Chapter 4: Aliens?
Sylar looked at the man confused. He was a little smaller than himself and around thirty. He had short brown hair and kind brown eyes. He was wearing a brown tweed jacket… and a red bowtie. Neither Sylar nor Regina had answered the man's question about Mura… whatever.
He looked at them expectantly, his grin getting a little smaller. Then he said, more to himself: "Excuse me, where are my manners?!"
He came towards them his hand outstretched.
"I´m the Doctor. I´m here to investigate the spaceship crash, which has happened here some time ago."
"Ok. Stop it. We have stranded here the day before. And it´s very likely that you are involved in this." Regina interrupted him, stepping forward threating.
"The Doctor" looked at her surprised, stepping back a little. He raised his hands in a calming manner.
"Ok, whatever happened- I have nothing to do with it. I have never seen you in my life, I mean it´s possible that you know me but this would be future-me not present-me… ", The man rambled.
Now Sylar was really confused. Was this man talking about time-travelling?
Well, it was either that or he was completely insane.
"Ok, have you or have you not brought us here?" Sylar wanted to know for sure.
"No, I didn´t. But I´m sure I can help you back to… wherever you are from."
Sylar nodded. The man spoke the truth.
Regina, on the other hand, seemed not so sure.
"So you have absolutely nothing to do with us being here?" She empathized.
The doctor nodded.
And again no lie.
"He says the truth." Sylar told Regina. "I can see it."
She looked at him for a moment, considering. Finally she nodded and turned back to the Doctor.
"You said you can bring us home?"
But he was more interested in Sylar. "You can see if somebody is lying? Interesting!"
With that he took something out of his pocket. The object was small and elongated and it started glowing and making funny noises as the Doctor pointed it at Sylar and moved it up and down.
When he was done he looked at the object. "Interesting, you seem to be from earth but there is something about you that seems to be… off."
Sylar didn't know what to say - this guy was really extraordinary.
Now the Doctor pointed the object at Regina, but just when it started glowing, it disappeared in a dark lilac cloud. The next second it reappeared in Regina hand.
"You are an extremely unfriendly women, did anyone ever tell you!" the Doctor exclaimed. He hold out his hand obviously expecting her to hand it back.
But Regina didn't even think so. Instead she started examine it.
Sylar stepped closer, wanting to take a look too.
The object had a distant similarity with a screwdriver, but more glowing and… different.
He couldn´t really have a good look because Regina kept turning it.
Sylar just wanted to take the object, when the Doctor interrupted him: "Hand it back, before you break something. It can be dangerous."
Regina just laughed. "How can this thing be dangerous?"
"This thing is a sonic screwdriver. And it can do almost everything, save wood."
Sylar just wanted to ask what exactly it could do, when the Doctor snatched it out of Regina´s hand.
"Who are you, anyway?" The man didn't sound as happy as he did then he first got out of his telephone box.
"Who are you? The Doctor? Doctor who?" Regina demanded in return.
"And a doctor for what?" Sylar added.
"Just the Doctor. And you could say I´m a Doctor for time."
Ok, this was strange but he decided to leave it at that.
"My name is Sylar and this is Regina. I apologize for her behavior. You said something about bringing us home?"
"Yes, but I would like to help here first. You can help if you want to."
The Doctor looked at them asking.
"With the spaceship?" Regina asked sarcastic.
"Or I can bring you home right now." He offered sounding a little reluctant.
Sylar thought about this.
He really wanted to get back, perhaps the others were already worried that he might have gone back to his old serial-killing self. Like especially Bennet. Maybe they were expecting to find a corpse with an open head. He knew that not everybody was trusting him and he wanted show that they were wrong.
On the other hand it was a nice thing that here they didn't look at him in such a way. The people here didn't know about his past and Regina… she seemed to have similar feelings. And beside this, it could be a good thing to really help and experience an adventure. Aliens? That was new to him.
Sylar decided to help him first. They would see if the Doctor was mad after all, or if he really could bring them back.
"Ok, I will help you."
The Doctor nodded at him thankfully and then they both turned to Regina.
She was still thinking. Then she looked at him. After a moment she sighed, nodded at the Doctor and said: "I will help you too."
Now the three of them were walking through the forest. Sylar told the Doctor what had happened in the village. Regina wasn't really listening. She was wondering if they could trust this man. Well, he didn't seem like he wanted to harm them and Sylar had also said that they could trust him.
But she wouldn't be surprised if it turned out that he was mad.
She would just have to watch out.
Her thoughts were interrupted when the two men in front of her suddenly stopped walking.
Looking ahead she saw why - Someone was standing about 30 feet away, half hidden behind some trees.
She stopped and prepared herself to ignite her hands.
She could see it was a man. He was tall and his posture was aggressive.
Next to her Sylar hold his hands up, he seemed ready to fight too.
The Doctor stood a little in front of them, his hands raised in a calming way. Again.
"No need to attack, we don't want to harm you."
The man looked around cautious, he was breathing hard, his posture unchanged.
And then he leaped forward.
But before anything could happen, he was thrown back by an invisible force.
Sylar! He had one of his hands stretched out.
Regina stepped towards the attacker, hands ignited.
"I said there was no need to attack. We just want to help. So stop."
The Doctor looked at Sylar, accusingly.
"I´m just making sure he doesn't attack us. I won`t hurt him if he doesn't make me."
Regina was now standing directly in front of the man. He had a rugged beard and wild green eyes. There was something animalistic about him. Regina could see that the man was trying to fight Sylar´s telekinetically grip, but obviously Sylar had him under control. Fine.
Regina thought about the possibility that this man was the murderer. He was wild and most likely insane. But how?
Regina decided to just ask.
"Did you kill these people?" She asked threating, raising her hand.
The man just continued struggling, there was nothing about him, which indicated, that he had even understood her.
While Regina was still contemplating what to do, the Doctor stepped forward.
He placed himself between Regina and this strange man. Turning to Regina, he looked into her eyes and said: "Stand back." He didn´t sound as kind as he had when she had met him, not an hour ago. No, he sounded absolute firm.
Regina extinguished the flames, but didn´t retreat.
"Please, he is just afraid."
Maybe, the Doctor had a plan, he seemed so sure.
Finally, Regina stepped back.
She went to Sylar, who still had his arm raised, and stood beside him, still on guard.
The Doctor looked at the wild man for a moment. He still seemed afraid, but a little calmer.
"Let go of him." The Doctor said without turning.
Sylar hesitated. How should they get home if the Doctor was killed?
But he seemed to know what he was doing, so Sylar slowly lowered his arm.
Immediately the man jumped back, taking cover behind a bush.
"Don't be afraid. We mean you no harm. We just want to talk to you." The Doctor´s voice was calming as was his posture.
Slowly the man stood straighter his features getting more relaxed – more human.
"Let's start with the names. I´m the Doctor, this are Regina and Sylar. Who are you?"
"Larson. I´m Larson." His voice was very deep and husky.
"Ok, Larson, have you noticed a place that looks destroyed like something crashed into it?"
Yes, like a spaceship. Regina thought derogatory. She still didn't really believe in it. On the other hand…
Larson seemed to know what the Doctor was talking about. He looked around uncertainly.
"I remember a night, some weeks ago, something was happening… but it´s all so blurred, I can´t remember clearly."
"Just try to tell us what you remember. It might be important."
Larson still looked uncertain. But then he took a deep breath and told them about the night that changed him forever.
He was hunting a wimok (apparently something like a wolf, given his description). A big white wimok, who had killed a lot of people in the town. So they had given him the task to hunt down and kill this beast. It was getting dark then he had finally found his traces.
He really should have waited for the reinforcement, Larson knew that now. But then… then he had been so sure of himself. He was a great hunter, a former soldier, an expert with weapons, especially with his bow. He was sure he could handle one wimok- and it was a lone wimok he was sure of that.
And yes he could have handled one wimok.
He remembered tracing the tracks to the cliffs. The wimok was there, just standing above a sheep (Seemingly that this people knew as a sheep was something like a rabbit in their world- really strange) he had just killed.
Larson had readied his bow, aiming for the head of this beautiful and dangerous creature. But he had to have made a sound, because the head of the wimok suddenly snapped up, and he was staring in its eyes.
Quickly he let go of the arrow, but missed.
By the time he was ready to shot again, the wimok had already jumped away.
Larson cursed, then he took up the chase, running along the cliffs.
A few minutes of running later, the wimok suddenly stopped. It looked up at the sky. Larson just wanted to finally shot it…
But then he heard a strange sound, causing him to look up in the sky.
He hadn´t had the time to really comprehend what he was seeing… there was something big falling down…
Before he could have reacted, the thing had already hit the cliffs and… he was falling.
He hit the ground and felt the pain, shooting through his whole body. He could barely move. He looked around in panic. Something was wrong. Everything seemed to… change. Larson couldn´t see the big thing that had been the reason for his fall, but he saw the wimok. It seemed hurt too. Hurt and in panic. The wimok slowly made its way towards him. Larson´s panic increased, he searched for his bow, but couldn´t find it.
He turned to the wimok again. It didn´t seem like it wanted to attack him. No, it just laid down next to him.
And suddenly his panic was gone. Larson felt calm. Maybe he was going to die. But the wimok was offering comfort. There was no need to panic. It was strange… the creature, he had been hunting before, now offering him its comfort- and apparently seeking his too… but it felt alright. He was slowly drifting away, but suddenly… he felt something strange. The pain seemed to be gone, but everything seemed so unreal. Was this how dying felt like? Somehow he didn´t believe so.
Hours seemed to pass, he must have lost consciousness, because suddenly the suns were beaming down at him… and the wimok was gone.