And Death Shall Become You
A short debut story by Chris Vobe

Part of the Second Doctor Fiction collection

The man sat on the edge of the rock that looked out across the sea. The water was a deep pink, reminding him how the seas on Earth always used to sparkle in the moonlight, just as this was doing now. The man sighed to himself, drifting away once again as he did every night when he looked out to sea. He wasn't tall and he could only just about see over the tall railings that separated the cliff top from the wide pink ocean.

When he was a small child he had come here every day. Sometimes he threw pebbles into the water and other times he just enjoyed watching the waves splash against the rocks. It was fitting, he thought, that this place, the place he had loved since he was a child, should be the place of his death.

He knew why he had come. One reason. One motive. One agenda. He crouched down onto the dusty ground and looked through the black railings. The sun, reflecting on the sea and creating that sparkling effect he had always loved, shone in his eyes, but this time he didn't care.

He had enjoyed looking through the railings when he was a child. He used to think that he could see the waves as if looking at them in a picture frame. The pink waves splashed once more against the sandy rocks and he knew that he was already coming close to the end.

The end was near. It was a funny thought, he realised. One never thinks about death when struggling with life. And you only think about life properly when death comes. But then, you want to go back and change life, live it properly, and wish that death had never happened. But without death, you couldn't appreciate it.

The man had pondered that paradox for years now and never come up with a solution. It was a trapping thought. Just as was that question: what is life itself? Why are we here? If we are to live, why are we to die?

It was a question that he would find the answer to soon. The man lay back on the rock once more, took one last look at the sea, slipped the pill into his mouth, and remembered the scene with all his heart as he closed his eyes, hoping they would never open again.

They did.

The TARDIS landed with it's usual wheezing and groaning sound. The man looked up as he felt almost a tingling sensation throughout his body. He heard a small click and he looked up as a little man emerged.

Who was he? The small man looked around, admiring the area around him. The man looked at him. Small, baggy pants, mop of brown hair on his head...

"Good day," the small man said to him. "I'm the Doctor. Who might you be?"

The man looked up at him. He was short, but apart from that there was not much you could say about this man. The small man smiled once again and the man frowned, looking at him. "My name is... look, does it matter? How do you come to be here? What is that?" He nodded towards the TARDIS and the small man looked back.

"Oh, just a little accoutrement of mine."

"It's from Earth!"

"Well, not exactly... who did you say you were again?"

"I told you. My name isn't important!"

The man stood up, walking away from the rock and the pink sea, almost swapping places with the Doctor, who looked out as the waves splashed against the cliffs. "What planet is this?" he asked. "I seem to remember coming here before... the pink sea... waves splashing... cliffs..."

"Do you ask so many questions all the time?"

"No. I'm just curious. Why do you like the TARDIS so much?"

"TARDIS?"

"Time and Relative Dimensions in Space. You like the name?"

"Oh, yes... brilliant. Are you human?"

"No."

"What, then?"

"Oh, you might not believe me if I told you."

"Try me!"

"I'd rather not. Why are you here?" The small man looked up into the sky, which was now filled with bright stars that seemed to be shining down to that one spot. Them. The two men sitting in one place, one world... in the vast universe, filled with infinite wonders. Compared to the vast, great unknown, they seemed small and insignificant. To the Doctor, this was just another world, another time. But to the man, this was the most important place for him. The end.

"I'm here for the end."

"End?"

"Death."

"Why?"

"Why what? Kill myself?"

"Yes."

"I'm not. The will of the Gods demands that I sacrifice myself for the good of all eternity."

"The good of all eternity? Didn't I read that in a play once?"

"Probably. Half my life is built on somebody else's."

"That was in a play, too."

"You see what I mean..."

"Yes. Perhaps. But why here? Now?"

"All my life, I have been a wanderer. I travel throughout the stars, searching. Until I find the end. You see, I am the servant of the Gods. I carry the will of the Immortal Ones. And you... must not stop me reaching my destiny. You must not stop me reaching the end!"

"I don't plan to try!"

"For I am the Great One! I serve the Gods! Forever... forever... until I reach the end."

The pink waves splashed up as the man dived into the water and the waves settled back down again. The Doctor looked over, but realised there was no hope of saving him. He looked down on the man, who stretched an arm and called up in his last breath, "You are the Doctor! May the Immortal Ones be with you forever. You have great challenges ahead of you. May the Gods bless the Time Lord... the Doctor." With his last breath, the man fell under the waves and he was slowly swept away by the oncoming tide.

The TARDIS door opened and Jamie stepped out. "Doctor! What's goin' on?"

"I don't know, Jamie. Come on. Back into the TARDIS."

They stepped inside and the Doctor closed the doors behind them.

"Who was that man you were talking to?" Jamie asked him.

"I don't know. Perhaps no one..."

"What was his name?"

"I don't know, Jamie. He didn't tell me."

"What did he want?"

"To reach the end."

