AM I A GOOD MAN?

Chapter Seventeen

"I'm warning you," the Doctor said menacingly to M'nan'do as he heard the guards slowly surround him and Clara, "you don't want me for an enemy."

M'nan'do smirked at that but the look on the Doctor's face caused him to stop and keep his distance. The alien male looked strange and frail to him but he sensed a deep undercurrent of power within the Doctor and he held up his hand, stopping the guards in their tracks. The Doctor looked over his shoulder briefly at the guards before turning his attention back to M'nan'do.

"A very wise decision," he said to the alien feline.

"What are you" M'nan'do said.

"I can be your greatest ally or your worst nightmare, depending on how you treat me and my friends," the Doctor said.

"Where are Rose and Gaz," Clara asked.

"I don't know," M'nan'do said.

"Oh, I think you do know," the Doctor said, his steely gaze fixed on the feline.

M'nan'do tried to look defiant but he still felt that energy flowing through the Doctor and it made his fur stand on end.

Suddenly, M'nan'do turned and fled into the village at lightning speed. The Doctor and Clara glanced at one another before the Doctor turned his attention to the guards who were now surrounding them in a semicircle.

"Well?" he barked at them.

The guards glanced at one another before looking at the Doctor, unsure of what to do now that their leader was gone.

"Get…out…of…our…way," the Doctor growled at them in a low, menacing voice.

"Do as he says, please," Clara said, unsure what this new incarnation of the Doctor might really be capable of.

The guards finally parted and made a way for them into the woods. They stood meekly by while the Doctor and Clara walked by them and headed into the forest.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

M'nan'do swatted back the curtain covering the door of his hut and entered, fuming at the loss of face and the fact that he ran away from a weak, defenseless creature. His father, Shi'tak'wa was sat on the floor of the hut in a lotus position while he smoked from a long stemmed, hand carved wooden pipe. He was very old, his jet black fur now a deep grey from age. His face was sagging a bit but he still had a strong profile and a wise demeanor. He was wearing a pale brown linen loincloth that was positioned over the top of his legs. He sucked on the pipe and lazily exhaled a smoke ring, watching with slightly rheumy eyes while his son searched through a large wicker basket at the back of the hut. He took another drag on his pipe, listening while his son cursed softly under his breath as he dug through the contents of the basket in search of something. He knew it was useless to offer his help or ask what his son was searching for. His son was a brilliant and capable war leader but he was also vain, stubborn and hotheaded. M'nan'do would tell him to be silent if he spoke so he held his tongue and smoked his pipe.

"Aha! At last! Here it is!" M'nan'do said as he pulled a large bundle wrapped in red linen out of the basket.

"And what have you found, my son?" Shi'tak'wa finally said.

M'nan'do turned to him, contempt on his face as he stared at his half naked father.

"Why do you insist on sitting here all day and smoking?" he said to Shi'tak"wa.

Shi'tak'wa smiled.

"I am old and at my age there is nothing like a good pipe," he said before taking another drag on his pipe.

He exahaled another smoke ring before repeating his question. M'nan'do swished in tail in annoyance, torn between leaving without a word or respecting his elder as he'd been taught as a kitten. Finally, he gave in and with a sigh, unwrapped the linen and showed his father an old papyrus scroll. Shi'tak'wa took another drag on his pipe, waiting for his son to explain it.

"It contains a prophecy," M'nan'do finally said. "Some prophecies from that crazy soothsayer we exiled from the village."

"Ah yes, Ka'ran'I, I remember her," Shi'tak'wa said, nodding. "She was a sweet woman."

"She was a fool," M'nan'do said.

"Then why are you reading the words of a fool?"

M'nan'do bristled at that and the lazy smile on his father's face but he kept his temper in check.

"One of her prophecies had to do with a storm," M'nan'do said to his father as he unfurled the scroll. "A storm that walked," he muttered as he scanned the scroll.

"You're right, that does sound foolish."

M'nan'do stopped reading and gave a sideways glance to his father, wondering if he was being sarcastic but his father's face was passive and he continued to blow smoke rings into the air. M'nan'do shook his head and turned his attention back to the scroll.

"Ah, here it is. There is one who will come among us and destroy our world and many others. He will be called The Oncoming Storm because like a storm he will visit chaos on worlds and leave devastation in his wake."

"Interesting," Shi'tak'wa said. "What has that to do with anything?"

"That…man out there, there's power in his veins, I can sense it."

"What man?"

"Oh, by the gods, father. Get up and see for yourself!" M'nan'do said impatiently.

Shi'tak'wa slowly got to his feet. He put out his pipe and tapped the ashes out onto the dirt floor of the hut, spreading them into the dirt with his foot before hanging his pipe up on a peg on the wall. Then he grabbed a carved staff from the corner and turned to look at his son.

"Show me this Storm Man then," he said to M'nan'do.

"I…uh…can't. He left," M'nan'do said sheepishly.

Shi'tak'wa stared at him for a moment.

"You made me put out my pipe for this?" he said to M'nan'do. "You wish me to see this Storm Man but he's not here?"

"We tried to stop him, my men and me. We took a male and female from his group and sent them to the caves, to Ka'ran'i."

"And why would you do that?" Shi'tak'wa said.

"In the hopes that the exile would kill them."

"You claim this man can destroy our world and you purposely made him angry?" Shi'tak'wa said.

"I didn't realize who he might be, father," M'nan'do said defensively. "I just remembered the prophecy after he left us."

"And where did he go?" Shi'tak'wa said.

"I…don't know," M'nan'do said, feeling more and more like a sheepish kitten in the presence of his father.

He looked at his father, waiting for him to say something but instead Shi'tak'wa started to walk towards the doorway.

"Show me where he went," he said to his son as he went outside the hut.

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