As Thick As Thieves

Emma was also really glad to see the Doctor come pushing through the crowd, especially when he helped her with Rya.
"I don't know what's wrong.." She said a little breathlessly. "She just collapsed." She nodded in reply to the Doctor, then looked even more concerned when she heard what Rya's mom said. " We can help her more when we get to the Tardis." She said hopefully. She was pretty sure she remembered the way, but just in case, she did as the Doctor said and follow the crowd, staying close to the Doctor and Rya's mom and helping the best she could with Rya.

The crowd kept pushing at her from all sides and she had to struggle a little to keep from getting shoved aside. She didn't want to get separated from her group, and especially not with one of those Eternal people hanging around. She glanced around a bit as she walked with them, trying to keep an eye out for the Eternals or any other threats. She also kept an eye out for anything that might be a danger to them, and continued heading toward where they had left the Tardis.

The wave of the crowd helped push and disguise the four through a decent chunk of the journey, that was until the massing crowd came up to the edge of the ships entrance ramp. There it was a sudden halt. Gasps and silence permeated the once roaring crowd and turned it to a barren landscape; expressions of happiness and freedom now turned to despair and sadness. The Doctor gazed around before motioning Ryarya's mother to switch with him and help keep her daughter standing. Walking over to Emma, The Doctor patted her pockets down until feeling her sleeves and locating what he was looking for; the sonic screwdriver.

"I'll give you a signal when it's all clear..if you don't hear back from me within five minutes, you use that manipulator. Use it and get inside of the TARDIS. She will take you back to Earth where you'l be safe" He told the trio, nodding as he held his screwdriver firmly in his hand before turning and pushing his way through the now frozen crowd. "Your escape ends here!" A voice called out from in front of the crowd, "Your freedom will die along with you all unless you give me The Doctor! Bring him to me! Bring him...and i will let half of you go! You will be free if you bring him!". "There's no need!" The Doctor shouted back; every pair of eyes now shifted to him, their once huddled forms moving out of the way to create a path straight to the Eternal who stood in the way of the ships entrance.

"Doctor" The Eternal hissed, its eyes narrowing and glowing a powerful red at the very sight of The Doctor, "You lead this rebellion..you try to take our most treasured prisoner. And now you dare empty our prison. And you think we wouldn't notice? You thought we wouldn't stop you?!?!". The Doctor smirked and slowly began to walk forward, making his way out from the center of people and to the edge of where they stood and dare not pass, "No..i counted on it". The Eternal shook its head, "What?! You wanted me to kill you here? In front of these people?!" he laughed, "No..i wanted you to try. I wanted to see just how powerful you were...and to tell you that i am not afraid! That i stand here in front of you..unafraid! Unshaken! I have faced Gods and demi-gods and would be gods...i have watched the turn of the universe..i have watched it came from ash and i have watched it crumble at my feet. You do not scare me...and you don't scare these people anymore!".

The Eternal looked around, glaring at the line of people who had began to inch closer behind the protection of The Doctor, "You dare question my power Doctor?!?!" he roared, "You will die!!!". "Then do it" The Doctor hissed, extending both arms out to his side as if welcoming an attack, "Then kill me now because if you don't...we are all leaving". The Eternal outstretched his hand in an attempt to use his kinetic powers against the time lord. But nothing happened. The Eternal looked at his hands, baffled and angry as he tried again and again; his acts of aggression now looking like acts of desperation. The Doctor lowered his arms, "The Eternals feed off fear..fear from millions of species all around the galaxy. But what happens when they no longer do? What happens when they stand up for themselves?".

Extending out his hand, The Doctor activated the sonic screwdriver and the ship roared to life at the same time the crowd behind him did; their cheers of happiness and victory roaring outward as they poured into the center of the ship. The Eternal glared at The Doctor as he lowered his hand and sonic screwdriver down, "You will pay for this.." he hissed, "I know" The Doctor replied. As fast as the Eternal had showed up in front of the crowd, he left, falling through the floor he had stood on just seconds before, leaving The Doctor facing the interior of the ship and the seemingly endless feeling of people brushing by him. Turning around, The Doctor waited, staring emotionless at the passing crowd, waiting to see his friends and take them to the safety of his TARDIS.

Ryarya gently stirred, trying to get a better hold on the situation. Her end was slowly coming, she could feel it though she wasn't ready to welcome it just yet. She had just rescued her mother! There were memories of her life that she knew could not be real now that she knew her mother had gone searching for the watch she wore around her neck on a thin, gold chain. Those memories of her life as a half-Eternal were each like separate mysteries that she needed to uncover, but opening the watch would only take her part of the way. She would need her mother's help to fully embrace what and who she was.

A rough shiver vibrated through her entire body. On the inside, she was burning up. It felt like someone had lit a match inside her and she was cooking. Outside, however, she was shivering in a cold sweat. She still couldn't hear anything outside of the obnoxiously loud ringing in her ears. Her eyes felt heavy with sleep although she wasn't physically fatigued at all. Her throat was dry and her lips had become cracked. Her skin was taking on a dangerously gray and waxy parlor. She needed to be healed, and soon.

Lyriasharyn was growing very concerned, and was paying less attention to the Doctor's verbal spat with the Eternals and concentrating on her daughter. "She's getting worse," she said worriedly, hoping things would hurry along. "We must get her to safety so I can heal her or get her help." She felt her daughter's forehead, moving down along each of the body's vital points. "Her organs could liquefy," she added quietly. It was a loaded statement.

Ryarya gasped for breath, her throat so dry that it felt like it had closed up. She could feel herself being moved along though she had no idea where. Something sharp pricked her neck under her hair, and she quietly whimpered in response, but paid it no further attention. She tried to speak, and managed to force out a weak a broken, "H-el-p," before falling silent again.

Emma squirmed a little away from his hands as the Doctor began searching her for his tool.
"It's in my sl--" She was saying, when he found it. "--eeve." She finished with a slight frown, a bit uncomfortable with being touched like that, but bit her lip and didn't say anything.She continued to help support Ryarya as she listened to the Doctor's instructions. She frowned at hearing the first part. Use the manipulator? She opened her mouth to say that she didn't know how to use it, but then kept quiet to listen to the rest of what he said. She didn't like this plan too well, and she couldn't help worrying about the Doctor and what he was up to.

She watched him take off and disappear in the crowd, then sighed and turned to Rya's mother. At her mention of Rya being worse, Emma became more concerned. She wanted to get her to the Tardis right away, but the Doctor had said to wait til he gave the signal that it was all clear. She tried to think of what they could do. She also wished she knew how much time had passed. Had it been five minutes? Was it past five? Or less than five? She didn't see a clock anywhere, and she hadn't thought about counting.. not that she would've been able to keep track of that anyway.

Then she wondered what the Doctor's signal was supposed to be, anyway. Had he said earlier and she missed it? Or had he done it already and she missed the signal? She looked around, straining to see above the crowd while holding her position; not letting the pressing crowd move them from their spot. What if something happened to the Doctor, and they couldn't help him when he needed help.. and should they go on now, to help Ryarya? She thought over many different questions and worries, but finally decided to wait for the Doctor's signal, and hoped they hadn't already missed it..

And then the crowd finally seemed to part as everyone rushed past her, and finally she caught a glimpse of the Doctor standing in one spot. She waved her free hand up in the air to get his attention, in case he was looking for them.
"It shouldn't be long now, we'll get her to the Tardis and then she'll be ok.." She said reassuringly to Rya's mother, hoping that would be true. She hoped they would be able to help Rya, but what if they couldn't? Surely her mother would know what to do, right? And maybe the Doctor too.. Emma wished she knew what to do, but she only had experience dealing with normal, human fevers, and this seemed much more severe.

The Doctor gazed over the crowd of people as they roared by him, piling into the ship without any hesitation, looking for his friends and the injured Ryarya. Deep down he knew she had little time left, the possible solutions to her eventual death swirling around in his mind more and more as he waited. Then he saw it; Emma's hand soaring into his line of sight. Bolting over to them, The Doctor immediately shifted his attention to the unconscious Ryarya. "We need to get her into the TARDIS. Now!" The Doctor hissed, picking up Ryarya and cradling her in his arms, "Emma" he grunted as he began to walk back to the ship, "The flight control deck is on the top floor of the ship. It's going to be hard for you but Ryarya's mother can help you....you have to get this ship moving...i've stalled the Eternals for the time being. I can't say for how long..but the longer we're here the greater chance all these people could wined back up in those cells. So i need to try..i'll take care of Ryarya to best of my ability".

Entering the ship, The Doctor made his way back to the TARDIS hiding in the bathroom; opening its doors with the snap of his fingers and entering it. Slowly, The Doctor carried Ryarya through the interior of the seemingly endless time machine, first descending a flight of spiral stairs then passing a handful of rooms.

Coming up on the edge of one of the platforms, The Doctor stopped and waited for a moment before sighing and stomping his foot down. As if on cue, a coral covered pod hovered down in front of The Doctor , opening its doors with a hiss and allowing him passage inside. In what seemed like forever, The Doctor waited for the pod to get to the room he desired, his teeth gritted he mumbled, "Come on, come on, come on!". Finally the pod game to a rest in front of a colorless grey door, a single blue button lay beside it.

Walking up as fast as he could, The Doctor pressed the button and entered the room, the door slamming shut behind him. Immediately the connection with the outside universe and world disappeared. All worries evaporated and his body began to hover. They were now safely inside the zero room.

The Doctor extended out his arms, allowing Ryarya to hover in mid air above him, his shoes settling down on the ground below him. "Now the real work begins..." He commented.

Lyriasharyn sighed with relief upon seeing the Doctor find them in the wave of former prisoners that were rushing by them. She kept a protective hand on her daughter until she was swept up into the Doctor's arms. Her heart was racing as he instructed both her and Emma to pilot the ship out of the prison, which wouldn't be an easy feat considering the amount of inmates that would be taking up residence in every area of the ship they could find now that they were free of the Eternals. Though she was frightened, she nodded calmly. "We will pilot this ship safely from the prison...just...please help my daughter," she spoke solemnly before leading Emma in the direction of the control deck. "All we need do is enter Earth's coordinates into the ship's navigation systems. That should give us enough distance from the rest of my people."

She led Emma through the crowds of prisoners lining the ship's interior. They would have to be quick, and thankfully, the flight deck wasn't too far from them. Using her telekinetic gift, she summoned the elevator pod at the far end of the corridor that would lead to the top deck and forced the doors open until both she and Emma were inside. Like Ryarya, she wasn't one for small talk and remained quiet until the doors opened to allow them passage onto the flight deck. Her worry for her daughter was clearly written on her face though. She pointed at the control panel to her left. "There's a series of colored knobs on that panel there. Turn all the green ones in a full clockwise rotation," she instructed as she walked to the center panel. "I'll input the coordinates for Earth. We'll be off in a moment."

Ryarya's breathing was coming in slow, raspy gasps now. Even she could feel that her heart was slowing into a dangerously low rhythm. Feeling from her neck down had been lost some minutes ago, so she wasn't really aware that she had been picked up. She couldn't tell where she was or who she was with anymore. She was like a doll in the Doctor's arms. What was going on? The extent of the side effects had never been like this before! This was something different, something stronger. She just didn't know what, and the prodigy in her was raging at that notion. Her eyes were struggling to stay open; they felt heavy under the unseen weight of unconsciousness. The world was turning white now; her eyes drifted close.

Emma was glad the Doctor found them, and as he ran up and took Rya from her, she was relieved, and hoped he would get her into the Tardis to be treated. She really hoped it wasn't too late to help her.  Upon hearing the Doctor's instruction, she listened carefully, and nodded. She wasn't sure how she would do this.. but somehow she had to get to the top floor and pilot the ship. How? She bit her lip, and was worried about how this might turn out. She couldn't even drive a car.. how could she pilot a big spaceship?

Luckily, Rya's mom knew what to do. She felt extremely relieved when she told her that it would be easy. She hurried after her as the woman led the way through the masses of prisoners. They had to hurry, so she tried not to get separated from Ryarya's mother. As they entered the top deck, Emma took a brief look around the control room, then went to the panel that Rya's mom pointed out. Green knobs.. turn them all clockwise.. that was easy. She nodded and worked on turning all of the green ones in sight, as instructed. She wondered how the woman knew the coordinates for Earth, but she didn't ask.

After turning all the knobs as instructed, she looked over to see how things were going for her.
"Alright, I got them all turned like you said. What now?" She asked. Surely it couldn't be that simple.. right? On a huge spaceship like this, the controls were surely complicated and difficult to figure out.. it didn't make sense for it to be as easy as just turning a few knobs.

Lyriasharyn was racing around the main control panel, pressing buttons and turning knobs. Her brow was becoming increasingly more furrowed as she did. It had been quite some time since she had piloted an Eternal ship, and the technology had become more advanced over the years. She sighed heavily as she typed in the coordinates for Earth. "These ships are not easy to pilot," she explained to Emma upon hearing her approach after she completed her task. "They are all based on manual control with a significant amount of upgraded technology for security purposes. We're going to have to work together to get this ship on the correct path."

She pointed to two screens that had appeared in front of the captain and co-captain's chairs. "Eternals work in pairs, which is why the controls are set to be piloted by two. One controls one side, the other controls the opposite side. I will control the left flank. The colors and symbols on the screen indicate the position of the ship's wings. Follow my motions exactly and I will instruct you along the way." She placed both her hands on the left screen and paused for a moment while the ship registered her handprint. A large red sphere covered both her hands and two joystick shaped devices appeared just millimeters from her knuckles. She grabbed hold of them. "These are your controls. Do not release them once we begin moving." She glanced over at Emma. "Are you ready?"

Emma listened closely as Lyria explained about the ship's controls. So she was right, they weren't easy. She hoped she would be able to manage, but luckily Lyria seemed to know what she was doing, so that was a good sign. At least Emma didn't have to figure it out all on her own. She looked carefully at the screen when it was mentioned, and took note of the colors and symbols that Lyria had mentioned. She took a deep breath and nodded slightly.
"Yeah.. I think I'm ready, maybe." She replied, trying to stay calm and pay attention.

She gave a faint, unconfident smile to Lyria and copied what she did, by putting her hands on the right screen and then grabbing hold of the joystick control things when they appeared.
"Just out of curiosity, what would happen if I did let go, by accident?" She asked, wondering. Would the ship crash? Or maybe explode? She was sure something horrible would happen, but she wanted to know what exactly she could expect in case she did accidentally let go. She hoped she could do this, but what if the ship was too difficult to control? Would she be good enough to do this? She fought back the nervous panicky feelings that tried to take over, and instead tried to focus on what she was doing so she wouldn't make any mistakes, as she waited for Lyria to tell her what to do first.

Bubbles of thought purged and whirled around the mind of Ryarya; The Doctor making his way through them, glancing slightly at each memory as he passed by it. "Come on, come on...give me something" The Doctor hissed, placing the tip of his tongue against the rim of his teeth, "Ryarya!" he suddenly called, "You have to let me help you first...show me where it hurts the most! Show me the memory".

A nearby memory began to float closer to The Doctor, only to be tapped away by his index finger. Looking around, The Doctors eyes passed over a series of childhood memories as they floated by, one showing a young girl playing with her mother, another with the girl alone in her room. The Doctor arched his eyebrow as he stopped and scrutinized it closely, looking for the fine details in the blurry haze of an image inside of the bubble.

Lyriasharyn slowly rotated both the joysticks in her hands a little to the left then to the right. There was a slight hum from the ship's left wing as she did. "You'd end up as rubble on a desert asteroid, I'd imagine," she said in response to Emma's question. "Now, pull the controls back just as I do to lift the ship into the air." She demonstrated what she meant, giving Emma a few moments to adjust the joysticks into the same position. The ship's thrusters roared to life as a result and the ship began to move up into the air.

"Now keep yours steady while I turn us around." She removed one hand from her controls and pressed a few buttons on the control panel. "The thrusters are going to jerk us forward a little bit, so keep yourself grounded as best you can. These ships are fragile. If we hit the loading bay walls, we could lose one of our wings," she added as the ship started to rotate towards the entrance to the loading bay.

The ship jolted forward and Lyriasharyn struggled to keep her footing on the uneven ground. She used the panel for support as she pressed a few more buttons on its surface. With the ship now fully rotated, they could finally move forward. "All ahead full," she muttered before turning back to Emma. "Time to go home. On three, push the controls forward with me." She grabbed hold of the joysticks firmly with both hands and began to count. "One...two...three..."

- - - -
Ryarya was slowly slipping into madness, it felt like. She didn't really know what was happening aside from her recent arrival in what appeared to be a little girl's room. The young girl was sitting on her bed, crying into the pillows. Her body was covered with deep cuts, bruises, and dried blood that had oozed from her open wounds. The room was large and open with a huge window allowing the moonlight to stream in. The walls were painted a deep shade of mahogany and accented with light beige accents. All the furniture appeared to be made of rich dark oak and the sweet scent of roses wafted through the air. It took Ryarya a moment to piece everything together, but she recognized it. This was her bedroom as a child!

"Ryarya!" she heard the Doctor's voice like an echo through her memories. "You have to let me help you first...show me where it hurts the most! Show me the memory."

He sounded slightly desperate. She must be on the brink of death then, which made sense in hindsight. The last time she had come this close to death, she had taken a short trip down memory lane then too. This time was different though. Things seemed...out of place.

"Ryarya?" came a softer voice from inside the room. She recognized her father's voice. "Sport, are you up here?" Her father was a tall, strongly built man. He had broad shoulders and soft hazel eyes that always held comfort and happiness even when he was angry. He was wearing the same coat in this memory that Ryarya was wearing now. It was the only memento she had of him. Lord Alaster Black III.

"I can't do it, Daddy," her younger self replied, looking up at him. Ryarya noticed that she had something clutched in her fist, something on a gold chain. The watch? "I can't forget everything. I'm scared to. What if they come back for us?"

"Mom and I won't let that happen, sport." He took a seat on the bed beside her. "We'll protect you no matter what. This is what's best for all of us, and so you can have your best chance. The Eternals see us as abominations. You, most of all, because of what you are and who you're growing up to be."

"Who will I be, Daddy?"

The memory suddenly got hazy and the voices were slurred. It was impossible to make out the conversation, but somehow, Ryarya already knew what her father's answer was. She remembered the words even though she didn't remember that conversation ever occurring. "You'll be everything you've ever wanted to be."

Emma bit her lip and nodded a little in reply. She didn't think it would be very pleasant to end up as a pile of rubble on some deserted asteroid. She gripped the control thingy tighter to make sure she didn't lose her grip on it, and looked over to watch what Lyria was doing, and hoped she could do the same. So far so good, but she had a feeling that was probably the easiest part. As she was told to keep her controls steady, Emma braced herself against the panel thing and gripped onto the controls, nervous. What if she couldn't do well enough? She took a deep breath and clenched her teeth tightly together as the ship jolted and jerked, but she didn't lose her grip.

Feeling a small sense of accomplishment at having done well with holding her controls steady, Emma glanced over to see how Lyria was doing. She hoped that was the hardest part, and that it was going to be easy from here on. But she wasn't so sure about that.. the comment about possibly losing one of their wings if they hit a wall was a bit concerning to Emma, but she tried to have confidence that they wouldn't do that. Or was that danger already behind them? She wasn't sure, but she hoped it was. Maybe all they had to do now was guide the ship onward through clear skies.. or rather, space. Emma adjusted her grip a little on the controls, and when Lyria counted to three, she pushed forward on the joystick at the same time that Lyria did, trying to keep even with Lyria's, although she wasn't sure if she was supposed to push forward gradually, or hard. She tried to watch out of the corner of her eye to see how Lyria did it, and did her best to copy, and hoped for the best..

ooc; is this one forgotten?