A/N: The next Doctor! This is your pre warning that I'm about to rip right through an episode and change it all sorts of crazy. Some of the lines I'll keep the same, some I won't. Thanks for reading!
-1851-
-London-
Calypso's head was throbbing as she came to, and her stomach felt like it had been twisted around inside her. With a grumble, she opened her eyes; each jump was always like this, the feeling of too much wine the night before. Except the night before had possibly been many miles away, and certainly many years. It was too dark to see much, but she could smell something damp. Fragments started to come back as she sat up slowly, willing the world around her to stop spinning. It was always a little unsettling, the pieces falling back together every time she woke like this. It felt a bit like a dream, where she had started to forget the details. But then they would rush back, making her feel sick and dizzy all over again.
Her hand went to her throat suddenly, worried that perhaps she had been wrong. Worried that she had jumped forward, only so she could bleed to death somewhere else. But she had not been wrong, the laceration on her skin had healed, it wasn't even tender where she pressed her fingers. The blood was absent too, and strangely enough, the collar of her dress had also been cleaned. Some kind of intergalactic bathing service. Very unsettling.
With that solved, she made an effort to stand, and although she was unsteady, she managed. The ground beneath her was wood, and as her eyes adjusted to the dim light of the city that surrounded her, she could see she was on a wharf. She turned around looking to the river where she was standing, thinking perhaps she recognized the Thames. It looked a bit busier than when she had seen it last, the wharf filled with all sorts of boats, all docked for the evening. And quite a bit fouler smelling as well.
London, she was in London. At least that was settled. Now she just had to figure out when she was. The docks were empty this late at night; all the anglers had likely gone to the pub for the evening. The streets themselves seemed quite active. She headed toward the road, wanting to find some place to rest. Perhaps a warm stable somewhere where she could go unnoticed. At least until her sickness passed and then she could start her proper search for work. The first few days were always the most difficult, sometimes having to beg for food and shelter. Other times having to steal it.
A noise on one of the docked ships startled her from her thoughts and her grumbling stomach. She paused mid step, searching in the dim light.
"Hello?" She asked into the cold evening air. She wasn't interested in getting into any more trouble so soon after she had arrived. She already felt miserable, if she was forced to jump again so soon she was certain she would end up heaving wherever she next landed. The thought itself agitated her nausea. "Is there anyone-" It jumped from the ship to the dock with an unnatural awkwardness. It lurched forward and she got a better view. It was as dark as the night and furry to boot. She must have startled some dog from its rest.
"Oh, hello there." She said, somewhat cheered. She wasn't quite ready to deal with people yet and this seemed like a nice compromise. "Have you got a nice place to sleep down there?" She asked hopefully, hunching over and reaching out with her hand to coax the animal forward. As it turned, the lamplight from the road caught its face. It had a metal face, and it took another mechanical step forward.
"No," She said, shaking her head and taking a step back toward the end of the dock. "Stay back." She warned it, her voice was a hushed whisper now. She looked around for anything that might be used to defend herself. What kind of dog had a metal face? And what would keep it away? At this point, she'd be satisfied with a stick with some heft, but there seemed to be nothing. She really ought to start carrying a dagger on her person. It continued to close the distance between them and she realized that she was rapidly running out of dock to retreat to.
"Help!" She finally found the voice to cry out. Surely, someone from the street would come to her aid. "Please! Help!" But the gloom of the dock was thick and seemed to swallow up her voice. The noises from the city were too rowdy with the sounds of drinking for her cries to be heard. She would just have to jump into the river, as unappealing as that seemed. And she would have to hope that this…creature couldn't swim.
"Not to worry!" A voice shouted in the darkness. It was a man but she could only make out his shadowy silhouette in the dim light. "I'm here to help. Come here you beastie!" He shouted, swinging a rope over his head and lassoing the creature. The dog-monster turned to the man, snarling at the rope, and then it charged. The man lifted something she couldn't quite make out and tossed it off the end of the dock, landing with a splash. Before the beast could reach him, the rope pulled taught and started to drag the animal scuttling backward. It slipped off the end of the dock and with a heavy wet explosion; it too fell into the river.
"There, that should do it." The man said confidently as he clapped his hands together and stepped forward. She could just make out his features now; he looked kind, brown hair and brown eyes covering a smiling face. He wore a tan jacket over a crimson vest and looked to be quite wealthy. "Are you hurt?" He inquired.
"N…no." Calypso finally found her voice and shook her head. Realizing with some relief that she really was alright. "Thank you, sir." She said with gratitude.
"Ah, it was no trouble. Come, I can offer you a place to rest." He smiled, taking her arm in his own and leading her up from the docks. "It is what I have sworn myself to do. Keep the people of London safe. There have been a few of these creatures lurking about recently. It is enough to make me worry about the future." Calypso found no comfort in knowing that there were more of those things out there. "I believe they arrived with the cybermen, and that is troubling news indeed.
"Cybermen?" Calypso asked curiously, that was certainly something new from the last time she had been in London.
"Yes, my sworn enemy." He nodded solemnly as they arrived on the streets. The yellow lamps above were reassuring, though she knew it was just as dangerous as the dark had been. "Why…By the stars, I know you!" He was suddenly beaming at her. She looked up at him, startled. He didn't look familiar to her at all, but he seemed convinced that he knew her. "Rosita! My trusted assistant!" He took her hand and shook it eagerly.
"Rosita?" She said with a frown. "I think you must be mistaken…"
"My traveling companion! Through time and space on the TARDIS!"
She felt an icy chill, she did recognize that word.
"Who are you?" She looked at him, afraid she already knew the answer.
"Why, I'm the Doctor!" He was still beaming at her as she felt like the ground had dropped out from beneath her. "Come now, the TARDIS has yet to be finished!"
