A/N: Yay for plot development! So here we are going into the thick of things. Sorry about the slow updates, I have several essays due, a debate and two research papers due in the next month so I have been spending the majority of my time in the library and that's a party. I am actually supposed to be writing a paper on Nazi Eugenic Laws as we speak but who wants to do that? As always I have no beta so excuse the errors or help me find them and perfect them. Anyways, I wanted to make this scene creepy but still on line with Doctor Who-ish themes. Hope you all enjoy, and chocolate if you review :)
Chapter 10
The creature curled its neck around the tree, and stared Rose straight in the face. Rose looked deeply into the gaunt, sunken face, trying not to scream while the dead eyes examined her. The creature cracked a smile, revealing sharp, pointed and rotting teeth. The sweet smell of decay surrounded Rose, filling her nostrils with purification.
"Sisters," it keened. "She will do for a sacrifice. We can feast on her heart before we feast on the male."
The creature reached down, and clasped its clammy hand around Rose's shoulder. Rose could feel the long black nails pushing gently against her jumper, ready to tear through the wool and flesh with the slightest provocation. She gulped, trying to stay strong. There would be no use in crying or screaming or attempting to run. There was no one around for miles and the Doctor certainly wasn't in any position to help. She had to stay strong. For the Doctor.
The thing pushed her forwards, threatening to break Rose's shoulder if she didn't comply. Rose could feel its hot breath against the back of her neck as its head lolled on its long neck and it stalked on its gangly legs.
"She is pretty," said the tallest one. Rose assumed it was the leader. It had an air of authority over the others. "She will do well to make us beautiful."
"And what do you mean by that," Rose asked. Her voice squeaked. She was ashamed at how weak and scared she sounded. She had killed off the entire Dalek race and she couldn't even face three old...hag women.
There was another keening sound that Rose recognized as laughter.
"The little woman thinks that she can defy us," one of them screeched in delight. Their heads moved eerily as they talked, bobbing in the air as if separate from their hunched bodies.
"I," Rose began, faltering. "I am the Bad Wolf, destroyer of the Daleks and enforcer of the...Shadow Proclamation." She remembered how badly she had failed at this type of thing the last time she was on her own. When her new Doctor had been unconscious and the Sycoraxs had been threatening to invade Earth. They had all laughed at her, and the Doctor was the one who had saved them. Not her. She hoped she sounded more convincing than she had then. "And by order of section nine and three quarters, you are hereby banished from Earth."
The creatures hissed. The sound was low and threatening, but pierced Rose to her core. She glanced over at the Doctor who was still sitting quiet contently, staring at the leader like she was the most interesting woman in the world. Rose felt a slight pang of jealousy. He looked so human, so unguarded.
"What do you know of the Shadow Proclamation?" The alien hissed menacingly.
"She cannot be from the village, she must not be human."
"She smells human to me, sister," said the one on the far left, closest to the Doctor. "She reeks of emotion and fear."
The creatures eyed her more cautiously, but the one behind her had still not removed its claws from her body.
"I am an enforcer of peace in the Universe, protector of the human race from aliens like you who wish to exploit them," Rose said, her voice growing stronger. She realized they were more wary, knowing she was not a simple towns person from medieval Ireland. "And I order you to release whatever hold you have over my...companion."
This apparently warranted laughter from the trio of aliens. It was chilling and goose pimples raced up Rose's spine.
"We have no hold over him," one of them hissed gleefully. "He is here on his own accord."
"What did you do to him!" Rose demanded.
"He is simply mesmerized by our beauty," they cackled. "All men are drawn to us, all men desire us. They gaze into our eyes and can see no other option but to follow us and do our bidding. Whatever our bidding may be. Our pheromones are so overwhelming to their senses that the smell alone drives them mad."
Rose took a deep breath, trying to detect this smell they spoke of, receiving only the sweet smell of death for her efforts. She choked back a gag.
"And why are you here on Earth. Why can't you...mesmerize your own kind?"
"They were taken from us," the leader wailed. She threw her head in the air and howled, filling the silence with sorrow and anger. Rose was surprised how palpable the creature's emotions were. She could feel them radiating from their skins. It was an odd feeling.
"Our planet, Ilealel, was beautiful until the war. We were peaceful. We have villages and communities and children. We were happy. But another race invaded and the men went off to fight, to protect their women as was tradition. It was a bloody war, filled with sorrow and death. And our mates never came back. We were left starving in our villages with no hope to survive, our children were dying."
"We are some of the few that left," came a hissing from over Rose's shoulder. The one behind her had picked up where the other left off. "We crashed here when the ship ran out of fuel, and we have been hunting for food, trying to survive since."
Rose glanced over at the decaying bodies of the unscathed victims. "But you don't eat them," Rose began, "what do you need them for?"
"Foolish humans, un-evolved stupid beings who think that everything in the universe acts as they do. Arrogant." The leader mocked, her claws clicking together with indignation. "We do not feed on flesh as you do. We do not require corporal food to satisfy our hunger."
"But you took Treasa's heart," Rose said, trying to put together the mystery.
"We took the heart and consumed it to take her beauty. When we eat the hearts of those more desired than ourselves, we gain their admiration, their powers. We consumed her heart and now we are stronger than ever, as her attraction flows through our veins."
"But you don't feed on males."
This also prompted laughter from the creatures. Rose scowled. She didn't like to be laughed at.
"We don't need their flesh to satisfy hunger," one of them repeated. "We feed off of lust, sexual energy. We feed until they die, of hunger or thirst or exhaustion. They do not sleep when they come to us, they are too enamoured with our beauty. They think of nothing but us, until they die. Humans are so pathetic, letting their emotions take hold so strongly. They are too simple to think of anything but their lust, letting it consume them. We do not kill. They kill themselves."
Rose was horrified. Did that mean that they...
She shook her head. The Doctor remained untouched, as far as she could tell. And the rest of the identifiable dead men all still had their clothes on.
The things were still speaking. "Our men were strong, able to control their emotions, not let lust invade on the rest of their lives, like ourselves."
"Well so what if humans are emotional?" Rose began to grow angry. "Our emotions are what make us human. We can feel, empathize, love, and let it consume us because it makes us happy. We may be simple in your eyes, but our lives are about satisfying our emotions even our lust. No one wants to be unhappy, or sad, or angry or unsatisfied," she trailed off, thinking. "We allow our hearts to lead our decisions and we will follow whatever makes us...feel loved. You know nothing of human strength."
Rose Tyler was livid. She was absolutely and undeniably angry. She had never felt so angry in her life then she did at that moment. Rose didn't have to justify what it meant to be human to the three ugly gangling giants that stood before her. They were like the others that she had encountered, the Cybermen, the Daleks, the Krillitane or whatever else she had faced in the past year or so. They all underestimated humans, placing them in the 'weak' or 'inconsequential' categories of their alien catalogues. A race to be used and manipulated. Humans were so much stronger than they believed. They survived. Rose had seen it herself, on New Earth. Sure they were hybrid species, but they survived nonetheless. Longer than any other alien species that she knew. Emotions are what made them survive, their will to live, their determination, their love for one another, children and families. And she would be damned if she let these creatures exploit human's wonderful emotions.
Especially hers. Rose never fully realised it. Well maybe she did, maybe she always knew and just repressed her feelings because that's what she was supposed to do. But she knew now how strongly she felt about the Doctor. She didn't follow him around just for him. She followed him because she needed to, because she wanted to. With every fiber of her being. He filled the gap in her life's meaning and she filled the gap in his. The Doctor was the most amazing man she had ever met. And he was there, just feet away from her, kneeling helplessly on the forest floor. Blissfully unaware of what was going on around him.
"You will give him back, and you will leave this planet alone," Rose said, her voice loud and unwavering.
There was a tense silence in the air, as the echo of her voice faded from the trees. The creatures seemed unsure. They fed off emotion, and Rose had just let out a significant amount of anger and love and hatred.
Suddenly, they began laughing again.
"Can you feel that, sisters?" The leader cried out through her high pitched squeals. "This one has feeling for the male that we have captured."
"Yes sister, they are strong indeed. Too bad the female will be dead soon and he will sustain us with no one to intervene."
"They can join each other in death," the one behind Rose mocked, hissing through her teeth. "How romantic."
"NO!" Rose roared, pulling away from the creature. She felt the nails tighten and rip into her jumper, piercing her skin as she tore away from its grasp. It hurt, but she ignored the pain. "You will leave this planet. It is peaceful and has no quarrel with your kind and have declared no war. It is illegal, according to the Shadow Proclamation for you to be here, so you will leave."
"And who will make us," the creature asked, its head bobbing contemptuously. Rose wanted nothing more than it punch its gaunt face, mocking her with its eyebrows raised and a smirk playing around its black lips.
Rose could not come up with a good answer to that question. She was already bleeding from the cuts on her shoulder, she could feel the blood soaking her sweater. They were deep cuts. She had no means of communication with anyone else, let alone someone who could help her, and she couldn't fight off the creatures on her own.
"That's what I thought," the leader purred. "Put her next to the male, so he can watch as we slowly cut away her chest and dig her heart out. He will do nothing, of course, but her helplessness and betrayal will feel so sweet.
Rose was pushed and prodded towards the centre of clearing, in the middle of the circle of the creatures. She was forced onto her knees beside the delusional Doctor who was studying the leader's black stringy hair rather intently.
"Are you going to do anythin'," she pleaded desperately.
He appeared not to hear her, continuing to stare at the aliens with a fanciful expression in his eyes. Rose almost threw up. He looked like a love sick puppy. She wanted to hit him, yell, and scream until he snapped out of his stupor. She wanted to beg until he woke up.
"Help me," she whispered into his ear, leaning close to his body, as she had once done when she was in danger from a psychotic Christmas tree. However, there was no effect, as there had been the last time, and still the Doctor ignored her.
"Yes," the creatures spoke, "say your last goodbyes. You will soon be part of us, helping us draw men into our clutches."
One of the aliens screeched delightfully, apparently the irony was not lost upon her.
"Doctor," Rose whispered urgently. "I know I won't have another chance to say this. This will be my last chance to say anythin', I suppose. But I needed you to know...that...I care for you. I wanted to be with you, until I died. I guess I got what I wanted, but you have to know it's not your fault. I know somewhere, deep down, you know what I am sayin' even if you are hypnotised. Just don't blame yourself. You couldn't have done anything. I chose to follow you. I chose to die with you. Because...I," Rose gulped, unsure if she could continue.
Luckily, she didn't have to.
"You have talked enough," the leader declared. "Now, it is time for those powerful emotions to be put to rest."
Rose could tell they were taking the mickey out of her, but she could not work herself up to be annoyed. She leaned into the Doctor, and groped for his hand. She knew he didn't know she was beside him, but it comforted her knowing that he was with her.
He turned his blank eyes towards Rose, staring at her, but not really seeing her.
And then Rose did something incredibly impulsive. She didn't think, she didn't analyze, she just did what her fast beating heart told her.
She closed her eyes, leaned in and kissed the Doctor.
It was chaste, just a fleeting goodbye kiss where their lips barely touched. But it was enough to prompt something that Rose did not expect.
The Doctor fell over onto the forest floor with a dull thud, apparently unconscious.
Yay for Doctor-Rose fluff! Also this is a kiss a la Cassandra in the Episode "New Earth", it doesn't especially count because the Doctor is out of commission and Rose is affected by all the hormones floating around in the air so they both aren't thinking straight. At the same time, I wanted to make Rose a stronger figure, and so she has to figure out this situation on her own. I always feel that the Doctor saves the day, so for once, I want Rose to save the day (yes, I know there are several instances of companions directly or indirectly fixing the problems, but it's never outright and the Doctor always swings in at the last moment). But I hope you enjoyed anyways and as always, I appreciate any reviews you want to give me! ~ Hayley