Title: A Kind Of Destiny.
Author: trustno1, aka trustno1987, aka me!
Spoilers: Jack.
Rating: Um, k+ at the moment, I can't vouch for later chapters though, since they haven't been written yet :-)
Pairing: Hints of Nine/Rose, more so as the story progresses.
Disclaimer: Surprisingly enough, the Doctor, Rose, Jack and the general idea of Doctor Who does not belong to me. This story, however, does, as do any original characters within it, so © Lindz Penney.
AN: This particular idea for a piece of fic came to me in the middle of a shift at work, and, of course, I had to write it down immediately – not the easiest thing to do on a factory floor with a tiny scrap of paper. This is a WIP, and while I haven't actually written much further than you are about to read, I at least know where it's going, so there shouldn't be any long waits. Hopefully. Also, this chapter and the next are possibly a little confusing as I'm introducing characters (original and established), and switching between points of view – bear with me, and all will be revealed…
All her life she had gazed at the billions of stars in rapture. The world fascinated her, every single tiny atom of it, but the sky, the galaxies, the Universe beyond, even more so. She would stare out of her window, or lay in her garden, imagining the thousands of worlds, beings cultures, that existed beyond the scope of their Hubble telescopes, their deep space probes.
The sky fascinated her; the immense beauty of sunrises, sunsets, weird and wonderful cloud formations and the entire night sky of stars, satellites, planets, galaxies and the breathtaking Aurora Borealis. She lived in constant respectful awe of the dangerous fury that nature unleashed from above – the tornadoes, hurricanes, lightning storms.
She remained adamant that there was something out, and that soon they or it would make their or its presence known. And she hoped and prayed that she was somehow destined to experience it, and if not, that she would at least be around to bear witness to history in the making.
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The first time he saw the stars properly was on his parents star ship when it was docked for repairs. Before then, he had only seen them from his window through a haze of clouds, which dulled the bright majesty of anything in the sky, from stars, to satellites, and planets to galaxies. But on the star ship, on the observation deck, with its enormous windows and panoramic view, space went on forever. Stars were the brightest things he had ever seen in his life, contrasting with the darkest black like nothing he had seen and far brighter than the pictures and holograms he had seen – and they filled the sky to bursting point. The satellites were colossal to his small eyes; colourful, tranquil and practically deserted.
It was there, standing on a ship's observation deck and feeling as though he was the only person in the system – no, the Universe – that he vowed he would follow in his parents footsteps and escape from the overcrowded planet below them to explore the vast beauty that was Space.
Even after so many years, the child-like awe and fascination crept up on his each time he looked out of the window onto the Universe that was his back garden.
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Once, he had looked to the sky and seen the far off stars and planets, and thought how great it would be to be able to send all the unwanted people in the planet to a far off world. Throughout the first years of his life, of which there were many, he listened to his elders and people high in society complain about lower classes, and those imprisoned or with nothing helpful or worthwhile to contribute, and wondered why they had never thought to just send them away. Send them off into the stars, he thought, to find their own planet.
Now, he was one of those elders, and it was only a matter of time before he could fulfil his lifelong wish to rid the planet of all the unwanted, unneeded peoples, leaving only those who were worthy of such a marvellous planet.
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From inside the confines of his tiny hut, he had watched day merge into night, and stars and planets materialize before him. They had seemed so far away from his reach then, all the tiny, twinkling spots in the sky, and the colourful spheres that were planets. As far from his grasp as a different life, one in which he mattered, and made a difference to those around him. He wanted to expand his horizons and reach the stars.
His people expanded their horizons at first contact with an alien race, and the stars and planets grew that tiny bit closer for him. Over the years he rose through society and the traditional boundaries set, and his horizons expanded even further, until, now, he felt as though he were standing on the top of the world, higher than he'd ever been to the stars that had shown him there was more out there, further than ever from the tiny hut where he was brought into the world.
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He had spent a lifetime in the stars, on exotic worlds with exotic races, always rushing from one place to another, one person to another. He attributed it to his father, taking him all over Earth and the Solar System, giving him a small taste of a Time Agent's life. He had spent the first part of his life watching space cadets, explorers, captains and Time Agents returning home to people doting on them, hanging off their every word. He wanted to be that person that everyone looked up to.
He followed his father as far as possible, then broke off and followed his own footsteps around the Universe. He rushed from place to place, loving hundreds of species, thousands even, but never being in love with anything except the attention. He relished danger – it made his stories far more exciting, attracted far more people.
Every so often he would stop for a second, thinking there was something missing, but it wasn't long before there was something else to jump in the middle of, someone else to con, someone to regale with stories of his daring, and he forgot all about that small second.
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Whenever she took the time to look at the stars properly, she realised there was something missing in her normal, average life. She went to school, had boyfriends, was single, went to work, had boyfriends. She had her mum and family. She was happy in her existence, happy with her life. Until she cast her eyes upwards at night when she sat alone on the roof and saw the billions of tiny stars, the millions of planets that could be out there, waiting to be explored. She knew there was something missing, that her life was boring, and that she was missing out on something fantastic.
She appreciated all that was around her, the beauty that the world showed to those who gave a moment to stop and look, but that was all there was. A moment. Before she was swept back into the normalcy of her life, and bright lights of the city replaced those of the stars.
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He had seen the birth of stars, and he had seen the death of stars. Lots of death. Sometimes he'd think it followed him wherever he went, no matter the species, planet, solar system or galaxy. Sometimes all he could see was death, an emptiness in space and in him.
Other times, he thought he followed death, trying to keep up with it so as to stop Him taking too many souls. He preferred this version of events personally, but even so it was relentless and constant – he was always on the move, never still. You couldn't be, when there were so many that needed saving, or might need saving in whatever way you could be. Some of his companions were like that in a way. They didn't realise they needed saving until he showed up and showed off, and took them to places they hadn't even dreamed existed.
And sometimes he needed saving, whether it be literally, metaphorically or spiritually, and he only seemed to realise it when he had a companion or two on board. Someone to show the wonders of the Universe to, to show them and himself there wasn't just death and destruction and evil all the time.
Despite having seen the births and deaths and life spans of more stars than he could begin to count, he never tired of seeing their quiet beauty, or the happiness and contentment he felt at watching a person's face light up as he showed them just how fantastic the Universe could be.
Okay, so that's the cryptic opening chapter - what does everyone think? Any reviews and contructive criticism welcomed :-)
