Not since leaving his home on Earth had Peter enjoyed such an undisturbed and peaceful night of rest.
He had woken up with neither the anxiety of being in unfamiliar territory hanging over him nor the possible threat of hostile forces conspiring to cause chaos and destruction to deal with. What greeted Peter instead was a beautiful and tranquil sunny morning full of fresh air and birdsong.
Taking full advantage of being able to take his time in getting up, he stretched his arms out wide as he breathed in the salty scent of the coastal air that was wafting in from outside.
The Doctor and Rose were nowhere to be seen but their unmade beds told Peter that his two travelling companions had already risen. Not entirely concerned as to their whereabouts for the moment as he made his way over to one of the cotton drapes that was sheltering the building from the rest of the temple, Peter pushed it aside and gazed around the tranquil settings of the temple.
It was deserted save for a few monks walking around as they went about completing their daily chores and prayers.
Judging by the height the sun had reached in the periwinkle blue sky and the activity he could see going on around the temple, it was still relatively early and Peter felt his stomach growl at the thought of eating breakfast. Having slept in the shirt and trousers that had been provided for him, he gave each garment a quick sniff before deciding that they would do for the day.
Leaving his brightly coloured overcoat behind, he slipped on his socks and trainers and stepped out in the warm embrace of the morning sun.
As he walked through the heart of the temple in search of his first meal of the day, Peter soon found himself being distracted once more by the sheer unspoilt beauty of where he was. Though it was on Earth and within a country that he was vaguely familiar of, it was still so hard to imagine that the Naksan Temple belonged to a time five hundred years in the past.
It was very easy to imagine this place and the monks which lived here looking exactly the same another half a millennia in either the direction of the past or the future.
Perhaps there would be some crowds of visiting tourists the closer you got to the early part of the twenty-first century, but even the idea of tour guides and overpriced souvenirs couldn't spoil the impression that the temple really was a special and unique place capable of producing its own brand of harmony and enlightenment.
Cutting his morning stroll short as his stomach growled loudly in protest of continuing to be denied sustenance, Peter soon set about searching for someone to ask about where breakfast was being served.
The previous night all of their meals had been served to them with a large square where they had been able to enjoy watching some of the ceremonies the Buddhists had conducted specially for their new guests. But right now Peter needed to find where these humble men usually gathered to eat.
The Doctor and Rose must already be there and had left him to sleep in.
Failing to catch the scent of either the Time Lord or consumable food, Peter was starting to wonder whether he had missed out entirely on the meal as he doubled back towards the centre of the temple. The few monks had he spotted earlier had vanished just when he was on the lookout for anyone he could ask directions from.
A slight shift in the wind brought with it the sweet smell of cherry blossom.
Turning on the spot, Peter's eyes followed the scent over towards the small woodland which boarded the outermost buildings of the temple. It was the same patch of trees where they had watched the meditation ceremony take place. He had regretted being forced to leave early given the overwhelming smell of the burning incenses had almost knocked him out. There was something very tranquil about that place which had made him want to stay longer.
Yet, there was no time like the present.
He was on his own and there wouldn't be anything going on right now to irritate his heightened senses. Sure, there would be no ceremonies to watch, but breakfast and the Doctor were nowhere to be found and he didn't want to miss out on exploring the sacred woodland for a second time. Also, it and the Naksan Temple were probably going to be the last peaceful setting for a while as the TARDIS' next destination would no doubt prove to be far more adventurous and lethal.
Forgetting his hunger as the desire to investigate took over, he set off in the direction of the shadowy coverage of the blossom trees.
Quickly making his way through to the clearing where the ceremony had taken place the previous night, Peter was surprised to discover that he wasn't alone in being here this morning. Sat crossed-legged in front of the same bamboo mat he'd been sat next to a little over twelve hours ago was the monk who had led the others in their meditation.
"Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't think anyone was here."
The bearded monk could have been a permanent feature of the forest. As still and unflinching as the trees surrounding him, the only thing to have changed about the scene was the unglazed clay teapot and cups which had replaced the dozen burning incense sticks.
As the monk looked up, Peter realised for the first time that he was blind.
Neither eye had a pupil, leaving the irises a solid ball of blue that was the same colour as the sky. Staring vaguely in the direction of the young man which had stumbled upon his hidden sanctuary and unintentionally disturbed it, the man did not react with either irritation or anger.
"No apologies are required." He announced. "I heard you coming through the trees."
Peter knew that when someone lost one sense it was fairly common for the other four to compensate and grow stronger as a result of the absence. Having been born with all five of them and at a much more significant level as to what humans were capable of, he understood completely what that could allow you to do.
"I'm sorry if I disturbed you." He replied. "I was actually looking for some breakfast. I didn't even mean to come here."
"Yet you came here." The monk decreed. "But no disturbance had been made. Unless I light my incenses, I think?"
Peter couldn't help but laugh.
There was no point in trying to deny that it was he who had been the one loudly sneezing away during the monk's ceremony. Not wanting to insult the man further and sensing that lying to him wasn't going to work even if he wanted to, he chose to make light of the situation instead as he stepped forward and stood directly in front of the blind Buddha.
"I'm not allergic to them." He said. "I just have a good nose and it isn't without its pitfalls."
Following the sound of Peter's voice, the monk looked up at him and smiled.
"I am Maha Bodhi Ta Htaung Sayadaw." He introduced. "But you may call me Bodhi."
"Peter Argent," Peter replied, smiling back. "But you can call me Peter."
Bodhi chuckled at this before he invited his new acquaintance to sit down opposite him on the opposite edge of the bamboo mat.
"Please, I have no breakfast but will you stay for some tea?" He offered. "It is Matcha and serves to cultivate both the body and mind."
Peter could see the green colour of the steaming liquid in Bodhi's cup and knew at once that the brewing pot was filled with something akin to camomile rather than the stuff packed into an ordinary teabag. But the aroma of it was crisp and fresh enough to draw him in, and it was kind of the monk to share his beverage with him after he had disturbed him in the first place.
"That would be lovely." He told him. "Thank you."
As Peter sat down in front of Bodhi and crossed his legs, the monk began to make his tea.
Far from simply pouring it into one of the small clay cups, however, there was a degree of purpose to his movements and it seemed to be a ceremony in itself as he first half-filled a small narrow cylinder that resembled a drinks measurer before tipping more into the cup intended for Peter. What was left in the teapot was then slowly transferred into a small jug from up high so that a cloud of hot vapour was allowed to rise up into the cool spring air.
"The Matcha is made by consuming the whole leaf." The monk explained. "It is not just brewed water. For over four hundred years we have cultivated it here, within the shaded shelter of these very trees."
Peter continued to watch in complete fascination as Bodhi moved without any hindrance of not being able to see where he was pouring the scalding stream of liquid.
Emptying the contents of the cylinder and cup into the jug so that both were left empty of the tea but still warm to the touch, he then placed the two empty pieces of pottery in front of Peter before refilling the narrower vessel halfway up once more. Reaching over and taking hold of the cylinder and cup, the monk placed the latter over the former and held them both between his right index finger and thumb before quickly tipping the two cups upside down.
Not one drop of tea was spilt as Bodhi lifted the cylinder away and allowed all the hot liquid to pour back into the cup. Setting it back down in front of Peter one final time, he then sat back and motioned that the drink was now ready for consumption.
"Inhale the scent in deeply and sip slowly." He instructed. "It will help you attain the Tao and part with all annoyance as it revives you from sleep and confusion."
Whilst he couldn't help but harbour some cynical thoughts regarding what the tea might do in for his mental state, Peter nevertheless humbly accepted the offering as had carefully picked up the small cup with both hands and brought it up towards his face.
The strong scent of the Matcha tea was like standing at the edge of a coastal clifftop.
Breathing in through his mouth in an attempt to avoid being overwhelmed by the crisp, marine smell, Peter felt every lingering sense of mourning grogginess clear from his sinuses as he took his first small sip of the hot beverage. Tasting for a moment like mulled wine, the captivating sensation transformed itself as he swallowed and experienced a salty aftertaste.
"It's erm.." He tried to say. "Quite a peculiar…"
For some reason, he couldn't quite summon the words to describe the tea as he took another sip of it.
"The Matcha can be strange for those who had never tasted it before," Bodhi assured him. "It is said to cause a great awakening in some. A form of enlightenment."
Peter didn't feel as though he was gaining any kind of spiritual guidance as he drank a bit more of his tea. If anything, it was becoming harder for him to concentrate on anything but the oceanic smell and taste as even Bodhi's words faded away into the background of the rustling trees. After the initial rush of waking him up, his eyelids were beginning to flutter and become heavy again.
Draining the last dregs of the tea caused Peter to feel as though he was on a boat in the middle of a stormy sea.
"Bodhi…" He breathed. "I don't think… I'm getting a little…"
The monk was unable to see Peter as the younger man began to sway and lose all sense of balance. But he heard the cup fall out of Peter's hands and bounce against bamboo mat before rolling onto the soft spring grass as the much heavy thud which followed it quickly told Bodhi what had happened to his guest.
Peter had just fainted.
Feeling satisfyingly fed and watered after her surprise picnic with the Doctor as they both enjoyed watching the sun rise above the ocean together, Rose was now more than awake enough and full of energy to think about where they could explore next. She had already spotted a large town way off in the distance as they began to make their way down from the Uisangdae Pavilion and towards the main part of the temple and she was curious to find out more about it.
"What's that place?" She asked the Time Lord. "That town over there? Can we go and visit it too?"
"That would be… due south of here… Ah, yes. That must Sokcho." The Doctor answered. "But maybe we should take the TARDIS if you fancy a visit, Rose. Otherwise, it's three days by ox and cart."
Rose laughed and took hold of his hand as they continued their descent.
"Three days? Is that all?"
Even the idea of spending such a length of time behind an ox's backside as it pulled them along untarmaced roads wasn't enough to dampen her spirits and it was nice to be able to enjoy some time in a place that was free of any nasty monsters or worries of trouble finding them once again.
"We can go this afternoon if you'd like." The Doctor told her. "But first we better make sure we're all present and correct for the trip."
Reaching the central part of the temple and the building which had served as their sleeping quarters the previous night, the Doctor wasted no time in making sure that his other travelling companion was not going to sleep in anymore that he already had. Pushing the cotton drape aside as he strode inside with Rose, he drew in a deep breath and spoke up in a voice that could have risen the dead from their slumber. "Right, Lieutenant Argent." He declared. "Time you were out of bed and…"
But Peter was nowhere to be seen. The Nimarian's bamboo mat was empty and folded nearly on top of it was his blanket and blue overcoat.
"Where is he?" Rose asked. "I didn't see him coming down from the hill?"
"No, neither did I." The Doctor replied. "But I suppose he's out and about somewhere around here. Come on, he can't have gotten very far."
Stepping back outside into the warm embrace of the morning sunlight, Rose blinked a few times and held up her hand to shelter her eyes as she surveyed their surroundings for the absent soldier.
Had he gone off in search of them when he had woken up alone? No, the single track path to the pavilion meant that Peter would have bumped into them as they had come back down. But even if there had been multiple ways to reach the peak of the mountain, it wouldn't have been a particularly hard task for his sensitive nose to pick up on their scents and find them at their picnic spot.
"Maybe he went off to get his own breakfast?" She suggested. "Seeing as he wouldn't get up for ours?"
The Doctor suddenly looked mischievously guilty.
"Well... Maybe I didn't actually wake him up for it." He admitted. "When you were waiting outside I decided that we should just… Well, you know."
Rose couldn't help but smile despite her surprise over this revelation. There was only one reason she could think of as to why the Time Lord had decided to leave Peter out of an experience he been so proud of showing off to her. Whilst the three of them travelling together had worked out quite well so far, it was really nice to be able to spend some time alone with the Doctor again and this was especially so given the effort he had gone to this morning.
"Aw… Doctor." She replied, blushing. "You do know how to spoil me."
He smiled back happily and Rose once again felt the pull of something passing between them.
"Doctor! Miss Rose, come quickly! You must come quickly!"
The sound of panic and fear had the same sobering effect no matter where or when it existed in the universe, and as Bou's harried voice rang out across the square its crippling effect turned Rose's blossoming joy into dread. Turning around and seeing the elderly monk approaching them as fast as his sandalled shoes could carry him, she and the Doctor quickly ran forward to meet him halfway.
"What is it?" The Doctor asked. "What's wrong?"
Quite breathless from his sudden sprint, Bou pointed over towards the woodland of blossom trees before he managed to give his response.
"Your friend…" He began to explain. "He collapsed. He…"
The Doctor was already running and did not stick around to hear what the monk might have said next.
With Rose following closely behind him, all the Time Lord could think about was his decision to not wake Peter up that morning. A wave of guilt crashed over him as he pulled out the sonic screwdriver from his silk coat's pocket just in case he needed to use it straight away.
"Out of the way!" He shouted. "Coming through!"
A few of the other monks had gathered around the entrance to the woodland and the Doctor almost bowled over the group of small and mostly elderly men as he raced past them and on into the clearing. It was here that he saw a scene that almost made both of his hearts stop beating.
Peter was led out flat on his back on the grass, his legs awkwardly crossed over each other whilst his head was slightly rolled to the side as though he could be sleeping again.
"Oh my god!" Rose gasped. "What happened?"
Knelt down next to him with a hand pressed against the young man's forehead was the bearded monk she recognised from the mediation ceremony the night before. Looking up at the sound of commotion their arrival caused, his empty eyes could no longer give away his thoughts. His expression was hard just as hard to read, but he dutifully moved aside to allow the Doctor to take over as the Time Lord came running over.
Hiking up the heavy hem of her dress as she followed after him, Rose thought little about the grass stains and mud as she sat down next to Peter and took hold of his hand. It was warm to the touch and like holding onto a hot water bottle, but that was normal for the Nimarian. He had dived into freezing cold water before now and not even shivered once. Seeing that his chest slowly rising and falling, she took relief in the fact that at least he was breathing normally.
"Rose, straighten his legs." The Doctor instructed. "Let's make him comfortable."
Taking hold of each of Peter's legs with both hands, Rose carefully untangled the limbs and laid them out flat. Whilst she was doing this, the Doctor had removed his scarlet overcoat and folded it up before he gently lifted the stricken soldier's head and slipped the garment underneath it so that it could act as a pillow.
"He's breathing okay, Doctor," Rose said. "What is it? What's wrong with him?"
Leaning over Peter as he began to determine the answer to her questions, the Time Lord first checked his pulse before placing the back of his hand against his forehead.
"His temperature is normal." He muttered. "But his heart is beating away like crazy."
This information didn't bring him any closer to understanding what had caused Peter to pass out. He shouldn't have been in these woods either, not when he was meant to be having his breakfast…
Well, that wasn't his fault at all. Had the Doctor not been trying to show off to Rose then this would never have happened, and the guilt of that was almost as bad as his worry for his companion as he continued to remain unconscious.
"What was he doing here?" Rose asked. "Were you with him when he fainted?"
Bodhi nodded as he heard the direction of the woman's voice turn towards him.
"I offered some tea." He explained. "It is Matcha and serves to awaken the mind."
Rose couldn't believe how calm he was being, but perhaps his lack of sight was distancing the monk from the gravity of what he had done. No tea, no matter what it was meant to do for the mind should be able to fell someone so completely as this brew had done to Peter. Had he had some kind of allergic reaction to it? No, that didn't cause you to faint and the Doctor said his breathing was okay.
Peter's warm touch suddenly provided Rose with one possible theory.
"Doctor, what if it affected him because…" She tried to suggest. "Like the incense sticks did last night."
The Time Lord considered this before shaking his head at her.
"No, this isn't because he isn't human." He told her outright. "The smell of the tea might have hit him a little bit harder, but there isn't enough of it here to do this."
Bringing up the sonic screwdriver and scanning Peter from head to foot with the small metal tube, his furrowed brow tightened even more as he received the findings from his searches. It was confusing more than worrying and perhaps explained why the younger man had not yet come around.
"The hippocampus in his temporal lobe." He announced. "It's working overtime… Oh, what are you seeing, Peter?"
"He's dreaming?" Rose exclaimed. "How can he be dreaming when he's like this?"
There had been no response to all of the noise and confusion going on around him, and Peter still didn't react as the Doctor very carefully pulled back one of his eyelids.
A huge glowing ball of yellow light was just visible underneath the tiny fold of skin.
"Just as I thought..." The Doctor tutted. "His wolf side is on the defence. If I try to get into his mind and see what's going on… Well, it might do more harm than good."
Rose didn't know what to suggest.
The Time Lord was capable of exploring inside the head of other people, and she had firsthand experience of what that was like. Back then he had used it to draw out all of the power she had absorbed after looking into the heart of the TARDIS at the cost of having to regenerate his entire body. But right now, when he perhaps needed to do the same thing again and pull Peter out of whatever nightmare he was unconsciously living through, the Nimarian's own defences were ironically the one obstacle keeping the Doctor from helping him.
"What if we get a really strong smell? You know, like smelling salts or something?"
"Not when his pulse is racing away like this. It's almost like he's afraid of something… Whatever he's remembering or thinking about." He told her. "If he wakes up in this state then he could turn without even realising it. We don't want that, Rose. Wolves attack first without thinking if they feel cornered or threatened."
The prolonged state of Peter was starting to stress the Doctor out. Standing up and going over to the abandoned tea set, he growled with frustration as he tried and failed to find one ingredient that might have caused such a reaction. But there was nothing. Just the leaf itself and hot water… Anyone in the universe could drink it without any side effects.
"It awakens the mind, Doctor," Bodhi repeated. "It enlightens and awakes what is -"
"I know what it's supposed to do!" The Doctor shouted back. "But I know Peter Argent too, and he certainly shouldn't be like this. But thanks to your cup of tea…"
A hand reached up and took hold of his and the words of anger died in his throat.
Rose tentatively smiled at him as he looked down at her. She was holding onto Peter's hand once more and for a moment they all stayed where they were, connected to one another as the crowd of monks looked on in both concern and curiosity of their three strange guests.
Quite suddenly, she felt as though her fingers were being crushed by a car compactor as Peter's ironclad grip tightened around her hand.
"Ouch!" She cried out. "Doctor, he's waking up!"
Managing to wriggle the digits free before all of the bones ended up being broken, the pain was short-lived against the relief that Peter, at last, seemed to be coming around. Grabbing hold of tufts of the grass next to him in the absence of Rose's hand, his back arched up slightly as his head turned towards the treetop canopy of blossoming buds that were hanging overhead.
"Okay, here we go." The Doctor breathed with relief. "You're okay, Peter. Come on, come back to us."
Kneeling back down beside the stricken soldier, he laid his hand on the younger man's shoulder and applied a gentle but solid hold of him as Peter started to leave behind whatever had been keeping him trapped within his own mind. But the uncertainty and effort of doing this had brought with it the threat of the Doctor's earlier worry.
The bright yellow eyes of the Nimarian wolf flew open and stared at the tree branches above.
Rose had only ever seen fleeting glances of the colour before when Peter had expressed extreme anger, fear or pain. In his humanoid form, it was rare for his irises not to change back to their usual shade of grey after a few seconds, and it was only as a wolf would the glowing golden hue become more permanent.
Was he really about to transform right here and now in front of Bou and all the other monks?
"Peter?" She whispered gently. "Are you…"
Out of the corner of her eye, she saw the Doctor's hand slowly lift away as Peter continued to stare up at the forest ceiling with his unearthly gaze. It was somehow worse than when he'd been unconscious and the danger of him becoming such a powerful and deadly creature genetically designed to defend itself at all costs was a real risk right now.
"It's his wolf side defending him." The Doctor whispered. "No sudden moves or noises, Rose."
Rose nodded back and barely dared to breathe.
Surely Peter would never attack either of them… Even transformed he had proven by fighting both the werewolf and Karina back in the New Forest that he was still the same person even whilst on four legs and with all the teeth and claws. But if he did turn now then he could easily overpower anyone who stood in his way and could hurt them without even realising what he was doing.
"Assure him of your presence."
The hushed tone of Bodhi cut through the forest against the hushed silence.
He couldn't see Peter's alien eyes and would have little idea as to the meaning of some of the words being spoken by his two friends. However, the monk was far cleverer than the Doctor had first given his credit for because he had come to understand how they could help the Nimarian awaken properly.
The wolf within Peter didn't just give him a good nose or the ability to rapidly heal himself if he got hurt. The connection was much deeper than that and drove his very actions through hardwired instincts and sense of trust and loyally that very few others could even begin to understand, let alone tap into themselves.
But like all other wolves, he had one venerability in that being on his own didn't always suit him.
"Peter, you're okay. You are I safe, I promise you." The Doctor assured him. "Me and Rose are right here. Just take in a nice deep breath and let us help you."
For a moment nothing changed as Peter continued to stare up at the trees just paralysed and unresponsive as he'd been since they had found him like this. But then the gold in his eyes started to fade away and retreated back into the reflective flecks. Replaced by a brilliantly bold silver instead, he drew in a large gasping lungful of air.
Rose beamed at him as his still slightly unfocused gaze looked up towards her.
"Hello!" She greeted. "You're okay, just lie back for a moment."
His breathing with still quite heavy and there was a slight tremor in his left hand that Rose had never seen before. But finally, he was awake and aware of his surrounds for the first time in several minutes. Whatever effect the Matcha tea had placed upon him had thankfully worn off at last and he was conscious and knew they were sat there next to him.
Just to be sure, the Doctor scanned Peter one last time with the sonic screwdriver.
"Heart rate is coming down a little and… Yeap, the hippocampus formation is quieter now."
With his head still resting against the Time Lord's scarlet coat, Peter stared up at him as though he couldn't understand what it was the Time Lord was saying. Frowning at them both and the crowd of curious and slightly worried looking monks stood behind Bou a short distance away, his eyes landed firmly on Bodhi as his memories of what had happened returned to him.
"What the hell was in that tea!?" He growled. "What did you give me?"
Rose fell onto her bottom as Peter suddenly sat up bolt upright and unintentionally made her jump back.
The blind Buddhist couldn't have missed the anger in his voice even if he was unable to see his eyes flash yellow once more. But he was unwavering in his calm and collected response as though Peter had simply asked him for another cup of the beverage.
"The Matcha tea can enlighten the mind and show us what is hidden." He repeated. "You saw something, didn't you?"
From the way the colour drained out of Peter's face, Rose feared that he was about to faint again.
The Doctor had said the part of his brain that controlled dreams and memories had been working overtime, and it was clear that Peter wasn't angry simply because the tea had made him pass out. His heart had been racing as though he was reliving some terrible ordeal and…
"Peter?" She asked. "Did you see something?"
The haunted expression on Peter's face was an emotion which Rose never thought him capable of feeling. He was always so confident and collected under even the hardiest of situations, and it was scaring her to try and imagine what possible thought was frightening him this much as he failed to respond to the question.
"I need some air…"
The speed and stability in which Peter got up and onto his feet was impressive considering he looked as though he was about to throw up. Any of the spectating monks who didn't get out of way quickly enough were pushed aside as he hurried down the path leading back towards the temple.
Watching him go, the Doctor's deep frown returned.
"Stay here." He ordered. "All of you."