A/N: Ok, so this is my first EVER Doctor Who fic and I'm really, really worried about it. I've not seen any of the classic episodes…apart from a few which I can't remember the titles off =) So, please, please don't be picky if I put something which goes against the Classic episodes because I won't know =) I'm sorry if I get something wrong.
I also want to thank Vic Taylor for her help in the facts of Gallifrey and stuff. The first bit, which is in italics, is a basic view of the past of Gallifrey and it's also a kinda summery.
This contains Theta/Koschei pairing. Don't like, don't read. I actually wasn't going to do Theta/Koschei as a couple (As many of them as I read) Until my Boyfriend kinda yelled at me till I did =D Ooh, I'm making him sound terrible. He's a sweetheart, really. And a bit annoying. =)
In the Master's POV. Flashbacks in Normal POV
Long ago, there was a shining beautiful planet, with a copper orange sky and silky scarlet grass and trees made of silver, glittering in the twin suns. It bore the name Gallifrey and upon it lived the oldest, greatest race in the Universe. The Time Lords. They swore to watch over the universe never to bend timelines just watch them wind. Two young Time Lords, burning with potential and expectations, played on the pastures of red grass, bonded by a strong feeling. Theta and Koschei were their names and they hoped for a live together, travelling and staying young and innocent forever. However, neither of them had any idea of the events that were to follow in their life. And that this strong bond would be broken and that the fact they thought they would be together forever was false. For a creator named Davros had something deadly and dark planned. On a planet named Skaro, a battle between the Kaleds and the Thals waged for a millennium, neither side victorious. So Davros created the Daleks. A species designed only to feel hate and to want to destroy everything in their way.
Then the Daleks and Time Lords went to war and Gallifrey and Skaro became battlefields, growing cold and like a death trap. This war also waged on for centuries, with only one possible ending. The Moment was stolen and soon after Gallifrey and Skaro, the most infamous planets, came crashing down in a cascade of gun fire and bloodshed. And the Time Lords and Daleks were no more. The last great Time War. Ended. But there were two Time Lords who survived beyond the final day. The Doctor and the Master. Known on Gallifrey and Theta and Koschei. Their friendship had been torn and they were deadly enemies, there old names and relationship had fallen with Gallifrey. But this was not the end of their story together.
Because the end for Koschei is said to come when the return of an infamous species happens, and it's evidently not the Time Lords. So something far more dangerous is stirring in the darkness.
"You'll die with me, Doctor," I heard Rassilon hiss, followed by the Doctor's voice.
"I know," Compared to his usual cheery, perky voice, this was something different. The Doctor's voice was riddled with sadness, fear and exhaustion. He thought he was going to die, and he was terrified but in another way he was tired of living. However, the Doctor had spared my life earlier when he could've shot me, therefore, I had to repay him. I rose to my feet, already feeling the electricity buzzing and dancing around my fingertips.
"Get out of the way," I muttered. The Doctor swung around to look at me, then as he realized he smiled, a hopeful glint in his eyes. He moved out of the way just as I fired the first bolt of blue electricity.
"You did this to me!!" I cried, pouring all my hatred, all my anger into Rassilon, "All of my life!!" My life force was getting weaker by the minute but I didn't care, I was going to kill Rassilon and make him pay for what he changed me into, even if it killed me. I hated Rassilon. He made me what I was. Me and the Doctor were ripped apart, sworn to be enemies forever because of that noise in my head. The noise Rassilon created. "You made me!! One!!!!"
I fired another bolt of electric into him, a stronger one this time. I could hear the Doctor in my head, opening the telepathic link to try and communicate with me. He was begging me to stop. Begging me not to do this. He was saying it was suicide. He knew I was going to continue until I died. But I didn't care too much about what the Doctor wanted right now. "Two!!!" I fired another bolt into Rassilon and he grimaced in pain. Sweat was beading on my forehead as I was draining my life source to do this. To kill Rassilon. For separating the Doctor and I as children and tormenting me forever.
"Three!!!" Another earth shattering bolt was pumped into Rassilon's chest and he collapsed, grasping his staff in order to keep himself steady. "Four!!!!" I fired the last bolt I could muster into Rassilon before the whole room was enveloped in a bright white light and I felt some invisible force tugging at my body. I wondered what would become of the drumming in my head now that the link had been broken but there was no time to wonder. I managed to turn back to the Doctor before I left and I called back at him.
"Thank you, Doctor," I called, "Thank you for everything."
I was blinding by the light so I shut my eyes tightly shut. The first thing I noticed was silence. Scary, haunting silence. No drumbeat. Wow. That was truly scary. The next thing I noticed was a soft breeze ruffling my hair and the distant cry of 'exterminate' followed by cries of pain. Then I knew where I was. The Time War. My eyes snapped open and I glanced around. I was stood in the exact same position, with my back to Rassilon and the other Time Lords. I turned quickly to see them; Rassilon was slouched on the floor, probably dead or at least in a coma. The other Time Lords were huddled around him, urging him to wake up.
One of the younger Time Lords; one of Rassilon's close workers, stood and walked towards me. I grinned at him, trying on my charm. However, I got a fist in the face for my troubles and I stumbled backwards, clutching my now bleeding nose. I lost my balance and fell to the floor. I rolled over in order to get on all fours and that's when I saw it. The grass. Long lush grass. Scarlet in colour. And then I knew which place in the Time War I was. Gallifrey.
I took a deep breath and stood up, looking up to the sky. Oh, how I'd longed to see that sky. Deep blue in colour and shining. The silver moon glittering down on me. I was speechless. When the Doctor had told me Gallifrey had perished during the Time War, I was devastated. I just didn't let it show. But now I was here. Stood on the pastures of red grass. The same red grass the Doctor and I used to run across and play on. Then at night, we'd collapse on them and stare up at the sky. Planning our future travelling together. It hadn't exactly gone as we'd planned. I shook myself from this line of thought. All this brought back so many memories.
"I'm home," I mumbled, and then I broke into a grin and looked skyward, a loud, joyous laugh escaping from my lips. My skeleton flashed again as I laughed and I keeled over, groaning in pain. I was still so very weak and I knew I wouldn't last long. But if I died right then, I wouldn't care. For I would die on Gallifrey, my home land.
I heard a cry of despair come from behind me and it snapped me from my thoughts. I turned to see what the commotion had been about and I noticed the huddle around Rassilon again. The Time Lord who had hit me before turned to me once again and I thought I was going to get another punch. I didn't. Instead, I was spoken to.
"He's dead," The Time Lord sighed, "Our Lord President is dead."
"Rassilon's dead?!" I grinned, then changed my expression to a sad one, "Rassilon's dead."
"You murdered him!" The Time Lord snapped.
"Hold on a minute," I laughed, then after a pause; I turned and sprinted across the grass, trying to get as far away as possible from him as I could. I didn't want to be tried and executed!! No way!
"Wait!!!" The Time Lord called, ordering a few of the guards to chase after me, however, I had a head start and I was using my energy to run a lot faster than normal. I, thankfully, was running in the direction of the Citadel which, I was hoping to find shelter in.
Then I remember what the Doctor had said: the final days of the war. Which meant, that this was the final day of the Time War. Today was the day both Gallifrey and Skaro fell. Ok, so I was screwed. However, I was unsure of the time it'd happened so it could've been any moment now. I had no chance. Besides, I don't think I'd get away anyway, the whole planet's going to implode on itself, sending shockwaves across the whole of this Planetary System. I had less than a day to escape that and I was running low on energy having used it all on Rassilon and then on all that running.
I was done for. These were the last moments of my life. The last hours. If I was the least bit clever I would spend it drinking myself silly. But somehow, as appealing as that sounded, I wasn't going to. I was going to die a fighter. I ran away the first time and this time I was going to fight. I remembered the promise I'd made to the Doctor all those years ago when we were children.
Theta gazed up at the sky, the huge silver moon reflecting in his eyes. Koschei rolled on his side and propped himself up on his elbow, looking down at Theta's face.
"Hey, Thete," Koschei began, "Y'know what?"
"What?" Theta smiled then turned over so he was facing Koschei.
"Whatever happens," Koschei smiled softly, "I'll always fight for you, Thete. I'll always defend our corner. Always protect you. I'm always gonna fight, Thete, as long as I know you're safe 'coz I'm fighting. I promise."
"Kosch, what made you say that?" Theta laughed.
"I dunno, I just thought, that in wars and stuff, I'd fight for you, Thete," Koschei smiled.
"I'd always protect you too, Kosch," Thete grinned then looked skyward again, "So, when we go to the stars, which way shall we go first?"
"Hmm, that way," Koschei pointing in one direction.
"Yeah," Theta nodded, "That way."
I found myself gazing at the sky, my eyes moist with unshed tears. My eyes moistened more and I blinked the tears away. Now that was just weak. Only pathetic humans and the Doctor cried at memories.
I remembered I was being chased and I was running for my life so I sped up again and hurried towards the Citadel which I must say, I was pretty happy to find, was very easy to get into. Probably because most of the guards were out fighting the Daleks. Oh well, at least it made it easier for me.
I ran down one of the long corridors of the Citadel, reading each door sign, looking for the right one. It was all written in Gallifreyian and I had to admit, my Gallifreyian was pretty rusty as it'd been so long since I'd used it. However, I knew the word Weaponry and I was yet to see it. Up to now I'd passed Conference Rooms 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14 and 15 and I had a feeling I was on the wrong floor. However, it was extremely difficult to find the damn stairs in this place and I was yet to catch sight of a lift. Which was rather annoying. I passed Conference Room 18 and I turned back the way I'd come.
"Ok, if I see one more bloody Conference Room I think I might kill someone," I growled to no one in particular, then I noticed a sign which read, 'Staircase'. With a grin, I went in that direction. I ended up at a flight of stairs which, unfortunately, looked unimaginably steep. I glowered at the-stairs-which-were-almost-a-slope, angry that this was the only way to get upstairs.
I glanced at the floor above then I looked back at the staircase-which-was-almost-a-slope and sighed. I started up at them, clinging onto the banister. A man of over 900 years of age should not be made to climb stairs like this.
After I managed to get up the stairs-which-were-almost-a-slope I wandered down another corridor which looked rather similar to the Conference Corridor (or the Corridor of Living Hell as I'd named it) except the doors now said: Lab Room 1, 2, 3, ect. Oh wonderful, I thought, another endless corridor with the same damn doors!
I wandered into a nearby room, unsure of where the hell I was going. I ended up in some sort of storage room, it was cold and clinical and the walls were scattered with other doors all needing some security code or handprint or fingerprint of whatever and I suddenly missed the normal earth doors which just had a simple metal key. I mentally cursed myself for liking something to do with Earth over Gallifrey.
One of the doors had a sign above it saying weapons and transportation. Grinning, I headed over there. I placed my hand on the scanner and closed my eyes, whispering, please, Rassilon, please. A screen above the scanner read: Handprint Identified as Koschei. I cursed the computer system for using my old name and then, thankfully, the door slid open with a quiet click and a vast room full of shelves of weapon was revealed. I gasped at the sheer size of it then I remembered that Time Lords could make things bigger on the inside.
I was shocked. I grabbed a bastard big gun and went to leave. I paused for a moment then headed back into the room and went towards to a computer, typing in the words: Time Lock in Gallifreyian of course. I was shown a picture of two planets (Gallifrey and Skaro) Encircled in a shimmering barrier, this, of course, was just an image as the time lock was not a bubble/barrier. In the image, I saw a tiny crack, probably due to the escape of the Time Lords. That, I thought, was my only hope. I found the co-ordinates of it and memorized them. I grabbed a teleport, hoping my plan would work.
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I pushed the glass doors of the Citadel dome open and ran outside, the cold night air nipping at my skin. I forgot how cold Gallifrey could get. I pointed my awesome gun at the closest Dalek I could see and went to pull the trigger only to find myself knocked off my feet as the whole of the planet shook.
Then I remembered the date. And I remembered what was going to happen. I placed my gun down and managed to struggle back to my feet, the wind picking up speed and lashing against my skin and the ground shaking and cracking. I shielded my face from the wind with my arm as even the sky began to splinter.
"We're all doomed!!!" I heard one man cry. People were screaming and running whilst families huddled together and cried. I, however, was going to die with at least my dignity. Lava spewed from the cracks in the ground and edged towards me. I squeezed my eyes shut and cut off all screaming and crying around me. Then I took a deep breath and prayed that my teleport would work. I pressed it and nothing happened. Even when I entered the co-ordinates, nothing happened. I cursed in Gallifreyian and tried it again. Then I knew what was going to happen, I was going to die on Gallifrey.
"I love you, Thete," I whimpered. Those were the words I would only say on my deathbed.
"Kosch, wait up!" Theta called, running up to Koschei who was making his way home from the Academy across his father's estates of gorgeous fields. The hot Gallifreyian suns beat down on them as they walked, Koschei looking down at his shoes and Theta struggling with his books.
"Hey, give me a hand, Kosch," Theta laughed.
"Here," Koschei smiled and took half of Theta's books, "better?"
"Yeah, thanks," Theta grinned then edged closer to Koschei, "I love you, y'know."
"Thanks," Koschei nodded with a genuine smile.
"How comes you never say it back?" Theta frowned.
"You know I do though, don't you?" Koschei shrugged.
"Yeah, but it'd be nice to hear it from you once in a while," Theta sighed.
"Hey, I will one day, Thete, I promise; besides you already know I do, so don't complain. At least someone loves a dog like you," Koschei playfully teased. Obviously joking because he in no way thought Theta looked like a dog.
"Hey!" Theta scowled and gave Koschei a gentle shove.
"Oh, don't start with me!" Koschei joked and threw the books to the floor before lunging at Theta and pinning him to the ground, the books Theta was holding flying out of his hands and scattering around them.
"Ah!" Theta giggled, "Let me go!"
"Never," Koschei smiled down at Theta.
"Ah, stop it," Theta laughed, his nose brushing with Koschei's, "How long are you going to be with me, Kosch?"
"Forever," Koschei replied softly before dipping his head down and kissing Theta on the lips.
"Good," Theta smiled and kissed Koschei again, this time making sure it was a lot more passionate.
Then I felt something tug at my body and strangely, I didn't feel the pain of death. Instead, I felt something cold and damp dabbing my forehead. I opened my eyes to see where I was and saw a blond girl staring at me.
"Hello, are you sitting comfortably?" She smiled creepily. I frowned and closed my eyes again, hoping it was a dream. Then I opened them again and she was still there. Great, I thought, how come I always end up with crazy blond girls?
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TBC…
Hope you liked this chapter!! =) It took me a while. The next chapter, I must admit, makes me giggle and it contains a lot of molesting from two very creepy women =) Thought I'd warn you. Reviews make me smile =)
Jess x