You have been drifting for so long. I know you don't want to come down. Somewhere below you, there's people who love you and they're ready for you to come home. Please come home. – Sarah Mclachlan, Drifting
"Bloody Time Lord."
The Doctor ducked under a branch and then paused to hold it so Donna could pass unscathed. She brushed past him, bumping his shoulder violently and, he was fairly certain, purposefully.
"Donna…" he was trying not to laugh, laughing at this point would probably signal his demise at her hands, but she looked so ridiculous and indignant, hair askew, shirt torn, face smudged with dirt. Also, he peered closer, some sort of animal scat had managed to tangle its way into her hair. He took a calming breath to quell his giggles and then started after her, her determined strides setting a faster pace than usual, even in these conditions.
"Nice peaceful day off he says! We'll go for a little stroll he says!" She was still jabbering on to herself, her words disjointed as each wrench of her foot from the muck let out a slurp and stole her breath away.
"Donna," he said again. He could feel his own trainers filling with mud, the watery goo collecting near his toes and offering a rather unpleasant sensation with each step. Donna made to stretch over a log and stumbled when her shoe remained logged in the bog and her foot slipped free.
"Oh," she gasped and he moved quickly to catch her arm. She stood, balancing on one foot while he extracted her shoe. He looked up at her, intending to make light of the situation, but her face was hard and miserable. "Don't," she warned.
He shut his mouth and stood, brandishing the dirty boot as a peace offering. She reached to take it, but he pulled back abruptly as he felt the weight of the object shift in his hand.
"Wha-" she blinked at him and he gave her a significant look, tipping the shoe over slowly. They both watched as twigs and leaves and sludge slid out, followed, with a dramatic splash, by a blob that looked suspiciously like an Earth frog. Startled, they stared at each other for a moment and then the Doctor could take it no longer and broke into uproarious gales of laughter. Donna tore the boot from his hand.
"Glad it's so funny for you, Space Man," she stuffed her foot into the article with clenched teeth. "Can we just find the TARDIS now? This vacation is over, thank you very much." His voice still sounded annoyed, but he could detect the stirrings of amusement within her, and when he linked arms with her to help her navigate the slippery terrain, she did not pull away.
"We're almost there," he assured her, although, looking around at the barren trees overhead, he reflected, not for the first time that afternoon, that he was completely lost.
As if reading his mind she asked plaintively, "And where are we?"
"Not sure," his voice was cheerful.
"But it's getting dark out." Indeed, the sun was dipping below the horizon, making the already dreary landscape and frigid temperature appear even more ominous. He patted her mud-caked hand with his own.
"Don't you worry, Donna Noble. We just got a bit turned around. It's an adventure!"
"Doesn't feel much like an adventure," she grumbled. She let out a little shriek as she lost her footing, wrenching her body to the right in a desperate overcompensation. The Doctor tightened his grip on her, trying to stop the inevitable, but the ground beneath his feet was slick with decomposing leaves and slush and he found himself being yanked with her as they both tumbled to the ground. Donna landed firmly on her backside with a squelch and he managed to just catch himself with an arm and avoid a face full of mud, crashing on his side instead. He sat up, one half of him completely drenched and looked over at her stunned expression.
"Alright?" He muttered, shaking some of the smelly goo from his limbs in disgust.
"I am going to kill you." Her eyes were ablaze and he gaped at her.
"Me? What? What did I do? You're the one who took us both down!"
"Well if you'd ever learned to properly fly your ship we'd start landing in the right times and places!"
"Oh don't start with that! Everything would have been fine if you hadn't mentioned that the constable's eye was wandering!"
"Well it was obvious! His wife was standing right there and he's ogling some other lady."
"He had a lazy eye, Donna! We would have had a ride if you didn't get us chucked out of the place." He shook some stubborn muck from his hand and it landed squarely on her cheek. They both froze. "Now," he held up both hands and scooted back nervously. "Donna, that was a mistake. I apologize. It was an honest mis- Oi! Blimey!" Her throw caught him on the forehead, his face snapping back from the force of the impact. "You got it in my eye for God's sake." His fingers dug into his covered sockets and came back full. He regained sight just in time to watch her winding up another handful before it knocked into his shoulder, flecks splattering onto his jaw and mouth. "What?" He licked his lips instinctively and gagged at the taste, spitting to the side. "Oh," he looked at her darkly. "Oh, you have no idea who you're messing with."
She shrieked and in seconds they were in a full-fledged mud fight, jumping and slipping in the clay, rising black and laughing, chucking clumps at each other. They were tangled on the ground, he underneath her and her hand poised to drop a handful directly onto his face, when he stilled and sat up.
"Shh," he urged.
"Oh, like I'm going to fall for that one." The mud was slipping through her fingers, dripping down her arm.
"No, Donna, really. Listen."
In the still that followed, she became aware of what he was hearing, voices, many of them, chortling and clanging. They rose immediately and he took her hand, rushing in the direction of the sound. The spreading darkness made it easy to spot the fires of the campsite and soon they had extricated themselves from the muddy forest and were striding across a brown field.
"Who goes there?" A man stepped out, holding some sort of cumbersome object the Doctor had never seen before but was easily able to identify as a weapon.
"Oh, hello!" He and Donna both held up their empty hands. "We come in peace."
The man didn't look reassured and the Doctor spared a glance at Donna; she looked absolutely frightful, and he gathered he must appear no differently. "Right, I know we look like some kind of swamp monster, but we're not, I promise. We just got a little lost back there." He motioned behind them and the man took a step back.
"In the wood?" He asked incredulously.
"Yep. Yeah back there." There was a long pause. "I can tell from your expression that you realize how horrible that was for us, so maybe you'll offer us a little respite at your camp? Maybe some water and a chance to wash this off?"
The man studied them hard and they both smiled innocently. "Alright then," he grunted, finally. "Follow me." They started after him.
"He looked spooked," Donna whispered and the Doctor nodded, serious.
"That he definitely did."
As the Doctor and Donna stood at a water pump, splashing ice cold liquid onto themselves even as their breath swirled around them in white clouds, the Doctor nudged her.
"They're like gypsies, these lot. Living on the outskirts of society, making their own laws, living off the land. Gypsies are always so much fun! This'll be brilliant!"
"They look like humans," Donna whispered back and then started when the man who had led them over walked into the light, blinking reptilian eyes and revealing scaly skin.
"Yeah, not quite," the Doctor said. When they walked out to the bon fire, the residents were friendly, if a bit reserved, but the Doctor felt a sense of suspicion and unease hanging in the air. "So what's going on here tonight?" He asked loudly. "Where's the music and the drinking? It's far too quiet for a lovely night such as this!" The people around them blinked and shrunk away and Donna rolled her eyes.
"Way to integrate numskull."
"I don't see you doing any better."
"Hold on, you've got a bit of mud stuck just here," she stood on her toes and reached for his ear. He bent to accommodate her and then yelped when she pinched hard. "Bloody alien," she muttered and stalked away. He rubbed his burning appendage and followed.
"Hello there," Donna approached a young female. "How's it going?" The woman nodded noncommittally and Donna smiled. "So why's everything so quiet tonight? Here you all are, living away from the prying eye of the law and all you do is sit around a fire and chat?"
The woman's second eyelids blinked frantically. "It didn't use to be this way," she admitted. "A few months ago we would have been playing music and there was dancing and laughter, so much joy."
"What's changed?" The Doctor stepped forward.
"It's the music. When we play, songs that have been passed down from generation to generation, something awful happens. The wind picks up and the musicians…it's not for fun anymore, their eyes, they, they leave their bodies and they won't stop. They play and play until their fingers bleed, until they collapse and all of us who are not playing, we have to dance. We have no control over our bodies; we just dance until the music stops or until we fall." Her eyes lowered. "Two people died last month from the dancing, a young child and an old woman. Their bodies could not handle the strain."
"How long has this been happening?"
She shook her head. "We're not sure; it didn't start out so strongly. First people just felt an urge to dance and play, didn't want to stop. Then, we had no choice. It's been a few months at least. Now we lock up the instruments and singing is banned. We are afraid." She looked up at the Doctor. "Can you help?"
A hiss from the shadows sent the young woman stumbling away before the Doctor could answer. He and Donna watched as an old woman, dressed all in black emerged.
"Hello," Donna muttered under her breath. "I know this one. She's about to offer me a poisoned apple isn't she?"
The woman did look the part of every stereotypical witch, the Doctor had to admit. Her back was hunched, her slitted eyes glossy and unseeing. Her grey hair hung in clumps around her scaly face, the wrinkles making the rough pattern more pronounced.
"Hi," the Doctor offered, not unkindly. "I'm the Doctor and this is Donna. Who might you be?"
"I am of the soil and wind. I have no name that matters beyond that."
"…Okay, well we're trying to help here. Do you have anything you could tell us about what's been going on with the music?"
The woman cackled softly and the Doctor and Donna exchanged a look. "What good can a lost woman do? And our savior, is he to be a broken man who watched his flower wilt and die?"
The Doctor swallowed. "What?"
The woman stepped closer and the Doctor had to resist the urge to take a step back. "Heart heavy and head weary, you wander. Why do you lament that she must be gone forever when the truth is that she watches and can be found?"
"What do you mean?"
She shook her head and began walking away. "A man so lost cannot be the one to help us navigate our truth."
They stared after her for a moment and then Donna whirled on him. "What the hell was that?"
"I dunno."
"What's going on with the music?"
"I don't know, Donna."
"Well, what are we going to do now?"
They found the younger women they had been speaking to after realizing no one else in the community would readily offer them any information.
"We don't like outsiders," the woman explained as they sat around a smaller fire and ate some kind of meat that tasted like chicken but most certainly wasn't. "They don't understand us and we don't trust them. It's not our way to tell newcomers our secrets. But I figure, no one here knows what to do. We're all scared and depressed and people have died. This needs to stop and if you two can help, I don't care who you are."
"So when all this started," the Doctor asked. "Did you notice any other changes? Anything else that was strange?"
She studied him hard for a moment. "It's the woods," she said finally. "The forest in these parts has always been forbidden. It's not safe." Donna shot the Doctor a nasty look, which he chose to ignore. "But when the music plays, there's noises out there. Flashes of things moving around. They're in the woods, Doctor."
They spent the night cramped in a tent together, neither able to sleep.
"This place creeps me out," Donna whispered, keeping her back to him.
"I know," he said.
"And that old woman, the witch, she scares me."
"I know."
The next morning they set off to the woods with the young woman, Nara her name turned out to be, as their guide since no one else would venture. At the edge of the trees, Nara hesitated and shifted from foot to foot in clear discomfort.
"Is this around where you used to gather?"
"Yes," her voice was barely a whisper.
The Doctor crouched and inhaled deeply. "Do you smell that?"
"Smell what?" Donna asked. Her nose crinkled in revulsion as he dipped a finger into the mud and stuck it in his mouth. "Oh, blimey you're disgusting."
He swirled the mixture in his mouth for a moment and then spat it out, standing and wiping his hands on his pants. "It's transformation energy," he said.
"Transformation energy?" Donna's eyes widened. "Transformation energy! Wait, what's that mean?"
"It means," he turned toward Nara. "We're going to need some music. Think you could get me an instrument?"
Nara's scales looked slick with perspiration. "I don't know," she hedged. "I don't think that's such a good idea."
"Nara, listen to me: whatever is doing this to your people is spurred on by music. I need to play music to make them show themselves. I'll keep everyone safe, I promise."
She hesitated again, then nodded. "I can get you an instrument, but no one will play and I can't," her eyes were panicked. "I can't…"
"That's fine," he said softly. "I understand. Donna here will play."
Donna made a face. "I'll what?"
Nara scurried off and Donna turned to face him, hands on her hips.
"Have you gone mad? I can't play music."
"What," his voice was innocent. "You never learned to play?"
"Where would I learn to play an alien instrument? This is ridiculous." She followed him around as he paced in and out of the entrance to the woods, sniffing and, she grimaced, licking occasionally.
"It's definitely here," he said finally. "This area is overflowing with transformation energy. All this other stuff," he made a wide motion with his hand. "Is just sludge." His tongue rubbed desperately against the roof of his mouth, peaking from his lips as he scowled. Donna watched him in a mix of fascination and loathing.
"You literally repel me." He made a face and she continued, "So this transformation energy? What's it all mean?"
"It's residue from a morph. Some aliens evolved the ability to change forms, looking like one thing and then shifting to another or fading into invisibility. The transformation energy gets left behind on and absorbed by surrounding objects, sort of like exhaust from a car. It's invisible and generally undetectable but," he tapped his nose and gave her a look.
"Time Lord," she crowed.
"Time Lord."
"So, the music? What's with the music? It makes the alien shift and secrete this energy?"
"Now that I don't know. But, we're going to find out!"
Nara was rushing toward them, stumbling over an awkward stringed instrument that somewhat resembled a guitar.
"Oh bloody hell," Donna groaned.
"Here," Nara thrust the object into her arms and immediately began backing away.
"Hey, where are you going?" Donna called after her.
"I'm sorry," she shot over her shoulder, tripping in her haste. "I can't be here for this. The music…it's too dangerous."
"Great," Donna turned back to the Doctor. "Now the two of us are going to get stuck here with me strumming a medley and you dancing a jig. Not exactly a dignified way to die is it?" She gave the instrument a few experimental plucks. "Does it have to be good playing?" She wondered aloud. "Cause I can't promise you that." She continued playing for a few moments, the Doctor standing stock still next to her, all his senses on alert. Suddenly, the random chirps and vibrations coming from the device intensified and evened out and Donna gasped.
"What is it?"
"I can feel it!" She cried, body tense. "The pull, I can't…I can't stop playing! Doctor!"
"It's okay," he said softly. "This is what we wanted to happen. And I don't feel the urge to dance."
"Superior Time Lord biology?" She snapped.
"I'll stop you before you're in danger."
"Great I'll just wait here for you," she gritted out. Her fingers were flying now.
Then, a flash of color in the corner of his eye; the Doctor spun around. There, just a few feet away stood two little gnome-like creatures. The Doctor's eyes widened just as they aliens spotted him.
His mouth flapped. "Hold on!" But they were already running away from him. He bolted after them, slipping in the mud but managing to catch himself and give chase. They were fast, but he was faster, and he was gaining ground. Then, the air went still and he realized Donna had stopped playing. The aliens were a foot away, one glancing over its shoulder to gage the Doctor's distance when they exploded into billions of tiny balls of color, bouncing around the Doctor so he jerked back in surprise and could only stare as the mounds of color blended in with the wood. Donna ran up behind him, panting.
"It went away, the urge. Suddenly I didn't have to play anymore. What did you do?"
"It wasn't me," he put his glasses on and looked around. "We need more."
"More what?"
"More music. Donna Noble, we need to form a band!"
The people in the camp were far less enthusiastic than the Doctor had hoped they'd be.
"But I saw them," he lamented for the third time. "Little creatures about yay tall." He held up his hands and peeked through them. "They're the ones who've been doing this to you. I can stop them, give you back your music!" The vibe of the crowd was slowly beginning to change, people were walking back over, eyeing him suspiciously, but hopefully.
"You mean kill them?" Someone shouted.
"No! No." He ran a hand over his face. "They seemed just as scared as you are. I'll talk to them, figure out why they're doing this and they'll stop. There doesn't need to be violence. Trust me."
There was a hush as people shuffled and looked at their feet, no one wanting to be the first to volunteer. Finally, a woman stepped forward.
"I will play with you. I can live in this fear and silence no longer."
The Doctor grinned as one by one, people stepped forward. They began gathering their instruments and heading toward the trees. Turning to leave, the Doctor almost collided with the old witch, startled by her sudden presence. She was mute, simply staring at him with her blind eyes.
"Think it's going to work?" He asked cheerfully, trying to mask his unease and ignore the chill creeping up his spine. She said nothing. "Thought you were going to offer some more cryptic fortune cookies?" When she remained still he made a move to leave.
"Doctor."
He turned back.
"You will save us. Because you do not love us."
He blinked and absorbed what she had said. When there was no more, he frowned and walked away. Donna ran up and matched his brisk pace.
"What did she say?"
"Nothing," he snapped.
"Doesn't look like nothing. Your dimple is showing, the angry one. When the angry dimple comes out, the witch must have said something."
He laughed and turned toward her. "I just want to figure this out."
"Good," she said and squinted up at him. "So then we can get the hell out of here."
The people were nervous, but they sounded much better than Donna had, stronger and more skilled. When the dancing started, the Doctor felt alarmed that the aliens had returned so quickly, but then he realized that the gypsies were just excited to be hearing their music once again, their feet tapping out their joy. He watched them for a while, as even Donna got in on the action, when he noticed the two figures creeping up from the woods. They caught his eye and turned to run, but he yelled out, "Wait, wait!" and shook a tambourine as what he hoped would be considered a peace offering. The gnomes stilled and looked at him and he cautiously approached.
"Hello," he murmured, bending down to their level. "What's this all about?"
The aliens exchanged a look before the one on the left spoke up: "We are here for the music."
"Yes, but why?"
"We crashed our ship here and destroyed our own musical system. Our people cannot exist in solid form without music and we cannot fix our ship."
The Doctor stared at them. All that had happened to the gypsies, the death and the fear and pain, all because of these two small creatures, because of their desperation. He nodded briskly. "I can fix your ship."
The people played all through the afternoon and into the early evening as the Doctor repaired the alien craft. This time, however, it was their choice. He stood back with Donna and watched as the two gnomes climbed aboard their miniature ship, all the gypsies has refrained from coming to the launch, too afraid and angry to be in the aliens' presence. Their celebratory music and laughter rang loudly throughout the air.
One of the aliens turned back before shutting the door of the vehicle. He looked solemn. "We did not mean to hurt anyone," he looked directly into the Doctor's eyes. "It was just so beautiful, we didn't want it to stop."
They sailed off and Donna looped her arm through his. "Well, Space Man," she grinned. "Another job well done."
"Thanks to your musical talents."
She laughed and bumped his shoulder. "Now can we find the TARDIS and go, please?"
"Yes." They turned to go, feeling no need to say goodbye to anyone, not wanting to intrude on the large yet intimate gathering.
"Doctor." The voice never failed to chill him and he turned to face the speaker. The witch stepped closer, turning her face up to him, seeming to know, even without her sight, exactly where he was.
"I am grateful for your help. You have saved us all."
His eyes shifted. "Right…well you're welcome!"
"I wish to give you a reward."
"No, no. No need for that, thanks."
"This is a very special reward, one I guarantee you will never come across again."
Curiosity sparked, he stepped forward. Donna dropped his arm and stayed behind, watching the exchange wearily. "Oh yeah? What's that then?"
"A wish."
"A wish?" He echoed.
"Yes, one wish."
"I thought I got three?" His voice was snarky and he looked ready to leave.
"No. Just one." She walked closer and handed him a flower. "Use it well. Make your dreams come true." She walked away without another word and he stood, unmoving, staring at the plant in his hand.
"Doctor?" Donna took in his unblinking form. "She's just an old lady," she came up to his side and touched his arm. "She can't really do magic."
"But what if she can?" His voice was breathless, eyes wild.
"Well even if she could, wishing for her back could tear apart two universes yeah? Ruin things, make the world go mad." Neither of them pretended not to know what he would wish for.
"So?" His eyes had never left the flower, fingers curled around it delicately as the petals caressed his skin.
Donna felt afraid. "So? Doctor you have a time traveling space ship yet you know you can't go get her because the consequences would be too great."
"But if she could do it without tearing a hole in the universes, if she could-"
"There's no way of knowing," Donna interrupted gently. "Besides, imagine what could happen to Rose, being ripped from her world, dragged across two universes."
He said nothing.
"Doctor."
Finally, his eyes seemed to clear and he looked up, inhaling deeply. "You're right. We have to go." He bent and placed the flower tenderly on the ground, watching as the delicate petals became saturated in mud. He stood and took Donna's hand.
"Let's go," he said and did not look back.
The witch turned away from the fire and watched them go, her eyes white and knowing.