Counting Stars~

Subject: Counting Stars~ Tue Nov 26, 2013 10:17 pm

The year is unimportant, for it is too far into the future for one to properly imagine. All you need to know is that what once was is gone, what you may have hoped for does not exist and only pain and heartbreak remain.

Wars came, they came and went. Things were seen, experienced, witnessed. Species discovered, destroyed, saved and risen to utopia. The prime for the human species came to its peak in 6089, peace was a known thing and war was practically non-existant. It was inevitable that the U.N.I.T military faction from the southern Alastair Quadrant would rise to power during the next election, bringing about the eradication of life as we had come to know. The rest? Is history. The human race is all but gone, small clumps of a couple thousand struggle to survive while the reigning alienoids strive to drive them to exinction. But you know all of this, don't you? You know what has happened, you have been watching from afar while galavanting the stars in search of your precious world. Your precious Gallifrey. Your precious people. You watched us burn, you let use crumble into smoldering ashes while the rest of the Universe rejoiced. What a gamble.

You awful, horrible man. You even let the woman you love go to waste, what does that say about you? Gross, counterfeit feind. I hope you find your world, I hope you find it, and I hope you live happily ever after.

Far.

Far.

Far.

Away from us.

The wind is cold this particular night and Ramona finds herself perched atop the bitter stone that overlooked the surrounding foothills. The leather skin of her vest does little against the chill but she is familiar with it by now, shuddering only when the faint vibrations of galloping predators reached her. Long and slightly crooked fingers gripped the dusty stone in a manner that to the observer may have been defensive. The reality held a much more desondent truth in the empty pits of hazel eyes that swirled with dark currents of void that made no sense. Her hands are scuffed and tainted red by the natural rock of the planet, practically tattooed on the ends of her fingers and toes, rising up her chin and cheek to kiss the scars that litter the left side of her face. It may lead one to spy the long blemishes that scurry down her arms and peek out from the hem of her billowing pants.

Ramona pulls the dark leather tighter around her breast and fastens the make-shift buttons that she had been forced to replace just the night before. Dismay cracks through the miserable interface of her expression, a gust of dirt and debris burst against her cheek and she shies only from the discomfort. Prying the willowly stick from her hair and tossing it to the side as though it had attacked her. Anger slipped through the dismay to break a carefully placed facade she had held for many a year. Too many years. Too long. She was compelled to tear at the mutilated vortex manipulator stuck to her wrist, clawing madly at the long broken buttons and exposed parts.

It was a ritual that struck her every few years and she hated that tonight had to be the day she lost her composure. Forced by a heart that yearned to miss, remember, regret, and maybe even hope. Hope for something that would never be. Her eyes went skyward and Ramona was unphased by the hot tears that trickled down her cheeks, burning hateful trails of bitterness and loathing through the months of dirt. The stars were bright, so bright, so vivid and shining. So alive. Jealousy raged in the pits of her stomach and Ramona shrieked into the blackness, blaming, hating, lusting to end things. But she would not, not now, not ever. Not yet.

She still had the rest of the stars to count. Only then, would she be able to rest.

(For 9 and Ramona

Kay so yay for total confusion. Basics: Things have gone down, we'll call it an estranged timeline? That she was privy to where 9 did not actually follow her. So in reality he would have no idea that any of this had happened, and so she blames not just 9 but the Doctor in general for what occured. It's all for fun so... C'est le vie!)

Subject: Re: Counting Stars~ Tue Nov 26, 2013 10:57 pm

Reaching over to flip off the sudden alert that began blaring, the Doctor scowled at his time machine in irritation. "What was that for? I haven't done anything wrong!" Briefly, his eyes flicked over to the screen next to him as it flickered to life and began flashing information across it. "Ah, right, dying settlement. And what do you want me to do about that? It's too far in the future for it to be a horrible thing. Look, there are whole planets of people dying out there at that time, what does one tiny settlement have to do with anything?" Shaking his head slightly, he began fiddling with the controls in front of him, set on taking his ship to Cardiff for a re-fuel then off to see the Nazirine star die out.

His fingers hesitated over the buttons for a moment, a tiny flicker of an old face flashing across his memory. Ramona, it had been so long since he last saw her. In truth, he had no idea what happened, where she went. He supposed she might have been avoiding him for a while, then he thought she simply moved. It wouldn't have taken much to dig up her information, but oddly, he felt she wanted to be alone, she didn't want to be found, much less by an odd alien that changed her entire life when she wasn't even sure if it was for the good or bad.

Just as he shook his head to rid himself of those thoughts, the TARDIS jerked suddenly and began flying on her own accord. "No! What are you doing! Stop it, stop it right now!" He demanded, rushing around the console, desperately trying to find something that would stop his ship mid-flight only to come up with nothing as he gripped the edge of the controls tightly, his eyes drawn to the Time Rotor in front of him as it moved. Bloody ship.

With a loud bang accompanied by the usual wheezing noises of her appearing wherever she landed, the Doctor was jolted to the ground on his back with a loud groan of pain. "What did you do that for! I was already going somewhere, you aren't allowed to change the flight like that!" He snapped, only to be rewarded by sharp sparks flying into his face from the controls along with a loud hum of displeasure from the walls of the ship around him. "Fine, I'll go look. But we aren't staying long!" With that, he snatched up his jacket off the floor from where it had been flung from the jumper seat and shrugged it on while walking out the TARDIS doors into the dessert-like heat outside.

Subject: Re: Counting Stars~ Tue Nov 26, 2013 11:19 pm

She had forgotten the feeling of touch, physical? Almost. No this was the touch of the mind, the soft kiss of someone's thoughts reaching out to her and it sent Ramona into a fit. She whirled and pushed off from the ledge with practised ease, landing hard onto the ground below. Her bones pulsed with the ache of over-use, forced adaptation, and years of hard living in every step, breathing coming in short bursts to preserve lungpower. Milera looked up from her job of scraping at a leather hide in response to the sudden flurry of footsteps. A surprisingly soft face peered out at Ramona from the tent-flap "What's got you in a tizzy Rami?" Ramona stopped and glanced from Milera to... Somewhere. Some point that she knew not where, but it was the right one. She knew it was. "I'll be gone for a bit, keep the children close, don't let them wander. Be safe." A quick press of her lips to a soiled cheek and Ramona was sprinting, dodging clumps of brittle growth and petrified trees.

The trek down the mountainside would have taken ages for anyone unused to the toil it required. For Ramona and the colonists it was as simple as a jog down a straight path, jumping, leaping, ducking all from memory. Sense honed in a fashion like that of their ancestors, forced to revert back to a much more primal existence. Even with familiarity on her side Ramona jerked her head back where it belonged and slowed her pace, taking care over the rocks and peeking around stones. Feel, what did she feel? She was not sure, there was no name she could dig up for the emotions that whirled in her chest. Was that even the case? So tight, her skin felt so tight, her eyes narrowed and mind hellbent on that soft glow, the soft glow of life. Life that only one person could bring into reality within her head, the only person that had access to her neural pathways in such a close manner. He was here. But which one? Ramona halts, hand hovering near an overhang as the anomaly of TARDIS blue registered in her sight. Which one was he?

Was is Eleven? Twelve? Nine? Which Doctor would greet her, what face would she be looking at? With the instincts of a hawk Ramona darted back, to the side and slowly climbed to the peak so as to get a better look at the memory. But this was real, the TARDIS was as real as the rock she clung to. Panic gripped her heart and she grabbed at her chest in anguish as the door swung open and a tall, leather clad figure swaggered forth. Nine... It was Nine. Those elephant ears and shaved head, lovely blue eyes the color of frozen storm as they surveyed the landscape. She ducked down to avoid being seen, he looked so- normal. So unaffected, untouched by life and history. He looked the same. Maybe because he was the same... Maybe- No! It was impossible for him to still exist and not know what he did, but then how would he be there at all?

The burden of time and space was a hard one and Ramona shut the door to those thoughts. What did it matter who he was? He was the Doctor, he abandoned her for that woman, left her alone to tend after his wounded lover who died anyhow. No matter what he did, she still died. Ramona ground her teeth and dug red-stained nails into the crumbling sediment, he let all of earth and the human race go to waste. He let them die. Why couldn't he have died instead?

Subject: Re: Counting Stars~ Tue Nov 26, 2013 11:27 pm

Scowling at the landscape around him, the Doctor shot a quick glare at the TARDIS behind him before pulling the door shut behind him and walking off. He was already there, might as well look around, the planet seemed vaguely familiar, but he couldn't place the last time he might have been here. Must have been quite a while ago for it to have happened... Pausing next to a rather large boulder, he leaned his hand against it and scraped at the odd plant-like growth on the side of it with the toe of his boot. It had water then, if only a little bit, water meant survivors of whatever happened here.

He honestly couldn't think of any reason a colony might want to land here, he's seen worse places, but must of them went to planets with trees at this point, more cover and foliage to hide under should someone cruse by the planet. Shaking his head, the Doctor cast his eyes up to the sky for a moment, about ready to head back to the TARDIS when a soft whisper drifted across his mind. It couldn't even be called a touch, a breath of another mind across his that caused him to falter mid-step and turn to look around the area again. Mentally reaching out for whoever or whatever it was that had reached for him. "Hello, I'm the Doctor! I'm not going to hurt you."

Subject: Re: Counting Stars~ Tue Nov 26, 2013 11:37 pm

"Hello, I'm the Doctor! I'm not going to hurt you," Not going to hurt. The statement alone, the genuine curiosity and lack of judgement in his words made her heart race. Ramona struggled, she tried so hard to control the maddening anger that swept its way into her head. Explosions rocked the peaceful visions she had strived so hard to conjure for her own sanity, bringing to light only hatred and the desire to hurt. To make him feel pain so unbelievable that maybe he would go back and ruin whatever had made him make such stupid decisions. And maybe.. Just maybe it would kill him. And she would be rid of him. Once and for all.

Ramona blinked a few times before resigning herself to the reality, reigning in what she could of her anger she slid almost seductively up the stone and let her arm roll forward to drape over the edge. She fully exposed her face to him, and much of her upper torso while trying desperately to seem relaxed and not so tense. Would he recognize her? Her eyes, face.. There were scars there that weren't before, a void in the brightness of her hazel eyes, even her hair; Dyed a blinding white and cut into a manic tangle of short, wirey curls. "Of course you would not, stranger, welcome to our humble... planet."

Subject: Re: Counting Stars~ Tue Nov 26, 2013 11:43 pm

That voice. Turning to look over at the woman that suddenly appeared from behind an outcropping of rocks, the Doctor eyed her with curiosity. He knew that voice, he knew that face. Covered in grime and sweat, her hair bleached by the harsh sun and the cuts from various things from the environment. He knew her under all of that. "Ramona..?" he muttered, taking a few steps closer to look up at her, astonished that it was her, his mind reaching out and brushing against her's gently before retreating again. "What happened? How the bloody hell did you end up here?" Climbing up the rocks, he stopped just a few feet away from her and leaned his back against another boulder, eyeing the woman in front of him critically. Starved, dirty, obviously tired. Just how long has she been stuck here, how on earth did she-

His eyes finally locked onto the broken vortex manipulator on her wrist, where the hell did that come from? Where would she even get her hands on something like that? He would have noticed if she had taken one from the various rooms on his ship devoted to idle bits of junk he collected from place to place. None of them worked, how could she have gotten one..?

Subject: Re: Counting Stars~ Tue Nov 26, 2013 11:55 pm

"Oooh tsk tsk," She spouts in reply, leaping back on instinct when he scrambles up the rocks to face her closer. She heard her name, she knew that he knew, knew it was her. Not even this dreadful planet and its horrid aftereffects could hide her face from him and she hated it fiercely. Ramona moves purely from muscle memory, pressing her back against the rocks as far away from him as possible, a hiss purring from trembling lips. She needed to be strong now, but so long, so long she was running now. Always being chased, always protecting, the children needed protecting. Milera needed protecting didn't she? Of course she did. She needed it more than any of them, a softness edged against the terse lip of her mind and it was enough to allow the trickle of astonishment and horror from his own thoughts in. She reeled back from him as though burned and even lifted an arm out to keep him at bay.

"Like you don't know? Please, spare me the babying Doctor. You know exactly how I got here, you know what you did stop playing tricks. Did you come here to watch me waste away, is that what you did? Need to confirm my bones for your precious woman?" She wasted no time, striking out where she knew it would hurt. Eyes wide as she suddenly lunged forward, stopping stiffly just a foot away from him as she watched. Watched for realization, watched for the bitterness that came with the mention of his precious- Ramona bit her tongue and flexed her fingers. A full show of just how far gone she had traveled. Skin pulled taught over muscle and bone, nails and fingers in the habit of stabbing, clawing, and killing, expression coiled, guarded. Distrusting.

"Well Nine? Well!?"

Subject: Re: Counting Stars~ Wed Nov 27, 2013 12:16 am

"What woman?" He asked in confusion, his eyes narrowing slightly as he stared up at Ramona, studying her stance as she moved away from him. It was almost as if she was frightened... No she was angry at him, this was the only way for her to have a defensive position in these rocks. "Ramona, I have no idea what you're talking about, will you get down from there and talk to me?" He snapped, his eyes flicking across her face before landing on her's staring there, searching for something, some answer that would help him understand exactly what it was she happened to be talking about.

"Ramona, I wouldn't leave you to die anywhere. The last time I saw you was when I dropped you back off at your apartment." He said slowly, trying to get his thoughts across to her as he stared up at her, honestly confused for the first time in his many lives. "What makes you think I'd want to see you die?"

Subject: Re: Counting Stars~ Wed Nov 27, 2013 12:30 am

He doesn't know, doesn't know- didn't know!. Something sharp impaled the roiling storm of her thoughts, a stick of blinding light in the darkness, threatening to boil over until it consume her. Ramona flinched back with a cry and huddled against the ground, her mind pulsing, throbbing with the lack of use concerning mental connections. He was there though, fresh in her mind, probing without realizing it maybe. Still she was hardly in the mental strength to fight back and so she allowed him to rest there, simply locking all of her doors so he could wander helplessly. That she could do.

He couldn't not know, he was lying. Lying! Liar, that's all he did was lie. Abandon and lie. Drag around, abuse and lie. Then abandon, that came later, after the abuse. Her mind raced and she was back on her feet again, this time she rushed to him, throwing herself at him from her perch. Her legs trembled and her joints groaned at the abuse as she caught herself on the ground, and landed enough weight from her lower abdomen onto his own to keep him down. There was a brief scuffle and suddenly she was kneeling with her knees on his arms and using the rest of her weight to pin him down. Ramona came close, she rested her nose against his cheek and brushed across his head and down the other side with her opposite hand. She inhaled long and deep, that smell. That smell that never went away, corn-pipes and book pages, dust and space. Space had a smell, did you know that?

She did the unwise thing and just laid there for the longest time. He had to know. He couldn't not, she could not trust him. The liar. "Doctor, Doctor.. You're so unfair. So long so long I wanted, wanted and could not have. Now I never will. Never, never, never..." Then she was rocking, a gentle motion that sloshed the images around her brain, calm. She was calming, quieting, but not relaxing. She was ready, coiled and waiting for him to make a move. She would be there, she would make him stay, make him stay there. She would make him know. She would. "Do you remember, remember Carios Doctor? Do you remember what you told me? Said: I'll take you through a wormhole one day, said: I won't let him do that, he will not get away with it! Remember?"

Subject: Re: Counting Stars~ Wed Nov 27, 2013 12:38 am

Before he could do anything to stop her, Ramona had launched herself at him and pinned him down to the ground. Briefly, he debated on forcing her off of him, but something made him lay still, something about her mind, the chaotic clouds in her mind made him stay still as she... Explored? Him again, his scent seemed to be important considering how long she sniffed at his dirty neck. Clearing his throat slightly, he twisted his head to the side just enough to catch her out of the corner of his eye, simply watching Ramona for a few minutes as she tried to calm herself.

"I promised you I would take you to a star factory one day..." The Doctor corrected her quietly, his own memory coming forward of the day as he recalled it himself. "When I finally found one safe enough to explore I went to pick you up like usual, but when I got there, your apartment was empty, no sign of you ever having been there..." Flicking his eyes over again, he tried to gain her attention with another low throat-clear before continuing again. "I thought you moved, you were avoiding me..." Trailing off, he looked up at the sky above them, trying to make sense of what was happening. Something had gone wrong, something horrible happened to her and she seemed to be blaming him for it somehow.

Subject: Re: Counting Stars~ Wed Nov 27, 2013 12:48 am

"NO! It was Carios! The grass was gold and the wind made the trees sing. You always said it made you think of home, you were there a lot. Sometimes without me, it made me sad. I wanted.. I just wanted to.. Ugh!" Ramona flinched back but did not move, she removed her face from his and let her skull loll back, rolling stiff shoulders. She could feel it, the inclination to make her move, but his curiosity was greater. His worry permeated from him in waves, concern, fear for her and what had happened. Might have happened. There was truth in his mind, but even one's mind could lie to one's self. There was a madness in hers that took root in a place she could not find, it blossomed in her flourishing grief and fed off of her anger. She knew this, and she still let it happen. She wanted to.

Ramona came back to face him, hazel eyes inquisitive, inquiring, still disbelieving as she inspected him. Watched his face, his eyes, let their minds play a soft battle of memory, imagination, and truth. It was there though, the confusion in his eye that made her confused. Quick like as she was, Ramona leaned down and although hesitating briefly she brought her mouth to his and stole a kiss. Pressing just so, cocking her head the smallest bit before shying back, off of and away from him. Impossible, it was impossible. It wasn't him, wasn't him. Wasn't him. How could it not be him? True confusion clouded the anger in her face and then she was more fearful than angry. Who was this man? "Who are you?"

Subject: Re: Counting Stars~ Wed Nov 27, 2013 12:53 am

Did she just kiss me? Really? First sniffing me and now kissing. Blimey, her and Jack would get along well. Sitting up, the Doctor looked over at Ramona again, a hand brushing off his jacket while holding himself up with the other. "I'm the Doctor. I told you this, and you know it, Ramona. How many times have we traveled together? Where did your mental ability come from?" He said slowly, his eyes turning up from the red dirt on his jumper and over to her face once more, boring into her eyes as he simply sat there. "I was the one that took you to the planet with the glittering trails, I took you to the biggest library in the universe."

Stopping abruptly, he got to his feet and walked over to her, a hand offered out to help her up. "I'm the big-eared idiot that got you into trouble a lot. And I'm the one that showed you a world outside of the one you knew so well." Flashing her one of his signature smiles, he leaned over slightly, hand still held out to her as he did. "I'm the Doctor, and I'm here to make you better, Ramona."

Subject: Re: Counting Stars~ Wed Nov 27, 2013 1:05 am

"No you're not." Ramona stood on her own in but a heartbeat, lashing out and smacking his hand aside. She moved around him, giving him a wide berth. "You are a Doctor, you are a Nine that I might have known once. I can't, I can't handle that." She couldn't. She was crying again and only the drip of hot wetness on her chest alerted her to this. Ramona gasped and wiped viciously at her face, taking the time to push too long strands of white hair from her eyes. He was a man... Who once upon she might have been friends with, and maybe could have been something more. No, that was just her. He never wanted that. He never would have had her, he was too stuck on his Mal to give her any true mind, she was just he wanton fan who had the luck of catching his eye. Of catching his disease.

How could she handle a memory like him? A man who was the same and yet knew nothing of what he had done to her. How he had made her feel, only to regenerate and start the whole process over again. Abandon her, find her again, fresh regenerated and take off from the beginning. Everytime, every form, every new body she loved with a passion she hated. Now, even now she still loved it. Loved it so much she hated it, wanted to make it stop, pulled her hair and cried at night. Even now. This love was the madness that plagued her probably, would she admit it? Of course not. She would run away from him before ever telling him- This Nine anything like that. He would scoff at her and wave it off, spewing some excuse. Or he would get dead serious and try to convince her otherwise, go into full "Bad Doctor" mode. All of his many faces flashed through her mind and Ramona let him see, let him see things she should not.

She made a point of leaving him out of it, for that would hurt the most. No he could see what came later, could see the cruelty of his actions. Leaving her alone after traveling back in time and stopping some alien from destroying the earth for the millionth time. Abandoning her in the 50th century for wherever he went, only to return almost twenty years later in a new body. Twelve, what a memory! Ramona trembled with the thought and purposely with-held certain bits. He didn't need to see those either, those were hers, her special things. Her impossible things. She thought of Carios, thought of him telling her about the wormholes while counting stars- "It hurt I think, I can't remember." What was missing? Something was missing, but what?

Subject: Re: Counting Stars~ Wed Nov 27, 2013 2:28 pm

"Ramona, I never promised you that, another face of mine probably did." The Doctor said slowly, trying to get through to the woman as she fretted back and forth in front of him. It was unnerving to see her in such a state, usually she was calmer, granted she wasn't the calmest in any rough situation, but she at least took it in stride, no, this woman here had been broken after years of rough living, she didn't want him around for some reason.

Frowning, he studied her mind, what she allowed him to see anyhow, faces of his other selves that she had run into flashing across the mental link. His was missing of course, she must be angry. Sighing softly, he brushed against her confusion gently, trying to relieve some of the clouded memories she had there, trying to piece together what she was missing. It wasn't me... You can see in my head it wasn't, please, believe me, Ramona. I have no reason to lie to you. I haven't before, have I? For a moment, he wondered if he should pull her into a hug then slowly make his way back to the TARDIS, try to bring her with, but a look at her eyes told him she wouldn't follow him anywhere anymore, she didn't want him there.

Subject: Re: Counting Stars~ Thu Nov 28, 2013 5:47 pm

There was so much confusion in that familiar face, proud blue eyes creased with dismay and concern, curiosity, and fear. All of that for her? How flattering! Ramona scoffs, stops her pacing and faces him, shrugging back dusty shoulders to reach her full height, which, in comparison to him was measly. Still it made her chest feel just that much lighter and her confusion lift just enough to slam a wall down between their mental links. She was losing herself to the madness, the need to miss him, want him, the hope that perhaps he can fix things. No, he was done fixing things, he had found his purpose in life and not she or anyone else could stand in his way. But here was another he, the he she inadvertantly left behind in her quest for new adventures. Or so she assumed, the memory of being stranded was fuzzy and muddled at best, leaving room for improvement.

Ramona gazed at him with gold eyes, sharp like an earth hawks, lips pursed in a thin line as she gauged what to do next. She had succeeded in bringing his barriers up, putting him on guard to all but her, he was open to her. He wanted to help her, be there for here. No- he was a liar, a cheat, a fake. She spat, scuffling in the dirt for a moment before turning and leaping upward, latching onto an overhang. With acrobatic skill she swung herself up and for a moment felt a thrill of excitement and feline like pride, let's see him do something like that. "Come, it is getting dark and the Tyhran will be hunting. Don't want to get caught by that, come" She would lead him to their encampment, offer him food and shelter, introduce him to her people. Melira would love him, she would ask him hundreds of questions and keep him up at night. She caught herself and gave a firm nudge to such thoughts, he was not staying. Never never. And thus Ramona took off at an easy pace back up the mountain, weaving a comfortable trail for the Doctor to follow, just in case he chose to.

Subject: Re: Counting Stars~ Thu Nov 28, 2013 9:49 pm

"Climbing up a mountain, fantastic." The Doctor mumbled to himself, already beginning to scale the rocks behind her as she moved on ahead. "Tyhran... That means we're in the Decocon Quadrant. How did you end up here? This is... Billions of light years away from Earth, Ramona." He finally stated, lifting his head in time to see her pull another gymnast stunt just above him. Shaking his head in slight amusement, he continued on. Climbing wasn't exactly what he did on a routine basis, but he prided himself at thinking he was rather good at it. Considering some of the things he did in the past, granted those were with different bodies, different weights and heights, but the basic was still there, drilled into his brain from trial and error.

Letting out a loud huff of air, he pulled himself up onto a rather large rock and sat down for a moment, turning to look out at the landscape before realizing his TARDIS was still down there. "Bloody hell." He muttered, leave it to Ramona to get him so wrapped up in something that he'd forget his ship. She always had a knack for distracting him from his own thoughts. Ah well, he could go get it in the morning then find out exactly what was going on... Morning. When did he decide he'd be staying the night?

Subject: Re: Counting Stars~ Thu Nov 28, 2013 10:30 pm

It took a little time, question after occasional question all the way up. "Decocon? Never heard of it." She mumbles upon leaping from one point to another, he has stopped once again and Ramona finds herself exasperated at how slow he was being. The thrilling breath of excitement in her lungs was refreshing and quite unfamiliar, making her mind sludge along with memories that she could not promise were memories at all. She would most like them to be, for they were pleasant and sent unexpected shivers of warmth through her spine. Ramona scowled in response to the unfamiliar stimuli, making a personal effort to ignore and collapse the wanton need slowly rising to the surface. These are precisely the feelings she strove so hard to kill, pull the plug and dump water on the ashes. This irresistible desire to be bigger and better than you were, to make a model of yourself in the hopes of catching his attention. Oh she hated it.

"You're getting slow Nine, too much pie?" A snort rips through the heavy silence and startles Ramona into starting off in an attempt to escape the embarrassment. She only laughed in private, with Milera and Saek, sometimes she let Panni it too but not very often. Thinking of Milera sent her body into over-drive, and Ramona made sure they arrived almost fifteen minutes ahead of schedule. Not that there was a schedule to keep.. "Rami!"

The soft, familiar face of Milera greeted her the moment her foot touched home soil. Ramona broke into the widest grin and embraced the girl so tightly, doing all but remembering the Doctor that followed in her wake. Seeing the young girl always made her mind blossom with butterflies, her heart grow tight with adoration and the desire to keep her safe. "My little Mes-siin, all is well I see, you are so brave.." She kisses the girl upon each peachy cheek and ruffles the pale, auburn locks that drape across her forehead. "I have a gift for you Mes-siin, do keep your manners and don't scare him off?" Speaking about him brought her focus back and Ramona whirled around to face him, grabbing unconsciously at the blue flap of fabric that flutters in her peripheral. Suddenly she was nervous, afraid, eyes narrowed and lungs suffocating. What would he think?

Subject: Re: Counting Stars~ Thu Nov 28, 2013 11:02 pm

After finally reaching the top, the Doctor studied the area in surprise. An entire settlement sat on top of this mountain. He says mountain, when he knows it wasn't. Always doing that, him. Before he could say anything however, Ramona grabbed his jumper and pulled him over. "Ah, yes. Hello! I'm the Doctor, nice to meet you." He said cheerfully to the small girl, a wide grin flashing across his face as she looked up at him. Carefully pulling his shirt out of her grip, the Doctor knelt down to the younger girl's height and held out a hand. "What's your name, then?"

Glancing over at Ramona out of the corner of his eye, he watched her as he spoke with the little girl, idly wondering what she was doing here. Not to mention the children that seemed to gather around her, then there was the way she looked at them. Kindness, protective. Mother instinct he'd say, but none of them looked like her. Turning back to the girl, he ruffled her hair lightly. "Nice to meet you."

Subject: Re: Counting Stars~ Thu Nov 28, 2013 11:16 pm

Thank god, he didn't notice. Didn't recognize. He would not have been able to handle it she knew. How did she know? She just did. Ramona bites a lip in distress as Milera pushes into the strangers hand and suddenly lunges out to grab at one of his ears "They're huge! Did you steal them from a Lankah??" Once Milera had made her move Panni came tumbling after. Both children accosted the Doctor as Ramona glanced to the side, Parrish and Sulura stood quietly in the entrance of their home. They looked to Ramona in question before she traveled over to them "Who is that man Ramona," Parrish whispers low. Saek appeared behind the adults and vanished just as fast, natural shyness drawing him back to the confines of familiarity. Ramona was okay with that, she smiled at him from behind his mother and he gave her just a toothy grin back. "An old acquaintance, he has come on a house call. He will stay the night and be gone by morning, noon at the latest.", "What noon?" Snapped Sulura, surprising even herself, "Sorry.", "No, no it's okay Su, it will be fine. He's no danger." The women embraced, both trembling with nerves.

The other adults slowly filed from their homes, only the more soldier like came real close to the strange man, too long in solitude had their nerves and social skills frayed. Indeed they must have looked quite the primal group to him, even as he was molested my multiple children. It was not until Panni decided that she wanted the Doctor to herself that Ramona stepped into action, rushing forward to pull the other girls hands from Milera's hair and separate them. "Come my dears, inside, Milera come." Milera gave a scowl and trotted irritably into the crowd, vanishing from site. Ramona swallowed at the wild trails of auburn hair that followed her, so much familiar- he'd never know.

"Excuse them, they're scared and unused to visitors, but they will not harm you. Sulura-" She gestured to the brown eyed woman to stood near her husband "And Parrish, Panni's parents." Ramona strode over to a tall man, probably around six foot four or more, a mop of mouse brown hair covered his head and ears, blue eyes stared out curiously at the Doctor. "Morro, one of our soldiers, he joined us right before the crash. A good fighter." She introduced each adult that bothered to stay one by one, some of them smiled nervously while others shied back and trailed away. She did not blame them, acting like wild animals, unsure and distrusting. She was the same and she had far more to go off of than them. She led the Doctor to the far end of the encampment, a small climb later and she drew him into a cave that at the back was set up like a humble nook. Leather beds, draping leather curtains, even scaled things, a wood table and chairs from the few trees they had forested. Milera glanced up and broke into a huge smile when the strange man approached "Is he to stay with us?" Ramona smiled small, biting her tongue "Only if he wishes to?" She looks at him pointedly over the shoulder.

Subject: Re: Counting Stars~ Thu Nov 28, 2013 11:26 pm

The Doctor fiddled with his ears the entire time Ramona introduced him and showed him around, smiling at everyone brightly, slightly confused when some broke away and went back into hiding. Tugging on one of the lobes, he frowned in thought before jerking his hand away from his ear. Honestly, they weren't that big, well... A bit bigger than most, but still! Shaking his head slightly, he followed Ramona into the cave and glanced about, his eyes falling on the beds just in front of him. "We'll I've already made the climb up here, haven't I?" He asked brightly, nodding over at the man before glancing sideways at Ramona. "Besides, you already said I would, might be rude not to keep the invitation.

Then again, most of the time I stay over, that means I've been locked in a dungeon somewhere. This doesn't make me a prisoner does it? If so, lock me up and throw away the key, I say!" He added, vaguely realizing he was babbling, he trailed off and settled for looking around the small cavern idly, inspecting the living area from where he stood, hands clasped behind his back and rocking back and forth on his feet.

Subject: Re: Counting Stars~ Thu Nov 28, 2013 11:47 pm

It was not long before he went off on his own words, ranting away about some experience in a dungeon, throwing away the key or something. She would do no such thing, not that she could really lock him or anyone anywhere in this place. She strode slowly over to the girl, grasping the childs long, thick hair and weaving her fingers through it. The familiar sensation of hair on her skin made her heartbeat slow and her breathing less frantic. He could not harm them here, she would kill him before he had the chance. Strike both of his hearts- ramona instinctively ran a hand down Milera's shoulder and traveled her hand over both sides of the girls chest. Milera looked at her in brief curiosity before turning back to eyeing the Doctor and the thread she wove in her hands. For a young boy Ramona knew no doubt, making the woman give a secretive smile before finally focusing on the Doctor.

He looked the same, no changes, no differences except for maybe being a little more travel weary. Not that it was too surprising. Ramona gave a deep sigh and glanced down at Milera with half-lidded eyes, "How long has it been?" She starts. "How long has it been for you, since I left."

Subject: Re: Counting Stars~ Thu Nov 28, 2013 11:52 pm

"Hm? Ah... About..." The Doctor paused, thinking quietly to himself before looking over at her with a slightly pained expression flashing across his eyes only to vanish seconds later. "One hundred earth years to me." Trailing off, he took a slight step towards her, a hand lifting up to her face before dropping back down to his side again. "I thought you had died, Ramona." He said in a quiet voice, eyes searching hers deeply as he spoke. "I thought something had happened while I was away, something I couldn't be there to stop. I couldn't even find your brother to ask about you. He vanished too."

Letting out a deep sigh, he stepped backwards until he fell into one of the chairs sitting at the table, his face burying itself into his hands as he sat there. "I didn't know what to think anymore. I haven't... Mal is gone. Robin is... She's gone. Sonya never comes around. I've been alone for the most part. A person here, a person there. They never stay long, too dangerous, too busy, they miss their lives and I don't blame them." Looking up finally, the Doctor locked his blue eyes onto her face again, searching out the familiar details there. "But here you are... Standing there and as alive as ever."

Subject: Re: Counting Stars~ Fri Nov 29, 2013 12:08 am

She had not been expecting that. The sudden onslaught of misery and sadness to strike his face, change his voice and evacuate the cheerful demeanor he'd just upheld. All of that time in her presence and he had waited until now, when they were... sort of alone to break. Ramona wanted nothing more than to throw herself on him, throw her arms around him and cry about how much she missed him. Wanted him, wanted to help him. Wanted to show him that he was in fact loved. But she didn't. She stood there as he struggled not to touch her, then sat and told his tale, groaned through the excruciating loneliness he suffered from. Mal was gone? Robin? Images of the young girl raced through her mind and Ramona had to hold in a gasp. She had never even thought about Robin dying, passing on, growing old even. It just wasn't a thing in her world. Mal, mention of the woman of his dreams only hardened the sudden slip of grief in her composure. She had no feelings for her other than an intense loathing and thus she kept it well hidden. 'You should show him, show him how much you hated her and are glad she's dead. He'll hate you for it, hate you.' "Here I am indeed, you must be so disappointed."

Ramona paced a few steps from Milera but never dropped her hair, it really was quite long- mayhap in need of a cutting. "Tell me, tell me your questions Nine." Gold eyes the color of molten sun turned upon him, "Ask me those burning thoughts, those blazing questions. Ask me."

Subject: Re: Counting Stars~ Fri Nov 29, 2013 12:13 am

"Why would I be disappointed to see you alive, Ramona? I'm happy! Your here, your breathing!" The Doctor said suddenly, confusion clouding his face again as he got to his feet, following after her a few steps before stopping again. "How did you get here? How long, how long was I gone?" He finally asked quietly, dreading the answer but knowing full well he needed to hear it. Ramona, clever, brilliant, fantastic Ramona, alone and needing his help without a single sign of his blasted face.

"What happened to you?" He added in the same quiet voice, looking up from the stone floor at her, studying how she stood there, still the same Ramona he knew, just a little more weary than usual. Years of rough living must have done this, years of no help, no sign of him. Silently cursing himself, he took another step closer to her, tempted to pull the girl into a hug only to stop himself, sudden realization at what happened moments ago coming into focus. "Why do you hate, Mal?"

Subject: Re: Counting Stars~ Fri Nov 29, 2013 12:34 am

"That is none of your business!" Ramona shrieked, startling Milera into lunging up from the chair and leaping halfway across the room, surprise on her face at the woman's outburst. "Mo-", Ramona cut her off with a glare and stalked up to the Doctor, chest to his diaphragm and eyes blazing. "I've been here on this planet for 218 years, add the rest of this and it's 310, totally I am 340 years old Nine. Hundreds and I'm all natural human flesh, oooh the mystery, the suspense!" She was livid, furious, angry. All signs of previous attempts at civility gone, she was pure fury, pure hatred. Pure human.

"I don't even know what happened, but I woke up somewhere in the thirtieth century, met a version of you-" She stopped and went wide-eyed. "I saw your next regeneration, fiftieth century, the Elphirith were invading Earth and you saved them and then left me behind before the buildings had finished falling. I was there for twenty years. Had a stint with the Time Agency and took a manipulator before a certain person went a bit crazy and decided it would be fun to exploit an entire civilazation of their resources." Ramona halted, took a breath, deep though hardly calming. She jerked away from the Doctor and faced the wall, coming close to the cold stone and letting red fingers trace the bitter earth. "You caught me in the time flux... I would have died if you didn't. I saw your face for the next twenty years as your companion. Lived in the TARDIS with you, went everywhere.." Ramona scraped at the tears that had begun falling. "And then you caught a snippet of time- and left me again." This time she choked on the emotion that gagged her, slipping quietly into a crouch and huddling in on herself.

She could sense Milera's grief and concern, worry permeated from the girl in waves. "I used the manipulator but it malfunctioned, broke. Landed me here in the sixtieth century, nothing but peace and hub-bub really until U.N.I.T went nuts in the South. Took over, I almost died twice in the war. Found these guys when it was over and we ran, ran for our lives. Everyone wants us dead, we haven't had contact with the stations in years, they're probably gone too." Ramona heaved and drew blood on her arms, digging her nails so deep. "The galaxy wants us dead Nine. The human race is a parasite, a disease. We're awful really. Damn awful." Milera wanted to move, wanted to comfort her, but with a simple nudge of the mind she kept the girl at bay. She would not have been able to love her now, she would have only struck at her. Chased her away.

» (8) Planets and Counting
» Show Me The Stars
» Dreaming of Stars
» Under the Stars (Ellie/Nova)
» Beyond the Stars (Night & Master)