trans_9 | Archaeology, Natural Disasters and You [Closed]

The trip down revealed that Taleen was going to be of several things, none of which were pleasant. Arid, pale with a light dusting of red from the rocks, and yellow-white grass that extended in plains all the way towards far off mountains . There was a giant gash in the land near the orb landing area, which resolved itself into a massive canyon as the party drew closer. Spider webbing out across the top of the canyon were signs that a civilization had once flourished here. Traces of broken pillars and half submerged buildings, as well as what looked like a downed ship that had embedded itself in a massive building. There was no movement visible amongst the ruins now. As the dry wind blew through the stonework, it would became clear that they were walking into a mass graveyard.

Not somewhere you'd want to spend your vacation.

For some people, this was going to be a field day.

According to the scans and what little records they had, there hasn't been a sentient being around for hundreds of years. The majority of native wildlife had moved out of the area, seeking refuge. The land looked dead already. In the sky above, several specks of light twinkled in the sky, growing bigger with each passing hour. In a few days, it will be raining fire.

[Closed to Daniel, Eleventh Doctor, Sofia, Jamie, Hoshi, Howard, Billy, the Master, River Song, Cassie, Tom]

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Cassie nodded, not wanting to argue with him. She hoped that if Jamie needed some relief from the digging, then he'd ask, but she could hardly force it on him. "Okay," she agreed willingly, although there was still a bit of hesitation in her voice. "But just let me know if you want to switch." After pausing for a moment, she then added, "I'm sorry for dragging you into this, but thank you for the help. I'm grateful." She remembered well that he hadn't initially wanted to come out this way and had come because of her, so she felt bad that he seemed to be the one shouldering the most work here.

She continued to spread the dirt, but turned when she heard Jamie's offer. "If you'd like, then I'd welcome the help. It's going well, but there's a lot of ground to cover."

"Hey, now. There's no need to do that," Jamie says, giving her a small smile. As reluctant as he was to go in the first place, now that they're here he's willing to go along with the hunt for the beastie. "Besides, if there is something out here, best we find it now before it comes into camp."

He sets the trowel aside for the moment, in case it's needed again, and scoops up as much of the dirt as he can carry. He moves over to the next section and begins to scatter it around. After a bit, he brushes his hands together to remove the last small bits of the dirt and looks at his handiwork in satisfaction.

"I think that'll do. Come on, let's find a place to hide and see if our beastie won't come out for a visit."

Cassie smiled, appreciating Jamie's response. "Thank you. And you're right. Better to deal with this now."

After taking one last glance over the area, she nodded. "We could hide over here," she suggested, leading the way over to an area where the ground dipped down steeply, although the drop itself was pretty shallow. She'd noticed it earlier, but hadn't thought much about it until now. It wasn't that deep, but if they kept their heads down then it was deep enough to keep them hidden. "Unless you've noticed a better hiding spot at least."

"Aye, that'll do." It's almost perfect, actually, as long as they stayed still. It's been awhile since he's had to do that, but he's confident it'll be no problem to do it again. The beastie should show itself in short order...even if it's just its footprints.

He waits to make sure Cassie is settled first, just to make sure there's no problems with the ground shifting unexpectedly. Once that's done, he joins her, lifting his head enough so he can see over the top of the depression without making it obvious he's looking.

"All right," he says to her, pitching his voice so it's barely above a whisper. "All we have to do now is wait."

And wait they did. Cassie too watched carefully, keeping perfectly still so as not to startle any coming animals, but she saw nothing. On top of that, she also heard nothing now.

Still, she waited quietly, letting the time pass without comment. As it dragged on though, she bit her lip and shot Jamie a look. If there had been an animal there originally, it wasn't hard to believe that they might have scared it off nor was it that hard to believe that it was possible that there had never been an animal following them.

Sighing, she finally spoke again, although in a voice barely above a whisper. "How long do you think we should wait?" She'd have been fine watching for longer, but it wasn't fair to hold Jamie here, waiting on an animal that might never come or even exist.

As the time ticks by, Jamie tries to wait as patiently as he can. But the longer they do so, the more it's becoming apparent that the beastie isn't about to make an appearance - that is, if it had even existed in the first place.

When Cassie whispers, he glances over at her. To him, it doesn't seem fair to keep her here when it was likely only going to result in them getting stiff muscles - or worse, if they stay too long and night falls.

"Aye, well, I'd say if it's not shown itself by now, it's not likely going to. At least, not anytime soon. We should head back. It's likely to get cold quickly once it gets dark, and there's not that much daylight left."

Cassie nodded slowly, agreeing with Jamie's reasoning. It was disappointing, but that was hardly a first for her and there was no point in keeping Jamie here unless she had some reason to believe that something would happen soon, which she didn't. Besides, the others at camp might be starting to worry about them. It was time to head back.

"Yes, you're right. Let's go then." Cassie stood up and dusted herself off before starting back in the direction from which they had come. With a smile, she added, "Thank you for coming with me, Jamie. I enjoyed your company."

Jamie does trail behind for a moment, but it's only to retrieve the trowel. No sense in leaving it behind when it could still come in useful for the rest of the dig. He catches up quickly enough after that, soon falling into step with Cassie.

"There's no need to thank me for that, although I'm glad I got the chance to talk with ye," he says, with a smile of his own. Seems he's enjoyed her company as well. "Sorry we weren't able to turn up your beastie, though."

Soon enough, they're back at the outskirts of the camp, and Jamie glances around for sign f a familiar, too-skinny figure in a bow-tie...but doesn't see him. "Look, I should go find the Doctor before he decides I've wandered off somewhere. Will ye be alright from here?"

"I'm happy that I had the opportunity to get to speak with you too, Jamie. I hope that I'll have the chance to see much more of you even after this mission ends." It was wonderful that she'd had the chance to have met someone as kind as Jamie. You couldn't have too many friends as far as she was concerned.

"Oh, don't worry about it at all," Cassie smiled. "It's probably better this way anyway. It was nice to be able to stretch my legs."

She nodded in response to Jamie's question when they reach the camp. "I'll be fine. It's not too much farther to where I was set up anyway. Thank you and good luck with everything."

"Well," he comments dryly, "It's not as though we'll not be around in the same places up there from time to time...but I'd not mind that at all."

It's said with a lopsided smile. They're to be friends, after all, in Jamie's mind, and it seems Cassie may be thinking along the same lines. So that's perfectly fine by him. Satisfied that she'll be able to get back to where she's set up on her own, he nods as well.

"Aye, all right, then. And thank ye. Don't worry, though, I should be able to find him easily enough." With a grin, he turns away, heading deeper into the camp. After a few minutes, she may be able to hear a faint "Doctor! Doctor, where are ye?" drifting back in her general direction. Soon enough, though, even that fades away, leaving just the regular noises of the camp to be heard.

Archaeology, Natural Disasters and You [Closed]

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