Peripheral Park.

Chapter 1

Dark Forest, Old Eyes.

'Doctor, where are we?' asked Amy as the time lord peered out of the doors. 'Ermm..' came the reply. It was black outside the TARDIS, black with no stars. 'Ermm', he said again, 'We could have been sucked into the never-ending void and lost foreve-' 'WHAT!' shouted Rory and Amy at the same time. 'No wait,' said The Doctor, 'there appears to be a floor.' Amy sighed with relief, 'Thats good news' she said. 'Oh no...' murmured the time lord as he turned around, 'on the contrary, this is worse than a void.' 'Why is it always worse?' groaned Rory, 'So where are we then?'

The Doctor scraped his hair back from his face 'This is Peripheral Park.' 'O YAY! A park!' 'No, Rory, this is not the sort of park one would like to go for a walk in, we have to get out of here.' Rory and Amy went to the door and opened it, 'Is it night time here, Doctor?' Rory asked, 'Do you see any stars?' Amy answered, gazing up into the black upness, if it was a sky.

The Doctor went back to one of the control panels and turned the engine on. The core lit up blue for a few seconds and then went dark. 'I'm sorry' he said 'We're stranded.'

For awhile they sat on the ground outside the TARDIS. Amy sniffed 'So what is this place then?'

'I told you its a park'

'If its just a park why are there no stars?'

'The trees here, they eat light'

'So do all trees dont they? They soak it up and turn it into food' said Rory.

'These eat whole stars' said The Doctor.

'Do any people live here?' asked Amy.

'Trees do'

'Its very hard ground'

'There isn't much water here'

'Doctor will you stop it!'

'Sorry.'

'What is this place?'

'Did u ever read about wood nymphs when you were little? Tree people maybe?'

'Yes'

'Well, they're quite near us. And they're getting clos-'

Suddenly, a light appeared. It didnt appear everywhere, tall shapes blocked its way, trees, Amy thought. The Doctor rose and stumbled away up what now was shown to be a wooded slope. Amy blundered up the hill after him, calling 'Doctor?' 'What do you mean?'

Rory staggered after her 'Amy!' 'Whats up there?'

They were at the head of a path, a path that ran down through the trees eastwards. On leaning against the trees nearest the path, were mirrors. Mirrors that bounced the light from one the other all the way to where The Doctor and Amy, and presently, Rory were standing. But they were not alone. Not far from the nearest mirror to them, someone was standing, their back facing them. Their skin was a patchwork of sour orange-black rotteness to the soft yellow of heartwood. Their hair was a long tousel of dead ivy, some of which lay in the trail behind. As it turned, as slowly if it was pulling all its roots with it, they could see its face was like a human's but carved out of wood. But the wood was rotten, blotched where the thin dark brown layer had flaked, to reveal pale grainy courseness. The eyes were like knots in the grain and the mouth was a just a crack. It peered at them through its dark eye holes. More faces like it were appearing it, or though in actual fact they were very different. 'What are they, Doctor?' 'They're thirsty, I think...'

the creatures were now walking towards them, bark falling off them..

'RUN!' shouted the Doctor.

Amy and Rory ran to the top of the hill and looked back. The Doctor was not with them. From the darkness ahead figures flitted softly from one beam to another. Some just stood there, in the light, drinking it in. The light here was fading. Amy felt something touch her arm. She spun around, like being touched by a branch, the dry cracked fingers of one of the nymphs reached out and grabbed her arm. She tried to pull away but her arm began to burn. She saw her arm crack and dry and the creature's become more green and lithe. Moss spread like a carpet and draped around its arms. The heart shaped ivy leaves grew in the long tangelings of its hair.

Amy screamed and Rory pulled her away. The thing's long root fingers slipped and it stared at them. The mad black curiosity of its eyes drew Amy, pulling her in. She felt as if she was trapped in the dark earth, roots held her, she couldn't move! The eyes seemed old. Very old. They held an expression she had seen in The Doctors eyes sometimes, an expression he would often endeavour to hide.