All of Space and Time ~ 13th Doctor Short Stories

With You (3/5)

Trees splintered and plants were uprooted as the two ran hand in hand, the Doctor too fearful of losing her new companion to even loosen her grip.

"Quick, up here!" The Doctor gestured for Yaz to climb up a tall, leafy tree. It had thick vines trailing down the trunk, a useful tool for an easy way up.

Yaz put her police force training to use, wasting no time and scaling the tree almost effortlessly. The Doctor watched as she began to climb, taken aback by how quickly she was able to move.

She soon snapped out of her trance though, when a thunderously loud roar nearly knocked her off her feet.

Grabbing onto a vine, the woman climbed up with impressive speed, as quick as her shorter legs would take her. She caught up with Yaz in no time, who was catching her breath on a thick horizontal branch.

"Nice one," the Doctor exclaimed, jumping onto the branch with her.
"You were so fast back there that I almost forgot what I was doing!"

Yaz smirked, "Oh, watching me climb were you?"

The Doctor frowned, suddenly realising what she had said and tried to protest, "I didn't mean it like that!"

The girl laughed and nudged the Doctor playfully in the ribs in return.
"I was only joking," she responded, causing the older woman to sigh.

From this level, it was easier to get a full view of the beast that was chasing them down. Yaz and the Doctor stayed quiet, backs against the trunk of the tree, praying that the dino would just give up and move on to something else.

When it had finally moved on, and the Doctor had deemed it safe to do so, the two began to climb down.

"What was that thing?" Yaz asked as she jumped the last foot down the tree.

The Doctor followed her lead and they were quickly stood face to face.
"You're the dinosaur expert, did you not recognise it from your books?"

Yaz frowned at the woman's words.
"How did you know about my dinosaur books?"

"Err..." the Doctor scratched the back of her neck.
"Remember when I came for tea at yours? Well, I got a bit bored of Ryan and Graham's chatting and looked around your house."

Yaz raised an eyebrow, "oh yeah? Snooping around were you?"

The Doctor laughed, looking somewhat embarrassed about her slip up.
"I guess so, yeah... is that bad?"

"I guess I can forgive you," Yaz laughed, "But don't come into my room next time unless you're invited."

The Doctor went quiet for a moment before laughing at the connotation and Yaz rolled her eyes, turning away in embarrassment at her own comment.

She was about to make a joke at the Doctor's expense when she heard the woman inhale sharply.
"Yaz, move slowly. Get behind me."

Cautiously, the girl turned back towards the Doctor, dreading what she might find.

The blonde was face to face with a dinosaur, roughly the same height as her but with the addition of its tail, three times as long.

"Ah, hiya..." she breathed, "good dinosaur..."

The Doctor outstretched her hand, her palm facing the creature, and inched closer to its face.
"What are you doing?!" Yaz whispered through her teeth, "It'll kill you!"

"Good boy..." the woman soothed, edging closer still, ignoring Yaz's worried remark.

"He's hurt," the Doctor pointed out, drawing Yaz's attention to a deep wound on the creatures side. She pushed her forehead against the creatures, stroking underneath it's chin.

The dark haired girl stepped from behind the Doctor, her fear for the dinosaur now replaced with sympathy.
"That's a nasty cut... Can we help it?"

The Doctor moved her attention to the wound, running her fingers over the unaffected flesh that surround it.
"Somethings wrong."

Pulling out her sonic screwdriver, the woman scanned the dying creatures injury. After a few seconds, the sonic bleeped and she held it to her face, nose scrunched.

"What?" Yaz asked impatiently, the suspense getting to her.

"This wound was not caused by organic matter," the Doctor replied, not taking her eyes away from the sonic's display.

"What do you mean?" The younger woman stared at her, waiting for an explanation.

Suddenly, the dinosaur collapsed onto the jungle floor, struggling for breath. The Doctor stroked the side of its face as it's chest rose and fell one last time. She gently closed both of its eyes, and stood up to face Yaz.

"Whatever killed this poor thing... it isn't suppose to be here. Wrong time zone altogether."

"So what're we gonna do?" Yaz asked, still not catching on.

"Well," the Doctor started, "something's not quiet right around here... Let's go and poke it with a stick."