Rehprom gasped at the wonder of the TARDIS' interior. Her eyes couldn't go wide enough to take it all in.
She heard that rhythmic, whirring, mechanical noise again. There was a collum in the middle of the room attached to a round console at the base. The console was littered with switches and other odd devices. Rehprom noticed that each time the sound was heard, something inside the central collum was forced upwards. Rehprom automatically concluded that this was the power source for the ship.
The Doctor beamed. "Welcome to the TARDIS," he said to Rehprom. "In this fantastic machine you are able to travel any place, any time."
Rehprom frowned. "Any time?"
"Yeah, it's a time machine," Rose said proudly.
Rehprom looked around the room once more, nodding her approval. She grabbed her right bicep again. It seemed to be a habit.
After a moment, the TARDIS' engine slowed and stopped, but Rehprom could still hear the machine faintly in the background, almost as if the ship was breathing.
"So, tell us a bit more about yourself," Rose said. "I think you said your name was Rehprom?"
"Yes," the alien said. She flicked her tail. "Rehprom Fejellilineiclea. I was born on Canadmanipegwinntoba in the north."
Rose and the Doctor smiled at each other, sharing their in-joke about planets having a north.
"Is that why you sound like you're from Canada?" Jack asked.
Rehprom's forehead wrinkled in confusion. "Where?"
"Never mind. It's on Earth," Jack said, shaking his head. " We just came from there. From Earth, I mean."
"Really?" Rehprom looked at the Doctor. She had long ago concluded that he was the leader of this little group. There was something else that was different about him too, but Rehprom couldn't quite put her finger on it.
"Yes, but that's not important right now," the Doctor said. "You said something before about Canads being slaves?'
"Yes." Rehprom took a deep breath. Inhaling that particular time seemed to take a lot longer then normal. "About two years ago, my planet was taken over by the Ricans and we were made slaves. Some, like my parents, died in the war when they took over. No one quite knows why they did it, but some think it was because they wanted our water. Canad had two large oceans and Rica only has two small ones." Rehprom shrugged and flexed her tail. "They restrain our tails around our waists so we can't use them."
"I can see why," Jack muttered.
Rehprom blinked at him. "I'm sorry if I hurt you. I thought you were Rican at first."
"It's okay," Jack said.
"Do Ricans have wings by any chance?" the Doctor asked suddenly. Rose and Rehprom looked at him.
"Yes, they do," Rehprom said, sounding mildly surprised. "Two huge wings coming out of their backs. They look…" She cocked her head, frowning thoughtfully. "They look like the material your jacket is made out of."
They all looked at the Doctor, more specifically at his trademark battered black leather coat. "Leather? They have leather wings like a bat?" Rose wondered.
"No, not like a bat," the Doctor corrected her, an old memory coming to the surface. "More like an eagle or hawk. Feathers made out of leather." His companions gave him a look.
"How do you know?" Jack asked.
"I remember visiting Canad and Rica once a long time ago," the Doctor said. "They were at peace then." His ocean-deep blue eyes met Rehprom's. "This shouldn't have happened. The Ricans shouldn't have invaded your planet. My people would have stopped this from happening." He sighed. Rose bit her lower lip.
Rehprom blew out a long breath. She stepped up to the Doctor and inhaled deeply again, taking in his scent. "I knew it," she said. "I knew you were different. I could sense it before, but now I know for sure. You're alien, and not just to me. You're as alien to Rose and Captain Jack as I am."
The Doctor smiled. All the darkness that was there before pushed back deep down inside him. "Yep. I'm one of a kind. Now, then…your brother, what's his name?"
"Acro," Rehprom said.
"He's your twin, right?" the Time Lord asked, more memories of Rehprom's people coming to light.
"Yes. All Canad births are twins," Rehprom confirmed.
"So that means you're gonna have twins too, right?"
Rehprom looked away. Damn. He did know. "Yes," she admitted, her hand drifting to her stomach. Rose and Jack both raised their eyebrows and started to smile.
"And the father's name…your mate?" the Doctor prompted.
"Xaler," Rehprom responded, her voice filled with love.
The Doctor grinned. "Right. Now, how about you go and rest up and then we'll go look for them, okay?"
Rehprom could feel a smile forming on her face as a feeling of hope crept into her chest. It was not a feeling she had allowed herself in a long time. For some reason, she felt safe with this strange group of time/space travellers. She had faith in them. It was something she could sense, like how her keen nose had signalled the Doctor as being very different from the others.
"Okay," she said.
"Rose, would you help her find a room?" the Doctor asked his female companion.
"Sure," she said, smiling at Rehprom. "Come with me, and be careful. The TARDIS sometimes likes to shift the corridors around."
Rehprom started to follow Rose, but then stopped. "Oh, one more thing you should probably know." She looked at the Doctor. "Or remember…Rican blood is extremely acidic. It can burn through anything organic. They dilute it to give us these as identification." She lifted up the sleeve of the t-shirt she was wearing, exposing the skin on her right bicep. There was a pattern there, like a tattoo or a brand. It looked like two X's with a horizontal bar running through and connecting them. The ends of the bar slanted upwards and diagonally away opposite each other. "My skin had a reaction to it and sometimes it makes my muscles twitch, like now." Indeed, her muscles could be seen twitching faintly under the skin around the mark, like when someone develops a twitchy eye. Rehprom placed her left hand over the mark in an effort to ease it and halt the twitching.
"We'll keep that in mind. Thanks," The Doctor said.
Rehprom gave him the faintest of smiles and followed Rose into the rest of the TARDIS.
AN/ Reference guide for this chapter:
I had to put the "most planets have a North" gag in here. Canad's, (or Canada's) north is very different to England's north though.
Yes, Rehprom has a Canadian accent. So do I. Go figure.
Originally, Rehprom was going to be raped by a Rican and would therefore have to bare his children. I thought this wouldn't quite work though because I loved the idea of Ricans having leather feathers, but then that would mean that Rehprom would probably associate anything black leather with that horrible event, thus developing a phobia of black leather. That would mean she would be afraid of the Doctor's jacket, and I wanted Rehprom to like him. Therefore, I changed the story so that Rehprom wasn't raped after all. She doesn't think black leather is so bad now. (Neither do I. In fact, I've discovered I have a thing for black leather jackets.)
Rehprom's reaction to the Doctor is the same as mine. I didn't even know who he was at first, but I still felt drawn to him. Even before I knew anything about Doctor Who, I could tell that there was something pleasingly different about him and that he was a natural leader.
During the time I was coming up with Rehprom's character, I developed a twitchy muscle in my right bicep. I lasted for about a week and then went away. I have no clue why or how it came and went, but it intrigued me enough to include in this story.
Rican blood being acidic. Well, this is just me trying to come up with ways to make Ricans dangerous. Besides, snake venom is just evolved spit. Why can't blood be the same? Of course, it would have to be diluted if you wanted to use it to say, brand someone.