Chapter Nine
A/N: Thank you to matthewandmaryfluffalert and Syblime for reviewing the last chapter.
Another day and a half had passed, and Sybil stood on the decks, watching as the moon rose to its full height in the sky. It was quite beautiful, the way that the moon reflected off of the waves, she had viewed it as such since the very first night on the ship, and it had not changed in the least in the two days she had been gazing at it. However, there was a chill in the air that had not been present before, and the girl did not know what it meant, only that it could not be good at all.
"Enjoying the view?" asked a voice from behind her, one which she swiftly recognised as the Doctor's, though after a moment of doubt on the matter.
"Yes, I am." she replied, as simply as she could do, though there was so much more that she could have said about the waves at night, but did not have the energy to do so, judging by the time of night. "It's quite spectacular."
"It is, isn't it?" he responded, with a smile that topped hers, as it did not seem to be faded at all from fatigue, as if the Doctor did not grow tired, as he never seemed to do. Even through her own tiredness, Sybil managed to think. 'For all my knowledge of his species, which is extremely limited, perhaps he does not.'
"You know, I don't think that I have ever seen anything as beautiful as the view in front of me now." the young woman sighed, leaning on the bannister in a leisurely way, as she watched the stars begin to shine, reflected off of the water, along with the last of the purple from the sun's setting, only a few minutes ago at most. "It's absolutely astounding."
"Well, I've always thought that the views from a ship are the most incredible views you can find anywhere." the Doctor told his companion, a slight contented smile appearing on his face as he looked across the sky, remembering each and every star that he had ever flown past.
"A ship that sails on the waves, or a ship that sails past the stars?" she questioned, a knowing smirk emerging on her features. She then let out a joyful laugh which harmonised perfectly with that of the man beside her, who had reacted in precisely the same way as she had done, a fact that caused little surprise to her.
"Either of them. It depends on the person, really." the dark haired man conceded, suddenly a little more serious once again, something which sparked the interest of the much younger woman to a great extent, as it had not really been the answer she had been expecting, though even she did not know what that had been. When she turned to face him, her head cocked a little to the side to show her wish for him to elaborate, he did so. "Some people find beauty in jewels, some in landscapes, some in creatures and some in people. You can find equal beauty on Earth as you can anywhere else in the universe. Even when you sail past the stars."
"How do you know that there is so much beauty in this world?" she asked, her voice soft, but not with tiredness, but a sense of reverence, the realisation that the man had seen parts of the world that she had never known existed, let alone had the pleasure to see herself. She had never thought that she would get a chance to meet someone who could show her what life was like outside of the restrictions of the nobility, let alone what it was like to live in another world entirely. Sometimes, she was afraid to blink, in case the Doctor should disappear from before her eyes, as any imaginary friend should have done years ago. "There are terrible things around, on every continent, in every country, on every doorstep. Murder, theft, violence and all manners of injustice. It isn't quite as beautiful as it may seem to be, Doctor, and I don't think that it ever will be, no matter who tries to make it so."
"Every world has its issues." the man pointed out. "Bad people don't cast a shadow over a good thing, nor does it work the other way around. They live side by side in harmony."
"That's a very poetic observation for you to make." she chipped into the conversation, her eyebrow raised slight. It was not like the man to react in such a way, especially with so little time to come up with a couple of phrases which would not be out of place in a poetry book. Then it dawned on her. "You read that in a book, didn't you, Doctor?"
"No, of course I didn't!" he exclaimed in response, before a short pause made his stony expression crack, a guilty one swiftly taking its place. "I met the author of the book, just before they actually put pen to paper. Technically, they hadn't written the book yet."
"So, the answer is yes, then?" she questioned, already knowing the answer, as was shown by the smile on her face, which clearly showed her feeling of achievement at having been correct.
"Technically, that would be correct." the Time Lord conceded, though he did not seem to be extremely happy at having to do so. However, the young woman had back him into a corner, and so he had had no other choice.
"It seems like such beauty will last forever aboard this ship, doesn't it, Doctor?" she asked, changing the topic as suddenly as she had ever done, in his knowledge, at least. However, she was to be proved correct far sooner than either of them would have guessed, as the ship lurched violently to the side, so much so that Sybil may have gone tumbling over the edge of the railing, had the Doctor not had the time to pull her back. Only a slight glance to the side told the man that he was right, so terribly and painfully right.
Just a few feet to the side of them, almost behind them, was an iceberg.
A/N: Cliffhanger! Please review!