The Doctor had been right, as was expected really. As the day grew on and night drew closer, more and more creatures began to poke out of their day time hiding holes and emerge out into the open. Creatures resembling a whole assortment of creatures Rose was familiar with popped out all over. A few resembling deer poked their heads out, munching on the tall grasses that thrived in the swamps until Rose and the Doctor got too close, causing them to scamper off. Just like real deer, Rose thought. Odd-looking alligators with spines on their heads oozed through the swamp, ignoring Rose and the Doctor completely, while long, flashy golden salamanders swished along beside the large reptiles and danced around the travelers' legs. Giraffes with spines down the lengths of their backs and hardened, almost bark-textured skin covering their spindly legs majestically sloshed past, nibbling on the trees' leaves as they moved, paying no mind to the duo. All manner of birds, colored all sorts of different ways and in all kind of bizarre patterns, breezed overhead, chattering and chirping to each other in flight. It was quite a sight to behold, a swamp that earlier that day had shown no signs of life now bursting with it. Rose looked on, enthralled and amazed despite the Doctor's constant warnings about the creatures. Of course, he also conceded that he was just going by stories and hearsay. However, he had a point when he said that none of them had been wrong yet.

While the wildlife around them was thriving, the Doctor was not doing as well. He tried to keep up a strong appearance, but Rose could see easily that he was hurting. His face was constantly sweating even more so than before, even as the temperature dropped and his eyes betrayed how exhausted he really was. Thankfully, the sonic screwdriver could easily separate and clean the water, allowing the pair to drink during their trek; the Doctor teased Rose about how she had found his collapsible cup with a filter purchase several planets back a waste of money. Still, it only helped to restore their strength so much. They had only eaten very little because they weren't really sure what was safe and what wasn't, and they didn't feel like experimenting very much. They did come across a plant that looked stunningly like lettuce, though it tasted like honey instead, as well as a few other fruit specimens. The Doctor had even had the seemingly brilliant idea of wrapping the lettuce plant around some of the other fruit, though his stomach protested loudly and quickly rejected his meal. His only saving grace was that the plant was actually readily available, after they had figured out it was safe. And it gave Rose a quick chuckle.

Dusk was falling rapidly as the Doctor and Rose sat on another, more bumpy rock munching some more fruit. It was a rather new variety they had just gathered the gumption to try. It looked like it was made out of raw steak and tasted like meat, but thankfully not raw meat. It was, however, covered in a thick, spiny shell making it hard to get to. Still, the pair found the payoff very much worth it. It also seemed to have similar nutritional properties as meat, on an average scale, the Doctor noted. Even though Rose had her doubts about it at first glance, the Doctor insisted that they both eat some each twenty-four hours. He told her that not only would it help them with their energy level, but it would also ward off the runs, or some equivalent, something he definitely didn't want to deal with out in a swamp.

"This really isn't so bad," Rose admitted, taking another bite into her red fruit. "I thought it would be…more raw. You know, I was really expecting it to taste like raw meat." She shuddered.

"No. Just because it looks like raw meat doesn't mean it will taste like it, unless you like raw meat," the Doctor shook his head and took a bite of his. "The meah fruit tastes like whatever meat you like best, whether you realize it or not. It tricks your tongue, conforming to whatever will fit it best. And I must say, it's marvelous. I haven't tasted this in…years. Many, many years."

"Another one of those freaky alien things, yeah?" Rose smiled at him.

The Doctor chuckled. "Yep. One of those freaky alien things."
Rose looked back out to the close horizon. The sun was falling fairly quickly, casting long, dark shadows over everything in sight. The leaves lit up, translucent, shining blue and silver in the setting sunlight. Over the horizon, out into what little sky they could see from under the cover of the trees, a small dash of pink, and a little splatter of purple contrasted with all manner of blues that ranged from light, almost white, to dark royal and navy blues stretching as far as the eye could see. A sky which had been yellow and dirty looking now looked clean and clear with the blue dominating it.

"It's gorgeous," Rose breathed. She looked back at the Doctor. "I have a question though."

"Yeah?" the Doctor's teeth sunk into his meah.

"Why is it blue? The sky, why is the sunset blue? I mean, I'm not trying to knock it or nothing, but I was just wondering because it's red and orange on Earth, so why is it blue here?"

The Doctor looked up, his mouth holding his fruit. He completed his bite through and chewed slowly as he explained. "It's just a blue sunset. On Earth, you have red sunsets caused by the setting sun hitting the atmosphere at just the right angle and hitting all the impurities at just the right angle, setting them a light and, consequently, creating Earth's red dominated sunsets. Well, here, it's the same concept, but blue."

"Why is it so different? Why wouldn't it be red here too?"

The Doctor nonchalantly shrugged. "It's a simple cause of different elements making up the ozone."

"And we can still breathe?"

"Well, the chemicals in the atmosphere can be the same while the ozone is different."

"Well, it hardly matters. It's beautiful."

An amused expression eased onto the Doctor's face as he watched Rose look out to the sunset again. Rose couldn't help but smile at the pure and elegant beauty of something as simple as a foreign setting sun. Her eyes sparkled as little orbs of bright blue light began to float through the air and around them as though they were studying the newcomers. As one passed in front of Rose's nose, she got a good look at one. It looked very much like a firefly, although its whole body lit up with its blue light rather than just its rear.

"They're beautiful," Rose breathed, reaching her finger out to attempt to touch one.

"Don't touch," the Doctor warned. Rose pulled her finger away, her eyes staying on the bug. "They're called lightning bugs for a reason. Although on Earth, fireflies are also called lightning bugs in various parts, these guys actually earn their name. They do give you a small jolt should you touch one. It's a literal meaning for them."

Rose looked over at him just as a lightning bug passed by his face, illuminating one side of his dark, shadow shrouded face in a soft, pale blue light, casting dark contrasting shadows over the other side. The side that the lightning bug happened to light was the one almost completely covered in his red rash, and the blue lit up the rash like a neon sign, broadcasting a message that Rose already knew and didn't need to see again. The Doctor smiled a little at her and the bug passed, covering his face with darkness again like someone had blown out the only candle in a dark room.

"Let's rest here for a while. No, better yet, let's get some sleep while we're here. The lightning bugs will go dormant soon and it will be too dark to travel for a few hours," the Doctor stated. "It's a perfect time to catch some Z's. After that lull, night time creatures should be coming out. They should make it easier for us to continue traveling."

Rose nodded absently, looking back to the horizon and sunset. The Doctor just smiled and laid on his side, stretching out his body as far as the rock would allow, his back facing Rose. He was asleep almost as soon as he closed his eyes, a quiet snoring soon coming from him. Rose watched the sunset a while longer until she too felt her eyelids drooping. She then relented and stretched out beside the Doctor, facing the opposite way as him, and eased to sleep after finding just the right position.

Although neither of them were awake to see, the Doctor had once again been right in his predictions. The darkness had become so thick and pressing that travel would have been impossible, especially when it was impossible to see a hand a few inches in front of your face. The black was absolute, broken with nothing. It broke for nothing, but that only helped the traveling pair sleep sounder.

It was several hours later when the first hint of the Doctor's promised light floated through the air, though it was hardly more than a wisp, a simple breath drifting along. Red in color, it barely lit anything as it moved through the trees. To anyone looking at it, it seemed nothing more than a faint cloud passing in the night. However, as it approached the Doctor and Rose, it paused, hovering in the air just a little ways away from the pair. For a moment, it just stayed there, billowing and wafting. Then, it moved again, this time toward them with greater speed than it had shown before.

It approached Rose first, sweeping around her gently without creating any wind or even messing her hair a little. It roved around her slowly as though it were studying her; it then ventured a small tendril stretched from the cloud and touched her forehead experimentally. It recoiled quickly, however, as though it had been burned or bitten and hastily pushed itself away from Rose. It then eased over to the Doctor, pulsing quickly as though it were excited although it could give no indication otherwise.

It took one quick sweep around the Doctor before halting over the unsuspecting, sleeping man who had shifted during his sleep and was now lying on his back, his mouth open and his snoring just a little louder than it was before. The cloud was pushed gently up as it passed over the Doctor's mouth. It scrambled out of the way of that, settling right over the Doctor's chest. Three tiny hands, each with pointed fingers, grew out of the red mist. All the fingers flexed a little, getting ready to go to work, and the creature pulsed eagerly again.

One hand was placed on the Doctor's forehead, its ghostly fingertips disappearing as they reached inside his skull. The other two hands plunged into opposite sides of his chest, the hands disappearing up to the wrists and the spindly fingers closing around each of his two hearts.

The Doctor's breath instantly shortened, causing him to gasp and wheeze for air as his chest stung and tightened. His head began to split with a searing pain that put any headache he had ever had before to shame. His body tensed and weakly tried to shake the intruder off, but was very unsuccessful. He couldn't wake, even if he had wanted to; the hand in his head made sure of that. He tried to cry out, but he was unable to muster enough air and strength, so it caught in his throat and choked. It didn't last forever, but it sure felt like it did. Minutes passed and still, the mist continued to press in on the Doctor. The mist pulsed a little, this time with an angry glow, and its hand that rested on the Doctor's forehead pushed in further the whole hand disappearing up to its wrist like the pair in his chest. The Doctor tensed even further and finally managed to squeeze out a yell, jolting Rose awake.

While Rose tried to get her bearings, the ghost quickly retracted its hands and sped off back into the forest before Rose could even turn around and glimpse it, glowing a fearsome hue as it went.

His chest finally released, the Doctor gasped in a huge breath and then quietly whimpered and groaned in agony as he rolled onto his side.

"Doctor!" Rose called to him when she saw his state, her hands on his shoulders in an attempt at reassurance. "Doctor! What's wrong? Doctor!" she shook him a little. "Wake up!"

The Doctor's eyes opened with a start, darting around quickly as he scrambled into a sitting position. A white-blue light put off by either the trees or something on it had come out and now surrounded them, allowing Rose to see the Doctor's pale face and his wide eyes. Sweat glistened on his forehead, the blue tint only helping to accent it, while his rash seemed even more pronounced than it had been mere hours before.

"Doctor? What's wrong? You look like you've seen a ghost or something."

"I wish," he whispered hoarsely. "Then I would know it wasn't real. I would know that it was just a delirious illusion induced by my fever. But no," he chuckled mirthlessly. "That would make things too simple."

"What do you mean?"

"I saw them, the faces of my people."

"Where?"

"In a dream. Rose, I don't dream often at all, and when I do, it's certainly not about things like that. Ever. In fact, I don't think I've ever heard of Time Lords dreaming of such things. Yet, I saw them."

"But it could've been cause by your fever, yeah? Human or not, I would think it would make any thing become delirious after a while."

"It's not high enough to cause hallucinations and nightmares just yet. And I would probably have to be awake to see something like that. Besides, if it had just been the fever, my head wouldn't be throbbing and…" he put a hand to his chest, looking down at it for a beat before looking back up at Rose, "my chest wouldn't be aching."

Rose inched a little closer, still giving him his space. "Which heart?"

"Both."

"Couldn't that just be your illness?"

The Doctor shook his head. "Doesn't cause chest pains. At least, not this early in the game. Besides, it would probably only be one heart, not both, hurting if it were the illness."

"You said that each case varied. Couldn't this just be a variation?"

"Well, yes, I said that each case did, like human sicknesses, but also like human sicknesses, there are very specific symptoms and those usually show up in a certain sequence. And unlike some, this disease is very precise. The symptoms always appear in the same order. Always. I've never heard of an exception. Not one," his eyes swung slowly around the woods. "This was something else. Something dangerous." He paused, and then said lower, "There's something sinister in these woods."

"Well, yeah. Think of all the creatures. I'm sure one of them is."

"No, I mean other than them. Something unusual, something foreign, something different, and something very, very…evil," he paused, sighed, and looked back to Rose. "Well, shall we get going?"

"Traveling now? In the middle of the night?"

"Yeah, now," the Doctor smiled encouragingly. "I know that I for one won't be able to sleep for a while. One, I'm aching, and for another, I'm wide awake and wired. I'm ready to go. What's more, the forest is lighting up and we can see where we're going. We couldn't have slept the whole night anyway. Twenty-four hours? Even if humans like to sleep a lot, that's way too much."

Rose looked around. Every tree was lighting up in bizarre, patchy patterns. Some flowers were even lit, but whether that was a creature on the flower or the actual flower petals themselves, it was hard to say. Surprisingly, Rose found she could actually see the forest clearly, very clearly. It was actually easy to see where everything was now, and the blue glow was also relaxing and lazy. She then looked back to the Doctor. "What about you though?"

"What about me?"

"Are you really feeling well enough to travel?"

"The pain's easing off now. I don't think it was anything real serious. Nothing to worry about at any rate," he stood up, gathering his coat tails from the ground and stuffing them back into his pockets. "Come on," he offered her his hand.

Rose took it and stood beside him, smiling a little. "You sure?"

The Doctor smiled back. "Course. No little bit of pain can keep me down. I'm tough as nails, don't you know?"

Rose raised her eyebrows. "Really? What about Christmas then? Hm? Sycorax ring any bells?"

"That was different," the Doctor fake pouted. "That was no little bit of pain. That was a great, big, huge, massive, gianormous, heaping helping of pain. Enough to keep even the toughest of nails down."

Rose laughed. "Whatever."

The two stepped off the rock and into the swamp again, plunging once again into the knee-deep muck. As they traveled along, Rose marveled at how completely different the forest looked now as opposed to the day time. The savage forest seemed almost tame at night when only part of it could be seen and what was seen was bathed in a calming blue light. The water's filth was hidden from sight and the staggering and sharp shapes of the trees were masked in soft shadows. To Rose, she would even dare to say it felt a little bit magical.

"What are those?" Rose asked as she peered closely at a nearby tree.

On the tree, or rather every tree, several large, glowing lizards covered the trunk. The lizards were huge geckos, their large illuminated eyes on either side of their head looking right at you. Their backs had two spots that covered the whole of it and gave off light. With all of the lizards together, they created most all the light throughout the forest. Even though details were hard to see, their bulky bodies looked plump and rough while their tails seemed fat, almost matching the shape of their heads.

"Salei sumea grea," the Doctor replied effortlessly.

"Sounds beautiful. What's it mean?"

"Lighted farting gecko."

"Oh," Rose leaned away from the lizards. "Not so beautiful then."

The Doctor chuckled. "That's a good idea. You never want to touch one."

"I'm guessing it as something to do with the 'farting' part of their name then."

"Yes," the Doctor nodded, smiling. "They let out a foul-smelling gas when they feel threatened."

"And they feel threatened when you touch them."
"Yep. Only in the face of danger do they fart. Well, that…or in their attempt to find a mate. Apparently, they find the stench very romantic."

"Eww…"

"Don't worry," the Doctor laughed again. "It's not mating season. Won't be for a number of months."

Rose laughed a little and nodded. "That's good. I don't know about you, but I don't want to deal with that really."

The Doctor crumpled his nose. "Yeah, neither do I. Mating farting geckos isn't really a pleasant thing. Well, mating anything really. Not pleasant to watch."

Rose laughed again, giving him and light shove. He just smiled down at her. He loved to see her smile.

"Shall we?" he imitated a pompous man, offering her his arm.

"Oh yes," Rose played along, taking a false snobbish tone. She took his arm and looked up at him, but they both broke out into laughter again as they began to walk once again.

The pair continued to push forward for several more hours, enjoying the sights and sounds of the blue night time. They walked until they grew sleepy again. The Doctor's pain had gone away and neither of them had really gotten enough sleep. They both were more than ready to rest when they finally stopped once more.

The rock they found this time was smaller than the first one and half of it slanted towards the swamp, unlike the previous one, but it was solid, dry, and large enough for the two of them to sleep back-to-back. The both slept peacefully, even squeezed closely together. Even the Doctor was able to rest despite his fever; he found that the freezing cold helped to ease his fever a bit, like a natural ice pack. Still, it was bitterly cold and both Rose and the Doctor found it uncomfortable when they were awake. Their coats, however, helped, Rose wearing hers wrapped tightly around her body and the Doctor using his as a blanket.

A slow, creeping tentacle eased up and around the Doctor's ankle, securing its limp grip. It began to tug ever so lightly, though just barely. The Doctor didn't even notice. He had no idea that he was slowly being dragged across the rock until he woke to find himself waist deep into the mud. At first, he panicked a little until he realized that he wasn't dead and was being pulled very gently.

"Rose," he called. "Rose!" He shook her foot, the only part of her he could reach. "Wake up."

Rose blinked wearily as she sat up. She rubbed her eye a little as she looked around, confused at first, before finally spotting the Doctor.

"Rose, help," he told her.

Rose jumped, fully awake now, and scooted down to the Doctor. She hooked her arms through his and began to pull, but the Doctor's yelps of pain stopped her quickly.

"No, don't pull," he warned her swiftly.

"Why not?" Rose asked, though she had stopped pulling.

"This creature, if I'm correct, tightens its grip and pulls even harder when its prey is pulled. Basically, pull, and there's a good possibility I will lose my leg and I do so love my leg."

"So then, what? What should I do?"

"Just hold me," he smiled a little at the thought, seeing Rose's reaction.

"Doctor!"

"No, I'm serious though, just keep me from slipping in even further. This creature very slowly pulls its victim into the swamp, so slowly that the victim usually doesn't even know it's been had until its head is in the swamp and its drowning. But that also means that this creature's pull isn't very strong and isn't that hard to oppose. If the prey just…latches onto something to stop itself from going any further and doesn't try to pull itself up, the creature never figures it out. Rather stupid really, but handy for those who figure it out before it's too late."

"What if you're wrong and it decides to pull? You'll be sucked right under."

"Rose, trust me, it won't. It doesn't want to draw attention to itself, and that's what would happen if it pulled. And if you're worried about your strength, don't be. The creature gets a good feel for its prey's weight and adjusts its pulling force accordingly," he smiled wryly. "It's a good thing I'm skinny."

Rose shifted her position so that she was sitting upright, cross-legged, and set the Doctor's head in her lap, though her at least one of her hands remained around his upper arm. The Doctor sighed, being forced to lie on his stomach.

"How long will we have to keep this up?" Rose stroked his head with her free hand.

"Sun up," he replied quietly. "We just have to wait it out. It retreats deep into the mud at day break."

She looked at him critically. "It's freezing though. Are you sure you can make it until then?"

"No, but there's nothing to do about it. We just have to wait."

"But…won't you get chilled?"

"Possibly. But I have to risk it. Still, I have a ways to go before I'm chilled. And keep in mind that I have a fever," he looked up at her face. "It might temporarily cancel each other out."

Rose smiled a little and chuckled. "I don't think it works like that. Feverish people still catch chills. Even I know that."
The Doctor shrugged, but he was smiling. "Well, I can hope."

The night continued on. The Doctor fell into a restless sleep soon after lying awake for an hour or so. He not only felt horrible, but his leg was aching and his body stung. Rose, on the other hand, found she couldn't sleep. For one thing, she wasn't really tired anymore, having gotten enough earlier. The other thing that kept her alert was the Doctor. She told herself that she wouldn't let him be taken by a creature if she could help it, especially if it was one she couldn't even see. Of course, she began to think that it wouldn't be the creature that would kill him after he began to shiver a few hours later. She retrieved the coat he had been pulled out of and tucked it around the half of his body on the rock as best she could. It helped, but not enough; he continued to shudder and shake even as the light rose in the sky, casting long shadows all around and causing the lighted geckos and other night creatures to retreat to their hiding holes.

She was still watching the sun rise in reverence and awe when she heard a splash come from the swamp and felt what little tension was on the Doctor's body disappear. She looked to the glittery water just in time to witness a swish of water splash as a tan something withdrew into the water and a dark shadow just underneath the surface retreat into the murky depths of the mud. She smiled a little when she pulled the Doctor tentatively and felt no resistance. She then scrambled up the remainder of the rock, tugging the Doctor along with her, laying him on the rock and out of the swamp. His whole lower half was dark with muck and water, but he looked to be unharmed otherwise.

He stirred as he felt himself drag across the rock. His eyes opened ever so gently and he looked up to Rose drowsily, "Morning?"
"Yeah," she smiled. "We made it."
"Yeah," he smiled lopsidedly. "We did."
"How's your leg?"

He rubbed the leg with an indent around ankle. "Cold, sore, but still attached."

"That's good," she paused. "How are you?"

"Been better," he sat up and looked around, surveying the sights. "Early morning, must be. We should get going."

"So soon?"

The Doctor stood, pulling his trench coat on. "Staying won't help. We have to keep moving."

Rose nodded and sighed, standing up beside him and dusting off her pants. "I guess so."

The Doctor smiled at her. "Thanks."

"For what?" she looked back at him, confused.

"Last night. You stayed up the whole time didn't you? Just to make sure I was going to be okay, right?"

"Yeah, I did," Rose smiled. "How'd you know?"

"Just knowing you. And since you were still awake when I woke, it was kind of obvious. So, again, I say, thank you."

"It's not a problem. I couldn't just let that thing have you, could I?"

The Doctor chuckled. "Yeah, I suppose not," he sighed. Then, he paused before saying, "I know I've said this before, but I'm so glad we met."