This is a shift day [see above]. There will be another upload this afternoon: Steps 16-36, Time Is On Your Side, chapter 20.

"You'll Find Wonder"

10. Where the Wild Things Are

They would have said not to go and wander off, that what he was about to do would only get them all in trouble. That was probably why he hadn't brought them with him.

He had taken effort in not being seen as he went through the camp. It wouldn't be too hard to tell which tent held the two he had yet to meet. That they were guarded, that was one clue, but even then all he had to do was to look at the others, the humans, those who worked there and knew the secret of their performers, to one degree or another. They didn't make it so obvious, but he could see it: they were afraid, or weary of what was in those tents. He reached the first one and, finding a point to enter unseen, he went in, getting down on all fours and ducking under the fabric.

He was still only halfway in that he was caught by the shoulders and yanked the rest of the way. "Hold on, hold on!" he tried to speak until he was flipped on his back and then she had him pinned, arm across his throat. "Peace!" he croaked. Her face appeared swimming overhead, a pale face in a curtain of dark hair, but it was her eyes… He imagined if she had been transported to a time closer to where his present companion originated, they might have thought they were contacts and left her alone. Either way, he quickly got the impression she was not the one to cross.

"How dare you enter here without my permission?" her voice was as hard as her eyes.

"I'm sorry, was that not the door?" his voice was barely that, with his air so constricted.

Something changed in her face as she was observing him. All of a sudden it was as though she had realized something, and now she needed to make sure. She prodded at his face, inspected his clothes… He couldn't even react at first, so taken by surprise, but then she was in his coat pocket and he got his senses back.

"Wait, now…" he started, but then her hand had found the sonic screwdriver in his pocket, pulled it out, and his hand was barely fast enough to close around it as well. They remained there for a moment, him on his back, her straddling him, and both of them holding the screwdriver between them. She looked at it, looked to him, and now she had her answer… he wasn't from around here. Only there was nothing about him physically, as far as she could tell, that identified him as from one world or another, which left her to wonder if maybe…

"A new recruiter?" she asked slowly.

"Recruited, I'm afraid," he continued. "Please, if you would just," he tried to free himself from her, and after observing him a moment more, she'd gotten up, snagging the screwdriver from him. "If I can just…" he started, sitting up and pointing to the screwdriver, prompting her to point it to him. He raised his hands. "It's alright, you hold on to it," he didn't break eye contact while he stood. "I…" he started, then couldn't help himself, "Now don't hold it like that, it's not a…" She turned it and he paused again.

"You're new," she stated. "Else you wouldn't still have this."

"Deep pockets," he shrugged. She looked down at it, as though trying to understand how it worked. "I'm the Doctor. What's your name?" She stood taller.

"Back home, I would be announced with half a dozen names, titles and attributes I earned solely by the station of my birth. But I believe one should earn their titles, so until I do… I am Tamrin."

He had never met her, but hearing the name he knew exactly who she was. He didn't know what made him do it, but instantly he fell back to his knees before her.

"Now I will have none of that," she stepped up to him, and after a moment he saw she was holding the sonic screwdriver back out to him. He took it, looking up at her. "Stand up," she told him, and so he did, putting the screwdriver back in his pocket, deep, deep in his pocket. "Where are you from, Doctor?"

"Here, there," he shrugged, still slightly amazed that she was standing before him, and for a moment he forgot what he was doing there, but then it came to him. "Are you alright?"

"Aside from the intrusion, yes," she threw him a look and he mouthed a 'sorry,' but she had already moved past him, drawn by the sound of howling. "Won't he be quiet?" she looked unnerved, riled up. The sound of the call only made her want to get out there and make him stop, but then she couldn't.

"I'll see what I can do," the Doctor took this as his chance to exit, which he did, going back the way he'd come. He sprang back to his feet outside, dusting himself off and looking around – no witnesses. "Perfect…" he told himself before making his way toward the second tent. They stayed away from that one even more than the first. It wasn't hard to know it was the right one, now that he had been made to pick up on the howling.

Sneaking into that one, he chose the same method as before, hoping more than anything that he wasn't about to get pulled in again. But he wasn't, wouldn't. Tamrin's tent had shown rudimentary furnishings, but still looked like more of a home than the other four had all together on the other side of the camp. This one though was just a tent, with a cage in the middle, and in the cage, the source of the howling. He was sitting there, cross-legged, despondent, as he released his mournful call. The Doctor approached him with caution but also compassion.

"Hello…" he started, and the howling stopped, the beastly man skittering back in his cage. "No, it's alright, I won't hurt you," he crouched, showing his hands, empty. "Friend," he declared himself. "You can understand me, yes?" The man calmed, slowly, approached a little. "Yes, alright." The more he came into the light, the more the Doctor could recognize where he might be from, and he could understand why the others couldn't comprehend him. Lucky for him, he might be able to assist there. "What's your name?" he asked. To others, it might have sounded like nothing more than growls, but the Doctor was not 'others.' "Anro," he nodded, and the man came even closer. "Yes, alright, good," he smiled. "Haven't gotten to speak to anyone in some time, have you?"

For some time, the Doctor remained there, listening to Anro, hearing his tale. He was told of how he had been caught by the Time Agent, brought here, and then about 'Belle Whip,' how they would provoke him, force him to go out there and be tamed by her. He also said he knew that she was being misled, that he'd tried to tell her, but that she couldn't understand him. Night after night where they would be thrown into that ring, they'd have to do as told, or they could get in trouble. So until they could talk, all he had…

"What are you doing in here?" the voice interrupted them, and the Doctor looked up while Anro shrank back into the shadows of his cage. It was them, the three guards, the two men and the woman who had hit him. "Time to put you in your place, freak."

"Toni, Magnus wants him in the next show," one of the men held her back. She pulled her arm away, looked back to the Doctor. "Just a small lesson."

TO BE CONTINUED (FRIDAY)