"Instrumental Glory"
9. That Musical Fiber
Mesiary – in the year 2015
As much as their presence had stirred some suspicion on the part of a few pupils, not to mention Master Fren, once the class had come to an end, the Doctor, Donna, and Blaine had been invited to take in some more of Isher Academy. The invitation might have come out of the pupils' need to prove that their school was doing well, in the event that the board people had any intention of making any sort of changes, but as it served their needs well enough, the Doctor and his companions did not stop them in any way.
After they had returned their instruments to the vault, many of the pupils had dispersed, whether to head into another class, or to go study, or because they didn't care for the board people. This left the Doctor and the others in the care of a handful of the boys and girls, including nine-year-old Cree, twelve-year-old Seyelle, the dark haired girl called Pae, also twelve, and two of the boys, sixteen-year-old Rolan, and eleven-year-old Trilby. They had a way of walking together, as though they were still in some kind of formation, straight lines and all.
It hadn't taken long for them all to realize that Blaine had a better shot at making himself a friend to these kids than the Doctor or Donna ever could. The boy shared their passion for music, and though he might not have had as much skill as they had, enough to get him into the academy perhaps but never into the elite program, it didn't keep him from connecting with the them.
Still, as much as they had 'adopted' the board people and Blaine in particular, it wasn't long that they noticed something of a divide when it came to the pupils from the elite program, and the rest of the Isher boys and girls. As they went by, Blaine and the others were observed by this majority, themselves walking by, or sitting here and there. They looked at the elite passing by, some of them as though they were royalty, some as though they were the scum of the earth… scum of Mesiary. Maybe it was hard to understand why, one way or the other, because they didn't know them very well yet. They just looked like regular children, in no way calling forth any kind of reverence or hatred.
They had only just made it across the grounds and back into the school when a woman walked toward them, the pinched look about her making them all stop in their tracks.
"Who's that?" Donna whispered to Cree.
"Headmistress Renia," Cree whispered back. The woman, tall and lean, stopped in front of the group; she hardly seemed to notice the Doctor, or Donna, or Blaine.
"Trilby, come with me," she addressed the small blond boy. He looked to his classmates. They all had a nervous look about them, but they nodded, and Trilby stepped forward to join the headmistress. The woman looked to the others. "Don't you have classes to get to?"
"Yes, Headmistress," they spoke in unison. One by one they scattered, sparing only a short look back to the Doctor and his friends. All at once, they were left by themselves, standing in the middle of the hall.
"What was that?" Donna blinked, looking after the retreating figures.
"I don't know, but let's step outside," the Doctor was looking, too, though he guided them out the door they'd just come through.
"And do what?" Donna asked.
"Wait," the Doctor replied, bringing them toward a nearby bench.
"What are we waiting for?" Blaine asked, sitting at Donna's side.
"I don't know," the Doctor shrugged, and Donna scoffed; it was starting to sound familiar. "How should I know if it hasn't come yet?" he reasoned. "Besides, it's a beautiful day, we could do with enjoying some of it," he sat back against the bench. Finally, Blaine followed suit, and Donna as well, though with some frustration.
"So what happens when whatever it is we're waiting for happens?" Blaine asked. The Doctor opened his mouth to speak, but he was cut off.
"Oh, go on then, he knows," she shook her head. The Doctor turned to her.
"I do not," he insisted.
"Don't you though?" Donna slid him a knowing smile, as though she expected nothing else but for him to reveal he knew so much more than he was letting on.
"Donna, I really don't," he looked her in the eye; she wasn't convinced. "I mean I suppose I have a feeling of some kind, but I need a lot more than that."
"It's a curiosity," Blaine piped in, smiling as he recalled his previous run in with the Doctor. When the Time Lord tossed him a cautious glance, he realized he was on the verge of revealing that which they'd agreed to keep from Donna and he reined his expression back in.
"Yes, that's what I'd call it, I suppose. A curiosity."
So they waited, as the Doctor meant for them to. To make the time go by, the Doctor told Donna and Blaine a bit more about the man after which the Isher Academy had been named. He told them about some of his works, as they would not have heard them, although he remained convinced that, at one time or another, Isher had been to Earth, or Wagner had been to Mesiary, because two of their pieces oddly fit together.
They had no idea really how much time had passed with the three of them sat there, but then Donna saw something.
"Doctor, look, isn't that?" she pointed across the clearing. They all looked up, confirming it was exactly who she'd believed.
The boy, Trilby, was walking toward the Isher Academy, his bag thumping against his side as he went. The Doctor watched him go, while Trilby was so locked up in his own thoughts at that moment that he didn't look to have seen them on their bench.
There was a look, deep in his eyes, and it troubled the Doctor nearly as much as it seemed to trouble the boy. He was confused about something, and he was frightened by that confusion, as though he had suspicions on its nature, and that frightened him most of all.
TO BE CONTINUED (TOMORROW)
