for magicalskeptic: A trip to the ocean

[rude_not_ginger]

"You wanted an ocean, have I got an ocean for you."

The Doctor darted around the console and scooped his jacket up from where it hung on one of the TARDIS pillars. He absolutely loved this bit. The first trip to an alien world with someone who didn't even believe in other worlds until now. Very little was more exciting.

"Now! We've got breathable atmosphere, low radiation, and a beautiful summer day. The waters of the Greeio Malgoon are purple in the summer, which is when they're the warmest and the safest. I'd have taken you to them in the winter when they're blue, but the water's acid content gets a bit high and ends up spewing out strange creatures with eyes that shoot lasers. Green lasers, they disintegrate you without much warning. Very technicolor world, the Greeo Malgoon."

He shrugged. "Still! In the summer, peak of tourist season, it's the most brilliant place for a visit."

Comments

[rude-not-ginger.livejournal.com]

He looks down at his hand, then back at her. "Feel better?" he asks, irritated. "We've got to stop this, we don't have time to be bickering."

He leads the way through, following the sounds of the water.

"And I'll tell you something. That water isn't just the water here. It's going somewhere. And wherever it's going, we should probably go, too."

[magicalskeptic.livejournal.com]

Not feeling the least bit guilty for slapping his hand (actually, slapping the Doctor, in general, is something Morgana will probably never feel guilty about), she says nothing about bickering. It is sensible to stop, but that does not mean she has to give him the satisfaction of agreeing with him.

So, what he gets is Morgana following along in relative silence. Every once in a while, she surreptitiously shakes her might-be-a-screwdriver, hoping to dislodge some water (perhaps it hit a rock on the way down, she doesn't know and she's not going to ask) to get it working again.

When she isn't fiddling with her broken gift, she's pulling her soaked skirts away from her. They're sticking to her and making it a little more difficult to move as freely as she'd like.

His current idea is also sensible, but, yet again, that does mean she has to tell him.

[rude-not-ginger.livejournal.com]

"Wherever the water leads, it probably leads us out," the Doctor says. "Well, we hope, anyway. Out, then back up, get to the city, shut this place down."

And if it doesn't, well, then he's going to have to figure something else out.

The end of the pathway becomes paved, and the walls are suddenly cobbled stone, like a system built and then neglected after many, many years.

"What have we here?" the Doctor asks. His voice echoes along the new tunnel.

[magicalskeptic.livejournal.com]

The newness of the properly kitted out tunnel finally spurs her to speak again. (It is important to note Morgana is still annoyed with the Doctor, thank you very much.) "Camelot has tunnels such as this underneath it. It is said Uther keeps the last dragon in Albion there."

And the tunnel reminds her of the passageways because of how old they look. "We have only found the few skeletons, perhaps the tunnel was used to get the inhabitants to safety." She can hope. She shakes her might-be-a-screwdriver again, and for half a second, it's alive, before flickering out again.

She steps ahead of the Doctor, and in about a dozen strides, she's face to face with a door. She turns around, and realizes, there have to be a dozen doors in this tunnel. "We seem to have found access points to many places in the city." There is no way the doors can all lead to the same place.

[rude-not-ginger.livejournal.com]

"But which places?" he asks. "That's the question. Any place could be potentially a very, very wrong place to be."

He cautiously steps towards the door she's near and scans it quickly with his sonic. "No electric traps this time. But that doesn't mean there aren't any surprises waiting for us."

He cautiously reaches for the door handle and turns it open.

[magicalskeptic.livejournal.com]

Finally, something Morgana instantaneously recognizes. It's not that she's familiar with all of the contents, but the organization, and the ones she does know, makes her smile a little in relief. Now this, this is something she can work with. She pockets her currently malfunctioning might-be-a-screwdriver.

Along the walls are a variety of weapons. She would not know about the guns, but the ropes and knives and "this is excellent in its craftsmanship." She's holding a sword that should look like it's too big for her to haul around, but it's like a broadsword, and she's well trained. She's testing it for balance.

"This place should equip us perfectly," The Doctor's aversion to weapons notwithstanding.

[rude-not-ginger.livejournal.com]

"We don't need any weapons," the Doctor says, firmly. "We're fighting shadows, not flesh and blood. And, really, if we were fighting that, we wouldn't want weapons anyway. Moral high ground, Morgana. We need to take it."

All the same, he crosses over to the guns and picks up a hook launcher. Near it is a bundle of rope, and he grabs that, too.

"Brilliant. Now we've got what we need to get out of this place. Get back up there before that computer starts getting any clever ideas."

[magicalskeptic.livejournal.com]

Well, the Doctor clearly does not understand her thinking, "Doctor, one important thing about the moral high ground is that it cannot be held if one is dead. We do not know for certain if the city is completely uninhabited."

She picks up another sword, this one smaller, and though not quite as finely balanced as the first one, it is far more suitable for her to carry, and the grip is a better size for her hand. Grabbing her own bundle of thick rope, she unrolls it on a table and uses the sword to cut a length. Using the sword to cut through (it is duller than she would like, but that is convenient, considering how she is planning to carry it). She ties a knot under the guard, and then uses the knot as a little bit of leverage to keep it slightly away from her body, and then ties the rope around her waist.

The Doctor may have found whatever he wants, but so has Morgana.

[rude-not-ginger.livejournal.com]

The Doctor looks back at Morgana. He doesn't approve of the weapon, he doesn't approve of her carrying it, but he can't deny the things she says are true. And he doesn't want either of them to die today.

"Fine, but weapons come out when we have no other choice, do you understand?" he says, firmly. "And I mean to make it that we have a choice."

He holds up the launcher, then nods to the door.

"Allons-y."

[magicalskeptic.livejournal.com]

Morgana says nothing, in fact, she doesn't even react. Why does she do such a thing? It is her way of making sure she does not acknowledge his lecturing (the least effective way known to make Morgana be cooperative) or show any agreement with his argumentation.

He may have his morality, and she has hers. One pillar of her morality is being responsible for one's own protection -- or another's if the other is too stubborn to carry a weapon of his own.

So, all she does is comment, "Perhaps one of the other doors will lead us to out desired destination," and head out the door.

[rude-not-ginger.livejournal.com]

"Or it'll lead us to some completely random part of the city. No, this is our best way out," he says. He disapproves of the sword, but he can't stop her. He can't stop her, and he's pretty sure he might lose a hand if he tried.

He leads the way out of the armory and back towards the well they fell down. The sound of rushing water is louder here, and when he looks up, eyes adjusted to the dark, he can see a network of pipes changing from purple to blue. What does that mean?

"Right," he says as they reach the water again. "If this works, I'm brilliant."

[magicalskeptic.livejournal.com]

Morgana continues to stare him down, in case he comments on the sword again. Of course, he could try to take it, but he would lose and he already has the shoulder injury.

"And if it does not work?" Morgana's convinced he'll still think he's brilliant, and better than her for being the one not carry the sword.

[rude-not-ginger.livejournal.com]

"Well, we'll figure that out if we get there, eh?"

And with that, he aims the launcher up and out of the pit and fires. It soars up high, leaving a trail of rope with it, landing above them with a sickening crunch

He turns to Morgana and grins.

"It worked."

[magicalskeptic.livejournal.com]

Now it is Morgana's turn to be sensible and if it puts a damper on things, so be it.

"Doctor, you are not expecting to climb that with your shoulder wound, are you?" She's trying to sound cross about it, but fails and sounds more concerned.

"And are you sure it will hold?" Now she sounds slightly vexed.

[rude-not-ginger.livejournal.com]

"Yeah, but I'm not expecting it to be particularly pleasant," he says, looking up. He flexes his arm, and then considers the possibility of climbing with only one arm. He can do it, he thinks. He's done far more with far worse injuries.

"I'll go first," he says. "If it'll hold me, Morgana, it's bound to hold you."

And with that, he drops the launcher and grips onto the rope with his good arm and feet and begins to awkwardly climb up.

[magicalskeptic.livejournal.com]

Morgana waits and watches the Doctor as he climbs. Since he can't see her, the facade drops, and she's concerned. She's also quite impressed he's managing to climb at all, although, to be honest, despite his claimed aversion to weapons (she's seen him use a sword so she feels it's a bit hypocritical) she knows he's not weak. Not that she plans on telling him.

She also has no intention of starting her own climb until he has a firm grip on the floor of the shed.

"It may be holding you adequately, but I would not wish to test the both of us," she shouts up, her voice echoing in the cave. While he's climbing, she takes a moment or two to wring a little more water out of her dress. What she does not need making such a climb is all the extra weight of a drenched dress.

[rude-not-ginger.livejournal.com]

"I appreciate that," he says with a few deep breaths. His shoulder burns, and when he tries to pull himself up with it, he ends up losing a little height and gaining a few rather unpleasant rope burns on his palms. Still, he carries on, eventually reaching the top of the floor.

He grips the side and pulls himself up.

"Right," he calls down. "Looks like it's firmly planted in..."

He looks. It's landed squarely in the middle of the machine, seriously damaging the off-switch, but completely failing to turn off the program. The program which is now blinking "WINTER CYCLE".

"Morgana, you need to get up here quickly," he calls.

[magicalskeptic.livejournal.com]

Morgana's staring at the water, which is losing some of it's earlier vibrancy and something the Doctor said at the beginning of this journey registers.

Grabbing the rope -- She climbs, but it's awkward and slow due to all the extra weight of the dress.

She looks down, not because she is afraid of heights, but the water has gone from calm to churning. "Doctor, what is happening?!" She shouts up, and continues to climb, almost three quarters of the way up.

There's a noise -- not quite the sound of a might-be-a-screwdriver but something almost electric. She can't look, and stays focused on the top, when there's another noise and there's a burning pain at her ankle.

Now she does look, there's a scorch mark on her dress, and knows there'll be a slight burn on her ankle.

The rope goes taut, and she sees a creature, something inhuman, in all sense of the word, starting to climb after her.

[rude-not-ginger.livejournal.com]

The Doctor sees it, too. He scurries along the side of the ledge towards the machine.

"I think the machine is working on its last ditch efforts," he says, pulling out his sonic and waving it over the controls. "I might be able to disconnect the laser function from the androids, but I won't be able to hold them all---"

There's a bang at the front door. And another bang at the back. They don't sound like anything remotely friendly.

He hops to the ledge and offers his noninjured arm for Morgana.

[magicalskeptic.livejournal.com]

"So this is real?" It's a superfluous question, as Morgana's been trying to convince herself it is not, without success. Despite the added weight, the soaked dress prevented her skirt from being set aflame, which, Morgana thinks, means things could be worse.

Near the top, she hears the banging on the walls of the shed. Things are definitely worse.

The creature is a faster climber than Morgana so she has to suck up her pride and reach for the Doctor's hand.

[rude-not-ginger.livejournal.com]

The Doctor grips her hand and pulls, simultaneously pushing on the sonic's trigger and setting the rope ablaze just as he pulls her away.

He takes a breath as he catches onto her.

And sucks up his pride.

"Remember when I said we wouldn't need the sword? I think I might've been wrong."

[magicalskeptic.livejournal.com]

There's a splash as whatever it is hits the water.

Now up on the floor, her legs slightly dangling off the edge, Morgana leans into the Doctor in what is almost a hug, but not quite. "Are you admitting I was right?" She says it awfully close to his ear, as her chin is on his uninjured shoulder. Just as the Doctor had difficulty saying he was relieved she was uninjured after the fall, Morgana's having equal difficulty saying thank you.

There's another bang on the wall, and Morgana pulls herself both away from the Doctor, and away from the hole in the floor.

"Can we not shut the machine off before whatever that is comes in here?"

[rude-not-ginger.livejournal.com]

He looks back to the machine. "Default button was damaged by the hook, but I should be able to reroute the dynomasic systems, put up a power phase to knock the whole thing out of whack. Should buy us a bit of time while I work out unwriting the coding."

He slips on his glasses like he's putting on armor.

"I'll need you to keep us alive until then," he says. He wishes he wasn't putting this on her. He wishes he could do it by himself and she could stay somewhere safe. But that's not how it works in his life.

[magicalskeptic.livejournal.com]

Morgana has no idea what the Doctor just said, but there isn't the time for and explanation of the scientific principle, and one of his useful metaphors, so Morgana asks something far more relevant.

"How long do you think you will need?" She's untying her makeshift belt, and takes the sword in one of her hands.

The banging is even louder, and the metal door is clearly being bent inwards.

[rude-not-ginger.livejournal.com]

"Minutes," he says, rubbing his jaw. And, under his breath, he adds: "Maybe quite a few minutes."

He gets to work on the laser removal first. Because if those things are about to attack Morgana, he's not about to let her die in one shot. Easy enough to do. He hops down and begins rerouting power, not unlike rerouting a water system. Simple but tedious.

One thing at a time, Doctor. One thing at a time.

He snaps two cables in place. "They shouldn't be able to fry you, now, Morgana! Just hold them off!"