The Diamond Path: Part 1
Winter watched happily as the Doctor tried to get Donna to come along with him. He had taken them to Midnight; a planet that was rotating around a Xtonic star - one of the brightest stars in the universe. Somewhere along the road, someone had decided to build a spar complete with restaurants and a theme park for the children.
"I said, no."
"Sapphire waterfall. It's a waterfall made of sapphires. This enormous jewel, the size of a glacier. Reaches the Cliffs of Oblivion, and then shatters into sapphires at the edge. They fall a hundred thousand feet into a crystal ravine."
"I bet you say that to all the girls." Winter rolled her eyes - slightly surprised she could even her Donna through the phone.
"Oh, come on. They're boarding now. Winter's here - she wants you to come." Her eyes widened at the mention of her name and the lie.
"Liar!" Donna shouted. "Besides, that's four hours there and four hours back. That's like a school trip. I'd rather go sunbathing."
The Doctor, looking at Winter seemed to understand that he was not going to win Donna over. "You be careful, that's Xtonic sunlight."
"Oh she'll be fine Doctor." Winter said, noticing the people where getting on the bus. "It's Donna - nothing can kill her."
"All right, I give up." He said - there was no way he was winning against both women, it was physically impossible to do. "We'll be back for dinner. We'll try that anti-gravity restaurant. With bibs."
"That's a date. Well, not a date. Oh, you know what I mean. Oh, get off - and Winter, make sure he doesn't break the bus yeh?" She shouted through the phone.
"See you later."
"Oi. And you two be careful, all right?"
"Nah. Taking a big space truck with a bunch of strangers across a diamond planet called Midnight? What could possibly go wrong?"
"That's it. Were gonna die." Winter grumbled under her breath. Everyone knows that those words where the worst words to say around the Doctor. Ever.
[][][]
"Complimentary juice pack and complimentary peanuts." The hostess offered to everyone. it was like a plane ride minus them being in the air and having to pay for the food. "I must warn you some products may contain nuts."
"That'll be the peanuts." The Doctor told her. The hostess didn't look very amused but pushed the pack towards the Doctor. He was about to take it when Winter pushed the pack back.
"I'm sorry, it's just that I'm allergic to peanuts." The hostess nodded and apologised before walking away with a 'enjoy your trip.'
The Doctor turned to look at her. "You're not allergic to peanuts." He accused. Winter looked a bit sheepish.
"No, I just have suddenly developed a hate for the smell." And then the Doctor knew what it was. Her human DNA was slowly being written over into that of a Timelords. And as such, she was getting a better sense of smell, sight, taste ect. That was why he was able to tell what compounds where in something just by tasting it.
"It's nothing to be ashamed of. I can't stand the taste of pears. Every Timelord has their own aversion to something and it never changes- even throughout their regenerations." Winter suddenly looked more relieved and the Doctor made a mental note to give her a few books he had on Timelord biology.
From where they were sitting, they could hear an old man talking to someone about the Waterfall. "They call it the Sapphire Waterfall, but it's no such thing. Sapphire's an aluminium oxide, but the glacier is just compound silica with iron pigmentation." Winter remembered doing something like that in school but it was so long ago that she couldn't be bothered to remember.
Suddenly the man looked over to the Doctor and held out his hand. "Hobbes. Professor Winfold Hobbes."
"I'm the Doctor. Hello. This is Winter." He said. Winter waved slightly but she could smell the peanuts. Someone had just opened the packet and she was having a hard time breathing it in.
"It's my fourteenth time."
"Oh." The Doctor said sounding interested. "My first - well, our first."
"And I'm Dee Dee," the dark woman next to him said. "Dee Dee Blasco.
Just as she was finished, Hobbes scolded her. "Don't bother the man. Where's my water bottle?" Winter looked at the man and frowned.
"I don't like you." She told him. Hobbes looked at her, startled but she just carried on looking at him intensely.
"Excuse me?" He asked. The Doctor's eyes were wide and when he saw that Winter was about to talk again he quickly covered her mouth and she mumbled and glared at him.
"Oh don't mind her. She's just pregnant and her hormones are slightly out of control." Hobbes looked at the Doctor and then at Winter and nodded, understanding.
"Of course, of course." He said, nodding his head. Dee Dee looked excited at what she had just heard and smiled at Winter brightly.
"Oh how nice for you. How far into it are you? You must be so happy, the both of you." At this, the Doctor's mouth fell open and he began stuttering.
"What - I - you - she - were not - "
"Let the two of them alone Dee Dee, come along. Let's find our seats." It wasn't until the two of them left that Winter shoved his hand off of her mouth.
"Pregnant!" She hissed at him. "Why the hell did you tell them that?" She asked, glaring at the Doctor.
"It was the first thing that popped into my mind." The Doctor said, sheepishly.
"The first thing? Your telling me that at 800 odd years old, the first thing that pops into your head is that I'm pregnant?" She was practically yelling now and the Doctor had to shush her in order for the other passengers not to hear anything.
"I'm sorry." He said. She sat back and grumbled. "Really I am." She ignored him and the Doctor frowned. There was a small feeling of hurt in his chest that was blooming at her silence - it was annoying.
"Ladies and gentlemen, and variations thereupon, welcome on board the Crusader Fifty. If you would fasten your seatbelts, we'll be leaving any moment. Doors." The doors closed. "Shields down." The windows were shielded.
"I'm afraid the view is shielded until we reach the Waterfall Palace. Also, a reminder. Midnight has no air, so please don't touch the exterior door seals. Fire exit at the rear, and should we need to use it, you first. Now I will hand you over to Driver Joe.
"Driver Joe at the wheel. There's been a diamond fall at the Winter Witch Canyon, so we'll be taking a slight detour, as you'll see on the map. The journey covers five hundred kliks to the Multifaceted Coast.
"Duration is estimated at four hours. Thank you for travelling with us, and as they used to say in the olden days, wagons roll."
The hostess began talking animatedly again. "For your entertainment, we have the Music Channel playing retrovids of Earth classics. Also, the latest artistic installation from Ludovico Klein. Plus, for the youngsters, a rare treat. The Animation Archives.
"Four hours of fun time. Enjoy." Winter covered her ears in pain and annoyance - all the sounds overloading her now sharper senses.
"Dear God, make it stop." She groaned. The Doctor, seeing the look on Winter's and everybody's face, discreetly used his sonic to disrupt the frequency of the screens causing them to shut down immediately.
Winter looked over at the Doctor and gave him a small smile. "Thank you." She whispered. He gave her an answering nod and returned the smile. Their relationship getting better each day.
"Well, that's a mercy." Hobbs declared. It made Winter wonder what he had done all the other times he had travelled down this path.
"I do apologise," the hostess said seeming quite baffled. "Ladies and gentlemen, and variations thereupon. We seem to had a failure of the Entertainment System."
"Oh." Sly man, Winter thought.
"But what do we do?" Val asked.
"We've got four hours of this? Four hours of just sitting here?" The Doctor had to suppress a sigh. What had humans come to now a days?
"That's a shame." Winter chimed in. "I guess we'll just have to talk to each other instead." And nobody seemed all that thrilled with that idea either.
[][][]
The Doctor had found Winter had fallen asleep half way through the journey. He smiled at her softly and put a blanket on her so she wouldn't get cold before making his way towards the drink station. There he saw Dee Dee making herself a coffee.
"Hullo." He said to her, smiling.
"Oh - hello Doctor." She answered back. She smiled at him as he made the drink and remembered how cute he and his girlfriend had looked together. "I hope you don't mind me asking but, doctor of what exactly?" She asked.
"Oh this and that. I forget sometimes." Dee Dee laughed at his comment. It was odd and she had to wonder if he was telling the truth or not.
"But what about you?" He asked.
"I'm just a second-year student, but I wrote a paper on the Lost Moon of Poosh, Professor Hobbes read it, liked it, took me on as researcher, just for the holidays. Well, I say researcher. Most of the time he's got me fetching and carrying. But it's all good experience." The Doctor was suddenly struck by how nice the girl was. She was young and she was getting pushed around by Hobbes but she didn't seem to care; she only wanted to explore.
"And did they ever find it?" He asked eagerly. Of course he knew they never had and wouldn't but still.
"Find what?
"The Lost Moon of Poosh."
"Oh, no. Not yet."
"Well. Maybe that'll be your great discovery, one day." Dee Dee smiled and looked down slightly. The Doctor could see the dreams in her eyes and he hoped she would fulfil them. "Here's to Poosh." He said raising his glass.
"Poosh." They took a drink from their respective cups and Dee Dee looked over to Winter who seemed to be trying not to roll her eyes at something the blonde woman was saying. "If you don't mind me asking, how did you two meet?"
The Doctor looked over to Winter and he was momentarily worried about the other woman's safety; she had just opened up the packet of peanuts and was offering them to Winter who looked like she was about to throw up and punch the woman at the same time, but Winter seemed to be controlling herself.
"It's a bit complicated," the Doctor said. Dee Dee waited for him to continue. "I suppose she sort of found me. It was a shock that's for sure – and I tried to run, but…I suppose I felt like I owed it to her to help."
Dee Dee watched the Doctor admiring the woman and she smiled at him. "It's funny, I never really thought all that much about love." She paused for a moment. "But when you see it – properly see it I mean, it leaves an impact."
"I suppose so." The Doctor said. He wasn't really paying much attention to Dee Dee's words as he was too busy watching Winter.
"It's such a nice thing to see." Dee Dee said, smiling at the memory of her parents with each other. The Doctor and Winter were the only couple that seemed to come close to the love her parents had for each other. And if they loved that baby as much as they did each other, well that baby was going to be the luckiest kid in the world.
[][][]
Winter was still annoyed at the Doctor for the stunt he had pulled. What the hell had he been thinking? Now everyone was coming up to her and asking her how far along she was, if she knew the gender, and how good she and the Doctor looked together.
Eventually, she flopped down in a seat and sighed in annoyance. "Hey!" She turned and saw it was the annoyed teen from earlier.
"Oh, sorry." She mumbled.
"You don't sound very sorry." He said, annoyance still colouring his tone. Winter turned towards he and looked him over. He was barely 17 and he looked like he was in the mid-rebelling stage.
"Yeh well if you went around with the Doctor, you wouldn't be either." Jethro sniggered and Winter looked back at him. "But I've had the most fun with him than I have with everyone."
Jethro looked at her and then to the Doctor. "Small price to pay then?"
"Yeh." She replied. "Small price to pay."
[][][]
"It's my pet project." Hobbs was explaining. "Actually, I'm the first person to research this. Because, you see, the history is fascinating. Because there is no history. There's no life in this entire system. There couldn't be. Before the Leisure Palace Company moved in, no one had come here in all eternity. No living thing.
"But how do you know? I mean, if no one can go outside." Winter had to give Jethro credit, he was a smart kid.
"Oh, his imagination. Here we go." His mother on the other hand…
"He's got a point, though." The Doctor spoke up. Winter looked over to Jethro and winked at him. He gave a returning smile.
"Exactly. We look upon this world through glass, safe inside our metal box. Even the Leisure Palace was lowered down from orbit. And Suddenly there was a weird crunking sound and the carriage stopped. "We've stopped. Have we stopped?"
"Are we there?" Biff asked.
"We can't be, it's too soon." Winter sighed. Something was going to happen, she could feel here we are now, crossing Midnight, but never touching it."She never should have gone with the Doctor.
"They don't stop." Hobbs said haughtily. "Crusader vehicles never stop."
"Well evidently, this one has." Winter mumbled under her breath. The Doctor however had heard her and was giving her a stern look that she was pointedly ignoring.
The Hostess suddenly came into the middle of the shuttle and began trying to calm them down. "If you could just return to your seats. It's just a small delay." She looked to make sure nobody was hurt and then went to the intercom to contact the driver. This was not a scheduled stop so something was obviously wrong.
"Maybe it's just a pit stop." Biff said.
"There's no pit to stop in. I've been on this expedition fourteen times. They never stop." Winter scanned the shuttle and began assessing each exit but there was nothing. If something did happen to them then they were going to be stuck in the shuttle for a while.
"We've broken down." Jethro grinned.
"Thanks, Jethro."
"In the middle of nowhere." It was all she could do not to hit the boy over the head. He of all people would know how…excitable his mother was. Winter had barely known the woman two hours and she knew that.
"That's enough. Now stop it." Biff said sternly. Jethro held up his hands in surrender and kept quiet.
"Ladies and gentlemen, and variations thereupon." The hostess began, "we're just experiencing a short delay. The driver needs to stabilise the engine feeds. It's perfectly routine, so if you could just stay in your seats." The Doctor then got out of his chair and began making his way to the cockpit.
"No, I'm sorry, sir, I. Could you please-" The pleading didn't stop him, he just flashed her his psychic paper.
"There you go." He said happily. "Engine expert. Two ticks." The Doctor opened the door and Winter went to follow him but he stopped her. "Me engine expert, you crowd calmer." He whispered.
"Me?" She asked, shocked. "What would I know about calming a crowd?" The Doctor grinned at her and just went through the door. "Smug prick." She bit out.
"Well?" Val's annoying voice cut though the silence. "What did he say?" She tried not to bite her lip in annoyance. Something was happening to her – she needed to fix it and soon but for now, there was a group of people that needed guidance.
"Like he said, the Doctor's a engineer – he'll probably be able to identify the problem and fix it in no time."
"So what are we supposed to do in the mean time?" Sky asked. Winter looked at the woman and held back a glare.
"I suggest you find something to entertain yourself with. It may take a little while." Sky looked at her for a moment as if she was testing the waters. But she must have decided it was too deep and so she looked away.
Moments passed but they seemd much longer to Winter and everyone awaiting the Doctor, so it was no surprise to her that Sky was the first one to speak when the Doctor came back. "What did they say? Did they tell you? What is it? What's wrong?"
"Oh, just stabilising. Happens all the time." Winter looked at the Doctor unsteadily and he looked back at her. There was something in his eyes, some unknown emotion that she couldn't decipher but it's meaning was still clear. Something was definitely wrong.
"I don't need this. I'm on a schedule. This is completely unnecessary." Jethro scoffed softly. Who came on this trip with a schedule anyway?
The hostess tried once more to get control of the situation before leaving for the cockpit. It was quiet for a moment until Dee Dee began talking. "Excuse me, Doctor, but they're micropetrol engines, aren't they?"
"Now, don't bother the man." Hobbs interrupted her.
"My father was a mechanic. Micropetrol doesn't stabilise. What does stabilise mean?"
"Well." He was stuck. "Bit of flim-flam. Don't worry, they're sorting it out."
"So it's not the engines?" Hobbs asked, suddenly interested.
"It's just a little pause, that's all." It was very clear that things were about to get a little bit messy and it only got worse as the professor asked a very stupid question.
"How much air have we got?"
"Professor, its fine." The Doctor said reassuringly but Val had heard what the professor had said and began panicking
Her head popped up and Val suddenly looked towards the Doctor. "What did he say?"
"Nothing."
"Are we running out of air?"
"I was just speculating." Hobbs told her, trying to fix the mistake he had made.
"Well you should have just not said anything in the first place." Winter growled. The growing noise was giving her a headache and with a jolt, she realized it would soon be time to take her shot. That was why she was getting annoyed so quickly. The component was wearing off and the Angel was itching to come out.
"If you could all just remain calm." The hostess tried but Val wasn't listening.
"How much air have we got?" She asked. Her breathing becoming sporadic and she suddenly felt like the walls were closing in on her.
"Mum, just stop it." Jethro urged, knowing what his mother would be doing now.
"I assure you, everything is under control." The hostess told the panicking woman.
"Well, he said it."
"It's fine." Dee Dee said, trying to reassure her. "The air is on a circular filter." But no one was listening. The noise was getting louder and louder and Winter couldn't take it anymore.
"Shut up!" She shouted very the noise and it suddenly became quiet. "Now I think Dee Dee has something important to say." She motioned for the woman to begin talking and she did so, nervously.
"Oh. Er, it's just that, well, the air is on a circular filter, so we could stay breathing for ten years."
"There you go. And I've spoken to the Captain. I can guarantee you everything's fine." As soon as the Doctor said that there was a thump. Thump. Thump
"What was that?" Val asked worriedly.
"It must be the metal. We're cooling down. It's just settling." It seemed a logical enough explanation to everyone but they were still slightly unnerved.
"What I want to know is, how long do we have to sit here." Biff asked. There was another thump, thump on another part of the shuttle.
"What is that?" It was Sky who asked this time – it was odd. Like no sound she had ever heard before.
"There's someone out there." Val said.
"Now, don't be ridiculous."
"It could be rocks." Dee Dee suggested.
"We're out in the open. Nothing could fall against the sides." As the hostess said this, Winter glared at her. This was not going to help anyone. At all.
Thump, thump.
"Knock, knock." The Doctor mumbled.
"Who's there?" Jethro answered. Winter looked between the two of them and rolled her eyes. Trust the Doctor to pair up with the teenager on knock-knock jokes. Weren't they extinct by now?
"Is there something out there?" Sky asked and she prodded more when no one answered. "Well? Anyone?"
Thump, thump.
"What the hell is making that noise?" She sounded scared now. Scared of whatever it was that was out there – because there was something out there. She was sure of it.
"I'm sorry, but the light out there is Xtonic. That means it would destroy any living thing in a split second. It is impossible for someone to be outside."
Thump, thump.
"Well, what the hell is that, then?" Sky questioned him.
"Sir, you really should get back to your seat." But just like last time, the Doctor ignored her. He brought out his stethoscope and began using it on the hull.
"Hello?"
Thump, thump.
"It's moving." But it wasn't just moving now. The thumps had been quicker – as if it were answering to the Doctor.
Val was now almost in hysterics at what was happening. "It's trying the door." She screeched, looking around the shuttle vigorously.
"There is no it. There's nothing out there. Can't be." More people began trying the emergency exit, not seeming to care that if they left the hull, they would be burned into dust so quickly they wouldn't even realise it.
"That's the entrance." Val said, pointing to where her husband was. "Can it get in?"
It was Dee Dee who answered once again. "No. That door's on two hundred weight hydraulics."
"Stop it. Don't encourage them." Hobbs ordered and the Doctor had to wonder if it was because he was actually starting to believe what was going on.
"What do you think it is?" Dee Dee asked.
"Biff, don't." Val cried out. She had suddenly noticed Biff walking towards the entrance where they had last heard the knocking.
"Mister Cane. Better not." The Doctor advised but Biff wasn't listening.
"Nah, it's cast iron, that door." This was all nonsense anyway. The proferssor was right; there couldn't be anything out there. He had read the leaflet about the xtonic star, nothing living could survive, and so he knocked, three times.
Thump, thump, thump.
"Three times." Val screeched. "Did you hear that? It did it three times."
"It answered." Answered, Jethro said looking at his father.
"It did it three times!"
The situation was now really getting out of hand. The Doctor needed to do something, and quick otherwise every person on this shuttle was going to go into a panic attack. "All right, all right, all right. Everyone calm down."
"No, but it answered." Sky said. "It answered. Don't tell me that thing's not alive. It answered him."
Thump, thump, thump.
"I really must insist you get back to your seats." The hostess said firmly but even she couldn't stop the small tremble in her voice.
"No, don't just stand there telling us the rules. You're the hostess. You're supposed to do something." The Doctor moved over to the door and knocked four times. There was a long pause and everyone began feeling better.
Thump, thump, thump, thump.
"What is it?" Sky screamed. "What the hell's making that noise? She said she'd get me. Stop it. Make it stop. Somebody make it stop. Don't just stand there looking at me. It's not my fault. He started it with his stories." The hostess moved to the intercom to try and contact the drivers.
"Calm down!" Dee Dee shouted trying to get through to the woman.
"And he made it worse!" She said pointing at the Doctor.
"You accusing him is not going to help the situation." Winter said, gritting her teeth in annoyance. This was getting out of hand and it needed to stop right now.
"Why didn't you leave it alone? Stop staring at me. Just tell me what the hell it is." She couldn't breathe. It was getting harder to breathe. How much air did they have again?
"Calm down!" Dee Dee cried again but as she did, the thumps started once more.
"It's coming for me. Oh, it's coming for me. It's coming for me. It's coming for me. It's coming for me." She backed up against the driver's door and screamed a scream that sent fear into everyone's blood.
"Get out of there!" The Doctor shouted but it was no use. There was a boom. The whole shuttle began rocking form the outside, moving side to side. Sparks began to fly and the entertainment began to start up again. Then the lights went out.
Sorry it took so long - life got in the way and honestly, i was a bit lazy. But here is the first part - hope you enjoy. Now responses to reviews:
Counting Sinful Stars : Yeh, they are kinda possessive huh? I am so glad that you like the story and i really appreciate the review. Donna is the best companion - apart from Winter...but i'm a bit bias - but yeh. Hope you enjoyed this chapter too.
ShadowTeir: I am so happy you that Winter is a realistic character to you. I feel very strongly about her as she is my first proper OC character so i did try my hardest to keep her from being a Mary Sue. I know i took a long time to post again, it really wasn't my intention but like i said, life got in the way. I hope it hasn't discouraged you to stop reading because i really am grateful to all my readers. Thank you.
Veyrona : So glad you love it - it's awesome that I have such great readers. You really should give yourself a pat on the back and i'll send you a place of cyber cookies (chocolate chip of course) ;)
Queenylime2: I am really gald you enjoy it - i dont mind that you didnt review for every chapter - that is long and hard. Not even i bother. I just hope that you carry on liking my story. Thank you.
beulah2013:Thank you soooooo much. That really makes my day and trust me, i needed it. I just did two hours of but kicking A-Level physics and i was pretty much in tears so thank you so very much for loving my story. P.S did i hear stories correctly? Like more than one? If so than thank you for reading those too - if not then may i suggest Madness Returns? It's a crossover of Alice in Wonderland and Harry Potter. I think you might enjoy it. It has the same darkish undertones as this one and this OC is slightly more quirky. ;)
Thank you to everyone who reads, favourites or reviews. I love you all.