The Doctor had been right, though that didn't really surprise Rose any more. The temperature continued to climb and even after being there just a matter of hours, they could both feel the difference. And it continued to climb higher and higher. Unbearable seemed right to Rose. However, even as she found herself sweating profusely, she wondered and worried about how the Doctor was making it through. Every time she looked at him, she could see that, while he put on a brave front, he wasn't actually fairing much better. Actually, it appeared to Rose that he was doing significantly worse. Sweat poured from him and his eyes showed his exhaustion, though his body posture tried to say otherwise. Rose knew that if she was having a hard time of it, and she was well, then the Doctor, who was sick, had it worse. Although, if the heat alone wasn't bad enough, the swamp itself added to their misery.

The mud looked much more watery from the rock. Just looking at the surface gave the illusion that it was mostly water and, while it wouldn't be pleasant, wouldn't be a problem. However, once they were in it, the pair found that even though there was a good amount of water in it, there was also a lot of mud. They stood about ankle deep in thick, gooey mud that tried to suck their shoes off. At their shins was more watery mud, but they still had to struggle to get through it as well. Above that, reaching their knees, was the anticipated water.

They trudged on, the Doctor not stopping, not even after his feet drug further and longer and he struggled to stay standing. Rose followed, watching him like a hawk. She wanted to speak to him, but they hadn't said a word to each other since they left the TARDIS.

"Doctor!" Rose called, breaking the self-imposed silence. "Maybe we should take a break and rest."

The Doctor, who was just a step or two in front of her, stopped. Rose came up beside him as he contemplated the proposition, his eyes still looking out over the swamp.

"Look, there's a rock nearby. We could rest there a spell. Not for long, just long enough for the both of us to catch our breath," she looked up at him. "Sounds good, yeah? What do you say?"

The Doctor's mind whizzed. Although he wanted to continue on, to press forward, he had to admit that he really did need a break. He was exhausted; they had been pushing forwards through the muck and mud underneath the sweltering sun for hours without stop despite they fact that they had no idea where they were going. Still, if he died right now, it would be for nothing.

Rose looked worriedly up at him as she waited for his reply, watching his shoulders heave up and down with each breath and his eyes flick around the horizon as he thought. A second later, he nodded, muttering his consent. Rose let out a sigh, releasing her tension.

"Okay," he said a little louder, looking down to Rose. "Let's rest, just for a bit though. We can't stay put forever."

Rose nodded a little, getting a nod and a small smile from the Doctor. They wadded over to the rock and clamored up onto it, the Doctor slipping a little on the slanted surface; His converse shoes didn't really afford much traction, and it really didn't help they were covered in slimy mud.

They sat there, just sitting for a moment, taking a moment to just rest.

"Doctor?" Rose scooted closer to him.

"Hm?" the Doctor looked over to her.

"How are you holding up?"

He pushed a damp strand of hair out of his eye. "As well as can be expected."

"That well, huh?"

The Doctor smiled tiredly. "Yeah. That well."

Rose cocked her head a little. "Is it just me, or is the color of your eyes lighter?"

"How do you mean?"

"Your eyes, they don't look the same as they did. They look…lighter. Like...they aren't quite as dark as they used to be. That's the way it seems to me anyhow."

"I don't follow."

"The brown, it looks lighter," she paused. "No, it's definitely lighter. Definitely. And don't tell me," she spoke louder as he opened his mouth to speak, "that it's the lighting. I know better. If it were, your eyes would look darker, not lighter."

"Oh, I guess it's started to show then. I was hoping you wouldn't notice but," he sighed, "who am I kidding? You always were sharp."

"What's started to show? What do you mean? What in the world is making your eyes lighter?"

"The disease. It's just yet another sign. As the disease progresses, the iris, that's the colored part of the eye, lightens in color until it's almost white. Well, until it is white actually. It's less noticeable until much later in light-eyed people, but for someone like me, it's very noticeable early on in that stage. Guess I'm right on schedule, sadly."

"That sounds awful, and kind of painful."

"It's not even half as bad as it sounds. I don't feel anything. It doesn't hurt at all. Unless I look in a mirror, I don't even know it's happening actually. It's more cosmetic than anything. It doesn't even mess with my vision. Well, other than perception."

"You mentioned something like that earlier. You mentioned that Time Lords couldn't identify other Time Lords and such."

"Yes, well, it goes a little deeper than that. As my eyes get whiter, my perception…uh…protection lessens. I suppose that's a good way to put it."

"I'm lost."

"Oh, well…uh, like I said, I cannot tell another Time Lord from a human or any other humanoid species. Also, I can be tricked by things like psychic paper, filters and other such things will fool me, things like that. Nothing as serious as completely losing my vision, thank goodness. Better to lose perception than all sight."

"I suppose so…"

Rose looked up at she heard an ear-piercing squawk coming from over head. She spotted a brightly colored bird flying almost directly over their heads, squawking and carrying on as though there was no tomorrow, which Rose thought, just for a morbid moment, that there might not be. The Doctor's eyes followed her, looking to the odd bird as well, albeit with more curiosity and excitement than Rose.

"What was that?" Rose asked him after it had gone, looking to the Doctor.

"A salek," his eyes still looked where the bird had disappeared. "Swamp dwelling bird, obviously. Native to this planet here, though you can find it other places due to travelers capturing them here and then breeding them outside this planet. Poachers…anyway, they tend to be seen in the main heat of the day."

"Why? Doesn't the heat bother them?"

"No, the heat doesn't really affect them because their feathers have a reflective property that not only repels water, allowing them to get into the water and cool off without getting dirty, but also repels sunlight, keeping them fairly cool even without water. As for why, well, it's thought that it actually wants to be seen."

"Certainly no problem with that."

"Yeah, and with the reflective properties of its feathers, it really catches the light. A bit of a showoff, they are. That's my opinion of course. I've also heard they are just distractions."

"Distractions? What for?"

"Well, usually for…" he trailed off as his eyes widened when he felt the shaking beneath them, "…that…"

His eyes were over Rose's shoulder, and she had to twist around and look up to see what he was staring at.

In the distance, a large creature, easily the size of an elephant, moved slowly along. It was thick and even at a far its skin looked slimy and slick while its hide also looked as though it was made out of dark leather. A hefty, long neck stretched high among the trees, touching the bottom of the canopy and four, wide legs supported it from underneath, though its bulky feet disappeared into the swamp below. Long fangs hung from the roof of its mouth with a head that looked like something straight out of a child's dinosaur book. It had no tail, as Rose would've expected, but it got along just fine without it, ambling along and moving faster than would've been expected from something its size, although comparatively, it was still rather slow as it lumbered along through the mud.

"Get down!" the Doctor hissed to Rose. "Put your hands on the rock in front of you!" He demonstrated.

"Why?"

"Don't ask questions now! Just do it! Hurry! Before it sees you!"

"But why? Why would it matter?" she asked, though she did as he had instructed and demonstrated. She felt like she was back on the playground in grade school, playing the family dog or whatever four-legged creature they had come up with. However, this game was much more sinister.

"Because that's a poce."

"That's a weird name."

"A weird name for a weird creature. Quite fitting. But a poce is normally a very docile creature except if it sees anything walking on two legs, even another poce."

"What? Does it become aggressive?"

"Enraged more like. It starts to chase after and attack the offending being and won't stop until it's sure you're dead. And unlike some creatures, you can't fake out a poce. It's spurred on by sight and movement; it's supposedly deaf and its sight isn't great, so it can't easily see anything unless it's moving or brightly contrasting with its surroundings. And I hate to say it, but red and blue don't exactly fit in here. Despite this, its sense of smell is wonderful and that's how it knows if you're dead. It can smell the decay before it's even really started."

"But, why? Why does it hate bipeds like that? I would think it wouldn't even matter."

"No idea. No one really knows. No one's tested any theories."

"For good reason."

"Yeah, but if you can at least appear to walk on all fours, as we do now, before it sees you, you should be okay."

Rose held her breath as the poce got closer. It passed so close to them that she could smell the sweat on its leathery skin. It made her want to gag as it reeked worse than the muddy swamp itself. Even as it passed right by them, jarring both sets of teeth, it never looked down to them. It just kept its large, stupid milky eyes pointing straight ahead.

"Probably going to feed," the Doctor muttered when it had left.

"How come we haven't seen more creatures like that? Well, more creatures at all, really? I mean, I know it's a swamp and all, but I would've expected to see a few more beings."

"The answer is simple. Actually, there are creatures all around all the time, but few creatures are adapted for the heat. All of them are adapted for a specific temperature range, and here, that translates into certain times during the planet's rotation. Most creatures avoid the major heat with the few exceptions of things like saleks and poce. They aren't really bothered by it, though I am a bit surprised by the poce. I would've thought it would've been very susceptible to heat. However, I can almost completely assure you that we will see more creatures as the night comes. Right around nightfall, that's when the creatures start really coming out."

"Is that a good thing? Something to look forward to?"

The Doctor took a deep breath. "Depends."

"What do you mean by that?" Rose raised an eyebrow.

"Depends on what comes out, and whether the stories I've heard are true. And so far, they have been."