ROSE TYLER, NINJA ASSASSIN
Chapter Thirteen The Doctor stepped outside his house. Rose was standing there with Donna. She was holding the reins to the horse the samurai owned while Donna held the reins to her and Rose's horses. "You captured this horse, do you want it?" Rose said to him as she gestured to the war horse. "Take the horse?" the Doctor said, slipping his sandals on before he went down the steps. "Yes. You won it in battle," Rose said. "No, we're not taking a horse into the TARDIS," Donna said. "Why not? Arthur won't take up much room," the Doctor said, going up to the horse and rubbing his nose. "Arthur?" Donna said. "You've named it already?" "Good name for a horse," the Doctor said. "You've gotta be kidding me," Donna said as the Doctor got on Arthur. Rose got on her horse and Donna did the same. The Doctor and Donna followed Rose while she headed for the trail that led down to the open area. "You are not keeping the horse," Donna said as they followed Rose. "Who says? I won Arthur, I get to keep him," the Doctor said haughtily. "My TARDIS, my horse!" "Yeah? Well, I'm not cleaning up the shite," Donna replied. The Doctor ignored that as he spurred his horse on and caught up with Rose. "Once this is finished, I need to go check on my TARDIS and make sure it's functional," he said to her. "Your…time machine?" Rose said. "Yes. I'm in the wrong universe and I may need to give her a bit of a jump start. I did that the first time I got stuck in another universe," the Doctor said. "If we're gonna leave here, I gotta make sure she can make the trip." He held back when they reached the narrow trail and fell in line behind Rose as the three of them went down the trail. Up ahead, the Doctor could see Akira and Toshi near the bottom. Both of them were walking. And he could see the samurai tied to the post. He was in the midst of the rest of the villagers who were screaming taunts at him while he screamed back at them. To his horror, he noticed a man standing by the post holding a katana and menacing the captive with it. "Um…they're not gonna torture him, are they?" he asked Rose. "Yes, most likely," Rose said, looking over her shoulder. "Rose, if we're gonna get any information out of him, it has to be done without torture," the Doctor said. "If you torture him, he may tell you anything to make the pain stop." "Samurai are taught to endure pain, same as ninja," Rose said. "Then he might shut up and not talk at all. I know this is your culture but I don't believe in causing people unnecessary pain, not when there are better solutions. Please…can you talk to your people and get them to back…" They heard a howling and the Doctor jerked his head down and to his horror, he saw that the ninja has sliced one of the samurai's hands off. He urged his horse around Rose's and rode Arthur hell for leather down the trail, screaming at the ninja to stop. The crowd turned and looked at him while Rose and Donna continued downward. "He'll end up dead," Rose said distressed. "He can't just tell these people what to do? They want the samurai dead!" "Oh, he'll make em listen," Donna said. "He has the authority to get people to listen to him." "Yes, I believe that," Rose said, remembering sensing that aura of authority last night. They picked up speed and rode down the trail while the Doctor rode up to the platform, got off Arthur, ran up onto the platform and jerked the sword out of the stunned ninja's hands. "I think you've done enough," the Doctor growled at the terrified man. The man backed away while Akira and Toshi climbed up onto the stage. "What's going on?" Akira said to the Doctor. "Look. I know you hate this man and I don't blame you. But chopping him to pieces won't solve anything. We need to find out what they were doing in the woods and he can't talk while he's screaming." Toshi calmed the angry crowd down while the Doctor walked over to the samurai. The samurai recoiled from him and tried to hit him with his bloody stump. The Doctor caught his arm and jerked it to get the samurai to stop fighting. "Look, I'm trying to help. If you resist, they'll keep on with the cutting," he said to the samurai. "I would rather die than submit to you vermin!" the samurai growled. "What's your name?" the Doctor said while Toshi and Akira came up behind him. "Why should I tell you?" the samurai said. "Because I'm trying to help you," the Doctor said. "See these people? They're baying for your blood and I'm sure you want to live, even though you're putting on a show of bravado. I'm the only one who's standing between you and them so do the smart thing and talk to me." "Why should I? You are English. Why are you with these scum?" the samurai said. "Because these people have been friendly to me and my friend and I don't want to see them killed for no good reason!" "They threaten the shogun!" the samurai said. "Oh? And who is the shogun?" The samurai gave him a stunned look. "You don't know who the shogun is?" he said. "I'm incredibly thick and I need to be told everything," the Doctor said quickly. "Now…who is the shogun?" "Tokugawa Ieyasu." "Ah! Yes, the first shogun of the Tokugawa dynasty that lasted until the Meiji period in 1868." "Huh?" the samurai said. "Never mind him, he's just showing off his big brain." The Doctor glanced over his shoulder when he heard Donna speak. She and Rose were behind him and both women came up beside him. The samurai stared at them. "Three Englishmen? Is this an alliance?" he said to the Doctor. "Yes and no, it's an alliance between them and me and Donna here. Rose has lived with these people since she was a baby. And I'm the Doctor, by the way. And you are…" The samurai hesitated for a moment and then he saw the Doctor's eyes and could see he meant business. "Hattori," the samurai said. "Thank you, Hattori. I like knowing people's names. And now…" Everyone gasped when the Doctor removed his hood and exposed his face. "You're showing him who you are?" Rose said. "I need something to bind up the wound and stop the bleeding. Unlike the rest of the ninjas, I don't want him bleeding to death in front of me." Hattori was stunned when the Doctor started wrapping his hood around the bloody stump. Donna helped him and Rose hesitated a moment before she also assisted him. While they worked, Toshi watched, a small smile on his face. Akira noticed the smile. "Sensei? Why are you smiling?" he said to him. "It's rare to find a man with such mercy nowadays," Toshi said. "I believe that is one of the reasons he has such power inside him." "There," the Doctor said when they finished binding the wound. Hattori stared at the cloth around the end of his arm. "You wish me to live?" he said. "Yes. I don't approve of killing except as a last resort and I certainly don't approve of torture. Now…sadly, it seems as if your career as a samurai has come to an end since I doubt Ieyasu will employ a man with one hand. Unless you become a ronin, you're out of a job so there is no danger in talking to us." "If I talk, they kill me," Hattori said, nodding his head towards the crowd. "Not while I'm here," the Doctor said. Hattori saw the determination on the Doctor's face. "And they'll have to get through me to get to you," Donna said. "And me," Rose said. "And me." The Doctor looked over his shoulder and smiled when Akira came up behind him with Toshi. "Thank you," the Doctor said. Toshi walked around everyone and faced Hattori. "The Doctor has been more merciful than anyone else would have been. I suggest you listen to him and do what he says," Toshi said to Hattori. "He is not from our world and he carries much authority with him, even though he is not that old." "Oh, you'd be surprised how old I really am," the Doctor said. "And you," he said to Hattori, "you're young as well. How old are you?" Hattori hesitated a moment. "17 winters," he finally said. "Far too young to lose your hand and to lose your life," the Doctor said. "All the prestige of being a samurai isn't worth it if you end up dead." "So I become a ninja?" Hattori said in disgust. "No. You choose your own path in life but I'm pretty sure you won't be a samurai from here on out," he said, pointing to the stump. "You accused these people of being murdering dogs, yet you were prepared to murder them in cold blood. So how do you justify being right when you are doing the same things you accuse them of doing?" Hattori fell silent while he thought that over. "Samurais fight nobly and face their foes in battle, they do not hide and ambush people like dogs," he said. "Perhaps, but again…how are you any better than them when you murder and torture people like they do?" "That is the way of the samurai," Hattori said weakly. "And is it not the way of the ninja as well? You're all trained to kill. The only difference is in your philosophy and methods of killing. So when you kill a peasant child or a woman, how are you any better than they are?" he said, gesturing to the crowd. Hattori stared at the angry eyes framed in the hoods of the crowd before him while he considered that. "I was trained to kill," he said weakly to the Doctor. "Yes, I get that. From childhood you were trained to kill but you're an adult now and you have a choice in the way you live your life. These people that are attacking the village are killing people without provocation. These people aren't doing anything except living their lives." "But they are spies and assassins." "And? Did Ieyasu ever hire ninjas to do just that?" Hattori hesitated a moment and then nodded. "He hired ninjas to do his dirty work and now that they're a threat, he's going after them? Is that why you lot came to the forest to find them?" Hattori nodded. "Don't you find it a bit bizarre that he would use the very people he's trying to kill to spy on and kill others. Isn't that a bit hypocritical? Is this the man you'd really like to die for, mate? Because I wouldn't." Rose listened to the Doctor in silent awe and looked at Akira and Toshi who were also impressed with him. As she listened to him convincing Hattori to give up information without torturing him, she began to wonder if a kami wasn't inhabiting his body and giving him power because she had to admit, she had never known anyone like the Doctor and she felt thankful that accident or not, the Doctor found her just like in her dream.
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