A/N: Waah…. Very few people review my work. Come on people. You know you love me. Review, review. You want to push the review button. It only takes a minute. Hehe. I am still writing this though.

I own nothing, I only own Ta'sheeka.

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Chapter 4: The Stranger of the Blue Box

Ta'sheeka looked at the blue box curiously. Why did she even think of coming back here? Wasn't it good enough that she had saved the young girl with the name of an Earth flower from death? It was cold in the woods, and Ta'sheeka bundled herself tightly in the warm cloak she had grown and woven together. Being that the cloak was still alive, it reacted to the temperature in the air as well as the temperature of its owner and adjusted its temperature accordingly. The cloak kept Ta'sheeka warm and comfortable and was so much more efficient than any earthen garment. She walked around the box. It was the stuff of legends.

And then the stranger came. He mocked our war and the fathers of the clans were overthrown. And then the stranger disappeared, it was as if he never existed. But we know he did exist for he came in a strange blue box.

Ta'sheeka shuddered lightly, was it a bad omen? What had the goddess dropped before her now? She put a hand on the box and jumped back as she bit back a scream, the box was alive. It was as alive as any of the bio-tech that her people used back on her home. It had been a long time since she had felt the life in any piece of sophisticated technology. The box was sentient. Ta'sheeka cocked her head curiously. What kind of person owned this kind of thing?

"It's because of the stranger that we live the way we do. It is his fault that we have the castes and that we live so poorly."

Anger filled Ta'sheeka all of a sudden. It was the stranger that had caused her people's society to deteriorate so badly. Not saying the clans were any better but the castes were much worse. And then her exile, well it wasn't related to the stranger, and in a way it was. If he had not put an end to their civil war that had happened over thousands of years ago, she wouldn't have ended up exiled due to the stranger that traveled in this blue box.

She could hear voices coming closer, "I tell you Rose, the TARDIS senses something out there. She's not wrong about these things."

"Whatever you say, Doctor."

Ta'sheeka was ready to bolt when the door opened and the Doctor grinned, "Hello…" Ta'sheeka's heart pounded in her chest and she turned to run, but the Doctor grabbed her by the hand before she could bolt away, "For a Mala'shraian, you're the most skittish thing I have ever met. That is what you are, isn't it?"

Ta'sheeka nodded blandly, too stunned to speak. The Doctor's voice stated to her, "You're a long way from home. How'd you get stuck on Earth, anyway?"

Ta'sheeka suddenly curled up in a ball and collapsed on the ground, "Please…..please don't hurt me."

The Doctor sighed and Rose came up and hugged the poor woman. The woman, even though she was an alien, was terrified beyond belief. "Hurt you? We won't hurt you? Why did you ever think that?"

Ta'sheeka looked at Rose, her blue eyes filled with terror and tears, "Humans….they warned me about humans."

Rose sighed and put a hand on the woman's back and stroked her gently. It was something her mum use to do when she was a child and afraid of something, "Who warned you about humans?"

"The Elders, they said they were suspicious creatures and they might kill me. I don't want to die."

The Doctor still held onto Ta'sheeka's hand and he squeezed it firmly, "Shh, no one is going to kill you, not if I have anything to say about it."

Ta'sheeka felt her whole world spinning. Her heart rate was tremendously high and she collapsed from sheer fright, shock, and exhaustion.

The Doctor sighed and said, "Her nerves are shot. It's a wonder she hasn't died from sheer terror."

The Doctor took out his sonic screwdriver and ran it over Ta'sheeka.

"Doctor, what exactly are you doing?"

"Nothing. Well something. Just curious, I guess."

"About what?"

The Doctor turned off his screwdriver, "She looks pretty young."

"So, what's that got to do with it?"

"Rose, Mala'shra are almost as complex as Time Lords. They don't age in the same way that other species do in the universe. The age in reverse, in fact, they are the only species that I know of that age in that manner."

"You're telling me, that when they are born and are young that they look old and when they get older that they look young."

The Doctor grinned and nodded, "Yep, Amazing, isn't it?"

Rose scratched her head, "Seems confusing to me. How do they talk about age in their society?"

The Doctor grinned, "That's easy, Rose. When they are older looking they are called offspring and children. And when they are older they are called elders or parents or something like that. Just put everything you know about normal ageing in reverse and you have got it."

Rose sighed, "I still don't think I understand. It's just weird, if you ask me."

The Doctor looked at Rose, "How do you think it's for her? Seeing you look so young, she probably thinks you are ancient."

"How old do Mala'shra live?"

"They have an average lifespan of at least a thousand years or so, provided that they don't get sick or die, or get killed. But Mala'shra are pretty durable. They take a licking and keep on ticking. That's the only reason why I think our friend here has survived as long as she has."

Rose smiled lightly, "So if she's young, how old do you think she is?"

The Doctor took her cap off her head revealing her curly sandy blond hair and pointed elvish like ears. He fingered her skin lightly and then said, "Hmm at least 500 or 600 years old, although that's a rough estimate. She's basically middle aged. But feeling her oats and raring to go. It's a good thing she isn't any older."

"Why?"

The Doctor rolled his eyes, "Think Rose, they age in reverse."

"Oh….so you mean like a baby."

The Doctor grinned and nodded, "Yep. And guess who would get to change nappies?"

Rose wrinkled up her nose and the Doctor chuckled, "Don't worry Rose. She's a long way off for that. You probably won't even be around when that happens."

Rose nodded and breathed a sigh of relief, she had done some babysitting before in her life and the thought of changing a kid's nappies was not really a pleasurable thing.

"Doctor, shouldn't we get her inside the TARDIS?"

The Doctor smiled, "You think so?"

Rose nodded and the Doctor sighed and carefully took Ta'sheeka out of Rose's arms and carried her into the TARDIS. He wondered briefly about what he was going to do with her when she woke up. She seemed nice enough. She had saved Rose's life. He also wondered how she ended up on Earth and how long had she been here. Her home was over 10,000 light years away. He'd have a lot of questions to ask her when she woke up. Provided she didn't scream out in sheer terror when she woke up, maybe he should give her a bit of a sedative to calm her frazzled nerves. The more he thought about it, the thought of giving her a sedative would be a kindness. She had clearly been on Earth for a very long time. Her skittish nature had probably developed out of a natural fear for her own life, and Rassilon knew how long she had been here. He walked into one of the many rooms the TARDIS held and carefully laid her down on the bed. Rose followed in with him.

"Doctor, what are we going to do with her?"

"I don't know Rose. Give her some time to recover, okay. It's been a looong time since I dealt with her race. I just hope she wakes up soon. I have got a lot to ask her and my curiosity is killing me."