The Eternal Sunlight (3)

The hours passed slowly. Dawn sat weakly against the far wall of the cell, staring ceaselessly at the dust specks floating in the one strand of sunlight coming in from the window above her head. Every five minutes, (or was it ten minutes?), a guard would come and peer in at her, their spears and sneers making her heart leap every time. Being a prisoner on an alien planet isn't really something a small kid from London can get used to in under two hours.

As Dawn finally began to go stir crazy, the leader woman entered the small dungeon. The teen made a start as the enormous shadow danced on the wall, but the closest guard called out, "All bow before our commander!"

Like it was all completely natural, each ad every guard in sight bowed their heads. Some even kneeled, holding their swords awkwardly beside them after they clinked on the stone floor. Dawn merely glared at the woman as she approached her cell. "It is time."

A cold shiver ran down Dawnms spine. She was half awake when the guard unlocked her cell and pulled her out by her shoulders. Her eyes didn't really see anything again until she and the leader were at the top of he dungeon staircase. Her nerves steeled; jaw set. She wasn't going to go without a fight.

"You sir want to do this."

The woman rolled her eyes, shaking her head, but she didn't reply. Dawn bit her lip and glanced around their new surroundings. They were in the great entrance hall again, but it was nearly empty. She guessed the sun must be getting pretty low, then; they all must be asleep. Even the doors were all locked, compelling a guard forward at each new barrier as they made their way towards the bleak world outside.

They were one door away from the terrifying rock field outside when the Doctor's voice spun Dawn's head around. "Dawn!"

Her body tried to follow her turned head, but the guards holding her arms tightened their grip. "Doctor!"

"I'll get us out of this, Dawn. I swear."

The guard holding the Doctor's handcuffed arms spat, "Keep it quiet, you!"

Dawn was only slightly comforted by the presence of the Doctor. With the situation they are in, though, all of his Timelord tricks were useless and unavaulable. The feeling she identified as most prevalent in her pained chest was guilt. If she had only kept her mouth shut. If only she hadn't gotten them both into this...they could be flying off in the TARDIS right now, sailing straight for Jupiter or some place she's never beard of. Just her and the Doctor, laughing and smiling in his ancient, beautiful ship.

The daylight nearly blinded Dawn's dark-adjusted eyes. Automatically, her hand tried to raise to cover her face, but the guards kept her muscles held down firmly. She cried out at the painful twist of her arms, and then bit her lip to keep quiet. Slowly, she turned her head once more to her friend. The Doctor's squinted eyes were watching the leader woman like a hawk watching a mouse.

Without any announcement or warning, Dawn was wrenched up by two guards and practically thrown onto a stone slab. The sun's rays, coming from just above the horizon on her side of the stone, burned into her face. If not anything else, she was definitely going to have a sunburn from this excursion. As the armored guards tied her wrists and ankles to the rock, though, she remembered that she was in much greater danger than a red face.

The leader woman paced forward menacingly, teeth in a sneer, or so it seemed. She looks like a great big dog. Or perhaps a wolf. Her face was in shadow with the sun shining behind her. At least the sun was blocked by her massive size.

"This girl shall be sacrificed for the good of our people. The Great Leader shall join us presently and stop this omen at the heart. Her associate, the Doctor as he is called, shall be sacrificed next, to hope for a cure for all of our diseases and maladies."

The Doctor forced himself forward, gritting his teeth as the guards tried to pull him back. "I'm sorry, but if you want people saved and Suns to keep rising, why don't you just let us make that happen? Will killing us really help you at all?"

The woman's piecing eyes turned on him. "This is our land, and these are our beliefs. If you do not agree, that is fine, but we will not cater our culture to the likes of someone as disrespectful as you."

"I'm sorry; am I really the disrespectful one here?"

"You mock our traditions and have spoken back to us since the minute you arrived."

"While you threw us in prison and made us chat with the nice for a few hours. Who's really higher on the respect spectrum?"

The woman nodded to on of her guards, and a moment later he had punched the Doctor gruffly in the stomach, forcing the Timelord to his knees. Dawn heard his exclamation of pain and tried to turn her head, but she was utterly trapped still to the unyielding rock.

"All now before the Great Leader."

Thundering footsteps approached the scene, commanding attention. The large woman by the Doctor knelt before her superior with nothing less than awe. Meanwhile, the Great Leader's eyes scanned the people before him, landing on Dawn's prone form on the table. "It is time for the sacrifice."

Dawn's heart beat in her throat. This was actually happening. Her and the Doctor were really going to die out here on this barren wasteland. They had no their options; no hope. The teen felt tears stinging her eyes even as she closed them tightly.

"If you even touch her, I will make sure you will never see the light of day again. She is under my protection, and I will never stop protecting her."

The Doctor's voice was gravely and rough, laced with just a touch of emotion and sadness. His dark eyes cut through the Great Leader like a knife. The man turned away and went to Dawn with only slight hesitation. "Dawn shall not need come, for the sun will never set on Luceat Solas."

The man raised his arms, and Dawn finally opened her eyes, taking in the knife with wide and terrified eyes. Her breathing had practically stopped already, there was no need for all of this drama.

Just as the man was about to lower his knife on the girl's chest, and just as she closed her eyes; just as the Doctor screamed out her name and the leader woman raised her head in curiosity and triumph; it happened. The landscape's red rocks and orange sand faded into blue and black. The air became crisp and a chill swept through the atmosphere. The rays of light hid behind the distant hills, throwing their world into darkness. The sky became navy, dotted with white stars. For the first time in history, the sun had set on Luceat Solas.