[DW] BigBang: Dancing Star I
Dancing Star
MASTERPOST
..............~oOo~..............
You must carry a chaos inside you to give birth to a dancing star.
- Friedrich Nietzsche
..............~oOo~..............
~ONE~
The sea was calm that night. There was a soft breeze - not enough to disturb the gentle splashing of the waves against the fine sand on the beach. The breeze carried a salty odour and the less pleasant smell of canon fire - only it wasn't canon fire.
The fireworks illuminated the night over Tortuga with brilliant, colourful sparks, their sharp sizzling cutting through the night. If the sea was calm that night, the air was far from quiet. Shouts and laughter rang through the night, drunken calls of men and the peeling laughter of women, both of honourable and less honourable nature. Amidst the song and the laughter no one paid any attention to the strange commotion a little further down the beach, not far from the harbour.
In the darkness, where the waves were washing gently to the shore, a stray dog emerged from the undergrowth, his ears twisting as yet more fireworks exploded in the sky. The dog was looking for the spoils the sea might have brought ashore, or whatever the seagulls had left.
It padded across the wet sand, leaving its trail in the shimmering moonlight, and all the while sniffing for something to eat. It stumbled upon a wet human body lying prone on the beach. The body was not moving, the waves toying with the edges of the long coat the human wore.
The dog sniffed cautiously. The human did not smell of rum, or decay, only of water and salt. But experience had taught the dog well, and it knew that salt could easily conceal decay in a body that sea had only recently released. This was a fresh corpse, or the seagulls would already have devoured it.
Stomach rumbling, the dog stalked closed. The moonlight flickered briefly over its emaciated body, the pointy rips and torn fur. It had been a meagre time, with barely a morsel to eat for several days, and such a meal would last a while. The dog dug its nose eagerly into the drenched hair of the human-
- and gave a small yelp when, suddenly, with a groan, the corpse moved and flopped to its side.
Not a corpse, then. The dog jumped away from the aimlessly waving arm and gave a short bark to shoo it away before darting off into the undergrowth, where it shot one last glance at the body. What a pity. It was skinny enough, but would have made a good meal, nevertheless. Perhaps, if the dog came back in a few hours, it would get its share after all.
Meanwhile, the human had rolled back onto his back, one arm lying limply on his stomach, the other outstretched on the sand - only, he wasn't human. The twin hearts picked up a beat when the Doctor finally forced open his eyes. No TARDIS. That was bad. Bad, very bad.
First things first. The Doctor stared at the star-spangled sky above him. It looked like Earth. Felt like Earth, smelled like Earth, sounded like Earth, too. Pretty good chances, then, that it was Earth. The Doctor considered it a safe assumption, and left it at that.
He allowed himself to stay still for a moment, focussing his attention inward. He dragged a huge gulp of salty air into his lungs. Both hearts were beating, which was good, and he felt no pain, although he was still a bit groggy, not quite thinking clearly. He could feel no glaring difference as he ran his tongue over his teeth. No regeneration, then? How odd. It would have explained the confusion, and perhaps why the TARDIS had spat him out - if the last regeneration was any clue, he could easily blow it up this time...
The Doctor raised himself onto his elbows and glanced down to his feet. All looked fine - same old pinstriped suit, same old plimsolls, same old coat. “Oh, my coat!”
The Doctor tugged at the fabric and pouted a bit. The edges were frayed and sobbing wet with salt water. “Janis Choplin gave me that coat...”, he said to no one in particular, then pulled his legs away from the waves and under him, trying to remember.
He had only just left the Library with Donna, which would account for the fact that he felt slightly sad - dear River... She really should have allowed him to do what needed to be done, but at least he had been able to save her. Still, there was so much he wanted to ask her - anyway, something to look forward to. Donna had had the more confusing experience. She had honestly thought she'd found her perfect man... Blimey, Donna!
The Doctor scrambled to his feet and spun round in a circle. “Donna!” No TARDIS as far as he could see, and no Donna. Very bad. “Donna!?” A beach illuminated by moonlight, a forest on its rim, and a village not far of - no Donna.
“DONNA!” The Doctor walked off into the direction of the buildings.
~TWO~