A/N This is my first fanfiction, so hang with me. It will probably be really cheesy, but, like I said, this is my first try. I was going for a journal entry theme with more dialogue. It is not just a journal! I'm already working on the next one and it is much better. Keep reading. Please leave comments. I really need to know how I did. Thanks!
Dear Miracle,
It really is nice to have something to right my new life down in. Today alone I saw so much. The Doctor and I battled Grandels, blue, hairy, three headed wolves, which live in the forest Tabeth on the planet Dagel (which translates as drooling/panting dog). They have really sharp teeth. One tore up the new jacket I got on Madel, a peaceful enough place.
I don't know why I'm complaining about a jacket. I don't even really care. There are so many more important things than fussing over a crazy coat, which only cost a rock. A ROCK! Of all things, they like rocks. I guess it's because there are no rocks on Madel.
Anyways, I'm getting nervous. The Doctors often fiddling with the TARDIS's wires down below. He talks to himself a lot. We haven't done much since the incident with those musts. He makes small, nervous gulping noises when he thinks I'm not looking, like he's fighting another Dalek or a Cyberman.
He looks at the monitor's screen from time to time. Then he glances over at me, to see if I'm watching. I glance back down at you when he does these things.
I better go. He seems perturbed now, a bit agitated. I must be off!
Yours,
Rose Tyler
Rose glanced up again at the Doctor. He was using his sonic screwdriver to weld two wires together. She looked back down at the diary he had given her, a gift from the planet Lebenson, a world made completely out of trees. The whole continent was covered in trees. They made many paper products there, a specialty every being on that planet had mastered.
The Doctor jumped up and grabbed a hold of the monitor. It cast a red glow against his worn face. Rose cautiously stood up. The Doctor glanced over, mirroring her worried look in his eyes.
"Rose," he said, trying to keep his voice calm. "Rose, come over here." Rose did as he asked and came to stand beside him. "Rose, do you feel good?"
Rose nodded. "I feel fine. What is it?" She glanced around.
The Doctor shook his head and sighed. "I just thought that you looked ill." Then he muttered, "Guess the Matrix got it wrong." He sighed again.
"So when and where are we going next?" Rose dared, glancing up at the Doctor. He smiled at her.
"How about a trip to Graliphur? It translates into Glass Dome. The entire planet's made out of glass. Or we could go to Galapia, a swamp area. It's in your solar system. Maybe we could even visit a galactic circus. They have star horses with actual riders and fire lions that jump through hoops. It's amazing, this place."
Rose laughed at his enthusiasm. "How about we hit them all." The Doctor laughed and began pulling switches and smacking buttons. They held on as the blue cylinder in the middle went up, down, up, down, making its whirring noises.
Rose dashed to the door the second it stopped. The Doctor smiled after her. He pulled out his physic paper and glanced at it. His smile faded. The paper read as follows:
Beware the golden city
With its golden halls
When the laughter
Never ceasing
Harks the end
With its calls
He looked up at the door again to see Rose stepping out. "Rose!" he called after her. "Rose, we have to go! Emergency elsewhere!"
Rode looked back in. "Five minutes. We have a time machine. They can wait."
"No, Rose. We have to go! Now!" Rose sighed and stepped back inside. The Doctor was already working his magic on the controls. "Where are we going?" Rose asked, curiosity lacing her voice.
"Palanor, the Golden City. It seems a Laughing Gale has infested the place. Got it on my physic paper." He tossed the card over to her. She caught it as it fell through the air.
"Spooky," she said when she had finished reading it. "Guess another adventure's in store for us." She smiled. "So what's a Laughing Gale? I need to know what we're up against. Is it a bird?"
The Doctor looked up at her. "A Laughing Gale isn't a solid being. It's more an entity, a gale of wind. While most wind just screams, this Gale laughs, a haunting laugh. It isn't merry. It can be quite sinister. They're hard to get rid of. I'll have to use a space vacuum. It's kind of like those shows where they… catch ghosts. A ghost hunt. The space vacuum is really a teleport. You go in, then you're flung across space. The fans in the back don't repel, they suck in air. A laughing gale is 85% air." The Doctor fell silent. The TARDIS stopped. Rose walked down the ramp to the doors. The Doctor was right behind her, a big bag strapped to his back, a black hose connected to it.
Rose stepped out to a warm sun that filtered down through amber window high above. The room they had landed in was high, wide, and airy. They stood on a walkway, paved with gold bricks and sided by clear, blue canals. Vines clung to the walls left of them. The other wall had windows the TARDIS could have flown through with ease.
But something there wasn't right with the peaceful setting. It was too peaceful. Not a sound could be heard. There wasn't a bird singing, no water moving. The water in the canals lay undisturbed.
"By the way," the Doctor said. Laughing Gales can infect you. They rush about, tickle you, make you want to scream. But instead of screaming, you laugh, just like a Laughing Gale." Rose looked up at him, a smile slowly spreading across her face. The Doctor felt a grin split his face." I should call you a Grinning Gal!" the Doctor exclaimed, laughter contorting his face. Then he strode down the walkway, Rose close in tow.
They exited the sadly happy room through a pair of golden doors, covered in a picture, a golden city with a golden sun.
The Doctor and Rose took little notice of this. They kept on down a wide corridor with windows again on the right.
At the far end, they came to a similar doors, except, they had ruins on them. The ruins quickly translated themselves into the following:
The golden, poison sun
Beaming down upon the hill
Where now shall we run
The mystery of the hill
"They sure like to talk in verse," Rose commented.
The Doctor glanced up at her from where he now crouched on the floor." The people of Palanor were brought up like that. They spoke in verse. Our mission is to find who ever left me this message." He looked back down at the words upon the door. "Somehow this has something to do with the Laughing Gale." He sighed. "I just wish I knew how."
"Maybe if we find this mysterious being who can contact you from here, he could tell us," Rose suggested.
The Doctor sighed, stood up, and they were off. They entered another room. It had no windows unlike the other rooms, but was filled to the brim with books of all shapes and sizes. This room was also quiet. On the far side was another pair of golden doors. This room was not completely gold. Most wasn't. The books were leather bound and paper. The book cases had a few spots of gold, but were mostly wooden.
"That's odd," Rose said, looking at the bookcases. "Why make the bookcases out of both wood and gold? There isn't even a pattern to the gold splotches."
The Doctor's eyes had grown wide with fear and excitement. "I'm not sure, but I think I know what it is." He dashed out through the far double doors and into a banquet hall. It was empty. Not a sound was to be heard.
A small window set in the ceiling let a single ray fall upon a large, golden thrown. Parts of the table around the important chair were gold. The food, too, was gold. Veins of gold seemed to crawl out from the rest of the room.
The Doctor gasped. "I know what it is!" he exclaimed.
"What is it?" Rose asked in an excited voice.
"The gold, don't you see?" When Rose shook her head, he went on. "The sun, its poisoned. It gives off special waves. Anything it touches, it turns to gold. Not instantly but gradually. That's why it hasn't affected us."
"Oh, it's like the Mitus touch!" Rose exclaimed.
"The what?" the Doctor asked.
"The Mitus touch. It's a story about a king who, anything he touches, turns to gold. At the end of the story, he hugged his daughter because he couldn't stand to see her cry. She was turned to gold. He had to dip her in a pool of water to bring her back. The pool had magical properties."
"Oh," the Doctor said. "Well, it's a bit different here. I believe our little Laughing Gale is feeding off this source of energy. It takes a lot of energy to turn wood into gold. If the Laughing Gale harnesses enough energy, it could take another form. It has no true form. He's just a vapor right now, but if he becomes solid gold, he'll become a creature so powerful…" the Doctor trailed off.
"But he can't move if he's gold," Rose put in.
"Oh, but he can, Rose. He has so much energy, that he'll make the gold molten. He'll move in a solid form of gold, indestructible because gold is indestructible."
Rose's eyes opened in fear. "We better find this Laughing Gale before he's unstoppable."
"No, we need to find the being in charge of contacting us firs. He'll have more knowledge on the than us."
At that moment, a chilled laughter wrenched the air. Rose and the Doctor covered their ears against the contagious sound. A small, hooded figure burst into the room.
"I think we found him," Rose said, her voice scared and far away.
The Doctor nodded slowly. "He's been infected. Rose, put these in," he said, tossing her a pair of rubber earplugs.
She snatched them out of the air and put them in her ears. She looked over to see the Doctor doing the same. The only problem was that now she couldn't hear him.
He began to yell at the crazed lune before them. She could only make out a few words. "WHO ARE YOU!" he screamed. Rose only caught the word who, for it was emphasized by the Doctor. "Do you know where the Laughing Gale is? I'm looking for it!"
The figure made a gargled reply.
"What?" the Doctor yelled. He gently pulled out one of the earplugs.
"The Laughing Gale? I had to bail! To keep from the jail of sorrow!" He laughed at his verse. "Had to bail! Had to bail!"
The Doctor chuckled nervously. He stopped himself, realizing that the infectious laughter was trying to spread. To get any sense out of this man, he was going to have to talk in verse. "Mr. Runner, it would be so much funner if you told me if you told me where you ran from."
"You speak in verse! My own language! Search me purse, I won't make rummage for the answer you sing for!"
"What kind of purse, a mind, a bag? Is it the answer to this curse or is it worth just a rag?"
"You are good. I'll lift my hood and answer all your questions."
The Doctor smiled. "You haven't laughed in so long. I do hope nothing has gone wrong. The Laughing Gale, it released you. Oh, but who, who are you?"
"The spell is broken, for you have spoken, my curse is now released."
The Doctor motioned towards Rose. He motioned for her to take out her earplugs. She gave him a confused look but did as he asked. "Doctor, won't he infect us?"
"Na, of course not. I'm fine, aren't I?" the Doctor said, swinging out his arms. "The Laughing Gale lost its grip on this man. It can't keep you laughing if you're talking so I got him to talk for a minute. He'll start talking if you talk in verse. Try it."
Rose glanced over at the strange figure. "Talk in verse, um…, that's what you like." She paused. "What could be worse? Are you alright?" The end squeaked out; she was not used to talking like a poet. Poetry had never been her thing.
"I'm just fine, good sweet lady. I'm in line. Who's your mate?" Rose gave him a confused look. "Who's your friend?"
"Oh," Rose said. "My traveling friend, um…, he and I, we search the stars, just, um…, around the bend!" she finished. When they got back to the TARDIS, Rose was working on her poetry skills.
"The stars? Are you sure? Like the one we call Mars?"
Rose looked over at the Doctor. "They've seen Mars? Are they in the same solar system as earth?"
The Doctor shook his head. "Mars is a more common name than you may think. Mars stands for Red Planet. They call one of the red gas giants Mars."
"Oh. That makes more sense," Rose said.
The Doctor turned to the hooded man. "You said you'd open your hood. You really said you would."
"I did, I did, and I will. But you must solve the mystery of the hill."
"I'll solve it, I will. Open you cowl, and I'll solve the mystery of the hill."
The ben figure nodded, then, slowly, he drew back the hood to his traveling cloak. It revealed a middle aged man with blazing red and gold hair, emerald green eyes, and a crown of gold atop the man's head.
"As the king of many people, I've had to hide my head form the sun." He paused. Then his eyes opened in fear. "The evil wind is coming! Now we must run!" With that he fled the banquet hall into the library, barring the doors behind him, leaving the Doctor and Rose trapped in the dining hall.
A shrill laugh floated in through the door the king of Palanor had entered through. A breeze drifted in, carrying the scent of golden lilies and pond fronds. It was warm, but held a sadness that Rose could not decipher.
"Laughing Gale, I know that's you," the Doctor ventured. "We've come to help you. You seem to have fallen through a gap in the void."
Rose looked at him, stunned. She knew it was usual for the Doctor to offer every creature a chance but he had said he was going to rid the place of it.
"Um, Doctor, but I though…" she was interrupted by a whiny voice that filled the air about them with its shrill tone.
"Creature of another world, have you come to condemn me to my formless self. I can't even see myself in the still water. I live on in misery. I was thrust her by unseeing hands, tossed across a sea of stars. I only wished to take a form and be with these sweet people. I tried to take they're form, but brought upon them the poison of the sun. I was like a willow-the-wisp, a faint gold trace of myself. I was beautiful. I wanted to have form more and more. Finally, I could not control the sun. I lost my grip and became again a Laughing Gale, the literal laughing stock of all beings and entities."
"Doctor, what does it mean, brought the poison of the sun?"
"First off, it's a she. She magnetized the suns waves. I was harmless, this sun, at first. But she gave it strength so that she could look, well, human. The sun was a poison sun. At small quantities, everything was fine. But it grew strong and turned everything into minerals, particularly gold. She's stuck here, Rose, but we can save her. All she wanted was to be human. A poor creature, wailing in misery, while everyone ran from her." He turned to where a little rustling came out, the throne.
"This is the strongest point," came the sad response. "You may see a trace of me now." And they beheld a golden wisp of something. It grew stronger and stronger until they could see the faint but steady outline of a woman. She was golden, with hair like the dying sun. Her eyes flashed. She wore a long, golden gown that twirled about her ankles.
"Here I am, strange travelers, the Laughing Gale of Palanor. I am Velena, from the planet of the Laughing Gales, and outcast from a group of outcasts. But I do not know of you nor your origin. Please, do tell. I see the wolf and the storm before me." Rose gave a slight twitch at her words. It was just like they wear wolf.
Rose stepped a bit closer, mesmerized by the beautiful creature before her. "I'm Rose Tyler. I come from the planet earth. I'm human."
The Gale nodded and turned her gaze upon the Doctor. "And you, strange creature? I can tell you are not human. I can see parts of your soul through your eyes. Tell me, what are you?"
The Doctor hesitated. Rose could sense his apprehension. He hated talking of his home planet, his origin. Sometimes his own existence was a blow to him. He swallowed, hard. The Gale raised an eyebrow. "You, traveler, are a cautious one, one so old, yet travels with the young. Tell me, I've blocked the room. No one will hear. You are something of a legend, I can tell. But which one, and how old?"
The Doctor finally spoke up. "My name's the Doctor. I'm a Time Lord of the planet Galifrae. I'm the last. The rest passed into legend." He finished with a sigh.
The Gale nodded her head in sympathy. "A time traveler. In all my days, never have I met one such as you. And you must be ancient."
The Doctor laughed at this. "If you consider 900 years ancient. I'm not as old as others of my kin. Some reached several thousand."
The Gale laughed, but instead of it being sad and mysterious, it was merry and sing-song like. "Old to mortals, but quite young. What the Time Lords must have been like!" She caught herself. The Doctor was staring at her with wide eyes.
"What is it, Doctor?" Rose asked.
"Laughing Gales don't have happy laughs. She just laughed like a child!"
"So what? I'm sure a few have before."
"No, only one other. He was the most powerful of Laughing Gales. It's said that he could even sing. He was a shape shifter, too. He was very old when his wind finally gave out. About 6508 years old, I believe, if the story is true." A wide grin split the Doctor's face. "We just found ourselves a Merry Gale!"
"A what?" Rose and Velena exclaimed.
"A Merry Gale, a form of Laughing Gale only mentioned twice in all of existence! The impossible creatures, not as deadly as a weeping angel, but a fair match for anyone of those stone devils!"
"What's a weeping angel, Doctor?" Rose ventured.
"Tell you later! Right now, I have an idea of giving you a more solid form, Velena." He had his hands on his head and a wide grin on his face, a habit of his that he had. He pulled out his sonic screwdriver and began testing the veins of gold on the table. Velena watched in pure fascination.
"Doctor," she said, "thank you, for all you're doing." I have a question, though."
The Doctor glanced up at the newly found Merry Gale. "And what would that be?"
She smiled, showing off pale, gold teeth. "Am I going to be completely solid, or will it just be that I can be seen? Will I still be airy?"
The Doctor looked up. "You will have more control of your form. You'll be, well, how to explain this. You'll be the gas form of gold. Something like a shape shifter."
Velena nodded her head. "I'll be like a golden air, a golden ghost. But Doctor," she cried. "This city, will the people ever be able to stop the sun?"
The Doctor lowered his eyes. "The sun had claimed this land. It and its people will forever be gold."
Velena nodded again, much more sadly. "I made a mistake, letting myself flow through space and time. I destroyed the people of this land and their home." She sighed like the wind when it rustles the leaves of the willow tree. The Doctor remained silent. Rose watched with sad eyes. Velena had killed many. She would have to live with herself for centuries.
"I've got it!" the Doctor exclaimed, jumping up with his hands back on his head. He ran over to Rose and pulled her away. "Vespera, stay there. This should do the trick!" He shoved Rose to the ground and they lay there while Vespera began to solidify.
"What'd you do, Doctor?" Rose questioned.
"I sent a little pulse of energy and reversed a few waves. Then, the waves came back stronger, making Velena's form more permanent. Velena," he called, directing his attention to the golden haze on the golden throne. "Try to focus on holding you form. Now step down from the throne. Good! That's it!"
Velena stepped down from the important chair and came over to stand with them. Her form began to fade into the air. "Velena, hold you form!" the Doctor cried out as she slowly disappeared. "Focus!" Slowly, she reappeared. She looked down at the gown she now wore. She strode over to the closest mirror. She gasped when she saw her reflection. She was truly beautiful.
"Thank you, Doctor," she whispered.
At that moment, the king returned, a spear clenched in his fist. "Duck!" he cried out. He threw his spear at Velena. She barely had time to try to dodge. It caught her in the right shoulder. She cried out as she evaporated and reformed a moment later a few feet away. She was even more transparent than before.
"Doctor, I'm fading." She looked up at him with her big, gold eyes. "I cannot retain my form. But forgive the people of this golden land. They were only frightened. A Laughing Gale will find no place among mortals." With her words hanging in the air, she evaporated once more, only to reform into a golden bottle of golden water.
The Doctor turned on the king while Rose gently picked up the light bottle. It was completely solid. The liquid seemed cool, yet held a warmth to it.
The Doctor ignored the bottle and began to yell at the king. The man shrunk into himself as he saw the storm brewing in the other.
"Doctor!" Rose shouted.
"What?" the Doctor said. He was grimacing as he turned on his young companion.
"Doctor, calm it!" Rose said. "This bottle, is it Velena?"
The Doctor paused. "I believe so. When a creature like her dies, they usually take one last form. She chose an ornate bottle of…" he glanced down at the bottle and a grin slowly spread across his face. "A glass of lorpe. Brilliant, she's brilliant!" he exclaimed as he jumped up. "She was able to form a special liquid that, like an acid, can dissolve almost any solid. But this doesn't dissolve just any solid. It is drawn to gold. She's a gold eating acid!"
"And?" Rose urged him to continue.
"And the people of this city were turned to gold by the poison! She's the antidote! She's saving these people!"
The king stood in awe behind them. The Doctor turned to him. "King of Palanor, break the people from the gold ore!"
The king nodded and ran off to distribute the new found antidote.
Several hours later, Rose and the Doctor stared down upon the city, now thriving with people.
"An ancient civilization restored, Rose. We did it!"
"But what about Velena? What happened to her?" Rose asked in a whisper, dreading the answer.
The Doctor hesitated. "She tried to make up for destroying the city. She is now a part of it, in a way. There was just enough. All that's left is the bottle."
At that moment, the king ran in with the glass vial. "Here is the vile that healed the gold people. We are ashamed of her exile." He bowed his head and left the still room.
The Doctor turned the bottle over in his hands. He gave a gasp and looked closer. "It can't be!" he cried. Upon closer examination, he cried out again. "Oh, but it can! Rose, look. Do you see anything inside the vial?"
Rose squinted at the golden bottle. "No. Wait, yes. Yes, I see a…" She looked up at the Doctor. "I see a face, a very pretty face." She looked back at the bottle. "Doctor, is that…"
"Yes, that is Velena. She put herself inside the bottle." He smiled again and pulled the stopper off the top. A small hand appeared on the rim.
"I shrank myself," called a little voice. Another hand and a head of fire-like-hair appeared. She smiled. "It was too hard keeping such a large form. I can look more solid now. I gave up parts of myself. I'm like you, Time Lord. I can cheat death, too."
The Doctor beamed down at the little figure that know sat on the lip of her glass self. "Yes, you can. The Laughing Gale that became like humans. So very Time Lord, in a way." He paused. "Vespera, will you be staying here or would you like to come with us?" He raised an eyebrow.
Velena shook her head. "I would like to see the world. And I also like this place, quiet and happy. Oh, and the people want me to go to court for the 'injustice' to this nation. It might ruin you name if I went with you. I'll just run off to explore. I can still become my old form. But Doctor," she said, "will you take my bottle. I can't have ties to this kingdom. I need to be free. I need to see the universe." She smiled, a smile filled with sadness. "I suppose I'll never see you again, after all the kindness you offered me."
The Doctor chuckled. "Oh, you'd be surprised. We'll probably meet again. And I'll have you bottle on my ship," he added.
She nodded. "Thank you, Doctor, again. I will never forget you, and ever I see you again, I'm sure there will be adventure to be found." She smiled, a little happier. "Goodbye, Doctor." Then she jumped off her goblet and motioned for him to take it. He placed it carefully in his coat pocket.
She nodded again and evaporated into the air.
The Doctor turned to Rose and offered his elbow. He led her back to the TARDIS. Rose looked back one last time, at the peaceful sun room they had landed in. The noise of the city below the keep filled the sadness in her heart from the parting with Velena. She smiled and turned to the Doctor, closing the doors behind her.
"Where next?" she asked.
He looked up at her, a smile on his lean face. "We have the whole of time. Why not," he paused. "Why not an expanding nebula?" He looked at the monitor. "We haven't seen one of those yet."
Rose smiled. "Sounds good to me!"
Dear Miracle,
Today, I saw a city of gold. I made a new friend, Velena. She's a Merry Gale, a form of Laughing Gale. We gave her a form. Now she's off to see the universe. I hope she sees the best!
One thing still confuses me. The Doctor said he was going to get rid of the Laughing Gale. All out of the blue, he's offering it a chance. Usual under most circumstances, but not today. Today was different.
Something's wrong with the Doctor. He's back to looking at the monitor. And there might be something wrong with me as well. The Doctor's nervous.
Right now he says he's trying to get a good position of the nebula. Yeah, right! He's still worried about me. I think that he thinks that I'm ill. Well, I'm not. But if the Doctor's nervous, than I'm on edge. Something's not right.
Anyways, I have to go. The Doctor's found the nebula.
Yours,
Rose Tyler