"Merlin, how do you feel about going on an adventure?" The Doctor asked out of nowhere. They were sitting in the garden watching the birds fly by. The Doctor had finally gotten his ship fixed. Meaning he didn't have to deal with him for much longer.
"And why, beg tell, would I want to go on an adventure?" He asked while throwing a piece of bread into the air to be caught by a bright iridescent green bird. The Doctor looked at Merlin stunned.
"Merlin! What about adventure? Exploring the unknown? Seeing things you have never seen before. Learning what the universe has to offer. You need to take opportunities when they come!" He cried in excitement winding himself up. "Its just one small adventure." His eyes almost pleading. Merlin glanced away thinking. It had been a while since he left. One hundred and ninety four years to be exact. Granted he was enjoying his time alone.
"No, I have had quite enough adventure in my life time." There was no reason to leave. He has finished his house and set up the wards. It won't show up on scans be them infrared, life detect, or flux. There should be no way anyone can visit this planet or even wish to. So nothing like what happened with the Doctor can occur again.
"Oh, come on Merlin. Just one quick trip. Just a day nothing more. You won't miss anything and I can show off Darling." Merlin just sighed. The man wasn't going to stop. He could tell. One trip won't be too much and then he can send the Doctor off.
"Fine, lets will go on this trip." The Doctor jumped to his feet dragging Merlin with him to the TARDIS. The blue box looked brand new despite the fact that it had been on fire not even three days ago. Not a scratch to be seen. "Why does it look like a police box." He couldn't help asking it was the least inconspicuous thing ever.
"Well the cloaking device got stuck on this and I like it. Never thought to fix it to be honest." He said off hand while unlocking the door.
"Not very stealthy. It doesn't really fit in with anything anymore." He stepped in looking around. The room expanded out with a bright green blue tube in the middle. Merlin glanced around taking in the fact that the ship was much bigger on the inside then it was on the outside. Technology has really advanced while he was away. The Doctor was looking at him expectantly. "... Its nice."
He looked put out. "No questions? Not wondering why it is bigger on the inside? What the tube is?" Merlin looked back around not really understanding how the science involved in making this worked, but he could do the same thing with magic. Same thing different method.
"Not really. However you ship is a bit nosy." He noticed as soon as he walked in the ship, that was some how sentience, was nosing around his magic and mind. Some form on weird energy was wondering around poking at him. It was distracting and made his magic bristle. He didn't much appreciate the invasion.
"Yes, well Darling just likes to know who is riding her. Play nice." He warned the ship looking at Merlin like a puzzle again. "Well where should we go? The spa planet of ruby waterfalls but poisonous sun? The wonders of the end of Earth? A space colony with different species? Oh! I know! Let's see..." The Doctor ran around pulling levers and pressing buttons. "You should hold on. Allonsy!" With that he pulled a lever and the ship started shaking. Lights flickering and walls squeaking. Finally the spaceship lurched to a stop. "Right let's go have a look!"
Merlin watched the Doctor run to the door and fling it open. Obviously he has no sense of self-preservation. Of course he could have been here before or know the people. The problem is that you don't know what could be happening. He waited for the Doctor to walk outside before following. If there was any danger it would have attacked the lunatic with a bow already.
The planet looked a lot like his. Well at least before he started making his garden. There was also light brown dirt and rocks all over the place instead of the bright almost blood red he was used to. The Doctor was looking around with wide shiny eyes. "Have you been here before?" Merlin asked. It looked pretty desolate. He didn't really see a reason to come here, or why the Doctor would choose here.
"Not at all!" The Doctor cheered. "However Darling said that something interesting was happening right now, and what more do you need for an adventure? No idea where you are or what is happening."
Merlin held back a sigh and smiled softly at the Doctor. He reminded him of some of his old friends. It was an unfortunate habit that he keeps meeting people like this. They were a hazard for his health. "Oh, look do you see that?" He cried. "There are people over there. Let's find out what's happening."
The Doctor took off with Merlin following behind at a slower pace. These people seemed to be hiding behind a rock in the middle of a mining area. The Doctor came up behind them but didn't say anything he seemed to be looking at something.
"Could they be the miners?" Asked the human with purple fines on his head and purple uniform. At least Merlin thinks he is human.
"Maybe they are like 3 years old." Answered the one in a dark blue uniform thoughtfully. He tilted his head to the side spotting the short blue aliens.
"Miners not minors!" Whisper shouted the possible human.
"You lost me." Was all the reply he got as everyone stared at him.
The Doctor chose that point to cut in. "I have always found that you can easily get lost on the specifics without context. The English language for all that so many people speak it is one of the more confusing languages out there." He said with a goofy smile on his face. "Hi, I'm the Doctor and this is my companion Merlin."
Merlin gave a small wave but otherwise stayed out of it. This did not look like a good situation to be in the middle of. "They are so cute." The woman in red said. They all turned back to the scene in front of them. She was cooing at the aliens. Merlin on the other hand was not fooled.
"Sure they look cute now. But in a second their going to get mean and their going to get ugly somehow. And there's going to be a million more of them." The man in a plane grey uniform commented. He was a man that knew what was happening.
"How many times has this happened?" Asked the Doctor curiously. "You sound like your saying this from experience."
"Oh all the time. It is pointless to hope for anything else." Everyone turned to look back at the guy in the grey uniform. "Did you guys ever watch the show?" He asked in disbelief. They shrugged and turned back to watch an injured blue child like alien limp over to the water troff.
"They are trying to help the little hurt one" The woman said cooing slightly. Merlin just stood and watched the others around the injured one start whispering. There was no way this was going to end well. The cute faces quickly turned into what looked like a shark with fin like ears as they jumped the injured one. The other people in the group freaked.
"We have to hurry before one of those things kills Guy!" Said the woman while they ran a bit further away from the cannibalistic aliens. The man in the all grey uniform looked horrified at this. Merlin is going to go out on a branch here and say his name is Guy.
"Why are you guys here?" Merlin asked. As far as he could tell they weren't from this planet, or at least weren't from anywhere near these blue dwarf aliens. Though they might be here for resources from the looks of the mining equipment scattered around.
The man with the dark blue uniform looked over at Merlin. "Oh, we are here for a beryllium sphere. They are used to run the ship and ours has broken. This was the closest one."
"Fred!" Whisper shouted the man in black. Everyone was looking at him, but Fred just looked confused. This is why Merlin doesn't do people any more. He was far to old to be dealing with this. "Do you work for Sarris?" The man demanded.
Merlin looked over at the Doctor. "Who is Sarris? Is he the reason your beryllium sphere is broken? How did you get your ship to run on beryllium it is very difficult to make that work? Its not something you can just find laying around everywhere. Oh, wait. You made a quantum flux drive didn't you. Very clever."
"Look focus we need to get that sphere back to the ship are you going to help?" The Doctor nodded. "OK Tommy, you and Guy are on look out and if anything happens give us a signal." The man said.
"Ok, I'll put my hands like this and go caw caw!" Tommy said while imitating a crow eyes alight with joy. The group stared for a minute.
"What are you an infant? We have these!" The man in black demanded pulling out a small silver communicator. Merlin watched this and couldn't help but think they were all going to die. Don't get him wrong. He wasn't going to just let them die, but there was only so much he can do.
The main group started sneaking over to the beryllium sphere while Tommy and Guy ran off to a rock cropping hoping get a better view. The Doctor trailing after the main group muttering about beryllium and something about a chance to study it up close. Honestly Merlin wasn't sure what he was doing here. He had agreed on a trip with the Doctor in an effort to get him to leave. However this was not what he expected to happen.
Well he wasn't sure what he expected, but it definitely wasn't stealing a large ball of very rare material from a group of aliens to fix a ship. He was tired and nothing truly eventful has happened yet. He watched Tommy slip on the rocks causing them to fall. The noise echoing slightly off the metal scaffolding. Merlin decided right then that he was sitting this one out. He was not stealing a ball of rare material, he was not saving people he didn't know, and he sure as Crone was NOT trying to participate in the tom foolery these people were initiating.
Merlin took a step forward appearing on the top of the scaffolding. Sitting down so his legs swung off the edge he pulled out a tin of popcorn and started eating. The crew, plus the Doctor, made it to the beryllium sphere. They surrounded it and started pushing it off roughly in the direction of their shuttle. Merlin could see the blue aliens watching from the other side of rocks and mining equipment. There were everywhere.
"Caw Caw! Caw Caw, Jason!" Shouted Tommy as he and Guy ran down the rocks towards them. "Run their everywhere, Jason! Their everywhere!" The blue aliens getting excited at the commotion happening. Merlin kicked his legs back banging it on the metal causing most of the aliens to look up at him. They hissed a bit but turned back to the group stealing the sphere. However that had given the group a decent head start.
A scuff came from behind Merlin. A blue alien stood peeking at him over the edge only showing its eyes. Merlin raised an eyebrow. The alien shifted a bit before pulling itself up. Slowly it came and sat down next to him looking down at his tin of popcorn. Merlin offered some popcorn to the alien which immediately snatched it up and started eating. The two sat quietly watching the show as they munched.
The blue aliens gave chase as the crew shoved the sphere into the shuttle. Jason was grabbed and dragged off the shuttle just as the door was shutting. They carried him off as if he was crowd surfing. throwing him to the ground one of the aliens picked up a rock and knocked him out. Merlin stayed on the scaffolding watching. It didn't look like they were going to kill Jason so there was no reason to interfere. He had also noticed that the Doctor had left on the shuttle effectively abandoning Merlin on the planet along with his spaceship.
Merlin snorted as the shuttle flew out of sight not at all surprised that he got left there. The blue alien tapped his shoulder before gesturing to follow the others. With a shrug he stood up and followed his alien down to the ground. The others were dragging Jason off to a large arena made of rock. They tossed him into the middle and filled the stand.
The little alien dragged Merlin to sit in the back with it. Hissing at the others when they got too close. Arguments broke out between the aliens, but before long they settled down. The little one and Merlin fighting over the popcorn. A loud growling snort brought Merlin's attention back to Jason. A skin tone toothy pig about half the size of Jason was sniffing at his head.
As Merlin's attention was diverted, the little alien snatched the tin with a cry of triumph. He huffed and summoned another tin. "There is only so many of these you know." He pouted at the alien. Jason on the other hand woke with a start groaning. The aliens started chanting Gerignak once they noticed.
Jason pulled out his communicator while smacking the toothy pig with his jacket. "He is just agitating it." Merlin mumbled to his alien companion. "It does't even look like it eats meat. Those teeth are blunted." The jacket was pulled out of his hands as he yelled into the communicator. Merlin could just make out the words pig lizard as he punched it in the nose. "I'm not helping him now. You don't just punch animals in the nose after you antagonize them."
A beam of light shot down causing the pig to disappear. Merlin dropped the piece of popcorn he was holding. Well that was unexpected. The chanting continued despite the pig's disappearance. Calming down Merlin popped another piece of popcorn into his mouth. "So who is Gerignack?" He asked the little alien who promptly ignored him in favor of the popcorn. The aliens suddenly tensed and ran for hiding spots. Merlin stayed where he was while rocks fell and began forming a body behind Jason.
"Ho Ho." Merlin leaned forward trying to get a better look. "A golem type creature?" Jason ran. The only truly smart thing Merlin has seen him do so far. With a huff Merlin stood following just as Jason yelled "It's a rock it doesn't have any venerable spots!"
He caught up as Jason was dragged across the ground and flung. Merlin ran he didn't really want Jason to die. Sure he antagonized a the poor pig, but its not like he killed it. The golem threw itself over Jason just as Merlin cast a shield between the two. "Hey, over here!" He shouted getting it's attention. The golem lifted itself up and started stomping over. Merlin glanced at where Jason was only... He wan't there! Nothing! Not even a scrap of cloth. No drop of blood.
Merlin blinked forgetting about the golem for a moment. "What?" His magic flared as a smashing sound began beside him. "What!?" He asked the golem pointing at the point Jason what supposed to be. "What the hell!?" The golem was no help at all as it just kept smashing at his shield. "You know what no."
He turned around and headed for the Doctor's ship. He was done. He doesn't go on 'adventures' anymore and this was why. He gets left behind, nothing makes sense, and even the creatures refuse to be proper. He just sat and ate popcorn with a blue cannibalistic alien that had some form of shark head. He was DONE! Adventure over.
The ship it turns out wan't that far from where he was. The blue police box anything but blending into the desert rock terrain. He opened the doors immediately hit by the cool air inside. The TARDIS shifted and lit. Groans coming from different places. A probe at his mind asking where the Doctor was. "I don't know, but he seemed fine. Would you mind taking me to him? I need to get back home and only he can really operate you." A feint feeling of sadness was all he got.
"Right, what was I expecting?" A ship can't run by itself no matter how smart it is. Merlin sighed and looked up at the ceiling. "... Would you mind if I brought the Doctor to us?" He asked instead. A feeling of joy washed across him. "Alright, lets do this the hard way then. Please don't brake my concentration." The presents backed off a bit.
Merlin sat on the floor cross-legged and closed his eyes. He looked for the well of copper gold magic pulling it out and flooding it through the ship. The spaceship was a lot bigger than he first thought. More and more rooms kept appearing to his magic. Merlin frowned before pushing it outside. He didn't need to know about the ship he needed to bring the idiot back.
The magic shifted out the open door covering the blue box much faster then mapping and filling the rooms had been. To his magic the blue box was the entire spaceship. Nothing outside the box shape existed and there was no magic keeping it together. Merlin's brow furrowed in confusion but quickly completed covering the police box. There was a quiet hum of displeasure from the TARDIS, but he ignored it. He was leaning that the TARDIS and his magic really didn't like each other. He thought of the Doctor and the people he just meet. His magic pulling on him. Telling him it understood and found the Doctor.
He let go. Releasing the magic. Allowing it to grab what he wanted. In the space of a breath the Doctor appeared looking very confused. "What? Darling?" He glanced around his eyes landing on Merlin who was still sitting panting a little. "Merlin you alright? I was looking all over for you. I was wondering where you had gone off to. Are you the reason I'm here? I was not aware that you could work the TARDIS." The Doctor started forward before freezing.
His head tilted a bit to the side listening. His eyes starting to twinkle. "Really now. Fascinating! Now how did you do that? Darling said you wrapped her in a weird energy before bringing me here." Merlin just stayed quiet as he caught his breath. What he had just done was very taxing. It wasn't like bringing a tin of popcorn from home. He knowns were his home is and what it looks like. Where to find the tin and just pulled it to him.
The Doctor on the other hand, he didn't know where was. He didn't know how far off or if he was in the middle of something. He was also much larger then a tin. His magic hummed happily and twisted around him. Unseen by the other. "Darling can you pull up the footage? Thank you." Merlin watched as a video showed him pushing his magic around the ship. For some reason visible on the screen.
"Astounding. Are you manipulating energy? How would you even do that? Hm, this isn't anything like the energy I know." The screen flashed and the Doctor showed up. "Fascinating. Can you do this with anything?" Merlin was kind of tired now.
"Hey, can you take me home?" He asked the Doctor causing him to pause. Merlin knew that he was being a bit rude, but he really didn't want to stay on this planet anymore. The TARDIS was also back to poking at him.
"Ah, well yes I can.."
"Great. Let's go. I will answer your question while on the way." The Doctor burst into a grin despite the fact MErlin had cut him off.
"Wonderful! Let me just set it up." Buttons were pushed, levers pulled, and knobs twisted. "There we go!" He pulled a lever and the shaking started up. The Doctor sat on the floor across from Merlin. Completely at home on the floor.
"Now then, how did you bring me back to the TARDIS? I have never seen that before and I have seen a lot of things in my lifetime." Eyes alight with curiosity. A almost physical want to know.
Merlin chuckled a little before wiggling his fingers. "Magic." The Doctor froze.
"Magic? Magic? There is no magic. Well not never. It is a possibility, as anything can exist. But surly I would have seen some before this. The probability of never seeing it, if it exists, until now is way too low. There was that seer that one time with the reptilians, but I mean that is seeing time. The possible ways it can flow. The flux of choices. Not really magic. However the ability to pull a person through space is also just particle manipulation. Not what one would truly call magic."
A laugh brought the Doctor's attention back to Merlin. "No, it is magic young one." His smile had just an edge to it. Copper colored lights floated around Merlin as his eyes light up gold.
The Doctor whipped out his screw driver running it through the air causing Merlin's magic to recoil from it. The Doctor went over whatever readings he picked up mumbling to himself. Before his head shot up. "Wait did you just call me young one? I take offense to that. You are certainly younger than me. You can't be more than 21." He looked Merlin over again. "Maybe 23."
Merlin laughed harder standing up. "Come on I will explain over tea."