Numair was practically beside himself with glee. Even Daine, on whom the more esoteric sciences were lost, was interested. Their joy influenced Jack; generally melancholy and quiet, he practically became a new man, all toothy grins and raunchy jokes.
Jack spun them a tale about this Doctor, this Time Lord, the sole survivor of a massive war, utterly in love with a human girl called Rose Tyler.
The story lasted them until they got to town, where they picked up supplies for their journey. Numair kept on firing questions, making Daine giggle and Jack squirm. Daine would hush him when he probed too far, reminding him to give their skittish friend space, although Jack seemed to be enjoying the questions as much as Numair enjoyed asking them.
By three o'clock they were riding out, making their way to Pirate's Swoop. Jack had them in stitches as they rode in the sunshine, talking about some absurd adventure on a planet where the inhabitants communicated using smells rather than sounds. The Doctor's magical ship had some trouble translating, and they'd ended up in a stinking, horrible prison. Rose had been separated from them and the Doctor, predictably, was beside himself.
"That's disgusting," Numair commented from Spots' back.
"It was!" Jack agreed, grinning brightly. He sat up straight on his gray gelding, holding the reins with one hand, the better to gesticulate with the other. Red was walking with a sort of amused patience, keeping pace with Spots and Cloud as Jack was not really steering. "So the Doctor's gripping the bars, yelling his head off – obviously, this is not going to help, but I think it made him feel better. And then, suddenly, out of absolutely nowhere, there comes Rose Tyler, walking down the stairs in this random ball gown."
"Bet that shut him up," Daine said. She grinned at Numair from Cloud's back. The pony tossed her head, amused. They had been in similar situations, where the sudden appearance of Daine had halted Numair's ability to think properly, and Cloud had taken particular pleasure in mocking the both of them.
"You betcha!" Jack laughed. "You could hear his teeth click shut, and who could blame him? She was gorgeous. I was lucky he was so distracted- if the Doctor had caught me ogling he'd've thrown a fit. But she just looked that good. Anyway, she walks right over, exhales all over the guard, and he passes out! You can imagine my confusion. So she takes the keys, opens the door and says—"
"'How is it that you always end up naked?'" Daine predicted delightedly, and the three of them laughed.
"That's it!" Jack chuckled. "The Doctor, of course, glares and says, 'Took you long enough!' and then Rose goes, 'You're bloody thick, did you know that?'" Jack grinned, his teeth brilliant white in the sun. Daine hadn't imagined that the man could be so happy, but here he was, contentedly lost in a memory. "It turned out that we were the problem. The TARDIS was translating for us using our breath, but it was too faint for the Lipnonians to smell, so they kept interpreting us by our moving lips, which seemed hostile. Rose, brilliant girl that she was, figured out that if you said your piece and then exhaled, the TARDIS could translate."
"How'd she get the guard to pass out?" Numair asked.
Jack smiled. "She got too close, overloaded his sensors. Like screaming into someone's ear. Anyway, she got us out; we ran like hell and stopped the invasion. We explained ourselves, and were hailed as heroes."
"Did you get your clothes back?" Daine giggled. Cloud was watching Jack with one eye as they walked, clearly entertained by the story.
"Me? No. The Doctor made a big fuss about his leather jacket and he got that back eventually, but the Lipnonians insisted on keeping our clothing to 'keep our scent alive'" Jack smiled wistfully.
He tells good stories, Cloud commented, out of nowhere. Daine looked down at her pony's neck in surprise.
She knit her fingers into Cloud's mane. It must have been interesting, exploring the universe, Daine told her silently, up in the stars with a wild alien. I don't know if I could do it.
No, Cloud replied. You belong here, with me. We can tell stories that are just as good. She huffed and Daine grinned.
Anything you have in mind? Daine asked and the pony snorted, thinking about it.
"Keep your scent alive," Numair chuckled delightedly, and Daine turned her eyes back to him and tuned back into the two-legger conversation. "At this rate, Jack, you're going to have us dreaming up new Immortals."
"Immortals?" Jack asked. He tilted his head curiously. "What have they got to do with anything?"
"Legend says that they're created through mortals' dreams," Daine explained. "I know I'm gonna be dreaming about Lipnonians. That must've smelt horrible!" She grinned.
"There are worse smells," Jack told them modestly, eyes bright with amusement. "It was pretty bad, though. When are we going to make camp?"
"Soon, I think, what about you, dearest?" Numair asked, glancing over to Daine.
"Before sunset would be wise. I think there's a decent spot coming up, actually. Isn't there a brook?" Daine craned her head to look around. The road was a familiar one, as they had often gone to Pirate's Swoop over their vacation. It was a day's ride from Numair's tower, with an early start and a reasonable clip, but they had left at late and stopped at the town for a few hours; they would have to spend the night on the road.
"Right," Numair recalled.
Tell him about the time the stork man fell into the ocean, Cloud implored Daine suddenly, reminding her of their previous conversation. Daine laughed outright.
"Uh-oh," Numair told an expectant Jack wryly. "That's not good."
The other man grinned gleefully at Numair. "Those are the best kinds of stories," Jack said. He looked eagerly at Daine.
"Do you remember," Daine started, a dangerous twinkle in her eye, "When we went spear fishing, Numair?"
Numair groaned, aggrieved. "That was possibly the biggest disaster I have ever experienced, and that includes the destruction of the Carthaki palace."
"Who takes a wildmage spear fishing?" Jack demanded. "That's a terrible idea."
"It was after the Immortals war," Numair explained ruefully. "Emperor Kaddar, who inherited the throne after Ozorne, sent over ambassadors to cement the peace between us."
"Fishing with spears is apparently a sport there," Daine scowled. "And we were being accommodating."
Because two-leggers are clearly stupid, Cloud put in wryly, and Daine resisted the urge to chuckle at the comment that no one else would hear.
"So we all got on a vessel," Numair began, gesturing expansively. Spots rolled his eyes as the mage tugged on the reins with his excited gestures. "It was actually around Pirate's Swoop, now that I mention it – apparently the sea bass like it there. I kept on telling Daine not to go," he insisted.
"I wasn't about to let Kitten get on that boat without me," Daine replied huffily. "And Numair, take your reins in one hand so you're not tugging on poor Spots' mouth. Honestly, the amount that poor horse puts up with."
Numair smiled sheepishly and did as he was told, patting the gelding's neck apologetically. Spots gave the horse equivalent to an amused chuckle. He wasn't hurting me, he said. I'm used to it by now.
"Sure, blame the dragon," Jack put in, bringing Daine back into the present conversation.
"Can you imagine?" Daine demanded, now grinning outright. "She'd sink the boat, just by herself. And I'd have to call up the dolphins to save you."
"Let's not mention the dolphins," Numair said dryly. "She almost killed herself trying to speak to dolphins once," he added to Jack, who nodded solemnly, although he ruined the effect by snickering.
Daine huffed. "So anyway, the boat sets out, and I'm nervous as anything. I don't like it when my friends die, and this is not only violently but also for sport."
"Understandably," Jack agreed.
"So Daine," Numair added, his voice taking on a decidedly teasing note, "starts silently calling warnings out to all of the fish. No one sees a single one. Well, the fishermen start thinking it a little odd."
Daine chuckled. "But they start pointing to Numair, because they didn't know what wild magic is. All they know is that he's a mage, and the most powerful on the boat. Of course, this is bad, because the Carthaki delegation was there."
"I was accused of treason," Numair reminded Jack, who started laughing.
"Numair Salmalin: wanted for treason and frightening all the fish away!" he hooted.
"Something like that," Numair grinned.
"So anyway," Daine continued, "the fishermen are getting more and more adamant about how Numair's bad luck, I'm getting more and more afraid that they're going to find out that it was me, and Kitten doesn't like seeing either of us in trouble. So she walks right up to the lead fisherman and whistles as loud as she can, and that's loud. He falls over, bellowing 'witchcraft!' but he falls onto Numair who—"
"—goes over the railing and into the sea," Numair finished ruefully.
"I had to call the dolphins," Daine said, deadpan, and they all had a laugh at Numair's expense.
They reached the brook eventually, and made camp. Numair warded them into a circle, explaining to Jack that it was to keep out any unwanted Immortals. For some reason, Jack found this amusing, although Daine couldn't begin to guess why. They bedded down for the night after building a fire and eating the dinner that they bought in town. Daine curled up contentedly in a bedroll next to Numair and fell asleep.
.
.
There was a Girl in Daine's dream. She glowed golden, and tears made tracks from her shimmering eyes.
"I am the Bad Wolf," she said. "I scatter, in Time and Space. A message."
"What sort of message?" Daine asked.
"To lead… I want you safe… Protected…"
"Me?" Daine asked. "Why do you want me?"
"False," the Girl said. "You are tiny. Everything comes to dust. All things. Everything dies."
"I don't understand," Daine said. "Who are you?"
"I bring life," the Girl said. "I can see everything. All that is. All that was. All that ever could be…"
But that's what I see…
.
.
Daine whirled at the second voice, but instead of spinning around she sat bolt upright, breathing heavily. It must have been around midnight. The stars were out, and the moon seemed to be just setting in the distant mountains. It was cold enough out that she could see her breath, misting heavily from her dream.
"Love?" Numair asked drowsily. Daine looked down at him.
The fire had died to embers that picked out deep blue in his dark hair. He had turned over and was regarding her with one brown eye. Daine sighed and stroked his cheek affectionately. "I'm alright, Numair."
The mage murmured and drew her down, cuddling her sleepily into his chest. Daine let herself be held, and nestled back into his embrace. She looked across the fire to see Jack, curled into a ball in his bedroll. He looked very small, sleeping alone on a chilly night.
"I had another dream." Daine's breath whispered across Numair's chest.
"Mmm?" The mage opened the other dark eye and regarded her with solemn sleepiness. "What sort of dream?"
She snuggled into him. "That Girl. The Bad Wolf. She kept saying—" Daine yawned. "I can't remember."
"Bad Wolf," Numair murmured contemplatively. He stroked Daine's curls. "What did Cloud call Jack?"
Daine paused. "The Lone Wolf," she whispered, and her breath misted in the night.
"Cub who is not a cub," Numair replied, lips against her hair.
"She keeps saying…" Daine trailed off and then made herself continue. "I bring life. She said that last time, too."
"Hmm," Numair sighed. "We ought to—" he yawned. "We ought to write it down."
"Yes," Daine mumbled, and sleep pulled her under once more.