AN: Not quite the shippy fic I expected to write, but it's sort of there, if you read between the lines. Really more of a friendship story; definitely more about their relationship and dynamic than it is about the actual adventure they're on (although I rather had fun with that bit, too). I've been struggling with this one for a couple of weeks now, so here's to hoping it worked out well. I don't own these characters.

Swish.

The air blew past Nyssa's face as she and Doctor sped across the sandy terrain of Colano Alpha. It was sort of nice, for a change, to be moving via transportation other than the TARDIS. Admittedly, though, it would have been preferable to not be chased by warlords in the meanwhile.

She wrapped her arms more tightly around the Doctor's torso as the hover-cruiser accelerated. The flapping of his frock coat, normally a silly looking accessory, gave her welcome protection against the sand flying from the ground as the two zoomed over it. Nyssa could only hope they could reach the TARDIS soon, or, at the very least, take some semblance of a break, far away from the angry warriors, who, despite being on foot, were remarkably fast. This was, perhaps, one of those oft-known moments wherein Nyssa couldn't help but wonder what life decision had brought her here, and her brain flitted back to the confrontation leading up to this chase.

"Your manners offend the sensitivities of our women," the largest, burliest warlord growled.

This gave the Doctor a moment's pause. "Really?" he asked, his brow folding together. "How so?"

"By your use of that magical fire sled! It reeks of blasphemy. To use it must be a crime insurmountable, and under no circumstances should it be permitted here." The warlord frowned and spat on the ground in front of him. "I am strong. I can withstand your witchcraft. But, to bring it upon the women and children of our colony is unforgivable. Anything not made from earth with hands is a crime against our people."

"Are you referring to that hover-cruiser? Oh, that's from the TARDIS! I guarantee you, no magic involved there." The Doctor shot a characteristic smile, his white teeth quite an odd thing to see when compared to the rotting cavities of the warlords. "It shouldn't offend the sensitivities of any women. Ask Nyssa. She's a woman." He turned his focus to her temporarily, that smile still present upon his face. "Nyssa, does this hover-cruiser affect your sensitivities?"

"Enough!" the warlord cried. "It is against our custom to ask so many questions, tall one." As he spoke, he snapped his fingers, and two rather intimidating guards grabbed the Doctor's arms and held them behind his back. "It is also against our customs to make magic of metals and fire, as you have done."

"Ah, I see," said the Doctor, getting just a tad angry. "I suppose it is also against your customs to save children from sandpit monsters, or would you rather have watched that small boy suffer? That is how you found out about the hover-cruiser, after all."

"Silence!" the warlord screamed. "The only option for such witchcraft can be death, as should be the law of any civilized people?"

"Civilized? Oh, I should think not."

Nyssa would have to remind the Doctor later how fortunate he was that she was there in the first place. For the moment, though, she took the silent route, simply opting to sneak behind the guards holding the Doctor, distracting them just long enough for them to let go. As they did so in confusion, she grabbed her tall friend's hand and made her way to the hover-cruiser which was currently sitting atop an enormous pyre, waiting to be burned. She wrapped her arms around his torso as the two mounted the land vehicle, soon speeding off into the distance as the outraged warlords followed quickly behind them.

Nyssa woke from her reverie with a start. The hover-cruiser jerked slightly to the left as the Doctor lifted his hand off of the steering bars to retrieve the sonic screwdriver from his pocket. Nyssa felt a slight twinge of fear as she saw why; strictly speaking, she rather hoped the sonic screwdriver had been repaired to its full potential after their encounter with the Terileptils, as it was going to take quite a bit of power to keep the vehicle from crashing to some sort of imminent doom if they intended to speed off of that cliff that was directly ahead of them. It was times like these when she often wished that the Doctor didn't have a knack for infuriating the locals; yet, at the same time, she found that these heart-racing misadventures were all too often what made the journeys worth the while. If she genuinely sought safety, she could leave whenever she wanted.

The Doctor leaned over in concentration as he ran the small sonic device along the edge of the running boards, the circular head of the screwdriver blinking and beeping the whole while. Nyssa clung to him tighter still as the hover-cruiser approached the edge, closer and closer, all the more imminent…

And, before she even knew it, her entire body was plummeting. She could feel her stomach rising, mashing a bit against the organs directly above it. Her knees dove inwards, clasping to the open-air vehicle for dear life. She imagined that, if she were holding the Doctor any tighter, he would be quite unable to breathe, respiratory bypass system or no respiratory bypass system.

Perhaps the largest shock yet was when she noticed that they were slowing down. In spite of the still-existent fear of what might otherwise be an inevitable crash, Nyssa racked her brain. Physics didn't work that way. It simply couldn't. Things that fall to an object of great gravity accelerate. It wasn't as though this planet was immune to science, regardless of how daft the warlords were.

"Jump!" the Doctor yelled suddenly. Nyssa quickly looked up, noticing that they were nearly to the ground and gaining speed once more. She grabbed his hand and obliged, landing on the ground some feet away with a soft thud, which, at worst, might leave a few bruises the following morning. This was far better than either she or the Doctor could say for the hover-cruiser, which had accelerated alarmingly, bursting into bits as it smashed into the terrain.

Nyssa brushed her scuffed hands on her pants after she stood back up, looking up at the cliff top above her. At the edge stood the multitudes of warlords who had been following her and the Doctor, happily cheering that the intruders were trapped and that it would be thoroughly unlikely that the two would return. "Oh, drat," she muttered, wondering how, exactly, they would return to the TARDIS.

"I suspect," the Doctor said solemnly, sensing her thoughts, "this will be rather difficult." He removed his floppy hat and fixed his eyebrows together as he looked around the area in front of him. He turned his head a few times before setting off in long strides towards the sunset. Nyssa did her best to keep up.

Every so often, he'd stop, his pale frock coat fluttering from the suddenness. He'd look around, obviously concentrating. Nyssa wished very much to ask how he intended to get them out of this one, but opted to hold her tongue instead.

Hours passed, and the sun set ahead of them. The cliffs running alongside them did not lower in height, and it seemed very likely that they would not for several miles. Nyssa suspected, judging by the number of caves and tunnels poking through all levels of the jagged edge, that a few well-placed explosives might turn the entire side into an easily climbable hill. Of course, they would have no such opportunity, granted that they were armed with nothing but a panama hat and a sonic screwdriver.

Nyssa was thoroughly grateful, however, that many of those caves were ground-level, because it was getting rather late and, she, rather tired. She breathed a sigh of relief when the Doctor turned and ducked into one. It wasn't particularly large, just enough space for the two of them, or, rather, for one to keep watch while the other slept.

As she followed in after him, sleepiness overtook her. Several yawns and attempts at keeping her eyes open later, she was very much asleep.

When she awoke, the Doctor was pacing at the edge of the cave, the white of his cricket jumper glowing slightly in the darkness. His frock coat was covering Nyssa, acting as a blanket. As Nyssa sat up, wiping the sleep from her eyes, the Doctor paused, turning to face her. He was obviously in a better mood, or, at the very least, had temporarily put to rest any plans of escape in a sort of accepted despair.

"Ah, good to see that you're awake." He shot her a sad smile. "We can move on whenever you're ready. I expect we'll have another few miles to walk before we reach any sort of slope to climb."

Much to his surprise, Nyssa shook her head as she made her way to the mouth of the cave. "No. I'll be ready when you've slept some." She leaned her back against the cave wall as he stared at her, his brows knitted tightly together. "Time Lord or not, you do need to sleep at one time or another," she stated matter-of-factly.

"I'll have you know," he began to respond, his eyes drooping, "that I really haven't needed much sleep for a couple of centuries now." He yawned as he sat down next to her. "I have no reason to suspect that should change soon…"

And, with that, the Doctor, too, drifted off into sleep. He seemed so peaceful as she wrapped her arm around him, using his frock coat as a makeshift blanket once more. If Nyssa didn't know better, she would have thought him to be very young, no older than her, by the manner in which he slept. She would have expected a centuries-old Time Lord to be considerably more dignified than he was now, his head leaning against her shoulder and his mouth hanging slightly open. This current body was, without a doubt, more youthful than his last; it ought to have been no surprise to her that he would act accordingly. Still, it was an interesting conundrum, this old man with the face of a young man, this dignified Time Lord with a small line of drool hanging from his mouth. Nyssa stifled a giggle as she turned her face out towards the open plains outside of the cave to keep watch.

The Doctor had woken by the time the sun had risen. He hadn't been lying about not needing much sleep, evidently, but it seemed he had a revitalized spirit, particularly in regards to their current situation. He shot her a much-appreciated smile before getting up, pulling her to her feet after him, and setting off.

As the two tread along the base of the cliff, Nyssa continued to look at the numerous holes in the porous wall of rock. For the most part, it seemed unstable. Enough vibration, and it would save them quite a long walk. Not to mention that a shorter walk lessened the time they had to get caught by warlords.

It seemed that the Doctor was thinking the same thing, as he had rather suddenly stopped and stared at the face of the cliff, fumbling with his pockets as he retrieved the sonic screwdriver. He held the small device directly in front of his face, his arms stiff, and narrowed his eyes. His lips pursed ever so slightly before turning downwards into a frown.

"Is there a problem, Doctor?" Nyssa asked, stifling her excitement. On the off chance that he simply shook his head and kept going, she didn't want to get her hopes up.

Of course, the Doctor's insatiable curiosity kicked in as he ducked his head underneath a particularly low-ceilinged cavern. When he emerged once more, his lips had flicked upwards once more into a grin, the sort of grin that he'd had since she'd first met him. The sort of grin wherein he knew he was onto something, where the little five-year-old boy inside of him nearly overtook his entire personhood. A practically manic grin, which signaled to Nyssa that what he was about to do would either work out for the absolute best or leave the both of them quite dead.

She rather hoped it would be the former.

The Doctor turned to her, his grin fading ever so slightly, as he said, "Now, Nyssa, I'm afraid I'm going to have to ask you to run in just a moment." He stuck his arm in the cave, and a rather unpleasant screech was heard, followed by a deep, enormous rumbling which seemed to come at them from all directions. "Run!"

Nyssa quickly took to this advice and set off as fast as she could from the crumbling cliffs behind her. The sandy terrain was making waves underneath her feet as she and the Doctor coursed over it, making their way as far from the falling wall of rock as they could be, trying their hardest not to trip and get buried in the avalanche of sand and stone behind them, using all their willpower not to slow down or lose their bearings. For Nyssa, at the very least, time seemed to slow down for quite a few seconds, although she imagined the same could not be said for her travelling companion.

As the roar of the cliffs subsided and the wave-like motion of the sand slowed substantially, Nyssa finally turned around, out of breath but glad to be alive. The Doctor, on the other hand, seemed hardly phased by the experience. He simply flashed a silly little smile before adjusting the pale hat atop his mop of flaxen hair and starting back towards that which had once been a rather intimidating cliff.

Where the Doctor had disturbed the cliff side, there was now a slow slope crawling up towards the plane that held both the angry warlords and –hopefully- the TARDIS. Nyssa trekked slowly behind him as the two approached the incline, hoping quietly that the TARDIS would be considerably closer to them than the angry warlords.

It seemed that, for once on this disaster of an adventure, luck was in their favor, as the TARDIS was barely an hour's walk from the top of the climb. Nyssa let out a small sigh of relief as that little blue box appeared on the warlord-free horizon. Perhaps, now, she could give her feet a well-needed rest, from the safety of that tiny time machine.

"Well, I said we'd find a way back, didn't I?" the Doctor said, smiling, as the two walked into those cerulean doors. He flashed a smile by Nyssa as he returned to the white console room which was such a welcome sight. "I just need someone to worry about, that's all, and we'll make it back eventually."

Nyssa simply smile and nodded as her tall beige companion stood behind the main console flipping switches and pushing buttons, searching the galaxy for somewhere just a bit safer. He was right; he did need someone to worry about. However, as Nyssa decided not to remind him at the moment, he also desperately needed someone to worry about him.

For the time being, Nyssa decided, regardless of danger, that someone would have to be her.