The Time Ring

That night, Jeremy couldn’t sleep and neither could his sister. The Doctor was thinking of ways to make his companion actually do something magical. He was going to use his screwdriver for this and that but Jeremy was definitely not going to cut anyone nor play with fire and water.

“Why did you tell them something so unrealistic?” Jeremy scoffed and glared at the Doctor.

“You told me to say anything. You said they won’t make me do anything” The Doctor glanced at the young man judgingly.

“Why would someone say they can play with water and fire? You could have said you know how to play catch. Or why not use the foreign languages? That was something you could do” Jeremy turned his head to the side and crossed his legs. He didn’t speak a word to the Doctor afterwards. He didn’t want to recognize that it was indeed his fault.

The night was still young and Mousy was rolling in her bed, sweating and huffing heavily. She had a nightmare. It wasn’t about her life or about her past. It wasn’t even about her adventures with the Doctor. It was weird because she was sure that everything happening in that nightmare was revolving around something that she had never gone through.

She woke up with a massive headache. She didn’t want to trouble the boys but she looked tired.

“Are you alright?” She stopped massaging her temples and turned to the small, loveable boy. He looked so innocent and he was blushing.

“I’m fine. You are lost boy number 4?” The boy blushed even more.

“My name is Curly” She smiled softly. That was easy to remember. He was a curly ginger boy whose name was Curly. “Peter left this morning. Can you cook for us?” He started to play with the bottom of his shirt. He didn’t want to intrude or make her uncomfortable. Or maybe he just got unfortunate and got chosen to ask her.

“Of course. What do you want me to make?” He hummed and turned to the other boys. They were spread on the floor in another room. They shrugged. She chuckled and patted the young boy. “It’s alright. I got it. One more thing” Everyone turned their heads towards her in curiosity. “Go and wash your face and teeth or else I’m not going to make you breakfast” They groaned.

It took Mousy around 10 minutes to make a suitable breakfast consisting of what she found around the house. She hardly found a few eggs and she almost cried when she prepared them. They had bird children inside and she killed them to make food for some kids. But she had done worse so it was fine.

The boys smiled and ravished the eggs. They each had one on their plates and they were eager for more. Unfortunately, she had no more. Throughout the day, she realized that each boy had something to do around the house. For example, Tootles was the one who cleaned –if that could be called cleaning- the inside of the house. On the other side, the one who had to clean the outside was Curly. Nibs was in charge of exploring the land and looking for toys and meat. He was the most courageous and the happiest child she had seen. He was content with anything. The twins didn’t have a lot to do. She saw them playing around the lake and making up games. Slightly was the most conceited one. He was crafting a flute from a branch and was warily watching her.

“You don’t like me too much, do you?” He scowled.

“You come from far away. Where is that?” She stared at him blankly. Well, he was a smart kid too. She walked and sat next to him on the ground. She was still dressed in her dress. It was pretty uncomfortable. “And what is the curtain you are wearing for?” Well, she didn’t expect him to say something about her dress.

“I’m actually from a place called Cardiff. But my parents died and I had to move to Birmingham. After I became an adult, I move to where Wendy lives; in London. All these places are a part of a bigger place called United Kingdom. You see, there are a lot of people who live there”

“Are there children, like us?” She nodded.

“Of course. A lot of children. Wendy was one of them. Every day, a lot of babies are born” Slightly rubbed his cheek and pondered her information. Peter never told them anything about the place Wendy came from. He was curious how it was like.

“Do you have many toys?” She chuckled and leaned against the tree.

“Yes. There are shops especially made for children. They have all these crazy toys that you can play with all day long” Slightly tilted his head and blinked curiously.

“What is a shop?”

“It’s a place where some people gather and sell things to other people, who buy them”

“What is to sell and buy?” She sighed. She had to explain it in the simplest way possible.

“An exchange” The boy was still unfamiliar with her words. “It’s like this. I give you gold for that flute you made. That is an exchange. I give you something and you give me something in return. But in the shops, you can’t give someone what you want. You have to give them what they want. Sometimes many people want the same thing and it gets very scary” She rubbed her chin and remembered how hard it was to buy some clothes in the past. It was full of desperate and scary women. It was hard to breath and move. Of course, in the 21st century, you can find everything but it’s weird when you walk down the street and see someone wearing the same shirt as you. She experimented that before. Shopping was a controversial subject.

“Then shops are very scary” She looked at him and nodded.

“Sometimes” Slightly had more questions for her but Peter hurried out of the forest. He walked straight to her.

“Hook found two magicians last night” Mousy felt like slapping herself. She was more than 50% sure he was talking about the Doctor and Jeremy. “I want to see them so tonight, we will sneak onboard” His eyes were glistening and his face was expressing the joy of the unknown. He reminded her of the Doctor.

Unfortunately Peter’s plan was very childish. It was good, but not for Mousy. She was too tall for it. Peter told her to stay in the house while they will go enjoy the show. Of course she wasn’t going to listen to a 13 years old boy. She was the adult there. Therefore, she tagged along.

However, the joyful moment of the show was on the shoulders of a young man called Jeremy. He was stressed the whole and he did nothing but pester the Doctor into escaping. The Doctor had other plans. He wanted to exploit the chance of being on The Jolly Roger. He was curious about Hook’s treasures and the crew itself.

“I’m doomed. I am going to die by the hand of a cartoon villain” The Doctor rolled his eyes.

“It’s not that bad. You read the book. The crocodile makes a ticking sound when he comes around. You have enough time to run” Jeremy stared unbelievably at the Doctor.

“Are you serious?” He shrugged. “This is not a book. You said it yourself! This is the real thing! If that crocodile comes around I’m going to shove you into his mouth. Be sure of that” That sounded very familiar. The Doctor swore he heard that kind of expression before. And surprisingly, some crow men did come back then. That was an interesting fact.

“You’re going to be fine. Here” He threw his screwdriver at Jeremy. “Use it”

“What about you?” The Doctor tilted his head to the side and at stared curiously at Jeremy. “Aren’t you going to come and help me? I am your pupil, remember?” The Doctor blinked.

“Uh, right. That’s why I’m going to leave this to you” Jeremy’s eyes widened. He wasn’t scared before but he was definitely going to be in the next hours. “Live your adventure, Jeremy. This is something you don’t do every day!” Just like that, the Doctor left their room and went on his own. Jeremy fell on the bed and stared at the screwdriver.

“I’m so going to meet that crocodile soon” He took a deep breath and closed his eyes. He had nothing to lose; nothing but his life.

“This is not a good plan. What if the pirates see us?” Peter narrowed his eyes at the older girl.

“That’s why I don’t like girls. They are too smart” He whispered to Nibs. She rolled her eyes and returned to the task at hand.

Before thinking of ways to watch the show, they first had to get on the ship. That was the hard part because the ship wasn’t in the shore. It was a few miles away, on the water. That was the part that Peter hadn’t thought about. They were standing on the land, staring at the ship. They could hear music and laughter. The boys were very excited.

“Hey, why don’t we ask Tinkerbell for some magic powder?” Tootles was a wise kid. He knew how to act responsible and Mousy was sure that he would become a great adult. But they were in Neverland and Peter was the leader.

“I can’t find Tinkerbell anywhere” He mumbled. He was ashamed that he probably lost track of her. She might have been in possible danger and he wouldn’t know. “We fought and she ran away”

“You know, we could do something more realistic. Like use a boat to get there”

“Or I could take you there one by one. I can fly” She felt her eye twitching. That kid wasn’t even listening to her. Of course, her idea got ignored while Peter started to fly the lost boys one by one to the ship. The hard part was her. It took a while to get her on the ship and it took a lot of strength to carry her there.

They hid inside some canisters. That was easy for them because they were small. It wasn’t for her. She had to find one big enough to fit. Thankfully, she did. The pirates were very excited that night and seemed very lively. She inspected her surroundings and caught someone moving from the corner of her eye. She sneaked out and followed that person. He wanted to be sure of something so he made his way to the dungeons. She followed closely. She didn’t want to interfere yet. However, the Doctor was smart and noticed. There was a corner he took. She glanced over her shoulder just in case someone decided to make an appearance. It was safe.

Somehow, the dungeon was like a labyrinth. The corner the Doctor took was completely different from the one she did. They ended up splitting without really noticing each other. She got in front of an open room full of gold. She eyed a few things and even intended to take souvenirs.

“No, no. These are not mine. If I take one thing, something bad will happen” She shook her head and turned towards the door. However, a certain object caught her eye. It wasn’t made out of gold and it was definitely not precious whatsoever. It was a small box. She grabbed it quickly and shook it. She heard something tingle inside and got curious. To open the box, she had to resolve a puzzle. Of course, nothing was easy in life; not even opening a box.

She returned in the labyrinth and started to fondle with the box. It was medium sized and maybe a little tall. The puzzle was alien. That was for sure. It contained an unknown language, probably forgotten.

“Forgotten Universe; forgotten world; forgotten planet; forgotten people; forgotten language. Of course. Everything makes perfect sense” She sighed and took an abrupt turn. It felt like she was led by some invisible power. She wasn’t searching for anything. She already knew she lost the Doctor. She was intrigue by the ship. It seemed the TARDIS wasn’t the only one bigger on the inside.

“I hate dead ends” The Doctor whined for himself. It was the fourth corridor he entered in the last five minutes and it wasn’t pleasant. It was silent and very unhygienic. They needed some sanitarian job done down there.

Eventually, the Doctor arrived in front of a locked door. It had chains around it yet they looked worn and old.

“Don’t be a dead end” He checked the door in case it wasn't real. It led somewhere, thankfully. He turned the knob and it opened with a crack. His eyes widened and he smiled widely. “Oh, that’s fantastic!” His excitement was very visible and audible. His voice resonated through the whole labyrinth.

“-fantastic!” That was what Mousy heard. The sound was coming from the other side of the labyrinth which meant they were pretty far from each other. She tried to turn back and run towards the Doctor. That wasn’t possible. The corridor she came from disappeared. She had only one option and that was to go forward.

“Great. Now I’m really feeling like Alice in Wonderland. What can happen next? A trap door?” She took a few more steps until the ground shifted under her feet. She fell through the hole. “Me and my big mouth!” It was taking her somewhere. It wasn't blank space. “Doctor!!”