The fountain in the centre of the market seemed as good a place as any to sit and watch the world go by. Rose lost count of the number of Taehroh who passed her and looked at her with obvious interest. She smiled to herself. Since she had started travelling with the Doctor, everywhere she went was just like a fancy dress party, only she and the Doctor weren't in costume. But she supposed that she looked as strange to the Taehroh as they did to her, with her long blonde hair, shortness in height and lack of forehead ridges. She smiled again.
It was hard to remember sometimes, that this had not always been her life. It was the life the Doctor had let her become part of. He'd given her the world -- worlds, to be exact. There was nothing and no one who made her feel even close to how she felt when she was with him, and even though there was a part of her that still regretted how she had treated Mickey, leaving him like that, she didn't linger over the guilt. The truth was that the Doctor made her happy. She would never have been truly happy with Mickey. She would have just... settled. The thought made her shiver a little. This was life. Her life with the Doctor. What had gone on before, had only ever been existence.
She had seen so much, done so much, that she knew she never wanted to return to the Powell Estate, for anything more than just a visit. She could never go back to being Rose Tyler, shop girl. She had touched the stars, the Doctor holding her hand, that amazing grin taking over his face. This was her life now, the one she had chosen for herself. This was a better life, a better way of living her life, and it always would be, just as long as he was with her, because he was what made it so special. She felt a feeling of love for him rush through her heart, and for a little while she let it warm her. Her secret love. She grinned, almost embarrassed by the idea of it. The Doctor could make her blush, and he wasn't even there! She was infatuated, that was it. Happily, wonderfully, fantastically infatuated. But it was her secret.
She looked up, at first thinking that a dark cloud had covered a previously bright sun, but she was wrong. The warmth of the day had been blocked by the arrival of a young male Taehroh who was standing in front of her, his expression brooding.
"Hello." She said cautiously, already sensing that something was wrong.
"Why don't you go back to where you belong?" He sneered into her face. It wasn't a question, and Rose knew it. It was something much darker. "We don't want your sort around here." His dark eyes skimmed over her. "Stinking little Ralmarh."
Rose stood up, but given that he was much, much taller than her, it really didn't have the impact she had hoped for. "Look, I don't want any trouble but... stinking little what? What did you call me?"
He leant in closer. Apparently bad breath was a common problem on Taeh. "Filthy, dirty, stinking, Ralmarh slut."
Rose's eyes widened and her mouth opened wordlessly. OK, she may not have understood the why, but that last word had certainly clued her in on the what. Her fists tightened at her sides.
"Oh yeah?" Her eyes blazed as she stared into his face and ignored the dog breath. "I'll give you filthy, dirty, stinking..." She swung up and out with her right fist and, probably due to good luck more than skill, she struck his jaw with a sure and solid punch. She even managed to knock him back a step with the force of it, or maybe the surprise of it. For a second she grinned, seeing blood ooze from his lip, but then, two things happened at exactly the same moment: the first, was that he made a low angry growl; the second was that Rose realised she had broken at least two fingers.
She looked at her hand, her knuckles were red, split and bleeding. She was certain that she could not only feel the painful throb of her broken bones, but see it too. The pain screamed through her hand unheard by all but Rose. She pressed her lips tight together and clenched her teeth, refusing to give it a voice, however much the pain demanded it.
Her attention distracted somewhat, she was not prepared for the sudden jolt of being roughly pushed backwards, by a strength she had no hope of defending herself against. She heard a low snarling growl, but that was all she was really aware of, before her back struck the stone edge of the fountain. She was left winded and her mouth opened as she hit the cold stone, a sharp cry of renewed pain released. She stepped forward again, looking up into the face of her attacker. He was smiling, pleased with himself, but Rose could still see the split lip he wore, and the jewels of blood that embellished it. It gave her strength, and she smiled right back at him through her pain. She saw his confidence waver, and it was enough of a gap in his armour for her to launch her second strike.
Now, Rose had made no study of Taehroh biology before her visit to Taeh, but she figured she had a 50/50 chance that the genitals of a Taehroh male were situated in the same place as they were in similar 'neanderthals'. So when her knee hit target, she couldn't help but smile at seeing the absolute picture of pain that seized the young Taehroh's face. His eyes flooded and smarted, his lips curled back, and a low agonising cry was strangled from his throat, as he doubled over.
Rose's smile turned to a broad, satisfied grin and she forgot her own pain for a second, as a high dose of pleasurable endorphins were released into her body at the sheer satisfaction of her 100, dead on target, bullseye. She knew, however, that her victory couldn't last long and she was right. The next moment she saw him straighten up and glare at her with a murderous look. Her endorphins deserted her and she was left alone to face the next blow, which she felt sure would be...
Another body moved suddenly between them, larger, broad and dark. It was all such a blur that Rose wasn't sure what was happening, but she heard a savage roar, and then the two Taehroh -- because that was what they were, two male Taehroh -- ripped into eachother. A noise like wild wolves fighting filled the air, but only for a second or two. It could not have been more than that, Rose was sure. Then, just as quickly as it had begun, it was over, the younger man having run off yelping, wounded and bleeding, more from this second attack than from anything Rose had done.
Wide eyed, Rose looked on in astonishment. The large male who stood with his back to her, heaving in lungfuls of air as he calmed his wild blood, had been the only one to come to her aid, but it was now apparent that he had not been the only one who had witnessed her attack. The crowd around her was not moving, but stood watching her with dark eyes. She saw fleeting snatches of guilt in some faces, but in others' she saw nothing. She reaslised that they had been there, watching throughout her attack, and yet not one of them had come forward to help her. They had simply watched in silence. As she tried to make sense of this new information she saw the crowd stir then begin to move on, slipping easily back into whatever had previously occupied them. She did not have time to think anything more of that, for at that moment her knight in shining armour slowly turned to face her.
Rose stared at him, amazed, then she slumped back against the fountain, letting a pained breath escape her dry lips. He came forward and placed one gentle hand on her shoulder. Rose looked up and stared into his face, she gave a soft smile, and saw it returned with a gentle warmth.
"Thanks," she said. "I guess I owe you."
"Do you have any more gum?" he asked hopefully.
Rose laughed, feeling her ribs ache and protest. "Probably," she smiled. "So what do I call you then? Apart from 'my hero' ?"
He hesitated for a second. "Korrok Vay."
"Rose Tyler. I'd shake hands but..."
His one good eye flickered over her fingers with a look of genuine concern. "It's just a scratch." He dismissed.
"Bloody hurts actually." Rose said. She gave a worn smile then looked in the direction that her assailant had taken. "What's his problem anyway?" She glanced up at Korrok. "Did he forget to take his pills today? An' what's a Ralmarh?"
"Is that what he called you?"
"Part of it."
Korrok looked away for a moment, unsettled by something. "His type are troublemakers. They don't much like outsiders, especially Ralmarh. They need someone to blame for everything that's wrong in their lives, so they blame others, when instead they should look into their own hearts."
Rose opened her mouth, ready with another question, but Korrok got there first.
"You said you had a friend with you."
Rose nodded. "The Doctor."
"Come on then Scrawny," he encouraged."Let's go find this friend of yours."
Rose lifted her head to gaze up into his eye. "Thanks again, for... you know."
He looked at her, and shook his head slightly. "I knew you were trouble the moment I laid eye on you."
Rose leant in close against him. Her good hand slipping into his, fingers interlocking. "He started it."
Korrok looked at Rose's hand, so small and fragile, held in his. He tried to stop it, but in the end he could not prevent an almost parental smile.