Hey hey, this original plot is turning into a bear. I started with a small idea of a plot, and then got a little ways in before it fizzled a bit. I'm going to try and make it interesting, but sorry if it really sucks.
I'm really enjoying Zuri right now. I've got some big plans for her, and it's hard not to skip over the little things wanting to get to the heart of it. But stories build, they don't jump straight to the exciting bits. Except that's exactly what the Doctor does...
Anyways, leave a review? I'll even take an, "it is the worst thing I've ever read." Just tell me what you think, areas I could improve, episodes you want to see. Thanks!
Around stuffing her second sandwich in her mouth, Zuri asked, "Hey Doc, can I drive? Sexy decided to show me how!"
"What? When did she do that?"
"Just before now. You know, I told you she told me a few things. One of them was how to fly the TARDIS."
"Oh, alright, but I'm going to watch closely, in case you need...Help." He cut himself off at the look she was giving him.
Zuri gave him one last glare before bouncing over to the console. "Well then Gorgeous, here we go." She flipped three switches, turned one knob, and pulled the big lever. The TARDIS moved silently and gracefully through space, coming to land on a grassy hill on the planet.
The Doctor glanced around. "Are you going to move us?" He asked.
"Umm, I have. We are at the north end of the continent we saw from McDonalds. I used the stabilizers and didn't leave the brakes on. Now come on, I've got one more sandwich and a whole new planet to explore!" Zuri hurried down the ramp and out the door, right past the shocked Doctor.
Giggling, she glanced around. She had landed them in a valley, with a brilliant blue lake and river at one end. Mountains surrounded them on three sides. The mouth of the valley pointed towards a vast plain. The Doctor and the Pond's emerged slower, the Doctor carrying a large blanket to sit on. And so they did. Blanket spread out, Amy leaned on Rory's shoulder as the four of them ate their food in relative silence. They took in the space around them. It was only when they'd finished eating, and began to talk about the sparkling clear water flowing beside them, that Zuri began to feel the eyes watch them. "Doctor?"
The Doctor nodded. "I do believe we are surrounded. The planet is inhabited, but they are usually kind to visitors."
"Kind are we?" A voice spoke from the rocks at the base of the mountainside, before its owner stood tall enough to be seen.
It was an elephant! Like an honest to goodness elephant, standing on its back legs, dressed in a pale green suit. When it spoke its trunk lashed back and forth like the tail of an angry cat. Zuri's first thought was Babar. But then it pulled a gun, and the similarity ended.
"You lot are coming with me." The four of them stood, leaving the blanket on the ground.
"Here now, what's wrong? Perhaps we can help?" The Doctor asked, placing himself between Zuri and the gun.
"Oh, you'll help us all right. We grew up on stories, of the Doctor and the Rebel. You'll make it stop, or we will make your hearts stop."
"Make what stop?" Zuri asked, but the man refused to speak more, insisting that it wasn't his place to explain.
They were led behind the rocks and through a tunnel, hidden in the side of the mountain.
The Doctor grabbed Zuri's hand as they were brought into a war room.
"Doctor. Rebel. When my lookout told me he'd spotted the blue box I didn't believe it, but here you are. We have a serious problem." The man behind the table began.
"Yes, we do." The Doctor answered, eyes storming. "You're pointing guns at my friends. You'll find I don't take kindly to guns. Now put them down and tell me what's wrong."
"Quite. Stand down, men." The weapons in the room lowered and there was a clattering as safeties were turned on. "As I said, Doctor, we have a problem. Three weeks ago, a scientific expedition went further into the mountains. To study a new species of feline that appeared overnight. They are quite large, nearly the size of you and I, and showed some signs they might be intelligent. Two weeks ago, we received this..."
A faint blue hologram appeared in the center of the room. One of the elephant people appeared, quite frantic looking.
"They're picking us off, they already got Santi and Rinko. Send help. Send hel... Aaagh!" The figure disappeared from view as horrible noises continued for a few seconds, then a glimpse in the camera of fangs, dripping liquid, and a snarl.
"We've had no further communications."
The Doctor began pacing, letting go of Zuri now that the guns were put away. "Did the scientists manage to gather any intel on the... cats? What do we know about them?"
"They appeared a few weeks ago, as I said, and appeared to live in a pack or group. There were several attempts at communication once we observed them talking with each other, but so far no response."
"Right. So we know basically nothing. Alright then, let's meet the neighbors. Amy, Rory, I want you two to look at the data sent by the scientists, see what you can figure out. Zuri, you're with me."
"And where are we going?" She spluttered.
"Into the lions den. We are going to get as close as we can to the scientists camp and see what we can see."
"Zuri, you're projecting your thoughts again." The Doctor commented lightly as he caught a glimpse of a house cat turned cat/nun/nurse in his mind.
"Oh, sorry." She shifted her weight back and forth on her feet. Glancing his way, she opened her mouth, then closed it, thinking. "Doctor. Why am I here?"
"Because I want you here. You are helping me stay focused because right now I am seriously fighting the urge to fetch a ball of string from the TARDIS, and throw it at them just to see what happens."
Zuri giggled a bit before sobering. "What do you think they want? These cats."
"I don't know, but I intend to find out. Now let's get going." He took her hand again, leading her to walk with the two soldiers that were their guides.
They were led down several dark and twisting tunnels, and they made so many turns and entered so many doors Zuri knew she could never find her own way back. She could hardly remember the direction to the kitchen in the TARDIS, and this was way worse. But eventually, they emerged into the light again, and a faint breeze blew on her face. Before them lay a campsite, tents torn to shreds, equipment thrown everywhere. And in the center of the chaos, a wooden spear was thrust into the ground, a white lab coat fluttering in the breeze impaled at the top. And on that lab coat were words. Give it back, or they die.
Zuri was shocked by the violence but managed to suck in a deep breath. "What did you take?" She asked quietly.
"What?" The Captain of the soldiers blustered. "We took nothing."
"Well, obviously they feel differently." The Doctor commented.
Zuri stepped over to the spear and allowed her mind to spread out, though wary of an attack. She quickly found the mind of a creature unlike the elephant men and sent soothing waves towards it. Come out. We just want to talk.
There was a rustle from the bushes to their left and a feline, the size of a man, but down on all fours, emerged. The elephants raised their weapons, but Zuri gestured them to calm down. "What did they take?"
No answer.
"I want to help you, but I need to know what they took."
The cat looked at her, then at the others, guns still raised and fear in their eyes save the Captain, angry to the last. "They know, why don't you ask them?" He purred, sitting back on his haunches.
The Doctor turned to the soldiers. "What did you take? What could possibly be worth the lives of your men?"
One of the men spoke softly. "It was for research."
"What. Did. You. Take?" Zuri ground out, frustrated with the lack of real answers.
"They took my daughter!" The cat finally growled. "They have her, and until she is returned to me, I will kill one of your men every day."
The Doctor flung his arms up. "Woah, let's not kill anyone. I'm sure there's been a misunderstanding, and we can solve this right now. We will go fetch her, and you go fetch their men, and we will meet up here to swap. Yeah?"
The cat man agreed, but the look on the Captain's face had Zuri thinking it was not that simple. Still, the cat turned and vanished into the wild, and the rest of them began marching back to the mountain compound. Back into the maze of tunnels, which were starting to make Zuri claustrophobic.
When they arrived back at the main war room, Rory and Amy were waiting.
"Doctor, you're not going to like this," Amy warned.
"They've been experimenting on a child!" Rory exclaimed in outrage.
"WHAT!" Zuri raged. "HOW DARE YOU. A CHILD?"
Much as he hated to do it, the Doctor held her back, as the soldiers watch her terrified. Little did she know, but Zuri was glowing gold, her eyes burned like the sun.
"YOU FIX THIS NOW, OR SO HELP ME NONE OF YOU ARE SAFE!"
When they brought out the feline child, Zuri began sobbing. The poor thing had obviously undergone horrific torture in the name of science. Once again she wanted to rage against the men who did this. Instead, she took the child into her arms and rocked her back and forth. Shuddering every time the little one mewled in pain.
Tuning out the men as the Doctor began to shout, she purred softly to the kitten. Whispering that it would be okay, she was safe now. Finally, the shouting stopped, and the Doctor knelt before them.
"How is she?" He asked quietly.
"Hurting, and frightened by the noise I think, but she will physically recover. As for her mind? Who can say? But she needs her family."
He nodded. "We will take her back, but she needs to eat first."
A meal was produced, and the girl managed to eat most of it before falling asleep in Zuri's arms. Rory found a blanket to wrap her in, and they began the slow walk back to the destroyed campsite.
When they arrived, there was a group of cats waiting for them.
Zuri was still carrying the child, cradled safely in her arms.
The Doctor stood right behind her. "We have her here, where are the men you took?" He asked.
"They are here." The leader rumbled. "Bring them out."
More cats emerged from the trees, leading five bound elephants.
They shuffled into the clearing, and one cat cut the rope with his claw.
The scientists hurried over to hide behind the soldiers.
Zuri stepped forward with the girl, and carefully handed her to her father.
He took her gently, but when he drew back the blanket he could see what had been done to her. The others snarled and growled, and two of them lurched forward, grabbing Zuri roughly. "DID YOU THINK WE WOULD NOT NOTICE." The father growled. "DID YOU HOPE WE WOULD NOT SEE."
"Alright, we can work this out, but let. Her. Go." The Doctor spoke firmly, with a hint of the Oncoming Storm in his eyes. He would work with a lot of things, but no one threatened Zuri.
But the father was too angry, he knocked her to the ground, placing a clawed hand at her throat. "It is only fair, that one of you should suffer as my daughter has."
Zuri glanced fearfully from where she now lay on the ground. "Doctor?"
"Don't worry, I'll keep you safe." He reassured although it was obvious he was scrambling for a plan. "Let's talk about this. She had nothing to do with it, we only just arrived on your planet this morning."
Zuri nodded as well as one could with claws at their throat, wincing as she felt one cut into her neck a little. She reached up and placed a bandaged hand on the arm holding her still. "I made them stop. What they did was wrong, in every sense, but I told them to give her back. I made sure she was fed and kept warm for the walk back, and held her while she cried. They know better now, and they will leave you in peace. Please."
The arm at her throat loosened marginally. "You will leave our part of the forest, and never return?"
The Captain looked like he was going to snarl, but nodded. "We will go, and leave you alone, so long as you leave us alone."
The Doctor bounced. "Well, there you go, promises all around, now let Zuri go."
The father considered it for a moment, then released her. Her hand flew to the cut at her throat, trying to conceal it, but it was too late.
The Doctors eyes darkened, but he helped her from the ground. "Let's get back to the TARDIS and fix you up."
She accepted the hand held out to her, and when she stood she leaned heavily on his arm. She was seriously ready for a nap.
When they got back to the TARDIS, Zuri got a bandage for her throat and a warm glass of milk. And she bid the other inhabitants' goodnight. Today had been too long. Luckily she didn't appear to be popping off straight away. Maybe the Time Vortex recognized her need for sleep. But Zuri didn't have the energy to think about that right now, not when her pillow was calling to her.
Up next... Tooth and Claw