Doctor Who: The Adventures of The 14th Doctor

Skinwalkers (Part 4)

The piercing crow of a rooster woke the Doctor. Odd....

"Good morning Doctor!" Nimona greeted warmly as the Doctor made his way downstairs to the dining room. "Your breakfast is waiting for you on the table, I hope you like your eggs scrambled." Nimona said as she poured him a glass of milk.

"Thank you Nimona, have you seen Larn?"

"She went outside to meet the animals." Nimona replied as the Doctor took his seat. "That's strange, we could have sworn that this place was deserted." They hadn't heard anything, no chickens clucking, no cows mooing, not even a dog barking.

"You must have been dehydrated Doctor. Dehydration puts awful strain of your body, I'll go get you some water."

The Doctor found Larn outside feeding the chickens. "I see you've made some new friends." The Doctor chuckled as the hens and chicks swarmed around Larn, as if to thank her for their breakfast.

"They're wonderful." Larn smiled as she stroked a tallow chick on its fuzzy head.

The sound of a cow mooing made Larn rise to her feet, she gently shooed the hens and chicks away. "I'm gonna milk the cows now."

"She's got cows too?" The Doctor asked, surprised.

"Yeah, I saw them a little bit ago, it's nice to see a cow that hasn't been mutilated." Larn picked up a metal bucket and headed to the barn.

"Strange." The Doctor muttered as he whipped out his sonic. He had been fiddling with it almost nonstop, trying to get the blasted thing to work.

"Blast it! I wonder if Larn's sonic works?" The Doctor went to the barn where he found Larn milking one of the dairy cows. "Flower, may I borrow your sonic for a bit? Mine doesn't seem to be working..."

Larn pointed to the metal contraption sitting on a workbench. "Take it." She replied, her voice devoid of emotion, which was quite worrying.

The Doctor examined the buttons on Larn's sonic and pressed one. Nothing happened.

"Well, I guess we'll just have to go sonicless while we're here." The Doctor sighed as Larn moved to the next cow.

The Doctor left Larn to her task, pocketing her sonic. He would hang onto until she was ready for it again. He decided to walk around the property, see what else he might have missed due to his "dehydration".

There was a old Clydesdale with chestnut brown fur and a black mane, he found the pesky rooster that woke him up, but other than that, the place was indeed deserted.

The Doctor made his way back to the farm house and found Nimona knitting on the porch with Larn, who was drinking a glass of lemonade.

"Have a nice walk Doctor?" Nimona said as she poured him a glass. As the Doctor nodded Nimona continued, "Larn did a splendid job with the milking." Larn grinned at Nimona's praise.

"I noticed that the barn has several holes in the roof, I could take care of those for you Nimona." The Doctor offered.

"Oh Doctor, you don't need to worry about such things. I can always go into town and hire someone..."

"I insist, it's the least I can do to repay your hospitality."

"Very well Doctor, but it can wait until tomorrow."

The Doctor sat on the porch, enjoying the cool night breeze. Larn was helping Nimona with the dishes. Larn had been acting withdrawn but when she was with Nimona, it was like night and day.

"Oh Larn...." The Doctor was trying to figure out how to help his daughter when he saw a blue orb floating towards the farm house.

It was giving off a nauseating feeling, making the Doctor want to wretch, but he fought the urge and whipped out his sonic. "This house is under my protection, so I suggest you leave." He hoped that his bluff would be enough to spook the mysterious entity.

The orb came closer and the Doctor's stomach twisted. "I said be gone, I am the Doctor and I—" The farm house door creaked open and Larn popped her head out. "Hey Dad, you okay out here?"

The Doctor blinked, and the orb was gone. The Doctor sighed with relief, "Y-Yes, I'm fine, Larn, be in a minute."

As Larn shut the door, The Doctor turned his gaze back to where the orb had been.

"What have you gotten yourself into now old boy?" The Doctor murmured to himself.