Cover
A Christmas Frozen in Time
The warrior raced along the path, pursued by an unseen enemy. He felt like he'd been running for hours on end, chased by someone, some... Thing. He didn't know what in the name of StarClan what the heck it was.
A monster. He turned around to see what it was, just as the creature ripped out his throat.
"Well, honestly, I'm saying he's mad." Growled a black-pawed warrior. "What is he talking about?"
" As I've told you before, it is the day before Christmas; December the Twenty-fourth." The Doctor flipped the door switch down, and the doors to the TARDIS opened on command. "And I should tell you two, it's not greenleaf. It's quite the opposite."
"Of greenleaf?" Asked a gray-and- white she-cat.
"Quite, my dear. Leaf bare, or as I would call it, winter." The Doctor threw on a black cloak, hat, and red scarf. "Come on. It's not cold once you get used to it."
With more energy than the two warriors seemed to have, he skipped out like a happy kit.
The TimeClan camp greeted him, and he smiled slightly. This is home.
He jumped onto the Time Rock and called a Clan meeting; his warriors gathered out before him quicker than what he'd expected. "We are glad to have survived through two leaf bares, and let's hope we can survive a third."
He looked at a snowy white apprentice. " I've been waiting for this time to make one particular apprentice a warrior. Snowypaw, come forward."
The apprentice skipped forward, unable to contain herself. "Firefoot, has she proved herself in her warrior assessment?"
"Of course, Timestar, she has."
"Snowypaw, do you promise to protect and defend your Clan, even at the cost of your life?" The Doctor raised his head as he spoke the words. Snowypaw nodded bluntly. "I do,sir."
"Well then, I call upon my warrior ancestors to give this worthy apprentice her warrior name. Snowypaw, you will now be known as Snowystream. StarClan honors your skill and intelligence, and we welcome you as a new member of TimeClan."
"Snowystream! Snowystream!" The Clan called with words of praise. The Doctor flicked his tail, signaling the end of the meeting, before jumping off Time Rock and heading over to his companions.
"Never heard it like that before." Petalfur said. "Shut up Blackfoot before you say anything cause I swear I will slap you across the face."
" I wasn't going to say anything." Blackfoot protested. "Fish-face." He muttered.
"You two now be quiet. I'm going to Moongem for some honey. My throat feels a bit sore."
That night, as the warriors of TimeClan dozed, the Doctor was sleepless. He'd been coughing the whole night, possibly from yelling at that meeting.
"No. It must be more than that." He muttered under his breath. " Purple Rose, tell me it's not my time yet." He sent a silent prayer to his mate. He began coughing again, and as he caught his breath, he repeated his prayer. "I'm not ready to go."
He trembled. He lifted his head and saw his mother, who'd died so long ago he could barely remember. He felt like a tiny Time Kit again. "I'm scared, mother, but how can I face what's happening?"
"Find it." She whispered.
"Find what?" The Doctor asked, but he was too late. His mother had gone.
The white warrior stood over the body of the cat. A trespasser, and already dead, she realized. Snowystream looked up and over the EmberClan border. She had scented a patrol coming, and led by Emberstar.
"I've been looking for you." He snarled. "Be reasonable, and confess your sins."
Snowystream froze at the powerful words coming from the leader. "I...I...I."
"So I thought." Head back to your pitiful Clan, and confess to my half-brother your sins, or you'll feel these-" he unsheathed his claws. "In your throat."
Snowystream sped away, but she was amazed at the leader's mercy.
A shriek sounded from the forest; the Doctor's head whipped around as the newest warrior sped toward him. "What is it?"
"Emberstar!" Snowystream shrieked. " He accused me of murder!"
Emberstar... The Doctor's thoughts were full of hatred. He knew what those words meant. The Master. Up to no good.
There were mutters around the camp, and most were not happy ones. The Doctor narrowed his eyes as the mutters grew steadily louder, and it grew way too loud for him to bear. "Will you shut up?" he shrieked.
The Clan grew quiet and they all stared at him. "Not even EmberClan's this obnoxious." he cleared his throat before speaking again. "I shall resolve this fairly with the leader. Sparrowfang and Moongem, you shall come with me."
He also nodded at his companions before his deputy and half-sister joined him and they set off for EmberClan.
"Doesn't seem right." Moongem unsheathed her claws. "My brother framing an innocent cat like that. I know I may be a medicine cat who saves cats, but I just want to kill him some days."
No matter how much the Doctor wanted to agree, he couldn't bring himself to do it. "Nothing's right with him."
"What started all this?"
The Doctor couldn't bring himself to speak anymore. Purple Rose had started it all. She'd chosen the Doctor as her mate, the Master had grown jealous, turned on the Prydonians by joining the Frozen Allegiance, and had killed Purple Rose before the Doctor to teach him a lesson. She told him to flee Gallifrey with his young granddaughter with her last words.
His closest kin-his granddaughter- and he'd left her on Earth in the far future.
"Something wrong, or are you deliberately giving us the 'silent treatment'?" Blackfoot growled.
"It's not 'silent treatment', youngster, now please be quiet if you don't want to get caught."The Doctor snarled back, fur ruffling from underneath his cloak.
"I don't think it's going to be possible not to, Timestar." Sparrowfang pointed to a single dark figure standing in front of them. The Master.
"You wanted to see me?"
"One of your pathetic little warriors decided it was a nice thing to kill a loyal warrior of mine." The Master circled around the Doctor, while the older cat narrowed his eyes in complete disgrace. "It was not my warriors, and she isn't pathetic!"
"Oh, it's a she-cat, now is it? Aren't you a bit old to take a mate, brother?"
"She's my niece;your daughter. WHO YOU DISOWNED." The Doctor shook his head. "Honestly, do you think I'm that stupid? Imagine the Time Lord's disgrace at your behavior."
"I'm not so sure the Time Lords are on your side right now, Doctor. Y'see, they've made a deal with me: Find the REAL killer, or have TimeClan frozen permanently, in time, forever."
"On Christmas Eve?"
"Of course." The Master's eyes seemed to light with internal fire. "Go find the killer NOW."
With a shove, he made the Doctor exit his den. The Doctor struggled to stand, and as he did so, Blackfoot asked, "It didn't go so well, didn't it?"
The Doctor brushed himself off, and wiped dust off of his muzzle "No. Does it look like it did?"
Blackfoot looked startled. "Please explain."
"Too complicated. She wouldn't understand it.' The Doctor indicated Sparrowfang, who looked a bit startled as well. "Come on."
He led the patrol out of EmberClan camp without a single word.
"No luck." He told Snowystream; the white she-cat's head slumped down in defeat. "I'd rather die than face that traitor again." she snorted woefully. "I hate myself. Why is that stupid, foul-breathed leader my father!"
The other warriors froze. "What?" They all said at once.
"Too complicated." the Doctor explained. "Let's say I rescued her a few months ago."
He turned his head to face his companions. "Now, anyone prepared for an adventure?"
Blackfoot watched as the Doctor slammed his paws down into the snow in complete and utter frustration. He looked down at his own paws. Something's going on in his mind... What is it?
He looked back up at the newest warrior Snowystream. She looked away as their gazes met, and her blue eyes filled with regret.
Blackfoot then looked back at the Doctor, surprised at how fast his mood changed. "Didn't you just ask us something?"
The Doctor perked up almost that instant. "Let's search the territory. Snowystream, you have to come with us."
"Me?" The young warrior twitched her whiskers and tail. "Why?"
"Because, my dear, we are going to find a killer." The Doctor rushed to the edge of camp, his voice becoming faint with distance to Blackfoot's ears. "Come on, the sooner we find whoever did this, the sooner the camp will be saved."
Saved? Is something going to happen? Blackfoot wondered. Is that why the meeting didn't go well?
"Stop standing there, youngster!" as Blackfoot's thoughts were interrupted, he realized all the others had joined the Doctor. Blackfoot snorted, hesitating a moment more to call himself a half-wit, before joining the others as well.
The snow suddenly fell out from under Blackfoot, as he stepped on a giant pawprint. He shrieked in surprise, then prepared himself for a scolding from the Doctor.
"WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING, disappearing like that?" The Doctor's gloved forepaw appeared through the snow, and Blackfoot took it. He was thrown up into the air with strength he never expected from the older tom. He landed with a dull thud in the snow.
"YOU NEVER WANDER OFF LIKE THAT! STOP PUTTING US IN DANGER!" Blackfoot felt the Doctor slap him across his face, then heaved the warrior up onto his feet.
He had never seen the Doctor grow that angry.
"You're putting us in danger by yelling at the top of your lungs." Petalfur pointed out;the Doctor snorted and didn't speak further. His sapphire-blue eyes were narrowed.
Sparrowfang was looking at them like they were crazy, but when both the Doctor and Blackfoot looked at her, she cleared her throat in embarrassment, and flicked her tail. "Let's keep going; it's going to be freezing cold out soon."
The Doctor held his head up regally and flicked his tail for them to continue on.
All of them froze as the scent of blood hit their noses. "Something died here." The Doctor whispered darkly. Blackfoot nodded grimly in agreement. "Or it's that creature."
"You've got a very interesting point, youngster." The Doctor replied with an ironic twitch of his whiskers. "Do you think we should head in and see what it is?"
"I don't know; it could be dangerous." Moongem sounded a bit protective. "I don't want you to-" she cut herself off.
"Cat got your tongue, eh?" The Doctor had a smirk on his muzzle. Blackfoot looked at him in disapproval. Are you serious?
Before the others could say anything else, the Doctor dove into a snowbank.
His head popped out of a freshly dug tunnel, and he had a look of question in his eyes. "You coming, or are you all cowards?"
Blackfoot joined him, and the Doctor took off his hat and set in on Blackfoot's head. "You need to keep warm. Well at least your head; don't want your ears catching frostbite."
"What about you, Doctor?"
"Never mind me, Blackfoot. We've got a creature to catch."
"We're drawing closer, the bloodscent is stronger." The Doctor sneezed as he stuck his head out of the snowbank;Blackfoot's head popped up beside him. They gazed at the sight before them: hundreds of white birds lay for far as their eyes could see, their bloodied bodies staining the snow.
The Doctor was speechless, and Blackfoot whispered, "the creature..." In his ear.
"I know, it's uncanny. Very, very uncanny." He felt unsettled by that sight. His shaky breath frosted in the freezing air.
"What is this?" Snowystream popped up next. "Holy StarClan, it was the creature. I know it was the creature."
"I-I'm thinking we should go." The Doctor lowered his head back into the snow, shivering. He pulled his cloak around him; he tried so very hard to ignore the blood pounding in his ears.
A starry black-furred figure appeared in front of him: Purple Rose. She looked at him sympathetically. "What is it?"
"I'm not really sure about finding the creature."
Purple Rose placed a paw on his shoulder. "You will; you always have."
She paused before speaking again. "Don't let your fear get the best of you, Doctor."
My time is drawing nearer to join you, the Doctor wanted to say. But what does fear have to do with my thoughts?
He opened his mouth to speak, but she was gone. Moongem appeared through the snow, and the Doctor cleared his throat and acted like the incident never happened. "What is it?"
"What did you find?" His half-sister asked.
As if in response, a dead bird flopped down, making them both jump. Its blood almost immediately soaked the snow a scarlet red.
"That," Moongem said, a look of utter disapproval on her face. "Is disgusting and disturbing."
"Nice use of adjectives." Blackfoot's head popped back into the snowbank.
"He's picked up your smarts." Moongem remarked. She froze in utter disgrace as the Doctor picked up the white bird and examined it. The bird had gigantic gashes in its neck, made from a bigger animal, or in this case, creature, that the Doctor had ever seen.
Bigger than any wolf, and dinosaurs are long gone by now, besides, it's too cold for them, anyway.
He set the bird down, and pushed it over to Moongem, who recoiled. "Get that away from me!"
She cuffed the Doctor on the ear. "I've seen battle wounds and disgusting infections that come from them, but this is far worse!"
"If you don't want to see it anymore, eat it."
Moongem shook her head and shut her mouth tightly like a stubborn kit. The look was clear in her expression: You eat it.
The Doctor scraped a hole in the snow and quickly buried it. Moongem looked ready to either pass out or throw up.
The other two cats appeared back under the snow. "We ready to report back now?"
The Doctor nodded. But their request was not to be. A large creature burst through the snowbank throwing the cats aside like they weighed nothing at all whatsoever.
The Doctor unsheathed his claws to bring himself to a halt. He looked up at the creature, into its soulless green eyes.
It looked like a wolf, but ghostly and at least five times larger.
Time Devouring Wolf Spirit. The Doctor identified the creature in an instant. "Did you come here to devour my soul?" He spat. Foam flecked at the Spirit's mouth as it let out an unearthly howl. It charged for the Doctor and flicked him aside like prey.
He tumbled through the snow, and dug deep into it with his claws. He coughed as it got into his lungs,and as he halted,he glared back up to looked at the creature.
It was coming for him.
The Spirit flung him upwards into the air, then slammed him back into the snow. He was winded, and tried to get up, but it was too late: the Spirit flung him into a snowbank, it felt like concrete, and the world went black.
he Doctor opened his eyes. He was still in TimeClan territory, the Time Devourer stood over him, its horrid face staring down at him with blazing green eyes. "You are not like the others." It spoke in the Doctor's mind.
The Doctor stood up. "I-I'm not like the others?"
The Time Devourer lowered its giant head to look the Doctor in his eyes. "Time Lord. You are not like the others. Brother's Clan."
"The Master?"
"Masters of evil." The spirit's eyes lit up hungrily. "Never respect Clan Code. Race sent me to freeze time, permanently."
The Doctor straightened his cloak. "My race. Of course. That's what he meant."
"My brother killed warrior. Master brother accused wrongly your warrior."
"But why attack us?" The Doctor was shaking, but spoke boldly, as if his body wasn't his. It soon won't be.
"Protecting My Kill. For that, Quatuor forgives Time Lord."
Quatuor, The Fourth Ember.
"True,Time Lord. Smart are you."
"Brother, You shall not speak with enemy." The Time Devourer looked up at a much larger black furred Devourer. "You are not worthy of being my brother." Spat the younger Devourer.
"I am not? For a millennium I've searched for you. I killed warrior to prove Master Rassilon of my worthiness."
"Tertia Feria not worth of being Brother to Quarta Quatuor Temporum no more." With a howl, the two brothers launched themselves at each other, Tertia snapped at his brother's fur as Quatuor foamed at the mouth trying to snap back at him, all the while the Doctor stood there, frozen as the two brothers quarreled.
"I've been hurt before, brother." Quatuor spat. "But I'm not running away."
"I will kill you." Those were the last words spoken by Tertia, before he tore a gash in the young Devourer's throat and disappearing. The battle was over.
The Doctor rushed over to the young Devourer, who lay on his side, scarlet blood pouring to the ground. Quatuor's breath was slowing, and his green eyes had gone from blazing to cloudy, like a fire that had been extinguished. "You... were good to me.... Time Lord... Even in that minute... Good friend." Quatuor took one last gasping breath, and his spirit stood in front of him. A figure of a cat. A very familiar one. Long Branch?
Long Branch bowed to the Doctor before slowly fading away. Long Branch. His old healer. No one had known what had happened to him. Corruption, forgotten, unloved.
The Fourth Ember.
I need to find Tertia..
The Doctor was still in shock as he helped the others to their paws. "Wh-what happened?" asked Petalfur, shaking out her snow-covered pelt. "And WHAT. IS. THAT?" she indicated the Time Devourer lying motionless on the ground.
"An old friend." It was not the Doctor who replied, but Moongem, as if she knew what the Doctor was thinking.
"Long Branch. "
"He hasn't been like this all the time, has he?" Petalfur murmured, but her tome suggested a statement, more than that of a question.
The Doctor shook his head sadly. "He and his brother have become corrupted."
Moongem stared at the Doctor, and a single, unspoken question passed through him. It isn't Rassilon, is it?
"It's the founder of all time travel." The Doctor stated coldly. "And if we don't stop him, he will kill more warriors, and Time Forest will be frozen in time forevermore. "
He turned to both of his companions-Blackfoot was just beginning to stand- and shook his head. " What that will mean for you two youngsters is that I will never be able to take you back home ever again."
He lifted his head to the sky and called as loud as he could, "Let's find Tertia!"
The day wore on into evening, and the twilight lasted for several hours. "Doctor, I think we may be too late." Petalfur looked up at the sky.
The Doctor noted and dismissed it within a few seconds. "It's possible that this is a fair warning, my dear. It'll wear on into night soon enough. "
But he doubted even his own words. Is this truly the end of time?
"Doctor. I know that you are hiding."
" Perhaps it is in plain sight,Rassilon." He spoke the Devourer's true name instead of his corrupted one. "I suppose you took orders from yourself to kill your own brother."
"True." The Devourer stepped out into the open;Petalfur shrieked and ran to the Doctor for protection. "My instincts tell me that you have seen me somewhere before."
"Only in fairytale stories. But yet I've grown too old for that rubbish." The Doctor stood his ground and spoke with purpose. "Your dark heart has made you evil, Rassilon."
Rassilon snarled. "Not even our own race is on your side. They spoke of threat." The black wolf-like creature began to shrink, transforming into a golden-robed figure. "I know you, Doctor, like the back of my own paw, like our people." Rassilon twitched an ear. "So very pitiful." He spat the words out as if he didn't like that's taste of them. Then he unsheathed his claws. "This corruption in my blood, it's so very easy to pass it onto you. One drop of my blood into your mouth will corrupt you for eternity."
"Just try me." The Doctor snapped; he also unsheathed his claws. Petalfur tensed beside him. "Don't risk it."
"What? Me, corrupt, or Time Forest frozen in time for eternity?"
"I....I...I" She stuttered. Rassilon sneered. "Thought so."
With a howl, he launched himself at the Doctor, bowling him over into the snow. "Just one scratch from me, that's all it'll take."
The Doctor pretended to surrender by going limp and closing his eyes. He heard Rassilon give a cackle of amusement. "That easy to defeat?"
As the last words left his mouth, the Doctor heaved himself upward with all of his strength. Rassilon flew across the snow covered moor side and landed in a snowbank. "That easy to defeat? Trust me, I've been running and fighting my whole lifetime."
Rassilon stood up, blood trickling down his muzzle from a broken jaw. "I will find you again, " His words were a slur, making it hard for the cats to pick out a single word. "But trust me, I will fight with the whole of Gallifrey against you." With those words, he disappeared into thin air.
"You okay, Doctor?" Blackfoot asked. "Did you get a scratch on you?"
"Let's hope not." Moongem said. "You heard Rassilon state himself that if he is injured by a wound inflicted by Rassilon, he will turn corrupt."
"Within six months, unless-" the Doctor cut himself off on a prospect that was to ineffable. Moongem's expression darkened with worry.
"But I'm not injured. That's alright, isn't it."
The Doctor flicked his tail for them to go on, they all sprinted ahead of him.
The Doctor glanced at a scratch on his foreleg, before joining them.
The Doctor flicked his tail to end the Clan meeting, and snow began to fall almost exactly when he did. He smiled. Christmas, not frozen in time. Warriors will be safe.
He jumped off of Time Rock, nodding to his companions. "Ready to go?"
Both of them nodded, twitching their snow flecked whiskers. Petalfur scooped up a ball of snow and threw it at Blackfoot's face. He dodged, thus making it land on the Doctor's.
Petalfur gasped; the Doctor looked up with a mischievous glimmer in his eyes. He scooped up snow and threw it at Blackfoot. It hit the giant warrior square in the chest. His eyes then echoed the Doctor's own look, and he dashed off.
The Doctor rolled his eyes, and ran off after them.
Little did he know, a ginger kittypet was watching from behind a snowbank.
A monster. He turned around to see what it was, just as the creature ripped out his throat.
"Well, honestly, I'm saying he's mad." Growled a black-pawed warrior. "What is he talking about?"
" As I've told you before, it is the day before Christmas; December the Twenty-fourth." The Doctor flipped the door switch down, and the doors to the TARDIS opened on command. "And I should tell you two, it's not greenleaf. It's quite the opposite."
"Of greenleaf?" Asked a gray-and- white she-cat.
"Quite, my dear. Leaf bare, or as I would call it, winter." The Doctor threw on a black cloak, hat, and red scarf. "Come on. It's not cold once you get used to it."
With more energy than the two warriors seemed to have, he skipped out like a happy kit.
The TimeClan camp greeted him, and he smiled slightly. This is home.
He jumped onto the Time Rock and called a Clan meeting; his warriors gathered out before him quicker than what he'd expected. "We are glad to have survived through two leaf bares, and let's hope we can survive a third."
He looked at a snowy white apprentice. " I've been waiting for this time to make one particular apprentice a warrior. Snowypaw, come forward."
The apprentice skipped forward, unable to contain herself. "Firefoot, has she proved herself in her warrior assessment?"
"Of course, Timestar, she has."
"Snowypaw, do you promise to protect and defend your Clan, even at the cost of your life?" The Doctor raised his head as he spoke the words. Snowypaw nodded bluntly. "I do,sir."
"Well then, I call upon my warrior ancestors to give this worthy apprentice her warrior name. Snowypaw, you will now be known as Snowystream. StarClan honors your skill and intelligence, and we welcome you as a new member of TimeClan."
"Snowystream! Snowystream!" The Clan called with words of praise. The Doctor flicked his tail, signaling the end of the meeting, before jumping off Time Rock and heading over to his companions.
"Never heard it like that before." Petalfur said. "Shut up Blackfoot before you say anything cause I swear I will slap you across the face."
" I wasn't going to say anything." Blackfoot protested. "Fish-face." He muttered.
"You two now be quiet. I'm going to Moongem for some honey. My throat feels a bit sore."
That night, as the warriors of TimeClan dozed, the Doctor was sleepless. He'd been coughing the whole night, possibly from yelling at that meeting.
"No. It must be more than that." He muttered under his breath. " Purple Rose, tell me it's not my time yet." He sent a silent prayer to his mate. He began coughing again, and as he caught his breath, he repeated his prayer. "I'm not ready to go."
He trembled. He lifted his head and saw his mother, who'd died so long ago he could barely remember. He felt like a tiny Time Kit again. "I'm scared, mother, but how can I face what's happening?"
"Find it." She whispered.
"Find what?" The Doctor asked, but he was too late. His mother had gone.
The white warrior stood over the body of the cat. A trespasser, and already dead, she realized. Snowystream looked up and over the EmberClan border. She had scented a patrol coming, and led by Emberstar.
"I've been looking for you." He snarled. "Be reasonable, and confess your sins."
Snowystream froze at the powerful words coming from the leader. "I...I...I."
"So I thought." Head back to your pitiful Clan, and confess to my half-brother your sins, or you'll feel these-" he unsheathed his claws. "In your throat."
Snowystream sped away, but she was amazed at the leader's mercy.
A shriek sounded from the forest; the Doctor's head whipped around as the newest warrior sped toward him. "What is it?"
"Emberstar!" Snowystream shrieked. " He accused me of murder!"
Emberstar... The Doctor's thoughts were full of hatred. He knew what those words meant. The Master. Up to no good.
There were mutters around the camp, and most were not happy ones. The Doctor narrowed his eyes as the mutters grew steadily louder, and it grew way too loud for him to bear. "Will you shut up?" he shrieked.
The Clan grew quiet and they all stared at him. "Not even EmberClan's this obnoxious." he cleared his throat before speaking again. "I shall resolve this fairly with the leader. Sparrowfang and Moongem, you shall come with me."
He also nodded at his companions before his deputy and half-sister joined him and they set off for EmberClan.
"Doesn't seem right." Moongem unsheathed her claws. "My brother framing an innocent cat like that. I know I may be a medicine cat who saves cats, but I just want to kill him some days."
No matter how much the Doctor wanted to agree, he couldn't bring himself to do it. "Nothing's right with him."
"What started all this?"
The Doctor couldn't bring himself to speak anymore. Purple Rose had started it all. She'd chosen the Doctor as her mate, the Master had grown jealous, turned on the Prydonians by joining the Frozen Allegiance, and had killed Purple Rose before the Doctor to teach him a lesson. She told him to flee Gallifrey with his young granddaughter with her last words.
His closest kin-his granddaughter- and he'd left her on Earth in the far future.
"Something wrong, or are you deliberately giving us the 'silent treatment'?" Blackfoot growled.
"It's not 'silent treatment', youngster, now please be quiet if you don't want to get caught."The Doctor snarled back, fur ruffling from underneath his cloak.
"I don't think it's going to be possible not to, Timestar." Sparrowfang pointed to a single dark figure standing in front of them. The Master.
"You wanted to see me?"
"One of your pathetic little warriors decided it was a nice thing to kill a loyal warrior of mine." The Master circled around the Doctor, while the older cat narrowed his eyes in complete disgrace. "It was not my warriors, and she isn't pathetic!"
"Oh, it's a she-cat, now is it? Aren't you a bit old to take a mate, brother?"
"She's my niece;your daughter. WHO YOU DISOWNED." The Doctor shook his head. "Honestly, do you think I'm that stupid? Imagine the Time Lord's disgrace at your behavior."
"I'm not so sure the Time Lords are on your side right now, Doctor. Y'see, they've made a deal with me: Find the REAL killer, or have TimeClan frozen permanently, in time, forever."
"On Christmas Eve?"
"Of course." The Master's eyes seemed to light with internal fire. "Go find the killer NOW."
With a shove, he made the Doctor exit his den. The Doctor struggled to stand, and as he did so, Blackfoot asked, "It didn't go so well, didn't it?"
The Doctor brushed himself off, and wiped dust off of his muzzle "No. Does it look like it did?"
Blackfoot looked startled. "Please explain."
"Too complicated. She wouldn't understand it.' The Doctor indicated Sparrowfang, who looked a bit startled as well. "Come on."
He led the patrol out of EmberClan camp without a single word.
"No luck." He told Snowystream; the white she-cat's head slumped down in defeat. "I'd rather die than face that traitor again." she snorted woefully. "I hate myself. Why is that stupid, foul-breathed leader my father!"
The other warriors froze. "What?" They all said at once.
"Too complicated." the Doctor explained. "Let's say I rescued her a few months ago."
He turned his head to face his companions. "Now, anyone prepared for an adventure?"
Blackfoot watched as the Doctor slammed his paws down into the snow in complete and utter frustration. He looked down at his own paws. Something's going on in his mind... What is it?
He looked back up at the newest warrior Snowystream. She looked away as their gazes met, and her blue eyes filled with regret.
Blackfoot then looked back at the Doctor, surprised at how fast his mood changed. "Didn't you just ask us something?"
The Doctor perked up almost that instant. "Let's search the territory. Snowystream, you have to come with us."
"Me?" The young warrior twitched her whiskers and tail. "Why?"
"Because, my dear, we are going to find a killer." The Doctor rushed to the edge of camp, his voice becoming faint with distance to Blackfoot's ears. "Come on, the sooner we find whoever did this, the sooner the camp will be saved."
Saved? Is something going to happen? Blackfoot wondered. Is that why the meeting didn't go well?
"Stop standing there, youngster!" as Blackfoot's thoughts were interrupted, he realized all the others had joined the Doctor. Blackfoot snorted, hesitating a moment more to call himself a half-wit, before joining the others as well.
The snow suddenly fell out from under Blackfoot, as he stepped on a giant pawprint. He shrieked in surprise, then prepared himself for a scolding from the Doctor.
"WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING, disappearing like that?" The Doctor's gloved forepaw appeared through the snow, and Blackfoot took it. He was thrown up into the air with strength he never expected from the older tom. He landed with a dull thud in the snow.
"YOU NEVER WANDER OFF LIKE THAT! STOP PUTTING US IN DANGER!" Blackfoot felt the Doctor slap him across his face, then heaved the warrior up onto his feet.
He had never seen the Doctor grow that angry.
"You're putting us in danger by yelling at the top of your lungs." Petalfur pointed out;the Doctor snorted and didn't speak further. His sapphire-blue eyes were narrowed.
Sparrowfang was looking at them like they were crazy, but when both the Doctor and Blackfoot looked at her, she cleared her throat in embarrassment, and flicked her tail. "Let's keep going; it's going to be freezing cold out soon."
The Doctor held his head up regally and flicked his tail for them to continue on.
All of them froze as the scent of blood hit their noses. "Something died here." The Doctor whispered darkly. Blackfoot nodded grimly in agreement. "Or it's that creature."
"You've got a very interesting point, youngster." The Doctor replied with an ironic twitch of his whiskers. "Do you think we should head in and see what it is?"
"I don't know; it could be dangerous." Moongem sounded a bit protective. "I don't want you to-" she cut herself off.
"Cat got your tongue, eh?" The Doctor had a smirk on his muzzle. Blackfoot looked at him in disapproval. Are you serious?
Before the others could say anything else, the Doctor dove into a snowbank.
His head popped out of a freshly dug tunnel, and he had a look of question in his eyes. "You coming, or are you all cowards?"
Blackfoot joined him, and the Doctor took off his hat and set in on Blackfoot's head. "You need to keep warm. Well at least your head; don't want your ears catching frostbite."
"What about you, Doctor?"
"Never mind me, Blackfoot. We've got a creature to catch."
"We're drawing closer, the bloodscent is stronger." The Doctor sneezed as he stuck his head out of the snowbank;Blackfoot's head popped up beside him. They gazed at the sight before them: hundreds of white birds lay for far as their eyes could see, their bloodied bodies staining the snow.
The Doctor was speechless, and Blackfoot whispered, "the creature..." In his ear.
"I know, it's uncanny. Very, very uncanny." He felt unsettled by that sight. His shaky breath frosted in the freezing air.
"What is this?" Snowystream popped up next. "Holy StarClan, it was the creature. I know it was the creature."
"I-I'm thinking we should go." The Doctor lowered his head back into the snow, shivering. He pulled his cloak around him; he tried so very hard to ignore the blood pounding in his ears.
A starry black-furred figure appeared in front of him: Purple Rose. She looked at him sympathetically. "What is it?"
"I'm not really sure about finding the creature."
Purple Rose placed a paw on his shoulder. "You will; you always have."
She paused before speaking again. "Don't let your fear get the best of you, Doctor."
My time is drawing nearer to join you, the Doctor wanted to say. But what does fear have to do with my thoughts?
He opened his mouth to speak, but she was gone. Moongem appeared through the snow, and the Doctor cleared his throat and acted like the incident never happened. "What is it?"
"What did you find?" His half-sister asked.
As if in response, a dead bird flopped down, making them both jump. Its blood almost immediately soaked the snow a scarlet red.
"That," Moongem said, a look of utter disapproval on her face. "Is disgusting and disturbing."
"Nice use of adjectives." Blackfoot's head popped back into the snowbank.
"He's picked up your smarts." Moongem remarked. She froze in utter disgrace as the Doctor picked up the white bird and examined it. The bird had gigantic gashes in its neck, made from a bigger animal, or in this case, creature, that the Doctor had ever seen.
Bigger than any wolf, and dinosaurs are long gone by now, besides, it's too cold for them, anyway.
He set the bird down, and pushed it over to Moongem, who recoiled. "Get that away from me!"
She cuffed the Doctor on the ear. "I've seen battle wounds and disgusting infections that come from them, but this is far worse!"
"If you don't want to see it anymore, eat it."
Moongem shook her head and shut her mouth tightly like a stubborn kit. The look was clear in her expression: You eat it.
The Doctor scraped a hole in the snow and quickly buried it. Moongem looked ready to either pass out or throw up.
The other two cats appeared back under the snow. "We ready to report back now?"
The Doctor nodded. But their request was not to be. A large creature burst through the snowbank throwing the cats aside like they weighed nothing at all whatsoever.
The Doctor unsheathed his claws to bring himself to a halt. He looked up at the creature, into its soulless green eyes.
It looked like a wolf, but ghostly and at least five times larger.
Time Devouring Wolf Spirit. The Doctor identified the creature in an instant. "Did you come here to devour my soul?" He spat. Foam flecked at the Spirit's mouth as it let out an unearthly howl. It charged for the Doctor and flicked him aside like prey.
He tumbled through the snow, and dug deep into it with his claws. He coughed as it got into his lungs,and as he halted,he glared back up to looked at the creature.
It was coming for him.
The Spirit flung him upwards into the air, then slammed him back into the snow. He was winded, and tried to get up, but it was too late: the Spirit flung him into a snowbank, it felt like concrete, and the world went black.
he Doctor opened his eyes. He was still in TimeClan territory, the Time Devourer stood over him, its horrid face staring down at him with blazing green eyes. "You are not like the others." It spoke in the Doctor's mind.
The Doctor stood up. "I-I'm not like the others?"
The Time Devourer lowered its giant head to look the Doctor in his eyes. "Time Lord. You are not like the others. Brother's Clan."
"The Master?"
"Masters of evil." The spirit's eyes lit up hungrily. "Never respect Clan Code. Race sent me to freeze time, permanently."
The Doctor straightened his cloak. "My race. Of course. That's what he meant."
"My brother killed warrior. Master brother accused wrongly your warrior."
"But why attack us?" The Doctor was shaking, but spoke boldly, as if his body wasn't his. It soon won't be.
"Protecting My Kill. For that, Quatuor forgives Time Lord."
Quatuor, The Fourth Ember.
"True,Time Lord. Smart are you."
"Brother, You shall not speak with enemy." The Time Devourer looked up at a much larger black furred Devourer. "You are not worthy of being my brother." Spat the younger Devourer.
"I am not? For a millennium I've searched for you. I killed warrior to prove Master Rassilon of my worthiness."
"Tertia Feria not worth of being Brother to Quarta Quatuor Temporum no more." With a howl, the two brothers launched themselves at each other, Tertia snapped at his brother's fur as Quatuor foamed at the mouth trying to snap back at him, all the while the Doctor stood there, frozen as the two brothers quarreled.
"I've been hurt before, brother." Quatuor spat. "But I'm not running away."
"I will kill you." Those were the last words spoken by Tertia, before he tore a gash in the young Devourer's throat and disappearing. The battle was over.
The Doctor rushed over to the young Devourer, who lay on his side, scarlet blood pouring to the ground. Quatuor's breath was slowing, and his green eyes had gone from blazing to cloudy, like a fire that had been extinguished. "You... were good to me.... Time Lord... Even in that minute... Good friend." Quatuor took one last gasping breath, and his spirit stood in front of him. A figure of a cat. A very familiar one. Long Branch?
Long Branch bowed to the Doctor before slowly fading away. Long Branch. His old healer. No one had known what had happened to him. Corruption, forgotten, unloved.
The Fourth Ember.
I need to find Tertia..
The Doctor was still in shock as he helped the others to their paws. "Wh-what happened?" asked Petalfur, shaking out her snow-covered pelt. "And WHAT. IS. THAT?" she indicated the Time Devourer lying motionless on the ground.
"An old friend." It was not the Doctor who replied, but Moongem, as if she knew what the Doctor was thinking.
"Long Branch. "
"He hasn't been like this all the time, has he?" Petalfur murmured, but her tome suggested a statement, more than that of a question.
The Doctor shook his head sadly. "He and his brother have become corrupted."
Moongem stared at the Doctor, and a single, unspoken question passed through him. It isn't Rassilon, is it?
"It's the founder of all time travel." The Doctor stated coldly. "And if we don't stop him, he will kill more warriors, and Time Forest will be frozen in time forevermore. "
He turned to both of his companions-Blackfoot was just beginning to stand- and shook his head. " What that will mean for you two youngsters is that I will never be able to take you back home ever again."
He lifted his head to the sky and called as loud as he could, "Let's find Tertia!"
The day wore on into evening, and the twilight lasted for several hours. "Doctor, I think we may be too late." Petalfur looked up at the sky.
The Doctor noted and dismissed it within a few seconds. "It's possible that this is a fair warning, my dear. It'll wear on into night soon enough. "
But he doubted even his own words. Is this truly the end of time?
"Doctor. I know that you are hiding."
" Perhaps it is in plain sight,Rassilon." He spoke the Devourer's true name instead of his corrupted one. "I suppose you took orders from yourself to kill your own brother."
"True." The Devourer stepped out into the open;Petalfur shrieked and ran to the Doctor for protection. "My instincts tell me that you have seen me somewhere before."
"Only in fairytale stories. But yet I've grown too old for that rubbish." The Doctor stood his ground and spoke with purpose. "Your dark heart has made you evil, Rassilon."
Rassilon snarled. "Not even our own race is on your side. They spoke of threat." The black wolf-like creature began to shrink, transforming into a golden-robed figure. "I know you, Doctor, like the back of my own paw, like our people." Rassilon twitched an ear. "So very pitiful." He spat the words out as if he didn't like that's taste of them. Then he unsheathed his claws. "This corruption in my blood, it's so very easy to pass it onto you. One drop of my blood into your mouth will corrupt you for eternity."
"Just try me." The Doctor snapped; he also unsheathed his claws. Petalfur tensed beside him. "Don't risk it."
"What? Me, corrupt, or Time Forest frozen in time for eternity?"
"I....I...I" She stuttered. Rassilon sneered. "Thought so."
With a howl, he launched himself at the Doctor, bowling him over into the snow. "Just one scratch from me, that's all it'll take."
The Doctor pretended to surrender by going limp and closing his eyes. He heard Rassilon give a cackle of amusement. "That easy to defeat?"
As the last words left his mouth, the Doctor heaved himself upward with all of his strength. Rassilon flew across the snow covered moor side and landed in a snowbank. "That easy to defeat? Trust me, I've been running and fighting my whole lifetime."
Rassilon stood up, blood trickling down his muzzle from a broken jaw. "I will find you again, " His words were a slur, making it hard for the cats to pick out a single word. "But trust me, I will fight with the whole of Gallifrey against you." With those words, he disappeared into thin air.
"You okay, Doctor?" Blackfoot asked. "Did you get a scratch on you?"
"Let's hope not." Moongem said. "You heard Rassilon state himself that if he is injured by a wound inflicted by Rassilon, he will turn corrupt."
"Within six months, unless-" the Doctor cut himself off on a prospect that was to ineffable. Moongem's expression darkened with worry.
"But I'm not injured. That's alright, isn't it."
The Doctor flicked his tail for them to go on, they all sprinted ahead of him.
The Doctor glanced at a scratch on his foreleg, before joining them.
The Doctor flicked his tail to end the Clan meeting, and snow began to fall almost exactly when he did. He smiled. Christmas, not frozen in time. Warriors will be safe.
He jumped off of Time Rock, nodding to his companions. "Ready to go?"
Both of them nodded, twitching their snow flecked whiskers. Petalfur scooped up a ball of snow and threw it at Blackfoot's face. He dodged, thus making it land on the Doctor's.
Petalfur gasped; the Doctor looked up with a mischievous glimmer in his eyes. He scooped up snow and threw it at Blackfoot. It hit the giant warrior square in the chest. His eyes then echoed the Doctor's own look, and he dashed off.
The Doctor rolled his eyes, and ran off after them.
Little did he know, a ginger kittypet was watching from behind a snowbank.