Post by Hayley (Tonks) on Sept 4, 2006 16:13:34 GMT -5
Prologue
“So where do you want to go this time?” The Doctor asked Rose as he fiddled with the controls of the TARDIS.
“I dunno, you choose.” She was sitting on the floor against the wall playing with her phone with a bored expression on her face.
“How about Barcelona? we never did get to go there.” Muttered the Doctor absentmindedly.
“Naa. I always fancied going somewhere on the coast. You know, like the English Riviera.” Rose said as she stood up and placed her phone back in her pocket. She brightened up slightly at the prospect of actually going somewhere.
“The English Riviera it is then. Why do they call it that?” His eyes glazed over as he went deep into thought. Rose ignored the pointless question and cleared her throat loudly.
“Shall we go then?”
“Oh, yes, sorry.” He started fiddling with the controls again and the time rotor in the centre of the console started moving. After a few moments it stopped and Rose headed for the door.
“And the date is….Twenty fourth of May two thousand and nine.” Came the Doctors voice from behind the console as he consulted the screen.
Rose opened the heavy doors and stepped out into a field overshadowed by a very run down castle.
“Are you sure about that?” She shouted back at the doctor.
Chapter one: Medieval England?
“Yes I’m sure. Why?” He picked up his coat and followed her out of the door. They were standing on the edge of a large field containing what looked like a medieval camp. There were a dozen or so brightly coloured tents doted around the field with people in medieval dress walking around between them. A large area in the centre of the camp had been fenced off and two fully armoured nights were battling it out in front of a small crowd. The Doctor started ambling away from the TARDIS towards the arena, taking in the scenery and muttering as he went.
“It defiantly said 2009 not 1009, I suppose it could have been wrong or…”
Rose rolled her eyes and followed him across the field. She stared as the battling knights clashed swords and caused sparks to fly from the blades when they made contact.
“…that prevents the race from evolving, or it could be some kind of time paradox?” He concluded.
Rose glanced around the field and called after him, “And this isn’t the coast either.”
The Doctor stopped and turned around to look at her “Ah, well, no. you see sometimes the TARDIS has a mind of her own.” He admitted.
“Hasn’t she just.” Rose muttered to herself.
“What was that? Sorry didn’t catch it.” The Doctor said loudly as he turned back towards the arena and started walking again.
“Nothing.” She said hastily.
The Doctor stopped at the edge of the arena in which the knights were battling and watched them for a moment. Rose caught up with him and looked at the people gathered around the arena and noticed a young woman standing across the arena from them warding a maroon medieval dress.
“Is she wearing a watch?” Rose asked from beside the Doctor.
“A what?” He was concentrating on the knights, one of which now had the other in a head lock, swords lying forgotten on the ground. The small audience was laughing loudly at them.
“Yes, she’s wearing a watch!” Rose stated mater-of-factly.
“So she is, I wonder why that is?” Said the Doctor looking over at her. “I think we should talk to her. Come on.” He strode away around the arena towards the woman, Rose was just behind him. He walked up beside the woman and asked “Excuse me, do you have the time please?”
She turned her head to look at him and glanced at her watch.
“Yes, its twenty past eight.” Then she smiled, realising her mistake. She took the watch off and placed it in her handbag..
“Thanks, could you tell me what year it is please?” He asked.
She scowled slightly then smiled again. “Oh, you mean the re-enactment, yes its 1296. But guests aren’t supposed to be here ‘till nine, are they letting you in early?”
“Yeah, something like that” Replied Rose.
“I’m sorry, excuse me. MIKE!” She walked in the direction of a yellow and brown tent and disappeared inside it, Leaving Rose and The Doctor standing there.
“Well she was helpful, wasn’t she?” Mumbled Rose.
“Yes, she was, at least we now know this is just a re-enactment and not something more mysterious.” He turned to face her. “Well now we are here we might as well stay and have a look around. I’m sorry it’s not quite what you expected but we can go to the coast some other time, is that OK?”
“Just fine” she mumbled.
“Great” he beamed “Shall we have a look around then.”
“But we still don’t know where we are.” Stated Rose slightly irritated.
“Oh well, I’m sure we will find out eventually.”
And with that he walked off in the direction of and open fronted tent with a wooden sign stuck into the ground with the word ‘Fortune teller’ painted on.
“Great.” Mumbled Rose and followed him towards the tent.
* * *
Emily awoke from her trance to the sound of a familiar grating, rasping noise. She was sitting on a wooden chair in a medieval tent. The only other furniture in the tent was a small round table in front of her which had a lacy table cloth on. The only object on the table was a pack of cards set neatly in the middle. She stood up, straightened her dress and walked to the gap in the tent which was the door. She watched as two people dressed in modern clothing walked out from between a group of tents and headed for the arena in the centre of the field. The man was wearing a brown pinstriped suit and a long brown overcoat and dirty white converse trainers. The woman was wearing blue jeans and a pink shirt. Emily returned to her seat at the table and sat staring at her hands in her lap for several minuets. After a while she heard voices coming in the direction of her tent.
“What are we going to a fortune teller for? It’s not as if we need one.” Said an irritated woman’s voice.
“We are not going there to get our fortunes told. We are going there because I want to see if she is any good at fortune telling. I’m interested to see if she has any talent. Plus it’s a pretty tent. Don’t you think so?” Said a man’s voice, he sounded cheery despite his companions attitude.
“Yea, so pretty.” Said the girl, her voice heavy with sarcasm.
“Why are you in such a bad mood today?” asked the man irritably.
“We never actually go where we decide to go. We always end up some where completely different.” She said.
“Well that’s what time travel is all about. You never know where you’re really going to end up. And like I said, the TARDIS has a mind of her own.”
As he said these last few words he put his head around the door of the tent and smiled a very large smile. He walked in followed by a grumpy looking young woman. He held out his hand for Emily to shake and said,
“Hello. I’m the Doctor and this is Rose.”
Chapter Two: The Fool and His Journey.
“Hello, my name is Emily. Would you like me to do you a reading?” She was dressed in a very long cream coloured dress with little red details on, Rose thought it looked very pretty if not slightly over the top, but then she supposed that’s what they wore in those days. She never cared much for history before so she knew very little about it.
The Doctor looked at Rose and shrugged.
“Yeah, ok, might as well.” He knelt down in front of the table on an ornate rug that was covering the grass on the floor.
Emily picked up the deck of cards from the table and started to shuffle them; she then handed the pack to the Doctor and said.
“Please shuffle them yourself, when you think they are ready, pass them back to me.”
So the Doctor shuffled the pack several times and handed them back to Emily. Rose wondered what the woman meant by ready but she didn’t want to disturb her concentration so she didn’t ask.
Emily then shuffled the cards again briefly and started to lay them out on the table.
She placed one in the centre of the table with another at ninety Degrees on top of that then one on either side and above and below it to form two crosses, one inside the other. She then laid four cards in a vertical line to the right of the crosses, all of the cards were laid face down.
“This is the Celtic cross reading. Each card represents a different stage in your life. This is your present,” she pointed to the card under the two in the centre. “This is your obstacles ahead,” She pointed to the card on the top of the two, “this is what is above you, your future,” she pointed to the card on the top of the cross, “this is what is beneath you, what is passing out of your life,” she pointed to the card to the bottom, “this is what is behind you, your past” She pointed to the card to the left, “and this is what is before you, a future event.” She pointed to the card to the right. “Then these four tell me your secret fears, your present environment and how others see you, your inner self and hopes and the outcome.” She pointed to the four cards to the far right of the layout, indicating each one from the bottom of the line to the top. “I will turn the cards in order and explain each one to you as I turn them. Please don’t say anything until I have finished the reading, after which you can ask me as many questions as you like about the reading.”
The doctor made himself as comfortable as he could on the floor and nodded, indicating that he understood and was ready for her to begin. She turned the first card over, the one on the bottom of the two in the centre. It had the words THE CHARIOT Written on the bottom and depicted a lavishly dressed man riding on a chariot pulled by two sphinxes; Emily studied the card for a few moments.
“This card tells me you are a traveller; you can not stay in one place for any length of time. However you are experiencing conflict, you must use will power and self control to balance the opposing forces, you must work hard but you also need periods of solitude to think and be productive. Do not be tempted to stray to far from the task at hand, your journey is imperative but you must stay on the right path.” She turned over the next card, the obstacles ahead card on the top of the two. This card read QUEEN of WANDS and depicted a blond woman dressed in a long flowing dress and sitting on a high backed throne. She was also wearing a crown and holding a wand or staff, a black cat was sitting at her feet. “A fair haired lady, a rival to other women, a highly dynamic and independent entity. Often found fascinating” She glanced quickly up at Rose as she said this but quickly returned them to the cards in front of her turning the next one over, the future card. Rose let out a small gasp at this card for it had the word DEATH written on it. The card had a picture of a skeleton dressed as a black night riding a white horse holding a flag with the Tudor rose on it. People were kneeling at the feet of the horse, pleading to the rider.
“This card does not always mean a mortal death; it is also seen as change, the end of an era. You must understand that the old must die so that new life may begin, rebirth is essential for you to do the right things. It takes courage to deal with new challenges, you must always be positive for others around you to also stay positive.”
Emily then turned the fourth card, leaving behind. This card depicted a man with is his back to the reader clasping ten staffs or wands to himself.
“You are leaving behind heavy burdens and many responsibilities, you have many problems you must face and overcome but you must put effort into the solution or they can not be resolved.”
She then turned over the fifth card, the past card. This card was upside down and Rose wondered why this was, had it been a mistake. Emily smiled at this card as she placed it down on the table.
“This card is reversed,” She explained, “A reversed card has a different meaning to one that is the right way up, this card is the eight of swords, it depicts treachery in the past but you have regenerated and grown since then, you have been victorious over your fears.”
The card showed a woman bound and gagged standing in front of ten swords. She had a small smile on her face, despite being tied up. Emily then turned the sixth card, the Doctors near future. This card read judgment, the picture showed an angel figure blowing a horn. Men, women and children were reaching out to her.
“Again regeneration, rejuvenation and renewal. You must however learn to forgive yourself and others before you can move forward and to find what you seek. You will be rewarded for your past efforts.”
Emily paused for a moment before turning the next card, number seven, secret fears. This card showed an old white haired and bearded man, standing in the snow, holding a lantern in his right hand and a staff in his left. “You fear solitude and loneliness, you worry that you will always be a lone, the man without a home. However you must see that the need for withdrawal and sacrifices are needed, quiet contemplation to clear your head and see your way ahead. Everyone has times were they need to be alone, you, however, seek companionship and love over being alone. Solitude, you will soon learn, is inevitable for you. You must embrace this and use it to move on in your life.”
She smiled kindly at the Doctors look of disappointment, it couldn’t be easy for him to accept but he had to, no one lives forever.
The fortune teller looked back at her cards and slowly turned the next one, present life and how other see you. Emily gave a little chuckle at this card for it said THE FOOL.
“The Fool Represents who you truly are, you have a willingness to leap into situations with little thought, rashness and foolhardedness can put you into situations were you, perhaps, would prefer not to be in. You have already started to learn this truth however and have started to be more careful. You must be aware though that your potential for light heartedness can cause problems for you and others, however much they enjoy it.” After turning the next card, inner self and hopes, Emily spoke, “The Lovers. This card shows you have a choice, you are under the influence of cupid, but you must make a decision, a time of speculation and putting to the test. You have the ability to make good choices, but you must use that ability and soon, or you could loose the one you love. There is the possibility of a new romance.” She glanced again at Rose who was looking at the celing, either in embarrassment or just not listening. She Smiled and turned the last card on the table, the outcome. This card Depicted a grey haired person wearing a long black cloak and standing with their back to the reader, five cups lay at the feet of this person, three lay to the left on there side, their contents spilled, the two cups on the right remained standing upright.
“The five of cups, it represents a regret over loss but there is still something there, something remains. It presents new alternatives but also separation and loneliness.
You have a lot of decisions to make my friend, but don’t take them lightly, or you will not succeed. Heed my words and you will prosper and survive, ignore them and you will fail and disappoint the people you love and that love you. Your whole life has been about loss and loneliness, you rely on regeneration to see you through the years, things change however and nothing can last forever, live for the present as well as the past and the future. Put your hearts into what you believe and you will succeed.”
There was a long pause after Emily had finished the reading, the Doctor just knelt there, his big round eyes wide. Rose sighed and put her hand on his shoulder, and he flinched slightly, she didn’t believe in fortune tellers and mystics, she took the whole thing with a pinch of salt, but the Doctor obviously hadn’t.
“Come one Doctor, I think its time to go, we still haven discovered when and were we are yet.” The Doctor was about to stand when Emily spoke again, Rose was waiting for her to say something about payment but she didn’t.
“We are in the year 2009, In the South West of England, Totnes castle to be precise. You must leave now, go back to your ship and think about what I have said to you. But don’t dwell on it, think it over, make your decisions and then move on. Carry on with what you do best. Goodbye Doctor, I expect we shall meet again.”
The Doctor got to his feet looked at Emily said “Thank you.” Very quietly and walked out of the tent with Rose beside him.
“Are you ok Doctor? I hope you didn’t believe all that mumbo jumbo.” The Doctor stopped and stared at Rose.
“That ‘mumbo jumbo’, “said the Doctor heatedly, “could well come true, don’t dismiss the strange until you can prove its not true.” And with that he stalked off towards the TARDIS leaving Rose standing were she was.
“Oh no,” she mumble to herself as she started to follow him, “He believed it.”
The Doctor reached the TARDIS and unlocked it with the little key and slammed the door just as Rose reached it. She pushed it expecting it to open, when it didn’t she started pounding on it and shouting.
“Doctor, open the door, I’m sorry if I offended you. Please, its starting to rain.” And it was, large droplets of water started to fall from the greying sky, almost reflecting the Doctors mood. When the Doctor didn’t respond Rose sat down on the floor in front of the TARDIS in the rain and waited.
By the time he finally unlocked the door fifteen minuets later Rose was drenched through and starting to shiver from the cold. Everyone else had disappeared into there tents to get out of the rain, but she didn’t want to leave her spot in case the Doctor came back out. The door creaked open and the Doctors face appeared in the doorway with a sheepish grin on his face.
“I’m sorry Rose but I needed some space to think.” He opened the door the rest of the way and let her inside. He wrapped his arms around her as she stepped through and got himself wet as well.
“Thanks, don’t suppose you have a towel?” She asked with a smile. He pointed to the two seats situated facing the console, on it was a large fluffy white towel waiting for her. She smiled, picked it up and wrapped it around herself, making her way towards the door that led into the rest of the TARDIS to find some dry clothes. The Doctor took his place back by the console and started pushing buttons, the time rotor once again started to move as they made there way off into space. The Doctor had some things to do, but he still had to decide how to tell Rose what he was up to. He was sure she wasn’t going to like it.
This book features the tenth Doctor (David Tennant) and Rose (Billie Piper) and happens some were between The Christmas Invasion and New Earth.
“So where do you want to go this time?” The Doctor asked Rose as he fiddled with the controls of the TARDIS.
“I dunno, you choose.” She was sitting on the floor against the wall playing with her phone with a bored expression on her face.
“How about Barcelona? we never did get to go there.” Muttered the Doctor absentmindedly.
“Naa. I always fancied going somewhere on the coast. You know, like the English Riviera.” Rose said as she stood up and placed her phone back in her pocket. She brightened up slightly at the prospect of actually going somewhere.
“The English Riviera it is then. Why do they call it that?” His eyes glazed over as he went deep into thought. Rose ignored the pointless question and cleared her throat loudly.
“Shall we go then?”
“Oh, yes, sorry.” He started fiddling with the controls again and the time rotor in the centre of the console started moving. After a few moments it stopped and Rose headed for the door.
“And the date is….Twenty fourth of May two thousand and nine.” Came the Doctors voice from behind the console as he consulted the screen.
Rose opened the heavy doors and stepped out into a field overshadowed by a very run down castle.
“Are you sure about that?” She shouted back at the doctor.
Chapter one: Medieval England?
“Yes I’m sure. Why?” He picked up his coat and followed her out of the door. They were standing on the edge of a large field containing what looked like a medieval camp. There were a dozen or so brightly coloured tents doted around the field with people in medieval dress walking around between them. A large area in the centre of the camp had been fenced off and two fully armoured nights were battling it out in front of a small crowd. The Doctor started ambling away from the TARDIS towards the arena, taking in the scenery and muttering as he went.
“It defiantly said 2009 not 1009, I suppose it could have been wrong or…”
Rose rolled her eyes and followed him across the field. She stared as the battling knights clashed swords and caused sparks to fly from the blades when they made contact.
“…that prevents the race from evolving, or it could be some kind of time paradox?” He concluded.
Rose glanced around the field and called after him, “And this isn’t the coast either.”
The Doctor stopped and turned around to look at her “Ah, well, no. you see sometimes the TARDIS has a mind of her own.” He admitted.
“Hasn’t she just.” Rose muttered to herself.
“What was that? Sorry didn’t catch it.” The Doctor said loudly as he turned back towards the arena and started walking again.
“Nothing.” She said hastily.
The Doctor stopped at the edge of the arena in which the knights were battling and watched them for a moment. Rose caught up with him and looked at the people gathered around the arena and noticed a young woman standing across the arena from them warding a maroon medieval dress.
“Is she wearing a watch?” Rose asked from beside the Doctor.
“A what?” He was concentrating on the knights, one of which now had the other in a head lock, swords lying forgotten on the ground. The small audience was laughing loudly at them.
“Yes, she’s wearing a watch!” Rose stated mater-of-factly.
“So she is, I wonder why that is?” Said the Doctor looking over at her. “I think we should talk to her. Come on.” He strode away around the arena towards the woman, Rose was just behind him. He walked up beside the woman and asked “Excuse me, do you have the time please?”
She turned her head to look at him and glanced at her watch.
“Yes, its twenty past eight.” Then she smiled, realising her mistake. She took the watch off and placed it in her handbag..
“Thanks, could you tell me what year it is please?” He asked.
She scowled slightly then smiled again. “Oh, you mean the re-enactment, yes its 1296. But guests aren’t supposed to be here ‘till nine, are they letting you in early?”
“Yeah, something like that” Replied Rose.
“I’m sorry, excuse me. MIKE!” She walked in the direction of a yellow and brown tent and disappeared inside it, Leaving Rose and The Doctor standing there.
“Well she was helpful, wasn’t she?” Mumbled Rose.
“Yes, she was, at least we now know this is just a re-enactment and not something more mysterious.” He turned to face her. “Well now we are here we might as well stay and have a look around. I’m sorry it’s not quite what you expected but we can go to the coast some other time, is that OK?”
“Just fine” she mumbled.
“Great” he beamed “Shall we have a look around then.”
“But we still don’t know where we are.” Stated Rose slightly irritated.
“Oh well, I’m sure we will find out eventually.”
And with that he walked off in the direction of and open fronted tent with a wooden sign stuck into the ground with the word ‘Fortune teller’ painted on.
“Great.” Mumbled Rose and followed him towards the tent.
* * *
Emily awoke from her trance to the sound of a familiar grating, rasping noise. She was sitting on a wooden chair in a medieval tent. The only other furniture in the tent was a small round table in front of her which had a lacy table cloth on. The only object on the table was a pack of cards set neatly in the middle. She stood up, straightened her dress and walked to the gap in the tent which was the door. She watched as two people dressed in modern clothing walked out from between a group of tents and headed for the arena in the centre of the field. The man was wearing a brown pinstriped suit and a long brown overcoat and dirty white converse trainers. The woman was wearing blue jeans and a pink shirt. Emily returned to her seat at the table and sat staring at her hands in her lap for several minuets. After a while she heard voices coming in the direction of her tent.
“What are we going to a fortune teller for? It’s not as if we need one.” Said an irritated woman’s voice.
“We are not going there to get our fortunes told. We are going there because I want to see if she is any good at fortune telling. I’m interested to see if she has any talent. Plus it’s a pretty tent. Don’t you think so?” Said a man’s voice, he sounded cheery despite his companions attitude.
“Yea, so pretty.” Said the girl, her voice heavy with sarcasm.
“Why are you in such a bad mood today?” asked the man irritably.
“We never actually go where we decide to go. We always end up some where completely different.” She said.
“Well that’s what time travel is all about. You never know where you’re really going to end up. And like I said, the TARDIS has a mind of her own.”
As he said these last few words he put his head around the door of the tent and smiled a very large smile. He walked in followed by a grumpy looking young woman. He held out his hand for Emily to shake and said,
“Hello. I’m the Doctor and this is Rose.”
Chapter Two: The Fool and His Journey.
“Hello, my name is Emily. Would you like me to do you a reading?” She was dressed in a very long cream coloured dress with little red details on, Rose thought it looked very pretty if not slightly over the top, but then she supposed that’s what they wore in those days. She never cared much for history before so she knew very little about it.
The Doctor looked at Rose and shrugged.
“Yeah, ok, might as well.” He knelt down in front of the table on an ornate rug that was covering the grass on the floor.
Emily picked up the deck of cards from the table and started to shuffle them; she then handed the pack to the Doctor and said.
“Please shuffle them yourself, when you think they are ready, pass them back to me.”
So the Doctor shuffled the pack several times and handed them back to Emily. Rose wondered what the woman meant by ready but she didn’t want to disturb her concentration so she didn’t ask.
Emily then shuffled the cards again briefly and started to lay them out on the table.
She placed one in the centre of the table with another at ninety Degrees on top of that then one on either side and above and below it to form two crosses, one inside the other. She then laid four cards in a vertical line to the right of the crosses, all of the cards were laid face down.
“This is the Celtic cross reading. Each card represents a different stage in your life. This is your present,” she pointed to the card under the two in the centre. “This is your obstacles ahead,” She pointed to the card on the top of the two, “this is what is above you, your future,” she pointed to the card on the top of the cross, “this is what is beneath you, what is passing out of your life,” she pointed to the card to the bottom, “this is what is behind you, your past” She pointed to the card to the left, “and this is what is before you, a future event.” She pointed to the card to the right. “Then these four tell me your secret fears, your present environment and how others see you, your inner self and hopes and the outcome.” She pointed to the four cards to the far right of the layout, indicating each one from the bottom of the line to the top. “I will turn the cards in order and explain each one to you as I turn them. Please don’t say anything until I have finished the reading, after which you can ask me as many questions as you like about the reading.”
The doctor made himself as comfortable as he could on the floor and nodded, indicating that he understood and was ready for her to begin. She turned the first card over, the one on the bottom of the two in the centre. It had the words THE CHARIOT Written on the bottom and depicted a lavishly dressed man riding on a chariot pulled by two sphinxes; Emily studied the card for a few moments.
“This card tells me you are a traveller; you can not stay in one place for any length of time. However you are experiencing conflict, you must use will power and self control to balance the opposing forces, you must work hard but you also need periods of solitude to think and be productive. Do not be tempted to stray to far from the task at hand, your journey is imperative but you must stay on the right path.” She turned over the next card, the obstacles ahead card on the top of the two. This card read QUEEN of WANDS and depicted a blond woman dressed in a long flowing dress and sitting on a high backed throne. She was also wearing a crown and holding a wand or staff, a black cat was sitting at her feet. “A fair haired lady, a rival to other women, a highly dynamic and independent entity. Often found fascinating” She glanced quickly up at Rose as she said this but quickly returned them to the cards in front of her turning the next one over, the future card. Rose let out a small gasp at this card for it had the word DEATH written on it. The card had a picture of a skeleton dressed as a black night riding a white horse holding a flag with the Tudor rose on it. People were kneeling at the feet of the horse, pleading to the rider.
“This card does not always mean a mortal death; it is also seen as change, the end of an era. You must understand that the old must die so that new life may begin, rebirth is essential for you to do the right things. It takes courage to deal with new challenges, you must always be positive for others around you to also stay positive.”
Emily then turned the fourth card, leaving behind. This card depicted a man with is his back to the reader clasping ten staffs or wands to himself.
“You are leaving behind heavy burdens and many responsibilities, you have many problems you must face and overcome but you must put effort into the solution or they can not be resolved.”
She then turned over the fifth card, the past card. This card was upside down and Rose wondered why this was, had it been a mistake. Emily smiled at this card as she placed it down on the table.
“This card is reversed,” She explained, “A reversed card has a different meaning to one that is the right way up, this card is the eight of swords, it depicts treachery in the past but you have regenerated and grown since then, you have been victorious over your fears.”
The card showed a woman bound and gagged standing in front of ten swords. She had a small smile on her face, despite being tied up. Emily then turned the sixth card, the Doctors near future. This card read judgment, the picture showed an angel figure blowing a horn. Men, women and children were reaching out to her.
“Again regeneration, rejuvenation and renewal. You must however learn to forgive yourself and others before you can move forward and to find what you seek. You will be rewarded for your past efforts.”
Emily paused for a moment before turning the next card, number seven, secret fears. This card showed an old white haired and bearded man, standing in the snow, holding a lantern in his right hand and a staff in his left. “You fear solitude and loneliness, you worry that you will always be a lone, the man without a home. However you must see that the need for withdrawal and sacrifices are needed, quiet contemplation to clear your head and see your way ahead. Everyone has times were they need to be alone, you, however, seek companionship and love over being alone. Solitude, you will soon learn, is inevitable for you. You must embrace this and use it to move on in your life.”
She smiled kindly at the Doctors look of disappointment, it couldn’t be easy for him to accept but he had to, no one lives forever.
The fortune teller looked back at her cards and slowly turned the next one, present life and how other see you. Emily gave a little chuckle at this card for it said THE FOOL.
“The Fool Represents who you truly are, you have a willingness to leap into situations with little thought, rashness and foolhardedness can put you into situations were you, perhaps, would prefer not to be in. You have already started to learn this truth however and have started to be more careful. You must be aware though that your potential for light heartedness can cause problems for you and others, however much they enjoy it.” After turning the next card, inner self and hopes, Emily spoke, “The Lovers. This card shows you have a choice, you are under the influence of cupid, but you must make a decision, a time of speculation and putting to the test. You have the ability to make good choices, but you must use that ability and soon, or you could loose the one you love. There is the possibility of a new romance.” She glanced again at Rose who was looking at the celing, either in embarrassment or just not listening. She Smiled and turned the last card on the table, the outcome. This card Depicted a grey haired person wearing a long black cloak and standing with their back to the reader, five cups lay at the feet of this person, three lay to the left on there side, their contents spilled, the two cups on the right remained standing upright.
“The five of cups, it represents a regret over loss but there is still something there, something remains. It presents new alternatives but also separation and loneliness.
You have a lot of decisions to make my friend, but don’t take them lightly, or you will not succeed. Heed my words and you will prosper and survive, ignore them and you will fail and disappoint the people you love and that love you. Your whole life has been about loss and loneliness, you rely on regeneration to see you through the years, things change however and nothing can last forever, live for the present as well as the past and the future. Put your hearts into what you believe and you will succeed.”
There was a long pause after Emily had finished the reading, the Doctor just knelt there, his big round eyes wide. Rose sighed and put her hand on his shoulder, and he flinched slightly, she didn’t believe in fortune tellers and mystics, she took the whole thing with a pinch of salt, but the Doctor obviously hadn’t.
“Come one Doctor, I think its time to go, we still haven discovered when and were we are yet.” The Doctor was about to stand when Emily spoke again, Rose was waiting for her to say something about payment but she didn’t.
“We are in the year 2009, In the South West of England, Totnes castle to be precise. You must leave now, go back to your ship and think about what I have said to you. But don’t dwell on it, think it over, make your decisions and then move on. Carry on with what you do best. Goodbye Doctor, I expect we shall meet again.”
The Doctor got to his feet looked at Emily said “Thank you.” Very quietly and walked out of the tent with Rose beside him.
“Are you ok Doctor? I hope you didn’t believe all that mumbo jumbo.” The Doctor stopped and stared at Rose.
“That ‘mumbo jumbo’, “said the Doctor heatedly, “could well come true, don’t dismiss the strange until you can prove its not true.” And with that he stalked off towards the TARDIS leaving Rose standing were she was.
“Oh no,” she mumble to herself as she started to follow him, “He believed it.”
The Doctor reached the TARDIS and unlocked it with the little key and slammed the door just as Rose reached it. She pushed it expecting it to open, when it didn’t she started pounding on it and shouting.
“Doctor, open the door, I’m sorry if I offended you. Please, its starting to rain.” And it was, large droplets of water started to fall from the greying sky, almost reflecting the Doctors mood. When the Doctor didn’t respond Rose sat down on the floor in front of the TARDIS in the rain and waited.
By the time he finally unlocked the door fifteen minuets later Rose was drenched through and starting to shiver from the cold. Everyone else had disappeared into there tents to get out of the rain, but she didn’t want to leave her spot in case the Doctor came back out. The door creaked open and the Doctors face appeared in the doorway with a sheepish grin on his face.
“I’m sorry Rose but I needed some space to think.” He opened the door the rest of the way and let her inside. He wrapped his arms around her as she stepped through and got himself wet as well.
“Thanks, don’t suppose you have a towel?” She asked with a smile. He pointed to the two seats situated facing the console, on it was a large fluffy white towel waiting for her. She smiled, picked it up and wrapped it around herself, making her way towards the door that led into the rest of the TARDIS to find some dry clothes. The Doctor took his place back by the console and started pushing buttons, the time rotor once again started to move as they made there way off into space. The Doctor had some things to do, but he still had to decide how to tell Rose what he was up to. He was sure she wasn’t going to like it.
This book features the tenth Doctor (David Tennant) and Rose (Billie Piper) and happens some were between The Christmas Invasion and New Earth.
