City of Ashes

"Once on a yellow piece of paper with green lines, he wrote a poem. And he called it 'Chops', because that was the name of his dog. And that's what it was all about. His teacher gave him an A, and a gold star. And his mother hung it on the kitchen door and read it to his aunts."

Ryder looked up from the book, or rather poem, staring at the hard lines of the house falling apart across the drive. It looked as if no one lived there, emptied of life and love. Though Ryder knew better, he knew someone lived there, or someone once did. He turned his attention back to the book, clearing his throat. But he could no longer see the pages; white dots covered the words. They landed in his dark hair, on his jacket and in the grass around him. "Ryder!" A familiar voice yelled from behind him. He turned his neck, catching sight of his too blonde of a mother. Blonde hair, green eyes. They looked nothing alike. "Gonna eat some dinner?" That question. Always that question. He sternly shook his head, then moved back round to deliver his attention to the poem. It was hardly readable. Snapping it closed, he cautiously got to his feet. Snow was water in some different state across a long line of stages. Yeah, pay more attention in Science next time. Licking his lips, he stuck the tiny book into the back pocket of his jeans, prepared for the walk into town.

It isn't far, but when it's snowing and ten times more cold than usual, it feels like a century. Ryder stuffed his hands into the pockets of his black hoodie, keeping his eyes down-casted expect for the occasional glance around. Girls would be watching him, some would snicker, some would secretly smile. He ignored them all. Pulling one hand from his pocket, he pushed the door open to a coffee shop, though the taste of coffee wasn't one of his favorites. He just wanted to escape their stares. Not even thinking of moving to the counter, he slipped into a booth, pulling his hood up after brushing out the snow from his hair. Or what looked like snow. As it fell onto the table, Ryder poked at a piece, getting it glued to the tip of his finger. He brought it to the tip of his nose, staring down at the flake thoughtfully. "It's ash." He whispered, his eyebrows drawing together in confusion as a loud commotion began outside. He could hardly hear it, and what he did hear, wasn't what it was. Perception filters can work their magic on any mind, even a Demigod who doesn't know it.

Echoing; groans, all to familiar, there, there they are again, echoing once more throughout the seemingly endless interior of the TARDIS and once more through The Doctor's ears. The sound was enough to snap The Doctor from his endless gaze at the control console; his eyes locked on the time rotor as it moved up then down, up then down. Moments before he had grown bored of his travels and just set the TARDIS to autopilot, letting it fly wherever it chose and apparently, it had just now chosen a destination. A destination completely mysterious and unknown to The Doctor, "There's a first time for everything i suppose.." The Doctor mumbled, looking at the doors as he inhaled, stood up straight then finally, a smile appeared on his face.

Like a child, walking up to a candy shop, The Doctor dashed down the ramp, snagged his trench coat and burst through the double doors, his eyes immediately meeting the sight of a coffee shop and what appeared to be snow. At first the smile on his face grew wider as he thought it was snow, but then he took a step forward, then he heard it; the difference. "Hold on.." He mumbled, sticking his hand out to catch a spec before licking it, causing his face to cringe in disgust, "That's..that's ash!!! Blagh! Blagh! Bad!".

Mal was working at the coffee shop Ryder happened upon. She was refilling the mugs of her other customers before making her way over to Ryder's booth. The boy was unrecognisable thanks to the hood pulled over her head. Mal found it a bit odd but who was she to judge?

"Could I getcha something to drink?" She rallied up the most cheerful voice she could before asking the question. Wow, it actually sounded like she was excited about working and earning minimum wage. Good job, Mal. Though she often looked outside during her shift, the snow didn't startle her. It snowed here, right? Thinking about the news on those odd days she watched tv back in Canada she remembered seeing snow here. Good, good. Waiting for the boys answer, she looked through the window and at the snow falling only to see a familiar figure.

"Oh no..." Mal whispered as her eyes rested on the Doctor's form. What was he doing here? The coffee pot slipped in her hands and crashed to the ground, causing her to yelp and apologize profusely, this being a perfect distraction from whatever was going on in the city. Mal rushed away and grabbed towels and a broom, quickly picking up her mess as the customers in the back murmured about. No doubt talking about her... great.

"Here," Ryder mumbled as he quickly got out of the booth, taking some of the towels from her to help. The stares were common for him, it was something he was incredibly used to. So, what would it matter if he helped her out a bit? As he mopped up some of the coffee, his eyes roamed to the window. A man in a trench coat... What was so interesting about that? Feeling as if he was staring, his eyes shot back to the coffee mess. "You don't need to apologize so much. It was an accident." He said, the most he had spoken all week, but it was a good cause. Wasn't it? She felt bad. Only trying to help... Ryder fixed his posture, holding two soaking rags in his hands as he smiled gently at Mal. Immediately, he recognized her. Don't say anything. Set the rags down and leave. Jumping up, he dropped the rags onto the table he was previously occupying. His hood fell, but hiding his face was pointless now. Everyone in the coffee shop already knew who the freak was helping Mal clean up. "I'll... I'll go." He stuttered, spinning on his heels to go straight out the door. The street was covered in white, and for a second, it looked- No, no it doesn't look peaceful or nice. That's ash. It looks grey and morbid.

Crash was flying through space when his higher ups gave him a mission. He was to go to Earth and find a way to rid the universe of the pesky humans. The Cult of Skaro was assigned to help HIM out for once instead of the other way around. He knew they could come up with some weird device to destroy the planet. His job was to make sure they weren't discovered and to keep them stocked with test subjects and slaves. Sadly, this meant he wasn't allowed to kill anyone yet. They established a base in an abandoned factory and The Cult insisted that it should have a few smokestacks.

Dalek Sec told Crash that they had designed a machine that could create seemingly harmless ash. After a period of time, the ash would cause swelling of wherever it touched. They tested it out on test subjects first to perfect it and then they started releasing it into the atmosphere via the smokestacks. This town was a test subject and soon they would start the process in other cities. Crash couldn't wait until he would be allowed to kill.

Mal smiled at him when he began to help, feeling the wave of relief wash over her. Some people yelled at her when things like this happened and that was a horribly stressful situation. She was just finishing up when the guy stood up suddenly. Mal followed suit and her brows furrowed when his hood fell away and she saw his face. Whoa! It was that guy from the school and the weird monsters and the water ability. Given everyone's reaction sympathy pierced her heart. So that's what it was like when the human race knew about an abnormal ability. Poor guy...

"H-hey, wait!" Mal followed him out, impulse forcing her legs into motion before she could give much thought to it. She looked around at the snow, wondering why it was dirty but figuring cities were always filthy. That answered that. She caught up with Ryder and sidestepped in front of him, walking backwards if he walked forwards. "You don't have to run away, man. Thanks for helping me out. Usually I get called a clumsy idiot for pulling tricks like that." As she spoke, her eyes wondered to see if she could see the Doctor.

Ryder pulled his hood back up, nearly startled to see that Mal had followed him out. "You're welcome." He said lightly, watching as her eyes moved away from him and towards whatever she was looking for. He sighed, stopped walking and shoved his hands into his pockets. The ash was falling over his shoulders, coating the hoodie, though he ignored it. "I'm not running," he added after a moment, hoping she'd leave. The ash was coming down faster than before. He needed to get home. His eyes dropped down to his shoes, the familiar black converse high tops. Beaten up from years of use. He stepped around Mal, moving slowly towards the center of town. Towards the park all of the stores were built around. He gulped, lifting his head to stare at the patches of grass hardly visible through the thick layers of ash. This doesn't make sense...

The Doctor spun around on the heel of his foot and shoe, peering up at the sky as the ash continued to fall, it didn't seem right, it didn't feel right. How could these people just walk around and notice nothing wrong? What did they think it was? Snow? He thought to himself as his eyes scanned the horizon, looking for possibly a point of origin for the ash; nothing caught his eye immediately but however, there was a clustered and darker portion to the east, in the far reaches of the town. "Worth a look" He mumbled to himself, getting used to traveling alone once more as he had left his most recent companion in fear of loosing that one as well.

Inside, he was contemplating his actions, whether he did what he was supposed to or should have done; was it worth being alone? She could have been fine. With a sigh, he yanked the idea from his conscious, turning down a street corner, his eyes to the sky and following in the direction of the cluster of ash that seemed to rise rather than fall like the rest.

Ryder's movement drew Mal's attention back to him as he moved. She hesitated before following him. It was unexplainable but she felt she could relate to this guy, maybe that's why she was drawn to him. Not in any creepy sense, she reassured any mind readers that would chance a glance at her head, just in... friendship, maybe. A friendly way. Jeez, I'm starting to creep myself out. Wonder how this guy feels about it..

"Where are you going if you're not running?" Just as she was following Ryder the sight of the Doctor's jacket caught her eyes. Without thinking she reached out and snatched the boy's wrist, dragging him with her as she ran towards the Time Lord. "Come on, come with me!" She prompted as she ran, not caring at the moment if he had any objections.

As they got closer Mal shouted, "Hey, Doc! Not to be rude but what're you doin' here?" She neared, huffing from the physical exertion, and let Ryder's wrist go finally. Turning to him, he flashed an apologetic grin before turning her attention back to the Doctor and continued her breathless banter, "What's it this time? Alien invasion? Krillitine mind control stuff? Troy?" The tone of her voice was light with jest but underneath was the heavy fear of the possibilities of danger.

The Doctor immediately stopped as he heard his name being shouted through the echoing street corners and alley ways. Once seeing who called him, Mal, The Doctor released a smile, flashing it promptly as he strode over to her, placing his arm on her shoulder and patting it as he could tell she was out of breath. "Oh you know.." He began, running his eyes over the new comer then back over to Mal, "The usual. City of Ash, trying to figure out where it's coming from. Looked to the sky; surprised you haven't done that and figured it out, try and investigate!" he exclaimed, raising an eyebrow an a comical facial expression at his former companion.

"Just blend into the back," Ryder mumbled for only his ears, pulling his book from his back pocket, skimming to a random page. But he couldn't read it, his attention was on Mal and the.. What did she call him? Doc? No, that's messing a movie with real life. Ryder smiled lightly to himself, remembering the first time he ever saw Back to the Future. The smile faded and he shut the book, taking a step over to Mal. "I'm not exactly sure I should be here..." He said hesitantly, glancing at the Doctor before looking back at Mal with a nervous expression.

The Doctor peered over to Ryder as he stepped forward, his eyebrow still curved high and upward before in a flash, his facial expression changed and a smile formed upon his face. "Hello! Sorry" The Doctor suddenly blurted out, turning his full attention over to Ryder, "Nice to meet you, i'm The Doctor" he introduced himself, leaning over in a slight bow then popping back up. "Don't want to keep you two waiting. I'll..umm..i'll just be off then. Unless you lot want to come with. Nah! Nevermind. Great big source of the ash, possibly dangerous, who'd want to see that?!", The Doctor managed a smirk before turning completely around and continuing his run towards the cluster of ash out in the distance on the edge of the city, "Just stay away from the ash!!" he called back to them just as he turned the corner and out of sight.

Au'Nvratyis stood on the rooftops, foot deep in ash. He was staring at the source of all of the ash, giant smokestacks that just seemed to be belching the stuff out. It was a good idea to wear his disguise today, as the heavy coat and hat kept most of the stuff off of him. He heard footsteps on the street below him, and saw a man walking rather intently in the direction of the smokestacks. He stared at the man with his black eyes, before putting his tinted glasses back on, to hide himself completely again from those who would percieve his true nature. He walked to the edge of the second story rooftop, and dropped into an alley, landing softly in the ash. He walked out of the alley and out onto the street, around 10 feet in front of The Doctor. He was an imposing image. Seven feet something tall, trench coat, glasses, hat. Somehow, he had the feeling that wasn't going to stop this man. "Sir, I'm going to have to ask you to turn back." He said, his second set of arms hidden under his coat grabbing two of the four shard pistols he had on his belt, just in case.

"Oi! You can hardly blame me for not finding the 'snow' suspicious. I'm from Canada, man, it can hail in the middle of summer!" Mal scoffed and started brushing at her work uniform as she eyed the Time Lord. Well she was right to think there was something happening in the city. When Ryder approached she tilted her head curiously, "Why'd you say that? Sorry, I guess I shouldn't've dragged you around like that... apparently I'm impressionable and do the things others do to me." At that Mal thought about all the times she was literally dragged into a dangerous situation from one of the Doctor's incarnations, Sonya, and Xeltia.

"W-wait, that's hardly fair!" Mal yelled after the Doctor's disappearing form. Now she would feel guilty if she turned away. But then again wouldn't she just be a nuisance and counter productive? She never really helped in these situations anyway. Her nerves always caused her to freeze up, shake, and made her target material. With a heavy sigh she looked at Ryder again. Poor guy... must be irritated with her. "You think we should follow?" Her tone was nervous, eyes wide, and she waited for his answer with a small quiver of fear. Most of her wanted him to say no and Mal would just shrug and make her way back to work like this never happened.

The Doctor halted in his tracks, looking up and down at the tall stature man that loomed over him; with a nod of his head, he replied, "Sorry, last i checked this town wasn't exactly under quarantine nor did it have guards telling people they cannot pass a certain point. And you don't look like a guard". Moving, to the left, The Doctor passed the man and continued his run towards the condensed portion of the ash that was falling down onto the town. The bundle of the ash seemed to come from a series of mountains, just inbetween them, making The Doctor's journey that much longer and seemingly endless.

Ryder hesitated, his eyes searching Mal's face for some deeper meaning to the Doctor guy. "We?" He asked lightly, cracking his knuckles subconsciously, his ADHD kicking into overdrive. He began drumming his fingers on his sides. "I dunno if that'd be smart..." He trailed off, barely capable of managing a response as he looked back in the direction the Doctor ran off in. He made a mental note to ask more about him to Mal, or anyone who would have answers, later. "Besides, I should leave. You know the guy, so follow him if you're curious." As he was about to turn away, he paused, glancing back at Mal. "He's right, though. It's ash." He sighed heavily, seeming to weight his options, his foot tapping against the ground. "I'm curious." He admitted under his breath, turning to go the opposite direction of what his mind was telling him; the direction the Doctor ran off in.

Au'nvratyis reached out and grabbed The Doctor's arm before he passed him. If he was refusing to comply, then he would have to resort to other methods. "If you are willing to run headlong into sure death, then I would go with you. I have been investigating the ash for the past three hours. You obviously are not a common human, so I can only hope you intend to resolve this issue." He said, and let the doctor's arm go, returning to his straightened posture. "Timelord." He added, and his hidden arms let go of the pistols. Until of course, he spotted the boy running towards them. The sounds of pistols powering on emanated from under his coat. "There's someone coming."

The Doctor peered over his shoulder, raising an eyebrow in the direction that the footsteps were emitting from, "Come on" he mumbled over to his new found acquaintance, "There's no need to drawing guns, we need to figure out what this ash is really for before it grows to dangerous levels". Turning, The Doctor sped off towards the mountain's pass, straight up to the split between the two hulking land icons, his eyes fixed on the sky ahead of him, "Don't go guns blazing!" he called back to the man, "There's no telling what's inside when we get there".

Then, all of a sudden, the pass narrowed down to where only through proceeding very carefully through a tight, jagged, narrow pass would anyone be able to continue. Immediately The Doctor slowed down then stopped, eyeing the pass for a moment before continuing cautiously, weaving around jagged rock formations that protruded out in the pass, "How do you know about Time Lords anyways?" he asked, calling back to the man once more, this time initiating a conversation that would stimulate the silence until they got to the other side.

"Well I'm not going to go with him alone..." Mal rubbed her head sheepishly as she replied. Wow, that made her sound like a coward. Looking at the ash she sighed and looked at Ryder in surprise. Oh, so he was going after the Doctor after all. That was both horrifying and relieving. At least the Time Lord won't be alone and Mal's own curiosity will be satisfied. She followed after the boy, forgetting about her responsibilities at work and all that. As they neared the location of the two aliens, Mal's attention was drawn to the massive man next to the Doctor. If that wasn't intimidating she didn't know what was. Coming to a stop she opened her mouth to say something but the Doctor was already running again. Did that man never stop? Glancing at Ryder she shrugged and ran after him, deciding to ignore the massive man in the sketchy attire so she didn't have a panic attack and black out.

Ryder watched Mal chase after the Doctor. Awkwardly staying beside the guy who the Doctor was previously talking to, Ryder raised a hand in a half-greeting. It looked like a stiff wave. "Ah... Hi." He mumbled, then took off after Mal. All the running after a guy he hardly knew seemed pointless, but he caught that tiny flare of emotion in Mal's eyes when she had asked if they should follow. If she was nervous, he'd understand completely. This wasn't something Ryder would decide to do out of the blue. He slowed once reaching the narrowed part of the pass. "Crap," he mumbled, watching the Doctor's fading back as he moved further in. Ryder crossed his arms, weighing his options as he fell silent. He never liked mountains or anything like this at all. He liked swimming and... Just not doing this. But he took cautious steps towards the beginning of the jagged parts of the pass, looking back at Mal. "Still wanna follow him?"

Au'Nvratyis kept up with The Doctor's jog with long strides, slightly miffed about this timelord's pacifism. The boy could have been a spy. When Ryder awkwardly waved at him, he just looked down at him, and the noise of his pistols deactivating filled the air. "Consider yourself lu-" was as far as he got before he ran off too. He needed a better disguise. He navigated the narrow pass easily, keeping behind The Doctor. "Our people are both ancient, Timelord. Does the Kathractian civilization ring any bells? I believe it was our kathite mines that supplied your people with the metals to build your grand cities and TARDISes, but my history's never been stellar. It could just as easily have been some other civilization. Unlike you, I truly am the last of my kind. I am the last Ky of my lost people, a ruler without a throne, my people and world stolen from me by what you call 'Daleks'" He coldly explained as they shimmied through the pass.

Mal stopped at the pass and swayed as she looked at it. Oh no, not this. She absolutely hated mountains. Mountains meant you had a chance of falling. Mal was spiralling down in her life as is, she didn't need to make it literal too. "Uhm.. maybe not. Is there another way around it? Well that big guy appears to be his friend, the Doc will be all right. I hope..." She cleared her throat and rubbed the back of her head as she watched Ryder take the first step, eyes wide. "I don't want to risk it, honestly."

The Doctor lowered his gaze as he heard and tuned in to the reply of his newly found acquaintance, "I know the feeling" he admitted, his voice lower and more mono toned, "I thought i was the last of my kind until recently some came along..took them a bit to get here but..they're here now. They are all i've got..but it's better than nothing. You just have to lay in hope..hope that maybe, one day you'l see another of your kind". The Doctor's reply was only stopped by his feat of reaching the end of the narrowed pass; stepping out, he gazed upon a deep, open chasm, as if it were the center of a volcano but instead of filled with lava, it was hallow. From deep within the hallowed out mountain, ash rose from it, as if giving off steam.

The Doctor walked curiously to the edge, peering down to see the sight of a medium sized building where a pump protruded from the top and puffed out the ash. "We need to get down there..somehow..and shut it down" He said, glancing around his vicinity in search of something that my aid them in getting down to the building, "Before the ash reaches to dangerous levels".

From Mal's reaction, Ryder retreated back to her side. "Then we can probably go around. Or look for another way." He offered, looking back to only see the stranger's back as he went after the Doctor into the tight pass. "I'll go with you." He added, pretty positive that Mal's friend would be fine with that guy. Or maybe not, but he wasn't going to leave Mal out here by herself. "But I can't promise you there's another way in." He said lightly, picking his words cautiously as his eyes moved back to Mal's face. Maybe turning around and forgetting this all together would be simpler. But then he thought of everyone in town. The kids who would be giggling and playing in the ash. The parents who would be watching from the windows. Eventually they'd learn it isn't snow. And he really wanted just plain, simple snow.

Mal looked at Ryder gratefully and she released a breath she was holding before taking a look to the left then right. She didn't know which way to go, plus he was right in saying there might not be another way down. It was more than likely, knowing the Doctor, that things would be under control or at least close to being by the time Mal and Ryder got there anyway. But she already got herself involved and knowing this crap wasn't snow was a little freaky. She turned back to Ryder and tilted her head, "This stuff is ash, yeah? Well is it dangerous? It must be if people are trying to stop it. Maybe it's like the ash in Hiroshima. The ash that fell there made people sick." Mal suddenly seemed more jittery, getting nervous all over again. Man, what if people died because of this.. they wouldn't even know what hit them. "Maybe we can do something different then what they're doing. Head back to town and get people inside. I don't really want to cause a riot.. b-but if this stuff is dangerous..."