Never before had Saibra witnessed The Doctor and Clara arguing, and she didn't intend to witness it ever again.
She didn't even know who to side with: they both made a very good point, but they both said the polar opposite of each other.
"There's NO OTHER WAY!" Clara insisted, a growl in her voice. She was adamant that she had to go through with her plan, whether it was the safe option or not.
"Of course there is!" The Doctor retorted, "You just haven't found it yet."
Clara was about to speak again, but The Doctor cut her off,
"You're not made of titanium! Under no circumstances do I want you to get hurt!" He rejoined.
Clara drew her breath and bit her lip, staring down at the carpet as a child does when they know they've done something wide of the mark. She flicked her eyes up to the doorframe and then to the floor again,
"…Doctor, I…" she started, "…I just… Ugh! Look, I'm sorry; I just want to do what's best. It's not just you and me anymore, you know? I have people to look after, and I don't want them undergoing the pain that I went through the last time this happened…"
The Doctor reluctantly agreed to this with a slow nod and a heavy sigh. He laid the candle down on the windowsill and held his arms out.
Clara stumbled to him and softly looped her arms around him (which Saibra smiled at, of course) The Doctor whispered to Clara, his face buried in her hair.
"Right, get your shoes and jacket on, then, and we'll go and find this shadow…"
"Let's get this over and done with…" Clara said, under her breath, as she laced up her trainers and straightened her faux leather jacket.
She was still convinced that she'd have to do what she'd said she wouldn't do… she wasn't looking forward to it, but at least (she thought) she'd be prepared for it and could deal with it in a jiffy.
But for now, a different task was at hand: actually FINDING the shadow leader.
"It'll be some place dark," The Doctor stated, holding his index finger up to emphasize the point he was about to make, "The rest of the Wisps like to keep their leader in the dark where nobody can see them, as you can imagine. Ever since Shadow, I've been reading up on the shadows: their proper name is The Midnight Wisps and they come out between midnight and 5AM, but 3AM is when they're most active."
"Come… out?" Saibra stuttered, "From where?"
"They live in the shadows."
"So not all shadows are alive?"
"No, of course not; the wisps hide in them until you're fast asleep and then they come out to play. Some of them even lurk about during the day, and often times people see them from the corner of their eyes… sometimes they'll even enter your mind for 'fun'. Do you ever get that shiver that seems to come out of nowhere and that surprises you so much that you just stay frozen for a few moments?"
Clara nodded, as did Saibra.
"That's a Wisp," The Doctor continued, "People say they hear voices, but they don't… they hear the Wisps… Anyway, enough about that: we need to find somewhere dark and abandoned to go to look: let's get going, I know just the place."
"Never knew there was an old abandoned factory in Burnley…" Clara mumbled as she walked along the corridor of a derelict building.
"Well, now you know," The Doctor replied, following her, Saibra tagging along behind, "The Wisps never stray too far from their leader, and this place is only a 25 minute drive away from your house."
"You think it's here, then?" Clara asked, putting her wing around Saibra to keep her warm (Saibra always loved it when she did this. She liked the feel of her friend's fluffy feathers).
"Almost certain. You may not want to refer to it as an 'it', though…" The Doctor coughed.
"What, then?"
"'She' would be more appropriate."
"It's a girl?" Saibra exclaimed.
"Yes, the wisp leader is more-or-less the mother of all the other wisps. Every night at 12AM, she produces more and more clones. You see, the wisps are only there to serve their leader, who feeds on life energy. They go off to find people and suck the life from them: usually not much – harmless – but if on some nights the mother is feeling especially hungry, the wisps may kill the host."
"How much reading did you do?" Clara sniggered.
"A lot," The Doctor stated.
"It shows…" Clara hummed amusedly, looking about the factory floor for any signs of shadows. She should have brought a torch…
A blur flashed past them at the end of the hallway, heading left.
Clara remembered the first time she'd ever met a wisp; she had a lot of bad memories of that day…
'What am I getting myself and my friends into?' She asked herself, taking The Doctor's hand,
"Saw one go left," she stated aloud with a nervous cough.
"Then that's where we'll head," The Doctor whispered to her, squeezing her hand, gently.
And so the trio hurried down the dark passage, avoiding planks of wood scattered about the floor as they went…
They probably should have been a tad quieter, as somebody – or something – could hear them… and she could hear them very well…
