Beyond the Stars (Night & Master)

The Master walked back to his temporary home - the remains of Broadfell Prison - just thinking. Several minutes ago, his new... friend wouldn't really be the right word. Several minutes ago his new acquaintance had given him a lift back to present day Earth after a short adventure on New Earth. He was looking forward to laying down amidst the rubble, possibly taking a short nap, and then getting a bite to eat.

Of course, he couldn't really expect to be left alone for very long, but the scent still caught him off guard. He'd nearly made it back to his home when the not-quite-familiar scent caught up to him. Night - or another member of her species - was lurking around here somewhere.

He decided he probably wouldn't be taking a nap after all, but he couldn't ignore the hunger that plagued him. Especially since he'd been constantly giving off energy all this time. He needed food. Regardless of who showed up, he was going to get something to eat, and anyone that tried to get in the way of that would just be asking to become lunch.

Veratona, or Night, fell down on her bum, and hit her head on the concrete, but this wasn't the Night of the present, she was going out to see the alignment of the galaxies, this Night was of the past. She was called Veratona at the time, and somehow she landed in the middle of a pile of garbage. "What the hell?" Night said. "Where am I?" Night flicked some blood off her shirt, and went to the nearest place she could find, an abandoned prison. It wasn't top notch, but it was good enough. She needed to get back to her Masters as soon as possible. She sniffed the said, and her eyes became thin. He ears and tail popped out, and she sniffed around, carrying her scythe on her back.

"Who are you?" Night asked. She stood up and laughed. " "I will find you."

The Master approached someone he believed homeless who was sitting not so far away from the prison. A small smile appeared on his face as he began hunting the man in the way a wolf would hunt deer. The man had noticed him only a second too late, and a scream could be heard as the Master went in for the kill. Once he'd finished, he carried the last bit of meat with him for later as he began heading back home.

Night looked around at the prison. It looked horrific. It was rubbley and dirty, and smelly. She was OCD, so she cleaned the rubble out, and put some grass on the floor. She made a bed for herself, using lamb fur as a mattress. She was hungry, and she smelled fresh meat. She peeked outside the entrance, and saw a man, carrying raw meat. "I think I found my fellow resident." She said out loud.

She ran in, and swooped the meat out of the man's hands and stuck her tongue out at him. "You eat meat RAW? How disgusting can one BE? Human meat as well. I'm pretty sure you're not from around here. I am Veratona, or you may call me Night, which ever works for you, good to meet to, and if you follow my every single word and command, we'll get along splendidly. My first order is, go take a shower. You smell like armpit. My second order, is clean this place up, I'm living here, and I can not live in these conditions."

Night started a fire, and roasted the meat. She tossed most of it to the man, and ate some for herself.

It would be a lot better with oregano if you ask me.

With that, the patted the man on his head, and smirked.

So, what is your name? And where in this universe do you come from. Tell me a little about yourself.

She cackled, and waited for a reply.

The Master was initially shocked by all of this. She was in his home, she took his meal, and she just kept talking. And not only did she talk, she demanded he obey her. Who did she think she was? Of course, he was dealing with a Night that either hadn't met him or didn't remember him, and he knew that. He decided it was probably the first, as he tended to make an impression on people, usually bad, and her reaction to him the first time seemed like something one wouldn't just forget. He made a mental note to try not to kill her so he didn't cause a paradox he would have to fix.

He licked the remaining blood off his teeth and inhaled sharply and proceeded to answer each question, including the things that were statements rather than questions, "Yes, I eat meat raw. One can be far more disgusting than this, I'm sure. Yes, I eat human meat. No, I'm not from around here. I am sure we will not get along splendidly as I will not be following your 'every word and command'. I will not go take a shower, and not just because there is no shower here. I'm not cleaning this place up, I was here first and if you can't live in the mess, it's up to you to tidy up or move elsewhere as I was here first. I don't take orders from anyone."

He huffed, slightly irritated, "My name is the Master. Don't laugh. I come from a long way away. A little about myself? I think I've already told you all you need to know. If you don't like it, feel free to leave and erase me from your memory. I promise, I won't lose any sleep over it."

The Master simply didn't have time for this. He'd already dealt with their first meeting once, and doing it again would just cause him to have to repeat things to a younger - and therefore less intelligent - Night. He could barely tolerate it the first time.

Night momentarily walked out of the room, carrying a bucket of water with her. She lugged it across the room, and dumped it on the master. "Now then, what kind of name is Master? I'm not calling you that." Night paused for a minute, and said "I'm calling you, Waffles."

"Time to tell you a bit about myself Waffles. My name is Veratona Night Pyre. I am 316 years old. I come from my Masters, and I am a Timelord hunter. So, with that, do you know any Timelords Waffles?
I need them for my Masters. If you see a Dalek ship in the sky, tell me Waffles. Right Kincinari?" She waved at her scythe and gave out a huff.

Night went out to get another bucket of water and dumped it on Waffles.

"Waffles, why do you let me talk so much if you disagree? If I were you, I would have already been doused in blood, laughing and full of satisfaction."

She patted Master on the head and giggled.

He shook off the water and took off his hoodie to ring it out and let dry, reavealing the red shirt underneath. Refusing to strip any further, he tugged at his clothes until they were dry enough that he wouldn't freeze to death at night since it was winter.

The Master shot her a glare, "I'm not going by Waffles. Waffles are a type of food. I'm just about the least edible thing around. Unless, of course, you fancy being electrocuted by your meal. As to what kind of name 'the Master' is, it's mine, and I refuse to go by anything else. I didn't ask you to tell me anything about yourself, in fact, you're just wasting your breath. I happen to know a lot of Time Lords, but at this point most of them are dead. Why do your Masters need them anyway? And why do you want me to tell you if I see a Dalek ship? Are you working for them?"

He tried squeezing a bit more water out of his shirt, "And I'm letting you talk so much because I don't feel like stopping you. Let's just say your death would inconvenience me at the moment." If only he hadn't met the future version of her, he could... dispose... of her without causing himself much trouble. He wondered silently if Current Night had planned on him meeting Past Night. He would have to question her about it later, once this version of her stopping being a problem for him.

"Nope! I'm calling you waffles whether you like it or not. also, how did all of them die? there was a war going on, right? I was to kill the scavengers. Yes, I work for the Daleks, well work for is the wrong word. Also, red suits you. When I take the Timelords, I kill them. They are pretty much a nuisance. That's what the masters told me though. I still need to decided which side of the war I'm fighting for. Daleks are violent and Timelords are really, really... Nevermind."

Night sat on her bed, and stared at the Master, as if she was putting him in a stereotype. She laughed, thinking to herself about what she had done yesterday.

"I took out, I don't know, 45 or so yesterday. Have you very tasted Timelord? on this planet, it would sort of taste like... let's see... Steak? They're too chewy though. Wait, where am I...? Kincinari....?" Night stopped there, looked her scythe like it was alive, and blew a raspberry.

"You are on Earth, an insignificant planet, that will result in destruction, by most likely, you, or another species." A voice that came from her scythe said.

"The masters'll be pretty ticked off if I'm late for my next period Meh, they're a bunch of stuck up loosers anyways." Night huffed in dissatisfaction.

"Ever had a, how do you pronounce this? Hamburger? Wow. Earth is odd on it's own, but food?" Night laughed.

"Want any Timelord? I roasted some yesterday from somebody named... Victor. He tastes a bit salty, but it's ok."

Night sat down next to the Master and gave him the meat. " Eat it Waffles! It's really good."

He shook his head and pushed the meat away, "No thanks." He might eat raw human meat, but he did have somestandards. He wasn't a cannibal, though he wasn't going to tell Night that eating it would make him one. The Master didn't want any more trouble from her than absolutely necessary. "And call me Waffles all you like, it doesn't make it my name. Nor does it mean I'll respond to it."

"Anyway, yes. The Last Great Time War. Aptly named, seeing as it wasn't just any war, it was a war filled with time travel. There were millions of Time Lords and Daleks dying endless deaths. Both sides tried to travel back to correct battles with massive fatalities. I'm not entirely sure how it ended - I didn't see the end - but I spoke with one of the survivors," he explained, "He said the Daleks and the Time Lords were both gone. More or less. He said he was the only one left, but he obviously got something wrong if you're with the Daleks."

Night momentarily looked at Master. "Are you nuts? The war hasn't even started yet." She trodded around the prison, and made a short conclusion. "Waffles, I like you." Night stated. "I think I'm going to go take a walk. She tossed the Master a towel and blow dryer. Keep my scythe safe. She poked Master in the shoulder repeatedly, and smiled. She took her coat off, and walked out into the street, bear foot and short sleeved, and went to the nearest home improvement store. "A bed, and a shower. I don't care how much it costs, give it to me now, or a bullet goes through your head and out the other side. I'm not bluffing." Night shot one costumer in the shoulder with a stolen gun she had found in the sport isle. Around day break, she finished implementing the materials she had gotten after she killed everyone in the store. Along with that, she put the bodies of the workers in a corner  and cooked them. Night jumped into bed, and tried to take a nap.

The Master rested against the wall while Night was busy doing... well, he wasn't entirely sure. Why would she bother adding furniture and plumbing to the remains of an exploded prison? He settled into his spot in a circular hole in the wall and took a deep breath, "Are you from another universe, are your masters keeping things from you, or are you really that daft? Not only has the time war started, it ended. Years ago."

Taking another deep breath he said, "And my name is NOT waffles." He silently hoped this really was a version of Night from another universe, though he knew it was unlikely. Traveling between universes isn't even remotely simple. Still, if this was Parallel Night, that would make things so much easier on him. With a sigh, he put his hoodie back on and curled up to try and sleep.

Night took a deep break, and stood up and look at the Master, and where she was, she realized, she had no idea where she was, or when she was, or why she was even here. She looked left and right, and once again looked at Master, and ran out the door. No one was on the street, it was deserted. The calm wind grew violent, and it started to rain. Night hated water. She shook off the excess water, and it splashed on the ground. She walked towards a fountain, seen money inside, and gathered all of the coins in the water, and stuffed them in her pockets. "The Time War Ended?" Night said to herself. "What is going on?" She murmured to herself.

Night, was hungry. She walked towards a restaurant labeled "Pizza Hut." She walked to the building, and opened the door, hearing the bell ring, and jumped. She waltzed towards the counter, and looked at the menu. A person came up to her, and said "Hello! Welcome to Pizza Hut! My name is Emma!" The woman said. "What do I care what your name is? I want a beef and anchovy pizza, thin crust." Night said finally making up her mind. The woman grimaced, and looked at Night. "Sure." The woman said. "That will be $5.65." Night looked around in her pockets, pulling out the coins she had gotten from the fountain. The woman gave her the food, and she took a bite, and waltzed back to the prison with the rest of the pizza.

The Master watched her with only mild curiosity as she seemed to go into a total meltdown or something. What was she even doing? Did she honestly thing the Time War wasn't already over? He'd thought she was just messing with him to try and annoy him, but she seemed to be telling the truth. The Master wondered if he should follow her and make sure she didn't get into too much trouble. Without him, anyway. He heard the rain and made his decision. Putting his hoodie back on and the hood up to help shield himself from the weather, he headed outside after her. He only had time to go outside - outside being a relative term meaning beyond where the walls once stood strong, but now lay in pieces - before he saw Night again, heading in his direction. He noticed something in her hand and raised an eyebrow and asked, "What have you got there?"

Night stared at the Master, offering him a piece of pizza.

"It's called "pizza". Try some. It has anchovies and beef. I don't eat pork." She whisked her hair out of her eyes, and smiled at him. "Why did you come out here anyways? I though you were sleeping. I usually sleep during the day. I need to buff up to fight for the Time War, ya know? Can't fight on an empty stomach! But that's aside from that, you're getting wet."

Night took an umbrella from a passerby, and opened it up, holding it above the Master.

"I don't really like water, but I don't want you to get sick."

She shook the water off and coughed up blood in her hand. She quickly wiped it off, and walked a bit faster.

The Master stifled a laugh. "Yes, Night, I know what pizza is. I've been to this planet before, many times," he said, but he gave her a warm smile and took a piece, "Thanks, though." Maybe this version of her wasn't so bad after all. He took a bite and chewed slowly, trying to figure out how he felt about it. It wasn't the best, but it was food, and he was hungry, so he shoved the rest of his piece into his mouth quickly. After swallowing, he said, "Don't think I've ever had it with anchovies before."

"I came out here to see where you ran off to in such a hurry, and I don't tend to sleep much. Don't need much, really. I'm a-" he stopped himself. Things were going all right and he didn't want to mess up and make her an enemy. Not just yet, anyway, "My species doesn't need as much sleep as humans." He raised an eyebrow at her remark about the Time War, and then again at her worrying about him getting wet. He decided against arguing about it. If she really wanted to, he'd let her believe it hadn't been over for years. He shrugged, "I doubt I'm going to get very sick just because I get wet, although I would prefer not to freeze to death tonight."

He noticed the blood, and started to worry a bit. He couldn't have this version of her dying before future her met past him. He sighed, "What's wrong?"

Night tried to avoid the topic by stuttering and muttering, but ended up giving in.

"I'm dying, that's what everyone tells me. I don't really care though. At least I got to meet you! But I still have a few more months." She smiled, but frowned instead.

"I like fish, especially salty ones!" She said, quickly changing topic.

"Daleks are dumb. I like Timelords better, but I don't want to die yet. My masters don't really like me Do you think the Timelords will forgive me if I went to them? I know I wouldn't. I don't forgive easily."

"So, where to next? We can go lots of places!"

She coughed up blood again, and shivered, falling to the ground, breathing jaggedly, but standing up as if nothing happened. She handed Master another piece of pizza, and took a bite of her own. Her tail went limp, and her ears fell down.

"You know Waffles, you're ok. That's saying something." She sniffled, and looked around, curious of what could be explored.

"You're lucky, you know what species you are. You know you're real name. I'm going to live without knowing mine. Speaking of that, what are you? Stoian?"

She sniffled, and stared at the Master.

He allowed a small yet genuine smile to cross his face, but it only stayed for a second before it became a frown. She really didn't know. And now she was questioning him about it. Though he knew she was older than most humans, to him she was still pretty young. He didn't know if he'd have the hearts to break it to her. He shook his head vigorously and scolded himself silently, allowing the drums to take over his thoughts for a moment. He couldn't let himself get attached to this girl. Even if they were in similar situations - both dying. Still, she was all right, though he'd like her more if she'd stop calling him 'Waffles'. He wondered where she even got the idea to name him after breakfast.

The Master sighed, "Let me tell you something. Whether you believe it or not is up to you, I don't have a whole lot of proof. The Last Great Time War is over. Just like I said. And the stories of that other Time Lord I mentioned, they weren't entirely his. He only told me of the final days of the war. I was there. I saw it all first-hand. Up until the Dalek Emperor took the Cruciform. Then I ran. Made myself human so they wouldn't find me. I'd never been so scared in my life." He looked at her, sizing her up as an opponent, just in case she tried to kill him after he finished. "The Time Lords and the Daleks are all gone now. More or less. I think there are probably a few Daleks left, but I only know of a few Time Lords that survived," he swallowed the saliva that had been accumulating inside his mouth, "One of them is me. That's my species. Time Lord."

He took a bite of pizza and braced himself for her reaction, unsure of whether or not she'd be hostile towards him. He hoped not, given that she'd just said she liked the Time Lords better than the Daleks.

Night looked at the man. She punched him lightly in the shoulder, and shoved him. Then, she laughed. She laughed so hard, she fell the floor, getting wet in the rain. She was laughing so hard, she was crying. After a few minutes, she regained composure.

"So that's why you looked delicious! Don't worry, I won't eat you." Once again, she fell back laughing, coughing up more blood, and taking a bite of the pizza. Waffles, you are really, just, just- WOW!"

She looked at Master, becoming serious for a minute.

"Master, what year is it? 1980s if I remember, and if you're a Timelord, how old are you? Also, I owe you an apology."

She giggled, but it faded into a confused odd, look.

"Still, how do I escape the Daleks? I think I'm a bit glued to my state till they kill me. And that sort of ticks me off."

Her nails retracted and her fangs dulled down. The rain started to clear, and the took a napkin out of her pocket and wiped her mouth with it.

"You had the right to be afraid."

She looked at the floor, but shook off the thought.

"Want the last piece? I'm a bit full." She said

She looked at the sun, and tried to grab it.

"The Sun here is so bright, but still, its so, cold here."

Night rubbed her arms, and shivered.

"What now?" She asked, looking at Master.

He watched her silently until she'd finished laughing, and then he answered, "No, not the 1980s. A different century entirely, actually. I'm not sure how you managed to get so far from when you thought you were, but the year is 2009. And I'm a little over 900 years old. 903? 904? Something like that." He shrugged and continued, "As for escaping them, whatever happened to get you so far away did a pretty good job of letting you escape. Like I said, there aren't many Daleks of Time Lords left. You're as escaped as someone can be at the moment." He gave her what he hoped was a reassuring smile. "Sure, thanks," he took the last piece of pizza and ate it, "Now, we go back inside so neither of us freezes, I guess."

Night looked at the Master. She hesitated for a moment, and coughed.

"I'll worry about that at the prison."

Night frowned, and processed the idea.

"So, you're 904? Well then. Again, I'm 425 or so. I have to say though, I'm impressed. You really DO have manners!" She chuckled at her joke.

"Shall we proceed to the prison? Or shall we stay here and freeze to death? But if it's 2009, then something must have happened to either you, or me. Also, if this is 2009, I should be dead by now. The only cure is something I forgot. So, there is pretty much no cure for moi. How has Earth been doing in 2009?"

She paused, and stared at Master. "This was fun. When do you want do this again? Next time, we can get something called "burger". These Earth names..."

She coughed up some more blood, and entered the prison, got dressed for bed, and slept.

"Good night Waffles, or Master."

Later, in the middle of the night, she awoke with a jolt, and decided to take a stroll. But instead, she took her belongings with her and put them in her bag, and decided, she would leave that area, and explore the rest of town, but she stopped, at a hotel specifically, called "20/6". She entered the hotel, and managed to get a room there, and stayed there, for the rest of the night.

The Master stared blankly, the humor of whatever joke lost on him. He guessed the thing about manners and shrugged internally, not really caring. He nodded, "Whatever it was, it must've happened to you. Because this is exactly where and when I'm supposed to be, and you're still alive. Earth's been doing fine, I guess. Ruled by yours truly during a year that was erased from time entirely, and recovered from it, so I'd say it's doing pretty well actually. Although, this planet and its inhabitants did have a bit of help on the recovery." He shrugged, "I don't know. I guess whenever."

He went back to the prison and curled up in the hole he would sleep in. "Night, Night," he replied, not realizing how strange that sounded until after he said it. He didn't bother commenting, instead opting to shut his eyes and try to sleep. Not long after, the Master woke up. He heard movement from Night's direction and just barely opened one eye, making it look like he was still asleep. He watched silently as she left the prison with her things. It relieved him to see her go, but at the same time, he kind of already missed her company. With a short sigh, he rolled back over and stared at the wall for a while until he was ready to actually get up.

Night sat askewed on the prison's curb, as she held a gift for Master. She tucked a brown suit and pants under her arm, and went through the hole in the wall, careful to step over Master. She set the clothing on the ground next to him and sat on the floor, looking at the sky through the gaping holes in the prison. She too a kitchen knife, and started to stab herself in the arm, but the knife broke.

"Still sleeping Master? Turn over and you'll see I got you something."

Her tail whipped acrossed his face, and she stared at him, silently, which was unusual.

"No," he said, eyes still shut, "I've been awake for a while now. Just didn't feel like getting up." He opened his eyes to look up at her. He glanced up through the broken ceiling at the visible pieces of the sky, "Welcome back, I guess. Where'd you go, anyway?" He was more interested in finding out what she was up to than what she was giving him. He just lay there, staring up at her as he waited patiently for her response.

"No where you need to know." She snapped at him  

"Anyways, your clothes smell, so I got you some new ones." She answered.

She touched the scar on her eye, and winced. She bushed the hair out of her eyes and picked up her scythe. She clenched it harder.

"It was 1986. A war was brewing, and I was being prepped. They gave me three meals a week, I had the good life." She muttered out loud.

"And if you're a timelord, where's your Tardis? What's the most amazing place you've been?"
She sighed, and looked up at the sky.

"You're a great person Master, I guess... but why are you trying to take over the universe though?"

She put her hair in a ponytail, and sat on the floor.

"What are you waiting for? Go try the clothing on!" She said, quicly changing the subject.
"Sorry is they're too big,i don't know your size." She laughed.
She sa on the floor, taking a ball of string, playing with it until he changed clothes."