The Doctor could smell the change in the air, signaling the beginning of the rain shower that would start soon. He was unsurprised when, a few moments later, the first raindrop hit the shoulder of his leather jacket.
Removing the pack from his back, while relaying some interesting tidbit of information to Rose about the rainfall and the planets ecosystem he thought she might find interesting, the Doctor reached inside to pull out one of the raincoats. The rain would not affect him, since he could regulate his body temperature. Rose on the other hand, being a human, was much more susceptible to catching a chill or numerous illnesses when she was soaking wet.
The Doctor turned around to hand the raincoat to Rose and was taken aback when he didn't see her. He thought she had been right behind him this whole time, simply too mesmerized by the beauty around her to say anything.
"Rose?" he called out. He hoped she would jump out of the foliage to revel her success at her joke, but there was no answer. He called her name louder, a hint of desperation entering his voice. This was no place for her to go getting lost or to go wandering off alone.
There were countless dangers for her to get herself into—numerous varieties of poisonous plants, snakes large enough to swallow a grown man, carnivorous predators, quicksand, and that was just to name a few.
Cursing himself for not paying closer attention, the Doctor quickly shoved the raincoat back into the pack and set off at a run, retracing his steps. He tried to force his mind to stop playing out all the possible things that could happen to his jeopardy-friendly Rose.
However, his mind and body froze when he heard a shrill scream pierce the air. The sound chilled him to the bone and twisted his gut into a knot. There was not a doubt in his mind that the scream belonged to Rose.
His hearts raced and his legs started running toward the sound, seemingly of their own accord. Mere moments later he heard another sound—one which sent ice through his blood and forced his legs to move even faster.
A gunshot cut through the air like a thunderclap.
Very rarely had he ever heard Rose scream, but that particular kind of scream, combined with the gunshot, told him that something had gone very, very, horribly wrong.
The sky suddenly opened and rain poured from the sky. The Doctor's feet pounded into the wet, mushy ground and his terrified hearts pumped like mad.
Hang on Rose, I'm on my way! He thought towards her, hoping against hope that he wasn't too late and that the universe, for once, would be kind.
Rose stood frozen in place, staring at the largest jungle cat she had ever seen. Its fur was pitch black and lacked the spotted pattern that Earth's jungle cat's usually had, but still sported a resemblance to a jaguar—though she also thought it had a slight resemblance to pictures she had seen of saber-toothed tigers.
It stood taller than her by more than a foot and had teeth as long as her forearm. Its eyes were a haunting bright yellow and seemed to stare into her soul. She had to glance away, knowing she shouldn't stare at wild cats, though cat was too tame a word for this terrifying creature.
Rose tried to calm her breathing and slow her heart rate, to not let it sense her fear, but as it crept slowly toward her—its giant paws as large as her head, a hissing growl escaping its powerful jaws—Rose felt a shiver of fear race down her spine. She tried to think of what to do, but felt frozen in place, her mind blank and numb.
As she studied the ground she realized that the left trail, which was currently being blocked by a massively intimidating and incredibly dangerous beast, had shallow footprints that looked about the size and shape of the Doctor's.
Of course, the trail I need to be on is going to be the trail that is blocked by a dangerous animal, Rose thought sardonically.
She tried to quickly come up with a plan, but she thought that the moment she moved, the creature would most likely pounce on her. Even now, it was playing a terrifying game, waiting patiently to see what she would do.
Rose was pretty sure there was very little chance she could outrun the beast, at least, not for long; but if she cut through the forest, she might be able to make it back to the trail the Doctor was on.
Suddenly an idea popped into her brain, a way to distract the massive panther-like creature and a way to possibly get the Doctor's attention. Rose took several deep breaths, preparing her lungs, since she knew she would only get one shot at this.
She took one last deep breath, closed her eyes tight, threw back her head and screamed as loud as she possibly could.
As soon as she opened her eyes, she dashed to the right trail, forcing her legs and arms to pump as quickly as they would go.
She had seen the surprised look on the cats face, which gave her a few precious seconds to spurt forward, but she knew by the sound of the pounding steps behind her, the lithe animal was quickly on her heels.
Rose made a mad dash to the left, sprinting into the protection of the trees, weaving around the massive trunks to try and slow the animal's pursuit. She heard the skidding screech of the animal's claws in the dirt and the pounding steps as it resumed its deadly chase.
Many of the trees were packed closely together and Rose tried to stay as close to those as she could, weaving through them to try and create distance between her and the jungle cat. It seemed to be working, since the sound of the animal's footsteps were a bit distant, so Rose kept weaving through trees as best she could.
She was so focused on running and making sure she didn't slip and fall from the tree roots and foliage at her feet, she didn't notice the first few raindrops that hit her body before the deluge of water came.
Somehow Rose managed to find a wide open path again—whether it was the one she had been on previously, the one she had been hoping the Doctor was on, or a new one, she didn't know. Yet suddenly, she was out of the protection of the trees, where the massive predator would no longer be hindered by the close proximity of the trees.
The other problem she noticed right away was that the tree canopies were no longer sheltering her from the rain. Within seconds she was completely soaked.
Rose wasn't sure how much longer she could keep up this pace and forced her mind to abandon the thoughts of what being mauled to death might feel like.
Without warning a tall man was suddenly stepping onto the path ahead of her, blocking her way, but she kept running towards him. Her heart leapt in hope that it might be the Doctor, but quickly abandoned that thought when she saw a noticeable lack of leather jacket. She couldn't make out any facial features through the pouring rain.
Before Rose could decide what to do, she saw him raise the long barrel of a riffle. It was aimed directly at her!
