Well, the Doctor had gotten at least one thing right about their destination. It certainly was beautiful…in a desolate sort of way. To one side of them an endless plain of blue hued sands and grey shrubs sprawled out to the horizon. To the other side, rocky foothills led towards a jagged mountain range that was a dark grayish purple. Rose imagined that at sunset, the mountains would light up as a deep purple that would be quite breathtaking. With the sun already low in they sky, she realized that a sunset viewing had probably been the Doctor's plan.
Unfortunately for the two of them, the Doctor had been very wrong about the planet being uninhabited. If the beings before her had remained still, Rose could have taken the large aliens who made up their welcoming party as poorly made statues. Their skin was rough and the same grayish purple of the rocky foothills. She couldn't be sure, but she thought she even saw a bit of red moss growing on the shoulder of one of them. But despite their impressive mass and stony appearance, these aliens were anything but still. Before Rose had even fully slowed down from her race out of the TARDIS, three of the six creatures had circled back around both her and the Doctor and effectively cut them off from their ship. If Rose would have had any notion that these creatures' intent was friendly, that was dismissed when she spotted the large crossbow-like weapons that each alien kept trained on either her or the Doctor.
She heard the Doctor curse colorfully from just behind her and mutter, "Six bloody centuries and four hours too early."
"Guess superior biology doesn't lead to superior driving, eh," She teased him, "but I suppose I already knew that," she sighed, resigned to putting their sightseeing plans on hold. She hoped whatever jail cell they ended up in had central heating and a soft bed.
"Hush Rose," the Doctor whispered suddenly so close that she felt his breath puff over her ear. She shivered and it had nothing to do with the chilly air. He slid his hand into hers as he stepped up beside her and she was shocked to find his double heartbeat racing against her palm. She felt her own pulse quicken to echo his. If the Doctor was scared, that really didn't bode well for this being an easy fix. She was calmed somewhat by the slow circles his thumb was rubbing into hers, could have even been distracted if she gave in to the warming sensation his touch stirred in her, but she knew this was no time for pining. Instead, she took a breath, plastered on a vapid smile, and spoke. Sometimes blithe friendliness was just the thing to ease a tense situation.
"Er, hi!" she smiled lamely at the alien closest to her. When she felt no warning squeeze from the Doctor she continued, "We, uh, come in peace…and all that." Seeming to agree with her tactic, the Doctor nudged her arm and together they raised their hands in the universal sign of peaceful intent. Or surrender, Rose thought, but quickly pushed the cynical notion aside. Surely whoever these sentient boulders were, they could be reasonable with the right persuasion. The Doctor had endless skill in that area, and she had picked up a few good techniques herself.
"Yep," Rose didn't need to turn her head to look at the Doctor to know he had a wide grin stretching across his face, "Just out for a stroll, us. Lovely planet you've got here. The sunsets are legendary, but I'm sure you already know that. 'Course, if now's a bad time, we could always…" Rose took the Doctor's gentle pressure on her hand as a cue and started edging back towards the TARDIS.
"You will come with us," the biggest boulder interrupted. The alien's mouths were heavily beaked, but still appeared to be capable of a translatable language. It's voice was so deep that Rose felt the rumbling words it as much as she heard them.
"Oh, well then," the Doctor said good naturally, "Lead the way! Wouldn't want to seem rude to our gracious hosts, would we Rose?"
"Definitely not," she agreed, smiling so hard her face hurt.
"You will come with us," was their only reply from he same large alien.
"Yes, right. But, er, before we do that, perhaps we could just pop into this blue box here. We brought a brilliant, er, hostess gift and we really wouldn't want to leave it —-"
Rose didn't even see the creature coming at her nor did she have the sensation of being torn from the Doctor's side. The creature moved with such surprising finesse that it seemed less than a second between her clutching the Doctor's hand as he worked to negotiate their escape and her being pinned tightly between the creatures arm and chest. Blimey their skin even felt like rock. She had expected it to be more like an elephant or rhino's, rocky to look at and somewhat yielding to touch. But there was nothing soft about these creatures. As the thing put more pressure into the grip, Rose gasped in pain. If it weren't for the many layers and her puffy winter jacket, she was sure her ribs would have cracked. As it was, the wind was knocked out of her and she knew she'd be black and blue the next day.
"Hey!" the Doctor yelled, his calm veneer eroding, "Alright! We get it! We'll go with you. No side trips. Just let her go, yeah?"
After a tense and painful few seconds, the creature released her. She only just managed to stay on her feet, and after a few deep breaths, she rushed back towards the Doctor, towards safety and comfort. But she stopped short when she found her way impeded by two of the massive creatures.
"You will walk separately," the one of the left instructed, "The female first, and then the male." Rose craned her neck around the creature's thick middle to meet the Doctor's eyes. He shook his head just enough for Rose to get his meaning. Right now they were doing the following rules thing. She always hated that bit. The running thing or the clever plan thing was much more fun. She really hoped they would get to that bit soon.
Rose took one last deep breath despite her protesting ribs and stepped forward obediently when she was prodded from behind by the point of a crossbow. Not being able to see the Doctor, she strained her ears and was relieved to hear the sound of his boot-clad feet amidst the heavy tromping sound of their captors. At least he was still close, just a few paces behind her. Still, Rose didn't like the fact that each step they took brought them farther from the safety of the TARDIS. And her hand felt awfully cold without his fingers laced with hers.