Life Less Ordinary, Chapter 3
Chapter Title: Portends
Author: stormwolf10
Disclaimer: I do not own any Doctor Who canon characters. The rest are my own creations.
Private Daniel Fisher sat, leaning against one of the small trees lining the riverbank, scribbling furiously on a page in his journal as he watched the buffalo herd off in the distance, leaving a swath of torn up ground behind them. Mother would have loved to have seen this spectacle, he wrote, There are so many of the beasts. I think it is one thing from this place I will never forget.
"Private Fisher! Damn it, boy, you've got kitchen duty!" Sergeant Ackerman shouted, snatching the book from Daniel's hands, "You've got no time to be playing around, do you hear me? The men need to be fed on time, not whenever you feel like it! Now get back to your post before the bacon burns."
The young soldier scrambled to his feet and saluted nervously. "Ah, yes, sir. Sorry, sir," he said and quickly and made a hasty retreat back to the camp.
"You always this absent-minded, Dan?" his friend, Jim, snickered and ducked the rock that was tossed in his direction.
"I was just watching the buffalo run by," Daniel huffed, dropping to his knees by the campfire.
The other young soldier shrugged as he began slicing a large hunk of bread. "Not our job, my friend. We're here to fight any hostile savages we come across, not take in the sights. I'm wonderin' if we'll get the chance soon, seein' as we're camped so close to them."
Private Fisher lifted his head and peered across to the Indian camp down the river from them. "I dunno, they don't look too hostile to me. I don't think they'll cause no trouble."
"Yeah, well..." Jim smirked as he gave the bread a vicious swipe with his knife, "That ain't stopped the United States Army before, has it?"
"That's what I'm afraid of."
============================================
Black Arrow stepped out of his lodge as he heard the camp begin to stir nervously. Women began gathering their children to them, and the warriors were retrieving their weapons. The air was buzzing with worried chatter, and only quieted when Black Arrow raised his hands and called Runs in Thunder to him to explain why everyone was so concerned.
"Some of the women saw a white man and woman approaching the village," Runs in Thunder explained, pointing off into the distance, "There." Where the man was pointing walked a tall, thin man with a yellow-haired woman, dressed in a completely different manner than any other whites Black Arrow had ever encountered.
"I see. Gather two warriors to ride with us to meet them before they reach the village."
Runs in Thunder nodded and turned sharply around, setting about the task he was assigned.
=============================================
"So this meteor shower, yeah? How many meteors are we talkin'?" Rose asked, tucking her hands into the pockets of her leather jacket to protect them from the morning chill.
"Well, there's no completely accurate account, but they say that over the course of the whole shower, hundreds of thousands of meteors were seen."
Rose gaped. "You're kidding," she said, "Back in these days it must have scared them to death."
"Some people, yeah," the Doctor shrugged, then nudged Rose with his shoulder. "Don't look now, but I think we're getting a welcoming party."
Indeed, four men were riding up to them quickly, coming to a halt in front of them. "Who are you?" the elder of the men said, black eyes boring into the Doctor and Rose.
"Ah, my name is...um...John Smith, and this is Rose."
"You're using John Smith?" Rose whispered.
"The closest their language has for 'Doctor' is medicine man, and I figured it would be rather inappropriate and rude to call myself a medicine man," the Doctor replied quietly.
"What are you doing here? Did you come from the soldier camp?" a younger, fierce looking man asked, but the elder, who looked like he was the leader, raised his hand and silenced him.
"I am Black Arrow," he said after the young warrior fell into an irritated silence, "You speak Lakota very well for a white man. Have you visited our people many times?"
"We travel a lot," Rose said.
Black Arrow regarded Rose with honest curiosity, relaxing just a fraction. "You both speak our language. This is good. It is very difficult to talk to many white people because they do not understand our language and we do not understand theirs. Great confusion comes from this."
"I'm sure it does," Rose replied with a nod.
"Why have you come to our camp, John Smith and Rose?"
"Oh, we were just passing through and thought we'd introduce ourselves," the Doctor said.
"You did not come from the soldier camp, then?" The young warrior asked insistently.
"No, not at all!"
The men looked at each other and spoke quietly amongst themselves for a moment. Then, Black Arrow looked to the two of them and nodded. "You are both welcome. Come."
It seemed like the entire village had come out to take a look at the two strangers who had followed the men back into the camp. They all seemed content to keep a wary distance, murmuring to each other in strained, hushed tones. Then, when Black Arrow stood before them, they all fell silent to wait for his word on the matter.
Black Arrow raised his hands and said to the crowd, "John Smith and Rose are welcome here, so there is no need to fear. They do not mean us harm. They will be treated as we treat any who share our fires. Do you understand?" The people nodded, and came forward to greet the two visitors, the worry vanishing from them. The Doctor couldn't help but smile at the unwavering trust and respect they held for their leader. He must be a good man to receive such from them.
===================================================
The day passed like a dream. Once it had been announced that the Doctor and Rose meant them no harm, the entire village treated them almost like family. They spent many hours moving from lodge to lodge, being fed richly and sharing pleasant conversation with the women and children while the men went on a hunt for the buffalo that had passed so close by their camp.
As the sun began to darken to a deeper gold as it dipped toward the horizon, the holy man they came to know as Ten Crows approached them, silently regarding them for a long moment before waving his hand for them to follow him up a hill, away from the camp.
"Is everything alright, Ten Crows? You've looked worried all day," Rose asked him.
The old man remained quiet for a time, lifting his aged eyes to look up into the early evening sky. "I had hoped that you would not come so soon," Ten Crows said suddenly, his eyes still staring far away.
"So soon? What do you mean?" the Doctor asked, his dark brows drawing together in concern.
"Your arrival heralds a time of chaos. I had hoped the vision of your arrival was for a distant future."
It was Rose's turn to look worried. With the life she and the Doctor led, chaos following in their wake was not an unusual concept. "A vision?" she asked, exchanging a glance with the Doctor, "You had a vision that we were coming? I didn't even know we were coming here until we arrived."
"In my vision, I was approached by an Eagle Eyed Man who walked with a she wolf that glowed with golden fire like the sun," Ten Crows replied, and Rose felt her mouth go dry. "It was you, I believe."
"But why would we come to you in a vision?" the Doctor asked, stepping in when Rose fell into an uncomfortable silence, "We haven't come to do any harm."
Ten Crows smiled faintly at the Doctor. "And still, harm chooses to follow you. It is your path to walk, I am afraid."
"Yeah..."
"This is not your doing, John Smith. Your coming does not cause the stars to fall or the chaos to come. That, too, I know from my vision."
"The stars..." the Doctor grinned, feeling a bit of relief, "Oh, the stars won't do any harm to your people. It's simply a meteor shower. Debris from space hitting Earth's atmosphere. They will burn up far before they have a chance to cause any damage."
The old man stared impassively at the Doctor's stream of words. After a moment, he simply said, "We shall see," and made his way back towards the village.
Rose looked up to the Doctor. He said nothing as he stared at the departing form of the holy man, a storm brewing in his large, dark eyes. "Doctor," she said softly, resting a hand on his arm, "You know he's right. It's not your fault. At least we're here to help, if anything does happen."
The Doctor opened his mouth to speak, but stopped short and took her hand with a soft smile, "Yeah. C'mon, let's get back to the camp before we miss the food."
"More food?" she laughed as he tugged her along, "I don't think I could eat any more! Did you get two stomachs in that meta-crisis instead?"
Making a face at her over his shoulder, the Doctor pulled her even closer and wrapped his arm around her shoulders. "Quiet you."
Author: stormwolf10
Disclaimer: I do not own any Doctor Who canon characters. The rest are my own creations.
Private Daniel Fisher sat, leaning against one of the small trees lining the riverbank, scribbling furiously on a page in his journal as he watched the buffalo herd off in the distance, leaving a swath of torn up ground behind them. Mother would have loved to have seen this spectacle, he wrote, There are so many of the beasts. I think it is one thing from this place I will never forget.
"Private Fisher! Damn it, boy, you've got kitchen duty!" Sergeant Ackerman shouted, snatching the book from Daniel's hands, "You've got no time to be playing around, do you hear me? The men need to be fed on time, not whenever you feel like it! Now get back to your post before the bacon burns."
The young soldier scrambled to his feet and saluted nervously. "Ah, yes, sir. Sorry, sir," he said and quickly and made a hasty retreat back to the camp.
"You always this absent-minded, Dan?" his friend, Jim, snickered and ducked the rock that was tossed in his direction.
"I was just watching the buffalo run by," Daniel huffed, dropping to his knees by the campfire.
The other young soldier shrugged as he began slicing a large hunk of bread. "Not our job, my friend. We're here to fight any hostile savages we come across, not take in the sights. I'm wonderin' if we'll get the chance soon, seein' as we're camped so close to them."
Private Fisher lifted his head and peered across to the Indian camp down the river from them. "I dunno, they don't look too hostile to me. I don't think they'll cause no trouble."
"Yeah, well..." Jim smirked as he gave the bread a vicious swipe with his knife, "That ain't stopped the United States Army before, has it?"
"That's what I'm afraid of."
============================================
Black Arrow stepped out of his lodge as he heard the camp begin to stir nervously. Women began gathering their children to them, and the warriors were retrieving their weapons. The air was buzzing with worried chatter, and only quieted when Black Arrow raised his hands and called Runs in Thunder to him to explain why everyone was so concerned.
"Some of the women saw a white man and woman approaching the village," Runs in Thunder explained, pointing off into the distance, "There." Where the man was pointing walked a tall, thin man with a yellow-haired woman, dressed in a completely different manner than any other whites Black Arrow had ever encountered.
"I see. Gather two warriors to ride with us to meet them before they reach the village."
Runs in Thunder nodded and turned sharply around, setting about the task he was assigned.
=============================================
"So this meteor shower, yeah? How many meteors are we talkin'?" Rose asked, tucking her hands into the pockets of her leather jacket to protect them from the morning chill.
"Well, there's no completely accurate account, but they say that over the course of the whole shower, hundreds of thousands of meteors were seen."
Rose gaped. "You're kidding," she said, "Back in these days it must have scared them to death."
"Some people, yeah," the Doctor shrugged, then nudged Rose with his shoulder. "Don't look now, but I think we're getting a welcoming party."
Indeed, four men were riding up to them quickly, coming to a halt in front of them. "Who are you?" the elder of the men said, black eyes boring into the Doctor and Rose.
"Ah, my name is...um...John Smith, and this is Rose."
"You're using John Smith?" Rose whispered.
"The closest their language has for 'Doctor' is medicine man, and I figured it would be rather inappropriate and rude to call myself a medicine man," the Doctor replied quietly.
"What are you doing here? Did you come from the soldier camp?" a younger, fierce looking man asked, but the elder, who looked like he was the leader, raised his hand and silenced him.
"I am Black Arrow," he said after the young warrior fell into an irritated silence, "You speak Lakota very well for a white man. Have you visited our people many times?"
"We travel a lot," Rose said.
Black Arrow regarded Rose with honest curiosity, relaxing just a fraction. "You both speak our language. This is good. It is very difficult to talk to many white people because they do not understand our language and we do not understand theirs. Great confusion comes from this."
"I'm sure it does," Rose replied with a nod.
"Why have you come to our camp, John Smith and Rose?"
"Oh, we were just passing through and thought we'd introduce ourselves," the Doctor said.
"You did not come from the soldier camp, then?" The young warrior asked insistently.
"No, not at all!"
The men looked at each other and spoke quietly amongst themselves for a moment. Then, Black Arrow looked to the two of them and nodded. "You are both welcome. Come."
It seemed like the entire village had come out to take a look at the two strangers who had followed the men back into the camp. They all seemed content to keep a wary distance, murmuring to each other in strained, hushed tones. Then, when Black Arrow stood before them, they all fell silent to wait for his word on the matter.
Black Arrow raised his hands and said to the crowd, "John Smith and Rose are welcome here, so there is no need to fear. They do not mean us harm. They will be treated as we treat any who share our fires. Do you understand?" The people nodded, and came forward to greet the two visitors, the worry vanishing from them. The Doctor couldn't help but smile at the unwavering trust and respect they held for their leader. He must be a good man to receive such from them.
===================================================
The day passed like a dream. Once it had been announced that the Doctor and Rose meant them no harm, the entire village treated them almost like family. They spent many hours moving from lodge to lodge, being fed richly and sharing pleasant conversation with the women and children while the men went on a hunt for the buffalo that had passed so close by their camp.
As the sun began to darken to a deeper gold as it dipped toward the horizon, the holy man they came to know as Ten Crows approached them, silently regarding them for a long moment before waving his hand for them to follow him up a hill, away from the camp.
"Is everything alright, Ten Crows? You've looked worried all day," Rose asked him.
The old man remained quiet for a time, lifting his aged eyes to look up into the early evening sky. "I had hoped that you would not come so soon," Ten Crows said suddenly, his eyes still staring far away.
"So soon? What do you mean?" the Doctor asked, his dark brows drawing together in concern.
"Your arrival heralds a time of chaos. I had hoped the vision of your arrival was for a distant future."
It was Rose's turn to look worried. With the life she and the Doctor led, chaos following in their wake was not an unusual concept. "A vision?" she asked, exchanging a glance with the Doctor, "You had a vision that we were coming? I didn't even know we were coming here until we arrived."
"In my vision, I was approached by an Eagle Eyed Man who walked with a she wolf that glowed with golden fire like the sun," Ten Crows replied, and Rose felt her mouth go dry. "It was you, I believe."
"But why would we come to you in a vision?" the Doctor asked, stepping in when Rose fell into an uncomfortable silence, "We haven't come to do any harm."
Ten Crows smiled faintly at the Doctor. "And still, harm chooses to follow you. It is your path to walk, I am afraid."
"Yeah..."
"This is not your doing, John Smith. Your coming does not cause the stars to fall or the chaos to come. That, too, I know from my vision."
"The stars..." the Doctor grinned, feeling a bit of relief, "Oh, the stars won't do any harm to your people. It's simply a meteor shower. Debris from space hitting Earth's atmosphere. They will burn up far before they have a chance to cause any damage."
The old man stared impassively at the Doctor's stream of words. After a moment, he simply said, "We shall see," and made his way back towards the village.
Rose looked up to the Doctor. He said nothing as he stared at the departing form of the holy man, a storm brewing in his large, dark eyes. "Doctor," she said softly, resting a hand on his arm, "You know he's right. It's not your fault. At least we're here to help, if anything does happen."
The Doctor opened his mouth to speak, but stopped short and took her hand with a soft smile, "Yeah. C'mon, let's get back to the camp before we miss the food."
"More food?" she laughed as he tugged her along, "I don't think I could eat any more! Did you get two stomachs in that meta-crisis instead?"
Making a face at her over his shoulder, the Doctor pulled her even closer and wrapped his arm around her shoulders. "Quiet you."