Note: Wow, I have amazed myself with how quickly this update has come around. Maybe don't expect all updates to be this fast but I promise I will try to keep them coming as quickly as possible as I'm really enjoying writing this fic so far. So read, enjoy and review my lovelies

Love always

Shadow of a Black Rose xxx

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A jolt. A crash. The world seemed to shake and a blinding light seemed to engulf Vastra as her eyes flicked open in pure terror. What was going on? Why was she awake? All she could see was the light and her crystal blue eyes blinked furiously, desperately attempting to adjust to these new surroundings. She pressed her scaled hands firmly to the earthy ground below her and crouched like the predator she was, ready to pounce at the first threat she saw. Looking around all she could see was the light but as it gradually began to fade and her eyes adjusted she began to discern a very different world surrounding her from the one she had been laid to hibernate in. She could see her hibernation pod a few feet away, smashed open in a way that she could only assume had forced the seal to break as she rolled out into this future world. Under her feet and hands there was one familiarity, the natural dirt of the earth, but before her there were metal railings, some joined to the earth and some not, far from the natural surroundings she remembered. As her gaze travelled up the light remained bright but something was moving in front of it. It was a figure and it seemed apprehensive on its approach.

As soon as Vastra sensed the other being she instinctively tensed herself, the talons on her fingers sharp and ready to be used in her defence. Were there more? She could only assume so. It would be naive of her to think that one creature would approach something like her without back up. But what about her? Where was her back up? Where were her sisters? Had they been awoken too? Vastra knew she hadn't seen any more pods when she had first awoken, if she had she would have wasted no time in going to the aid of her family. No, there had been no others. But they had fallen into hibernation together, so where were they all? Once again Vastra's attention was drawn to the creature that was continuing to edge closer to her. Her instincts heightened as she noticed three more figures of the same stature appearing as shadows in the light and a thought occurred to her. Maybe she hadn't been the first to wake. It was possible that the others had already awoken as she had, watching as the figures crept towards them until... suddenly it all made sense and Vastra saw red. Had these beings, whatever they were, killed her family? Her people?

"Oi, I fink we got us anover one" one of the beings called to the others. It was a male voice; Vastra recognised it as a human male, similar to those she had hunted in her old world but somehow more intelligent and advanced (well, to some extent - he was nowhere near as advanced as her kind). 'Another one' he had said, so they had awoken others before her.

"Is it fightin' yet?" Another male voice was calling from further away.

"No, jus' watchin' me. It's not a nice feelin' bein' watched by one." The figure Vastra had seen initially was close now, close enough for her to make him out quite clearly. He was human, definitely. She would guess his life span had reached twenty human years at least, although from his appearance she was not sure how much longer he would live. He was grubby and his skin was discoloured in several places. There was a rag tied around his right hand which she assumed was acting as a bandage of sorts and he appeared to be walking unevenly. He looked tired and worn and she thought she could beat him easily if he were to attack her, humans were no match for a Silurian warrior. "Shall I kill it?"

"No wait," came the other voice again "see what it does. The others attacked straight away, maybe we could give this one to a circus if it's tame enough. Make a few bob from it I reckon"

Vastra listened carefully. She had no idea what a circus was but she had understood one thing - the others were dead. These creatures had killed them. The thought made her hiss loudly and the man closest to her backed off a little, pulling a knife from somewhere on his person. He looked scared. She could almost taste his fear on the air as her tongue slipped from her mouth slowly to test the surroundings. He is right to be scared she thought to herself, my sisters are dead. Does he really believe I won't avenge them?

In an instant she had leapt forward, grabbing the man by the throat and cutting deep into the flesh with her talons before he could do so much as scream. She was no longer curious. No longer willing to wait patiently and sense these human apes. They had killed her sisters and they would pay with their lives. The man she still held in her strong, scaled hands was still breathing, his warm, filthy blood staining her hands as he gasped for air. In one swift movement she had lifted him and clamped her jaw down around the exposed underside of his throat, ripping the flesh away and practically swallowing it whole. It was the first thing she had eaten since she had gone into hibernation all those millions of years before and the soft flesh and the sharp tang of blood consumed her all at once. Her pupils dilated, blocking out the blue of her eyes until she was no more than the primal warrior. The animal bent on revenge.

Launching herself forwards she ran towards the next ape with inhuman speed. It seemed the primitive creatures now understood what was going on as the three men that had been left had multiplied to ten, each brandishing a weapon of sorts though Vastra hardly believed any of them could do much real damage. She reached her next victim within a matter of seconds and before he could lift the shovel he held in his meaty pink hands the Silurian woman had thrown it far behind her and sent the man flying after it with as much ease as a grown man would throw a child's doll. She watched as the ape fell to the floor in a crumpled heap before turning to the remaining nine. They were advancing faster now, and with far more aggression, each with their weapon held at the ready. She lunged towards one but another caught her around the waist and attempted to throw her to the ground. She didn't budge, almost sneering at the pathetic attempts these apes made at overpowering her. In the blink of an eye her tongue whipped from her mouth and caught her attacker around his arm. The sound that emanated from him was torturously loud. It sounded as though he was being burned alive as the Silurian's venom surged through his veins and he dropped at Vastra's feet like an apple from a tree, totally unconscious.

One by one the men attempted to subdue Vastra but none succeeded. They dropped like flies under her claws and tongue until she stood surrounded by their fallen bodies and drenched in their blood. Vastra panted furiously as the last man fell, hungrily looking between the bodies (some dead and some not) considering which to dispose of first - she was so very hungry. She was just kneeling down again by her first kill when she heard someone behind her.

"Stop!" She halted, her teeth mere inches from the ape's stomach and curiously turned her head to see which man she had missed. But, to her great surprise, the man behind her was different to all of the others. He looked different. His scent tasted different. She growled warningly but the man did not flinch, he merely pushed his floppy mess of hair out of his eyes and straightened his bow tie. "You're lowering yourself to their level". Vastra regarded the newcomer coldly. Who was he to make such judgements and what would he know about it anyway?

"They murdered my sisters!" She growled venomously, crouching again to display her readiness to attack if he threatened her.

"I know," he said calmly, holding his hands where she could see them as a sign of peace "I know and I'm sorry. I'm sorry for what they did. But don't you see, they were as scared as you were when they first saw you."

"They were right to be" Vastra snapped. She allowed herself to straighten up slightly, acknowledging his attempt at peaceful communication while still avoiding making herself vulnerable. She didn't know this man or anything about him but she was beginning to wonder if he was an ape or something more. He looked like an ape, that was for sure, but his eyes were as old as her own and he wasn't afraid of her. There was no fear. Unlike the first man who had approached her this one was not scared. He was calm. He seemed to understand both the apes and Vastra herself.

"Apparently so." The man moved to one of the bodies lying on the ground and held a silver object that made a funny noise over it. He repeated the action on each prone form as Vastra watch suspiciously, never moving an inch until he came to the man she was still crouched over. As he repeated his actions yet again she scampered back a small way to give him space. She didn't know what he was doing but it made her uncomfortable. "Oh good," he muttered to himself "only two dead."

"That would not be the case if you had stayed away a few minutes more" she was still eyeing this newcomer suspiciously, "who are you?"

"Oh. Sorry." Suddenly the man seemed to be all smiles and sweetness, standing straight and straightening his bow tie yet again. "I'm the Doctor. Just the Doctor. Nothing more." He grinned at her cheekily and Vastra's confusion only grew. She rose from her stooped position on the ground, standing straight for the first time as she became almost certain that this man would not attack her any time soon. Slowly she edged towards him, walking around him and examining every visible part of him as she went.

"And you are not afraid of me, Doctor? What makes you think I won't do to you what I have done to these other men? You are one of them, from what I can tell. Therefore, you are also responsible for the death of my sisters." She regarded him coldly. None of this made any sense. Why was he not afraid?

"Oh, I don't think you'll kill me."

"And why is that?"

"Because I'm not afraid of you." The Doctor stood facing her, looking straight into her eyes with a small, knowing smile. "Not many people around here will be unafraid of a big talking lizard woman and I think you have already figured that out for yourself." He was right. Vastra was almost certain that anyone she met in this place would be afraid of her. She was not something that an ape would have seen before and it would be a natural instinct for them to want her dead.

"I am not a lizard" Vastra said coolly, watching the Doctor as he stood before her "I am a..."

"Silurian, yes I know. Beautiful creatures your race, it's a shame that the rest are hidden away under the earth."

"What are you?! How do you know what I am?! No ape could have such knowledge, you are not of this world." Vastra was becoming uncomfortable again. She recommenced circling the false ape, trying to get some sense of who he was. The Doctor continued to stand very still as she surveyed him from head to toe and didn't say another word until they were facing each other once more.

"I'm a Time Lord. And I can help you, if you'll let me."

"I don't need your help! Time Lord or Human, you still look like an ape to me. No ape would help in what I must do. No ape would assist in the slaughter of this race." The Doctor's eyes darkened and for a split second the terror Vastra had felt when she first awoke returned to her. Unconsciously her feet carried her back away from the Doctor until she was pressed against a wall of earth.

"What's your name?" The darkness had not gone from his eyes but he still seemed to be calm. He made no attempt to approach her again, just watching her and awaiting an answer.

"Vastra" she hissed slightly, "Madame Vastra. My father was the leader of our tribe back when we ruled this earth. He taught me everything I know about disposing of apes.."

"Humans," the Doctor corrected her "they are called humans. Vastra, listen to me, you cannot go out into this world and kill every human you see. I know you're hurting. I know how painful it is to lose your own family, but it's not the humans' fault that they were scared. Don't let your pain turn you into a murderer of innocents."

As she watched him Vastra noticed how the darkness drained from his eyes. Old eyes. Eyes filled with pain and loss. Perhaps this man, this Time Lord, knew what he was talking about after all. Perhaps the humans were not entirely to blame. Cautiously, Vastra walked towards the Doctor once more, never moving her gaze from his. An old memory spun in her mind as she approached the man, the memory of something her father had once told her when she was just a hatchling: 'truth is singular, lies are words. That is how you know who you can trust.'

"I am going to ask something of you, Doctor, something that may sound strange but you must do it all the same."

"Ooh, like a game? I like games" he smiled like a child but Vastra continued as though he hadn't spoken.

"I will ask you a question and when I do I want you to answer me with a single word. It is very important that you only use one word, do you understand me? I will not trust you if you use any more." The Doctor nodded but he said no more. Vastra thought for a moment. She was trying to find a question that would ascertain if this Doctor could be trusted as quickly as possible - she was becoming lethargic having not fed in such a long time and she feared that if she did not eat soon she would attack the one person who could possibly help her. Nodding slowly to herself she looked up at the man once more.

"I know no one on this planet. I have nowhere to go and no way of knowing how to live in a society that I can only assume is far different from my own. So all I want to know is why I should trust you. You could be anyone, planning on doing anything with me. If I am to trust you then I need some sort of reason to do so. What possible reason could there be for there to be trust between you and I?"

The Doctor smiled, at first to himself and then at the Silurian woman before him. He locked his eyes on hers and parted his lips slightly. Vastra prayed that his answer would be good. That he would be someone she could trust. The thought of remaining in a world of apes with no one to trust terrified her beyond belief and with her family gone it seemed this Time Lord with eyes older than his face was her only hope.

"Understanding".