It's extremely late, so I'll be really brief here!
Thanks to all of you who have read and reviewed this story so far! They've kept me going, kept my fingers moving!
Also, this story is more about depth than anything. I think there's more exploration in terms of characters in this chapter than dialogue, but it's also a bit fluffy towards the end. Gotta love the fluff. ;) It's heating up, the drama and action is. I myself can't wait to see what happens next!
If there's anything wrong with spelling or anything in this chapter, lemme know! Thanks alot!
Disclaimer: Don't own it. You recognize it, it's not mine.
Chapter Six
The Doctor's arm never left Rose's waist as they journeyed back towards the village. Rose had begun to calm down, and her breathing was back to normal, her crying spell over, but she was still cold, even under the warmth of the Doctor's coat. She still clung to his wet shirt, and she could feel him also shivering slightly, and she could feel his heartbeats pulsing beneath her touch.
Adrenalin, she thought.
Finally, they emerged back at the village. Janchi had a warrior run to fetch Chua, and the warrior ran off in the direction of Chua's hut.
Janchi led the Doctor and Rose inside a hut, a small fire blazing in the center. He quickly got the Doctor a thick blanket, and one for Rose, too, though she chose to stay under the comfort of the Doctor's long coat instead. The Doctor laced his fingers with hers, and she smiled at him as she slowly began to warm up beside the fire.
The animal skin door covering was pushed aside, and Chua came in, a stony look on his face.
"Mikel tells me you have news of my daughter and Kudit." He said.
The Doctor nodded. "That we do." He said. "Appears that your daughter and Kudit…took the trail through the woods, as said, but veered from the path at one point and walked towards the river. Their, er, scent ends there."
Chua swallowed. "And you think they…drowned?"
The Doctor sighed. "I don't know." He said. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry."
Chua took a deep breath and turned away from his prisoner. "You will continue your searching tomorrow and the next day, and if you have not found my daughter and Kudit by that time, your sentence will still be carried out."
The Doctor nodded. "I understand."
Chua looked at Rose. "I'll have my wife find you some clothes to wear until yours are dry." He said.
"Thank you." Rose said gratefully.
Chua turned and left the hut silently. A woman who appeared to be in her late twenties, early thirties entered the hut, and she smiled at Rose and the Doctor.
"My name is Miakoda. I am Chua's wife and Tala's mother. I have some clothes I think you can wear in my hut."
Rose nodded. "Alright, thanks." She said. She looked at the Doctor. "Be right back."
The Doctor smiled and she left with Miakoda.
Janchi sat across from the Doctor. "What do you think really happened to the children, Doctor?"
The Doctor looked at him, and Janchi saw, for the first time, the depth in his brown eyes. The Doctor's eyes were filled with an ancient wisdom, of the Earth, and of the universe, it seemed. He saw an agonizing pain, a deep wound in the Doctor's orbs that sent chills down his spine. He saw guilt, and shame. He saw a past the Doctor tried to conceal, and bitterness towards it, as though he were wishing he could just go back and change it somehow, as though he were wishing he could just stop time itself. He saw a man who had seen and done many things, both good and bad, and sharp cut in his soul that was just beginning to heal.
But above all, he saw a great kindness, and gentleness. He saw the greatness of a loyal warrior, and a wise leader.
And he saw the undeniable love he knew belonged to Rose, whether the Doctor chose to admit it or not. Janchi had not known this man and his companion very long, but he had seen the way he looked at Rose whenever she was with him, the way he held her hand in his as though she would vanish if he ever let go. Janchi knew it was the same light that shone in his own eyes whenever he was around the one he loved.
" I wish I knew." The Doctor said. "But…I just don't know."
Janchi could tell the Doctor was not used to not knowing something, and he reached a hand out to squeeze the man's shoulder.
"I have not known you and Rose very long, Doctor," He said. "But I believe now that you had nothing to do with the kidnappings, and that you are telling the truth when you say you will find them."
The Doctor smiled. "Thank you, Janchi." He said, swallowing. "But I'm beginning to doubt my ability to find Tala and Kudit. I've never seen anything like this…it's almost as if those children were possessed or something…why else would they just walk into the river like that?" He shook his head. "I'm not used to being wrong, mind you, so this is a bit of a shocker." He stared at the fire, his eyes becoming distant. "I just wish Rose wasn't here…I almost lost her today, for real this time, and I felt…hopeless."
"You love her very much, don't you, Doctor?" It was more of a statement than a question.
The Doctor didn't say anything; he continued to stare at the flickering fire.
A few moments later, the door flap was pushed aside to reveal Rose, dressed in a Lenape deerskin dress, leggings, and moccasins, the blanket still over her shoulders, the Doctor's coat draped over her arm. She smiled at the Doctor as she sat back down next to him.
"Feeling better?" He asked.
"Much." Rose said. "I can't believe how warm this deerskin is! I always thought it would be scratchy and gross when I was a kid."
"You also thought the teachers slept in the school." The Doctor said jokingly.
"Yeah, well, turns out I was right about that one!" Rose said, punching him playfully in the arm.
"Oi, those were the Krillitanes, not teachers, and you know it!" The Doctor shot back. He and Rose narrowed their eyes and glared at each other in a mock stare fight before the Doctor's mouth twitched and he and Rose fell into fits of laughter.
Janchi shook his head at the two. "I'll get you some dry clothes to wear, Doctor." He said. "Chua won't be happy with me, but what good will you be if you're sick with a cold?"
The Doctor smiled. "Thanks, Janchi." He said.
Janchi smiled back. "I trust I can leave you two in here and you'll not make a run for it?"
"Cross my heart and hope to…uh, scratch that. We promise." The Doctor said.
Janchi nodded and left the hut.
Rose shifted closer to the Doctor. "What do you think happened to those kids, Doctor?" She asked.
"I don't know." The Doctor said. "I haven't the faintest clue…hold on, you said you heard singing down at the river, right?"
Rose nodded. "It was so weird. It was…enchanting, in a way…"
The Doctor's eyebrows rose. "Hm…interesting…"
"What do you think it is?"
"Well, it could be any number of things." The Doctor said. "But I still don't think it's alien."
Rose opened her mouth to reply, but was cute off by Janchi reentering the hut, a bundle of deerskin leggings, a long sleeved top, and moccasins, which he handed to the Doctor.
"Thanks." He said.
"Those should do until your regular clothes are dry." Janchi said. "Chua has ordered you both back to the cave. You can change once you get there."
"Why do we have to go back there?" Rose asked. "It's only, what, two o'clock in the afternoon? We could still make some progress!"
Janchi shrugged. "I know." He said. "But I think after what's happened today so far, he wants you both under close watch."
"Hold on a tick," the Doctor said. "We had a deal that Rose is to be set free. Why should she have to stay in the cave?"
"The deal was," a voice said from the doorway. "That she would be set free under the circumstance that you are unable to find Tala and Kudit." Chua stepped into the hut. "Until then, she, too, is a prisoner, and will be treated as such."
"Rose just had a brush with death by falling in the river!" The Doctor argued, standing to his feet. "I think it might be a good idea if she were to stay beside a fire, or walk around in the warm sunshine now that the rain's stopped, not be cooped up in a dark cave!"
"You both will do as I say." Chua said dangerously. "And you will both be escorted back to the cave for the remainder of the day!"
"Well I'm the Doctor here, and I say – "
The Doctor was cut off by Chua's hand connecting with his cheek. The Doctor stumbled back a few steps, a red mark slowly forming where he had been hit.
"Oi!" Rose said, anger beginning to boil. "No need for that!"
"You will do as I say, or she will suffer the same fate!" Chua threatened the Doctor, ignoring Rose. "Now, both of you, back to the cave."
He turned and left the hut.
The Doctor rubbed his cheek. "Ow!" He said, wincing. "He's got a slap worse than your mum's! Never thought I'd meet someone with a backhand worse than Jackie Tyler's…"
"You never met my Gran," Rose said. "Are you alright?"
The Doctor stopped rubbing the point of contact. "Oh yeah." He said. "No damage done."
"We'd better do as he says and get back to the cave." Rose said. "Don't want him getting angrier than that."
"Hm, you're probably right." The Doctor agreed. "Come on, then."
He and Rose gathered their things, and Janchi held back the door flap. The Doctor and Rose ducked their heads and exited.
"I'm sorry for Chua's bitterness," A voice said behind them. They turned to find Miakoda. "Tala is all we have. His entire life revolves around her."
"You're not to blame for what your husband does," the Doctor said. "And I understand. Completely."
Miakoda stepped closer. "Have you ever had a family, Doctor?" She asked. "Have you ever lost a loved one?"
The Doctor looked at the ground before nodding. "I have." He said. "And I promise that I will find your daughter, and bring her home safely. Kudit too."
Miakoda looked at him. "I believe that you will." She said. "And I thank you, for myself and for Chua, from the bottom of my heart."
"It's what we do, me and Rose." The Doctor said. "Help people."
"Thanks for lending me some clothes to wear," Rose said. "I'll return them soon."
Janchi cleared his throat, and Rose knew it was a subtle way of saying it was time to get moving.
"Thank you again, Miakoda." She said. "We'll find Tala."
Miakoda gave one final nod before turning and walking back towards her husband's hut, the Doctor, Rose, and Janchi doing the same in the other direction.
***
Something wasn't right. The Doctor, as he sat against the wall in the back of the cave, one elbow perched on his knee, had the nagging feeling at the back of his mind.
Something about this adventure was awry. Something wasn't right here. What would possess those children and make them walk off on their own, possibly into the river, like that? Without any explanation?
The Doctor had thought of every possible answer, from ghosts to spirits to aliens. Everything. Nothing seemed to fit here.
Rose had said she had thought she had heard singing…singing coming from the river…the Doctor had never encountered a case like this, on his many adventures. The only thing that came close was the time back before he had regenerated when he and Rose had encountered the ghosts with Charles Dickens…
The Doctor sighed and closed his eyes, for a moment envying Rose her human ability to sleep every night. The Doctor rarely slept, and when he did, it was never for more than an hour or so. Time Lords didn't need to sleep; they didn't need it like the humans did to replenish their energy. They had their TARDISes for that.
A soft moan from across the cave caused him to open his eyes. Rose stirred lightly on her pallet of blankets and his jacket and coat. The Doctor, worried that she might be having another nightmare, got up from his position and crossed the floor to where she slept.
The nagging feeling that something wasn't right persisted still, and the Doctor knelt down next to Rose. In the faint moonlight he could make out tiny beads of sweat on Rose's forehead – definitely out of place on a chilly night like this.
The Doctor's eyebrows furrowed in concern, and he reached out a hand to brush back a few stray strands of Rose's blonde hair.
Her forehead was burning hot.
The Doctor sighed. He had tried to tell Chua this would happen – that if Rose didn't get some fresh air and sunlight, she could possibly get sick.
And yet, Chua had not listened, and had reprimanded the Doctor for back talking him with a slap to the face.
The Doctor knew he had to help Rose fight her fever somehow, and obviously the blanket and his coat weren't enough to warm her. Careful not to wake her, the Doctor slipped his arms underneath her, lifting her into his arms. Her entire body was as if it were on fire from the fever, and she shook with feverish chills. Taking the blanket she was laying on with them, the Doctor crossed the floor once again to the place where he had been keeping his vigil. He lowered them both back to the floor, positioning Rose to where her head rested on his shoulder. He wrapped her snuggly in the blanket, then tucked his coat around her as well.
Rose seemed to be a bit more relaxed here in his arms, as if she were a child being comforted by her mother during a nightmare.
The Doctor knew tomorrow would be dedicated to helping Rose get better. He knew, deep in his hearts, that there was no way he'd be able to concentrate on finding Tala and Kudit when his mind was clearly back in the village with Rose.
Which meant he would have to work extra hard on the third day, and find the children – or at least find out what had happened to them – before sundown, or the last child or Gallifrey would finally meet his end.
He looked down at Rose's sleeping form and smiled sadly. He really wished she were not here for this. He hoped and prayed that he would be able to find those missing kids. He knew that Rose, his wonderful, brilliant Rose, was willing to do anything in the universe to help him, to keep him from coming to harm, even at the cost of her own life, even by looking into the heart of the TARDIS and absorbing the time vortex.
He had sent her back home, before that. He had tricked her into the safety of the TARDIS on the Gamestation and sent her back to her own time, back to Jackie and Mickey and chips everyday and a dead-end job as a shop girl.
But nothing, nothing, could have kept her from coming back, and nothing ever would.
The Doctor found himself suddenly remembering when he had first met Rose, back when he still had big ears and a Northern accent. She had, quite literally, walked into his life when he needed her most, when he was so lost and alone that he was sure he would never be able to feel anything but pain again.
She had saved him, saved him the life of pain he had lived so long. She had saved him from himself, giving him something worth dying for, and finally something worth living for.
He had almost lost her today. So many times he had almost lost her… The Nestene Consciousness. The year 5 billion, watching the Earth die. Charles Dickens and the ghosts in the basement. The Slitheen. World War II. The Gamestation. The Daleks. The Sycorax. Werewolves. Krillitanes. Ancient Rome. Liquid gold…
He had made her a promise, a promise he was bent on keeping: he was not going to leave her. He would find those children, and then, maybe, just maybe, he would finally have the courage to tell Rose the words that he had not been able to deny from the moment he met her.
But for now, he would watch her sleep, let her stay warm, help her fight her fever.
He was her Doctor, after all…