Fic: Solaris
Author: bell_jar_fics
Story: Solaris
Character/Pairing: Doctor, Rose, Jack, OC, Hints of Doctor/Rose
Era: Ninth Doctor Era; Takes place between The Doctor Dances and Boomtown.
Rating: PG-13 (To be safe)
Chapter 7/? (The Discovery)
Summary: The Doctor, Rose, and Jack travel to an Alien city, where they must team up with a local thief to retreive a series of mysterious artifacts of unknown capacity.
Disclaimer: Obviously not the owner.
I'd really like reviews for this story. Hardly anyone has left comments, which makes me sad.
Previous Chapters
The sun beat down on the slaves working on the fourth pyramid. A group of the slaves were in the process of pulling a smooth brick, the color of a clear diamond, up the large slope leading to the top of the unfinished structure. The numerous red-skinned slaves who toiled through their tasks made the paler, sweat-coated skin of the Doctor and Jack stand out. The two men in question were positioned among the hoisting ropes, pulling the brick up the slope. The guards had taken the Doctor’s leather jacket and jumper, also stripping him of his boots, leaving him in only his trousers.
As the large group strained to bring the brick to its designated position, one of the supervising guards cracked his whip, hitting the air an inch from one of the slave’s temples.
“Keep moving!” The guard barked at the slaves, cracking the whip again. This time, it came so close to striking the Doctor and Jack, that a small bit of Jack’s hair was tousled in the cross breeze. Without hesitation, the Doctor stopped pulling the rope and glowered at the guard. Under the piercing stare, the guard was visibly shaken, and he quickly turned his attention elsewhere, all the while trying to look like he hadn’t been troubled by the cold intensity the Doctor gave off.
“Word of advice, Doctor,” Jack whispered. “You might not want to give them reason to focus on you. Remember, we have to try and figure out how to get back to Rose and Solaris, find that artifact, and make our way back to the TARDIS. It’ll be harder to do that if you get on the bad side of those guards.”
“I realize that, thanks,” The Doctor replied. “Surprisingly, I haven’t forgotten Rose’s situation. I’m just glad she doesn’t have to be out here, and is in a better situation then us.”
“You’re okay with the fact she has to be a personal slave?”
“At least she’s not out here; where guards are waiting to use those whips on anyone not moving fast enough for their liking.”
“And if they also use whips on handmaidens who don’t do their tasks a certain way?” At Jack’s words, the Doctor’s face darkened.
“If they even think about using a whip on Rose, then King Hoaraph will know why I was known as the Oncoming Storm.”
-----
Within the Palace of San Kloon, King Hoaraph’s daughter, Refetinti, sat in her finely furbished bedchamber. Rose stood behind her, running a gold comb through the princess’ hair. As she continued to style Refetinti’s long hair, Rose glanced over to Solaris, who was a short distance away, holding a clay bowl filled with figs, pomegranates, and grapes, or rather what must be the alien equivalent of said fruits, waiting for Refetinti to request the food.
It had been six days since King Hoaraph had placed them into this slavery, and neither of them had seen or received any word from Jack or the Doctor since then, since they were returned to the dungeons every night, while Rose and Solaris were always placed with the other palace slaves. Not only that, but they weren’t any closer the finding the artifact they needed. While she didn’t have any doubt that the Doctor would come up with a plan how they could all escape, she couldn’t see how he could relay the plan to them. However, Rose’s worries were interrupted when Refetinti suddenly gave her an order to take a golden wine pitcher down to the storage rooms and fill it with some of the wine.
The storage room was located on the other side of the palace. By the time Rose reached it, the room was filled with other palace slaves, gathering up an assortment of Alien food. As Rose looked around for the wine that Refetinti requested, she noticed a small slave boy who couldn’t have been more then ten. He was trying to reach a loaf of bread that was up on a shelf too high for him to reach. Taking pity on the slave boy, Rose placed the wine pitcher on the ground for a moment and took the bread, handing it to the small slave boy.
“Thank you,” the boy mumbled, taking the bread.
“It's no problem,” Rose smiled. “I’m Rose. What’s your name?”
“Nomra.”
“How’d you get yourself into slavery?” Rose wondered. “You’re just a kid. You weren’t born into slavery, were you?”
“My mom and dad are merchants,” Nomra explained. “But when they couldn’t sell enough stuff last harvest season, they couldn’t pay the mandatory merchants fee King Hoaraph set. They had to sell me to pay their debt.”
“That’s terrible!” Rose cried, shocked by the injustice, and trying to ignore the Doctor’s voice in her head, repeating his statements of different morality.
“It’s not so bad,” Nomra shrugged. “The debt’ll be paid back in two more seasons. Then I can go home to my family.”
“And how long has it been since you saw them last?”
“I’ve been here since two harvest seasons ago.”
“So, that’s two years?” Rose confirmed. “And to think I’ve been concerned about not seeing Jack and the Doctor in six days.”
“Is that your family?” Nomra asked.
“They’re my friends. We came here to try and find something, but for some reason, King Hoaraph got the idea we were planning to steal from him, and we ended up being separated, with them being sent off to build another pyramid. I haven’t heard from them in six days.” Fighting back a sigh, Rose picked the wine pitcher back up to continue her task of fetching wine.
“They’re with the builders?” Nomra suddenly spoke, wide eyed.
“I suppose so,” Rose looked over at the small boy, confused. Why did that really matter?
“I sometimes take water to the builders,” Nomra explained, looking happy about it. “If you like, I could try and find them, to pass a message from you.”
“You could do that?” Rose instantly grew just as cheerful as Nomra, who nodded animatedly. “Do you want me to describe them or….”
“If your friends have the same kind of skin as you, they’ll stand out easily enough. What do you want to tell them?”
“Just tell them I’m okay, and am wondering if there’s a plan how to get out of this mess yet.” After Nomra left to pass on the message, Rose made her way back to Refetinti’s chamber. The corridor that led back to the princess' chamber, however, happened to pass by King Hoaraph’s throne room. As the doors that led into the throne room came into sight, Rose immediately noticed Solaris listening outside of them.
“Solaris, what are you doing?” Rose cried in a loud whisper. “Do you know how much trouble we’d be in if they caught you eavesdropping?”
“Shhh,” Solaris waved a hand to silence her. “Refetini sent me to see what was keeping her wine, but when I was on my way, this real hoity-toity guy strutted by, talking to someone who must have been his vassal or something. From what I gathered, King Hoaraph made a deal with this guy, and pledged Refetinti to him.”
“What does that…?”
“I’m getting there. Anyway, the guy Refetinti was promised to; he’s in there talking with King Hoaraph right now. Something about how he’s brought the item he promised in payment for Refetinti’s hand. I think you better listen, too.” Reluctantly, Rose joined Solaris in eavesdropping.
“So, this is it, then,” King Hoaraph spoke, his voice full of awe.
“As you can see,” the suitor began his sales pitch. “The blade itself has been finely sharpened, and could even split a hair. It’s thin enough to fit between the bricks on your pyramids, but strong enough to cut through bone. And I’m sure you’ve never seen jewels shine as bright as these. Each of these eight stones were polished and smoothed to the finest specifications. But the true beauty lies in the pommel stone, which the other eight stones encircle. If you look at that stone at the right angle, it almost looks alive.” Outside the door, Rose and Solaris’ faces were perfect mirrors of the surprise and excitement the suitor’s description had bought them.
“The eight stones surrounding the ninth!” Rose whispered in excitement. “It’s the first artifact. We’ve found the knife!”
“No wonder King Hoaraph freaked out when the Doctor described the markings on the artifacts,” Solaris realized in equal excitement. “He didn’t want anyone taking the payment he was getting for selling his daughter to this guy.”
“We gotta tell the Doctor and Jack!” Rose got to her feet. However, in her haste, she backed up into a golden incense burner, which fell to the ground with a large crash.
“Who’s out there!?” King Hoaraph’s voice boomed from the throne room. “Guards!” Rose and Solaris were frozen in shock as they heard the guards quickly approaching the door.
Story: Solaris
Character/Pairing: Doctor, Rose, Jack, OC, Hints of Doctor/Rose
Era: Ninth Doctor Era; Takes place between The Doctor Dances and Boomtown.
Rating: PG-13 (To be safe)
Chapter 7/? (The Discovery)
Summary: The Doctor, Rose, and Jack travel to an Alien city, where they must team up with a local thief to retreive a series of mysterious artifacts of unknown capacity.
Disclaimer: Obviously not the owner.
I'd really like reviews for this story. Hardly anyone has left comments, which makes me sad.
Previous Chapters
The sun beat down on the slaves working on the fourth pyramid. A group of the slaves were in the process of pulling a smooth brick, the color of a clear diamond, up the large slope leading to the top of the unfinished structure. The numerous red-skinned slaves who toiled through their tasks made the paler, sweat-coated skin of the Doctor and Jack stand out. The two men in question were positioned among the hoisting ropes, pulling the brick up the slope. The guards had taken the Doctor’s leather jacket and jumper, also stripping him of his boots, leaving him in only his trousers.
As the large group strained to bring the brick to its designated position, one of the supervising guards cracked his whip, hitting the air an inch from one of the slave’s temples.
“Keep moving!” The guard barked at the slaves, cracking the whip again. This time, it came so close to striking the Doctor and Jack, that a small bit of Jack’s hair was tousled in the cross breeze. Without hesitation, the Doctor stopped pulling the rope and glowered at the guard. Under the piercing stare, the guard was visibly shaken, and he quickly turned his attention elsewhere, all the while trying to look like he hadn’t been troubled by the cold intensity the Doctor gave off.
“Word of advice, Doctor,” Jack whispered. “You might not want to give them reason to focus on you. Remember, we have to try and figure out how to get back to Rose and Solaris, find that artifact, and make our way back to the TARDIS. It’ll be harder to do that if you get on the bad side of those guards.”
“I realize that, thanks,” The Doctor replied. “Surprisingly, I haven’t forgotten Rose’s situation. I’m just glad she doesn’t have to be out here, and is in a better situation then us.”
“You’re okay with the fact she has to be a personal slave?”
“At least she’s not out here; where guards are waiting to use those whips on anyone not moving fast enough for their liking.”
“And if they also use whips on handmaidens who don’t do their tasks a certain way?” At Jack’s words, the Doctor’s face darkened.
“If they even think about using a whip on Rose, then King Hoaraph will know why I was known as the Oncoming Storm.”
-----
Within the Palace of San Kloon, King Hoaraph’s daughter, Refetinti, sat in her finely furbished bedchamber. Rose stood behind her, running a gold comb through the princess’ hair. As she continued to style Refetinti’s long hair, Rose glanced over to Solaris, who was a short distance away, holding a clay bowl filled with figs, pomegranates, and grapes, or rather what must be the alien equivalent of said fruits, waiting for Refetinti to request the food.
It had been six days since King Hoaraph had placed them into this slavery, and neither of them had seen or received any word from Jack or the Doctor since then, since they were returned to the dungeons every night, while Rose and Solaris were always placed with the other palace slaves. Not only that, but they weren’t any closer the finding the artifact they needed. While she didn’t have any doubt that the Doctor would come up with a plan how they could all escape, she couldn’t see how he could relay the plan to them. However, Rose’s worries were interrupted when Refetinti suddenly gave her an order to take a golden wine pitcher down to the storage rooms and fill it with some of the wine.
The storage room was located on the other side of the palace. By the time Rose reached it, the room was filled with other palace slaves, gathering up an assortment of Alien food. As Rose looked around for the wine that Refetinti requested, she noticed a small slave boy who couldn’t have been more then ten. He was trying to reach a loaf of bread that was up on a shelf too high for him to reach. Taking pity on the slave boy, Rose placed the wine pitcher on the ground for a moment and took the bread, handing it to the small slave boy.
“Thank you,” the boy mumbled, taking the bread.
“It's no problem,” Rose smiled. “I’m Rose. What’s your name?”
“Nomra.”
“How’d you get yourself into slavery?” Rose wondered. “You’re just a kid. You weren’t born into slavery, were you?”
“My mom and dad are merchants,” Nomra explained. “But when they couldn’t sell enough stuff last harvest season, they couldn’t pay the mandatory merchants fee King Hoaraph set. They had to sell me to pay their debt.”
“That’s terrible!” Rose cried, shocked by the injustice, and trying to ignore the Doctor’s voice in her head, repeating his statements of different morality.
“It’s not so bad,” Nomra shrugged. “The debt’ll be paid back in two more seasons. Then I can go home to my family.”
“And how long has it been since you saw them last?”
“I’ve been here since two harvest seasons ago.”
“So, that’s two years?” Rose confirmed. “And to think I’ve been concerned about not seeing Jack and the Doctor in six days.”
“Is that your family?” Nomra asked.
“They’re my friends. We came here to try and find something, but for some reason, King Hoaraph got the idea we were planning to steal from him, and we ended up being separated, with them being sent off to build another pyramid. I haven’t heard from them in six days.” Fighting back a sigh, Rose picked the wine pitcher back up to continue her task of fetching wine.
“They’re with the builders?” Nomra suddenly spoke, wide eyed.
“I suppose so,” Rose looked over at the small boy, confused. Why did that really matter?
“I sometimes take water to the builders,” Nomra explained, looking happy about it. “If you like, I could try and find them, to pass a message from you.”
“You could do that?” Rose instantly grew just as cheerful as Nomra, who nodded animatedly. “Do you want me to describe them or….”
“If your friends have the same kind of skin as you, they’ll stand out easily enough. What do you want to tell them?”
“Just tell them I’m okay, and am wondering if there’s a plan how to get out of this mess yet.” After Nomra left to pass on the message, Rose made her way back to Refetinti’s chamber. The corridor that led back to the princess' chamber, however, happened to pass by King Hoaraph’s throne room. As the doors that led into the throne room came into sight, Rose immediately noticed Solaris listening outside of them.
“Solaris, what are you doing?” Rose cried in a loud whisper. “Do you know how much trouble we’d be in if they caught you eavesdropping?”
“Shhh,” Solaris waved a hand to silence her. “Refetini sent me to see what was keeping her wine, but when I was on my way, this real hoity-toity guy strutted by, talking to someone who must have been his vassal or something. From what I gathered, King Hoaraph made a deal with this guy, and pledged Refetinti to him.”
“What does that…?”
“I’m getting there. Anyway, the guy Refetinti was promised to; he’s in there talking with King Hoaraph right now. Something about how he’s brought the item he promised in payment for Refetinti’s hand. I think you better listen, too.” Reluctantly, Rose joined Solaris in eavesdropping.
“So, this is it, then,” King Hoaraph spoke, his voice full of awe.
“As you can see,” the suitor began his sales pitch. “The blade itself has been finely sharpened, and could even split a hair. It’s thin enough to fit between the bricks on your pyramids, but strong enough to cut through bone. And I’m sure you’ve never seen jewels shine as bright as these. Each of these eight stones were polished and smoothed to the finest specifications. But the true beauty lies in the pommel stone, which the other eight stones encircle. If you look at that stone at the right angle, it almost looks alive.” Outside the door, Rose and Solaris’ faces were perfect mirrors of the surprise and excitement the suitor’s description had bought them.
“The eight stones surrounding the ninth!” Rose whispered in excitement. “It’s the first artifact. We’ve found the knife!”
“No wonder King Hoaraph freaked out when the Doctor described the markings on the artifacts,” Solaris realized in equal excitement. “He didn’t want anyone taking the payment he was getting for selling his daughter to this guy.”
“We gotta tell the Doctor and Jack!” Rose got to her feet. However, in her haste, she backed up into a golden incense burner, which fell to the ground with a large crash.
“Who’s out there!?” King Hoaraph’s voice boomed from the throne room. “Guards!” Rose and Solaris were frozen in shock as they heard the guards quickly approaching the door.