And finally the last part of the first "serial" or "episode" is up. I have recently got a beta, a good friend of mine called obbbid on here! Hope you like the chapter. Allons-y!
The Firemaker
Trixy was the only one of the time travellers not helping to carry the stretcher but was instead carried over the shoulder of one of the cavemen. It annoyed her greatly to be carried around like a sack of potatoes like she had seen the workers do in the harbour with her mom not even a year ago. It annoyed her but she was still more afraid than anything. How were they ever going to get out of this now? She heard the other's put down their burden and be dragged off with the man who was carrying her following.
"Za and the woman went with them. I, Kal, stop them" the man who seemed to have led the second charge to find them said.
"They saved Za from death near the stream" Hur defended them and the man carrying Trixy put her down beside Ian but he still held on tight to her.
"They set them free from the Cave of Skulls and went with them" the man, Kal they supposed now that they really had a chance to listen, argued with her.
"The old woman cut them free" Hur said angrily.
"Za is so weak a woman speaks for him" Kal said causing Ian to roll his eyes, who wouldn't be weak under the circumstances?
"It was the old woman. She showed them a new way out of the Cave of Skulls" Hur got up from her crunching position by Za's side and spoke straight in Kal's face.
"The old woman does not speak. She does not say she did this or did that. The old woman is dead. Za killed the old woman" Kal said.
"No!" Hur said and her reaction to the news told the time travellers that she hadn't known.
"Za killed the old woman with his knife" Kal spat at Hur who backed away slightly.
"No" she said once more, seemingly sure of herself, to the group from the future at least.
Kal moved towards Za with Hur hurrying to his side as well as the man picked up Za's knife. Za's clean knife. There was not a drip of blood on the piece of flint.
"Here. Here is the knife he killed her with" he said happening to hold the stone just in front of the Doctor who studied it easily and from what he had seen come to a conclusion. One that just might get them out of this.
"This knife has no blood on it. I said, this knife has no blood on it" he said pointing to the flint while looking at Kal and trying to keep his language simple enough for them to understand.
Kal studied the knife as well, probably ending up noticing the same thing. Small grins crept on both Ian and Barbara's faces, simple logic and facts were always the hardest to argue with.
"It is a bad knife. It does not show the things it does" Kal argued earning him sceptical looks from all time travellers except the Doctor, who was very into playing his roll, as he dropped the knife.
"It is a finer knife than yours" the Doctor said holding it up to the man.
"I, Kal, say it is a bad knife" the caveman spat at the alien.
"This knife can cut and stab. I have never seen a better knife" Trixy grinned at the Doctor's words, while Ian smiled beside her at the trickery the old man was doing.
"I will show you one" Kal said pulling out his own knife which had plenty of blood on it, easily noted by the Doctor.
"This knife shows what it has done" the alien said taking the knife from Kal. "There is blood on it" he continued showing it to the rest of the tribe before bending down before Za who was now sitting up. "Who killed the old woman?"
"I did not kill her" the man answered and the Doctor stood back up and turned to Kal.
"You killed the old woman" he said moving back towards the man he was accusing.
"Yes!" Kal confessed to the horror of the tribe. "She set them free. She set them free. She did this. I, Kal, killed her"
The mutterings among the small crowd grew louder as he spoke. Humans never did, generally, like people who killed like that if it wasn't war and even then killing in cold blood was often looked down at. Ian had learnt that in the previous decade when he did his military service, or rather the full truth in it. It was something his mother had told him multiply times when he was growing up and was angry, mainly at the Germans at that point.
"Is this your strong leader?" the Doctor asked the tribe starting to move around the edge of the crowd to gather support against Kal, or at least get it somewhat organised. "One who kills your old women? He is a bad leader. He will kill you all. Yes, all" he said before whispering the last words of his speech to Ian whom he had reached. "Follow my example"
He bent down and picked up some stones from the ground and Ian looked on with a serious look on his face as the alien came back up.
"Drive him out" the Doctor said to the man as a mean of explanation and Ian was quick to catch on as the Doctor threw a stone at Kal. "Out"
"Yes, drive him out" Ian said picking up his own stone to throw at Kal. "He killed the old woman"
Hur was the first to follow their example but as Kal tried to attack he was in turn attacked by the whole tribe. They tightened their ranks against him, pelted him with stones and hit him with sticks. Kal was slowly forced out of the cave and Za was on the forefront of it. As the whole thing died down Ian started to move through the crowd towards Za, hoping to make him a better leader than Za had been.
"Remember, Kal is not stronger than the whole tribe" he said and Za seemed to think for a moment before turning to the crowd.
"Kal is no longer one of this tribe. We will watch for him. We will all fight Kal if he comes back. We will watch for him. Take them to the Cave of Skulls" Za said, the last sentence coming quite unexpectedly as they had been released for the past few minutes.
"Take us back to the desert and we will make fire for you" Ian said as he was dragged past Za who seemed to hesitate for just a second before he spoke.
"The great stone will close one place, and you will stand by another I will show you. Take them" he instructed one of his tribe members.
"Don't struggle" the Doctor said as Ian started to do just that.
They were dragged back into the cave but was not bound this time. Ian led Barbara and the Doctor led Susan while Trixy kept in-between the two pairs. Upon coming close to the skulls however Susan found it too much and turned away with Barbara grabbing a hold of her.
"This place is evil" the Doctor said moving away from the skulls as well.
Ian looked around what must have been some kind of burial site and moved to the opening they had escaped through earlier looking out in the night. He turned to look at the others. Barbara was holding Susan close and Trixy had curled up close to them looking like she was very close to falling asleep. The Doctor was just making his way down beside his granddaughter. There had to be a way to get them all out of this. The Doctor's little act earlier had rid them of one enemy, or at least made him an enemy to everyone else as well, but they still had to get away from the rest of the tribe. Maybe if they gave them what they wanted…
"I'm hungry" Trixy said and Ian grimaced at that realising that so was he.
"I'm sorry, we don't have anything to eat" Barbara sighed.
"No, but maybe we could fix another problem" Ian said. "And who is to say that they won't give us food if we give them what they want"
"What?" Trixy asked confused sitting up rubbing her eyes. "Are we going to make fire?"
"Exactly, would solve the problem that I think we are all slightly freezing as well, or at least most of us" Ian said frowning at the Doctor who had not made a single complaint in that area.
"Our species can take more extreme temperatures than humans" Susan gave as a quick explanation.
"What do you need, Ian?" Barbara asked looking around the cave, they did not have much to work with.
"Dry leaves and grass, a few sticks, one that need to be bendable, a flat stone about the size of my palm and does anyone happen to have any twine in their pockets?" Ian asked and Trixy was quick to provide the last piece of equipment.
"Why aren't we just using the flint?" she asked as she handed the string to Ian.
"It is a good idea but we don't have any metal to make sparks against" the man said before looking around. "Or do we?"
His question was met with shaken heads all around, as he had sort of expected. Everyone soon got to work building the fire. Trixy, turning out to be uncomfortably sneaky, managed to gather a small pile of twigs from the entrance where the guard stood and Barbara soon followed to get quite a pile of dry grass and leaves. Meanwhile Ian built a simple fire pit and made sure everything was ready to start spinning. He glanced up at his travelling companions now and then, wondering what they were thinking. Trixy kept yawning time after time and Barbara soon told her to go and lie down by Ian's side, he had to wonder if she was an only child or if she had younger siblings. She treated Trixy as if she had. He also wondered what Trixy actually knew about what he was doing or if she had just heard about lightning a fire with flint. She was from a time where it was probably done that way for a while during the war and a time when scouting was still new and it was possible that she had heard about it. Personally he, and every other boy in his dorm, had devoured Scouting for Boys in a few days while in school during the war.
"I think this is what you want, Mister Chesterton" Susan said hurrying over with a flat rock that Ian could fit in his hand and at the same time shaking him out of his thoughts.
"Thank you" he said putting the bow he had made with a stick and the twine around a straight stick and put the rock on the top for something better to hold onto and give the stick the ability to spin.
"Here are some leaves, and some dead grass" Barbara said putting the last of her bundle down beside the two flat stones Ian was using for friction.
"Yes, well spread them around the hole" Ian said starting to spin the straight stick with his miniature bow. "Don't put them inside. I hope this is going to work. Now, spread them around a bit more. Yes, that's it"
"Flint is easier" Trixy mumbled sitting up again, she had dosed off for a few minutes and was now rubbing her eyes.
"Have you tried?" Barbara asked and the girl nodded but didn't seem willing to elaborate.
"I can smell something" Susan said not wanting anyone to press Trixy for more but also because it was true.
"Yes, so can I" Barbara agreed.
"It's burning! It's burning!" Susan said happily pointing at it as the Doctor looked on over her shoulder.
"You've never lit a fire without matches before, have you?" Trixy asked looking between the two older females and the alien male.
"It's a long way off yet" Ian agreed panting.
"What is this?" Za asked coming up behind them.
"We are making fire" the Doctor said slowly as he pointed to the fire pit in hope that the man would understand.
Za turned his head and stared at the Doctor for just a moment before moving forward and looking to Ian instead.
"You are called Friend?" he asked and they all realised the misunderstanding that had been.
"Yes" Ian said though as he suspected that correcting him would be useless.
"Don't stop" the Doctor quietly reminded him and Ian hurried back to work.
"Hur said you were called Friend. I am called Za. You are the leader of your tribe?" Za said and Ian realised that this tribe might have a really twisted sense of leadership, from his perspective.
"No. He is our leader" Ian said nodding towards the Doctor causing Susan to smile and the Doctor put his hand under his shirt in a Napoleon fashion.
"Are you going to set us free?" Susan asked turning to face Za.
"The tribe say you are from Orb and when you are returned to him on the stone of death, we will have fire again" Za said ignoring the question.
"But that's not true" Barbara argued.
"I think you are from the other side of the mountains" Za said having crouched down beside them. "If you show me how to make fire, I will take you back to the foot of the mountains. If you do not show me, I cannot stop you dying on the old stone"
"Put some more leaves and grass round it. I think it's beginning to work" Ian said and Barbara complied at once.
"Do you understand? We are making fire for you" the Doctor said pointing first at the supposed fire and then at Za.
"I am watching" Za said.
"The whole tribe should be watching. Everyone should know how to make fire" Ian said and the others agreed, it was this times people's key to surviving.
"Everyone cannot be leader" Za snapped.
"No, that's perfectly true. But in our tribe, the firemaker is the least important man" Ian said in explanation, panting as he spoke.
"Ha! I do not believe this" Za scoffed.
"He is the least important because we can all make fire" the Doctor said and the caveman frowned and looked at the females, the child most of all.
"I hope he doesn't make Grandfather prove that" Susan whispered to Barbara, Ian and Trixy.
"If he does, I'll do it" Trixy suggested. "I know how and he would probably think that if a child can…"
"Are you sure you can do it?" Barbara asked and the girl nodded.
"There wasn't that much matches in the last few years at home, so we used other ways" she said cryptically and with a pained look on her face.
The others decided not to ask. It was clear that it was a painful subject and that it had to do with loss. Ian and Barbara glanced at each other, all too aware of the feeling of losing someone. That and the fear of war had been all too present in their childhoods as well.
"Look, I think it's beginning to work. Susan, Barbara, blow gently" Ian said and when they did as asked flames sprung up from the dry grass. "That's it!"
Ian and Barbara at once started to move more grass to the flames feeding the fire to grow. Susan Moved out of the way to let Za come forward. The man bent over staring at the flames in wonder.
"Fire. Fire" he said, eyes wide as saucers.
Having covered the fire with sticks instead of grass Ian blew gently on it to make it more stable. Suddenly a sound came from the side entrance to the cave and they turned to see Kal stand there with his axe held ready. Za was on his feet at once standing ready to defend them. He dodged Kals axe as he swung towards him and moved so that the fire was in-between them. Kal bent down and reached for the flames in fascination before pulling back his hand from the heat. He stared at it for a moment before moving around the fire. The Doctor was holding Susan close and so was Ian with Barbara who had also pulled Trixy to her and were keeping her away from Kal. They watched in fear and in Ian's case calculating the movements of both cavemen. Kal swung again and everyone else dodged or ducked as the fighters had gotten dangerously close to the travellers. As they kept running around the travellers were fast to move out of the way, pulling back from the fire and pressing themselves to a wall. Za swung at Kal with a club like branch he had picked up but soon had to dodge again as Kal swung wildly with his axe. Eventually both men grabbed the other's attacking wrist in their free hands and it turned to a bit of a brawl when Za managed to push Kal to the ground and sat on him. Kal soon managed to throw him off however and Za was in turn attacked from above. Soon after they were both on their feet and stared at each other for a moment before Kal made a move. He swung at Za who moved out of the way making him hit the sandy ground where the axe buried itself and Za took the opportunity to crush the handle with his club. He then proceeded to try and hit Kal and in the end crushed a number of skulls on a sort of shelf on the wall. As it all turned into a brawl Barbara turned Trixy around and tried to make sure the girl wasn't scared even more at her young age. Eventually Za managed to almost break Kal's neck and the man fell panting to the floor. Za soon found a big rock and threw it with a sickening crush on Kal's head killing him instantly. He then proceeded to drag the body away to a corner and stuffed it away partly out of sight from the fire. Ian moved towards the fire again and picked up a long stick, lighting it in the fire while the tribe screamed outside the stone blocking the entrance.
"Take this, and show it to your tribe" Ian said handing the torch to Za.
"You, stay here" Za said after accepting the fire.
"We will come with you" Ian said.
"No, you'll stay here" Za barked back at him but Ian tried to insist.
"I will come with you" he said just to end up almost getting the torch thrown in his face.
"Give him a chance" the Doctor told Ian while keeping him back from Za in hope of avoiding another fight. "Give him a chance. Let him show the tribe fire, establish himself as leader, then he'll let us go"
"But we ought to go with him now" Ian argued.
"Why?" Trixy asked and Ian turned to her in surprise. "What do we have to win in joining him now? Possibly just another fight and that won't get us out"
"She's right" the Doctor said sitting down by the fire.
"I know" Ian sighed but it didn't feel any better because of that.
They all sat down by the fire to wait. Trixy's eyes dropped shut several times just for her to shake herself awake again a second later. Several stomachs rumbled as well as the fire burned with it's mesmerising flames between them.
"It didn't work. They're going to keep us here" Ian said while ripping his tie off and starting to fold it just to have something to do with his hands.
Hur suddenly came into the cave and placed some kind of food between Ian and Barbara.
"Why are you keeping us here?" Ian asked turning to the woman who was kneeling beside him.
"Za has gone into the forest to find meat" she said standing up and walking around them to Kal's body. "There will be more food later"
"But why can't we go outside?" Barbara asked.
"Please let us go. It's terrible in here" Susan said though they all, Trixy included, had a hard time believing that would happen now.
"Za is leader" Hur said turning her head to look at them.
"But we helped you. We gave you fire" Susan said furiously and begging at the same time.
Hur stood up and backed away from Kal's corpse so she stood beside the fire once more.
"Yes. We have fire now" she said before leaving.
"Yes. And I was the fool who gave it to you. Why didn't I wait?" Ian said and Barbara leaned towards him to talk.
"Well at least we're alive. We wouldn't be if we hadn't given them fire" she reasoned.
"Was that food?" Trixy asked pointing to the space between the two teachers.
"Um, yeah, some kind of roots or fruits" Ian said studying the items in question.
"Can we eat? I'm hungry and it's easier to get out if we aren't that, right?" Trixy said before yawning.
"Two good points" Ian said picking up the food and started to divide it between them.
"Two?" Trixy asked as she accepted her share.
"Yeah, food then sleep for a while" Ian said. "We need to have eaten and rested before we try to force out way out of here if we try that at all"
It was a few hours later and Barbara, who had had the last watch was waking up everyone to inform them of what had been delivered a moment earlier. Susan and the Doctor had both been easy to wake and had also been quick to try and help her with the meat they had gotten from the tribe while Trixy had woken from the smell. They had decided to let Ian sleep until the food was done as he had, on his own request, taken the longest watch pass and would be the one to mainly having to fight if they chose that approach to get away. In the end they woke the man up just as the meat started to get done and Susan handed him a stick with a slice on it.
"And the Doctor found a stone with a hole in it, and they filled it with water" Barbara said revealing what the Doctor had spent his watch doing.
"All the comforts of home" Ian said accepting the stick and putting it close to the fire.
Behind them Za entered the cave. Everyone glanced up at him but only Ian kept his eyes on him for more than a moment.
"The animal was hard to kill. The meat on it is good" Even Ian turned away from Za as he spoke, completely ignored. "They have brought you fruit and water has been put into a stone" he grabbed Ian's shoulder and shoved him back before stepping over him to check on the stone before him. "Is this the stone? Has anyone hurt you?"
"When are you going to let us go, hmm?" the Doctor asked not caring at all for the question.
"You will stay here. I have the meat and I have the stick, and a piece of skin. I can make fire now. Your tribe and my tribe will join together" Za said.
"We don't want to stay here" Ian said with a frown from where he had sat up behind Barbara.
"Why? There is no better place the other side of the mountains. Do not try to leave here" he stood up and started to walk out.
"Quench the fire. Take the fire away from them. Scaring them, somehow" the Doctor mused thinking hard on the idea.
"What about showing them I'm not human?" Trixy said before ripping a piece of meat of her stick with her teeth.
"Too risky, they would want to kill you and we can't have that" Ian said and Trixy looked down but they all briefly saw something in her eyes that they didn't recognised.
Susan got another idea and stood up as they spoke with a burning branch in her hands. She walked around Ian and Barbara to some skulls and placed one on the burning end of the branch.
"Hey, Grandfather, look! It's almost alive" she said and the others all looked up at her creation just for Trixy to turn away shuddering the moment she saw it.
"Not alive, Susan. Almost dead" Ian said gleefully as he watched the flames lick the skull, escaping every hole in it. "We're going to make five torches. We'll find the sticks. And we'll use the fat from the meat. And then –"
"And then?" Susan asked caught in Ian's excitement so she interrupted him.
"And then, to all intents and purposes, we're going to die" Ian said and Trixy shivered even more.
"Trixy are you okay?" Barbara asked in concern moving to the girl's side.
"I will be, it just" the girl bit her lip.
Barbara suddenly remembered how her parents had probably died and as such promptly turned the girl away from the others' work and told her to finish her food instead. Everyone ate as they tried to arrange their escape, it would not do to try and run to the TARDIS on empty stomachs. It wasn't long till the torches were done and put in place. The rest of the plan consisted of them pressing against a wall out of sight and waiting for the tribe to enter.
"When I give the sign" Ian whispered as steps were heard entering the cave.
The one entering was Hur. She walked in to give them more food and then screamed when she saw the burning skulls, four adult once and one of a child. More of the tribe entered and had much the same reaction. Susan tried to say something but the adults were quick to quiet her. As the tribe were distracted the travellers sneaked out of the cave and hurried to the forest and towards the TARDIS. In the forest Barbara tripped at one point and Ian had to stop and help her up. They started to her the sounds of the tribe following them as they closed in on the desert and Susan raced to the ship with Trixy on her heals soon followed by Barbara and Ian with the Doctor making up the rear. They were all panting as the door closed behind the Doctor and all of them were all too ready to leave.
"Come on, Doctor, get us off! Get us off!" Ian said pulling the old man towards the console.
"Yes" the Doctor said hurrying to do just that. "Yes, it's matching up"
"We're beginning to land" Susan said looking at readings on the console.
"Oh, how I wish" the Doctor said.
"Have you taken us back to our own time?" Ian asked.
"You know I can't do that. Please be reasonable" the Doctor said and Barbara hurried up from the chair behind him.
"What?" Ian said from where he was standing by the console.
"Please, you must take us back. You must" Barbara said coming to a stop in-between Susan and the Doctor.
"You see, this isn't operating properly. Or rather, the code is still a secret. When you put the right data, precise information to a second of the beginning of a journey, then we can fix a destination, but I had no data at my disposal" the Doctor explained moving around the console while Trixy came up to stand beside Susan while rubbing tears from her eyes.
"Are you saying that you don't know how to work this thing?" Barbara asked.
"He's saying that he can't change direction after take-off" Trixy said with a hiccup and Susan swiftly pulled the girl to her side.
"Well of course I can't. I'm not a miracle worker" the Doctor said finishing his walk around the console.
"You can't blame Grandfather. We left the other place too quickly, that's all" Susan defended the old man and she really hoped that was all.
"Just a minute. Did you try and take us back to our own time?" Ian said in a hard voice.
"Well, I got you away from that other time, didn't I?" the Doctor countered but he didn't answer the question.
"That isn't what I asked you" Ian said and it was clear that he was angry with the other male if not to the point of doing something stupid in front of a, in ways, six year old girl.
"It's the only way I can answer you, young man" the alien said before starting to flip switches to bring up an image on the screen. "Now. Now we shall see"
Ian moved to stand beside the other adults while Trixy pulled away slightly to look beside the console. The screen showed off a collection of strange trees not really giving them any clues at all except it seemed very still outside. The trees looked slightly like jungle trees with something wrapped around them like spirals down the trunks and seemingly covered in something white. Everything still, not a leaf moving in the wind, if any were blowing.
"It could be anywhere. Dear, dear, dear, dear. It's no help to us at all. Well, I suggest before we go outside and explore, let us clean ourselves up" the Doctor suggested.
"Oh, yes" Susan said and the others silently agreed but Ian and Barbara threw each other worried looks at what could be outside the ship.
"Come, I'll show you" Trixy said motioning for the adult humans to follow her.
"Now what does the radiation read, Susan?" the Doctor asked as they started to leave.
"It's reading normal, Grandfather" she answered and they left as well.
No one was left to see when the meter turned from normal to danger.
And that was the end of those adventures with cavemen! See you next time!