[A/N: This is a sort of flashback chapter. Wanted to try my hand at one of these. So, more reviews would be ever so helpful. I'm really enjoying all of your feedback. Please keep it coming. It inspires me to write more. Consider it my fuel if you will. And a special message to all of the readers who have alerts etc on this story, but haven't reviewed, because you deserve love too. However, don't be afraid to tell me what you think so far, or leave any advice or constructive criticism. Oh and I've finally begun naming the chapters for this fic too. Here's hoping you all had a terrific Christmas and went into the new year with a bang. Mine started with a splash.]
Somewhere on the edge of the universe, a force willed itself to break free. It sought out to defy the very boundaries of the universe itself. Through the fracture in two places in space and time that should never have touched, there was space enough to transfer one's very energy and life force through, before all was sealed forever. It stood as a glimmer of opportunity and hope in a world long since forgotten by many.
The Master succeeded by sheer determination alone. He sought out life outside this abyss with each ounce of his energy. He couldn't help but feel as though he was clinging by his very fingertips, clutching at loose straws. That he was being compressed, stretched and pinched from every angle. The difference between which way was up and which was down became a brief mystery. Then soon, there was nothing but bright light and a wave of nothing, then darkness. No, not darkness, The Master's eyes were simply adjusting. He felt a hard rocky surface beneath him. He lay flat, limbs splayed, looking up at a cloudy night sky. Peeking out, was a small cluster of stars. A sight which The Master thought he'd never see again.
Slowly, the horizontal Time Lord lifted a shaky palm to his face, feeling his rough stubble overtop a familiar bone structure. Relief washed over him that he had not gone through another regeneration cycle just yet. Withdrawing his tongue out, he got a grasp for the kind of atmosphere he was in, before sticking it back in. It tasted thin and of cold metal and ash.
He listened intensely, but could not hear a thing. Not even the drums. He was free of them now, after all these years. The signal planted in his head by his own people was no longer relevant to anyone's survival and had ceased to exist. That sound had been a part of him ever since he was eight years old and was first taken to stare into the Untempered Schism for initiation into the Time Lord Academy. The Master knew in his hearts that he would never truly get used to hearing silence.
In this moment, what The Master felt most strongly of all was a general weakness and he felt it was a good idea just to lie here for a while, until he had some strength back, and then investigate his surroundings. However, not long after these thoughts he let out a sigh and grinned contentedly with one corner of his mouth, feeling himself succumb to exhaustion and drift into unconsciousness.
Blinking, The Master came to, with a harsh rush of shock and disappointment which grabbed at both his hearts when he saw that the sky above him was not the dark grey cloudy sky he had glimpsed before, but harsh red and he thought it can't have been real. It had been a dream and he was back on Gallifrey, sealed and time locked away from the rest of the universe, doomed to punishment and seclusion.
Something clicked however in his brain, when he realised that this sky was a much different sort of colour than Gallifrey's sky. Gallifrey was a warm, burning sort of orange colour. The sky above him now was the sort of red you might expect a rose to be, delicate, yet passionate. Some might have thought it beautiful, but it only filled The Master with the same strong, sickening, loathing that he felt for most things.
No stars glistened out from above him now. However, there were a few lights. The lights grew in size, coming closer. Soon a familiar ship emerged into view. The Dalek saucer floated away again, but seemed to land somewhere quite near. The Master forced himself into a sitting position, with slight head rush. There he sat, with his legs crossed and hands behind his head, thinking about his new situation at hand. Of a few things he was sure. This was definitely his own original version of reality. He could just feel it. The Daleks did not now of his presence here, or he would surely have been captured and/or exterminated by now. And of course, that The Doctor must be out there somewhere. The Master's childhood friend, life-long rival and, when it came right down to it all, the very man The Master had risked his very existence to save, when he felt deceived and manipulated by all else. Together, the two of them were the last children of Gallifrey. Above all things he wanted to find The Doctor and make amends to everything. First thing was first though. He needed a means of transport and he knew of only one kind of ship nearby.
When standing up, The Master felt how stiff all his limbs were. Taking his time, he stretched them out and twisted them, feeling his joints click satisfactorily and then made his way towards the Dalek fleet in the distance.