A/N: Hey guys, thanks for coming back and checking out the next instalment of this story with me. :D

I really did think this chapter would see us wrap up the visit to the Great Hall... but I was wrong. I'm really not doing the one-shot concept much justice, am I? Anyways, the next chapter will definitely have us finishing with the Great Hall of Armaments and leading into the next adventure, which I'm definitely going to have some fun with.

In the meantime, here is a little fluff for you to be getting on with. Hope you enjoy and a big thank you to all of the readers, reviewers, favouriters and followers of this fic. I really and truly do appreciate each and every one of you. 3

Chapter THREE

THE GREAT HALL OF ARMAMENTS – PART III

"Doctor!" called out Clara in distress, not able to comprehend what she was seeing. The Doctor couldn't be dead, he just couldn't.

"Yes?"

Clara whirled around at the sound of the Doctor's voice to find him standing in front of the TARDIS, which was now neatly parked on the black path. Bolting across the distance between them at record speed, Clara launched herself into the Doctor's arms. "You're alright!" she exclaimed emotionally, clinging to him, feet off the ground.

"The TARDIS does travel in space," pointed out the Doctor with a smile, even as he returned her delighted hug. "It's used to extremes of temperatures."

Clara flushed a little as she realised that was true and that this hug was going on for a little too long. "I know." She drew back, feet still dangling off the ground. "You can probably put me down now."

"Oh," said the Doctor, looking a little embarrassed, "yes, of course, right you are." He dropped her back down on the ground.

Strax appeared from inside the TARDIS, looking a little impatient. "Sir, the Great Hall awaits. Shouldn't we be getting on?"

The Doctor looked happy to have the distraction. "Tell you what, Strax," he said cheerfully, "why don't you go ahead and check out the lay of the land for Clara and myself, eh?"

Strax stepped out of the TARDIS and looked happy at that particular suggestion. "Excellent idea, sir. I will be the scouting party."

"And a wonderful scout I'm sure you'll make," said the Doctor agreeably. "On your way then."

Strax didn't need to be told twice as he took off down the black path as fast as his short legs could carry him.

"Ah," said the Doctor affectionately as he watched Strax run off with his ungainly gait to get to the armoury first, "see how happy the little fellow looks." He grinned down at Clara. "He'll sleep well tonight."

Clara couldn't help but laugh, in a better mood now they were out of that stupid hole and the Doctor wasn't burnt to a crisp. "I don't want to even think about what someone like Strax dreams about."

"Something unnecessarily violent I'm guessing," said the Doctor in amusement.

Clara wrinkled her nose prettily. "I'm glad Strax is happy and all and I'm even happier we're out of that hole but are we seriously going to spend the day looking at guns and weapons of mass destruction?"

"That's Strax's fun day out," the Doctor informed her. "I have entirely different plans for us."

Clara brightened. "You do?"

The Doctor slipped his arm through hers and turned them both around and started walking in the opposite direction, making sure to keep on the shiny black path this time. "Here's an interesting little fact. While Raiidan might house the most impressive museum of all things violent and life-ending, it is also famous for having some of the prettiest and most fun scenery in this part of the Universe."

Clara sent him a quizzical look. "In what way can scenery be fun?" She gazed sceptically at their grey surrounds. "And it's not exactly Cue Gardens."

The Doctor had walked Clara past the TARDIS and they were approaching the huge black gates of the wall which soared high above their heads. As they drew near to the gates, a hologram of some alien with a head not unlike a cod appeared. The alien was dressed all in white and addressed them in a modulated, cordial fashion. "Thank you, citizen, for visiting the Great Hall of Weapons. We hope our exhibit was of interest to you. Please maintain your current position while you are scanned."

Clara tensed as a beam of light emanated from the holographic figure and moved towards them. "What's happening, Doctor?" she asked anxiously.

"It's alright," he said chirpily. "Just doing a little body scan to check we haven't taken any unauthorised souvenirs from the museum. Wouldn't do to have someone stroll out of her with a cellular atomiser in their pocket, now would it?"

The blue light engulfed them both and then it abruptly disappeared.

"Thank you for your co-operation, citizen," said the fish alien easily. "May your day be without incident."

"Thank you," said the Doctor cheerily, "that's the plan." Still with his arm linked through Clara's, the two of them walked towards the now opening gates.

Clara sent a slightly worried look back over her shoulder as the heavy gates slowly lifted. "Are you sure it's alright to leave Strax alone in that place?"

"Absolutely, why wouldn't it be?"

Clara was still looking behind her at the huge monolith dedicated to killing and maiming others, standing tall amongst the grey landscape. "Because we're leaving a blood-thirsty soldier alone with thousands of weapons."

The Doctor remained unconcerned. "The Great Hall is extremely well guarded."

Clara looked back at him in surprise. "I didn't see anyone else there."

"Robotic sentinels," he explained easily. "You don't see them until they mean business." The Doctor smiled. "Now, enough about Strax, what do you make of this then?"

Clara followed the line of the Doctor's gaze to take in the scenery outside the Great Hall of Armaments. She gave a gasp of surprise at the amazing sight in front of her. Rolling hills of blue grass covered in trees which ranged in colour from orange to red to violet. Clumps of what looked to be this planets version of wild flowers in whites, pinks and greens, were dotted all around. At the bottom of hill Clara just realised they were on, was a purple lake, reflecting the colour of the lilac sky. Clara looked at the pretty coloured sky and then looked back over her shoulder to where the sky above the Great Hall was still a solemn grey colour. "The sky," she said in wonder, "how?"

The Doctor glanced back over his shoulder to take in the contrast between the two skies. "The Raiidians thought purple wasn't a reverent enough colour for such an important site, so they put in specially designed filters to change the colour of the sky directly over the Great Hall and its surrounding gardens to a suitably respectful grey colour." He nodded his head at the colourful scene in front of them. "This is how this planet normally looks, well, at least at this time of year."

"It's gorgeous," breathed Clara, trying to take in all that colour and the oddly shaped flora. It was like she'd fallen into a Dr Seuss story.

The Doctor nodded in approval as he surveyed their surroundings. "It is rather, isn't it?" He pulled the toboggan he was still holding onto out from under his arm. "Now, how about we have a little fun?"

Clara grinned. "Finally, the toboggan makes sense."

"Toboggans always make sense," said the Doctor with mock indignation. He laid it on the ground and climbed on board. The Doctor patted the space between his legs. "All aboard."

"We've just spent the better part of a morning trying to get out of a hole you put us in," Clara noted. "Do you really think I'm crazy enough to let you steer me down a hill on a bit of metal now?"

The Doctor seemed to give that careful thought before giving an emphatic reply. "Yes."

A huge smile split Clara's face. "Good call," she laughed and immediately jumped onto the toboggan. Settling between the Doctor's thighs, Clara looked down the hill, realising for the first time how steep it was. "You sure you know what you're doing?"

"Where's the fun in that?" he asked jovially.

Before Clara could question him on that point, the Doctor was pushing off and suddenly they were careening down the blue grass covered hill at a great speed. Clara squealed in delight as they sped down the hill, the scenery flashing past them in a kaleidoscope of colour. Even the smells in the air were amazing, like warm apple pie and puppies and cotton candy all coming at her in a delightful confusion of her senses. Clara didn't know if she was smelling the blue grass or the green flowers or even just the sunshine but she loved it. Her heart was pounding with excitement and fun, that was, until she realised they were running out of hill and heading directly towards that purple lake. "Doctor!" she called out with a note of anxiety in her voice. "The lake, we're going to go in!"

"I know," he yelled back in her ear. "Marvellous, isn't it?"

Clara didn't want to think how much it was going to hurt to hit that large body of water and she also didn't particularly want to get wet. "You have to stop!"

"Can't, no brakes!" shouted the Doctor gleefully and then it was too late.

Clara scrunched up her face and screamed, bracing for the impact with the water which would be very hard when they were travelling at the speed they were. The pain never came though, as suddenly Clara had the sensation of gliding now. Her eyes flew open and she realised they were actually skimming over the top of the violet waters, as though the surface was made of some kind of slick rubber. Clara gave a cry of surprise and pleasure as they continued to hurtle across the top of the lake, the wind in their faces and nothing to stop them. That was until Clara went to point to a funny looking bird-like creature with two sets of wings flying above them and unbalanced them both. Once the toboggan had a bit of a wiggle up, it only got worse and Clara suddenly found herself being tipped out of the toboggan and skidding across the top of the lake. It didn't hurt though, instead it was like being on a big, bouncy castle as she rolled to an eventual halt, the Doctor flying past her, still moving at a reasonable speed. He finally skidded to a halt some distance away from her and Clara knew he was alright because he gave a huge whoop of enjoyment.

Clara stood up, laughing like a school kid and took a moment to realise she was standing on a lake. She cautiously gave a little bounce, feeling the way the water accommodatingly bounced with her. It really was like being in a bouncy castle, only even though the water was acting like rubber, it felt like velvet. It was amazing. "This is brilliant!" she yelled out in wonder to the Doctor who was clambering to his feet.

"Told you!" he grinned as he bounced off to retrieve the toboggan.

Clara was getting into the bouncing more now, after seeing the Doctor confidently hopping about. "Why aren't we falling in?!" she called out to him.

The Doctor had the toboggan again and was now bouncing towards her. "It's a surface tension thing," he explained. "Our molecules can't get past the water tension. We're like those spiders which can walk across water, same principle."

Clara gasped as she saw something move below her. She stopped jumping and dropped to her knees, peering down into the purple-hazed depths. Clara could see strange, rounded coral-like structures and all around them were hundreds of funny fish-type creatures, all shapes and sizes. "Then how do they get down there?"

The Doctor was by her side now and looked down at the colourful world beneath their feet. "They've got a special skin which breaks the tension of the water." He grinned down at her. "I've got a couple of suits especially designed to do the same thing, it's a one size fits all kind of deal."

"You have?" asked Clara in delight. "You mean, we could go down there and take a look around?"

The Doctor's head bobbed up and down. "We could." He tilted his head to one side and tapped a finger against his lips. "Although, if memory serves, those things are a devil to get into. They're so tight it takes at least an hour or two and once you're in the suits, you invariably remember you have to pee."

"Sounds like a blast," said Clara in amusement.

The Doctor stuck out his hand to her. "Ready to go again?"

Clara eagerly grabbed a hold of his hand and let the Doctor help her to her feet. "Yes, please." She looked down at the toboggan. "Are you sure that thing can take another go round though? It's had a big day."

The Doctor looked at the toboggan in his hand and smiled. "It's especially reinforced, from the time I used it to escape a lava monster in Waayles."

Clara's eyebrows shot up. "Wales has lava monsters? Since when?"

"No, no, Waayles, pretty planet about a few million light years from here," explained the Doctor blithely. "We should go there some time."

"What about the lava monsters?" asked Clara hesitantly.

"Oh, yes, them, good point," mused the Doctor. "We might skip a visit to Waayles after all. The Abaari can be completely unreasonable when you catch them on a bad day and when you're made of lava, just about every day is a bad one. They can't even blow their noses without it turning into a catastrophe."

"Right then, so we stay here and have some more fun." Clara grabbed the toboggan off the Doctor. "My turn to drive."

"Hey!" protested the Doctor. "It's a tricky thing, steering a toboggan, you have to know what you're doing."

Clara gave an inelegant snort. "You drove us into a lake."

"On purpose," huffed the Doctor.

Clara put a hand on her hip and gave him a pointed look.

"Alright, fine, I was aiming for the bushes over there, but that still doesn't mean-"

"All aboard!" Clara interrupted him cheekily as she put the toboggan down and climbed onto it.

"Wait for me," said the Doctor hastily as he took the front seat, between Clara's legs. He twisted back to look over his shoulder. "See, with me sitting here, you can't even see where you're going."

Clara grinned up at him, eyes sparkling with excitement. "That's just how I like it. Now then, Mr. Legs, be a good boy and gives us a push off." She was pretty certain that even a simple push would have them skimming across this lake top like no one's business. There was little to no resistance on the surface of this purple lake so it wasn't going to take much. The Doctor obligingly pushed off with one leg and they were indeed sent hurtling across the lake surface once more. Clara laughed and wrapped her arms around the Doctor's waist, holding on tightly as they skidded about with gay abandon. An hour later they'd tobogganed, bounced, slid and jumped all over the place and Clara was out of breath and exhausted but having the time of her life. She clambered up the bank of the lake and threw herself down on the soft grass. Clara grinned over at the Doctor as he plopped down beside her, still trying to catch her breath. The Doctor's hair was all over the place, clothes askew and eyes brimming with childish glee.

He nudged her playfully with his shoulder. "What did I tell you, fun scenery."

"Soo much fun," agreed Clara whole-heartedly. She looked up at the purple sky and gave a contented sigh. Everything felt right with the universe in that moment and Clara felt a pang of guilt for her bad mood earlier when the Doctor had given her such a fun day. Clara wrinkled her nose. "I'm sorry."

"What for?" asked the Doctor absently, face tilted up towards the red sun with his eyes closed.

"For being a bit of a pain earlier," said Clara unhappily. "You know, in the hole."

"I told you to stand on my head," said the Doctor carelessly. "That wasn't your fault. Besides, you got us out of that hole." He pursed his lips. "Well, briefly anyways but it still counts."

"No, I mean before that, when I was being a bit sensitive about things." Clara moved a little uncomfortably and pulled absently at some of the blue grass, just to have something to do. "I was in a mood and I was taking it out on you."

"That's alright," said the Doctor easily. "No harm done."

Clara took a deep breath, steadying herself to tell the Doctor the real reason for her bad mood. She didn't know what he'd make of it all but Clara just had this compulsion to tell the Doctor everything. "It's just that, when we popped home before coming here, I found out-" The rest of Clara's explanation was cut off by the scream of what was the most terrifying siren Clara had ever heard. She actually started in shock. "What's that?" she squeaked. Clara's face clouded over. "That's not an alarm telling us everything is okay, is it?"

The Doctor looked worried as he leapt to his feet. "I'm afraid not."

"It's Strax, isn't it?" asked Clara in resignation.

"We don't know that for sure," argued the Doctor. The sirens became even more hysterical. "No," he conceded unhappily, "it's Strax." The Doctor started to run back towards the Great Hall. "Come on!"

Giving up on telling the Doctor what was bothering her, Clara ran after him and hoped that alarm was overstating the seriousness of the situation... but somehow she doubted it.