"So, Lucy, do you love him?"

Lucy looked up at her sister, startled. "What's that?"

"You heard me. Do you love him? The Doctor?"

Lucy stammered, unsure how to answer. "Er, well, well that's neither here nor there, is it? You know, we-we've been through a lot together and, and we're certainly close, but I dunno if I'd say-"

"So you do?" Juliet said, cutting her off.

Lucy sighed and her shoulders slumped. She seemed to take a minute, not quite wanting to meet her sister's eye and then said, "Yes, yes I do, Jules. And I know it makes no sense-"

"Lucy, sense when has love made sense?"

"Well, true enough but I mean, he's a different species and he never really dies and this life is so-"

"Do you really care about any of that?"

"Absolutely not." Lucy said, completely bald faced. The two of them had a spare moment together; the Doctor was tinkering with the T.A.R.D.I.S. They'd all woken up this morning to smoke billowing out from its core, strange sparks threatening to set the place ablaze. The Doctor had run his hand through his hair, making it stand up in all directions. He'd started rattling things off at rapid pace and neither Lucy nor Juliet had been able to decipher any of his ramblings. So they'd waltzed off to Lucy's room, sure they had at least a couple hours to themselves. Juliet had of course noticed the way Lucy looked at the Doctor, and in turn, the way the Doctor stared after Lucy after she'd squeezed his shoulder and wished him luck. Lucy was now biting her lip, tilting her head, thinking as usual.

"What's up, twin?"

"Oh, Jules, I dunno. I'm so used to not trusting people; I'm so used to it being just me and you. But he's not like anything I'm used to. He's the person I feel safest with, even when we're in danger. He's like this familiarity even though there's still so much I don't really know about him."

"Well, I can't really say I blame you, Lucy. He's fantastic, he is."

Presently, the Doctor came into the room, knocking slightly on the door frame. "Hello. Everything's fine, we're all set. Sounds like she just had a cough, but she's purring now. Oh, Juliet, you're staying with us, right?"

Juliet had been having her doubts since their little mishap in the Black Forest. She also sensed that she'd be somewhat of a third wheel, however much her sister insisted that her company was delightful. Juliet had no doubt that Lucy was telling the truth; she just thought that maybe subconsciously she wanted to travel with just the Doctor.

"Actually, Doctor, I think I'll head home." Lucy's face fell and her mouth opened in quiet surprise. "Well, Lucy, I've still got Mumbai, and the flat needs looking after. You'll be fine without me; you always are." Lucy frowned, but nodded, knowing there was no use in trying to convince her twin to stay.

"Well, let me give you my credit card then, you can pay rent." She smiled and as she stood up to get the plastic, the T.A.R.D.I.S. gave a great lurch and set off to a destination unknown to the three inhabitants. Lucy stumbled to the floor as she had been midstride and she gave the Doctor a quizzical look. When they landed, he helped her up and said, "Maybe I didn't fix it as well as I'd thought."

Lucy threw a glance at Juliet. It looked like she was going to have to wait to pay the rent.

The Doctor stepped out of his beloved ship ahead of Lucy and Juliet Blake. Whatever was going on, it couldn't be good. First the T.A.R.D.I.S., the only one left anywhere, was acting sick. Next, said ship was apparently not fixed like it was supposed to be. And there was that incessant nagging at the back of his mind about what Lucy Blake would become. He didn't believe that her fate was set in stone, or even written in the stars. But everywhere they went, it seemed rumours of her latent survival instincts whispered about them. But the whispers were getting louder and the Doctor had had some time to think about these rumours while Lucy was in her Parasite filled dream.

The landscape before him was lush; they were in a forest again. This one was nothing like Germany however. While the Black Forest was old, this one hinted at ancient ages predating the Earth itself. Woodland creatures were darting about everywhere. That's strange, the Doctor thought. Those are regular Earth squirrels; that's a regular Earth eagle. But there's something strictly non-Earth about this planet. He glanced back for only half a second at Lucy and Juliet, only three paces behind him and holding hands. Juliet looked determinedly calm and collected; Lucy ever the image of practised grace and dignity. They walked for twenty minutes, not saying much, each just taking in their surroundings. Eventually they came to a clearing where people were building a campfire. This little civilisation was one of the most fascinating he'd ever seen.

These people all lived in canvas like tents, although the material was much thicker. This was probably due to the already chilling air and darkening sky. The people did not use crude tools to make anything however; he saw a man with a steel knife, a screwdriver (not sonic) and what he was sure was a regular tool box. They didn't have electricity, but something simulating it. Hovering orbs of glowing greenish white light provided luminescence and could follow them about when the knob at the top was pressed. He saw a woman doing a bit of ironing by taking one of these orbs and placing it near the fire. When it had heated up enough, she put on a thick hide glove and flattened the clothes. The clothes themselves were also a mix of modern and rustic. Leather trousers and short sleeved shirts were the dominant textile. There were also canvas tunics and cotton like blouses. And yet, every single piece was different and clearly hand-made. He thought Lucy would surely appreciate the expert stitching, the deft craftsmanship.

Despite their mixed time-period lifestyle which the Doctor found riveting, it was the people that captivated him, as always. They were almost entirely humanoid. They had slightly pointed ears which poked through their hair, all in shades of auburn. Their skin was tanned. The Doctor looked up and saw that this planet had two moons. He'd wager there were twin suns to go with them. They ranged in height but were generally very tall. The shortest appeared to be about five and a half feet high, already taller than Lucy and Juliet. Their immediately distinctive feature, however, was the markings, like dark blue tattoos on their faces. Some were angular, some curved, all quite artistic, like they had been drawn on by a painter. He couldn't tell as of yet if they were born with these markings, or if they were added on later in life. They all looked very clannish, like they took the "It takes a village" motto quite seriously. And sure enough, he saw children flocking from adult to adult, more fond of some, but clearly comfortable with all of them. The Doctor smiled; he was certain that he would not be met with hostility when he stepped out and greeted them all.

He was proved wrong, however, when every adult stood in one fluid movement, pulled weapons out and trained them on him and the alarmed Lucy and Juliet behind him. Their faces were all stern. The villagers and the newcomers all stood in a slightly stunned silence until one girl stepped forward. She was probably a little younger than Juliet and Lucy. Her tattoo-markings were angular; they arced over her eyebrows, along her cheekbones and came from the tops of her ears and along them to the straight lines of her jaw. The set of this jaw was naturally stern, guarded. Her eyes were steely grey and her hair was on the darker spectrum of auburn. She narrowed her eyes at the three travelers and tilted her head, sucking in her cheeks slightly. She was thinking, debating, the Doctor could tell. At long last she said in a clear but hard voice that sounded American,

"Where do you come from, strangers?"

The Doctor held up his hands in submission. "Very far away." was his answer. The girl narrowed her eyes again and said, "And what business do you have on Rhea Gaia?"

"Rhea Gaia…." The Doctor said to himself. Gaia, he knew referred to mother earth, and Rhea Sylvia was the mother of Romulus and Remus, the founders of Rome. "Well, our transport seems to have had ideas of its own; we only came here by accident. Where is Rhea Gaia? What star system?"

The girl frowned as if she didn't understand and she turned back to an old man who certainly looked like a village elder. He made a curious series of signs to the girl and she turned back to them and said, "Elder Caelum says that this is the sixth planet in the Ferrus Soli system in the Caesar Galaxy." The Doctor suppressed the urge to smile. These were all Latin names derived from Ancient Rome and Ferrus Soli meant "fierce suns." So he had been right about the twin suns.

"I'm Aurelia. D'you want to come sit by the fire? Maybe warm up a bit?" Aurelia's almost cheerful banter and invitation was what sold them. Lucy and Juliet stepped forward first. Lucy held out her hand to shake Aurelia's and the girl looked at Lucy, once again confused. Lucy lowered her hand, a bit embarrassed and said, "Well, at any rate, I'm Lucy and this is my twin Juliet. And that man there's the Doctor."

Sitting round the fire, Lucy Blake thought that she could have been on holiday in some wooded area, a real Black Forest adventure, and not one filled with nightmares. She glanced over at Aurelia, who had given them a verbal tour of the village. The people were nomadic and every week or so would pack up all the tents and make for a different area. Aurelia told them she loved the woods and that this was a welcome change as they had previously spent three weeks in a desert. Aurelia was twenty years old and she shared a tent with her younger brother. Their birth parents had long since died, and they, like the rest of the village children, were raised by all the adults combined. Lucy saw Aurelia's brother Regulus peek his head out of the tent closest to them. He looked to be about ten years old and the markings on his face were exactly like Aurelia's. "So, Aurelia, tell me. Those markings on your face? Is that like, a tattoo, or are you born with them?" Aurelia looked confused again, and Lucy realised they probably didn't have a word for tattoos. But Aurelia looked round at the other individuals of her tribe and turned back to Lucy to answer her. "These symbols are inked on with oil we find in the water all over this planet. They are done when we're, when the planet has gone around each sun twice. Our people are creatures of the elements. Water is our blood, air our breath, earth our body and fire our spirit. We've mined the glowing orbs from caves that dot the landscapes. We take what we need from the earth without leaving too big a footprint."

Lucy nodded, mulling over the mutual ideas Rhea Gaia and Earth shared. There was conservatism, rites of passage, even the American Indian ideals of loving the Earth. Lucy nodded appreciatively. She glanced over at Juliet, who was enjoying her hot mug of something like chocolate, but spicy, like the Mayans had taken it, and with little blue sprinkles on top. The Doctor was listening just as raptly to Aurelia as Lucy was. He leaned forward, his thin frame comfortable on the wide rock, and put his elbows on his knees. He lowered his head a bit and asked in a soft voice, "So, I'm a bit out of my element here. And that doesn't happen very often at all. What are your people called?"

"We only have the names our birth parents give us."

"No unifying name for your race, your species?" the Doctor prodded. Aurelia shook her head and the Doctor nodded slowly. Lucy was busy casting about, looking at all the others. Aurelia had been the only one to step forward and welcome them; while most lowered their weapons, almost none greeted them with trusting faces. Lucy thought that being part of so tight knit a clan must do that to you. They had only each other in sometimes harsh landscapes, just as Lucy and Juliet had only had each other while they were growing up. Lucy caught a man's eye and he raised his jaw to her ever so slightly. She returned the gesture, grateful, but not wanting to make him uncomfortable. He walked over, everything about him suggesting power and cool intellect. He ignored Lucy, however, and walked straight to Aurelia. He bent low, glancing at Lucy, Juliet and the Doctor as he spoke. "So, what do you think?" was all he said.

Aurelia gave him a somewhat chastising look and said, "They're Earth."

"Do you really believe that?" he asked, a bit of malice creeping into his tone.

"Yes, I do, Brutus. They're solid packed Earth." He gave a curt nod and stood. Lucy didn't know how she knew, but she felt she had to stand and face him. She didn't even come up to his sternum but she looked him right in the eye. Lucy felt Juliet rise behind her as well and in her peripheral vision saw the Doctor tense up. Aurelia stood as well, but her stance was written with ease, and her demeanour was joking. "Brutus, I'm pretty sure the two of them could take you. Maybe even one of them. Look at Lucy; she's even got battle scars." Lucy suppressed the urge to smile as Brutus narrowed his eyes and his hands clenched. "Nah." He said, "She's feather-light. They both are. They'd be rock powder in seconds." He offered what barely passed as a smile at Aurelia, jutted his jaw at Lucy again and walked away. Lucy felt herself relaxing, still not entirely sure what had happened. She whipped round to Aurelia and said, "Why am I solid packed earth?"

Aurelia's stern visage broke into a true smile and she said, "We have expressions here referring to nature. When we like someone, we say they're Earth."

"And when he said he'd reduce us to rock powder, that's like saying 'I'll beat the snot out of you?'"

Aurelia pursed her lips and pulled her brow down, of course never having heard the expression before. "Sure." She said uncertainly.

At that moment, a rumbling shook the ground beneath them; the whole of the planet seemed to be quaking. Lucy looked up at the now pitch dark sky and saw nothing. She'd been half expecting a meteor shower to come crashing towards them. Juliet was motioning toward the trees in the distance however, and all too soon, Lucy saw them.

"What are they?" Juliet asked, breathless and scared.

"They" were humanoid beings that looked somewhat like Aurelia's people. Their skin was blue tinged, but they too had blackish brown markings on their faces. They all carried spears and had grim expressions. Their nostrils were flattened, looking more like snakes and they all had red eyes that glinted in the dark. Lucy could see them through the greenish light of the electric like orbs. She felt the Doctor standing beside her and she took his hand. Every one of Aurelia's people, including Aurelia herself, were drawing weapons. This was unlike the clannish caution they'd displayed toward she and her sister and the Doctor though. There was hate and vengeance and rage and fury etched in every facet of their faces. All save the smallest children were preparing to fight and Lucy saw Aurelia's brother Regulus sneak to the back with a small knife in his hand. She fought the urge to pull him back; she knew this was not her place. She glanced back at the approaching figures and saw the same anger and outrage on their faces. Lucy did hold Aurelia back, before she could make her way to the front line.

"Aurelia, what's going on? Who are they?"

Aurelia's lip curled and her fingers flexed over her broadsword, knuckles turning white. "They are bitter rivals. To put it very lightly. Our people and theirs have been feuding for ages. While no one knows who started the battles, we are sure it was them, the poisonous filth. They are the blackest bile and I think it's time we silenced them for good."

"But what are you fighting about?"

Aurelia looked at her completely soberly and said, "I don't know. No one knows." And then she walked off to the front, standing beside Brutus. Lucy was left staring aghast at Aurelia's statement. Surely countless dead had been buried over the ages. And surely, more bloodshed was intended here and now. She shared a glance with the Doctor, whose hand she still held and they thought simultaneously: We are going to stop this.