Lady A: Hey everyone and welcome to my brand new fic, Soul of the Doctor! I apologize for those waiting on my other stories, but this idea has been bouncing around my head for quite some time. Let me explain where this idea came from. It was a general idea that I have had since the beginning, but didn't really get any traction until a reviewer pointed something out to me. My OC's nickname is Artz which by a strange twist of irony actually means 'Doctor' in German. Also this story will incorporate a second idea I had a long time ago, but to tell you what that idea is would spoil the whole series. Anyways, enough of me blabbing your ears off.
Looking Forward: We learn about the series of events leading up to Artimes's arrival in the Whoniverse. All in all, a pretty normal day until everything goes south.
On with the show!
Disclaimer: I do not own Doctor Who or anything I make references to. This disclaimer will only appear here.
Prologue: Twilight of Life
"You know how fan fiction writers like to do stories with fans falling into their favorite show…how a Whovian would just appear in the world of Doctor Who for no apparent reason? Well, I suppose my story isn't all that different from theirs except that mine is different. I wouldn't know how came to be in the Tardis for a very long time or how I was different from everyone else, because seriously, how could you possibly guess something like that. I'm getting ahead of myself.
Fan fiction writers always have their original characters droning on and on about how they miss their families, their friends, and how no one back in their world really knew what had happened to them and no one would know what became of them. This is one of the key differences of my story, because my family and friends did know what happened to me. They just didn't know what happened afterwards is all.
I'm going to tell you about the final hours I spent in my reality, so that you can see that there is really no way for me to go home, that I can never go back. My whole reality is lost to me, but I'm surprisingly okay with that. In the end, the people I cared for back in my universe had the closure they needed to move on with their lives and it has given me a chance to begin again, to forge a whole new life for myself…free from the shackles of my past.
It was November the eighth in the year two thousand and sixteen. It started out like any other day would. I woke up, rather begrudgingly, and literally dragged myself out of bed. I took a shower, trying desperately to wake up, got dried off and dressed. I piddled about, giving my brain some time to come online…I am night owl if you haven't figured it out by now. I thought sunlight was evil and sometimes actually hissed at the sun. I went through the motions of making breakfast and managed to eat it without dribbling it all over my shirt. Pretty normal, right?
It was raining outside so that put off my plans for a walk until later, so I curled up in the recliner and watched the most recent episodes of Doctor Who again. By the time I had finished which was about two in the afternoon, the rain had let up. I sighed heavily as I pulled on my jacket and slipped into my boots. When I opened the front door, I noticed that the sky was still very overcast and it was windy as hell, but I loved days like today. For me, a storm was the perfect lullaby. I actually slept through an F1 tornado and had the best night of sleep of my life. I started my trek towards the only store in town, a quick mart. A small store for an equally small town.
Nothing exciting really happened here…apart from the occasional house fire, a few drug busts, some downed power lines, and people using the 'main road' like it was the Daytona 500. All in all, a pretty boring place to live and it had like a half a dozen churches, an elementary school, and a park. There was a river about a mile away and the closest actual town was like ten miles away. Yeah, welcome to Hick town, USA. Please note the sarcasm.
I finally arrived at the store and chatted with the owner, Sam, who was constantly trying to get me to buy out the store. I became distracted by a little girl with brown hair and brown eyes. She was skipping around her mother with a smile on her face, without a care in the world. It made me smile and wish that I could be free like that once more. I waved Sam off and was about to start down one of the aisles when a man dressed in dark clothing and ski mask walked in.
The mother grabbed her child and held her close when the masked man started waving his gun around in a threatening manner. He ordered Sam to empty the till and the safe or he was going to shoot us. In that moment, I was terrified, any sane person would be, yet I was just crazy enough to start analyzing the situation. Sam had cover in the form of the counter, I could duck down the aisle, but the mother and her child were out in the open and had nothing to hide behind. Moreover, I recognized the kind of gun the masked man had, it was a revolver. It looked like an antique and appeared to hold no more than six bullets. It didn't look like it had been properly cared for and there was a high probability of it misfiring or jamming.
Ah geez, what the hell was I thinking? Now was not the time to go into Sherlock mode. If I tried anything then I would end up dead. I didn't want to die, but at the same time, I didn't want to stand by and do nothing. Sure, my life could be considered ordinary, boring, and even downright dull, but it was still my life and I should fight for it, but could I really take myself away from the people who cared about me and would miss me? The age old question: To be selfish or to be selfless? I felt weighed down by my ties to my family and friends, preventing me from doing what I thought was right, but that was what it meant to be human, right? To have those connections, to want to live, but at the same time, I wanted so much more and I never could. It was extremely frustrating.
The little girl started crying and was becoming progressively louder. Her mother tried to shush her, holding her closer to muffle her cries, but the child just continued to cry. I glanced over at them and realized that the little girl couldn't have been more than seven or eight years old and her life was being threatened by some masked idiot with a gun. What kind of man would do that to a child, to scare an innocent little girl to the point of terror and hysteria?
The robber became more and more irate as the child rose in volume. He yelled at the mother, ordering her to shut the kid up or he would. Without my knowledge, my feet had started inching towards the mother and her distraught child. The masked man let out a growl of exasperation and brandished his gun towards the pair, aiming at the little girl. My eyes widened as his finger twitched above the trigger. Without thinking and without hesitation, I placed myself between him and the little girl, shielding both her and her mother from harm.
Shot after shot rang out and several parts of my body erupted with searing flashes of heat and pain. I'm not entirely certain of when I hit the floor or when the robber ran out of the store, all I felt was pain. The mother and the little girl were kneeling next to me, and the older woman was crying and apologizing over and over again. I simply smiled at her which just seemed to make her cry harder. The little girl thanked me for saving them and then told me that her name was Clara. I smiled at that and said 'Hello, I'm the Doctor'. Her mother let out a weak chuckle as a small smile appeared on her face, her tears never stopping.
My breathing accelerated as everything began to dull. My body was in so much pain and I was just so tired. I fought to stay awake, little Clara begging me to stay with her so that we could see the stars together. My mind kept repeating the promise the Doctor made when he chose his name; never cruel or cowardly, never give up, never give in. It was so hard to stay focused, to keep going. Everything was fading, even the pain seemed to be dulling. I could have sworn that the little girl said 'Run. Run, you clever girl, and remember', but that had to have been my imagination playing tricks on me.
My vision blurred as the darkness started to encroach on the edges of my sight. They say that in your final moments, you see your life flash before your eyes. That didn't happen to me, well it wasn't my life that I saw. It was the Doctor's. Thirteen different faces and all of them were the same man. I watched from the very beginning with the first Doctor with Ian, Barbara, and Susan, going through each regeneration and every companion, and all the way to the Twelfth Doctor and Clara Oswald. I saw it all and I knew that no matter what face he had, no matter how his personality changed…he was still and always would be The Doctor.
When the darkness finally overtook me, I had but one thought…Theta.
On November 8, 2016, I died in my reality, but it was also the start of a brand new adventure. When I appeared in an out of control and apparently crashing Tardis, I knew I was in for the time of my life. I don't know how I got there or why it happened, but I died in my world, only to begin life anew in another. Let's see how my story in this brand new world plays out, shall we?"
Lady A: Voila! The Prologue of Soul of the Doctor, Twilight of Life, is complete! I know, kind of weird and not my usual way of starting things off, but to be perfectly honest, I didn't feel like writing out the whole back story and just really wanted to dive in with Twelve. Yes, slight Twelve obsession right now. I can see why everyone wanted to write up Twelve stuff which is why I started this fic the way I did. *grins* Anyways, leave tons and tons of reviews and be on the lookout for Chapter One: Prehistoric Crashing! Stay tuned!