<-- 𓍴 ℳemories of a stolen 𝗉lace ✨ --> Stri and Sock

Crutchie considered, glancing around him. The truth was he wanted to see the castles that his mother had told him about before she died. He wanted to see what it would have been like to live in a grand place with forests all around and an air of magic and mystery surrounding you. He wanted to know what they were like well before his parents had played in their ruins despite not being allowed to. But it didn’t seem likely that there would be any castles around here, and if there were… they were probably well guarded, and nobody like them would be allowed access in. There were none of them in front of him, anyway.
“I see people who aren’t certain about us being here,” he admitted, looking around. “But they aren’t scared, just… we’re unfamiliar.” And probably thought he was cursed, but he kept that thought to himself. “Easier to survive if you stay in the background,” he admitted, shaking his head. He hadn’t wanted to fade into the background, but he had been forced to. What would it be like to not have to worry about that?
He was about to say more when he heard the Doctor’s offer. “No thanks,” He said on reflex. If someone offered you food, especially if they were paying for it, you said no. Because it was better to go hungry than owe people anything. He followed from a short difference, unsure how to respond to the Doctor. Because he doubted that she would make him pay her back for whatever food she got, but that didn’t mean… he swallowed. He had a feeling he already owed her for bringing him here. And there was something itching at the back of his head that he couldn’t place, like there was something that was important that just wasn’t coming to the front of his mind.
No, he was just kidding himself. There wasn’t anything more to his life than what he knew about. There was nothing he had forgotten. The Doctor was wrong, and it was rather cruel of her to attempt to convince him that there was ever anything more, even if she didn’t mean to be cruel.

Crutchie stared at the food for a moment before taking it and tentatively taking a bite out of it. It didn’t seem to be any different from what he was used to eating back in New York - maybe a little fresher? He couldn’t tell. It wasn’t bad, though, and that was all he was aware of for certain. He knew he would have to find a way to pay the Doctor back for what he had eaten, but it wasn’t at the forefront of his thoughts at the moment. He was still a little bit overwhelmed just by virtue of being in Ireland well before it was actually Ireland. It felt like going home somehow.
“Is it larger than you anticipated it being?” He asked, his accent still soft. He knew his Irish wasn’t as good as it could have been, and he knew the language had probably changed a lot since this time, but… well, it felt nice to be able to speak it and have the soft vowels fill his mouth in a familiar and friendly way. It wasn’t nearly as harsh as English was, and he found himself melting into it. “Maybe they’re just really good at construction.” He doubted that was true, especially if the Doctor said it was odd. He was inclined to believe her on matters such as this.
He took a few steps forward, trying to lock all of this into his memory. Trying to fill every inch of his being with being here because even if it was a dream - and he was still inclined to think it was - then he was never going to be able to have this experience again. Part of him didn’t want anything bad to be going on here - he wanted to be able to preserve it in its perfection - but the other part of him wanted an excuse to stay here as long as possible.
“How do we figure out why they’re building so fast?” he asked, frowning. It didn’t seem like something they could just go up and ask people. “Wait,” he murmured, eyes wide. “We aren’t when the English changed all the place names to English names, are we?” Because that was the beginning of the end of his culture, he didn’t want… he didn’t want to see that.

Crutchie took in a deep breath. He didn’t know that much history, but what he did know… there was a lot that had happened in Ireland that he knew he wanted to be a part of, and even more that he didn’t want to witness. Too many horrible things had happened, and he had had enough of unfortunate circumstances. If he were here, where he had dreamed of going his entire life, he was going to be part of the good things. There were a lot of those, in every time period. There must have been… that seemed to be the case in his time too, it was just that he had drawn the short stick in the lot of life. Not that New York was bad, or that he’d trade his friends for any amount of wealth or second chances, but… well, they could move around here, if they wanted. That was an extraordinary gift.
“Why wouldn’t it let us go back?” Crutchie asked, confused. It seemed that the Doctor had realized something that Crutchie hadn’t quite caught on to yet. He wondered if she was going to explain, but she seemed to be more of the explain as you go type of person that someone who would give him straight answers to anything he asked. Not that he knew anyone who was willing to give straight answers, even back in New York.
He frowned slightly at the feeling of her hand on his shoulder - for only a moment - then seemed to accept it and begin following. For him to be an enigma to this woman who seemed to embody the word… well, it was a strange feeling. Like perhaps some of the crazy things she said might be true.
“It’s a normal town,” he commented, following her quickly. “With normal streets, with people living here… there’s gotta be a way…” he frowned, realizing he misunderstood. “Ya don’t mean within the town, do you?” He wasn’t feeling anything sinister here, and he prided himself on having good instincts, but if the Doctor wanted to investigate… “You ain’t dragging me into anything.” He grinned. Truth was, he wanted to see what she was talking about.

Crutchie wasn’t sure he understood, but what he did know was that he was curious, and he wanted to find out what the Doctor was talking about. Oddly enough, her words were beginning to make sense to him. Well, not sense exactly, but he wasn’t as confused, and he thought he might have started to be able to at least grasp what she was saying after she said it. Perhaps that was just because she was sounding oddly clueless at the moment. In an exciting way, though. Crutchie let a grin pull at his mouth, suddenly seeing the possibility of adventure this brought. It was one thing to see an old Irish town, preserved exactly as it had been back in its prime. It was another thing to find a town that was being negatively impacted by something and being able to figure out exactly what that might be.
“You think the people here have realized that there’s a trap?” If there was a trap, Crutchie wondered, could it just be for the Doctor? If not, why had it shown up now, exactly where they had ended up? If the Doctor could travel wherever and whenever she wanted, it wasn’t too difficult to believe that she had made a few enemies in the mean time. Crutchie certainly had enemies, and it was just by virtue of the fact that he existed as a person on the streets of New York. No matter who you were you were bound to find people that hated you, and since the Doctor had an ability most others didn’t… it wasn’t a stretch of the imagination to believe that others could certainly be jealous. Jealous enough to set a trap, even.
“What if we go further? What if we try walking until there’s no more town?” It would hopefully show how dedicated the person laying the trap was. Unless it was some sort of magic that Crutchie didn’t understand, but even that must have limits, right? “And if it’s building up over here, does that mean the town as a whole is getting larger, or does it mean that buildings are being deleted on the other side?”
He cast his gaze at the Doctor, wondering if she had any ideas. Crutchie wouldn’t have been opposed to running to the other side to check and see if the spreading of the town went that way too, but he figured it was probably for the best that he stick with the Doctor at least for now. He didn’t want to get left behind here, after all. He enjoyed his life at home. He wouldn’t willingly give it up just to get stuck in a world full of people that had died a long time ago in Crutchie’s history.

Crutchie wasn’t so sure about following the Doctor, but what choice did he have? She was his guide, and if he got separated from her when she was heading into a trap, that wouldn’t be ideal. Then again, it would probably be better if only one of them got caught in a trap rather than both, but if the house they were entering was a trap it was too late now for that thought. They were going to get trapped together, and if the Doctor was having misgivings about the building… well, it would only be right for Crutchie to have the same misgivings, wouldn’t it?
And, just as he was about to turn to walk out the door, to get back into the sunlight, darkness crowded at the edge of his vision and he froze. Panic built up in him as he tried to decipher whether it was his vision going dark or whether it was the room around him seeming to dissolve. Either way, something was very wrong, and whatever it was was incredibly disorienting. He couldn’t really see, just hear his heart pounding in his chest as darkness took over the whole room, and then… waves. He heard waves. How did that make sense? He blinked, his blue eyes overwhelmed by the sudden sunlight flooding into them. It took him a moment to reorient, but once he did he couldn’t help but gasp. They were on a port of some sort, a large ship – larger than any Crutchie had ever seen, at least – swaying in the waves besides them. People were shouting in a language that Crutchie didn’t think he understood at first, until the words crystallized in his ears. Obviously these people were preparing for a journey of some sort. He heard jokes thrown around and men slapping each other’s shoulders with the confident amiability of long term comrades. One man in particular seemed to be the center of attention, directing each of the others where to put the boxes they were carrying aboard. It was nothing like Crutchie had ever seen, and for some reason, he wanted to be a part of it. He would never get a chance to be a hero, but this seemed like something heroic happening. There were at least fifty men – some of them just barely older than Crutchie – preparing.
“Where are we?” He whispered in wonder, turning around to take it all in. One young man almost bumped into Crutchie before he backpedaled a few steps. He wanted to be a part of it all, though he couldn’t quite say why. He had never even been out of New York, he wanted to sail the sea and see what was out there, he wanted to join this crew of heroes and adventurers that seemed so close, so much like the brothers he had found in New York… he couldn’t hide the grin stretching across his face.
Almost of their own volition, Crutchie’s feet took him a few steps closer towards where the men were boarding the boat, streaming in and out as they made their final preparations under the searing light of the sun.
“Can we join them?” He asked the Doctor, eyes wide. It was like he had forgotten how they had gotten there in the first place. It was like he didn’t realize that they no longer had a way back.
If he had looked a little bit higher, he would have seen the name of the ship: The Argo. Though he may not have known what the words meant in the significance of history.

If there was one person that Crutchie didn’t want to approach, it was the man who seemed to be in charge of everything. If anyone were to tell them that they weren’t allowed to tag along it would be him. Based on the people around them… well, it didn’t seem like either a woman or anyone like Crutchie would be easily welcome aboard. Besides, Crutchie had heard one too many myths that said that women were bad luck to have on board a ship. If they were going to be allowed on it would be far better to befriend someone unassuming who could sneak them on and then they’d deal with the consequences of it later. There wasn’t too much wrong with that, right? But if the Doctor wanted to talk to the man in charge, then Crutchie was basically powerless to stop her.
“Greek?” Crutchie asked, frowning. “Nothing, really. Just know that there are a few buildings around New York that are named after their gods, maybe?” He shrugged. Greek mythology wasn’t something his parents were aware of, and therefore it had never been passed on to him. It had never really occurred to him that not knowing about an ancient culture’s religion would come back to bite him, but here they were and these people were apparently Greek. “Do you know where we are?” He asked after a moment. If it was Greece… well, that was an interesting twist, considering they had been in Ireland just moments before.
The man had noticed the two by now and was frowning while saying something to another man who quickly scuttled out of the way and went into the ship. Eyes narrowed, the man gestured for the two to come closer.
“Who are you?” the man demanded, crossing his arms. From up close, Crutchie could tell that he was actually a lot younger than the boy had originally assumed. There was something about the commanding way he regarded those around him that had made Crutchie think he was older. “My crew is set to sail this evening, this dock was supposed to be cleared for our ship. If you’re here to wish farewell to one of my men, and… I suppose you are… you should have done so either this morning or last night.”
Crutchie cast a glance at the Doctor, unsure what to do next. If she knew who this man was – if he was someone out of Greek mythology, then Crutchie figured it was probably best not to ask the man any questions the Doctor already had the answers to. He wanted to make the best impression possible, mostly because he really did want to see where they were going. And he wanted to go with.

Crutchie looked at Jason, half terrified that he was going to tell them both to turn around and go. Because if they weren’t saying goodbye to the crew then they were in the way. And he wasn’t stupid, there were any number of reasons that Jason wouldn’t want them on the ship. Not counting the fact that a boy and a woman would be a liability in the eyes of the crew, even if they were both invaluable. Crutchie knew for a fact that only one of them had the ability to be invaluable in this situation, and it wasn’t him. He tried to make himself even smaller than he actually was. Some of the crew members seemed to offer him smiles when they caught his eye. He realized with a start that many of them weren’t that much older than he was. He had to hope that the Doctor knew what shew as doing, and that maybe this man really was in need of a navigator.
The man thought for a minute. “This is a long and dangerous journey. We have men skilled in navigation and several destinations in mind. We don’t expect all of us to return when the journey is done. A quest such as this is no place for people such as you.”
There was an implication there that Crutchie didn’t like, but he didn’t want to be the one to push it. He gave the Doctor a glance, then decided he would be of more use elsewhere.
He slipped off after one of the crew members he had noticed before, one of the ones who had given him a smile.
“Excuse me!” He limped after the young man, catching up surprisingly quickly. “May I help?” The young man, Orpheus, turned and gave a small confused smile before handing Crutchie one of his boxes – one that could be easily carried one handed.

Jason’s eyes narrowed as he regarded the woman in front of him. Obviously, she was not merely human. While he was used to dealing with people who were more than human – gods, demigods, the like – he didn’t have to like it, especially when he hadn’t planned on it. This woman and her friend were certainly not within his plan. However, if she was here, and if she knew all of this, she must have, in some form, been sent by the gods. As a gift, or as a test? That was what he would have to find out. Would she bring ruin to their mission or would she benefit them? He looked at his crew, still loading cargo onto the ship. If she were to turn against them, could he risk all of their lives?
“Perhaps,” Jason replied evenly, “we could find room for you on our quest. Your friend, however, is a liability. I handpicked every one of these men, and we have no space on our crew for a boy, let alone one like him.” He cast a meaningful glance at the Doctor, not fully saying what he meant. They had made able bodied boys who wanted to come stay behind, there was no excuse to take someone who would merely hold their mission up at all.
Crutchie followed the young man into the hull of the ship, careful to keep the boxes balanced on his good arm. He didn’t know what kind of deal the Doctor might be able to strike with the man, but he knew he was more use here, helping out where he could, than hovering over her shoulder. He made eye contact with her briefly as she looked back, flashing a smile before he blinked a few times to adjust his eyes to the darkness of the interior of the ship.
“Anywhere?” He asked, and the young man nodded.
“Doesn’t much matter as long as everything ends up onboard. Your box is lighter, though, so if you can reach, maybe you can put it on top of something else.” He gave Crutchie a crooked grin, one that Crutchie couldn’t help but return.
“Is there anything else to carry on?” he asked after a moment, to which Orpheus nodded, leading him back out into the sunlight, towards the Doctor.

Jason cast an irritated look at where he had seen the boy disappear into the hold of the ship with Orpheus. He had done everything in his power to avoid having a stowaway, but if he wasn’t careful he knew the boy would board the ship to be with his strange friend here anyway. Would it be better to face having a stowaway and deal with him later, or give in now and just let the boy on? The most ideal situation was not letting the boy board in the first place, but he wasn’t stupid enough to think that there weren’t people among his crew who would take a bribe to let people on the ship if they paid handsomely enough. This woman didn’t seem to be above bribery.
He knew that the woman in front of him was a dangerous sort. The kind that could spin your head around in words and convince you that right was wrong and vice versa.
“That doesn’t change the fact that he’s a child and he cannot fight with that leg restricting him. I will not allow anyone passage on my ship that I am not confident will make it in the end. I don’t want any more blood on my hands than I must have.” The woman wasn’t going to give up, that much was clear. The thing was, Jason wasn’t inclined to give in either, even in spite of seeing the way the boy had been so quick to help Orpheus with a box that seemed like it should have been too heavy for him to carry. There were members of the crew who were only a little older than that boy seemed to be. He would be able to find good work somewhere, if he wanted it, so why did he want to join this quest? Jason had made it explicitly clear that though they would return heroes, the chances of not making it were pretty high. It had attracted the right kind of men, but the last thing he needed on his hands was a kid with some sort of need to be a hero. Not that he would say that aloud – the woman seemed like she wouldn’t take too kindly to a comment like that.

Jason pursed his lips, obviously disliking the situation. However, the woman in front of him was very clearly sent by the gods in some very concrete way, and if she insisted on bringing the boy along, he couldn’t argue without risking the lives of more than just this woman and the boy she brought along. If he angered the gods in that way, his entire crew would be at risk, and that wasn’t a chance he was willing to take even if this woman wasn’t from the gods.
“If he gets injured, or if he falls behind, we will not turn back for him. Same as for you or anyone else on the ship. As you said, his life is on your hands, not on mine.”
He sighed, at least a little bit of the tension leaving his body. “My name is Jason. May I inquire as to yours and the boys before you join my crew?” He glanced behind the Doctor, surprised to see the boy still attempting to help load the ship. Perhaps both he and the woman in front of him would be more use than he had originally given them credit for. Provided they didn’t die on the way there.

There were a lot of things Jason didn’t like about the idea of letting the Doctor and Crutchie join his crew, but there really wasn’t much he could do about that besides just… move on. Accept them and hope they didn’t die and do his best to honor them if they did.
“The pleasure’s mine,” he returned distractedly, turning his attention away from the Doctor so he could monitor what the rest of his crew was doing while he’d been occupied. It seemed the loading up of the ship had begun to wind down, at least. Thoughtfully, he swiped his tongue over his upper teeth – a nervous habit, one he hadn’t been able to quite shake. “We’ll need some of your skills once we set sail. For now, just stay out of the way until we finish loading everything up.” He raised his hand, beckoning Orpheus, and therefore Crutchie, to come join them. Orpheus, in turn, cast a glance at Crutchie, who turned to lead the way.
“That’s Orpheus,” Jason explained, finally turning his attention back to the Doctor. “Our musician. Either we won’t need him at all, or you’ll be grateful he’s here eventually. All I know is the prophecies implied none of us will survive without someone like him, so I hope you like music.” He gave the Doctor a small wink before Orpheus and Crutchie came within earshot.
“Orpheus, the Doctor and Crutchie will be joining our crew. Since the boy seems to have taken a liking to you, they’re your responsibility now. Try to see to it they stay out of trouble.” Orpheus nodded solemnly. “Oh,” Jason continued, locking eyes with the Doctor. “If you’re truly as good with navigation as you say you are, I’ll send for you this evening once we’re on the water.”

If Orpheus recognized that the Doctor had repeated herself, he gave no indication of it. There was something about her expression that puzzled him, but he figured it would be impolite to inquire about it. If he was going to be in charge of watching over these two – a task he was almost positive he wasn’t up to considering his rather appalling lack of skill in a fight – the last thing he wanted to do was make them uncomfortable this early on.
“Likewise, Miss Doctor,” Orpheus responded. He sent a small smile Crutchie’s direction, not really sure what to do with them now. The ship was mostly loaded up, and various crew members seemed to be heading their own separate ways.
Jason had begun to walk away with the knowledge that the newcomers were being taken care of, and the three were left alone.
“There’s nothing much to be done right now,” Orpheus replied, watching some of the crewmembers depart. “Most folk are going to bid their families farewell.” Orpheus had no family to say goodbye to, which left him… here. With two people he had never met before, who he felt responsible for.
Crutchie glanced at the Doctor and then at Orpheus, still trying to process what, exactly, was going on. He had wanted to go on the ship, to be part of this, but the danger definitely felt more real now than it had before he had a definite spot on the ship.
“You don’t gotta watch over us or nothing,” Crutchie told Orpheus, though it was clear the musician didn’t believe him.
Crutchie had a lot of questions for the Doctor, but he couldn’t ask them with Orpheus there.

If Crutchie had been better versed in Greek mythology, he might have realized what a huge deal this was. As it was, based on the Doctor’s reaction, he had a feeling that the new friend he’d made was… important, somehow. Crutchie didn’t like to judge importance based on someone’s behavior, but in New York it was very, very easy to tell who was important and who was not. The important people were rude, and they dressed up in clothes that were too expensive for Crutchie to even think of touching, and they very rarely even looked people like Crutchie in the eye. If Orpheus was important, then he was obviously a very different kind of important.
Once they were far enough away that Orpheus wouldn’t be able to hear, Crutchie released a breath.
“We got here somehow,” he murmured, lifting his gaze so he could meet the Doctor’s. “Only… it wasn’t on your… your ship thing. Your TARDIS. And I still wanna go with, don’t get me wrong, but ain’t this… dangerous?” Crutchie could do dangerous. He did dangerous every day, facing the day and getting through until the end of it. “We don’t got a way back to my ‘ome, and surely you got someplace you’ll be wantin’ to get to eventually, so…” he looked at his feet, frowning. He didn’t want to talk the Doctor out of them going, but it didn’t seem smart if they didn’t have a way out. “That is, unless your TARDIS can take us places without us gettin’ inside it…?” He hoped that was the answer. It would be so much simpler if it was. Unfortunately, however, he was catching onto the very predicament the Doctor had been aware of from the start.
“Also…” Crutchie frowned, casting a glance back at Orpheus. “You knows who ‘e is, don’t’ya?” Which meant he was important in the Mythology, if Crutchie had put two and two together properly. In his defense, he had never really learned math other than what was required for selling papers and keeping himself alive. “Is that safe? If we’s in ‘istory somewhere, and you know ‘im,… couldn’t somethin’ change? Ain’t it possible we get in the way of what’s s’posed to ‘appen? Pretty sure nobody like me’s in Greek Mythology.” He hesitated for a moment, then let a small smile break across his face. “Who is ‘e, though? Someone important?”

Son of a god? Crutchie glanced back at where their appointed guide still stood, looking out over the ocean they were soon going to be sailing across. An actual ocean. Of course Crutchie had seen the Atlantic before, it was hard to go somewhere in New York without being reminded that just to the side there was a huge ocean, but he had never spent any considerable amount of time there. He had never paid much attention to it, and he had certainly never been out on the water. What were they thinking, joining this crew? Somehow, in spite of all of his doubts, Crutchie’s blood sang with the idea of sailing out onto the open ocean. Of being somewhere far, far away from New York. He was the only person he knew who would ever get this opportunity, let alone be accompanied by the children of gods. That bit was still hard to wrap his head around. He had never really been sure what to believe, he just knew that his parents had once kept an old tattered copy of the Bible written in Irish. Religion wasn’t something Crutchie had bothered himself with.
“You’s saying this might not be real?” Crutchie asked, hearing the catch in the Doctor’s words. “That this ain’t necessarily actual history, but it could be somethin’ else entirely?” That idea was… darker than Crutchie wanted to contemplate. History meant they knew where and when they were, and that knowledge was at least a starting point. If they couldn’t even be sure this was history… then how were either of them ever to get out or find their way home or whatever it was they were supposed to be doing? He shook the thought away. “We’s just assumin’ it’s history then,” he murmured, taking after what the Doctor was saying. “Just in case, so we don’t mess nothin’ up?” Fortunately, it seem3ed unlikely that last minute passengers would be recorded. Let alone passengers who weren’t destined to be great heroes, and who weren’t going to find themselves in myths for something else. In Irish mythology, at least, ordinary people who didn’t perform great heroics featured only very rarely. Crutchie had to hope it was the same in other cultures.
“Oh.” His thoughts dissipated once he heard the rest of what the Doctor had to say. “So we don’t got a way back,” he said cautiously, weighing the words for a moment. “You think it’ll pop up if we just keep goin forward?” Assuming they didn’t die first.