Fic: Seuls - Chapter 4

[mtemplar_fic]

Title: Seuls
Author: mtemplar
Rating: Adult
Characters: The Doctor (Tenth), Rose Tyler
Disclaimer: I do not own 'Doctor Who' and am making no profit from this fanfiction.
Genre: Angst, Hurt/Comfort, Graphic Sex, Graphic Violence, Romance
Spoilers: Set mid Series 2
Author's Notes: This story follows the events in To Have And Not To Hold (first chapter of that story is here) and Not Here (the first chapter of that short follow-up is here). It is loosely based on the Fourth Doctor serial 'Image of the Fendahl', and contains elements from the 1996 TV movie and the novel 'The Taking of Planet 5'. Huge hugs to principia_coh for the amazing icon and banner!
Betas: Many, many thanks to platypus, brit_columbia and garpu!

Summary: The Doctor and Rose have been mysteriously diverted to the ice planet Seuls, located within the constellation of Canthares. It soon becomes apparent that things are not at all as they should be, and the newly-formed bond between them will be tested as the trap of an ancient enemy is sprung.

Previous Chapters:

One Two Three

Crossposted to time_and_chips, dwfiction, Teaspoon and The Zero Room.







Chapter 4

Rose lay in the snow in despair as the storm closed in around her, the icy flakes stinging the exposed skin of her face while her thoughts became more convoluted and troubled. She could no longer see the landscape through the darkness and the blowing snow, and the tracks of the transport that had taken both the Doctor and the TARDIS away had long since vanished. She thought endlessly about the dire consequence that would come about if she couldn't find the strength to get up again and find some sort of shelter soon. And she worried about the Doctor, with a sharp ache that tugged at the center of her chest. She let her eyes fall shut and pictured his face, his eyes, his smile. I'm sorry, Doctor, she thought as she began to drift off. I wish I was with you.

***************

"Wake up!"

"Go away, Mum," Rose muttered, still partly in the throes of a fantastic dream involving herself, the Doctor and a large clawfoot bath full of blissfully warm water and lots of bubbles. "'M busy."

"Wake up, please!"

The high-pitched voice began to register in Rose's head as definitely not belonging to her mother. Or the Doctor. Or anyone she knew, for that matter. She cracked open one eye, but everything was blurry. "Hello?"

Something loomed in her vision. Something very close. "Wake up!" it shouted.

Rose jumped and fell off of a makeshift cot before she was even aware that she had been lying on one, trying to look everywhere around her in the dim, candlelit room at once. Standing over her was a young child, bundled up in a heavy coat, with a pile of folded, furry-looking blankets in her arms.

"What... who are you? What happened?" she managed to get out. Her legs were tangled in the Doctor's coat as well as a white pelt of some sort, and she kicked rapidly to free herself, her ankle throbbing anew with the movement.

"You fell asleep in the snow. You shouldn't do that," the child admonished, a serious tone in her voice. "You're lucky we found you."

"What? I... er, thanks," Rose mumbled. "My name's Rose. What's your name?"

"I'm Katerina, but you can call me Kate," she said, setting the blankets aside. "Everyone else does. Do you have any food?"

Rose blinked, her eyes slowly adjusting to the candlelit darkness. The girl's face was pale, dirty and gaunt, and she appeared to be roughly eight or nine years old. There were dark circles under her eyes, and her thick coat showed evidence of heavy wear. "No, I don't... wait, hang on."

Remembering she was wearing the Doctor's coat, she pulled off her mittens and began searching through the pockets, coming up with a crumpled bag of sweets and a banana. She handed them over to the girl, who eyed them suspiciously.

"What's this stuff?"

"That's a banana," Rose said, pointing to the fruit, "and I've no idea what's in the bag. I think it's candy."

The girl sniffed cautiously at the contents of the bag before wadding it up and thrusting it into one of her coat pockets. "I'll save these for later." Turning away from Rose, she gave a shrill whistle that echoed through the walls of the room they occupied. Almost immediately, several more small children peeked in, staring at Rose and Kate with wide, curious eyes. Rose watched as Kate reverently peeled the banana before giving each of the children a share. Their eyes shone as each took their piece, some wolfing theirs down immediately, while others savored each tiny bite. Her heart lurching in her chest at the plight of these obviously starving children, Rose searched through the Doctor's coat pockets for more food, but found none.

Their treat finished, most of the children were shooed out after shy thank-yous. A slightly older boy, bearing a resemblance to Kate, stayed behind. "So you're up finally," he said, eyeing Rose with suspicion. "Where did you come from?"

"Don't mind my brother," Kate jumped in. "He helped me drag you back here. She has food, Mitya, look!" she exclaimed, withdrawing the bag of sweets from her pocket and brandishing it like some sort of trophy.

"I came with the Doctor," Rose interjected. "He has a ship, but it's been taken and he's gone! I have to find him!"

"I don't trust her," Mitya growled. "Look at her, Kate - she's an adult," he said, his voice dripping with scorn. "She hasn't been taken. All adults are taken."

"What do you mean, taken?" Rose asked. "And where are your parents?"

Kate looked at her boots as Mitya glared at Rose. "Didn't you hear what I said? All adults are taken. Our parents are gone, and I'm in charge now. You have to do what I say," he insisted petulantly.

"All right, fine - just calm down," Rose said, trying to soothe the angry boy. "Can you at least tell me where I am?"

"You're on our ship. It's one of the last surviving bits of our colony," Kate said softly, trying not to provoke her brother's ire. "It doesn't work, though. You said you had a ship? How big is it?" Rose frowned as Mitya glared at Kate and the girl went silent.

"Yes, we have a ship - the Doctor can take you anywhere. That is, if we can find him. And the TARDIS - hang on, you said colony," Rose said, thinking quickly. "Were your parents part of the mining colony?"

"That's right," Kate piped up, ignoring the scowl from her brother. "Are you here to rescue us?"

"I'm sure the Doctor will be able to help you, but what happened to your colony?" Rose asked, trying to get as much information as possible. "If your parents aren't here, how are you taking care of yourselves?"

"We still have some of the ship's rations," Kate said, casting a worried eye at her brother. "But they're pretty gross. Mom said we'd have more stuff if they could get the terraforming unit fixed."

"Your mum's still around?" Rose interrupted.

"You talk funny," Kate said. "My mom was taken with the last of the grown-ups. We take care of ourselves."

"How long have you been here?" Rose asked, wondering briefly if the TARDIS's translation circuits were still functioning.

"Just a year," Mitya grumbled, slouching and putting his hands in his pockets. "We hadn't been here long when we saw the weird lights in the sky. That was just before the terraforming unit broke."

"Little Mary's dad tried to fix it, but then he was taken. He was one of the first," Kate added.

"That can't be a coincidence," Rose muttered to herself.

"We hunted for food after that," Mitya said, now puffing up a bit in pride. "I helped my dad. That's where all the furs came from. The meat's gone, though."

"And lichens are disgusting. But it's all we've been able to find this time of year. It grows on the rocks down by the sea. When it's not frozen over," Kate said. "Do you have any more of those bananas?"

"No, I don't. I'm sorry," Rose said sincerely, wondering how long these children had survived on their own in the harsh environment of Seuls. "So you said all of the adults here were taken. What happened? Who took them?" Both Kate and Mitya were looking at the floor uncomfortably, and Rose tried to think back to what the Doctor's attackers had looked like. They were just men, weren't they? Big men, but they had looked normal to her. Could they have possibly been Slitheen in disguise or some other sort of alien?

"People from our colony," Kate mumbled, shifting her feet.

"What do you mean, people from your colony?" Rose asked, confused by the girl's shy confession. "I thought they were the ones being taken!"

"She won't understand," Mitya said sidelong to his sister.

"No, I'm just a bit confused," Rose said. "Do you mean to tell me that some of the people from your colony started rebelling or something?"

"No!" Kate shouted, near tears. "There were just two, at first. Little Mary's dad and his assistant. After the strange lights, the terraformer broke, and they tried to fix it. They were weird after that."

"What do you mean, weird?" Rose questioned, thinking back to how oddly the Doctor had been acting.

"Little Mary's dad said he was seeing things... in his head. Like he was having dreams while he was awake," Mitya said, shifting awkwardly. "It was like he wasn't himself."

"Yeah," Kate chimed in. "After a while, he didn't seem to remember any of us. Not even Mary. Then he left."

Rose felt her stomach drop. The Doctor had said that he could sense something... something that had been strong enough to change the timelines. She forced herself to respond. "So... what happened to the others?"

"They started doing the same things," Kate said. "It was like us kids weren't even around. Our mom and dad too," she sniffled.

"Then the ones who had been acting weird first would come and take them away," Mitya said, putting a comforting arm around his sister. "They acted like they were zombies or something."

"And you haven't seen them since?" Rose asked, feeling a growing sense of dread building within her.

"We have," Kate said, hesitating briefly. "Alek tried to talk to his dad a few weeks ago. We saw him while we were looking for food...." She trailed off, unable to continue.

Mitya hugged his sister, who had started to cry. "It's ok," he said. "Go check on the others. Make sure they've closed all of the external hatches."

Rose watched uncomfortably as Kate scampered off into the darkness. "What happened?" she asked Mitya quietly.

"Alek's dad completely ignored him... at first, anyway. Alek grabbed his arm and tried to wake him up, nothing big, and his dad...his dad threw him down to the rocks by the sea. He didn't do anything! Alek was a good kid!"

Rose gaped, now understanding the girl's upset. "Is he...."

"Dead? Yeah. Kate and I saw the whole thing. Don't ask her about it again."

Rose nodded her understanding. "Do you have any scanner things on this ship? Any way of seeing what's out there?"

Mitya shook his head. "We're running low on power, and everything's switched off. Lights, heat, everything. Not even the emergency systems are running."

Rose frowned. "At least you have candles, yeah?" she said, nodding toward the only source of light in the room.

"We're running low on those, too. The only reason there's one in here is 'cause you're new here. Kate didn't want you to wake up in the dark and get scared."

Rose smiled ruefully, but then her thoughts took a disturbing turn. The Doctor was out there somewhere, and more than likely in need of her help. He'd felt the presence of whatever it was that had taken over the parents of these children, and she hoped that he hadn't been taken over himself. She knew she had to find him to have any hope of helping the abandoned children. "Mitya...." She hesitated, not sure of his response. "My friend the Doctor was taken away by three men. His ship, too. If I can find him, I'm sure that we'll be able to put things right."

Mitya looked at her suspiciously. "They'll probably come for you soon. We won't be able to lock them out. It didn't work before, anyway."

"I can't waste time. My friend is tele... well, he's able to sense things better than most people. I think he could feel whatever's landed here and taken your parents. I have to help him," Rose insisted.

Mitya huffed, crossing his arms. "There's a blizzard going on out there, in case you didn't notice. I've already had to haul you inside once, and I'm not doing it again."

"How long until it clears, do you think?"

"How should I know?" Mitya exclaimed. "I'm not a stupid weathercaster. The last storm let up after a few days. You're just gonna have to wait."

Rose's mouth dropped open. "Days?" she said, incredulous. "I can't wait that long."

"If you want my help, you're gonna have to." Mitya picked up the candle, holder and all, and made for the door. "C'mon, we're wasting this candle. You can either stay here for the night or you can find a bunk with the rest of us."

Her heart sinking, Rose followed Mitya and the flickering candle out of the small room and down a long, drafty corridor. She wished she'd thought to bring the pelts Kate had carried as she started to shiver, despite the extra warmth of the Doctor's long coat. She pulled on her mittens as Mitya led her into a common room of sorts, lined with bunks, with cots also scattered about. Small children already occupied most of the bunks, their tiny bodies almost completely hidden by knit hats, mounds of blankets and fur pelts. Some were still awake and stared at her with wide eyes.

Mitya pointed Rose in the direction of an empty cot and threw her a fur pelt before blowing out the candle. Resigned, Rose lay down in the darkness, too worried to rest. After a while, the sounds of shifting bodies in bunks began to die down and she was left alone with her thoughts. Staring up at the dark ceiling, she alternately worried about the Doctor and wondered why she hadn't been affected by whatever it was the Doctor had sensed. Was it the same thing that had taken the parents of these children? Maybe she should have tried to reason with Mitya, tell him that she needed to find the Doctor before she started losing it as well. Rose resolved to leave at first light, regardless of what the weather was doing. She had a feeling that she needed to look where the Doctor had first started behaving strangely, at the fog-shrouded edge of the glacier. Problem was, she had no idea how to get back there.

Rose's thoughts continued to wander as she fought to stay awake, waiting for the morning. Already half-dreaming, she barely registered that she was beginning to fall asleep. She began to drift aimlessly through memories of childhood picnics with her mum, shared secrets with her friends. Her first kiss. Her last kiss. Golden energy spreading through her, making her feel warm and lethargic. The sounds of screaming, of limbs crunching and blows crushing her ribcage. She could feel her body collapsing as one of her hearts was pierced....

Rose sat bolt upright on the cot in shock. That wasn't her memory!