I'm back! This chapter is garbage but oh well. :) The next one is going to be so much better.
Doctor Who is property of the BBC.
"I'm telling you, Clara… This is a bad idea." Ashildr said as the pair left their TARDIS behind, heading towards an ominous castle.
"And I'm telling you that neither of us can die. Nothing bad can happen to us, right?"
"Immortal doesn't necessarily mean indestructible." Ashildr warned.
"For you it does. You've got the Mire medical chip. That means you can just recover from injuries… Right?"
"Yes, but I don't know the limits of the chip, and I don't want to find out."
"And my death is a fixed point in time, that is guaranteed. Based on that fact, it's not unreasonable to assume that I'm technically immortal."
"Say what you want, but I think we should go back… now." Ashildr looked over her shoulder back at the TARDIS, tightening her grip on Clara's hand. "Right now."
"We can't turn back. There's an entire universe for us to see, why not stop here?"
"Well, for starters, this is a dark, barren wasteland of a planet with a spooky castle and thunder."
"So? There's nothing wrong with a little scariness now and then. Who knows, maybe it won't be as scary inside as we are led to believe it will be."
"Fine." Ashildr muttered, knowing that it was impossible to get her way with Clara. "But we have to stick together. We can't just split up like the stupid people in horror films do."
"I'm not that stupid! Of course we'll stick together. I wouldn't ever want to leave you anyway."
Ashildr considered responding, but thought better of it, deciding to change the topic. "What do you think is in this castle?"
"Something interesting, no doubt." Clara replied, investigating the exterior walls of the castle as they arrived in the courtyard. "Just look at how old this stone is!"
"But if this castle is ancient…" Ashildr examined a statue standing on a pedestal. "Then why do these statues look so new?"
"Maybe… Maybe it's just a different type of stone that looks different."
"I don't think so… They actually look newer. Like someone put them here. But who?"
"Let me see- Wait…"
"What is it?"
"Get in the castle as fast as you can, but do not take your eyes off of that statue."
"What do you mean? It's just an ordinary statue!"
"That's what it wants you to think."
"What the hell are you talking about Clara?"
"Weeping Angels."
"I've heard of them, though I've never had the pleasure of meeting one."
"They're quantum-locked assassins. They can only move when you're not looking."
"What'll happen if they get us?"
"Let's not find out." Clara's voice trembled. "We can't risk anything."
"Weird, just a minute ago, you were so eager to explore and have an adventure." Ashildr pointed out. "Now you seem a little less excited. Wonder why? Could it be that the fearless and invincible Clara is-"
"I'm scared, okay! I've been scared ever since we got here! I was just trying to be brave so you'd think better of me!"
"Clara-" Ashildr flinched as the door slammed shut, locking the pair inside the dimly lit castle foyer. "You're the bravest person I've ever met. I mean it. But even the most courageous of people get scared sometimes, and- Oh god..."
"What?"
"Something just grabbed my wrist."
Clara turned around, only to see a Weeping Angel standing behind Ashildr, its stone grip locked around her wrist.
"What do I do, Clara?"
"It's hard to tell… As far as I know, there are two things Angels can do. They can either send you through time to collect the resulting time energy or…"
"Or? Or what?!"
"This isn't their home planet, and the only reason they'd all be gathering in one spot is if there's a major energy source here. And if there's already an abundance of energy, then the weeping angels will kill for the sake of killing. They'll snap your neck."
"No problem." Ashildr laughed, trying to mask her fear. "Right?"
"Can your Mire chip repair a snapped neck?"
Ashildr thought for a moment. "I don't know, but I'm not willing to risk it."
"What about a broken wrist?"
"It'd take a while…But yes. It's doable."
Clara bit her lip, taking hold of Ashildr's hand, the one in the grasp of the Weeping Angel. Her expression said all that was needed.
"You're kidding." Ashildr sighed, her eyes glancing over Clara's expression for any sign that her plan was a joke.
"I'm sorry… It's the only way, though."
"Fine."
Clara held the other girl's hand, ready to break it from the iron grip of the Angel. She hesitated. Letting go of her hand, she said, "I can't do it. I don't want to hurt you."
Ashildr took Clara's hand with her free hand, bringing it back to her wrist, still locked in the grip of the Angel. "Then we'll do it together."
"On three?"
"Yep. One… Two… Three!"
"Bloody hell, my wrist hurts!" Ashildr exclaimed, clenching her teeth in pain as she carefully held her wrist.
"I'm terribly sorry, but it was the only way you were guaranteed to get away from that Angel alive and in this time period."
"I suppose you're right."
"For now, just keep your eyes on the Angel."
"Alright." Ashildr took a deep breath, trying to focus her attention away from the pain. "So… How exactly are we going to get out of here? The door appears to be locked, and there are no windows, not around here at least."
"We should start by standing back to back so we can always keep a lookout for any more Weeping Angels."
"Good idea."
"As for escaping…" Clara looked around. The only thing even vaguely reminiscent of a weapon was a torch mounted on the wall. "I have no clue where to even begin. And to tell you the truth, I'm terrified. Weeping Angels are nothing to mess around with."
"The TARDIS keys we have can summon the ship from afar, correct?"
"Yes. But is there a spot big enough to land her?"
"The roof. It appeared to be just a solid roof on top, and it's easily big enough to land the TARDIS."
"You're brilliant, Ash. Let's find a way up."
Ordinarily, Ashildr would object to being called Ash, but there was something about the way Clara said it that made her feel important. Generally one would only assign someone a nickname if they were close.
"Which way do you want to walk, forwards or backwards?"
"You can lead the way."
"Alright then. Let's just stand back to back, and we'll take small steps, and hold hands to stay together-" She reached for Ashildr's hand.
"Ow!" The girl exclaimed.
"Sorry, that was the broken one, wasn't it?"
"Yeah, it was."
"Sorry."
Carefully, the pair made their way down the narrow corridor and up a compact spiral staircase.
Miraculously, they never encountered another Weeping Angel.
Before they knew it, they were on the roof. Just as Ashildr had suspected, it was a level surface with plenty of room to land a ship.
"We made it!" Clara laughed. "And look, there's the TARDIS!"
Ashildr pulled out her TARDIS key. "So… How do we get her over here?"
"I think it has to do with the key… But I'm not sure exactly how it works…"
"Here, I'll try this." Ashildr walked towards the wall that marked the edge of the roof and shouted, "Oi, TARDIS, get your lazy arse up here or we're going to die!"
"Was that necessary? I don't think she likes it when you yell at her."
The familiar whooshing of the TARDIS alerted the pair.
"It appears it was necessary, because it worked."
As the two walked into their TARDIS, the ship was buzzing and humming, almost as if saying how irritated she was.
"There, there, girl. I'm sorry Ashildr was yelling at you." Clara said as she lovingly stroked the console.
"Why do you do that? It's so weird!"
"The TARDIS, as you know, is a sentient being with feelings and emotions, and she must be treated as such."
"Fine… I'm sorry, TARDIS."
The TARDIS quietly hummed in response.
"I think she accepts your apology." Clara smiled a bit, glad to be safe and sound in her own TARDIS. "How's your wrist?"
"It's almost better. The chip was surprisingly fast at repairing this time around."
"That's good."
"I almost want to find out why the Weeping Angels were here, and why we never saw any more after the first one."
"We should figure that out…" She paused, as if contemplating whether or not to risk their lives with another encounter with the Weeping Angels. "Or we could go somewhere where we won't die. Any suggestions?"
"I want to go to some alien party. Like a planet-wide extravaganza with music and food and dancing." Ashildr grinned. "I feel like that would be beautiful!"
"I've heard about a festival in the Arawath System… I can't remember what it's called, though."
"I think it's called the Festivus of Daemyton. When I lived on New Earth, I heard people mention it. I heard that Daemyton is the Arawathian deity of joy. The legend says that billions of years ago, there was nothing but hate and darkness. Daemyton didn't like that, so they created the Sun, casting light and warmth upon the Arawath system. The people celebrated in a ten week long festival of joy. After ten weeks, the sun set once more, plunging Arawath Prime into darkness yet again, so the people waited and prayed to Daemyton that the sun would rise once more. That's the myth, at least. The way it actually works is simple. During the long winters, the sun rarely, if ever, rises. When the first dawn of spring warms the planet, the flowers bloom and the world is warm and everything is peaceful."
"A festival of joy..." Clara smiled. "That does sound amazing! We have to go!" She pulled a lever on the console, smiling at Ashildr. "Arawath Prime, here we come!"
Well, there's another chapter! Please do let me know what you think! (Also if you se an avid Space Girlfriends shipper and want to follow me on tumblr, PM me and we can talk.
