"We're lost, aren't we?"
"Absolutely not. What gave you that idea?" The Doctor replied with a frown, glancing to his redheaded companion.
"I don't know.. Probably the fact that we've walked past this tree six times and you'd get lost trying to get to the end of a one way road." She replied with a smirk.
"Oi! When have I ever got us lost?" When he saw Amy opening her mouth to respond, he quickly held his hand up, "No! I don't want you to answer that. Point taken, but we're absolutely not lost."
"Okay," Amy nodded, a sly grin forming on her lips. "Where are we then?"
"In a forest."
"You know what I mean, Doctor."
"In a dark forest."
"Doctor!"
"Okay, okay, we're lost! Happy?" He finally replied with a long suffering sigh.
"Why would I be happy? We're lost." Amy pointed out, though there was a happy grin on her lips. She couldn't deny that she enjoyed the alone time with the Doctor, even though they were wandering through some dark forest that seemed to take them in never ending circles. She liked the peace and quiet.
"Aha!" Well, she hadn't expected it to last that long anyway.
"What is it?" Amy asked curiously, looking around in an attempt to discover what had got the Doctor so interested.
"Can you smell it? Look at this," he said whilst hopping up to one of the tree trunks. "This," the Doctor patted one of the trees before proceeding to lick the bark, causing Amy to grimace, "Is not a real tree! It's not wood!"
"What is it then?"
"It's.. I don't know. Still working on that one. But do you know why it's so strange?"
"Because trees are made of wood?"
"Good thinking, but no." The Doctor grinned and pointed down to the path they were still following. "The roots. They're made out of wood. They're normal.. Well, as normal as roots naturally weaving themselves into a path can get."
"Right.. So the root path is wood, but the trees are some strange material?" Amy confirmed, pausing when the Doctor nodded. "Did someone make the trees then?" She asked slowly.
"Quite possibly.. But why cut trees down just to put in your own? I mean, surely that's just creating more effort for yourself and- Oh."
"Oh? Was that a good oh? It didn't sound like a good oh.."
"Definitely not a good oh." The Doctor looked around quickly, instantly alert. "You know when I said this was going to be relaxing?"
Amy knew what was coming next. "Yeah..?"
"That may have been a slight miscalculation depending on what you find relaxing."
"Doctor, what is it?" The Scot asked as she looked around them both, although it was hard to see past the small beam of light that the torch held by the Doctor cast around them.
"The trees are explosives. We're in the equivalent of a mine field.. Except the mines will eat us." The Doctor finished his sentence rather quickly, rushing his words out in the hope that they wouldn't matter. They did.
"The trees are going to eat us?!" Amy exclaimed with wide eyed confusion as she looked to the seemingly harmless trees. Maybe the Doctor had finally lost it. "That's not possible.."
"Of course it is! Now come on and keep your voice down. We'll be fine as long as we make it back to the TARDIS." He said with a firm nod, reaching out to grasp his companion's hand as he stepped back onto the path and set off at a brisk pace.
"But we're lost.." Amy reminded him, quite unhelpfully in his view.
"Forever the pessimist, hey Pond?" The Doctor said with a raised eyebrow, tapping her nose.
"I'm failing to see the optimistic side of this." Amy sighed before pausing and glancing to her feet. She could've sworn there hadn't been a root raised up from the others a moment ago. "Doctor.."
"Hush. Just move faster." Came the whispered reply as the Time Lord tightened his grip on her hand and began to hurry them along.
A few moments later and a rustling sound could be heard within the trees, small spots of sunlight occasionally bursting through the thick canopy to land on the ground as the branches parted to sink to the earth.
"Doctor.." Amy whispered again, watching as a tree root began to slowly slither along the ground behind them. She was so focused on watching the root's movement that she didn't see the small rut in the path and fell to the ground when her foot caught the edge. "Dammit.." She cursed as the Doctor looked down to her, reaching out to take her hand.
"Amy, hurry up. Come on." He urged her as she reached for his hand before she froze.
"Something's got my leg.." She whispered, swallowing as she felt a vice like grip around her ankle. "Oh my god.. Doctor!" Amy yelled as she felt herself being pulled roughly along the ground, away from her friend. "Doctor, it's got me!"
"Amy! Stay calm, just try and kick it off!" The Doctor called, racing after her.
Amy groaned in frustration at his useless advice, kicking against the root with all her might. "What do you think I'm doing?!"
"You don't sound very calm!" He pointed out, though decided to say no more when he received a rather threatening look. How Amy managed to look threatening when she was being dragged backwards across the ground, he had no idea.
"Oh my god.." Amy breathed when she looked down her body and caught a glimpse of other roots beginning to surround her feet. She was going to be pulled into the ground.. At least it wasn't by Silurians. She instantly began to scrabble for something to cling to on the ground, but any branch or root she managed to catch a hold of either snapped or decided to join in the efforts of the other roots and wrap itself around her wrist. "Doctor!" She called, looking up once more after receiving no reply. Her heart sank when she saw nothing but darkness ahead of her.
"Get.. Off.. My.. Friend!" Came an angry shout from behind her, each word being emphasised with a dull thud. Amy looked to her feet once more to see the Doctor holding an axe and looking rather pleased with himself. It was then that she realised that the roots had become slack around her ankles and wrists, and the thudding she had heard must've been from the Doctor cutting through the wood. Or the not wood, whatever it was.
"Thanks.. Cut it a little fine, though.." She said with a slightly shaky laugh, pulling the roots from her wrists before turning around to sit up and do the same with the roots that were wrapped around her legs and ankles.
"A simple 'thanks for saving my life' is just fine, actually." The Doctor replied with a grin as he crouched beside her and settled the axe on the ground. "You okay?" He asked, his voice now soft and tinged with concern.
"Yeah.. A bit dirty, but I'll survive." Amy replied with a nod, brushing the dirt from her jumper and jeans before taking the Doctor's proffered hand and pulling herself to her feet beside him. "What the hell were they? I thought the roots were meant to be the normal wood?"
"I'm not sure.. But I don't fancy hanging around to find out right now. Shall we get going?" He asked as he glanced to the trees around them, still holding Amy's hand.
"That sounds good. Do you know where the forest ends?" She asked before pausing. "And.. Where did you find an axe?"
"I think there's a clearing a few miles from here.. Maybe a little village. It's closer than the TARDIS so we'll stay there for the night. We can investigate tomorrow morning."
Amy nodded in agreement, noticing for the first time that day how tired she was. And hungry.. She could do with a drink as well. "And the axe?"
"I found it embedded in a tree. Maybe someone came in here by mistake and tried to chop their way out when the roots started moving." The Doctor shrugged as he started forwards whilst ensuring Amy was walking by his side. "Or maybe one of the locals left it in here.. Either way, it's not part of the forest. Stuck out like a sore thumb."
"Shouldn't we take it with us in case we get attacked again?"
"No, the forest needs to heal.. Reenergise and repair the damage we did. I imagine its a little bit like a Venus fly trap. Did you ever have one?"
"Yeah.. My mum always told me off for playing with it and getting it to close when there wasn't a fly." Amy said with a nod.
"Exactly like that. If you play with it too much then the trap will eventually end up digesting itself or withering, depending on whether it has released the digestive acids or not. When these roots caught you, they were going to drag you down and ah.. Well.. Digest you. Don't look at me like that! I saved you!" The Doctor complained when Amy shot him a horrified glare. She rolled her eyes at him a moment later and he continued. "The acids will have already been released, but because you're not in there to be digested, it'll harm the systems in some way. So before these roots can attack again, before the forest is ready to feast again, it needs to flush out the unused acids and toxins, giving us time to escape." He finished with a smile. "It's rather brilliant."
"A carnivorous forest. Absolutely wonderful." Amy muttered sarcastically, though her hand tightened around the Doctor's. She wasn't in the mood to get digested, especially not in a forest. "You know what? I prefer the Star Whale's tongue." She decided with a nod.
"Really? It was a bit.." The Doctor made a face and held his nose before wafting away an imagined bad smell.
"Well at least it didn't actually eat us!"
"Neither has the forest."
"Shut up."
"I would, but I'm afraid you'd offend the locals with your lack of knowledge of their culture. Come on." The Doctor said with a smile as he gestured to the lights just about visible through the trees. "We're there. Let's hope there's some sort of inn.."
Hello! Sorry this chapter is a little late, life is crazy at the mo :) Thanks for reading, I hope you enjoyed it, and rates and reviews are spectacularly appreciated, as always! :)