"Gallifrey, the long way round."
When Clara and Ashilda flew off in their Tardis, they had no idea where they were going. Clara just wanted to run as far as possible. So they just ran, barely giving themselves a moment to remember why. Since then they'd been running for three solid months. Nothing can be avoided forever, however, and Clara finally resigned herself to the inevitability of a brief return to Earth.
Now it was a breezy summer night in East London,. and they had just finished spiriting away a few favorite pieces of clothing and items of sentimental value out of Clara's flat. As she wiped one last stray tear from her cheek, Clara felt envious of the Doctor. He wouldn't have to feel the pain of what they'd lost, because he'd never remember it. It's true, she thought. "ignorance is bliss" Completely cliche, certainly nothing she'd ever encourage her students to use, but very true nonetheless. She suddenly thought of her students. How long had it been? She certainly couldn't go back to teaching them, not with mandatory bi - yearly physicals, which would surely uncover her alarming lack of a pulse. Still, she'd have to say goodbye to them, otherwise they'd think something terrible had happened to her. And something had, to be perfectly honest, just not quite anything she could easily explain to them. Anyway, she cared too much to disappear without popping in first and making up a nice comforting story to explain why. Come to think of it, she wasn't sure she could ever permanently return to earth. Not only would it be very risky, because of the Timelords, but she still had this insatiable urge to run and see everything before her end came. And what about her father, and her Nan? How would she ever explain to them why she had to disappear and never see them again? Suddenly she realized just how much she had lost, and she fought off a tearful breakdown as she felt the full weight of it crash down on her. Ashilda put a supportive hand on her shoulder. "This is what it's going to be like, you know. I won't lie, being immortal brings a near eternity of loss." Clara gave her a pained smile, grateful for the honesty, as she thrust one of the last travel bags in. What was that Ernest Hemingway quote that she had her class memorize the last time she'd seen them? Ah yes, "If two people love each other there can be no happy end to it"
"It's not the goodbye that hurts, its the flashbacks that follow"
"Saying goodbye is the most painful way of solving a problem." this random internet meme Ashilda had once happened upon suddenly resurfaced from the abyss of her memory and resonated through her mind as she stalked off into the Tardis. She hated seeing Clara like this. Ever since they'd first met, she'd been attracted to her spirit and zest for life , which was noticeably quenched for the moment. She felt badly about what had happened between the Doctor and Clara, but at the same time she relished the opportunity to develop a friendship with her.
Hopefully she could recover from this, given time. Goodness knows how long it had taken her to get over her first few millennia of loss. After that it had dulled and formed into this great indiscrete mass of faint melancholy. She wasn't sure if that's what she wished upon Clara, having the past all fade out into a vague meaningless pain. Perhaps it would be better to remember what is was she had to be sad about, were that even possible. That was another thing about being immortal. The extended view of reality tended to make one rather pessimistic as any hopeful thoughts that might pop up were often shot down by experience. You might not remember all of it, but you had an idea how it generally played out in the end.
Inside the Tardis Clara was already setting the controls in a frenzy and trying very hard to avoid Ashilda's gaze. "So where to now? I suppose you can't just drop off the face of the Earth. Your School perhaps?" Ashilda asked
Do I really have to? Clara asked with a slightly annoyed whining.
I think so. Ashilda answered unwaveringly.
"Oh, what would I tell them anyway, that I'm getting married? " Clara replied pessimistically
"That would work" Ashilda said kindly.
Clara smiled "They would want to know who, and beg to be at the wedding. Or I could just let them think I've gone on a long holiday, or some great adventure."
Ashilda smiled back gently "That would work too"
"I can't even think of what to tell Dad and Nan. Goodbye, I'm dead, but not exactly. I'm a dead girl walking. A fugitive on the run from a powerful race you've never heard of capable of chasing me down across space and destroying everything I love if I don't comply. Actually, strike that. I'm not dead or alive. Or, I'm dead and alive at the same time, until it all falls apart, and then I'm really dead. "
A cheeky smile crept across Ashilda's face "Can I call you Schoedinger?"
"Ash, this isn't funny." Clara's face was frayed with worry, but she still smiled as she saw the humor.
"Ok, we'll figure out something for them later. Your students then?"
Clara turned to her resolutely. "Why does it have to be goodbye anyway. The Doctor is right, goodbyes are rot. If we never say it, then at least they'll always have hope that I'll come back. Why take that from them? Isn't hope a good thing?"
"It will be false hope, and you know you'll only be doing it to keep yourself in denial."
Clara sighed. "You're right. I have to at least leave a note. But I can't bear to see their faces"
"Fair enough." Ashilda relented.
Clara set the dials and pulled the lever, causing the Tardis to create that wonderful rushing feeling of flying while standing still as it flew forwards in time. It was indescribable and addictive. It wasn't like moving in an enclosed moving vehicle; it actually was if the current of some unseen dimension was torrenting around them, rushing at incredible speed. And then sometimes the feeling of falling. Clara always expected her hair to fly to around her, but it never did. She glanced over the console at Ashilda, and as she smiled back at her, for a moment she felt like they were some wild pirates sailing off wherever the wind might take them. The Tardis lurched as they reached their destination, and out of nostalgia Clara left on the brakes for a moment. She loved that noise. They stepped out onto the grassy knoll Clara had landed them on and looked off at Coalhill School stood in the distance. The air was warm and breezy; Clara had purposely landed them mid-summer break, July 13th. There would be less people to explain things to this way. Of course, there would be the few stray students stuck there for summer school, but she could avoid them, hopefully. She had written a very nice note explaining that she had gotten a wonderful offer to teach abroad, that she had to accept immediately or they would give the position to someone else - and finally the hardest part to write- that she would not be returning the following Autumn. She explained how much she had loved teaching them, but that she couldn't back out now. She also had a note for the headmaster, simply explaining her resignation, and asking him to make sure her class got the letter. Setting both on her desk, she suddenly heard a scream. Her protective instincts reared up full force and she ran down the hall to where it had come from. A young girl stood in the middle of the classroom surrounded by several other people, and pointing at something. The teacher looked bewildered, and started speaking sternly to the girl. Suddenly a look of horror came across her face too, and they all started backing up to the door. Clara peeked through the door window and saw what had caused the commotion; it was a huge demonic rat with wings, glowing red eyes, and fangs. It's wings were colorful like a parrot, and it gave off a violently wild vibe as it subtly fluttered them while perching on freakishly long legs.. Clara pulled open the door, causing them to all rush through the door. She shut it quickly, hoping to trap the beast, but when she looked in the winged rat was gone.
"What on earth is going on here. Courtney, why are you in summer school?"
The poor summer school teacher was sobbing in fear now, and Clara felt tempted to reach out and reassure her. "We've had children disappearing. We thought it must be common child snatchers . But now we know what it was... that thing " she said starting sobbing wildly and pointing. "It's so horrible. She -" the woman spoke with a Welsh accent.
"What did it do? Did it take anyone else just now?" Clara asked with
"It snatched up Lauren before it disappeared. I fear it must have killed her by now."
"We don't know that for sure. It could still be somewhere around here with her. I'm Clara, one of the on-staff teachers here."
"Do you think you can find it? We've had policemen down before and they didn't find anything."
Clara tried to comfort her. "Well, this obviously isn't a normal situation. That thing could be anything. It looked like a cross between a rat and a bird. And you know what rats and birds keep, don't you? A nest, that's what. So I'm thinking that's where it's putting the children. And it can fly, so you can bet it's off somewhere in a hard to reach place."
"And feeding them to it's young, I suppose."
"Possibly, but we won't know for sure until we find it." Clara looked around. "My friend Ashilda is around here somewhere. I asked her to stay where she was, in our ride, but I know she wouldn't have."
As if on cue, Ashilda appeared from down the hall with a look of worry forming across her face."Clara, there's a bandersnatch in your breakroom"
