Hello again! So I planned to really jump ahead in the plot with this one… yeah. ALL THE CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT! Hehe, you love it really!
Thanks again to Verity359, your consistent reviews really make me smile, so thanks!
And so without further gilding the lily and with no more ado, I give to you, the seeker of serenity, the protector of Italian virginity, the enforcer of our Lord God, the one, the only, Sir Ulllrrrich von Lichtenstein!
*mumbles from off-screen*
What?
*more mumbles from off-screen*
What do you mean I can't say that?
*annoyed mumbles*
What do you mean it's the wrong fandom?
*more mumbles*
Oh alright then! *pouts* Scratch that. *ahem* And so without further gilding the lily and with no more ado, I give to you, the timey of whimey, the protector of time and space, the enforcer of our Lord Time, the one, the only, YGLABN CHAPTER 9!
YGLABN YGLABN YGLABN YGLABN YGLABN
Chapter 9 – Trapped
On the other side of the plain, things were not going nearly so well for Jack and Jackie. Despite earlier, and somewhat breathy, insistence that she did not need saving like a damsel in distress (even if Jack did fit the bill as Jackie's brand of prince charming); Jackie's lack of running for her life in her day-to-day routine was causing her problems. Namely that the Future Kind were gaining on them, and fast. Even with Jack practically dragging her by the hand, the pair were quickly losing ground to the hunt. Their increasingly loud baying was doing nothing for Jackie's nerves.
"Bloody 'ell!" Jackie cursed, panting furiously with her face flushed and sweat dripping from her hairline, "Trouble is just the bits in between, my arse!"
"Less cursing, more running!" called Jack, picking up the pace. His face fell as he spotted a third wave of Future Kind appear, cutting the Doctor and Rose off from them. Despite wanting to curse heartily himself, Jack quickly turned and pulled Jackie in the opposite direction, sprinting away from the new pack. Veering away from both groups of hunters, Jack realised that he and the elder Tyler woman were now running in the opposite direction of the TARDIS, into uncharted land. The Captain quickly considered his options; he could keep dragging Jackie in a straight line across the open plain. But this would provide them no cover and it was heading back towards the direction the initial hunt had come from, probably their base. Jack shook his head. So that was out. He could try to double them back towards the TARDIS, but the terrain heading that way was shrouded in cliffs. Cliffs that looked to form an immense maze that may or may not head back up to the level where the TARDIS stood. Jack had died of starvation before; it was not a pleasant way to go. This time the expletive slipped through his lips before he could stop it. They would need to out run the Future Kind, double back on themselves without being spotted while navigating through the darkness and then rescale the cliff face to get back to the TARDIS. Hopefully the Doctor and Rose would make it back to the time ship before them. If all four of them could just make it back to the TARDIS, then they could leave this godforsaken rock.
What they really needed right now was to get out of the line of sight. Jack had run into hunters like these before; powerful athletic types that could run for hours. Jackie was struggling after only five minutes. Jack quickly glanced back at his companion. Her light pink tracksuit was dripping with sweat and she was limping slightly on her left leg. They needed to get to cover, and quickly. But there was nowhere even remotely like a hut or dwelling to hide in. Hell, Jack would even take a cave at this point! It wouldn't have been the first time he'd hidden in a cave; granted… it hadn't worked out so well for them last time…
"I mean, it turns out the white things are tusks and I mean tusks! And it's woken, and it's not happy."
"How could you not know it was there?"
"And we're standing there, fifteen of us, naked."
"Naked?!"
"And I'm like, oh, no, no, it's got nothing to do with me. And then it roars, and we are running. Oh my God, we are running! And Brakovitch falls, so I turn to him and I say…"
"I knew we should've turned left!"
That cave had been a nest of the Horned Wildebeests of Pjaneta Selvaġġi 7. Always a bad idea to invade a creature's nest. Especially while naked.
"A city or a hive, or a nest, or a conglomeration."
A nest. Jack's brain kicked into gear. A nest!
"Jackie! We have to head for the city; we can lose them in the ruins!"
Jackie moaned, pitifully. "But! It's back… that way!"
Jack grinned, pulling her round again to sprint towards the conglomeration. "Not much further! Just think how much thinner you'll be after all this!"
Jackie's face darkened. "You wot?!" she shrieked, her sudden anger giving her a burst of speed, "Sod those aliens! It's me you'd better wa'ch owt for or I'll slap you so 'ard..!"
Jack winced, tuning out Jackie's incensed ranting. He'd heard about the famous Tyler slap from his first Doctor while they'd travelled together. Jack had no intention of suffering the same fate as Big Ears had. On the plus side, Jackie's rage had given the pair a few extra feet of distance from the Future Kind. They dived into the network of tunnels, quickly losing sight of their pursuers.
"In here!" hissed Jack, dragging Jackie into what might once have been someone's home. Several of the dark stone walls had caved in on themselves, creating large piles of rubble. Jackie's legs wobbled and shook tremulously until she collapsed into a sweating pink heap next to one of the bigger piles. Jack raised a finger to his lips and Jackie nodded, still panting heavily. Her breath was loud in the quiet of the ruins and Jack winced, hoping the Future Kind wouldn't hear them. Luck seemed to be on their side though, as the sound of running feet quickly moved past their hiding place.
"Find… Humani!" Growled their leader, from what sounded like just outside Jack and Jackie's hiding place. "Search! Hunt! Make Humani feast!"
"Hunt! Hunt! Hunt!" Chanted back the lesser Future Kind. Their voices fading as they moved further away from the crouching time travellers. Jackie and Jack remained frozen as they listened intently to the Future Kind snarl and pace in front of their shelter. Jackie fought to contain a whimper as the hunters shadow flickered into the open doorway, not two feet from where she lay. The gravel crunched below his heavy tread as he leant into the room. Jack held his breath and readied his pistol as the Chieftain stepped further into the room. Even if he got a shot off, the noise would still attract the others. Jack lined up his sights…
A howling roar echoed from further into the city and the Chieftain's head snapped up in response. Snarling towards the room in general, he turned and sprinted from the hiding place. His footfalls soon fading away.
Jack let out a ragged breath of relief and turned to Jackie. "Right. We can lose those guys in here if we're lucky, then if we stay quiet we'll back track to the-"
"'ang on!" interrupted Jackie. "'o put you in charge?" she demanded, still sore about the trim comment. "You're as bad as 'e is!"
"Well do you have a better plan?"
Jackie was silent for a moment, clearly trying to think of a clever plan to wipe the smirk off the handsome Captain's face. "Well tha's not the bleedin' point is it?" she hissed, lowering her voice as another group of Future Kind ran past.
Jack just grinned at her. "Sorry ma'm!" he quipped, re-shouldering his pistol and snapping off a mocking salute. He quickly sobered as another group thundered close to their hideout. His eyes followed their progress despite the solid wall between them. "So here's the plan." Jack whispered, lowering his voice until Jackie had to lean forwards just to hear him. "We wait a little while here, bunker down until they've lost some of their bloodlust. Then we work our way back through these tunnels, doubling back on ourselves if we have to, and get back to the TARDIS."
"Bu' what about Rose?" asked Jackie, tugging her sleeve nervously. "an' the Doctor? Are they alrigh'?"
Jack nodded, "He'll keep her safe. If I know those two, they'll have made it back to the TARDIS already."
"So can't we just wait for them to zap over and pick us up?"
This time, Jack shook his head. "The TARDIS was still smoking when we left. She'll probably need a few hours to recover. We'll need to get to her."
Jackie sighed, leaning back against her pile of rubble. "Well, at least we've go' a plan now." she grinned, watching the Captain out of the corner of her eye. "Maybe give us a chance to… get to know… each other a little better. I'll even be quiet." She grinned seductively, patting down her messed up hair.
Captain Jack Harkness, 50th century lothario and lover extraordinaire, swallowed nervously.
YGLABN YGLABN YGLABN YGLABN YGLABN
There is an old Earth saying "if you want to make a god laugh, just tell him your plans".
All of Jack's quick and careful plans flew out of the proverbial window because of one little rock. Well maybe it was a few little rocks, but either way, it was a small object that caused a big problem. Considering the fact that the pile Jackie Tyler was leaning against had once been a standing wall and not always the horizontal mass it was now, it had not been put together carefully. It had, in fact, crumbled under the pressure of the shifting city and landed in an incredibly haphazard pile, not really designed for middle aged women to put their weight against.
I suppose it was the fault of that first little rock that slipped that threw Jack's plan out of the proverbial window. But then, it could be argued that it was the other little rocks that joined it were the ones to make most of the noise… apart from Jackie that is.
Jackie screeched loudly as the surface she had been leaning on (in a very seductive pose, it should be noted) gave way beneath her. Unfortunately for our pair, the commotion happened just as the largest group of searching Future Kind were heading in their direction.
"Humani!"
Jack reached for Jackie's hand. "Run!"
They leapt to their feet and made for the city entrance.
"Humani!" roared a male.
"Oh for god's sake!" moaned Jackie. "Don't bleedin' tell 'em where we are!"
"I don't think they're on our side somehow Jackie." Commented Jack dryly, trying to find the exit. Instead, they found themselves in an elaborate paved square which still managed to retain some of its former grandeur; The intricate decorative carvings made more all the more impressive by the ruins around it. The Future Kind were quickly pouring into the area, appearing from every direction. They crouched on broken masonry, dropped down from higher levels and surround quickly the pair. Stood directly in front of them was the imposing figure of the Future Kind Chieftain. His face and neck were heavily tattooed in thick black shapes. The bridge of his nose and where his eyebrows should have been were studded with metal piercings that caught the flaming torch lights and glimmered in the darkness. In his right hand he held a crude javelin.
"Humani!" Roared the crowd. "Make Feast!"
Jackie whimpered, stepping closer to Jack. He gently pushed her behind him, away from the Chieftain. "It'll be alright Jackie." He said, eyeing the leader and his weapon carefully. Although Jack had his small hand gun in the holster by his shoulder, it wouldn't do much good here. Even if he felled their leader, there were too many of them to be stopped by one gun with six bullets.
"Jackie, whatever happens, remember I can't die!" He quickly turned to face her. "I can't die, so I won't stay dead!"
Jackie glared. "Well that's alrigh' for you then isn' it?!" She snapped, her face white with fear. "Wha' about me?!" She whimpered, her anger disappearing as quickly as it had come. "I don' wanna die!" she wailed.
The tribe's leader lifted his left arm, pumping his fist in time the Future Kind's chanting, increasing the tempo like a conductor in front of an orchestra.
"Listen Jackie, they're about to kill me. But it's okay! I won't stay dead. I'll come back to life and then I'll get us out. Okay?"
Jackie looked an odd mix of terrified and confused. "Wha' d'you mean, you're gonna die but it'll-"
"Just trust me!" Jack hissed, eyeing the Chieftain lifting his spear. "I'm about to get a spear for the chest, just… don't panic."
"Wha?!"
The Chieftain raised the spear to shoulder height and pulled it back. Jack could imagine the thick cored muscles tensing under the heavy jacket.
Jack grimaced. "Another stray javelin. Doc, I blame you for this!" He spread his arms and lifted his chin defiantly, just as the released projectile thudded deep into his chest. Jack grunted in pain. It had hit slightly to the right of his heart. Slower death it was then; Punctured lung: nasty, he was already gasping for air as the left lung deflated. Nicked the sternum: a slight bone fragment in his heart, that should speed things up a bit, particularly if it had sliced the aorta, but Jack didn't think he was that lucky. And finally, just to round off the entirely macabre picture, Jack could taste the iron tang of blood in his mouth. He sagged to the ground as Jackie started screaming.
So much for not panicking; although, not that he could blame her.
The Future Kind swarmed forwards to claim their prizes. "Let me go!" Screamed Jackie as the Future Kind surrounded her. They wrenched her arms behind her back, and tied her hands there.
"We hunt Humani! We feast!" Roared the chieftain. The crowd cheered. Jackie's screams and the excited baying of the Future Kind seemed to distort and merge. The sounds blending together into a maelstrom of primal madness, but sounding further and further away.
Jack's world faded into darkness.
YGLABN YGLABN YGLABN YGLABN YGLABN
Hehe I'm evil aren't I? BUT I can tell you it's as much as a cliffie for you guys as it is for me! I originally intended this entire arch to be no more than 3 chapters and basically a retread of Utopia… until the wonderful Verity359 inspired me to extend it. And now it's developing a life of its own, demanding to be its own epic saga – and who am I but a humble writer to oblige.
As always, please drop me a review and let me know what you think – your input can really make a difference. (Mainly because I don't know what'll happen next, your review might be my inspiration!)
Love and Hugs,
Spannerspoon out.