The Beast
A beast. Somewhere on the ship, there was a beast. River could hear it clearly, even as she slept. A loud roar from the beast awoke her fully and she bolted upright.
It was back to merely growling loudly now. But it was close by. In fact...
"Simon!"
River darted across the hall to her brother's sleeping quarters. That was where the beast was hiding currently, she realized. When she reached her brother's door, her eyes scanned the room for any beastly figures. There was no one here except for her... and a snoring Simon.
Of course. She should have known it was Simon. Why hadn't she realized it before? The fact that the beast had only growled on his inward breath, the fact that despite everyone's talk of martians and reavers, River knew there were no other lifeforms here in this 'verse. No. Humans were alone here. They may think they owned everything there was, but River knew otherwise. Humans were like caged animals. They were like the small fish Simon had let her keep who was swimming idly in its little bowl.
But unlike humans, the fish knew. He knew there was more than his little aquatic world. In a way, he was like River. And River was like a fish. But River was truly a thing, not a person.
"A natural stream of water larger than a creek and emptying into an ocean, a lake or another river."
"Huh? Wha- River? Is that you?"
River blinked. The beast had awoken and Simon's mind, unsure and confused like usual, flickered to life.
"I am the one known as River, yes."
"You're what? Mei-mei, were you having bad dreams again?"
Was she? Perhaps all of this had just been a dream. What if she were merely someone's dream. There was no proof any of this was really real.
"No," she replied quickly. "There was a beast in your room, but then you woke up and now it's gone. Goodnight, Simon."
With that, River made her way back across the hall to her own room. She smiled to her fish and then lay down. Nestling beneath the blankets, she drifted off to sleep easily without the beast growling nearby.