TRIAL OF A TIME LORD: THE VALEYARD

Chapter Twenty

(A few minutes before Mirza met Alan...)

"Wait," Hamish said when he stopped and twirled the stick then tucked it under his left arm. Namid knew that he only stood that way when danger was approaching and he tilted his head left and right. Slowly moving behind him, she placed her hand on his waist and he smiled, patting her hand. They herd soft footsteps coming closer when Mirza came around the corner and Hamish twirled the stick. The end of the stick came within inches of Mirza's nose and his eyes went wide with fear.

"Teacher, stop, it's just a child!" Namid shouted as Mirza fell onto his bottom and looked up at the angry Highlander.

"Please don't kill me!" Mirza said while he crab walked backwards down the passageway and Namid walked closer, kneeling down in front of him.

"It's ok, we're not going to hurt you," she said and Hamish snorted.

"I'm nae so sure aboot that," he said and she glared at him.

"Look, what's your name?" Namid asked as Mirza looked from her to Hamish then sighed, looking at the ground.

"My name is Mirza," he said.

"How old are you?"

"I'm eleven."

"What are you doing here?"

"My master..." he said when Hamish's eyes went wide and a low growl came from his throat.

"He's working for the Valeyard!" Hamish said as Namid stood up, walked to Hamish and placed her hands on his shoulders.

"Teacher, please, I need you to settle down. You're scaring him," she said as Hamish breathed hard and fast through his nose and nodded, holding the stick against his chest.

"Why does he have that?" Mirza asked as Namid turned to him standing next to her and saw him pointing at the stick in Hamish's hands.

"He's blind," she said as Mirza slowly nodded when she thought of something and sighed.. She gently took Mirza's hand as she moved him closer to Hamish then took the stick out of Hamish's hands. "Teacher, you always told me that you could judge someone just by touching them. Do that now."

"What is he...?" Mirza asked while Hamish slowly reached out and cupped Mirza face in his hands. Mirza flinched as Hamish's fingers traveled over the dips and curves of Mirza's face and Hamish deeply sighed.

"You're na' more than skin an' bones, Lad. Where are you from?" Hamish asked.

"I came from Parsuash," Mirza said softly.

"You came from Persia?" Namid asked and Mirza nodded.

"How did you get here?" Hamish asked.

"My master found me on the streets after I ran away from my uncle. He told me to come with him and he would show me what lies beyond the stars in the night sky," Mirza said and Hamish nodded, gently ruffling Mirza hair.

"But, instead of traveling the stars, you ended up as his slave, eh?" Hamish asked and Mirza nodded. "Och, Lad, dinnae nod your head. I cannae hear your brains rattling!"

Mirza covered his mouth to mute his laughter and Hamish gently thumped two fingers on the top of Mirza head. Hamish let go of Mirza's head when Mirza turned to Namid and looked at her.

"Do you know where your master has my family?" Namid asked and Mirza slowly nodded. "Can you take us to them?"

"I can't!" Mirza said with fear in his eyes.

"But he is hurting my father."

"Is he the one that's screaming?" Mirza asked as they heard the screaming echoing down the passageway.

"Yes, please, you have to help me rescue him!" Namid said but Mirza shook his head, looking down at the floor.

"I can't."

"Are you a man or a mouse, Lad?" Hamish asked and Mirza looked at him.

"He will kill me."

"It is better to die a man than to live life as a coward," he said and Mirza noticed the scars on Hamish's knuckles, gently running a finger over the scars.

"You fight though you cannot see?" he asked and Hamish smiled.

"Aye, I do."

"He hardly ever backs down from a fight," Namid said and Mirza's eyes went wide.

"Then I will do as you wish, Mistress," Mirza said then ran off and Namid softly laughed, rolling her eyes.

"I really wish he hadn't called me that," she said then looked at Hamish, giving him the stick back then took his hand. "Come on, we're running out of time."

"I do as you wish, Mistress," Hamish said with a bow as she laughed and gently smacked his arm.

(Adam's universe)

"What was I supposed to do? Fight back?" Tony asked as Adam paced back and forth then sighed, sitting on the chair near the door. Adam tapped his finger against his lower lip as he looked at the silver metal disc and blinked.

"What about these discs? They were only used to control the weevils." Adam said and Tony sighed.

"Yeah, they were but he..." Tony said and Adam stood up, walking to the medical bed.

"He's using them as scent hounds, isn't he?" Adam asked and Tony nodded.

"He said that they're better at finding aliens than we are."

"Did he train them to hunt...us?"

"Yeah," Tony said with a nod of his head.

"And he uses this to control you and your mum, too, right?" Adam asked, showing him the small, metal disc.

"I guess so," Tony said, shrugging a shoulder.

"Oh, I know so. Tony, you were my little shadow and my brother's biggest fan. You were always bugging him to take you on trips in his TARDIS. I can't count the number of times that I had to stop you and my son from hurling the chibis down the laundry chute or dropping them off the roof! It wasn't until we left that you turned a blind eye to us," he said and Tony glared at him.

"Yeah, you left!" Tony half shouted and Adam blinked.

"Hold on, are you saying that you wanted to come with us?" Adam asked and Tony balled his hands into fists.

"That's when he did it. That day that you went to go find Uncle Doctor," Tony said and Adam saw the tears in the corner of his eyes. "Mum had hers already but he...he..."

Adam gently placed his fingers against Tony's temples when he closed his eyes and gently moved through his mind, avoiding memories he knew Tony didn't want him to see. His hearts slammed in his chest when he saw what Pete did to Tony and Jackie and Adam placed his forehead against Tony's forehead.

"I am so sorry," he whispered and Tony placed a hand on his shoulder.

"So, what do we do now, Boss?" Tony said with a smile and Adam smiled back.

Namid and Hamish moved carefully down the hallway when Namid pressed Hamish against the wall and something large and covered in leather lumbered by. Hamish touched her hand as she let go of him and took his hand. They walked to the hatchway as the soft sound of the stick clicking against the floor filled the air and the hatchway opened, causing Namid to jump. Alan, Mirza and Rain smiled at them as Alan placed his elbow on Rain's shoulder and waved at Namid.

"Hello," Alan said as Namid nearly tackled him to the floor and he wrapped his arms around her, hugging her.

"Doctor, is that you?" Hamish asked as he reached his hand out and Ran took his hand.

"Nope, it's just little old me!" Alan said as Hamish smiled and nodded.

"Mistress, we need to leave," Mirza said as he tugged on Namid's hand and she looked at him.

"Not so fast, Little Persian Rug Boy, we need to get them up to date," Alan said and Mirza looked at him with a confused look on his face.

"Hunh?" Mirza asked and Rain smiled, shaking her head.

"You'll have to pardon my insane in the brain brother, Mirza, he's been like this since he was dropped on his head as a baby," Rain said and Alan growled at her, breathing hard and fast into her hair.

"Well, at least I don't have cooties!" Alan said and Namid and Hamish laughed.

"I do not have cooties! You do!" Rain said and Alan's mouth dropped open.

"Get used to it, Mirza, they do this all the time," Namid said while Alan placed an arm around Rain and smiled at Mirza.

"So true, so true," Alan said then looked up and down the passageway and frowned. "Right, we can't stand out here and chew the fat all day, that's for sure. Know any places to hide?"

"This way, Mas...Alan," Mirza said as they headed down the passageway then stopped in front of a door and Alan took out his sonic screwdriver. After opening the door, he placed the sonic screwdriver away, looked into the room then nodded. They went inside the room while the door closed behind them and Alan took out the sonic screwdriver, scanning the room. Sitting down on a crate, he tossed the sonic screwdriver into the air then placed it in his pocket and looked at the others.

"First off, I want to thank our new little friend here for freeing me," Alan said as he ruffled Mirza hair and Mirza smiled. "Second, I think we all felt my brother's mind blinking out, so we have to reason that he's been taken to where ever the others have been taken and, finally, there are these big golems walking around, which makes things really tricky."

"What are golems?" Hamish asked and Alan showed him what the golems looked like. "Och, how are we going tae fight those things?"

"I have no clue," Alan said as he placed his arms on his thighs, lowered his head and sighed. Rain rubbed his back as he looked up and sadly smiled up at her.

"Come on, Bro, you're smart. You'll think of something," she said and his eyes went wide.

"Ok, who are you and what did you do with my snot ball sister?" he asked and Rain laughed, gently smacking the back of his head. Standing up, Alan started pacing back and forth while the others watched him and his hearts started thumping hard and fast in his chest.

"Come on, Alan, think!" he thought after placing up a privacy block and started pacing faster.

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