The Angels Take Araluen
Will Treaty road Tug toward Castle Araluen. King Duncan had called a meeting with the Senior Rangers. Will wasn't a senior Ranger yet, but he had been called in as well. None of the Ranger's knew why they where going to Castle Araluen, only that it was a very urgent matter.
As Tug trotted toward the drawbridge, Will noticed something that wasn't there before. Two stone angle statues stood on either side of the drawbridge. The one on the left was crying into her hands while the one on the right covered her eyes with her arm. The Ranger stared at them curiously. They seemed to be about average height, and extremely detailed. Tug tossed his head uneasily, Will also felt a little uneasy too. The hairs on the back of his neck tickled almost as if the statures were watching him. He pulled the cowl of his cloak lower of his head. He didn't like thoughes statues and he wondered why King Duncan had put them there.
Will road across the drawbridge past the creepy statues, and into the castle courtyard. But what he didn't see was one of the angel's lift her face from her hands and smile. One of the stable hands took the barrel-chest horse to the stable while the Ranger continued to the thrown room.
"Your Majesty," One of the servants addressed the King. Duncan looked up from the map in front of him. "Ranger Treaty is here." The King nodded, and turned back to the map.
Halt, Gilan, and Crowley where all standing around the table as well. The two sentries on either side of the massive wooden doors pulled them open to allow the young Ranger into the throne room. Will walked up to the table and bowed to the King.
" Your Majesty." He greeted.
"Ranger Will." Duncan returned.
Will nodded to Halt, Gilan and Crowley in turn.
" Now that we're all here, we can begin." King Duncan started, he placed both hands on the mahogany table. " People have been going missing. At first we thought they where sick or just not showing up. But times gone on, and nobody's seen them, and then there are these." Duncan placed drawings of the stone angels on the table. All of them covering there faces with their hands. " These angels have been appearing all over the castle. We don't know what they are or where they came from."
" Is there a list of the people who are missing" Halt asked thoughtfully rubbing his chin.
" We do." The King handed Halt a sheet of paper. " You think theses statues are connected to the disappearances?" he questioned.
" More of the other way around. The first disappearance ws reported the same day that the first statue appeared."
" There where two at the front gate when I rode in." Will stated.
" Yes, they have been there the longest. Some of the soldiers claim that they move and some of the sentries have also disappeared."
"Are there any connections between the people who are missing?" Crowley asked.
The King shook his head, " Not that we are able to detect, they're not related, no similarities in appearances, status, nothing."
Gilan stepped forward and lifted the picture of the angel. "Where have they been seen?"
The King lifted the images of the angels to reveal the map underneath, " This is the lay out of the castle. The statues have been seen here, here, here, and here." He pointed to different places on the map in turn.
" And no one's tried to move them?" Halt spoke up.
Duncan shook his head again, " Everyone's to scared to be near them."
" How many statues have been counted?" Will question.
" Only three. Have been seen at a time, in four different places, which suggests that someone has been moving them."
" We'll be on it right away." Crowley said.
"Doctor, where are we going?" Amy Pond asked the Time Lord as she followed him around the console of the TARDIS.
" Oh, just some place absolutely fantastic!" he exclaimed leaping away from the console and bounding toward the door.
"Doctor, this isn't going to be like the last time where we spent three weeks in a dungeon?" Rory asked slightly skeptical.
The Doctor spun on his heels, " Of course not, that was just an accident, well, almost an accident." He turned around and pulled open the TARDIS doors. " Haha!" The Doctor laughed stepping out with an enormous smile on his face.
" Doctor, where are we?" Amy asked scanning the dense wood around them.
" Ah, yes, well," he clapped his hands, " We are obviously in a forest." He finally concluded.
" Yeah, but in a forest, where?" Rory asked again.
" Yeah and when." Amy piped in. Both companions looked to the Time Lord.
" I'm not sure." The Doctor said cheekily.
Will, Halt, Gilan, and Crowley had decided to split into groups of two to investigate the angles statues. Will and Gilan went to the west wing while Halt and Crowley went to the castle drawbridge.
Currently Gilan and Will where stalking down the corridor to the west wing, where the angel was. Not much talking was done, both Rangers where more concerned about the missing people.
The two Rangers turned the corner to come face to face with a crying angel. Both Gilan and Will came to a sudden stop. The Angel was as tall as Gilan maybe even slightly taller and just like the pictures it was covering its face with its hands. The statue stood in the center of the corridor, as if someone had left it there.
Will paced around it, scanning the statue up and down, while Gilan paced the opposite direction.
" It appears to be an ordinary statue." Will commented on the obvious.
"Do you think this could be some kind of prank?" Gilan asked.
Will shook his head, " If it is, it's in very poor taste." Will stretched out his ha d to touch the Angel.
"Don't!" Gilan shouted.
Will retracted his hand as if it where on fire. "Why?" he asked.
"Just don't. It doesn't feel right." Gilan tried to explain.
Will nodded, he didn't like how it was standing there.
Both Rangers where now standing in front of the Angel, scanning it up and down. Gilan turned away from the statue. "I don't like the feeling that thing's giving off."
"Neither do I." Will agreed also turning away. Suddenly, Will got the feeling that he was being followed. He glanced back over his shoulder, only to find the Angel closer to them and the hands removed from its face. In place of the sad expression a soft smile was on her lips. " Gilan," Will said tentatively.
" What?" the older Ranger asked looking back over his shoulder. He jumped back, startled at seeing the statue had changed positions. " What happened?" the taller man asked.
" We only looked away for a second…" Will let his voice trail off.
" We need to tell Halt and Crowley." Gilan concluded. Both men turned to leave. Then simultaneously, they both spun on their heels back to face the Angel. Now it's arms where stretched out in front of it and a wicked expression was on its face.
"We should tell them." Will repeated in a hushed voice.
Halt and Crowley were examining the two angels on either side of the drawbridge. Of course Halt didn't believe in superstitions but he couldn't help but notice the creepy feeling the statues gave off.
" There doesn't seem to be anything special about them." Crowley said more to himself then to Halt.
Halt turned away from his statue to look at Crowley's "I don't like this. It has to be some sort of trick from the Skandians."
Crowley shook his head, " I don't think so, how would they get them here, and what are they for?"
The grey bearded ranger shrugged. He glanced back at the Angel. Its hands had been removed from its face, and it was now pointing at Halt with a smile on it's face.
" Crowley," he called in a low voice.
" Yeah, Halt." The Commandant replied. He looked over to his long time friend, then he saw the statue. " What happened?"
" I don't know." Halt replied with a grim expression on his face.
" Doctor we've been walking for," Rory looked at his watch. " An hour."
" Yeah, how long are we gonna be wondering around this forest?" Amy asked swatting a branch away from her face.
" Oh, not much longer, I think." The Doctor waved his sonic in front of him. He snapped his wrist looking at his sonic screwdriver. " Oh, that's interesting." He mumbled, taking off in a bounding leap through the woods. " Come along Ponds! Try to keep up!" he called back. Amy rolled her eyes, and Rory sighed as they both followed the Doctor.
Halt and Crowley both watched the Angel, eyeing it wearily. The second Angel almost forgotten.
" How could it do that?" Halt asked. Neither of the rangers saw the second Angel move closer and closer to them.
The trio bounded through the dense woods. Well, the Doctor bounded, while Amy and Rory struggled to keep up.
" Doctor, where are we going? You do know where we are right?" Amy called to the Time Lord.
The Doctor spun around to face them. " Of course I know where we're going!" he exclaimed.
Amy gave him the "really" look and crossed her arms. The Doctor shifted his weight from one foot to the other looking around finally he admitted defeat.
" All right, I'm just guessing. I really don't know where we are." He took a couple step toward them.
" So you're saying we're lost, on some strange planet with probably really deadly aliens." Rory said exasperated.
" Oh, Rory you're always so dramatic." Amy kidded him, lightly elbowing him.
The Doctor whipped out his sonic screwdriver and scanned the trees around the . " Actually, Rory could be right. The sonic's picking up interesting signals, signals I haven't seen since…" His voice tailed off.
"Since what Doctor?" Amy asked curiously.
" Nothing." The Doctor amended. " Come along Ponds! If I'm right, and I usually am, there should be a clearing not that far ahead.
After about ten more minutes of traveling through the woods. They came to the clearing the Doctor had mentioned.
" Ah, here we are, just liked I promised!" he exclaimed happily. The clearing wasn't really a clearing but the end of the forest. A city that looked more like a village and a large castle stood proudly on a hill behind it.
"Wow, that's one impressive castle." Amy whistled.
" We must be some where in the Middle Ages." The Doctor said looking at the sonic. " But the architecture isn't quite right." He stuck the screwdriver in his jacket pocket. " I love a big shiny, pointy castle. Come along, Ponds!" he shouted back to them.
" Is he going to keep saying that?" Rory asked. Amy just sighed and followed the Time Lord.
The three time travelers sauntered through the village, occasionally stopping at a vendor to look at the merchandise. Unwittingly or not the three ended up close to the Castle, Castle Araluen, as they would soon learn its name.
"Who are thoughts two men standing over there?" Amy asked peering over the Doctor's shoulder.
Rory looked over his other shoulder to get a better view. " And what are they staring at?"
" Oh, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, NO!" the Time Lord practically screamed the last word. He raced down the hill with the tow Ponds behind him.
Halt and Crowley both caught the second Angel advancing on them. Now each ranger was watching a statue.
" No, no, no, no, no, no, no, NO!" someone shouted from behind them. Neither Ranger turned to see who was shouting at them. " Don't' look away, don't turn your back, and don't blink!" the voice was right behind them now. " Amy, Rory, keep your eyes on though Angels, and don not, do not look away."
Halt glanced at the strange man from the corner of is eye. He was tall, with floppy brown hair an interestingly shaped chin, and odd clothing that consisted of a brown jacket, suspenders and a bow tie. His tow friends weren't any better. The girl had red hair and was wearing black tights and shorts that were an uncommon shortness, the man also had brown hair and had a black jacket and a green shirt. He took all this in with a glance.
" Who are you?" the grey bearded ranger questioned the new comers.
" I'm the Doctor, and I'll explain later, but right not we need to go."
"Alright, what do we do?" Crowley asked scanning the newcomers.
"Right, first Amy, Rory how are you holding up?" The Doctor asked his companions.
" Um, okay, I guess, for now. The ginger's voice was strained.
" Alright, now Rory, Amy keep your eyes on thoughs statues. Now, you to green cloaked men, uh," He scanned the surrounding looking for a way out, " everyone begin backing away slowly, and don't blink!" the Time Lord commanded. The group of five began to back away from the Angels.
They backed away over the drawbridge and behind the castle gates. Once they were safely inside the castle the Doctor began relaying commands.
"Bring everyone inside the castle walls, have every door, window, gate, everything shut tight. The Angels will try to get in, before the move to the village."
Crowley nodded to one of the servants standing at the door. Recognizing the Ranger's Commandant, the servant rushed off to do his bidding.
"Now, who are you exactly?" Crowley questioned spinning on his heals to face the floppy haired man.
"I'm he Doctor."
"Doctor who?"
The Time Lord unsuccessfully tried to hide a satisfied smile. " Just the Doctor."
"The Doctor, that's your name?" the grizzled Ranger Halt spoke up.
"Yes, that is. Oh!" he clapped his hands, " This is Rory and Amy." He introduced using opposite hands to point to each in turn.
Rory held up a hand in a tentative wave. " Hello."
"I'm Crowley and this is Halt." The Commandant introduced.
" Will and Gilan." Halt said with remembrance ringing in his voice. Crowley looked at his friend sharply. The Doctor watched Crowley and Halt.
"Um, did I miss something?" Rory asked.
"Will and Gilan, where are they?" The Doctor asked calmly.
"They went to investigate the third Angel." Halt said keeping his voice even and low.
"Where?"
"The West Wing." Crowley supplied showing a little more agitation.
Without another word the Time Lord bounded out of the room through a left-hand door. Both Rangers sprinted in the opposite direction through a right hand door, with both Amy and Rory following them. Realizing that he was going the wrong way, the Doctor spun on his hells and raced in the opposite direction.
Will and Gilan both took turns staring at the statue. " Well, what do we do? We can't stand here forever not blinking." Will commented giving his eyes a rest while Gilan took over. " We need to tall halt and Crowley, but we can't just leave one person to watch it. That's too dangerous."
Gilan didn't respond. He was too focused on the Angel.
" Maybe…maybe…"
" Will, your turn." Gilan said, somewhatly strained.
The younger Ranger moved into position. " Alright, I got it." He announced. Gilan moved away from the statue and blinked rapidly several times.
" We need to get away from this somehow." Gilan commented.
Halt, Crowley, Amy, Rory and the Doctor rounded the corner and was greeted with a sight that was most disturbing. Will was watching the Angel intently, and Gilan was rubbing his eyes.
" Will!" Halt yelled. But Will's concentration never faltered.
"Careful, we can't risk breaking his concentration." The Doctor said quietly.
Hearing his former mentor's voice Gilan spun around. " Halt! Crowley!"
Both senior Rangers rushed over to were the younger Rangers were. The Doctor was right behind them, with both of the companions in tow.
" Will, I'm the Doctor, now you must—"
"Doctor who?"
" Just the Doctor, now, I need you to listen to me. Don't blink, don't look away, and don't look in its eyes."
" I kinda figured that." the young ranger stated with a note of sarcasm in his voice. " Why can't I look at it's eyes?" he quickly averted his eyes from the face of the Angel.
"Because if you stare directly into its eyes you will become a weeping Angle. Now we need to get away from here." He flicked out his sonic screwdriver out and scanned the statue.
" Who are they?" Will asked averting his eyes for a fraction of a second.
"Amy and Rory, now, "
"No I mean the statues." Will corrected.
"There Weeping Angels. Lonely Assassins. Whenever you look at them they cease to exist. That's how they defend themselves."
" How do we get away from them?"
"Well, uh, we run."
"Without looking away?" Will asked incredulously.
"Well, yes." The Doctor reluctantly admitted.
"Great, how do we do that?"
"Doctor!" Amy's sudden scream made the Time Lord whirl around. The two Weeping Angels that were guarding the drawbridge where now at the entrance of the hallway.
"Is there a problem?" Will asked concern edging its way into his voice.
"Problem, no. No problem." The Doctor lied.
"Doctor!" Rory's shouting contradicted the Doctor's words.
"Okay, slight problem." He amended.
The Angels had gotten closer to the group. How was uncertain, considering five people had their eyes on them.
"Okay," The Doctor fervently scanned every thing around him, " new plan, uh." He paused again to gather his thoughts." All right, Amy Rory, keep your eyes on those statues. Halt, help Will watch this one. Gilan, Crowley move off to the side." Everyone did as the Time Lord commanded. "Now, this is going to be tricky. Will, go over with the other, I'm watching it now. And you too, Halt. Amy, Rory, I need you to let the Angels come closer."
" Are you crazy?!" the red head shouted at him.
"Trust me, just not too close." Simultaneously, both Ponds blinked allowing the two Weeping Angels further into the hallway. The speed of the Angels ws incredible, in the had second it took for Amy and Rory to blink the Weeping Angels moved down the hall only a couple of inches from Amy and Rory.
"Uh, Doctor, I think there close enough now." Rory called.
"Alright, okay, now when I count down to three, I need you both to duck."
"Okay," the ginger nodded, uncertainty ringing in her voice.
"Okay, okay, one…two…three!" the Time Lord and both Ponds dropped to the floor.
Nothing happened for what felt like forever. Silence fell over the corridor, as nobody moved. Tentatively, the Doctor peeked up from his position on the floor. All three Angels were frozen in place, arms reaching out and once peaceful faces where now hideous and twisted. Sighs of relief went through the three time travelers and four Rangers.
"Ten." Will said more to himself then anyone else. He was the first one to break the silence.
Halt eyed him, " What was that?"
The former apprentice shook his head to clear it. "Wha—nothing."
The Doctor carefully got up from the floor, as Rory helped his wife up.
"Are they stopped now?" Gilan asked.
"Yes, for now. But this while corridor needs to be blocked off." The Doctor supplied.
Crowley nodded his agreement, " It is, but how are they stopped?"
"The Weeping Angels have a defense mechanism, that turns them into stone, when they are being viewed by any living thing, and you can't kill a stone."
"So they're stopped for now?" Halt confirmed.
"Nine." Will quietly said.
"There stopped, now we just need to get them out of here." The Doctor said pacing around the Angels.
"We should tell the King what we've found out." Crowley said move to Halt then to the group.
" The King?" Rory said a little astonished.
The Doctor's face lit up with delight, " The King! Well, then," he straitened his bow tie with out much effect. "Let's not keep him waiting."
It took quite a bit of explaining, but King Duncan finally accepted the facts of time travel and Weeping Angels. King Duncan rested his head in his hand. "So these Weeping Angels, put you in the past and let you live to death." It was more of a statement then a question.
"Yes, essentially that's it." The Doctor supplied.
"Eight." Will shifted his feet.
"And their harmless right now?" the King looked up at the group in front of him.
"For now, since there being watched by the other they can't move."
"Seven."
"Yes, and I'm afraid we have another problem on out hands." The Doctor said pacing in front of the King's throne.
"What problem?" Crowley inquired.
"Well, one, we need to find a way to transport the Weeping Angels some where they won't hurt anyone, but we can't take them in the TARDIS because that would be too dangerous. And they should never get their hands on it. So that mean we need to build a transport of some sort to move them, without touching them. And tow, him." he pointed to Will.
" Me?" Will pointed to himself, " Six."
" Yes, see that. You've been counting down from ten. Now tell me, Will, did you look into its eyes?" the Doctor asked urgently yet calmly.
"Yeah, I did before you told me not too." Will said trying to hide the fear that crept into his voice. "Five."
Concerned gasps and sharp intakes of breath could be heard. "Now, Will, I need you to remain calm. We'll get you out of this, I promise you." He said looking into the Ranger's brown eye. Will nodded. "Okay, we need to shut down the optical parts of your brain, to stop the Angel from getting any closer. Will, you need to shut your eyes."
" I can't." he stated. " Four."
"That's the Angel inside, that doesn't want you to. I know you're scarred, but I need you to trust me." The Doctor pleaded. Halt placed a reassuring hand on his arm.
Amy moved up beside the Doctor in front of Will, " Hey, I know it's scary. I had an Angel in my head and I didn't want to do what the Doctor said either. But you have to trust us." The Ginger said the pleading in her voice also evident.
"Three." Will took in a breath, and closed his eyes. The Doctor let out a very small sigh of relief.
"Okay, now do not open your eyes or else you might no be able to stop it again." The Doctor explained.
"What do we do now?" Duncan asked.
"We get those Angels out of the castle." The Time Lord replied. Gilan guided Will to a seat. "And then we'll get that one out of his head." The Doctor said happily, snapping his fingers and spinning on his heels.
The Doctor, Amy, Rory, Gilan, and Crowley went back to the corridor where the Weeping Angels were still standing. The floppy haired Time Lord whisked out his sonic screwdriver and began scanning the statues.
"So, what's the plan?" Amy asked.
"Ah, yes, a plan!" The Doctor exclaimed clapping his hands, " The plan is to…" he spun around to face the couple. "To get everyone out of here alive."
"Alright, what do we do?" Rory asked.
"Well, we need to build a binary-fusion circuit to trap them, so they cant' do any damage. Then we have to couple that with an anti-grave beam and that should send them packing."
"Uh, what?" Gilan asked completely baffled.
The Doctor spun around to face the Ranger, " Ah, yes, problem words. Uh, we're going to build a transport system to move the Angels." He explained.
Gilan nodded, full understanding still evading him. Clapping his hands, the Doctor spun away again, "Now I need mirrors, lots of large mirrors, ropes, four chairs, a map, three cups of coffee, and a fez." He said the last word with a tinge of hope in his voice.
All the items where brought to the hallway and the group of five began setting up the stuff. The four chairs where placed on each side of the statues forming a cube around them. Ten mirrors where brought and where leaning up against the chairs so the glass was facing the Angels. The ropes where holding the mirrors against the chairs forming a cage around the three statues.
Crowley brought five cups of coffee to the group. "What are these for?"
The Doctor took two of the cups from the Commandant. "These are for drinking." He handed them to Amy and Rory and took a third one for himself. He took a sip from the mug. Crowley nodded and took a sip of his own coffee has he handed one to Gilan. Gratefully, Gilan accepted the drink.
"So what do we do now?" Gilan asked.
"Now," the Doctor pulled out his sonic screwdriver. He pushed a button, the sonic's signature sound filled the air. He pointed it at the set up they had made. In one quick flash, the Angels shimmered and disappeared. Satisfied the Doctor closed the sonic and placed it back in his jacket.
"Where'd they go?" Gilan asked in wonder at the disappearing act.
"Oh, some where uninhabited where they won't hurt anyone." The Doctor said nonchalantly.
Suddenly, the side doors to the corridor burst open as Halt raced over to them, worry and concern masking his features.
"What is it, Halt?" Crowley asked, knowing immediately that something wasn't right. Halt stopped in front of them, unsuccessfully trying to hide his worry.
"Will's turned into a Weeping Angel."
THE END
AN: Hello again everyone! This is my present for sister BlackShaftedArrow! I hope you all enjoyed it. As always please ignore any and all grammatical and spelling errors I didn't have time to proofread it. If you wish to point them out to me, please do so, and I will gladly fix them. For anyone who is waiting for the next chapter on the Chronicles, I promise it is coming, I'm trying to balance my original novels and fanfiction at the same time so please be patient. Thanks again!
~ EvenstarWarrior
