Chapter Fourteen
Rose smiled at the Doctor while the two of them headed down a corridor. The excited look he had on his face was just so cute. She figured that now since he was just as clueless as she was about the location of the items that it would be more fun for him. She had no idea now where they were now. She had never been this far back before, but as long as the Doctor was with her, she didn't care where they went.
"Ah, here we go," the Doctor said, stopping her. "Let's try this door, shall we?"
Rose nodded. He put his hand on the doorknob and looked at her with wide eyes.
"Ready for anything?" he asked.
"Ready when you are."
He grinned and threw open the door. He put his hand on her back when Rose stepped forward and looked inside. Her eyes boggled when she saw a meadow.
"What?" she said, walking into the room.
She looked up at the clouds in the sky.
"Are…are we still inside the TARDIS?" she said, looking back at the Doctor.
"Yup, we are."
"But, it looks so real," Rose said as he closed the door. "I mean, it looks like we're outside."
"Yes, my TARDIS has the ability to simulate the outdoors. Means I don't have to look at roundel covered walls all the time."
Rose fell to her knees and put her hand on the grass.
"It feels like grass, proper grass."
She paused a moment and felt the wind hitting her face.
"And wind. You have wind in here."
"Yup."
Rose looked up at him.
"Oh my God, Doctor. I never realized just how wonderful the TARDIS really is. This ship is beyond belief!"
The Doctor grinned.
"Now you see why I'm terrified of losing her," he said. "I keep telling you guys this is the most magnificent ship in the universe and now you have proof of that."
Rose felt tears come to her eyes. The Doctor frowned and knelt down beside her.
"Hey, what's with the waterworks all of a sudden?" he said.
"I'm just thinking how much I missed her those two years I was trapped. Oh God, I would have missed seeing stuff like this if I hadn't found a way back."
The Doctor put his arm around her and laid his nose against her wet cheek, silently sending out his own thanks to the universe. He kissed the tear stain and gently pulled her to her feet.
"Come on," he said, pointing to a hill. "Let's go see what's over there, shall we?"
Rose frowned.
"You don't know?" she asked.
"No, actually the TARDIS has many outdoor rooms and it's hard to keep track of what's where. So, let's go see what wonders this particular room holds."
They walked towards the hill. The Doctor kept his eye on Rose, delighting in the fact that she was so awestruck. Her expression was another one of the reasons why he loved traveling with people so much.
They reached the top of the hill and Rose let out a gasp when she saw what was below. There was a clearing and beyond that a huge forest. But, standing in the clearing silently munching grass were ten unicorns and five of their babies.
"Oh, yes, this is my mythological beasties room," the Doctor said. "I haven't been in here in awhile."
Rose stared at the unicorns.
"Oh my God, are those real?" she said, to the Doctor.
"Um, no, actually they're robots. The TARDIS made hundreds of robots and androids for the rooms, so I'll have people and things to interact with. It's no fun just going into room after empty room, you know, especially in those rare moments I'm traveling by myself."
Rose's heart ached at the thought of him being all alone in the vast ship and how loving the TARDIS was to provide some sort of life, so he could have some interaction. She stared, enraptured, at the unicorns and their babies.
"Can…can we touch them?" she asked the Doctor.
He smiled.
"Sure can."
His hearts did a somersault at the joy on her face. Squeezing her hand tight, he led her down the hill towards the herd. She reached out with her free hand and smiled when the nearest unicorn began walking towards her.
"Oh my God, this is so cool!" she said when it came up and nuzzled her hand.
The Doctor silently watched the interaction between the two of them, thinking to himself how beautiful they looked together.
"You know, the legend says that a beautiful maiden who is pure of heart has the power to lure the unicorns to her. Supposedly, hunters would use young maidens in that way. The unicorn would lay with its head on the maiden's lap and the hunters would kill it."
Rose shook her head.
"Who'd ever want to kill a beautiful creature like this?" she said softly as she stroked its head.
She looked at the Doctor.
"Are unicorns real?" she asked.
He smiled.
"Yup. So are fairies and dragons and creatures like that. Most of the time they live underground or in remote areas where humans can't get to them. But, every once in awhile they're seen and that's where the stories come from."
He leaned in to her ear.
"And speaking of fairies, come this way towards the woods."
Reluctantly, Rose pulled herself away from the unicorn and let the Doctor lead her into the forest. Once inside, she watched while the Doctor scanned the ground. Finally they came into a small clearing and he pointed to a ring of mushrooms.
"Aha! A fairy ring," he said. "Okay, now sit down on the ground here beside it and watch what happens."
He sat down beside her and yelled up at the TARDIS to dim the light. Immediately, day turned to night and the Doctor put his arm around her.
"Now, if we're lucky, if we're very, very lucky. We'll get some visitors in a moment," he whispered to her.
Rose held her breath in anticipation and sure enough, soon she began to see brilliant white lights flitting among the trees in front of her.
"Oh my God," Rose whispered while the Doctor laughed softly.
The lights kept darting in and out of the trees and then finally, they began to fly out towards the fairy ring. Rose's eyes were as wide as the moon and she held the Doctor's hands while the fairies began to fly around the mushrooms.
The Doctor leaned in to her ear.
"For you, my love, it's all for you," he whispered.
The tears began to fall again while the Doctor held her close to him. She held out her hand when one of the fairies came near and cried with joy when it landed in her hand. She brought the hand slowly towards her and noticed the tiny features of a face in the middle of the glowing light.
"Oh God, I thought nothing could top the unicorns. But this…"
She fell silent when she couldn't find the words to express what she was feeling. The Doctor stared intently at her face taking in every moment of joy and storing it away in his memories for safekeeping.
The fairy stayed on her hand for a few more minutes and then it and the others flew away back into the woods.
"Did you like that?" the Doctor said when it became day again.
"I loved it," she replied.
"Good, because I have another surprise for you. Come on."
He grabbed the clipboard, helped her to her feet and led her further into the woods. Rose kept looking around while they walked. She smiled at the colorful butterflies that fluttered around them, the Brownies who were sitting on a fallen log watching them warily, the two Gnomes riding on the back of a fox. Everything in the woods was magical to her and she felt like she could stay in it forever.
After about a half hour, they came upon a huge cave. The Doctor got in front of Rose.
"I summon the mighty Longwei into my presence!" he yelled.
For a moment, nothing happened. Then, Rose heard a roar coming from inside the cave. She started to run, but the Doctor took her hand.
"No, it's alright. He won't hurt you, I promise."
Rose nodded and walked to the Doctor's side. Another minute went by and then a huge red Chinese dragon stuck its head outside of the cave. The Doctor smiled.
"Rose, this is Longwei, the mighty dragon. In fact, that's what Longwei means, dragon greatness. He's my personal lucky dragon."
He led her over and Rose smiled when she laid her hands on his scaly head.
"He's beautiful."
The Doctor gave her an impish grin.
"Fancy an aerial ride on Longwei's back?"
"Seriously?"
The Doctor nodded.
"Yes, oh my God, I'd love to ride him."
Then come this way into the cave."
They walked in.
"Now, have you seen The Never-ending Story?" the Doctor asked.
"Yes."
"Okay, it's just like when Atreyu rode Falcor. Get on right behind his neck and I'll get on behind you."
He helped Rose on. Once she was on, he got on behind her and scooted up until he was at her back.
"Hold on to his horns," he instructed.
Rose grabbed the end of the curving horns on either side of her.
"Fly, Longwei!" the Doctor yelled.
Rose gasped when the Dragon began to walk out of the cave.
"It's okay, I have you. I won't let you fall," the Doctor said, grasping her around the middle.
Longwei walked halfway out of the cave. Then, looking up to the sky, he suddenly flew into the air. The Doctor wrapped his arms tight around Rose while she held on to the horns for dear life. They went up above the trees high into the sky and leveled off. Once that happened, Rose relaxed and felt secure enough to look down at the ground. Longwei flew over the forest, its golden mane billowing out over Rose's legs.
"Oh my God, this is exactly like Never-ending Story," she said, as the Doctor laughed in her ear.
They flew over another clearing and Rose gasped when she saw Centaurs galloping below.
"Cool! Just like Harry Potter!" she yelled.
She looked around and frowned when she noticed something in the distance was flying towards them. Something big.
"Doctor? What's that?" she said, pointing to it.
The Doctor looked where she was pointing.
"Oh, crap!" she heard him say.
"Doctor, what's wrong?"
"Longwei! Harpy at nine o'clock!" he yelled.
Rose's eyes widened.
"Harpy? That's a harpy?" she screamed.
"Yes and unfortunately, you don't wanna mess with them! Hang on!"
Rose screamed and the Doctor tightened his grip on her when Longwei dived towards the trees. She glanced around and noticed the harpy was giving chase. It resembled an enormous vulture with huge breasts hanging down under its body. It let out a high-pitched screech as it flapped its enormous wings.
"Will that thing hurt us?" Rose said to the Doctor.
"I hope not. Some of the animals in here are programmed to battle each other. Normally, I'm on the ground when that happens. I forgot that thing was in here."
"You mean, there's a chance we really could die?" Rose screamed. "A mechanical harpy could kill us for real?"
"Not if I can help it," the Doctor said. "Longwei, turn around, sharp turn."
Rose gasped as the dragon did what the Doctor ordered. She felt herself sliding off, but the Doctor righted her and scooted up until she was pinned up against the back of Longwei's head.
They flew past the forest with the harpy in hot pursuit.
"Lower, Longwei! Lower yourself towards the ground!"
The dragon obeyed.
"Okay, Rose, when it gets close to the ground, you and I are gonna slide off. Hopefully the harpy will just keep on chasing Longwei and won't bother with us."
"And if it doesn't?"
The Doctor narrowed his eyes.
"Then, I'll make that big breasted buzzard sorry it was ever born!"
Longwei soared down and flew inches from the ground.
"Here we go, count of three…one…two…three!"
Rose gasped as the Doctor pulled her with him while he slid off. Both of them landed hard on the ground and the Doctor pulled Rose away just in time to avoid Longwei's clawed feet. He covered her with his body and tensed as the harpy flew towards them. To his great relief, the harpy ignored them and followed Longwei back up into the sky. The Doctor rolled off of Rose and groaned.
"Oh, my ribs. That's the last time I fly with you on dragon air," he groaned.
Rose crawled to him.
"Doctor, are you okay?"
"Yeah, as soon as the internal bleeding stops, I'll be just peachy," he replied.
Rose glanced up and watched as Longwei turned in midair and began to fight the harpy. She looked down at the Doctor who had a pained smile on his face.
"Well, we didn't find any items on the list, but I did manage to get a concussion and several contusions and of course, the internal bleeding, so it wasn't a total loss coming in here," he joked.
"We lost the clipboard though, it fell off in mid-air." Rose said.
The Doctor shook his head.
"That's easily fixed. TARDIS, the clipboard, please," he yelled up.
The clipboard appeared next to his body.
"See, my ship keeps track of everything, which is good because I don't fancy hobbling all over the forest looking for it."
He slowly sat up and took it.
"Okay," he said to Rose. "Shall we move on?"
Rose nodded. The Doctor got to his feet, took her hand and led her back to the door.