"Doctor? What species was he? And why were you so sorry about his rings?" Rose asked, curious as to why anyone would openly wear and display a broken diamond.
The Doctor was silent for a moment. "I thought they were extinct." He said after a while. "That`s why I didn`t recognize him. I`ve never seen any depictions, and myths can only go so far. If the legends are true, his race is even greater than mine."
Rose was astonished. Never before had the Doctor given any species more credibility than the Time Lords. She was curious as to what could be so great as even the Doctor seemed to treat them with respect. "What was the legend?"
"The legend," he began, "told of twelve warriors, of Time, Breath, Doom, Blood, Heart, Space, Mind, Light, Void, Rage, Hope, and Life. It is said that they slayed the ultimate foes, an evil King and Queen that knew no mercy, and through doing so, they created the universe.
"After doing so, those twelve Heroes went to claim the Universe as their prize, but an omnipotent being destroyed their gateway and they went into hiding, cowering on an empty meteor on the furthest veil, where time and space cease to act reliably. It`s said that they hide there to this very day.
"Did you see his eyes, Rose? The colour of rust. That was Tavros Nitram, one of the most important being in the universe, and he just bought lunch." The Doctor finished, an enormous grin on his face.
"What about his rings?" Rose asked, curious.
The Doctor`s smile slowly faded. "The gold ring is known as `The Ring of Life`. The wearer of said ring is resurrected from the dead and becomes immortal. The only way to take it off another, and put it on yourself, is to take the life of the being you love most. If the legends are true, Tavros must have heavy guilt on his conscience.
Rose was shocked. "So he killed the person he loved more than anybody else? Just to live longer?"
"Not necessarily, she could have been on her death bed and given her life to him. Or Tavros could have been on his, and she forced him to take it."
"What about the other ring? The one with a split diamond in it?"
"Trolls, his species, are born with a mental link, connecting them to another of their kind. They refer to the one their linked with as `Moirals`. They are, quite literally, soul mates. One one`s happy, so is the other. When one feels pain, so does the other. They look out for each other and provide support.
"That broken diamond signifies the death of their other half. It`s how I recognized him as who he was; trolls are the only species to have such a relationship."
Rose was horrified. Never could she imagine what Tavros was feeling, and never could she be sorry enough.
"Can we speak with him again?" Rose asked. She wanted to let Tavros know she was sorry, and that she would do anything she could to help.
"I doubt it." The Doctor answered. "He did some `windy thing` and now he could be anywhere."
"He`s just so young." Rose said, commenting on Tavros` looks.
"Look can be deceiving." He replied.
They were silent for a moment, until Rose asked, "Do you think he has anything to do with this being a fixed point in time and space?"
Blinking in surprise, the Doctor answered. "Well, the last of the two most intelligent and powerful species are in the same city, at the same time; so yeah, I`d guess so. I could see his Time Line, Rose. Millions upon millions of alternate universes has been formed around him, and they were made in the span of three years. And in each and every one of those instances, reality itself was destroyed and withered into nothing."
After a moment, Rose asked, "Could there be more Trolls, Doctor?"
"Well, it`s very unlikely there are any others. We know at least one is dead, due to his rings, and I doubt they could all have lived fleeing from an omnipotent being."
After that, the Doctor stopped talking, and had a worried look on his face.
"Are you okay?" Rose asked.
Snapping out of it, the Doctor said, "Hm? Yes, fine. Tavros just reminds me of somebody." Getting up, he continued, "Come on Rose, I`ve got a fellow Gallifreyen to find!"
He started walking out the door, Rose following close behind, until he suddenly stopped.
"What`s wrong?" Rose asked.
"We forgot to eat."