Ok, here's the next one. I'm sorry this took so long: there were several reasons.
First, this episode was not one of my favourites. I only saw it once, so I had to work from transcripts and limited memory (Netflix had removed all of DW at this point, so it was harder to watch it until recently). Then, my partner got exposed to Covid (she's recovering now, and by luck I didn't catch it). And third, I've been under a lot of mental and emotional stress, as I'm still required to go to work and am getting very anxious at the risks involved. I'll be very glad when this is over, as many others are at this point.
Please forgive me for the constant delays, and thank you for your patience at this time.
Anyways, enough of the real world. Let's get to the better one! Oh, and there's a big surprise at the end of the chapter. And there is an important thing I need to talk about, so please read to the end.
Here we go!
Chapter Five: The Girl Who Died
When Ember jumped next, she found herself in what looked like a village. But she'd barely looked around when there was suddenly a cry.
"Who goes there?" A man with a bald head and a short beard appeared, holding out a sword. "Who are you? Speak, woman!"
Ember looked around, taking in the village. The houses were small, made with wood or stone and thatched roofs, giving off the mediaeval vibe. "Uh..."
Suddenly, a loud horn sounded. Some of the villagers, who'd been peeking out of doors and windows at the sight of the new arrival, came out in joy as a group of men bearing various weapons entered the village. The man who'd spoken to Ember stepped closer and took hold of her arm to make sure she didn't try to run.
A girl in her teens with dark hair tied back and wearing furs ran up to the new arrivals, addressing the man at the front wearing a horned helmet and one half of the Doctor's Sonic sunglasses like an eyepatch. "You're back! All of you! Are all of you back?"
The supposed leader shrugged. "I suppose so, I haven't counted."
"I'm back!" One of the other vikings said as he hugged the girl.
"I had a dream you'd all died!" The girl said as they walked. "It was so real, I thought I'd made it happen."
"Well, if it ever does, I'm sure you'll a find some way to blame yourself." The leader plucked the half-a-Sonic off his face and tossed it to the girl, who caught it and looked at it in interest as he walked away.
"I wish none of you had to go!" She called after them, and then she turned to watch the rest of the group pass. By coincidence, she ended up standing near where Ember and the bald man holding her stood.
Ember caught sight of the girl and frowned. There was something important about her, but...
Why can't I remember? She thought to herself. No matter how hard she tried, she couldn't get anything. The only thing she knew for sure was that this girl had to live.
Her confusion was replaced with relief as she spotted two familiar faces in the group; Clara and the Twelfth Doctor. Both had shackles on their wrists and the Doctor wore a hooded jacket, while Clara was wearing an orange spacesuit similar to the one Ten and Eleven had worn in the past.
Ember glanced at her own attire: dark blue jeans with black boots, red short sleeved top and denim jacket. Well, at least she wasn't the only one here standing out. She looked up as the shackled pair got close enough for her to hear them.
"Only because you kept saying I do have a plan," Clara was saying.
"I do have a plan." The Doctor replied, grinning when he spotted Ember among the watching vikings. "Ah, Ember's here! That's a good start."
Clara nodded. "There you go."
The Doctor was about to call over to the brunette when he spotted the girl near her. He stared at her like he recognised her, his steps faltering. He glanced at Ember again for a second, a question in his eyes, and was able to see her nod before the vikings behind him pushed him to continue.
"You all right?" Clara asked, noticing that it wasn't just Ember he'd looked at. "Do you know her?"
"Never seen her before in my life." The Doctor replied, unable to resist looking back at the girl as she followed them, with the bald man pulling Ember into the walk as well.
"Okay, so, why are you staring?"
"I don't know." The Doctor was wringing his hands nervously. Something was nagging at him, but he didn't know what. "Nothing, probably. Too much time travel, it happens."
"What happens?"
"People talk about premonition as if it's something strange. It's not. It's just remembering in the wrong direction."
Ember wanted to speak, to give them a hint or be reassuring, but she was too far away for her to tell them anything without being overheard, so she had no choice but to wait.
The prisoners were led to one of the larger houses, just as a white-bearded elder man came out to greet them.
Clara glanced around again. "Okay, plan?"
"We meet the boss man and we do the usual." The Doctor replied.
"Which is?"
"Replace him."
The leader of the group stood straight and brought his right fist over his heart, addressing the elder. "Father."
Ember listened between the vikings talking about their travels and the Doctor talking softly to Clara about how technology can be mistaken for magic.
When the vikings' talk turned to their prisoners, the bald man holding her suddenly stepped forward, pulling her closer. "And this girl was found in the village. I know not how she got so close without any of us seeing her. Mayhap she is in league with these intruders?"
"I'm a ninja," Ember couldn't help but say out loud, making the vikings look at her oddly.
"What is a... ninja?" The one who'd led the group asked.
Ember shrugged. "You're looking at one, I guess. We move unseen."
Before anyone could comment, the Doctor acted. He chucked his shackles, which he'd somehow gotten free of, at the elder, hitting him square in the chest. It didn't hurt the man, but it drew everyone's attention to the Time Lord as the Viking drew their swords and axes.
"How dare you attack our Chieftain!" The group leader shouted.
The Doctor spoke loudly in a thick accent that didn't quite match the vikings. "I am very, very cross with you. I am very disappointed! I have taken human form to walk among you!"
"Who are you, old man?"
"Do you not recognise the sign... of Odin!" The Doctor threw out his hand, revealing a yellow yo-yo that spun out. The crowd of the village jumped back slightly, surprised but not all that afraid.
"You are not Odin," the group leader said, "and that is not Odin's sign."
Even Ember had to shake her head. How the hell would a yo-yo relate to Odin?
The Doctor didn't let that deter him. "Oh, and you would know that how, exactly?" He looked at the villagers. "Have you met Odin? Do you know what Odin looks like?"
"Speak of the devil," Ember muttered, and a moment later there was a loud thunderclap above. Some of the clouds gathered and a giant face appeared at the front; a bearded man wearing a winged helmet and an eyepatch, though the patch looked like it was made of metal instead of leather.
"Oh, my people!" The face in the sky boomed. "I am Odin! And now your day of reward has finally dawned!"
The villagers looked in awe, some of them even dropping to their knees, clearly enraptured.
"Do not believe this foolish trickery!" The Doctor cried, swinging his yo-yo only for it to swing uselessly. "...It's supposed to do that."
"Your mightiest warriors will feast with me tonight in the halls of Valhalla!" The face spike again. Rays of light descended from the clouds to the ground, and then five beings appeared. Each one were at least eight feet tall, and wore very bulky armour that showed no details as to what they were underneath. They each had what looked like a gun barrel on their firearms as the vikings who had weapons and shields immediately stepped forward to defend the village.
In the confusion, the Doctor was quick to run over, grab Ember from the bald man's lax grip, and pull her back with him to Clara, encouraging both the women to step back. "Stay still. Stay very, very still."
"That's not really Odin, is it?" Clara asked, keeping her voice down.
"He hasn't even got a yo-yo."
Ember shook her head. "Not Odin. Nowhere near godly."
Clara looked at her. "So this is an invasion?"
"No, this is a harvest." The Doctor corrected, watching as the armoured beings seemed to scan over the crowd, pushing away the obviously weaker villagers. "The strongest, the fittest. The weak and young, they'll leave behind."
One of the aliens crossed one arm over the other, and a batch of the armed fighters suddenly faded away, obviously teleported.
"We have to help them!" Clara said.
The Doctor shook his head. "We have to not get chosen."
Ember looked over at where the girl they'd seen earlier was standing to one side, looking confused and increasingly scared. Clara saw the look and misunderstood it as a hint, so she ran over to the girl.
"Clara!" The Doctor tried to call her back, unwittingly taking Ember by the arm in case she tried to move too. "Clara, no!"
Clara spoke too quietly for them to hear, but they saw the girl put the half-a-Sonic she still had on her face concentrating. More of the armed vikings were teleported away. One of the aliens turned and noticed the girls, and more importantly the tech they had.
"Clara!" The Doctor called again in warning, but was too late. The two girls vanished, Clara's shackles falling open and empty to the ground. Then the armoured aliens vanished and the face in the clouds disappeared.
The remainder of the village looked up at the sky, in shock and very confused, as the Doctor leaned back. Ember moved his hand off her arm so she could take his hand and squeeze it twice, making him look at her.
"She's going to be fine," she said when she was sure he was listening. "And she'll be back. We just need to wait."
"I should go after her," he said, clearly worried.
Ember shook her head. "It took you guys two days to get here, right? They'll be back long before you get to the Tardis."
The Doctor bit his lip as he looked around, finding the remaining members of the village - women and children and men who didn't fit the criteria for warriors - wandering around the village, lost in what to do. The Time Lord found himself absently going to a finely carved dragon figurehead that was probably intended to mount the head of a boat, but he didn't particularly care.
One of the villagers, a tall man who'd been at the blacksmith's area, finally spoke. "They took half the village."
"Yeah," another man said. He had a long, blonde beard tied into two plaits. "And it was the good half."
The bald man that had held Ember earlier shook his head. "They went willingly to Valhalla, as would we all."
"I wouldn't." Blonde beard replied, shrugging at the looks he got. "Well, I wouldn't! I'm not good with heights."
The Doctor frowned. "Oh, stop it! All of you, stop it right now! Homo sapiens, you're an intelligent species. Stop lying to yourselves!"
The bald man narrowed his eyes. "Choose your words carefully, False Odin."
"Yes, I am a false Odin. That's exactly right, I lied. The big fella in the sky, he lied too! You all know it! Because what's the one thing that gods never do? Gods never actually show up!" The Doctor was not in the mood to be patient. "Guess what? You got raided! Guess what else? I lost someone who matters to me."
"So did I." The bald man replied, stepping to face the Doctor.
Ember tilted her head, stepping away from the Doctor to approach the bald man. "What's your name?"
"Einarr."
"And hers? The girl. Your daughter."
"... Ashildr."
"Nice name." Ember nodded. "Let me give you some words of advice: Wait. She'll be back."
Einarr looked at her. "And how do you know?"
Ember smiled. "You don't have to be a god to have faith."
The bald man gave her a confused look before he walked away, presumably either to think or check on the remaining villagers. The Doctor moved to her side, taking her hand.
"Is there anything you can tell me about them?" He asked, referring to the kidnappers.
Ember furrowed her brows. "I'm having a bit of trouble remembering exactly who they are. The Mare? Mire? Mite? Something like that. I think you have it in a book somewhere."
The Doctor searched his pockets until he found what looked like an old journal that conveniently had the words 'Two Thousand Year Journal' in gold lettering, taking Ember's hand in his free one and leading her to a tree stump to sit. He opened the book and began to read quickly, knowing that he needed to find out as much as he could.
It wasn't long after that that there was a flash of light, and Clara and Ashildr reappeared. The Doctor glanced up as Ember stood, realising the same as the villagers did. "Clara?"
"My child!" Einarr breathed in shock as his daughter ran into his arms. He glanced over at Ember, getting a soft smirk in return.
"Clara!" The Doctor ran over to the woman, only to stop a few feet away and give her a clumsy thumbs up. "I'm not a hugger. Ahh!" He changed his mind, darted forward and swooped Clara up off her feet in a bear hug. "Let's hug!"
Clara was just as surprised by his sudden affection. "Whoa!"
Einarr looked down at his daughter, though he didn't let go of her. "Where are the others?"
Ashildr only shook her head. "I'm sorry, Father."
"I looked them up in my two thousand year diary..." The Doctor was rambling as he put Clara back on her feet and fumbled for his journal.
"Okay..."
"They are called the Mire."
"Listen-"
"They are one of the deadliest warrior races in the entire galaxy-"
"Okay-"
"But they're practical! They get what they want and go. You persuaded them to go, didn't you? I knew that you would."
Clara paused. "The deadliest warrior race in the galaxy?"
"One of them, yes. Why?"
"...Because I think this village just declared war on them."
Now the Doctor listened.
Clara had gotten out of the spacesuit, wearing a blue shirt and trousers, and all of the adults in the village had gathered in the meeting house in the village - a large hall that had round wooden shields hung on the walls - to hear what had happened to their warriors.
Ember was stood leaning against the doorframe, arms crossed as she silently observed.
"They're coming here tomorrow," Clara finished telling them. She was sat next to Ashildr. "Ten of them, to kill everybody in the village."
Einarr looked at his daughter, who was refusing to meet his gaze out of shame. "Ashildr, is this true?"
"...It's my fault..." she muttered.
"Not every misfortune that befalls this village is down to you." Einarr said as he sat next to his daughter. He caught the Doctor's curious gaze. "She thinks she brings us bad luck."
"The odd one out," Ember murmured, not realising that the Doctor had heard her. "I know how that feels."
The Doctor glanced over at her before she looked at Ashildr. "What bad luck? You haven't had any bad luck. You're fine."
A large man with black hair and matching beard stood. "We are about to be attacked by-"
"Yes, yes, yes, yes. With a whole day to spare!" The Doctor waved his hands. "So leave! Hop it, take off! Into the woods, split up, hide. Hang about there for a week, come back home, make puddings and babies. That's basically what you do, isn't it?"
Einarr stood. "We cannot leave this village."
"Yes, you can. Just pick a direction. Fly like a bird, run like a nose." He glanced at Clara. "That's probably a Viking saying, I haven't checked that."
"No," the black bearded man said. "We will fight!"
The small group joined in a chorus of "Aye!"
The Doctor raised a brow, sceptical. "Really? Well, I don't know if you remember, but they actually took away all your fighters. So, what are you? Farmers, fishermen, web designers. Maybe not that last one."
Einarr turned to grabbed a wrapped bundle of skin and tossed it into the middle of the floor, revealing the contents to be weapons of various sorts. He then raised his voice and declared "We are Vikings!" Which brought cheers from the group.
The Doctor rolled his eyes. "Okay, tell me this: How many people here have actually held a sword in battle? By a show of hands?" Faces fell, and no one accept himself and Clara raised a hand. "Mmm hmm." He glanced at Ember, who raised a brow at him. He turned and stooped down to pick up one of the swords, pointing it at each of the villagers. "The Mire are coming for each and every one of you." He then tossed the sword back onto the pile. "So what you going to do? Raise crops at them?"
"If necessary!" The black bearded man said seriously.
Blonde beard leaned forward. "I think he was being sarcastic."
"We're not cowards." Einarr said. "We do not run. A death in battle is a death with honour."
"Aye!" The rest of the group cheered again.
Ember tilted her head, listening. "There's someone who might have something to say about that."
The Doctor listened as well, hearing a baby crying from somewhere outside. "Do babies die with honour?" He turned away and closed his eyes, concentrating. "'I am afraid, Mother. Hold me, Mother. I am afraid.'"
"Um, he speaks Baby." Clara said to the confused vikings.
"'Turn your face towards me, Mother, for you're... you're beautiful. And I will sing for you. I am afraid, but I will sing.'" The Doctor turned to face them again. "Babies think that laughter is singing. Did you know that? I applaud your courage, but I deplore your stupidity. And I will mourn your deaths, which will be terrifying, painful, and without honour."
Ashildr finally looked up, standing as the Doctor turned to leave. She ran after him. "Stay. You could help us. I know you could."
The Doctor looked at her. "I told you to run. That's all the help you need. And that's all the help you're getting."
With that, he walked out of the hall and outside. Clara stood, moving to where Ember had been watching the entire time, and addressed her. "We're not leaving them to die, are we?"
"We could," the brunette replied, watching as Ashildr returned to her father's side dejectedly. "But we mustn't. This village has to live."
"A hint?"
"Maybe. Let's talk to the Doctor."
The two women stepped outside, to see the Doctor looking around the small village like he was trying to figure something out. He turned and saw them approach, though he noticed that Ember stayed by the door, leaning against the frame again.
"The earth is safe, humanity is not in danger." He said as Clara reached him. "It's just one village."
"Just one village?" Clara repeated, unsure if she was hearing right.
"Yeah, just one village," Ember called over. They both looked at her to see that while she was keeping a somewhat stoic face, she was clearly not happy. "Just like it's just one person. Just one town. Just one world among many. It's always 'just one'."
The Doctor was surprised at that response - was she cross with him? - but shook it off and looked at Clara. "Suppose I saved it by some miracle. No Tardis, no sonic. Just one village defeats the Mire. What then? Word gets around. Earth becomes a target of strategic value, and the Mire come back. And God knows what else. Ripples into tidal waves until everybody dies."
Ember answered again. "Or they learn that this world is defended by something mightier than them."
Clara noticed that the baby was still crying and asked the Doctor "What's it saying?"
"She," The Doctor corrected her. "She's afraid. Babies sense danger. They have to."
"Tell me."
There was a hesitation, and then he complied. "'Mother, I hear thunder. Mother, I hear shouting. You are my world, but I hear other worlds now. Beyond the ... unfolding of your smile... is there other kindness? I'm afraid. Will they be kind? The sky is crying now. Fire in the water.'" He paused, puzzled. "Fire in the water?"
"There's your hint," Ember finally said, making him and Clara look at her again. Her face was still stoic, but her silver eyes glinted with something they couldn't quite understand as what might be mistaken for the rumble of thunder echoed somewhere. "And there's your answer. Suddenly got quiet, didn't it?"
Clara, realising what she meant, looked at the Doctor and smiled. "You just decided to stay. The baby stopped crying."
She turned to go back into the hall, Ember following, the Doctor watched them, or more specifically, the latter.
Truth be told, he wasn't certain if the baby had stopped crying because of him, or if someone else's presence had been responsible...
A short time later, after the villagers were over being happy that the Doctor was going to stay and help, the mentioned Time Lord had the remaining men lined up outside in the centre of the village where there was more space. They each had a wooden stave and were facing some practice dummies that had been crafted out of wood, straw and loose clothing.
"So, when I say move, you move! When I say jump, you say how high!" The Doctor was instructing them, though he paused at that bit. "Unless it's across a gap of some kind which, of course, means you jump horizontally." He noticed the blacksmith - who Ember had mentioned in passing reminded her a bit of Rory - raise a hand. "Yes, what is it, Lofty?"
The man faltered. "Sorry, my name's not actually Lofty, it's Bro-"
"No, it's not, it's Lofty," The Doctor cut him off. "I've got too much to think about without everybody having their own names, so it's Lofty. You're Lofty, you're-" a man black beard "-Daphne, you're-" an old man with a helmet too large for him. "-Noggin the Nog."
He named a few other men, including the one with the blonde beard in plaits 'Heidi'. Then he turned back to the blacksmith. "So, we'll try that again. Lofty, what is it?"
"Sorry, sir, it's just, why aren't we practising with real swords?"
"Yes, perhaps you'd like to field this one, Limpy?"
He was referring to the stocky man with the black beard who spoke at the meeting earlier. He was currently in the process of trying a bandage around his knee while he sat apart from the others. "Because we can't be trusted with them."
The Doctor nodded. "That's right, yes. You'll be given your real swords back when you can prove that you can wave them around without lopping bits off yourselves. Heidi, why are your eyes closed?"
The blonde bearded man waved a hand in Limpy's direction. "Sorry, sir. Just not that good with the sight of blood."
"No, of course you're not."
From a safe distance away, Clara and Ember stood watching along with some of the other women from the village, including Ashildr.
"Swords against those creatures." The young woman mused. "That won't work, will it?"
Clara sent her a smile. "He's just warming up. He hasn't got a plan yet. But he will have, and it will be spectacular."
Ember looked up at the sky, wondering if they were being watched. Probably not, considering Odin most likely thought they weren't worth the effort.
Something made her want to show him how wrong he was.
The Doctor, after trying to teach the men for a while, finally held up his sword and gave a whistle to get their attention. "Enough theory! I'm handing out the real swords."
Ember groaned. This wasn't going to end well.
It turned out exactly like she'd expected.
Now, the village horn was being sounded in emergency as the villagers were running around with buckets of water and putting fires out. A thatched roof was even ablaze.
"Well," The Doctor muttered from where he was sat on a stump in the centre of it all. "That could have gone better."
"You think?!" Ember snapped as she handed another full bucket to Einarr. She couldn't flat out put the fires out without drawing suspicion - which would have been a terrible idea, as she didn't want to give them another 'false god' to be afraid of - but she was able to at least control the spread until the villagers could put them out without too much damage and with no injuries or deaths.
The Doctor was about to reply when beside him, Heidi groaned and sat up from where he was sprawled out on the ground. "Morning."
The man looked around at the chaos. "What happened?"
"The Big Bang, dinosaurs, bipeds, and a mounting sense of futility..."
Clara cut off the Doctor's rambling. "More recently, Chuckles hit Lofty over the head, on his helmet, with his sword, which knocked him out. There was a little blood, which you saw-" Heidi fainted at that moment. At the same time, Lofty sat up from the other side of the Doctor. "-and did that. Only, the first time you did it, you knocked a torch onto some hay, which spooked a horse, who kicked open a gate, and... I'm sure you can fill in the rest."
Ember wasn't sure why Clara was still explaining the situation given that Heidi was out cold again, but was forced to refocus her attention on making sure the flaming thatch didn't burn any further.
Night fell, and while the vikings were inside in meeting house - having a feast before their final battle - the Doctor, Clara and Ember were outside. There were loud booms in the sky, sounding similar to fireworks but with no lights to accompany them.
"Weird sounding thunder." Clara commented. She was now wearing a brown fur jerkin to help keep her warm.
The Doctor shook his head. "That's not thunder. It's the weapon forges of the Mire. They're making sure we hear them."
"And they'd better shut it soon," Ember grumbled. She was sitting on the floor with her back against the side of the building, her head in her hands. "I'm having enough trouble trying to remember something without them giving me a headache to go with it."
The Doctor glanced at her in concern, though he was quick to hide it as Clara looked at him in askance. "They're messing with the elements up there to amplify that sound. And we both know that Ember doesn't like that."
Nodding, Clara looked around the village before she gave him another questioning look. "...Well?"
"Well, Heidi faints at the mention of blood, not just the sight any more. He's actually upgraded his phobia. Chuckles-"
"Einarr," Ember corrected.
"-he questions every single order you give him, which is going to be a little bit difficult, a little bit tricky, in the heat of battle."
Clara looked at him. "I keep waiting to hear what your real plan is."
"Teaching them to fight," the Doctor sighed, "that's the only plan I've got."
"Turning them into fighters? That's not like you."
"Yeah. I used to believe that too."
Clara tilted her head. "What happened?"
"You." The Doctor replied honestly. "Oh, Clara Oswald... what have I made of you?"
Clara decided not to answer that, looking at the village again. "It doesn't matter how well you train them, it's not going to make difference."
"They'll die fighting with honour. To a Viking, that's all the difference in the world."
"A good death? Is that the best they can hope for?"
The Doctor sighed again, trying to tune out the booming in the sky. "A good death is the best anyone can hope for, unless you happen to be immortal."
Ember finally let out a growl of frustration as she stood and took a few steps forward to yell up at the sky. "Oh, will you just KNOCK IT OFF, ALREADY!!"
To her surprise, as well as everyone who heard her, there was a reaction, but not verbally nor from the Mire. A deeper boom shook the sky, as if there was something exploding or a massive thunderclap far above. Almost at once, the booming the Mire were making ceased, like whoever had been doing it was now too frightened to make a peep.
Ember blinked, turning to look at the Doctor and Clara, blushing as she realised they were staring at her wide eyes. "I... didn't expect that to happen... oops?" She caught movement behind them. "Uh oh..."
They turned, to see that Ashildr had just come out of the meeting house. She'd obviously witnessed the scene, as she was as wide-eyed as they'd been and her mouth had dropped open.
A moment later she seemed to snap out of it, closing her mouth as she turned to leave. "Sorry..."
"No problem." Clara said, trying to look at ease.
The Doctor did it better. "'Night."
They waited until the girl was gone before Clara broke the silence. "You've made an impact there."
"Stop it."
Ember tilted her head as she reach the Doctor's side and took his hand, squeezing it twice. "There's something about her... whatever I'm missing, she's part of it."
Clara smiled as she looked at the Time Lords. "She's nice. Fight you for her."
The Doctor rolled his eyes. "The human race, you're obsessed. You all need to get a hobby."
"I've got a hobby, thanks. It's you, by the way."
"Well, get a new one."
Clara shook her head. "Not this."
The Doctor didn't want to look at her. "Tomorrow it's going to be a bloodbath."
"Don't even ask."
"These people all died hundreds of years before you were born-"
"I'm not running." Clara told him with finality.
"I have a duty of care."
"No, you don't, because I never asked for that."
Ember narrowed her eyes. "That's not something you ask for. It's given, wether you want it or not."
The Doctor glanced at her before looking at Clara. "Every time we do something like this, I keep thinking, what if something happens to you?"
"Well, stop thinking about me, and start think about them," Clara said, deliberately avoiding the question, "because you're missing something."
"What?"
"How you're going to win. You always miss it, right up until the last minute. So put down your sword, stop playing soldier and... look for it. Start winning, Doctor. It's what you're good at."
As the woman got up and left them alone, Ember took the Doctor's hand, squeezing it twice. "She has a point there. You're well know for doing that. Maybe you should talk to Ashildr."
The Doctor looked at her for a long moment before he sighed and nodded. He knew he wouldn't win against both the women.
It didn't take the Doctor long to find Ashildr's home, and silently entered it to watch as the girl faced a dummy that she'd dressed up like Odin. The candlelight made it easier to imagine the target being real.
"So, we meet again, Fake Odin." She said to it bravely. "Valhalla burns around you, your army is destroyed and now it is time for you to die!"
She struck against the model with a wooden stave, making it wobble. The Doctor decided then to clear his throat and get her attention, making her jump and turn to him.
"How long have you been there?" She asked.
The Doctor decided not to embarrass her with the answer, instead looking at the creation as he jogged over to examine it. "What's that? Is that a puppet? Oh, I love puppets!"
Ashildr looked part embarrassed and part pleased at the attention. "I make puppets sometimes, when I'm..."
"Frightened?" The Doctor offered.
"When the raiding parties go out, I make up stories about their battles."
"Because if you make up the right story, then you think it will keep them safe and they'll all come home. That's okay. You're not the first person to ever have done that."
The girl looked at him. "Why are you here?"
"I'm looking for something I'm missing. And Ember gave me a hint." He looked around as though it was something physical he would see before he looked at the girl again. "What do you think our chances are tomorrow?"
Ashildr leaned against a wooden pillar, her face solemn. "We will be cut down like corn. By this time tomorrow, every single one of us will be dead."
"Yeah..." The Doctor, at that moment, couldn't find it in himself to lie to her as he picked up a thick, bound book and started leading through it absently. "You could go."
"There's nowhere for me except here. This is my place. The sky, the hills, the sea, the people. Is there nowhere like that for you?"
"Oh, I like a nice view as much as anyone."
"But?"
"Can't wait for the next one."
Ashildr looked at him carefully. "I pity you."
"I will mourn for you." The Doctor straightened and made to leave. "I know which I'd prefer."
"You think they're all idiots, don't you?"
"What, you mean the rest of the universe? Basically, yes, I do."
"But they're kind and brave, and strong, and I love them."
"Good. Good. But that won't save you."
Ashildr's reply made him falter, finding something familiar in the words that followed. "I've always been different. All my life I've known that. The girls all thought I was a boy. The boys all said I was just a girl. My head is always full of stories. I know I'm strange. Everyone knows I'm strange. But here I'm loved. You tell me to run to save my life. I tell you that leaving this place would be death itself." She looked at the Doctor. "Your friend. Ember. Father says she just appeared from nowhere in the middle of the village. And the way she made the sky roar back at them like that..."
"Before you start thinking she's one of your gods, don't." The Doctor said. "She's not even Scottish."
Ashildr tilted her head thoughtfully. "You said one of my gods. You didn't deny that she's a god at all."
Before the Doctor could rectify his slip, Ashildr's father entered, looking defeated. He looked at her before he spoke. "I cannot keep you safe. I do not have the strength. But I will try to till the last beat of my heart." He hugged his daughter, frowning as he caught the Doctor staring at them. "If you seek to mock me in this moment..."
The Doctor barely hid the flinch. "No. No, you go ahead and you cry all you like. Speaking of crying, is that baby getting closer?"
He was right; the crying was getting a little louder. He looked outside to see Lofty carrying an infant wrapped in furs.
"Why has Lofty stolen a baby?" He asked.
"That's his child." Ashildr replied.
"Oh. Where's he taking her?"
"The boathouse. He takes her to the boathouse when she won't settle. She likes the fish."
"Why would she...?" The Doctor paused, listening again. "'Fire in the water'... Fire in the water?" Then it clicked. "Fire in the water! That's it! That's what I've been missing." He ran out of the hut, yelling. "Ember, Clara, I've found it!"
Clara and Ember looked up as they heard his shouting, watching as he ran across the village toward the boathouse. Ember smirked.
"Now he's got it," she said, standing and going after him with Clara close behind.
The girls reached him at the same time Ashildr and her father did, which was inside the boathouse where Lofty was gently bouncing the baby and encouraging her to look at the water in several massive barrels. Something was splashing inside them.
"Lofty! I had no idea that was your baby." The Doctor was saying to the man before he looked at the infant. "Hello, baby, I had no idea this was your junior parent."
Lofty, now used to the nonsense the Doctor had a habit of spouting, let it slide. "I'm trying to settle her. She likes all the fish."
"Okay, you're shouting!" Clara said to the Time Lord. "What's happened? Did you trap your finger in something again?"
The Doctor ignored her, turning to Einarr. "Chuckles, bedtime is cancelled. Everybody off the hard stuff. We've got a long night's work ahead of us. I need a blacksmith. Who's the blacksmith?"
"I'm the blacksmith," Lofty replied. The Doctor looked at him in puzzlement.
"You're the blacksmith and you've got a baby too? He's been at it hammer and tongs."
Clara shook her head, knowing that he was excited about something because of the rambling. "Doctor, explain. What's happening?"
"There's going to be a war tomorrow. And here's some news, this just in." He looked at Ember and grinned as she nodded. "We're going to win the hell out of it."
"How?"
The Doctor didn't answer at first, now talking to the other girl in the group as other villagers entered, attracted by the noise. "Ashildr, this is your village, and you will never have to leave it, I swear."
"Seriously, how?" Clara asked again.
"I told you that we were basically doomed! Did no one in this two-horn town think to mention that you had... eels?"
"...Eels?"
"I give you... fire in the water!" The Doctor ran over to one of the barrels at the same time Ember did, and gave it a light kick. Inside the barrel, the water seemed to spark with blue light from the creatures inside. "Electric eels!"
Ember tilted her head as she watched the eels writhe. From her limited geography and knowledge of the animal kingdom, electric fish of most sorts were more common in the Amazon basins. So how did these vikings, who were clearly Northern European, get their hands on any at all, never mind several barrels of them?
The baby gave a cry, pulling her from her thoughts as the Doctor understood what was said. "Yes, yes! I know exactly how you feel! Well, not exactly." He looked at Lofty. "She needs changing."
Clara smiled. "Plan, then?"
The Doctor returned the grin. "And it is a doozy!"
Ember wanted to smile, but found herself frowning. Something was going to happen, something she should know, but yet again, she was coming up empty. Why?
Less than an hour later, most of the village was alive with activity. The main work was going on at the blacksmith's forge, where several of the villagers were working.
"We need to pull that silvery stuff out of Clara's space suit," the Doctor was giving out instructions. "We can use it to magnify the electrical charge." He waved away the expressions he was getting. "Stop looking confused! Look happy! Winning is all about looking happier than the other guy. Always walk briskly. Makes you a moving target." He found a wrapped bundle and threw it to Lofty. "Oh, that's for Lofty. Lofty! And talk with confidence, even if you're terrified."
Clara was showing Heidi her phone, pointing out what he would need to do with it.
"Act as if you know their plan, and sometimes, if you're very lucky, they'll actually tell you it." The Doctor continued as someone handed him a blanket. "Ah, this is for Ashildr."
During this time, Ember was dragging her heel on the ground in the centre of the Meeting House, drawing a rough circle in the loose dirt. When anyone asked her what she was doing, she responded "I'm setting up one more flare to give Odin the extra push to get lost."
No one thought to ask her to clarify.
A short time later, the Doctor was explaining the plan to everyone in the meeting house. "Then we deploy the anvil. Now, at this stage, getting me one of their helmets is key. We get a helmet, and this is over. Then we can mop up the rest using Ashildr's monstrosity."
At the prompt, Ashildr pulled a rope, making a large sheet move aside to reveal what she'd created behind it.
Clara looked at it for a moment. "That is rubbish."
"I know," the Doctor replied, grinning at the girl.
Ember nodded. "That's the point."
Dawn rose, and the village was quiet. To the untrained eye, it looked like it had been abandoned.
In the clearing at the centre of the village, there was a dull flash, and then Odin appeared with his ten metal soldiers. He gave the gesture to advance, and they stomped toward the meeting house, where they could hear noises.
What they found was surprising. Instead of frightened villagers clumsily grasping swords and trembling before them, the villagers were having some kind of... celebration? There was music playing, people dancing and eating, and even Lofty playing ringtoss with horseshoes.
They missed it when Lofty sneaked to one side and began tossing something else - metal rings with copper wiring attached - to hang from the aerials that were sticking out of the hunched backs of the metal soldiers.
The Doctor, dancing with Ember, pranced up to Odin. "Hey, hello, hi! I'm the Doctor. It's lovely to meet you face to... convincing hologram. You could always go 'zzz' and get rid of it, no?" He saw Clara shake her head. "No, on second thoughts, don't. That, that suits you."
"It is time to fight." Odin declared, losing interest very quickly.
"No, no, no. We decided against that. We thought we'd just have a party!" The villagers cheered seemingly in agreement. Lofty used the distraction to throw a few more rings, managing to hook up three of the aliens so far.
"Let me put it another way." Odin said. "You fight or you die."
"We're unarmed." The Doctor pointed out. "There isn't a single weapon in this room. Which I'm sure your systems are telling you. You wouldn't open fire on unarmed civilians, would you?"
Odin gave a cold smirk despite the mild surprise of indeed finding no weapons on anyone. "It wouldn't be the first time."
Lofty threw another ring, but it missed and hit one of the armoured soldiers right in the head. It looked up at the dangling ring and reached up to grab it, examining the mesh of metal wires attached to rafters.
"Chuckles, now!" The Doctor called. There was a thud and suddenly, the wires crackled with electricity, surging to the Mire that had rings on them and electrocuting them. "Run, run! That's four down, six left!"
"Go!" Odin commanded, and the remaking Mire stepping forward as the villagers scattered.
"Chuckles, switch!" Another thud, and more wires sparked, but this time it had a different reaction; several anvils that hung above the room became magnetic, and the weapons of the Mire were pulled off their arms to stick to them, followed by a couple of helmets.
The aliens underneath the helmets were not pretty; no visible eyes, oversized mouths and rows of sharp teeth.
Ember grimaced where she'd taken cover with the Doctor and Clara. She wouldn't want to be the one that had to kiss them.
"Chuckles, off!" The Doctor called, and the electric charge stopped, making all the stolen weapons and helmets fall to the floor. The Doctor was quick to grab a helmet while Clara got one of the weapons to try to keep the aliens at bay. Odin commanded the other Mire to attack the villagers as they fled, not noticing the Doctor messing with the helmet he'd acquired.
"How's it coming?" Clara asked, worried for the villagers being chased.
"Reversing the polarity of the neutron flow." the Doctor said as he worked while Ember encouraged Ashildr into a chair. "I bet that means something. It sounds great. Ashildr! Are you ready?"
"I'm scared..." the girl admitted.
"Use that fear," Ember advised.
"You were born for this." The Doctor added as he helped put the helmet on Ashildr. "Show them a story they'll never forget."
He and Ember then ran, as the main door to the Meeting House fell in like something from outside had pushed them. The brunette made a strong breeze blow out the candles for effect as something came in through the new entrance.
To the Doctor, Clara, Ember and the villagers, it was a very shoddy construction. To Odin and the Mire, it was a long-necked, writhing wyrm that hissed and snapped and roared at them.
"What is this beast?!" Odin yelled, him and the Mire stumbling back in fright. "It's impossible!"
The Mire who still had their weapons tried to fire at the creature, but it seemingly had no effect on it, making them change their minds. "Withdraw. Withdraw."
"Stand and fight!" Odin tried to keep them from fleeing, even as he himself flinched back as the wyrm snapped at him.
"Withdraw..." one by one, the Mire began to teleport away, despite Odin calling them cowards.
"See how they run." The Doctor murmured from their hiding place.
"Withdraw." The last armoured soldier left, leaving Odin on his own against the 'beast'.
"That's enough, Ashildr." The Doctor called. "Story's over. Happy ending."
To Odin, the beast gave one last roar of triumph before its true form was revealed: the longship dragon figurehead from earlier, mounted onto wheels. It didn't look scary in the least, and certainly shouldn't have frightened the warriors so.
Limpy, who'd been using the village horn to imitate the roaring, stopped with a sound like a fart and then laughed as the main door was raised shut and the villagers quickly returned, now pointing swords and surrounding Odin.
"What trickery is this?!" He demanded.
"Ha!" The Doctor ran to the front of the crowd to face the alien. "Says the man with a fake face! But you see, that's the trouble with viewing reality through technology. It's all too easy to feed in a new reality. A story to save a town," he ran over to the 'beast', "and a puppet from a nightmare." He walked back to the front. "You see, you've just seen the world through the eyes of a storyteller. The mighty armies of the Mire. Brutal, sadistic, undefeated. Even I believed the stories. But after today, no one will again. An army like yours, it lives or dies on its reputation, its story. And today, you were sent packing by a handful of farmers and fisherman. Not to mention the whole wetting your pants and running away from a puppet debacle."
The group chuckled as Clara laughed, having joined the group once she got her phone back from Limpy. "See, that was really funny!"
"That was hilarious. It's just lucky that nobody recorded that." The Doctor suddenly grinned. "Oh. Wait a minute, we did."
Clara showed him the clip they'd recorded, where the sound of Odin yelling at his fleeing warriors could be heard. "See, all it needed was the Benny Hill theme."
"The Benny Hill theme, yes! Now, you see, we could just keep this as a funny little film and play it every year at the Christmas party, or I could upload it to the galactic hub and get a second opinion. So the question you need to ask yourself is this: Just how important is your reputation to you? Here's a little sneak preview, piped straight into your helmets, free of charge."
Clara pressed a button on her phone, allowing Odin to see the clip for himself; he and his warriors backing away and fleeing from a harmless wooden dragon, along with a catchy tune.
The Doctor only waited a few seconds before speaking as Odin focused on him again. "If you don't leave right now, I'll put it out there for all to see and no one will fear you again."
"This humiliation will not go unpunished." Odin growled. "We will meet again."
"Oh, that reminds me, one more thing," Ember said, stepping forward. "Just in case you decide to grab another group and come back to 'get revenge'... maybe this will make you think twice."
She snapped her fingers, concentrating. Plumes of fire sprang up in a circle around herself and Odin - right along the dirt one she'd made - making everyone else take a step back.
"I'm no god, but I have a reputation of my own," Ember continued, watching the disguised alien look at the flames and then at her. "You might have heard of me. The Great Fire?"
That made Odin falter, his one eye widening in recognition. "What?"
Ember nodded. "Yeah. And I've got a warning for you: cut your loses and get lost. If you come back here again, I will know, and the little show that scared your friends away will be nothing compared to what I'll do."
Odin looked torn between his pride and his survival instincts. Clearly he knew very well how dangerous the brunette was. "Why are you protecting these weaklings, these humans?"
"Because they're worth protecting." Was the simple answer as Ember boldly stepped forward and snatched the half-a-Sonic that Odin was wearing from a chain around his neck like a trophy. "And you're a bully. Now, I think you were just about to leave. Doctor?"
Catching the sonic tossed his way, the Doctor reacted, and Odin was suddenly teleported away. "Oh, I hacked your teleporter. Sorry."
Ember ignored the cheering and the curious looks thrown her way as she put out the fire and went to the door of the meeting house to look up, just in time to see the large spaceship of the Mire appear in the sky before it turned and flew away. She hoped that her warning would be enough to keep them from coming back.
She was brought out of her thoughts when she heard Einarr call out for her daughter in rising panic. The brunette turned and looked as several people started gathering around where Ashildr was sat in the chair completely still with the Mire helmet still on.
Then it clicked, and the important detail she'd been trying to remember all day and night came back to hit her like a truck.
"Get the helmet off her!" Clara was saying, running to help. "Get it off, now!"
She and Einarr were able to lift the heavy helmet off his daughter, dropping it to the side without a thought and tending to the girl, pulling her limp body close. "Ashildr?"
Clara immediately moved to check her neck as she was laid into the floor, her heart sinking as she found nothing. "No pulse. I think... Doctor, is she dead?"
The Doctor looked heartbroken as he stared at the body. "I'm sorry. I'm really... terribly sorry..."
Without another word, he turned and ran out of the meeting house, not even glancing at Ember along the way even as she followed him.
It wasn't long after that Clara went looking for the Doctor and Ember, finding them in the boathouse. The Doctor was staring into one of the water barrels, while Ember was sat against the wall, her head in her hands like she'd done earlier.
"Heart failure, yeah?" Clara said, breaking the silence. It didn't take a genius to figure out the cause of death.
"Yeah." The Doctor murmured. "I plugged her into the machine. Used her up like a battery."
"Why didn't I remember?" Ember asked herself. "She was important. Why didn't I remember that she died?"
The Doctor looked over at her. "My guess is... she was supposed to die. And somehow, your own mind kept that from you so you wouldn't try to save her. Perhaps it was a Fixed Point, and you knew it had to happen." He sighed deeply. "...I'm so sick of losing."
Clara blinked, puzzled. "You didn't lose. You saved the town."
"I don't mean the war. I'll lose any war you like. I'm sick of losing people." The Doctor turned to face her. "Look at you, with your eyes, and your never giving up, and your anger, and your... kindness. One day, the memory of that will hurt so much that I won't be able to breathe, and I'll do what I always do. I'll get in my box and I'll run and I'll run, in case all the pain ever catches up. And every place I go, it will be there."
Clara gave him the moment to vent, only speaking when she was sure he was done. "You did your best. She died. There's nothing you can do."
"I can do anything. There's nothing I can't do. Nothing!" He closed his eyes and turned away. "But I'm not supposed to. Ripples, tidal waves, rules!"
Ember was about to speak when her head suddenly throbbed and her vision went white. The vision was only a flash this time, but it was enough.
The Doctor had left the village, not trying to save the girl who gave her life for them...From the Doctor and Clara's perspective, Ember didn't move until, to their surprise, she suddenly sprang up to her feet as she came back to her senses. "I couldn't remember in time. Now you've got to."
The Doctor raised a brow as she walked up to him. "Got to what?"
"You have to remember."
"Remember what?"
"I can't just tell you: you have to figure it out." Ember grabbed him by the hand and pulled him to one of the water barrels. "There's something in here you have to see. Look."
The Doctor looked into the barrel of water, only to frown. "There's no eels in here. Just water."
Ember shook her head. "No, you're not looking. What can you see in the water?"
"I am looking. There's nothing in this barrel but water, and there's nothing in that."
"No, you're missing it! What are you not supposed to do? You need to look!"
"At what?! There's just water in the barrel, and all I see is my own face looking back at me! And I'm not supposed to..." the Doctor suddenly cut himself off, leaning over the barrel to look closer at the reflection. "Oh... Oh!"
Ember threw her hands up. "Finally! You know, for a genius you can be so dense!"
"What?" Clara asked as the Time Lords looked at each other with understanding. "What's wrong?"
"My face..." the Doctor murmured, not taking his eyes off the brunette.
Clara didn't get it. "Doctor, what's wrong with your face?"
"I think I know why I chose it. I think I know... what I'm trying to say..."
Ember smiled. "A face and a lesson you need to remember. Told you, didn't I?"
The Doctor finally looked at Clara, his expression one of awe and realisation. "I know where I got this face, and I know what it's for."
"Okay, what's it for?" Clara asked.
"To remind me. To hold me to the mark. I'm the Doctor, and I save people." He turned to Ember again, grabbing her face in his hands and pulling her in for a deep kiss. "Thank you for reminding me to remind me."
"Anytime," the brunette replied with a laugh.
The Doctor looked up at the ceiling, as though expecting someone to be there. "And if anyone happens to be listening, and you've got any kind of a problem with that, to hell with you!"
With that, he ran out of the boathouse, the girls following.
Back in the meeting house, Ashildr's body had been laid out on furs on a bier, so that the villagers could say goodbye before they gave her a Viking burial. But the Doctor had stopped it by running in and demanding the Mire helmet that they'd left where it had dropped. Now he was picking it apart from the inside, tossing small parts aside as he dismissed them. Ember was peeking at his work from time to time while trying not to get in the way.
"...What's he doing?" Einarr asked. His eyes were still red from where he'd wept for his daughter, but he was currently confused as he and other villagers watched.
"Saving her, I think." Clara replied from where she stood beside the body.
Ember looked over at them. "Exactly that, Clara. She has to live."
"But how?" Einarr asked. "Her heart beats no more. How can you revive the dead? Are you sure you're not a goddess?"
"No, and I don't want to be one," Ember said, looking away. She didn't bother trying to explain her circumstances; she knew they'd either see her as a goddess or a demon.
With a whirr of the Sonic, The Doctor stood and held out his hand. In his palm was a small square that looked like a circuit made of gold. "It's from the Mire helmet. Battlefield medical kit. I've reprogrammed it for human beings."
He placed it on Ashildr's forehead. A moment later, it sunk into the skin and vanished without a trace.
"It's gone," Einarr murmured, surprised. "It's inside her..."
"It's repairing her. It will never stop repairing her, if it works." The Doctor leaned in. "Come on, Ashildr. Come on. The story's not over yet."
A few long moments passed, but nothing was happening. Einarr leaned closer and gently stroked the girl's hair as he cried. "Daughter, listen to me. This town has lost so much. If we lose you too... there'll be nothing left."
Another long few moments. No one dared to speak, and the Doctor found himself moving to the side and hugging Ember close, fearing that he was too late.
And then... Ashildr gasped, her eyes fluttering open for a moment as she wheezed.
"Ashildr!" Einarr cried, his weeping now one of joy. Everyone around them smiled and cheered.
Ember, on the other hand, suddenly felt like she was going to throw up. Just looking at the now immortal girl sent a deep shiver of wrong in her, like this girl was not supposed to be like this. But why? Wasn't this supposed to happen?
No... it was... but something in her told she did not like why. And she hated that she didn't know that reason.
The Doctor didn't seem to notice her discomfort, talking to Einarr. "She'll be conscious in a day, up and about in three. No swimming for a week. Now, we're going to need a longboat and some of your best rowers. We're two days' sail from the Tardis. Come on, Ember, Clara."
Einarr looked surprised as Clara moved to the Doctor's side. "Wait, no! She'll want to see you when she wakes!"
"Oh, no. Well, she'll..." The Doctor hesitated, "she'll see me often enough once she understands."
"Understands what?"
The Doctor didn't answer that, instead he tossed another sim-sized chip to the father. "Second dose."
Einarr looked at it in puzzlement. "Will she need to take this?"
"No, no, no, it's not for her."
"Then who's it for?" Clara asked.
"Ah... whoever she wants."
"Doctor..." Ashildr's weak voice made him look back, finding her looking him, "thank you..."
"Oh, don't thank me yet, Ashildr." The Doctor wrung his hands a bit. "Not yet."
With that, he and Clara left. Ember was quick to follow, an almost desperate need to get away fueling her.
The two days travel was quiet for the most part, and almost too quickly to be normal, the trio were alone, walking through the forest towards where the Doctor had parked his Tardis before they'd been kidnapped by the Vikings. By now, it was already in view.
Clara finally couldn't take the silence anymore. "Okay, it's official. Silence is even worse in a Scottish accent. Are you going to tell me what you're brooding about?"
The Doctor debated answering, but then he figured the woman had to know. "It won't stop, the repair kit I put inside Ashildr, not ever. It'll just keep fixing her."
"Well, good."
"Not necessarily," Ember murmured.
The Doctor agreed. "I'm not sure, but it's entirely possible she has lost the ability to die."
"The ability?" Clara repeated, puzzled. She had plenty of things in mind to describe death, but 'an ability' wasn't one of them.
"Oh, dying is an ability, believe me. Barring accidents, she may now be functionally immortal."
"She is," Ember said as they reached the blue box. She kept glancing back in the direction of the village and shivering. "She's going to be around for really long time. It's... supposed to be this way..."
Clara looked at her. "How do you know?"
"... I don't. It's happening again: something important is going to happen because of that girl, and that's why she had to live. But I can't remember the ending, even though I definitely remember the bit in between."
The Doctor put his arm around her in a hug. "It must be a fixed event. Something you know has to happen but you're blocking yourself so that you don't try to change it."
Ember merely nodded, glancing in the direction of the village one last time. Something in her told her that this whole thing had to happen, and that same thing told her that she wasn't going to like it.
Because it would hurt the Doctor, and she hated that.
Clara wasn't sure if she like the expression on Ember's face, but she knew that it would pointless to try to get anything out of her, so she addressed the Doctor. "If the repair kit never stops working, then why did you give her two?"
The Doctor sighed as he unlocked the Tardis. "Immortality isn't living forever. That's not what it feels like. Immortality is everybody else dying. She might meet someone she can't bear to lose. That happens, I believe." He let them into the Tardis as he continued, already working in the console. "I was angry. I was emotional. Just possibly, I have made a terrible mistake. Maybe even a tidal wave." He pulled the final lever and set them off before he turned away. "Time will tell, it always does."
Clara wasn't quite sure she understood. "Whatever you did for Ashildr, I think she deserved it."
"Yes. Yes, she did."
"Did she?" Ember asked, making them look at her. "The best part of being human is their mortality. The fact that the story will eventually end implores them to make the best of it, to live it to it's fullest. But what happens when you realise that the story will never end? What do you do when all you have is time?"
The Doctor looked at the console in thought. "Ashildr isn't just human any more. There's a little piece of alien inside her, so in a way, she's..." he trailed off as a something occurred to him. "In a way... she's a hybrid."
Ember wanted to comment on that, but then she felt the familiar burning sensation start up in her chest. She was only just able to get out a quick goodbye before she jumped...
Only to land heavily and awkwardly on sand, forcing her to roll with the stumble until she stopped face down. She flailed a bit, pushing herself up onto her hands and knees and spitting out the sand that had gotten into her mouth.
"Oh, I hope this isn't the dead planet," She grumbled as she wiped her face of the sand that stuck to it. "Don't want to have to add dead people to The List..."
"Ember!"
The brunette looked up at the unfamiliar voice calling her, only to frown. Two men were running across the sand toward her, almost falling over in their haste.
One of them was a young black man, while the other was much older and white with greying hair. He looked really familiar, but she couldn't quite put a finger on where from.
"You're alright!" The black man spoke again as they reached her. "Where's Yaz and the Doctor?"
Ember blinked, looking up at the two men who somehow knew her. "Sorry... have we met?"
Aaaand there's the big surprise! I was originally gonna leave out the 13th Doctor, as I'd started this whole story way before she even came into the picture, but... several of you have been asking, and my partner wanted to see how Ember would work with her, so... I managed to make it work... I think...
Edit: I want to point out one more thing. I am not including all of the 13th Doctor's episodes in this part of the series. I can maybe slip in one more, but no more than that. The main reason for this is because if I added more than that, it would screw up what I've already worked on.
For those who want to see more 13: I may do a side work featuring the other episodes. Details to follow at a later date.
For those who don't want to see more 13: If you would rather not read the next chapter, I would like you to stay with me, so please skip it. If you tell me in a review, I will send you a PM to give you a heads up IF 13 is going to appear again so you can skip that chapter.
Either way, I want to keep my readers if possible, as knowing that people like my work makes my day more than you know. Thank you.
Next Time: Ember goes further into the future than she thought possible, and to make it worse, her foreknowledge is more or less useless there! Can her other abilities help? What will she learn along the way? Stay tuned!