He paused.
‘As for the rest, well…I’ll explain later.’
‘You truly are mad,’ Vastra scoffed.
‘Yes I am,’ he replied, his hurt look quickly replaced by a wide grin. ‘A mad man in a box, that’s me. And don’t you ever forget that!’ He turned to the TARDIS, slid a key into the look and opened the door. It swung inward quietly, golden light pouring out from within.
‘After you, Mademoiselle Vastra.’
She cocked her head to the side, her eyes narrowing slightly behind her mask. Still, she stepped forward into the golden light, into the TARDIS. The Doctor quickly stepped in behind her, closing and latching the door behind him.
Vastra stood, her head whipping from side to side as she tried to grasp what she saw. Outside, the ship…this TARDIS, the Doctor called it…seemed no bigger than her arms outstretched. The ship opened up immensely inside the door, far larger within than without. Hallways led off in numerous directions, while a short stair led to a raised platform. The Doctor bounded up the stairs, spinning and pressing buttons and flipping levers at a circular console that dominated the centre of the chamber. A tall clear cylinder rose from the centre of this console, reaching the high vaulted ceiling above. The walls themselves seemed to glow, much like the walls of Vastra’s caverns, yet these walls were of some strange burnished metal. Dozens…no…hundreds of strange sounds accosted her ears.
‘This is madness,’ she said as she reached up to take the mask off her face. As she did so, the Doctor came round the opposite side of the console. He looked down at her and smiled.
‘Yes, I know! Isn’t it cool?’
Vastra walked slowly up the stairs to the platform the Doctor was working at. She found a seat and lowered herself upon it, watching him as he danced from side to side.
‘What exactly are you doing, Doctor?’
‘As for the rest, well…I’ll explain later.’
‘You truly are mad,’ Vastra scoffed.
‘Yes I am,’ he replied, his hurt look quickly replaced by a wide grin. ‘A mad man in a box, that’s me. And don’t you ever forget that!’ He turned to the TARDIS, slid a key into the look and opened the door. It swung inward quietly, golden light pouring out from within.
‘After you, Mademoiselle Vastra.’
She cocked her head to the side, her eyes narrowing slightly behind her mask. Still, she stepped forward into the golden light, into the TARDIS. The Doctor quickly stepped in behind her, closing and latching the door behind him.
Vastra stood, her head whipping from side to side as she tried to grasp what she saw. Outside, the ship…this TARDIS, the Doctor called it…seemed no bigger than her arms outstretched. The ship opened up immensely inside the door, far larger within than without. Hallways led off in numerous directions, while a short stair led to a raised platform. The Doctor bounded up the stairs, spinning and pressing buttons and flipping levers at a circular console that dominated the centre of the chamber. A tall clear cylinder rose from the centre of this console, reaching the high vaulted ceiling above. The walls themselves seemed to glow, much like the walls of Vastra’s caverns, yet these walls were of some strange burnished metal. Dozens…no…hundreds of strange sounds accosted her ears.
‘This is madness,’ she said as she reached up to take the mask off her face. As she did so, the Doctor came round the opposite side of the console. He looked down at her and smiled.
‘Yes, I know! Isn’t it cool?’
Vastra walked slowly up the stairs to the platform the Doctor was working at. She found a seat and lowered herself upon it, watching him as he danced from side to side.
‘What exactly are you doing, Doctor?’
The
Doctor looked over at her briefly through the central column. ‘I’m
setting temporal-spatial coordinates, plotting a vector and calculating
acceleration and braking across a four dimensional matrix.’
She looked at him through narrowed eyes. He caught the meaning immediately.
‘In other, far less exciting words…I’m setting a course in time and space to our destination.’
Vastra laughed. ‘You truly are mad if you expect me to believe that this…thing…can move. Not only that, but you expect me to believe that it also moves through time and space?’
The Doctor looked up and smiled. ‘Yep.’
He flipped a large lever forward, and Vastra felt the floor beneath her rumble slightly. Looking up, she saw a strange structure within the central column begin to rise and fall, almost like a pulsing heart. Then the sound came…a strange tearing sound, like thousands of screams in harmony ebbing and fading in pitch and volume.The entire structure shuddered, and she grabbed at the sides of her seat in terror.
She looked at him through narrowed eyes. He caught the meaning immediately.
‘In other, far less exciting words…I’m setting a course in time and space to our destination.’
Vastra laughed. ‘You truly are mad if you expect me to believe that this…thing…can move. Not only that, but you expect me to believe that it also moves through time and space?’
The Doctor looked up and smiled. ‘Yep.’
He flipped a large lever forward, and Vastra felt the floor beneath her rumble slightly. Looking up, she saw a strange structure within the central column begin to rise and fall, almost like a pulsing heart. Then the sound came…a strange tearing sound, like thousands of screams in harmony ebbing and fading in pitch and volume.The entire structure shuddered, and she grabbed at the sides of her seat in terror.
‘Doctor! What’s going on?’
‘We’re going!’ The Doctor yelled in reply, laughing
as he spun and danced around the console, hitting controls as he did
so. ‘Next stop…everywhere!’
Vastra clung to the brass railing that surrounded the console as the ship shuddered to a stop. She glared at the Doctor, oblivious to her obvious discomfort, as he checked readings and flipped dozens more switches that had no obvious visible effect. As he absent-mindedly stroked a polished metal lever and muttered to himself ‘Another perfect landing, hey old girl,’ she found herself wondering if he was truly mad.
~~~
Vastra clung to the brass railing that surrounded the console as the ship shuddered to a stop. She glared at the Doctor, oblivious to her obvious discomfort, as he checked readings and flipped dozens more switches that had no obvious visible effect. As he absent-mindedly stroked a polished metal lever and muttered to himself ‘Another perfect landing, hey old girl,’ she found herself wondering if he was truly mad.
‘We’re here.’
Vastra looked up, her whole world still spinning as she tried to gather her bearings.
‘We’re here? And where exactly is here, Doctor? I fully expect, when you finally let me out of this…this…contraption…’
‘Contraption? Did you hear that, dear? She called you a contraption!’
He paused for a second, the silence filled with the same hums and noises that seemed a constant.
‘Yes, I agree…it was rather rude. But that’s OK…she didn’t know.’
Vastra rolled her eyes at him. ‘You speak as if it were alive!’
The Doctor looked at her incredulously. ‘But she is.’
Vastra shook her head. ‘No matter. As I was
saying…when you finally decide to let me out of here, I fully expect
that I will walk out that door and find myself in the very same field we
left. And when that happens, I will ensure that my sisters are
bothered no longer by the stupid human vermin!’
The Doctor looked at her, aghast. ‘Do you have to
call them vermin, Vastra? I’ve travelled with them for a very long
time, and I can assure you that they’re not vermin. Well, mostly not
vermin…there are a few bad ones in the bunch, sure, but by and large
they’re really lovely people!’
Vastra held her ground, arms crossed. ‘Then why are you not traveling with any now, if you are so close to them?’
‘I was,’ the Doctor smiled. ‘But they got married.
Amy and Rory, lovely kids, them. They’re off on their honeymoon, and I
had things to do, people to see, places to go. I told them I’d catch
them up after a month or so. You know kids these days, always with
the…exploring.’
The Doctor’s face suddenly showed confusion.
‘Anyway, enough about them. Step outside! I think you’ll be pretty surprised!’
Vastra turned with a huff, striding to the door. She
took it in one hand and paused for a moment. Surely this was all some
sort of hallucination, brought on by the hibernation chamber. Surely,
once her synapses were firing properly, all of this would made sense,
and the Doctor…whoever he was…and this strange ship he called a TARDIS,
would all fade like the bad dream they were. Reassured, she opened the
door and…
Found herself in daylight.
In the middle of a pasture.
Surrounded by cattle.
She turned, saw that the TARDIS still stood behind her, and ran back inside.
‘Doctor! Explain this now!’
The Doctor laughed. ‘I told you, didn’t I? A whole
new world out there. Well, not really a new world, since it’s actually
the same world we just left. And not really new either, since by my
guessing…’
He strode past Vastra, still in shock, and stepped
outside. She followed him, struck mute by the experience. He took a
few steps beyond the TRADIS door, enough for Vastra to follow behind
him, and took a deep breath.
‘It should be about 1299, give or take a few years.
And this, Madame Vastra, is Okinawa…or rather, it will be some day.
Right now it’s the Ryūkyū Kingdom, and King Eisō…’
‘Is dead, stranger, and your arrival is most disconcerting in this troubled time.’
The Doctor looked up to see a half dozen armored men,
spears and swords pointed dangerously toward him. He held his hands
up, showing himself to be unarmed. He gently nudged and motioned Vastra
to do the same.
‘My condolences on the passing of your King. He was a
good man. But really, the swords aren’t necessary. My friend and I,
were decided to stop by and visit. Besides, I’m late for my sham shin
lesson, and I know how cross his majesty’s court musician is when I’m
late for a lesson. Last time, he had me carrying buckets of water all
day, and then expected me to do my lesson anyway. Tough man, him...but
one hell of a musician. Why, I heard him do an amazing rearrangement of
Beethoven’s fifth on a sham shin alone. Of course, it hadn’t been
written yet, and I had to tell him not to write any of it down because
that’d really mess things up, but…’
The Doctor looked around and noticed not a one of the armoured men had dropped from their ready stance.
‘And quite a tough crowd, too, it seems.’
The Doctor took a deep breath.
‘Listen, how about you take me and my friend back to
the royal court and I am sure all of this can be worked out. I can
assure you, I do mean you no harm.’
One of the soldiers turned his attention to the
others. Judging by the richer looking armour, he was the leader of this
particular troop.
‘Bring your weapons to rest. He certainly does not
look Mongol. And besides, he’s tamed a dragon. Despite the
inauspicious timing of his arrival, perhaps he brings us a mighty boon.
Taisei should be informed.’
He turned to the Doctor and Vastra.
‘Come with us…friends you may yet be, but you must
understand our caution. Eisō has just died, his son about to ascend to
the throne, and the Mongol threat is never far from any of our minds.
If what you say is true, I am sure you will be recognized in court, and
all will be well.’
He paused.
‘If not, well…even with your dragon, I fear you will find somewhat less hospitality than you seem to expect.’
The unnamed leader took the front and led the
soldiers, the Doctor and Vastra toward a complex of buildings ahead. As
they walked, Vastra leaned over and whispered into the Doctor’s ear.
‘A dragon? What foolishness is this?’
The Doctor smiled. ‘To the Japanese, dragons are
powerful beings indeed. Nearly godlike. They are seen as ancient and
wise…capricious as well, from time to time.’
Vastra chuckled quietly. ‘Perhaps these people are not so foolish after all.’
The Doctor smiled. ‘I thought you might find some happiness in that.'
‘I am not tamed, Doctor, Vastra snapped, her eyes cold and steely. ‘Nor should you ever expect I will be’
The Doctor’s smile didn’t falter. ‘Of course you’re
not…and when we get to court, I am certain that the truth will come
out. But…a word of advice?’
‘Yes, Doctor?’
The Doctor leaned in and whispered into her ear.
‘Whatever you do, don’t let on that you’re really not a dragon. If they
think we’re deceiving them, well…'
‘Yes?’
The Doctor paused. ‘Honour is of great importance to these people. If we dishonour them, they have ways of dishonouring us.’
‘Yes?’
The Doctor paused. ‘Honour is of great importance to these people. If we dishonour them, they have ways of dishonouring us.’
Vastra looked at the sheathed swords and pointed.
‘I should assume those might be the tools with which they show that…dishonour?’
The Doctor nodded.
Vastra raised her head slightly and smiled. I think I should like being a dragon…for a little while, she thought to herself.
~~~
The Doctor expected the royal court to be in chaos, and so it was. Advisors hustled to and fro, planning both King Eisō’s funeral and his son Taisei’s ascension to the throne. All activity came to a halt and voices silenced as The Doctor and Vastra were ushered into the royal hall. As the doors closed behind them, quiet words began to be passed from one to another…about the strange man’s dress and appearance, about the creature who walked with him. Could he or she be a dragon? How was it possible that a human, even one as odd as the man who obediently followed the royal guard, could tame one of the god-creatures themselves and be willingly followed? The people got back to work, as was their duty, but it was obvious little more would be completed until some scraps of information filtered from the hall.
Vastra and the Doctor found themselves flanked, three soldiers to a side, with the more ornately armoured man leading them forward. At the far end of the hall, lit brightly and glowing in shades of red and gold, a pair of ornate chairs rested atop a raised dais. Both were empty, but two men stood to either side. Both were older, long white beards kept impeccably. Deep red skullcaps contrasted with their gleaming white hair.
‘Tell me, Jirō …what is the meaning of this commotion today? You know that preparations continue apiece as decreed by law. We have no time for interruptions…especially interruptions so petty as these. If these are prisoners, they can be escorted to the prison, where they can stay until such time as we can deal with their crimes.’
Jirō bowed. ‘I do know this, sir. But they…he…’
He pointed to the Doctor, who waved his hand and smiled jauntily.
‘He insisted they be brought here, so that they may plead their case personally. He does not appear Mongol, yet he has knowledge of our late King Eisō.’
The elder of the two men stepped down from the dais, walking toward the soldiers. Jirō stepped to one side respectfully, and the other soldiers followed suit, taking several steps back. The elder walked around the Doctor, gazing at him intently.
‘Hmm…I see,’ he muttered, one hand firmly gripping a knotty walking stick, the other stroking his beard in thought. Several moments later he stood before the Doctor, who watched this with quiet amusement. The elder stepped forward and peered up directly into the Doctor’s eyes.
'Mmm hmm,’ he muttered again, causing the Doctor’s smile to widen. He held his walking stick out to one side, and a soldier quickly took it from his grip. With no warning, the elder then reached up and gently pulled and tugged on the Doctor’s face, distorting it in multiple directions. Apparently satisfied, he held his hand out, and the soldier quickly returned the walking stick.
The elder took two steps back, and pounded the base of the stick on the stone floor.
‘You are late, Kyoujyu.’
The Doctor laughed. ‘That’s the trouble with time, old friend. You never seem to have enough of it!’
The second elder looked at the two men in shock. ‘You act as if you know this man, yet we have never seen him here before!’
‘Look at his eyes, you blind fool, and tell me that this is not the same man who visited us when Eisō himself took the throne! You know, as do I, that he travels in his blue shrine, not unlike the gods! And look…this time he brings with him a dragon! How powerful you must have become in order to tame such a beast!’
Vastra’s mouth opened in shock. ‘I am tamed by no man!’
The elder laughed. ‘No, I suppose you are not! And yet you travel with him. Surely you bring honor to him, and he to you, by your presence.’
He bowed.
‘I am Tsugu…Tsugu sensei to your friend, who is, by reckoning, nearly 2 seasons late for his lessons. To you, dear dragon, I am but Tsugu, your humble servant. And you might be?’
The Doctor jumped as Tsugu poked at him with his walking stick with alarming speed. ‘Until you can find it possible to be on time for your appointments, it is Tsugu sensei, or Sensei alone.’ He turned to face Vastra, offering her a small smile.
‘Your friend, of course, is under no such obligation.’
The Doctor caught Vastra smiling out of the corner of his eye.
‘Don’t think I didn’t see that, Vastra.’
She turned to him, feigned shock on her face. ‘My dear, apparently constantly late Doctor…whatever are you implying?’
The Doctor shook his head. Becoming serious, he turned to face the dais and Tsugu. ‘Tsugu sensei, I do apologize for my tardiness, and ask your forgiveness. I know these are trying times, and understand if our presence adds too much difficulty. We can come back another time…’
‘No,’ replied Tsugu quietly. ‘I am certain King Eisō would have wanted you here. He did always enjoy your stories, as…unbelievable as they often were. I am also certain that Taisei would find your presence a welcome one as he takes the throne. It would be fitting that you saw both the father and the son assume their place.’