-1925-

-Lost City of Z-


Gallivanting through the jungle, as exciting as it had sounded at first, was not nearly as much fun as Calypso had anticipated. The boiling heat was a unique experience. Initially. But it had quickly become the most unbearable obstacle, of which there were many. She couldn't even feel the sweat on her skin any longer, because nothing was actually dry. It was as though the air itself was just a hot damp towel, pressing against her whole body, and somehow invading her lungs. The thick foliage and uneven footing was making their progress nearly comparable to that of a snail, and yet she was still exhausted by it. They'd been turned back so many times, she wasn't even sure if they were still headed in the direction they had started in. To top off the progressively miserable experience, the Doctor continued to point out new and fascinating creatures as they appeared. It was delightful, until he mentioned that they were also absolutely deadly and should be avoided at all costs.

Calypso gulped out of the canteen she had brought with, the warm water doing little to refresh her. She caught sight of the one silver lining of this little expedition. The Doctor. Well, not exactly the Doctor so much as what he was wearing on his head. The TARDIS did have something a little more adventure-y in mind for the Doctor. It was an extraordinarily large canvas hat. He'd positively beamed when she brought it up from the closet. It hadn't come off his head since, unless he felt the need to use it to point out another deadly variety of frog. No matter how unpleasant this trip was becoming, she'd had to bite back a smile each time she saw it. It was difficult to decide if her favorite part was just the sheer elephant size of the thing, or the childlike exuberance the Doctor exhibited every time he remembered he was wearing it. Really, it was the only thing keeping her going, deeper and deeper into the jungle, with no idea if they'd actually find anything other than heatstroke.

"Did you hear that?" The Doctor stopped just in front of her so she had to stumble to a stop. They had been trudging up a particularly steep hill and she'd put most of her focus on putting one foot in front of the other but at least the path was largely cleared by the Colonel leading the way with his machete.

"I hear lots of things," she admitted with a shrug. The noise at first had been deafening, but she had gradually gotten used to it. The vegetation was constantly rustling with life, and the trees were filled with more chirps, howls, and bird calls than she could ever hope to identify.

The Doctor glanced down at her and smiled. "I suppose you do. Just thought it was…" he tasted the air carefully and shook his head. "Must be nothing. Come along, we've nearly made the top." He took Calypso's hand and helped hoist her over the tree root that was nearly as high as her hip. He still lingered, glancing back the way they had come.

"Doctor?" The Colonel was near the top of the hill already, and had noticed the his slow pace. "We need to get cracking if we're to make the lake by nightfall. No time to admire the view-"

"Might not be a bad thought to take a break. I could certainly use it." Jack suggested, giving Calypso a sympathetic smile, and Raleigh nodded his agreement.

"Listen boy, when you said you'd come along, I didn't think you were looking for a fancy holiday-"

"Shh!" The Doctor held out one finger, silencing them all. Calypso strained to hear anything unusual, but it was impossible to guess which of the strange noises she should be concerned with. The Doctor slowly pulled his sonic from his trouser pocket and set to scanning in a wide arc behind them. He glanced at it quickly before stuffing it back away and turning on his heel.

"My mistake," he said with a smile plastered on his face. He grasped Calypso's elbow as he caught up to where she had stopped. "Shall we?"

"Is something wrong?" She risked a glance back, but saw nothing out of the ordinary, and instead focused on keeping up the rapid pace the Doctor had suddenly adopted.

"Wrong? No, absolutely not. Nothing wrong whatsoever. Whatever gave you that silly idea? Things are absolutely spiffing." He said with the same giddy smile on his face. "I mean, look at this hat. It's brilliant. Never worn a hat like this before. And you're here, that's always lovel-"

"Doctor?" The Colonel spoke again, but this time his tone wasn't impatient. It was sharp with fear. Calypso saw that the man was staring past them and his face had gone an ashy gray. "It's…" Over the cacophony of the jungle, she started to hear it. It was a chirping sound, but not from the treetops, and not sparse and scattered like the others. It was a dull roar of chirps, all coming from the same direction behind them and it was growing louder.