Previously on As the Wolf Howls:
After Donna left the blonde woman turns around, she walks away slowly from the people and takes her mobile phone out her pocket, she press speed dial and waits.
"Is too soon, they just found Donna" she informed to those at the other side of the line, she turn on a corner and disappears on a flash of white light.
Chapter two "Volcano Day"
"Ancient Rome, well, not for them, obviously. To all intents and purposes, right now, this is brand new Rome." The Doctor said with a smile once they landed, Donna was sitting on the captain's chair, fingers digging into the pleather seat so hard she was sure she had ripped it. "You ok there?" he asked amused looking at her.
Donna nodded slowly letting go of the chair and fixing the purple roman clothes she had changed into after breakfast, she let her breath go trying to calm down her heart rate.
"Breath slowly"
"I'm ok, I'm ok"
The Doctor smiled when she finally calmed down and Rose entered the console room, dressed in the roman attire the Doctor recognised from the last time they had been here, when they ended up as statues. She looked as beautiful now as she did back then, his goddess Fortuna.
"Are we here yet?" she asked fixing the loose strands of her hair.
"Yep" he said with a smile looking at Rose.
"Aren't you going to change?" Donna asked as he was still wearing his brown pinstriped suit and tan coat.
"What do you mean? I changed my tie!" he said walking to the door, he was going to open it but stopped himself before he did. "Donna, why don't you go first?"
Donna's smile widened, she forgot completely how scared she had been during the flight, she practically skipped to the door and with a deep breath she opens the door and walked outside.
The TARDIS was parked in a small curtained-off alcove, Donna walked out slowly, trying to look at everything at once, they seemed to be in a some sort of market, people walking down the street, chatting and laughing, they were so…alive, it was so real.
"I'm here, in Rome. Donna Noble in Rome. This is just weird. I mean, everyone here's dead."
"Well, don't tell them that" the Doctor said walking up next to her, holding Rose's hand in his.
"Hold on a minute. That sign over there's in English" she frowned pointing at a sign indicating the sale of two amphorae for the price of one "Are you having me on? Are we in Epcot?"
"Oh no, the TARDIS translates for you, inside your head" Rose explained, hoping Donna's reaction to it was better than hers had been "You are talking Latin now" she looked at the Doctor for confirmation, and smiled at the proud smile on his face.
"Seriously?" Donna asked still not entirely convinced.
"Mhm" The Doctor confirmed Rose's words.
"I just said seriously in Latin" Donna laughs.
"Oh wait until you start talking in alien languages"
Rose said with a smile, she wished she had acted so well when she learned that the TARDIS translated the things for her, she came out of her memory when a chill went down her spine as she had the clear sensation of being watched.
She turned trying to find where it came from, however she couldn't find anything out of the ordinary, it wasn't until the Doctor pulled her hand that she came back to their conversation about talking in Celtic and Welsh.
"How come they don't say anything about your clothes?" Donna asked curious.
"Nah. Ancient Rome, anything goes. It's like Soho, but bigger." He said looking at Rose curiously, he had felt her discomfort from a moment before, but she just smiled and brushed it off.
"You've been here before then?"
"Yeah, we end up as statues" Rose said "There is a statue of me at the British museum" the Doctor bumped her shoulder with his and gave her a smug smile "He made it" she said as he fixed his tie proud of his work.
"That is why I know you!"Donna exclaimed "I worked at the museum a couple of years back, and there was a lot of fuss about a roman statue, it looked exactly like you"
"Well, I made—"
The Doctor's I-am-impressive speech died on his lips when the ground started shaking, pottery falling to the ground breaking, people trying their best to maintain their equilibrium, vendors hanging to their stalls.
"Earthquake?" Rose asked once the movement stopped.
"Didn't Rome suppose to have seven hills?" Donna asked "I only see one mountain, with smoke. Which makes this—"
"Pompeii. We're in Pompeii!" The Doctor exclaimed, eyes wide in realization.
At the realization that they were in fact in Pompeii, Rose remembered something the TARDIS had said long ago when they had been on Gallifrey, while she had been dead.
/
"I brought your consciousness here" The TARDIS explained before her eyes went lost "Its volcano day" she murmured looking off to the side before turning her attention back to Rose.
/
"And it's volcano day" Rose breathed grabbing his hand.
At the other side of town a woman runs inside a temple, she is dressed in red and her face is painted in white, the same way as the other women she found inside the temple, she is the one who had give Rose those chills, she had been following them on the street.
"I beg audience with the High Priestess of the Sibylline" she asked as soon as she was in front of the central altar.
"The High Priestess cannot be seen, What would you tell her, sister?" The woman on the altar asked.
"It has come, as foretold in the prophecy. The box. The blue box" was her reply.
As soon as they find out that today was volcano day, they had run back to the TARDIS with every intention to fly away, but the magnificent blue box wasn't there.
"You're kidding. You're not telling me the TARDIS has gone!" Donna exclaimed moving the curtain.
"Okay, I won't" Rose said, scanning the place with her eyes, she couldn't feel any kind of distress from the TARDIS at all, her song was normal, so she knew they weren't in imminent danger, but not finding the blue box in there was enough to make her nervous.
The Doctor was shoving his hand through his hair, looking inside of pots and scanning the place with his sonic, doing all in his power to find her.
Donna went to the fruit seller "Excuse me. Excuse me. There was a box. Big blue box. Big blue wooden box, just over there. Where's it gone?"
"Sold it, didn't I?" The man answered thoughtfully.
"But it wasn't yours to sell" the Doctor scolded him, showing how mad he was at his answer.
The sales man just ignored his response and keeps talking about how much money he made with the sale, until the Doctor brought his attention back to the situation at hand, and finally got a useful answer from him.
"Foss Street. Big villa. Can't miss it"
"Thanks!" Rose started to run when the man's voice stopped them in place.
"Uh miss, Foss Street is the other way around"
The Doctor laughed and grabbing Rose's hand he ran ignoring the comments about how he always runs around not knowing where he was going and been lucky enough to never get lost.
"Oi wait for me space man!" Donna complained running behind them.
"Where were you?" The Doctor asked looking confused at Donna who had disappeared while he was talking to the salesman.
"I found this big sort of amphitheatre thing. We can start there. We can gather everyone together. Maybe they've got a great big bell or something we could ring. Have they invented bells yet?" Donna said with an enthusiastic smile.
"What do you want a bell for?" The Doctor asked frowning, confused.
"Doctor, I think she wants to warn them" Rose explained.
"Warn them? We could evacuate!" Donna said a bit less enthusiastic at the doubt in their eyes.
"We can't" Rose tried to explain.
"But that is what he does, he saves people!"
"Not this time. Pompeii is a fixed point in history. What happens, happens. There is no stopping it" the Doctor explained holding Rose's hand harder than needed, not that she minded.
"Says who?" Donna demanded.
"Says me!" the Doctor answered as a matter of fact.
"What, and you're in charge?"
"TARDIS, Time Lord, yeah" he spoke, getting in her face.
"Donna, human, no!" Donna barked back.
"Rose, The Bad Wolf, yes"
She said and they both looked at her, Donna looked at her with disbelief in her eyes, she knew Rose wasn't human anymore, but she used to be, she should have wanted to save the people of Pompeii. She couldn't believe that someone who knew something this important wouldn't wanted to save as many people as they could.
The Doctor's eyes were filled with hurt for his Rose, through their bond, he felt how her heart broke, he felt her impotence at the situation, knowing how she won't be able to save anyone, and it broke his heart; but he knew the reason, Rose knew the consequences, she was hurting as much as him by what they would have to do, or not do.
"The Bad Wolf? What is that supposed to mean?" Donna sputtered.
"Is who I am"
Rose said, not giving any other information as the Doctor grabbed both of their hands and dragged them to the Villa where the TARDIS was suppose to be.
"We have found it, Sister Spurrina, in the thirteenth book of the Sibylline Oracles. The blue box. A temple made of wood. And yet the Sybil foretold that the box would appear at the time of storms, and fire, and betrayal" Thalina one of the women of the sisterhood who lived in the temple explained.
"Sisters" Came the voice from the high priestess, all the sisters ran to the curtained area behind the altar.
"Reverend Mother, you should sleep" Spurrina said, worry obvious in her voice.
"The Sibylline Oracles are wrong" The High Priestess said, ignoring her comment.
"But we have venerated her words for generations" was Spurrina's confused response.
"This is a new age. Heed my words. I predict a future of prosperity and might. An endless empire of Pompeii, reaching out from this city to topple Rome itself and encompass the whole, wide world. If the Disciples of the Blue Box defy this prophecy, their blood will run across the temple floor."
As soon as the words come out of her mouth the ground shakes with a new Earthquake, which the sisters took as a sign from the gods.
Just as the salesman had said, the villa was impossible to miss, an opulent marvellous palace, with curtains of silk and gold decorating the place, they tried to enter but they where stooped at the door.
"I'm afraid business is closed for the day. I'm expecting a visitor" explained the silver haired man at the door.
"But that's me, I'm a visitor. Hello" the Doctor said enthusiastically shaking his hand as he passed through the door.
"Who are you?" the man at the door demanded.
"I am Spartacus" the Doctor said after a second of thinking.
"And so am I" Donna said.
"Mister and Mrs Spartacus"
The man assumed they were married, with at least six 'no' from the Doctor and Donna, after another confusion in which they end up as brother and sister much to Rose amusement she got to introduce herself.
"This is my Rose"
The Doctor introduce her, he always introduce her as his Rose, even if there was a Gallifreyan word for what Rose was to him, but it was untranslatable, and he refuse to call her his wife as it was to domestic for him.
"Have I met you before miss?" he wondered looking at Rose curious.
"Maybe in the market" she brushed off the question quickly.
"I'm sorry, but I'm not open for trade" he explained.
"And that trade would be?" the Doctor stretched the word waiting for an answer.
"Marble. Lopus Caecilius. Mining, polishing and design thereof, if you want marble, I'm your man." Caecilius responded proud of himself.
"That's good. That's good, because I'm the marble inspector"
The Doctor flashed his psychic paper at Caecilius' face and entered the villa, startling a woman dressed in a dark blue peplos, who threw away a young's man cup of wine trying to keep up appearances.
"By the gods of commerce, an inspection. I'm sorry, sir. I do apologise for my son"
"And this is my good wife, Metella. I must confess, we're not prepared for a—"
"Nothing to worry about. I'm, I'm sure you've nothing to hide. Although, frankly, that object looks rather like wood to me" the Doctor cut his words walking fast to the TARDIS with Donna hot on his heels and Rose going straight to hug the blue box.
Metella scolded Caecilius for buying the wooden box. He defended himself by saying he had only bought the box today. The Doctor got clever in Latin at which Caecelius thought he was Celtic; everything was going fine until Donna made a comment about taking a holiday bringing back the debate about evacuating the island, until the Doctor had to move her to a side in order to calm her down.
"Announcing Lucius Petrus Dextrus, Chief Augur of the City Government." Came a voice from the entrance as a middle aged man entered wearing a cloak over the right half of his body.
Again Caecilius and Matella, did their best to impress the incomer, even if Lucius rudely didn't shake the hand Caecilius offered.
"The birds are flying north, and the wind is in the west"
"Oh great, is one of those" Rose grumbled to herself standing between Donna and the Doctor ready to stop any new argument that may arise between the two.
"One of who?" Donna asked confused
"A glorified fortune teller, an oracle"
"That explains the riddle"
"Pardon me, sir. I have guests. This is Spartacus, uhm Spartacus and Miss Rose"
"A name is but a cloud upon a summer wind" Lucius said arrogantly.
"But the wind is felt most keenly in the dark" was the Doctor's automatic response.
"Ah. But what is the dark, other than an omen of the sun?" Lucius continued.
"I concede that every sun must set."
"Ha" Lucius said thinking he had won the argument
"And yet the son of the father must also rise" the Doctor finish with a smile.
"Damn, very clever, sir. Evidently, a man of learning" Lucius accepted.
"Did you understand anything of that?" Donna asked.
"Not even the TARDIS can translate that" Rose chuckled.
Caecilius brought Lucius' attention back to him and the Doctor grabbed Donna by the elbow trying to get her to the TARDIS as Rose walked behind them stalling, curious about what the revelation Caecilius had for Lucius was, luckily she didn't have to wait much.
"And here it is"
Caecilius moved the silk covering his work from prying eyes, a stone tile carved in a similar way as a circuit board, Rose gasped and grab the Doctor's coat to get his attention and showed him the piece.
"Oh, now that's different. Who designed that, then?" the Doctor asked confused.
"My Lord Lucius was very specific" Caecilius explained.
"Where'd you get the pattern?" Donna asked.
"On the rain and mist and wind" Came Lucius's answer, as he touched the piece in awe.
"But that looks like a circuit" Rose whispered.
"Made of stone" the Doctor finished.
"Do you mean you just dreamt that thing up?" Donna scoffed unimpressed.
"That is my job, as City Augur"
The Doctor moved Donna and Rose to the side to explain the importance of Lucius' job; he was mid explanation when a ill looking woman entered the room, using a lot of effort to walk straight.
"They're laughing at us. Those three, they use words like tricksters. They're mocking us" She accused them
"No, no, I'm not. I meant no offence" the Doctor answered defensively.
"I'm sorry. My daughter's been consuming the vapours" Metella said trying to take her daughter away ashamed of her words.
Quintus- the young boy from before- scolded his mother about how she had let Evelina get that sick, until Lucius arrogantly started talking again.
"I gather I have a rival in this household. Another with the gift"
"Oh, she's been promised to the Sibylline Sisterhood. They say she has remarkable visions" Metella said proud of her daughter.
"The prophecies of women are limited and dull. Only the menfolk have the capacity for true perception" Lucius spate the words, and a new tremor shock the earth "The Mountain God marks your words. I'd be careful, if I were you"
"Consuming the vapours, you say?" The Doctor asked concentrating all his attention on her.
"They give me strength" Evelina answered resting her weight on her mother.
"It doesn't look like it to me"
"Is that your opinion as a doctor?" Evelina asked in an accusing tone.
"I beg your pardon?" The Doctor asked starting to feel nervous.
"Doctor. That's your name" she answers "The mate of the wolf"
"How did you know that?" he demanded to know standing closer to Rose.
But Evelina just ignored him and talked to Donna instead "And you. You call yourself Noble" Donna gasped but she continued talking "And you, who goes by so many titles, but in the end you are just the Bad Wolf" the Doctor and Rose gasped at the truth in her words.
"Now then, Evelina. Don't be rude" Metella tried to stop her.
"The female soothsayer is inclined to invent all sorts of vagaries" Lucius said.
"Oh, not this time, Lucius. No, I reckon you've been out-soothsaid" The Doctor said trying to keep his good humour.
"Is that so, man from Gallifrey?"
"What?" he breathed.
"The strangest of images. Your home is lost in fire, is it not?"
At his words Rose rushed to him, taking his hand to give him all her support, feeling how his heart broke at the mention of his home planet.
Lucius continued looking at Donna. "You, daughter of London." He took his attention to Rose "And you traveller of universes, leaving your family behind for a chance with a man of the stars"
"How do you know that?" Donna demanded, furious at the way that man words were making her friends feel.
"This is the gift of Pompeii. Every single oracle tells the truth" Lucius answered her.
"That's impossible" Donna said unimpressed
"The pack comes back as the wolf howls" were Lucius last words to Rose before barking at Donna one last time "There is something on your back"
"What's that mean" Donna frowned trying to look at her back to see what was there.
"Even the word Doctor is false. Your real name is hidden. It burns in the stars, in the Cascade of Medusa herself. You are a Lord, sir. A Lord of Time."
With that one last words she faints into her mother's arms, Rose and Donna run to her and helped Metella to get Evelina to her room, and at the same time, trying to get as far away as they could from Lucius and his poisonous words.
Once in Evelina's room, they saw how Metella tried to nurse her back to health, it wasn't until she revealed her arm that they saw what was truly wrong with Evelina, her right arm was slowly turning to stone.
TBC
Here we go, chapter two part one! hope you liked it, and give me a review =)
see you on sunday, with part two.
Cheers
-Emily.