Tag: CrossOver

Zepheera-Vision — Time and a Crayon

image

Preface

Zepheera clung to the tweed of the Doctor’s jacket as he fell down a stranger’s chimney. As if to distract herself from the utter terror of free-falling inside a giant man’s pocket, a stray thought floated through the back of the borrower’s mind – At least it’s warm…

And seconds before the Doctor landed, it got very warm indeed. His intrusive body knocked a load of soot loose from the chimney’s shaft, and it all came down on top of the quaint fire burning in the fireplace, quenching it just as the Doctor rolled out and jumped to his feet, coughing and patting away at the black soot that covered him from head to toe.

Somewhere in the landing, Zepheera got dislodged from the Doctor’s coat, and with the security of his hand against her suddenly lost, she flew right out of his pocket onto the newly-blackened floor. She lay there dazed as the Doctor addressed the small crowd of humans – or at least, human-like people. If there was one thing traveling through time and space with an alien taught Zepheera, it was to never make assumptions.

“Ah. Yes! Blimey.” The Doctor’s hand went instantly to his pocket to check on his companion. When there was a distinct lack of a borrower there, he scoured the floor until he found her a few feet to his right. She was just recovering, pulling herself to stand. Satisfied that she was alright, he turned back to the other people in the room. “Sorry. Christmas Eve on a rooftop, saw a chimney, my whole brain just went ‘What the hell’!”

While the Doctor carried on rambling about Father Christmas and Frank Sinatra, Zepheera shook the soot out of her clothes and short, dark hair and assessed the room. There was an old, grouchy-looking man with two men standing behind him; Zepheera guessed they were guards, servants, or both. Then there stood a poor family consisting of what looked like a grandmother, a father, and two children. At least some of them were human, this she knew thanks to the slight ache in the joints of her elbows and ankles that always flared up around when humans were around. In any case, she was much too greatly outnumbered by people who were more than a dozen times her own height.

Tearing her deep violet gaze away from the gathering of giants, Zepheera’s attention was drawn to a large, almost organ-like machine in the corner. She made straight for it, digging her hook and line out of her trusty rucksack. With practiced motion, she tossed it high up and it caught on one of the many flashing buttons. She made short work of climbing up the homemade rope, risking a look over her shoulder halfway up.

The Doctor was doing what he did best, distracting and confounding the humans in the room. Only the children seemed unfazed by his antics, even amused by them. And it didn’t take them long to notice the four and a half inch tall woman dashing across the floor and climbing onto the console. But they kept quiet about her, and Zepheera had to commend them for that.

She hauled herself up and made straight for the center of the console. Some of the buttons and switches were labelled, but nothing directly indicated which one would either shut the whole thing down or coax the skies into saving the ship that Amy and Rory were crashing in. She made an educated guess and pushed down on one of the buttons.

It gave a non-committal buzz, but nothing happened otherwise. She tried again, to no avail.

“Doctor!” she called, hoping he could make sense of this baffling machine.

The Time Lord whirled around and gravitated toward the controls immediately. “Ooh! Now, what’s this then? I love this! Big flashy lighty thing, that’s what brought me here!” He ran his fingers along the buttons around and above Zepheera, teeming with excitement. “Big flashy lighty things have got me written all over them! Not actually. Give me time and a crayon.”

“Do not give him a crayon!” Zepheerea emphasized as the Doctor sat down in the nearby chair and spun it around until his back was facing her. She took the opportunity to jump back onto his shoulder, feeling slightly more confident now that she was in her usual place. Here, the Doctor would make sure that no harm came to her.

As it turned out, the controls reacted to the Doctor in the exact same way. No amount of sonicing the interface would change the fact that Zepheera and the Doctor’s only hope of saving the Ponds was for a very bad man, the only person who could manipulate the controls and the clouds, to suddenly turn nice just in time for Christmas day.

This was all sounding a little…familiar to Zepheera.

Asks and Prompts are open! | Submissions, too!

Zepheera-Vision — Basically Just A Rabbit

image

“Doctor!”

The Time Lord’s head snapped up from his dinging machine at the sound of Zepheera’s cry. He berated himself for getting talked into splitting up to look for the Zygon as he ran off toward the voice. Sure, his four and a half inch tall companion could take care of herself in ways that still surprised him, but could she hold her own against a Zygon? A big, red, rubbery thing covered in suckers that was at least a foot taller than the average human? The thought pushed him to run faster.

He almost blew straight past Zepheera, skidding to a halt when she called out, “Over here!” Simultaneously, a signal on his machine flared up, and he turned sharply to look down at a moss-covered stump. Zepheera stood in the shadow of what looked like a floppy-eared rabbit. The Doctor noticed her arms were raised, he assumed in defense, but failed to catch sight of the wide grin across her lips.

“Oh, very clever,” he mused, collapsing the machine’s antenna and approaching slowly to loom over the rabbit which he was now convinced was a Zygon.

“Whatever you’ve got planned, forget it,” he warned darkly. “I’m the Doctor. I’m nine hundred and four years old.”

Catching on to the Doctor’s train of thought and realizing her mistake, Zepheera tried to interrupt him. “Doctor–”

But he barreled right along: “I’m from the planet Gallifrey in the constellation of Kasterborous.” The rabbit briefly turned its head to look up at the Time Lord as he neared before returning to nuzzling its little pink nose into a clump of moss next to Zepheera. “I am the oncoming storm, the bringer of darkness, and if you hurt so much as a hair on my friend’s head I will–”

“Doctor, shut up!” Zepheera shouted, and the Doctor did just that, staring incredulously at her. Her cheeks were hot from the embarrassment of the misunderstanding that she’d partially caused. “It’s not a Zygon,” she explained. “I checked. He just sort of bounded right up to me and…I dunno, at the moment it was cute.”

The Doctor crouched next to the stump. “So…basically just a rabbit, then?”

“Yup.”

“I thought you were in trouble!” he groused.

Zepheera gave a false gasp. “My deepest apologies, your majesty!”

“Oh, don’t start that again!” She had already given him enough grief for accidentally getting engaged to Queen Elizabeth not an hour ago, he wasn’t sure how much more he could take.

For @neonthebright​.

GIF cred: this post by @frekkenbok​

So now the option for Zepheera-Visions to be set in existing DW episodes, as well as featuring other companions, is officially a thing!

Asks and Prompts are open! | Submissions, too!

Zepheera-Vision — A Tight Fit

image

“See anything yet, Zepheera?”

The borrower in question rolled her eyes as the felt a series of rumbles through the hardwood floor that seemed to indicate the Doctor was crouching down to check on her already. It had only been a few seconds since she’d been sent down into this small gap to investigate for clues. A glance over her shoulder gave her a narrow view of her Time Lord flattened on the ground with one eye shut tight and the opposite eyebrow raised high, as though it would give him a greater insight on Zepheera’s perspective. 

“Doctor, we’ve been over this, you can’t fit down here.”

“Yeah, but I can’t help being curious!” he declared defensively. “Last place anybody sees the big old mysterious being is disappearing through this tiny little gap, which should be impossible given its size!” 

Depending on how it had been done, such a change might have left behind some sort of residue that would assist the pair of time travelers in knowing what exactly they were up against. On the other hand, if the person or creature had simply made themselves smaller, then Zepheera could be at risk where she now stood.

Well, more like crouched. Even for her, standing at four and a half inches tall, it was a bit of a tight fit. In any case, the Doctor had to be ready to help her despite the fact that his hand wouldn’t be able to reach more than a few inches into such a small space.

Zepheera bit back a huff, placing her hands on her hips as she backed away from the Doctor. They’d been together for months doing this exact kind of thing on a near daily basis, and she’d thought the Doctor trusted her more than what he seemed to be demonstrating. But just as she was about to tell him exactly what she thought, she felt and heard her foot sink into some gelatinous mystery fluid with a sickening squelch. She jumped away from it with a cry of disgust, shaking as much of it off her foot as possible.

“Found something,” she muttered to the Doctor through a clenched jaw.

Zepheera-Vision — Her Business

image

“But what is she?” asked one of the scientists to the Doctor in an aside.

The Time Lord looked up from the sample he was examining through a microscope at the woman in a white coat addressing him, glancing at the shelf on the other side of the room where his four-inch-tall companion stood scrutinizing racks of test tubes. They knew one of them was wrong, and she volunteered to find out which out of the 75 tubes it was since her eyes wouldn’t tire as easily as any of the human scientists’ would looking at the miniscule labels.

Turning back to the scientist, he gave a sniff and replied, “I rather think that’s her business to share, not mine. Although,” he added as he focused back on the microscope, “to be fair, if you asked she probably wouldn’t tell you.”

“And why’s that?” the scientist hissed, sounding affronted.

“Cause you’re human!” exclaimed the Doctor, not bothering to look up from the microscope this time. “Would you trust somebody who looks as big as you do to her right off?”

Her gaze wandered over to the impossibly tiny woman still searching tirelessly through the test tubes, and she heaved a resigned sigh. She supposed she wouldn’t. Rather than admit that, however, she pressed on. “But she trusts you, and you’re taller than I am!”

“Well, you’ve got me there.” The Doctor straightened to his full height–a full head taller than the female scientist–adjusting his crisp royal blue suit. “Little over sixteen times her height, I’m surely terrifying. In’t that right, Zepheera?”

His tiny companion’s head snapped up at the mention of her name, only to find the Doctor crossing the room right toward the shelf she was standing on. After all this time, it still blew her mind how fast someone so large could move. 

“I’m just as scary as any mean ol’ human, eh?” he smirked, pulling a teasingly startling ‘rawr’ face close to the eye-level shelf as he passed the borrower and moved on to fetch whatever he was after. 

Zepheera flinched at the sudden lack of space, but shot an exasperated look through the back of her friend’s head. She went about her business, muttering about what a giant ten-year-old her Time Lord was as she worked.

Zepheera-Vision — Backseat Driver

image

“Must you drive with your feet?” complained Zepheera as she clung to a hopefully useless doodad on the console, eyeing the red Chuck Taylor that had landed a little too close for comfort. “Not to be rude or anything, I just can’t help but feel slightly at risk here!”

“Oh, always the backseat drivers…” the Doctor muttered through clenched teeth. But he peered through the loops of cable at Zepheera, careful to know where she was at all times in order to avoid…incidents, he thought with a glance at his shoe. “For your information, it takes six pilots to fly this ship properly, and considering I failed my test, I think I manage quite well, thanks very–!”

He was cut off when a rumble of turbulence shook the TARDIS. With the extra leverage of his propped-up foot, the Doctor managed to keep his balance. Zepheera was not quite so lucky, as the tremor was much greater to her. Her feet were thrown out from under her and she slipped over the edge of the raised section of the console that she had thought for sure would be safer. As her grip tightened on her handhold to prevent her from being thrown off the console altogether, she reconsidered her chain of logic.

“Zepheera?” called the Doctor after losing sight of his four-inch-tall companion. He hurried around to the panel where he’d last seen her, letting out a relieved breath when she appeared unhurt. Even so, while his left hand turned a crank and several dials, his right scooped up Zepheera and lifted her to his shoulder. “How ‘bout we try this?” It was still early days for the pair of them, and neither had ever lived so closely with someone of such a dramatic size difference before.

But they were learning. Zepheera didn’t have time to be cross about being picked up without warning because the Doctor was already on the move. She clung to his collar as the Time Lord dashed about, and through trial and error she found a stable position in shoving her legs under his lapel and anchoring her feet against his neck. 

Once she felt secure, Zepheera actually thought this wasn’t so bad. Sure, riding on a giant’s shoulder was nerve-wracking, not to mention he moved at a borderline dizzying rate. But at least up here, she wouldn’t have to worry about any flying converse.

Minisode: From Nothing

BTaS Canon: Yes

Timeline: Within the first two weeks of Zepheera’s acceptance aboard the TARDIS

Insp. by this post

Part 2 of 2

Zepheera
eagerly hurried onto his hand and climbed up his arm to his shoulder, holding
on to the collar of his button-up as he carefully stood. He returned to the
screen, clicking it on. A brief flash of what he had been looking at earlier
appeared before he switched away from it. It lasted less than a second and
looked a lot like a woman with fiery red hair. Zepheera knew better than to
pry, and focused her attention on what the Doctor was doing and saying.

”Have
you heard of the Hubble Space Telescope?“ he asked, pulling up an image of
the machine.

Zepheera
sat down a little ways away from the Doctor’s neck so he could see her more
easily if he wanted to, tilting her head slightly at the picture. "A
little,” she replied.

“Well,
put simply, it does exactly what the title says: orbits the Earth, capturing
light from across the universe. Launched in nineteen-ninety, ten years ago for
you, and in two thousand three, it’ll point itself someplace a bit
peculiar.”

With
the push of a button, the screen changed to an image of the night sky, big old
full moon and all. “Right about…" the Doctor muttered, working the
controls until a minuscule square appeared to the left of the moon. “Ah, there
we are. That tiny area in the sky. What do you see?“

Zepheera
squinted. The square was probably the size of her hand, give or take, but from
this distance it seemed even smaller. "Nothing,” she answered as soon
as she was sure.

“Nothing.
Totally blank to the naked eye. Not even a star. And yet, Hubble kept on
looking. Looking and looking for four months, seeing all it could see until…“

Click.

Zepheera’s
vision filled with a gorgeous assortment of colorful dots, all different sizes
and colors and shapes. Her breath caught and her eyes widened. The Doctor
paused to let the image sink in before he continued emphatically.

"Each
and every one of these dots is a galaxy.” He
gesticulated widely at the screen. “Each galaxy can potentially hold up to
a trillion stars. And each star could potentially
have its own system of planets, any of which could potentially hold life.”
Another pause for emphasis. “There are over ten thousand galaxies pictured
here. And all from what looked like a tiny speck of absolutely nothing to Earth.

"And
that, Zepheera,” he said, turning his head to look at her, “is how
big the universe is.”

The
look on the borrower’s face was nothing short of amazed. Her hand covered her
mouth and her eyes shone with tears, which she blinked away when she felt his
eyes on her. Such a revelation would have made almost anyone else, borrower or
not, feel insignificant and tiny. But in Zepheera, it inspired hope and the
confidence that anything and anyone, no matter how small or seemingly
unimportant, could hold all the potential in the universe. She felt lighter
somehow with this new knowledge.

“Ten
thousand, you said?” she finally piped up, wiping a stray tear away with
the heel of her hand.

The
Doctor smiled warmly at her. “And more.”

She
lifted her chin to meet his gaze. “Can we see them?”

Smile
widening, he brought a hand up for her to climb on. Once she was settled on his
palm, he held her in front of the monitor. “Where would you like to go
first?”

Nearly
overwhelmed by the choice, Zepheera considered carefully. They all looked so
unique and unbelievably intriguing. But she came to a decision, motioning for
the Doctor to lift her higher until she could reach the middle of the screen.

“There,” she announced, pressing her finger on one of the closer
galaxies, a round bright orange one.

“Brilliant
choice,” he agreed, ruffling her short hair with his thumb. She batted the
digit away half-heartedly, fatigue seeming to have finally caught up with her.
“We’ll go first thing in the morning. You should get some rest.”

Zepheera
nodded heavily, and the Doctor began to carry her out of the console room. She
insisted that she could make it back to her room on her own, so he stopped a
few steps into the corridor and lowered her to the floor

“Good
night, Zepheera.”

“Night,”
she replied over her shoulder as she started off. “And,” she began,
turning around suddenly. The Doctor was about to stand and leave her to it when
her voice made him freeze. “Thank you.” She smiled genuinely, albeit
sleepily, and the Doctor returned the gesture.

Without another
word, the two went their separate ways, both eagerly awaiting the morning.

Minisode: From Nothing

BTaS Canon: Yes
Timeline: Within the first two weeks of Zepheera’s acceptance aboard the TARDIS

Part 1 of 2

Every
person in the universe, once in a while, has a sleepless night when every nook
and cranny of their mind is haunted by a single thought. An inexplicable
philosophy conjured up from nothing, a question ceaselessly asked. For them,
this thought fills their senses and thwarts any attempt at sleep. Tonight was
one of those nights for Zepheera.

She
didn’t know what had woken her, but once she found herself awake she was
restless. She tossed and turned, and the thought
refused to quiet down. It was a question that she’d never given much consideration, but was difficult to ignore now that she was with the Doctor.

Finally,
she could take it no longer.

Shivering
slightly, Zepheera padded her way down the long corridors of the TARDIS. She
hadn’t bothered to change out of her pajamas, a thin, dark robe over a
long-sleeved lavender shirt and baggy red plaid trousers. Something was on her
mind and she was sure she’d never sleep until her thought was appeased.

She
stuck by the walls by force of habit—it was an easy way for her and the Doctor
to navigate the halls separately without worrying about…unpleasantness. Even
so, she was confident the Doctor always watched where he stepped when she wasn’t
with him. She flinched slightly when she was close enough to the wall. A
strange feeling overcame her and a chilling mechanical groan echoed through the
colossal halls. It was as if the TARDIS itself was anxious. Perhaps this
feeling had stolen the borrower’s sleep.

By
and by, she rounded the corner to the darkened console room where she found the
Doctor standing in front of the screen. It was hidden by the console from where
Zepheera stood, and she could plainly see the Doctor illuminated by it. He
might have angled himself this way so he’d be able to see if Zepheera came in,
she supposed. But whatever was on that screen had his attention in thrall;
she’d never seen his eyes so…mournful, and
with such longing.

After
a short moment of watching him curiously, Zepheera caught his attention by
clearing her throat. He blinked, reality hitting him hard, and immediately
found his tiny companion in the entrance. He frowned in concern.

“Zepheera,”
said the Doctor gently, flipping the screen off and stepping away from the
console. Pocketing his hands, he took a few shuffling steps toward her and
dropped to his knees. “I thought you were asleep. Something wrong?“

Zepheera
awkwardly shifted her feet. "Oh, no, nothing like that, I was just—I
couldn’t sleep and I was thinking…This is probably gonna sound
stupid…” She trailed off, lowering her gaze to her hands as she
intertwined her fingers.

By
then, the Doctor was lying flat on the floor, head and shoulders propped up
slightly by his elbows. He hated looming over her. It made him feel
ridiculously intimidating, and it wasn’t very conducive for conversation either.
“What is it?”

She
took a steadying breath. “I was wondering…just how big the universe
is.”

It
was a simple question, but it felt silly to ask. She felt like a human child
asking their parent if there was indeed such a thing as Father Christmas.

“Oh…bigger
than you can imagine,“ he answered with a kind grin.

A
relieved smile parted her features. She should have known the Doctor wouldn’t
judge her, especially since the average borrower’s world was much smaller than
Zepheera’s had been even before she met
the Time Lord.

"Can
you show me?” She met his eyes once again as she asked, her own brimming
with curiosity.

The
Doctor considered this, biting the corner of his lip as he thought. Suddenly
his eyes lit up and refocused on her.

“C’mere,“
he said, reaching a hand towards her.

woah I’m invested in this story now, what’s goin on with them cats?

In reference to this post

Honestly, it didn’t start off as anything that dramatic or angsty. There were a bunch of GIFs of David Tennant/the Tenth Doctor with cats, and a little streak of cute Zepheera-Visions came to mind. But that last part turned out much longer than I thought it would be when I started writing it, and I had no idea it would dive so deeply into Zepheera’s attitude toward the felines. It just happened, and looking back I don’t know where else this could have possibly gone.

As for the cats themselves, I assume they’re some alien race of psychic or telepathic cats who lure the Doctor into this bizarre state, and for whatever reason don’t affect Zepheera the same way. As of right now, this is the last appearance they’ll make, but who knows? Maybe in the future I will be motivated (or prompted) to write more about these felonious felines!

image