ROSE TYLER, NINJA ASSASSIN
Chapter Ten When they finished their tea, Toshi told the Donna that she could have the guest house next to the Doctor's so she could have some privacy. Donna thanked him and everyone left. Rose walked towards her house while Akira walked with Donna and pointed out the house assigned to her. It was slightly smaller than the one given the Doctor and Donna wondered if that was because the Japanese thought he was more important than she was. She figured in the end it didn't really matter as long as she was out of the elements. She slid open the front door and went inside. Meanwhile, the Doctor was taking off his ninja dogi and changing back into his regular clothes, save for the tabi socks which he found to be comfortable. He noticed Donna's kimono was on the floor of his bedroom and he made a mental note to return it to her after he was finished dressing. While he finished putting on his jacket, he heard a soft knocking at the front door and Rose calling to him. He folded up his trench coat, put it by the cupboard door and walked out of the room. When he slid open the door, Rose was standing by the bottom step, holding two wooden staffs in her hands. "I'm going to go exercise; do you still want to have the match?" "Yes, just finished putting my clothes on. Wait a tic, I have Donna's kimono in here. Be right back." He walked back to the bedroom, picked up the kimono, slung it over his arm and walked back to the door. When he came outside and closed the door, Rose gave his outfit a once over and a dubious look crossed her face. "You want to exercise in that?" she said, pointing to his suit. "Oh yes, it's quite comfy. I'm used to wearing this so I'll be okay." Rose nodded. She walked with him over to Donna's house. The Doctor rapped on the wood beside the door and called Donna's name. The door slid open and Donna peeked out. "This was left in my bedroom," the Doctor said, pointing to the kimono over his arm. "I'm going to go have my match with Rose and I wanted to return it to you before I forgot." "You're going now?" Donna said. "To exercise? Yes, we are." "Wait a tic then. This I gotta see," Donna said, taking the kimono from him. "Slight delay," the Doctor said to Rose as he stepped off the porch. Rose handed him one of the wooden staffs. The Doctor grinned, stepped back and did a series of elaborate spins and thrusts with it. Rose watched him, impressed, as he did a few kicks and roundhouse kicks. "Perhaps I was wrong, you might be a match for me," Rose said when he finished. "Yes. But we are trained in two different disciplines. You're trained in ninjitsu and I'm trained in karate, kung fu and Venusian Aikido." The door slid open and Donna stepped out, wearing the kimono and tabi socks. She gave the Doctor a wry look when he thrust the staff at her head and let out a loud "K'yah!" "Don't think about it unless you want me to grab that branch and knock your teeth out," she said, closing the door and stepping down off the porch. She walked with the Doctor while they followed Rose to an open area in between three of the houses. The area had been smoothed out and there were four poles in the ground to mark out the four sides of the sparring area. Donna stopped and stood near one of the poles, folding her arms over her chest while she watched them. The Doctor noticed two women sitting on the porch of one of the houses. The two young women stopped talking and watched them with curiosity while Rose walked several paces away from the Doctor. She turned, faced him and held her staff in front of her body. The Doctor held his staff loosely in one hand and spread his legs apart, tensing his muscles. "Are you attacker or defender?" Rose asked. "Um…I'll be the defender," the Doctor said. Rose nodded. She tensed her body and let out a yell as she lunged at the Doctor. She tried to bring her staff down on his head but the Doctor blocked the move and used his staff to push hers away. Donna noticed that one of the women on the porch was running inside the house and she figured that a crowd would soon form since the other woman was coming towards the sparring area to watch them. Sure enough, the yells and whacks of the staffs brought more and more people and there was soon a small crowd watching Rose and the Doctor's sparring match. After twenty minutes, they stopped to catch their breath. Rose had broken out in a sweat but the Doctor wasn't even winded which impressed her. "You're quite a fighter," Rose said. "As are you," the Doctor said. He smiled his thanks to a young woman when she handed him a wooden ladle filled with water. He drank half of it and handed the ladle to Rose who drank the rest. Rose noticed Donna standing there and beckoned to her. Donna walked over and Rose asked the Doctor to give his staff to Donna. He did and stepped back, watching with interest while Rose instructed Donna on a few basic moves with the staff. The Doctor walked over to one of the poles and leaned against it slightly while he watched Rose teach Donna how to block a downward strike with the staff. By now, most of the crowd started to drift away, lured by the scent of fresh cooked meals now that the sun had almost set behind the mountain. Rose worked with Donna on blocking and striking until it was almost two dark to see and then they stopped. Donna handed the staff back to her and thanked her. "I'll see if Toshi-sama has something for you to eat," Rose said as she walked away. "If he does, I'll bring it to your houses." The Doctor waved and he and Donna turned and headed for the guest houses. "Not bad, little warrior woman," he said to Donna as they walked. "Thanks. I can handle a wooden stick. I'm not so sure about a sword," she said. "Nah, you can do it. It just takes time and practice." "I notice the villagers have warmed to us," Donna said. "I think they needed time to adjust and realize we weren't a threat," the Doctor said. "D'ya think they'll let you talk to that samurai?" "Toshi says I can and it seems like his word is law," the Doctor said. "Interrogating him won't be the tricky part. Convincing this lot not to torture or execute him will be the real challenge." "Good luck with that," Donna said. "This lot doesn't seem the question and let them go type." "I know," the Doctor said darkly. "I already watch Rose stab one of them in the neck." "Doctor, she's not your Rose," Donna said gently. "She wasn't brought up in a flat in a council estate. Here, it's kill or be killed, even I can see that. She's doing what she's been trained to do." "Yes, but I got through to Jenny. I'm hoping I can do the same with her. At least show her that there are alternatives to killing." "Good luck with that," Donna said. "I have a feeling they don't take samurai as prisoners." "Yes, I know. But we need to know what these samurai want with them. Samurais mainly killed them because they were employed as spies and assassins and there was always a threat to the daimyo. It's not unusual for the samurai to be out here hunting them down but you never know, there may be an ulterior motive and if there is, I want to find it out." They stopped in front of Donna's house and the Doctor bid her good evening before heading to his house. He walked inside his house and slid the door closed. The house was dark, the fire in the central fire pit was unlit and the Doctor looked around the house. He found a small paper lantern in the back room and lit the wick with his screwdriver. He set the lantern down by the pit and went to look for something that would help him transfer the flame from the lantern down to the wood in the pit. While he was doing that, he heard a knock on the door and went to answer it. He slid open the door and smiled at Rose. She had a small iron cauldron in one hand and a flaming torch in the other. "I have supper for you," she said, "and I can light your fire?" "Come on," the Doctor said. "I was just looking for something that I could use to start a fire." The Doctor took the cauldron from her and sniffed it, smelling beef stew. Rose walked over to the fire pit, sat down and lit the fire with the torch. Once it was lit, she took the flaming torch into the Doctor's bedroom and put it in an iron holder mounted on the wall. "I've already given Donna her food and she told me she couldn't light her fire," Rose said, coming into the main room. "I went back to get a torch and your food. I thought you might have the same problem with lighting your fire." "Thank you," the Doctor said, putting the lantern on a small table in the corner. Rose bowed and was about to bid him goodnight when the Doctor stopped her. "Please, share my meal and chat awhile?" he said. "Are you sure I won't be a bother?" Rose said. "Nah. Come and sit awhile and let's get to know each other better," the Doctor said. "Tell me about this dream of yours, eh?" Rose hesitated a moment before she walked into the back room. She returned a few minutes later with two iron spoons. She handed one to the Doctor and the Doctor smiled and gestured for her to sit with him. "So…" the Doctor said when she sat down beside him, "tell me about this dream."
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