First Nightingale Song | Voice/Action near the Shrine

[storiesofmyown]

[ACTION] For a girl guarding a pair of earrings

[There's a heaviness in her chest that wasn't there when she got out of sanitation. Her fingers still ache and her brain...feels like overpulled taffy. Stiff and flavorless. Her eyelids are too heavy to lift, and all she wants is to go back to sleep for a year.]

No!

[Her own shout forces her lids up and now her heavy chest is pounding like she just outran a pack of Toclafanes and--]

What the bloody hell? [she demands of the space she's sealed into. Like a coffin.] No. No. No!!!

[She cannot die here. She cannot die of pneumonia. She cannot die of whatever the Drast are doing to her. She cannot.

If her life ends here, the world ends with it. She's only half done. The Doctor's waiting for her. Jack is waiting for her. Her family is waiting for her.

So she will not panic and use up her oxygen. She will not wait for the Drast to do whatever they plan to do to her. No.

She feels around with her blistered, bruised, torn fingers and finds--a box? No broken ribs. She exhales hard. No cough.]

Right, then.

[She tries to sit up and finds the coffin opens easily. No one seems to be running her direction with a weapon. It feels...strangely calm and meditative.]

Screw that. [No way she's waiting around for whatever's coming. Ignoring her exhaustion, she gets up and out, then crouches low and looks for a door.]

* * *
[Half an hour later, she's heard the holographic spiel and doesn't believe a word of it. She stares down at the phone in her hand, deeply suspicious. There's no one she can call without alerting the Drast, or the Toclafane, or the Master. A shudder runs through her at the thought maybe that's what's happened. Maybe the Master found her and she's on the Valiant.

Heart pounding again, she slips outside without speaking to anyone. Who can she possibly trust? She's hungry, though. So very very hungry.

Avoiding restaurants and food carts, she looks for a small, hole in the wall convenience mart. Instinct says it's less likely to watched, but even so, she bypasses the first two she finds, watching for a tail. Finding none, she ducks into the third, tries to look inconspicuous while she gathers up the few sad pieces of fruit, a tin of biscuits, water bottles, and first aid for her fingers and split lip.

After paying with the red money, she doctors herself with her back to a building and her eyes on the street. Still no one is paying attention to her, so she takes a risk and heads to a shrine. There, she sits in the grass, watching people and scanning the Network to see what she can learn. Eventually, she begins the voice message below]


[VOICE] For the world
[There is no video feed. No introduction. And although she's unfamiliar with the network, the speaker has done her best to make herself anonymous]

I would like you to listen to me. I know you're afraid, and you have every right to be. But there is still hope. You are not alone. We are not alone.

You may ask who I am to say this. Some may think you know. But my name doesn't matter. There's someone else. The man who sent me out here [wherever here is, it doesn't matter. the story is the same] to spread the word. His name is the Doctor...[She stops, puts her phone away, and starts moving again. She can't risk being here when they come. She'll have to continue the story from another location.]

---
[[ooc: This is both mine and Martha's first open post. Please let me know if I've messed something up! Feel free to find Martha near the shrine, running away from it, or around the city trying to be inconspicuous. If you want to respond to the voice post, please, please do, because this is really important to her! I've left it open whether or not she's been successful at being anonymous, because it's a new network for her. I'm not fussed whether you answer her as anon or otherwise. In general I'm not fussed! I just want to play with you. <3]]

Comments

Voice to Action

[borntolove]

Voice

[The moment Ten hears Martha's voice - he stops in the middle of his work and listens intently. Mostly for clues of when Martha is. But he can be somewhat hopeful, right? That Martha remembers things from before? Such a gamble and Ten knows it. However, as Martha speaks it becomes very apparate right away that she doesn't remember this place or what they had. As much as that might hurt - well - maybe it's for the better. He's not sure.

This also tells him when Martha is - which is a very hard point for her he knows. Without saying a word - though she may hear a few knobs turning and a few familiar clangs. Then the sound of Tardis dematerializing for just a moment - before the sound clicking off]

[Action]

[The Tardis materializes in Genessia; after all, she couldn't have gotten far from the start point already and is running around looking for her]

Re: Voice to Action

[storiesofmyown]

[Voice]

[Through the static, just as Martha's shutting down her phone, she doesn't so much hear as feel a hint of a familiar sound. It cuts through her, sends us sliding through her veins, because it isn't what it sounds like. It can't be.]

[Action]

[That wished-for but impossible sound propels her forward into a sprint. She's beyond exhausted even with feeling she's been asleep far too long, but she's been doing this for six months now. Staying to shadows, finding small or larger clumps of people to try to blend in with. She has to keep moving. It might have been a coincidence, but if it wasn't... if it wasn't then they're using what they know about her to try to trick her.

She scans the skies but there are no Toclafane. She scans around every turn before she takes it, not knowing what she's looking for. On one such pause at a corner, her gaze lands on something... something even more impossible than the sound.

It can't be. It can't.

But oh does she want it to be.

Cautious, she edges around the corner and stays close to the wall, approaching as much in shadow as possible. It has to be a trick, but if it is, it's the cruelest... most well-played... there's only two other people in the universe she wants to see as much at this moment. Her mum. And Jack.]

Action

[borntolove]

[As Ten steps out of The Tardis - he believes his Martha to still be wearing the perception filter. Which means - he's going to have to look carefully and in the shadows.
Ten slowly peers around and looking because if he looks his eyes will work against the perception filter and - stops. Looking straight at her and in soft voice remarks]

It's not a trick Martha Jones.

Voice

[hotheadwarmheart]

Which one? There seem to be several.

Re: Voice

[storiesofmyown]

[The reply startles her, but she supposes it shouldn't. It is a network and it doesn't mean she's been recognized. She sucks in a breath, takes in her surroundings...does she dare?

She does.]

Not a doctor. The Doctor. There is only one.

Re: Voice

[hotheadwarmheart]

Actually there's three guys around here who go by just 'the Doctor': one with spiky hair, one who almost always wears a bow tie, and one who's a bit older and plays guitar. So again, which one?

[faithfulpartner]

[The accent sticks out but its one Martha knows.]

You're among friends too.

Voice

[storiesofmyown]

[The accent sounds Welsh. Difficult to fake. But there's no need for it to be a fake, now, is it? The Master has people working for him the world over.

And if this isn't Earth, it would take no effort at all for the Valiant to transport humans to elsewhere in the galaxy.]

Am I? If you know to say that, you also know I need to be sure.

[The Resistance is unlikely to have made it here, but it isn't impossible.]

Re: Voice

[faithfulpartner]

My longtime partner is now my husband. [Only a handful outside the circle know about Rhys, it makes for a safe option.]

Video

[guitar_hero]

[interesting that she doesn't remember being here before. He's not sure what's going on exactly. Some sort of timey wimey pockety universey shenanigans he's willing to bet. Maybe she was pulled from a different place on her timeline-- or maybe she has amnesia... He knows how that one goes, but either way it's good to see her back.

He is just sitting casually in his office, feet crossed at the ankle on the desk and guitar against his chest. He strums a chord]

She walks in beauty, like the night
Of cloudless climes and starry skies;
And all that’s best of dark and bright
Meet in her aspect and her eyes;

[and he plays her a little tune]

Nice to see you, Martha Jones.

Re: Video

[storiesofmyown]

[She's taken out the smartphone again to begin another message when the screen lights up with a video image. It's no one she's seen before and instinct tells her to shut it down, instantly.

But it's so casual. So...friendly. Instead, she shields the screen against her body until she finds a corner, nondescript.]

Begging your pardon, but who the hell are you?

video

[guitar_hero]

Hmmm. That's a good question.

We met in a hospital on the moon with the Judoon, which I can say properly now, and I used to do a lot of the tongue thing.

Care to take a guess?

[video]

[spacepeterpan]

Ohh, Martha Jones.

[He's rarely one for a voice-only message to someone he likes, when he's got the option--even now when he has such intensely mixed feelings. Thrilled as he is to hear Martha, it's pretty obvious when she must be from, based on what she's saying, and it breaks his hearts a little to think of it. Both the agonizing mission he sent her on, and the idea of running into her still on that mission, as if she were stuck in a time loop. He smiles one of those wry, ambivalent smiles the face she knew rarely could, but the affection's impossible to miss in that mix.]

I know it'll be hard to believe, but you're safe, now.

[He pauses a tick, his eyes rolling upward distracted.]

Well, safe as anywhere, safe-ish, loads better than where you were, if you're talking about me like that, call it safe, are you all right? Not hurt or anything? Let me know if Sandshoes hasn't got 'round to picking you up, yet.

Re: [video]

[storiesofmyown]

[Yet another face appears on her screen, without warning or invitation, and she's begun wondering why she bothered to try to be anonymous in the first place. She can't let it annoy her into carelessness.

At least whoever this is seems to understand that she's not just going to accept the pap she's been fed.]

I suppose you'll be telling me you're the Doctor, now, too. You'll excuse me if I don't wait around for 'Sandshoes' to pick me up, whoever that is. [She sounds peevish, mostly because she's sore, tired, and has no idea where she'll be safe when night falls.]

[Video]

[bigbadrose]

Hullo Martha.

I'm Rose Tyler.

You can relax now. I expect you'll need to hear it from Jack or the Doctor himself, but this plane isn't as dangerous as wherever you were just from. End o' the world, I'm guessin'? He has a bad habit of that.

Re: [Video]

[storiesofmyown]

[It's too ridiculous by now for Martha to even know what to say. Because after all, she's blonde, so she could be Rose. She does look like someone he'd fall in love with.]

Oh bloody hell. If he's there, or Jack's there, put them on or send them out here. I can't go believing you just because you can throw a few names around, can I now?

[It would figure that if somehow she got yanked out of the world and failed to save it, Rose Tyler would be there, bright and beautiful and with someone claiming to be the Doctor. She's so very tired now.]

Tardis; Jack, Gwen, Donna, Jenny, River, 11, 12, Rose, Sarah Jane

[borntolove]

As Martha rests; Ten sends out an IC group text;

Martha has arrived here. Her when is rough. If you'd like to stop over to meet her -

[Current Tardis coordinates]

But wait for another text when she's awake.

For Donna and Jenny Only

Martha is BEFORE she met either of you. Be ready

The outgoing text for everyone to come on over arrives 5 hours after the first group text.

And to meet in the living room.

After all; everyone has a key.

Meanwhile; during that time, The Doctor is sitting in an armchair as Martha sleeps. If she begins to stir he'll climb in and lie on top the covers next to her.

Then will guide Martha to the steampunk designed living room and has tea out and ready for everyone.

Re: Tardis: Martha - OTA

[storiesofmyown]

Martha sits on a two-seat couch with her legs pulled up and a cup of tea cradled in her still-bandaged hands. She's washed up and put herself straight, though her hair's still in dreadlocks at the ends. She already looks a bit less a wreck and a bit more herself, although it's plain she's not been eating or sleeping well for some time.

Despite the warmth she's managed to put back in her eyes, her smile isn't yet the one anyone who knows her would know. It's still kind, maybe kinder than ever, but it isn't bright and brilliant. She's not aware of it, but her posture, her smile, her gaze on the entryways and exits of the room--it's how she looked every night in the plant when she told the workers her stories about the Doctor. She in't the Companion, not now. Now, she's Martha Jones, the woman who walked the earth.

[text]

[spacepeterpan]

I saw

well

you know

heard

Glad you found her, she'll be needing that face of yours to help her come back.

[Back, that is, to a semblance of normalcy--back from the dark, terrible places he sent her, from her mission as apostle and observer, walking forever, running for her life, and trusting no one.]

I'll be standing by.

[Really, he's not 100% sure he deserves to visit, the way he's feeling about it just now... but it would be hard to pass up the invitation anyway.]

Jack Harkness I OTA

[captainspain]

Jack comes out of the garden room when he gets the okay text though he wants to sit by Martha's side anyway asleep or not. He ignored Ten completely as he moved to Martha's side and sat down hands in his lap but slightly to the side in an open invitation that she is welcome to take up if she wants. He smiles warmly.

"Hello there Martha Jones."

Text / 10 Only

[bigbadrose]

[She doesn't want to admit her cowardice, that she HAS to run away, at least for the night.]

[She wants to just disappear, tell herself he won't even notice.]

[Like she said about her Mum and Pete, and that worked so well with her Mum jumping across the Universe with Mickey to find her. Yeah. Or all the other times she said it about the Doctor.]

[And she remembers VERY WELL how upset he was when she didn't tell him anything. The way she wanted to run without a word. Disappointed, hated it, hurt. Most of her fights with Bad Dog were exactly about that.]

[Fine, she'll have to tell him something.]

[Although... "what."]

["Hey, sorry to run so hot and cold. Date, best day we've had since coming here one day, but I'm running away the next. Just being me. HAVE FUN! TA!"]

[Yeah....]

Feel free to take as much time off as you need.

[SHE JUST CHEWS UP HER NAILS. THAT WAS STUPID.]

[Paces around 12's office in circles.]

I'll cover everything out of the TARDIS so you can handle the inside, yeah?

[Better. She told him, the only reason she didn't sleep in Torchwood Tower itself was so he didn't get on her case for working too much.]

[And it's not perfect but... it'll have to do for now.]

[WELL, okay one more things.]

I might have mentioned your collar to her in a moment of weakness. I'm sorry. I'll apologize to her later when I stop wallowing, okay?

[Video]

[captainspain]

[Jack hears the voice and feels his heart swell with a deep sense of pride and love. There is a reason Jack allows this woman a level of intimacy very few get from him and this is it.]

I know your name too Martha Jones.

Re: [Video]

[storiesofmyown]

[Her throat closes up at the sound of that voice, and there's a brief moment in which she allows herself to forget she needs to be cautious. Her mouth curves and her eyes brighten, just enough to say that if it is him, she is impossibly glad that he is here, wherever here is.

It fades, the smile, the brightness, quickly enough, and she forces herself to turn the screen away from her so that she can't be distracted by that lovely, strong face, or that brilliant smile, or by the way she wants to search it for signs of truth, falsehood, more importantly, perhaps, pain.

She does, however, permit her voice to retain the warmth of intimacy. If it is Jack, she wants him to know that she adores him, and she hopes it's a sufficient apology for what she's about to put him through.]

If that is you, Jack Harkness, you ought to know that I have something of yours. What is it?

voice

[waitingforhope]

[Mai paid close attention to the audio feed. Very close. Closer than she normally would, because even from the woman's first words, she could tell this would be something far more meaningful than the typical newcomer's introduction.]

[And she was right.]

[There were no questions. No signs of fear. Only hope. A hope that she wished to spread to anyone she thought might be in the same position as her--taken from her home, brought to a strange land. No explanation. This was a woman who's immediate reaction was to think of others, and it was a sentiment Mai was all too painfully familiar with.]

You're right. We aren't alone here.

But don't think your name doesn't matter, because it does. Especially someone as thoughtless as yourself, with words like that. No matter the world, it can always use more people like you.

Re: voice

[storiesofmyown]

[The unexpected response settles Martha after the upset of two people claiming to be the Doctor and especially the run-in with maybe-Rose. This person who is talking to her doesn't seem to need her stories, but appreciates them anyway. It could be a trap. It would be a very clever one, but there is one thing Martha won't do and that is let her need to stay safe to spread the word keep her from showing kindness to those who may need it.]

It isn't my name that matters, though, is it? [there's a warmth in her voice, and a hint of a smile. An offer, even if she is contradicting the other speaker.] It's the words and the sentiment behind them. If they help you keep hoping, I'm glad.