River's still kinda young in this one. Somehow, I don't think this is really how they'd act around one another, but since each one doesn't know who the other is... then maybe. Haha.

Oh, how the Sontarans hated her.

She liked to keep herself occupied with this and that when the Doctor wasn't around. Truth be told, he wasn't around as much as she'd like, but sometimes that was alright. Sometimes, she could use her own methods to achieve a goal, which usually included shooting something or blowing the something up. As it happened, both of those things occurred today.

The smell of fire and explosives was thick in the air and she found the scent pleasant. Blowing up half of one of the Sontaran Battle Fleets with homemade explosives shoved into the engines was her idea of a good time. They'd landed on a randomly chosen planet shortly before exploding, so she was able to make a getaway without using her vortex manipulator. The last thing she needed was them tracking her temporal coordinates.

On a whim, she snaked her way into the nearby forest. She made sure that none of the potato-men were following her and began to type the coordinates of the Stormcage into the manipulator. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw a flash of what seemed to be blond hair and a voice that was cursing in a most colorful manner. Curious, she followed the voice until she found a surprising sight: there was a crashed spaceship in the middle of the forest. It was laying on its side, largely undamaged externally, but the woman's vehement cursing let River know there was probably something internally wrong with it. The ship looked a bit old fashioned for 6015, but she was so used to time travelling at this point, perhaps it was perfectly normal.

River took the initiative despite the nearby smouldering Sontaran ships. She raised her hands to cup her mouth and shouted, "Hello up there?"

A moment later, a woman with very blond hair poked her head out of the cockpit. "Oh, hello!" she said in a rather friendly tone, contrasting her earlier curses. "I haven't seen another person for ages!"

River only asked, "Is your ship damaged?"

"Yes," the woman said, rolling her eyes. "I have no idea what's wrong with it. I fueled up two planets over, and it suddenly gave out. I got sucked into this planet's orbit for a while, then fell to the surface."

River raised an eyebrow, "How did you land it without destroying the outer hull?"

"Oh!" the woman jumped down, landing on her feet much to River's surprise. She was thin as a rail, but apparently many times stronger. "It's a newly developed impact-resistant metal alloy. It never used to have that shielding, but I had it upgraded recently. Good thing too, or I'd be a smear of blood right about now..."

"There are Sontarans around, you know," River pointed out. "I can take you home, if you like." She flashed the vortex manipulator, but the girl vehemently shook her head no.

"That's nice of you, but I really can't. I sort of... stole this ship. I keep telling myself I'm going to return it some day, so it has to come with me," she said, a bit sheepishly.

"Mind if I take a look, then?" River asked sweetly. This girl seemed sweet enough and leaving her here where Sontarans might show up wouldn't be the nicest thing to do. And really, stealing things just made this blond girl a human after her own heart. "Helping people," she scoffed to herself. "What the Doctor does to me, I swear..."

"If you think you can do something, please do!" The girl led River up a series of steps and into the cockpit, where the main console had been ripped open, with cords and wires pointing in every which direction.

"Well there's your problem," River murmured, peeking into the maze. "Your energy converters are shot. I can tell by the wiring, it's gone black. Burned up, I imagine."

The girl put her hands on her hips in irritation. "This planet has almost no cities, much less anything like that." She scratched her head, causing a few hairs to float away from her ponytail of their own accord.

"I can fix them, I think," River said, pulling up her sleeves. "Give me a bit."

xxxxxxxxxx

After over-enthusiastically preparing River something to eat from her sparse food store as a thank you, the girl finally introduced herself as Jenny. The two women chatted pleasantly as River spent a few hours rooting around in the console, then going back and forth between said console and the engine room.

"So, why did you steal the ship?" River inquired, when the girl gave her a second to talk.

"Ah, long story," Jenny murmured, sipping at her drink. "My dad travels a lot. I wanted to go with him but..." She trailed off, then shook her head. "Anyway, I decided to travel on my own after he left. I've been to a bunch of planets since then. Took up a bit of drawing too, as a hobby. Still can't repair my own ship, though. Obviously."

"Well you did steal it," River said from under the console. "It seems pretty old."

"I think it is," Jenny replied.

Suddenly, the ship gave a jolt and the console lit up. Jenny let an exclamation of glee and clapped her hands together. River pulled herself up from the floor. "Well, I think that's it. It should get you to the next solar system, and you can get proper replacements."

"Thank you so much!" Jenny said, enveloping River in a hug of excitement and relief. River awkwardly returned the gesture, smiling at the girl's child-like nature.

From outside, a sound reached River's ears. "Oh no, walking potatoes."

"Walking... what?" Jenny ran to the cockpit window, only to spot a battalion of Sontaran soldiers headed straight for her ship. "Ack!"

River hurriedly began punching coordinates into her vortex manipulator. "No offense Jenny, but they're after me and I really do need to go."

Jenny was strapping herself into the pilot's chair. "I understand perfectly, River. Thank you again for fixing my ship. I'll find you again some day, and I'll thank you properly somehow."

River only smiled. "No need, dear. Just get away from them and you'll be alright."

"Deal," said Jenny with a grin, and started the engine, which burst to life as if it had never been dead.

River hit the final button on her manipulator, catching a sketch of something blue out of the corner of her eye as she left, but convinced herself that it must have been her imagination.