Title: The Words 'Honeymoon' And 'Adventure' Are Not Synonymous…Unless You Travel With The Doctor
Author: AoiTsukikage
Rating: PG to PG-13. It's pretty fluffy :)
Characters/Pairing: The Doctor (11), Amy, Rory; canon pairings
Chapter: 1/1
Word Count: 2370
Spoilers: Written before the Christmas episode aired, so anything before that is fair game!
Summary/Warnings: theotherdenise over on LJ wanted 11/Amy/Rory hanging out or having an adventure on a planet. They…kind of do both in here, and while I've written all of the characters before, it's the first time I've actually written them in their own fic :)
Disclaimer: I, unfortunately, do not own these characters, no matter how sad that makes me. I do, however, promise to return them when I'm done with them. :)
The Words 'Honeymoon' and 'Adventure' Are Not Synonymous…Unless You Travel With The Doctor
"Perfect spot for a honeymoon!" the Doctor announced, throwing open the door of the TARDIS and throwing out his arms at the same time, looking positively childish.
"And…where exactly are we?" Amy popped her head out and surveyed the landscape. It looked like a normal beach, but unlike the one in Rio they'd finally gotten to, this one was deserted.
"This is Sol Oriens, and it won't be inhabited for another…oh…two thousand years or so, so we're the only things here! Well, the only speaking things. I'm sure there're indigenous animals and I'd watch out for the trees; I've heard rumors that some of them like to wander about occasionally, but besides that, we're completely alone!" the Doctor rattled off, and Rory held up a hand, his mouth slightly open.
"Hold up…did you say walking trees? Amy, did he say walking trees?"
"I did," the Doctor nodded. "But don't worry, I hear they're very peaceful."
"Peaceful walking trees. Excellent. I've stepped into Lord of the Rings," Rory sighed and Amy patted his shoulder reassuringly.
"Anyway, so you say we're all alone?" Amy walked slowly up to the Doctor, boots sinking in the soft sand, and she wrinkled her nose before unzipping them and tossing them back into the TARDIS.
"All alone. Completely alone. And just…say the word and I'll leave the two of you alone, too," the Doctor added as Amy looked back toward Rory.
"No need for that right away, I wouldn't think," Amy answered, and Rory shrugged, although whether it was in agreement she couldn't tell. "Let's do a little exploring, first. We're not on a time limit, are we?"
"Nope, nothing dire that needs our attention at the moment, so take all the time you need," the Doctor assured them. "So. Exploring?"
"Exploring," Amy affirmed with a nod.
000
"So much for uninhabited," Rory muttered under his breath, and Amy's response was to elbow him none-too-gently in the side.
"Hush, you. Let the Doctor handle this."
Talking trees he could handle, but these things look like talking fluffballs, except they're about three feet tall and have noticeable big, shining eyes and two rather vicious-looking fangs protruding from their mouths.
They also don't speak English, although the Doctor seems to be communicating with them regardless. Rory isn't quite sure at the moment whether the meeting is hostile or not, or whether they're prisoners, but considering that they're currently surrounded by a circle of the bloody things he isn't feeling very optimistic.
"Well, I've got good news and bad news," the Doctor straightened and addressed his companions.
"Bad news first," Rory spoke before Amy could.
"Right, then. Bad news is that this isn't an uninhabited island."
"I can see that," the other man muttered, and Amy shot him a glare again.
"Anyway, good news is that they're rather friendly balls of fluff, despite the teeth, and they've asked us for a favor. It seems that mountain," the doctor pointed to the towering mass of rock sticking out from the center of the island. "Is causing a bit of a problem. Or, rather, this little guy," and the Doctor patted the thing on the head, causing the fluffy creature to emit what sounded like a purr, "has lost his pet."
"His pet," Amy looked unconvinced.
"Yes. Bos Grunniens, I believe he called it," the Doctor informed them. "These creatures, despite their appearance, have very thin fur and can't survive in cold environments, so he's wondering if we won't go and look for it."
"As a gesture of goodwill, I suppose," Rory gave a resigned sigh. The Doctor really could be infuriatingly selfless at times.
"Adventure!" the Doctor waved his arms. "And then you can relax knowing you've helped somebody out."
"Fine," Amy said quickly, and Rory turned to her. "No, really, it's fine. How hard could it be?"
"Excellent!"
"Just…one question. What…exactly…is a Bos Grunniens?" Rory asked hesitantly, and by the look on the Doctor's face he knew he was going to regret the question.
"Well…ah…it's actually a Latin name for a human animal."
"Doctor? What animal?" Amy looked concerned now, too.
"Mm…a yak."
There was silence for about five seconds before Amy and Rory replied, in unison, "We're looking for a bloody yak?"
"Erm…yes?"
"Doctor, how are we going to get a yak down from a mountain. Yaks are big," Amy waved her arms dramatically, nearly clocking Rory in the face, and he took a step backward.
"I'm well aware, Amy. My friend here…"
And great, Rory thought, now the fluff-ball was the Doctor's friend.
"Has got these," he held out a package of what looked like dried leaves. "Apparently the yak loves them, so as long as we've got this he should follow us without difficulty."
"Well, it sounds simple enough," Amy admitted.
"Don't say that. Never say that," Rory hissed to her, but it was too late.
The words had been spoken.
000
"I thought you said this place had a warm climate," Rory was rubbing his arms with his gloved hands, teeth chattering as they trudged through the forest leading to the foot of the large mountain.
"On the beach it does," the Doctor responded, looking remarkably unconcerned with the temperature even though he was merely wearing his normal suit. "But come on, Rory, you couldn't seriously think it would stay warm in the mountains?"
"I didn't think we'd be going to the mountains," Rory muttered under his breath. "How, exactly, are we supposed to find this yak?"
"I'd think it would be fairly noticeable," the Doctor shrugged.
"As long as we find it soon. My fingers are about to fall off," Rory rubbed his hands together.
"Oh, you big baby, it's not that bad," Amy ruffled his hair playfully. "Besides, what better way to spend our honeymoon than on an adventure?"
Rory could think of several, but he chose to keep his mouth shut. "Do we know if this is an Earth-sized yak or more their size?"
"From what they told me, it sounds like it's monstrous to them so I'm betting on Earth-sized. It may be an Earth-yak for all we know," the Doctor reminded them, continuing to trudge through the thickening snow. "All the information I got from them suggested that in the last couple of days there was a rock-slide or a cave-in up here somewhere and they think their yak may be trapped behind it."
"So, looking for a honking great pile of rocks should be easy," Amy shrugged, scanning her surroundings. "I'd imagine it would be, at least."
"Keep looking," the Doctor suggested, and they moved slowly through the trees, soon coming upon the rockier slopes at the foot of the large mountain.
"If a cave-in happened anywhere it would have to be along here," Amy said logically, beginning to skirt the foot of the rock-face.
"This mountain has a huge circumference," Rory felt compelled to point out. "It'd be dark long before we got around."
"So we hope we're on the right side," the Doctor clapped his shoulder on the way by and Rory sighed and followed along, resigned to the fact that they were obviously going to look for this thing until it was found.
"Doctor!" Amy shouted a few minutes later, and the Doctor and Rory sprinted to find her in front of what was most certainly a cave-in.
"Excellent work, Mrs. Pond!" the Doctor exclaimed, digging around in his pockets and eventually coming up with what looked like an ordinary seashell.
"And how, exactly, is listening to the ocean going to do us any good?" Rory's teeth were chattering now.
"Easy. I picked these up a while ago…very strange planet, that was. Angel-people, you know. Regardless, they don't have very advanced technology, but they've learned to manipulate these special shells to do pretty much anything. This one, if I'm right, is an explosive device," he looked manically excited about that and Rory unconsciously took a step backward.
"You're going to blow up the rocks? What about the yak?" Amy asked worriedly.
"For one, we don't know if the yak is actually in there, and secondly…Rory's right. We need to be back to the TARDIS by nightfall, so unless either of you have a brilliant plan to shift these rocks, we're going to have to take the risk," he set the shell against the surface of the rock.
"How does it work?" Amy looked at it curiously.
"The topmost part clicks in like a button and that triggers the whole thing, which means you two get to cover because I'll have to press it and dive out of the way," the Doctor warned, and Rory grabbed Amy's wrist and led her farther back into the bushes.
"Wait, Doctor, are you sure that's entirely safe?" she asked hesitantly, and he shrugged.
"Of course it isn't safe. But that's half the fun, isn't it?" the Doctor gave her a flash of a grin before depressing the button and diving sideways into the bushes as the entire rock-face exploded, Rory holding Amy tightly and shielding her as best he could.
"Doctor?" he called hesitantly when the worst of the falling debris seemed to have stopped, and he uncurled himself from around his wife and looked out toward the now-exposed cave.
"Look, Rory! A yak!" the Doctor looked ridiculously giddy as he stroked the silky fur of the animal, and Rory had to stifle a laugh that was part relief and part amazement because the creature the Doctor was petting was, indeed, a normal Earth yak. If normal Earth yaks were golden-colored, that is, but he figured that the color was, at this point, not really a concern.
"A yak indeed," Rory stepped forward, reaching to scratch the animal's nose, and the Doctor clapped him heavily on the shoulder.
"So, was that really so bad?"
"Yes, but I'm willing to forgive you if you get us back before it gets dark," Rory returned, continuing to pet the animal and Amy came over and immediately started as well. Rory instinctively began checking the creature for injuries; after all, just because he was a human nurse didn't mean he couldn't tell when another animal was in pain. All things considered, though, the animal looked fit and healthy, so he was glad for that.
"Right, then," the Doctor had to shove the yak's head away as he started to chew on his bowtie. "Let's get this fellow back to his owners, then, and we'll get started on this vacation. Sound good?"
"Good to me," Amy nodded, scratching the animal between his ears and smiling as the large creature obediently shuffled after her as they started to walk.
"Hmm. Guess we don't need these, then," the Doctor shook the package of leaves forlornly and Rory chuckled. "That girl of yours is apparently more effective than yak-bait."
"I'm not quite sure how to take that, but right now I'm just glad it's moving," Rory took the Doctor's elbow when it became apparent he wasn't very inclined to hurry on his own and followed Amy down the slopes of the mountain.
000
"Still not my idea of a perfect honeymoon," Rory said, although his protests sounded half-hearted.
"Oh, hush," Amy kissed him to shut him up before pulling back, getting to her feet and moving toward the fire. The locals had been so pleased they'd returned with the yak that they'd immediately ushered them down to the beach and set up a type of beach barbecue for them.
The food, Rory had to admit, was surprisingly delicious, and while he knew the main meat source was a type of mild white fish, he wasn't entirely inclined to see what the fish looked like, because knowing his luck it would be covered in poisonous spines that had to be carefully removed or one bite would kill you.
The yak itself was sleeping on the sand, exhausted, and Rory couldn't blame it.
"You look marginally more content," the Doctor plopped himself down beside Rory, looking out at the ocean wistfully, and Rory noted again how utterly lonely he could look even while surrounded by people...creatures…whatever.
"I didn't hate it."
"I know," the Doctor assured him. "I would worry about you if you didn't complain, though," he added with a smile at the man.
"Suppose I should have expected this. After all, your wedding present involved fish-vampire-alien things, so this is preferable."
"Much," Amy plopped down between them, slinging an arm around each of them. "But I think from here on out this vacation is going to be wonderful."
"And if not, I promise I'll take you somewhere on Earth you can relax," the Doctor told them. "Is that a deal?"
"Deal," Amy answered for them, leaning against Rory while still keeping her hand touching the Doctor's arm. "It's beautiful."
Rory was silent until Amy elbowed him and he cleared his throat. "Yes. Can't argue."
"Good. And y'know, I couldn't think of a better place to be spending time with my boys," she patted them both on the shoulder and stood up again, ruffling Rory's hair as she passed him by. "More snacks, lads?"
"Wouldn't mind," Rory nodded and Amy headed back toward the balls of fluff, who bounced excitedly as she made her way toward them.
"Still think we're not her boys?" the Doctor asked Rory with a sly smile.
"We're totally her boys," Rory heaved a resigned sigh, closing his eyes and enjoying the warm ocean breeze.
Okay, so it was far from the perfect honeymoon he'd envisioned, but by now he'd come to realize that, travelling with the Doctor, he really couldn't expect anything else.
And as time went on, he was becoming more and more okay with that.
Until, of course, he heard a rustling behind him and turned to see a few of the trees emerging from the forest to join the celebration.
Great. He'd forgotten about them.
He got shakily to his feet as Amy immediately rushed off to speak with them, not really wanting to move until the Doctor settled a hand on his back and guided him toward the trees, and he figured that, as long as they were together, nothing too bad could ever happen.
At least, that's what he hoped.
Notes:
1.1. The name of the planet, 'Sol Oriens,' basically means 'Rising Sun' in Latin. If my Internetz-translating skillz are to be trusted, that is…
2. 2. The idea of the yak came from a rather odd place. I'd been watching the Hetalia dub and in the one episode (9? I think?), Russia mentions that growing up his only friend was a yak. Um…yeah. This is how I get my inspiration xP
3. 3.For anybody that's familiar with One Piece, the Doctor's also apparently been to SkyPiea (what? It could happen!) If you aren't, that's where the exploding shell and the angel-people come from :)
4.4. I think that's all for notes! Other than that I think Rory's partially based on me in this because I'm all for creature comforts :P