Penumbra (4/6)
Title: Penumbra
Characters: Five, Tegan, Turlough, OCs
Word Count: 2085
Rating: WARNING: This story is rated "R" for gratuitous violence (The first part is the worst and I think they become a bit less as we move on, maybe PG-13)
Summary: The TARDIS arrives in Georgia in 1742 and becomes involved with Redcoats, Cherokee and werewolves.
Notes: OK, this is yet another story version of a sim done by Dr Who & Co. I came in late on this one so the bloodiness was before my time so I want no blame for that. I think Part 1 is the worst in that respect, so stick it out, I think it's worth it. This was begun 10/17/00.
Part One
Part Two
Part Three
IV
The sergeant gently shook the Doctor's shoulder. "Rev, er, Doctor. Doctor, dawn is breaking, we can follow the trail now."
The Doctor was pulled out of his thoughts. "Hm? Oh.. indeed." He picked up his hat. "Let's go then." He opened the door and exited with a bit less spring in his step than when they'd first arrived.
The sergeant handed the Doctor a brown bess. "I've been out already. It's loaded and primed." He picked up a second musket. "Ready?" The Doctor took the gun and nodded silently. "It looks like they headed this way, towards the creek."
The two exited the TARDIS looking warily around ad saw no sign of any creature in the lightening landscape. The air was moist and cool with the sounds of peeper frogs coming from the woods. The sergeant looked at tracks in the mud and saw them swing back into woods. "Blast! They'll be harder to track in this light, and they'll have good cover."
"I don't like how dark it is in there.. still.. we're not accomplishing anything just standing around. Come on." The Doctor followed the tracks into the woods.
The sergeant trudged carefully through the underbrush then stopped suddenly. "Oh, no!"
"What?"
"The tracks break through to a trail, and ... it's one I know."
"Where does it lead?"
"Back to our main camp."
The Doctor looked down the narrow trail. "How far away is the main camp from here?"
"A few hours, but then that's with only two legs."
"Then we'll just have to double-time it, Sergeant," said the Doctor as he started down the trail at a brisk pace.
The sergeant trotted along, brown bess at the ready. Some time later, he instinctively raised a hand and called, "Halt!" The Doctor stopped and gave the sergeant a funny look. "Sorry. Habit, Doctor," he said sheepishly. "See over there?" he asked, pointing. The Doctor followed his gaze. "It looks like one set of tracks running fast, back towards the creek," he said upon closer inspection. "And, Doctor, it appears two legged, but it's not human."
The Doctor nodded. "I think we'd better stay on the trail to the main camp. If it's Tegan or Turlough, I'm sure they'll be safe for a while at least. We can always track them after we've checked on the camp."
"Right! Let's go then." The sergeant started trotting back up trail.
The Doctor did likewise, taking a final look back at the tracks.
*******************
Alone, the wolf padded back to a cave hidden in the woods. It then entered a hole at the base of the cave which led to underground "nest". It lay down and began to gnaw on the bloody flesh of an older bone, that of a human leg, until it fell asleep.
*******************
Elsewhere, Turlough felt a little cold so reached for his blanket only to find air. He moaned and tried to reach further. He also discovered a funny metallic taste in his mouth. **What is that?** He slowly opened his eyes. **I don't own a red shirt** he thought as he looked at himself. It then dawned on him that the metallic taste in his mouth was blood and his chest was covered in it. He crawled back in agitation as if trying to seperate himself from the blood in a useless gesture. "Oh, no!" He saw his his tattered Brendon uniform. "What happened to me?" he questioned, panic-stricken. He slowly got to his feet and wobbled unsteadily as if not used to using his legs. "The Doctor. I was with the Doctor then...then this. The Doctor will know what happened." He headed in the direction he remembered the TARDIS to be. Off to the side of the trail, he spotted a rabbit in a thicket and fought back the sudden urge to chase it and savor the taste of it in his mouth. He shuddered and kept moving.
He trudged along and soon heard water. "I need to get this taste out of my mouth." He headed toward the sound. At the creek, the same one Tegan fell in, he collapsed and dipped his hand in to drink. Then he saw his face. There was blood caked and dried around his mouth. He then reached both hands in and scrubbed furiously. Content that he looked clean, he drank deep. Sated, he sat back on the bank, shaking with fury that he didn't know what happened last night and fear for remembering. He continued on now that he knew where he was. He paused when he thought he heard his name faintly. He stopped to listen again.
*********************
Tegan leaned up against a tree in a hunched form, trying to keep warm. She looked out at the forest around her. "Where are you Doctor?" **Time to do something Tegan, Your an Australian, not an Englishman.** She stood and headed east, towards the sound of running water. "I need a drink." She tasted the inside of her mouth. "Raw meat..." She had a flash of the night before, but shook off the feeling and kept going towards the water. "Doctor! Where are you?" she shouted.
She then spotted the water. "At last." She knelt at the waters edge, cupped her hands and started to drink. She looked down the river both ways and saw nothing. "Doctor!" She then remembered she had been with Turlough. "Turlough! Doctor!" She shivered in the cold wind.
*****************
The Doctor and the sergeant reached the camp's outpost and found the remains of the horse and the soldier. The sergeant recognized the insignia and swallowed with difficulty. "Captain ... o my Captain." The sergeant hurried to the encampment and gasped at the slashed and blood stained tents.
The Doctor regretted seeing the sight and wondered what Turlough and Tegan would think if they knew what they had done. He made a mental note never to tell them. He trotted along after the sergeant. "Be careful, Sergeant, They may still be here."
The sergeant stopped the Doctor. "Don't look , sir. There's nothing you want to see here. We are on our own it seems."
The Doctor had a feeling of what the Sergeant had seen. "I-" He heard something. "What was that?"
The sergeant cocked and shouldered musket. "Don't shoot till it's within 40 to 50 yards. These smooth bores are nothing like your Dutch rifles." He then thought of TARDIS and realised there was no telling just what this one was used to.
The Doctor approached a large overturned barrel with a cloth draped over it. The noise seemed to come from inside. The sergeant approached slowly, lifting the cloth with the muzzle of the musket. Inside was a little girl of about six or seven shivering with fear.
The sergeant uncocked and lowered the rifle. "She must be from the Creek village we were headed to."
"Cherokee," corrected the Doctor.
"Tsalagi! Tsalagi!" cried the girl.
The Doctor smiled. "See?'
"The Captain is under orders... I mean, was under orders to negotiate a treaty."
The Doctor helped the little girl out of the barrel and asked softly, "What were you doing in there, hm?"
The girl shivered. "Mother told me not to come here. She said that evil walks after dark."
"Indeed.. You saw what happened here, then?" The little girl nodded and began to cry.
The sergeant shook his head. "The poor wee lass."
"There there.. It's all right now," the Doctor comforted her. He gave the sergeant a sorrowful look over her head.
The sergeant took on a hard look. "It'll be over when I get that beastie within range of Bessie."
"I'm the Doctor and this is the Sergeant. What's your name?"
"Singing Reed. I want to go back to my village."
The Doctor stood. "Indeed.. I was planning on paying your village a visit, SInging Reed," he smiled. "Do you know the way back?" Singing Reed nodded. "Lead the way,then. My friend and I will make sure nothing happens."
"Just a minute, Doctor." The sergeant sifted through remains of the captain's tent, pulling out a cured stag's leg covered with beadwork and fringes.
The Doctor looked at him. "Hm?"
"There's a decorated brown bess in here... It was to be the Captain's gift to the Chief."
"Ah." The Doctor nodded in understanding before turning to follow Singing Reed.
"It has a lot of tacks for decoration and the brass buttplate's been replaced with silver. The tacks are silver as well," he winked.
"Really nice work," said the Doctor as he let his own gun swing casually by his side. The trio continued down the trail toward the Cherokee village.
*****************************
Turlough paused and listened once again for his name.
Tegan walked towards the east, following the river. "Turlough! Doctor! Where are you?" **Where am I?**
Turlough heard the voice and tried to remember who it belonged to. **That woman....loud, rude, Australian....Tegan!** "Tegan!"
Tegan tripped on a large stone. "Rabbits!" I could really go for one of them. She heard Turlough. "Turlough?"
"Keep calling!" he shouted. "Head for the creek!" He took his own advice and backtracked to the creek. He reached it first and sat down to wait.
Tegan walked towards the sound of Turlough's voice. She noticed the river branched off further down. "I recognise this...Turlough?"
"I hear you! Keep coming this way!" He threw a few pebbles into the water. **Maybe Tegan can help me figure out what happened last night.** He had a vision of sharp teeth and snapping jaws.
She took the left fork towards Turloughs voice. She stepped on a twig, causing it to snap. She looked up and saw Turlough about 600 meters away. "Turlough...."
Turlough turned his head at the sound of her voice. "Tegan." He saw her condition and knew they were in the same boat. "Are you all right?"
"I've been better." She walked closer. "What's happening to us?" She began to hug him then quickly pulled away. "I'm a little scared."
"So am I. I don't know what happened, but by looking at us, I can tell it wasn't good. We need to find the Doctor."
Tegan looked at the water and an image of a wolf face flashed in her mind. She jumped back, a little startled. "Yeah, good idea."
"What is it? Did you remember something?" She didn't answer. "I was heading back to the TARDIS when I heard you."
"Let's go. they might be waiting for us."
"This way." Turlough headed back down the track.
Tegan followed Turlough as he cut through the brush without saying much. She preferred it that way. They both had too much on their minds. They arrived at the TARDIS to find it locked.
"Well?" She looked at him impatiently.
"We could try to find the sergeant and the rest of the soldiers."
"Maybe thet're at the village?" A mutilated horse flashed in her mind. She shook her head and the image disappeared.
"But which is the right path?"
"Try the left one, It'd have to take us somewhere."
Turlough looked down at the mud. "Footprints. Let's see where they go." He followed the prints. "Uh oh."
"What?" She looked down.
Turlough pointed. "Some sort of animal tracks. Wolf, if what we heard last night is anything to go by. And these are definitely the Doctor's prints."
"How do you know they're the Doctor's footprints?" she asked looking closely at them.
"I don't think anyone in the 1700s wore sneakers. C'mon!"
Tegan pointed to other prints. "So those would be the sergeant's?"
"I would think so. Doesn't look like there's any difference between right and left."
"Well, shall we follow them?" She began to walk, following the prints.
Turlough shivered as he walked along the trail. "Hope they have something warm to eat. I'm freezing."
Tegan looked up and sees a bird. "Me too. Wait." She sniffed the air. "Do you smell that?"
She sniffed again. "Deer. This way." She headed off through the bush.
"Deer? How could she..." He sniffed. "She's right. Tegan! Hold on!" He followed. "Tegan!" he groaned.
As Tegan stopped to sniff the air, a bag was shoved over her head and someone grabbed her hands. She was then tied up with a leather strap. "Turlough!"
Turlough heard Tegan scream and ran up the path to a small clearing to find her surrounded by Indians, a rough cloth bag over her head. "Tegan!" The Indians then turned their attention to him--and their weapons. He put up his hands in surrender.
CAST:
SpaceProg ---- 5th Doctor, little Indian girl
Aggedor -----Tegan Jovanka, Werewolf
FlynnKelly -----------Turlough (me!)
CodyJ---------- British Army Sergeant
Characters: Five, Tegan, Turlough, OCs
Word Count: 2085
Rating: WARNING: This story is rated "R" for gratuitous violence (The first part is the worst and I think they become a bit less as we move on, maybe PG-13)
Summary: The TARDIS arrives in Georgia in 1742 and becomes involved with Redcoats, Cherokee and werewolves.
Notes: OK, this is yet another story version of a sim done by Dr Who & Co. I came in late on this one so the bloodiness was before my time so I want no blame for that. I think Part 1 is the worst in that respect, so stick it out, I think it's worth it. This was begun 10/17/00.
Part One
Part Two
Part Three
IV
The sergeant gently shook the Doctor's shoulder. "Rev, er, Doctor. Doctor, dawn is breaking, we can follow the trail now."
The Doctor was pulled out of his thoughts. "Hm? Oh.. indeed." He picked up his hat. "Let's go then." He opened the door and exited with a bit less spring in his step than when they'd first arrived.
The sergeant handed the Doctor a brown bess. "I've been out already. It's loaded and primed." He picked up a second musket. "Ready?" The Doctor took the gun and nodded silently. "It looks like they headed this way, towards the creek."
The two exited the TARDIS looking warily around ad saw no sign of any creature in the lightening landscape. The air was moist and cool with the sounds of peeper frogs coming from the woods. The sergeant looked at tracks in the mud and saw them swing back into woods. "Blast! They'll be harder to track in this light, and they'll have good cover."
"I don't like how dark it is in there.. still.. we're not accomplishing anything just standing around. Come on." The Doctor followed the tracks into the woods.
The sergeant trudged carefully through the underbrush then stopped suddenly. "Oh, no!"
"What?"
"The tracks break through to a trail, and ... it's one I know."
"Where does it lead?"
"Back to our main camp."
The Doctor looked down the narrow trail. "How far away is the main camp from here?"
"A few hours, but then that's with only two legs."
"Then we'll just have to double-time it, Sergeant," said the Doctor as he started down the trail at a brisk pace.
The sergeant trotted along, brown bess at the ready. Some time later, he instinctively raised a hand and called, "Halt!" The Doctor stopped and gave the sergeant a funny look. "Sorry. Habit, Doctor," he said sheepishly. "See over there?" he asked, pointing. The Doctor followed his gaze. "It looks like one set of tracks running fast, back towards the creek," he said upon closer inspection. "And, Doctor, it appears two legged, but it's not human."
The Doctor nodded. "I think we'd better stay on the trail to the main camp. If it's Tegan or Turlough, I'm sure they'll be safe for a while at least. We can always track them after we've checked on the camp."
"Right! Let's go then." The sergeant started trotting back up trail.
The Doctor did likewise, taking a final look back at the tracks.
*******************
Alone, the wolf padded back to a cave hidden in the woods. It then entered a hole at the base of the cave which led to underground "nest". It lay down and began to gnaw on the bloody flesh of an older bone, that of a human leg, until it fell asleep.
*******************
Elsewhere, Turlough felt a little cold so reached for his blanket only to find air. He moaned and tried to reach further. He also discovered a funny metallic taste in his mouth. **What is that?** He slowly opened his eyes. **I don't own a red shirt** he thought as he looked at himself. It then dawned on him that the metallic taste in his mouth was blood and his chest was covered in it. He crawled back in agitation as if trying to seperate himself from the blood in a useless gesture. "Oh, no!" He saw his his tattered Brendon uniform. "What happened to me?" he questioned, panic-stricken. He slowly got to his feet and wobbled unsteadily as if not used to using his legs. "The Doctor. I was with the Doctor then...then this. The Doctor will know what happened." He headed in the direction he remembered the TARDIS to be. Off to the side of the trail, he spotted a rabbit in a thicket and fought back the sudden urge to chase it and savor the taste of it in his mouth. He shuddered and kept moving.
He trudged along and soon heard water. "I need to get this taste out of my mouth." He headed toward the sound. At the creek, the same one Tegan fell in, he collapsed and dipped his hand in to drink. Then he saw his face. There was blood caked and dried around his mouth. He then reached both hands in and scrubbed furiously. Content that he looked clean, he drank deep. Sated, he sat back on the bank, shaking with fury that he didn't know what happened last night and fear for remembering. He continued on now that he knew where he was. He paused when he thought he heard his name faintly. He stopped to listen again.
*********************
Tegan leaned up against a tree in a hunched form, trying to keep warm. She looked out at the forest around her. "Where are you Doctor?" **Time to do something Tegan, Your an Australian, not an Englishman.** She stood and headed east, towards the sound of running water. "I need a drink." She tasted the inside of her mouth. "Raw meat..." She had a flash of the night before, but shook off the feeling and kept going towards the water. "Doctor! Where are you?" she shouted.
She then spotted the water. "At last." She knelt at the waters edge, cupped her hands and started to drink. She looked down the river both ways and saw nothing. "Doctor!" She then remembered she had been with Turlough. "Turlough! Doctor!" She shivered in the cold wind.
*****************
The Doctor and the sergeant reached the camp's outpost and found the remains of the horse and the soldier. The sergeant recognized the insignia and swallowed with difficulty. "Captain ... o my Captain." The sergeant hurried to the encampment and gasped at the slashed and blood stained tents.
The Doctor regretted seeing the sight and wondered what Turlough and Tegan would think if they knew what they had done. He made a mental note never to tell them. He trotted along after the sergeant. "Be careful, Sergeant, They may still be here."
The sergeant stopped the Doctor. "Don't look , sir. There's nothing you want to see here. We are on our own it seems."
The Doctor had a feeling of what the Sergeant had seen. "I-" He heard something. "What was that?"
The sergeant cocked and shouldered musket. "Don't shoot till it's within 40 to 50 yards. These smooth bores are nothing like your Dutch rifles." He then thought of TARDIS and realised there was no telling just what this one was used to.
The Doctor approached a large overturned barrel with a cloth draped over it. The noise seemed to come from inside. The sergeant approached slowly, lifting the cloth with the muzzle of the musket. Inside was a little girl of about six or seven shivering with fear.
The sergeant uncocked and lowered the rifle. "She must be from the Creek village we were headed to."
"Cherokee," corrected the Doctor.
"Tsalagi! Tsalagi!" cried the girl.
The Doctor smiled. "See?'
"The Captain is under orders... I mean, was under orders to negotiate a treaty."
The Doctor helped the little girl out of the barrel and asked softly, "What were you doing in there, hm?"
The girl shivered. "Mother told me not to come here. She said that evil walks after dark."
"Indeed.. You saw what happened here, then?" The little girl nodded and began to cry.
The sergeant shook his head. "The poor wee lass."
"There there.. It's all right now," the Doctor comforted her. He gave the sergeant a sorrowful look over her head.
The sergeant took on a hard look. "It'll be over when I get that beastie within range of Bessie."
"I'm the Doctor and this is the Sergeant. What's your name?"
"Singing Reed. I want to go back to my village."
The Doctor stood. "Indeed.. I was planning on paying your village a visit, SInging Reed," he smiled. "Do you know the way back?" Singing Reed nodded. "Lead the way,then. My friend and I will make sure nothing happens."
"Just a minute, Doctor." The sergeant sifted through remains of the captain's tent, pulling out a cured stag's leg covered with beadwork and fringes.
The Doctor looked at him. "Hm?"
"There's a decorated brown bess in here... It was to be the Captain's gift to the Chief."
"Ah." The Doctor nodded in understanding before turning to follow Singing Reed.
"It has a lot of tacks for decoration and the brass buttplate's been replaced with silver. The tacks are silver as well," he winked.
"Really nice work," said the Doctor as he let his own gun swing casually by his side. The trio continued down the trail toward the Cherokee village.
*****************************
Turlough paused and listened once again for his name.
Tegan walked towards the east, following the river. "Turlough! Doctor! Where are you?" **Where am I?**
Turlough heard the voice and tried to remember who it belonged to. **That woman....loud, rude, Australian....Tegan!** "Tegan!"
Tegan tripped on a large stone. "Rabbits!" I could really go for one of them. She heard Turlough. "Turlough?"
"Keep calling!" he shouted. "Head for the creek!" He took his own advice and backtracked to the creek. He reached it first and sat down to wait.
Tegan walked towards the sound of Turlough's voice. She noticed the river branched off further down. "I recognise this...Turlough?"
"I hear you! Keep coming this way!" He threw a few pebbles into the water. **Maybe Tegan can help me figure out what happened last night.** He had a vision of sharp teeth and snapping jaws.
She took the left fork towards Turloughs voice. She stepped on a twig, causing it to snap. She looked up and saw Turlough about 600 meters away. "Turlough...."
Turlough turned his head at the sound of her voice. "Tegan." He saw her condition and knew they were in the same boat. "Are you all right?"
"I've been better." She walked closer. "What's happening to us?" She began to hug him then quickly pulled away. "I'm a little scared."
"So am I. I don't know what happened, but by looking at us, I can tell it wasn't good. We need to find the Doctor."
Tegan looked at the water and an image of a wolf face flashed in her mind. She jumped back, a little startled. "Yeah, good idea."
"What is it? Did you remember something?" She didn't answer. "I was heading back to the TARDIS when I heard you."
"Let's go. they might be waiting for us."
"This way." Turlough headed back down the track.
Tegan followed Turlough as he cut through the brush without saying much. She preferred it that way. They both had too much on their minds. They arrived at the TARDIS to find it locked.
"Well?" She looked at him impatiently.
"We could try to find the sergeant and the rest of the soldiers."
"Maybe thet're at the village?" A mutilated horse flashed in her mind. She shook her head and the image disappeared.
"But which is the right path?"
"Try the left one, It'd have to take us somewhere."
Turlough looked down at the mud. "Footprints. Let's see where they go." He followed the prints. "Uh oh."
"What?" She looked down.
Turlough pointed. "Some sort of animal tracks. Wolf, if what we heard last night is anything to go by. And these are definitely the Doctor's prints."
"How do you know they're the Doctor's footprints?" she asked looking closely at them.
"I don't think anyone in the 1700s wore sneakers. C'mon!"
Tegan pointed to other prints. "So those would be the sergeant's?"
"I would think so. Doesn't look like there's any difference between right and left."
"Well, shall we follow them?" She began to walk, following the prints.
Turlough shivered as he walked along the trail. "Hope they have something warm to eat. I'm freezing."
Tegan looked up and sees a bird. "Me too. Wait." She sniffed the air. "Do you smell that?"
She sniffed again. "Deer. This way." She headed off through the bush.
"Deer? How could she..." He sniffed. "She's right. Tegan! Hold on!" He followed. "Tegan!" he groaned.
As Tegan stopped to sniff the air, a bag was shoved over her head and someone grabbed her hands. She was then tied up with a leather strap. "Turlough!"
Turlough heard Tegan scream and ran up the path to a small clearing to find her surrounded by Indians, a rough cloth bag over her head. "Tegan!" The Indians then turned their attention to him--and their weapons. He put up his hands in surrender.
CAST:
SpaceProg ---- 5th Doctor, little Indian girl
Aggedor -----Tegan Jovanka, Werewolf
FlynnKelly -----------Turlough (me!)
CodyJ---------- British Army Sergeant