Updates! I haven't updated this in a looong time either, but surprise! New chapter! I'm being productive this week…I give you chapter five. Some strange things happen, a stranger visits…sadly, nothing explodes, but y'know…

Enjoy!

Chapter Five

One thing Girl would not stand for was being tricked. The first encounter she'd had in the corridors was not her idea of clever. It was conniving. The Doctor had fooled her into doing his errands too many times, and while she did intend to make herself useful, she didn't like doing so as per his instructions. Was she naturally naïve or was this the result of memory loss? Either way, she was resolved to be prepared for his next challenge, whatever it might be. She wouldn't be caught off guard again.

Everyday Girl worked on machinery for part of the day, and practiced with her blade for the rest, trying to coax more memories to the surface. She'd gone out hunting the day after the worm woman encounter, but it had been misadventure after misadventure. Apparently looking for danger and stumbling upon it were two very different things.

She was practicing with the blade now, pulling it through the air one way, slicing it another, searching for a form. Why was it so difficult to remember something that seemed so intuitive?

"Calm down, just calm down," she told herself. "That's what the masters would always tell you; you never relax." She blinked in surprise and almost lost her footing. "The masters," she croaked out when she'd steadied herself. Where on earth had that come from? She closed her eyes, and took a deep jittery breath, trying to remember. But there was nothing. She started again with the blade, sweeping it up and down and around, testing its weight in her fingers. It felt right, but why did her mind scream WRONG WRONG WRONG at every step?

"Well, I'm sorry I can't get anything right, you stupid mind! Reveal a few of your secrets and then we'll talk!" she scolded herself, stepping and hopping haphazardly across the open room with no particular rhyme or reason.

Finally she stamped her feet in frustration and nearly threw the knife down onto the tile before she remembered the unfortunate result of her last tantrum and staid her hand.

She shook her arms loose at the shoulders and broke into a run, closing her eyes and letting her limbs move in any way they wished. She felt like she was flying, arms like wings spread out. She saw it then, the technique—the rhythm that she'd been missing. She refused to open her eyes and lose it again. Instead she imagined a dirt courtyard all around her, sandy colored dust covering sandaled feet, while she danced a solitary waltz to the shouting of orders like a barrage of percussion. She was in the center of it all, stepping, striking, parrying, leaping, sinking, spinning, and stepping again. It was a deadly dance, and she carried her knife like an ornament, a precious fan. It was part of her arm like a bladed hand. She remembered that form, the movements well-known to her muscles. She didn't remember its name, but she couldn't stop it, not now. She was in the middle of a turn when she opened her eyes and saw the Doctor watching. The courtyard faded away and the cadence that had rung out like a song in her mind bled into empty air.

"Now this is something."

"Something, yes, but it isn't much," she replied, all exhilaration gone.

"You couldn't use that technique to bring me a few specimens alive and not dismembered?"

"You said to hunt the creatures, not bring them to you alive."

"Then this time I will clarify. I have a job for you."

"I'm listening," she answered curtly, slipping the knife back into its sheath.

"It's a job that requires a certain amount of finesse, something like what you were just doing now. There's a creature I'd like you to capture. A cat—or…well I suppose that's the closest description."

"A cat?" she asked, scrunching her brow.

"You don't know what a cat is? How useless can you be? It's an animal with pointed ears, whiskers, and a tail—this bunch might have spots, but I can't be sure."

"What do you want me to do with it once I capture it?"

"Return it here, of course. There are plenty of places to put a small cat, after all."

"I didn't know you kept pets."

"NOT PETS. Test subjects."

"Very well," she answered, beginning to walk away. "You're never going to tell me what you do with them, are you?" she asked over her shoulder.

"Weren't you leaving?

Girl emitted an angry huff and stalked off.

…………………………..

In the past several weeks, Girl had become well acquainted with the hallways that surrounded the Doctor's lab. Once you understood the general design, you could figure out where power panels were supposed to be located as well as doorways. There were several strange empty rooms, but she normally kept to the hallways, and didn't spend much time exploring dead ends. Needless to say, she was no longer a stranger to many of the twists and turns of this level of the tower, but the quarry the Doctor wanted her to find was not where she was used to hunting and it required descending much further into the tower's core than she was used to.

Sneaking through the halls, an idea came to her from she knew not where. She suddenly felt the urge to make a game out of how quietly she could walk. How many shadows could she step between? How long could she hold her breath and not make a sound? She liked this new diversion, and it helped pass the time. She wasn't seeing a hint of the creature the Doctor wanted her to find, but she did see evidence of the first creature she'd found. There was a trail of slime across the tiled floor mixed with dark blue blood. She avoided it on her toes, carefully stepping to the side. She continued moving. Three levels down, she noticed a change in the air. It was stuffier and there were more noises filling the corridors. Mewling and growling grew louder as she tiptoed closer, looking into the shadows for what she hoped would be the cats she sought. A lithe body on four padded feet pounced from shadow to shadow, startling Girl. It was small-ish and quick and was gone just as fast as it had come.

Girl drew the blade from its sheath and concentrated. She'd have to be fast. One strike would—would what? Kill it? She lowered her arm and remembered that the Doctor had wanted it alive. This was going to require a different strategy. She put the blade away and crept low to the ground, moving closer to where she'd seen the creature. Surprise would have to be her weapon now.

She bent to one knee, and slowed her breathing, attuning herself to the environment. She waited for ages in the shadow of the hall, and while she waited, she began to perceive things, vibrations on the air and shifts in the light that she'd never noticed before. It reminded her of something, but she couldn't think what. Someplace she'd been before? Something she'd done? For a moment, she thought she had become the animal she was lying in wait to ambush, but she shook her head clear of these distracting thoughts, and tried to focus on her task anew. The hallway returned as it was to her senses, and she was suddenly aware of the mewling growing louder. Girl blinked. There was a beast directly in front of her, stalking her and drawing closer. It stared at her with luminous green eyes and as it stepped into a pool of light, she saw its lip curled up in a menacing fashion. She swallowed slowly, feeling foolish for allowing her defenses down even for a short time. They stared at each other for a long moment, the feline growling its threats and Girl frozen to the floor. Between panicked heart beats, she became aware again of the knife at her side. Not the blade, but the hilt, though she'd have to be quick. She slowly inched her hand to the sheath, never taking her eyes off of the cat while her fingers touched the hard leather and metal. She grasped the sheath, pulling it out of her belt while propelling herself to her feet. The cat pounced, and swinging wide, Girl made use of the knife's blunt hilt, hoping to subdue the creature with a well-placed blow. She missed and the feline's paws crashed into her chest, knocking her backwards. The two fell to the floor, fists and claws at the fore. Girl threw the feline off with difficulty only to have it return a moment later with fangs bared. She went to great trouble of keeping the sharp teeth away while claws raked her arms and the ruckus filled the halls. They grappled for several minutes before Girl was able to get a hold of her knife again and use it like a cudgel. She struck the beast at the base of the skull with a whip of the sheath and it crumpled; legs beneath it, unconscious.

Girl plunged to the floor in relief, hooking the knife and its sheath back in her belt. She managed three breaths when more mewling emanated from down the hall. Girl looked up in a hurry, exhausted enough by the effort it took to subdue this one animal, and not eager to fight any more of them. She took hold of the unconscious creature and draped it across her shoulders, slouching under the weight. She glanced down the hallways again and felt her chest constrict. Another feline stood watching her—massive, with eyes of burnished gold, whiskers the length of whips and claws that clicked dangerously on the tile floor. This was no simple cat—this was a monster!

Girl swiveled and ran, sprinting through the hall with the unconscious animal still on her shoulders. She barreled around corners and up staircases, muscles aching with the hard use and wounds burning as sweat mingled with blood. She could hear the monster chasing, roars bouncing off the walls and floors as it loped after her.

Only one more turn, she thought to herself as she remembered a door waiting for her just beyond a bend. The beast was closing in, about to reach her with its claws, and in that instant, she lost her footing and plummeted to the tiled floor. The burden she'd been carrying flew from her shoulders, as she hit the tiles hard and lost her bearing. When she looked up, the beast was on top of her and staring down, slaver glistening on its enormous fangs. And then nothing happened. Girl blinked and blinked again, but the monster did nothing to her, merely looked confused, backed away, and finally turned tail and ran.

Girl sat up, or rather tried to sit up and failed. None of her limbs felt like what she knew. The floor felt differently, and she felt a strange weight pulling on the sides of her face. She looked to where her legs should have been and saw paws instead. She panicked for a moment and tried to figure out what had happened. She was hyper-sensitive to everything around her, much like what she had experienced earlier on, but more intense. She could feel vibrations in the floor, fluctuations in the air and…claws? She looked at her toes and practiced flexing the tendons, seeing what would happen. Claws extended and retracted, and it was fascinating, but…what was going on? She realized she was still laying on her side and rolled to push herself up. She had four legs, four paws, a tail—a tail? She walked in a full circle just to be sure, and sure enough.

"What?" she asked of no one. "I've turned into a…a cat?"

But no sooner had she said it, that her paws returned to being hands, and her arms and legs and the rest of her body returned to normal. She sat in a befuddled heap, wondering how in the world she'd just accomplished such a feat. She pinched herself to be sure she was herself again, and finally stood up, unsteady on her real legs. Her quarry was still sprawled on the floor where it had fallen, thankfully still unconscious, and Girl picked it up and slung it around her shoulders once more, choosing to ignore what had just happened. It made too little sense and she'd have to worry about it later when she was sure she was safe.

She let out a tremendous sigh and continued her journey up the tower. It took a lot longer to climb the several levels that led to the lab. Her muscles ached even more than before and her wounds were still bleeding with the agitation of movement. She tried to pick up the pace, thinking that other creatures would pursue her at the scent of the blood, and seriously doubting she'd be able to save herself again with a miraculous shape-change. Stair after stair she plodded, jostling the load on her shoulders. At long last she stepped into the lab, and slid the cat off her shoulders and onto a work table.

"I have no idea why you'd want such a troublesome creature as a pet, but it's all yours!" she called out into the various chambers of the Doctor's lab. "Hey! Come get your animal!" she said again when she received no response.

The Doctor suddenly bolted out of one of the smaller chambers and quickly took hold of the cat before disappearing into yet another room. He returned in a frenzy, barely looked at Girl; in fact, staring straight through her, completely distracted. Girl watched in confusion.

"What is it?" she asked.

He spun, looked directly at her, and all of a sudden pushed her out of the room, guiding her through a series of other rooms and finally throwing her into a space no larger than a cabinet.

"Stay. Here," he hissed, turning off lights and shutting the door, leaving Girl in the dark. Indignant and curious, she pushed the door open and poked her head out. The entire room was dark aside from a spear of light coming from the main chamber where most of the Doctor's tables and gadgets were located. She slowly walked closer, to see what the Doctor was hiding so fiercely.

She paused, half-hidden behind a pillar near the wall. Machinery hummed all around her, but she could still hear the booming voice of an unknown person coming from the main chamber. For some reason, the warmth left her body and her wounds began to throb painfully. She didn't remember much of her life before arriving here, but this feeling she knew she'd never felt before. It was a different kind of terror, a stifling, choking death. She gulped and craned her neck to dare to see this stranger, wondering who he was to the Doctor while simultaneously wanting nothing to do with this.

A dark figure stood in the center of the main chamber, armored in black plates and rings, and swathed in a cloak that pooled around him like a remnant of midnight. He wore a helmet that served more like a grotesque mask, and he idly inspected the Doctor's work by turning his head slowly from side to side.

He spoke again but she couldn't hear it entirely. She slowly moved forward, tiptoeing to get a better idea of the conversation, dreading the approach as much as she craved learning answers.

"Results…diagrams complete…prototype to test…don't fail."

She crawled even closer.

"What paltry efforts are these? I told you to study the designs I left for you. Baron's engineer is close to completing his first model, I expect you to develop comparable results. Yet here you are wasting the resources I've permitted you to use, studying fluids and humors. How many creatures are you going to waste my time with before you work on worthwhile occupations."

"I'm working on the designs!" the Doctor cried out. "The interface matrix is difficult to decipher, but I have most of the parts prepared for construction!"

"Doctor," the other man threatened, "You had better keep your word. Leave the experiments to me. Remember, I have the power to strip you of everything if you fail."

"I won't fail. I won't," the Doctor sniveled.

"Good," the stranger growled, and left the room, swinging his enormous cape behind him.

The Doctor collapsed to the floor, a panicked expression on his face.

Girl stepped out, hesitantly at first, and then openly approached the Doctor.

"Who was that man?" she asked, breathless.

The Doctor didn't respond right away, but slowly shifted glassy eyes in her direction.

"Your fault! This is your fault! Whoever and whatever you are, you've set me back and the Master is displeased!"

"Who is he?" she insisted, more firm in her tone.

"He's the Master. My Master! And yours too for that matter!Now get out of my way!"

He stood and stomped into another lab, leaving her again to her own devices. She stared in the direction the stranger had gone, paralyzed with dread. This was the Master? This was whom the Doctor worked for?

"This is not good," she said aloud. "Not good at all."