This is actually more of a continuation of To Move On, but it has a brief appearance of a new character that the Doctor nicknames 'Falconer', as you'll soon find out why. Please read and review.

Falconer

The TARDIS light panels were dimmed, with the Doctor's absence, there was only a faint buzz in the air with the systems still functioning, but reserving energy…now and again there was a faint ticking, pinging, it would have been grating to the Doctor's ears if he had been there to hear it. Several small blue tubers flashed suddenly and the panels brightened in expectance…there was a delay of a few minutes, but then the door opened and the Doctor staggered in, gasping. He was not a cat person, not at all, especially if they appeared to be as tall as the Tower…these last few hours had been a cat-astrophe, and not just for himself alone.

The Doctor turned and yelled, "Come on! Are you coming in or not, bird brain? We've got to move on out of here!"

He stepped back, allowing the Warrior to enter inside the TARDIS, his sharp eyes already swooping about as he took in the scope of the interior, but he made no comment. He strode up the ramp, his staff slamming into the grating with every step he took, as the Doctor quickly closed the door, not a moment too soon. The TARDIS trembled and he could just imagine why, imagine that monstrous cat crouched beside the blue box, swatting at it with a paw that had the force of at least a ton behind it, it would be amazing if the façade didn't actually acquire a few great gashes in it. The Doctor raced past the Warrior, adjusting a few of the levers on the console as he scrambled round its length, checking to see if everything was ready-quickly grabbed the replacement piece and reinstalled it-and then twirled the handle of the miniature rotary as the time rotor fluctuated. On the jungle planet, the TARDIS dissolved, leaving behind a giant annoyed cat, and slipped into a time stream as the Doctor relaxed and turned to study his fellow traveler…loath to call him a companion just yet.

The Warrior had taken a stance at the rail, leaning his staff against it as he folded his wings behind him and tapped his talons as he completely glanced around at the TARDIS…he was a slim, yet undoubtedly feathery being clothed in plain khaki, offsetting his gray tint with white streaks. His head was that of a raptor's with a short yet extremely sharp beak with equally piercing yellow eyes, hardly ever blinking and never displaying any hint of emotion beyond his blank, predatory stare; in the last few hours, he had only exchanged a few words with the Doctor.

The Doctor queried, "What do they call you?"

The Warrior-bird turned his head and responded, "Since breaking out of my egg, I have been called Farahorlimuscon."

"Right, then…I'll call you Falconer. How does that sound?"

Falconer only gave the briefest shrug and was silent for a moment while the Doctor checked their heading, but then he suddenly said, "We are traveling…I can feel it. Very fast, faster than I have ever moved…we are going further away from my old roost."

The Doctor slowly nodded and hesitated before he lifted his head as he murmured, "I am sorry, Falconer, about what happened back there. I thought for sure that our distraction would work, but that cat wasn't fooled and…were there any other exits?"

"No, Doctor, the cat had the advantage of us. If any had been spared, they were not of my nest…that was too close to the mouth of the recess."

The Doctor lowered his eyes and turned away, turning a switch as the TARDIS started to slow, slipping out of the time stream and materializing in the regular dimension. He brought up the monitor, which presented the view of a lush garden…and the brutal faces of its occupants, which were even now approaching the blue box. The Doctor squinted and tilted his head…what was it today with upright animals? These figures were mammalian, but they walked on paws and their bulging muscles were covered with lean, black fur offset by their raiment of white linen kilts. Their heads were that of a jackal's, long snouts bared to exposed razor fangs with beady red eyes and ridiculously long ears, but there was no denying their savage glare; currently, those Conqueror-jackals that weren't approaching the blue box were whipping human slaves into dismantling a pharaohnic statue.

Suddenly, behind him, the Doctor heard a screech before Falconer harshly asked, "What is this? Is this happening out there?"

The Doctor nodded and turned to face the Warrior-bird, who was gripping his staff tightly, as he answered, "Yes, right outside…this is a place called Egypt, I hadn't meant to come here, but here we are and…they need our help."

"Are they of your nest?"

"Uh…no, not really, though I have found myself brooding over them for quite awhile now, if I do say so myself, but that's not the point. The point is that they need help, they cannot stand up for themselves and I don't think there's anybody else, we're the only ones. Still, if it's too soon after…what happened back there, we can move on, if you don't want to get involved."

Falconer cocked his head, thinking for a moment, but then he shook his head and said, "I must be involved in something, perhaps the sooner the better. If I can stop injustice in this place, wherever it is, maybe then I can right what went wrong at my own roost. We will stay and help."

The Doctor smiled and said, "All right then…you want to go first?"

Falconer nodded and there was a glint in his eye as he hefted his staff and strode down the ramp, his talons clacking on the grating as he reached the doors and managed to open them. The sun shone through the opening, a glare in which the Doctor could barely see anything except Falconer's shadow as he twirled his staff and slammed it into the first Conqueror-jackal, knocking him down, before shoving it into another's gut as the Warrior-bird screeched out his battle cry.

Beyond, however, he faintly heard human voices shout, "Horus!"

The Doctor sighed and leaned against the rail, patiently waiting for Falconer to finish off this group of opponents…he had a feeling that this would be a long stopover and if he was able to survive long enough to leave, he would likely be alone again. Falconer certainly should prove popular in this situation, maybe to the extent that he might decide to stay on as 'Horus', which wasn't really a bad thing, considering that there had been worse humans who had served as pharaohs in this ancient civilization. Still, as the Doctor took off his coat, he couldn't help thinking that there was never anything he could depend on, nothing could last when he was always moving on, especially when it came to his companions. However, he managed to banish these dark thoughts easily enough when he hung his coat on the rack and stepped out into the sun-drenched landscape of ancient Egypt…at least he knew who he was and that, somewhere in time and space, there would always be a new adventure.