Hey guys! Here's the next chapter!
The Doctor opened his eyes to meet total darkness. Crawling out of his comatose state, he gingerly sat up and felt earth scrape the surface of his head. Bits of dusty soil fell from the dirt ceiling and showered him, coating his clothes and face in a fine layer of dust.
"Ah, ok then…" His voice sounded scratchy and unused, as if one would wake up in the mornings.
He was relieved that the pain was gone from his leg, but as he looked around his small space, he became concerned for how he was supposed to get out.
The walls of earth surrounding and beneath him were as hard as stone and the ceiling was delicately put together with variations of twigs and small stones embedded in the soft dirt. Someone had buried him alive. And the Doctor knew exactly who could have possibly done it.
"Fuzzy." He groaned. There was no time for him to sit around. He was awake and ready to find Clara, but if he tried to dig his way out, the hole would cave in and collapse on him.
A chance I'll just have to take. He'd run out of air in the enclosed space in no time if he stayed any longer. So not wasting another second, he quickly dug out a chunk of the dirt above him and hastily began scrambling to the surface as the structure fell apart. For a second, all he could see was earth falling around him. He sucked in a quick breath before more soil showered over him and temporarily blinded the Time Lord. A few frightening seconds later, he burst through a pile of snow, finally at the surface.
The cold air hit him with the force of a freight train and he gasped in shock. In his hesitation, the ground around him had fallen and rested up to his torso.
He coughed on the dust that was settling after the massive cave-in and managed call out, "Fuzzy?" He looked around and blinked in the bright sunlight, his eyes adjusting to the morning light. Fuzzy suddenly poked his head out from behind a spruce tree near the hole and scuttled over to the Doctor, trilling in happiness.
The Doctor breathed out a sigh in relief, "Thank god you're still here. Help me out of this will you?" He started moving the earth around him to the sides with his free hands while the cave spider helped dig him out. Within seconds, the Doctor managed to climb out of the hole and stand up out of the pit.
"Thanks." He breathed out, "Now to find Clara, figure out what happened to the Tardis, and leave the game! How bad can it be?"
He searched his pockets and felt relief wash over him as he pulled out his unscathed screwdriver. Activating it, he said, "Now let's see, where are you Clara?" It pointed him in the direction of a denser part of the forest that was still shrouded in mist from the early morning.
Looking at the readings, he smiled and stated, "Not that far from here! Just a few more miles, but closer nonetheless. Come on Fuzzy," He looked down at the spider excitedly, "we're almost there."
Pocketing the screwdriver, he strode off in the general direction the sonic had pointed out to him with Fuzzy scuttling beside him.
The two had been walking amongst the dark forest for the past three hours.
The trees stretched high into the sky, their top branches coming together and blocking out the majority of the daylight that tried to reach the forest floor. The only sound emanating from the woods was the loud crunching of the snow beneath the travelers' feet. The air smelled of crisp pine and the cold felt sharper in the deep shade of the forest.
The terrain soon turned into an upward slope that went on for seemingly forever. The Doctor panted heavily as he strode on, the beginnings of exhaustion creeping into his legs. Even Fuzzy had an air of fatigue around his usual enthusiastic complexion. There was no sign that the ascending hill was going to level out soon and the trees were growing closer together until the travelers had to weave themselves in and out of their designated path.
The underbrush rustled every so often, making the Doctor and Fuzzy snap to attention at the possibility of a hostile. But the two fell back into a tired step once again as they realized it was just a faint breeze that disturbed their otherwise silent hike.
It is a little odd, isn't it…? The Doctor thought as he made sure not to trip over a fallen branch that blocked the way. Not a single sound except for us. The forest was just so dead silent. Weren't there supposed to be birds chattering away in the treetops? Maybe even some faint scuffling in the distance where wild game roamed in search of food? Yet there was nothing. Absolutely nothing.
He almost found this a bit irksome as he trudged along. There weren't even any monsters popping up and attacking them in the dim light of the snowy forest. The howls of wolves from earlier weren't even present. Come on, he questioned, why not kill us now? We're sitting ducks here in the dark. Sure, it was a bit sinister to think like that, but he had a point... It was practically as dark as the night here in the misty forest. Perfect for any looters or mobs that wanted to take a piece out of you.
Sighing, he decided to come to a halt next to one of the tall pines and lean against it. "Why don't we stop here for a moment?" He said, "Let's just take a small break and get our bearings?"
Fuzzy seemed overjoyed at his words and simply collapsed in a heap of bluish fur, relaxing on the snowy ground.
While they rested, the Doctor decided to take this opportunity to search through his supplies. Other than his screwdriver, he had a very damaged pickaxe and a loaf of bread left. Everything else he had earlier was used already, was simply lost to the spider attack, and/or tossed with him in the river.
Sure, he could survive a little longer without food or water, but there was no guarantee that he could make it through another couple of nights even without the threat of monsters.
He stole a quick glance at the tired cave spider that was now huddled over a twig, nibbling idly at it.
Realizing that the spider probably couldn't go as long without food as he could, the Doctor became a little uneasy. Maybe bringing a seemingly harmless and very hungry cave spider along was not the best decision… There wasn't much he could do about it now though. If he just abandoned it, then he'd be breaking his promise to the spider and no doubt Fuzzy would just kill him then and there. If he waited any longer and no promise of food was present, the cave spider might get irritated and start considering the Doctor as a promising choice. And if danger were to strike, who's to say that Fuzzy wouldn't just strike him down at that given moment?
It didn't help that the time traveler was virtually defenseless either. If anything were to happen, all he'd have was a screwdriver, an axe that would likely break on impact, and his words. Unfortunately it seemed that the world he was in didn't really rely on the breath of a dead man.
An arrow shot through the brush ahead and the air was pierced with a menacing screech. The Doctor whipped around to see the arrow protruding from Fuzzy's side; blackish-crimson beginning to ooze from the wound. In a flash of rage, the cave spider went ballistic.
Fuzzy skittered this way and that, dodging more shots that were being fired, making his way to their attacker's hiding place. Hoots and hollers were heard further up the slope, indicating that the Time Lord and the injured spider were vastly outnumbered.
"Fuzzy, wait!" The Doctor shouted. But his words didn't seem to register in the cave spider's mind. Fuzzy just continued charging and dodging until he finally dove through some shrubbery, reappearing out the other end on top of another player who screamed under the mob.
The Doctor scrambled over towards Fuzzy, ducking and diving through the rain of arrows that continued to fall. The closer he got to the brawl, the more he started to consider the idea of making a run for it in the other direction.
The cave spider issued a guttural roar from his tiny jaws that sent chills down the Doctor's spine. Fuzzy's pincers were foaming a sickly-yellow color that dripped onto the gamer's chest and face as he struggled.
The player who had fallen prey to the blue-haired monster held the ravenous cave spider's chomping pincers a dangerous few inches from his face. But Fuzzy's hairy legs were beginning to unfold the gamer's grasp from his jaws.
A few heart-stopping seconds went by as the Doctor watched on with brief uncertainty. Everything seemed to be playing around him in slow motion. A band of other gamers were rushing down the hillside shouting commands and attempting to aid their fallen comrade; Fuzzy was getting more and more agitated and was about to successfully rip himself out of his victim's grip; and a pack of dogs with collars were advancing in his direction, their teeth glistening and fury dancing in their eyes.
The Doctor never considered that dogs would be able to see him before, most likely because they were domesticated; then again, they were technically a mob too. He knew one thing for sure though: he'd be discovered and ripped to shreds.
He was at a dead-end. If he went to rescue the fallen player from Fuzzy's rage, the gamers would then see him, and most-likely, kill him on the spot. If he stayed where he was or decided to make a run for it, the dogs would catch him. If he climbed one of the trees, the gamers would find him with their dogs and shoot him down. He certainly couldn't outrun hunting dogs either.
There was no way out.
Still, He rationalized; running's a better option at this point. Adrenaline shot through him in an instant of fear as the barking dogs quickly shortened the distance between their designated prey and their masters. He took off running in the woods to his right and made his way through the dense trees. He heard indignant shouts and howls of laughter behind him and stole a quick glance back to see his pursuers. The group of players had left their friend at the mercy of the cave spider and was now following their dogs that chased him fervently.
The dogs at this point were now a few feet from his heels. He could almost feel their hot breath against his legs that were powering through the snow. He wouldn't last another minute. The dogs were smaller, faster, and much more lithe as they maneuvered through the trees with relative ease.
The Doctor put on another desperate burst of speed and felt his hearts pounding frantically in his chest. His legs were moving so fast that they didn't even register in his mind; he was so focused on not running into a tree or tripping in the snow. He could still hear the vicious snaps of the dogs' jaws at his heels and their ragged breath. He could still hear their owners calling out and taunting behind him as they matched their pets' pace.
I can't keep up much longer. He thought with dread. His chest was beginning to burn icily as each breath he took in became a struggle. He knew that if he changed direction suddenly, then he'd be caught in an instant.
He had hardly noticed the trees beginning to thin out in the chase and soon saw in horror that the land stopped at a ledge a few yards ahead of him. There was a mass of land on the other side, but the distance between the two cliffs was impossibly long for him to simply jump across.
He didn't really have a choice. It was either falling to his death or being torn to pieces by the hunters. Deciding that the formal had a better chance of survival, he sped to the edge and leapt as far as he could to the other side. A few dogs attempted the jump behind him while the others skidded to a halt at the cliff, watching on and barking madly with their owners.
The Doctor's triumphant jump came up short by a few inches and he soon began falling towards the ground far below. He flailed his arms about desperately to find a hold in the cliff-side, but was running out of time as his precious seconds flew by in his last attempt to save himself. I'm not going to make it. He thought in horror as sections of rock rose rapidly above him as he plunged toward the ground.
Then, his salvation came to him in the form of a thick tree root that was protruding from the wall. His hands caught hold of it and stopped his fall with a painful jolt, yet surprisingly his strong grip held firm to the stationary root. It held his weight but swayed slightly as he hung there.
Suddenly, much to his shock, one of the dogs that followed him off the cliff's edge managed to grab the Doctor's right ankle in its attempt to save itself and catch its prey.
The Doctor shouted in pain, but held on to the root more tightly than before. His vision became obscured for a brief moment as every sensation was filled with agony. A loud, audible 'crack' filled his ears as his ankle broke from the weight of its captor and the massive bite.
He was dimly aware of the hunters' voices jeering at him from above as they watched the dilemma with exquisite joy and entertainment.
Another cry of pain escaped him as the dog's grip tightened on the wound, seemingly losing its grip. The dog's weight was becoming more unbearable with each heart-wrenching second; the Doctor's own grip on the branch beginning to loosen each time the hound arranged its hold.
Closing his eyes, the Doctor only focused on keeping his hold on the root that was now beginning to sag from the extra weight. He could feel it sinking lower and lower as the earth supporting it was crumbling away. It creaked and groaned every time the mutt moved or the Doctor rearranged his hold.
Then all of a sudden, the heavy weight was lifted from the Time Lord's ankle with a yelp. The Doctor opened his eyes and looked down to see the hunting dog falling to the ground with an arrow sticking out of its neck. He then looked up to see a face peer down at him from the top of the cliff and a rope lowered to his position.
Without hesitating another second, he grabbed it and allowed himself to be pulled up by the player. At this point, he didn't really care if the player was only sparing him to kill him at the top or if he really was rescuing him.
While being pulled up, he saw the hunters on the other side of the gap scowl and shout a few insults at his rescuer. Then, they simply turned and sulked off with their remaining dogs trailing behind them.
Finally nearing the top, the Doctor started to feebly climb up the rest of the way with his legs whilst being pulled. In a few more seconds he had finally reached the snowy edge and collapsed on the solid ground, panting heavily and simply staring up at the blue sky.
"What in the world do you think you're doing?"
A smile came to the Doctor's features as relief washed over him at the sound of the voice.
"I was hoping you'd come back Dragon reborn9." He painfully laughed out.
"Here, take some of this."
The Doctor reluctantly sat up and saw the friendly gamer handing him some food. He took it gratefully began eating it as he caught his breath and rested. "Who were those people?" He breathed out.
Dragon reborn9 simply stared at him curiously and answered as he noticed the Doctor's wounded ankle that was still bleeding. "That was the Wither Clan. It's a small faction that devotes itself to hunting monsters and player-versus-player combat in this server. They're pretty nasty. I used to be in it a long time ago, but I got tired of it. Now they just hate me." He shrugged nonchalantly, kneeling down by the Doctor, unwrapping a long section of cloth from his inventory, and began wrapping it around the Doctor's ankle tightly.
Stifling a hiss of pain, the Doctor asked, bewildered, "Why are you helping me?"
Dragon didn't look up from his work as he answered, "I think we've established a small friendship, haven't we? I'd hate to see you die at the hands of my previous club." He hesitated in his work and looked at the Doctor, "By the way, where's Clara?" He looked worried as the idea that the clan killed her came to his mind's eye. He enjoyed her company and hoped that she wasn't lost.
The Doctor saw his concerned expression and stated reassuringly, "She's alive, don't worry. I'm going to find her. We got separated in the caves after we were attacked by cave spiders and now she's somewhere in that direction." He moved his head, gesturing in the general direction of the hunters' location.
"Are you serious?" Dragon reborn9 looked across the gap between the cliffs and into the trees beyond, "She's nearby the clan camps?"
"Like I said, she's alive. Last time we spoke, she was actually underground. I'd know if she were dead right now." Dragon reborn9 nodded in satisfaction of the answer and leaned back, observing his handiwork when he was finished. The Doctor then began piling snow over some of his other wounds, both cleaning and preventing swelling at the same time with the cold.
There was a strained silence between the two. Dragon reborn9 lost in thought and the Doctor tending to the rest of his injuries.
Dragon watched on as this strange player took care of himself and rested with a sigh in the cold snow. This 'Doctor' didn't really add up. You wouldn't usually hear a gamer exclaim anything in such pain unless if they were acting or simply trying to put themselves into the game with a fiery passion. But the Doctor didn't know that he was there on the ledge, so why would he be screaming in such realistic agony if no one were around? Why did he put so much effort into making all of this seem so real? There wasn't an audience and the exclamations of relief, the panting, and the shouts were far too genuine to be overlooked. This man was a mystery wrapped in an enigma, and Dragon reborn9 had the sudden, deep intent to find out who this Doctor really was.
Taking in a breath, he broke the silence and faced the Doctor who now seemed much better. "You're going to need help finding Clara." It wasn't a question. He was going to follow this man whether he wanted his help or not.
The Doctor simply nodded in response and smiled at him, saying, "I really could use your help. It's not going to be easy."
"Easy is boring. I'd be disappointed if it was." Dragon reborn9 smirked and got up. Pulling out blocks of wood, he began building a small structure around them with a low roof. "It's going to be dark soon and I'm in no mood to deal with mobs right now. You just sit there and I'll finish this. We can stay here for tonight."
The Doctor leaned back against one of the wooden walls and closed his eyes, sighing in relief.
Dragon reborn9 took note of this and wearily continued his building with suspicious thoughts in mind of what was to come.
