The Doctor estimated that he had been climbing for hours. After the initial process of descending to the bottom of the gorge, he had found himself staring into a gaping hole that stretched into infinite darkness. It was a small gash in the floor of the canyon, leading down into the belly of the earth with seemingly no end. Before venturing to scale it, he had kicked several stones into its vastness, listening to them topple down one after another with no indication how long they fell before reaching a conceivable bottom.
"Curiouser and coriouser," he distinctly remembered musing before throwing his jacket aside and fastidiously edging down into the mouth of the opening. He had watched the daylight shrink and slowly vanish as he lowered himself into almost certain danger. Something compelled him to continue, and left a dull throbbing in his temples.
That was hours ago now. The only noise available to him was the skittering of loose stones plinking down and down as he pushed on. His surroundings were lost completely to the smoldering darkness that pressed down on him. He moved slowly and meticulously, and could feel his own breath on his face. He shifted uncomfortably against the rocks, pausing to catch his breath.
"I expect a warm reception!" He shouted irately into the blackness. The only response was the plinking of a stone disturbed by his footing. It fell, bouncing off the walls of the cavern, and eventually coming to a full stop, hitting an invisible ground. The bottom! His brain hissed. The bottom! The bottom! No longer able to contain himself, he broke into a manic chuckle, and eventually a full-blown laugh when he felt his foot brush solid, flat ground. He stood, earnestly squinting to discern something, anything, in this vastness. Once his heartbeats settled and he caught his breath, he listened intently as he felt for his pocket.
"I believe you've been expecting me," he cried, letting the sound reverberate before shifting, straining to listen.
"I'm The Doctor," he continued, this time thunderous. His voice faded away, leaving him in silence once again, except for a soft rustle to his left. Even with his acute hearing, he barely caught it. Then a scrape. Another one. Bare feet scraping against the solid ground. They were circling him.
"What do you want?" He asked calmly, finding his Sonic Screwdriver clamped tightly in his hand. The noise continued like a paced march. He barely had time to produce his Screwdriver, its soft blue light blinding in the darkness his eyes had become accustomed to, before it was knocked out of his hands. It rolled, hitting the robes of wafer-thin creature that still remained mostly in shadow. There was a horrible scream, all of the creatures seemed to cry out in unison, and they scattered in every direction. The Doctor took the opportunity to dive for the light, snatching up the Screwdriver before looking after the noise of feet in the darkness.
"Come back! I'm The Doctor! Only here to help!" He shouted after them. The noise disappeared in the darkness, save for a dull movement behind him. He slowly turned, his hands stretched out in front of himself.
"Listen, and don't you dare run! Of course! You must be hypersensitive to light--" He managed before receiving a devastating blow to the back of his head, knocking him to his knees. He heard the offending instrument, what he supposed to be a blunt rock, thrown to the ground beside him. With a sharp groan, he found his mind slip into further and resolute oblivion, matched only by the darkness that swallowed him now.
