Thorn Bush (Doctor Who Story)

Chapter 43: Demons of the Punjab Part Two

A/N: Part two!!!

Apologies for the wait.

——

Kathy opens her eyes to see that they are once more in the hive. The Doctor stands next to her, the Thijarians opposite. Hologram alien script in the air in the centre.

The Doctor immediately turns to the Thijarians, and demandingly asks, "Why does Kathy insist I listen to you?"

"The Prophet knows what's to come, as do we." Kisar speaks.

"Yeah, like what? What are you doing here?"

Kathy puts a hand on the Doctor's arm, giving a stern look. "Listen."

"We are no longer assassins. We are changed." Almak tells her.

"What? Changed how?"

"Our past is no more. We are no longer Assassins. Now we are Witnesses."

"I don't understand." The Doctor answers, baffled.

"We honour the lost. As we can not honour our own." Kisar responds as both Thijarians raise their arms in worship.

"No, still not with you."

"As the Assassins hunted, the Thijarian world was destroyed. We returned to find nothing." As Almak speaks, a holo-projection displays the images of what is being talked about. They point to the container the Doctor holds. "This is all that remains of our home. Our people. Every ancestor. All one dust."

The Doctor's face drops as she looks down at the container she had stolen. "I didn't know. I'm so sorry." She hands it back over.

"Which you would've known if you hadn't been so over-keen." Kathy sternly quips.

Kisar opens the container. They dig their hands in. They look soothed. "They died, unwitnessed, unsaved. We were too late to grieve or honour them."

The container is placed in the centre console. The Thijarians step back, clasping their hands together against their chests. Kathy and the Doctor do the same out of respect.

"But we who returned gave up a hundred generations to sift, to remember the lost dead. The unmourned." Almak continues.

"In time, it was all we knew." Kisar adds.

"And now we travel beyond. Seeking," a new holo-projection with many planets, "the unacknowledged dead across all of Time and space. This is now the Thijarian mission, to bear witness to those alone. To see, to bear pain, honour life as it passes."

"As each one passes we commemorate union."

"It's what Prem saw with Kunal. What we saw with Bhakti." Kathy summarises.

The Doctor nods. "But why here, why now?"

Kisar bows their head. "Millions will perish, unseen, unknown in the days to come, here."

"The casualties of Partition." Kathy adds.

"We read the timewaves."

"But why this family, why this land?" The Doctor questions. And Prem's face is projected. "Prem."

"His time is soon." Kisar tells her.

The Doctor looks gutted. "How soon?"

The Thijarians are silent, heads bowed.

"Tomorrow." Kathy tells her.

"No, no, that's too soon." The Doctor says frantically.

"He will have his wedding but then..." Kathy looks down, mournful.