Aeryn had never been afraid of the woods. Living in this kingdom for two thousand years, give or take, she'd come to know every inch of it like the back of her hand. She'd even go so far as to say she could navigate her way through the woods blindfolded.
Which, ironically, was what she was effectively doing now. With the fifty/fifty split vision of her special glasses, she only had a small window to look through and see what was in front of her, and it was rather distracting, having a view of what was behind her at all times as well. Movements kept making her pause and her eyes would flicker to the mirrors, only to realise it was just her imagination and she was seeing things.
Or was she? She couldn't help the strange and disconcerting feeling that she was being watched.
A rustle from behind her caused her to spin rapidly on the spot, all senses suddenly on high alert, and she decided to amend her original statement.
She'd never been afraid of these woods...until now.
The church wasn't far away – just on the other side of this next clearing she was about to come to. Quickening her pace, she focussed on getting there as quickly as she could, though her eyes continually flicked to the mirrors as she checked what was behind her, scaring herself as she began to panic.
"There's nothing there," she told herself quietly. "There's nothing there. There's nothing there. There's - "
Something large and black slid across the mirrors, and she froze, not even daring to breath as she watched, her heart skipping several beats before turning up the pace and starting it's own rapid drum role, which only seemed to highlight the state of panic she was now in.
Very slowly, and letting out her breath as quietly as she could, she reached up with a trembling hand and flicked the switch on the arm so that the vision became completely mirrored, blocking out whatever was in front of her. Now she was blind to what she was facing, but she could see everything that was happening behind her, and very much wished she couldn't.
A huge black mass was slithering silently through the trees about thirty feet away, leaving a trail of dead foliage in it's wake. It's body was enormous – as round as three men were wide, and so long that she'd been watching it for a good ten seconds now, and it was still coming – the scales pulsating and the muscles moving as it propelled itself along in a way that only snakes can.
But if that was the body, then where was the head?
A movement in front of her caused her to once again hitch in her breath and hold it, but remaining still was becoming increasingly difficult through her tremors of fear.
"Doctor?" She whimpered in the lightest whisper she could manage. "Doctor!"
"Everything all right Hoppity? What's keeping you so long? I thought I might die of old age before you get here, and believe me that's saying something."
"Doctor," she whispered. "Look!"
There was a moment's pause, and then, "Ah. Well then...wasn't expecting that. You're not looking directly at it, are you? No, course you're not, you're using the mirror setting. Smart. Well done. Which leaves us with a problem. Question: If the tail of the basilisk is behind you, where is it's head?"
She didn't want to speak, because somehow she could sense that whatever was in front of her was getting closer.
"Conclusion: It's probably in front of you and you can't see it. Not so smart. Can you switch your glasses back to forward view?"
Despite her best efforts to remain silent and not draw attention to herself, she couldn't help it. "You told me not to look directly at it!"
"Good point. Okay, do it anyway, but close your eyes. I'll look for you. Tell you what's in front of you."
"I'm not sure I want to know," she whimpered, closing her eyes and very, very slowly reaching up to change the settings on the glasses again. "Here goes..."
Squinting her eyes tightly shut, she had to resist the urge to open them and look for herself, as she stood waiting for one of two things to happen. Either the basilisk had found her, and she was about to become it's next meal, or -
A hand grasped hers and she shrieked in fright, her eyes snapping open involuntarily to see the Doctor standing in front of her.
"Run!"
She didn't need telling twice, and the pair of them took off in the opposite direction to the way she'd seen the basilisk heading. There was a loud roar behind them, and crashing sounds. Something was being dragged across the forest floor behind them – a massive bulk, and it didn't take a genius to work out what.
Aeryn reached up and flicked her shades to fifty/fifty, and sure enough there was the basilisk, right on their tail, and gaining fast. And it was truly a creature of nightmares! The head alone was the size of a small car, with a crown of horns on it's head, earning it the nickname 'king of the serpents'. And it had blood red, evil eyes, fangs the length of her forearms, a forked tongue that could easily bare a striking resemblance to a pitchfork, and was probably just as sharp…
"Split up!" the Doctor shouted, letting go of her hand and pushing her one way. He turned the other, and without stopping or even breaking a stride, Aeryn continued to run for her life, leaping over fallen logs, ducking low branches and stumbling through dense undergrowth, not daring to look back.
...
As she reached the edge of the forest, and came upon a sudden drop that led over the edge of a cliff to some raging rapids about seventy feet below, she finally skidded to a halt and turned to look back, bending double to catch her breath. Had she lost it? She'd tried to weave and double back as much as possible, creating what she hoped was an impossible trail to follow. And it seemed like it had worked.
About a quarter of a mile further along, the Doctor emerged onto a similar cliff edge and waved to her, but she didn't hear what he was trying to shout. Not until he began to point frantically back the way they'd both come.
She turned very slowly, a sudden chill running down her spine as the bushes parted and something big pushed it's way through.
Spinning rapidly to turn her back on the creature and avoid looking it directly in the eye, Aeryn saw that it was indeed the basilisk. It had found her. And she had nowhere left to run.
Caught between a rock and a hard place – or rather a deadly snake and a very long drop – she now had a choice. She had to assess the situation in a split second and decide. Which would be the worse fate?
Seeing the image of the creature as it loomed behind her, baring it's fangs and coiling itself ready for the strike, she came to the quickest decision she'd ever made.
Mind you, it really was no contest, and as the basilisk lunged forward, she pulled the glasses off, shoved them in the pocket of her jacket, took a running jump and leapt off the edge of the cliff, out into the wide open expanse of air. For a moment – one brief, glorious moment – it felt like she was flying. Time seemed to slow, and she felt weightless and free.
The basilisk's jaws snapped shut in the place she'd been just seconds before with a resounding crack, and then she was falling. Her stomach lurched and her arms and legs flailed helplessly as she dropped.
Ten feet.
Twenty feet.
Thirty.
Fifty.
The water was rising rapidly now, and there was a loud rushing in her ears. She couldn't even breath, let alone scream, and the force of the drop brought tears to her eyes. Though that could also have been the sudden knowledge of what was coming next, as well.
To say she was scared was an understatement, but there was nothing she could do. Except keep falling, and try to prepare herself with the few seconds she had left.
Bracing for the impact, which she knew was going to hurt a hell of a lot more than anything else she'd ever experienced in her life, she tried her best to keep her feet together, and her arms by her sides. No point trying to dive head first – even she knew that was suicide. Besides she didn't have the time to twist herself now. All she could do was fall, and hope.
Slamming into the water was like hitting concrete and she lost consciousness almost instantly, the Doctor's scream as he called her name the last thing she heard, before the blackness consumed her.
The Doctor watched as Aeryn made the bravest and boldest decision of her life, by leaping out into the open expanse of air that would surely lead to her death. A human could survive the fall, providing they went in feet first which Aeryn had done...but Aeryn was fragile. So very fragile, and the fall alone would kill her for sure. As soon as she hit the water, she'd fracture into a thousand pieces. And if, by some small miracle she survived, the raging rapids would most definitely drown her within minutes. Not to mention the rocks and other deadly assortment of objects beneath the surface that could cause her all manner of harm.
For the second time in as many months, he'd been forced to watch a good person – a good friend of his – choose the manner of their own death, and face it with as much courage and dignity as they could under the circumstances, leaving him to pick up the pieces in the aftermath.
Clara had faced the raven, and Aeryn had leapt off a cliff, choosing that death to the admittedly more terrifying one of the basilisk which was even now peering over the edge, watching for any sign of life from the rapids below.
But whilst Aeryn went into the water, she never surfaced again. She was lost, and the Doctor was once again alone.
The basilisk snorted in annoyance and turned away to find another victim instead, and the Doctor stood watching for several minutes longer, hoping and praying that the Caerleon girl would surprise him. She was a fighter. She'd told him herself that she'd endured this long. Two thousand years of life, of memories and emotions and thoughts and feelings and laughter and sadness, all snuffed out in an instant. Literally washed away.
He'd have to tell her father.
Sucking in a sharp breath, the Doctor wondered which way the basilisk had gone. Because right then, looking that foul creature in the eye was a lot more appealing than the thought of facing the Governor and telling him that his daughter had died.
A few minutes later, however, he would come to regret this decision as he and the basilisk once again crossed paths.
