4

For a moment, the top of the hill was silent. They stared at the sprawled figure. The Doctor stepped forward warily, one hand raised to hold his daughter back.

"What's wrong with his lines?" Jenny asked quietly. In the Time Lords' eyes the man glowed, his timelines unlike anything Jenny had ever seen. Rather than being like a wrapping of threads encompassing possibilities in past and future, the man's time signature was like a bright corona, giving a soft glow to his pale skin. It was pretty, Jenny thought. But it was also unnatural.

"Not quite sure." the Doctor murmured. "They are odd. More than odd. Positively… Let's see if he's got a pulse."

"Don't touch him." Mary's ragged voice was sharp in the air. The Walker glanced at her where she stood, breathing hard from her run up the hill. "Mary, they're quite capable of discerning danger."

The girl looked at her with eyes that were huge in her thin face. "Can't you see?" she said in a half whisper. "Tis one of the Fair Folk he is. Y'mustn't touch him."

The Time Lords ignored her. Kneeling down, the Doctor put two fingers to the man's pale brow, brushing back a few dark curls. He closed his eyes, trying to reach the man and wake him. His forehead creased.

"I'm not getting anything. Not a thing." he said quietly.

"That's weird." Jenny said, dropping to her haunches beside her father.

"Bit more than weird, Jenny." The Doctor muttered. "Quite a bit more than a simple little 'weird'"

"He's alive, isn't he?" Jenny asked calmly.

"Obviously, Jenny, you can see him breathing. But…"

The Doctor stood, crossing his arms as he stared down, his forehead creased. For a long moment, he studied the man. Then he drew a deep breath, looking around. "Walker, your ship all right now?"

"I believe so. She's no longer frightened, though she's lost another five percent of her power. Was he the cause, in your approximation?"

The Doctor nodded. He glanced at his family, then at the humans, and back down at the man. "Mm. And perhaps when we know who he is and where he's from, we'll know what's going on." He turned to the two humans, staring at him with frightened eyes. "I know this all seems strange. It is strange. But nothing's going to hurt you, all right?"

Both of them nodded, slowly.

"And what was it about a ship?" William asked, still staring at the man. "The sea's miles away."

"Oh, don't worry about that. She was talking about something else." the Doctor said, putting on all the false cheer he could muster. "Well, no sense standing about. Come on-" leaning down, the Doctor took the pale man's shoulders carefully. "We'll take him down to the pub."

"Perhaps he shouldn't be moved." the Walker murmured. "There is the possibility of brain damage."
"There's also cold ground under him, and he needs somewhere warm to lay down." the Doctor said shortly. "He didn't fall hard enough for brain damage." With a look at his granddaughter, he rolled his eyes and pulled out his sonic screwdriver. He ran it over the man's face. It was a rather nice face, the Walker noted. More than nice, actually. The stranger had a bone structure that managed to be at once strong and delicate, pale as white marble.

The Doctor checked his readings. "No apparent head trauma, see? Now, 'nuff shilly-shallying. On we go." he lifted the man's shoulders. The Walker took up his feet. She walked, her mind wandering away from a matter that it could not yet sort out and into old, familiar grievances. It was really quite annoying when Grandfather acted like that. He seemed to forget she wasn't eighty anymore, the little girl he'd taken out for a spin around the universe and introduced to everyone as Susan. Granted, they hadn't seen each other for a number of years, with him off travelling and her finding her own way. She might be an adult of three hundred and eighty years and a diplomat in her own right, but she was still the baby he'd held the day she was Loomed in his mind, in spite of anything she could say. Besides, it was her grandfather. And it was a bit of an odd situation, even for him.

"Jenny," the Doctor said, "Get ahead of us."

Jenny nodded, turning to jog down the path.

"How did he get here? Could that have been a transmat beam?" the Walker asked.

"Definitely not." the Doctor murmured, eyes studying the man in his arms. "But truth to tell I'm not sure what it was. Let's get him inside and then we'll talk."

She nodded. Soon they were down the hill. Jenny jogged to the pub ahead of them. She pulled the door open, holding it for her father. Mary hurried inside ahead of them, showing a bit more initiative. "Clear a space, all of you! We've a lad who's fainted dead away here, an' he needs a place to lie his head. You lot, get off th' table there an' clear it!"

In under five minutes they were standing around the young man where he lay on a long wood table, quiet and still, his head pillowed on an elderly woman's shawl.

Jenny stared at him, her forehead creased. Something was wrong with him, but she couldn't put her finger on it. It might have been his scrambled lines, but she didn't think that was all. It definitely wasn't his looks. With that dark brown hair that curled around his face and his long, lean frame, he was kind of hot. He looked to be around the same age as the Walker.

The Doctor stood reflectively, hands in his pockets as he looked over the unconscious man. He pulled out his sonic screwdriver again, running it over the man's body as he spoke to himself. "Strangest thing, showing up like that. Getting here did quite the number on him too. Um, please don't lay your shawl on him until I'm done with my examination, thanks. Temperature…thirty-seven and a half degrees Celsius. Mmm." the Doctor stared down, studying. Beside him, the barwoman stepped forward, laying a hand on his forehead.

"A bit warm, but no fever. Poor lad. He must've had little enough food. I'll get the feathers."

"Feathers?" Jenny asked.

"Burning feathers create a scent that often wakes people." the Walker said absently. She glanced at Mary, who was murmuring to the other members of the pub. She could see the news spread as faces changed from dispassionate watching to surprise.

"D'you think his kin will come looking for 'im?" One of the elderly men who'd told stories asked.

The Doctor shook his head. "No idea, since I don't know who they are." he turned. "Jenny, when he arrived, what'd you see?"

"Nothing." Jenny said shortly. "That light was blinding."

"Smell anything?"

"Nothing much. Maybe ozone and nickel."

"Mm. What about you, Walker? Notice anything?"

The girl shook her head slowly. "Only the light and a slight spatial disturbance. Very odd."

The Doctor nodded."Mm. Odd is the word of the day, it seems." He sighed, running a hand through his hair. "So what we've got is a fellow, no idea where he came from. Popped into the middle of that circle without so much as a by-your- leave. And he's out cold. He's impossible to reach through psychic channels, he's got scrambled timelines, he's been doing time jumping or really bad shunt technology or some sort of transmat, maybe, and-"

"He's awake."

The Doctor and Jenny turned. The stranger's eyes were indeed open, wide and green. For a moment he lay completely still, eyes studying the wide beams of the ceiling. Then he sat up, glancing at the table he lay on, and around the room. He picked at the shawl that had been draped over him, pulled it off and studied it with distant interest. He glanced down at the long green tunic and brown trousers he wore, and nodded slowly to himself. Then his eyes roved over the people in the room, taking each of them in a calm, analyzing gaze. Jenny watched the people in the crowd look away from his eyes. Some of them made gestures with their hands that were probably protective. The man turned, and his eyes settled on the Doctor. He cocked his head, looking the Doctor over curiously. Then he glanced away.

"Am I in Erin?" he asked to no one in particular.

The words sounded like Gallifreyan to Jenny. But Mary had apparently heard Irish, since she answered in the same language, giving a small curtsey. "You are, and most welcome, your honor."

Now that was neat, Jenny thought. He must have some sort of specialized translator.

"Ah." The man's head tilted back, eyes roving over the rafters of the pub. "Good. I thank you."

Slowly, he set his bare feet on the ground, and stood, one hand on the table. His legs wobbled, and only his hand on the table kept him upright when one of his knees gave out. He drew a breath, and straightened again, staring at his legs as he took a step, then another. Slowly, he let go of his table, and stood swaying. He turned, and gave Jenny the same sort of interested, analytical study that he'd given her father.

"You see the fourth plane." he stated. Jenny blinked.

"Yeah, I do."

"What is this, then?"

It took a minute for Jenny to figure out what he meant. Time. He meant what time was this. "It's the nineteenth century." Jenny said. "Eighteen forty nine."

The man nodded slightly. He took another step. "I need to touch the land." He took two steps, and disappeared. The room reverberated with gasps. The Doctor's dark eyes widened.

"What the?"

"By Rassilon!" the Walker exclaimed. Then the man was back, beside the Doctor.

"My apologies. I forgot how it is done here." he inclined his head.

There was a scramble for the door, clearing the room of about half its patrons. The man watched them go with polite disinterest, then turned back to the Time Lords, appraising them.

"You are not of this land."

"No." the Doctor replied. "And I'd make a guess that you're not either." he stepped forward." I'm the Doctor. Who are you?"

The man looked at the Doctor, puzzled. "Who am I?"

"Yes." Said the Doctor, "Who are you? What name do you use?"

The man paused for a long moment, his eyes unfocused.

"They call me Ramble." He said, and nodded to himself. "Ramble." He murmured again. For a moment, the minds of the Time Lords were filled with images of roads, thousands of roads, the feel of wind, feet walking. The Doctor glanced at his daughter, his eyebrows raised, before turning back to the stranger with a cheery smile. "Right, Ramble. Congratulations on making it to Earth, seeing as how it must've taken the mickey out of you doing it, but I'm here to tell you that this is a really, really bad place for anybody nonnative to be messing about. You said that we see Time, so I'm guessing that you can see it too. Look around, and you'll see that this isn't exactly the sort of place you should be messing with. By the way," he asked offhandedly, "how'd you get here?"

The pale man looked at him, his head canting to the side. "How did I get here?" he said slowly. He glanced back at the Doctor, his face thoughtful. "I walked…I walked a new path." He said carefully, as if testing the words before using them. "There are few new paths, and it was…difficult. We have roads, but they are…being blocked. I have come very far. Yes. I know the danger. But…there was much need for me to come here, to find a new trail we can walk. I-" His eyelids fluttered, and he swayed. "I need to touch the land. Please, how do you leave this place, in your way?"

"The door usually does it." The Doctor said dryly. Jenny pushed the door open. An expression like relief washed across the stranger's face."Thank you."

As he stepped outside, the Doctor watched him with narrowed eyes. He moved like he'd practiced the gestures in a mirror. They were somehow stiff, as if he didn't know how to move the joints. Could it be a disguise? No, the Doctor decided. He felt for the consciousness, and encountered one, though it felt distant, unreadable. But it was a single consciousness, without anything fighting behind it. So no parasite riding in a human-or human looking-body. The body was his. And it didn't look like any sort of suit or holo projection. He just didn't know what to do with it. And that disappearing act...it was familiar. He knew he'd seen this kind of behavior before. But where?

"So, your lot come here much?" he asked, "Who are your lot, by the way?"

"What?" the man asked, turning to stare at the Doctor. He was a little taller than the Time Lord, and though they were eye to eye the Doctor got the feeling that this man wasn't really looking at him. His whole consciousness seemed unfocused.

"Your people." the Doctor repeated. "Can you tell me where you're from? Time period?"

The man shook his head, and walked to a grassy patch at the side of the path. Dropping down, he dug his fingers into the grass, and sighed. After a moment, he looked up, his eyes heavy-lidded.

"I…cannot tell you time as you know it. It is…I apologize. I cannot put it into words."

"Okay, fine." The Doctor said quickly, dropping to his haunches. "Can you tell me what your people are called?"

The stranger shrugged awkwardly. "We are the Kin. Men call us Fair Folk."

"Right," the Doctor said, "But what do other species call you? Non-human species, I mean. If I'm going to help you I need to know your species name. Where's your planet?"

The man shook his head. "I…we have none. Home is…Home." He gave the Doctor a look that seemed to say 'you know what I mean, right?' For a moment, the Doctor's mind was filled with a swirl of color and a feeling of safety. He raised his mental shields.

"Can you give me your species name, under the Species Ratification Act?"

The man stared at him, blinking. "Species act?"

"Yes. You know, the Species Ratification Act passed by the Shadow Proclamation."

The man who called himself Ramble looked up with half-open eyes.

"Shadow?"

"O-kay." The Doctor said slowly, "Maybe you don't know that one. What about the Peaceful Coalition of Planets? The Act of Alignment even? Anything? Any name would do, really, I'm sure I can look it up somewhere."

The man held up one long hand, turning his head away. The Doctor noted that his long fingers had four joints. Definitely not human, then. If there had been any question about that.

"Please," he said slowly, "no more words. I need to breathe. I need to feel this land." He opened his eyes slowly.

"I will tell you all that I can, when…when I come to myself. Please…give me time. I need time."

"Right. Course." The Doctor said, "Take all the time you need. I'll just be over here when you're ready."

Standing, he paced back to where the Walker and Jenny were watching. Behind them, the braver members of the town were clustered in a huddle near the pub door.

"He looks sick." Jenny said, studying the man with her arms crossed. "Exhaustion. How long do you think he'll remain incapacitated?" the Doctor shrugged.

"He reminds me of a man recovering from regeneration sickness." the Walker murmured. She glanced back at the man, who had lain back in the grass and closed his eyes. "Could you make any sense of what he was saying, Grandfather?"

"Not much." The Doctor said, studying the stranger. He glanced back at the huddled humans. "He gave me the name that humans call them. Fair folk. But that doesn't tell us anything; anybody can cover themselves up with a handy bit of mythology; done it myself once or twice. He said it was important that he get here and find some path, but wasn't too clear on the reasons there either."

"He talked a great deal about roads and paths." the Walker said, "But I've never heard of a spatial manipulation technology referred to like that."

The Doctor shook his head. "No, me neither. He seemed to be having trouble understanding us, too."

"Then that's two of us." Jenny said. "Because I just don't get him. It looks like his timelines don't have any cause or affect to them. Almost like Jack's. Except-"

"Except that he feels completely kosher, if a bit strange." the Doctor mused. "Jack sets us on edge, but this fellow doesn't give off so much as a twinge. He belongs in the universe. He just…doesn't make sense."

"He's fay." said a voice behind them, "He won't follow mortal sense." The Doctor turned, looking down into Mary's solemn face.

"Is he angry?" Mary asked. "Are his people angered with us, that they brought the blight upon us? Did y'ask?"

"He's not angry." the Doctor said, "And from what I know I can tell you that his people didn't bring the blight. It was bad weather and disease that did that, Mary, not supernatural forces."

"But what does he want?"

"Apparently he wants to lie in the sun." the Doctor said blandly, glancing back at the man who might be asleep. He knew he'd seen something like this fellow before. A bit different, maybe, but something very like him in behavior at least. What, though?

"There's them that say this will bring more trouble down upon us." Mary said in a nervous murmur. "They say we never should have touched one of the Tuatha de Dannan."

"Now don't go getting-"The Doctor stopped mid sentence. He looked down at Mary, eyes wide.

"Did you say Dannan?"

Mary nodded.

"The Tuatha de Dannan."

"Dannan." The Doctor repeated, murmuring, his eyes falling to the man's pale face. "But that's wrong. Not Dannan. Oh, of course!" he exclaimed, pushing both hands into his hair. "It's not Dannan at all; Danu. A Danu! The Celtic peoples here must've heard the word, and they incorporated it into their language, corrupted the pronunciation as they passed it down. I knew I recognized that behavior, but it's been so long, and he's using different techniques. I can't believe this."

"Danu?" the Walker's voice took on a sharp edge. Her grandfather nodded. "Look at him. Take a good look at him, Walker. Look for the power under all that confusion."

The Walker stared. Her eyes grew wide. "A Danu." she breathed.

Jenny glanced from the prone man to her family. "Is that what he is?"

The Doctor nodded, eyes fixed. "It's one of their names." he said quietly. "They call themselves A Danu." The Doctor stared at the prone man, his face unreadable. "But we usually call them other things."

"What?"

The Doctor met his daughter's gaze, his eyes wide and dark. "Gods. The Endless. Eternals."