Chapter 2: In the TARDIS
"AHHHHH!" Amelia screamed as they fell. It was cut short as she felt water cover her mouth. WHAT? WATER? WHY IS THERE WATER? Amelia panicked. She clawed upwards, desperate for air. Vaguely, she remembered the Doctor telling her about a swimming pool in the library or something like that. We must have landed in the swimming pool, she realised. Suddenly a hand grabbed her arm and she automatically clutched on to it like was her lifeline (which it probably was, she thought dimly). She was pulled upwards until her head broke the surface of the water. She coughed and gasped. She was pulled over to the edge where she shakily crawled out of the pool. A hand was rubbing her back. After a moment she realised the Doctor was speaking.
"Oh dear, I suppose I probably should have warned you that we would be landing in the pool. I thought you knew when I asked if you knew how to swim. It was stupid of me to automatically assume something like that; I'm so sorry, Amelia, are you alright?" The Doctor rambled on nervously.
Amelia drew in deep breaths, and when she'd stopped shaking, answered "Fine, I'm fine." She looked around in wonder. They were in a huge room. There were bookshelves everywhere, but most of the books seemed to be scattered across the ground. Several bookshelves had tipped over. It was a mess. "Are we in the library?" she asked. The Doctor nodded.
"Yup, this is the library I was telling you about. The one with the pool. But I expect you already know that. I mean, we just fell into the pool, but you might not have been paying the most attention at that ti-" Amelia cut him off.
"But-but wasn't your box, er, time machine sideways? Why is everything right side up?" Well, mostly. "And-and it's bigger on the inside!" she suddenly remembered that. "How is that possible? How can it be bigger on the inside?"
The Doctor opened his mouth before he jerked as though he'd suddenly remembered something important. He leaped to his feet and pulled a startled Amelia up with him before dashing out of the library. "Ah, explanations will have to happen later. Right now, I've got to get her stabilised!" he called over his shoulder. Amelia hurried after him, grimacing at her damp state. They ran through corridor after corridor. Gosh, I'd hate to get lost in here, Amelia thought. Eventually they arrived at a big, open room with some kind of console thing in the center. The Doctor was quickly set to work flipping switches and turning knobs. It all seemed so random Amelia. She hoped the Doctor knew what he was doing.
The Doctor glanced at her quickly. "Erm, you may want to grab on to something. It's going to get pretty bumpy soon..." he trailed off, once again focusing on his task. Amelia could tell that he wasn't lying. She didn't think that it was possible that the ride wouldn't be rough. There were areas that looked like they'd been burnt and little sparks flying off of severed wires. It looked like this room had suffered the most damage. She wrapped her arms around a nearby pole that looked sturdy and prayed that it wouldn't break.
"Aaaand...here we go!" The Doctor energetically pulled a lever and grabbed on to the console thing. The blue green column in the center started to move up and down, and Amelia heard a strange "Vworp vworp" noise. Things started to shake, then she shrieked as the ground suddenly pitched back and forth. It's like an out of control roller coaster! she thought. Only, without restraints to keep you safe. She grabbed onto her pole tighter and squeezed her eyes shut. Her feet couldn't seem to stay still. Everytime she thought she'd found her balance, the ground would rock and she would once again be thrown off kilter. The pole was the only thing keeping her upright. She wondered how the Doctor was faring. Maybe he was used to this...?
Eventually the rocking stopped. Amelia slowly opened her eyes and let go of the pole. Wires were lying everywhere in a haphazard manner. She didn't see the Doctor anywhere. "Doctor?" she called. Where was he?
"Down here!" a muffled voice called from the ground. She looked down and saw the Doctor waving at her. It looked as if he had fallen. "Er, I seem to fallen," he stated bemusedly. "...Could you help me up?" Amelia sighed and rolled her eyes.
"Why didn't you hold on to anything?" she asked as she pulled him up. He rubbed his head embarrassedly.
"I guess I forgot," he mumbled. "Sorry about that." Amelia sighed again. Then a thought struck her.
"What happened? Did we travel through time?" Wow, that'd be awesome, her mind marveled. She looked around for a window, but she couldn't find one. "Where're we now?"
The Doctor suddenly clapped his hands and beamed widely. "Why, that's what we have to find out now, isn't it?" he asked gleefully. "Ahh, I love surprises! They're always so exciting!" He bounced towards the door.
Hey, I thought the door led to the library! What's going on? Amelia realised. She was about to ask when she suddenly remembered their state of dress. "Aren't you going to change first?" she asked. "You're all raggedy. You're not the Doctor, you're the Raggedy Doctor. Shouldn't you change into something cleaner?" The Doctor shook his head.
"No time! The poor dear's got to fix herself up, don't you?" he cooed and patted the wall.
There was a metallic hum from the ceiling. Amelia gasped and snapped her head up, but she didn't see anything weird.
"What was that?" she demanded. The Doctor blinked.
"Oh yeah! I forgot that you two hadn't been acquainted yet! Silly Doctor," he chastised himself. Then he gestured at their surroundings. "Amelia, this is the TARDIS. Say hi."
Amelia blinked. What? "Um, hi?" she offered hesitantly. The ceiling hummed again. "What-you're time machine's alive?" she asked incredulously
The Doctor nodded vigorously. "Yup," he affirmed, popping the "p". "She's my time machine, my TARDIS. Stands for Time and Relative Dimensions in Space. She can go anywhere, anywhen. Dear," he addressed the ceiling. "This is Amelia Pond. She's going to be my new Companion! Isn't that exciting?" This time, Amelia thought that the hum seemed a bit uncertain. "Oh, I know she's young, but that hardly matters! Come on, she's brilliant! She's not scared of anything! You'll love her, I know you will. Give it some time. You'll warm up to her!" Amelia was a bit confused. The Doctor was arguing with the TARDIS about her age? The ceil-TARDIS hummed again, but this time it seemed to be some kind of warning. "Oh, sorry Dear! I completely forgot!" The Doctor slapped himself on the forehead. "Come along, Pond. We have to go, unless you want to be reformed into the ceiling." He took her hand and bounced out the doors. "Explanations will come once we're outside, don't worry." He reassured her. Amelia shrugged.
"Fine." she muttered. She allowed herself to be led out. A bright light forced her to screw up her eyes. She blinked away the pain. "Where are we?" She looked around. Wherever they were, it looked really peaceful. It wasn't too hot or too cold. She could feel herself relaxing.
"The Eye of Orion. One of the most tranquil places in the universe," the Doctor answered. His voice seemed a bit hushed, as if he didn't want to break the peacefulness. "I thought we could stay here until the Old Girl fixed herself up." He looked around and sighed in a peaceful manner. "Thought we could use the rest too." He started walking towards a group of trees. Amelia followed. The Doctor plopped himself down in the shade of the trees. Amelia followed his lead and collapsed on her back. Suddenly all her fatigue caught up to her and she attempted to stifle a yawn. It was not successful. "You should take a nap," the Doctor suggested. "You're probably really tired, with the whole staying up all night and stuff." Amelia stubbornly shook her head.
"You said you'd explain everything once we got outside," she protested drowsily.
"So I did. But you're tired. And we've got time. Time machine, remember?" He flashed a grin. He had a point.
"Promise you'll explain everything?" she mumbled. The Doctor nodded solemnly.
"I promise." he said in a super serious voice. Amelia hmm-ed and finally closed her eyes. She heard the trill of birds and then-she'd fallen asleep.
End chapter two
AN: Short chapter. Sorry there's not much action. Don't worry, I'll get to that shortly. Please share your thoughts on the story! Constructive criticism is always welcome.
