A/N so as I said before, just a dozen chapters left... I hope that I can condense them I mean.
Anna was rushed through the thick overgrowth. Tree branches whipped back at her face and snagged at her highly inappropriate clothing- she regretted wearing her new dress now.
"Where are we going?" She cried, wincing as another branch whipped her bare arms. She was trying not to leave a noticeable trail in the forest which she considered impossible in the wilderness. "Won't we be followed?"
As the words left her mouth, Anna noticed the tree branches ahead parting and a narrow path being forged before them, twisting back, she saw the shrubbery springing back to position, leaving not even a plant stalk crushed. It was a fabulous and perfect design. Anna faintly recalled a lesson from her youth about communication between all living things on certain planets. Sometimes, the communication was literally between the occupants and the living deities of the planet; her father had likened it to the interaction on Pandora in Avatar. Ok, the locals weren't bloody enormous, blue, naked, tiger striped with long tails and braided hair, but they were still connected to the environment around.
Corianth stopped suddenly, causing Anna to pull her arm as the momentum of her velocity made her carry on.
"I'm taking you to the homestead," Corianth murmured nervously, "The Elders forbade anyone leaving given the current situation, but I left."
She raised her free arm and pointed to a softly swaying willow tree a mere 100 yards away.
"Grandmother Willow protects the entrance to the homestead. No human would notice it, even if pointed out to them."
"Not a human." Well it was mostly true.
"Come," Corianth's voice was still quiet but commanded more authority. Anna had no choice but to obey. No seriously, Corianth still had her arm; Anna was beginning to wonder if she was ever going to feel her fingers again.
Gently, Corianth parted the fanning fronds of the willow and crept forwards lightly. Anna felt incredibly bulky and uncoordinated following in her footsteps. She barely had time to admire the twisting vine roof supports that held the dark earth in place as Corianth tugged her along.
A bright light loomed ahead of them. Corianth pulled Anna into plain view as they approached two pale wood guards. They stared at Anna curiously with a lot of suspicion in their eyes. They did not however look startled to see Corianth.
"I, Corianth Sareane Liana demand access to the homestead with safe passage for the woman beside me now, for I am too the Elders of Cheem," her voice was proud, bordering on arrogant, as if she knew that her every whim would be catered for. Having seen the "other" Corianth, she guessed this was a side she used when she wanted something. The two sentries glanced at each other, before moving apart to allow them through.
"Go direct," one said with a formal but stiff bow. Corianth did not acknowledge the gesture and simply resumed dragging Anna, only this time it was through a shady and wooded area. She seemed to be a tree on a mission.
They stopped at a ladder against a great towering Oak tree, some five meters wide. Anna would have bet the Doctor's hair that the tree was hollow. Finally, it seemed, Corianth let go of Anna's wrist and began to climb. She stopped a few rungs up to wait for her companion.
Anna wriggled her fingers to get the circulation going again, twisting her fingers to rid herself of the sandy pins and needles feeling in her fingers.
"Oh and Anna, don not mind any animosity against you. You are the first who is not of our kind to ever enter the homestead," Corianth called down as Anna began to climb.
Great. Privileged. Anna wondered if she had paranoia as she suddenly felt a hundred pairs of eyes fix on her. The climb was hard on Anna's bare hands, and she was exhausted when the reach the platform a third of the way up, but this was as high as was needed to go. Suddenly, above the first leaf layer, an entire city in the trees had emerged with interconnecting bridges and tree houses.
Corianth motioned for Anna to enter the door at the back of the platform.
Anna entered the room, unable to see anything but smoke. She sensed rather than saw twelve pairs of eyes fix on her.
She gulped.
...MEANWHILE...
The Doctor was in a cell. Again. Although he wasn't quite sure what he'd done this time. He kept thinking about what he'd done since arriving on Cheem and had been forced to conclude it could only have, possibly, been sonicing and entering private military land.
Consideration
With Anna in clearing. Bright flash. Somehow not in the clearing any more, but TARDIS with him. Anna not. Wander off to find her. Find a mysteriously HUMAN looking compound. Toy soldiers scurrying about. Very, very not good. Try to call Anna, but phone disconnected. Also not good. Goes to fence and sees signs saying "Private Military Land" and "Do Not Enter". Sonics the gate. Enters Private Military Land. Gets to the first building when suddenly surrounded by said toy soldiers pointing very real guns at him. Very, very not good. Taken to cells and searched – well, outer pockets only after the mouse trap. Told to wait...
End consideration
Okay, definitely sonicing and entering. But he was interested! And confused, and worried about timelines. This was almost certainly the 26th century, which, if his impeccable history served him correctly, meant that there would be not humans in this galactic quadrant for at least another century or two. And certainly not on Cheem, it had been exempt from interplanetary exploration since the late 26th century.
So, he needed a plan. Plan. Plan. Plan. Think. Assets?
He glanced around his cell and into the corridor. His assets were... a bed thing against the wall, a deadlock seal over the electromagnetic lock and... his oversized brain. Oh and his sonic, hidden in the lining of his coat. Which was of course useless with the ... deadlock... seal... Unless... The seal was only on one side of the door. If he could excite the particles of the door on either side, he might be able to use his sonic from the external and NON deadlocked lock.
Ok, so half a plan. What do you call half a plan? An Allonsy and hope for the best plan? Anyway, doesn't matter.
Half sort of plan; Distract guard long enough to use the sonic, say three minutes, maximum? Find out what was going on and who was screwing up history. Find Anna. Wait, maybe he should find Anna first... Nah, she likes the independence (although likely to be cursing his hair to the heavens by now) so, Find out whats going on THEN stop it and find Anna.
The stopping it was the hazy grey or maybe magenta (depending on your planet of origin) area. He needed to know what was going on first.
To his complete amazement, the guard outside his corridor began to walk down to a small room at the end, just out of sight, as if answering some unheard call.
Not wasting any time, the Doctor began to work of the excitation of molecular structure. It took longer than expected. He heard the toilet flush. More determined now, knowing it would be a while before muscle boy would need another leak, he turned the setting up. Ping. Done! Now he could swing the door open and dart of down the corridor, crooning excitedly to himself.
He had to find out why humans were on Cheem and how he could get them to coexist with the trees – whom he had assumed had hidden away when their opinion of the apocalypse came.
He chanced a left, not really knowing where he was going. He turned straight into a small ratty man with watery eyes and a small pointed nose holding a stopwatch.
"Peter Pettigrew I presume," The Doctor said cheerfully, sticking his hand out. The ratty man was flanked by two enormous goons. "And I see you've bought Crabbe and Goyle too, how nice."
"Fifteen minutes, thirty nine seconds," Ratty sneered in a nasally, irritating voice. "We were expecting a little better than that, but nevertheless, General Louis wants to see you. I would advise you to come with me."
He turned on his smart dress heels and began to walk away. The goons lifted their guns and pointed them directly at the Doctor. So much for advise then hey. He amused himself by pulling faces at the ratty man behind his back. His uniform suggested he was high ranking but not involved in security. Scientist? Secretary? PA? Temp? From Chiswick?
"So... who is General Louis?" The Doctor asked generally, bored with the silence and repetitious surroundings.
"The only one stopping your execution."
"Right, so head of command then. Bit peeved by the sound of it," the Doctor joked. The Rat turned to the Doctor suddenly, inches from his chest.
"I make the rules here," He snarled "I am Senior Officer Graeme, personal assistant and Firstin Command of Personnel in the Fifth Imperial Fleet."
"So you're not the head of command then? Bit touchy about it I guess."
He doubled over as Graeme landed a hard punch at his midsection.
"Take him to Louis," Graeme sneered. The goons dragged the Doctor across the shiny floor and threw him onto the floor. His head connected with a raised platform, causing him to see Neutron Stars in his vision.
"What are you doing?" Screeched a woman's voice. "I told you to bring him to me Graeme."
"Yes Ma'am, but you didn't say how," Graeme voice was slimy again.
So General Louis is a she then, his brain made the obvious connection whilst spinning uncontrollably. He had hit a pressure point at the base of his neck.
"I expected you to treat him cordially, Officer," Louis returned forcibly, she even stressed the term Officer with a degree of contempt, stating before the whole room that this man was an underling. A pair of sparkly red heels swam into the doctor line of sight. "Graeme, get your slimy self back to your office and finish the paperwork I gave you two months ago. I mean, that is your job. I want it done by eight O'clock, Earth time. All of it."
"Yes Ma'am," Graeme said, obviously not daring to disobey the order but certainly not happy about it.
"Back to work everyone, three guards outside."
"Yes Ma'am" chorused around the room. Salutes exchanged and rubber boots leaving the polished floor.
The Doctor's vision was coming back now, the features of the woman bending down to him slowly forming.
He sat up, rubbing his tender neck and rubbing his eyes. A glass was pushed against his lips.
"You must drink all of it, it will cure the headache," The General's voice was no longer harsh. Hang on, he recognised that voice...
His eyes flashed open.
Her fair was a different colour and twisted into a bun but she was still the same.
"Je-Je-Jenny?" He stammered
"Hello Dad," she beamed.
...
Anna had never felt so exposed. She had been ordered to stand in the centre of the round room, on her own - so no Corianth to feel safe next to – with twelve pairs of unfriendly eyes fixed on her.
The room was so full of smoke that Anna could not see the people (or trees depending on whether you wanted a lawsuit) attached to the eyes, sharp, cold eyes in the thick gloom.
"Ummm, hiya, I'm Anna. Anna Smith?" Anna offered nervously, making it sound more like a question than a statement.
"Corianth, why have you bought a human to the homestead?" asked a brusque voice from the shadows.
"Not a human," Anna corrected quietly. She flinched as she felt a glare.
"You obviously are human, you look it," The brusque voice said forcibly. Anna made sure not to show a weakness this time.
"Yeah, well, there were always more than one species that look human," she shrugged, a grin formed on her face, "We came first."
"Hush Leonri," A softer voice commanded. Anna guessed that the brusque voiced guy (Leonri) had been about to lay into her again. "Do not chide the Young One, she did what she thought was best. What do you mean child, that you came first?"
"My people came before humans," Anna said quietly.
"Falsehoods," Barked Leonri "The Young One left the homestead against our orders and bought back a human!"
"Again, not a human," Anna muttered, rolling her eyes.
"Can you prove it?" Corianth called out. "It would seem that people do not trust me, or you Anna."
Ok, subtle dig at something there.
Anna closed her eyes and focussed on the beat of her heart. The Doctors (Proper Medical Doctors with qualifications and everything) had said that there was a heart murmur in all the Smith children, possibly a hereditary trait.
Anna knew differently. She allowed her mind to float and concentrated.
Dum-Dum-Dum-Dum
"What do you know of human physiology?" She asked the room in general. She could sense each of their minds in the room. Her mind found an entangled web of thoughts settled like a fluffy blanket over the homestead. She passed it over, she had more pressing matters.
She reached out in her mind, to the "heart murmur" lifting the cloud that had been placed over her heart. Just like Jonny had taught her when she was a lot younger. Back then she'd done it to scare her friends. But it had been so long. She wondered if she'd still be able to do it...
"Amba is an expert," the soft voice said finally after a few moments of silent deliberation.
"You want proof, I'll give you proof," Anna smiled with an essence of finality.
Amba came into view, emerging from the haze in a flowing red dress over her silvery coloured skin.
"How many hearts does a human have?" Anna asked as Amba stood gracefully in front of her.
"One," Amba confirmed, gazing down at Anna with unconcealed interest.
"How many do I have?"
Amba frowned in confusion and gently placed a wooden hand over Anna's upper chest, (Just above any awkward area luckily). Her eyebrows raised and she mover her hand from one side of Anna's chest to the other. Finally she realised that it was no trick.
"Two," she diagnosed, stepping back. "Two hearts."
"What is your name child?"
"I told you, Anna Smith, it's short for Morgana."
A whistle of escaped air sounded around the room as if every single one had just exhaled in shock.
"Species?" queried another, excitable sounding voice.
"You won't believe me," Anna warned, "I'm a Time Lady. Now I have a question, why all the smoke? I mean seriously, I may have a binary vascular system and a way better lung capacity than humans, but even I'm starting to feel a bit icky."
"Clear the chamber," the soft voice ordered. Suddenly, the smoke disappeared and bright sunlight filtered through to the chamber. Anna gave a little wave, a cheeky smile on her face. A tall, slim pale wood woman with gold and red robes stood up.
"I am Sareana Clan leader of the Saphir Valley tribe," It was the soft commanding woman. "you cannot possibly exist. You are just a legend."
"In the flesh, my parents survived the war, well. My dad sorta twin did, but my mum is half Time Lord? Anyway, doesn't matter. I exist!" Anna was being carefree but controlled.
"We cannot trust her," insisted Leonri opposite the circle from Sareana. Corianth moved to stand demurely behind the Clan Queens wood knot.
"Amba is our biologist," Sareana turned to the silver Amba.
"She isn't human," Amba reiterated "They don't have dual beaters. I don't know of any living species that have that." She stared at Anna in curiosity.
"My daughter would not have bought her if she did not deem it worthy of our attention," Sareana added. Anna chuckled. Ha, she was friends with the princess!
"Changing the subject," Anna grinned, clapping her hands loudly "What has happened here? Why do none of you like humans?"
"Humans came to Cheem," Corianth told her, "They razed the ground and took the trees away, not twelve boughs away."
"We returned to the homestead and protected it," Sareana continued. "Our scouts watched the newcomers take the forest apart tree by tree and add a foreign element to the ground. Then they stopped. The scouts bought back the twigs of one who had gotten too close and perished. They bought back terrible machines of death that burned our fingers to cinders."
"Have you tried to make contact with them?" Anna asked.
"they are no friend to Cheems," Leonri snarled, gripping the sides of his tree knot.
"But this is your forest," Anna insisted "By the Human Interplanetary Investigation Act passed in 2458 by the Boshane parliament, the investigative forces must accept the natives right of habitation unless they prove hostile. It was designed to prevent un-necessary arguments about land ownership."
"We dare not try," Sareana sighed, returning to her seat. "I will not risk my people." Her glance at Corianth told Anna that she most defiantly would not risk her daughter.
"I vote we make first strike," Leonri cried.
"No!" Sareana sat up quickly. "I will not risk my home and my people against a foe we cannot win Leonri. Their weapons could raze our planet in seconds. No we, remain in the shadows. Safe."
"Well said," Anna added. She glanced up at the skylight in the woven vine roof and remembered something."How do you stay hidden from the humans? You'd register as life forms."
"We have a telepathic shield over the area, humans see only what they want too."
"Would you mind if I tapped into the energy?" Anna asked. "I need to contact my Uncle, see if he's ok. He vanished see, just before Corianth picked me up."
Sareana seemed to consider it. Then she nodded.
"We can allow you access to the source, but you must tell us your words."
"He may be able to help you," Anna answered truthfully. "If not, then I shall ask him to pick me up and we shall leave."
"She speaks only the truth," A soft almost non-existent voice whispered. Anna turned around to see and incredibly ancient and bent double tree shuffling into the room. Everyone stood up. Vines were entangled in her hair and robes giving her a manic, mystical sort of air.
"Grandmother Willow," Sareana acknowledged.
"Trust her, the Lady Child of Time," Grandmother Willow continued in a breathy voice. "She must contact him now... and find her true place."
Sareana curtsied deeply to the approaching figure. It seemed to be decided. There was no doubt in anyone's eyes. Just fear in Corianth's. Grandmother Willow's brittle fingers gripped Anna's wrist as the figure straightened herself to look into Anna's eyes.
"Do not trust she with turquoise nails," Grandmother Willow whispered. Anna started. She had heard that before! "She will try to be a friend, but she will betray you. They will devour you if you tell her the truth. You can control it child."
Then she let go, leaving Anna stunned and disorientated.
She could control it? What, the glowing? And what on Earth was that about turquoise nails?
A/N long chapter huh? Im thinking my dozen chapter thing is more of wishful thinking than any chance of reality. I am sooo happy, I have finally finished my Maths! Whoop Whoop. Make my amazing day and review! Ta xx