AN: Hello! Ooooh- I'm a horrible author, and so sorry. Mix ups with changes and delays- everything went a bit mad and I'm sorry.
Well done to Rain and Mouse for getting the quote right again, 2 points each now, it was Francis Bacon. Lady Seiryu also got it right- well done! One point
To Sabrina- I'm glad you're still reading and sharp as ever, I fixed the typo- thankyou, they plague me! I suppose I'm just too enthusiastic ;) As for Indigo- my Mum is an art historian and I've conferred with her, it can be perceived as a colour as a deep purple or a deep blue- which was a reference to the unusual colour of the eyes which you also noticed. Thanks as ever for the reviews though, I'm glad you're still reading
To LilyHale21- Thanks for the review, I'm so glad you like it, and close! But not quite.
To MrSuperCzar- Well, thanks very much is all I have to say really, I hope you keep reading.
Ok, this chap's quote:
"In my wildest dreams, you always play the hero. In my darkest hour of night, you rescue me, you save my life."
So, the night before Amy was tempted with the 'elixir of eternal life' by an enigmatic creature- and faced with the realization one day soon she would leave the Doctor alone once more..
Meanwhile, a mysterious plague which the Doctor believes is poison is affecting the monks of the Tabo Monastery, including the leader, Gyatso. What now?
Enjoy!
When Amy woke in the morning, the goblet was still on her bedside table.
For a moment she lay, listening to the faint whistle of the chill wind creeping past the monks' shabby medieval insulation.
She stared at the silver cup- it was beautiful. Gleaming, with clear signs of age- it looked smooth, from being touched by hundreds of desperate hands. The silver clutched the mysterious blue stones, which seemed to glow with their own inner light.
The stem of the cup was slender and elegant- the base perfectly proportioned. She'd have thought it was made by a machine if it hadn't had that distinct aged beauty, in the dull glow of the ever so slightly uneven stones in their bizarre patterns across its surface.
Amy stared at the patterns the stones made- so hard it began to feel like they were moving, twisting, dripping into the silver like water melting into mist….
Her walkie talkie crackled and Amy jumped, getting a little carpet burn on the back of her thigh from the scratchy sheets. She picked up the device from next to her bed as the Doctor's voice came through, excited as ever.
"Pond, Earth to Pond, you awake Pond?"
Amy couldn't help a little smile creep onto her lips as she listened to his voice.
But the goblet drew her attention like a magnet. Her eyes flickered to it, sitting waiting on her bedside table beside the candle.
"Mornin' Doctor. What's put you in such a great mood?"
"I'll tell you. Hang on, I'm coming now."
There was a scuffle and a beep. Amy looked at her walkie talkie, then at the goblet, shrugging off the covers. Quickly she pulled open the single drawer in her bedside table.
For some reason she didn't want the Doctor to know about the goblet yet. Maybe she could hide it.
The drawer was too low for the goblet to stand in- she'd have to tip away the liquid.
Amy stared at the translucent fluid, sparkling in the silver goblet. She thought about the creature's words. About leaving the Doctor alone forever….
She was jerked out of her thoughts by the sound of the Doctor's footsteps in the corridor outside, nearly at her room. Amy stared at the goblet. She had to make her choice- now.
X
The Doctor grinned as he entered the room, and Amy turned to face him, instantly smiling back. He chuckled at the knot of red hair around her head.
"Sleep well?"
At the same time he noticed the shadows under her eyes, the slight pallor of her skin.
Amy shrugged. "Not really, I guess I'm used to beds- you?"
The Doctor smiled as he came closer, gently running his fingers through her hair.
"You know me. I don't sleep much. When I do, bad things happen."
Unbeknownst to the Time Lord, Amy thought about her visit in the night, the hidden goblet. She said nothing.
The Doctor got to a particularly complicated knot, deftly working it out with his fingers. "Why is it in eleven lifetimes I don't get to be ginger- and you get it in one?"
He sounded oddly childlike and Amy laughed, leaning back into him and looking up at his face. "Maybe I'm the price you have to pay."
The Doctor looked at her, frowning a little, an odd half smile on his face. "Maybe. I guess you're worth it then."
Amy couldn't help a little jump in her heart at that, and then a sinking feeling in her stomach as she thought about the price he'd pay for loving her- giving her his heart and his name, only to lose her, be left alone again.
The Scot closed her eyes. She'd made her choice now- she didn't know what would happen. She couldn't think about these things.
"Doesn't mean I'm not still jealous though."
The Doctor's petulant comment brought Amy out of her darker thoughts and she laughed out loud, turning and pressing her hands against his chest.
"You've got me, and my hair," she laughed as she added the last part on, then leaned forwards and kissed him, nibbling his lower lip and then play fighting with his mouth as he responded.
After a while they broke apart, the Doctor's eyes shining with delight at the fact he could share this feeling, if only for a while.
Amy looked at him, tilting her head to the side.
"So, what did you come in to tell me?"
The Doctor grinned and took Amy's hand, dragging her from the room. Laughing the girl followed- leaving the goblet in the drawer behind her.
X
"What is it?" Amy asked, the Doctor's infectious excitement lending her eager impatience fuel and curiosity.
The Doctor grinned and put a finger to his lips as a stern looking monk, Chinese in appearance with a bald head, sharp, distinctively slender almond shaped brown eyes and sun weathered skin approached.
He was fairly short- smaller than the Doctor and Amy at least, but he was well built- suggested by the way his rough robes fell across his body, and there was a grace in the way he walked which reminded Amy of a prowling tiger.
He nodded to the Doctor, clearly having already been acquainted with him. Amy wondered how long the Doctor had been up before he'd woken her. Then the monk turned to her and smiled, bowing his head.
Amy, a little confused, simply smiled and inclined her own head in response.
"I am Monk Anil, it is a delight to meet you, Miss Pond."
Amy smiled and nodded, shoving her hands in her pockets, unsure really how to respond- glancing at the Doctor and receiving no help. His eyes shone as he watched her for her own response. Amy stuck her tongue out at him, useless Time Lord.
The Doctor covered a laugh with a hasty fake cough as Amy turned to Anil.
"Um, yeah- nice to meet you too."
Amy blushed and Anil smiled, taking her hand in his weathered ones.
"Please do not concern yourself with formalities Amelia. We do not hold it against you that you are a stranger, and unaccustomed to our ways. We only wish to share."
This would normally be the point where Amy turned and ran from the zealous nutter- but there was a kind, quiet wisdom in Anil's eyes and face which made her trust him, and sort of understand him. She smiled shyly back, and the Doctor came over.
"Anil has very kindly offered to share some of his time with us."
Amy looked around the courtyard they stood in, swept of snow, fenced in by a tall wooden wall which linked the area to the monastery. Next to the wall of the main buildings were a line of sticks of different shapes in a rack. Anil stood in the centre of the space.
Amy frowned and bit her lip. She didn't want to ask, but she couldn't help thinking, what for?
She was saved from looking too stupid by Anil, who stepped forwards, smiling.
"Today I will teach you how to become one with your surroundings- begin to understand the flow of energy around you- and most importantly according to your Doctor, how to protect yourself."
Amy glanced at the Doctor quickly, but he was simply grinning- though he seemed to deliberately avoid her gaze.
Anil smiled.
"As you can probably assume, Miss Pond, I am not of Tibetan origin- I came here from China- searching for enlightenment and seeking to share my knowledge. I cannot and do not claim that this particular art helps in the practice of Buddhism- but I know it helps one to be more aware of their surroundings and interactions."
Amy thought about the way Anil walked, like a graceful predator. She could believe what he was saying.
Anil walked over to the rack of sticks and held one before the Doctor, before choosing another and throwing it to the Time Lord.
"Now, we are going to practice fighting with Guns- it is simple and effective, and quite versatile."
"Guns?"
Amy was fairly sure she didn't have any serious hearing or sight issues- but the sticks the Doctor and Anil were holding most certainly looked nothing like guns.
The Doctor caught her look of confusion and explained, " A Gun is a kind of staff the Chinese used to fight with- in harmony with the martial arts."
He tapped his weapon on the ground, it's base, slightly wider than the tip, made a dull thud on the stone. " 'The Grandfather of all weapons' is what people call it eventually."
Amy raised her eyebrows. "I thought you hated weapons."
The Doctor shrugged- but there was a guarded look in his eyes-Amy recognized it as a sign of one of those things he hadn't shared before.
"I do- but it doesn't mean I don't know how to use them, and besides…."
The Doctor struggled for words, Amy waited patiently and Anil politely pretended to be otherwise occupied.
"Besides- I suppose I don't hate all of them. I never used this to really hurt someone- but there's a sort of enjoyment in the freedom it gives you- the reward of all those hours of practice, delight in a skill you know you have and can wield. It's…fun."
He smiled and Amy smiled back, folding her arms and leaning back against the monastery's wooden wall.
"Nice one- alright, lets see what you can do shall we? I'm giving you…thirty seconds before our friend Anil has got you down for the count."
She smiled as she said it, playing with him, but Amy couldn't help thinking the Doctor wouldn't last particularly long- what with his frequent acts of clumsiness, and the clear expertise with which Anil casually held his staff.
Anil grinned at the Doctor, who raised his eyebrows, but whose face remained impassive. He twirled the pole a few times- which looked impressive, but which Amy told herself anyone could do with practice.
"Your faith in me is overwhelming." He said as he and Anil bowed to each other- Anil smiling a little to himself.
Amy laughed and said with mock indignation, "I have a lot of faith in you! Just not when you're trying to fight a kung fu master guy with a stick."
Anil laughed out loud at that as he and the Doctor began to pace, circling each other- but the Doctor didn't respond to his companion this time, he was completely focused on what he was doing.
Amy found the expression on his face magnetic- that look of fierce intensity, rare but bubbling beneath his light hearted surface all the time.
Suddenly, the Doctor was a blur of action- his staff thwacked against Anil hard, but not too hard in a series of rapid blows- which caused him to crumple to his knees.
Amy gasped, thinking that was it, but as the Doctor's staff came down again, quick as a flash Anil's hand shot out, stopping the strike which cause his staff to vibrate with the force of the impact.
Anil leapt to his feet in one swift movement and went on the offensive- but even to Amy's untrained eyes she could see the Doctor was far superior. For a few moments they were both blurs, trading strikes faster than Amy could keep track of.
Then- with a resounding smack the Doctor brought Anil to his knees, and in moments, had his Gun to the other man's throat, breathing fast, his shirt untucked and hair ruffled, a slight flush on his face.
He smiled and Anil smiled back, bowing his head, "I concede defeat."
The Doctor nodded and withdrew his staff, then looked over at Amy, one eyebrow raised. She grinned, though she couldn't help a wave of admiration for him.
"That's just showing off."
Oooh- the Doctor's a good fighter. After his sword fighting display as ten I figure the academy would have started with some kind of martial arts.
What the Doctor says about the Bo staff is true, but I'm afraid the fight sequence is fiction- as I couldn't find any documents of fights or practice online.
So, what did Amy choose? Did she drink it? What happens now? And how is she going to react to being told she needs to learn how to defend herself? (clue: not well)
Thanks for reading, sorry again for the slightly delayed update- 5 reviews for an update asap tomorrow, I hope you're enjoying this sequel,
Kat