Disclaimer: See chapter 1.
A/N: Hi everyone, I'm back! Sorry about the multiple emails some of you must be getting. This chapter has been appearing in code and I'm trying to rectify the situation. I'm not sure what's been happening. Anyways I'm super excited to get back to this story. As always, what did you like? Do you have any criticism for me? Leave a review and let me know. ~TW
Chapter 13:
It was difficult to describe this place. The Master had no idea what it was. All he knew was that he had just died on the Valiant. This place was black and cold. It wasn't anything real, it couldn't be. Perhaps the best idea would be to walk. So, the Master plodded along in a random direction. He couldn't see anything but blackness for miles around. It must have been hours before he found anything. He had almost given up; his feet hurt and his throat was burning. Eventually he saw the entrance to a valley guarded by two mountain ranges. He ran to the valley, as he cleared the entrance he saw a large lake. He dropped to his knees, and scooped large amounts of water into his mouth. It soothed the burning of his throat.
The Master splashed water onto his face, pausing when he heard ethereal laughing, and a growl behind him. He slowly stood up and turned to face the noise. The creatures behind him were terrifying. There a small woman darkness flowing behind her like a cape. By her side were two large black wolves. The wolves growled, their hackles raising. He put his hands up, hoping it would satisfy the mutts.
"Come on, you wouldn't hurt a traveller, would you? I've done you no harm."
The woman laughed. It was both beautiful and terrifying. The Master heard water falling behind him like a waterfall. He turned to discover a large serpent behind him. This is what humans called a leviathan. He heard the laugh again; the wolves howled and leapt at the leviathan. The woman jumped over his head and attacked the monster. The darkness that had been flowing behind her took on a life of its own and attacked the monster as well.
The Master took this opportunity to slip away. If all these creatures were occupied, then they wouldn't notice him leaving. He ran towards the mountains to the right of him. He then walked along them, thankful for the cover the trees gave him. He looked over toward the lake and saw darkness heading towards him. He began to ran but the darkness caught up to him. It reformed as the young woman and the two wolves. They fell in line with his pace as he ran. They would not leave him be. As they ran, the woman and the wolves would tear apart anything in his path that threatened him. He paid no attention to it. The woman's presence was oppressive. He could feel her presence pressing in on him from all sides. The two wolves were terrifying in their own rights. They could maul him at any given time, and he had the distinct feeling he wouldn't be able to stop them if he tried.
He found a naturally occurring ramp in the rock face that lead to a cave. He turned and looked at the carnage behind him. His eyes widened and his eyebrows rose toward his hairline. The death itself did not bother him in the slightest, but the killing had been so messy. If he was killing with his bare hands, or blades he preferred to keep it clean. No point in ruining a perfectly good outfit after all. Messy carnage was only fun when guns and explosives were involved. Hm, that reminded him of the time he used a vinegar bomb to blow up a Raxacoricofallapatorian embassy. Blood and gore everywhere…good times. He ran up the ramp and into the cave. He kept an eye out of the valley that night, the woman staying with him. The wolves would periodically wander off to investigate the goings on in the valley.
Over the course of his time in the purgatory he began to call the woman: the Ghoul. She seemed to like it. He began to see that the wolves were closer to what humans called hellhounds. He called them Sangre and Sombra. It was Spanish for blood and shadow. As his time in purgatory dragged on, he saw the true power of the Ghoul. He both marvelled at it, and was terrified by it.
**SaveMe**
Missy, Clara and the Doctor dragged their feet across the desert. According to Oswin, Clara's memories were far south of where Missy and the Doctor had originally landed. The heat was scorching, and the humidity was oppressive.
"Mind turning down that heat dial Poppet?" jested Missy.
"If I figure out how I'll do it," said Clara.
The Doctor smiled, it was good to see them getting along. More than getting along, if what he'd seen in the cave had been an indicator. Missy had been deliberately brushing against Clara, putting an arm around her waist and standing slightly in front of Clara in a protective gesture. Clara on the other hand would unconsciously brush against Missy, and lean into Missy's touches. He thought it was sweet.
As they got further toward the trees, they came across the skeleton graveyard. Clara gasped, and Missy wound an arm around her waist, hurrying Clara along. Missy knew that Clara wasn't accustomed to seeing death on this scale. It was nothing to her; she'd even been the cause of this a few times. The disconcerting part for Missy was that these skeletons were all versions of Clara. The Doctor looked a little green. Like Missy he was no stranger to death on this scale, but these were all versions of Clara. Neither of them were comfortable with any scenario that involved Clara's death.
The trio were thankful to reach the trees as night began to fall. They made camp in a small clearing, a fire burned in the middle. Missy gave Clara her jacket, and made sure to stay close to her. The Doctor took up a spot on the opposite side of the fire to the two women.
"Missy, you seem to know the Ghoul best. Tell us more about her, we have to be prepared to confront her," said the Doctor.
Missy took a breath, and cuddled into Clara. Clara leaned into Missy, realising her…whatever Missy was, was a cuddler. Go figure, a cuddly psychopath.
"The Ghoul's power is awesome, terrifying but awesome. She pulled off horrors that even I am incapable of…even if it's only because I lack her powers," said Missy.
"What are her powers exactly?" asked the Doctor.
"Well, it's all to do with that darkness that follows her around. I believe she manipulates it to her will, which means it's mostly ultra-violent purposes," said Missy "She also has command over Sangre and Sombra."
"Sangre and Sombra?" asked Clara.
"The wolves that are with her, although they're more like hellhounds than wolves," said Missy.
The Doctor huffed, rubbing his face before mussing his hair. He didn't like what he was hearing. The Ghoul was beginning to sound more supernatural than alien. The supernatural did not exist, it couldn't within scientific law.
"You make the Ghoul sound supernatural, but the supernatural doesn't exist," said the Doctor.
"Life after death shouldn't exist either, but there was a life after I died on the Valiant. Don't be so quick to dismiss these things Doctor," said Missy.
"So on a scale of 1 to Doomsday, how much trouble are we in?" asked Clara.
"Gory, supernatural horror film," deadpanned Missy.
All joking aside, the trio knew that they were in over their heads. How the hell were they meant to take on something they knew next to nothing about, with no outside resources? It was official, they were up shit creek with no paddle. It was time to do what they did best…improvise.