background, that is until something wrapped around my ankle and I face planted. I was getting dragged into the weeds; the grass and roots cut into me like razor blades.

I dug my fingers into the ground to stop my body from being dragged, but all that I accomplished was the unbearable feeling of dirt and grime stuck under my nails.

“Docto-mph!” My cry for help got cut off by the animated vines moving to cover my mouth.

“Hey!” He dives, trying to reach me, but the vine flips me in the air, swinging about 15 feet high it slams me back first into the ground.

All oxygen was sucked from my lungs. Eyes bloodshot and wide as the struggle to take in the thin air around me became harder and harder. The vines on my mouth not letting up, I felt constricted. Too constricted. Too paralyzed.

The faint buzzing of the sonic screwdriver hummed in my ears as I felt the violent plant go limp. Cool slender fingers untangled the vines from my lips, yet my diaphragm continued to spasm with how little oxygen was filtering through my lungs. Every gulp of air wasn’t big enough.

All felt hands on me and my fear doubled. I couldn’t tell where I was anymore.

“Get. Off.” I wheezed out. My frantic eyes glancing to every corner but the visual input never solidified in my mind.

“Shh, it’s okay, Eddie, I'm just getting these vines off of you.” All I could comprehend was the sound of a man’s voice.

“No! No, don’t touch me!” I got enough air to scream, yet still not enough to satisfy the burn in my chest.

The hands continued for the last few moments that it took to rid me of the vines before scooping me up into his lap.

That’s what broke me.

I kicked and flailed until I could scoot myself away from him.

“Eddie? Eddie what are you-“ he whispered, hesitant to approach.

“No! It hurts! Get off of me! Stop it!” The fresh hot tears stung the road rash on my face.

Grim realization swam across the Doctor’s face. He got up and took tentative steps towards me. Holding his hands, palms facing me, in a placating manner.

“Hey, Eddie! You’re okay, you gotta snap out of it. You’re safe.”

No reaction.

He started to snap his fingers in front of my eyes. I didn’t flinch, because even though my eyes were open, I couldn’t see.

After a beat more, the air gasped into my chest. So much so, that I hacked and coughed from the pressure. I sat up and gripped my face, the burning sharp pain starting to subside.

“I’m sorry, Eddie, I didn’t mean to hurt you, but I- uh-“ the doc spoke gingerly, sounding guilty.

“No, I get it.” I stood up. “I should be the one apologizing.” My face was blank, numb from the shame I had brought myself. I walked passed him.

“Oi! Where you going?” He questioned, giving me pause. Where even was I going? What plan did I have? All I knew was that I needed to get away for fear I’d break down in front of him.

“Gotta wee.” I settled on the simplest excuse while I continued to walk into the wild brush.

Chapter Text

I continued to walk until I got to the thicket of trees, I couldn’t be around anyone right now. I needed a breather. Though, I suppose ‘breather’ isn't the best term, seeing how my chest still feels constricted. Breathing still came difficult, yet was getting easier as moments passed.

As focus came back to me, shame and suffocating embarrassment sank into me.I crouched into the grass, hugging my knees to my chest as I composed myself.

I heard a shuffle behind me making me flinch. A long sigh escaped me as I heard the presence shuffle forward. I could feel him hovering over my back.

“I’m sorry, Doctor.” I didn't pull my head up to face him; the guilt was still too heavy in my mind, weighing me down.

“Hush, Child.” A cultivated melody of syllables flew through my ears. The presence, though strange and unfamiliar, drew calm through my bones. Like a comforting shiver brushed through my brain and down to my nerves, My body relaxed.

“Doctor?” I murmured, out of breath, yet for a completely different reason than earlier. I was all foggy.

The Doctor, hands bound with plant cordage, was shoved to the ground in front of me. A gorgeous puff of pink pollen blanketed around us from his impact.

“Doctor?!” I wheezed from the thickened air. The shock let me breakthrough the befuddlement if only for a little.

“Eddie! Don’t breathe!” He scrambled for purchase, dragging himself into a sitting position with just his legs due to the restraints on his hands. Though, the effort it took to become eye level with me kicked up more of the perfumed particles coming from the flora on the ground.

“What? No, Doctor, are you alright?!” I panicked and moved my hands up to hold onto his shoulders to steady him.

The very next moment, my head was pushed to the ground, and my arms were pinned to the ground. Turning my head against the brush, I finally got a look of our captors.

They were all women - no, goddesses was more of an accurate term - Dressed in white cloth togas, revealing yet appropriate for the climate. Towering over us, the beings must be at least seven foot tall. Skin differing shades of pink, peach, blush, like the plume of a slender flamingo, but they were not slender. The muscles flexing under their flesh made them appear as strong as a tree trunk, which may be a good description in more ways than one. Their lips like soft, velvet petals, and their hair was made of a variety of leaves, vines, flowers, dangling down their backs, or put into an elegant updo. An angular face, with a dainty jaw was juxtaposition to the sharp, strong bodies that it connected to.

The strongest of all was the taller, most imposing one of the group. She moved to the front of the tribe, eyes covered with a golden cloth blindfold, and her toga embroidered with golden leaf designs. Her hair was a bush of lovely purple blooms, shaped into a puffy high ponytail and held up with a vine of gold. You could tell she was the one in charge.

“We are the priestesses of Florielle!” her voice boomed in announcement. “You are to be tried by the matriarchal council for the crime of Murder!”

“Murder?!” I screamed in confusion.

Another priestess blew another load of the pink pollen into my face. The sweet smell of lavender was the last thing I sensed before going under.

⛧_-_-_-_*_-_-_-_☾_-_-_-_*_-_-_-_⛧

The strong smell of burning herbs entered my senses. It’s warm smoke tingling my nose as I rose from my drug induced sleep.

“Doctor..?” I groaned as I tried to rub my eyes, only to find my hands bound behind my back.

“Oh, you’re finally awake. How are you feeling?” The doctor inquired with a soft voice, keeping him from being heard by the priestesses sitting around the fire in the middle of the room.

“Groggy, but I’ll be okay. Where are we?” I groaned. A distracting pounding headache growing behind my temples.

“We’re at the temple, we found the priestesses we were looking for. Or, rather, they found us.”

A booming voice echoed along the stone temple’s walls, making the very ground vibrate with energy. “ What have you say, for the crime you are to be tried?”

The Doctor scrambled to push himself to his knees, hoping to look more imposing in front of the council. “Not Guilty! What proof do you have of us committing murder, because I can assure you that we did not harm anybody.”

“You may not have, yet the woman has a different story.” The lead Priestess kneeled in front of the doctor, still being a good few feet taller than him, and reached in his hair to pull out a dainty flower. “The victim! Slaughtered by the hands of,” She snapped her head towards me, through her eyes covered in a golden blindfold, I could feel her eyes bare into my very being. “You, Edith Turner!”

“The flower?!” I exclaimed, exacerbated.

“Yes, the flower! She was a respected and protected occupant of this planet! Your vile disregard of our world and her flora children has shown a callous view of our natural order. This act of the utmost disrespect can only be rectified by Execution!”

The ruling made me feel faint; The Florielle Priestesses Fluttered around me in a blur.

“At least let us plead our case!” the doctor declared, “It was not our intention to disrespect your kind. We had no prior knowledge that we were harming the flower.”

“The motive does not matter, for the crime has been done nonetheless.” The head priestess gestured her fellow followers towards me. “She shall be thrown into the Florapod pit.”

They gripped my arms with an unwavering strength, I could feel the bruises already forming. My heart raced as I thrashed. The sound of the friction of jean fabric against rough stone grated on my ears. My shoes scraped against the flooring as I tried to stop them from dragging me back against the wall towards a dark chute embedded in the masonry of the temple.

Chanting voices echoed around the stone temple walls; they echoed around the bone of my skull. My fingertips were tingling from the strong grip of the alien women slowing my blood supply like little needles pricking up to my palms.

“Wait!” The resounding voice of my companion commanded everyone's attention. He shattered the unnerving atmosphere, causing everything to fall to immediate silence. “At least let me join her.” He reasoned.

“What, No, Doctor!” My voice cracked as I retorted, yet was cut off by the enchanting voice of our executioner before I could continue.

“Very well,” and with another flick of her wrist, two more of her followers came and grabbed the doctor up by his arms.

The chanting began again.

“With death, may Mother Nature be nourished!” The Florielle high priestess proclaimed.

The next thing I felt was the whooshing of air whipping my hair around my face, and that terrifying sinking sensation of falling in my gut.

I brace for the hard ground, but it never came. Instead I heard an “oomph” and felt a soft grip. My eyes still screwed shut, scared of what I’d see and whether it was safe yet.

“Oi, open your eyes.” The Doctor whispered with mirth, and I did as told. My face was inches from his and that’s when I noticed he somehow caught me. This lanky man caught me of all people. I was baffled.

“Oh! Doctor, put me down. I’m too heavy! I wriggled in his arms, blushing and feeling way too aware of my presence being so close to his.

“Oh no, you are not,” he rolled his eyes, the air of gaiety never leaving him, “You forget I’m a Time Lord, not a human.” Nonetheless he let me down. Sadly, shortly after the reprieve from stress started, it shattered with the haunting sound of scurrying.

The darkened cave became illuminated by the entrance of a colossal, bioluminescent spider. Its tall arms were spindly and glowing mushrooms grew off its back. Goopy, mossy vines twisted around its abdomen and a glistening, acid-like substance oozed from its fanged mouth.

“Doctor, i-is that the florapod.” My eyes reflected the light as the creature’s eyes locked with mine.

“Yes, Eddie, I suppose it is.” He stated, matter of fact. He started to move.

“Wait! Don’t. Move.” I whispered to him. “Most spiders have poor distance sight.”

“How do you know-?”

“I don’t know how, I just do. Trust me.” I side eyed him, confusing myself in the process. I had never done any sort of research on spiders before, but my gut just knew.

“We need to find a way out.”

“I know, but we have to do it slowly. Don’t let it catch your movement.” We start to move against the back of the cave, looking for any loose rocks, or give in the wall, but nothing seems to work. After a few clambering struggles to try and find a way to knock part of the wall down.

I wasn’t paying attention to my footing, so I slipped. Falling to my knees kept the spider web that launched right at me, lost aim and instead shot right above my head. TheDoctor grabbed my arm and pulled me to my feet.

“Doctor! Wait!” I wailed as my shins skidded and skinned on the ground. He was moving too fast; I couldn’t regain my footing.
“We have to move! Now!” He scooped me up and threw me over his shoulder. Running fluidly across the rocks, all the while scanning the area with his sonic screwdriver. Trying to find a weak point in the rocks in which he could exploit.

“Doctor!” I tried to get his attention, but he didn’t respond. “Doctor!” I howled again, now hitting his back with my fists. “Doctor! Look!” and as he finally looked over his shoulder to find the icky, fungus covered spider crawling towards them. Before the doctor could move out of the way, webbing shot out at me and dragged me off his shoulder.

The air whipped my shoulder length hair around my face as the florapod threw me through the cave until I landed in a harsh sliding stop. A rotten case of road rash blossomed with red blood on the right side of my body. As I got my bearings, I could hear my companion shouts echo across the cave walls.

“Eddie!” He shouted as I got to my feet, “Run in a Circle!”

“What?!”

“Run! Run around it in a circle!” his hands cupped his mouth as he projected his plan.

Realizing the webbing was still attached to my back, I understood what he was telling me. I started running, gnawing on my inner cheek to distract from the pain. As I ran, the spider’s own web wound around its legs, ruining its balance.

As it toppled, I tried my best to get out of its way, and barely managed as I leaped towards the Doctor on the other side of the cave.

All I could hear was the beating of my own heart, and the pants pushing out of my lungs.

“Eddie?” The sensation of a warm hand rubbing my back between my shoulder blades brought me back to the present. “Don’t worry, hold still.” He held me still by pushing down on my shoulder, squeezing me against the rock below.

“Wait, Hold on! What’re you-!” My eyes widened when I saw a sharp, blade-like, rock come down towards the middle of my spine. I awaited the impact, but didn’t feel much.

“Oh, stop being a baby,” He held out his hands in a disarming manner after he set down the, now web-covered, rock. “I was just getting this nasty webbing off of ya.”

I sighed with relief.

Chapter Text

He went to grab my arm and help me up, but I hissed as soon as his skin touched mine. The light from the bioluminescent monster faded as it lay still, making the deep red that seeped through my sweater almost invisible. He pulled his hand away as if I burned him, and quickly looked at his hand. He couldn’t see the blood, but he could feel the wetness and that was enough.

“Oh, Eddie, you’re hurt.” He gasped, concerned etching his face and staring at his hand as if he was able to see through the dark. While he stared in a trance, I helped myself up with effort that made me pant.

“I’ll be alright, let’s just find a way out of here.” I patted his forearm with the hand on my uninjured side and walked past him, investigating the area the spider had fallen. I start to fiddle with the rocks behind it. Feeling the rocks had loosened; I tried to push some out of the way. I was so exhausted, too exhausted to shift the stone. “Doctor, help me push these rocks, please. They seem to be loose.”

“Ah, yes, coming!” He snapped out of his stupor to come to my aid, and with minimal effort on his part, they loosened and scuttled down to the cave’s ground. The revealed tunnel was dark, the glowing of the spider’s algae not penetrating the blackness within.

“It’s dark, but it’s our only way out of this cavern. After you, Doc.”

He pulled out his sonic screwdriver and it emitted a light, barely, but enough to keep us from tripping.

The tunnel was narrow and cramped; my injuries occasionally brushing against the ragged, dirty walls. The sting of fresh scabs being reopened made me wince. For a while we trekked, searching for any semblance of sunlight. As of yet, we couldn’t find any indication of a possible way out. As time went on, my eyes started to adjust more, but with that adjustment my temporal lobe became confused. The pure darkness made time feel slow and fast at the same time. I was so disoriented; I understood that it couldn’t have been more than a few hours, yet it also seemed like it’d been days of walking in that tight, claustrophobic cave system.

The terrain became more uneven as we continued further, the walls closing in even more during certain parts. Half of my body felt as if it was on fire from the constant irritation my tripping and tumbling had caused to my already inflamed injuries. My body was mad at the external forces making the start of the healing process near impossible. The tingling burn became so harsh it made me feel faint. Soon, though, those jagged rocks became cooling, slick surfaces. Condensation crawling down the sides in fat drips. The cold water calmed my raw flesh and made me sigh in relief.

“Do you feel that, Eddie?” The Doctor’s echo-y voice fell on deaf ears. “Eddie?” He raised his volume slightly.

“Mm, huh? What was that?” The rumble of my voice resounded around my head.

“Do you feel that water? It means we’re by a natural underground water source.” He said matter-a-fact, the exhaustion evident in his tone, though his attempt to sound hopeful was obvious.

Sure enough, he was right, after about another half kilometer the cramped, claustrophobic cavern tunnel widened into a bigger cave. The murmur of running water was audible as we approached.

“Alright, let’s rest here, yea?” He declared. Though the light was still minimal, there was a patch of dried roots growing out of the far wall. The Doctor plucked them from the stone and started a small fire near the river’s shore. “If there’s a river flowing, there must be an exit at the end of it. We should rest for the night, and continue along it tomorrow.”

I sat next to the fire, leaning against a large stalactite that erected from the ground. I closed my eyes immediately, I was sweaty, clammy, and cold. Teeth clattering and body shivering as I willed myself to relax.

“Are you alright, Eddie?” Sitting with a small grunt, he plopped down next to me and the fire.

I just sighed a ‘yes’ in response, too tired for much more.

A gasp came from next to me, nearly startling me to attention. “No, you are not, Eddie! Look at yourself!” He shuffled to his knees, leaning over me, his hands hovered above my torn clothes and patchy, peeled skin. “Why didn’t you speak up sooner!?” He yelled - or rather, lecture, is a better term.

“It was so dark, I didn’t realize how bad it was.” My tone came more snappy than I intended. I blamed my exhaustion.

“Oh, Ed, my girl.” I felt his sigh in my bones. He had enough on his plate, trying to get us back to the tardis. I feel guilty for burdening him with something as trivial as my health.

“It’s alright, I’ll be fine, Doc, don’t worry about me.” I mumbled, breathily. I started to fall asleep until the jarring pain of my road rash brought me back to alertness. I looked down with wide eyes, watching my worried companion pour water from his cupped hands, over my red, revealed tissue.

“I’m sorry, I’ll try to be quick.” He whispered, eyelids drooping with something akin to melancholy. His hands worked fast, yet gentle as he tried to pick the flecks of rock, moss, and dirt from my wounds. “I wish I had some sort of disinfectant.” He whispered to himself in passing while focusing on helping me. “I did the best I could do with what we have right now. I apologize it’s not much.” He half-heartedly gave a smile, probably in hopes to reassure me, but at that point I was too worn out to think, nonetheless feel emotion.

“Thank you.” I murmured as I fell asleep. Or so I assumed, since that was the last thing I remember happening that night.

⛧_-_-_-_*_-_-_-_☾_-_-_-_*_-_-_-_⛧

The next few hours consisted of barely waking in a blur. I'd open my eyes to the doctor over me, not being able to understand what was being said. Then the next moment I’d wake to the pitch black darkness of the caves. The only constant was the feeling of burning magma that bubbled under my skin.

I wondered if I was dead; if the peaceful release from life I had been seeking for so long, was anything but. I thought this was hell. Maybe, in retrospect, I was being dramatic, but during the moment, I was too delirious to understand reality.

A tapping to my cheek brought my consciousness back to the surface. The unfocused face of the doctor appeared in my limited field of vision. The darkness still shrouded most of the world around me, only the lingering coals of a dying fire next to me gave visibility to his dimly lit face. He leaned over me; his mouth forming words. I could hear the sounds of the consonants and vowels leaving him, but comprehension couldn’t form in my mind.

My eyelids drooped with the weight of my tiredness dragging me back to the deep. Another few taps, sharper this time, tried to rouse me to no avail. I was just aware enough to feel a jolt and sudden weightlessness before the brazen molten metal I called my blood brought the blazing ache back. I then blacked out once again.

⛧_-_-_-_*_-_-_-_☾_-_-_-_*_-_-_-_⛧

The jumbling I felt jolted me back to consciousness. I felt out of body, still overcome with pyretic delirium, however I was aware enough to notice I was carried as my companion traversed the rough terrain. Based on the lack of light, I felt it safe to assume we were still stuck underground.

“Doc… tor?” I groaned breathlessly. The effort in which it took to speak seemed almost unworthy of my minimal remaining energy, yet I was confused, scared even. I had to know what was happening, and I didn’t know how much longer my lucidity would last.

“You’re okay, I’m going to get us out of here.” His speech was frantic, obviously overwhelmed by the lasting surrounding darkness and the fading hope of escape. “I won’t let you get worse. We just have to get you to the tardis.”

I let out a soft grunt in understanding before my awareness started to slip, yet before my mind flew back into its fever induced sleep I overheard something I knew I wasn’t meant to hear.

“I can’t lose another one… not so soon.”

Chapter Text

The next time I came to, I was laying back on the bitingly cold cave floor. The burn of my wounds became more bearable as the rest of my body heated up along with it. The achiness moved to the side as dire, fever-induced thirst overcame me. I tried to look out across the blackness, but my eyes couldn’t focus on anything through their blur. Lifting my good arm with great effort, I felt in the dark beside me.

“Thi-thirsty,” Slurred my voice helplessly into the nothingness. I hoped he would hear my plea, but there was no immediate response. Slowly sliding my arm fully out to the side made my fingers brush against an all-to-familiar tweed coat. I grabbed it with my thumb and forefinger, tugging gently, barely even noticeable due to my insistent exhaustion.

“Eddie?!” He woke with a start; the skidding of his red converse against the rocky ground was audible.

‘Water,” I begged, throat dry and coarse, making my voice sound scratchy and my tongue feel like sandpaper. He scooped some refreshing water from the underground stream we’ve been following into his big hands. Our supplies were extremely lacking; we had almost nothing but the clothes on our backs. He rushed over to me, and with only spilling a few drops, leaned me up against his lap and poured the liquid into my mouth. I gulped greedily before a gasp of air was pulled from my lungs.

My eyes glowed a bright pale shade of yellow and I sat up with a suddenness that ignored my current state of pain. Though, the fire burned through me, and I could feel the throbbing pulse of my heart in my damaged extremities, my form didn’t reflect any of my internal inflictions. Whatever came over me was not of my own doing. I was conscious, yet I wasn’t in control. I couldn’t move my body, I couldn’t speak, all I could do was watch as the out-of-body experience overtook me.

“Eddie? Eddie, what are you doing?” His confusion didn’t alter my step as I continued to put one foot in front of the other. My eyes, though unseeing, illuminated the path ahead, and my mysterious knowledge guided me. It was as if a random spirit was controlling my body as I sat in the backseat watching the experience unfold.

I strode to the far side of the current cavern we resided in. The glow helped the doctor see what I was doing. My hand moved to a small stone, perfectly encapsulated between the hard dirt and mineral of the wall. A small shove from my hand made the entire area collapse as if it was a failing jenga tower equipped with a shoddy foundation. The resulting dust and grime floated through the air as a steep, upwards tunnel was revealed.

My eyes shone like headlights in the night. My body turned to my companion and he winced at the sudden bright light in his face. I held out my hand and waited, patiently and still. He put his hand in mine and with a one-eighty turn my body, silent and seemingly soulless, led the way out.

After a long and steep climb, the cave started to even out. It became level and the rugged, jagged rock walls turned into smoother rectangular-cut halls. The floor started to turn from the rough terrain we hiked on to an easy and effortless walk. Our feet no longer collided with bumps, roots, and rocks embedded in the soil.

Finally, torchlight could be seen ahead. As the halls continued to even out, they started to resemble the ones in the temple. Until they hit decorative tiles and a large intricate arched doorway leading to inside the place they were once held captive for sentencing.

“Nice work, Eddie!” The doctor praised, but received no response. He turned me around, now able to view my face. The white glow of my eyes continued, though seemed dimmer due to the warm lighting surrounding us. “Eddie?” He shook me by my shoulders, “Earth to Eddie? Or - I supposed ‘Earth’ isn’t very accurate, but that’s besides the point!” He tapped my cheek to no avail.

As a last ditch effort, he put his fingers to my temples, took a deep breath, and tried to search the recesses of my brain. My consciousness was gone. A husk of myself remained. Empty, open, and awaiting the instructions from the universe, my mind was hollow like a blank canvas waiting for the ink to spill out in words and scribbles. He continued to search until he picked up a sign, he followed it deeper and deeper into my, seemingly empty, head. It was like a whisper was caressing his ears. If you weren’t focusing you’d miss it. A calling, perhaps, beckoning him fourth. A call for help might be the more appropriate term, though.

“Oh, Edith. Where have you gone?” He mumbled, quietly to the possible passing ears, yet echoing into the cavernous expanse of my brain. I was breaching the surface, trying my hardest to push through the walls locking me away.

Before I could shout for help from the doctor, the connection was suddenly and severely severed. It was like I felt my soul get pulled back down into the dark depths of my subconscious.

The Florielle Priestesses found them and without a warning, the doctor was grabbed and thrown off of me.

“Get your hands off of her! Your heretical thoughts will taint her gifts.” The priestess gave an authoritative shout before dragging him away from his companion to stand in front of the high priestess for judgement once again.

—

My body was guided down a separate path. We arrived in a spacious room full of steam. Gorgeous flowers hung from the roof, they resembled wisteria flowers and they weeped droplets into the big in-ground bath below. The steam added condensation along their petals and leaves. Vines clung to the pillars that held the high ceiling up. A waterfall flowing from the farthest wall, supplying more spring water to wash in.

Most importantly, there were women. They were bathing in a serenity and warmth you could only dream of. Washing each other’s pastel and alien, yet beautiful backs. There were trains of the priestesses braiding each other's vine-like hair. The smells of lilac, lavender, and fresh rain floating with the steam. Reaching the noses of those blessed enough to encounter it. Their eyes, though. Their eyes no longer had their usual blindfold that adorned their faces; they glowed a warm white. Their irises and pupils gone, the whole eye was a view of bright light. I wondered if that was what my eyes looked like now as well.

They slowly and gently peeled my dirty, mud and blood ridden clothing off. My infected arm was still a bright red spot of mangled flesh, they were surprisingly careful to avoid the worst of it. My body bare and aching, and my new companions just as vulnerable, they walked me into the spring. The sensation of the fresh mineral rich and steaming water caressing my bare skin was a relief I hadn’t felt in what felt like forever. Inwardly I sighed, yet not making an audible sound for my trance-like state was still active. They delicately started to clean me. One of them tried to pick the rocks and debris out of my wound while another started to scrub my body with a soft, natural loofah and a soap smelling similar to eucalyptus. Another poured a bowl of spring water onto my head; she was getting ready to wash my hair for me.

“Don’t worry, sister, you will be saved.” The priestess who lathered up my hair whispered in my ear. “We were mistaken earlier and all will be forgiven.”

The one who held the loofah kneeled before me in the water. Grabbing my left ankle from the water, she lifted it up and set it on her shoulder, out of the water. She started to lather my calves and thighs before dunking it back in to then reach for the next leg.

My injured arm was throbbing as the priestess attending to it picked, poked, and plucked. I knew it was free of stray dirt and pebbles when she grabbed the bowl and poured soapy water atop it; cleaning it out without the harshness of a good scrub. “We will heal you, for now, you are one of us, sister. You are gifted.” She leaned up and gave me a warm close-lipped smile.

After the bath was completed, they dressed me in a similar toga to the ones they wear, and braided my hair into two braids, for my hair barely reaches my shoulders.

“It is time to see the high priestess.” And thus, they guided me out the door of the bath hall.

—

We moved through the carved, winding halls until we reached a spacious room. Not unlike the one we had originally found ourselves in at the beginning. The high priestess, in all her glory, sat on a carved stone throne. More vines hung from the ceiling and surrounded the throne like a blanket.

I was guided in front of her, pushed to my knees to bow.

“Your Holiness, we have brought her, the gifted one.” The alien who guided me bowed before leaving to stand to the side. I wished to search the room; look for the Doctor, but my body and eyes wouldn’t obey my internal commands.

“Ah, yes, come here my little blossom,” she beckoned me forth with a curve of her fingers. I obliged. She sat me down on her lap, her unearthly tallness giving me enough space to be comfortable.

Her hand fluttered around my crown in circular shapes. I could feel a prodding sensation in my mind. She was searching me, reading me with utmost accuracy. She was absorbing my knowledge and experiences from its very source. It was draining until the psychic force faded. Her hands came to cradle my face as she tilted me up to look at her. I could smell her breath. It was an intoxicating blend of fresh spring air and the soil after a good rain. She leaned her head on mine, resting her forehead on my own, and stroked my hair.

“You poor creature.” She whispers to me, a tinge of pity to her voice. “You have gone through such burdens; such torment at the hands of others.” I feel a hot tear land on my cheek like a dewdrop gliding down a leaf in the early morning. The feeling snapped me out of my trance; my eyes no longer glowed and I had control of my body again. “I see why you came. You had questions. Questions about what happened when you unconsciously sought out your companion, questions about your mind, and about your abilities.”

I tilted my head up, breaking the touch our foreheads had held, and looked her in her blindfold covered eyes. I tried to read her. I wholeheartedly believed, no matter the bad deeds I had done in the beginning of our journey on this planet, that she would help us. Help me.

“Now, I cannot aid all your worries, nor answer all your inquiries, but I can tell you this: you have the power of Claircognizance.” She guides me down from her lap and gives me a nudge with her large hands. She wordlessly tells me to go towards the Doctor, who had apparently bared witness to the entirety of the moment I shared with the high priestess. I walk over and hug him, relieved for this to be resolved soon. “That trance you found yourself in, it is a defense mechanism one’s mind activates to protect the body. Beings with abilities like us have it built into our very souls. Though be wary, for the longer you are entranced the harder it is to become yourself once more. You can get consumed by it if you are not careful.”

“You’re highness, what is this claircogance-thing you keep talking about? What is wrong with me?” I plead desperately for some answers.

“Nothing is wrong, sweet child. Claircognizance,” she corrected me with a glimmer of humor in her eye, “is the ability of ‘all knowing’. It lets one gain intuitive knowledge through use of psychic powers.” She sighs with a small smile. “But that is not all, I can feel something else in you. You are very powerful, little blossom. Be careful, for many wish to harness that power.”

The warning she left us with was ominous, but we appreciated the information anyway. “Thank you, High Priestess!”

“I believe we should take our leave now.” The Doctor piped in.

“Before you go!” The high priestess hastily spoke before waving her hand at a fellow priestess, motioning her to approach us. “This should help with your infection. Sprinkle it on your wound before bed each night until healed.” The woman handed me a satchel of some sort of ground pink substance. “Safe travels.”

—

Chapter Text

It had been two days since we got back from Florielle. The Doctor and I have been using the time for a much needed reprieve. Back on earth, in America, I insisted on staying at an ‘Air BnB’ instead of the TARDIS. I needed nature, my nature, not the nature we had just encountered on that last planet. Using the psychic paper, It was quite easy to scrounge ourselves up in a nice cabin in the woods.

The dense trees that surrounded the small, homely cabin, gave off the fresh smell of pine and oxygen. Inhaling was like clearing the paths to your lungs, and exhaling was like breathing out all the bad that had forced itself into your body. The forest was enchanting, and the break was highly needed.

I was never one for hiking, but a calm walk in the woods was a pleasant change of pace. I carried a sketchbook in an old, ratty tote bag that I held over my shoulder, excited to find a nice spot to relax.

I came to a stop at a small babbling creek, I sat myself on the trunk of a downed pine tree; its moss-covered stump was moist from the rain, dampening my pants. I took out my pencil and started sketching all I could see, the frogs, the pinecones, the running water, everything. It was almost meditative, until I could feel a set of familiar eyes on me.

The Doctor looked away fast as we locked eyes, almost shy at the contact. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to interrupt.”

“No need to apologize, Doctor.” A faint smile showed on my face.

“May I see? Your drawings - I mean.” He hesitated before moving closer. I handed him the sketchbook, my doodles on display. Covering my face with my eyes, trying to hide my embarrassment. Sure, I’ve been doing art for awhile, but, by no means, am I a master of the arts. It’s just a hobby.

A few moments passed as the pages endured the scrutinizing gaze of the Doctor, my nervousness grew as time continued. He silently handed me the sketchbook. “Well?” I huffed in anticipation, “Did-Did you like it?”

“They are very well done, Eddie.” He was looking at the creek in front of us as he spoke. “You know, I have seen a lot of different lands, planets, eras, but nothing beats the beauty in front of me.” He looked up with a lop-sided smile as he ended his sentence. Whether he was talking about nature, or me, I’ll never know for sure. Nature was the most likely answer, but I like to think it was me he called beautiful.

The quiet stretched between us. Not an awkward silence,mind you, but rather a calm one as we absorbed the surrounding nature, and the now-encroaching sunset.

“It’s getting late, how about we start to head back to the cabin?” I nodded at him as he offered his hand to help me off the low stump I was perched on. Putting my hand in his, he pulled me up swiftly and I gathered my things.

Our walk back started with the sun still peaking out at us from the horizon, but as we drew closer to our temporary shelter, the sun started to disappear fully. The long shadows of the tall pines had disappeared with the light, but the glare of the outside solar lights on the cabin popped on in the distance. They were a beacon that led us out of the chilly, and now almost creepy, wilderness.

–

The screen door shut with a high pitched thud, and the wooden front door followed soon after. I reached to turn on the lights, and the warmth was immediate as a satisfying sigh left me. I moved to the couch and grabbed the homemade quilt from the back of it, cuddling up with the blanket over my legs and lap.

“Come sit down with me.” I commanded as I patted the spot beside me. He came and sat down, Leaning back and stretching his legs onto the natural wood coffee table. Tilting his head back, a loud, performative sign released from the Doctor.

“This is nice.” I heard him murmur under his breath and a feeling of contentness coating me like a hug. “Hey, Eddie, what was it like growing up on earth?” He inquired casually, unknowingly shattering that rare feeling of content that I finally achieved.

The conversation was stopped before it could even start when a creak from an old door hinge reverberated within the cabin. The interruption seemingly saved me from talking about a sore subject.

“I swear I closed the doors after us.” I distinctly remember the latching sound of the front doors as we came in, but got up from my warm spot on the couch to investigate. Cautiously I rounded the corner, peering down the foyer, I could see the front door wide open. I walked up to it, looking outside to see if there were any animals that could’ve done it.

When I couldn’t see anything outside through the doorway, I took a few steps onto the porch to get a better look. The home’s automatic solar light did nothing to fight the blackness in front of me. My phone flashlight lit up as I surveyed the surroundings. The light illuminated a deer right in front of me. Though, something was off. As I squinted, trying to make out more of the creature, I slowly took a few steps closer. It stood on its hind legs, joints similar to that of a humanoid rather than the cervid it is. Its head tilts to the side, eerily watching me. Mysteriously - concerningly - the eyes of the creature didn’t reflect off the phone’s light, rather they didn’t look like any sort of animal’s eyes at all. The pupil was round and dilated with the brightness, humanlike, no sign of a deer’s typical horizontal pupil. The sclera was white, sharing equal space with that of its pale cyan iris, unlike the usual brown that stretched far across the visible parts of the eye.

My body was wrecked with a sudden flow of shivers. This was wrong. This was inherently wrong. This thing stared back at me unmoving. As soon as I started to back away from the unnatural being, the ‘deer’ startled, running on its hind legs into the woods.

I snapped back into the present before jogging back inside, “Doctor-!” my alarm stopped in its tracks as I saw my father talking to my alien companion before me.

“I have been chatting with the most lovely man here.”

“Dad?” I asked in disbelief. “Why are you here?”

“Oh, Darling, how are you? We’ve missed you?” He responded with an eerie smile.

“No, you haven’t. No one has bothered to reach out to me, you or mother. You don’t care about me. Not after all you’ve done.”

“What are you talking about? We love you very much!” He took two steps towards me, his words sounding almost inorganic and his hands outreached as if asking for a hug. I took two steps back in response, brow deeply furrowed. “Why don’t you come back to us? Come back and let us love you.”

The idea of the admiration and respect I’ve always wanted - craved even - was tempting. I have gone my whole life wondering what made me so different from the rest of my family. My sisters could do no wrong, at least in the eyes of my parents. God forbid I make a single mistake, like the human I am.

The images of my form cowering in the corner, shivering and confused. Wondering what went wrong in my creation to make me so inherently undesirable.

I was maybe eight years old, when I had my first vivid memory of being afraid of my father. He gripped my arm so hard I bruised, he screamed at me with unbelievable ferocity, his proximity so close that I felt the warm, humid spittle splatter against my sobbing face. My mother just stood there. I was waiting for her to intervene, but nothing came. It is almost as if I can feel the purple and blue finger prints blossom on my arm as my mind recollects the moments I wish to forget.

I barely register the doctor’s hand on reaching out to me, hovering over my shoulder as if afraid I’ll shatter. Honestly, at this moment, I felt as if maybe I would.

“Doctor, I’m going to-” I swallowed to moisten my dry throat, “I’m- I need to take a second.” I turned and moved past him, farther into the cabin, careful not to touch him as I moved past. I moved down the hallways, hoping to reach the bathroom and splash my face with some cold water, but before I could get there, a sudden figure appeared to be blocking the door.

“Oh, Edith, I’ve missed you.” The feminine figure moved into the light.

“Mother?”

–

Chapter Text

“Mother?” I asked in awe. There’s no way that could be her, right? What in all hell is going on?

I approached hesitantly, her arms were cold as she embraced me. Her arms were never cold. She always radiated heat. A comforting sway typically accompanied her hugs; the longer we embraced the louder she would start to hum, as if we were in a waltz. There was none of that here. She was ice cold, stiff as a statue, and hard, rather than her plump and soft sun-kissed, freckled skin that typically surrounded her bones.

The strangest, and most obvious difference, was that she was perfectly still.

My mother has been plagued by tremors for the past twelve years. A drunk driver hit her causing irreparable damage to her brain, causing uncontrollable tremors along with other ailments. I remember the fear, the depression, and the grief. She became a shell of herself when she was only forty-one years old.

“Excuse me… Mom?” my voice lifted at the end, showing my confusion as I walked around her, looking back once, only to see two glowing yellow dots on the back of her head. I scurried to the bathroom, splashing water on my face as I gripped the sink, white knuckled hands squeezing the porcelain of the old stained wash basin. After I wiped the residual water from my eyes, I looked in the mirror.

When I had looked at myself in the reflection, I didn’t see myself - not quite - what I saw was my face, devoid of life, looking back at me. The color drained to a sickly ash color; rigor mortis having set in made my eyes stay open unblinking, void of emotion, blank. The pupils were dull and the eyes were glossed over in fog. My mouth stuck open with the muscle tension as my cracked lips turned an unnatural grey-blue. I gasped and fell back with a startle. Heel hitting the edge of the bath, taking the shower curtain and rod with me as I fell into the tub. The clattering sound of metal smashing tile could be heard from throughout the cabin, but I was distracted with the morbid image searing itself into my mind.

–

“Edith, are you well?” My ‘mother’ called in, approaching the bathroom with even footsteps, not the hurried footsteps of a concerned, loving parent. As the door creaked open, I got up and booked it, running to the living room where the Doctor still sat with my father - or whoever, whatever, it was.

As I ran, disorientated down the hallway, the fresh healing flesh of my not-quite-healed arm injury scraped the old 70’s plank walls as I rounded the corner into the living room. New red droplets of blood started to form on my arm, but my anxiety and adrenalin kept me blissfully naive to the mild pain I should’ve been experiencing.

Tripping into the room and stumbling over the couch leg, I fell into the Doctor. His hands gripped my elbows as I laid half on him. I got up with a start and pulled him with me, not breaking contact, nor delaying as I pulled him along.

“Doctor, a word please?” I tried to sound casual, but my eyes showed that pleading look of underlying dread that always appeared when I fell into a panic. I dragged him through the foyer and into the dark of the forest outside. Those fluorescent, movement-activated lights buzzed to life with a dim flickering light as we breached the cabin’s front door. The solid thud of the thick wood could be heard before the squeaky creak and metallic slam of the screen door that sounded shortly thereafter.

“Ed-” I cut him off with a shush as I turned to double check around us, making sure they hadn’t followed us out.

“Something's wrong. I- Doctor !- Doctor I don’t-” He cut off my breathless babble that fell from my lips between huffs.

“Breathe,” He cooed. His calm and gentle demeanor showed the true juxtaposition
between his current emotions and mine.

I took a moment to catch my breath, trying to calm my heart rate enough to get a sentence out.

“Doctor - Those aren’t my parents!” I gasped out in a hoarse stage whisper. Trying to stay quiet, but struggling to withhold my volume due to my desperation.

“What do you mean, they aren’t your pare-” He whispered back, but was cut off by the screech of the front door opening.

My ‘Mother’ poked her head out with an uncanny smile on her face, then spoke, “Honey, I made your favorite!” her sing-song voice breached the darkness as I hesitantly moved into view.

But what was in that pan wasn’t anything edible at all, It was a pile of mud with the rotting carcass of an opossum poking out. I turned away and gagged. The Doctor put his hand on my shoulder as I hunched over. It was a small, but welcome gesture meant to reassure.

“I see what you mean now.” He spoke bluntly, a hint of disgust in his tone.

I stood up straight and took a few steps closer to the creature that stood in the doorway. “Enough!” I heaved, “Cut the act; we know you aren’t what you claim you are?”

Its face creaked as the plastered smile turned into a grim frown. I could see its nails elongate into claws, and her lips shrank back and her sharp layers of teeth showed pushing out from its bright red gums.

The image of my mother, all deformed and demented, made me freeze. She lunged for me and all I could do was stare. I felt a sudden force and then the squish of mud on my face. He had pushed me out of the way, but if that’s what happened, where is he? Before I could yell his name, I turned my head and saw him hanging there above me.

The monster’s claws sticking through his shoulder as he dangled. The doctor's grip on its arms was tense. I let out a harsh exhale as I pushed up from the ground and tackled the creature. My shoulder slammed into its gut, I could feel the loose flesh mold against its boney deformed ribcage. An ugly crunching sound reverberated against the ground as we fell.

A gasp from above and I got back up to check on my alien companion. “Are you alright, Doctor?” My eyes were frantic as I looked him over, landing on the blood slowly oozing from the meaty part of his shoulder.

“Behind you-!” The doctor warned as my ‘father’ approached the scene, its body just as deformed as the other one. A quick second later and the Doctor pushed us to the ground, rolling us in the squishy moss to get away from the claws of the creature.

We stood up slowly, the two monsters did as well. We were locked in a stare, waiting for the other to make the first move. ”What are they?”

“Skinwalkers, Eddie. We’re in Navajo country, I should’ve noticed sooner.” He hummed to himself in contemplation. “They steal memories, change forms to get closer to people.”

“Why?” I whispered to him.

“We’re their food source.”

A moment and then a large animalistic scream echoed from the skinwalkers’ vocal chords to the world around us. It shook the trees, the birds scattered, and I covered my ears in pain. They lunged at me again, but this time I was ready. Their screeching stopped and I jumped to the ground to avoid its attack.

Right before my eyes was a peeling splinter of wood on the cabin wall. I army crawled over trying to rip the stake off, but before I could grab it, Its claws caught onto my boots, dragging me further away from the impromptu weapon and closer to it. Slowly crawling up me, Its maw dripped with a viscous drool that smelled of body odor and decaying flesh.

‘Do-doctor!” I screamed, the last syllable drawn out in distress, and before the monster's teeth could descend on my thigh, pitchfork pierced it. The doctor stood behind the skinwalker, a look of emotional determination creased his brows and prossessiveness shone in the dim light of his eyes.One prong speared the sternum, another the throat, and the last through the brain. There was a squelch as the doctor let go of the tool and dumped it to the side.

He reached down to help me up, but the other skinwalker appeared out of the dark behind my savior. I quickly scooted back and ripped the sharp wood from the outside of the cabin. I jumped up and stabbed the creature in its neck. Gurgles of foaming blood and stringy saliva dripped from the wound and its maw alike.

I let out a heavy sigh and grabbed onto him, my one lifeline. Careful of his wound, I gripped his shirt with my hands and shoved my face in his chest before letting out the most soul splitting wail. My emotions buzzed around inside me, making me vibrate.

All the grief, from the years I felt unloved, to the fleeting moments of cherished time we had shared, and finally to the moment I tried to end it all, it all erupted from me in a torment I was unable to control.

I barely registered when the doctor lowered us down to the ground, his back against the chipping pain of the wooden cabin that was supposed to be a comforting retreat, not this homemade hell it had become. He cradled me into him, petting my sweaty, blood coated and wiry hair. The mod that saturated our clothes and flesh all but ignored in exchange for the protection his very presence had surrounded me in. He was silent, letting me expel the years of hopelessness that had seeped into my very spirit.

I don’t know how long it was, but as I calmed down, the cold from the forest floor had started to seep back into my bones and I started to shake for a whole other reason. The Doctor, sensing this, had lifted me up with an ease that still surprised me. Cradling me to his chest, he took us to the TARDIS.

“Lets, get out of here.” A hushed sound left his vocal chords, and at some point, not long after that, I had fallen asleep.

–