Chapter 26

The Doctor and Lilly headed back to the TARDIS, coming in from the South while laughing. Lilly spun on the spot. They'd gone to Starfall, a place on the planet where fog like clouds rose up to your knees, and reflected the sky above so well, it was like walking in the air.

"Well, I'm glad you enjoyed yourself so much. You did enjoy yourself, right?"

"Of course, Doctor. Now what?"

"Oh, who knows?" the Doctor said as the two passed the control room, and headed down the hall. "Pop a few buttons. Off to the next destination. To see the universe."

She looked up and slowed. They were in the hall with the bedrooms. The door to Pride's was open, and he wasn't inside. Didn't look like it anyway. The Doctor poked her head in.

"Pride?"

Well, it was obvious he wasn't going to answer. He wasn't there. He apparently wasn't in hearing distance either. The Doctor frowned. It was probably nothing. He could wander the TARDIS as he liked after all. Still, she should make sure before taking off. That could be awkward.

She checked the kitchen, where Lilly was currently making herself a snack. Then she moved on to the library, and the room with the piano. He was frequently in those, but not today. She peaked into the movie room as well, because it was on the way back to the kitchen, and there was a chance Pride was there.

And someone was there, but not who she was looking for.

"Porter."

"Doctor." He gripped the seat he was on tightly, in danger of breaking it, and narrowed his eyes. "Something I can help you with? It's not like you to spend time in your own TARDIS."

"I'm looking for Pride."

"Haven't seen him since yesterday. You might want to find him." He grinned toothily. "You're good at losing your companions, aren't you?"

The Doctor spun out of the room, slamming the door behind him. She found an empty room with a couch, stomped in, and dropped onto it, waiting.

Lilly had gone to sleep. The Doctor was bored out of her mind. And Pride was still nowhere in sight. Had he actually left the TARDIS on his own? That would be bad. And if it was true, the longer they were in here waiting, the more time they would be wasting.

After pacing the counsel room for a while, the Doctor moved back down the hall to Lilly's room, knocking on the door.

"Lilly? Lilly!"

"Alright, alright. I heard ya." Lilly opened the door, leaning against the frame, eyes slightly closed. It seemed she was still half asleep. "What is it?"

"I think Pride went outside."

"Well, he's coming back, isn't he? It's not like he'd just run away."

"Lilly there's a war going on out there."

Lilly blinked, suddenly standing straight. "What? Then why'd you take me to see Starfall?!"

"There are wars going on all over time and space. We're not just going to wait for them to stop."

"Okay. Okay I-" Lilly took a deep breath, closing her eyes again. "So, you think Pride's out there. I assume, we're going to get him?"

She didn't sound overly happy about it, but she was right. The Doctor nodded and lead her back out. It was morning by now, and the snow dusting was gone, revealing green swaying grass beneath it. The Doctor looked around. No one was in sight. If Pride had gone South, they likely would've found him last night. Which made it likely he'd gone North.

"This way," the Doctor said, starting up a hill.

They hadn't made it very far before Lilly tripped. The Doctor spun around. There wasn't a lot to trip on. But based on the way she was falling, this definitely wasn't a case of tripping over her own feet.

Before Lilly could hit the ground, a net sprung up around them, hoisting them into the air. The Doctor nearly fell on Lilly's head as they were both lifted up and shoved closer together.

"Ha! I found them. I told you they were here, didn't I?"

"Yes, so you mentioned."

The net began to rotate, giving the Doctor and Lilly a view of who'd captured them.

Oh, they're bird people, the Doctor thought.

Not completely of course. The faces were still rather human shaped, and they didn't have wings. Their hands were scaly, with pointed claw-like nails, more like bird talons than wings. Their eyes were also very bird like, and they were mostly covered with feathers from what the Doctor see, especially where hair would go on humans. There were some feathers poking out of the bottom of their shirts, though not the pant legs. Maybe the feathers stopped before then.

The one happily bragging sort of resembled a kiwi bird, if the Doctor were to pick an earth bird. He had soft small brown feathers, black eyes, and was talking about sniffing them out. (Kiwis were one of the few earth birds with a good sense of smell.) The other speaker, the one who was less than impressed, looked more pigeon like. The stoutest of them all, and a wild pigeon, with blue and brown feathers, but no gray in sight. There was also a bluebird and a sparrow. The sparrow person was glancing around nervously.

"Can we take them back now?" she asked. "This place is very exposed."

"So?" the kiwi asked.

"Maybe this is a trap for us," the sparrow suggested, sort of bouncing on the spot. "A mutual trap."

The kiwi and bluebird suddenly looked around nervously.

The pigeon sighed in the eternal tone of someone who isn't paid enough for this. "Alright. There's four of us. Grab a corner each, and let's get back to camp."

[The arc in which I get to grab so many bird species.]