Noontide

by OswaldThatEndswald

In 1889 B.C., the priest Neàsan believes his prayers have been answered when a mysterious blue box floats to the shore. A beast has been terrorising his people for the last fifty years, and perhaps this Doctor of the water can slay it.

Neàsan was praying on the shore of the lake, gazing out as spatters of rain upset the majestic surface of the water. The rains will get worse before they get better. He fought back the urge to curse the sky, feeling a twinge deep in his guts. Dark clouds on the horizon, billowing across the heavens in an unending wave of malice, or hunger, or just disregard, towards Neàsan, and the village - they must have seemed so tiny to the Water. Be patient. He closed his eyes gently, focussing on the trickles of rain as they ran over the yellow sheen of his hair, and down his neck. He thought of the village, a mile or two behind his back, and, further still, of the forest. Perhaps it wasn't the rain he needed to ask the Water about. A terrible, mortal being; it hadn't been there years before, Brienn had said, back when his father had been leader, there was a time before the Beast.

"I patiently await your answer..." Neàsan mouthed, "I only fulfil my priestly duties, and I patiently..."

He snapped his eyes open as the lake produced a peculiar glugging sound from within - something had risen from its depths. For a second he thought it was part of a fallen tree, but it was blue. An oblong, of sorts; a small, blue house, laying on its back, and floating gracefully towards the shore.

He sprinted up the beach, tripping as he went, up the grassy slope, passing the cow fields. A Herder glanced at him, in understandable confusion, as he watched the young priest seemingly lose his grace. Neàsan ambled across the mud-soaked stones that marked the path up to the leader's roundhouse, panting; he knocked on the door, "Brienn! Come quickly..."

The leader unbolted his door, "what is it? why do you disturb us? what's wrong, Neàsan?"

"The lake..." he tried to describe the sight to him, but insisted he come and see for himself.

"A boat? A log?" Brienn asked, following his priest back down to the beach. His wife Kisha came out after him, before Brienn turned back to her, "Fetch Ado, and Fiona, love; we may need Warriors..."

Kisha nodded, taking the few steps across the pathway to the Warriors' household, and knocking. The morning rain was cold - she hadn't even finished her breakfast! - and she had already unpinned her hair. The way Neàsan had battered their door, you'd think they were under attack.

By the time Kisha, Fiona and Ado caught up, the mysterious block of wood had touched the shore. Fiona glanced to Kisha, rolling her eyes, as they approached slowly. The block raised itself upright, standing taller than a man, and the front parted outwards. Everyone except Neàsan took a step back, Fiona and Ado simultaneously touching the hilts of their swords, as two people stepped out: a caped woman with bright yellow hair, followed by a tall, dark-haired youth, in a thick, black cloak.

"Ok...not Ashcough then..." The youth said.

The woman turned back to her with an apology, "Actually it might be...but not your time...I'm not sure what time we're in..." she said, and then turned her gaze to Neàsan with a warm smile, "hello..."

Neàsan averted his eyes to the floor, "You come from the Water?"

"Yeah, ah suppose we did."

"And from the Beyond?"

"Well..." the woman paused, as if searching for the right way to answer, "from somewhere far from here..."

"I welcome you - " Neàsan said, finding the courage to meet this being's eyes, "I am Neàsan, the priest of my village. Behind me is Brienn, our leader..." he gestured to the burly, dark-haired man, who watched on, a slight frown on his brow, "and his wife Kisha, and two of our Warriors, Fiona, and her son Ado. What should we call you?"

"My name's the Doctor." The woman said, looking to the youth, "and this is Marie."

"May I ask..." Neàsan began, "when will the long rains end?"

The Doctor hesitated to answer. She noted the tight-woven, darkened wool of the tunics these people were wearing, and the faded fox-pelt draped over Neàsan's shoulders. Then she saw the dull metal of the swords the two warriors hovered their hands over, as they watched her; she turned back to Marie, "Bronze Age, in the North of England..." she said in a low voice. Neàsan couldn't wait for any answer, and began to ask again,

"How many years? How many more generations? I do not fear the answer, spirit, but we must know..." he watched the Doctor's face fall slightly - she didn't need to answer, "What can we do? What did we do to inspire such anger from the sky, Doctor?"

She sighed, "...nothing, Neàsan."

"We must have done something, surely this is not for nothing..."

Brienn strode forward across the pebbles, raising his hand "I understand what you mean, Doctor. We cannot control the weather any more than we can control the rise and fall of the sun. The Water may act with cause, but it does not change its course because we beg, or because we offend it..."

She nodded gravely in agreement. Brienn hesitantly gave a slight bow of deference, calling back to the two Warriors to stand down, "I thought you had come from the North of the Lake when I saw your...boat..." he looked past the two at the TARDIS, "but you come from much further, don't you?" he mused, before smiling gregariously, "come, Doctor, your companion - Marie? - looks unaccustomed to the weather. Would you care to rest before you continue on your journey?"

The Doctor smiled to Marie, "what d'you think?"

"Yeah ok..." she chuckled, adding, to the Doctor, "companion?"

Brienn nodded, as he began to lead the way "companion, yes, child. Was I mistaken?"

Marie felt her heart jump a little when the man directly addressed her - ignoring for the moment that he called her 'child,' - "well it depends what you mean by companion."

Fortunately the Doctor stepped in, "ah think he just means colleague, assistant, long as you don't mean 'servant,' Brienn, I think we're good."

Brienn nodded with a little laugh, as they made their way back up the grassy slope from the beach, and they headed back to the village. Maybe Neàsan was right about these two. Maybe they were from the Beyond. But since when did the spirits manifest themselves as people? Then again, since when had he ever seen the spirits manifest at all?

Brienn's house was welcomingly warm and dry, albeit smoky. His son, Shin, was silently tending to a black pot of stew over the fire, giving the Doctor and Marie a wary smile, but otherwise ignoring them. Brienn sat on a wooden block by the small window, indicating a space on the floor for the pair, whilst Neàsan sat closer to the fire with a slight tremble.

"A cold rain..." He said, to no-one in particular, "a sign of clearer skies to come..."

Marie took off her coat to place it on her lap, crossing her legs, whilst the Doctor seemed interested in the door.

"That's a lot of bolts, Brienn..." she said, "ah suppose it gives your joiners something to do..."

"It is the same on every house, Doctor. A necessity, I'm afraid."

She turned back with intrigue, "thieves?"

He nodded, "please, have a seat..."

Neàsan added, "not thieves exactly."

"What then?"

"The Beast in the forest." He said, matter-of-factly, turning to her with his eyes down, "...do you not know of it?"

"No...but tell me more."

Marie took cautious glances around the room at the mention of a 'beast,' listening to the rain outside, and the distant unintelligible voices. A 'beast' could have just been a particularly nasty wolf, or a bear, or whatever animals they had in England at this time.

Brienn sat over them on his wood block, clasping his hands together solemnly, with his eyes lowered, "When I was a boy, I was warned not to play in the forest. My father, and other members of the tribe, would have to go in a large group, for fear of wolves. The sound of them howling at night used to fill me with dread. But as the years went on, I heard the sound less and less, and I was relieved. But then we started to lose children. No-one knew how it could be happening - but every ten years, we lost two or three; taken from their homes, right from their parents' arms sometimes. A group of our warriors, led by my dad, went into the forest to find them. None returned. We made sure every house was safely bolted. But it went on," he looked back up to the Doctor, as she listened intently, her eyes wide, "and we noticed something else...now the wolves were silent, more than that, they were gone. But something else stalked the forest. We have never seen it up close, Doctor, but it stands upright like a man, a dark featureless body, and a face that glints like metal. And it wears the pelt of a wolf over itself. And we realised what had happened. Something elusive, and swift, and cunning - something that could take on a pack of wolves and even destroy them, all on its own. And still, every ten years, it takes children from us. Only a month ago, it took four from us," he sighed, smiling weakly, "I think I'm right in assuming Neàsan was hoping you had come from the Beyond to slay it."

Neàsan nodded, "was I mistaken?"

The Doctor returned Brienn's weak smile, "No, you weren't. I might not be able to change the weather. But a beast? There I can help you."

Neàsan laughed, "well this is wonderful! If we can help you in this, you must ask us..."

Shin, who had been crouching over the fire, poking the wood through the grating around it, suddenly spoke up, "that's up to my dad, Neàsan."

"Well of course!" Brienn said, "but how will you do this?"

"First off, knowledge is power, let's find out what we can about it..." The Doctor started, "how does it get through the doors?"

"We don't know. When Fearn - one of our Warriors - woke up, and they had taken his child, a boy, only two years...the door was not broken, but it was unlocked, the bolts all unbolted..."

The Doctor continued to inquire, as Marie sat in silence, taking more wary glances around, but careful to remember every piece of information about the Beast - a metal face, upright, intelligent; and none of the children were older than three; and it never awoke anyone when it came. Mercifully, though, Brienn also mentioned that it never left the depths of the forest by day. And apparently, it wasn't overly large - just the size of a person, or thereabouts. But it was strong enough to fight a whole pack of wolves, to the point of wiping them out completely...

Neàsan offered to show them the part of the forest where this 'beast' lived after the morning work was done, accompanied by some warriors, of course. In the meantime, the Doctor returned to the TARDIS, intent on finding the fault that had brought them here. She disappeared down a spiral staircase in the console room, saying something about needing some tools.

"Flying straight into a paradox, I wouldn't recommend it!" She said when she returned, wearing grey overalls and a pair of welder's goggles, "see, when I saved you, I locked onto the signal the penumbra made when it took people, but by saving you I changed the course of events that created the signal. Probably just knackered the vortex circumlocutor or something...I'll have it fixed in no time, just need to open her up..." she crouched to the floor, pulling a few panels up, and climbing down inside.

"Need any help?"

"It's not the sort of thing you could help with, really."

"Fair enough," Marie said as she looked down into the floor where the Doctor was working, "want me to leave you to it?"

"No, you can stay," she lit a small white flame, holding it to the dark interior of the ship, "I'm not easily distracted."

Marie sat down on the console floor, watching, "So...is this what you do?"

"What?"

"Go from place to place, time to time, solving problems?"

"Sometimes." She glanced up, "it's not always like this."

"And does the TARDIS choose the place you go?"

The Doctor thought for a second about this, "well she's got ideas about where we should go. Sometimes I disagree. But she always takes me where I need to go," she explained, cutting open the wall in front of her, a puff of black smoke ejecting into her face. Marie backed away from the edge, as the smoke rose up, and seemingly vanished into the yellow glow of the ceiling, "she always finds something for me to fix."

"So you're like...a travelling hero? You and the TARDIS together?"

"No..." The Doctor insisted, smirking, "well maybe a bit. But sometimes I'll go somewhere, and just enjoy it. No monsters, no trouble, just a beautiful part of the universe. Ah can't just go from one disaster to another, I'd go mad."

"Yeah of course you would!" Marie agreed, leaning forward again to peek down, "so...where would I fit into this? Won't I just get in the way?"

"Ah dunno, would you?"

"I'll try not to...wouldn't want to get between you and, you know, your job."

"It's not my job." The Doctor took another look up, "it's just what I do."

"Same thing though, really. Except you don't get paid. Or do you get paid?"

The Doctor found herself chuckling a little, "no...I should do, shouldn't I?"

The rain had thinned to a blustering mist by the time Neàsan knocked on the TARDIS door. He brought along the two Warriors from before, as well as Fiona's husband, Waughn, and his brother Fearn, who had been foraging in the forest earlier. Their two best fighters, Neàsan said, "the only two brave enough to venture into the forest for berries," he explained, as they walked further up the gentle slope into the trees. Waughn led the way silently, sword drawn. Fearn, the slighter, and much fairer of the two, surveyed the Doctor and Marie with fascination, "you do not look like strong warriors..." he said, thumbing the bristly stubble on his chin, taking a second look at the Doctor, adding as an afterthought "well, perhaps you do, nevertheless..." he mused to himself, not finishing his thought. The leaves ahead scattered as a magpie took to the air in frustration, retreating to the safety of a tree as the people passed by. There were a few distant bird-calls; and the Doctor eyed a rabbit, dashing into a hole, at the base of a tree,

"Only the wolves..." she murmured, "and apart from taking children, it never leaves the forest?"

"That's right," Fiona said, "at least, no-one has ever seen it."

"Funny that something so powerful would stay hidden..." The Doctor remarked. It didn't break down the doors. But it could unbolt them from the inside...

"We are many." Fiona said, blinking against the wind, "even a powerful creature is not stronger than a whole tribe, Doctor."

Ado looked to Marie, "you must be very powerful yourselves...from the Beyond, wow..."

Marie shrugged, glancing to him "I'm not powerful; the Doctor was actually taking me home. But our...vessel was kind of...blown off course."

"So you're a mortal like us?"

Marie chuckled "yeah. Just a mortal..."

Waughn slowed his walk as they approached a ridge in the ground, "an Earthquake happened here, long ago...the Beast never comes past this point."

Neàsan added, "we think."

The Doctor strode ahead of Waughn, examining the fault. Beyond it, the ground was raised by about five feet, "this looks centuries old...but the Beast has only been around for a few decades..." she said, mostly to herself, running her hand across the roots of a tree, which was growing on the higher ground, "Brienn's dad went with a large group, right? ...I think...I should go on alone," she decided, looking back, seeing Waughn and Fearn's confused expressions.

"We do not fear death, Doctor." Waughn insisted, "we may not be able to kill it, but we can defend you from it, should it attack."

"That's not the issue. You see, I'm thinking...children aside...it only attacks in self-defence. Wolves, big groups of capable fighters..." she began to climb up onto the ridge, "trust me."

Fearn approached, taking a second sword from his back, but the Doctor declined it. As she turned, and continued deeper into the forest, Waughn shook his head in disbelief, "she's either immensely powerful or immensely stupid."

Neàsan sat down on the grass, adding quietly, "or she knows something that we do not..."

The forest appeared to continue as normal beyond the ridge; the Doctor could still hear the occasional rustle of birds in the trees, and a red squirrel ran across her path, darting up a thick tree trunk. She kept her eyes keenly on the ground ahead, for any signs of sentient life - perhaps the embers of a fire, or footprints, or even faint trodden pathways - but she found nothing. Everything seemed undisturbed. Tranquil, even. The slope began to steepen after a few more minutes' walking, and the undergrowth thinned out under the dense canopy, looming high above. The whistling wind seemed to be the only sound now.

A horse whinnied in the distance somewhere further up the hill, and the Doctor followed the sound, approaching some kind of barrier. As she drew closer, she noticed that the ground plateaued again, just before the wall ahead. It was constructed from quartered logs, about twenty feet high, and it stretched as far as she could see in either direction. It must have taken years to construct! The Beast was patient, if it was a beast at all. She heard the horse again, and the faint sounds of hammering. She felt her hearts pick up their pace - this wasn't the work of a monster. There was something far more intelligent out here. She found a door in the wall, made from a tarnished bronze, and, taking a deep breath, she knocked.

A bolt clunked on the other side, a small window on the door slid to reveal a masked being, peering out at her warily. The mask was bronze too, covering the entire face, except for the eyes - a pair of mild, brown, and altogether human-looking eyes. Satisfied that the Doctor was alone, it closed the window, and slid another bolt, opening the door with a squeak. A little taller than the Doctor, the being wore a black cloak with a hood, like a monk. She glanced down to a sheathed sword at its belt. A second being dressed exactly the same, appeared in the doorway.

"Hello..." The Doctor said. Neither responded, but began to gesture to one another, in some kind of sign language. One of them hurried up the path beyond the wall, whilst the other touched its hood, tugging at it, and pointing to the Doctor's, "you want me to put my hood up?" she asked.

The being simply repeated the gesture. The Doctor obliged, and was invited through the doorway. She gasped "ok...not just two of you then..."

Inside, the ground had been paved with gravel and sand, and any trees had been cleared from the immediate area. She turned to see a whole block of huts, to her left; and to her right, further into the settlement, there was a building made of stone, where two horses stood, reigned up [harnessed?] to a large cart; the sound of hammering within - a blacksmith? Another cloaked person sat atop the cart, glancing back as two more took pieces of rubble from the back. He looked down, and they gave a signal, before he set the horses in motion, pulling the cart back across the main path, and taking it out of sight, not even registering the Doctor. The one standing with her raised his hand when the Doctor wandered too far away - she was to stay here until told. He pointed to a protrusion of stone far down the main path, where the other follower had hurried off to.

A few more minutes passed before someone approached. These two were different. An old man - perhaps seventy, and without a mask - walked solemnly towards them, ahead of a second, smaller being. This one was near to the Doctor's height, perhaps slightly shorter, with something of a solid, stocky build, as far as she could tell under the grey pelt it wore over its body, like a cape: a wolf skin, complete with tail, that trailed the ground. And this one wore a mask like the others, and similarly, appeared human - almost - in the eyes behind the mask.

The old man spoke first "Speak softly when you address the Mother. I will interpret her signs for you."

"The Mother?"

The man nodded, and stepped aside letting the 'mother,' stand face-to-face with the Doctor. It - or she - began to sign, and the man spoke:

" 'Greetings, stranger. We almost never have guests, so you will forgive my children if they seem somewhat frightened of you.' "

The Doctor looked around at the cloaked people dotted about. The one who had brought her in had returned to his station by the wall, "Your children?"

" 'These are all my children. This is my home. What is your name? And what is your business with us, stranger?' "

"I'm the Doctor. And I was looking for a beast. Seems like you're the person to ask..."

The Mother lowered her head as if in disappointment, or possibly frustration. It was quite impossible to tell without seeing her face. She signed something more out,

" 'Those who live by the Lake, the Western villagers, refer to me and my children as 'The Beast.' But as you can see, they are much mistaken.' "

The Mother led the way up the path, as the Doctor followed,

" 'I try to stay out of the way of the primitives. As long as they do not harm me, I will not harm them.' "

The Doctor nodded to her, questions flying around her head, "but you've been taking children" she started, catching the Mother's piercing glance through her mask "that was you, wasn't it?"

" 'I cannot produce children myself.' " She signed, " 'but the primitives here have many children.' "

"So you took them?" the Doctor murmured, "not just a month ago, but for decades...gathering more and more, why?"

" 'I needed to bring the population to a stable number.' "

"No, I mean, why take them in the first place?"

They turned a corner, passing the stone building, the sounds of hammers and metal clanging from within. The Mother waited until they had passed, heading over to a large longhouse, bordered by a neat fence, gesturing calmly " 'I was alone, Doctor.' "

"That's no kind of reason." The Doctor affirmed.

" 'Why not? The children are well looked after. I do not wish them harm - I treat them as if they were my own.' "

The old man smiled to the Mother, laying a hand on her shoulder affectionately.

The longhouse ahead of them was where she was keeping the children - seven in total - where, the Mother explained, they would spend their infancy with unmasked women she called Maidens, until they learned how to sign, and accepted the masks made for them. They seemed contented in there, watching some kind of puppet show the young Maidens performed for them. But some day they would have to wear the masks too, and the robes...

" 'Identity is an illusion.' " The Mother explained, as they left the longhouse once more,

" 'masks remove the illusion. And this sign language allows for the communication of ideas higher than the vocal languages others insist on using.' "

The Doctor looked to her interpreter, "what about you? Why do you get to keep your identity?"

The man shook his head, "I was one of the first children. Back in the uncertain times, wearing a mask would have endangered us. This forest was once wild with wolves."

"Ah know...and you wiped them out."

"Only because they threatened us." The man said. The Mother touched his arm, signing to him, he nodded, and looked to the Doctor, "The Mother would like to know what your business is here."

"I came here to find a beast. Now that I see you're just... what are you?" she stepped closer to the Mother, trying to see more of her face, and she held her hand up sharply.

" 'Stay back.' "

"Yeah, I kinda guessed that one, thanks..." she squinted at the Mother, focussing on the blue of her eyes behind the mask, and the almost pure white of her skin. From what she could see, she was close to human, at least, "where are you from? what species?"

The being did not answer for a long time, looking past the Doctor to a small group of her children, cloaked men and women, coming back from the fields for lunch, " 'Identity is an illusion. I am the Mother, that is all that counts. Just as you are the Doctor. I have my children. Do you not have your patients?' "

"I help people. And if I knew what you were, maybe I could help you. Why can't you have children? Where's the rest of your species?"

" 'I do not need your help.' " she signed, a firmness in the gestures of her hands, " 'No-one on this Earth can help me. You might think just because you are not of this world either that you can help. But you are not needed. Go back to your ship, and leave us.' "

The Doctor didn't move an inch now, "Those children belong with their families, they miss them. You understand what you're doing is wrong, don't you?"

" 'If you mean that I understand that it causes the primitives pain, then yes. But equally, I save the children from a life of savagery. So what I do is right, also.' "

"They're really not that bad. They aren't savages."

" 'They aren't?' " The Mother almost looked like she might laugh for a moment, touching her mask lightly with her fingers, " 'I tried to live with them. Not those Western Lake people, but the Hill folk, to the East. I tried to understand. I will not send my children back to their biological parents - those who burn animals to please the false idols of dreams; those who teach women to contemplate, and rule, but never fight, and men to fight, but never contemplate; those who barely know how to eat properly, and become ill without understanding why...' "

The East, the Doctor thought to herself, "Those extra three children were from there, right?"

" 'Yes.' "

"So they've lost children to you, too...you should be careful, Mother. That's two whole villages - seventy to a hundred residents in each one... how many are you?"

" 'Are you threatening us?' " The Mother asked, without changing her posture whatsoever.

"Just a warning. If you don't accept my help, you're going to have a hell of a hard time."

" 'And if you don't leave us be, there will be bloodshed.' " The Mother reached under her cloak, and drew a gleaming sword, and it certainly wasn't bronze, " 'any good mother will fight to defend her children.' " the old man stopped translating, to add, "and each one of us will fight to defend her."

The Mother advanced on the Doctor, brandishing her iron sword. As some more of her followers descended from the fields, they saw what was happening, and rushed to her aid, drawing their own swords, backing the Doctor along the pathway, back to the entrance.

"You're making a huge mistake, Mother..." she warned. She sheathed her sword, and signed,

" 'Go back to your ship, and leave this world, Doctor. If you threaten this life we've made, then we will destroy you, and we will destroy anyone who tries to help you.' "

As the Doctor stepped back out into the forest, the follower at the door closed it, and bolted it once more. The wind whistled through the trees above.

Marie was sitting back against a tree, her eyes closed, when she heard Waughn call out,

"The Doctor, she returns!" He said, with amazement. She didn't look at all dishevelled - perhaps she had not found the Beast after all. He asked her, as she jumped back down from the ridge.

"Sort of...looks like things are a lot more complicated than we thought...first question though. What's the quickest way to the village to the East?"

Neàsan shook his head, approaching the Doctor, "you don't want to speak with them. Strange people - their priest is a woman, as is their leader..."

"We were talking about them whilst you were gone." Marie added, "they live on the edge of the forest."

The Doctor began to explain what she had found - a whole tribe of people, all from kidnapped children, not just from their village, but from the East too, possibly even the South, over the hillside.

"But she is... mortal? Not some demon, but just a man?" Fearn asked.

"I'm not sure what she is - she calls herself the Mother, and she looks human, but she was wearing a mask. There's literally a million intelligent humanoid creatures she might be. She doesn't speak though, narrows it down, but from the way she talked, that might just be by choice..."

"And some were taken from the East too?" Neàsan asked, "and so you wish to speak to them?"

"Not just that. The Mother told me she once lived with them."

Neàsan shook his head, "we shall still call her the Beast, Doctor, even if she might name herself different."

Fearn and Waughn agreed, with Fiona adding, "perhaps...it might be necessary to..."

"...to ally with the Easterners?" Ado finished for her, "I'd like to see the others agree to that."

As they reached the edge of the forest, Neàsan reluctantly pointed the Doctor in the direction of the East, "perhaps the Beast was simply lying to you."

"It's possible, but it's still worth checking, don't you think? There's things she's not told me. Maybe I can find some answers."

Neàsan relented, "I must go and talk to Brienn about an alliance with the Easterners. He'll certainly say no, of course."

"That's probably for the best, the last thing ah want here is a war, Neàsan."

"Me too, Doctor. But if it is necessary..." he said with a sigh, turning from them, and joining the others in the walk back.

After about an hour, another village came into view. It was built on a raised patch of land with a rocky slope up to the entrance, with hills rolling beyond it, dotted with sheep. Before they had even set foot on the incline, three men appeared at the top.

"Sisters!" One of them shouted, "What are your intentions?"

Marie turned to the Doctor, "sisters?"

"One sec," the Doctor said, looking up to the three men - all armed with swords - "with your permission, we would like to speak to your leader," she yelled back to them.

"Are you armed?"

"No, never." The Doctor called back.

"My two men will escort you up the hill. I will fetch Róisín." He said, vanishing back over the hill.

After walking them up to the threshold to the village, the two men instructed them to wait. A voice echoed loudly from deeper inside,

"Well what do they want? Are they from the West?" A woman asked, coming into view as she turned a corner. She wore a thick, red, woollen garment over her shoulders, her brown hair braided loosely - looking very matted, bordering on dishevelled. She smiled gleefully at the Doctor, and then Marie, striding over to them.

"Hello, sisters!" She chirped, eyeing them both up with a slight frown that furrowed her brow, and turned to Marie again, grimacing slightly.

"Róisín, I assume? I'm the Doctor, and this is Marie."

"The Doctor of what?" Róisín asked.

"No... that's just my name..."

The woman shook her head, and pointed to Marie, "are you this faerie-child's doctor?"

"Like I said..." the Doctor insisted, "it's just my name. I'm everyone's Doctor."

"You ain' ours..."

Marie found herself taking a step back, trying to uphold a little decorum in front of this very loud leader. Róisín locked eyes with her, making her look to the floor.

"It's ok, my darling..." she cooed, "don't be scared."

Marie turned her gaze back up, praying she didn't look as annoyed as she felt, "I'm not scared. You're just..."

Róisín nodded encouragingly,

"...you're just not like the other leader. You know, Brienn, from the West..."

"Well of course not, he's a man. Men are not good leaders. Sorry...I don't wish to intimidate friends. Of course, I don't know if you're friends yet, do I?" Róisín smiled, "depends what you came here for. I can see you're not here to fight, so what is it?"

As the Doctor explained the situation to her, Marie noticed someone emerging from one of the huts, apart from the other ones. A slight, old woman, walking with a staff. She looked back at them, but didn't approach.

"The leader of the Forest People?" Róisín said doubtfully, "if you spoke with her and lived you are a very lucky woman, 'Doctor.' But she's telling you lies if she said she once lived amongst us. No-one from without the village has lived with us, not for a long, long time. Before I was born."

"It would've been before you were born." The Doctor added.

"I understand the leader to be in her prime. And now you tell me she must be ancient." Róisín chuckled, "but then I wouldn't know much about them. I always assumed the leader was a man, and that the Forest People were savages, whose powers were a mystery," she glanced at Marie again, "is she from the forest?"

The Doctor shook her head, "is there any reason you're being so rude to my friend?"

"Am I?" Róisín asked, seeming genuinely taken aback, "Marie...I'm sorry. I have a bit of a knack for reading people - I need to, I'm the leader - and you give off an aura I've only encountered with children of the faeries."

The old woman walked slowly, gracefully towards the group, putting up her hood against the light rain that still persisted on the world.

Marie sighed, "I've just never heard of that... phrase... fairy child. I thought it might have been an insult. But I didn't want to disrespect you," she explained flatly.

"It's of no matter." Róisín threw her hands to the sides, before hearing her name being called, "oh, mum. We have visitors."

The woman nodded, "evidently... they speak of the Forest People?"

"Apparently, they've taken children from Brienn's lot too, mum. And apparently the leader of the Forest People lived with us. A long time ago. That's not true is it?"

She turned from her daughter, and took a step forwards, "My name is Osinà, Priestess and Elder of this village. Yes, a girl once lived amongst us..." she shook her head, "but that was when I was a girl myself," she lowered her head slightly, "that girl left long ago. She must have died in the wilderness. I'm sure of it. If the wolves didn't get her, then the weather would have, or if it didn't...she surely could not have lived such a long life."

Marie saw the Doctor's eyes light up as she listened, that deep smile, "what if she wasn't an ordinary girl?"

Osinà laughed softly, "she wasn't. But ordinary or not. Time takes its toll."

"Well, just roll with me a minute, would you?" The Doctor said, taking a few excitable steps, "what if that girl didn't die? What if, after... I dunno... some disagreement, or some argument with someone here, she ran away, and she thought, 'Well I can't be alone, but I have the power to take children...' and she took maybe one from each village... one child goes missing, you think maybe they ran away...bit scary, but you don't see it as that odd... lets say she raises them, and then after ten or so years, when the first lot can help her out, she takes twice as many, maybe visits a few other villages to lessen the damage she's doing, but... after, say, seventy years..." the Doctor paused.

Osinà said nothing. The men, who had stood silently either side of the Doctor and Marie, looked to Róisín, as her face fell.

"No, no...the wolves would have got them. The Forest People travelled here from somewhere else. You can't just start a tribe."

"You said yourself," The Doctor argued, "they have powers."

"Róisín." Her mother said sternly, "these people are trying to fill us with superstition!"

"I agree, mum. You go. Rest. You don't have to listen to these people. Lads..." she said.

The Doctor anticipated the move from the warriors, and pulled Marie by the arm, as they had already drawn their swords. They ran back to the exit, hearing Róisín's yells after them,

"Run faster, sisters! Get out of our sight!" she bellowed. She sighed, looking back to her mother, "I'm sorry, I thought they were nice..."

Osinà simply watched, as the two strangers scrambled back onto the path, heading West once more. Perhaps there was some truth in their lies. Perhaps Brienn had lost children too. As much as she wanted her old friend back, though, it couldn't be that she had lived the woodland life, and lived to such an advanced age, and made a tribe out of children. As much as she wanted to believe she was alive, such a life was absurd.

"You should go to rest," Róisín insisted. Osinà silently agreed, gripping her staff a little more firmly as she marched back to her hut; her daughter was the leader, after all.

The sky had sunk into a blue gloom by the time the returned to the lake. The Doctor went back up to the village, whilst Marie immediately went to sleep in the TARDIS - it occurred to her as they were walking back that she'd been awake for a solid twenty-four hours.

Brienn sat in his house, on the wooden block, watching the glow of the fire. His son looked warily out of the window, in the direction of the hill, "a whole tribe... led by a beast..."

Kisha sat at Brienn's feet, "they must be destroyed."

Brienn nodded, "if they can be destroyed."

"Well you heard Neàsan - they aren't monsters or demons, or spirits...just people like us," Kisha said.

Brienn shook his head, "like us... not entirely like us... even if they are people."

The was a deft knock at the door. Shin went over, cautiously answering. The Doctor smiled up at him, "Hiya... just thought I'd check we're still on the same page..."

"You said something about allying with the Easterners, no?" Brienn asked.

"Well, it wasn't my idea. And to be honest... ah still need to figure out what's going on here. There's still something missing. Osinà - from the East - she knows something."

Shin walked back over to the window, with his back to the Doctor, "didn't they run you out of the village?"

"Well, yeah... that wasn't ideal."

Brienn laughed, "Róisín is easy to befriend, but easy to anger. You should have consulted me before going there, Doctor."

"I'm sorry... she seemed alright until..." she thought back, "Osinà had a go at me."

"Osinà?" Brienn widened his eyes, "She's as tender as a reed. I would not imagine her to 'have a go,' at you. You must misremember."

"I've got a pretty good memory, Brienn. She warned Róisín that I was 'trying to fill them with superstition.'"

Brienn raised his eyebrows doubtfully, "perhaps you did something to affront her?"

"Perhaps..."

Osinà had gone to the Holy Ground, which stood right next to a broad, trodden path, that the Forest People used for the cart sometimes. Weilding her staff, she slowly, gracefully repeated the old moves that girl - that guest in the village, so many years ago - had taught her.

'Maybe women aren't warriors, Osinà, but everyone should know how to fight.' She had told her. She swung her staff, sweeping it an inch from the ground, curving it around, and jabbing forwards. Even as she approached ninety, she kept the practise up. She would carry on until she physically couldn't. Perhaps that is how she had lived such a long life, not drifted into endless sleep. Maybe Albiona still lived too. No. Not in the forest. Not her friend Albiona. The Doctor lied. But if there was ever a person who could make it alone in the woods, it was her Albiona...

She darted behind a tree at the sound of horses. That great cart rattled loudly through the cold night, carrying maybe twenty of the Forest People on the back, passing Osinà's little sanctuary in haste. The cart carried three, maybe four, on a normal day - but twenty? She watched after the cart as it melted away into the dark blue of the forest, winding down the hill, towards the West.