The young man grabbed The Doctor by the shoulders and shook him. "You have to do something! You have to help him! You said you were a healer! Now heal him thief!"
The Doctor looked into his scared eyes. "I'll promise you I will do everything I can to help him." The young man's arms fell away from the Doctor as his head dropped and his eyes looked to the ground. "What's your name?"
Quietly, the young man answered "Daar."
The Doctor lifted his face to look at his. "Daar. Look at me. I'm going to do everything I can. Okay?"
Daar lifted his eyes to look at The Doctor. "Okay, thief."
"Who is he to you, Daar?"
"He's my father."
"I see the resemblance. You're both so strong."
A small smile found it's way to Daar's lips.
Laura quietly made her way next to The Doctor. "What do we do now Doctor?"
"We need to get these people comfortable, and , I need to run more tests on those affected. I need to figure out what did this...and I suppose if I can't do that here I'll have to go out and see I can find what did it myself."
"You want to purposely seek out something that rearranges organs?"
"Sure! What else have we got to do to kill time? I've already got all the highscores in the TARDIS arcade." The Doctor threw his hands up into the air and spun around to face Daar. "Now! Daar, I need you to get these two some water, I also need something to cool them with, help me get them out of these skins..."
As Daar and The Doctor went to work on the injured, Laura watched Nal kiss San on the forehead and then make her way to the cave wall. She began to grind pieces of burnt wood and mix it with something in a piece of bone until she had made black paint.
Laura wandered toward her in awe. She slowly and quietly watched as Nal worked, creating amazing figures against the stone. "That is so gorgeous" Laura said, letting the words slip past her lips without even realizing.
"It's our celebration. Our displaying our triumph and thanks" Nal said, running her fingers against the rock.
Laura stood next to Nal and took in her process. "You have no idea how great it is to see this, Nal."
"It's a simple act. We make a kill that feeds us, we have to show our appreciation. It is my duty, just as the hunt is. It's just as important as the meal."
"I don't disagree with that...Where I'm from this sort of thing, this duty, I specialize in it. These moments are my whole life...well at least they're supposed to be, that's the plan. Other things have gotten in the way..."
Nal turned to face Laura. "Your art is your life? That's glorious."
"It is, when I get to make it." Laura said, brightly.
"Then make it." Nal said, handing her the paint.
"Oh, no, I can't!"
"Why not?"
"It's not my place. I mean-I didn't hunt-this isn't my tribe...I mean, this isn't my wall."
"That's true. But, I feel like you need to make more art. So make art, Laura. Leave your mark."
Laura slowly dipped her finger into the cup of rich, black paint. "You have no idea what this means to me." She ran her hand against the rock and watched as she left a trail behind. She felt as if she had discovered the essence of her trade. The purity of it. It was religious.
Nal watched her childlike joy and smiled. "You enjoy this a great deal don't you, Laura?"
Laura giggled, "Yeah!" .
"So, Laura, the traveler, why did you make your way here?"
"I don't know...really...I just started traveling. The Doctor just popped into my life one day and told me that he'd take me away. I guess I needed to get away. I needed to see new things."
"Nomads see a lot of things. Are you glad you've left with the thief?"
Laura looked back at The Doctor working on the injured, while a Daar feverishly tried to get The Doctor all he needed. "Yes, I'd say so. I don't know anything about him, really. He's strange, he likes to ignore questions and brag any chance he can, but he seems to care a lot about everyone he meets."
"That's good. I would hate for you to be in unneeded danger."
"Oh, well, I think I need a little unneeded danger." Laura and Nal chuckled a little. Laura, began to add a little more paint to the wall. "Nal?"
"Yes?"
"Who is San to you?"
"A loved one."
"A sister?"
"No. She is the dearest to me."
"A partner?"
"Yes. I suppose she is."
"I can see the love you have for her. It's so wonderfully strong."
Nal grinned. "She is so wonderful. When I'm out hunting, all day I think about coming home to her." Nal lowered her head. "She went outside looking for me, because I foolishly stayed out hunting too late and she was the one that paid the price. Not eating for a night would have been worth it. I would go a thousand nights without eating if it meant she were okay..." Nal looked over at San as The Doctor fed her water. "I just want her to be okay..."
Laura wrapped her arms around Nal. "We're going to try as hard as we can to make sure she gets better. Okay?"
Nal fell into Laura's embrace. "Okay." Nal said, her voice shaking with sadness.