He woke up aboard the Tardis again. The temperature in the room had fallen again to the point he could see the breath of his companions.
"It's really cold. Have you got any warm clothing?" Amy inquired.
"Didn't you pack any warm clothing." He asked her heading to the console again.
"It was summer when we left." Amy countered him.
"Still should have packed something warm. You never know where we are going to end up. We could be on the Planet of the Ood." He commented. "And you must remember the Ice Palace I took you to as a kid."
"Okay point taken." Amy huffed and crossed her arms.
"There should be some stuff in the wardrobe." John spoke up. "Have a look." Amy glared at him and then took Rory's hand and the two of them disappear into the corridors. Reaching under the controls he finds the box he is looking for and pulls out a combination of a whisk, rope and a bottle opener.
"Has that thing ever really worked." John scoffed seeing the pieces.
"It works well enough and I need to see where we are and find out why it is so cold." He responds assembling the pieces of the generator. Rory and Amy come back into the room and he is happy to see that they are carrying blankets. Taking a couple from Amy he hands the generator to John and goes to Rose and Kiam.
"Here you go." He says softly as he helps Rose wrap Kiam up in one of the blankets. Kiam is shaking and he is immediately concerned with how cold he has gotten. Reaching out he gently places his hand to Kiam's face. "Oh, buddy, your face is freezing." He wanted his coat but now he wouldn't dare take it back from them. Reaching over he helps Rose wrap another blanket around her and Kiam before wrapping the coat back around the two of them.
"You okay Rose," He asks as he kisses her on the head.
"I'm okay," She responds and looks down at the little face barely visible through the blankets now. "Will he be okay?"
"I give you my word." He says seriously.
"It's a star." John exclaims suddenly as he runs to the doors and throws them open. "A cold star. That's why we're freezing. It's not a heating malfunction. We're drifting towards a cold sun. There's our deadly danger for this version of reality."
"So this must be the dream. There's no such thing as a cold star. Stars burn." Amy says.
"So's this one. It's just burning cold." John tells her.
"Is that possible, Doctor?" Rory asks him.
"I can't know everything." He snaps looking away from Rose, "Why does everybody always expect me to?"
"Okay, this is something you haven't seen before." Rose says calmly to him. "So does that mean this is the dream?"
He sighs and stands up to get a proper look outside of the door, as John stands there looking out, mesmerized by the glowing blue orb. "I don't know, but there it is, and I'd say we've got about fourteen minutes until we crash into it. But that's not a problem."
"Because you know how to get us out of this?" Rory asks hopefully.
"Because we'll have frozen to death by then." John answers Rory and he nods in agreement.
Oh, then what are we going to do?" Rose says trying to pull Kiam closer to her.
"Stay calm." He tells her softly and then says in a louder voice. "Don't get sucked into it, because this just might be the battle that we have to lose."
"Oh, this is so you, isn't it?" John says as he finally closes the doors and turns around.
"What?" He asks John confused. "The Dream Lord is your pal, not mine."
"A weird new star, fourteen minutes left to live and only one man to save the day, huh? I just wanted a nice village and a family." John says angrily storming up to the Doctor.
"Yeah, my family." He emphasizes.
"Do you have a problem with me, cause I didn't ask you to put your energy in your hand?" John seethes.
"Yeah I do." He says taking a step forward so they were eye to eye. "You have been trying to take Rose from me since the minute you got here."
"Oh dear, Doctor." The Dream Lord interrupts. "Dissent in the ranks. There was an old doctor from Gallifrey, who ended up throwing his life away. He let down his friends and.." The man paused as the birdsong started again. "Oh, no. We've run out of time. Don't spend too long there, or you'll catch your death here."
-DW-
He was slumped down on the ground at the edge of the swings. He stood up and stretched his back sore from the awkward position he fell asleep in.
"Where have the children gone?" Kiam wondered looking over towards the Castle.
"Don't know. Play time's probably over." John answers him before turning to Rose. "You see, this is the real one. I just feel it. Don't you feel it, Rose?"
"I feel it both places." Amy speaks up seeing the glare crossing his face.
"I feel it here." Rory adds. "It's just so tranquil and relaxed. Nothing bad could ever happen here."
"Not really me, though, is it?" Rose finally tells John. "I mean, would I be happy settling down in a place with a pub, two shops?"
He walks away from them and heads into the castle grounds. Scattered across the ground are little hills of what looks to be dirt and various backpacks. The children are nowhere in sight. Kneeling down, he pulls out his sonic and scans one on the hills. Reading the results he frowns and moves to the next one.
"Doctor, what are you doing? And what are those piles of dust?" Amy asks him curiously.
"Play time's definitely over." He says standing up and looking at her seriously.
"Oh, my God." Rose gasps and covers her mouth.
"What happened to them?" John asks him seriously, their feud temporarily set aside. He stands up and looks to where there is a group of elderly people crossing the street.
"I think they did." He says casually and heads over towards the group.
"They're just old people." Rorys tells him, shaking his head.
"No, they're very old people." Stopping he observes the group. "Sorry, John, I don't think you're what's been keeping them alive."
"Hello, peasants. What's this, attack of the old people? Oh, that's ridiculous." The Dream Lord mocks them. "This has got to be the dream, hasn't it? What do you think, Amy? Let's all jump under a bus and wake up in the Tardis. You first." He gestures towards the empty road.
"Leave her alone." He says, his voice going overly calm.
"Do that again." The Dream Lord request, his voice full of glee. "I love it when he does that. Tall dark hero. Leave her alone."
"Just leave her." John request, his voice matching the level of calmness.
"Yes, you're not quite so impressive," The Dream Lord scoffs, "but I know where your heart lies, don't I, Rose Tyler?"
"Shut up." Kiam tells the Dream Lord.
"Just shut up and leave me alone." Rose agrees with Kiam before looking at him. "Honey, it's not nice to tell people to shut up, even if they are manipulative gits."
"Rose," He chuckles.
"What, he started it." She whines.
"But listen. You're in there. Loves a blonde, the Doctor." The Dream Lord Tells her. "Also loves a redhead. Always yearning to be ginger. Has he told you about Elizabeth the First? Well, she thought she was the first."
"Drop it." He says his voice losing the calm and becoming angry as John looks at him slightly surprised. "Drop all of it. I know who you are." He suddenly realizes.
"Course you don't." The Dream Lord scoffs.
"No idea how you can be here, but there's only one person in the universe who hates me as much as you do." He tells the Dream Lord seriously.
"Never mind me. Maybe you should worry about them." The Dream Lord vanishes as the group of elderly approach them.
"Hello, we were wondering where you went." He says straining to keep his voice pleasant. "To get reinforcements, by the look of it."
"Are you all right? You look a bit tense." John adds.
"Hello, Mister Nainby." Rory says stepping forward.
"Rory." He says warningly.
"Mister Nainby runs the sweet shop." Kiam says happily. "He gives me free toffee."
Nainby grabs Rory by the collar and lifts him off his feet. Rory looks at him surprised as he throws him backwards and Rory hits the ground hard and he immediately goes limp.
"Rory," Amy cries out rushing over to him. He pulls out his sonic and hands it to John and then grabs Kiam and Rose and starts to pull them backwards.
"Daddy, how did he do that?" Kiam asks him sounding scared.
"I suspect he's not himself." He replies and looks questionly towards John, who shakes his head.
"Rory, no Rory," Amy cries grabbing on to him and sobbing.
"Can't we just talk to them?" Rose asks and as if to answer their question, they open their mouths and an eye looks out of it.
"There is an eye in her mouth." Kiam says gripping his hand tightly.
"There's a whole creature inside her." He catches John's eye and tips his head quickly to the side away from the group. John barely nods and then starts trying to ease Amy off of Rory. "Inside all of them. They've been there for years, living and waiting."
"That is disgusting. They're not going to be peeping out of anywhere else, are they?" Rose inquires and he hears Amy struggling to break free of John's grip as he tries to move her away from them. He manages to get her a few feet back before losing his hold on her and rather than dropping down to Rory again she runs at Mrs. Poggit. Mrs. Poggit opens her mouth as Amy gets there and a green stream of gas hits her full in the face and she collapses to the ground.
"Run." He exclaims as John runs over and scoops Amy up. John hands him back his sonic and then he watches him take off with Amy and gently pushes Rose to go after him with Kiam.
"Okay, leave them, leave them." He says panicking to the elderly. "Talk to me. Talk to me. You are Eknodines. A proud, ancient race. you're better than this. Why are you hiding away here? Why aren't you at home?"
"We were driven from our planet." Mrs. Poggit tells him.
"Been living here inside the bodies of old humans for years. No wonder they live so long. You're keeping them alive." He tells Mrs. Poggit.
"We were humbled and destroyed. Now we will do the same to others." She smirks.
"Okay. Makes sense, I suppose. Credible enough. Could be real." He ponders. "But you need to leave this planet. You only get one warning." He tells them and takes off after the others. As he nears the town again the birdsong starts. He looks desperately around to make sure the others are safe as he fights off sleep. He enters the nearest building and closes the door behind him. Groaning he realizes he is in a butcher shop and the Dream Lord is behind the counter.
"Oh, I love a good butcher's, don't you? We've got to use these places or they'll shut down. Oh, but you're probably a vegetarian, aren't you, you big spiky hair wuss." The Dream Lord mocks.
"Oh, pipe down. I'm busy." He says irritated.
"Maybe you need a little sleep." The Dream Lords says and his sleepiness hits him hard and he slumps to the floor. "Oh, wait a moment. If you fall asleep here, several dozen angry pensioners will destroy you with their horrible eye things."
He grabs onto the counter and barely manages to pull himself up off the floor. Stumbling he starts to head around the counter and down a small hallway in the back.
"Come in, come in," The Dream Lord welcomes the elderly as they enter the shop. "Yes, we've got lots at steak here this week. Lots at steak, get it? Are these jokes wasted on you?"
He makes it down the hall and to a closed door. He opens the door and is relieved to find that it is a small storage room. Going inside he closes the door behind him and locks it with the sonic before he can't fight the sleep any longer and collapses back to the floor.