Shiver me timbers...errr..TARDIS!!!

[The Tenth Doctor]

(Yes -- he has asthma -- as a human and he had it as a Time Lord, too. See his profile for further details -- it's listed under Time Lord. Will reply to this later, as I'm at my internship site now.)

[The Eighth Doctor]

The Doctor shook his head to clear his thoughts away. This wasn't his old Time Lord friend, it was a young human, why did he think of that long ago time? Funny how memory works.

"Well," he took a deep breath. "I'm not sure exactly what the whole diagnosis is, Tyler, but I think I may have something here to make you a bit more comfortable." He got up and rummaged through the bag. "I've always heard sea air was supposed to be good for one but the fact is, if you stay in an extremely humid enviorment some maladies could develop. Yes! here we are!"

He brought over what looked like a pen connected to a curved-shaped piece of soft plastic. "Look, you ismply twist the dial once here, like so. And then put this to your face and take a slow deep breath. That mist will help open your airways so you can breathe easier. It should last for 12 hours at least."

[The Tenth Doctor]

Tyler shook his head at the Doctor's question about being a smoker or working in a coal mine. "Nope...I haven't done either -- I don't like the smell of smoke...it...it makes my breathing worse....never tried it myself. And, I've never been in a coal mine."

He then nodded when the Doctor told him that he wasn't sure what the diagnosis was. "That's all right...I didn't really expect you to know."

Tyler watched the alien curiously as he dug around, looking for the unusual instrument with the penlike thing. He shook his head when the Doctor had said that staying in an extremely humid environment sometimes made it possible for certain maladies to develop.

"This isn't something recent....I....I've had this problem for a long time....it just bothers me sometimes more than others."

He didn't know how long he had had it, really...only that it had been a very long time. He supposed that his parents must have noticed it, but they just hadn't taken him to the Doctor. He'd done his bet to cope with it.

Glancing at the object that the Doctor had pulled out, Tyler looked at it suspiciously. He asked him, "Are you sure that that is safe for humans, and that it will help?"

Cautiously, he reached out to take the instrument from the Doctor, doing as he had been instructed. Pleasantly surprised by how much easier it was for him to breathe, he grinned at the Doctor. "Thank you....it didn't seem to do me any harm, at least."

It was then that he remembered his pocket watch. With Dan being out there, he frowned. Would Dan corner him and make him empty his pockets? The watch was broken, and probably wasn't worth a whole lot, at least not as a watch. But it was of great sentimental value to Tyler. It was his only possession.

He looked at the Doctor and asked, "Do you think it would be safe to leave something in our room...to leave anything in our room...or do you think that pirate will break in and take everything that is ours?"

[The Eighth Doctor]

The Doctor rubbed his chin in thought. "Well, as you know, we -are- on a pirate ship and just about anything could be considered fair game. If you want to keep something of yours safe the best thing would be to lock it in the TARDIS."

He was interrupted by a light knock. The door opened and the old wizened pirate Isiah stood there, cap in hands. "Excuse me, sorrs but I wonder if the Doctor could have the time now to look at me hands?"

"Certainly!" the Doctor sprang up and ushered him in. "You just have a seat right there and I'll have your hands feeling like those of a young man again!" He went back to rummage once more through the vast leather bag.

Isiah sat down with a somewhat dubious expression. "Young man's hands, ye says? I don't hope fer that, all I wants is to be able to grasp me cutlass again without dropping it."

"I do hope that sort of job would come to an end soon. Now let's see....where did I put that?......It's not what I'd call a healthy lifestyle!"

"Given I didn't have much choice, beggin' yer pardon, Doctor, t'was the only way to makes me a livin'. Twas either go a-piratin' or stay a slave! Now which would ye have chose, young sorr?" Isiah turned the question to Tylet and grinned his gummy grin.

"Yes! here we go!" the Doctor pulled out another odd instrument, one ending in a long thin needle. "Now, what did I do with that bottle I showed you earlier, Tyler? The one made from coal dust..ah! Here it is!"

As he filled the instrument with the dosage Isiah looked even more doubtful. "Coal dust, ye say? Yer t'give me old hands coal dust?"

The Doctor picked up one of the old pirate's hands and cleaned a small spot on the top. "No no, it's -derived- from coal dust, it's no longer that. Careful, just be as still as you can, it'll pinch just a bit."

"Oh aye, pinch away, sorr. There's been so many places on me what's been cut, stabbed and shot one little pinch will make no difference, says I!" Indeed, the pirate was quite still as the Doctor administered to both hands. "Aye, I feels a bit a difference even now!"

"It'll get even better as time goes on. I may have to give you a bit more tomorrow but this is a good start!"

"I do thank ye, Doctor! Thank ye kindly! And please accept this as payment!" Isiah took out a large jewel from the depths of his cap and put it in the Doctor's hands. "Good day to ye both then!" Giving a tug to his forelock he left the room.

"Well well, a good wage for a few minutes' work, wouldn't you say?" the Doctor held up a large shining ruby. "Good enough for the royal treasury at the Tower! Here." He tossed it rather indifferently over to Tyler. "Now, are you feeling good enough to walk down to the TARDIS?"

[The Eighth Doctor]

(What happened to our Time Pirate? )

Blackbeard paced the deck of his room, pondering on the strange goings-on since the three strangers had landed. First the disappearence almost before his eyes of the two pirates that had attcked the youth called Dan, then a report of another crewman missing. And then the man calling himself a Doctor insisting on taking his treasured supplies of medicines and acting as if -he- owned the ship! At least his assistant hadn't made any mischief or such hadn't been discovered yet.

He was rather antsy in reaching Port Royal. While it hadn't been the same since the long ago fire pockets of it had been slowly and secretly rebuilt. There were still havens for pirates if they knew where to look. Even the old tavern called Black Dog had been rebuilt elsewhere. A good stretch of leave would do the men good and have them look forward to hunting down more prizes in the future.

He sunk down in his chair and had almost given way to some very pleasent daydreams of the drink and wenches at the Black Dog when the cry came in.

"Sail ahoy! Sail ahoy! Off the port! Sail ahoy!"

Blackbeard leapt up and grinned fiercely. It was time for action once more!!

The Doctor looked up at the cry. "Oh. Dear. I'm afraid we may be running into some trouble shortly."

[The Tenth Doctor]

(don't know....I think he's been busy )

Tyler nodded at the Doctor's comment when he had pointed out that they were on a pirate ship. What he had probably wouldn't be seen as being valuable to anyone else -- well, he wasn't sure what it was made out of. Could be gold. And there would be crystals and things inside the watch...and if someone could get it to work....

Tyler hadn't had time to formulate a response, though, because the pirate who had been to see the Doctor before knocked on the door.

Tyler watched the Doctor carefully as he went through his leather bag again. Tyler looked uncomfortable as the pirate's question was directed at him. "Well....I.....I don't really know. I didn't get the choice.....I.........I'm not sure I would like being a pirate...."

Tyler searched around with his eyes for the location of that bottle, but before he had a chance to actually look for it, the Doctor had found it. Tyler watched intently as the Doctor put a long sharp needle into it and then put it into the man's hand.

Tyler gave the man a nod as he left, his eyes going to the jewel. Taken completely by surprise, he caught it when the Doctor had thrown it his direction. Assuming that the Doctor wanted him to hold onto it until they were able to get it safely put away in the TARDIS, Tyler just stared at it. He'd never seen a jewel that big before -- he'd never actually seen a jewel before except for on the finger of a woman who was engaged or married.

His face went white as he realized that he hadn't paid the Doctor for his services. "I...I don't have anything to pay you with..."

The human continued to stare at the ruby in his hand. "It's....it's lovely, really. It would certainly be something that they would keep in the Royal Treasury."

At the Doctor's question, he could only nod. "Yes, I think I could walk down to the TARDIS with you...."

[The Eighth Doctor]

"Pay me? What d'you mean? Oh, for the inhaler." the Doctor waved him off. "Oh I don't think about stuff like that. Such a bother, it gets to interfereing with more important things. I've seen so many people, good people too! that seem to change right before your eyes if you so much as wave a single gold coin in front of them. As Bilbo did when Frodo showed him the One Ring of Power." The Time Lord paused and then tsked to himself. "You wouldn't know about that, of course. Never mind, it's just a fairy tale. But the truth is you're better off not carrying or caring for monetary items, as sooner or later they will get you into trouble!"

Shouts from outside made him look up and frown. "I do believe, however, that our trip to the TARDIS will have to be postponed. It seems a ship has been sighted. Now which one, I wonder, and is there anything I can do to help those poor devils? " He looked back at Tyler with an earnest look. "I can't ask or order you to do anything but I have to go out and see what I can do to dissuade Blackbeard from attacking other sailors! I can't just stay in here and know people are getting killed. This madness has got to stop, one way or another."

He put on his velveteen coat, opened the door and strode briskly out.

[The Tenth Doctor]

Tyler had heard the yells as well. Left confused by the Bilbo reference, Tyler shrugged his shoulders. Not wanting to just stay there, he went out after the Doctor. "I'll come with you -- somehow I think that I'd get into less trouble that way."

He hated the thought of being forced into a sword fight when he didn't even have a sword. He also was concerned that when they found out he was a slave, they would want to take him for themselves -- if the other side one -- if they were attacking another pirate ship. However, if they were sailors, his safety still couldn't be assured.

"I'll help you," Tyler added, trying to follow the Doctor.

He thought to himself, "so that thing is called an inhaler....interesting.....

[The Eighth Doctor]

Blackbeard had flung on his trademark great red coat and was twisting fuses into his beard when the Doctor walked up. "Captain, I have to request that you just let that ship slip on by. Don't you have enough...what d'you call it now? Oh yes, 'booty'. Don't you have enough 'booty' to satisfy your wants for a bit? Why attack more innocent people?"

Blackbeard stood up and glowered down at the Doctor from his great height. "Oh? And what will ye have me men do then, Doctor? Sell apples on yon corner?? We're PIRATES, by thunder and we be that til our date with Davy Jones!"

The Doctor pressed his lips in a firm thin line as shouts and yells came from all around them in full agreement. "Aye Captain! We be pirates all! Up the Jolly Roger!!" Still he tried to reason with the buccaneer.

"Look, the loss of one ship certainly won't that much of a difference, would it?"

"Now what be th' matter here, Doctor? Don't tell ol' Blackbeard yer afraid of a bit o'blood?" He reached out with his cutlass and deftly scratched the Doctor's throat with the tip. A thin red line immediately appeared and Blackbeard grinned at the sight of it. "Be ye? If so then the work of a doctor be yer wrong choice of a career! And then yon Master Tyler better be practicin' gettin' his share of the loot! No purchase no pay, m'lad!"

He bellowed with laughter and strode off with the rest of his crew joining in. Only when the pirate had turned his back did the Doctor wince and rubbed his neck. Seeing the blood on his fingers from the cut he fished out a handkerchief to clear it away as he sighed. "Well Tyler. We tried. Might as well go back to our cabin and get ready for the casualties." He glanced up and saw the flag of Blackbeard going straight up the mast, the black cloth with a white skeleton devil pointing a spear at a red bleeding heart. "It's going to be a long day."

[The Tenth Doctor]

Tyler glanced at the Doctor and whispered to him, "Should we go to your TARDIS and place our valuables there?"

If there was going to be fighting and whatnot, he was concerned that someone might take his watch -- or the Doctor's ruby. Tyler assumed that the Doctor had only given it to him as safe keeping, that or ...out of safety for himself, should someone find the ruby, it would be Tyler who would be injured instead of him.

"Or do you think we don't have time for that? Do you think our things will be safe in the cabin if we are there -- and prepare it?"

Tyler stared at the flag as it was hoisted up, still shaking his head. It was hard to believe that he actually had sneaked away on a pirate ship, of all things.

[The Eighth Doctor]

"Yes, I think that would rather be a good idea, seeing as how everyone's going to start jumping around ship to ship soon. All for a few handfuls of jewels and gold." The Doctor changed his direction from towards the cabin to the hold where the TARDIS had been tucked. "When will mankind understand that it's -knowledge- that's far more valuable, far more the powerful! And it's so easy to aquire too. No need to wave sharp pointy weapons about or yell at anyone. You sit down, have a nice relaxing cup of tea, talk, exchange ideas. Ow!"

The Doctor had been walking and talking so steadily he quite forgot that doorways on ships often were shorter than those on houses on land. He rubbed his forehead. "Wonderful, I get my throat nicked and now my head bumped. So much for sea voyages being a great vacation!"

[The Tenth Doctor]

Tyler couldn't help but shed a smile at the Doctor's talk. However, when the Doctor had bumped his head, Tyler asked him, "Hey, Doc, are you all right? Oh...and you haven't told me your name...anything else to call you by except for your title."

Glad that they would be taking their valuables somewhere safe, Tyler let out a small sigh of relief. The only person they had to worry about was that Dan pirate person from before. He nervously watched over his shoulder to see if he could get a glimpse of this man anywhere. He also nervously checked for pirates. He assumed that they would react the same way as Dan had, if they knew about that blue box.

[The Eighth Doctor]

"I'm fine, just a small knot." the Doctor gingerly rubbed his forehead as he continued on. "I've had so many names over the years, it's easiest just to call me the Doctor." He paused and stood to one side as a small group of eager pirates slipped past them from the hold. He looked after them and sighed. "How many are going to die in the next few hours?" he murmured.

[The Tenth Doctor]

Tyler kept in step with the Doctor, glancing over at him as he had mentioned that he usually went by 'the Doctor.'

Tyler replied, "Well, if you want to be known by your profession, I suppose that is easy, as people would know you as the doctor. But still, that seems impersonal. Don't you sometimes just want people to call you by your first name?"

"And you really don't look that old, sir," Tyler added as an afterthought.

"I don't know, Doctor, but these pirates have been in these battles before. They have to be fairly good at keeping themselves alive if they have lasted this long. I'm not too worried about the sailors, either. They're rough men -- seen all sorts of stuff -- they know how to take care of themselves, I think."

Tyler had only heard of ship battles -- never having witnessed one. He just was guessing as to what to expect.

"The idea of a fight bothers you, doesn't it?"

[The Eighth Doctor]

"Well, if you must you can call me Smith, John Smith. But I do prefer Doctor. And i'm older than I look. Much older." A soft expression of sadness came over his face as he pondered the years. It deepened as Tyler mentioned the fighting ability of those above them. "I hate fighting, even though I've done my share of it myself. I've lead others to their deaths, caused others to die, even entire civilizations and species and it won't end for quite a while, I fear. It's just such a waste of lives. Each one of those men have families who will wonder what has happened to them and they probably will never know. What those lost lives could have accomplished if only they went a different direction, no-one will know. And all for a few handfuls of precious metals that will be around far after their own bones have turned to dust!" The last sentence was almost growled out. "Sorry, sorry, didn't mean to wax philosophical at you. It's just a hard and heavy burden I bear and it gets heavier at every turn."

Sounds of shouts, loud curses and faint explosions came to them from above deck and the Doctor sighed. "It begins. They're threatening the other ship with total destruction, small hand bombs and rattling cutlasses. Soon they'll throw the grappling hooks and bring them onside. If the other ship surrenders there'll be little bloodshed but it all depends on how amiable Blackbeard is at the moment and I don't think that's his strongsuit. Some pirates seem to thrive on killing and torture. Have you ever seen anyone tortured in front of your eyes, Tyler?" he asked, voice heavy with anguish.