The Second Half of the Sky

Chapter 9

When I exited the TARDIS, I was in immediate awe of the scenery.  Shedding trees decorated the place, leaves covered every square foot in sight.  I stepped out of the TARDIS, leaves crackled underneath my weight.

"Where are we?" I asked as the Doctor came out of the TARDIS.

"Honestly, I'm not sure," he answered as he walked up to a tree.

Jade walked to my side and gazed at the autumn landscape.  "What do you think this place would look like if it was set on fire?" she wondered.

My eyes widened and I turned my head to look at her.  "How could you look out at a work of nature and automatically wonder what it would look like destroyed?"

"You should know me by now," she smiled before joining the Doctor in observing the trees.

I stared after her, wondering what was interesting about the trees.

An arm snaked around my shoulders, I turned to see that Leo put his arm around me.  "It's almost as beautiful as you," he commented as he stared out at the landscape.

"It'd be an insult if I wasn't prettier than a bunch of dying trees," I remarked before pushing his arm off.  "Besides, don't you remember?  I'm dating Connor, keep your arm to yourself."

He bit his lip as he crossed his arms.  He looked down at the ground.  "Where I'm from, we're dating."

"Maybe you crossed dimensions or something because everything is going great," I suggested.  "I'm loyal, don't try to change that," I warned him as I stomped off to where the Doctor, Jade, and Cole were.

I caught up to them under a tree, they were staring up at the branches and whispered to each other.  I joined them and looked up with them.

A teenage girl slept on one of the branches as though it were a bed.  Her long auburn hair hung down like Rapunzel's, it had a few leaves caught up in it.  She rested in a long brown dress that reached her ankles.

"Should we wake her up?" Jade whispered to the Doctor.

"She seems to be the only local around," he said.  "She might be able to explain the trees."

"What?" I interrupted.  "What's wrong with the trees?"

The Doctor turned to me, finally noticing my existence.  I directed my vision to some neighboring trees.  "Do you notice anything?" he asked.

"No," I said.  "They're just trees."

"Look at the branches.  Really look at them," he urged.

I squinted at them, but I couldn't find anything wrong with them.  "I give up."

"Those trees are the same.  Look at the branches, they go the same direction, same size, it's like they're replicas," he explained.

I squinted at them again, finding that he was indeed correct.  "Why are they so alike?" I asked.

"I don't know," he admitted before turning to the sleeping girl.  "But she might."