Chapter 3
Davon was a young Alazarin, which was rare considering how few of them existed, but he knew there was another, a girl, who he longed to meet someday. Davon lived in Alazranda, the Alazarin village, and every day he received instruction for Fabian, the village elder. Fabian was kind and benevolent, as all Alazarin are trained to be, but he was nonetheless strict.
At the current moment, Davon was weeding his master’s garden, pondering who the other Alazarin might be. Fabian had told him that they knew of her existence, but other than that he told Davon little. When the boy had asked why the girl had never come to the village, Fabian merely gave his student a sad look and said “She is beyond our reach.” Tugging at a weed, Davon frowned. What was that supposed to mean?
Davon paused at his work suddenly. He could feel two minds approaching, and they were both minds vaster than any others he had encountered. He looked p, scanning the woods before him for any sign of life. After a minute or so, he saw a tall, hornless man exit the woods, and in his arms was a small child no older than he was, a child with white hair.
Davon was startled. Unsure of what to do, he ran off to find Fabian. He found the elder where he expected to, in his dwelling, before a fire.
“What is it?” Fabian asked serenely, not turning.
“There’s a man, and he’s holding a girl, and the girl—”
“Yes, I know Davon. I’ve felt them.” The elder smiled, and then stood. “Let us go and greet them then.”
“But how do you know the man isn’t dangerous?” Davon asked, his eyes filled with worry. Fabian chuckled. Young ones always had so much to learn.
It did not take long for Fabian to locate the strangers, as the man was standing in his garden, examining his plants with a look of absolute rapture. Fabian approached the man, his student not far behind him.
“Stranger, I welcome you. My name is Fabian; I am a teacher in this village. I trust you come here with a purpose?”
The man seemed too distracted to fully comprehend what Fabian had said.
“These plants are amazing. Did you grow them yourself?” he asked.
“Davon tends to them, but yes, I grew them” the elder replied. The man seemed to contemplate this. He nodded slowly, his tongue pressed against his upper teeth.
“Uhuh,” he said.
“What is your name?” Davon asked, peering out from behind Fabian. The man smiled brightly.
“I’m the Doctor.”
“Well Doctor,” said Fabian. “We must thank you for returning our lost sister to use. He indicated the girl draped over the Doctor’s shoulder. The Doctor frowned.
“Yes, I’ll be needing to talk to you about that.”
Once inside Fabian’s dwelling, and after he had been given a cup of tea, the Doctor relayed the entire story to Fabian, starting when he had landed outside of Wren’s cell. When he had finished, Fabian frowned.
“She has much to learn,” he said regretfully.
“Yeah, well I was hoping you could learn her up a bit,” said the Doctor. Fabian shook his head.
“If only her parents hadn’t been so selfish and delivered her here. She would have grown up among her own kind, and trained alongside Davon. She never would have had to confront such atrocities… and at such a young age. But it’s too late now.” After his master had said this, Davon gave a quizzical look.
“But sir,” he asked the Doctor. “You’re a time traveler. Why can’t you just go back and change it?” The Doctor shook his head ruefully.
“I’m not allowed to alter the past. What’s done is done, and those are the rules.”
“Pardon me Doctor, but you don’t exactly strike me as the type to follow rules,” Davon said. The Doctor laughed in response. He was about to reply when he noticed Fabian turning to face Wren.
“She’ll be awake soon,” Fabian said, and the Doctor frowned, standing.
“I’ll be with plants for now then.” With this he left the hut, leaving the Alazarin to themselves.
Wren stirred and sat up groggily. She looked around, and not recognizing her surroundings she could only assume that the Doctor had used her rudimentary directions to find the Alazarin village. Wren had never visited the place before herself, but she had always been able to sense it and the direction that it was in. However, looking around, Wren did not see the Doctor anywhere.
Where is he? she wondered.
“He’s safe, don’t worry about him child.”
Wren was startled. Eyes wide, she looked over to the man who had spoken. He was very obviously an old man, but he had pure white hair and lavender eyes.
Another Alazarin, she thought. And he can hear my thoughts!
“Yes Wren, I can hear your thoughts. The Doctor informed me of you trouble speaking, so I have decided this would be easier on both of us. I know you’re wondering who I am, and I am going to tell you. I am Fabian, and this is Davon.”
The old man pointed out the boy beside him and Wren merely gaped at him in shock. After all this time thinking she was alone in the world. Well, not along exactly, but she hadn’t expected any of the Alazarin to be her age.
Can he hear my thoughts too? she asked.
“Of course I can!” Davon said, slightly offended. “You mean you don’t know how to?”
I do too know how to, Wren replied indignantly. But then she frowned. I just don’t know…
“How to control it,” Fabian finished for her. “Yes, this is why you felt it necessary to invade the Doctor’s mind in order to talk to him. But don’t worry, I can teach you how.” Fabian smiled kindly, and Wren just frowned in response. She was beginning to remember what had transpired before she had cried herself to sleep.
“Wren,” the Doctor has said. “I need you to take me to the rest of Alazarin.”
Wren had looked up at him. The look he was giving her was enough to make her want to dig a hole and stay in it for a few years. He wasn’t angry anymore, and Wren would have almost preferred it if he was. The Doctor looked very, very disappointed.
I don’t know where they are, she had said tearfully. I’ve never left this place.
“Wren,” was all he said and Wren knew that it wasn’t going to be enough. She told him what she knew and he had nodded. “All right, let’s go.”
He started to walk away, and Wren scrambled to follow him. Then she had tripped, and fallen very hard. Tears still flowing down her face, the Doctor merely came over and picked her up, not saying a word. He then continued to walk, shaking his head.
“Oh, Wren,” he sighed after a few minutes. “Why?”
Wren had not had an answer.
“Wren?” Davon had said to her, interrupting her reminiscing. “You don’t have to be sad. Fabian is a good teacher, he forgives you when you make mistakes. I make mistakes all the time!”
“Davon,” Fabian said gently. “I need to talk to Wren alone. Can you go tend to the garden? Perhaps you can tell our guest more about the plants he’s so fascinated with.” Davon nodded, knowing he was being dismissed because his master did not want to Wren to feel any more shame than she had to. He couldn’t imagine going through what the girl had. All the same, he left without saying another word.
Hours later, at sunset, Wren emerged from the hut and gazed at her surroundings. She saw Davon, in the garden still. He smiled at her and waved happily. Although she was not in the mood, Wren couldn’t help but smile back. Then she continued to look. The rest of the village comprised of similarly constructed dwellings, gardens and fire pits, and was surrounded by forest on all sides but one. The remaining side was a cliff with a perfect view of the sunset, where Wren could see that the Doctor had decided to sit and stare off into the distance. Wren went to him, and sat beside him silently. The Doctor turned.
“You’re up then?” he said smiling. “That’s good to see.”
Again Wren’s eyes overflowed with tears, and she fell into the Doctor sobbing.
I’m sorry, she said. All the things I’ve done... I deserved that cell they had me in.
“No,” said the Doctor slightly alarmed. “No, don’t say that. Wren, I…” The words died in his throat. Instead the Doctor silently put his arm around the girl and squeezed her gently in a comforting way.
I’m sorry, Wren repeated.
“It’s all right,” the Doctor said. “I forgive you.”
