The grass glowed golden in the light of the sinking sun, gently waving in an unfelt breeze. He walked up the hill to a large tree with silver leaves that wore the same golden tinge in the current light. It was an image from a tale, an image he witnessed almost every evening and that, however, never ceased to amaze his plagued mind.
There under the tree sat a boy, roughly twelve years old - his own age - blond hair and freckles on his face. The eyes were cast upwards to the sky and watched the slowly appearing stars. As if the boy had heard him, he turned his head and smiled playfully.
"Did you sneak out again, Koschei?" he asked and the smile dropped. "You shouldn't. Your father will only beat you again."
He shrugged and sat next to the boy, cross-legged. "I'm old enough. If he doesn't keep his hands to himself he won't live that much longer."
"That you always say."
He huffed. "Not scolding me again?"
"I... I don't want you to hurt anyone." The boy cast his eyes down. "But..."
"He is a bad man. Wouldn't it be a good deed to remove him?" Koschei smiled sarcastically to himself. "One day... it won't be only words." He glared up at the stars and felt his hearts pounding excitedly at their sight. "I'll run away, Theta. Not today. But as soon as I will have learned enough."
The boy looked over at him, eyes wide. "And see the universe? Look at all the amazing places from our books?"
"Look at them?" He huffed amused and a smug grin widened his lips. "No. I want to hold them in my hands. Those shining lights up there, those beautiful blinking treasures. I want them to be mine. All of them."
His hearts were longing for the stars since he could remember. And maybe, if he was lucky, there would be one place where he might find out more about the strange drumming noise he heard so faintly in the back of his head. He had searched all the archives in the academy, but had found nothing about it. And asking another Time Lord was out of the question. Keeping the drums a secret had been the only way to ensure they would let him visit the academy after all.
He had not even told Theta about it. And he was his best friend.
"Will you take me with you?"
Koschei turned and looked into the curious wide eyes of said friend. He smiled back at him, his hearts feeling warm and jumpy, as they always did. No one else was accepting him just as he was. Only Theta ever did.
"Sure. I'll need a slave on that journey, after all."
"Oi!" protested the boy and got only a mean snickering back. "We're equals!"
"No, silly, we're not." Theta's face dropped and his eyes displayed a sudden sadness that was unbearable, so Koschei hastened to add, "We're friends. And when we're ready to leave... I want you by my side, yeah?"
The blond boy nodded and sighed relieved. His face got a dreamy look when he glanced back up at the sky. "Let's visit each and every single star out there."
"Big plan." He snickered. "I like that."
The suns vanished behind the horizon, drowning the fields in blue and purple shades. For a while the boys said nothing, being fully engulfed in the sensation of passing time and the soothing gravity of their rotating planet. Their home.
"Each and every single star," he murmured to himself and smiled.
"Yes. And we won't stop until we're done," Theta added, his voice barely audible.
"Never."
oOo~-̶̰͕͑̐ ̵̡͔̕~̷̱̤̖̆͋͘ ̴͍̈́̂̽.̴̯̦̹͛ ̶͍̎͌#̷̡̳̟͆ ̷̲̇̋̑-̸̧͙͂ ̶͕̜̆̐̿~̵̡̛̳͖͂̃ ̵̣̊̓̄.̷͇̺́̏ ̷̞̑͐#̶̢͈̦͌ ̴̰̃̐͠-̸̝́ ̵̛̱͉~̸̫̈̎ ̴̙̇̿̄.̵̧͙̻̓͛̓ ̵̦̠̈́̿#̵̳͎̯̀̑ ̷͓̩̞̉̑͑-̴̮̞̕ ̸̢̭̪̊~̷͔͇̞̈́͝ ̵̙̬̓.̶̰̘̏͘ ̶̯̝͐̿͛#̷̪̆́ ̶̼̎̾͋-̸̨́ ̴͙̹̪͆͊~̵͓̓̔͐ ̶̛͎͍̗.̷̀̎ͅ ̴̳̬͆͝#̵͉̻̭̓̑ ̶͈̗̩̂̈́-̷̢̛̙͆͐ ̶̙̐~̶̬͓̎̈ ̵͓̄.̶̹̪̆͝͝ͅ ̵̥̑̀̈́#̵̭͚͂̔ ̷̤͔̈́͜-̷̥̗̈ ̵̝̀͆͘~̶̓̿͜ ̸̺̣̈́.̴̜͗̅ ̴̿͜#̷͈͉̋ͅ ̴̡̠̒̾-̵̡̯̤̒̕ ̸̺͋͂~̸̦̗͚̾̕ ̸̭̝͋.̸̢͖̻̅̇͝ ̴̨̬͗#̵̺͍̮̂ ̴͖̫̈́ͅ~oOo
Slowly the images faded into blackness, got overridden by other, more incoherent scenes from Roka's memories before she awoke completely, and somewhat puzzled for various reasons.
Firstly because there was a faint rhythm drumming in her head, a steady and slow beat of four. The Master had once projected his drums into her head and it had completely overwhelmed her, had made her barely able to even move, nor to properly think, until he had removed them again.
Secondly there was that weird dream from before. Never had she been to Gallifrey, hadn't even seen pictures of it. So how could she have dreamed so vividly about the place?
The solution to both puzzles probably lay right next to her. Slowly the memory of the previous evening resurfaced, their silly pillow fight and the Master so plainly misusing her as his personal cuddle toy. The thought made her grin impishly, especially when she got aware that he still held her tight in his sleep.
Roka huddled herself a little closer, realizing she was hearing his heartbeat, not any drums. Those were gone anyway. It was comfily warm and in her sleepiness she wanted to preserve the feeling of closeness she wouldn't have allowed for while being fully awake.
She couldn't have slept for long. The Master never needed more than one or two hours of rest, and even as exhausted as he must have been before, she doubted he would stay much longer. He was such a strange person, Roka thought. Still eager to have her be scared of him, often ruthless and sometimes outright brutal in what he did, and other times so gentle with her, wanting her close and even openly admitting it.
Slipping away a few inches she watched his peaceful face, the regular rising and sinking of his chest, the calmness he displayed, a lie to himself. They always played a dangerous game with one another, a dance of not quite trust and still too much of it. In this moment it would be so easy for her to free the universe of one of its greatest threats. The Master must be aware of the risk, and she was aware of the opportunity.
Not that she would be interested in harming him. It were other thoughts that nagged on her mind, thoughts she always tried to banish, but that kept creeping up to the surface whenever Roka didn't ask for them. Lying with the whole length of her body against him, feet slightly intertwined and his arm still around her middle was definitely too much at once. She couldn't resist trailing a finger over the spot of bare skin lurking out from where the buttons of his dress shirt were opened, lightly pushing his loosened tie to the side and sliding lower over the cloth, brushing the buttons, feeling the muscles under his skin. She wandered farther, closer to his belly. He let out a sigh, moved almost unnoticeably against her, the slight friction sending a shiver through Roka she could barely ignore. His hand on her back twitched, his fingers slowly gripping her site, then stroking tenderly lower, not waiting for any invitation as he slipped them under her shirt, trailing them upwards her bare skin, back to her hip, where he started to draw small, agonizing circles.
She shivered, almost letting out a surprised groan she could hold back just so. This had to stop right here and now or else she would simply let him do with her whatever he wanted. What she wanted, to be fair. Her breath hitched noticeably when his thumb lightly, almost too accidentally brushed against the underside of her breast.
"Stop that," she bit out between a moan and clenched teeth.
He did. Immediately. Roka opened her eyes to see his amused smirk and wasn't entirely sure whether to be relieved or disappointed that he did what she had asked for.
But the weird relationship they had was complicated enough and she was still undecided where her future way would lead. If she would stay with him at all, or only until she found her brother. If anything between him and her was even remotely able to work. Sure, her time stream was frozen, so she would not age, but there was still so much more that separated their very species from each other, not to speak of their characters. They might share a lot of traits, the love for the stars, for travelling and the freedom to do whatever they wanted. However, ultimately, their goals were different ones.
Where the Master wanted to own the universe, Roka was more eager to experience its secrets, altering only small bits, instead of creating huge waves. She also wasn't too fond of the Master's methods to obtain his goals, although his madness seemed to have calmed down a good bit without the drums.
He was on the search for a new purpose and the answer to the question, who he actually was without the rhythm constantly forcing him to action. And Roka was on a similar quest, wondering who she could become, now that she was real and visible to everyone.
Confused and undecided she turned herself around, with her back facing the Master as if in protest. The motion made the blanket slip from her shoulders, but he wrapped it back over her again and slightly curled himself around her in the process. Surprisingly not in a possessive manner, as she would have expected, leaving her still enough room to move away if she so desired.
She didn't. Instead she leaned back a little, feeling his warm body against hers, one hand snaking over her middle again to rest on her belly. Above her clothes, this time.
"Want me to go?" he muttered into her ear, the soft voice belying everything she knew about him.
"N... no. 'S alright." She sighed, feeling too tired to overthink this too much. Still, there was a question she wanted answered. "Do... you share dreams while sleeping?"
"No," he mumbled. "Why? Dreamed of me? That why you just-"
Roka poked him with her elbow and his mean snickering vibrated on her back.
"I saw Gallifrey," she finally told, her voice maybe a little bit more sourly than intended. "And you, as a boy. And... I think the Doctor as well. But you called him... Theta? Is that his name?"
The Master stiffened and was silent for almost a minute, not moving a single muscle. Roka thought she could feel a fraction of the tension that was radiating from him, an emotion that wasn't her own, again. But it also could be imagination on her end.
"That... was only a nickname. He never told anyone... You can't know that, little crow." He held her a little closer to himself and murmured, "I don't know why you saw that. Wasn't intentional. Tell me about it."
Roka did, in as much detail as she could remember the scene.
"That was no dream," the Master finally said, and it was hard to tell if he was surprised, concerned or only puzzled. "It happened... a long time ago."
"Then I saw a memory of yours?"
"Mhm... peculiar." He hummed deeply, almost growling, then removed his hand and sat up. "That shouldn't happen."
Roka turned to see him stand up and walk to the window to glare out of the dirty glass. Only for a few seconds, though, before he marched to the door and dropped his hand to the handle. His eyes shot towards Roka for the fraction of a second, thoughtfulness overshadowing every other expression. The Master shook his head slightly and pushed the handle down, leaving the room without another word.
Roka wondered what this had been about, and why she had seen his memory. But first and foremost she felt cold now, the presence next to her missing more than she was willing to accept.
oOo~-̶̰͕͑̐ ̵̡͔̕~̷̱̤̖̆͋͘ ̴͍̈́̂̽.̴̯̦̹͛ ̶͍̎͌#̷̡̳̟͆ ̷̲̇̋̑-̸̧͙͂ ̶͕̜̆̐̿~̵̡̛̳͖͂̃ ̵̣̊̓̄.̷͇̺́̏ ̷̞̑͐#̶̢͈̦͌ ̴̰̃̐͠-̸̝́ ̵̛̱͉~̸̫̈̎ ̴̙̇̿̄.̵̧͙̻̓͛̓ ̵̦̠̈́̿#̵̳͎̯̀̑ ̷͓̩̞̉̑͑-̴̮̞̕ ̸̢̭̪̊~̷͔͇̞̈́͝ ̵̙̬̓.̶̰̘̏͘ ̶̯̝͐̿͛#̷̪̆́ ̶̼̎̾͋-̸̨́ ̴͙̹̪͆͊~̵͓̓̔͐ ̶̛͎͍̗.̷̀̎ͅ ̴̳̬͆͝#̵͉̻̭̓̑ ̶͈̗̩̂̈́-̷̢̛̙͆͐ ̶̙̐~̶̬͓̎̈ ̵͓̄.̶̹̪̆͝͝ͅ ̵̥̑̀̈́#̵̭͚͂̔ ̷̤͔̈́͜-̷̥̗̈ ̵̝̀͆͘~̶̓̿͜ ̸̺̣̈́.̴̜͗̅ ̴̿͜#̷͈͉̋ͅ ̴̡̠̒̾-̵̡̯̤̒̕ ̸̺͋͂~̸̦̗͚̾̕ ̸̭̝͋.̸̢͖̻̅̇͝ ̴̨̬͗#̵̺͍̮̂ ̴͖̫̈́ͅ~oOo
They left the junkyard and scoured the area around, although there wasn't much to be found beside concrete ground and dust. Whatever the planet's past was, it might be worth a look. At a later point. Roka made a note in her notebook to remind herself of the coordinates.
The second half of the day was spent with the way back to the TARDIS. They took a small detour to cover more ground, but ultimately found nothing of interest.
"If only I knew what I'm looking for," Roka sighed and leaned against the scrape-metal hut that the TARDIS currently was.
"Stop nagging, it's only the fifth place we've been to."
The Master waved her words away, his gaze absently glaring into the distance. He looked - and felt - a lot more rested than before, but Roka could still sense something off about him. Since they had left the Doctor, he was acting strange.
Okay, he always was, to be fair, however not this kind of strange.
"Did you find out why I saw your memory?" she eventually asked when the silence between them stretched for too long. Her curiosity for that subject had gnawed on her the whole day, but until now she hadn't really dared to ask. Mostly because she awaited to get no answer anyway, or one that would leave her as clueless as no answer at all.
"Psht!" made a voice from behind.
Roka hurled around, searching for the origin of the sound, only to find a dirty hat poking out from the shadowy side of the TARDIS. The Master had noticed it too and bent to the side to peek at the small person that stood there.
It was an urchin, short, dirty and so skinny it made Roka's heart clench. Maybe it was the same from the day before and it took her almost a minute to realize he was staring at her and not at the Master.
I'm visible, she had to remind herself. Not a ghost anymore.
"Get your sorry ass lost, kiddo," the Master snarled and even pointed his laser screwdriver in the child's direction.
The urchin, though, showed no sign of fear, the eyes and most of his face hidden under the too big hat. Slowly he stepped closer to Roka and she held a hand out to signal the Master to calm himself, while she squatted down to the kid's eye-level. She felt strangely tense, a tingling wandering down her spine as if someone was watching her.
Instinctively her hand closed around one of the knives she had on her belt. Child or not, it could be controlled by someone else, it could be a species that only looked like a humanoid child. He scuttled closer, his movements natural, but maybe not tense enough for a street child his age.
"You have to follow me," the boy finally spoke up and rubbed a dirty sleeve over his nose.
"Why? Who wants that?" Roka enquired, squinting her eyes at the small figure. No matter how she moved, he always hid his face from her.
"I... I don't..." He suddenly took a step back and shook his head. "It... It's just in my head. Who are you?"
"Hey, calm down, little one. Just tell me all you know, okay?"
"Or you let me look inside his head," the Master suggested casually.
The child tensed visibly, eyes hidden under the hat. He looked behind himself, winced and let out a small whimper, then hurled around and suddenly ran forward, chased after Roka, a small glinting object in his hands.
She shot straight, exerting a half turn and in the same movement taking a step to the side. The kid ran right past her, stumbled surprised and fell to his knees. A sob escaped his mouth and he rubbed the dirty sleeve over his face once more.
"I won't do that!" the boy whimpered. "Please, I don't want to..."
"Can I kill it now?" the Master drawled, lurking out behind Roka's back and glancing at the small figure in the dirt.
"Are you nuts? It's only a child!"
"That just tried to kill you... And seems to be insane, by the way," he stated in the same casual tone.
Right as he said this the boy picked himself from the ground, hat deep in his face as he turned around, the movements too fluid to be natural. Only years of practice normally made one able to move like that. But he did and again charged after Roka. This time she was almost a tiny little bit too slow, having not awaited him to attack again. She slipped on the dirt and fell backwards. The boy threw himself to the side as if he was fighting against his own body.
Arms caught her fall and the child ran away and out of sight. The back of her head dropped against the Master, but he held her well enough to not let her fall further. In this half standing position she looked up at him, but his look was far away, fixated on a point in the distance.
"What the hell..." the Master muttered surprised.
Roka looked in the same direction, but couldn't make out a thing. She straightened a little, trying to get free from his grip, but he was too distracted as it seemed.
"What's wrong?" she asked.
"What?" Finally he looked down at her, his eyes puzzled.
"What's wrong?" she repeated. "You sounded as if you saw something."
"Yeah... No... I didn't, did I?" He squinted his eyes back at the previous spot and shook his head.
Suddenly Roka felt a weird sting of confusion and almost fear running through her. This time she was absolutely certain it wasn't her own.
Roka sighed, leaned back at his chest and smiled up at him. "See? That happens when you don't sleep enough. And there you always nag about..."
"It's not that," he growled back and shot her a sour look. His eyes again scanning the direction he had been looking in before. "It's weird. I don't like weird. Not this kind of weird, at least." Finally, though, he seemed to get aware that he still held her and glanced down, the worry slowly morphing into a smirk. "I like you so close though," he teased, grinning, his hands moving up to cup her face, his thumbs lightly caressing her cheeks. "Tell me, you like it, too."
She almost did, the warmth in his hazel eyes gently coaxing the words out of her mouth. Instead she reached up for his hands and tugged them away from her, before she took a step to the side and poked him playfully.
"Let's get back inside, before more of those kids appear."
.
A/N: Thank you all for reading and enjoying this! 💙
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