[for rude_not_ginger] how to cure a plague
[to cheer up my dear mj, who's been having a rough time lately. ilubb!!]
Dorothy is not a weak woman, but it took both arms to pull the ancient wooden lever jutting from the dank, mossy stone of the cave wall. As soon as it began to move, however, the drifts of golden sand covering the floor of the cave began to shift as the stones of the floor itself slid away to reveal a shaft descending into pitch darkness, and a cobweb-covered rope ladder leading down.
"Ooo," said the Doctor, as he leaned forward and peered down the hole. "Wasn't expecting that!"
"What were you expecting?" Dorothy lifted a flickering torch off the cave's wall and held it over the opening, trying to see if it might illuminate the bottom of the shaft. No luck, naturally. The Doctor crouched and swung a pinstriped leg over into the hole, feeling around with a Converse-clad foot to find a foothold on the ladder.
"Oh, I dunno," he piped up. "I thought a wall would slide up, or maybe spikes would shoot out of the ceiling and it'd start falling down on us. That's what happens in the movies, with this sort of thing. A tunnel and a ladder seem sort of disappointingly benign in comparison, don't you think?"
Dorothy watched him carefully test his weight on the ancient rope before climbing completely onto it. She followed carefully, making sure to keep the torch far from burning distance of the ropes, and began her descent.
"Who said this's all there is? The map stopped being helpful in the last room. We're on our own after this-- could be we get chased outta here by a giant boulder like Indiana Jones once we hit the bottom." It was silent for a minute as they climbed farther and farther into the earth. "Still owes me ten bucks, by the way."
"Ah!" The Doctor exclaimed as he finally touched ground and hopped off the ladder, then assisted his companion. She raised the torch, and illuminated a hallway covered in unfamiliar carved glyphs. The Doctor immediately pulled his glasses out of his pocket and popped them on, scooting up to the wall to peer at them as close as he could. "Looks... Mayan, almost, or Altamayan. Though that planet's civilization predates Earth's by a good, oh, seven thousand years? And, of course, their carvings depict them with an extra pair of arms, obviously."
"Obviously." Dorothy slotted her torch into a space on the wall, and immediately similar ones flamed to life all down the length of the hall. "I think it's telling a story. Look, this is the same figure here..." she crossed the hallway and walked about six feet down, then pointed up at another glyph. "...And here. Each one is another chapter of the story."
"You're right," murmured the Doctor. And then he exclaimed, "Oh you are right! Here, this fella with the fancy hat--"
"--That's a god," interjected Dorothy.
"God, yes, thank you, this god with the fancy hat, he's sort of shooting these wiggly lines at these two cities on either side of the mountain here--"
"--He's creating them," the fairytale interrupted again.
"Yes thank you, Dorothy," replied the Doctor, somewhat more peevishly. "So he creates these two cities, and then..." He hops down the hall a few more feet. "Then each city has lots of little people and one great big person--"
"--Those are their kings. They've got crowns on, see?"
"Yes, Dorothy, I see." He pouted at Dorothy over the rim of his glasses. "Why won't you let me tell the story? I'm good at telling stories!"
"Fine, fine, you tell the story!" Dorothy shook her head as the Doctor went hmmphing back to examining the carvings.
"So these kings have families, and it looks like the king of this city with the plant here and the king of this city with the wheel here had some sort of blood feud, eugh. Lots of severed heads. Oh that's just unpleasant."
Dorothy skipped to the other wall. "Maybe the kings hated each other, but it doesn't look like everybody felt that way. Look at this." She pointed at a glyph of a woman with a wheel symbol on her crown and a man with a plant symbol on his own placing their hands together. "The prince of one city and the princess of the other were secretly in love. They'd sneak out to see each other at the mountain between the cities."
The Doctor bounded over to examine the next series. "Looks like their daddies didn't like that-- oh. Sacrifices. Did I mention unpleasant? Even the Altamayans grew out of that eventually--"
"--And the god wasn't pleased either. Put a plague on the cities, and he put the cure in a cave deep within the mountain, where only the bravest warriors and cleverest scribes could find it."
"...Cleverest scribes?"
"...That's what it says," Dorothy pouted, squinting at the glyph of what was clearly a scribe. Or she thought it was, anyway. The Doctor hustled on down the hallway.
"So we know the rest of the story, now. Centuries of people trying to find their way to where we are now, to somehow find the cure the plague, and not a single one of them found it. Somehow we're suppose to succeed where they all failed? Not to be a pessimist, but even I'm having trouble seeing how--"
"--A single one of them?"
"What?" The Doctor spun on his heel on the sandy stone to look back at a ponderous Dorothy. She looked like she'd just been struck by lightning.
"You said a single one."
"Oh. Yes, well, the Elders said they'd send one warrior at a time to find the cure. None of them ever returned, apparently."
"Maybe they weren't supposed to go alone. According to these carvings, the whole point of the plague was that the god was angry at the people for being divided. Maybe one person couldn't find it 'cuz two people were supposed to."
The Doctor blinked. His mouth fell open. He smiled.
"Dorothy. DorothyDorothyDorothy, you are brilliant!" Grabbing her shoulders, he spun her around in a circle as she laughed. "Yes! Bringing the two cities together was the entire point! Mutual hardship to create an understanding! It was never meant as a punishment, it was a lesson! Antagonism bad, friendship good!"
"We'll be sure to tell 'em all that when we bring them the cure-- together. Won't we?" She took the Doctor's hand and squeezed it hard, grinning. "When you've got your friends by your side, you can conquer any hardship."
He grinned back at her. "Absolutely. Oh, absolutely, yes. Now, what do you say, onwards?"
"Onwards."
And on they went, hand in hand, together.
Dorothy is not a weak woman, but it took both arms to pull the ancient wooden lever jutting from the dank, mossy stone of the cave wall. As soon as it began to move, however, the drifts of golden sand covering the floor of the cave began to shift as the stones of the floor itself slid away to reveal a shaft descending into pitch darkness, and a cobweb-covered rope ladder leading down.
"Ooo," said the Doctor, as he leaned forward and peered down the hole. "Wasn't expecting that!"
"What were you expecting?" Dorothy lifted a flickering torch off the cave's wall and held it over the opening, trying to see if it might illuminate the bottom of the shaft. No luck, naturally. The Doctor crouched and swung a pinstriped leg over into the hole, feeling around with a Converse-clad foot to find a foothold on the ladder.
"Oh, I dunno," he piped up. "I thought a wall would slide up, or maybe spikes would shoot out of the ceiling and it'd start falling down on us. That's what happens in the movies, with this sort of thing. A tunnel and a ladder seem sort of disappointingly benign in comparison, don't you think?"
Dorothy watched him carefully test his weight on the ancient rope before climbing completely onto it. She followed carefully, making sure to keep the torch far from burning distance of the ropes, and began her descent.
"Who said this's all there is? The map stopped being helpful in the last room. We're on our own after this-- could be we get chased outta here by a giant boulder like Indiana Jones once we hit the bottom." It was silent for a minute as they climbed farther and farther into the earth. "Still owes me ten bucks, by the way."
"Ah!" The Doctor exclaimed as he finally touched ground and hopped off the ladder, then assisted his companion. She raised the torch, and illuminated a hallway covered in unfamiliar carved glyphs. The Doctor immediately pulled his glasses out of his pocket and popped them on, scooting up to the wall to peer at them as close as he could. "Looks... Mayan, almost, or Altamayan. Though that planet's civilization predates Earth's by a good, oh, seven thousand years? And, of course, their carvings depict them with an extra pair of arms, obviously."
"Obviously." Dorothy slotted her torch into a space on the wall, and immediately similar ones flamed to life all down the length of the hall. "I think it's telling a story. Look, this is the same figure here..." she crossed the hallway and walked about six feet down, then pointed up at another glyph. "...And here. Each one is another chapter of the story."
"You're right," murmured the Doctor. And then he exclaimed, "Oh you are right! Here, this fella with the fancy hat--"
"--That's a god," interjected Dorothy.
"God, yes, thank you, this god with the fancy hat, he's sort of shooting these wiggly lines at these two cities on either side of the mountain here--"
"--He's creating them," the fairytale interrupted again.
"Yes thank you, Dorothy," replied the Doctor, somewhat more peevishly. "So he creates these two cities, and then..." He hops down the hall a few more feet. "Then each city has lots of little people and one great big person--"
"--Those are their kings. They've got crowns on, see?"
"Yes, Dorothy, I see." He pouted at Dorothy over the rim of his glasses. "Why won't you let me tell the story? I'm good at telling stories!"
"Fine, fine, you tell the story!" Dorothy shook her head as the Doctor went hmmphing back to examining the carvings.
"So these kings have families, and it looks like the king of this city with the plant here and the king of this city with the wheel here had some sort of blood feud, eugh. Lots of severed heads. Oh that's just unpleasant."
Dorothy skipped to the other wall. "Maybe the kings hated each other, but it doesn't look like everybody felt that way. Look at this." She pointed at a glyph of a woman with a wheel symbol on her crown and a man with a plant symbol on his own placing their hands together. "The prince of one city and the princess of the other were secretly in love. They'd sneak out to see each other at the mountain between the cities."
The Doctor bounded over to examine the next series. "Looks like their daddies didn't like that-- oh. Sacrifices. Did I mention unpleasant? Even the Altamayans grew out of that eventually--"
"--And the god wasn't pleased either. Put a plague on the cities, and he put the cure in a cave deep within the mountain, where only the bravest warriors and cleverest scribes could find it."
"...Cleverest scribes?"
"...That's what it says," Dorothy pouted, squinting at the glyph of what was clearly a scribe. Or she thought it was, anyway. The Doctor hustled on down the hallway.
"So we know the rest of the story, now. Centuries of people trying to find their way to where we are now, to somehow find the cure the plague, and not a single one of them found it. Somehow we're suppose to succeed where they all failed? Not to be a pessimist, but even I'm having trouble seeing how--"
"--A single one of them?"
"What?" The Doctor spun on his heel on the sandy stone to look back at a ponderous Dorothy. She looked like she'd just been struck by lightning.
"You said a single one."
"Oh. Yes, well, the Elders said they'd send one warrior at a time to find the cure. None of them ever returned, apparently."
"Maybe they weren't supposed to go alone. According to these carvings, the whole point of the plague was that the god was angry at the people for being divided. Maybe one person couldn't find it 'cuz two people were supposed to."
The Doctor blinked. His mouth fell open. He smiled.
"Dorothy. DorothyDorothyDorothy, you are brilliant!" Grabbing her shoulders, he spun her around in a circle as she laughed. "Yes! Bringing the two cities together was the entire point! Mutual hardship to create an understanding! It was never meant as a punishment, it was a lesson! Antagonism bad, friendship good!"
"We'll be sure to tell 'em all that when we bring them the cure-- together. Won't we?" She took the Doctor's hand and squeezed it hard, grinning. "When you've got your friends by your side, you can conquer any hardship."
He grinned back at her. "Absolutely. Oh, absolutely, yes. Now, what do you say, onwards?"
"Onwards."
And on they went, hand in hand, together.