Reaisting Remembrance – a Dragon's Song
A song rings out through the cosmos…The words are faint but filled with meaning. "Just a little more time is all we're asking for…Cause a little more time could open closing doors." The song moves…and the planets weep…A song for remembering the Lost, those that could not make the trip Home.
Kim was sitting inside the TARDIS using a new laptop provided by Captain Jack Harkness himself until the Doctor could fix her CPU. Thank goodness for that, Kim valued her computer time and her hand held gaming system. But her computer time was something she couldn't live without. She was currently playing her Itunes list which she had loaded on from her Ipod and playing Zuma Blitz on her Facebook page. Little did she know that the song she was playing would be quite significant in the near future. Well that had been what she'd been doing until she heard a muffled curse from over at the console. She had very good hearing that sometimes got her into trouble at work, but such was the way of things.
"Problems, Doctor?" Kim asked from where she was sitting with her laptop, pulling one of her ear buds out of her ears.
"I'm researching the disappearance of Dragons from Earth. Unfortunately the TARDIS can't even supply me with the information." He replied in frustration.
"Well Doctor, it only needs to move through time. We can look it up on the Internet. Google's search engine is pretty good at finding out stuff."
"Who's Goggle?" The Doctor ask turning towards Kim with a perplexed expression on his face. "Can he help us find out why the Dragons have Disappeared from Earth? Welllllll they're not really Dragons, they're actually inhabitants of the planet Reaisting in the Saratolby Galaxy which is two constellations to the left of Sirius. But can he help us?" the Doctor glared at Kim when he realized she was laughing quite loudly. "What's so funny?"
"Doctor," Kim started still laughing so hard she was almost crying and thank god that the laptop was on a table otherwise she'd have dropped it. "Google is not a who…it's a What. It's an internet search engine to be precise. You can look up all sorts of topics on it and get multiple results that have a pretty good chance of giving you the information you want. Here, come over here for a second, I'll show you. I'm very good at looking things up on the internet."
The Doctor came around behind her where she was sitting on the couch and watched her. "This is the Internet, the World Wide Web. The source of present day Earth's online networking and communication. I'm going to type in the internet address up in the address bar here, and then I'm going to type Dragons in the search line here." She said pointing to each line in turn.
"I see how you did that but now what? You said there would be multiple results, I don't see anything yet." He said leaning closer to the computer so he could see. His head over her right shoulder as he glanced at the monitor.
Kim tried not to blush; he was a very attractive man after all. However she knew that his Heart, well Hearts, were elsewhere residing with a love that he could not have. He said it was a long and complicated story that he may tell her sometime. Suffice it to say that he would always miss her. "That's because I haven't pressed the Enter key yet Doctor." Kim stated pressing that very key and the results came up. There were quite a few and Kim looked over them in turn and then shaking her head. "Oh man I'm a idiot; you said you wanted know about the Disappearance of the Dragons. I just typed the word Dragons in. Let me try that again." Kim typed Disappearance of Dragons on Earth in the search line and pressed Enter again. This time the correct type of results showed up.
"Let's see, this one looks promising. St. George vs. the Dragon, a legend that has its Golden Version in Libya. Apparently there was a plague bearing Dragon that had to be appeased. First the inhabitants of the kingdom fed it sheep. However, when there were no more sheep then two children a day, chosen by lottery were the victims. During the time when the King of the land was to sacrifice his own daughter, the Princess as a result of the lottery, a Knight, Saint George rode by the lake where the dragon resided. The Princess tried to send him away, but he stayed, and when the Dragon rose out of the water for his meal, Saint George killed him. Of course since St George was religious he fortified himself with the sign of the cross first, but he still killed the Dragon after doing so." Kim finished reading. "I shortened the whole legend, but that's it in a nutshell."
"That 'Dragon' was a Reaisting High King. High King Amui of the Reaisting was very renowned among his peoples. He was used to getting tribute from his fellow dragons. He thought that he was getting tribute from the humans, and he didn't stop to think that wasn't it. Reaisting High Kings are always to be shown the proper amount of fear and respect. As for plague bearing, the only plague that he bore was the fact that he was prone to breaking wind after a good meal. Of course being that human genetics and Reaisting genetics are completely different, it could have made the humans of that time sick, like a plague. Yet no one bothered to try to talk to the Dragon, and that St George killed him with no sense of remorse. Reaisting's are very wise, and very good with languages. If those people had given him half a chance he could have spoke to them in their own tongue." The Doctor said shaking his head. "You humans are so barbaric sometimes."
"I know right." Kim said with a sigh. "And there are still being wars fought in the Middle East against terrorism and there is a possibility of a Second Korean War if things don't improve between South and North Korea." She sighed again, "And people wonder why I don't vote. I dislike politics."
"So is there any more information on the disappearance of Dragons on Earth and do any still exist? They may have gone into Human form to hide among you." The Doctor asked Kim.
"Possibly, there is mention of a martial artist named Bruce Lee, who was also known as The Dragon. He died of constant seizures and something that was wrong in his brain, a disease of some sort. The Shaolin monks utilize a Dragon form in their martial arts. Kung – Fu also uses a Serpent form, and while not Dragon related could be a derivative if the origins were from a hidden Reaisting."
"Hold that thought, the phone's ringing." The Doctor said answering the cell phone that Martha Jones had given him some time back. "Hello? How did you get this number…I see. Yes we can come right now. It would be I and my companion Kim. I'm honored…thank you….we'll be right there." And the Doctor hung up the phone.
"Who was it Doctor?" Kim asked turning towards him.
"You won't believe this, but apparently the Reaisting still have operatives on Earth that monitor anyone who looks up Dragons and the Disappearance of Dragons on the internet. I guess he found my cell phone number by tracing the initial contacts of the party who purchased your laptop, as well as the laptop's current signal origin." He answered as he set the controls. "The head of the Shaolin Monastery in Denfeng, China has just requested our presence. They have a ceremony that they think we may be able to help with." The TARDIS moved through time and came to rest on the grounds of the Shaolin Monastery.
"Doctor, welcome to the Shaolin Monastery. I am Master Ku-Sari, the one who summoned you here. Before you ask, yes I am one of the few Reaisting remaining on Earth. I teach here at the Monastery, some of the students here are also some of the few offspring that were born here after the Exodus. Tonight the Reaisting members of the Monastery will be meeting to perform the Remembrance Ceremony. However, the Song of the Remembrance Ceremony has only been sung by a female, or a very good male singer. Sadly, those that are here have tried to sing it but none can sing it with enough effect. That was the other reason we contacted you. You do have that song with you. It was on your Companion's iPod play list. We discovered it during our trace of her searches. If she has a good enough voice she can sing it for us during the Ceremony."
"I'm sorry I don't have any songs of that name on my Play list. Are you sure you're correct in this finding?" I asked Master Ku-Sari.
"We would not openly name it as such. On your song list it is called Never Surrender, and the artist is Michael Bell. He is also a Reaisting survivor, but he resides elsewhere and we could not get him here in time. Would you try to sing it for us tonight?" Master Ku-Sari asked Kim.
"I will give it a shot, since it's one of my favorite songs. However I should warn you I don't have a great singing voice. It's a Alto bordering on a Bass and on occasion it has a tendency to be off key." I said in all honesty.
"
"It will be fine, I'm sure of it." Master Ku-Sari said with a reassuring smile. "I will have someone fit you for the Qi Pao, which is a formal Chinese dress that you will wear this evening. Everything will be ready by sundown." With that Master Ku-Sari walked back into the Monastery and his students.
"Welllll Kim, what do you think? You will be singing the Song of Remembrance during the Ceremony tonight." The Doctor said with a smile.
"Yes and I'm very nervous. It's such a Honor; I know it is even if I'd never heard of this Ceremony before. What if I screw up? I don't know if I can do this Doctor, why did I even agree to it?" I asked worried.
"You can do anything Kim. You can even teach a Doctor some new tricks." The Doctor laid a reassuring hand on my shoulder. "Don't worry, you can do this…you'll be brilliant." He smiled again. "So what do you say we get you to where you need to go to be fitted for that dress?" he said grabbing my hand. "ALLONS~Y!"
We were off. The fitting was quite easy, and more efficient than I thought it would be. Apparently some of the former singers had been a little more rounded than me so it only took a few minor adjustments to one of the larger dresses to make it work. As promised by the Master, shortly before sundown the dress arrived. I had never seen anything so beautiful in my life. It was crimson red like fire, and the dragons were alternating colors ranging from yellows, to oranges, to brilliant gold. The dress was also knee length. The slippers that went with it were a matching red with gold dragons accenting them. When I came out from behind the changing screen the Doctor was a little shocked at the transformation.
"You look amazing." He told me at a loss for words, which as we all know is unusual for the Doctor to be. My hair was shorter than most of their Singers and my head was too big for the headdress so they didn't use either with my outfit. But the dress itself was enough, even for me.
There was a knock on the door, and a monk entered named Jubi-Li who asked us to follow him while engaging us in conversation along the way. "I look forward to hearing you sing tonight Lady Kim; we have never had an outsider that knows the song try to sing it before. This will be a first time experience for us all."
Needless to say that didn't make me feel any less nervous and Jubi-Li saw this. "Don't worry, our ancestors will provide you a voice that will carry our song to the multitude of Galaxies. We have faith in this. You will be fine."
In this state we arrived and the monks of Reaisting Birthright were assembled in a circle. I was invited to step in the middle of the circle, and the Doctor took a seat in the circle itself between Master Ku-Sari and the Monk Jubi-Li. I closed my eyes and composed myself as someone had started to play the song using a traditional Chinese flute. I took a deep breath and started to sing…
Just a little more time is all we're asking for,
Cause just a little more time could open closing doors
Just a little uncertainty can bring you down
And nobody wants to know you now
And nobody wants to show you how
So if you're lost and on your own
You can never surrender
And if your path won't lead you home
You can never surrender
And when the night is cold and dark
You can see
You can see light
Cause no-one can take away your right
To fight and never surrender
Halfway through the first half of the song I opened my eyes and saw dragons, lots of dragons. They were all ghosts but they were flying around. The monks and the Doctor saw them too. They, were the spirits of those that couldn't participate in the Exodus; those that would never be able to go home to Reaisting. They were the ones who had died of old age on Earth. They were remembered every year, an honor to their spirits and the wisdom that they had given in Life, good or bad. My voice it sounded different to me. Then I realized it wasn't just me singing. It was the spirits of the Reaisting, alive once more in this time and in this one moment. They were harmonizing with my voice to complete the song and carry it to the multitude of Galaxies, just as Jubi-Li had said they would. I sung the second half of the song with renewed confidence and, in response so did the voices of the departed.
With a little perseverance you can get things down
Without the blind adherence that has conquered some
And nobody wants to know you now
And nobody wants to show you how
So if you're lost and on your own
You can never surrender
And if your path won't lead you home
You can never surrender
And when the night is cold and dark
You can see
you can see light
Cause no – one can take away your right
To fight and Never Surrender
As the song ended the spirits faded into the night but not before each circling me in turn as thanks for the Song. The sight of the ghost Reaisting singing with me and mingling with their descendants filled me with pride even though I wasn't a member of their race. Now I know why people in this part of the world respected family so much. The Reaisting taught them that. They taught them a lot of things too. Wisdoms still passed on not only through the teachings of the Shaolin, but in everyday life itself. If the rest of the world followed these wisdoms then there wouldn't be so much war I think.
The Doctor, Master Ku-Sari, and Jubi-Li met me as I walked out of the Circle. "That was very well done Lady Kim. We could not have asked for better. The Doctor told me you're a full blooded human on top of it all. It was amazingly well done." Jubi-Li said with excitement.
"I agree with Jubi-Li." The Master said solemnly. "We could not have asked for better. Perhaps your parents learned from the Reaisting at one point. You are from South Korea, maybe one of my kind passed through there at some point. Thank you for doing that for us. You gave the Ancestors proper respect once you realized what the purpose of the Remembrance Ceremony really was. I saw that you knew once you opened your eyes."
"I only knew because the Doctor had told me what your true forms were. And now I know why you have to remember. Not only to remember your Ancestors, but to remember the world you will never be able to return to. But, may I ask, why did you stay on Earth when you could have easily left with the others." I stated, out of curiosity.
"Because some of us felt that wisdom should be shared. High King Amui forgot that was why we came to this world in the first place. At any point in time he could have spoken to those people. He chose not to and they thought he was bringing the Plague. It was the fault of his own folly, some of us felt, that he died from it. Those that believed this instead of seeing the dishonor of killing due to a lack of understanding remained behind. Outcasts of our own people, never to return home again. So we remember the dead Ancestors, starting from the ones that were left stranded, to those generations of our people that have died since then. Yes we also remember our own world, hunting grounds we will never again visit. We do not regret our choice, yet we still feel the homesickness." Master Ku-Sari responded gravely before continuing. "I believe you also share a similar feeling Doctor."
"Yes, I do. My world was lost in the Time War, as was my wife and son. I will never regain that time back because even though I'm a Time Lord, I am unable to change the course of my own fate. It would create a chaotic Paradox that could bring an end to time as we know it. I would never do that, Ever." The Doctor said with conviction at the end.
"We bid you safe journey Doctor. Kim you may keep that dress as a remembrance of what you did here for us today. May you always find your way back home." Master Ku-Sari said before he and Jubi-Li returned to the inside of the monastery leaving the Doctor and myself alone outside in the gardens.
"I told you you'd be brilliant he said giving me a congratulatory hug. You figured it out too, all it took was for you to open your eyes and realize what the Ceremony really was. You accomplished something that should be impossible for one not from Reaisting to do. I'm proud of you Kim; you've proven that you have a side of yourself that doesn't involve books and computers." He said taking my hand and leading me back into the TARDIS. "I'd been getting worried you know. You're always so quiet like you don't think you have anything to contribute wherever we go."
"I was brilliant wasn't I?" said with a very content smile on my face. "I will try to assist you whenever I can. My skills may be limited to data entry and remembering things that I'm shown, but I will do my best. Though I warn you, I can be quite talkative when I want to be. My boss sometimes would prefer me quiet at that point." I added with a grin.
"Talking things out is one way to find a solution to an impossible situation. Never forget that. Now let's see where we are off to this time." The Doctor said starting the TARDIS again for times and planets unknown.
"Wherever the Fates want us to go, I suspect. But we won't ever surrender will we Doctor?" I asked him.
"No, we will Never Surrender." He agreed and we were off again.
Author's Notes: Ok this kind of turned into a little of a Song Fan fiction at the end but I just like that song a lot and thought it fit in with the story. I do not own the song Never Surrender, it belongs to Corey Hart and Michael Bell and is copywrited by their respective labels. Thanks to Wikipedia where I got the information about the legend of St George vs. the Dragon. Thanks to Jessi again for help with some of the ideas for this Fiction including the location of the planet Reaisting, as well as the name of the Galaxy it resides in. Thanks to Amui, Kusari, and Jubilee who's names I used for certain characters in this fiction. Thanks to the readers for taking time to read another of my fan fictions. I also do not own Doctor Who or any of the characters portrayed in this fiction. All items from history that were borrowed belong to History. Comments are always welcome, Kim finally had her time to shine in this third adventure with the 10th Doctor.