right, i think it's been about three days since my last update, which is quite unusual for me. i think. i don't really pay attention to when i update, all i know is that i feel like i've been seriously neglecting you, which i have, considering i spend the past two days starting and finishing another fanfic, and then i had to chase off a storm of writers block. anyways, enough rambling, enjoy the chapter!

"Samuel!" Alice called, running up to the boy just as he started to change into a wolf "that was your name right?"

"Yeah" he grunted

"Listen, I'm really sorry about him. There's just something about magic that he doesn't like" she dropped her voice down to a whisper and added "he says he doesn't believe in it."

At this, Samuel turned and gave her an odd look.

"I know! Just yesterday we ran into a dragon, and you know what he told me only minutes later? He said he didn't believe in magic. Plain and simple, no explanation about it"

"How the heck can you meet a dragon and still deny the existence of magic?" Samuel asked

"I was thinking the same thing!" Alice said, laughing "if he ever insults you, just don't take it seriously, he probably didn't mean it."

They stood in silence for a second "I need to go" Samuel said "I've got a family to protect."

"Family?" Alice asked "You don't look old enough to have a family."

"They're not my kids, if that's what you're suggesting" he snapped "but they're still my responsibility. Now I need to go."

"Hang on!" Alice said quickly before he could go "protecting from what? You're all half wolf or whatever aren't you? What do wolves need protecting from?"

He shook his head.

"If I knew, I might be able to help. Well, not me entirely, but the Doctor would be able to. I'm sure of it. Whatever here that's after you I'm sure we can help you get away from it."

Samuel turned back around at this, a look on his face that seemed to say he was going to hate himself later for doing what he was going to do. "Fine, but you'll need to come back to camp, I can explain there."

"Okay, hang on I just need to-" Alice paused, then turned around. No surprised, she found the Doctor standing there. "How long have you been hiding back there?" she asked him

"Few minutes, didn't hear much if that's what you're worried about." He replied.

Alice sighed and turned to Samuel "so, camp?"

"Yeah, camp" he grunted, leading them deeper into the forest.

"Right, here we are" Samuel said when they reached a clearing "camp. Let me go first, they need to be warned. It's not often that we get visitors, let alone ones we can trust… which reminds me, I need to do a trust check on you two later."

Alice and the Doctor were a bit taken aback by the comment, but ignored it. Quite a few things were odd about this entire thing in general.

"THERE YOU ARE SAMUEL!" many of them screamed when Samuel entered the clearing. A girl about the same age as him ran up and pulled him into a hug.

"I thought I lost you!" she said, letting go

"Uhh… I was only gone like, ten minutes."

At this, everyone in the clearing looked at him like he was crazy. Alice caught one of them whisper to another: "you sure that's still him? They might have perfected that cloning thing I heard rumors about."

"Shut up!" the other one hissed, and the two of them returned to looking expectantly at Samuel, who also seemed as confused as the rest of them.

"It might have been fifteen" he said

"Samuel" the girl said slowly "you've been gone for a few hours."

"That's impossible" Samuel said

"Sorry" the Doctor said, making his presence be known "that might have been my fault You see-"

"Who the heck is he?" the girl asked before the Doctor could say anything more

"Oh umm…" Samuel began, but he didn't seem so sure of where he was going with that sentence, "he said he could help…"

"I don't trust him" the girl said, shooting a glance at the Doctor.

"Yeah well, I was getting to-" Samuel began

"I'm not sure if I can even trust you!" the girl said suddenly, backing up a few paces from Samuel "Coming back hours late, without even knowing you were gone. And you brought them with you! How the heck am I supposed to know that you're not a-a clone or something! Or you could have been brainwashed!"

"Check me then" Samuel said calmly

The girl bit her lip, looked at Samuel for a moment, then looked over her shoulder at another one of the kids and nodded slightly. The kid stood up and walked over to Samuel, who obediently held out his arm. The kid took his wrist and felt for a pulse.

"He's not a clone" the kid said and then went back and sat down.

The girl looked relieved. "That's one question out of the way"

Samuel rolled his eyes and whispered something in her ear. The girl brightened up immediately after she heard what he had to say, and Alice could see a blush threatening to show on her cheeks.

"That still doesn't explain why you were gone for so long" the girl said

"Well, as I was saying," the Doctor seemed eager to pick up where he had left off "I've got this space/time ship thing that might have caused this problem. Because of all the… uhh…" he paused, grimaced, but didn't continue.

Alice looked at him "you're not going to say it are you?" she asked, when she received no response, she rolled her eyes and told the children "magic" before turning back to the Doctor for him to continue.

"Right, because of that, well, my ship doesn't agree with that sort of thing, and it probably threw her off balance. While she's still recalibrating, there will probably be some temporal disturbances, which may cause a difference in the time flow between two different areas, and I believe that could be the answer to this question."

The Doctor then thought of something else and added, "Either that or we've got a bigger problem on our hands involving some Geranshees, and I really hope we don't because I am not in the mood to deal with them at the moment."

"Okay…" Samuel said after a moment.

"It sure sounds like he can help!" one of the kids said

"Trust check first" Samuel said "before we start taking care of issues. Where's Allie?"

btw, Geranshee is a random alien species i thought up on the spot, no they aren't going to actually be in this episode, i might through them in some time in future ones though. Geranshee is also pronounced like banshee, just with a ger in front of it and no b