HOWLING HALLOW

Chapter Fifteen

"There ya go, all better," the Doctor said when he finished dressing Shen in clean clothes.

He smoothed out her hair and took her hand when Shen held it out.

"I won't let the bad man put you in a cage again, you hear me?" he said. "You don't have to be afraid now. You have friends here that love you and we'll protect you from him."

Shen took her thumb out of her mouth and the Doctor smiled when she kissed his cheek. He kissed her cheek in return and thanked her. He stood up, took her hand and she walked with him as they went back to the console room. When they entered, the Doctor was relieved to see that his friends weren't harmed and Brat was keeping his distance from them. He watched Shen while they walked past. Shen was staring at him with wide eyes and thumb in mouth but didn't wet herself and kept walking. They reached the others and the group surrounded her and kept her apart from Brat while the Doctor turned back to him.

"So, now we have to try to found out where Howling Hallow is and I hope you didn't traumatize her to the point that she won't tell us anymore," the Doctor said to him.

"She's just a beast..."

"SHE'S NOT A BEAST!" the Doctor yelled.

He quickly dampened his anger when he heard Shen begin to cry. Brat was stunned into silence while the Doctor turned and walked over to Shen.

"I'm sorry, Shen, I didn't mean to get angry," he said, taking her hand as she sniffed and stopped crying. "Listen, can you help us find Howling Hallow?"

Shen looked over his shoulder at Brat. The Doctor glanced back at him and put his hand on her cheek.

"He won't hurt you," the Doctor said.

"Doctor," Max said. "Is there a way to turn off this language translation thing?"

"I can ask the TARDIS to do it, why?"

"Well, there's a sort of universal lycan language. We can talk to her with that but if your ship is translating everything..."

"TARDIS, don't translate the lycan language," the Doctor said.

The TARDIS grunted an affirmative and when the Doctor assured Max that she wouldn't, Max spoke to Shen in the lycan language. The Doctor listened in fascination. It was a sort of gruff language with some growling in places and a bit of a howling inflection on the O's. Rose knelt down beside him and he glanced at her.

"Can you understand him?" he asked Rose.

"Yeah, I can, must come with being bitten. You?"

"I understand all languages," the Doctor said.

He listened while Max asked Shen if she would take them to see her mum and dad. Shen thought for a moment and then nodded shyly with her thumb still in her mouth. Max looked at the Doctor.

"Can she keep it switched off permanently? I mean, it's a way to talk amongst ourselves without the git cottoning on," he said to the Doctor in lycan language.

The Doctor glanced up when the TARDIS grunted and told him in the lycan language that she would do that.

"Wow, you're pretty fluent for someone who isn't a true lycan," John said to him in lycan language.

"I speak every language in the universe. It's one of my many talents."

Rose giggled when the others glanced at each other in wonder.

"I wish I had that talent," Victoria said in lycan language.

"What are you saying to each other?" Brat said as he came close.

The Doctor got up and intercepted him before he came too close to Shen.

"They're communicating in the werewolf language and I was speaking with them."

"You know the werewolf language?" Brat said.

"Yeah, I do," the Doctor said smugly. "They taught it to me. That's what comes from gaining their trust. She told us that she will take us to Howling Hallow."

Brat let out a whoop and Shen shrank back against Britney who held her protectively.

"Arsehole," she said in the lycan language. "Can't wait to get his hands on our kind. I hope he does get pulled apart."

The Doctor made a show of ordering everyone to stand. The others glanced at each other and stood up.

"Come," the Doctor said in English before heading towards the door.

"Wait, aren't you going to take your ship?" Brat said. "How are you going to store the werewolves once you capture them?"

"I have my ways, now come," the Doctor said.

They went outside and waited for him to emerge. Brat looked up at the waxing moon when no one changed. Rose noticed it as well.

"We were near a full moon when we were in space," she said to Brat, pointing up to it. "Where were we then?"

"Other side of the planet away from the shadow side," Brat said. "There's a moon on both sides of the planet. We stopped just before entering Luna's atmosphere and transmatted everything down."

"So, how long have you been coming here then?" the Doctor said to him while the walked into the woods.

"Me? Several years but my family has been in this business for several generations. However, I'm the first one to come to Luna."

"Oh? Why is that?" the Doctor said.

"Because that village didn't exist until five years ago," Brat said.

"Wait," the Doctor said, stopping him. "So the werewolves were here first?"

"I think so, if Howling Hallow even exists, that is," Brat said.

"Then the TARDIS might have been correct in determining that this planet is perfect for werewolves but she didn't know about the others moving in and building their village.," he said to the others in lycan language.

"What are you saying to them?" Brat said.

"Warning what will happen to them if they try to run away," the Doctor said to him without missing a beat. "Anyway, go on with what you were saying."

"So we need to get the villagers to leave?" Max said in lycan language.

"What did he say?" Brat said to the Doctor.

"He said, yes, master. Now go on with what you were saying."

"I'm just saying that this planet wasn't colonized until the Lunans came here," Brat said.

"Okay, what were they called five years ago since they weren't Lunans then," the Doctor said.

"No, they were Lunans. they were fleeing the original Luna because the planet was dying and the survivors spread out across the stars and some of them found this place and colonized it."

"And pushed the werewolves off their own land?" the Doctor said.

"I s'pose. It wasn't like they were making any use of it."

The Doctor heard Max growling softly at that but he decided not to argue that point. Instead, he stopped Brat and walked back to Shen who was between Britney and Victoria. Shen brightened and came towards him, thumb in mouth, and the Doctor swept her up and spun her around. He was pleased when Shen took her thumb out of her mouth and giggled at that.

"Hey, Thumb Sucker, made ya smile and giggle at last," he said to her in the lycan language. "Will you come up here with me and help guide us?"

Shen nodded and the Doctor gave her a huge kiss on the cheek.

"Don't worry about the bad man, I'm right here, you just guide me to your mum and dad, yeah?" he said to her in lycan language as he walked back to Brat's side.

Brat watched while he put her down beside him. Shen glanced up at him with wide eyes but the Doctor spoke to her in lycan language and got her attention off him. He asked her to lead him and Shen held out her hand. The Doctor took it and everyone followed while she led them deeper into the woods.

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