Hunting Dreams

Part 3

"Oh shit," Edwin's eyes were wide as he half glared at the girl, cleaning his glasses yet again. "Who calls lawyers for a rescue mission?!"

Nova grimaced. "Calling Yautja Arbitrators 'lawyers' is about the same as calling a banana a plantain. Both are in the same family of fruit, same shape and…" Then she bit her lip and shook her head. "Nope, bad example. Too many similarities." She contemplated finding a different analogy, then she brightened. "It's like calling a stonefish a lionfish." She grinned at the accomplishment. "Both are venomous fish that swim in the ocean, but that is where the similarities end. They don't look remotely alike, and one is waaay more deadly." Then she grimaced as she realized what she had done. Now I really do sound like the Doctor; correcting my own analogy.

"Which is an Arbitrator? A lionfish or a stonefish?" Hanzo asked in his quiet way.

"Stonefish," Nova answered immediately.

Royce's facial expression didn't change as he said, "Stonefish are the most venomous fish known. Why did you call the stonefish?"

Nova tugged on her braid, biting her lip. "My guardian…he's had companions be hurt and taken before. It… It didn't end well. For anyone. I didn't want him to have to become…that again. So, I couldn't call him. When he gets emotional, bad things happen. I wanted to avoid it."

"So, you called for the stonefish," Edwin looked at her with an odd expression. "This implies that you consider your guardian more dangerous than the lawyer."

The redhead nodded slowly. "I told you before: I know dangerous people. I'm not dangerous myself. It's why I think that I was brought here as bait. They knew they couldn't get their hands on him using their normal methods, so they took me, knowing he'd come to them instead."

Stans was staring at her as if she were insane. "If the ones who took us are lionfish, and the lawyers are stonefish, what's your guardian?"

Nova blinked at the question. "Ummm…" she hadn't expected the analogy to go so far. She went through her mental list of ocean life and shook her head. "The only thing I can think of would be the Australian box jellyfish."

"That is?" Stans shot back at her.

Edwin was the one who answered, "The most venomous marine animal currently known."

Nova gave them a helpless shrug. "It's the only thing I can think of that would correlate." It wasn't what she usually did; the Doctor was normally the one giving the analogies. "But, it still doesn't really fit his character. He's not that dangerous."

"You said he was more dangerous than the Hunter-Killer aliens that are tracking us to collect bone trophies," Mombasa said.

"He is…but it's not because of what you're thinking. He doesn't go out looking for people to kill. He gets along with anyone. He's very understanding and compassionate. He doesn't judge others without all the details of the situation."

"Yet, he has killed."

"Yes," she nodded sadly, "he hates himself for it, but he knew there was no other choice. To save many, he killed a few. His nickname is The Oncoming Storm, because he doesn't stop. If they provoke him, then he'll get justice. He's been vindictively wrathful a couple times," she said idly, thinking of the Family of Blood. She shivered at the Time Lord Victorious' scream of rage echoing through her mind. "He's even broken his own rules a time or two, trying to do the right thing but ending up making it worse. Becoming what he had sought to destroy." Then there was the Scary Doctor; the Yet-To-Come Doctor who would destroy everything: the Valeyard. Not if she could help it. The Valeyard hadn't had her. She wouldn't leave the Doctor alone. She wouldn't let the Scary Doctor become anything more than a night terror. "Time can be rewritten," she whispered the prayer.

She looked up at the others, who were staring at her with various shades; from frank disbelief, to vague horror, to a flat affect. "Travelling with him is…wonderful. You'll see things that are so beautiful they'll make you cry. Things that are unbelievable. Things that are amazing and fantastic. I've seen him save entire species over and over. I've seen him stop whole armies just by walking in a room. I've seen him save whole star systems and even the entire universe, once.

"But it can also be terrible. Horrible. I've had children die in my arms. A woman gave her life for me and I could only watch. I've seen him destroy an entire galaxy. I've seen him commit genocide…several times." Tears were flowing down her cheeks as she spoke, her mind full of memories. "It's not who he is…and yet, it is. People focus on the aspects they perceive: the healer or the predator. They never understand that both are the same person, and that becoming a predator kills a piece of him every time, because he's a healer first. Because he never chooses that, he always gives them a chance. They force his hand. He'll have no choice. Kill a few million in order to save billions. Kill a few billion to save the trillions of species left. He's so compassionate, that he'll make the hard choice. The impossible choice. Because he's the only one who can. The only one who will." She took a deep breath. "He's the Doctor… and I couldn't do that to him again. I couldn't force him to make the impossible choice. I won't. Not when I could prevent it." She brushed away her tears as she ran out of words and marched off, back into the trees. She had to get away from them. She needed space.

Stans summed up what they were all thinking, "I don't know whether to think she's the craziest bitch I've ever met…or shit my pants."

+++HUNTING+DREAMS+++

Nova didn't know what to think, but she knew she needed to get away. Needed space. All their questions and paranoia and disbelief. Looking at her as if she were a liar. "I'm not crazy!" she growled as she stomped through the leaves.

Then a sharp 'crack!' and 'snap!' jerked her head to the right, looking for the source. She gulped, realizing that she was now alone. Bad idea. Bad plan. "Isabelle?" she called out. However, at that same time, Stans began to shout about needing a gun and Nova's yell went unheard. She turned back, trying to see.

The forest went SILENT.

Nova spun in place, trying to locate the danger. There was only one reason for a natural area to go noiseless: a predator. The bigger the predator, the worse the hush. For such an absolute stillness, it had to be something huge that even the buzzing and clicking of the insects ceased.

She walked forward as soundless as she could, though it wasn't as quiet as she wished it was the best she could pull off. Given that it wasn't exactly something she practiced, she didn't do a half-bad job. However, half-bad was still audible. Deciding that if she couldn't be silent, she'd be obvious, Nova called out, "Hello?"

There were a bunch of clicks behind her: the distinctive sound of arming guns. Several voices tried to shush her. "Nova, get down!" Isabelle whisper-yelled at her.

Nova took another step forward as shaking branches and snapping twigs told her better the direction of the potential threat. Just because other people are scared of it, doesn't mean it's dangerous, she reminded herself. Other than the Doctor, she had met others who were misunderstood to such extremes. The Ly-San-Ter, the Fyrlings, and the Darastrix came to mind. "Hello?" She steadfastly ignored how those species treated those they considered threats.

"Bitch, shut up!" Stans hissed at her.

Out of the trees came…something. Large. Fast. Powerful. Quadrupedal. Thick muscles: built to run. Bilateral symmetry. Skin mottled green-brown-red: blended into the dead leaves and green grass incredibly well. Backward-facing quills along the spine. At least ten. Forward-facing horns. At least eight. Small eyes sunken into skull. Large nostrils. Very sharp teeth. LOTS of very sharp teeth.

Nova couldn't help herself. She squeaked. Whether from surprise or terror, she wasn't sure. She'd never seen anything like this before, but given what she knew about the yautja, it was the equivalent to an English hunting dog, back when they still did fox hunting. Its job was to track and flush out prey.

Which explained why, when Nova was too startled to run and instead held her ground, the large yautja hound (she didn't have a better name right now) slid to a stop in front of her and growled low in its chest. Pinning her in place.

Around and behind her, the others were yelling. Roaring from the hounds. Explosions of gunfire. A part of her brain acknowledged the "Fuck me" someone vehemently commented.

"Run!" Isabelle bellowed. To whom, Nova wasn't sure, but the redhead knew she didn't have a chance with this one so close to her.

Able to think of no other recourse, not with it less than six feet away, Nova slowly adopted a crouching position. The hound lowered its muzzle and growled. Don't focus on the giant and scary. You've met canines and canine derivatives before. Treat it like meeting any other dog. Nova held out one slightly shaking fist. "Here, boy," she was amazed that her voice didn't quaver. It was low and barely above a whisper, but it didn't stutter. "It's okay. Are you a good boy?" the more she spoke—the longer it didn't attack—the more confidence she obtained. "Yes, you're a good boy. You found me, didn't you? Such a good boy to find me!" The more her voice became cajoling and persuasive, the more the yautja hound's body posture relaxed. "If you come here, I'll give you scritches." It took one hesitant step forward. "I don't see your ears, but I bet you have itchy spots I'll be happy to scratch for you." Another step. "That's a good boy. There we go." Another step and its nose was directly in front of her clenched fist, inhaling deeply to get her scent. "Good boy!" She waited long seconds, keeping up the puppy-talk, until the huge hound stepped forward to nose her arm, then her neck. With her other hand, she reached forward around the face spikes to begin scratching. When it breathed in her hair, she giggled. "That tickles!"

The suddenness of her movement made it jerk back slightly, but it didn't move anything except its head. A moment later, it moved its head back into place and she continued to scratch. "Who's a good boy?" she continued to coo. "You are. Yes, you are." In a great feat of trust, the yautja hound rubbed its snout on her shoulder, scrapping her with its face spikes slightly, but she didn't do more than wince. It wasn't its fault. It probably had never interacted with someone like this before. Yautja weren't exactly known for hugs and cuddles. "There we go! You're such a good b—"

A sharp CRACK pierced the air.

Warm, wet liquid sprayed over Nova's face, chest, and arms.

The hound in her arms collapsed onto its side, unmoving.

Nova's eyes saw, but her mind refused to register the dark-red blood and grey-black brain matter. "Wha—?" She turned to the left where the shot must have originated and saw Isabelle tossing aside her (presumably empty) sniper rifle. Edwin was up a tree behind her. Isabelle began to empty the clip of a small handgun into the yautja hound advancing on her. Then brought the gun to her own temple, willing to kill herself than face a potentially worse death.

A whistle pierced the air and all the hounds froze. The signal came twice more, calling the pets back to their masters.

A pause as the others caught their breath. "Reload. Do it now," Royce ordered. They all obeyed.

Nova looked back down at the animal, dead before her. Her knees stopped holding her and she collapsed backwards onto the leaves, tears began. She didn't know how much time had passed when she felt a hand on her shoulder. "Nova? Are you injured?" Isabelle.

Nova looked up at her, the woman she had thought was the most honorable of the whole group. Her voice cracked as she asked, "Why'd you do that?"

Isabelle went down on one knee. She knew that trauma and shock could mess with someone's head. Especially a civilian. "Are you alright?" she tried again.

"Why'd you kill him?" Nova pleaded, tears rolling down her face.

"He was going to kill you," Isabelle said patiently.

"No he wasn't! He was a good boy. He wasn't hurting me at all. He just wanted scritches!" Nova petting the yautja hound's nose as she cried.

"You crazy bitch," Stans sneered. "It was going to eat you!"

"It was incredibly aggressive," Edwin agreed.

"That wasn't its fault. He was a pet. He was trained that way! It wasn't his fault. You didn't have to kill him. He just wanted scritches." Nova sobbed over the dead animal. "You didn't have to kill him. He was a good boy. He just wanted scritches."

The others stared at the weeping redhead in astonishment. To their eyes, they had just barely survived an attack by killer not-dogs. Yet here was this woman, a civilian, who didn't seem to be hurt at all, crying over what had meant to eat her. Close enough to smell its breath! Close enough that she was covered in a mist of its blood and brains. Still, she sobbed over what she perceived was an unnecessary death. Crying over what had meant to kill her.

Mombasa muttered something that sounded like it could have been a prayer. Hanzo gave a short bow. (Whether in respect of the animal or the girl, he didn't say.) Edwin and Royce stared. Isabelle put one arm around Nova, giving as much comfort as she was able given the circumstances. "I'm sorry," she whispered directly in the redhead's ear, low enough the others couldn't hear.

Stans however, had no qualms saying what was on his disbelieving mind, "You are a crazy bitch."

+++HUNTING+DREAMS+++

Well, this one-shot is turning into multiple chapters. Oh well. I write when I can. Post what I've got. I'm using both memory, imagination, and the 2nd draft of the script to help me write. No beta, all mistakes are mine.

Please tell me what you think, but don't be too harsh. I know it isn't perfect.