The Second Half of the Sky

Chapter 13

Hours sped by like a limping turtle.  Autumn stared hopefully at the sky, patiently waiting for the gods to arrive.

I stared at the Doctor, who paced back and forth.  While contemplating his next action, he paced back and forth.  I envied his freedom.  I wanted nothing more than to stretch my cramping legs.

Autumn eventually tired of gazing at the sky and summoned a pile of straw.  Her fingers were a blur as she wove the straw.  My attention shifted from the Doctor to the forming craft.  I busied myself by guessing what she was making.

I bet that it is something dangerous, I thought.  She's probably making a weapon to use against the gods in case they revolt violently to her blackmail.

I continued pondering the idea for what felt like an hour.  It ended up being a basket with little woven flowers on the side.  She summoned a small mass of corn and placed them within the basket.  She lifted it by the handle, admiring her work.

I wasn't sure how she would use the basket to defeat the gods, but I wasn't going to question her.  When she set it down, she looked up at the sky.  Her eyebrows rose as if she expected to see Zeus waiting to talk to her.

I glanced over at the Doctor to see if he had made any progress in forming a plan.  He was banging his head against a trunk of tree.  Beside him, Leo sat crisscrossed with his hands cover his face.  They looked stumped.

Meanwhile, Autumn's eyes dropped from the sky to the Doctor and her jaw dropped.  She shut her mouth before walking toward him.

"Do you remember me?"

The Doctor stopped banging his head.  He turned to her, his eyes boring into her.  "I never forget anyone," he told her as if offended by her question.

"But, do you remember me?" she questioned.

"I never forget anyone that I meet," he repeated.

She blinked a few times.  "Well, I remember you."  As she walked around him, he stiffened.  Her eyes scanned him as reading his past.  "The time traveler," she breathed in his ear.  She took a step back.  "I look forward to visiting earth.  Every time I do, I hear of the strange man that appears and disappears before appearing fifty years later without aging a day."

The Doctor's eyes looked at her before he turned his head toward her.  He remained silent.

"I have had hundreds of years to put the pieces together.  I know that you aren't mortal, nor are you human," she claimed.  "I know that there are more of you that go by the same name, 'the Doctor.'  I know that you must have a time machine.  I know that you're an alien."  She tilted her head.  "Although, you aren't here to conquer the world.  Either, you're a good guy, or you're smart enough to know not to mess with the gods."

The Doctor took a step away from her.

"Don't be so shy," she smirked.  "I know that you're a good guy.  Good guys always give the bad guys a chance to be good, hm?" She took a slow step closer to him and placed her hand on his shoulder.  "So what do you say?  You bring me to your little machine and get me out here.  Save me from this expansive prison, please?"

The Doctor rose his chin, his eyes remained focused on her.  "Autumn, you're a part of nature.  If you left this place, the seasons would never be able to recover.  You must stay here."

Autumn sweetly smiled.  "I'm sorry, did I sound like I requested something?" she wondered.  "My bad.  It was actually a command."

"You don't have any authority over me."

Autumn tilted her head.  "I didn't tell you?  Right, I figured that you'd be smart enough to figure it out.  For every five minutes that I'm not out of here, that wire that restrains your little friends will get tighter."  She looked over her shoulder at us to see our horrified expressions.  "I wonder if they'll die from strangling or block of blood flow.  Maybe the wire will cut into them and they'll bleed out.  The possibilities are endless."

"Fine!" the Doctor quickly exclaimed.  "Fine, I'll take you to the machine.  Just don't hurt her."

My heart skipped a beat.  For a moment, I thought that he was referring to me.  Then, I realized that he was talking about Jade.  I glanced over at her, questioning what affiliation he had with her.

The Doctor hurriedly ushered her away.  I stared at them as they traveled.

"What's up with you, Leo?" Jade called to the sulking body under the tree.

Leo lifted his head limply.  "I'm useless.  I'm utterly useless.  I'm the only one that isn't tied up and I still feel completely useless."

I nodded, agreeing with him.  He was pretty useless.

"Do you, um..." Jade glanced in the direction that the Doctor and Autumn walked before returning her gaze to him.  "Have any snacks in your tool bag?"

He sat up and dug around.  "I have a mint, do you want it?"

"Yeah," she said.  "Come over here.  Hurry."

He furrowed his eyebrows, but didn't question her.  He took a mint out from his bag and began to unwrap it.  When he held it out for Jade to take, she shook her head.

"No, thanks.  I don't want it," Jade told him.  Before he could respond, she interrupted him.  "Get out a set of strong scissors and cut this wire.

His eyebrows rose and he grabbed his tool belt.  He brought out a pair of sharp scissors before attacking the bale wire.  He cut the space that was between Jade and me.  He struggled to cut it at first, but it eventually gave out.

"What next?" I asked as I stood up, hearing my knees and back pop like popcorn.

Jade rubbed the places on her arms where the wires left marks.  "We fight."