Once upon a time, there was a king and queen who had a beautiful baby son. They lived in a kingdom beside the sea, and were fair and kind rulers to all their subjects. An enormous celebration was thrown in honor of the young prince, who came to call himself simply "Doctor".
On the day of Prince Doctor's birth, another prince came into the world. This one, however, was very different from any of the princes that any humans had ever seen. No, this child was prince of a far different kingdom, the kingdom of the sea itself.
This boy was a mer-child.
Half human and half fish, the mer-child that came to be known as Prince Master was born with brown hair, dark eyes, and a strong black fish tail where legs ought to be. His six older brothers sported the same color tail, though their appearances varied. They did not share the same mother, after all, though each of them was a noble prince, and Prince Master was expected to take his place among them.
As the youngest of the sea princes grew, it became more and more apparent that he was different than the others. He kept to himself, content to spend time in his solitary grotto as he collected and observed various items.
He had an entire collection of artifacts from the humans. The race he had never seen intrigued him greatly. The objects he found in sunken ships confused him, and though he sought out information on them from a seagull he'd befriended, he was never quite satisfied.
For years, Prince Master sought out any knowledge he could of these mysterious beings. His curiosity and knack for danger earned him many a lecture from his father, King Rassilon, but he couldn't help it. There were so many things he wanted to know, so much he felt so ignorant of, yet it was impossible to cure this state without being able to see the humans for himself. But of course, such an action was forbidden.
Eventually, however, he knew there was nothing else to learn. He had to see these humans. He had to know.
It was Prince Doctor's birthday on the day everything changed. In celebration of the event, he'd taken to sea with a shipful of lifelong friends and spent the day sailing about. The party was loud and the mood boisterous as music blared across the sea, and the lively prince's chocolate eyes sparkled in amusement.
That was the day Prince Master went to see the humans.
The merman was intrigued by the noise and swam noiselessly to the ship, watching the humans laugh and drink. Most fascinating of all was their legs. He couldn't help but smile as he watched the human prince dance with his friends, laughing and singing along with the rest of them.
"Here, Doctor, have a drink on me!"
Master swam along outside the ship as the Doctor moved again, this time to the other side of the ship. He had a sort of lanky grace to him that was…well…beautiful. And when he smiled, the way his whole face just shone…Master didn't think he'd ever seen anything more perfect in his life.
The prince accepted a drink from the dark haired man beside him, grinning at him. "Cheers, Jack. Not like I own all of this to begin with."
Jack scoffed. "Please, you make me sound boring when you remind me that. I poured it for you."
"Good on you, then," Doctor retorted, taking a swig of his drink. His friend grinned and slapped him on the back.
"Oi! You lot, get over here! I'm giving a birthday toast! Bring the present!"
The prince watched his friend in interest. "You know you didn't have to do presents."
Jack shrugged. "So? We like you and it's your birthday. And it's just one present from all of us. "
He laughed a little at that. "I don't deserve you lot."
His companion grinned. "No, you really don't."
Just as he finished speaking, the group of some twenty or so people crowded onto the bow of the boat, settling down on the random collection of boxes that had been brought aboard. Doctor had friends of all kinds, clearly. While they were all men, a handful of them had rather soft, feminine features, and all of them were rather handsome. All except for the older man who was rather green in the face, that is.
The prince smiled broadly at his collection of friends, clearly more than pleased to have them all there with him. Jack cleared his throat, and the attention went to him. He was holding a glass of amber liquid in one hand, positively beaming at the prince.
"Right, I think we all know why we're here," he began, and the talking quieted down to a murmur. "We're here to celebrate an incredible man and our prince!" A loud cheer went up from the group and the Doctor went slightly pink, smiling brightly. "I'm not about to make some long drawn-out speech here, since we all want to celebrate and drink, but I'd just like to say that he's been a brilliant friend, and I know I wouldn't be who I am today without him." He smiled, raising his glass. "So here's to Doc!"
The responding cheer was even louder than before, a few people stomping on the ground in their excitement before draining their glasses. Doctor just grinned.
"Hey Sammy, how's the birthday boy's present coming?"
Somewhere closer to the back a brunette man stood, a bit older than his fellows, but clearly just as happy to be there. Doctor raised an eyebrow at him as he approached, but then he took a step slightly out of the way, revealing the metal dog-like shape that had been following at his heels, its tin tail wagging furiously.
An enormous smile spread across the prince's face. "Samuel John, you are absolutely brilliant!" he exclaimed excitedly, giving his friend a quick hug before kneeling before the dog. "K-9! Hello you! Did you miss your daddy?"
Lights flickered across the tin dog's front, but a loud clap of thunder drowned out any response he might have given.
"Hurricane!"
If Master had been paying any attention to the sea, he would have noticed the storm approaching. As it was, he had allowed himself to be distracted by the human prince and his friends. Now, however, it was impossible to miss the churning waves and gale-force winds, thunder booming loud enough to make his ears hurt.
The wind tore him from the side of the ship where he had been watching and he hit the water hard, bobbing under for a moment before furiously swimming back up. He should go home, back to where he was safe, where his father could keep an eye on him and just forget this whole business. He'd seen the humans, after all, which is what he wanted, but something kept him there.
That prince…Doctor…was in danger.
He resurfaced just in time to see a flash of lightning strike the floaty white thing, which immediately burst into a glow of bright orange light. Fire, he realized, transfixed by the sight as the flames quickly spread across the ship.
The humans were getting off the ship, and taking instead to the smaller boat. It looked like a tight fit, but somehow they all made it. Master sighed in relief to see the prince had made it as well. He wasn't quite safe, not yet, but at least he was off the doomed vessel.
A sharp, high pitched note split the air, making the merman wince and turn his attention back to the source of the sound. That strange lumpy contraption that Doctor had shown so much affection for was still on board, the stick-like thing on its backend waving back and forth wildly.
In an instant, the human prince had thrown himself back into the water. No, you idiot! Master raged silently, but of course, Doctor didn't hear him. He glanced back to the smaller ship, where the prince's companions were all yelling at their friend to just leave it and come back.
The loudest sound he'd ever heard ripped through the air as something shoved the Master forward and back under the water. What was that? Dazed and a bit confused, he resurfaced as quickly as he could, eyes turning quickly back to where the prince had been last.
The ship was gone, fragments of wood scattered in every direction, and Doctor was missing.
Wait, no! There he was, unconscious and barely clinging to a plank of wood. Master swam towards it as quickly as he could, but the human prince had slid off his refuge into the water. Driven by a force he didn't understand, the merman dived, grabbing the human by the wrist and hauling him back up to the surface.
His friends had disappeared, and somehow the freak storm was already starting to clear, as was Master's head. What am I doing? He'd broken Rassilon's ultimate rule of absolutely no interaction with humans, but he just couldn't let the man drown. He shifted his grip on him, frowning slightly as he noted the blood starting to cloud the water. Better get him somewhere safe before any sharks show up.
By the time they reached the shore, Master was sore from towing his companion and the sun was just starting to rise. He dragged the prince up onto the sand and touched his face hesitantly. His skin was cold, but his lips had parted and he could hear the soft sounds of breathing.
"Oh good," he sighed, speaking aloud for the first time since this whole adventure had started. "I'm not about to waste all that effort just to have you die on me."
Something twinged oddly in his chest at the thought. The human lying unconscious beside him was enchantingly beautiful, his light brown hair pressed flat against his forehead, pink lips parted, his cheeks starting to develop a rosy hue as the sun's first rays broke on them, warm and bright. Master's hand shook slightly as he trailed his fingers slowly down the other man's face, a new sort of ache rising up inside of him.
He didn't ever want to leave Doctor's side, he realized.
"Oh no," he muttered. "That just isn't fair. You haven't said one bloody word to me."
Doctor woke to someone singing.
He was too groggy to make out words just yet, his ears still logged with sea water and his whole body aching from the previous night's ordeal, but he could tell someone was singing. It was a male voice, tenor from the sound of it, and sheer honey on the ears. His eyes fluttered open to see a face gazing down at him. While normally he'd at least start to question what was going on here, he couldn't find himself to care as to why this man was here and more as to the simple fact that he was here. A small smile curved his lips and he let his eyes close for a moment again. The song ended, and he was suddenly aware of a chorus of voices calling his name in the distance.
The feather light touch of lips against his made him open his eyes again, but the man was gone. There was a soft splash and all was silent for a moment before the loud, familiar voices of Don, Wilf, and Jack sounded once more, closer than before.
"I'm here," he managed to croak back tiredly. It seemed only a moment later that warm arms scooped him up and his head rested against someone's chest. Despite his slightly blurry vision it was easy to make out Don's vividly orange hair.
Just as he was slipping back into sleep, Doctor thought he heard his savior sing again.
"I don't know when, I don't know how, but I know something's starting right now. Watch and you'll see, someday I'll be part of your world…"