A/N - Hello everyone! Starting a new section of the story today. This chapter's mostly filler I guess, but I always figured that something like this happens with just about every companion the Doctor picks up: sooner or later they must go exploring in the TARDIS. Doctor Who almost never shows this so we rarely get to see much of the TARDIS beyond the console room. Of course if we saw this every time a new companion entered the TARDIS it would get repetitive really quickly, so maybe that's for the best in the long run. Nevertheless Tails has been wanting to explore the TARDIS for several chapters, and now he will get his chance. And as we all know the TARDIS is a big place!
Standard disclaimer: Neither Doctor Who nor Sonic The Hedgehog belong to me. Doctor Who is property of the BBC. Sonic The Hedgehog SatAM is property of Sega and DIC. The only thing that's mine is the story itself. Please read and review; I always appreciate feedback. Constructive criticism is welcome, however no flames please.
7 – SETTLING IN
The next night King Maximilian brought everyone back to his parlor so Tails could continue his story.
"Where did you go after you took off?" the king asked.
"Nowhere at first" said Tails, "the Doctor thought I should get settled in before we went anywhere..."
"Now then" the Doctor said to Tails as he manipulated the controls on the central console, "we've entered the time vortex and I'm just putting the TARDIS into a holding pattern for the moment. We'll stay right here until we're ready to go somewhere."
"I thought we were already going somewhere" said Tails, a little confused.
"Oh we will" said the Doctor, "but first you should get settled in, find your room, maybe freshen up, all those sorts of things people seem to find necessary."
"Oh okay" said Tails, "where do I go?"
"The TARDIS will guide you" said the Doctor, "and take your time. By all means go exploring like you wanted to."
"How big is the TARDIS?" asked Tails.
"Why don't you find out?" was the reply, "don't worry. The TARDIS won't let you get lost. Beside, you wanted to see what it was like in here, didn't you?"
Tails said "okay" and turned and left the console room, heading further into the TARDIS.
Beyond the console room he found himself in a long hallway with doors on both sides.
"Wow" he said to himself, "I wonder how far my room is?"
"Not far" murmured the TARDIS in his mind, "take the first right, then the first left, and go through the first door on the right."
Tails did so, and when he opened the designated door he entered a very comfortable little bedroom, perfectly made to order for him. It looked a lot like his bedroom in Knothole, though without the windows. There was a bed, a desk with a personal computer on it, a chair, shelves, a dresser, a closet, and a connecting bathroom.
"Do you like it?" asked the TARDIS
"Yes!" said Tails enthusiastically. He sat on the bed and began bouncing up and down on it. "I love it!"
"I thought you might. I remembered it from before and saved it for you."
"Before?" asked Tails.
"You'll find out" replied the TARDIS, sounding just a little smug but did not elaborate further.
Tails shrugged and went into the bathroom to "freshen up." Once that was done he stood in his room for a moment and wondered what to do before deciding that since that Doctor had told to him explore he would do that.
Upon leaving his room he walked down the hall back towards the Console Room, but upon reaching the first intersection instead of heading back the way he came he took the other way and walked deeper into the TARDIS. After reaching another place where hallways branched in two directions he stopped to consider which way to go. Both the left and right hallways looked the same; both had doors off of them, and both stretched off as far as he could see.
"Which way should I go?" he said to himself.
"That depends on what you want to do" the TARDIS replied, "are you hungry?"
"Yes I am" said Tails, thinking it over.
"Then go left and go into the last room before the next fork" the TARDIS said. So Tails did that and found himself in the TARDIS kitchen.
"Yes!" said the fox, "do you have any chili-dogs?"
"But of course!" came the reply. Tails grinned and prepared himself for lunch.
After he'd eaten Tails continued wandering around the TARDIS. This time he just walked without caring where he was going. When he came across doors he would try to open them. Some of them opened into rooms or storage closets or other hallways, and some were locked. When he got tired of walking he spun his tails and took to the air, moving more rapidly through the halls inside the ship.
He came across many different rooms, losing count quickly. There were a whole bunch of bedrooms, all different from each other, which Tails figured had belonged to previous traveling companions of the Doctor's. He also found a medical bay, a swimming pool, a large wardrobe room that had several levels, a bunch of storage rooms, an art gallery, a second control room, a couple of mechanic shops (he really liked these; he also liked the garage that adjoined one of these and contained several ground vehicles), several indoor gardens – or were they indoors Tails wondered, they were so large he couldn't see their ceilings – a gymnasium, and what seemed to be a cloister room for meditation (at least it had benches amongst the garden plants, and pillars that had plants growing on them).
Just when he was starting to think about heading back he opened a pair of double doors and found himself in what was, for him, the greatest room he had seen so far. Stepping through the doors he entered an enormous library.
"Wow!" he exclaimed looking with wide eyes at the library. From where he stood he could see it had several levels, and they were filled with shelves that were stacked to bursting with books – more books than Tails would ever have thought could have existed. The whole place should have been dark and musty but somehow it was light, as if sunlight was coming in from large unseen windows, and the feeling was airy too.
"Like it?" asked the TARDIS.
"Like it?" said Tails, "this is so way past cool! I wish Aunt Sally could see this, or Bunnie and Rotor, or Rosie, or even Sonic – no, he'd be bored. You must have every book ever written in here!"
"I'm not that big" said the TARDIS with a wry chuckle.
"Can I come here whenever I want?" asked the fox kit.
"Yes. Even if the Doctor says otherwise."
"Thank you" said Tails.
"Happy reading" was the reply.
Tails didn't know where to start. He went among the shelves and started scanning titles to see what books the library had. There definitely were A LOT of books. Before he had gone too far he came back to the front of the library and found a library catalog computer that he was sure had not been there when he had first walked into the room. Sending another thought of thanks to the TARDIS he went up to the catalog computer and started going through it.
It was there that the Doctor found him a little while later.
"I thought you might be here" said the Doctor, "the old girl confirmed that you'd found this room so I came straightaway."
"This room is fabulous!" exclaimed Tails, "I've never seen anything like it. It must be as big as all of Knothole."
"Maybe" said the Doctor, "I'm sure you'll spend plenty of time here when we're not out seeing the sights. I often come here. A good book is always a good companion and this room is full of thousands and thousands of them."
"Have you read every book in here?"
"Every one?" the Doctor shrugged, "who knows? And even if I have I'm sure there's plenty I've forgotten. If there's anything I need to see the TARDIS can find it for me. Speaking of which, how did you like your exploring time?"
"Incredible" said Tails, "how do you keep from getting lost?"
The Doctor put his right forefinger against the side of his nose and grinned.
"You can't really get lost in here" he said, "if its really necessary the ship will just rearrange things and put you down right next to the Console Room. Yes, she can do that – it's her privilege. Now come along, lots to do, places to see. You'll have plenty of time for reading later and unless I'm very much mistaken you'll soon find the library's been moved right near your room."
"That would be great" said Tails. The Doctor smiled and motioned for Tails to follow him out of the library. He did so. The two travelers turned right outside the library, traveled down the hallway, went through a door, and re-entered the main Console Room.
"I was this close to the Console Room?" asked Tails in wonder.
"Not really" said the Doctor, "while we were talking she moved the library so we could come right back here. But that's not important now. I assume you've had enough time to get settled into your room and get situated. Now then, where would you like to go?"
(To Be Continued)