![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
alltimeandspace.livejournal.com posting in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
who_contestTitle: One Last Soul
Rating: PG
Genre: mild angst?
Word Count: 789
Characters: The Eighth Doctor, OFC
Summary: Before his Night, the Doctor spends a moment in the last sanctuary outside of time and space.
The room was white on white. Pure and silent, it made the Doctor's skin itch. He should not be here. Not now. Not when the smell of smoke and death clung to him. This place... outside of time and space, remained untouched by the War that raged throughout the Universe and ought to stay that way.
Not that it would forever.
A door swung open. The woman who stepped in had a young face but her eyes... her eyes were old and sad as she gazed at him. She wore a simple black dress and gloves. Her silver hair hung over her left shoulder in a neat plait.
“You're the Doctor.”
There was slight awe in her tone. He'd heard it before, and always from those who knew the stories. The myths that whispered across the universe. He didn't want to be anyone's hero.
“And you are?”
“Seren, of Alinda.”
His eyes widened. “Alinda is gone.”
The woman gave a bitter laugh. “I know. I was there at the end.” Her chin lifted. “I am the last.”
“How did you survive?”
Her gaze flickered to the TARDIS. Its blue paint showed in patches through the soot and scorch marks. His ship was at least as battered as he was. He'd not shut the door fully, and from deep inside came the ominous chime of the Cloister Bell.
“A warning,” Seren said. “This place is no longer safe.”
The Doctor blinked. “You can't know that. How do you know that?”
“Those that travel through the schism are changed, aren't they? They become... more than they were.” She crossed the room and laid one gloved hand on the TARDIS. A soft bong sounded; in recognition of a time traveller. “It's been ever such a long time.”
A cold sliver ran down the Doctor's spine – there were few Time Lords that had left Gallifrey. Either would mean this woman had travelled with an enemy. “You travelled in a TARDIS?”
She cast him a sideways look, a smile quirking her lips.
“A lifetime ago, yes.” She shook her head as he opened his mouth. “No, Doctor. You get no more information from me. It's not important now. The Daleks are coming, and this sanctuary can no longer thwart them.”
“Time dies.”
“And Gallifrey falls.”
The Doctor closed his eyes. “It has to end.”
“Can you do it?”
“Do I have a choice?”
Seren stepped away from the TARDIS. “There are always choices. It's just that sometimes none of them are good ones.”
A crack splintered one white wall. Dust drifted to the floor, spoiling the perfect purity. The last sanctuary was falling. The Time War knew no bounds and now nowhere was untouched.
“I cannot make that choice. I'm the Doctor.” Another chime sounded from inside the TARDIS. He glanced at the console. “That's a distress signal,” he said.
“Then go. Save one last soul.”
Thunder rattled the room. A white column crashed down, smashing into a thousand pieces. The Doctor looked at Seren. “Come with me.”
“I can't. There's something I have to do.”
She pulled back her sleeve. A thick bracelet wrapped around her wrist – a vortex manipulator. He frowned at the device, but Seren just smiled... then vanished in a flash of white light. The Doctor shook his head. Whoever she was, he'd a suspicion that they would meet again.
He pushed the door wider and stepped inside the TARDIS. The distress signal pinged again. Pulling the monitor round, he gave it a knock and watched the screen. It originated from a gunship. He blinked, surprised any still survived. But only for now – the craft was over Karn, and its orbit was decaying rapidly.
So very few survived now. The Daleks had destroyed more planets than Alinda, and would not be satisfied until all were gone. Until there was nothing other than Dalek in the universe.
The Doctor had chosen his name because he wanted to be a force for good. A man who could help and heal. Cure the ails of the universe. But the universe didn't need a doctor now – it needed someone who could fight. Someone who would try to win the battle regardless of the cost.
That was not him. No, he was the saviour, not the destroyer. He threw a lever and locked in the coordinates of the falling gunship. One last soul. A small difference to make, but to him, even the smallest was important.
As the white room disintegrated under the Dalek attack, as the last place of safety fell to the Time War, the TARDIS dematerialised and slipped into the vortex.
Headed to Karn.
Rating: PG
Genre: mild angst?
Word Count: 789
Characters: The Eighth Doctor, OFC
Summary: Before his Night, the Doctor spends a moment in the last sanctuary outside of time and space.
The room was white on white. Pure and silent, it made the Doctor's skin itch. He should not be here. Not now. Not when the smell of smoke and death clung to him. This place... outside of time and space, remained untouched by the War that raged throughout the Universe and ought to stay that way.
Not that it would forever.
A door swung open. The woman who stepped in had a young face but her eyes... her eyes were old and sad as she gazed at him. She wore a simple black dress and gloves. Her silver hair hung over her left shoulder in a neat plait.
“You're the Doctor.”
There was slight awe in her tone. He'd heard it before, and always from those who knew the stories. The myths that whispered across the universe. He didn't want to be anyone's hero.
“And you are?”
“Seren, of Alinda.”
His eyes widened. “Alinda is gone.”
The woman gave a bitter laugh. “I know. I was there at the end.” Her chin lifted. “I am the last.”
“How did you survive?”
Her gaze flickered to the TARDIS. Its blue paint showed in patches through the soot and scorch marks. His ship was at least as battered as he was. He'd not shut the door fully, and from deep inside came the ominous chime of the Cloister Bell.
“A warning,” Seren said. “This place is no longer safe.”
The Doctor blinked. “You can't know that. How do you know that?”
“Those that travel through the schism are changed, aren't they? They become... more than they were.” She crossed the room and laid one gloved hand on the TARDIS. A soft bong sounded; in recognition of a time traveller. “It's been ever such a long time.”
A cold sliver ran down the Doctor's spine – there were few Time Lords that had left Gallifrey. Either would mean this woman had travelled with an enemy. “You travelled in a TARDIS?”
She cast him a sideways look, a smile quirking her lips.
“A lifetime ago, yes.” She shook her head as he opened his mouth. “No, Doctor. You get no more information from me. It's not important now. The Daleks are coming, and this sanctuary can no longer thwart them.”
“Time dies.”
“And Gallifrey falls.”
The Doctor closed his eyes. “It has to end.”
“Can you do it?”
“Do I have a choice?”
Seren stepped away from the TARDIS. “There are always choices. It's just that sometimes none of them are good ones.”
A crack splintered one white wall. Dust drifted to the floor, spoiling the perfect purity. The last sanctuary was falling. The Time War knew no bounds and now nowhere was untouched.
“I cannot make that choice. I'm the Doctor.” Another chime sounded from inside the TARDIS. He glanced at the console. “That's a distress signal,” he said.
“Then go. Save one last soul.”
Thunder rattled the room. A white column crashed down, smashing into a thousand pieces. The Doctor looked at Seren. “Come with me.”
“I can't. There's something I have to do.”
She pulled back her sleeve. A thick bracelet wrapped around her wrist – a vortex manipulator. He frowned at the device, but Seren just smiled... then vanished in a flash of white light. The Doctor shook his head. Whoever she was, he'd a suspicion that they would meet again.
He pushed the door wider and stepped inside the TARDIS. The distress signal pinged again. Pulling the monitor round, he gave it a knock and watched the screen. It originated from a gunship. He blinked, surprised any still survived. But only for now – the craft was over Karn, and its orbit was decaying rapidly.
So very few survived now. The Daleks had destroyed more planets than Alinda, and would not be satisfied until all were gone. Until there was nothing other than Dalek in the universe.
The Doctor had chosen his name because he wanted to be a force for good. A man who could help and heal. Cure the ails of the universe. But the universe didn't need a doctor now – it needed someone who could fight. Someone who would try to win the battle regardless of the cost.
That was not him. No, he was the saviour, not the destroyer. He threw a lever and locked in the coordinates of the falling gunship. One last soul. A small difference to make, but to him, even the smallest was important.
As the white room disintegrated under the Dalek attack, as the last place of safety fell to the Time War, the TARDIS dematerialised and slipped into the vortex.
Headed to Karn.
