Fic: Seuls - Chapter 5
Title: Seuls
Author: mtemplar
Rating: Adult
Characters: The Doctor (Tenth), Rose Tyler
Disclaimer: I do not own 'Doctor Who' and am making no profit from this fanfiction.
Genre: Angst, Hurt/Comfort, Graphic Sex, Graphic Violence, Romance
Spoilers: Set mid Series 2
Author's Notes: This story follows the events in To Have And Not To Hold (first chapter of that story is here) and Not Here (the first chapter of that short follow-up is here). It is loosely based on the Fourth Doctor serial 'Image of the Fendahl', and contains elements from the 1996 TV movie and the novel 'The Taking of Planet 5'. Huge hugs to principia_coh for the amazing icon and banner!
Betas: Many, many thanks to platypus, brit_columbia and garpu!
Summary: The Doctor and Rose have been mysteriously diverted to the ice planet Seuls, located within the constellation of Canthares. It soon becomes apparent that things are not at all as they should be, and the newly-formed bond between them will be tested as the trap of an ancient enemy is sprung.
Previous Chapters:
One Two Three Four
Crossposted to time_and_chips, dwfiction, Teaspoon and The Zero Room.
Chapter 5
"I don't care how dangerous it is! The Doctor's in trouble! I have to help him!" Rose tried to ignore the numerous pairs of eyes she could feel staring at her while she argued with a pre-teen who was quite grumpy at being kept from his sleep.
Mitya stared at her sullenly. "Have you looked outside?" he hissed. "You don't stand a chance if you go out there in a storm."
Her heart still racing from what she had felt, Rose willed herself to calm down. The impression she'd had, of her body being abused and tortured, was still strong in her memory. The Doctor had said that he wasn't picking up any evidence of telepathic ability on her part, but could he have been wrong? Was he badly hurt and trying to send her a message?
"Look," Mitya said, pulling aside the paper covering from a small window. "Complete white-out. You'd be lost within seconds. And you don't even know where you're going."
"And you do?" Rose asked, wondering what the children weren't telling her.
Mitya shifted his feet, not meeting her eyes. "Yeah, I might know where they would have taken your friend."
"Please," Rose said carefully, feeling as though her entire future hinged on this boy's cooperation. "Will you take me there?"
"I don't want to go there - that place makes me feel really weird," he finally responded. "But I'll take you if you promise to come back." Mitya pulled himself up to his full height, somehow managing to still look like a gangly, awkward youth even when bundled up. "These kids need help, we need help," he mumbled. "Promise?"
"I'll come back for them. I promise... I'll come back for you all."
"All right," Mitya said. "As long as the storm clears up a bit, we'll leave at first light."
********************
Several hours later, after following a trail across the ice that only Mitya knew, Rose found herself slowly climbing down a rope ladder into a crevasse, trying not to lose her tenuous, mittened grip. After her perilous descent, lit by the dim light of morning in addition to Mitya's torch, her boots made contact with the rock below, and she tried to calm her rolling stomach. "You could've told me there was a tunnel, you know," she muttered, wondering how much further she could have made it had she set out immediately, rather than waiting through the night.
"We still would've had to find the ladder on the surface," Mitya replied over his shoulder. "There's no way we would have been able to find it last night in the storm."
Rose hurried to catch up to the boy, trying not to jar her ankle too badly as her boots crunched over rock and ice. "How many times have you been down here?"
"Enough to know that I don't want to be here any longer than I have to," Mitya replied. "Can't you feel it?"
Rose paused. "No." she said. "I imagine the ice above our heads is going to crush us to death at any moment, though."
"It won't be much longer until we reach the end of this tunnel," the boy said grimly. "After that you're on your own."
Rose blinked. "What?"
"I can't go in with you," Mitya said. "Someone's got to take care of the kids. I told Kate I'd go hunting today if the weather cleared. Not that we've had much luck lately, but still."
Rose nodded. "Fair enough," she said, a bit disappointed that she wouldn't have help in her search for the Doctor. They walked on in silence, passing by many smaller openings that branched off, the wind whistling through them disconcertingly. As they progressed, it seemed to be getting lighter ahead, and eventually Mitya switched off his torch. The tunnel finally opened up wide to the outside, and Rose gasped. They stood in front of an enormous crystalline palace, constructed entirely from massive blocks of ice. It gleamed brightly in the early morning light, the snow that covered portions of the roof sparkling and swirling in the wind.
"'S beautiful," Rose murmured, her eyes following the rooftop spires upward. "Is this part of your colony?"
"No. It's stupid. Who builds something like that in a cold place?" the boy responded. "I would've built something with a rounded top. Keep the heat in and all that."
Rose nodded, looking at the massive center spire. "I suppose it's not the most practical, but...." She trailed off, her heart leaping in her chest as she spotted a parked vehicle, very similar to the one she remembered. She ran to it, ignoring the throbbing of her ankle, but the back was empty, except for a bit of packed snow. Disappointed, Rose had turned away from the transport vehicle to approach the entrance to the building when she felt it: the urge to turn back, to run away as fast as her legs would carry her. It was a strange sensation, having an emotional response that didn't belong to her, and she tried to ignore the feeling as she reached the door.
"You feel it now, don't you?" Mitya asked as he caught up to her.
"Yeah, it's like... almost like a wall. With a big 'Keep Out' sign on it."
"I've been able to feel it for a few months now," the boy said, staring at his boots. "They'll come for me soon. They'll come for us all."
"I have to go in," Rose said, gritting her teeth. "Are you coming?"
Mitya shook his head. "I'll wait for a while, but if you're not out within an hour, I'll have to go back without you."
"All right," Rose said, extending her mitten-covered hand to grip his. "Thanks," she said awkwardly, not knowing what to say. She turned to the door; it was large, ornate and carved out of what looked to be a single piece of wood. Pulling at the simple ring hardware, she was surprised that the door swung freely open - and that no one was waiting inside. She could feel Mitya's eyes on her, watching sadly as she disappeared inside.
Rose moved through the tunnel-like entryway into a large room, with a lofty vaulted ceiling, and an icy crystalline chandelier suspended from the center. The huge, dense blocks of ice that formed the walls caught the light from the outside, casting a strange bluish glow to the room. The vast room was empty, and her footsteps echoed around her as she cautiously walked forward, marring the eerie silence. "Doctor?" she called softly, not sure if she was alone or not. There was no response.
She shivered and moved slowly forward, her feet dragging like lead bricks. She was definitely feeling something now, something overwhelming. She'd heard of panic attacks, and as her heart raced in her chest, she wondered if she could possibly be having her first. Fear rose in her throat and threatened to choke her. Thinking again to what the children had told her, she wondered if this sensation, one of overwhelming fear, had been what they were talking about. She might have felt it sooner if she hadn't mistaken it for her own emotions. Waves of empty pain poured over her relentlessly - it felt much like long ago, when she'd broken up with Jimmy Stone, only she didn't remember that feeling quite this bad. Maybe more like a night out with the girls and too much alcohol. Or maybe when she'd woken up one night when she was a child to hear her mother crying on the anniversary of her father's death. The image of a solitary wolf, howling mournfully in the dark, entered her mind, and she shivered involuntarily. Gritting her teeth, she continued to move.
Blue-green light washed over her face from the chandelier above, the lights dancing like a kaleidoscope in her vision, blurring it. Something was ahead of her, in the shadow of one of the denser walls - just there. She blinked. It was something big, something... blue and rectangular. Something comforting. She willed her feet to move and struggled forward to where the TARDIS stood.
Rose stopped short in her tracks, her TARDIS key halfway out from its resting place on a chain around her neck, under her scarf. The TARDIS door was open. But there was no welcoming light, no humming sensation - the interior was dark. A key, identical to her own, was already in the lock. The Doctor's key. He'd never give that up without a fight. Her blood ran cold as she considered what that might mean.
A loud voice from behind startled her, and she whirled around to face it. "You have a key," one of the hulking men she remembered from before said, his voice dead and flat. His eyes were blank and Rose took a step back in alarm.
"You will fly the machine."
"I... I c-can't fly it," Rose stammered, backing up as the man advanced on her. "Only the Doctor can... what've you done with him?"
"The machine has parts that allow for bypass, but you do not have symbiosis with it. If you cannot fly it, you will be disposed of."
"What?" Rose darted around the man to escape, away from the possible safety that the TARDIS represented. Instinct told her that the Doctor was most likely not in the TARDIS, but what had happened to him? As she ran for an arched exit, her stomach clenched uncomfortably. How had they obtained his key?
***************
Rose ran quickly through icy corridors, ignoring the searing pain from her injured ankle. She finally came to a stop in front of a descending staircase, with icicles hanging from the frozen handrail. She panted, her breath condensing and hanging in the air as she tried to recover. When she could, she held her breath briefly, listening for the sounds of of her pursuer, but all was silent. Hoping that she'd lost him, she exhaled a shaky breath and began to move down the staircase. Tiny lights set into the blocks of ice that formed the stairwell set the walls aglow with a comforting, warm light, but Rose could feel the unnatural fear rising again. The walls around her began to spin and her stomach lurched.
Fire was all around her, an entire world was engulfed in flame. Her body was failing, and she was coughing up blood onto her hands. Somehow it seemed fitting to her, that she should have visible blood on her hands for what she had done. While she was looking at her hands, something occurred to her. These hands were larger than she remembered her own hands being. Were they even hers? Then suddenly she was on fire, burning with golden energy - every part of her body in agonizing pain as things changed, shifted and conformed to new shapes, with accompanying new sensations. She couldn't take it, the pain was unbearable, and she felt as if she would burst into a thousand fragments....
Rose shook her head to clear it. She was on her knees at the top of the stairwell. That wasn't her memory, either. What the hell was going on? She struggled to get up, her legs stiff and sore, and ankle throbbing anew. How long had she been down? She made slow progress down the curving staircase, hanging onto the rail tightly with her mittened hands, worried that she would slip and fall at any moment. She finally reached the bottom, sighing in relief when her boots came in contact with the dark, grey rock of the floor.
The corridor she found herself in was dim, lit only by the occasional glow of a tiny light set into the ice. The fear that she had felt before was absent, but she still felt uneasy - at least that emotion seemed to be hers. She moved forward slowly, listening carefully for the sound of her pursuer, but could only hear the crunch of her boots on the icy rock beneath her feet. Icy rock that was dotted with the occasional dark spot. Rose knelt to examine the nearest spot more closely - it was blood. The Doctor's blood? It didn't seem to be much blood, but there was definitely a trail, and Rose moved quickly to follow it.
***************
Rose continued down the corridor, noting the occasional splotch of blood on the icy rock ahead of her, sometimes accompanied by signs of a scuffle along the blocks of ice that comprised the walls. She rested her mittened hand in a white scrape on the surface of one of the blocks, wondering if it was indeed from the Doctor. She closed her eyes briefly, straining to hear any minute sounds, but there were none. He had to be here somewhere!
Moving forward again, she passed by the entrances to several rooms, all empty. More light glowed ahead, with another staircase leading upward. She was nearing the end of the corridor, and her heart sank as she wondered how many other passages there could be to search through. Then she heard it - faint, but a voice. His voice. She turned and ran toward a doorway, following the sound.
Rose gasped as she entered the small room and her eyes adjusted to the dim light. The walls were made from densely packed snow and ice, with an icy sheen to the surface. Four metallic pillars supported the ceiling above her head. A single candle glowed in the room, casting strange shadows across its lone occupant. The Doctor was on his knees, disheveled, chained to the icy wall by both wrists, his eyes shut. Rose ran to him, but he didn't open his eyes, didn't acknowledge her presence. He was... chanting? Chanting to himself in a whispered tone that made Rose strain to make out what he was saying.
"Rose Tyler... I told you in the basement of Henrick's to run... my first word to you...." he muttered to himself.
"Doctor?" Rose said, ripping off a mitten to press her palm to his chest, the strange memory of something piercing one of her hearts still fresh in her head. Twin heartbeats thundered under her touch and she wanted to cry with relief. A small cut on his forehead was oozing blood, and she pressed her mitten to it to try to stop the flow, wondering how badly he was hurt. The chanting stopped.
"Rose?" he said, his eyes opening in shock. "You can't be here, can't be near me. You have to get to the TARDIS - before it's too late!"
***Additional Author's Note: I'll be out of town for the Christmas holiday - without much unsupervised internet access, most likely. The next chapter of this fic will be up in January, barring any major complications - apologies!
Author: mtemplar
Rating: Adult
Characters: The Doctor (Tenth), Rose Tyler
Disclaimer: I do not own 'Doctor Who' and am making no profit from this fanfiction.
Genre: Angst, Hurt/Comfort, Graphic Sex, Graphic Violence, Romance
Spoilers: Set mid Series 2
Author's Notes: This story follows the events in To Have And Not To Hold (first chapter of that story is here) and Not Here (the first chapter of that short follow-up is here). It is loosely based on the Fourth Doctor serial 'Image of the Fendahl', and contains elements from the 1996 TV movie and the novel 'The Taking of Planet 5'. Huge hugs to principia_coh for the amazing icon and banner!
Betas: Many, many thanks to platypus, brit_columbia and garpu!
Summary: The Doctor and Rose have been mysteriously diverted to the ice planet Seuls, located within the constellation of Canthares. It soon becomes apparent that things are not at all as they should be, and the newly-formed bond between them will be tested as the trap of an ancient enemy is sprung.
Previous Chapters:
One Two Three Four
Crossposted to time_and_chips, dwfiction, Teaspoon and The Zero Room.
Chapter 5
"I don't care how dangerous it is! The Doctor's in trouble! I have to help him!" Rose tried to ignore the numerous pairs of eyes she could feel staring at her while she argued with a pre-teen who was quite grumpy at being kept from his sleep.
Mitya stared at her sullenly. "Have you looked outside?" he hissed. "You don't stand a chance if you go out there in a storm."
Her heart still racing from what she had felt, Rose willed herself to calm down. The impression she'd had, of her body being abused and tortured, was still strong in her memory. The Doctor had said that he wasn't picking up any evidence of telepathic ability on her part, but could he have been wrong? Was he badly hurt and trying to send her a message?
"Look," Mitya said, pulling aside the paper covering from a small window. "Complete white-out. You'd be lost within seconds. And you don't even know where you're going."
"And you do?" Rose asked, wondering what the children weren't telling her.
Mitya shifted his feet, not meeting her eyes. "Yeah, I might know where they would have taken your friend."
"Please," Rose said carefully, feeling as though her entire future hinged on this boy's cooperation. "Will you take me there?"
"I don't want to go there - that place makes me feel really weird," he finally responded. "But I'll take you if you promise to come back." Mitya pulled himself up to his full height, somehow managing to still look like a gangly, awkward youth even when bundled up. "These kids need help, we need help," he mumbled. "Promise?"
"I'll come back for them. I promise... I'll come back for you all."
"All right," Mitya said. "As long as the storm clears up a bit, we'll leave at first light."
********************
Several hours later, after following a trail across the ice that only Mitya knew, Rose found herself slowly climbing down a rope ladder into a crevasse, trying not to lose her tenuous, mittened grip. After her perilous descent, lit by the dim light of morning in addition to Mitya's torch, her boots made contact with the rock below, and she tried to calm her rolling stomach. "You could've told me there was a tunnel, you know," she muttered, wondering how much further she could have made it had she set out immediately, rather than waiting through the night.
"We still would've had to find the ladder on the surface," Mitya replied over his shoulder. "There's no way we would have been able to find it last night in the storm."
Rose hurried to catch up to the boy, trying not to jar her ankle too badly as her boots crunched over rock and ice. "How many times have you been down here?"
"Enough to know that I don't want to be here any longer than I have to," Mitya replied. "Can't you feel it?"
Rose paused. "No." she said. "I imagine the ice above our heads is going to crush us to death at any moment, though."
"It won't be much longer until we reach the end of this tunnel," the boy said grimly. "After that you're on your own."
Rose blinked. "What?"
"I can't go in with you," Mitya said. "Someone's got to take care of the kids. I told Kate I'd go hunting today if the weather cleared. Not that we've had much luck lately, but still."
Rose nodded. "Fair enough," she said, a bit disappointed that she wouldn't have help in her search for the Doctor. They walked on in silence, passing by many smaller openings that branched off, the wind whistling through them disconcertingly. As they progressed, it seemed to be getting lighter ahead, and eventually Mitya switched off his torch. The tunnel finally opened up wide to the outside, and Rose gasped. They stood in front of an enormous crystalline palace, constructed entirely from massive blocks of ice. It gleamed brightly in the early morning light, the snow that covered portions of the roof sparkling and swirling in the wind.
"'S beautiful," Rose murmured, her eyes following the rooftop spires upward. "Is this part of your colony?"
"No. It's stupid. Who builds something like that in a cold place?" the boy responded. "I would've built something with a rounded top. Keep the heat in and all that."
Rose nodded, looking at the massive center spire. "I suppose it's not the most practical, but...." She trailed off, her heart leaping in her chest as she spotted a parked vehicle, very similar to the one she remembered. She ran to it, ignoring the throbbing of her ankle, but the back was empty, except for a bit of packed snow. Disappointed, Rose had turned away from the transport vehicle to approach the entrance to the building when she felt it: the urge to turn back, to run away as fast as her legs would carry her. It was a strange sensation, having an emotional response that didn't belong to her, and she tried to ignore the feeling as she reached the door.
"You feel it now, don't you?" Mitya asked as he caught up to her.
"Yeah, it's like... almost like a wall. With a big 'Keep Out' sign on it."
"I've been able to feel it for a few months now," the boy said, staring at his boots. "They'll come for me soon. They'll come for us all."
"I have to go in," Rose said, gritting her teeth. "Are you coming?"
Mitya shook his head. "I'll wait for a while, but if you're not out within an hour, I'll have to go back without you."
"All right," Rose said, extending her mitten-covered hand to grip his. "Thanks," she said awkwardly, not knowing what to say. She turned to the door; it was large, ornate and carved out of what looked to be a single piece of wood. Pulling at the simple ring hardware, she was surprised that the door swung freely open - and that no one was waiting inside. She could feel Mitya's eyes on her, watching sadly as she disappeared inside.
Rose moved through the tunnel-like entryway into a large room, with a lofty vaulted ceiling, and an icy crystalline chandelier suspended from the center. The huge, dense blocks of ice that formed the walls caught the light from the outside, casting a strange bluish glow to the room. The vast room was empty, and her footsteps echoed around her as she cautiously walked forward, marring the eerie silence. "Doctor?" she called softly, not sure if she was alone or not. There was no response.
She shivered and moved slowly forward, her feet dragging like lead bricks. She was definitely feeling something now, something overwhelming. She'd heard of panic attacks, and as her heart raced in her chest, she wondered if she could possibly be having her first. Fear rose in her throat and threatened to choke her. Thinking again to what the children had told her, she wondered if this sensation, one of overwhelming fear, had been what they were talking about. She might have felt it sooner if she hadn't mistaken it for her own emotions. Waves of empty pain poured over her relentlessly - it felt much like long ago, when she'd broken up with Jimmy Stone, only she didn't remember that feeling quite this bad. Maybe more like a night out with the girls and too much alcohol. Or maybe when she'd woken up one night when she was a child to hear her mother crying on the anniversary of her father's death. The image of a solitary wolf, howling mournfully in the dark, entered her mind, and she shivered involuntarily. Gritting her teeth, she continued to move.
Blue-green light washed over her face from the chandelier above, the lights dancing like a kaleidoscope in her vision, blurring it. Something was ahead of her, in the shadow of one of the denser walls - just there. She blinked. It was something big, something... blue and rectangular. Something comforting. She willed her feet to move and struggled forward to where the TARDIS stood.
Rose stopped short in her tracks, her TARDIS key halfway out from its resting place on a chain around her neck, under her scarf. The TARDIS door was open. But there was no welcoming light, no humming sensation - the interior was dark. A key, identical to her own, was already in the lock. The Doctor's key. He'd never give that up without a fight. Her blood ran cold as she considered what that might mean.
A loud voice from behind startled her, and she whirled around to face it. "You have a key," one of the hulking men she remembered from before said, his voice dead and flat. His eyes were blank and Rose took a step back in alarm.
"You will fly the machine."
"I... I c-can't fly it," Rose stammered, backing up as the man advanced on her. "Only the Doctor can... what've you done with him?"
"The machine has parts that allow for bypass, but you do not have symbiosis with it. If you cannot fly it, you will be disposed of."
"What?" Rose darted around the man to escape, away from the possible safety that the TARDIS represented. Instinct told her that the Doctor was most likely not in the TARDIS, but what had happened to him? As she ran for an arched exit, her stomach clenched uncomfortably. How had they obtained his key?
***************
Rose ran quickly through icy corridors, ignoring the searing pain from her injured ankle. She finally came to a stop in front of a descending staircase, with icicles hanging from the frozen handrail. She panted, her breath condensing and hanging in the air as she tried to recover. When she could, she held her breath briefly, listening for the sounds of of her pursuer, but all was silent. Hoping that she'd lost him, she exhaled a shaky breath and began to move down the staircase. Tiny lights set into the blocks of ice that formed the stairwell set the walls aglow with a comforting, warm light, but Rose could feel the unnatural fear rising again. The walls around her began to spin and her stomach lurched.
Fire was all around her, an entire world was engulfed in flame. Her body was failing, and she was coughing up blood onto her hands. Somehow it seemed fitting to her, that she should have visible blood on her hands for what she had done. While she was looking at her hands, something occurred to her. These hands were larger than she remembered her own hands being. Were they even hers? Then suddenly she was on fire, burning with golden energy - every part of her body in agonizing pain as things changed, shifted and conformed to new shapes, with accompanying new sensations. She couldn't take it, the pain was unbearable, and she felt as if she would burst into a thousand fragments....
Rose shook her head to clear it. She was on her knees at the top of the stairwell. That wasn't her memory, either. What the hell was going on? She struggled to get up, her legs stiff and sore, and ankle throbbing anew. How long had she been down? She made slow progress down the curving staircase, hanging onto the rail tightly with her mittened hands, worried that she would slip and fall at any moment. She finally reached the bottom, sighing in relief when her boots came in contact with the dark, grey rock of the floor.
The corridor she found herself in was dim, lit only by the occasional glow of a tiny light set into the ice. The fear that she had felt before was absent, but she still felt uneasy - at least that emotion seemed to be hers. She moved forward slowly, listening carefully for the sound of her pursuer, but could only hear the crunch of her boots on the icy rock beneath her feet. Icy rock that was dotted with the occasional dark spot. Rose knelt to examine the nearest spot more closely - it was blood. The Doctor's blood? It didn't seem to be much blood, but there was definitely a trail, and Rose moved quickly to follow it.
***************
Rose continued down the corridor, noting the occasional splotch of blood on the icy rock ahead of her, sometimes accompanied by signs of a scuffle along the blocks of ice that comprised the walls. She rested her mittened hand in a white scrape on the surface of one of the blocks, wondering if it was indeed from the Doctor. She closed her eyes briefly, straining to hear any minute sounds, but there were none. He had to be here somewhere!
Moving forward again, she passed by the entrances to several rooms, all empty. More light glowed ahead, with another staircase leading upward. She was nearing the end of the corridor, and her heart sank as she wondered how many other passages there could be to search through. Then she heard it - faint, but a voice. His voice. She turned and ran toward a doorway, following the sound.
Rose gasped as she entered the small room and her eyes adjusted to the dim light. The walls were made from densely packed snow and ice, with an icy sheen to the surface. Four metallic pillars supported the ceiling above her head. A single candle glowed in the room, casting strange shadows across its lone occupant. The Doctor was on his knees, disheveled, chained to the icy wall by both wrists, his eyes shut. Rose ran to him, but he didn't open his eyes, didn't acknowledge her presence. He was... chanting? Chanting to himself in a whispered tone that made Rose strain to make out what he was saying.
"Rose Tyler... I told you in the basement of Henrick's to run... my first word to you...." he muttered to himself.
"Doctor?" Rose said, ripping off a mitten to press her palm to his chest, the strange memory of something piercing one of her hearts still fresh in her head. Twin heartbeats thundered under her touch and she wanted to cry with relief. A small cut on his forehead was oozing blood, and she pressed her mitten to it to try to stop the flow, wondering how badly he was hurt. The chanting stopped.
"Rose?" he said, his eyes opening in shock. "You can't be here, can't be near me. You have to get to the TARDIS - before it's too late!"
***Additional Author's Note: I'll be out of town for the Christmas holiday - without much unsupervised internet access, most likely. The next chapter of this fic will be up in January, barring any major complications - apologies!