CHAPTER 3:
RETURNERS AND REUNIONS
"We're being followed," Jamie said quietly to Terra, Locke, and Edgar.
The thief nodded. "I spotted them earlier."
"We all did," Edgar said. "I thought for a moment it was my brother, but unless he's dyed his hair greenish-blue…"
Jamie scowled, moving closer to Terra. They were currently traversing Mount Kolts, heading to the Returners' hideout. They had stopped by in South Figaro beforehand to rest and recuperate. Jamie remembered an encounter he had with a man in black at the bar with a dog. Locke and Edgar had identified the taciturn man as Shadow, an assassin. Thankfully, all the man did was say that he wanted Jamie to keep his distance. Jamie, hearing the icy tone in the man's voice, that of a stone cold killer, acceded.
They then went north briefly, as they had heard that Duncan, the teacher of Edgar's brother Sabin, had been apparently murdered. They found out more at the house from a frequent visitor to the house where Duncan and his students lived. Apparently Duncan favoured Sabin over his son, Vargas, and Vargas had allegedly murdered his father and fled. Sabin was pursuing Vargas to try and bring him to justice.
Mount Kolts was rocky, arduous to climb, and monster-ridden. Then again, Jamie had gone through mountains like this before. Admittedly, there were no monsters in his home in the Scottish Highlands, save for what humans became in times of war and dominance, but his mind flashed back to the mountains and caves of Skaro, Daleks patrolling them, or the Himalayas, with robot Yeti, controlled by the Great Intelligence, roaming around. Thinking of those reminded him of Victoria, sweet Victoria Waterfield, and he fought back a pang in his heart at the thought.
He remembered, while they were staying at the inn at South Figaro, Locke had spoken to him quietly. He had asked Jamie who he had lost. After some prodding, Jamie eventually told him, in brief, about Victoria, as well as Zoe Heriot. Locke, after a while, eventually admitted he had lost someone as well, a woman called Rachel, who had suffered amnesia due to an accident while following Locke. Rachel had then rejected him, if only because she saw her father being upset by her amnesia, only to suffer fatal wounds, calling for Locke after an Imperial invasion of her hometown, Kohlingen. Locke had asked a local crackpot to preserve her at the very edge of death. He then asked whether the Doctor could help. Jamie admitted that the Doctor wasn't really a medical doctor, but he could try to help.
Locke had noticed how Jamie seemed to gravitate automatically towards being protective towards Terra. The girl was no slouch when it came to combat: a number of monsters and bandits regretted ever approaching the girl, thinking her to be a soft target. But all the same, there was a sense of fragility and innocence in Terra that Jamie, and indeed, Locke and Edgar, seemed to want to protect.
Edgar, he was beginning to warm to, and not just because of the way he humiliated Kefka. Despite Edgar's flirting with Terra, Jamie could tell it wasn't serious now. Not that it was wholly serious at Figaro Castle, but it was now more like punctuation than anything remotely serious. And poor Terra seemed merely confused by his flirting. Not that she didn't recognise it, but the poor girl didn't seem to quite understand how attractive she was.
Then again, what little she remembered of her life (and she was remembering it gradually as time went on) suggested it wasn't surprising. She had been raised in isolation, like a princess in a fairy tale (Jamie nearly chuckled when he remembered meeting Rapunzel while in the Land of Fiction). Locked in a tower, kept away from everyone.
Suddenly, Jamie's eyes were drawn to a nearby cluster of bushes, movement just behind them to his eyes, trained to seek out wildlife in the Highlands for hunting. "Terra…those bushes…set them on fire."
Terra nodded, before she sent a Fire spell at the bushes. With a surprised and angry yelp, a burly, musclebound man with blue-green hair and a hard, thin face leapt out. "Damn you!" he snarled, beating out the flames on his trousers, the only item of clothing, barring shoes, he wore.
"Who're you?" Jamie demanded. "Why've you been followin' us, you Sassenach?"
"Following you? You're with Sabin, searching for me!" the man snarled.
"Sabin!" Edgar yelped, his eyes wide, before they narrowed, glaring at the man. "So, you're Vargas Harcourt."
"And you must be his soft little brother, King Edgar," Vargas sneered.
"Where is Sabin?" Edgar yelled.
"I don't know, but if he ever catches me, I will do the same to him as I will to you," Vargas snarled. "I've no plans to submit to the judgement of any man, even the King of Figaro! If you weren't searching for me, then it is merely the unluckiest day of your lives…and it will be your last!"
"Enough of this, Vargas!" roared a voice. Then, leaping down from a nearby cliff came a burly young man in trousers and a singlet. Jamie blinked. Although the hairstyle was different, and the skin was tanned and the body more muscled, the man closely resembled Edgar.
"Sabin!" Edgar yelled in relief.
"Sabin," growled Vargas. "The one my worthless father chose as successor, over his own progeny!"
"You idiot!" Sabin yelled. "He was going to name you as successor anyway, because of your potential!"
"You lie! And in any case, I have more than just potential! BLIZZARD FIST!" He swung his hands in a strange manner, and all of a sudden, a cold gale blew, sending everyone sprawling and nearly sending them off the edge of the mountain path they were traversing, save for Sabin. Vargas gave a sort of satisfied smile. "Well, Sabin, I guess father was right in that you had some potential after all. Fate had us train together, but fate dictates that only one can be the winner! Fate dictates that it will be me! Prepare to die!"
Terra, struggling to her feet, sent another Fire spell at Vargas. He dodged with a sneer. "Haven't you got any new tricks?"
"AURA CANNON!" Sabin roared, firing a beam of energy from his hands that pushed Vargas along the ground, until he was hanging off the edge of a cliff.
Vargas stared at Sabin from where he was hanging, blood trickling from his mouth. "…He taught…you…that…already?"
Sabin nodded sadly, and held out a hand. "Vargas…why did you have to be so consumed by pride?"
"…It's all I had left," Vargas sneered. Then, he yelled, "I WILL NOT LET YOU HAVE THE HONOUR OF DEFEATING ME! I WILL TAKE YOU WITH ME!" With a bellow, he tried to grab onto Sabin's hand and pull him down with him. Sabin dodged barely, and Vargas fell with a defiant roar.
Terra gasped in horror. "…Why did he do that? Why did he try to do that than admit defeat?"
"Because some Sassenachs are sore losers," Jamie murmured.
"True," Sabin said, walking away from the edge, shaking his head sadly. "Vargas…" He looked over at the others. "Hey, brother. What're you doing abroad with no escort? I mean, aside from this motley crew?"
"We're heading to the Sabre Mountains," Edgar said.
"The Returners, right? I've been watching from afar, hoping the world wouldn't descend into madness. Clearly, that was a pretty vain hope. The way things were going, I thought Figaro was going to be a puppet state. Looks like you cut the strings."
"We've got a way to strike back," Edgar said. "I'm through with playing quisling to the Empire."
"Well, who're these?" Sabin asked.
"Locke Cole, my liaison with the Returners and noted treasure hunter," Edgar said, indicating the thief. "Terra Branford, a former soldier of the Gestahl Empire, albeit one enslaved by a Slave Crown. And Jamie McCrimmon, who found Terra in Narshe shortly after her Slave Crown was removed. He seems to have made himself into her bodyguard."
"Nice to meet you," Sabin said with a smile. Jamie found himself warming to Sabin more readily than Edgar. "Well, I'll come with you. I mean, I think Duncan'll rest in peace easier knowing his teachings helped keep the world at peace."
They soon found the hideout of the Returners, nestled within a cave, some hours' walk from Mount Kolts. They were soon brought to the room of Banon, the leader of the Returners. Jamie was a bit surprised at meeting the older man, who didn't look like he had actually fought that many battles, though there was the air of a born leader about the bearded man.
"So, this is the girl to whom the Esper responded," Banon mused, peering at Terra, and causing Jamie to move closer to her.
"You're making her uncomfortable," Jamie said with a scowl. "You're looking at her like an Androgum would."
Banon held up his hands. "My apologies…and you are?"
"This is Jamie McCrimmon," Locke explained. "He seems to have made himself her bodyguard."
"Aye, and I dinnae like the way you're looking at her body!"
"Jamie!" Terra interjected. "I…I'm all right. I'm not a fragile waif."
"No…" Banon said. "No, you are not. Even without the Slave Crown, you have fought battles. And with it on…" He turned away. "I have heard that you killed fifty Imperial soldiers in a couple of minutes."
As Terra's face fell, Jamie scowled. "You Sassenach! Terra canna remember that!"
"I agree, Banon! The Slave Crown affected her memory when it was removed!" Edgar protested. "She remembers barely anything before it was put on, and nothing when it was on!"
"And hiding from the truth won't change it!" Banon snapped, turning to face Edgar and Jamie. "I agree, she is hardly culpable for what happened…but it happened all the same! It is better that she comes to terms with that!"
"Oh, and what, you canna break it to her gently?" Jamie asked sarcastically.
"Jamie…your protection of her is admirable. It is good that there is at least one person who wants to protect her, in spite of what she has done for the Empire," Banon said. "But you are one person against the might of the Gestahl Empire. You may be able to stop those sent to recapture her, but only for so long."
Jamie scowled, but knew Banon was right. Even with Terra assisting him, it might be only a matter of time before he was killed.
"Terra…let me tell you a story. Back when the people of the world were innocent and pure, there was a box. They were told never to open it. But yet, someone eventually did, out of curiosity. But out of that box burst the evils of the world, the sins of greed and gluttony, envy and pride and wrath…one thing remained in the box. A single ray of light. We call that light hope. Terra, you may consider your powers a curse, but they are a boon instead. Terra, the very Empire you were a thrall to is consuming this world piece by bloody piece. To us…you are that final ray of light, the hope of the world."
Before anyone could respond, a commotion could be heard outside. Banon blinked, and then left the room where they had been speaking, to find a pair of guards holding a couple of people at bay. Jamie frowned. One was a dark-haired woman, the other a man with long, curly brown hair framing a long, thin face. The man was certainly dressed rather dashingly. When Locke saw the woman, he whispered, disbelievingly, "Rachel?"
"Locke?" the woman asked, her eyes wide.
"This is Rachel?" Banon asked. "But how can this be? I thought you said you had preserved her at the very edge of death in Kohlingen!"
"I believe you have me to blame for that," the man, perhaps in his forties, said in a smooth, low voice. Jamie frowned. Was that a Liverpool accent? He had found out that accent during his travels with the Doctor. "Or thank, if you're in the mood."
"Who're you?" Locke asked. "What did you do to her?"
"I saved her life. Unfortunately, my transport was stolen by forces of the Gestahl Empire, and we made our way here, as I had heard rumours of the Returners being here. I don't suppose you may have seen my transport? A blue box, maybe two metres, well, six feet high, marked with the words…"
"Police Box," Jamie finished for the man almost automatically. He could scarcely believe it. Only knowing what he had learned about regeneration had him even considering what he was now thinking.
The man frowned, then nodded. "Yes, Police Box. How did you…?" Then, he saw Jamie, who began to push his way through the crowd. His eyes widened. "As I live and breathe," he murmured, a smile creeping over his features. "Jamie…how did you end up here?"
"You know this man?" Banon asked.
"I've never seen his face before…but he's changed his face before, I know. You said Terra was the only hope of this world, Banon? I beg to differ, if this is the same man I knew."
"You can't mean to say that this is the man you've been talking about!" Locke yelped incredulously.
"He is, I'm sure of it. This man is the Doctor!"
CHAPTER 3 ANNOTATIONS:
And there you have it. I originally didn't intend to bring the Doctor in until later in this tale, if at all, but decided, on a whim, to bring him into the story at this point. I've changed the marked characters for this story accordingly. That being said, the Doctor won't be the main focus of the story as much as Jamie and Terra will be. And yes, the Doctor will have some technobabble explanation for magic, which will actually tie into the continuity of the classic series and the new series.
In case you don't know, this is the Eighth Doctor, specifically the Eighth Doctor shortly after C'rizz died and Charlotte 'Charley' Pollard left him, but before he met Lucie Miller. These companions were from the Big Finish audios, and so, this story takes place sometime between The Girl Who Never Was and Blood of the Daleks. The Big Finish audios are brilliant, by the way, and every Doctor Who fan owes it to themselves to listen to some of them.
Review-answering time! jgkitarel: Jamie is supremely adaptable, that much is certain. But while he wouldn't hesitate to kill Kefka, it doesn't mean Kefka will go down easily. As for Celes and Leo, Jamie will be wary of them both. Of course, given Celes' way of coming into the Returners, after being tortured by the Empire, he will feel some sympathy for her.
Bardic Knowledge: I just try to use the later translations as a basis, due to slightly greater accuracy, though I do sometimes throw in some Woolsey-style phrases. I also only use the game script as a guide, and try to write my own version of the dialogue.
sephchipmunk: What the hell does Schindler's List have to do with this story?
No numbered annotations this time.
