The Woman Who Lived Pt. 4

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A crowd have gathered for the noon entertainment. Sam Swift is preparing himself by drinking from a bottle.

"Hang him! Hang him!"

"All right, calm down. Steady on. Such a good turnout. I'm honoured. Yeah, I, er" Sam points at the hangman "hey, he's new at this. Someone will have to show him the ropes" the crowd laughs "don't worry mate, you'll get the hang of it. When I'm gone, they'll all say, that Sam Swift, he was well hung" there's more laughter "well, I think a few of you know that already. Oh, yeah, I'm sure I recognise a few of you lovely ladies. You" Sam points to an elderly red-haired woman who shakes her head and mouths no "and you. I mean I'd introduce you all, but I can't remember your names. Hey, it's a good job you're here, or they'd kill me" Sam says to the hangman. Nearby, a bell sounds the hour.

"Hats off, hats off."

"Stretch his neck!"

"Mary? Meg? Help me out here, miss" Sam says.

"That's Mrs Baxter to you!"

"That's a funny name for a fella!" the crowd, and Mrs Baxter laugh.

"It's time," Leandro says.

"Hold on, I've got plenty more. Jokes, that is, as well as women" Sam says.

"Hang him now!"

"Hang him! Hang him!"

"Make us laugh, Sam!" Sam takes another drink from his bottle as Ashildr makes her way through the crowd.

"Aye. For while you laugh, I live. It was raining on the way over here. But the hangman says to me, it's all right for you. I've got to walk back through this" he sees Ashildr give coins to the hangman "what are you paying for, my beauty?"

"To make it quick. A fitting end for you, Sam Swift."

"Who should be the last to kiss these lips?"

"Me! Me! Me!"

"They must mean you, Lady Me" Ashildr kisses Sam "you remind me of someone. And now I want to live more than ever."

"Time to hang," Leandro says.

"Hang him! Hang him!"

"All right, all right. As God is my Highwayman. He steals the most precious gift of all. Life. Magical, filled with adventures. And at least I can say I lived mine to the full" Sam says.

"I love you, Sam Swift" Sam sees the Doctor and {Y/N} looking at the posters.

"Is that the Doctor and {Y/N}? Doctor, doctor! I'm a robber" the crowd is confused.

"Have you taken anything for it?" {Y/N} asks, the crowd laughs as the Doctor and {Y/N} make their way to the scaffold.

"Er, Doctor, doctor."

"Quick man, we're running out of patience!" the Doctor says.

"Have you ever seen such a sidekick so old?"

"We're no one's sidekick" {Y/N} says.

"He's so old, he farts dust!"

"And his nose is so big that..."

"They'll have to widen the noose!"

"Or... or bury him in a pyramid."

"You know what they say, big nose..."

"Oooooh!"

"Big handkerchief!" the crowd laughs as the hangman manhandles Sam back to the noose.

"No! {Y/N}, Doctor, don't leave me hanging" the Doctor gets out the psychic paper again.

"Wait! I have a pardon here for Sam Swift from Cromwell himself" the Doctor says, the hangman takes the paper.

"Sam Swift is pardoned!" the hangman says, Sam falls to his knees. The crowd is not pleased. The hangman gives the paper back to the Doctor.

"We didn't come all this way not to see someone hang. What about the Doctor? Yeah, hang the Doctor. Hang the Doctor! Hang the Doctor. Hang the Doctor!"

"Ssh" Ashildr says, the crowd quietens "you want to see someone die? How's this?" she holds up the Eye of Hades.

"No! Ashildr, no! No!" {Y/N} shouts, Ashildr slaps the Eye onto Sam's chest, where is sticks, and then sends out a purple ray into the sky. A rift opens in the clouds "purple, the colour of death. His life force is opening a portal."

"To my new life," Ashildr says.

"Or to Hell" Leandro breaths fire at the crowd.

"A lion man!" then the man points back at the rift "look!" a planet is visible beyond the rift.

"Goodbye, Doctor and {Y/N}."

"You are going nowhere," Leandro says.

"Doors work both ways. They let people out and they let the enemy in" the Doctor says, lots of small objects are visible around the planet.

"What's that? What's happening? What are those things?" Ashildr asks.

"Spaceships or they will be. They're coming through the rift, actualising in this plane of reality" {Y/N} says.

"You said you were the last of the Leonians. We were meant to escape" Ashildr says.

"You shall. In death" Leandro replies, the crowd screams as fireballs come flying through and explode on the ground. Leandro attacks the crowd, who scream and scatter. Militiamen fire their pistols at him.

"No! Doctor and {Y/N}, what have I done? What have I done to these people? Stop this! They are defenceless" Ashildr says, she then attacks Leandro.

"Ashildr! He doesn't care" {Y/N} says.

"But I do. Oh, God, I do. I actually do. I, I care."

"It's awful, isn't it? It's infuriating. You think you don't care, then you fall off the wagon."

"Never mind about me. What are we going to do about them? We have to help them. They need you. They need us."

"Welcome back."

'Well? Do something then!"

"Ok. Ok. Er. Eyes of Hades. Afterlife. Death opens up a gateway. We need to close it" the Doctor says.

"Yeah, I know, but how?"

'Sam Swift, he's the conduit. The amulet, it's still in him. It's his death that's opening the rift. So, what do we do?"

"Reverse it."

"You cannot reverse death," Leandro says.

"Oh, yes, we can" Ashildr holds up the other Mire repair chip. Leandro tries to snatch it.

"Run!" upon the scaffold, Ashildr puts the chip onto Sam's forehead and it is absorbed into him.

"No, my lady. They will destroy me for this" Leandro says, the ray changes from purple to gold. Leandro roars at Ashildr, who runs to hide behind the Doctor and {Y/N} "the light of immortality. Spare me, my brothers!" Leandro is disintegrated, and the rift closes. The crowd comes out of hiding and dusts themselves down.

"I'm alive. I'm alive!" Sam shouts as he laughs and the crowd cheers. The amulet stuck to his chest no longer shines.

---

~Bread 🍞

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