[Closed Log]

[icanbuyafez]

Who: The Eleventh Doctor and Aisling
What: making sure she's okay after the volcano destroyed much of the forest, and feels about what Aisling discovered during the dream event
Where: the forest
When: a day or two after the volcano event
Warnings: possible depression, talk of violence and war and death

Eleven was worried about Aisling. He had done what he could to slow the lava flow, but so many people were unprepared for the eruption that he had had to focus his efforts on the city. He knew that she had a powerful connection to the forest, such that when the forest was injured, it hurt her in a very real way.

Parking the TARDIS, he got out, bearing witness the quiet desolation of the forest. The TARDIS stood in a newly formed clearing, solidified lava flows all around, framing acres of dead trees. He took a long moment of silence to observe the passing of the forest with regret and sorrow.

After that, he moved to more lively parts of the forest, places the lava had not reached. He waited until he was well within the borders of the living woods before softly calling out to Aisling. Then, sitting down and leaning back against a tree, he waited.

Comments

[coimiceoir]

It was longer than he might have expected before Aisling makes an appearance, hopping through the grass at a much slower pace than she usually employed. She didn't make an effort to hide, or approach from an oblique angle, but came forward to meet him with a soft, worn smile. If she'd been any more circumspect, she might have been mistaken for a wraith.

Wispy, thin, and dry, her hair floated behind her in a way that implied much less weight to it than usual, and she moved more delicately, as though she were uncertain of her footing. Narrow fingers brushed diaphanous strands back from a face thin and wan, with eyes too large for it now that her skeletal structure could be more easily seen. She was too thin. Too thin by half, but neither her dignity or her pleasure in seeing him was at all damaged.

"Seanlaoch, it is good to see you!" Hugging him, she retained much of her old strength, even if she felt as frail as a bird's wing.

[icanbuyafez]

He closed his eyes as he waited, simply feeling the forest around him, projecting strength and calm to the fragile life around him. Given everything that had happened recently, he had no expectations about how long it would take her - but he could wait. He'd been helping with the rebuilding almost constantly for days - they could manage without him for a time. More than that, his sister was important too.

He gave her an old, sad smile when he saw her. She was far too light and fragile - but he supposed he hadn't really expected anything else, given the damage to the forest. He hugs her back, fiercely but gently, though he shakes his head a little in self-deprecation, his smile failing. "Deirfiúr bheag... I would think you'd know not to call me that anymore.

...Not after what I expect you saw last week."

[coimiceoir]

Aisling pulls back a little to give him a solemn look. "Names have power, deartháir. You know that. You knew it when you chose yours, didn't you. Doctor. Captain tells me that it means a person with the power to heal. To make things better. That's what you wanted to do, isn't it. And you did. There are not always clear choices. I don't have to tell you that, either."

She reaches up to gently sketch the bones of his face with her fingertips. "Even if you are not a hero to yourself, you are a hero to others. In that conflict. Against the mountain. When violence and strife appears and you do not sleep for rescuing those in peril. Do not think I have forgotten when you took in my family at a moment's notice when the exploding creatures threatened and took our pup from us. If I call you a hero, it is because that is what I have seen in you."