Chapter 7, Song of the Sibyl

"Al jorn del judici Parrá qui haurá fet servici"

Translation: "On the day of judgment The good will go to heaven for their service."

~Dead Can Dance

Heavy rain beat down upon the Doctor as he knelt on the black pavement of the road. His hands rest in his lap, palm up as he stared at the faint outlines that laced across his hands. Water dripped down his face and into his eyes, before eventually dripping into his open palms.

The Master.

Could it truly be him? No, the Doctor wouldn't allow himself to believe that the Master had returned after so many years. He couldn't even fathom the slightest possibility that he had returned. But what did he want with his daughter? What was she to him.

The Doctor swore and lifted his face to the sky. He took in a deep breath as he watched bright lightning illuminate the night sky and criss-cross between the clouds. He screamed in anguish, frustration and anger. Fists balled at his sides as he leaned forward and beat the pavement until the minuscule pebbles and fragments of broken glass cut into his hand and turned the puddles a murky pink.

"…Doctor?" Donna asked softly as she slowly approached him. She dropped down beside him, and gingerly touched his shoulder. Her hand recoiled and she jumped as the Doctor jerked under her fingertips. She gave a shout of surprise and nearly fell onto her bum.

The Doctor scrambled to his feet and looked down to his red headed companion. He let out a sigh of relief that it was his friend.

"Oh, Donna," he breathed hopelessly. He bent and offered his cut up hand to her and she took it. He held onto it firmly before hoisting Donna to her feet.

"Istas…where is she?"

The Doctor looked away.

"Never mind that," Donna interrupted before the Doctor could speak. "We're once again in the freezing rain in the middle of nowhere. Let's get inside the TARDIS so we don't have to shout over the thunder."

He nodded tentatively. "You're right, Donna." He lead her back to the TARDIS.

Istas winced as she woke in a cold, dark cell. She couldn't recall why she was soaking wet, nor how she got to the barren, steel plated walls. The dim lights from above her made her head throb painfully and her eyes burned. She shivered and felt the very cold from the ground seep into her bones. Being drenched wasn't helpful either.

She pushed herself up, hands sliding in the puddle of ice cold water that surrounded her body. She yelped in pain as her elbow struck the hard floor of the cell. Her eyes screwed shut as she bit her lip as to not make any more sound. When her eyes opened, she realized she stared at a smeared mess of dark, brownish red stuff that spread across the entire cell floor. The same stuff was splattered against the walls, desperate hand prints creating grotesque streaks.

Blood.

There was blood everywhere. The sudden realization made Istas's stomach churn and she felt the urge to retch, but she couldn't. She covered her mouth with a slightly reddened arm and gagged. Once more her eyes closed tightly and began to tear as she fought to keep her dinner down. Her entire body began to quake; she knew that whatever had happened in this cell would then happen to her. She could sense the pain of the previous prisoner and the anguish and despair. Her fingers burned as they pressed against the unforgiving steel tiles. So much grief and hurt…it broke Istas's heart.

"Very good," said a voice from nowhere. Istas jumped and looked around the splattered cell.

"Whose there?" she demanded in a faux strong voice.

"I heard that you had a very strong sight, but I seem to have underestimated the exact strength. I am impressed, Istas."

"Who are you? What do you want from me?" Her voice was stronger this time as her agitation began to rise. She flinched and shielded her eyes as bright light filtered in through an open door. As her eyes adjusted to the intense light, she was able to make out a tall, cloaked figure.

"Who I am is of little importance. All you need to know is that you are going to be well cared for—as long as you do as you're told. But since it is rather impolite of me not to introduce myself, I suppose you may call me Master. After all, that is what I will be to you," the cloaked figure explained and took a step forward. He crouched down before Istas and took her chin in between his thumb and index finger. He grinned widely, and tilted his head back just enough for the light to play across his features.

Istas's eyes widened as she caught a glimpse of her captor. Her breath escaped from her lungs in a short puff and her pulse quickened. The man under the cowl was stunning—more stunning than she had ever seen before. He was of ethereal beauty with deep garnet eyes and sun kissed skin. Crimson lines were tattooed across his cheeks under his eyes that framed his nose and mouth and accentuated the sharp angles of his face. His hair was like fine threads of silver that tumbled past his shoulders like a river.

"Who…are you?" she whispered, having forgotten that his heated hands were to her face. She had not even noticed the thin trail of steam that rose between them from the ground.

"My name…is unpronounceable by you humans."

"But who are you?"

The Master grinned widely and pushed her away from him before standing. "In due time, little sparrow, in due time." He turned sharply and left through the bright doorway, leaving Istas alone in the dark once more.

She shuddered and wrapped her arms around herself. She grimaced as hissed syllables filled her ears and repeated itself over and over again. She couldn't make out what was being said, but it was as if the prisoners before her had screamed them as a curse, naming their captor and damning him.

Ar'ce't'li'ak'ln f'or'set'hn'li'anlu'te. Yr've'li'aek'ce!

The Doctor stripped of his soaked blazer and flung it onto one of the railings that lined the consol of the TARDIS. He agitatedly ran his hands through his dripping wet hair as he paced. His blue shirt clung to his wiry body in a maddening way. He mumbled to himself, and his pacing began to make Donna dizzy.

"What happened to Istas, Doctor?" Donna asked, hoping to stop his pacing. She started as the Doctor angrily ripped the shirt from his body, thoroughly exasperated. The pop of buttons made her flinch and turn her head away lest she be hit by the projectile buttons. She looked back as she heard the last soft ping of the buttons hitting the grate flooring and then the satisfying squish of a sodden shirt being dumped.

The Doctor ran his hands through his hair again as he searched for a dry shirt, obviously oblivious to whatever Donna had just asked. He sprinted towards one wall panels and pushed it with his still bloody fist. The air tight seal hissed as it opened. He rummaged through it before withdrawing a tattered shirt and put it on. It was a few sizes too large, but it was dry. He frowned as he faintly remembered the two question marks stitched in red threat on the lapels of the button down shirt. He rubbed his thumb over them before hastily buttoning it.

Donna was unfazed by the Doctor's athletic physique, but watched with mild amusement as he was able to pull out a horribly old shirt. "What else do you have in there? A swimming pool?" she asked loud enough this time to draw the Doctor out of his thoughts.

"It's in the library."

"The library?" Donna exclaimed.

"Is that a problem? I happen to like swimming in the library!"

Donna raised her hands in surrender. "Whatever makes you happy, Sunshine," she commented with a sigh. She waited a moment for the Doctor to finish changing—in which she turned around as he stripped of his saturated trousers. She was tempted to look, but she resisted.

"So…" Donna began after a moment of complete and utter silence. The only sound around them was the gentle hum of the TARDIS and the rustling of fabric. "What's the plan?"

The Doctor shimmied his damp body into another pair of trousers and looked over to Donna. "We're getting my daughter back."

"Well, duh, Einstein! I knew that much! But how?"

"I don't know. I'll do everything and anything to get her back." He rushed to the TARDIS' console and punched a few buttons. The slight look of hope to his face vanished. "She's…not even here. The TARDIS is showing no signs of her."

Donna peered over the Doctor's shoulder as she finished her short sprint towards the console. "What do you mean there's no sign of her?"

"She's gone. Lost. Fallen off the face of the Earth!" the Doctor snapped and immediately took a deep breath and held it. "Sorry."

Donna shook it off—this time. "Can you find a way to track her down with all your little gizmos and gadgets?" As the Doctor shook his head, she frowned. She patted the Doctor's shoulder lightly and stepped back as she thought.

"Doctor…?"

"Yes, Donna?"

"Before you tell me off, because I know you will with this proposition, what about that foul mouthed friend of your daughter's?"

The Doctor looked perplexed. "Foul…mouthed…oh! You mean Kate!"

Donna slapped her forehead. "Who else?"

The Doctor was quiet for a moment before grinning widely. "Donna, you're brilliant. Absolutely brilliant!"

Donna beamed. "I know. What would you do without me?" she teased. "Now, let's go find that silly little friend. Maybe she can pull up some voodoo for us to find your daughter."

"Voodoo? C'mon, Donna!"

"Fine, some hocus pocus sort of stuff—whatever she got your daughter into!"

Kate groaned as she stretched out on the front lawn of her home. She sat cross-legged and rest her didgeridoo on her shoulder for a short while as she caught her breath.

"Fuck my life…" she groaned and looked back towards her house. It had been so quite since Istas disappeared. She wasn't too worried since she knew Istas could take care of herself, but something still nagged at her gut. It hadn't even been a full day since she was gone.

Kate sighed and left it be, assuming Istas went to spend the weekend at one of her friend's. She picked up the didgeridoo again and took a deep breath before beginning to play again—startling the neighbors with the unusual sounds. Through her playing, she hardly noticed the harsh winding sound and flash of light as a blue police box appeared behind her.

The Doctor opened the door and rushed towards Kate. He shook her shoulders and jumped back as she squawked, knocking the large instrument backwards. She was to her feet in a matter of seconds, the didgeridoo long forgotten at her feet.

"What fuck are you doing here? Holy shit! Holy shit! Heart attack!—" she cut off in her screaming for a brief moment. "The fuck d'you think you're doing?"

"Kate, I need your help."

"Like hell you do!" she snapped. "Where's Istas?"

"That's what I need your help for. I don't know. I can't find her at all." The Doctor glanced backwards as Donna meandered out of the TARDIS.

By that point, Kate was a bit calmer and she looked placidly to Donna. "What do you mean you can't find her? Where could she have gone?"

"She sounds exactly like you," the Doctor commented to Donna. He grinned briefly at the irritated expression to Donna's face. He turned back to the impatient girl and sighed. "That's the thing; I don't know. Can you help me?"

"I don't know—what do you want me to do? I don't have a nifty box like you do."

"But you've got those stone-y things!" Donna put in as she stepped to the Doctor's shoulder.

Kate barked a laugh. "The Runes? They don't tell you places—they just offer advice. I'm not nearly strong enough to do Tarot—but even then it won't give you an exact answer. It might get you close, or at least give you a hint…but other than that I don't know."

"Well get them, then!"

"I can't! I haven't mastered Tarot reading!" Kate argued and ran her hands through her wild mop of unruly curls.

"Who can, then?" Donna asked.

Kate was about to say she didn't know, but she froze as she opened her mouth. She grinned widely. "My friend."

"Your…friend."

"Da! My friend! C'mon! I'll take you to him!" she exclaimed and turned to run to her car.

"That'll take too long! How would you like to travel by TARDIS?" the Doctor retorted.

Kate stopped dead in her tracks. "Sounds…Star Trek-y. Let's do it!"

Donna looked to the Doctor and bit her tongue to keep from making a harsh comment. She rolled her eyes and let out a breath. Americans…she thought.

The Doctor set the locations into the TARDIS' console and gripped a lever tightly before pulling it down. A worried smirk crossed his face as the familiar groaning grew louder. He watched as Kate looked around in amazement. He always loved seeing the surprised faces of people when they first step into the TARDIS.

"Now this—this is traveling in style!" she exclaimed and ran around the initial room of the TARDIS. "This is fucking sweet! Where can I get one?"

The Doctor grinned widely.

"Hate to break it to you, girli—" Donna began but squawked as the TARDIS suddenly jolted.

The Doctor barely managed to catch Donna before she went crashing into the console. He shouted towards Kate to grab hold of the railing. He was, a bit too late as Kate went tumbling off the raised floor and onto the grating below.

"I'm okay!" she gave a shout as the TARDIS' groaning stopped. "Just broke my spleen is all—I jest."

The Doctor looked to Donna to make sure she was alright. He swallowed hard as he received a dirty glare.

"Hands. Off," Donna growled. Her face was tinted with a slight blush, but it was easily masked by the redness of anger.

The Doctor tried to smile sheepishly and pulled his hands back from where they accidentally rest on her behind. He gave her an apologetic look and slid away from Donna as he began checking the TARDIS.

"Well, good news is, we're still on Earth this time!" he said in a cheery voice. He swallowed hard and opened the door to the TARDIS and stepped out. He gave a curse of frustration as he turned around fully in an abandoned parking lot before a school. "Wrong place!"

Kate scrambled to her feet and hurried after the Doctor. "No! No! We're in the right place—just a bit too far down the street!" she exclaimed and grabbed the Doctor's hand. "His house is back this—"

The Doctor was relieved that they were still in the right place, but when Kate cut off mid sentence, he froze. "What is it…?" he asked softly and tried to follow her gaze. His eyes widened as he found what she was staring at. He went to grab her shoulder, but she had weaseled herself away from him and was already kneeling besides the figure.

"Holy shit! You fucking landed on a pedestrian!" she shouted.

"Kate. Get away from there. I mean it."

Kate looked over her shoulder and was already pulling out her indestructible cell phone and began dialing for an ambulance. "The fucker's dead from what I know!" She shot the Doctor a pissy look and screamed as the body grabbed her wrist as she raised the phone to her ear. She dropped the phone and stumbled backwards as the corpse began gasping for air.

"Zombie! Zombie! Holy shit! Fucker, let me go!" she shouted and kicked the reanimated corpse.

"I'm not a zombie!" the corpse managed to shout.

"Like fuck you are! Jesus Christ! Hit him again! Hit him again!" Kate continued to scream as she broke free of the man's grip. She stumbled and nearly fell as she scrambled to get behind the Doctor.

"No! Don't hit him again!" Captain Jack Harkness groaned as he slowly got to his feet. He rubbed the back of his head as he sent Kate a level glare before he looked to the Doctor. He sighed in relief. "Doctor."

"You? Again? Can't you just let me alone?"

"Doctor, I need your help."

The Doctor sighed and looked away, exasperated. "I can't now. I've got other problems."

"Doctor, there has been more rift activity in this area."

"Listen, I don't have time for this, Jack. I don't."

Donna raised an eyebrow as she stepped out of the TARDIS. "What the hell is all the shouting about?" she asked in an irritated tone. She put her hands to her hips as she looked from the Doctor to Kate—who was hiding behind the tall, lanky man. It wasn't long before her eyes fell on Jack. "Hello…."

The Doctor rolled his eyes. "Donna," he warned.

"And who is this? You never told me you had a—"

"Smoldering zombie friend?" Kate threw, finishing Donna's thought.

"Exactly!"

Jack grinned as wide as a wolf and strode forward. "I'm Captain Jack Harkness."

"Donna Noble," she replied and offered her hand for a shake. Donna's cheeks flushed as Jack kissed the back of her hand.

"And you are?" he asked Kate as she slunk out from behind the Doctor.

"Katherine. And that's all you're going to get, zombie-boy!" Kate sneered.

Jack mock frowned and walked towards her. He placed his hands at her waist and forced her to lock eyes with him. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Katherine."

Unlike most women who would melt in his arms, Kate's gaze turned hard. "Hands off the flubber, zombie, lest you want to become a one handed wonder."

Jack's eyebrows raised. "That could be interesting," he mused and did as told. He wasn't too interested in losing a hand.

"Thank you, oh so very much," Kate grumbled and straightened her light gray waist coat and tugged the black shirt down underneath it. Her arms crossed over her chest and glared.

"I wouldn't have complained if I were you," Donna commented.

"Yeah, well, with my luck, he's either taken or he's gay. Actually, he's probably taken and gay!"

Jack smirked and couldn't help but laugh.

"What exactly are you doing here?" the Doctor demanded, growing more irate as the joking continued.

Jack's mirth ended and he looked towards the Doctor. "The same reason you are." The Doctor raised an eyebrow. "The rift."


"Good, good. Again!"

Istas fell to her knees with a sharp sob. Her hair was plastered to her face, sweat rolling down her back. She gasped for air as she shook her head. "I—I can't!"

The Master looked down to her and narrowed his eyes. "Again!" he shouted.

"Please! I can't do it anymore!" she cried. Her arms shook as she barely managed to hold herself up. The ground was cold and unforgiving under her bloodied hands. "I can't see anything else! I swear! I was only able to see up to—"

"Silence!" the Master thundered. "I care not for your little excuses. You will continue to read for me."

Istas flinched as the Master threw a pouch of stones, bones and claws before her. She felt the electric shock surge through her body before the flash of light came. She crumpled to the ground and sobbed silently.

"Hush, hush," he whispered and gracefully knelt beside her. He swept his cloak about her trembling form and touched her shoulder. "All this pain and suffering will stop if you just read for me." His voice was soft and delicate. His touch was reassuring and his face was open.

"Come, my sweet. Just once more."

She gasped as a violent sob raked her body. She nodded reluctantly. "Y-Yes," she whispered. "Just once more."

"Good girl, my sweet. That's a good girl," the Master cooed and stood up to give Istas room.

Istas took in a trembling breath and closed her eyes. She picked up the pouch and held them firmly. The world about her faded and fell away as she tapped into her Sight. In her hands, the bones and claws and stones vibrated and sang songs of captivity. They burned through the pouch.

She found the arcane voice of the items in the pouch and whispered the words. She repeated the chants over and over again until the burning sensation bit too deeply in her hands and she dropped them.

The bag ripped open and the stones tumbled out, followed by the claws and bones. She gave a cry of pain and was jerked backwards.

"My Lord and Master," she began in a distant voice that was not her own. "What do you desire?"

"You know very well what it is I desire!" the Master sneered.

"Do not be too hasty, Kalandryn. Patience is a virtue that is critical to your success. If you let the sleeping serpent lie, then it will not recoil and strike. Should you wake the serpent, then you shall surely die. Heed my warning, Kalandryn. Become impatient and you shall regret it. All you desire can be yours, if you only learn patience."

Kalandryn growled. "I've had enough of your useless wisdom. Sabian! Prepare yourself. The hunt begins in thirty seconds."


Note:

Once again, trying something different. Tis a learning experience, no?

Hope you enjoy the chapter! True to my word, here's the second chapter of the evening! Now to check and see if a third is ready for uploading!