Gathering of the Exiles Part III

I am widely known within New Gallifreyan circles as a mostly cheery fellow. Mad as I may be, I'm aware of this fact.

This is generally due to a complete misunderstanding of my nature.

You see, I hear voices.

I know, I know... a lot of psychotics and delusionals claim to hear voices as a part of their particular mental illness, and those people certainly have my sympathies.

But I ACTUALLY hear voices.

And not simply a few.

While I've never actually taken the time to count, I'm fairly certain they number in the trillions.

Having a cacophony like that in your head will cause anyone to have the occasional bout of silliness.

That silliness will give you a reputation for cheeriness.

But the fact is, I do have times where my mood is not quite so jolly.

After the defeat of Tethseram, when my thinking cleared some, the true horror of what had occurred and my potential part in it came crashing in on me. The despair drove me to run.

I wound up on a desert world, in a place called Araxes.

To call where I was a city would be completely inaccurate in most cultures, but, given the arid nature of this world and the tremendous ruggedness of it, "city" is about as close a name as any for it. The most accurate name for where I spent most of my time there would be "pub".

At this time, I have to admit, I spent my time trying to erase everything I'd recently experienced from my memory.

Actually, I was more likely attempting to erase myself from existence.

But, it was here that I also found the reason to continue.

After stumbling out of the pub (not due to inebriation, but do to being bodily tossed from the establishment by an eight foot tall, overly-muscled Tantarian with six arms), I found my way to the fighting pits, a gladiatorial arena outside of the ersatz city. It was there, I met The Kat.

Katrinchandla, or simply The Kat, is a fairly young Time Lady, loomed here in SL-Space. We met on the way to the fighting pits and, in the interest of keeping my mind off of my recent troubles, we mostly made small talk, avoiding discussing anything of great depth. She was pleasant enough, and all, but mostly, I was interested in passing time and trying to find if there were any other drinking establishments about.

If this all seems unremarkable, it's because it actually was, at the time. I didn't realizes that The Kat was making small talk with me for a similar reason to mine; she was distracted.

It wasn't until one of the fights began that things began to make sense.

One of the fighters that day was a young woman named Brunhilde. Exceptionally skilled as it turns out, but, before that became apparent, something else struck me.

The moment she was introduced, Kat's attention focused on her with laser-like precision. Concern and pride both emanated from Kat in almost tangible waves.

It turns out, Brunhilde (or Dee, as Kat called her) was Kat's travelling companion and close friend.

And, as it also turned out, one of the Valkyrie, the race who inspired the myth.

After the fight (which Dee won rather handily, if I were to use understatement), the three of us talked in more depth.

Their dedication to each other, as well as their views on justice and balance in the multiverse effected me deeply, shaking me out of my (now admittedly self-centered) despair over the recent Chronarch invasion.

Moved by them, I decided to return to New Gallifreyan society and work to regain my reputation.