Author's Note: If you haven't read the first two stories in this series, I'll provide a link.

s/14005749/1/Is-the-Doctor-Really-Alone-REVISED

s/14019156/1/The-Issue-About-Regeneration

The TARDIS lay horizontally sunken in the dirt and grass of the forest floor. The hissing of the engine echoed throughout the quiet forest. The doors swung inwards, smoke flooded outwards and floated up into the clear blue sky. Elanna stepped out the doors, plummeting to the grassy terrain when the gravity shifted around her. She coughed loudly as she tried to clear her lungs of the toxic fumes of the console room. Out came the Doctor, coughing as well. He managed to orient himself better than the part Time Lady, stumbling into a nearby tree. If he had been wearing his overcoat, it would've hindered his agility, and that he was glad that he left it in there. He hoped that it wouldn't burn in there. He liked that coat.

The TARDIS doors automatically closed behind them; the engine groaned sickly. The Doctor's head snapped up to it, coughing out, "N-no!" He kneeled to the horizontal doors, pulling out his key. He slipped it into the lock, but the key wouldn't turn, and the doors would not budge. He banged on the doors with the palm of his hands. "Let me in. I can fix this!" The TARDIS groaned defiantly, refusing to open the doors. It was like the TARDIS was annoyed and would fix herself, unwilling to let him inside as punishment.

Elanna wheezed, and she pushed herself on her hands and knees, trying to breathe in the fresh air. "I-is she alright? She doesn't sound too good." The Doctor's back was facing her, his pin-striped suit-covered shoulders sagged as he released a heavy sigh.

"She's not letting me in. Probably to protect us so she can heal herself."

"And all because you plugged a wire into the wrong hole." She exasperated. Looking up at their surroundings, a calm lush forest surrounded them. Branches stretched above them like a canopy, the clear blue sky peeking out behind the leaves. Elanna pushed herself to her feet, smacking her hands together to wipe off the dirt and blades of grass that accumulated on her palms. The Doctor was moving his hands along the seams of the doors, trying to get inside. She stared at him, knowing that it was clearly not working and the TARDIS would let them back in when she was good and ready. "So, we're stuck here. Wherever 'here' is anyways."

At hearing Elanna speaking, the Doctor stood up as if finally noticing where they were. He spun around as if taking it all in. Suddenly down on his knees to smell the ground before jaunting over to one of the trees and running his hands over the trunk. Elanna just stared at him, confused as he zoomed around their crash site. What on earth is he doing? She opened her mouth but was cut off by the Time Lord.

"Well, we're on earth." He stuck out his tongue as if tasting the air like a snake. "Early 1500s. These are Zelkova Serrata, native to Japan, China, Korea, and Taiwan." He took off randomly to the edge of the forest and into a clearing. Elanna followed him, stopping just behind him when he entered a clearing. In the center sat an old well made from wood with an interlocking design to form a square. They were on the top of a hill, overlooking a small village. The Doctor stepped into the clearing and in front of the well, turning to the village as if he were studying it. "It's Japan, judging by the architecture." He smiled brightly as he slipped his hands into his pockets. "So-1500s Japan, that's brilliant! It's been a while since I was in Japan. I was in Kyoto not too long ago, witnessed a war, stopped a spaceship from blowing up, helped a friend mourn over his gun. I never understood why he has so attached it. I never liked guns."

Having gone up to the well instead, Elanna peered over the edge and saw how it was bone-dry. It wasn't being used well, so what other purpose was it used for. Her eyes widened as she saw what looked like bone peeking out of the soil at the bottom. "Doctor, they've been dumping bones in here." He turned to her; their eyes met. She continued. "I don't think they're human."

Suddenly the ground shook under their feet, but it didn't feel like an earthquake. It is more of an aftershock from an impact, a tiny one. Voices were coming from down the hill like two people arguing. Elanna stepped closer to the Doctor, reaching a hand up to grip his suit sleeve as they looked in the direction of the noise. He leaned his head towards her with a smirk, face still forward. "Well, sounds like our type of issue. Now, let's go meet the neighbors, shall we?" He moved back from her and towards the bottom of the hill.

"Doctor." Elanna darted after him, her short legs trying to keep in step with his long ones. "I thought we aren't supposed to be messing with the past for it changes the future.?"

The Doctor reached his right hand up to rub his ear. "Well, time doesn't work the way you think it does. Normal people assume that time is very linear; go from point A to Point B. But time is always in a state of flux, ever-changing. Time can always be rewritten. I like to use wibbly wobbly timey wimey." He leaped in front of her, his hands slipping out of his pockets as he motioned as he was speaking. "What we do in the past is basically your present. What we do here will be seen as it already happened, whe—" Abruptly, he lost his foot, and the ground slipped underneath him, throwing him down the hill. Elanna called out to him as she chased after him, careful not to fall.

He landed on his back at the bottom. He groaned as he pushed his shoulders back. "That's gonna leave a bruise." Elanna rushed to his side and started to help him up.

"You alright?"

"Yeah. A little bit of a nasty fall. That hill is slippery. "

"You need to be more careful. You always go on about how we humans are fragile. You don't watch where you're going."

"I'll keep that in mind." Elanna fell silent as she looked like she was peering behind him. "What is it?" She nodded to him to make him turn around him, and in front of him was a man wearing an old red haori and hakama with silver hair and golden eyes. Standing next to him was a young woman with black hair wearing a red and white priestess garb. He went to raise his hand and wave, and the man in red pulled the woman behind and unsheathed his sword. I appeared to be a standard katana in the sheath but transformed into a thick fang-like blade before their eyes. He pointed the blade at the Doctor and Elanna, deeming them a threat. The Doctor used his left hand to motion to the part Time Lady to get behind him.

"Who the hell are you?" The man's eyes narrowed as he glared at the pair.