26*06*2010
"Anyone can tell that echoes move forward and backward in time, in rings. But not everyone realizes that, as a result, silence becomes harder and harder for us to grasp—though in itself it is unchanged—because of the echoes pouring through us out of the past."
- W.S. Merwin
Chapter One: The Phoenix Man
Inside the shuttle, Rory regained consciousness at the same time that engine one went critical. He blinked, feeling his systems return to normal, then looked around, taking notice of the dangerously sparking console. ~The engines are going to ignite at any second now.~ Then he noticed the large pool of blood on the floor and…
"Koschei!" He shouted in alarm, seeing the deadly wound in his friend's chest. The nav-station blew, and he threw himself on top of Koschei's prone form in an attempt to shield him from the blast. "No!"
Koschei pressed something cool and smooth into his hand. A gun. ~Where'd he get—Oh.~ Rory looked down at him questioningly, but a bright white light consumed Koschei's entire body as the engines ignited, overloading Rory's optical sensors. It was too late to hesitate any longer. Rory pointed the gun at the hatch behind him, switching it to its highest setting, and blew it open, letting himself be sucked out into space before the super-hot plasma from the reactor could melt him down.
The TARDIS materialized behind him, at a safe distance from the exploding shuttle. Amy hastily opened the doors so that he fell right in, promptly slamming the doors behind him and locking them to keep out any flying debris.
"Kos…" Rory muttered deliriously. The Doctor hurried over and began scanning him with his sonic. Amy knelt down beside him, running a hand through his hair.
"I know. Shh… Don't try to speak." She responded gently. Her hands were shaking slightly as she helped the Doctor peel a piece of burnt fabric away from one of Rory's wounds.
"He was…"
"I know, Rory. There's nothing you could've..." The Doctor assured him. "Hold him still please, Amy."
"Shh… Calm down, we're trying to help you." Amy urged, holding on to the panicking AI's shoulders. "Doctor?"
"There!" The Doctor exclaimed. Rory's eyes flickered for a second before there was a humming sound, like some circuits powering down, and they returned to normal again. Rory coughed out a little steam, but at least he wasn't shaking anymore. "Got it! The signal is officially blocked. His burns are mostly minor; they should heal up in no time. Come on, Amy help me get him to medical." Amy ducked under Rory's right arm while the Doctor took his left and they quickly carried him to TARDIS medical and laid him carefully on one of the two beds to clean his burns. "You're going to be just fine, Rory."
Just before he passed out, Rory grabbed the Doctor's sleeve, gasping out.
"I saw him! I saw him in the light."
River Song patiently allowed her prison guards to lead her to her new cell. She had already escaped the first cell that they'd put her in, but she'd had her reasons. They were good ones even, but that's another story. Two guards opened her cell door, with one standing on either side and nodded to Sergeant Reed. Sergeant Reed led her into the cell, then shut and locked the door behind her.
"Are all my belongings accounted for?" She inquired.
"Of course." Reed assured her, trying not to show how disturbed he was by her sudden compliance.
"Good." She returned, smiling.
"As you were." The sergeant ordered her guards and left. She sat down on her cot and waited. It wouldn't be long now. Soon, he would come. ~Poor guards, another escape on their very first day. Oh well, it can't be helped.~ She reached over, resting a hand on the old fashioned, leather suitcase sitting at the foot of her cot. Her smile spread a little wider. ~Any time now…~
Bright light everywhere, there was a strange rushing sensation and a dreamlike feeling of detachment from ones own body, then briefly, bodies. ~ Two places at once. Ooh, that's something! Why am I not in pain? I was injured. Was I not? Oh yes, there it is! Fuck! Why did I question it?~ There was a soft thump as his body landed on the dusty ground behind some old, dilapidated shack.
Warm, golden light spread over him, growing brighter until he was nothing but a vaguely man shaped pool of brilliant, fiery, energy. He snapped awake with a start, knocking over the nearby trash can, letting out an undignified grunt.
"Hello?" A familiar voice questioned, coming closer. His pale silver eyes blinked open to shoot the offending container an irritated glare as the golden energy emanating from him faded away.
"Hello? Are you alright?" The familiar voice tried again, still coming towards him around the far side of the little shack. He looked curiously up to see who it was, his eyes widened in surprise as recognition finally dawned on his scattered mind.
"Amy? What! Where?" He questioned, feeling extremely disoriented. Amy stared at him, showing no sign that she'd recognized him. At most she looked surprised to find this strange, apparently unwanted person lying on the ground outside her shack. ~Wait. Shack?~
"You're on fire." She informed him. He looked down at himself.
"Wha- Oh. Fuck!" He exclaimed and did his best to quickly extinguish the flames that were consuming the back of his utterly destroyed jacket and hoodie. ~This sounds like… Ah, of course.~ He thought to himself, getting up off the ground and brushing himself off more out of habit than anything. ~Oh, look. I seem to have gotten taller.~
"Who are you, and what are you doing here?" Amy demanded. He wasn't paying full attention anymore. ~That is the question, isn't it… Oh, they're ruined! My clothes are definitely, completely ruined! I liked this jumper! Oh right, I should respond before she notices that I haven't been listening.~
"Hmm, why do you—" ~No. That's no good.~ "Ah, actually where is 'here'?"
Lessli ran through the jungle at top speed. He couldear the mechanical whirring of his pursuer's probes, hovering after them through the air. He hated this place. It was humid enough, but it was far too hot for his body's needs and the dense vegetation made it impossible for him to see anything after nightfall. He supposed that was why The Function had chosen this damned location as their meeting place.
"Darius?" He called to his brother, tightly.
"What?" Darius snapped from a couple paces behind him.
"You are running far too slowly! Hasten your pace, half-breed, or I will be forced to leave you behind!" He threatened. Darius snorted.
"Forced." He echoed cynically, then struck Lessli's shoulder, dropping to the jungle floor. "Duck!" Lessli dropped to the ground just in time for the oncoming probe to miss him. It flew by, raining down plasma beams upon them as it continued past.
"Duck?" Lessli echoed disapprovingly. "Another Terran expression."
"Yes, yes. The useless inferior species. What good is a half human going to be to you? Except, I can see after nightfall." Darius snarked, ignoring his brother's irritated stare. "Oh yeah! That is handy. Thank you, Darius!"
Lessli got up off the ground, yanking his brother up by his arm, and patted his cheek.
"Very nice, Darius. We must continue." He responded, unmoved by Darius' complaints.
"There's a cave over th—" Darius began, then stopped himself, remembering his commander's current visual impairment. "You know… Why don't you just follow me?" He amended, beginning to head toward the aforementioned cave. Lessli grabbed his shoulder and stopped him.
"A strong warrior does not hide." Lessli quoted to him. Darius rolled his eyes, shrugging his commander's hand off impatiently.
"Yes. I remember that one too, however, I am willing to settle for remaining living warriors for now, and leaving the character building for later." Darius argued. Lessli continued to glare. "I won't tell anyone if you don't, I swear." Darius insisted. He looked over Lessli's shoulders, catching sight of the fast approaching metal disks in the distance. "Les, they are coming! Now! We have to move!"
"The others were right. You are still far too Terran." Lessli observed reproachfully. Darius swallowed, looking from Lessli to the oncoming probes and back again.
"Lessli!" He warned. Lessli growled, closing his eyes and shooting the nearest probe out of the air before it could reach him.
"You want to hide?" He shouted, throwing Darius back as he continued to shoot at the probes. "Then hide!" Darius coughed and gasped, trying to get his breath after the impact had knocked it out of him.
"Son of a bitch!" He cursed, noticing that his gun had been knocked out of his grip by Lessli's unexpected blow. He looked around for it desperately, but it was out of his reach. There was no way that he could get to it in time. He rolled out of the way as one of the drones surged down from the sky in an attempt to crush him. He rolled into a crouch and darted into the shadows of the nearby cave. As he pressed himself back against the wall, trying to keep out of sight, he glanced over at Lessli, just in time to see the biosynth creeping up behind him.
"No!" He cried out, but it was already too late. Lessli's head flew away into the foliage, then the biosynth dropped the rest of him onto the ground.
"Target eliminated." It reported blandly. She looked familiar, but his panicked mind couldn't pinpoint why. She… It turned to look at him, expressionlessly. A probe swooped down past it, speeding towards him. He clamped his eyes shut, flinching, when someone further into the shadows of the cave, suddenly grabbed his wrist.
"Doctor!" Amy called as she hurried down the stairs to join the depressed Timelord in the control room. He was sitting solemnly near the controls, staring unseeingly at the drive-pillar, exactly the way that she'd left him. "Doctor!"
"Hmm." He responded disinterestedly.
"You are not going to believe this!"
"Alright."
"Oi! Snap out of it! This is important!" Amy insisted, leaning down in front of the Doctor and forcing him to meet her eyes. ~She looks excited.~ He finally noticed. ~Not just excited. She's almost smiling. Nearly.~
"What?"
"He left this." Amy explained, shoving a hastily scribbled note into his hands. It was still obviously written in Koschei's neat, practiced hand. "Wrapped around this." Amy continued, holding up the Master's screwdriver. "In my coat." The Doctor read the note and looked back at Amy, frowning.
"The rest of it?"
"Turn it over." Amy ordered, watching him closely to gauge his reaction. On the back was an abused, faded, screen-still of the Red-headed Man. Written over it in all capitol letters, were two simple words.
"FIND ME."
A/N: Dear Readers: I'm currently considering writing a sequel to Koschei's Trinity. Unlike this story, the sequel would be a crossover with another science fiction series I like, Warehouse 13 and would be more AU. I know KT is already ridiculously long, so I will understand if people object. If enough readers do so, I'm willing to scrap the idea, however if that is the case I need to hear about it before I post the next chapter. You guys know how I write...
Thanks for reading this. I know this chapter was short, but I think the next chapter is probably going to be much longer(depending on whether I have to cut a scene or not) to make up for it. Special thanks to Time Travelling Animagus, CrystalSearcher, and EluraSeregin for reviewing. This chapter's currently unbetaed, so I'm probably going to go back over it to fix any grammar or spelling errors I missed some time in the next couple of days. Sorry about that.
