The Dragon Awakes: Doctor Who AU

Chapter 5

Angel moved over to Rose slowly, having secured her staff back on her jeans.
"Rose, its me, its Angel." She sighed gently. "I never expected you to ever see me like this, either of you. As you can clearly see, I'm not human. Draconis Occidentalis is what my kind are called, or as you know it, Dragon. I am a Dragon." Her wings lowered slowly, going back into the pouches on her back. Her scales slowly disappeared, but her claws stayed, along with the golden color of her eyes. "I'm still me Rose, I'm still Angel, your best friend."
Rose had so many thoughts and questions running through her head that she couldn't think of anything to say, but she unconsciously backed another few steps away until she felt the Doctor's warm hand on the small of her back. For once, he stayed completely silent. A few stray tears trickled their way down her face, and Rose ran her gaze over her best friend, eying her claws and her golden eyes. She worked to not start crying; a lump grew in her throat.

"Why didn't you tell me?" she managed to ask, arms unconsciously crossed over her chest. Rose wasn't angry; more hurt than anything else. "Whatever you are... you had to wait for me to find out like that?" she gestured to the tree Angel had been thrown against. "It had to get to the point when I thought you'd been killed?" More tears came down but Rose didn't care anymore.
Angel sighed gently, pulling Rose into a hug, not letting go even when she started to struggle.
"I didn't tell you because I thought if you saw me, the real me, you would run in the opposite direction. I'm sorry you had to find out this way, I really am Rose." She let her go, running her fingers across her eyes gently, wiping her tears. "I will understand if you don't want to be my friend anymore."

She stepped back from Rose, letting her decide.
"Don't be daft." Rose sniffed and swiped away the last of her tears. "Of course I still want to be your friend. Jus' cause you're a bit different doesn't mean I'm runnin' for the hills." A small smile crept onto her lips.
The Doctor puzzled over the whole scenario.
"Well I've gotta hand it to you Angel, you had me goin' there too," he admitted with a grin. "Draconis Occidentalis! Never would've picked it, 'specially since you picked jumpin' off a bridge out of all the ways to go." He gave her a one armed hug around the shoulders. "Glad you're alright though. Could've definitely given us a bit of warning!" he teased.
Angel looked up at the Doctor, chuckling.
"Only thing I could think of was to jump. I didn't tell you because I didn't want you thinking me a freak. I've not transformed like that in years, last time I did I was just a little girl." She looked to Rose. "You still trust me?"

Rose nodded hesitantly. "Yeah... just.. give me a bit to wrap my head around all this," she said. "How come you're not changed back though? I mean, your eyes are still... and your... um..." she trailed off and held up her hands, wiggling her fingers, eying Angel's hands nervously. Rose started to put more of the pieces together. "That spear... that was what was making your bag so heavy," she stated. "The metal sounds... am I right?"
Angel nodded. "Yes, that's one reason why." She winked at her, she was so secretive. "My eyes and claws take a bit longer to change back. I promise I wont hurt you Rose." She looked to the Doctor. "There's a village not to far from here if we're staying. I can smell food."

The Doctor grinned. "Sounds good to me, I'm starving." He shoved his hands in his pockets and started walking in the direction Angel had gestured.
"Hold on a sec, are we not gonna talk about the massive alien that jus' tried to eat us?" Rose exclaimed, grabbing his arm and looking back and forth between Angel and the Doctor. "Have you two been here before or something because you seem to know a bit more than you're both letting on," she said, trying to keep her voice steady. Rose was starting to feel frustrated and... well, human. Like she was just a child, getting in the way, and she wasn't enjoying it.
Angel turned to Rose.
"I haven't been here before, as for the Doctor, I don't know. Come on, we can talk about this as we walk to the village." She smiled to Rose, walking with her. "I'm not sure what kind of alien that is, all I know, is that you and The Doctor where in danger and I couldn't watch you two be killed." The wind picked up some as they walked through the field. She plucked a flower and placed it Rose's hair gently.
They moved towards a large village, there was a fair going on. "Oh wow, look at all this."

The Doctor snorted.
"Hey, gimme some credit. I would've noticed that great blundering thing a second after you if you hadn't yelled out like we were about to be bombed," he defended, chuckling. He nudged Rose gently with his elbow. "Come on then, cheer up. No point moping. Coulda been a lot worse; we've been in worse scrapes before, haven't we?" he reminded her, and Rose looked at him reluctantly. She pulled the flower from her hair, smelling it and twirling it in her fingers. She sighed; her mood had been pretty much shot down, but she put on a smile for the Doctor, and for Angel.
"Yeah, I guess." They walked through the fair, and Rose marveled at how similar to Earth it was.
Angel smiled to Rose, walking through the village, seeing all kinds of booths and all kinds foods and clothing.
"Welcome welcome travelers, you have come a miraculous time, we have just celebrated the time of fertility. We are grateful you are here." Angel smiled.
"Wow, this is really cool, perfect timing Doc." She smiled to Rose. "How cool is this Rose!"
"Pretty cool," Rose replied with a smile of her own, ducking around the acrobats dancing through the street.

The three of them were surrounded by the crowd, and Rose quickly linked hands with the Doctor to avoid getting separated. Her heart lifted when he gave it a squeeze, and he pulled her and Angel over to one of the stalls offering free testers of what looked like toffee.
Angel was pulled over to the booth, seeing the candy. She picked one up, tossing it to Rose before getting her own. She unwrapped it, popping it in her mouth, her eyes widening, oh that was good. She asked the vender how much the candy was.
"For you little lady, five silver pieces."
Rose caught the treat, unwrapped it, and placed it in her mouth, savouring the sweet taste. She cast her eyes around as Angel chatted with the street vendor.
"You alright?" The northern accent in her ear startled her and she jumped. Rose looked up at the Doctor and nodded.
"Yeah, course." She shrugged. "Best friend's a dragon, other best friend's a Time Lord. You'd think I'd be used to this by now."

The Doctor didn't quite know how to respond, and was distracted when Angel poked him in the shoulder, holding out a piece of toffee.
Angel smiled, holding up a big bag of toffee she had bought.
"Lets see what else is around here." She walked with them, smiling.
What neither of them knew was that they were being watched. A male in a dark cloak watched them from a village rooftop.
'They are here my master, the ones the prophecy spoke about, the man and the two women.'
'Good, very good, keep an eye on them.'

The Doctor, Angel and Rose walked down the street when a couple kids pushed past them in a hurry to get somewhere. Angel shook her head gently as another child ran by, but tripped and fell. Angel knelt down, helping her up, giving her a piece of candy before patting her on the head and she scampered off.
The man atop the roof watched and when he saw Angel's eyes, his widened.
'Master, one of the women the prophecy spoke about, is a dragon!'
'Are you sure!?'
'Yes master, her eyes, they're golden.' The male laughed evilly before speaking again. 'Oh the Goddess be praised, this is to good to be true. Watch them very very closely, am I clear!'
'Yes master.'
The three of them strolled leisurely through the crowded streets, munching on toffee.

"So how long as this place been he- Oomph!" She stopped as another kid ran straight into her legs and fell back. "You alright, mate?" she asked kindly, giving him a hand up. His eyes widened when she spoke to him, and even more so when he saw Angel; he scrambled away and ran off into the crowd. "That was weird..." Rose mused. She bit her lip in thought, watching the children run around. The littler ones had happy little grins plastered on their faces, but the older ones hung back at the edges of shops and the streets, their eyes wide and frightened. "Look at them, they're all terrified of something," Rose said, nudging both her companions and gesturing to the kids.

Angel nodded, she noticed it too, and she had a feeling why they were afraid of her. She swallowed gently, moving with Rose and the Doctor down the street, trying to keep her eyes hidden the best she could. She searched her pockets and pulled out a pair of sunglasses, putting them on. There was a play going on in the large amphitheater, Angel, Rose and the Doctor moved inside, taking seats, watching.
A few more dark hooded figures stood in the shadows, watching the trio closely, one watching Angel's every move. She laughed at the comedic play, it was funny. She nudged Rose playfully, smirking at her, making a funny face.
Rose chuckled at the faces Angel was making while the Doctor guffawed loudly at the play along with the rest of the crowd.
"This is fantastic!" he exclaimed, a grin on his face as he eagerly watched the play unfold.

Rose wasn't watching the play; rather, watching the people instead. They were more interesting to her anyway. She saw the delight on all their faces, then as one the whole amphitheaters' expression changed to surprise as the play took an unexpected turn. She gazed around; a group of hooded men caught her eye out of the corner of her vision. She stared for a minute, then quickly looked away when she felt a tingle at the back of her neck.
Angel watched the play, laughing. She saw the hooded figures out of the corner of her eye, she knew they where watching them, it wasn't hard to see. She kept an eye on the play, unwrapping a piece of toffee, popping it in her mouth as one of the players was hit on the head with a breakaway vase, being "knocked out."
Rose shifted closer to Angel, keeping her eyes on the play.
"You can see them, right?" she murmured, hoping Angel would hear. The Doctor shot her a curious glance; he had heard her. She waved a hand, shrugging nonchalantly, shooting him a look in turn that said Leave it, I'll explain later.

He grinned, but it didn't reach his eyes; he knew something was up but he trusted Rose so he turned back to the play. Rose turned her attention back to Angel, trying her best to be subtle. "Ange?"
"Yes, I can see them Rose, they're watching us. There are four males and two females. Keep your eyes on the play, don't draw attention to yourself." She whispered. Angel could smell everyone in the amphitheater, but the ones that stood out where the ones in the hood, they smelled…..different. The play ended, everyone stood, clapping and cheering as the players bowed.
Angel, Rose and The Doctor stood, clapping, the hooded figures moved in slowly toward them, Angel moving her hand under her duster, unhooking her staff slowly. They circled Angel, Rose and The Doctor, Angel pushing Rose behind her.