Soul's Shadow (Doctor Who - SI)

Part XIV (XVI)

They all turned away after some minutes, leaving me standing there on my own, watching sun and dust settle for good. There would be no ghosts tonight.

The little dragon had climbed on my shoulder and was now sleeping peacefully, leaving me with a sense of affection I hadn't experienced in a long time. It was so small, looking as if it were just a toy, but I felt the warmth of its body and saw the faint movement of breathing. Whatever had made it grow, it seemed to be feeling well.

"We don't have many rations," noted Donna. She and the Master were the only two who still had their backpacks. Currently, she was looking through her own supplies. "And we still need to hike all the way back."

"Mhmm... we'll manage. I'm sure of that," assured the Doctor. "Once, I hiked three weeks through the carzethian mountains with nothing but a rope and my wits."

"And all the snacks you hide in your oversized pockets?" mocked the Master. "I bet you have so many in them you could survive two months."

The other man chuckled. "Well... that and I don't need to eat that much anyway."

"Never stopped you."

"Oi!" protested the Doctor, stabbing a finger in the Master's direction. "You're the one with the big appetite. Or do I have to remind you of the aroynego story?"

The Master groaned. "You'll never forget that one. See? That's why we're enemies!"

"Stop fighting, boys," complained Donna. "We have a long way ahead."

The Doctor immediately slithered into a cascade of ideas and snippets of stories and some ramblings that didn't seem to be connected to any of it. I had a suspicion that he needed that to sort his thoughts and find all those ridiculous ideas he always got.

The Master stepped next to me, looking over the broken remains of the city that slowly got swallowed by the entering night. I tried to ignore him, but, of course, he spoke.

"You like this, don't you?" His voice had a curious tone. "All this destruction. It's so beautiful and they just can't see it." He chuckled and nudged me. "But you... you can."

I only let out a grunt. Right now I was in no mood for his theatrics, so I ignored his burning stare whilst Donna interrupted the other Time Lord from his ramblings.

"So, you have no idea at all and we simply have to walk."

"Errr..... Weeeeeell...."

The Master gave me another dark glare, then walked away, interrupting the bickering duo.

"Good thing he's not the only genius here," he drawled, leaning casually against the remains of an overgrown concrete pillar. "In fact, I might go so far as to say, there is currently only one of them present."

"Oh, just spill it," said Donna with an exasperated sigh. "No one needs a big speech right now."

"No one needs ungrateful apes either." He didn't budge an inch, only grinning smug.

"We can always just walk," sighed the Doctor. "I'm not sure I even want to hear your idea, Master."

Neither was I. But I didn't care much about the how. I knew I could get back somehow. I always did. No matter how far away or how lost I am, and even with my bad sense of direction, I always got back.

The question only was... was back the place I wanted to be?

The Master reached inside the pocket of his jacket and produced a wide leather wristband with a device attached to it. "Well, then I just go ahead and wait until you follow."