3. Wild Endeavour
The Doctor
I was right- this was exactly like fire; but so much worse. The pain ripped through me the moment I stepped out, and it intensified with every heartbeats. Tremors tore through my chest like whiplashes, one right after the other, each one worse than the one before, making my breath turn to pants as I struggled to resume control of my shaking shoulders.
But I would have taken it all tenfold for the sight that greeted me.
Rose
Everything the Doctor had told me about Gallifrey- not even the sparks of pride and awe that flashed in his eyes with every mention of it; not the sheer respect in the voices of any who spoke of it could have prepared me for it.
I was speechless.
I couldn't find my voice to describe the planet in front of me- even if I could've spoken; there wasn't a single word that gave Gallifrey justice. It was utterly, utterly beautiful.
The Doctor didn't say anything; his eyes said it all. I could see the fierce pain this was causing him, but above that was sheer relief and happiness. He was back; back where he belonged.
"Rose…" He whispered, but even though nothing stopped him from talking, he didn't continue. I smiled, trying to tear my gaze away from everything around me to give him the attention needed. I couldn't do it; it was too difficult. I could have stayed there for eternity, content to exist only to watch.
"I know." I said softly, and I did.
Suddenly, sheer ecstasy rushed through me, and I turned to the Doctor and practically threw myself at him, crying with sheer joy that wasn't even mine to experience. It was like I was feeling half his emotions with him. He hugged me back, so tightly it should have been painful, but I was too wrapped up in what we'd done to care.
We made it.
To Gallifrey, of all places!
I heard him laugh- a sound so different from his normal laugh; uncensored, unguarded and completely unDoctorish.
Pulling away, I stared in amazement at my surroundings. "You did it…"
"We did it." He corrected softly, still hugging me. "I never did say by the way- thanks." He held my gaze for several moments, showing me the depth of his gratitude, before turning and pointing at the mountain behind her.
"That's Solace." he said, his voice showing the surprise at saying the name again. "And that's its twin, Solitude." I gazed up at the towering mountains, taller by far than any on Earth, with snow-capped peaks, the rock stained a rich, honey-gold colour by the rising sun- suns, I reprimanded- that were only peeping from behind the smaller of the two huge fells. But the mountains- although stunningly beautiful- weren't the object of my attention; it was the sparkling city that glittered in the smooth break in between the stacks that captured my gaze.
"We're on the continent of Wild Endeavour," The Doctor said softly, his voice still soft- probably with a mixture of disbelief and happiness. "And that would be the Citadel of the Time Lords that you're looking at, Rose." I couldn't reply. I could only stand and stare, until the Doctor nudged me.
"Closer look?" He offered, and I nodded eagerly. The city was so beautiful, I yearned to see what it looked like inside. Abruptly, he seemed nervous and uncomfortable, and I guessed what he was thinking.
"I don't mind- this is your planet; go on, I'll be fine on my own." Once again I saw the unspoken thanks in his eyes, and he looked upwards, at the dual suns that were only half-cleared of the mountains. I sensed that he needed to be on his own for a while, and I was only too happy to explore by myself.
"Chalice and Celandine- I never though I'd see them again." He half-laughed to himself. "Pity they form twin inverted black holes in less than four centuries." He sighed and glanced at me and noticed my dubious expression. "Same meanings as Earth-English, by the way." I nodded in understanding.
"A trophy and a flower, how appropriately matched." I murmured, and he smiled. Once again the curiosity took over and I looked again towards the city that beckoned so invitingly.
"Oh, by the way," The Doctor interrupted, and threw something golden-brown at me. I caught it and held it up, frowning. It looked like a key made from various different metals and plastics all welded together hanging from a piece of worn rope. My eyebrows rose and the Doctor laughed.
"TARDIS keys enhanced with a disillusionment filter- wear it and you'll attract less attention."
I blinked. "Will I attract a lot of attention?" He chuckled, as if enjoying a private joke, but didn't elaborate. "Fine," I grumbled. "Be that way- meeting you here?"
The Doctor shook his head. "I'll find you." I frowned, pondering how he was going to find me in a city as large as the one in front of me, but then shrugged; I'd just have to trust him- he knew what he was doing.
At least I hoped he did.
* * *
Bloody, bloody Time Lords.
I thought as I tried to move slowly and not attract the attention of the thousands of people rushing about nearby. I'd first thought the Doctor's parting statement had been a bit of a joke, but now I realised he had been serious.
I felt so exposed standing in front of so many beautiful people.
It only took a single fleeting glance to determine that these people weren't human (funny how I always compared every alien race we encountered to humans) or even remotely human. All of them had very pale, almost white skin, with astonishingly good looks and the most unusual pale, pastel-coloured eyes. They ranged from gold and bronze to violet and ochre. It struck me what they reminded me of; the characters in a vampire-romance book I'd read as a teenager had had eyes much the same colour (I couldn't for the life of me remember what it was called, something to do with light and the moon- Moonlight? Twilight? Something like that.) I shivered at the connection; the characters in that book had been vampires, and these people were aliens…
Everywhere I looked there were more of them; and they were all Time Lords. It made my head hurt to think of them like that; I'd spent my entire time with the Doctor thinking of him as the last and only one of his kind, and now I was surrounded by countless of the same species! It was like being told I actually saw the world upside down.
"…I'm telling you," A red-haired woman in a blue, long-sleeved robe said to her similarly-dressed (but in green) companion as they walked past. "Reverse the polarity and destabilise the Bryon Loop using the kinetic sub-waves and you'll have a complete Eight-degree Fixture."
"No, you use a betaresponsive-unit extrapolator to activate the boost-reversal circuit and you'll jump-start the bi-poid optics into parallel…"
I laughed despairingly- this was a whole world of Doctors! I was lost already. My head swam as more foreign calculations drifted over to me, meaning less sense than Latin, and I flopped heavily onto a stone bench behind me. The bench was on the outer part of the square I'd found myself in, just in front an intricately carved fountain with a stature of two swans (with two sets of wings each) with entwined necks, water jetting through their beaks. The cool, tinkling sound of the water splashing worked to soothe the cacophony in my head, and soon it was clear enough to allow rational thoughts through. I was reluctant to move however, and sat for several moments, just taking in the scene around me.
The cobbled square was relatively small- around twelve metres in all directions- with several other fountains like the one behind me dotted around, and crowds of blue or green-robed (I think the colour depended on the gender, as all the female's had blue robes and the men had green) young people walking across it in small groups. I watched them curiously- was it a universal fashion of the Time Lords, or some sort of uniform? I vaguely remembered the Doctor mentioning something called the Academy a while ago, and I guessed it was the latter, due to the young appearances of the people- not that that mattered when you could regenerate, I added silently. Nearby there were two slightly older people- I guessed mid-thirties, a man and a woman- talking animatedly to each other. The couple weren't wearing blue or green robes- they had red. Maybe it was a sign of adulthood or higher authority?
The woman had a baby- who could have been anywhere between two and four- balanced on her hip, swaddled in a thick, hand-woven quilt. The little boy's gold eyes were half-closed in sleep, and I felt myself smile; I couldn't help it, little children did that to me.
Suddenly, the boy's golden eyes flicked wide open and stared straight at me, and I felt a momentary panic; had my shield failed?
But it seemed it hadn't, because when the child tugged urgently on his mother's arm and pointed at me, the woman looked right through me.
"What, darling?" She crooned, hugging the baby close to her. "What is it?" The child pointed, his eyes fixed dead on me, but the woman's gaze glided over me as if I was mere dust motes. I breathed a sigh of relief as the woman returned to the conversation, and the boy eventually got distracted by an astonishingly turquoise butterfly the size of my hand that fluttered past, allowing me to make my escape.
This silence on my part was getting increasingly frustrating- I wanted to talk to people; but I couldn't, not when I was dressed in 21st century Earth clothes. I eyed a group of Gallifreyians who walked past, all dressed in that same green or blue uniform, and an idea struck me.
What I really needed was a disguise.
* * *
Ten minutes and a raided laundry cupboard later, and I was armed and ready for action in red Gallifreyian clothing. It was slightly too big, but I think that was the style- the sleeves were long and overtook my hands, but had a segment cut out, making one side longer than the other; which exposed my hands, in a way. The material was fitted at the waist, defining my waist and making it evidently a female's version. The edges of the sleeves, the hem and the low collar were trimmed in elegant gold embroidery, giving it all a nice effect. I quite liked it actually. It was more of a dress really- whilst the male's version acted rather like an over coat and reached their ankles, the female's extended only to mid-thigh, leaving quite a lot of leg on show. Thank God I'd shaved that morning.
I left my other clothes tucked into a niche at the back of the laundry cupboard and exchange my trainers for a pair of the quite fashionable black high-heeled shoe-boot things- they were nothing like anything I'd ever seen in the fashions of humanity, but I was considering trying to introduce them. I checked my reflection in the glass panel that covered the inside of the laundry door, and grinned.
I bet not even I would recognise me now.
"Time Lord I." I murmured and giggled to myself, before trying to smooth my expression into a somewhat serious face. I couldn't deny it, I looked good- the red was the exact shade to compliment my pale skin.
I was definitely keeping this, time paradoxes be damned.
* * *
Hesitantly, I walked out of the alleyway I was in, into the main street that was still filled with loud people- everywhere, I could see them acting like normal teenagers; the girls were mainly huddled in groups, whispering together and eyeing up a band of shouting boys- all aged seventeen to twenty- who were yelling at each other. I couldn't catch what they were saying, but their behaviour made me smile; it was good to know even age-old Time Lord had had raucous teenage years.
Slowly I reached up and took the TARDIS key from around my neck, my eyes flicking quickly from face to face to gauge the reactions; would they see through me immediately? Or would I just be another young woman out of countless in the square?
No-one paused to stare at me in shock as the key came off completely; no-one yelled or pointed as I pocketed the chain and made my way slowly to a vacant bench, intending to watch the Gallifreyians for a bit.
I was so busy watching the crowd in the middle of the square that I walked straight into the back of a tall, red-robed Gallifreyian with brown hair, stumbling backwards and almost falling over.
"Hey, think you've got an admirer, Cassie!" Someone shouted and several laughs erupted from somewhere behind the man I'd run into, and I felt my face heat as people turned to face the commotion.
"I'm sorry, I didn't see y"- I tried to explain, but my words were cut-short.
I tried to speak, but no words came out as I stared at a face I knew so well. I was drowning in those deep brown eyes I'd stared into a million times, and when I finally found my voice again, my voice was hoarse and strained with shock.
"Doctor?"
I stared at him, incapable of saying anything more, still frozen in shock. This was impossible… why was he dressed in robes like the other Gallifreyians? Surely he didn't need to pretend like I did; this was his planet after all.
And why was he staring at me like I was a stranger, with absolutely no recognition in his eyes?