The TARDIS wobbled, wailed, warbled, and finally stopped. Another stop in time and space. He needed to find his impossible Woman. The Doctor, a bit askew and lethargic, opened the door of his beloved TARDIS gently, and stepped out.
Outside was a dark and gray planet, though with some vegetation. There were two moons perpetually in the sky: pink and green. The moons seemed to give off their own luminescence, which attributed to the vegetation that could be found.
The Doctor stepped out and locked the TARDIS so that he could begin his search. He began walking. He whistled as he walked to a tune of his homeland, Gallifrey, another alien planet long since gone. As he walked, he came across a lush forest with multicolored trees and exotic plant life. What took his breath away was the grandeur of the largest tree, in which the grandest tree house he had ever seen resided. Down from the branches hung neon-colored, dragon-like plush toys by rope nooses. It was a sight to behold. On the ground was a weight, a net filled with more of the plush toys, that counteracted a pulley and platform.
He decided to call out to whomever was living in a tree with pink leaves and a blue trunk. "Hello? Is anyone home? Hello? I'm looking for someone in particular!"
From up above came a bumping as a figure came to a window. "H3LL0? 1S SOM3ON3 DOWN TH3R3? WHO TH3 H3LL 4R3 YOU?" It was a female voice, if that.
The Doctor decided to ignore the almost-vulgarity. "No need to get upset, ma'am! I'm the Doctor! May I come up?" He could have just as easily used the sonic screwdriver itching in his pocket to change the balance of the elevator system and come up, but he opted for alien etiquette.
"4 DOCTOR? 1'M NOT S1CK, MORON." She obviously didn't understand that it wasn't a title, like most do.
"Oh no, no, no, my dear! That's my NAME. My name is...Doctor! The Doctor, to be exact." The Doctor had become remarkably cheery as nostalgia of past encounters had left him in stitches before.
"W31RD N4M3, 1 GOTT4 S4Y, M1ST3R. YOU SM3LL GR34T THOUGH. COM3 ON UP." The figure moved from the window and out onto the little platform that stuck out to where the platform met the tree house and started pulling the rope down to send the platform down as well. "COM3 ON, LUGNUT. G3T ON."
When the platform had reached an appropriate height, The Doctor sat down and held onto the connecting ropes. He had a strange semblance to a child as he swung his legs beneath him, despite having lived for nearly a millennium. As the platform rose and the weight fell, the Doctor looked around at all the scenery and felt envious that a creature could live in such a beautiful place for their entire lifetime without constantly moving.
The platform reached the top and the Doctor stepped onto the walkway to meet his host. She was alien, of course, but she wasn't what one might have expected. Her skin was gray, she wore a black t-shirt with a teal Libra symbol on it, black yoga-like pants, and what looked like red Crocs with white socks. She wore a pair of bright red, opaque glasses as well. Her hair was short and pitch-black, and one pair of pointed, candy-corn-colored horns jutted out from either side of the top of her head. "Miss, with glasses like that, you won't be able to see a thing!" He was trying to be funny and gleeful, but instantly he knew he had made a mistake.
Her smile faltered a bit. She took her glasses off to reveal that the entirety of both of her eyes were bright, candy-red, like the glasses. "1'M BL1ND, S1R. 1 S41D YOU SM3LL GR43T B3C4US3 1 S33 BY SM3LL1NG 4ND T4ST1NG. MY LUSUS T4UGHT M3 LONG 4GO." Her head fell a little bit but she didn't seem sad, just ashamed.
The Doctor was surprised. A blind alien who had learned how to utilize her other senses was something new to him. Seeing how she was starting to lose some of the cheer in her cheeks, he decided to keep up the happy tone for her sake. "Oh my! That's a special trait to have, then, isn't it? What's your name, miss?"
She lifted her head and placed her glasses back onto her face. Her expression then became that of joy and put her hands on her hips in a heroic stance. She proclaimed, "1 4M N30PHYT3 R3DGL4R3, H34D L3G1SL4C3R4TOR OF 4LT3RN1A...OR T3R3Z1 PYROP3, S1R. 1 R34LLY 4DM1RE MY ANC3STOR, N3OPHYT3." She slightly blushed a pale teal under the gray of her skin at this last remark of hers.
The Doctor smiled. "Well, Miss Pyrope, shall we head inside your house?"
Terezi faltered and looked perplexed. "WH4T TH3 H3LL 1S A 'HOUS3'? TH1S - ", pointing in the general direction of the tree house, "1S MY H1V3."
"A hive, you say? Well, then, let us head into your hive!" The Doctor took the young alien's arm and they walked the short distance into the hive.
The first room they walked through was a living room that was fairly simple, with red and teal furnishings. The Doctor presumed that Terezi preferred the smell and/or taste of red and teal to most other colors. A ghost-like dragon was sitting on the couch reading a book in a language the TARDIS easily translated as Alternian, a newer language but an ancient planet and civilization. The two of them passed through several colorful rooms until they reached the girl's bedroom. Colors were splattered haywire everywhere.
All over the room were chalk and dragon plush toys and color, color, color. Around the room were law books and there was a computer of some sort against the back wall.
"TH1S 1S MY R3SP1T3BLOCK. 1 DO BUS1NESS, COURT PROC33D1NGS, G4M3S, AND SL33P1NG 1N TH1S ROOM. PL34S3, M4K3 YOURS3LF COMFORT4BL3 AMONG MY JURY." Terezi indicated toward the dragon plush toys.
The Doctor arranged some of the plush toys into a kind of pile to sit on and then spoke. "Miss Pyrope, I am in search of a human woman who exists across time and space in many different realities. Have you ever seen such a woman?"
Terezi sat at her desk and looked thoughtful. "NO, 1'M 4FR41D 1 H4V3N'T. YOU 4R3 BAS1C4LLY MY F1RST V1S1TOR. S4Y, YOU LOOK 4WFULLY S1M1L4R TO THOS3 HUM4N BR4TS W3'V3 B33N 4SK3D TO H4R4SS. 4R3 YOU 4 HUMAN, TOO?" She started to smile into a toothy grin, sharp teeth glistening in delight.
The Doctor chuckled. "I'm 'fraid not. I'm a Time Lord, and the last one, too. I have two hearts, can live for millennium upon millennium, and when I might die, my body changes entirely so that I just don't die. Sometimes I think the Time Lords live too long." His smile was serene, and even a bit painful.
Terezi turned to the floor. "DON'T WORRY, M1ST3R DOCTOR. 4T L34ST YOU ST1LL H4V3 TWO 3Y3S TO S33. 1'M BL1ND. 1 CR33P MY ONL1N3 FR13NDS OUT WH3N 1 H4V3 TO L1CK MY SCR33N TO R34D TH31R M3SS4G3S TO M3. 1 SM3LL COLOR. 1 H4V3 4 C4N3 TH4T 1 DON'T N33D. 1 SP34K T3L3P4TH1C4LLY W1TH MY LUSUS, TH3 DR4GON GHOST TH1NG 1N TH3 OTH3R ROOM. 1'V3 N3V3R S33N 4NOTH3R OF MY K1ND 1N P3RSON. 1'M 4 TROLL." A very small teal-tinged teardrop ran from underneath her glasses and fell to the floor.
"You are fascinating to me." The Doctor looked at Terezi sincerely. "Those attributes of yours make you an incredible creature. A 'troll'." He saw how that his words were making her blush. Then, he remembered the living room. "Terezi..." The Doctor saw her face lighten. "How would you like to see a planet made out of red?"
Her face and voice exploded in joy. "Y3S! Y3S Y3S Y3S! WH3N? HOW? WH3R3? PL34S3 T4K3 M3 TH3R3. 4LL 1 W4NT 1S TO F1LL MY S3NS3S W1TH TH4T WOND3RFUL COLOR. PL34S3!" She was practically jumped from wall to wall.
The Doctor assumed she was about thirteen years old. He smiled gently. "We could go now, if you like. I have a special ship that can take us there in moments. It's a place far, far away from here in a time far into the future. Come along, Pyrope."
Terezi was bursting with excitement. She lead the way, sprinting to the elevator. "COM3 ON, SLOWPOK3!" She rode the elevator down first, quickly.
The Doctor was hurrying along behind. While using to running, he had nothing on this teenage alien's speed. He rode down just as fast, and the two of them made their way out of the forest and down the shore to where the TARDIS was parked.
Terezi had never been this far from the forest. She presumed that a ways up the shore and one might reach the juggalo's, Gamzee, hive. "WH4T 1S TH1S BLU3B3RRY M4ST3RP13C3?"
The Doctor watched as Terezi smelled the air around the TARDIS in fascination. "This, my dear – is a TARDIS. Named by one of my earliest friends, its name stands for Time And Relative Dimension In Space. It can travel anywhere, anytime." The Doctor opened the door and guided Terezi in.
Inside the spacious capacity, Terezi was soon bewildered. "1T SM3LLS...B1GG3R 1N H3R3. 1 DO L1K3 4LL OF TH3 CHROM3, THOUGH."
The Doctor laughed. "Yes, Miss Pyrope, it is bigger in here. The TARDIS is bigger on the inside." He pulled a lever and the blue police box started to churn and moan. "We're going to Mars. Hold onto something, dear." In a matter of moments, the TARDIS had landed on the surface of Mars.
Terezi let go of the railing she had clung to. "...4R3 W3 TH3R3?"
He smiled. "Yes. Go to the window. The atmosphere outside isn't safe to wander in."
The alien girl went to the porthole next to the door and faced across the barren landscape of clay dirt and rock. She took a large inhale through her nose and then licked the glass thoroughly. Her face took on an expression of appreciative awe. "TH1S. 1S. TH3 MOST R3D. 1. H4V3 3V3R F1LL3D MY S3NS3S W1TH. ...TH4NK YOU." Two streams of teal tears ran down either side of her glowing smile. "PL34S3 TAK3 M3 B4CK NOW. 1 H4V3 S33N MUCH 4LR34DY." She found the stop of railing she clung to and held onto it again.
But the Doctor didn't fire up the TARDIS just yet. He walked over to the same porthole and stared out across the barren clay into the dust of the atmosphere. A gust of wind blew a patch in the dust and there was Earth, 2013. A time that the Doctor wished he could be a part of. A moment of nostalgia and longing and a cough from behind him brought him back to the reality of the situation. He had an underage alien girl on his ship waiting to return home.
He fired up the TARDIS and flew her back to the time and place in which they left. When the TARDIS had settled, he spoke with a genuine smile. "It's as if you've been gone for a few minutes, Miss Pyrope. I'm glad you've enjoyed sensing Mars."
"TH4NK YOU, S1R. 1 HOP3 YOU F1ND YOUR MYST3RY WOM4N. 1 C4N W4LK BACK." She was smiling from ear to ear. "DOCTOR, 1 HOP3 W3 M33T 4G41N. 4ND 1F P3RH4PS W3 DON'T 3V3R M33T 4G41N, T4K3 C4RE." Terezi stepped out of the TARDIS and began walking away when she heard the door open, not the engines roaring.
"Take care, Terezi Pyrope." The door closed. The engines roared. The TARDIS disappeared.
And another teal teardrop fell.