Journey, Day; Doctor Who; PG13
Sep. 26th, 2007 04:04 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
morgynleriTitle: Journey
Previous Parts: Night, Moon, Sun
Day
Take me with you on this journey
Where the boundaries of time are now tossed
The city around them wakes with the soft patter of children's feet as they head for the temple school, and the more measured tread of women going to the fountains for water. The sun is barely above the horizon, a deep red ball slowly climbing into the sky, casting long shadows that merge with the ones that hide the being he's been talking to.
He thinks he may, perhaps, have figured out part of the riddle, but not all of it. The being still lets out frustrated sighs and strangled noises that shouldn't come from a humanoid throat. Not that he can tell what the being is, the shadows unbroken by the light of day.
"You see more than most, but you don't see everything. All at a distance, but never beside you, behind you."
"Something new now." The Doctor ran a hand over his hair before crossing his arms. "Alone together I can understand, you're talking about my companions, aren't you?"
"You hear but don't listen. See, but don't look. To understand you have to listen, to look." A hiss of frustration. "The inside-out box, sun inside the box painted like the sky. Past is future is present is past. Inside-out, upside-down, twisted around."
"Time isn't linear." The Doctor blinked, frowning. "You don't have the words for what you're seeing."
A trill of amusement comes from the being. "Past is present is future is past, you listened!"
"Time, and what?" The Doctor is frustrated. The box, that has to be the TARDIS, but why describe it as inside-out? "The TARDIS has her insides all inside."
"Inside-out, outside-in, present-future-past fire that burns inside-out, shadows make the light. Change and the same, all alone together, afraid of the light that burns inside-out." A clack of its jaw, or perhaps a beak. "Listen-remember, memories are forgotten and not yet. Listen-understand, past is future is present is past."
"Something that will happen." The Doctor sighs, crossing his arms over his chest once more as he looks at the shadow-clad creature. "It's a riddle because you don't have the words, and I'm not going to figure it out until it happens, is that it?"
"Listens-remembers, alone always, all of us together. Memories are, are not, not yet." It brings clawed hands up to wrap around its head. "Burning, its burning inside-out, no new face to show underneath, it all burns away. You must listen, must remember, must understand. I cannot stay, the shadows make the light, and the light burns, and the inside-out box sings."
In cathedrals of the forest
In the words of the tongues now lost
Sister looks up when a shadow darkens the doorway, a clack of her jaw drawing Brother's attention as well. The man studies them for a moment before stepping inside, his shoulders hunching forward beneath the leather jacket he wore.
"Heard there's a Seer here." He sounds indifferent, though under it, there's a tension in his voice, and Sister's crest rises with the first stirrings of fear.
"You heard wrong," she tells him, keeping between him and her brothers. "There is only an old man and his children." The familiar words taste strangely foul in her mouth, as if the lie is harder to tell now that he is fading away.
"Can't be old." The man frowns. "Might not be a seer, but he sees more than he should be able to." His eyes flicker towards the room she and Brother are protecting.
"Why then do you ask for a Seer?"
"Can't ask for a ghost." A hint of irritation in his voice gives the tension underneath the bland exterior a chance to show through.
"He's not dead yet." Brother's voice is strained behind her.
"Dying."
Sister hisses, drawing the man's attention back towards her. "You ask for one who is dying, and tell us nothing of why."
"Thought I'd take him to what he keeps seeing. Part of it, anyway." The man shrugs.
"He will not wake up, only die. What use is taking him from his home, his family?" Sister fluffs her feathers with another warning hiss.
The man stays silent for a moment, the tension vibrating through the room and its occupants until he speaks again, his voice quieter now.
"He'll rest quiet there."
"Where?"
"Doesn't he ever say anything to you?" the man snaps, glaring at her, lashing out from the pain she can almost see beneath the question.
"The world that never was." Brother repeats the words the Seer has used night after night, caught in the grip of his curse.
Sister shivers, her feathers slicking down against her skin.
Next Part: Home
Previous Parts: Night, Moon, Sun
Take me with you on this journey
Where the boundaries of time are now tossed
The city around them wakes with the soft patter of children's feet as they head for the temple school, and the more measured tread of women going to the fountains for water. The sun is barely above the horizon, a deep red ball slowly climbing into the sky, casting long shadows that merge with the ones that hide the being he's been talking to.
He thinks he may, perhaps, have figured out part of the riddle, but not all of it. The being still lets out frustrated sighs and strangled noises that shouldn't come from a humanoid throat. Not that he can tell what the being is, the shadows unbroken by the light of day.
"You see more than most, but you don't see everything. All at a distance, but never beside you, behind you."
"Something new now." The Doctor ran a hand over his hair before crossing his arms. "Alone together I can understand, you're talking about my companions, aren't you?"
"You hear but don't listen. See, but don't look. To understand you have to listen, to look." A hiss of frustration. "The inside-out box, sun inside the box painted like the sky. Past is future is present is past. Inside-out, upside-down, twisted around."
"Time isn't linear." The Doctor blinked, frowning. "You don't have the words for what you're seeing."
A trill of amusement comes from the being. "Past is present is future is past, you listened!"
"Time, and what?" The Doctor is frustrated. The box, that has to be the TARDIS, but why describe it as inside-out? "The TARDIS has her insides all inside."
"Inside-out, outside-in, present-future-past fire that burns inside-out, shadows make the light. Change and the same, all alone together, afraid of the light that burns inside-out." A clack of its jaw, or perhaps a beak. "Listen-remember, memories are forgotten and not yet. Listen-understand, past is future is present is past."
"Something that will happen." The Doctor sighs, crossing his arms over his chest once more as he looks at the shadow-clad creature. "It's a riddle because you don't have the words, and I'm not going to figure it out until it happens, is that it?"
"Listens-remembers, alone always, all of us together. Memories are, are not, not yet." It brings clawed hands up to wrap around its head. "Burning, its burning inside-out, no new face to show underneath, it all burns away. You must listen, must remember, must understand. I cannot stay, the shadows make the light, and the light burns, and the inside-out box sings."
In the words of the tongues now lost
Sister looks up when a shadow darkens the doorway, a clack of her jaw drawing Brother's attention as well. The man studies them for a moment before stepping inside, his shoulders hunching forward beneath the leather jacket he wore.
"Heard there's a Seer here." He sounds indifferent, though under it, there's a tension in his voice, and Sister's crest rises with the first stirrings of fear.
"You heard wrong," she tells him, keeping between him and her brothers. "There is only an old man and his children." The familiar words taste strangely foul in her mouth, as if the lie is harder to tell now that he is fading away.
"Can't be old." The man frowns. "Might not be a seer, but he sees more than he should be able to." His eyes flicker towards the room she and Brother are protecting.
"Why then do you ask for a Seer?"
"Can't ask for a ghost." A hint of irritation in his voice gives the tension underneath the bland exterior a chance to show through.
"He's not dead yet." Brother's voice is strained behind her.
"Dying."
Sister hisses, drawing the man's attention back towards her. "You ask for one who is dying, and tell us nothing of why."
"Thought I'd take him to what he keeps seeing. Part of it, anyway." The man shrugs.
"He will not wake up, only die. What use is taking him from his home, his family?" Sister fluffs her feathers with another warning hiss.
The man stays silent for a moment, the tension vibrating through the room and its occupants until he speaks again, his voice quieter now.
"He'll rest quiet there."
"Where?"
"Doesn't he ever say anything to you?" the man snaps, glaring at her, lashing out from the pain she can almost see beneath the question.
"The world that never was." Brother repeats the words the Seer has used night after night, caught in the grip of his curse.
Sister shivers, her feathers slicking down against her skin.
Next Part: Home