Wanderer of Time: Silence Begins (doctor who)

Chapter 5: Moon Walk

Warning: Mentioning of blood, scars and tortue within this chapter.

XxXxXxXx

The Doctor turned away after that, beginning to pace some more. River continued on working with the astronaut suit, not liking what the Doctor had said. It made her queasy at the thought of Wanda being as 'unstable' as the Doctor seemed to think the Time Lady was. River could never believe it. Wanda was good, kind, and always loving. She could never see Wanda being hateful or full of anger as the Doctor could be at times. Unless, of course, a child was threatened. Then Wanda would become very furious towards the ones who dared hurt the innocent. But to River, that was understandable. She felt very much the same way at times. Especially with what she went through in her past.

Rory, who had been standing off to the side all this time and holding tightly onto the now silent nanorecorder, looked up to the Doctor. While listening in to the Doctor's words, there had been one specific question on the Roman's mind since Amy had been gone.

"Doctor, why didn't she tell us this was going to happen? Why didn't Wanda stop Amy from being taken?" Rory asked him, feeling somewhat hurt that the Time Lady would just let something like this happen. Something like Lake Silencio to happen.

"There's something about Wanda you must know: She can't tell us everything," the Doctor explained, waving his hands while talking. "There are some things she can say, and other things she can't. There are strict guidelines and rules to which she must follow." Rory frowned, not entirely understanding what the Doctor meant by this.

"Why is that? Can't she just tell us and save us the trouble?" asked Rory.

"No, it's too dangerous to let us know everything," the Doctor replied, shaking his head slightly.

"And why is that, exactly? Is it really going to matter if we know how to stop these things from happening?"

The Doctor walked up to the man, trying to explain carefully so Rory would understand. "It's like this. You know about the theory of the butterfly effect, yes?"

Rory raised a brow. "Yeah."

"Well, it's very much real. Every single little change and choice that we make, every single little detail in our own timeline, can make the biggest impact. All those fine details are carefully constructed into our time stream with a vast mountain of branches interweaving in between and out between all other timelines. All interconnecting into a vast network through all of time and space." The Doctor paused some, looking off distantly with forlorn eyes.

"And she can see them. She can see them all," the Doctor spoke softly, watching how both Rory and River looked at him in awe to the very idea.

"But I thought she could only see your timeline," River stated, clearly confused. "How can she see all the rest?"

"Spoilers," breathed the Doctor.

"But what does that have to do with her not telling us?" asked Rory, still feeling awed that Wanda could even possibly hold all of that vast knowledge within her mind. It seemed impossible and unimaginable to him.

"If she lets slip the wrong detail, the tiniest piece of information that we cannot know or act upon, then it can bring down everything. A domino effect of sorts. All of our timelines could come crashing down in an instant," stated the Doctor. He clasped his hands, feeling uneasy by the very thought. "Those are choices she must make. She must pick and choose with precision on what to say, do, or act. At all times. She knows what effects will come otherwise." He paused for a moment, reflecting sorrowfully on this. "It's all very maddening if you think about it."

"Has that ever happened? Her . . . letting the wrong information slip or something?" asked Rory.

"No, not yet. But I've seen in her mind what could happen if she ever did," explained the Doctor. He winced, remembering the terrible consequences of what had occurred. For both what Wanda had seen, and what followed after she showed him. "And trust me, it's not pretty."