A/N: Coauthored by HelplesslyNerdy (on Tumblr/Tsp) and myself. And yep, you guessed it - this is a rewrite/combo of HN/FoB and the movie The Village.
A growl, low and menacing.
The sound is electrifying, and she's whirling around on a spike of adrenalin before she can even think. The blood is rushing in her ears, her fingers curling into fists and oh, she can see it there, she can see it, just ahead of her on the path.
The figure of a man.
Human sized and shaped, his outline illuminated by the moonlight, or…or is it? Rose squints and blinks because it almost looks like he's glowing faintly green, a cloudy aura around the edges of his silhouette.
The faint breeze carries a whiff of the creature down the path, and Rose recoils at the stench of decaying flesh. Whatever this is, it's not part of the deflection system.
Raising her cane defensively, she takes a quick step back. "Who's there? Who are you?"
He…it emits the strangest sound—multiple snarls layered over each other, high pitched and low, like a chorus of growls from a pack of animals. "You," it grinds out. "The trail ends with you."
"I don't know what you mean," she says, taking another step in retreat. "What are you talking about?"
"You lie," it shrieks, and the nimbus of green seems to swell around it. "You're soaked in Time; you reek of it. We are the Family of Blood; we chased you through the Vortex, hunted you across the timelines. Such a clever ruse to hide yourselves here, in the time out of time."
The hunters, then, here at last. She thinks she knows the answer already, but she needs to buy some time. "What do you want?"
The rage in the voices turns cold, petrifies into something hard and cruel. "The Time Lord. He deceived us once with a false trail, and Father of Mine died five hundred years in the past. Now we are forced to use our collective energies to keep this body, living in torment. It is his doing." The creature shifts, raising its arm in her direction, and Rose realizes with a jolt that it is pointing some sort of weapon at her. "You will bring him to us."
"Or we will kill," hisses another voice from the same body.
"Everyone in the settlement will die unless you obey," shrieks another.
"Okay!" says Rose, raising her other hand palms out, trying to placate them. "Okay." Thinking fast, she edges backward just a bit more. If she can just get away and find that watch, she'll be able to bring the Doctor back. She still can't remember his motivation for hiding from these creatures, but she can't imagine that he won't be able to think up something to deal with them or that he'd want her to stand back and let them hurt innocent people.
"Look," she says as calmly as possible, "I don't want anyone to die. I'll get the Doctor. He's in hiding, but I'll be able to find him. He'll be able to help you."
The figure is preternaturally still, and then Rose sees its head tilt slowly to the side. "Do we have enough?" one of its voices mutters. "Will we be able to maintain both forms?"
"Daughter of Mine will go," another answers. "Not strong enough to consume, maybe, but a shared will. A shared mind."
"The Time Lord's human will be ours," they say in unison, and with that, the green glow intensifies.
"Woah, wait a sec," says Rose, backing up. "No possessions necessary. I told you I'd get him, didn't I?"
An odd clicking noise comes from the weapon in the creature's hand, and it starts to hum. "Move again, and we kill you." The green mist gathers around its head.
Suddenly, rustling noises come out of the darkness to the left, too loud to be from some woodland creature. And then the sound of footsteps can be heard, coming from the woods on either side of the path. Both Rose and the creature turn to look, the green cloud retreating back as their own exchange is momentarily forgotten.
It's horribly dark under the trees, but Rose can make out the white glow of moonlight streaming down through the forest canopy in a few places. As she stares, she sees the patches of light flicker, as though something were moving through them. As though several large forms were walking out of the forest toward the path.
The Family's voices rise in fear. "Who comes?"
"I smell nothing, nothing!"
"Fight or flee, flee or fight?"
As they grow closer, the new arrivals let out a menacing hiss, and suddenly, Rose realizes what they are. The primary defense system has activated; the Nameless are here.
"GAATKeeper?" she whispers hesitantly.
"Keymaster," snarls one of the Nameless, but suddenly, the sound doesn't seem menacing at all. Rose lets out a gasp of relief.
The Family doesn't seem to agree. Pivoting back and forth to try to keep all of the creatures in sight, they pull their gun up, apparently unable to decide whether to shoot or run. "Stay back!"
"You will come no closer!"
"We are the Family of Blood. By our hand, you will die!"
Rose keeps slowly backing up down the path, waiting until the Nameless are close enough to cover her escape. The second she sees the shape of them blocking out the odd green glow of the Family, she turns and runs.
Behind her, she can hear the sounds of snarling and of raking, clattering claws. The Family shrieks and fires their weapon. There is a crackle of static, and then the excited cry of the Family. "False, false, illusions only! Quickly, pursue the girl!"
Pelting over the rough path as fast as she can, Rose tries to put as much distance between them as possible. It is pitch black; she can't see a thing, and she's going too fast to do anything with her cane except track of the edge of the path. Her only hope is that the Nameless will continue to block the Family's view of her escape.
It works for a moment, and Rose thinks maybe she'll be able to get enough of a lead to escape. Then the sound of their weapon firing rips through the air, and the forest just to her left erupts in a shower of dirt and leaves, lit by a bright green light. Another crack rings out, and this time, the green bolt travels right past her and explodes on the path ahead. With a shriek, Rose ducks to the side, diving off the edge of the path and into the branches of a small cluster of fir trees.
As she pushes her way through, she can hear the Family behind her, talking to themselves.
"Careful, Son-of-Mine! If we kill her outright, she won't be able to lead us to the Time Lord."
"Look how she runs! Fear will drive her forward, and we shall follow!"
"We hunt. We hunt. We hunt."
The terrain off the path is rough, and Rose falls more than once. Her pursuers are close behind her, but fortunately, it sounds like they are nearly as blind in this darkness as she is. The primary defense system continues to work as well—every few moments, she hears them fire their weapon and the electric snap of the enhanced holograms disintegrating. Occasionally, it sounds like the Nameless actually manage to land a blow, and the Family scream in rage at the injury.
Rose has no idea which way to go, how to find the path, or in what direction the village lies. She is reluctant to lead these creatures to the settlement, but the only other choice is retreating to the GAAT, and there's no way she's leaving the Family inside here with the Doctor in the state he's in. Plus, if she can warn them in time, the townsfolk might be able to hold off the aliens, for a little while at least.
The underbrush snags and rips at her as she runs, and Rose blesses the ridiculous, goldenrod yellow cloak for keeping her from getting torn to pieces by branches and thorns. It doesn't help much with the impediments underfoot, though, and once again, she falls sprawling onto the forest floor.
For just a moment, she closes her eyes, lies there in pain and exhaustion. Everything aches, and through the adrenalin, she can feel the effects of her lack of sleep and day's journey through the forest. The weight of her pack shifts slightly, the medicine containers clinking softly, and Rose takes a deep breath. She has to get back. He's counting on her.
She drags herself up and pushes forward, a little slower this time. The Family is still behind her, but they are having trouble keeping to her trail, thanks to the GAATKeeper's interference. She has perhaps a minute, maybe two, before they find her here. She can't waste it.
Up ahead, the terrain slopes upward and ends in a steep bank. Rose reaches up and feels for the top of it; it's just shy of five feet high. Behind her, the Family fires its weapon again, and the shot explodes about thirty meters away from her. They are catching up.
Gasping, Rose hauls herself up the muddy slope. There are rocks embedded in the dirt, and she bangs her shin on one hard enough to force tears out of her eyes. Once over the top, she gets to her feet and starts running, swinging her cane back and forth to check for impediments.
There's less undergrowth, and the ground is harder underfoot. Soon it transitions to actual stone, a slope of granite leading her upward. The change makes her cautious, and it's lucky it does—a few moments later, her cane meets nothing but air where the ground should be.
Rose drops to a knee on the rocky ground and cautiously feels for the edge in front of her. It's abrupt, and she thanks her stars that she didn't careen right over it in the dark. She uses her cane to tap down the side of the rock as far as she can reach but can't touch the bottom. A cliff or a ravine, then.
It's no good; she'll have to go back. Even if she could safely climb down the cliff face, she'd be an easy target for the Family. She turns around and starts backtracking her way down the hill.
The forest is…quiet. She's not entirely sure when the noises stopped but there is no sound of pursuit, no more gunfire or explosions. It could be that they've lost her trail, maybe thinking that she headed back toward the path. It's eerie, though, and the hairs on her arms and neck start to stand on end.
She's just reached the edge of the bank and is about to climb down when the forest erupts in blazing green light and cacophonous sound. The dirt of the bank explodes under her feet, and she only just avoids falling down with it, scrambling back instead. In her panic, her cane falls from her hand, tumbling away into the darkness.
The Family crows in triumph, emerging from their hiding spot amongst the underbrush. "Good shot!"
"We have her! Quickly now, pen her in before the holograms return!"
Rose regains her footing and does the only thing she can—run. The Family fires what must be meant as a warning shot at the path in front of her, but Rose ignores it, ducking her head away from the shower of debris.
She can hear the sound of their footsteps behind her, and she hopes she's right in her assumption that they won't actually try to shoot her, not yet at least. Not while they still think they have a chance at catching her.
The only thing she can do is try to reach that cliff. Maybe she'll be able to climb down it and—
No. A sudden burst of insight has her clutching her hands into fists, nails biting into her palms. Her resolve hardens. She knows what to do.
They are closing in, right behind her now, a wheezy chorus of voices rattling with joy in the hunt. She feels the brush of fingertips on her back and, panting, pushes herself to go faster. Beneath her feet, she feels the ground change to rock. Nearly there, almost, almost—
Now! Sacrificing her knees and shins, Rose drops to the hard ground, tucking her head and twisting sideways as she falls. Her momentum carries her forward, and she ends up rolling, the straps of her pack slipping down and tangling with her arms. She scrabbles against the rock as she reaches the edge, and as she skids to a stop, her legs dangling over the empty space, her center of mass a hair's breadth from slipping over.
In her panic, she almost misses the moment when the Family falls, missing the ledge in the dark. Her fingernails are gripping at the stone, and her feet are searching for purchase against the rock when she hears the terrible sound of their body hitting the rocky floor with a wet thud.
There is one soft moan, a single voice this time, and then silence.
Rose manages to get a knee up over the side and pulls herself up from there. On hands and knees, she turns to check over the cliff's edge. There is no sign of life from below—no sound of movement or glowing green light. The Family, it would seem, are dead.
Choking back an unidentifiable noise, Rose crawls down the hill. Contemplating what she's just done is too much; with the back of her hand, she absently wipes errant tears off her cheeks.
She manages to find the bank, mainly because there is still a bit of greenish glow surrounding the spot where the Family's shot landed. Rose avoids any parts that look particularly radioactive and has a stroke of luck as she feels around for a safer route down the bank—her fingers stumble across the familiar texture of smooth, polished wood.
Her cane. With a sigh of relief, she rubs her thumb over the top of the rose carving. It makes her feel better, a little less helpless and a little less alone, but she still has no idea which direction to go. She could end up stumbling around in the woods for ages.
Once she's down the bank, Rose sinks down to the ground. She can't think of any option but to wait until the sun comes up—at least then, she'll know which direction is which.
Her eyes are just starting to droop, her body giving in to the exhaustion at last, when something occurs to her. She comes awake quite suddenly, blinking in the darkness. Will it work?
Hesitantly, she asks, "Um…GAATKeeper, are you still there?"
Silence.
Wrapping her arms around herself, she tries again. "GAATKeeper? If you can hear me…I need some more help. Can you show me the way out of the forest?"
There is a long stretch of silence, and Rose starts to think that she's out of luck. Then, nearly imperceptible at first but growing louder, the sound of footsteps coming out of the forest.
Rose can just make out the silver edge of moonlight on its rounded back; everything else is in shadow. The creature approaches the decimated bank and then stops.
"Follow," it instructs in a harsh whisper.
"Thank you," she answers and struggles to her feet.
For nearly two hours, it leads her silently through the forest. Despite its monstrous form, it is patient whenever she has to take her time climbing over, under, or around the various obstacles, never moving more than six or seven meters ahead. It's a little awkward, walking along without speaking. Rose debates trying to talk to it—ostensibly, it's all controlled by the same chatty Class 3 portal guardian program she met before—but she just can't think of what to say.
Finally, the creature stops. Without saying a word, it lifts an arm and points in what Rose hopes is the direction of the settlement.
"Thanks," murmurs Rose, and the creature bows its head and disappears.
She only has to walk about twenty more meters before she reaches the boundary of the forest. The first brush of grass against her fingertips is a wonderful sensation, and for just a moment, she runs her hands over the tops of the blades, wet with dew.
She's come out much farther south than where she first entered the woods. At the edges of the hills, the night sky is just starting to give way, and a faint, violet haze signals the coming dawn. It's still too dark to make out the settlement down in the valley, especially for her eyes, but it's there. Soon, the roosters will start to crow, waking everybody up, and the normal routine of another day will begin.
There is a light breeze, and the air is damp. As she picks her way down the slope, the loamy smells of the forest give way to the fresher scent of the open meadow. Somewhere nearby, a lark starts singing its first, tremulous notes of the day.
The illusion is perfect. It would be so easy to forget that it's not real. A person could live their whole life under these fake stars and never question it once. Outside, the whole world is spinning, but here everything is still, peaceful. A time out of time.
It's still quiet when she reaches the village, though she thinks she sees the glow of candlelight coming to life in a few of the windows. Stealing quietly through the rows of houses, she manages to reach Dr. Smith's house without alerting anyone.
The door isn't locked; the latch lifts easily. Inside, the house is dark. As quietly as possible, Rose taps her cane to navigate around the furniture, stepping carefully over the mess she herself caused.
No one seems to be awake. Shivering in the darkness and the silence, Rose finds the door leading into Dr. Smith's bedroom. Her fingers close around the knob, and she breathes in and out once, long and slow.
He's going to be alright. He's still alive, and he's going to be alright. He has to be.
As quietly as possible, she opens the door. Inside, she can hear faint snoring coming from the corner of the room—Joan is asleep on a chair. Rose will wake her up in a moment so that they can make use of the medical supplies in her pack, but first…
She steps softly up to the side of the bed. There is light coming in the window now, the first rays of the rising sun. In her fuzzy sight, they seem to illuminate the bed sheets and the figure lying under them in a halo of white. His face appears soft, slack, and she can make out the pale planes of his cheeks, the dark curtain of his limp hair.
There is no movement. All is silent and still. And he's…he's…
Almost of their own accord, her fingers slip under the edge of the blankets and find his. As she takes his hand, she lets out a shuddering sob, quickly putting her free hand up to muffle the sound.
And then, she hears the softest rasp.
"R…Rose?"