A/N: Published by request from always687 on DeviantART!
Also, ignore that first paragraph. This story started at the end of another fic, which I will not be posting, but that setting makes the format a little weird. The name Ainsley is not a reference to the Master, just in case you ask. The names Perkins and Ainsley are the names of the girls and boys dormitory respectively at a school near my house. Soo...that's where that came from. Anyway, constructive crit is welcome, and enjoy! :D
Perkins deposited Clara and the Doctor at the TARDIS by night. The flight had been amazing—much better than Clara's fly-or-die experience. Ainsley was still missing—off fishing, Perkins had guessed. The gryphoness dipped her head respectfully to the two, before spreading her huge wings and lifting off, soaring back to Notre Dame.
Clara and the Doctor waved goodbye, before entering the TARDIS. Clara sighed.
"That was amazing, Doctor."
The Time Lord smiled, beginning his madcap dance around the console.
"So it was! Would you like to relax after that? There's this planet that orbits a binary star, with this ice cream that's the best in the galaxy! They even have lily pads so big you can sit on them, but only if you ask nicely. So, what do you—"
The Time Lord's nattering was cut off by a whooshing sound. A swirling vortex of light opened up right next to Clara. She yelped, jumping away from it and hiding behind the Doctor.
"What's that?" She asked fearfully. The Doctor took out his sonic screwdriver and shone it at the portal.
"Temporal flux," He said. "They appear at random—sort of like when time is coming down off a sugar high. It's the universe's way of expending energy, though they can be manipulated if you know what you're doing. I don't know how this one appeared in the TARDIS, though."
"Where will it lead?" Clara asked, approaching the light. The Doctor shrugged.
"Anywhere in time and space. You have to be careful, though, because it might not be a planet you land on. You could pop out the other side and find yourself on the event horizon of a black hole, or at the core of a supernova. That's why only the brave, the foolish, and the foolishly brave attempt to go through them."
Clara was about to reply, when she got a little too close to the swirling light. In a flash, she was gone.
"CLARA!" The Doctor roared, lunging forwards as the light dissipated. He fell to the floor, eyes wide with horror. The TARDIS, being her ever-thoughtful, five-steps-ahead-of-everyone self, instantly started looking for Cara's voidstuff signature. The Doctor bit his lip until it bled to stop himself sobbing aloud.
-ooo-
When Clara came to, the first thing she saw was blinding sunlight. She screwed her eyes shut, hearing footsteps nearby. Some sort of quadruped, like a horse or a cow. She lay still, hoping it would pass her by. When she heard silence again, she opened her eyes and sat up. She was surrounded by a wasteland of sandstone and shale. There was some scraggly forest in the distance, so she struck out for it. Knowing that the Doctor probably didn't know where she was at the moment, and having no way to reach him, Clara knew that she should seek shelter from the sun and heat.
Upon reaching the forest, which was mostly short trees and scruffy bushes, Clara looked about as she heard scuffling. A humanoid creature was huddled at the base of a small ledge. Upon seeing her approach, it began barking at her, and shaking its head vigorously.
"Hey there," Clara said. "What's wrong? Oh, you poor thing, you're all tied up. Here, let me help you."
The creature looked like a bizarre mix of some sort of leopard-like cat, and a human. It had a cat's head and tail, and its hands were a mix of cat and human, with sharp claws extending from the fingertips. Its scuffed tunic was torn in several places. It protested as Clara untied the leather thongs from its wrists. It devoured the straps as they fell to the ground. Its dark eyes glinted with gratitude, though Clara could tell it was primitive. Then its gaze changed to fear. Clara whirled to see a fully-grown horse rearing above her, lips curled back and eyes wild. She screamed, as the leopard-person leaped over her head, sinking its claws and fangs into the horse's chest. The horse bucked, throwing its rider, before taking off into the woods, the creature still clinging to it. Clara had covered her head with her hands, shielding herself fearfully, as the horse's hooves flailed inches from her. She remained that way as the horse's rider picked itself up. Clara assumed it was another one of the leopard-people, and remained still as she heard its footsteps approaching, crunching in the carpet of dead leaves. The human knew the habits of cats, so she wasn't surprised when she felt the puff of breath ghosting over her head.
Clara remained with her hands covering her head, as the creature investigated her, finally chancing a glance as it stepped back. She felt a twinge of unease as she saw black shoes that didn't belong in such a remote place. She raised her eyes, seeing black pants and a dark suit. The human hands were covered by black gloves, but it was the face that scared her the most. The pointed teeth were bared in a grin, and the amber eyes glinted with mischief, the slit pupils dilating and contracting.
"Wh—wh—" Clara asked, unable to find her voice through fear. The man chuckled, a sound that sent chills down the human's spine.
"Finish your sentences, dear," He chided. "What were you going to say?"
Instead of finishing, Clara leaped to her feet and tried to run, but the man seized her wrist, twisting her arm painfully behind her back. Clara groaned as her shoulder was wrenched painfully, but she gritted her teeth and kicked upwards, driving the heel of her shoe into the place between the man's legs. He hissed in pain, his grip instinctively loosening. Clara tore away from him and sprinted into the forest.
"A hunt, excellent!" The man cried. Clara chanced a backwards look to see he hadn't made a move to follow her. He simply waved and called after her, "Let me know when you're ready for me to find you, dear!"
This guy was a nutter, Clara decided, as she ran deeper into the forest as fast as her legs could carry her.
-ooo-
Clara hunched in a small, damp cave, breathing heavily. A stream trickled from a spring in the back wall and flowed out of the cave. Clara had waded up the stream for about half a mile, before finding the cave. She remembered a short story she had read in secondary school—The Most Dangerous Game. She felt like she was in that story now. She splashed some of the icy stream water on her face, before peering out of the cave. The ground sloped downwards for several hundred meters, before turning back to forest. The cave she was in sat in a rock ledge that extended upwards about two hundred feet, before leveling off. Clara had no idea what lay at the top. She crept cautiously out of the cave, and started scrambling up the slope, glancing behind her often to check for her black-clad enemy. She only saw some of the leopard-people in the distance, so she kept climbing, after making sure they weren't coming in her direction.
Upon reaching the top, she sat down, exhausted, and dangled her sore feet over the edge she had just gained. Sweat was pouring off her, and the blazing sun didn't help matters. The human wiped the sweat from her brow, and figured her next move. She could head across the top of the ridge, towards more forest, or go straight over the plateau towards more wasteland.
Before she could decide, however, a voice sounded in her ear.
"Decided, yet?"
If Clara hadn't been so exhausted, she would have leaped another two hundred feet. She looked around wildly for the source of the voice, but saw no one. She scrambled to her feet and turned in a complete circle. The ridge was empty. Her eyes narrowed, and she stood still, listening hard. She could hear the faint crunch of gravel behind her. Her pursuer must be incredibly swift of foot to stay out of her vision for so long. If he hadn't been trying to murder her, Clara might have been mildly impressed.
As it was, Clara was scared. She knew she couldn't keep running forever, and when she was caught—well, she supposed those leopard-people had to eat something.
However, she had one thing in her favor—human stubbornness. She took off at a sprint, digging in her feet and spraying as much dust and loose rock as she could manage in her wake. She heard a snarl, and the footsteps chasing her halted abruptly. She glanced back to see the man crouching, pawing at his eyes. Clara felt a twinge of satisfaction, but it quickly died as the man fixed his icy amber eyes on her, and started after her, gaining fast.
Clara's breath sobbed in her throat. She wanted the Doctor by her side, the two of them being chased as they had many times, to stumble into the TARDIS and slam the door a second before their pursuers caught up. They would catch their breath, then go into a laughing fit about whatever comment the Doctor had made to insult the locals. Now Clara had none of that. She only had the bare wasteland and scruffy forest ahead of her, and the wind at her side.
Clara scrambled back down the ridge, tripping and tumbling the last twenty or so feet. She lay at the bottom for a moment, stunned, before staggering to her feet. She barely made it five steps, however, before something cannoned into her, sending her rolling in the grass. Clara's head hit a rock, and she slumped, her vision fuzzy. She tried to struggle upright, but her arms wouldn't respond correctly and she fell back, letting darkness wash over her.
-ooo-
A heavy, rhythmic noise sounded in Clara's ears, making her head throb remorselessly. She opened her eyes, confused for a moment at seeing the ground passing by below her, before she registered the bristly mane, and short fur damp with sweat. She was slumped over the neck of a moving horse. She sat up, and her back hit something. She froze. If the horse was moving, who was steering it?
Clara didn't want to think about that, but a voice sounded in her ear.
"Awake now? Good. We're almost there."