Prologue
The man stumbled out of the out of place box to find himself in a massive forest. He looked around, running his hands through his hair in seeming frustration and turned back to the box, kicking it sharply.
"Why am I here?" he shouted at his blue box. "Why did you bring me here? I don't want to be here! I just want to be alone!" Birds rustled and shot out of brush into the sky, startled by the man's outburst. He fell to his knees and stared up at the sky, trying to contain his rage. He was heartbroken, alone, and without a companion once more. He left her on a beach and missed her dearly. He loved her with all of his heart, but he was meant to be alone in every sense of the word. The last of his kind, the final child of Gallifrey. A twig broke to his right and the man whipped his head around, staring into the shadows.
"Who's there?" he shouted into the darkness. "Who are you? Where am I?" He was getting angry, but he wasn't sure why. This wasn't who he was. This wasn't the way he met people on strange planets.
The bushes shook and the man stood, slowly pulling something out of the inside pocket of his jacket and holding it out in front of him like a weapon. He wasn't prepared for what exited the underbrush. It was a wolf, larger than any he had ever seen before, and black sable in colour. It just stood there, staring at him, and approached slowly, carefully, as if gauging his reaction. It sat and stared at him carefully and the man sighed, putting the object back into his pocket. This was insanity. He was lost, his ship seemed to have deemed it completely vital that he was here for some reason, and he was depressed.
"What am I supposed to do?" he asked himself. He turned away from the animal and sat on the ground, putting his head in his hands. "This is absurd. I don't even know where or when I am."
"You are on Calypso, we do not keep dates here." The man whipped his head around and before him stood a woman where the wolf once was. She had long black hair and pale grey eyes. She wore soft looking jeans as well as a worn out looking black sweatshirt, but no shoes. "Are you him? Are you the one meant to retrieve us for the war? Are you the Master?" The man stood and turned fully towards the woman, staring at her, his mouth agape.
"No. I - I'm the Doctor. How do you know the Master? What war?" His voice was becoming frantic as he tried to piece together what was going on. "What fucking war?" he shouted at her. The woman didn't flinch, just stared at him with a levelled gaze. Confusion flashed in her eyes.
"You came in the TARDIS so you must be here to retrieve us for the war Doctor. You must know what war. Why else would you be here?" she questioned him. The rage boiled up in him; a rage he hadn't felt in a very long time.
"For the last bloody time, what war?!" He was practically screaming, completely hysterical at this point. The fear he hadn't known in a long time was engulfing him. The woman took a step towards him and paused. The silence was deafening as he awaited her answer with bated breath. He knew the answer before she spoke it, but it couldn't be the truth.
"The Time War. Are you not a Time Lord?" She was standing close to him now and he saw a tattoo in the center of her chest. It was Gallifreyan writing. It said WOLF.
"Who... Who are you?" he stuttered out. This couldn't be true.
"I am called the Wolf," she told him softly. Her hand reached out and touched his arm lightly as she smiled sadly. "Doctor is it time for war? Shall I gather my people?" He shook his head and lifted his hands, placing fingers on both of her temples. He needed to see. He needed to know.
What he saw was terrifying. He saw people on tables, children in cryochambers, heard screams of anguish. These people were being changed and morphed. He saw a loom that created Gallifreyans, only it was altered slightly. He heard the heartbeats, two per person. He watched as a man, laughing, changed the genetic code in these people, granting each one a separate skill.
The time shifted, and next the Doctor watched as this new species was put through their paces, being trained to fight tooth and nail. They were purposefully killed to test the regenerative abilities. Some regenerated, others did not. It was horrifying. Sending orders was the same man from earlier. This time, however, the Doctor was able to catch a glimpse of his face. The Master.
The Doctor came to and let go of the Wolf, jerking back sharpley and staring at her with wides us and accelerated breath. He couldn't understand what was going on.
"What is this place?" he whispered. As he looked around the forest he noticed more people emerging from the trees, each one with a Gallifreyan word tattooed onto their chest.
