Chapter 10
The path to the human city on Polaris 2 led the Doctors and their Companions through several deep valleys and ravines. As soon as they hiked down one side, the group would have to head up the other boulder strewn side. Every time Nyssa stumbled in her high heels, Faith would look at Buffy and both of them would roll their eyes.
Faith, Buffy, and the tenth Doctor rested on top of a flat slab of granite while they waited for the fifth Doctor to help Nyssa up the slope again. A loud, high pitched whine reverberated through the canyon. "What was that?" Buffy asked, looking around for the source of the noise.
"Sounded like a plasma rifle," the fifth Doctor said as he and Nyssa finally caught up with the rest of the group.
"Doc, down there," Faith said, pointing down into the next valley. She had seen a large brown shape scurrying from boulder to boulder. The whine sounded again and Faith saw a bright blue bolt of energy slam into the boulder the Ursanoid had just left. She followed the path of the flash back up and could just barely make out two much smaller shapes along the top of the far ridge. Faith watched as a third blue bolt sped down into the valley. The shooter was just slightly off target and only managed to graze the furry native's shoulder. Everyone heard the Ursanoid yell out in pain.
The tenth Doctor took a deep breath to force his rage under control. "B, take Five and see if you can help the Ursanoid," he ordered. The tenth Doctor's eyes narrowed as he turned to where the shots were coming from. "Faith and I will try and talk some sense into the humans," he said coldly. Faith grinned and the fifth Doctor shuddered. He was glad that he had never seen his older self's girlfriend smile like that at him.
Nyssa raised her hand. "Doctor, what about me?" she asked.
Faith sighed. "Stay here and try not to draw any attention to yourself," she commanded. Team blond raced down a path to the bottom of the valley while the brunette team snuck along the ridge to confront the humans.
"Can you see him, Norman?" one of the hunters asked his friend from their choice spot overlooking the valley below. Both hunters were dressed in matching dark green, one piece jump suits.
"Nah, James, the furry bastard ducked down behind those boulders over there on the left," Norman told his partner. "Don't worry. As soon as he pops his scruffy head up, I'll blow it off," he said confidently.
"That's a bit rude, don't you think?" the tenth Doctor asked as he stepped out from the trees.
"Shit!" James swore as he spun around to look at the man who had creeped up on them. He leveled his plasma rifle at the newcomer. "What are doing here? Norman and I have exclusive rights to hunt this area," James told him.
Norman spared a quick glance at the strange man and then went back to staring at the valley floor, waiting for the Ursanoid to show itself. "If he's a hunter, he has to be either the bravest or the stupidest one on Polaris 2," he muttered to James. Norman paused and when he realized that James wasn't following his line of thought, Norman added, "No rifle, so unless he plans on strangling the stinking bastard down there with his own hands, I'm guessing he isn't here to poach in our sector." Norman scanned down below once again, the barrel of his rifle moving smoothly with his eyes. "Besides, if he did poach in this sector, we could report him to the charter company and get a free week of hunting out of them in compensation," he said.
James wasn't so sure about things. "What are you doing outside the city walls without a weapon?" he asked the tenth Doctor. "The bears will tear you apart," James said like he was speaking to a child.
The tenth Doctor smiled at the two men. "I can't stand weapons; they're always used to hurt other people. Nope, I never use one because I am a pacifist," he told them proudly. "And as for the native population of this planet…I've found them to be rather gracious hosts," the tenth Doctor said.
Norman took his eyes off the valley below to look at the tenth Doctor. "Oh for crying out loud," he swore. "I thought they shipped all of you bear lovers off planet when the charter company bought the rights to this ball of dirt," Norman complained. Because he was looking at the Doctor, Norman didn't see the other two figures dashing from boulder to boulder towards the injured the Ursanoid down below.
James pointed his rifle at the tenth Doctor's face. "Bear lover, huh?" he asked rhetorically. "What's to keep me from you in your Ursanoid loving face?" James asked with a smirk. His smirk went away when instead of cowering in fear; the Doctor's smile became predatory.
"I might be a pacifist, but I never said that my girlfriend was," the tenth Doctor said cryptically. A wooden stake flew through the air and impaled the hand that James was using to balance his rifle. The pain and shock of seeing a foot long piece of wood sticking through his hand made the hunter drop his rifle. James dropped to knees, clutching his injured hand. The pain was overriding his mind so that James couldn't process why there was suddenly a cute brunette woman racing out of the tree line towards him.
Faith ran forward and did a flying kick over the kneeling man's head. As she sailed over, part of her mind was pleased when she saw the stake sticking out of his hand. Faith had taken a gamble considering that the air density was different that what she was used to. The other hunter only had time to turn around and face Faith before her boot caught him squarely in the stomach. Norman doubled over from the pain and impact dropping his rifle. While Norman was bent over, Faith spun on her front foot and slammed the side of her other foot into his head. Norman was unconscious before he hit the ground.
The tenth Doctor smiled at his girlfriend and kicked the fallen rifles over the edge of the ridge. He was quite satisfied at the crunching noise the rifles made when they hit the boulders on the valley floor below them.
The fifth Doctor and Buffy managed to get to the wounded Ursanoid without getting shot at. They found the chocolate colored Ursanoid leaning with his back against one of the larger boulders. The Ursanoid was holding his left shoulder with his right paw. Blood was seeping from beneath his paw. The Ursanoid finally noticed Buffy and the fifth Doctor when they were only ten meters away. He looked at the two humanoids and gave a low warning growl, baring his teeth.
"Knock it off fuzzy-wuzzy, we're to help," Buffy snapped in annoyance.
The fifth Doctor pulled out his towel from the interior trans-dimensional pocket of his jacket. "I can use this to stop the bleeding," he offered the Ursanoid. "We're going to help you whether you want us to or not, so don't make Buffy hold you down so that I can tend to your wound," the fifth Doctor warned.
The chocolate furred Ursanoid chuckled through his pain at the thought of the petite, blonde woman managing to even lift one of his arms, let alone keep him from moving. While he was chuckling, the two humanoids dashed across the last bit of open ground between them. The Ursanoid was shocked when the woman put her hand on his chest and was able to keep him from rising. He was also confused as to how they were speaking to him without translating boxes. The injured native took a deep breath through his nose and realized that despite what the man looked like, he wasn't human.
"Here, this should help stop the bleeding," the fifth Doctor said as he gently placed the towel over the wound in the Ursanoid's shoulder. The injured Ursanoid took over putting pressure on his shoulder, grateful for the help.
"What are you guys?" the Ursanoid asked, not sure what to think about receiving help from two things that looked like humans but weren't. The woman smelled like a human, but there was no way a real human could have that much strength he thought.
The Time Lord and the Slayer were saved from having to answer that question when they all heard a loud crash from across the valley. Buffy quickly popped her head over the top of the boulder and saw the shattered remains of two rifles on the valley floor. She smiled when she noticed that one of the rifles had blood on it. Never doubting Faith's abilities, Buffy was satisfied that at least one of the hunters had received a serious injury. Buffy's assumption that her Doctor and Faith had come out without a scratch was confirmed when she looked up and saw them waving cheerfully down to her. "All clear," Buffy told the fifth Doctor.
"That was quick," the fifth Doctor muttered. Not for the first time on this quest, the fifth Doctor thought about how helpful it would be to have a Slayer as a Companion. Working along that same train of thought, the fifth Doctor asked, "Buffy, would you mind helping this chap up?"
The Ursanoid was again shocked at how the little "human" woman was able to support his massive weight. He shook his head in amazement. "Thanks again. My name is Nigel," he said, still in shock.
Buffy snorted in amusement that such a large predator was named "Nigel". The fifth Doctor gave her a stern look before glancing up at Nigel's face. "Pleasure to meet you. I'm the Doctor and this is my friend, Buffy," he told the Ursanoid. Nigel gave a snort that was almost identical to Buffy's when he heard her name.
The tenth Doctor and Faith marched their human prisoners to the flat rock where Nyssa was sitting. Faith noticed her boyfriend had a slightly shocked expression on his face when they finally reached his old Companion. "What's with the shocked look?" she asked him.
"What? Oh, sorry, I was just surprised to see Nyssa still here," the tenth Doctor admitted. "Back when I was the younger me, Nyssa was kidnapped with alarming regularity," he explained. The tenth Doctor smiled at Faith. "I honestly expected her not be here when we got back," he admitted with a conspiratorial whisper.
Faith snickered at the plight of his former Companion. She figured Nyssa, like Xander, was one of the Universe's butt-monkeys. Faith quit laughing when she saw Buffy supporting the weight of the Ursanoid they had saved. "Shit," Faith swore and raced over to help the injured native the rest of the way to the flat rock.
Nigel was beyond being shocked anymore when another small human female came up on his other side and took an equal amount of his weight on her shoulder. He glanced back and forth at the two women and said, "They must grow humans differently where you two come from."
"Something like that," Buffy muttered. She didn't feel like explaining the whole vampire slaying alien hybrid thing right then.
After they eased Nigel onto the rock, the tenth Doctor said, "Faith, watch over these two while I take look at our friend's injury." Faith skipped over to him, kissed his cheek, and kicked the legs out from underneath their captives. The hunters landed in a heap at her feet.
The tenth Doctor approached the Ursanoid cautiously. "Hello, I'm the Doctor," he said.
Nigel creased his huge brow. "I'm Nigel, but I thought the other guy was 'The Doctor'," he said. Once again, Nigel inhaled deeply through his nose and found out this man was also not human.
"Don't get them started," Buffy whispered to Nigel. The Ursanoid chuckled and then winced as the movement caused him more pain.
The tenth Doctor put on his brainy specs and eased the towel off of Nigel's shoulder. "Hate weapons," he muttered to himself. The tenth Doctor's cheerful expression came back quickly though when he saw that the damage was relatively minor. He smiled up at Nigel. "Not to worry, I can fix that up in a jiffy," he assured the Ursanoid. He pulled out his sonic screwdriver and slid the setting rings around to where he needed them.
Nigel tensed up when the other guy calling himself the Doctor pointed a small silver tube at him. His tension quickly fled while he watched his muscle and skin knit themselves back together wherever the skinnier Doctor pointed the tube. When the Doctor shut off his high pitched thing-a-majig, Nigel rotated his shoulder experimentally. The spot where he had been shot was bald, but there was no pain in movement. Nigel tried to stand, but he sat back down quickly when his loss of blood made him dizzy.
The fifth Doctor looked with envy on his older self's sonic screwdriver. "Perhaps I might have been a just a bit too hasty when I tossed mine away," he thought. The fifth Doctor grew concerned when he saw Nigel was having trouble standing. "Do you think there are any more hunters in this vicinity?" he asked Nigel.
"Nah, they pay a lot for a pretty big hunting area," Nigel said.
Buffy pulled out Mr. Pointy from where she had tucked it away. She tapped the wooden stake against her palm as she walked up to the human captives. Judging from the look of terror coming from the one with the crudely bandaged hand, Buffy had a pretty good idea what Faith had used to make him drop his rifle. Buffy stopped close enough to the hunters that they could clearly hear the sound the heavy wooden stake made when it hit her palm. "How big is your hunting area?" she demanded.
Norman looked at her defiantly and kept his mouth shut. James was feeling a lot more practical about things. He knew exactly how much it hurt to have one of those sharp things shoved through a body part. "We each paid for a standard range and teamed up to double the space we could hunt in," James said quickly.
"That really doesn't tell me anything," Buffy warned.
James gulped as Buffy stopped hitting her palm with the wooden stake and held it like she was judging its weight. "It goes from Capital city to the edge of the forest East of us," he explained, his voice starting to get higher with panic.
Everyone but the hunters relaxed a little. The fifth Doctor smiled at Nigel. "It would appear that you have quite bit of breathing room for the moment," he pointed out. "Do you think you can make it to the Elder's pub on your own?" the fifth Doctor asked.
Nigel nodded his big head. "Yeah, it's not too far from here," he assured them. Nigel stood slowly this time and managed to stay on his feet. "Thank you again Doctors, Buffy, and I'm sorry, but I didn't get your name," he said to Faith.
"That's Faith," Buffy told Nigel. "Be careful," she said. Nigel nodded his head and walked slowly out of sight into one of the valleys they had recently been through.
"Now, as for you two," the tenth Doctor said ominously. "You are going to show us where your camp is," he ordered them.
The trek to the hunter's camp was easy in comparison to the path they had taken earlier that day. The hunter's camp consisted of two inflatable geodesic domes, one being slightly larger than the other. Buffy and Faith left the others at the edge of the camp while they snuck up to the structures. Buffy held up her hand and silently put up three fingers, one at a time. When her third finger came up, Faith paused for a second and then both she and Buffy kicked in a door to one of the domes.
Buffy had taken the smaller dome just because it had been closer to her when she and Faith had snuck into the camp. The dome she was in was laid out like a luxury condo. There was a small kitchen, a loft with two beds, and a living room complete with a couch, large screen monitor, and entertainment equipment. Buffy picked up a small, silver cube from next to the equipment. For the first time, she wasn't so sure about having the TARDIS translate things for her. The label on the cube was "Broke Back Mountain, VI."
When Faith had kicked in her door, her sense of smell was assaulted with the smell of blood and death. She took a step into the dome and the automatic lights came on. Faith took in a sharp breath when she saw the pelts of several Ursanoids in various stages of being tanned. She did a quick look around for threats and then hurried out of the dome. Faith slammed the door shut behind her.
Buffy and Faith met the Doctors and Nyssa in the center of the camp. While they were talking, Nyssa broke off from the group and wandered over to the larger dome. Faith noticed where Nyssa had gone a moment too late to stop her from going inside. Faith ran to the larger dome and was followed by her boyfriend and his younger self. Nyssa came running out of the dome and doubled over. She vomited the entire contents of her stomach.
"Nyssa!" the fifth Doctor exclaimed in worry. He rushed to her side and held her hair out of her face as she continued to vomit. The fifth Doctor looked questioningly at Faith for a reason why Nyssa was in the state she was in.
Reading his face correctly, Faith shook her head in disgust at the human invaders. "Let's just say that the hunters are lucky we sent Nigel to the elder's pub," she said. "Otherwise, he would have eaten both of them, no matter how terrible we taste," Faith explained.
The fifth Doctor clenched his teeth, his own bile rising when he caught on to what Faith was saying. He stood up and led Nyssa away from the skinning dome. The fifth Doctor fished around in his jacket for anything that might help Nyssa. He disregarded the jelly babies knowing that something sweet was definitely not going to make her feel any better. He stopped when he saw his older self looking at him with compassion. The tenth Doctor was holding out a stick of mint gum to his younger self. The tenth Doctor knew that any aid would be more comforting coming from the fifth Doctor.
While the Doctors gave aid to Nyssa, Faith stalked over to where she had left their captives. On her way, she broke off a long metal strut that ran up the side of the living quarters dome. Buffy nodded her head, hoping that Faith was going to do what she thought. The men's eyes were wide with terror as Faith walked towards then carrying a strut that was far too heavy for even both of them to lift. Norman wet his pants as Faith kicked him into place so that he sat back to back with his partner James. Faith lowered the metal strut so that Buffy could hold one end. Buffy nodded again and the two Slayers walked in a circle around the hunters, bending he strut into a tight band around the captives.