A/N: (feel free to skip my useless rambling) And we're back with yet another chapter! This one is quite a bit shorter than the others, and I apologize. It's more of a segway chapter into the next part of the story than anything else. The plot moves forward, it's just a little less important and vast than usual. Anyway, I hope you guys have been having an awesome week! I, for one, am still swamped with finals. As for general housekeeping: Kudos to Evenmoor, MrsDalek, and proellusionist for reviewing. As for proellusionist's question... you probably won't be seeing much Clara action from me. I wasn't that big of a fan of her, she was cool, but she just didn't hold her own like I thought she would (she seemed to be like an Amy clone to me), but that's just my opinion - please don't stone me for it. I love all the companions, just some more than others. River, Donna, Barbara and Sarah Jane - in my opinion - are where it's at (but I tend to like the strong characters instead of the ones who are making puppy eyes at the Doctor). Anyway- companion rant aside! (No companion wars here, please). I hope you guys enjoy this chapter even though it's short, and I'll see you all next week! Don't forget to leave me a review :) I promise I don't bite.

11

"The skies are burnt orange, with a citadel enclosed in a mighty glass dome beneath twin suns. Beyond that the mountains go on forever, slopes of deep red grass capped with white snow." - The Doctor, Gridlock

Sam plunged along through the trees as the darkness began to pale, creeping back to its bed in the shadows. Her ankle was throbbing. During the night, she'd had no sense of direction. She'd just followed the riverbank, turning to the side whenever her feet met icy, liquid surprise. Now that she was no longer being chased, the adrenaline and fear was gone, leaving only pain in their wake. Her throat felt dry, her tongue had turned to sand and she finally managed to sink to the spongy earth and crawl her way to where the water ran cool and clear over mossy rocks where tadpoles hid, happy and safe.

She never thought she'd envy a tadpole.

She cupped her hands and dipped them into the river, then drank it greedily. It became a game to chase the water droplets before they escaped back to their source. Finally, she felt refreshed, and took a breath, bracing herself as she stood once more to continue to look for her team.

A flock of birds sprang from their nests and Sam froze, reaching for the pistol she'd locked safely in the calf of her boot. She had no way of knowing whether the disturbance was a squirrel, a wolf, or the creature itself. Her heart began to race as she glared into the underbrush. Then, a sound came that turned her legs to jelly.

"Major Carter!"

Relief, the realization of her rescue flooded through her and she nearly collapsed back to the ground as Teal'c's solid form brushed aside the branches as if they were mere flies. In three quick strides he crossed over to her and supported her while he called loudly for the rest of SG-1. First Daniel, with a surprised little, "Sam!" She could've heard Jack a mile off as he thundered through he bushes. She barely had time to register his frantic questions as he checked her up and down, asking whether or not she was hurt and if she knew if the alien was nearby. She didn't notice the Doctor looking around, forlorn and devastated that his wife hadn't been rescued.

"I... don't know where it is, Sir," Sam answered quickly. She then glanced down at herself. "I think my ankle's sprained, but I'm ok."

"Oh, thank god," Daniel took a step back and let out a sigh.

Jack wrapped an arm around her. "Let's go."

But their archaeologist was scanning the area and his eyebrows drew together. "Where's Dr. Song?"

O'Neill had conveniently forgotten about that. He had nothing against the woman, but he needed to get his team home. "C'mon, Daniel!"

"Wha- you can't just leave my wife out there!"

Jack stopped, sighing as he turned to face the Time Lord who stood in the clearing, looking surprised and angry and terrified, his bowtie all askew. "Look, I want to save her, I do. But I have my own team to think about right now!"

"But, Jack, didn't you say nobody gets left behind?" Daniel pointed out, trying to be patient.

Jack just wanted to get Sam home okay. He supposed the Doctor only naturally felt the same about River. He sighed, warring with himself. It was Sam who pushed him over the edge. "She saved my life, Sir."

That snapped him into action. Jack looked at Teal'c and then back at the Doctor. "We're going to need your help." He wasn't one to turn down expertise when it was standing right there wearing tweed and a bowtie.

Said Expertise grinned and straightened the aforementioned bowtie and nodded. "Right, okay. Sam," he turned to the major, "Can you take us back to where you left River? We'll go from there, track it down."

"And then?"

"I don't know. I've never actually hunted one of these before."

"Great." Jack threw his hands up in the air.

"Look, it's a good start. We have to find them first," Daniel reasoned, "We can think about what we'll do on the way."

Sam was already started off in the direction she thought she had come from. She was pretty sure she could find her way back to that hole they'd found the night before. Jack winced as he watched her limp along before walking up to her and putting an arm around her for support. She gave him a grateful smile and continued on.

The Doctor was worried out of his mind, he just didn't want to let on. He didn't think his heart could manage losing River right now. Sure, he knew how she died, but that didn't mean that she could get seriously hurt out here. His left heart jumped at that thought and he swallowed thickly. He'd already lost Amy and Rory... and now Clara. He just didn't want to be alone. Maybe it was selfish, maybe it wasn't, but River was the last thing in the Universe that truly mattered. Nobody else even came close. What would he do without her?

The sun was already at its peak when they reached a small clearing. Sam pointed to a hole in the ground with a small exclamation and they knew they had reached their destination. He looked around, suddenly aware of the roar of the river not far off. The rest of the forest was strangely quiet. No birds, no small animals - just the river, and his River and the creature were somewhere out there. Teal'c was studying the ground intently, translating disturbances in the terrain into a narrative of River's battle from the night before. The Doctor hardly had the courage to listen.

All his energy was spent on thinking. He needed to wrangle this mystery, to bring it into the light. How could someone give form to something that had none? How could one fight an enemy that never seemed to be there? How could he, the last of the Time Lords, somehow manage to wrestle with the bane of his ancestors? He was torn between wanting to leave this last echo of Gallifrey alone, to let go on. It was the last of its kind, just like him, a ripple - a shadow, a footprint in the sand.

Yet the tide from the Oncoming Storm was coming in.

The group was already moving on. He followed them, his mind turning the Keeper's words over and over in his mind. He always did things for a reason - just like he'd given River his screwdriver when she went to the library, he would have told the Keeper that specific stanza of the poem for some reason. That was what he needed to focus on.

They were following a beaten trail, scratch marks in the sandy soil. The ground rolled ever downward. It would slope eventually into a river bank. It would have benefited the Time Lord and SG-1 to know that somewhere, just southward from where they traveled, where the tide of the river washed away track marks, solid mist was ambling along. It dragged on the still-unconscious River Song behind it. The creature was far more intelligent than any Lord of Time had previously thought, and it wanted to avenge the red mountains of Gallifrey from whence it had come.