By Invitation Only - Chapter 3, both parts

[seren_ccd]

By Invitation Only

Chapter 3 - Part 1


The trio went through the large wooden doors and after a quick flash of light, found themselves on top of a green hill. An endless sea of green forest stretched out before them. Every shade of green undulated as a breeze swept over the trees in the distance. The grass they stood upon looked soft and unspoiled. Every blade was perfect and leaned back as the wind blew past. The Doctor stood slightly in front of Jack and Rose, his shadow long and still as the sun began setting behind him. He took a deep breath of air.

The Doctor pulled out the map and the compass. Jack stepped up behind to get a look.

"According to this, we have to head east, down this hill," he said. "There will most likely be a path we can follow, but if what the shopkeeper said and no one has been here for awhile, we may have to use brute force to get through."

"Good thing we have your sonic screwdriver. Gets through anything right?" Jack said.

The Doctor grinned. "Absolutely. It has a beam widening function I've always wanted to try out. That should get us through. Rose, ready to go?"

No answer.

The Doctor and Jack turned around to look at their companion.

Rose stood, frozen, looking out over the forest in the distance. She watched as birds of all shapes and sizes flew above the tips of the trees and then disappeared into the woods. Her mouth parted as she studied the emerald wonder before her.

"Rose?" the Doctor said softly.

She took a shaky breath and with a slightly wavering voice she said, "When I was eight, mom and I went to the airport to pick up my aunt and uncle. I was running around, just 'cause I was bored," she smiled a little. "Mom took my hand and sat me down in a chair and said to keep still or else. I did. But, I kept looking around and saw... this poster on the wall. Just an advertisement I guess, go somewhere exotic."

Rose frowned a little remembering and still staring at the world before her.

"It was so beautiful. All green and alive," she said. "I didn't think anything could ever look so alive. Asked mom if we could go there. She laughed and said maybe if we won the lottery and hell froze over. God, it's so alive. So alive."

She looked at the men. "We get to go in there?"

The Doctor smiled.

"Ready when you are," he told her.

Rose grinned and hefted her backpack on. "Let's go."

Another consultation of the map with the compass, and they took off down the hill towards the forest.

***

After two hours of going down one hill, up another, down that one, and up another and finally down that one, they reached the edge of the forest. A small stream trickled down from the hills and disappeared into the forest. Rose's feet were killing her and she had the sensation that her thighs and calves were never going to forgive her for that last hill. Even Jack looked a little winded. The Doctor was, of course, loving every minute of it. In fact, if he had his way, they would have continued into the forest and walked 'til sunrise. But, when he heard Rose's backpack hit the ground followed by Rose herself plonking her bum down and refusing to move for several hours, he figured it was time for a rest.

While Jack and the Doctor argued over how to start the fire (Doctor was all for sonic fire-starting, Jack thought that was camping sacrilege), Rose pulled out a few packets that read 'Complete Nourishment Inside. Just add hot water.' Finally a fire was started and a kettle-like container was set up filled with fresh water from the stream and the powder from the packets.

"Don't worry," the Doctor told Rose. "No pollutants in that water. Should be perfectly fine to drink."

"Should be?" Rose replied dubiously sipping the warm broth and feeling the warm liquid fill up her stomach.

The Doctor rolled his eyes. "I scanned it with the sonic screwdriver and the reading was negative. What more do you need?"

"Must say," Jack said, interrupting a possible snark session. "That is one nice fire I got going."

"Mine would have been better," the Doctor said. "That screwdriver lights fires way faster than your matches."

Jack groaned. "It's the principal of the thing. You need to light campfires with matches. It's just how it's done."

The Doctor grumbled something about the lack of respect towards the sonic screwdriver. Rose rolled her eyes.

"Don't worry Doctor," she said. "Everyone here appreciates your screwdriver."

Jack snorted and the Doctor looked at her, eyebrows raised.

"Well, that's good news," he said with a slightly smug look.

Rose blushed. "Wait. That's... I didn't... You... Oh, forget it."

She stared down at the ground and felt her face just getting redder and it was definitely not a result of the fire. Jack, taking pity on her, asked the Doctor a question.

"This planet. Nemorosus? That sounds familiar. What does it mean?"

The Doctor tearing his eyes away from Rose's, well, rosy face, answered, "It's Latin actually. Meaning forest, roughly*. I think the reason for the name is pretty self-explanatory. It's this Degero Ring, I'm a little puzzled by."

He frowned. "Degero is also Latin and means time or to pass time. I feel like I should know what it is. Something strikes a chord somewhere, but maybe..." he frowned some more. Then shook his head. "Ah well. We'll find out sooner or later. You two should probably get some sleep. Lots more walking to be done tomorrow."

"Aren't you going to sleep?" Rose asked curling up into her sleeping bag. She rested her head on her arm and watched the Doctor get comfortable.

The Doctor smiled. "Nah. Don't really need it. I'll stay awake and keep lookout."

He grinned at her. "Just me and my trusty screwdriver."

Once again, Jack snorted. Rose glared at the two of them, then turned her back on them and went to sleep.

***

"Rose?" she heard a soft voice in her ear. She hmmed a little and snuggled into her sleeping bag a bit more.

"Rose? Come on sleepyhead, time to get up," the voice encouraged. A cool hand brushed against her forehead. Rose knew that hand. The Doctor. Trying to get her up. Well, after the teasing last night, her sleepy brain decided a little payback was in order.

"Come on, Rose. Up and at 'em. Things to do," the Doctor's low voice said.

He brushed his hand against her cheek and Rose leaned into it, murmuring, "Mmm... Mickey."

"Oi!" He pulled his hand back and stood over Rose as she giggled. She sat up, her hair matted to one side of her face. Jack laughed at them.

"You should see your face," she said with a grin.

The Doctor growled. "Not funny." He stalked over to his backpack and pulled out the map. Rose giggled some more and pulled out a hairbrush and attempted to brush out her hair.

"Too long. Maybe I should just cut it.," she said under her breath.

"No," the Doctor said, still consulting the map. "Don't you dare."

Rose looked over in surprise and then over at Jack.

Jack shrugged. "What? He's right. It's your best feature. After your eyes and your..." He lowered his gaze to her chest. Rose threw her hairbrush at him.

"What's there to eat?" she asked, getting up and rolling up her sleeping bag. A granola bar hit her in the back. "Thanks."

Jack put his backpack on and wandered over to the Doctor who was studying the map.

"What's on the agenda today Doc?" he asked.

"Looks like we go due east for awhile and then we should run into a bit of a marshy patch. If we make good time today, we might make the first checkpoint structure late tomorrow. According to this, it's some kind of temple," the Doctor said. He folded up the map and put into his jacket pocket. "Ready?"

"Ready," Rose mumbled, backpack on and mouth full of granola.

The Doctor shook his head, put on his backpack and they took off into the woods.


Stay tuned for Part 2

*Latin translations from the following website: http://www.arts.cuhk.edu.hk/Lexis/Latin/



Chapter 3 - Part 2

Well. The thrill was gone.

At first, Rose was enchanted with the place. Trees with trunks so big, she could've fit half her mum's apartment inside and birds with iridescent wings that flew down so close to them, Rose could feel the breeze from their flapping wings. Little lizards that looked like the ones back on Earth, just with an extra eye in their forehead, scuttled across their path. The Doctor reassured her that they were most likely non-poisonous, but not to go touching them just in case.

It was beautiful and wild and teeming with life. Every breath Rose took was energizing and she felt dizzy with it. If it wasn't for the Doctor's steadying hand though, she would have tripped several times looking up to see the tops of the trees. Jack was enthralled as well. He had actually remained quiet the majority of the time. When the Doctor finally called him on his silence, he replied.

"It reminds me of one of the places I was stationed once. This jungle-like outpost. We were sent to just make sure the locals didn't interrupt a very important election. We were so focused on our mission, we never took the time to look. Always working, always waiting for the next big fight," Jack had shrugged and looked up at the sky peeking through the trees. "It just feels good to look for a change."

So they looked. And then they reached the so-called 'marshy patch.'

Swamp was more like it. Black mud with algae coating the top stretched on for as far as they could see. The sun had disappeared, only to shine through small breaks in the trees. Splashing sounds not made by their own feet followed them as they trudged through the muck.

The thrill of walking through a beautiful forest dissipated as Rose stumbled and squelched her way after the men. Not that they were doing much better. Jack managed to get stuck at least once and the Doctor had a large smear of mud across his forehead. Jack stopped next to a large cypress looking tree and pulled out his canteen and took a drink. Rose collapsed next to him and closed her eyes. Her legs ached and she was covered in sweat, muck and who knows what else.

"We can't keep this up Doctor," he said out of breath. "Look at her. Hell, look at me. We're gonna collapse."

The Doctor nodded, slightly winded himself. "I agree. But we need to get out of here by sundown. Don't fancy being here when the big guys come out for dinner."

"Big guys?" Rose asked eyes flying open.

The Doctor looked at her amused. "You didn't think those little lizards were the only reptiles around here did you?"

Visions of large pre-historic alligators with gnashing teeth and being dragged down into that black water only to be drowned and eaten later assaulted Rose's mind. She jumped up.

"We need to get out of here," she said firmly. "I am not waiting around to be something's dinner."

"Well. To be honest, you're a bit small for dinner. More like a snack really," the Doctor said.

Rose just stared at him. He met her glare with a goofy grin.

"Well, I think I have an alternative to trudging through muck," Jack said opening his pack. "I think I have enough rope for it."

He pulled out his sonic blaster and flashed a grin.

"Did I mention that this baby can work as a rope launcher?"

Jack tied one end of the rope to a dart and inserted the dart into the barrel of the blaster. Taking aim at a large branch of the tree above him, he pulled the trigger. The dart shot up into the air, pulling the rope behind. With a loud thud, the dart was embedded into the branch. Jack put the blaster down and tugged on the rope.

"Well, this should hold us," he said turning around. The Doctor was grinning madly while Rose just looked on.

"What are you doing?" she asked.

"I know," the Doctor said still grinning.

"I bet you do," Jack replied with a grin of his own.

"Well, that's nice. I'm glad you two know. Mind telling me?" Rose said exasperated with the big kids in front of her.

"Well, angel," Jack said. "How were you at climbing trees as a kid?"

***

A half an hour and a few blisters on her hands later, Rose stood with Jack on a branch high above the swamp. She peered down and couldn't quite believe she managed to climb the rope all the way up. Thanking God once again for being into gymnastics instead of horses as a little girl, she watched as the Doctor pulled himself up onto the branch.

"Alright," she said. "We're up here. Now what?"

Jack attached another rope to his blaster and aimed for a tree several yards away.

"Now," he said as the rope flew over the swamp to attach to the tree. "We fly."

"What?" Rose said.

The Doctor fished around his backpack and pulled out two things that looked like harnesses made out of metal circles and black material.

"We're just going to put those on, attach ourselves to the rope and fly over the swamp," Jack explained. "I'll will go first and then you and then the Doctor."

The Doctor looked up.

"Sure I shouldn't go first?" he asked Jack.

Jack grinned. "Nah. Done this before. I'm good."

Rose looked back and forth between Jack and the Doctor. And then down at the swamp and then the harnesses and then the rope.

"Umm," she said. "We're just going to slide across to the other tree? Just like that?"

"You betcha," Jack said putting his own harness on and attaching himself to the rope with a large silver clip. "I aimed a little low, so momentum and gravity should move us along the rope no problem."

He looked over at Rose.

"It will be okay. I promise," he said. Then he looked a little worried. "You trust me?"

Rose stared right back at him and smiled. "Of course I do. Just be careful, right?"

Jack smiled and looked over at the Doctor. "You still okay with this Doc?"

"Absolutely, Jack my boy," he replied. "See you in a little bit."

Jack, after checking the metal clip again, pushed off from the branch and with a loud, happy yell was off. Rose and the Doctor watched as he coasted through the air and landed on a branch just underneath the one were the rope was attached. He turned back to them and yelled,

"Come on! Let's see if angels from 21st century Earth can really fly!"

The Doctor helped Rose put the harness on. She had the sensation of the black material digging into her hips and just under her bum. It felt snug and secure. But, her stomach began to flipflop as the Doctor moved to attach her to the rope. But, just before attaching the clip, he stopped and looked down at her. Rose looked up and realized how very close he was. How his neck was just at eye level. How his scent of leather and electricity both soothed and excited her. How his mouth (oh, that mouth) was set in a firm line. How his eyes normally sparkling eyes seemed a little clouded with... She smiled a little with realization.

"I'll be fine," she reassured him. "Jack knows what he's doing and you'll be right behind me. You don't need to worry."

"I do though," he said softly. "I worry all the time. Oh, Rose. Should I really have...?"

The Doctor stopped and shook his head. He grinned.

"Ready to soar?" he asked as he attached the clip to the rope which lifted her a little.

Rose pushed the nervousness and curiosity as to what the Doctor had almost said to the back of her mind.

"Ready," she said firmly. The Doctor smiled and shouted, "Here she comes Jack!"

And then with a push, Rose was flying.

She felt the wind brush past her face as trees flew past her eyes. She looked down for a brief moment and saw a dark blur that was the swamp flash underneath. Her hair streamed out behind her and for a second she closed her eyes and felt so free, so weightless, so inexplicably happy with everything. Then she felt Jack's hands on her waist and heard him talking to her. Telling her it was okay, she was safe.

Rose opened her eyes and looked at him and grinned.

"Is she okay?" she heard the Doctor shout worriedly.

"Rose?" Jack asked. "Are you okay?"

"Oh yeah," she breathed. "I'm fantastic!"