Started my daily ficlets to make the hiatus pass, then decided to keep going with a 2nd cycle, and then a 3rd, 4th, etc through 53rd cycle. Now cycle 54!

This is a double shift day. There will be one more upload today: Siren Call, chapter 2.

"Padra's Run"
Doctor Who: 9th Doctor, Rose
Glee: Sugar, Ginny (OC)
Doctor Who/Glee crossover
Prequel to "You'll Find Wonder"

1. A Strange Thing On The Way

On the Great Jade Moon, in the year 5104

He had promised her a trip to see this place as soon as he'd mentioned the name and he'd seen curiosity flash across her eyes. After the mess that had been their journey with Adam, now of the great big forehead aperture, he wanted to give Rose something beautiful and fun. So without telling her exactly where they were going, he had pulled and pressed at the TARDIS controls, and with a big shudder they were off. She would ask where they were going, and he would tell her about the benefits of patience. Still, seeing how she was excited no matter what, he had to smile.

When the rattling had come to a stop, Rose had looked to him, wondering, and he had indicated the door. She grinned, dashing up to the doors and pulling them open.

"Where are we?" she asked, breathing in. Her eyes took in the marketplace, the people going about, the skies… "No, hold on… It's the Jade Moon, isn't it?"

"The Great Jade Moon," he corrected her as he moved up behind her and ushered her out so he could shut and lock the door. "There's a difference."

"There's a Jade Moon that's not great?"

"And they're terribly bitter about it." At the not too far sound of a horn, he laughed. "Just as I thought, come on," he took Rose's hand and pulled her down the narrow street.

"What is it?" she asked.

"Just wait," he instructed, like he was scolding an impatient child.

"Alright," she frowned, though at the same time she was so taken with everything she saw that she couldn't stay annoyed at him for very long.

The Doctor had led her along until they had landed at what looked, at least to Rose, to a great big football field, with rows of spectators casting a wall along one end. In the middle of the field, four clusters of people stood waiting. She wanted to ask if those were teams, but since she had apparently reached her quota for questions at the moment, she waited for him to open up the conversation again.

"Great game, Quartos," the Doctor nodded as they found a place to stand.

"Quartos?" Rose repeated, then thinking and understanding, "Oh, because of the four teams?"

"Yes, precisely," he bowed his head and she grinned, looking back to the field just as the players went into position. A man came up with three balls in a net bag. With the balls set in a triangle at the center of the field, the man stood back, held his hand in the air, and then brought it down in a flash, which was the signal for the players to start moving, while he retreated.

"How does it work?" Rose asked the Doctor, eyes glued on the field. With so many players in different uniforms, it was hard to know where to turn her attention at first.

"You'll get the hang of it, trust me," he told her, so she trusted his assessment.

At game's end, the Doctor and Rose had followed the teams off to the local inn for a celebration. All four teams went, two of them winners and the others losers, but all went. It turned out the Doctor knew the Captain and a handful of the players from one of the two losing teams, and Rose couldn't help but be taken along in the energy of it. Even as losers, they looked proud, and they went along laughing the whole way. When they reached the inn, they were as rowdy as ever, and for a moment Rose could feel as though she was back home.

"Marella's Inn," Rose read off the sign outside the door. "Try all twelve of our Jade Waters."

"They've added two," he pointed, and Rose smirked. When they walked in, the teams had mixed and scattered across the place. It wasn't massive in size, but it was still bigger than she would have expected. Soon they were approached by a woman Rose guessed would have to be… "Marella, great seeing you again," the Doctor greeted her.

"Doctor," she greeted him back. "Thought we might be seeing you tonight."

"Can't pass up a great game of Quartos," he admitted, and Marella laughed.

"Didn't think you could. And you've brought a friend," she spotted Rose at his side.

"Yes, Rose Tyler, meet Marella," he introduced them.

"Nice to meet you," Rose waved with a smile. "It's a great place," she complimented.

"Marella has been running the inn for, oh, what is it now, fifty-two years?" the Doctor asked.

"Fifty-four," Marella corrected, and Rose was amazed. The woman didn't look nearly old enough to even be fifty-four, much less to have run an inn for that long. "But who keeps count anymore. Please, sit, I'll be with you in a moment," she carried on, leaving the Doctor and Rose to find a table.

"What's Jade Water?" Rose asked. "And how is it there are twelve?"

Before the Doctor could ask, a tremor took over the room, making the glassware rattle. He became alert, looking to Rose, looking around the room. But then just as soon as it had begun, the rattling stopped. The patrons' voices mixed in a collective confusion as to what had happened, only to have the answer come through the door. They had heard the approach of boots before the door was pushed open and in marched a row of creatures Rose had never seen. They all wore black, their uniform consisting of something like a leather fringed skirt, body armor, and a massive helmet. When the creature at the front removed that helmet, Rose's eyes grew wide as she found it had a head like a rhinoceros.

"Doctor?" she asked, and he put his hand to her arm, which was as good as telling her not to stand.

"It's alright," he promised her.

"Doctor, who are they?" she asked, sensing he knew.

"Judoon."

TO BE CONTINUED (NEXT SUNDAY)