Disclaimer: Doctor Who belongs to the BBC. No infringement is intended.
A/N: This, too, was inspired by a tumblr prompt asking for the "prince" rescuing the "princess" from a dragon. Well, this turned out to be much more epic than I thought it would be. But the Doctor and Donna demanded I write a full plot and not just the shippy parts I'd initially envisioned. But the shippy parts are still there, of course.
Oh, and I apologize for the bad science. I tried looking stuff up. Honestly.
Damsel to the Rescue
The stairs seem to be never ending. The Doctor looks up, seeing a spiral above him. Ignoring the stitch in his side, he sprints onward, his mind focused only on one thing. One person.
Donna.
How could he have been so stupid!? He watched her walk away, not knowing anything was amiss until he couldn't find her again. As the crowds thickened and he started hearing murmurs of the red-haired sacrifice to some sort of beast, the concern fluttering in his stomach had morphed into a full blown terror. Then he heard fifteen more minutes, and the faces looking upward toward the sky. The only thing he could see was the tower. And that was all he needed.
The Doctor's pace quickens to leaping two steps at a time. He had about seven minutes left. The crowd's cries are dimmer now, but they seem to have grown in energy. Time is nearly out.
Finally reaching the top of the stairs, he's not at all surprised to find it vacant. No guards would want to be around whenever this beast arrived. He rushes over to the wooden door, muttering in exasperation. He prays Donna is on the other side. But then there's another part of him that wishes she's anywhere but this horrible place.
Fortunately, the lock is iron. Whipping out his sonic, the door flies open without so much as a creek. The Doctor charges in.
"Donna!"
He freezes, all his panic snapping away for a moment.
"Doctor!" she strides forward, her face pure happiness. She's dressed in silks of the richest blue; the Doctor swears they must have been dyed to match her azure eyes. Her hair is clipped up in some sort of tiara of sapphires and gold. Around her wrists are solid gold bands. In short, she is stunning.
"Donna!" the Doctor gasps. She takes his hands in his. She is completely sanguine, and something about her blithe composure sends shivers down the Doctor's spine.
"Where have you been?" she asks.
"What are you dressed like that for?"
She pulls away, offended. "Can't a girl wear some pretty clothes?"
He stops, knowing he's wasting time. But why is she acting like this? "You look lovely," he says in a rush. It's true. She's gorgeous. But he cannot think about how distracting her beauty is at the moment. He gently places his hands on her shoulders, knowing he has to crack through whatever trance she's in. "Did they give you these clothes?"
"Oh yes!" she exclaimed. "They said I was their princess."
He squints. "And you believed them!?"
She wriggles free again. "Well why not?" she asks hotly, looking wounded. "I figured you encouraged it and would meet me later for some sort of party." She gives him a scathing once over. "I guess not."
The crowd's cheering changes in tone. The Doctor looks out the small open window. From the distance, he can see everyone turned in the opposite direction, their faces upward. He follows their visual path to the open sky. Whatever is coming, it's flying there. And soon.
He whirls around and rushes back to Donna. He leans in closely and scans her with the screwdriver, frowning. "They've somehow hindered your frontal lobe. Your reasoning has been tampered with."
She swats away from him. "I hate it when you do that."
"You've been hypnotized, Donna!" he says, his voice rising in pitch. "Of course you would be. They need a willing person to be locked up here."
"I'm not locked up here!"
The crowd's cheer becomes manic. And a little frightened. Dread shoots through every cell in the Doctor's body.
"You're not their princess, Donna!" he shouts at her. "You're their sacrifice!"
As if on cue, a loud and horribly primal roar shakes the entire room. The far wall completely disappears, the high winds whipping Donna's hair and dress around her. It also serves to break whatever spells she's under, as she stumbles a little and the carefree look in her eyes is replaced with horror.
There's no further need for compliance from their sacrifice.
The Doctor pushes her a little behind him as he stares into the open sky. He sniffs thoroughly, trying to make out what had just made that awful noise.
Donna's scream pierces through him.
He turns to see her being pulled by some sort of invisible force to the far wall. She slams harshly against it, and her wrists are drawn upwards to either side of her head, pinned to the wall by the pretty golden bracelets. He runs to her, pulling on the sparkling shackles.
"They won't move!" he shouts.
"I know!" She's pulling so hard, the edges are starting to cut into her pale skin. "Sonic them!"
He's already trying, but the binds won't move.
They become even more frantic as another loud screech blocks out all other noise.
"What the hell is that!?"
"Sounds like your intended," the Doctor mutters, trying a different setting on the screwdriver.
"Doctor!"
He looks up and sees tears forming in her eyes. He stops and grabs her face with a little more force that he would have liked. "I will not leave you," he vows. Her face is ashen with terror, but she nods.
The screwdriver blinks furiously. Studying it, the Doctor slaps his forehead. "They're potassium permanganate-based!"
"What!?"
He looks over and finds a large pitcher of water. His hearts racing with each other, he grabs it. "That means if I do this – " He throws some water on her one hand. The gold partially dissolves and her wrist drops. Grinning at the momentary victory, he does the same with the other wrist. "You're free!"
She grabs his hand and they rush to the door. A low rumbling makes the floor vibrate. Slowly, they turn and are struck still.
An unbelievable large reptilian face is staring at them. Its green eyes are nearly glowing against the pearly black scales. It snarls, and just the glimpse of teeth that look to be about a foot long each makes Donna choke back a scream.
"It's a bloody dragon!"
Its eyes bulge, and its throat changes from onyx to a deep maroon.
Donna tugs on the Doctor's hand. "Come on!"
The Doctor is still transfixed; part of him wants to see what happens, even though he knows he won't survive it.
"Doctor!"
The panic in Donna's voice snaps him from his curiosity, and he pushes her through the door. They're nearly down ten steps as fire explodes above them. The Doctor hunches over Donna, hissing as his right shoulder seers in agony.
He ignores it, and they practically fly down the spiral stone staircase. Pieces of rafters and some charred remains of Donna's elaborate prison fall around them.
Jumping down the last few steps, the Doctor tightens his grip on Donna's hand. There's no way he's letting her go for a moment.
"The TARDIS is on the other side of the courtyard," he calls.
"I remember," she pants, thankful her fancy shoes are also somewhat practical. They dash off and nearly collide into two completely befuddled and anxious guards.
Without blinking, Donna reaches back and punches the closest hard in the jaw. "That's for tricking me into being that thing's dinner!" she shouts.
The two men look completely terrified.
"You need to go back!" the non-bruised guard exclaims, stepping toward Donna.
The Doctor jumps between them with a growl just as dangerous as the dragon's.
"It'll kill us all if it's not appeased!"
To emphasize, a large shadow flies overhead, causing the crowd in the courtyard to chaotically run in every direction. Donna pulls the Doctor under a colonnade. The two guards close in on them.
The Doctor stands in front of Donna. "You kidnap my friend to make her your sacrifice and you expect me to care about your lizard problem!"
A deluge of fire ignites the sky. It doesn't hit anything, but the heat makes even the normally-cool Time Lord's brow glisten with sweat.
"It goes away if only one is taken."
The Doctor is seething. "So you hypnotize people into being its happy little snacks?"
"We don't know what else to do!"
The Doctor feels a slight tug on his hand.
"Help them," a soft whisper instantly soothes his racing hearts.
Incredulous, he turns. Donna's expression is pleading.
"This is what you do," she says.
His jaw clenches, her words breaking through his rage. The idea that they'd cast her off, his beautiful Donna, makes his stomach turn. He glares, his outrage for what could have happened to her at war with the fact that she'd already forgiven her would-be murderers.
"Please," she says.
Oh, Donna. He nods and squeezes her hand again.
He rounds on the guards. "Why does it have to kill to be appeased?"
The one guard's jaw was already turning purple from where Donna had struck him. "It eats them," he muttered.
Donna blanched. The Doctor's eyes narrowed. "Why does eating one human satisfy it? How often do you do this?"
Some bits of stone scatter overhead. The Doctor leans back to risk a peak to the sky. The dragon has settled itself atop another castle spire, looking as if it's trying to seek out its next victim. It makes a strange noise. The crowd has huddled along the colonnade that encloses the courtyard.
"We do it every thirty days."
"What!?" Donna shrieks. "You send some poor person to their death that often!?"
"Nothing else has worked!"
Donna glares. "Maybe we should let that beast eat you all up."
The dragon folds its wings. The Doctor studies it; it must be at least thirty feet in length with its wings fully spread. It makes another odd hacking noise.
"That's not a roar," the Doctor muses.
"Sounds like it's choking."
The Doctor's eyes widen. "Choking! That's it!"
Donna blinks. "What?"
"It can't breathe properly in this atmosphere."
"Doesn't it live here?" Donna asks, "Like native or something?"
The Doctor turns to the guards. "How long have you been mining that ore in your caves that you're so proud of?"
"Uh, a couple hundred years, I guess."
"And how long has that creature been eating your people?"
They exchange a look; their silence answers his question.
The Doctor smiles and scans the air.
Donna watches him. "How does eating people make it breathe easier?"
Not answering her, the Doctor reads the screwdriver. "This atmosphere is lacking mineral ions. You humans carry that in your blood. The creature must need it to survive. So, it finds it any way it can get it."
He smiles widely at Donna. "You're brilliant," he says and takes her hand again. "Let's go. We can counteract the air pollution and stop all this."
The guards stand straighter. "You can help?"
He glares at them. "Yes, even though you don't deserve it." He and Donna push past them.
They walk to the end of the colonnade and stop short. The TARDIS is on the other side of the courtyard. The only direct route is running through the center, which leaves them wide open for dragon food. The colonnade surrounding is crammed with people. Some of them have noticed Donna and are pointing at her.
"There's the sacrifice! That's why the creature is angry! She's escaped!"
"Oh, great," the Doctor mutters. He turns to Donna. "We have one choice."
Donna inhales and hikes up her dress with her free hand. She offers a tight smile. "Fine day to be a princess," she says.
He nods and tries to say something memorable, but nothing smart comes to mind. "Allons-y," he whispers.
They dash as fast as they can. Above them, the creature's screech reverberates off the walls. The sun is blocked out as its tremendous wings are unfurled, and even from that distance, the downdraft of its strokes make Donna's hair fly upward. Terrified shrieks around them confirm what the Doctor cannot look up to see: it's preparing to scorch them. He runs faster, hoping Donna isn't losing her footing.
An inferno erupts behind them. He can see their jumping shadows as the wall they're heading towards illuminates with an eerie orange glow. Behind him, he thinks he can hear Donna shouting, but all that fills his ears is the thunderous roar.
They reach the colonnade but are blocked by the crowd. They press at Donna.
"You're the one it wants! Save us!"
Scared but resolved, Donna pushes forward toward the TARDIS, swinging at people. The remnants of her bracelets serve to knock several people senseless.
"Get away you crazy lot!" she screams.
The Doctor is trying to reason with them; that he knows how to help. But the mob is too frantic. Donna stumbles back into the open space. She whirls around as the dragon quickly turns mid-flight and starts to descend right at her.
The Doctor reaches up with the sonic, making the ceiling start to crumble and the columns crack. The crowd jumps, crushing their fellow townsfolk back. Donna leaps to the safety of cover, shouting angrily at the cowering people.
Finally, the Doctor flings the TARDIS doors open, pulling Donna inside far more roughly that he would have liked. But she's not complaining. She leans over and gasps heavily. The Doctor charges toward the console, fiddling with various levers and buttons. Donna grabs the railing as they're jolted violently upward.
"Just a smidgen of phosphorous and a dash of potassium," the Doctor rambles, flipping a switch. Donna manages to join him, watching his hands fly along the controls. He looks up and gives her a wide smile. "Thaaaat ought to do it!"
They jerk sideways, and he catches her arm when she stumbles toward him. She regains her footing and looks at the monitor. She's learned a little on how to read the strange symbols. But her eyes narrow, not sure she's read it correctly. "One hundred years?"
He shrugs and brushes some soot off his shoulder, wincing a little at the burned skin. "Would you like to see what their future looks like?"
Donna glances downward. "Maybe I should change first out of this stupid outfit," she says quietly. "I should have known better than to think I was some sort of princess."
He stops, the discomfort of his back completely forgotten. He regards her, smudged with ash, her hair in disarray, her wrists raw and bleeding from the golden handcuffs. She's still stunning.
"You certainly rule things around here," he says. But his attempt to make her laugh falls flat. She doesn't even look up to meet his eyes.
The Doctor steps closer and gently takes her hands in his. "I think you look beautiful," he says. She finally raises her head; she inhales at his intensity. He leans a little closer. "And you certainly don't need all this stuff to show it." He gestures to her gown. The TARDIS core brightens a little as if in agreement.
She shakes her head. "Because of me, you were hurt," she insists, looking at his charred shoulder. "If I'd stayed with you, this wouldn't have happened."
If anything, his eyes burn brighter. "Because of you, my brilliant Donna Noble, countless others were saved from being future meals."
He steps back and tugs on her hand. "Come on," he says. "We'll just take a peek."
They open the TARDIS doors to an entirely different world. The buildings still look quaint and medieval. The castle still stands majestically in the distance. But there is something different in the air, and the Doctor knows it's not the elements he's returned to the atmosphere. The people are brightly dressed, smiling happily at each other as they go about their provincial lives.
A shadow passes over them, and they look up. A large dragon flies lazily, followed closely by a miniature version.
"Oh, a baby!" Donna whispers. The townspeople pay the beasts no more attention than they would a flock of geese.
The Doctor wraps his good arm around her back and hugs her. "Because of you, life is possible for all creatures on this planet," he says.
A little smile lights Donna's face, and he's glad he finally made her realize how amazing she was in their latest adventure.
"I knew you'd figure it out," she dismisses the compliment.
But the Doctor won't let her eschew the praise she more than deserves. He shifts to stand very close. "And once again, you made me remember how anyone is worth saving."
Her cheeks redden deeply. "Yeah," she says, turning back to the village in embarrassment. After a moment, the Doctor follows her gaze, letting the moment go.
They stare at the fairy-tale like scene for a little while longer before Donna turns to him.
"Thanks for being my knight in shining armor," she says.
He grins and steps back to their home. "Come on. I'll take you to a place where they know how to properly treat a princess."
"Oh yeah?" Where?"
His smile is warm. "The TARDIS."