Hello again! It's been a long while since I've attempted a fanfic that isn't a oneshot. I'm really hoping that I can keep up with this. I have some ideas in mind, but really no set course for this story to take. All that aside, please enjoy!

A noise unlike any Mokudar had ever heard reached his ears. He could only identify the sound as something that he might hear in the smith's. Hagamar was looking around suspiciously, trying to find the source of the strange noise. If it had been daytime, the sound could have been drowned out by the residents' milling about. On the other hand, the residents might have heard the noise and caused a big scene. As it was, Mokudar and Hagamar were the only two around. They glanced at each other silently, deciding that this disturbance warranted investigation.

Their footsteps echoed off of the cobblestone and the empty street made the sound even louder. Even the clanging of their armor was magnified by the stone buildings. The two men knew that they would have no element of surprise. Whatever they were up against could surely hear them coming from miles away. Mokudar clutched a halberd in his sweating palms. He hoped that it could perhaps give him some kind of advantage, but how could it if he didn't even know what they were up against?

The other guard, Hagamar, was visibly more at ease than his partner. His sword was still in its sheath, although he did rest his hand on its hilt. He had been on the watch longer than Mokudar. Although he had never heard a noise like this, he had also never encountered a serious problem while on patrol. This would surely be no different.

They continued down the street, finding nothing of interest. Hagamar almost decided to call off the search altogether. It could have just been a noise from inside one of the shoddy residential buildings. He was at a loss to explain what could have produced the sound. He soon found he didn't have to come up with a reason. As the two men passed an alley, a blue light caught their attention. It disappeared momentarily before shining again. It continued flashing as Mokudar and Hagamar cautiously approached.

Vicki watched the Doctor, eager to see how his time machine worked. She stood to his side and he was well aware that each of his movements was under her analysis. His other two companions had long since gone to bed, but Vicki refused to sleep. She didn't want to miss her first time travelling experience.

To her slight disappointment, she learned that takeoff and landing were really the only interesting parts. The Doctor was happy to see that his inability to control the time and place of destination didn't deter the young girl. While they waited, the Doctor offered to play Vicki in a game of chess. She claimed chess was boring but she didn't seem too reluctant to play. He mentioned other games that were probably lying around the ship and told Vicki they could look form them later.

The Doctor was pleasantly surprised to find that Vicki could hold her own in chess. He took the victory but he congratulated her on a game well played. As they started another round (on Vicki's insistence that she could indeed beat him), the TARDIS began the landing sequence.

The Doctor manned the controls for a smooth landing. Vicki found the entire process to be a bit anticlimactic but she reminded herself that she had yet to experience walking into a different time. "Where are we, Doctor?" she asked.

"Now that's the question," the Doctor responded. He turned on the scanner only to see a narrow alley opening to a larger street. "Hmm. I think we'll need to leave the TARDIS to be able to see what's outside. Wake up the other two, will you?"

In a flash, Vicki bounded off down one of the hallways. Once she reached Ian's bedroom, she wrenched open the door to find the teacher lying sprawled out on the curved bed. His mouth was open and he was snoring steadily.

"Ian, wake up! We're here!" Vicki said, bouncing from one foot to the other. When he didn't, she became impatient. She noticed a pair of shoes by the door and picked one of them up, weighing it in her hand. She threw it at his chest just hard enough to knock him awake. Ian bolted upright and stared at her with wide eyes. "We're here," Vicki repeated. She left the room to find Barbara.

The room Vicki and Barbara shared was a little ways down the hall. Barbara was sleeping soundly on one of the beds. "Barbara!" Vicki called out.

The sleeping woman jerked awake and blinked wearily at Vicki. "What's wrong?"

"We've landed."

"Oh." Barbara slid off the bed and attempted to pat down her mussed hair. "Where are we?"

"The Doctor says we have to leave the TARDIS to see."

"I'll be out after I change, then," Barbara said as she opened the door to the closet.

Vicki turned from the room and rolled her eyes. Barbara and Ian were going to take ages to get ready, she knew. Surely the Doctor wouldn't leave the TARDIS without them around. That left her to wait even more. The only thing left to do was rejoin the Doctor.

When she found him, he was poring over data the ship provided. He raised his monocle to the information provided by strange machines. Vicki watched, trying to find the process interesting. When she couldn't take the silence, she said, "Ian and Barbara are getting dressed."

"Good, good," the Doctor nodded. He stepped aside to allow Vicki a view of the machines and said, "This place doesn't appear to be hazardous to us and the atmosphere is similar to that of Earth. There is breathable air, although temperature readouts place the weather warmer than what we're used to."

"Well, that's good to know before we go stepping into a volcano or something!" Vicki giggled. The Doctor chuckled with her and patted her head.

At the sound of footsteps, the two turned to see Ian entering the control room. A few moments later, Barbara joined them as well. "It's about time! We've been waiting for ages!" Vicki chided.

Ian and Barbara glanced at each other. "What did you expect?" Barbara asked. "We were sleeping!"

"And there are better alarm calls than having shoes chucked at you," Ian added, rubbing the spot on his chest that Vicki had hit.

"Now, now, everyone. We're all here now and there's a new world waiting for us outside," the Doctor said. He walked from the controls to a chair with his coat draped over it. He pulled the coat around his shoulders and held the lapels in his hands. "Are we ready, then?"

"Let's go, already!" Vicki ran to Ian and Barbara, grabbed their hands, and pulled the two of them to the door. She dropped their hands and waited excitedly for the Doctor to open the door.

"Patience, child!" He pressed one of the buttons on the control panel and the doors began to open. "It isn't safe for you to run –"

But Vicki wasn't listening anymore. As soon as the door was open enough, she darted outside into the darkness. The three left in the ship stared after her in wonder. "She doesn't rest, does she?" asked Ian.

The smile quickly vanished from his face when a scream from outside drowned out the TARDIS's humming.

A girl – a human girl – came bounding out of the strange blue . . . box? Mokudar couldn't think of another way to describe the blue thing that had materialized in the alley. She let out a piercing yell at the sight of the two watchmen. That was certainly nothing new. Humans often were shocked and repulsed by the sight of Mokudar. For that matter, they didn't like the way any of his people looked.

Hagamar sprang forward and grabbed the girl by her upper arms and lifted her so that her feet dangled off the ground. She called out for someone. Before Mokudar could react, he was shoved harshly against the wall. A man had charged out of the blue box and pushed him out of the way in a mad dash to reach the girl. Mokudar reached for the man and managed to get a hold of his shoulders. He spun around and sent the man tumbling to the ground.

Others had heard the girl scream. Mokudar could hear footsteps running towards the alley. As several guards came into view, the man shouted, "Stay in the TARDIS!" The last word wasn't familiar to Mokudar.

He brought the point of his halberd to the man's neck and tried to sound as threatening as he could, "Not another sound or this goes through your throat." It must've worked. The man kept silent. The anger in his eyes disconcerted his assailant, but Mokudar kept his stance.

A woman stepped out of the box, horrified at the scene before her. "Ian?" she called to the man under the halberd's point.

The man heard his name and opened his mouth to answer her. A quick tap on the neck from Mokudar's weapon kept him quiet.

"Just what is going on here?" An older man stepped out of the box and surveyed the scene with displeasure.

While Mokudar watched, the man he had pinned made an attempt to free himself. He pushed the halberd away from his throat and tried to get to his feet. The man might very well have succeeded if it weren't for the sudden arrival of reinforcements.

One of the guards rushed to Mokudar's side. As the man tried to sit up, the new guard slammed into him, knocking him back to the ground. Another of the guards ran to help Hagamar with the struggling girl. Two more guards charged towards the woman and the old man. One easily pulled the woman into the air and slung her over his shoulder, despite her attempts to stay planted on the ground. The other guard reached for the old, but received a sharp rap on the head with the man's cane. "I won't have any of that. Walking suits me perfectly, thank you."

After making sure the young girl wasn't going anywhere, Hagamar stepped forward. "You invade our city unannounced. You bring this foreign . . . thing into our home without explanation. You –"

"Explanation?" the old man was aghast. "We step outside of the ship into an unknown world and are immediately accosted by guards!"

"That's a ship?" Hagamar approached the box, looking it up and down. "It doesn't look like a ship you humans use. It's definitely not one of ours, either."

He stepped closer to the so-called ship, but the old man hurriedly spun on the spot and blocked the door. The man fumbled with something for a few moments before Hagamar grabbed his shoulder and pulled him away.

"You're not getting in there and there isn't any chance I'll let you in," the old man said as he slipped something into his pocket. Mokudar assumed it was a key, but he couldn't be sure.

Mokudar was stunned at the man's brash reaction. Even Hagamar seemed taken aback. He gave a small chuckle and asked, "Even if we put you in the castle's dungeon for not submitting to the city watch?"

The man underneath Mokudar's weapon squirmed to free himself. "Doctor, what do you think you're doing?" Mokudar smacked him roughly on the head with his halberd and the man didn't say anything else.

"Chesterton, you know perfectly well why I can't let everyone who asks into my ship."

"Is that so? The king's not going to be so happy to hear that."

"Does the king know you're arresting travelers who have just happened to enter the city?"

"Strangers that claim to have arrived in a blue box should be arrested. Get moving," Hagamar pulled the old man away from the box and pushed him down the alleyway.

Ian writhed between his two captors in an attempt to break free. He didn't know what he would do if he actually managed to get away, but he had to do something. Another quick knock on the head put a stop to his struggles and he resigned himself to be led away by these two – men? They were definitely male, but Ian wasn't so sure that they were human. They had rough, pale green skin that looked almost leathery in texture. Each of the guards had two fangs that protruded from their closed mouths and pointed upwards. Their bodies were hulking; it was little wonder that Ian couldn't have put up much of a fight. With more of them around, escape was out of the question entirely. Besides, he would never leave the other three.

The guards that had lifted Barbara and Vicki thankfully decided against carrying them to the castle. As Barbara walked, she observed her surroundings and nervously wrung her hands together. The Doctor and Vicki looked less anxious, at least. The Doctor held his head high, as if he wasn't being taken to some dungeon. Vicki looked absolutely amazed by the experience. Her head constantly swiveled around as she tried to take in all the sights.

They moved out of the market area into one that was more suited for housing. Dark wooden houses lined either side of the street. The only lights in the city came from the moon and torches held by guards that watched them proceed by.

The castle was located on the top of a steep hill. Walls stood tall around it and the group had to be let in through a gate. Torches illuminated most of the building and Ian felt as if everyone inside was staring at him. Inside the castle, they passed by a brightly lit hall with a table that stretched close to the entire length of the room. Dinner must have been hours ago, but Ian tried to imagine the table lined with delectable courses. He was certain everyone around him could hear his stomach grumbling as they walked past.

A little further down, they came across two stone staircases curving upwards. A granite statue between the stairs had been made in the likeness of the guards. It had a stone battleax firmly in its grip. The team was not led up the stairs nor taken into either of the side rooms. Instead, they were taken behind the statue and through an iron door.

Behind the door was a narrow staircase and the group was forced into single file. Even with torches lining the way down, it was still much darker than the entrance of the castle. Ian noticed the temperature drop when his body gave a sudden shudder.

The guards remained speechless for the lengthy descent. Just as Ian hoped that they were almost at the bottom, a terrible stench reached his nose. He could tell they'd made it to the dungeons.

Another guard met them at the bottom of the steps. "More prisoners? What did these ones do?" he asked, looking the Doctor and his companions up and down.

"They just showed up in an alleyway in a box. The old man claims it's a ship. We're keeping them here until the king has time to decide what to do with them," a guard behind Ian replied. He thought it was the one who had confronted the Doctor.

The guard that had greeted them gave a funny look at the explanation. He shrugged and said, "The execution was today, so there are some cells open in the front."

Ian was pushed forward and then into the first cell on the left. The Doctor harrumphed as he was shoved in after. Barbara and Vicki were right across from the men.

"The king will want to see you about this whole business. You can stay here until then. The king is a busy man; it might be a while before he's free. Make yourselves comfortable until then," one of the guards said with a smirk. The door clanged shut and Ian could hear the lock click.

Thanks for reading! I'll try to get the second chapter up in the next week or so.