The Dove After A Raven

The Dove

"Doctor?
Hey uh, Doctor, are you okay?"

She nudges the tall grey man who is lying on the gritty paving, unconscious. The girl crouches beside him, her curls flopping over her face as she rocked his shoulders gently. His suit is torn across an arm where it's blooming blood generously and a metal cuff sits around the cut.
His thick eyebrows furrowed as he growled in awakening.
"Oh, that hurts-" He groaned, trying to lift himself up by his elbows. He winces as his cut flows with even more determination.

The girl kindly pushes the gasping man to the ground again with a reassuring, "Alright, just lie still and let me patch you up".

She's surprised at how calm he as she tightly swathes his wound in an old bandage that she pulls from her pocket. Several other items fall out of her skirt pocket simultaneously but she lets them fall, seemingly not noticing. The man just sits there, breathing heavily. Despite their bright surroundings, It's rather eerie.
As she ties a knot in the fraying material, he finally lets out a croak in an unmistakably Scottish accent.

"What is this? Where am I? Who are you?"
The girl sits back on her knees and meekly places her hands in her lap, letting him shuffle himself up onto his elbows again.

She doesn't answer any of his questions, and looks sadly on at the man.

He turns his wrinkled face towards her, the face she had once seen full of spirit and distinct alien-ness. Which looking back was strange as he donned a human look and human clothes, and most do see him as human. Although, she had always seen the truth in any being, and this was perhaps why that despite his human appearance, he never looked human.

But for once, he does actually look human. His human face and human clothes that she normally saw past, for some reason seems more human than ever. She doesn't know quite why, but he is an alien. So maybe what he's feeling isn't meant to be felt by his kind. Maybe he's feeling something so human, that it's showing.

Oh, what he must be feeling.

His best friend had been killed. That's the terrible thing about humans. How mortal we all are, and how short-lived we must seem to those who live more than one life. And this man had lived eleven before his own.
The sadness that pools in his eyes wasn't like anything she'd seen before. It was almost as if, in losing his best friend, he had lost apart of himself with her.
He looks frail and and shaky, and more than anything he looks confused.
He probably deserves some answers. He looks as if he is furiously trying to patch things together, but his fragile state seems to make it difficult.

The girl pushes herself up from his side, her shins imprinted with the pavement's texture and her hands grubby from patching him up.
She reaches out a hand to him and he tentatively takes it, as if he isn't sure if the girl wants to help him or not. It seemed after the days events, his trust for young women is out the window.

With unrevealed strength she pulls the lanky man from the pavement and he stumbles a little as he finds his balance. He blearily gazes around and he sees he's in a park, with a bright cerulean sky and lush soft grass. Kids are laughing and playing, mothers nursing squeaking babies and fathers order lunch at the local café. Things seem ideal around here, yet the man feels mocked by his surroundings. As if everything's too happy.

The girl straightens her skirt assuredly and flicks her curls absentmindedly, waiting for the man to absorb his surroundings.
"Hey, Doctor." She reaches out to get his attention and touches his arm.
He flinches and stares at her accusingly as if it stung, and she recoils, startled. After a few moments that seemed to last for much longer than a second or two, he releases his sharp gaze on her and looks to the ground. Perhaps a little sheepishly. Maybe he's realised his only way forward is to talk to this girl.
She starts again.
"Doctor, I'm Calluna. I've been sent here with a message."
The Doctor looks confused. "Sent? By who?"
Calluna flicks her hair again as she thinks of a way to put it, her curls springing as she does so.
"Well, without giving too much away, you could say a higher power has."
He looks like he wants to interject again, but she stops him.
"You have much to learn about powers outside the universe, Doctor. But that isn't why I'm here."
The doctor remains silent, it seems he understands the importance of this. The park noises around them fade away into whispers.
"You're currently being transported to another place by Ashildr--Me's cuff. I'm sorry about it splicing you, that can happen sometimes when we interject."
"We? Who's we?" He questions.
She ignores him.
"Please just listen to my message, Doctor. I've just met Clara. She's in a better place now. And I'm saying that quite literally."
"Met her?" He rumbles. "What do you mean you met her? A better place? What's that meant to mean?"

The mysterious brown girl places a hand over his mouth for a moment and gives him a stern look.

"I understand you have trouble believing things you haven't seen but I think you're wiser than that. I think you know there's a being greater than us all out there. And you're scared to believe it incase it's true."

He looks confused. "I don't believe in things like that. You're right. And with good reason."
The doctor wants to continue, but Calluna knows there is little time for that. She continues over him, rendering him silent again.

"You have great things you need to do. You mustn't mourn for too long, Clara says. She says that she's happy and safe in this better place, and she'll be with you wherever you go. And you must go. You must continue. There are things out there you need to correct and change."

The Doctor stays silent this time, and Calluna struggles to read him. He's quiet for many minutes and he's noticed that the park is gone and that they're surrounded by clouds. And soft warm sunlight.

"Are-- Are you an angel?" He finally stutters after she watches him contemplating.

She laughs warmly and its ring seems to freshen his mind. It reminds him of powerful thoughts, like helping people, and not being lonely, and making sure Clara is amended.

Calluna's eyes sparkle and she places a hand gently on his arm. "An angel? Doctor, I thought you said you don't believe in things like that."
For the first time, a small smile appears on his face. His companion may be gone but his ability to smile is still here at least.

Calluna continues. "Why do you suddenly say that, Doctor?"
He thinks for a moment. "I'm not sure. I-- Maybe I do want to think that Clara is somewhere better. Somewhere with a higher power taking care of her, and taking care of her properly, not like my flimsy attempt. Somewhere-- Somewhere where she can cause trouble and have purpose." He pauses to examine his thoughts. "It's all rather peculiar, this." He mumbles. "I've always pushed these thoughts away. Wanting them not to be real... Why, why now do I want them to be real?"

Calluna looks meaningfully at him, and takes his hand, slowly placing it over one of his hearts. As she does so, a warm glowing feeling washes over him, taking him by surprise.

"Because that's hope. You want it, so you hope it. You hope it, so it's real. You may not want to believe it on the outside, but if you search within yourself the fear will leave you and you will find this want to be taken care of. This want to have someone else in charge. And this hope allows you to have that one day. And Clara has that now."

He looks more concerned and baffled than ever. At least, temporarily, he's forgotten he's sad.
He offers one of his confused thoughts. "So you're saying... there's God. And heaven. And Clara's with them. And you're coming from them to tell me that."

Calluna shrugs and smiles. "We all have our different words. But fundamentally you're onto something. You won't really find out until it's your turn, but you're onto something."

The Doctor runs this through his head, but it's all getting too much. Is it true? Is it not true? Is it a trick? She seems genuine? Am I really going to start believing in this? Is it wo--

His thoughts are cut off by another fresh wave of assurance, he stops frowning and see's that the angel girl-person-Calluna is hugging him. It once again fills him with positive thoughts and perhaps even a little joy. He doesn't know her but for some reason he hugs her back. It makes him feel a little happier. He remembers what she claimed Clara said.

"You have great things you need to do. You mustn't mourn for too long."

"Oh!" She breaks away their hug and glances as a peculiar watch that she takes out of her pocket. "It's almost time for you to wake up. I have to go!" The strange, young curly haired girl starts to walk away on the clouds, and the doctor tries to follow her. He wants more answers.

"Then if you're not an angel, what are you?" He asks frantically.

"Call me a dream, perhaps. For I'm certainly not an angel! Maybe a messenger- though I prefer the term bridge." She calls back at him.

"...Bridge...?" The doctor murmurs, confused.
"I'm actually alive-- In the real world. We'll meet again one day in the future, in real life. But right now I'm just a bridge. In a dream."

"Then how do I know this is real?" He yells in desperation.

She's almost gone, her long dark hair flicking in the wind, and her lashes pushed together as she squints and says.

"Because you hope."