Indie Doctor Who OC RP Blog. Will RP with anyone and everyone! Please read my rules before starting a thread.
[[Sometimes NSFW; All threads will be labeled.]]
FC: Jennifer Lawrence
Following the Tag: theallseeingtimelord
Current M!A: None
Cassie stared, not quite hearing the Doctor’s words. Suddenly she felt cold, empty even, and as the notion of his departure sunk in Cassie felt something break inside of her. Her emerald eyes flashed to Rassilon, widening as she realised all too well what had happened. “What did you say to him?” Her voice was quiet and even, though it licked at the air like a flame, hot and poisonous. Rassilon didn’t flinch.
“I’ve done nothing at all. He wants to leave, Oracle. It is his own choice.” It didn’t strike her as odd that Rassilon knew who she was, though surely he would not have recognised her after her first regeneration. “The Doctor doesn’t need a babysitter, dear. He doesn’t belong here. Not like you belong.” He folded his arms behind his back and began to turn away, to lead the Doctor away, from her. Cassie could not fathom the idea that the Doctor would leave her of his own free will, and without thinking she reached out and took Rassilon by the arm, spinning him around to face her, the force of the sudden movement catching him off guard. With a resounding smack! her hand made contact with his cheek and Rassilon nearly fell to the ground, eyes wide with shock.
“You have done enough meddling in my life, Rassilon.” Her voice had lost all sense of control and her hands were shaking. “You took me away from everything I knew and banished all traces of familiarity and normality from my existence. You trained me to believe that Time Lords were the highest beings in all of creation, but now I can see that we are not worthy of such a title. You tore apart my family, and you have haunted my dreams since the day I left this Gods forsaken planet. You stole away my entire life, and I will not let you take him from me as well.” Rassilon stood at his full height now and he brushed the Doctor aside before taking Cassie by the elbow, his face reddening with rage as he closed the space between them, the hint of a bruise forming on his cheekbone only darkened his already black eyes. Cassie flinched away from the heat of his breath on her cheeks but otherwise showed no signs of fear.
“I think it would be wise for you, Astrozeta, to shut your pretty little mouth.” He spoke quietly so her name, her true name (or her true first name rather), would not be heard.
“So you think you can use that against me? Tell them who I am, Rassilon. Ruin the reputation of a woman that doesn’t exist on this planet. I do not fear you. I am nothing more than a story to these people because of you and I will not let you control me.” She pulled her arm away and went to the Doctor’s side, clasping his fingers tightly in hers as she stared Rassilon down with an intensity that burned holes into his skin. “This man is a million times more compassionate and courageous than you could ever hope to be. He shows love and empathy to every being in this Universe, and finds beauty in the darkest and ugliest places. Your name is little more than a dark mark on the face of Gallifrey and you have tainted what it means to be a Child of Time. You have shamed and disgraced these people and this planet and you alone are the reason for its destruction, not the Doctor. You will never match him in my mind, Rassilon, and you can be assured I will never follow you again. I was wrong to let you deceive me so long ago, and I promise with my dying breath that you will never do so again.” She shut her mouth then, breathless and waiting, her fingers tight around the Doctor’s.
The Doctor looked down at his hand, joined with Cassie’s, in utter disbelief. He met her gaze, his own eyes overflowing with emotion that demanded to be felt. “You…you really want me to stay?” he asked, his voice soft, completely uncertain. As much as it terrified him, he began to let himself hope that maybe, just maybe, Rassilon had been wrong. “Because…” he looked away, unable to watch Cassie’s reaction to his next words. “Because I would stay…for you…”
“Well, isn’t this touching,” Rassilon scoffed, rubbing a hand against the red welt that Cassie had left on his check. “You see, Oracle, what you and your precious Doctor have never been able to understand is that compassion and empathy,” he spat the words, revulsion clear in his voice, “they’re weaknesses. He was never able to make the right kind of sacrifices, your Doctor. Never willing to cross the lines that needed to be crossed.” He gave an exaggerated sigh. “I had hoped that, with time, you would be able to do what he couldn’t, but you’ve disappointed me as well. Neither of you were ever willing to walk all the way into the darkness. That’s why you’ll never know true power!”
He raised one hand, muttering a series of unfamiliar words. He finished by screaming, “ALLOQUOR! TIME ENDER! I SUMMON THEE!” A wave of black light surrounded his hand, and then he directed it at the Doctor. It tore through the Doctor’s hearts like cannon-fire, sending him flying several feet back, where he landed hard against the pavement. the wind knocked out of him.
He was dimly aware of Cassie standing over him. As he felt the breath returning to his lungs, he grabbed her hand and whispered. “Please…please don’t make me go,” he begged as delirium began to creep over him. It was painful to speak, but he had to say it. “I love it here, with you. Please! Please, don’t make me!”
He felt it, the moment the shadow took over him. Cassie’s image began to shift before his eyes, and he could feel his hearts beginning to harden, his emotions being chipped away. “I love you, Cassie,” he whispered, thinking these might be the last three seconds under his own control, so he’d better make them count.
Then his hearts surrendered to the shadow entirely, and the figure before his eyes transformed. No longer was the woman he loved standing before him. She had been replaced…by none other than Cassius himself. A part of him knew this was all an illlusion, that Cassius was far away, where he could never hurt them again, and that it was still the Oracle, still his Cassie, standing before him. But he couldn’t seem to make the rest of his mind believe it.
Against his own will, he lunged towards Cassius, throwing him to the ground, a low growl escaping his throat. “What did you do to her?” he demanded. “What did you do?” In the back of his mind, he heard Cassie screaming, struggling against him, and he heard Rassilon’s laughter, but none of it seemed to move him. Not anymore.
Cassie’s expression softened and for a moment everything seemed to freeze in place. Rassilon and Gallifrey faded into the background and Cassie could only see the Doctor, her Doctor, standing beside her. “Always.” She replied in soft Gallifreyan. “I will always want you.” Cass gave the Doctor’s hand a gentle squeeze before Rassilon’s deep throaty laugh brought her back to reality and she couldn’t help but cringe at the sound.
Cassie glared as Rassilon spoke and before she could even think to reply the whole world seemed to fall apart around her. There was a glint of shadow in the God’s eyes, and his lips were moving with a prayer that she recalled to be forbidden, locked away from all eyes so very long ago. Then the Doctor was flying through the air, landing with a gasp against the pavement.
In that instant Rassilon ceased to exist and Cassie ran to her bowtied man, dropping the book her mother had given her before kneeling down beside him. “Please…please don’t make me go,” the Doctor’s words cut through her like a knife and she could do little more than stare at him with wide eyes. “I love it here, with you. Please! Please, don’t make me!” Cassie’s hands fluttered to the Doctor’s head, checking for any sign of damage.
“Shh, it’s okay. I’m here. No one is making you go anywhere.” She turned to face Rassilon, pulling herself to her feet. “What did you do to him?!” Cassie hissed. The God only laughed darkly in return. She spun back around to look at her Doctor, helpless as she was, only to catch his final words.
“I love you, Cassie.”
“Doctor please, no!” But it was too late. He was already gone, swallowed up by the darkness that Rassilon has summoned. There was a flash of tweed accompanied by a low growl and Cassie was suddenly laying on her back, pinned beneath the Doctor. She screamed and kicked and struggled against him, but it was hopeless. When did he get so strong? The Doctor was in her face, his words ripping her apart with their sharp edges, the heat from his breath burning every inch of skin it touched.
“Doctor, stop, please! It hurts!” She tried to kick him off as Rassilon watched, laughing, but it felt hopeless. He was too much for her.
Then the world twisted around them and the city streets of Gallifrey disappeared- Rassilon disappeared- and Cassie was suddenly drowning as a rush of water filled her nose and mouth. It was raining.
A dark figure stood where Rassilon was only moments ago, a figure that was much too familiar, and now he was laughing a deep throaty laugh as the Doctor lifted Cassie’s shoulders and smashed her into the pavement. She cried out and then whimpered pathetically. “Please…” She screamed as the Doctor’s fingers curled into her still-fresh snake-bite, tears mixing in with the raindrops as they shattered on her cheeks. Thunder echoed and the ominous grey clouds were lit up by a flash of lighting, the white light casting shadows on the streets of what could only be an abandoned corner of London.
Cassie felt as a rush of blood found its way up her throat. Something was broken in her chest, and if the Doctor didn’t let up soon she would certainly die there beneath him. “You would love that, wouldn’t you?” She addressed Cassius, allowing her body to fall limp as she stared into the void of the Doctor’s impossibly blue eyes. “For him to kill me. To live with that guilt for the rest of his lives.” Cassius had stopped laughing, because now he could see that Cassie knew that he was Rassilon in that fake Gallifrey, that he was Alloquor inside of her Doctor, and that he had been the one hurting her all along.
“You’re wrong, you know.” Her voice was quiet, eyes still locked with the Doctor’s. “Compassion and empathy are more powerful than you will ever be, Alloquor.” Then she lifted her head with every last ounce of strength she could muster, and she kissed the Doctor.
So… This turned up on Facebook
I’m not surprised.
Cassie ran her fingers over the spines of the books on the display outside the shop, her heartbeats thundering in her ears. She forced her muscles to lock in place to keep from jumping forward and throwing herself at the woman watching her so very curiously only a few feet away. She pulled a book from the shelf, a copy of Gallifrey’s Greatest, and thumbed through the pages, feigning interest.
“History fan, eh?” The woman’s voice was piercing though it was softer than a dewy summer breeze. Cassie looked up at the sound, slightly alarmed, though her face quickly softened and she smiled. It felt easier now, knowing that this woman would not recognise her… she didn’t recognise her. Part of Cassie was upset by this, some bit of her had hoped that her own mother would know her face, her eyes, her smile. It hurt, more than she would admit, that the woman she had looked up to her entire life, the one who popped into her mind at the darkest of moments, thought her a stranger. But perhaps that was for the best.
“Hmm? Oh yes.” She met the woman’s gaze with surprising ease.
“My daughter is the same way. This book is her favourite. Perhaps you’ll find it equally enjoyable.” Cassie’s hearts dropped as the woman pulled an all-too-familiar book from the shelf. It was a black leather bound book, not too big or too small, with gold lettering (Circular Gallifreyan, of course.) which read “Among the Stars.” Cassie set down the book in her hands and took this one with a gentleness that would have suggested it was made of glass. She opened it carefully, and flipped through the pages slowly, careful to read every single word.
Familiar images of every species of alien in the known Universe leaped off the page, the colours of each portrait vivid and bright. These were followed by landscapes of their home planets, various animals that lived there, and then a long list of facts about the majour cities, moons, suns and populations of each world. Cassie shut the book and smiled. “You’re daughter must be quite the enthusiast.” She murmured, meeting the woman’s gaze.
Cassie watched as the woman’s soft brunette curls bobbed against her shoulders, a familiar smile touching the gentle curve of her lips. The gesture reached her eyes then, lighting the chocolate spheres with a gentle kindness that Cassie remembered only too well. Everything about her was familiar, welcoming, and soft. “Oh yes. She’s got quite an imagination. I always say she’ll end up writing her name across the stars.” Even her voice was warm, and a memory jumped into Cassie’s mind. A small child, sitting at the woman’s feet, watching her talk animatedly for hours on end, begging for more stories of far away places and people.
Cassie realised she had been staring a bit too long and she cleared her throat. “Erm, how much?”
The woman laughed. “It’s yours.” Cassie’s eyes flashed to her face, fearing she had been found out, only to realise the woman was gifting the book to her as a kindness. She smiled, a real smile this time.
“Are you sure?”
“Never been more certain of anything in all my lives.” That sentence hurt, familiar as the air she was breathing. It was her mother’s favourite answer to nearly every question. Cassie curtsied, book clutched to her chest, and then watched, a bit startled, as a small child ran out of the shop, giggling, to cling to her mother’s leg. The woman smiled and set a hand in her daughter’s hair. “Speak of the devil. This is my daughter, Zeta. Zeta this lady is going to buy your star book.” She smiled at Cassie and the child did the same.
“Are you an adventurer?” Zeta’s eyes were wide, excited. Cassie couldn’t help but chuckle, unknowingly offering herself a bit of hope.
“The best there is in all of the Universe. I’ve seen it all. I’ve been to nearly every planet in every galaxy in the Universe.” The child stared with wonder, and then Cassie remembered who she was and her smile faded. She returned her gaze to Zeta’s mother, her mother. “I’m afraid I must be going. Thank you for the book.” Cassie bowed quickly, and then she was gone.
Cass made her way back to the top of the street, looking for the Doctor. She realised that she had been ignoring him, forcing him out of her head until now, and that must have given him the wrong idea after what they had been through. He couldn’t have gone too far, after all she was only gone a moment… and then she froze in place when she found him there, speaking with a tall man whose face struck anger and fear into her hearts.
Ever so slowly, it must have been years by the time she got there, Cassie made her way to the two men. She offered Rassilon a stiff bow before slipping her fingers between the Doctor’s, never breaking eye contact. The action was meant to reaffirm where she stood in this battle, though perhaps mostly it ended up being for her own comfort. She needed to be reassured, and perhaps she was trying to reassure the Doctor as well. Cassie was not oblivious to the tears in his eyes, the hot anger flashing in her stomach at the thought of Rassilon causing her Doctor pain, and her expression hardened further to match the tone of her voice. “Hello.”
“You…you want me to leave?” the Doctor stammered, looking at Rassilon, completely crushed. He’d trusted him, once. Looked up to him, just as all young Gallifreyans did. Rassilon had made the Time Lords what they were, given them power beyond imagination, and opened up time and space to them. A part of the Doctor still held the man in awe, and to hear Rassilon tell him to leave when he’d only just found his home again…
“There’s no place for you here, Doctor. Not anymore.” Rassilon replied. “But that’s no reason to deprive Cassie of her place, of the life she was meant to have, here on Gallifrey. To deprive her of her second chance.”
The Doctor hung his head, tears stinging his eyes. He was right. Of course he was right. Whatever anyone might say about Rassilon, he was clever, and he had a tendency to see things that others couldn’t…or didn’t want to…see. “Even if I wanted to leave…” he began tentatively, “how would I do that? The portal we travelled through is gone now.” He gestured to the open air behind him, where the portal had once been.
“Oh, I can help you with that. Who do you think built the portals in the first place?” Rassilon replied, eagerly working his advantage. He saw the Doctor frown. “I know what you’re thinking,” he said, his voice eerily soothing. “She’ll be upset at first, but she won’t miss you for long. She’ll be happy. At last. Back with her family, her friends. Back where she belongs.”
And where do I belong? The Doctor thought to himself.
It was at about this point that he noticed Cassie coming up the road. He felt all the more conflicted when Cassie walked up and took his hand, standing beside him protectively. His hearts began to race. He’d made up his mind. It was the right decision…wasn’t it? But how would he tell her? He couldn’t decide which would be worse. If he told her, and she reacted explosively, begging him not to go, screaming at him for abandoning her…or if he told her…and she didn’t react at all.
He turned to her as Rassilon looked on, his victorious expression not visible to the Doctor while his back was turned. “Cassie…” the Doctor began. “Rassilon…he’s going to help me leave Gallifrey. I’m…I wanted to…” He couldn’t meet her eyes. He quickly kissed her on the cheek and muttered, “Goodbye…and thank you…for everything…” before walking to stand before Rassilon. “What do I do?” he asked, wiping his eyes with the back of his hand. “How do I get back?”
Cassie stared, not quite hearing the Doctor’s words. Suddenly she felt cold, empty even, and as the notion of his departure sunk in Cassie felt something break inside of her. Her emerald eyes flashed to Rassilon, widening as she realised all too well what had happened. “What did you say to him?” Her voice was quiet and even, though it licked at the air like a flame, hot and poisonous. Rassilon didn’t flinch.
“I’ve done nothing at all. He wants to leave, Oracle. It is his own choice.” It didn’t strike her as odd that Rassilon knew who she was, though surely he would not have recognised her after her first regeneration. “The Doctor doesn’t need a babysitter, dear. He doesn’t belong here. Not like you belong.” He folded his arms behind his back and began to turn away, to lead the Doctor away, from her. Cassie could not fathom the idea that the Doctor would leave her of his own free will, and without thinking she reached out and took Rassilon by the arm, spinning him around to face her, the force of the sudden movement catching him off guard. With a resounding smack! her hand made contact with his cheek and Rassilon nearly fell to the ground, eyes wide with shock.
“You have done enough meddling in my life, Rassilon.” Her voice had lost all sense of control and her hands were shaking. “You took me away from everything I knew and banished all traces of familiarity and normality from my existence. You trained me to believe that Time Lords were the highest beings in all of creation, but now I can see that we are not worthy of such a title. You tore apart my family, and you have haunted my dreams since the day I left this Gods forsaken planet. You stole away my entire life, and I will not let you take him from me as well.” Rassilon stood at his full height now and he brushed the Doctor aside before taking Cassie by the elbow, his face reddening with rage as he closed the space between them, the hint of a bruise forming on his cheekbone only darkened his already black eyes. Cassie flinched away from the heat of his breath on her cheeks but otherwise showed no signs of fear.
“I think it would be wise for you, Astrozeta, to shut your pretty little mouth.” He spoke quietly so her name, her true name (or her true first name rather), would not be heard.
“So you think you can use that against me? Tell them who I am, Rassilon. Ruin the reputation of a woman that doesn’t exist on this planet. I do not fear you. I am nothing more than a story to these people because of you and I will not let you control me.” She pulled her arm away and went to the Doctor’s side, clasping his fingers tightly in hers as she stared Rassilon down with an intensity that burned holes into his skin. “This man is a million times more compassionate and courageous than you could ever hope to be. He shows love and empathy to every being in this Universe, and finds beauty in the darkest and ugliest places. Your name is little more than a dark mark on the face of Gallifrey and you have tainted what it means to be a Child of Time. You have shamed and disgraced these people and this planet and you alone are the reason for its destruction, not the Doctor. You will never match him in my mind, Rassilon, and you can be assured I will never follow you again. I was wrong to let you deceive me so long ago, and I promise with my dying breath that you will never do so again.” She shut her mouth then, breathless and waiting, her fingers tight around the Doctor’s.
I’m going to Disneyland :3
Leaving tomorrow morning.
I’ll do replies tonight before I leave.
Much love!
-Mel
This place was too familiar, too realistic. Cassie shook her head, gazing around the landscape with a mixture of fear and disbelief. The musky smell of damp Earth fresh after rain permeated the air here, and the setting suns lit the surrounding forests on fire. “Oh he is good.” She spun around only to be met by more silver-leaved trees. The door that brought them here had all but vanished. Cassie turned around again and shut her eyes, shaking her head. “This can’t be real. This is a trick.” She opened her eyes again and her hearts sank when the rolling orange hills didn’t disappear. “How is he doing this?”
She couldn’t look at the Doctor, she couldn’t even acknowledge his presence. There were too many thoughts spinning around her head and she couldn’t afford to let herself think about him. He loves me. He said that he has feelings for me. Cassie shut her eyes again and groaned, sinking into the all-too familiar grass. The texture, the smell, the way the ground felt beneath her knees, it was all real, and she couldn’t handle that. Do not cry, Cassie. Do not let him see you cry.
With more willpower than she had ever mustered in all of her thousand years, the Oracle rose to her feet and she began a steady stride towards the distant city. The Capital loomed over them like an unwelcome God and it was all Cassie could do to not turn and run into the trees. If there was a way out of here, it was there, with her family, with Rassilon, and with every aching, tortured memory she had of her long-dead home. “It’s all a dream.” She told herself softly. “They can’t see you or touch you or hurt you if it’s only a dream.” Cassie didn’t believe a single word.
It wasn’t long before the muffled roar of excited Gallifreyan reached her ears, and the familiar sounds and smells of the market streets suddenly were met by a visual image, one that Cassie remembered more vividly than she had wanted to. The street was lined with little shops with open doors and people were bustling about with arms full of food-filled sacks. Cassie stopped in the center of the street and stared at one shop in particular, about half way down the road.
The shop had an ornate front, with silver accenting and marble molding worthy of royalty. The sign hanging above the door was painted with golden Circular Gallifreyan which read “Book Shop” and Cassie didn’t dare look away for fear it would disappear. Memories began pouring in, images of old faded books and laughing people and children filling the spaces between every book-filled shelf. Cassie pushed them away hard, swallowing the sob that was creeping up her throat.
There was a women outside, organising books on a display, and Cassie felt her hearts stop as she lifted her head. Their eyes met and Cassie could do little more than stare back at her blankly. The woman offered her a smile, one burned into her memory so long ago, and Cassie realised then that it would be odd not to smile back. So, in a hazy trance, she returned the gesture and walked, one step at a time, to where the woman was standing.
The Doctor recognized the woman at the bookstore immediately. Like Cassie, she seemed to glow from within. And, if that hadn’t been enough of a give away, he would have known her for who she was the second she smiled, because her smile was the perfect duplicate of that same, rare smile that he had treasured through all their trials, that had gotten him through all the dark times they had shared.
Cassie’s mother.
“You’ve cost her that, too, you know. Her family. How much more are you going to make her lose before you let her go?”
He knew that voice, all too well. A chill ran up his spine. “Rassilon.” He turned to his left, and sure enough, the Time Lord was standing right next to him.
All of this…Rassilon…Cassie’s mother… It wasn’t real. It was Cassius’ doing. It had to be. It couldn’t be real.
…Could it?
Against his better judgement, he found himself talking back to the figure. “Cassie told me she understood why I did what I did. She cares about the universe as much as I do. She wouldn’t have wanted to see the Time Lords tear it apart.”
Rassilon smiled viciously. “Ah, but she’s not Cassie. Not here. Here, she’s the Oracle. Well versed in the superiority of the Time Lord race, brought up from infancy to do whatever is necessary to protect her planet and her people…including destroying Gallifrey’s greatest threat.”
The Doctor cringed. “Me.”
Rassilon nodded. “She could have been something spectacular, Doctor. My greatest weapon yet. She could have led the Time Lords into a golden age. Yet another thing you deprived her of. And we’ve only just scratched the surface.”
“The surface of what?” The Doctor demanded. The longer they talked, the more real Rassilon was becoming to him. It was becoming harder and harder to convince himself that all of this was just one of Cassius’ fabrications. He felt exactly the same way he’d always felt when confronted with Rassilon. And, much as he wished that none of it were true…he believed every word the man said.
“Of the life the Oracle could have had…should have had, if it weren’t for you! Don’t you see what you’ve cost her? Don’t you see how much better off she would have been, if she’d never met you? If you’d never existed?”
The Doctor’s face crumpled, his eyes welling up with tears. “I KNOW!” he screamed, the dam around his emotions finally bursting. Within seconds, tears were streaming down his face, and it was nearly impossible for him to speak. “I know that I ruined her life! I know that I failed her! I failed everyone! But I don’t know what to do to make it right!” He whimpered, and looked helplessly up at Rassilon. “What do I do?”
“Leave.” Rassilon replied simply, looking down his nose at the Doctor. “Cassie is back where she belongs. She has a second chance. Leave her here, to have the life she deserves. Leave now, and never come back. You owe her that much.”
Cassie ran her fingers over the spines of the books on the display outside the shop, her heartbeats thundering in her ears. She forced her muscles to lock in place to keep from jumping forward and throwing herself at the woman watching her so very curiously only a few feet away. She pulled a book from the shelf, a copy of Gallifrey’s Greatest, and thumbed through the pages, feigning interest.
“History fan, eh?” The woman’s voice was piercing though it was softer than a dewy summer breeze. Cassie looked up at the sound, slightly alarmed, though her face quickly softened and she smiled. It felt easier now, knowing that this woman would not recognise her… she didn’t recognise her. Part of Cassie was upset by this, some bit of her had hoped that her own mother would know her face, her eyes, her smile. It hurt, more than she would admit, that the woman she had looked up to her entire life, the one who popped into her mind at the darkest of moments, thought her a stranger. But perhaps that was for the best.
“Hmm? Oh yes.” She met the woman’s gaze with surprising ease.
“My daughter is the same way. This book is her favourite. Perhaps you’ll find it equally enjoyable.” Cassie’s hearts dropped as the woman pulled an all-too-familiar book from the shelf. It was a black leather bound book, not too big or too small, with gold lettering (Circular Gallifreyan, of course.) which read “Among the Stars.” Cassie set down the book in her hands and took this one with a gentleness that would have suggested it was made of glass. She opened it carefully, and flipped through the pages slowly, careful to read every single word.
Familiar images of every species of alien in the known Universe leaped off the page, the colours of each portrait vivid and bright. These were followed by landscapes of their home planets, various animals that lived there, and then a long list of facts about the majour cities, moons, suns and populations of each world. Cassie shut the book and smiled. “You’re daughter must be quite the enthusiast.” She murmured, meeting the woman’s gaze.
Cassie watched as the woman’s soft brunette curls bobbed against her shoulders, a familiar smile touching the gentle curve of her lips. The gesture reached her eyes then, lighting the chocolate spheres with a gentle kindness that Cassie remembered only too well. Everything about her was familiar, welcoming, and soft. “Oh yes. She’s got quite an imagination. I always say she’ll end up writing her name across the stars.” Even her voice was warm, and a memory jumped into Cassie’s mind. A small child, sitting at the woman’s feet, watching her talk animatedly for hours on end, begging for more stories of far away places and people.
Cassie realised she had been staring a bit too long and she cleared her throat. “Erm, how much?”
The woman laughed. “It’s yours.” Cassie’s eyes flashed to her face, fearing she had been found out, only to realise the woman was gifting the book to her as a kindness. She smiled, a real smile this time.
“Are you sure?”
“Never been more certain of anything in all my lives.” That sentence hurt, familiar as the air she was breathing. It was her mother’s favourite answer to nearly every question. Cassie curtsied, book clutched to her chest, and then watched, a bit startled, as a small child ran out of the shop, giggling, to cling to her mother’s leg. The woman smiled and set a hand in her daughter’s hair. “Speak of the devil. This is my daughter, Zeta. Zeta this lady is going to buy your star book.” She smiled at Cassie and the child did the same.
“Are you an adventurer?” Zeta’s eyes were wide, excited. Cassie couldn’t help but chuckle, unknowingly offering herself a bit of hope.
“The best there is in all of the Universe. I’ve seen it all. I’ve been to nearly every planet in every galaxy in the Universe.” The child stared with wonder, and then Cassie remembered who she was and her smile faded. She returned her gaze to Zeta’s mother, her mother. “I’m afraid I must be going. Thank you for the book.” Cassie bowed quickly, and then she was gone.
Cass made her way back to the top of the street, looking for the Doctor. She realised that she had been ignoring him, forcing him out of her head until now, and that must have given him the wrong idea after what they had been through. He couldn’t have gone too far, after all she was only gone a moment… and then she froze in place when she found him there, speaking with a tall man whose face struck anger and fear into her hearts.
Ever so slowly, it must have been years by the time she got there, Cassie made her way to the two men. She offered Rassilon a stiff bow before slipping her fingers between the Doctor’s, never breaking eye contact. The action was meant to reaffirm where she stood in this battle, though perhaps mostly it ended up being for her own comfort. She needed to be reassured, and perhaps she was trying to reassure the Doctor as well. Cassie was not oblivious to the tears in his eyes, the hot anger flashing in her stomach at the thought of Rassilon causing her Doctor pain, and her expression hardened further to match the tone of her voice. “Hello.”
It’s okay to not role-play with OC’s
It’s okay to role-play with OC’s
It’s okay to make OOC posts
It’s okay to take a break every once in a while
It’s okay to be lazy
It’s okay to drop threads
It’s okay to start new threads, even if you’re owing someone something
It’s not okay to make someone feel shitty about what they do, what their preferences are, or how long they take to reply.
It’s their hobby, their style, and their rules. Not yours.
YES
We all have that one thread that we anxiously wait for a response…
I would just like to take a moment to shamelessly promote this lovely Doctor. The mun is fantastic, and I must say she is almost certainly my literary soulmate. If you aren’t following then get to it you blasphemous little darlings.
I will ship Bowssie in hell.
[thanks Viva for the gif. I must say it is 100% Bowssie in every way.]
are we gunna have sex or are you going to continue to like my posts
It’s okay. The words were ringing in her ears, and when Cassius scraped his fingernail down her cheek she flinched away. Cassie whimpered softly, her head aching as though it would burst at the seams. The Doctor’s voice echoed around her, and Cassie couldn’t quite grasp what he was saying. How I feel about Cassie. How did he feel about her? No. There was not time for that, not here, not now.
And then, in the midst of the Doctor pouring out his soul, she saw it. There, on Cassius’s hip, was a silver dagger, tucked neatly into a holster on his belt. It was some six inches in length and very, very sharp. Cassie didn’t take time to think. In one quick motion her fingers were curled around the weapon and before Cassius could even begin to process her movement the knife was thrust deep into his side. He cried out and dropped her and Cassie pushed herself away with every last ounce of strength she could find.
The woman jumped to her feet and grabbed the Doctor’s hand just as Cassius lurched forward in an attempt to grab her. She dodged him rather gracefully and pulled the Doctor along behind her. Now they would run. Cassie glanced back just in time to see Cassius pulling the knife from his side, a crimson pool already forming on the fabric of his shirt. He met her eyes for a split second, his own black with rage as a twisted smile curled up the corners of his lips, and then she turned the corner and he was gone.
Cassie dove through the first door she could find, her mind rapidly processing any and all escape routes. She dropped the Doctor’s hand. “There has to be some sort of transport here.” She was thinking allowed, rushing about the room they were in, looking for anything that may be useful. This looked to be one of the main engines for the ship. There were all sorts of lights and sounds that made it harder for her to concentrate, especially with the Doctor’s claims of feelings bouncing about her head. ”He had to have brought us here somehow. Right?” Cassie couldn’t meet the Doctor’s gaze, though she could feel his eyes practically burning into her back.
Then she stopped, so suddenly it was as if the entire world had frozen in place. “There.” In the very back of the room there was a door, perfectly average and wooden, only… it wasn’t attached to anything. It was standing, entirely on its own. Cassie rushed towards it, holding out her hand for the Doctor, the other on the door’s handle. There were footsteps thundering towards them at an alarming rate and Cassie knew Cassius would be there soon, and this time he wasn’t alone.
Then she made a mistake. Just as she had pushed the door open Cassie’s eyes met the Doctor’s, and there was something there that hurt her more than Cassius ever could. She had betrayed the Doctor, hid herself from him, and she could see how broken he truly was in that single glance. Cassie thought back to the day she had met him then, that poor lost man in the rain, and she suddenly wished she would have done the right thing and left him out in the cold. Maybe he would have caught the flu and been done with it. Someone would have found the forgetful old man eventually, and then all of this could have been avoided. If only she would have pretended she wasn’t home.
“I’m sorry.” Cassie pulled him into the open door, and slammed it shut behind her.
The Doctor was shaking, his every last nerve frayed beyond repair.
She’d heard.
He’d thought her too far gone to hear his words to Cassius, but if she’d been strong enough to steal his knife, and drive it into his flesh…she’d certainly been aware enough to hear his confession to her captor. A dangerous confession, for both of them. He knew she could never return his feelings for her, but if she began to pity him…he didn’t think he’d be able to bear it.
He’d come close, so close to breaking, over the past few days, and the one thing that had kept him going was that Cassie was safe, protected by her ignorance of his feelings for her. Now that he didn’t even have that to cling to…it was only a matter of time before he shattered, into thousands of pieces, pieces so small that it would be impossible to find them all and put them back together again.
And now that Cassius knew, he’d be sure to use the Doctor’s feelings for the Oracle against him once he recovered. And there was no doubt at all in the Doctor’s mind that Cassius would recover.
At a loss for what to do…or say, for that matter…he let Cassie lead him away. She may not love him, not in the way that he loved her, but that didn’t seem to stop him from trusting her with the blind faith of a small child. Whether she believed it or not, in spite of any mistakes she had made, Cassie was a good person, the best person the Doctor had ever known, with a caring spirit that was the kindred of his own.
As they walked through the mysterious door, he felt a wave of heat pass through his entire body, and his skin felt as though it were being stretched. This wasn’t a normal door. It was a time portal…but to where?
His eyes widened and his hearts leapt up into his chest the second he raised his eyes up to examine his surroundings. They’d been through a lot together these past few days, and he thought he’d been afraid…but that fear was nothing compared to what he felt now.
The two suns…the massive golden towers…
They were in Gallifrey.
And not just any Gallifrey…the Gallifrey of his and Cassie’s youth.
“Well…this is seven different species of not good…”
This place was too familiar, too realistic. Cassie shook her head, gazing around the landscape with a mixture of fear and disbelief. The musky smell of damp Earth fresh after rain permeated the air here, and the setting suns lit the surrounding forests on fire. “Oh he is good.” She spun around only to be met by more silver-leaved trees. The door that brought them here had all but vanished. Cassie turned around again and shut her eyes, shaking her head. “This can’t be real. This is a trick.” She opened her eyes again and her hearts sank when the rolling orange hills didn’t disappear. “How is he doing this?”
She couldn’t look at the Doctor, she couldn’t even acknowledge his presence. There were too many thoughts spinning around her head and she couldn’t afford to let herself think about him. He loves me. He said that he has feelings for me. Cassie shut her eyes again and groaned, sinking into the all-too familiar grass. The texture, the smell, the way the ground felt beneath her knees, it was all real, and she couldn’t handle that. Do not cry, Cassie. Do not let him see you cry.
With more willpower than she had ever mustered in all of her thousand years, the Oracle rose to her feet and she began a steady stride towards the distant city. The Capital loomed over them like an unwelcome God and it was all Cassie could do to not turn and run into the trees. If there was a way out of here, it was there, with her family, with Rassilon, and with every aching, tortured memory she had of her long-dead home. “It’s all a dream.” She told herself softly. “They can’t see you or touch you or hurt you if it’s only a dream.” Cassie didn’t believe a single word.
It wasn’t long before the muffled roar of excited Gallifreyan reached her ears, and the familiar sounds and smells of the market streets suddenly were met by a visual image, one that Cassie remembered more vividly than she had wanted to. The street was lined with little shops with open doors and people were bustling about with arms full of food-filled sacks. Cassie stopped in the center of the street and stared at one shop in particular, about half way down the road.
The shop had an ornate front, with silver accenting and marble molding worthy of royalty. The sign hanging above the door was painted with golden Circular Gallifreyan which read “Book Shop” and Cassie didn’t dare look away for fear it would disappear. Memories began pouring in, images of old faded books and laughing people and children filling the spaces between every book-filled shelf. Cassie pushed them away hard, swallowing the sob that was creeping up her throat.
There was a women outside, organising books on a display, and Cassie felt her hearts stop as she lifted her head. Their eyes met and Cassie could do little more than stare back at her blankly. The woman offered her a smile, one burned into her memory so long ago, and Cassie realised then that it would be odd not to smile back. So, in a hazy trance, she returned the gesture and walked, one step at a time, to where the woman was standing.
that might have been mine actually.
“Doctor?” Cassie asked sleepily, rubbing the dust from her eyes as she trotted into the console. “Hello?”
