AN: Hello there...*ducks objects thrown at high speeds* I'm back! And it's taken me waaay to long to get here. It might have been sooner if I had thought about giving it plot before I stupidly published the first chapter. I'm an impulsive idiot... So here it is, the long awaited chapter two! Tell me what you think, or just rant about how long it took for me to get this done. I'm flexible!
Disclaimer: I do not own Doctor Who. Or +Anima. Or the Magic Tree House. Yup. It's a true story.
Amy was very sorry. She had apologized several times at this point (it had been an honest misunderstanding!), but nothing she did would make the blue-ish haired kid, a boy she reminded herself, stop glaring at her. Really, if she hadn't been so distracted by his hair color (Was it blue or silver? It kind of glinted in the light, but it was more blue than anything. It was like those tropical fish that had scales that would change color in different lights. She remembered that from the visit to the aquarium she'd dragged Rory to a month ago. He hadn't been very happy, but Amy was sure he secretly enjoyed the fish.) she might have noticed that despite his girly features, he was a he rather than a she.
"Don't worry Amy, Husky's always grumpy!" The cheerful black-haired boy, Coo-something, assured her from his position beside her on the log. Both looked over across the clearing where Husky had retreated with his lunch after the misunderstanding. Said boy caught their looks and, surprise surprise, glared at them. Coo-something (Hey, Amy had never been very good at names, alright?) smiled at his friend while Amy gave her most apologetic look. He glared harder and turned around again. "You see?" said the other boy cheerfully, as if Husky's actions had proved his point.
"Really," the girl on Amy's right snorted. "He could try to be polite for once! He has no manners! None!"
"Hey Nana, have I got manners? I'm nicer than Husky, right?" The bubbly boy on her left leaned forward to see the girl (who was now christened 'Nana' in Amy's head) around Amy. As she listened to the two argue about manners and who possessed them verses who didn't, she couldn't help marvel at how quickly these kids had bounced back from the initial awkward meeting.
break./
"Who the heck are you?" demanded Husky. He had tightened his grip on his staff and was giving the strangers his best 'How dare you defy me you commoners!' glare. While a weaker man might have cowered, or at least flinched, the strangers just blinked at him. Then the man with the stupid hat had grinned.
"Hello, I'm the Doctor!" He had bounded over and stuck out his hand for Husky to shake. Husky merely glared harder, hoping to quash his apparent enthusiasm for meeting new people. Honestly, the man reminded him of Cooro. So carefree. Hadn't anyone ever talked to him about stranger-danger? He was pulled out of his mental comparison of the two when (speak of the devil) Cooro took the weirdo's hand after realizing that Husky definitely wasn't going to.
"I'm Cooro! And this is Husky and Nana and Senri! What kind of doctor are you? Do you pull teeth?" All the while the two were happily pumping each other's hands up and down like an over exaggerated comedy routine. Husky growled, Cooro was so dense! Stranger-danger, remember? He smacked his happy friend traveling companion with his staff.
"Idiot! Don't just tell people your name!"
"But, I like them Husky~!"
"That doesn't matter, they still haven't told us who they are, why they're here, and when they're leaving." Cooro pouted, but released the hand of the (still!) grinning man. Husky considered this a victory. "Now," he demanded, "answer my questions." The woman with unnaturally red hair stood.
"Like he said, that's the Doctor, I'm Amy, and this is my husband Rory. We're hear because someone has no sense of direction and we'll leave after we get a chance to finish this rather excellent stew that your friend here has given us. Don't be so suspicious kid, we're not here to kill you in your sleep." She smiled at him too. Foolish woman, like he believed her stupid story.
"You fed them Senri? That's just like you. You did save some for us, didn't you?" Nana had finally spoken up, her domestic side taking over. Senri nodded, and started to fix plates for them too. Nana went to help him. What were they doing? How could they just ignore this obvious threat? Had they forgotten that the world was out to get them on a good day?!
"Wait! I want to know what that…box…thing is!" Everyone looked back at Husky. Then they all turned to look at the box. Cooro looked like he was about to run over to it, so Husky grabbed the back of his shirt. Nana and Senri stopped preparing lunch. The three adults looked over at the box, to each other, and then back to the most distrustful of the natives. A moment of silence entered the clearing and proceeded to samba until the man who didn't remind Husky of Cooro spoke.
"We work for the government." The other two chimed in as well.
"The box is an important experiment in a new transportation method."
"Experimental scientists always get the weird jobs."
"Oh! That's cool!" Of course Cooro would think it was cool. Couldn't he see how suspicious they were?
"Wow! Do you get paid a lot?" Nana too? And Husky had thought she'd have more sense than to fall for their story. Why did he put up with these people? He was ready to explode when Senri put a hand on his shoulder. Everyone got really quite when the laconic teen opened his mouth.
"Don't, Husky. They are okay." Husky was in shock. Two whole sentences in defense of these people! Fine. If Senri thought they were 'okay' then he would allow them to stay. For now.
"Yay!" Cooro cheered. "Husky's gonna let you stay!" Husky was sure that it wasn't healthy for his teeth to grind together like this, but he couldn't help it. He might have conceded, but he was by no means happy. That red-haired woman smiled.
"So she's really the leader of you guys, huh?"
Only Senri's restraining arms kept Husky from physically hurting someone.
break./
Rory wasn't sure what to think. He'd seen some weird things traveling with the Doctor, and this group of children was nowhere near the top of his 'Seriously, where do they find these people?' list, but there was something off about them. It was odd that these three kids were traveling all alone, but he knew life wasn't always fair about things like family or bus schedules. There was probably a reason there were no adults around.
The first boy they'd met was oddly silent, but the talkative kid had assured him that it was normal for the teen to go weeks without speaking. The black haired boy seemed to be always happy, and fairly harmless. He and the Doctor were getting along really well. When they talked to each other Rory could practically see the rainbows and butterflies that came from two naturally cheerful people getting along so well. He was afraid that if he stood to close to the pair of them he might drown in a random burst of smiles.
The only girl of the group had been talking to him and Amy, rotating between the two. She seemed polite and full of common sense, but even she followed the lead of the last boy. Rory's inner centurion had quietly applauded Husky's obvious suspicion of the three admittedly odd gatecrashers. But he had seemed almost overly cautious of them. Then again, the Doctor just wasn't for everyone. He supposed that Husky was just one of those people that didn't get along with the Time Lord. Of course, he put up with his cheerful friend, so the Doctor should have been easy enough to tolerate…
This wasn't accomplishing anything. They were on a different planet, it made sense that the people would act differently. He wouldn't overthink it.
Looking around the clearing, it seemed that they had been received rather well, considering the situation. Amy was chatting with the only girl, Cooro and the Doctor were exuding 'I just found my new best friend' vibes, the first guy they'd met was sitting next to Rory in a comfortable silence, and Husky had stopped glaring long enough to realize that sitting on the ground wasn't nearly as comfortable as perching on the end of the log/bench farthest away from Amy.
This wasn't so bad. Nothing had blown up or tried to kill them yet (barring Husky when he'd been mistaken for a girl), so this trip with the Doctor was going relatively well. He'd definitely had worse days.
Rory still would have preferred Paris though.
break./
Lunch was finally over, the plates had been cleaned and stored in Senri's pack, the clearing had been looked over for anything that might have been left behind, and the little group of +anima was ready to go. The strangers had helped with the clean up and even found a fork that had been dropped in the grass. They were prepared to part ways as well. But for some reason, they hadn't yet. It seemed like they should have left over an hour ago.
"Well, I guess this is goodbye." the doctor of something or other seemed a little sad to be setting off.
"It was nice to meet you!" Cooro replied, giving yet another smile.
"Thanks for the food, it was really good. The best I've ever been given, especially for free!"
"We were glad we could help you out." Nana had told them where they were relative to the nearest towns and the main roadway.
"We're in your debt. If we ever meet again, I'll be sure to take you all out to a nice dinner."
"That would be great! I hope well see you again." Husky snorted. That was likely. (Not!)
"Hey, I am sorry about calling you a girl. For the record, you do have very feminine features."
"You did not just say I look like a girl again…" Senri moved to restrain his friend for the second time that day.
"You'll grow out of it fast enough. Soon you'll be quite the lady killer."
"…What's that supposed to mean?!"
"Don't worry, it was just a complement. You take things to literally, kid."
"Why don't you just leave already?"
"Husky! Don't be so rude!"
"Ow! You didn't have to hit me, they said they'd leave when they were done eating, and they're done, okay? People should keep their promises!"
"An excellent point. Rory, Amy, into the TARDIS if you will."
"Bye~! It was nice meeting you!"
"Bye Cooro, Husky, Nana, and I'm sorry I hit you with the door Senri!"
"See you around!" Husky fervently hoped they wouldn't. These strangers rubbed him the wrong way.
The three 'scientists' stepped into their box and shut the door. Then something miraculous happened. With a shudder and a vweee-vweee-vweee the blue box faded in and out of existence until there was nothing left of it at all.
"…What the hell kind of scientists were they?"
"Cooro, what in the world are you wearing?"
"It's called a propeller hat! The Doctor gave it to me!" Nana and Husky looked at him in disbelief. Well, Nana did. Husky was still staring at the spot the blue box had been in shock. "Look," Cooro said, trying to prove his hat's charms to his friends. "the little propeller spins when you tap it!"
Senri adjusted his satchel and started to walk. The bickering trio followed him, through the forest and onto the road. They got over their shock quickly enough. It wasn't like their lives had been normal to begin with.
break./
A week passed. Then another. Soon enough it had been an entire month since they had seen the weird scientists. Summer set in with a vengeance and slowly they stopped talking about Rory, Amy, and that doctor fellow. Life went on.
break./
Yeah right. This is the Doctor we're talking about here. He never just has an ordinary day. There's no way the story's over, just like this, nothing's blown up yet and nobody (with the exception of a certain fish +anima ) has tried to kill them. Who are we kidding, they should have known this wasn't the end of their time in Astaria, a large country on the 5th planet from the star Purasu. They should have seen this coming.
break./
"Okay Ponds, get ready for the Paris World's Fair!" The Doctor ran around the TARDIS console, flipping switches and periodically hitting things with a little hammer. He slapped the bell and with a 'ding' they were off, hopefully to 1889 on their own planet. Amy and Rory grabbed at the railing and each other in a practiced manner that all experienced TARDIS riders develop.
There was shaking (that was normal), tilting of the floor, (also standard fare) and a couple jolts (they weren't especially rare). Then everything was still. Absolutely still.
Rory went to the door this time, and opened it with much more care than Amy had.
"Well, are we there?" asked Amy, who had already gotten all excited about the Eiffel Tower again.
"Um, Doctor? You might want to see this…"
break./
Nana was hot. Really hot. She was sweating, sun-burning, 'my eyes are melting out of their sockets' hot.
"C'mon Nana, it's not that bad!" How Cooro could be so cheerful in this heat was a mystery. Then again, maybe it wasn't. Nothing seemed to bring his mood down. He was cheerful to the point of becoming annoying.
"Well, it's not so bad for you, you don't have to wear this heavy oven of a dress!" She glared at Husky, who was smirking in the background. If he made any sort of remark about girls or dresses, she would knock him over the head and leave him in a ditch. Being hot and sweaty made Nana a little touchy. (And violent.)
Husky opened his mouth, but saw Nana's look and thought better of it. Maybe he could spare some money so she could buy something different to wear in this town. Anything to keep her from murdering him in his sleep.
The little group was just walking through the gates of a new town, one that was larger than the last village down the road, but smaller than the really big cities they'd been in last week. It seemed fairly normal, not overly hostile and not suspiciously inviting. It also had a lot of shade-providing awnings and they could see a public fountain full of clean water in the square up ahead. All in all, Nana was pleased with this place.
Ambling down the street, Husky looked for a place they could stay the night and Cooro, Senri, and Nana all made beelines towards the fountain. Cooro stuck his entire head into the cool water and Senri was busy filling up his canteen. Nana pulled Cooro out, reminding him that he wasn't a fish +anima and therefore couldn't breathe underwater, and was just bending over the water to fill her own canteen when she saw a familiar face reflected behind her.
Quickly she spun around to face a man she hadn't thought about for weeks. Still dressed oddly, and with that infectious grin on his face, the doctor that had never actually given them his name greeted her.
"Hello Nana, Cooro, Senri!" There was a yell from somewhere behind him, and the sound of many feet on cobblestones. He looked over his shoulder and spotted what appeared to be an angry mob. "You should probably run now. They don't appear to be very happy with me."
End of Chapter 2
AN: Again, tell me what you thought. Lemme know how much you hate my guts for being lazy. My ego can take a blow. Oh, and thanks to everyone who reviewed before. You all give me the warm fuzzies! If you see any glaring errors, let me know. I'll smack myself over the head and do whatever needs to be done to fix them!