Tooth and Claw part 3. I might finish up the episode in this one, but then it also depends on how long I can pay attention…ADD plus TV in background…you know how that usually ends…
And sorry about the late update, I wanted to finish my bleach story.
Don't own the amazingness that is this show.
Chapter 6
Claudia wandered around the hallway, her arms crossed and the setting sun creating odd shadows on the walls. Rose had been shown to a bedroom to try on different dresses. The soldiers hadn't had a problem with what Claudia was wearing (though they did find it a bit strange) so she'd been left to explore on her own. Occasionally, she'd pass a soldier or butler walking by. One butler passed by her, carrying a tray full of tin cups. He nodded at her and walked past and around the corner. A few seconds later, there was a series of loud thumps and Claudia quickened her pace. Skidding to a stop on the thick carpet, she looked down to see all four of the guards in that hallway had completely passed out. She knelt down next to the nearest one and felt for a pulse. He was still alive.
Soft footsteps sounded all around her and about five of the butlers came from both ends of the hallway. Claudia stood up slowly, very aware of the butlers reaching for the guards' guns.
"Did you do this?" she asked, taking a few steps back, her eyes looking for a way out. There wasn't one.
"We did," said one on her right.
"On Father Angelo's orders," said another one.
"They were in the way of our objective."
"What objective?" asked Claudia, feeling for a door knob behind her. The butlers all spoke in unison.
"Migrating to the Holy Monarch."
"You mean Queen Victoria?"
"You came with Doctor McKinnon," said one of her left. "You are part of the guard."
"Wait, what did you do to them?"
"I'm afraid you're in our way as well, Miss McKinnon."
"Answer me! What did you do to—mmf!"
One of the butlers/monks came up behind her, putting a cloth over her mouth and nose, muffling her scream. The monk held on until the tall girl went limp on his arms and started dragging her away.
None of them noticed Rose peeking out of a door in the hallway across from them. Followed closely by one of the maids, Flora, Rose made her way out into the hall to check on the guards once the monks had left.
"Oh, miss, I did warn you!" said Flora. Rose knelt down and felt for a pulse on one of the guards.
"He's not dead…I don't think. He must be drugged or something. Anyway we have to tell the Doctor about Claud—Flora?"
Flora had suddenly disappeared from behind her. Rose jumped and tried to run away as a monk came up behind her and covered her nose and mouth.
The Doctor looked up as the head butler walked into the dining room.
"Your companion begs an apology, Doctor. Her clothing has somewhat delayed her."
"Oh that's alright, save her a wee bit of ham."
"The feral child could probably eat it raw," said the queen. Reynolds laughed nervously.
"Very wise, ma'am! Very witty!"
The queen looked at him appraisingly. "Slightly witty, perhaps. I know you rarely get the chance to dine with me, Captain, but don't get too excited…I shall contain my wit in case I do you further injury."
"Yes ma'am. Sorry ma'am," said Reynolds meekly.
"You never did say about Jenna," said the Doctor turning to see the head butler. He looked at the Doctor for a second before answering.
"I'm afraid she got lost, exploring the house."
"Alright then, she'll turn up. Besides, we're all waiting on Sir Robert! Come, Sir! You promised us a tale of nightmares."
"Indeed," said the queen, "Since my husband's death, I find myself with much more of a taste for supernatural fiction."
"You must miss him," said the Doctor quietly. The queen looked at him sadly.
"Very much," she looked down at her lap. "Oh, completely. And that's the charm of a ghost story, isn't it? Not the scares and chills, that's just for children, but the…hope of some contact with the great beyond."
The Doctor kept the queen in his steady gaze as she continued.
"We all want some message from that place…it's the Creator's greatest mystery that we are allowed no such consolation. The dead stay silent. And we must wait."
She trailed off before shaking her head. The Doctor moved his gaze to the table in front of him.
"Come!" the queen went on. "Begin your tale, Sir Robert. There's a chill in the air. The wind is howling through the eaves. Tell us of monsters!
BREAK
Claudia sat up slowly, holding her head and looking around. She was chained to about ten other people, including Rose and most of which were maids of the house, the last being the steward. All of them had their eyes locked on something in the shadows. Claudia's gaze followed their line of sight and she let out a small yip of surprise. A man sat in a cage, cross-legged and eyes closed. At the noise Claudia made, his eyes had snapped open for barely a second to glare at her. There was something off about him. She'd built up a sense of finding danger over the past five years and her radar was going crazy.
"Don't make a sound," one of the women, who must have been Lady Isobel, muttered. "They said if we scream or shout, then he will slaughter us."
Claudia's eyebrows furrowed together in confusion as Rose voiced the thought in both their heads.
"But…he's in a cage. He's a prisoner. He's the same as us."
Lady Isobel shook her head sadly, her voice shaking as she replied.
"He's nothing like us. That creature is not mortal."
They all looked back at the man whose head slowly moved up until he opened his eyes again, completely black and glistening in the small amount of moonlight shining through the cellar door. Claudia and Rose stared in shock while the others whimpered and moved closer to each other.
BREAK
"The story goes back three hundred years," Sir Robert started his story. "Every full moon, the howling rings through the valley. The next morning, livestock is found ripped apart and…devoured."
He said the last word slowly, as if deciding whether or not it was the right one to use. Reynolds scoffed.
"Tales like this just disguise the work of thieves," he said calmly, hands folded in front of him on the table. "Steal a sheep and blame a wolf, simple as that."
He missed the queen's slightly irritated look.
"But sometimes a child goes missing," Robert pressed, leaning closer to the group. "A boy will vanish from his homestead."
BREAK
Rose and Claudia exchanged a look before nodding to each other, standing up and starting to approach the man.
"Don't," Isobel mumbled from behind them. She was ignored as the two girls moved closer, rattling the chains as they moved.
"Who are you?" Rose asked.
"Don't enrage him," the steward growled.
"Where are you from?" Claudia asked, ignoring the steward. "You're not from Earth. What planet are you from?"
Finally, he spoke. "Ohhh….intelligence."
His voice was almost silky and high-pitched, but that didn't make him any less threatening. In fact, it seemed to add to his frightening appearance.
"Where were you born?" Rose asked.
"This body…ten miles away…a weakling, heartsick boy. Stolen away at night by the brethren from my cultivation."
His voice almost seemed to purr on the word 'cultivation' and Claudia shivered slightly at the sound of it.
"I carved out his soul and sat in his heart."
His quiet purr had changed to a trembling hiss.
BREAK
The Doctor joined in the conversation. "Are there descriptions of the creature?"
"Oh yes, Doctor. Drawings and woodcarvings…" Sir Robert trailed off for a second before remembering where he was. "And it's not merely a wolf. It's more than that. This is a man who becomes an animal."
The Doctor leaned forward, looking interested. "A werewolf?"
BREAK
Rose and Claudia started to back away slightly from the man.
"All right…" Rose started. "So the body's human…but what about you? The thing inside?"
"So far from home…" he responded vaguely.
"If you wanna get back home, we can help you," Claudia suggested.
"Why would I leave this place?" he said, almost laughing. "A world of industry, of workforce and warfare. I could turn it to such purpose."
"How would you do that?" asked Rose hesitantly.
"I would migrate to the Holy Monarch."
Claudia and Rose answered at the same time.
"The queen?"
"You mean Queen Victoria?"
The man almost grinned. "With one bite, I would pass into her blood. And then it begins. The Empire of the Wolf! So many questions…"
He trailed off again. Suddenly, he jerked forward in the cage, making everyone jump back a few steps. Claudia accidently bumped shoulders with Rose and an image flashed through her head. Metal people walking through a wall…it was all blurry. She barely registered what the man said next.
"Look! Inside your eyes! You've seen it too!" he hissed excitedly at Rose.
"Seen what?" Rose asked, trying to keep her voice steady.
"The Wolf! There's something of the Wolf about you!"
Rose stared at him while Claudia tried to clear her head.
"I-I don't know what you mean," Rose stammered, scooting backward even further.
"You burnt like the sun, but all I require is the moon," he growled, pressing his face against the bars. His eyes flicked to Claudia, his head snapping around to follow. "And you! You will meet a fate worse than any. Don't trust the big blue box!"
Claudia stared at him with wide eyes. What was he talking about? Clearly Rose didn't know either. Maybe he was insane and was just babbling now.
Right?
BREAK
Sir Robert shared a glance with all at the table. "My father didn't treat it as a story. He said it was fact. He even claimed to have communed with the beast—to have learned its purpose."
No one paid any attention to the head butler turning his attention toward the large, open window.
"I should've listened," Robert continued. He cast a wary glance over his shoulder at the butler. When he continued again, he spoke quickly and quietly. "His work was hindered—he made enemies. There's a Monastery in the Glen of Saint Catherine. The brethren opposed my father's investigations."
"Perhaps they thought his work ungodly," the queen added in. Robert nodded.
"That's what I thought. But now I wonder…what if they had a different reason for wanting the story kept quiet?"
The Doctor's eyes flicked up to look at the butler who was staring, almost trance-like out the window, chanting something in Latin over and over again. His sharp ears picked up what it was almost immediately, while also listening to the conversation going on around him.
"Lupus Deus est—."
"What if they turned from God and worshipped the wolf?" Sir Robert asked. The Doctor turned toward the butler.
"And what if they were with us right now?"
Okay. I lied. There'll be another part sorry. But this was like 6 pages on Microsoft word. So… Anyway, sorry again for the late update.