Shadows

The Doctor and Rose were walking along the streets in France. Rose decided to go to France in 2038 to see the new fashion trends and of course he agreed to it. Right now, Rose was smiling and looking into more shops. She carried a few bags that weren't that heavy, while the Doctor held the heavier ones (hats, shoes, etc). He smiled. Her smile always gave him a reason to keep travelling, no matter what. Forget about the Time War! Live in the present, live for now!

He then dropped a bag. He bent down to pick it up but something caught his eye. His shadow was different. He got a hold of the fallen bag and straightened up. His shadow did not look like him. Instead of his leather jacket's outline, he saw a shorter jacket and a type of strap dangling from his shoulder to his waist. He wore boots instead of shoes. His hair was different, too. It was up and not short. Something was really wrong. His shadow shouldn't be like this; it shouldn't be of his previous incarnation. Why is it like this?

"Is something wrong, Doctor?" Rose asked. He looked up and saw her face filled with worry; she bit her lip nervously and tightened her grip on the pale pink and blue bags.

"Nah, nothings wrong. You're seeing things." He replied, giving her a smile. She smiled, her tongue between her teeth, and then she turned to go into another store.

As she left, the Doctor saw her shadow. Her shadow wasn't holding any bags; it was in a crying position. The hands covered her face and it shook violently.

Something was not right.

.

.

Donna decided to invite Martha to one of their adventures, and the Doctor agreed. He was excited! He couldn't wait to see Martha again! They materialized in front of her apartment and knocked on her door. Donna wore a normal blue t-shirt and jeans, while the Doctor wore his usual attire, pinstriped suit and long brown overcoat.

When Martha opened the door, she was pleasantly surprised; she didn't expect to see them so soon! Well, for them it would have probably been a few weeks. They asked her if she wanted to come with them and she said yes. They walked back to the Tardis. The Doctor pressed a few buttons and pushed down some leavers while talking all the way. The only words that the companions understood were, "Greatest planet!" "Brilliant!" and "Allons-y!"

When they got to their destination, the Doctor hurried out and shouted something incoherent. Martha and Donna shared a confused glance and went outside. When they went outside, both companions forgot what they were going to ask and stood there open mouthed. What they saw was horrifying.

"This is a war." Martha concluded. She took a quick glance to the Doctor and saw a flash of panic on his face.

There was fire everywhere and all the buildings were in ruins. There was a woman sitting on the ground, a few meters away from them, and put something in a type of blaster. She got up and called out to war. She ran away and faced her enemies.

"We should leave. " Donna said. "Doctor?"

The Doctor stood there, paralyzed. A few minutes later he spoke, "They weren't supposed to go to war. They were supposed to live peacefully…" He looked down and saw his shadow. The figure looked ghastly on the soot covered ground. The shadow was different again. He knew who it was. It was his previous incarnation, the one with the leather jacket and big ears. It was happening again. He looked at Martha and Donna's shadows. Martha's shadow had long hair and it appeared that she was wearing combat clothes. Donna's shadow had her hair up and was wearing a wedding dress. What was happening?

"Doctor, Doctor? Are you okay?" Donna and Martha asked at the same time.

The Doctor snapped out of his reverie and looked at the two companions. They looked scared. They looked really, really scared.

"Let's leave," and with that, the Doctor turned and returned to his ship. His companions followed suit.

.

.

"Barcelona." Amy mentioned. "You said Barcelona once and you didn't mean the city."

"I did say that, didn't I?" The Doctor twirled around the console. He walked past Rory and gave him a scarf.

"What?" Rory said startled. He got the silky scarf between his fingers and put it around Amy's neck. Then he noticed something. His shadow was different; and so was Amy's. Both of their shadows were of angels crying. They looked like Weeping Angels. Amy noticed, too.

"Doctor," Amy started. "Why are our shadows different?"

The Doctor's smile faltered and he tugged at his bowtie. "What do you mean?"

Then Amy pointed at the Doctor's shadow. "Look! Look at your shadow!"

The Doctor glanced down and saw the shadow of his previous incarnation. The one who had spiky hair and wore a long coat. "Oh, yes that."

"You know about this?" Rory inquired.

The Doctor gave a so-so gesture. "I've seen it before but I don't know what it is exactly."

Amy walked around. "Is this going to be a problem? Like, do we still get to go to Barcelona?"

"Amy, this is something-" Rory started.

"Of course we can still go to Barcelona!" The Doctor cut him off. He went to the console and started to press buttons. Amy smiled, ignoring the fact that her shadow was a Weeping Angel but Rory couldn't ignore. It was bothering him.

"Doctor, we can't just leave this behind! What do you know about this?" Rory asked, clearly frustrated.

The Doctor turned his head slowly and stared at Rory. "Rory," the Doctor said slowly. "We don't need to know. There is no need to know."

"But-" Rory started.

"Rory," Amy said firmly. The Doctor still kept glaring at Rory. Rory kept his mouth shut and nodded.

The Tardis stopped abruptly and the Doctor broke into a grin. "Well, we're here! Now go on, wait for me outside. I'll see you in a minute."

Both companions nodded and went outside. The Doctor sat in the passenger seat and sighed. Why did this keep happening? Why did his shadow and the shadows of his companions look different? He understood his; it was of his previous life. But what of his companions? Why did those look different?

"Well," he said to himself. "We may never find out." He got up and went outside.

.

.

Clara stood awkwardly nearly the console. For the past five minutes she had been trying to convince the Doctor that her shadow looked different, but he kept denying it.

"Listen Doctor, my shadow looks different!" She tried again. "Doctor, I'm talking to you!"

"And I'm listening. You're just shouting too loudly." He said, not really caring.

Clara still stood there. "Doctor, my shadow looks different!" She repeated again.

"You don't have to shout, Control Freak," the Doctor teased.

Clara grunted in frustration and yelled, "I AM NOT A CONTROL FREAK!"

The Doctor stared at her. Then flipped he flipped a switch. "Yes, ma'am." He mock saluted.

"Doctor, please listen to me. Just listen to me; my shadow looks different." She said softly and this time he looked at her. There was a weird look in his eyes and she didn't like it.

"Let me see your shadow," he went next to her and looked down. Her shadow was of a raven. The raven had it's wings outstretched and its tail looked smudged and broken up. He then looked down at his shadow. It was of his previous life; the one who wore bowties and tweed.

Clara rubbed her eyes. "I'm tired."

"And why do you tell me that?" He said, still looking at the shadows.

"Because I want you just tell me what's going on so I can go to sleep." Clara yawned.

"You want an explanation? I'll give you an explanation." He went upstairs and stood near the railing. "I found out about this when I was in my Ninth incarnation, I think, and I saw that my shadow and my friend's shadow were different. Then in my Tenth incarnation it happened again, same with my Eleventh. My shadow is always of my previous regeneration. The one of my friends' are when they left. Rose left crying, Martha left as a soldier, Donna left married, and Amy and Rory were touched by Weeping Angels. This is a weird side affect of being in the Tardis. I found out about it when Amy and Rory left. I actually checked the manual!" The Doctor threw his hands up into the air.

"Is that it, then? I'm going to leave due to a bird?" Clara asked offended.

The Doctor nodded. "Basically."

Clara laughed then went into the hallway. "Time can be rewritten!" She yelled.

The Doctor sighed and said quietly. "No it can't."

Author's Note: This was something quick that I wrote during Creative Writing class. Kudos to my teacher for letting me use the laptop!