Disclaimer: I don't own the Doctor, the TARDIS, Rose or any of the characters, planets, technology etc that appear in Doctor Who. I am only borrowing them and they will be returned to the BBC undamaged and in their origianl packaging.

Chapter Three: Solenistra and Solia

A hand shoved the Doctor forwards sharply. He stumbled and with his hands tied behind his back, he almost fell. The hand reached out and grabbed his shoulder, stopping him from falling.

There were quiet sounds from all around them. The Doctor turned his head, trying to hear something that might tell him exactly what was going on, but in vain. Someone pushed him forwards again and when he refused to move, they said, 'Move!' and jabbed him in the back with what felt like the sharp edge of a spear. Reluctantly, he started to walk again, but hadn't gone more than about twenty-feet before the hand grabbed his shoulder again and jerked him to a halt.

'Stay,' the voice said in his ear again. 'Do not move.'

The Doctor bit back the urge to snap, Stay? I'm not a bloody dog! but figured that this was probably not intelligent right now. He remained silent.

A finger prodded him in the chest and the voice said, 'You going to behave? Yes or no?'

'Do I have any other choices?' the Doctor asked before he could stop himself and was rewarded with a sharp smack around the side of the head. It was hard enough to hurt a lot and he inhaled sharply in pain.

'Yes or no!' the voice demanded again, sounding angry now.

'Yes!' the Doctor snapped, adding mentally, For now, anyway.

'Good.' The voice sounded satisfied and fell silent.

The Doctor listened again, straining his ears to hear something that would tell him whether Rose and Xan were all right. 'You two all right?' he asked in a loud voice, expecting someone to hit him again or prod him with a spear. In fact, someone did both. He was stuck on the side of the head again and a spear jabbed into his ribs this time.

'I'm all right,' Rose said. She sounded breathless and afraid but defiant.

'Yeah, wonderful,' Xan said, sounding thoroughly hacked off.

'Silence!' a voice thundered. 'The prisoners will remain silent!'

'Oh, shut up,' the Doctor heard Xan muttered then heard an angry hiss as someone obvious hit Xan.

There was another long, drawn out silence and then the sound of footsteps. There were low voices, murmuring softly, and then more footsteps.

'Take off the blindfolds,' a new voice, female, said in loud, clear tones.

The Doctor blinked in sudden, startling light as the bag was pulled off of his head. He screwed his eyes shut, trying to get used to the brightness quickly so he could assess their situation more quickly.

It was an astonishing sight.

They were in an immense room that could only be described as a throne room. Except for the rocky, naturally formed ceiling, they might have been standing in the hall of some palace or citadel. The ceiling towered up above their heads, as high as a cathedral ceiling, supported by massive pillars. It was clearly a natural structure, probably formed by an underground waterway that had since dried up and left this astounding space behind. There were no signs that the place had been made by anyone except nature and people had obviously found it and decorated it.

It was beautifully decorated. The ground was still rough and uneven, but in places there were brightly coloured tiles set into the floor and mosaics, even more vivid against the natural colour of the stone. They were like brilliant and beautiful puddles of colour and richness on the dull ground. The walls had similar patterns and these were easier to see. There were lines of bright coloured stones set into the lines and cracks running along the walls, following seams and imperfections in the stone, creating swirls and lines and loops one the grey background. Some of these stones were obviously precious ones and others were ordinary, but beautifully coloured. In places, metal had been used as well, melted down and drawn across the stone so that the molten metal cooled into interesting and mesmerising shapes on the walls.

There were lamps hanging all around, large glass made of the same strange stone that their captors had worn around to give them light in the dark corridors. These lamps were far more exquisitely crafted, and as they were bigger they gave a much better light.

In front of them was a table. It was a massive chunk of stone with carvings and images chiselled into the surface, many of them smoothed away by use and time. There were piles of papers on top of it and another lamp. There were several empty stone chairs positioned around the table, decorated with cushions. These cushions, although they were heavily embroidered, were threadbare and had holes in places. There was an even bigger chair right in front of the table, decorated with even more heavily embroidered cushions, and with jewels and stones blazing all over the arms and the back.

At the first few glances, it was a stunning scene. But the Doctor was used to seeing things how they really were and he could see that the cushions were tattered and the lamps were scratched and cracked. There were jewels missing on the throne, the table had been scuffed and was cracked in places, the entire room was heavy with stone dust and the air was heavy with misery.

He could feel it. The weight of the years weighed down heavier upon this place than the weight of the earth above them and it was dying.

There was a woman sat on the throne in front of them. She was dressed in a slightly ragged blue robe that might once have been very rich, with a pattern of silver and green dragons sewn onto it. She was quite young, not much older than Rose, with very dark hair and even darker eyes. Her gaze, as it looked at them, was direct and defiant. Despite her ragged appearance, it was obvious that she was a leader.

'Kneel before our leader,' one of the men guarding them growled.

The Doctor frowned. 'She isn't our leader,' he observed placidly. 'And to be honest I don't see any reason why we should kneel – '

One of the men kicked him in the back of the knee, sending him crashing forwards onto his knees. Despite himself, the Doctor couldn't suppressed a grunt of pain as he hit the floor. Rose gave a sharp cry as she too was shoved forwards. There was a groan of pain as someone tried the same trick with Xan and a thump as they ended up sprawled on the floor. There was another thump as another guard hit Xan across the shoulders with the staff of their spear. Xan swore at them angrily but was persuaded to also fall onto his knees. The Doctor glanced sideways at him; there was fresh blood running down Xan's face where someone had obviously hit him again and he looked, if possible, even more hacked off than he had before.

'Try to curb your instincts hit everything that hits you,' the Doctor muttered.

'Can't help it,' Xan muttered back. 'Natural reaction.'

The Doctor considered this. 'Fair enough, but try,' he said mildly.

'Okay.'

'Silence!' a guard yelled.

The three of them rolled their eyes at each other.

'Do you mind?' the woman said quietly to the guards. 'I would quite like to speak to these people. You may leave,' she added.

'But, Lady Solia – ' one of the guards protested.

'They are all tied up,' she said reasonably. Her expression had not changed, but her voice grew firmer. 'How much trouble can they cause if they are tied up?'

The Doctor and Rose glanced automatically at Xan who smirked. They glanced back at the woman to see if she or the guards had noticed it. They obviously hadn't, because the guards were leaving. After a few moments, their footsteps had died away and it was only the four people left alone in the massive hall.

After a while, the woman spoke. 'I am the Lady Solia,' she said. 'I am the ruler of the people of Solenistra, this world. All leaders are known only as Solia.'

'Are they, now,' the Doctor said dryly. 'Do you mind if we get up off of the floor? It isn't exactly comfortable.'

'If you like,' Solia said, sounding indifferent. 'Sit down, if you want. Make yourself as comfortable as possible.'

'As possible with our hands tied,' Rose said sourly.

'That is for my protection,' Solia said, as if this should have been obvious.

'Really? Well, so far, we're the ones who have been attacked, kidnapped, dragged here, hit and slapped and tied up and blindfolded,' Rose said sharply.

'That is not my concern,' Solia responded.

'It soon will be,' Rose muttered. 'What exactly did we do to deserve treatment like this?'

'You trespassed.'

'Then take us to the surface and we'll go,' the Doctor said.

'That, I cannot do.' She changed the subject momentarily. 'Who are you all? I have told you my name, but who are you?'

'I'm the Doctor.'

'The Doctor?' she echoed.

'Just the Doctor,' he said cheerfully. 'The three of us are travellers.'

'I'm Rose Tyler,' Rose said.

'Xianfrith Excalda,' Xan said shortly.

The Doctor settled himself as comfortably in a chair as was possible. 'Amazing place, this,' he said conversationally. 'It amazes me that you can live here. You know, oxygen and air circulation and so on. Does this place have a name?'

'We call it Haven,' Solia said.

'Doesn't seem like much of a Haven,' Rose said. 'It's very pretty, but not exactly comfortable to live in, is it?'

'You have seen the surface?' Solia said coolly. 'Compared to most of the planet surface, this is a Haven.'

'How do you survive?' the Doctor asked curiously. 'How do you get food, oxygen here? Water?'

'There are natural water springs,' Solia said. 'We still have a few fertile places on the surface where we grow food and those who made this place habitable, the first who came underground, made it so that we would get fresh air down here. I don't know how. We have lost much knowledge.'

'Yes, that does tend to happen,' the Doctor agreed. 'Can I ask why we've been brought here, Solia? We haven't done you or your people any harm, we're sorry we trespassed, would you mind letting us go now?'

'No,' Solia said.

The Doctor nodded, as if this was what he had expected. 'Why?'

'I can't.'

'Why?' he said, his tone harder this time.

'Because of the prophecy.'

The Doctor stared at her. 'What?'

Solia shifted uncomfortably on her throne. 'Solenistra is dying,' she said. 'You have seen the surface. What little land we can still grow food on grow smaller every year. The water springs are drying up or becoming poisoned. Soon we will have no water left. We will not be able to grow food. The things that we need to survive, food such as vegetables or meat, the plants that we make cloth and thread from, drinkable water, all of these things are running out and quickly. This world is dying.'

'Yes,' the Doctor said with compassion. 'I know. I'm sorry. This world is old – it is coming to the end of its life.'

Solia ignored this. 'Many years ago, most of our people left. But they did not take everyone with them. Some were left behind, forgotten and ignored. They made a life for themselves as best they could on the surface and then underground.'

'And?' the Doctor asked.

'And we have lived in fear and hope ever since.'

'Fear, I understand,' the Doctor said. 'Why the hope? This world is dying, there is no hope that it will survive, I'm sorry to have to say – '

'But you do not understand,' Solia said impatiently. 'Please let me explain. There is a prophecy.'

'Yes?'

'The prophecy has been with us for many, many years now. It says that our world will be saved.'

'There are always such prophecies,' the Doctor said gently. 'It doesn't mean – '

She continued to ignore him. 'The prophecy states that near the end of our world, someone will come and save it, will enable it to live again ad flourish. A man came many years ago and told our people not to despair that they had been left behind, and that one day, when it was almost over, Solenistra would be saved.'

'And has this person come and saved your world?' the Doctor asked, very quiet.

'No,' Solia said. 'There have been those, but none of them have saved us.'

'You think it's us,' Rose said.

'It must be,' Solia said. But she sounded as if she was not actually certain, but her voice said that she was desperate. 'You must be – you are. It is almost the end of our world. You are the only ones who have come to us so close to the end – you must be the ones we were told about.' She gazed levelly at them. 'You must stay and help us.'

'And if we don't want to?' Rose said.

'You can't refuse. You will never find your way out of these caverns without our help. You help us, or you die,' Solia said in tones of finality.

'You don't know that my friends and I are the ones the prophecy has foretold,' the Doctor said quietly. Solia seemed unwilling or unable to grasp this point. His eyes were smouldering dangerously and he was standing very still, his entire body alive with suppressed angry energy.

'No,' Solia agreed softly. 'We don't. But do you think we will take that risk?'

'No, you probably won't,' he said angrily. 'You'll think of yourself above anyone else, won't you?'

'It's called survival,' Solia said mildly. 'Our world will die. Unless someone helps us. Our world is almost dead and so it must be you and your friends who are the ones foretold in the prophecy.'

'That's quite a conclusion you've leapt to,' the Doctor said.

'It's the only one I've got,' Solia said, desperation edging her voice. 'You must help us, or our world will die.'

The Doctor fixed her with his dark, piercing gaze that seemed to cut through flesh and bone and see straight through into the soul.

'Everything dies,' he said.