Chapter 3

Harper woke up in a groggy state. She rubbed her eyes for a few seconds before sitting up the bed she was laid in. It took her no time to realize she wasn't anywhere she recognized. She didn't move as she surveyed the room. It was made out of wood that resembled the trees in the forest that was surrounding the TARDIS. She jumped out of bed realizing that she was alone. There was no Doctor, no Alex and no TARDIS. She was alone. She ran to the door. She was a little surprised when the door was unlocked. She would have expected it to be locked.

She stepped outside into the morning light. A light fog surrounded the buildings that Harper could see. She didn't see anyone, but she heard the commotion of people from behind her building. She walked out on the wooden porch. She walked down the steps to the ground. Harper stepped onto the grass wet with the morning dew. She walked around the building to see people walking out of their own homes and the ones already in the open. She stood out from the normal green and brown attire of the locals in the village in her multicolored outfit. Harper looked down at her clothing and decided she should walk back into the building she was in.

Harper back up and turned around to see someone else staring her in the face. She screamed, falling backwards. From her position on the ground, she could see it was a girl no older than her looking at her. Harper stood up, making the girl nervous. She fell to the ground in front of Harper and said, "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to knock you down."
Harper was a little shocked. She wasn't expecting a result like that. She didn't really know how to reply to the poor girl. Harper just went with it, "It's okay. I just didn't think anyone would be right there behind me."

The girl looked up at Harper with tears in her eyes. She asked, "So you are not angry with me?"

"Of course not," Harper replied.

"Thank you," the girl said relieved.

"You can stand up," Harper said.

The girl stood up and responded, "Thank you again."

"What's your name?" Harper asked.

"Alaya," the girl answered.

"Hi Alaya. My name's Harper."

"Harper?" asked Alaya, "I don't know the name. It's not native to the Woodlands."

Harper smiled, "It's native to Earth."
"What's Earth?" asked Alaya.

"It's where I come from. What are the Woodlands?"
Alaya told her, "These are the Woodlands. We are separate from the City."

"What's the City?" asked Harper, "I'm kind of new here."

"We know. You come from the great box."

"Great box?"

"Your home. The blue box," Alaya replied.

"The TARDIS!" Harper said, "That's the name of the box. Do you have it?"

"A hunting party is going to get it for you," Alaya responded.

Harper rubbed her eyes. She said, "Let's go inside. I am so confused right now."
"Where do you want to go?"
"The same place your people put me," Harper answered.

Alaya agreed and led Harper back into the room that Harper woke up in. Harper walked over the bed and sat down. Alaya sat in the chair that was in there room. Harper finally got a good look at the girl in the room with her. She was young, but Harper could see that the girl had pain in her life. Something was in the girl's eyes that gave away something happened in the girl's life that she was hiding. It was the reason for her acting the way she was. Then Harper noticed the scar down the right temple of Alaya's face straight to her chin. Harper didn't want to ask about it yet, but she did want to know about it. Harper just decided to ask why she was here and what was going on.

She asked, "Alaya, what's going on here? I get that I've come from the great box, the TARDIS. How important is the TARDIS?"
"Very important to the Woodlanders, but to the Citizens, the box is the vessel the Great Demon uses. That's what the Citizens call him, but us Woodlanders call him by his name, the Doctor."

"You know of the Doctor?" Harper asked excitedly.

"Not personally, but through the stories that pour from the City and the Citizens. It all originated from a creature of pure evil called the Master. He came to our peaceful world generations ago. He went on a bloody rampage and set the people up that saw him as a god as the commanders of the world. Anyone who opposed the Master and his rule were wiped on top of the temple that was built in the Master's honor. After the Master had a stranglehold over the planet, he set up the government that would keep him as a god and kill anyone who said differently. It was him who put the idea of the Doctor in their heads. He called the Doctor the Great Demon and anyone associated with him as evil. They were to kill his companions, but keep the Doctor alive in a prison until the Master's return."

"The Master," Harper said to herself, "I think the Doctor's talked about him before."

Alaya's eyes widened with Harper's comment. She asked, "You know the Doctor?"

"Yes," Harper said, "I travel with him. I'm one of his companions along with my best friend."

"We didn't find your friend or the Doctor, but a Citizen hunting party was out the same time as one of ours was out," Alaya replied, "If they got them, your friend is dead and the Doctor is being held prisoner."

"What!" asked Harper, "We have to go do something."
"There is nothing you can do. Only the Doctor can help us to defeat the Citizens and their god."

"But you said he's a prisoner," Harper said.

"The Master warned the Citizens that the Doctor has the ability to escape the greatest of prisons and traps."

"That sounds like him," Harper replied, "So what else can you tell me about what's going on. Why am I so revered?"
Alaya looked at her right in the eyes. That's when Harper saw her eyes. They were a piercing orange color. She had never seen orange eyes before. There weren't even orange eyes anywhere on Earth. Alaya didn't answer for a minute. When she did she said, "You came from the great box. You are one of the ones that can help us until the Doctor shows up and helps us."

Harper sat for a few minutes thinking about what Alaya had said. Then she thought of a good point. Harper asked, "If the Master killed all of his opposition, how are these people in this village alive."

"The Woodlanders started to appear after the Master left for the last time. They ran off into the woods for their beliefs in the Doctor not the Master. Four generations have passed since the first Woodlanders left the City. Others who believe what the Woodlanders believed also ran out in the woods during those generations."

Alaya looked down at the floor. Her long black hair fell all the way to the floor. Concerned, Harper asked, "Alaya, what's wrong?"

Alaya was crying as she answered, "I'm one of the rebels who left the City. I'm not a natural Woodlander. I was born a Citizen. Before I left, my father found me in the woods on my way to the camp."

Alaya looked back at Harper. She pulled back her hair to show Harper the full scar on her face. Alaya told her, "He took his knife and sliced my face. He was about to kill me when he took an arrow to the shoulder. After that, he left me to the Woodlanders."

"That's awful," Harper said.

"I know crushed him. I'm the daughter of the leader of the best hunting party that the City has. It was the one that your friend and the Doctor. My father's name is Jareth. Chances are he is the one who killed your friend and took the Doctor prisoner."

Harper turned white and asked, "What if Jareth thought the Doctor was the Master?"

Alaya thought about it and replied, "Maybe, but even then they are living on borrowed time. The Master did something to the city that would let him know that the Doctor was in the city. The Master is coming to the City."

"The Master is a Time Lord, right?" asked Harper.

"Yes, the Master is a Lord of Time."

Harper smiled, "The Master won't come. He died a few years ago when he was shoved into the Time War."

"What's the Time War?" asked Alaya.

"I truly can't explain it," Harper said, "Only the Doctor can."
"Why is he the only one?" asked Alaya.

Harper took a bit to answer but said, "Because he's the only survivor."