ROSE TYLER, NINJA ASSASSIN
Chapter Fifteen After they ate, the Doctor went to fetch Donna and Rose went to get the horses. She came back a half hour later with three of the small horses and Hattori's stallion. Rose had changed into her ninja dogi and noticed Donna was dressed in her kimono. "I'd change if I were you," she said, pointing to Donna's kimono. "It's hard to ride a horse while wearing a kimono." Donna looked down at her kimono. "Yeah, you got a point there. Excuse me," she said, hurrying back into her house. Hattori was wearing black unamori pants Toshi gave to him and a white kimono. He grasped the pommel with his hand and hoisted himself up into his horse's saddle while the Doctor and Rose did the same. While they waited for Donna, they heard someone calling to them and turned to see Akira riding up to them. "Wait, I want to go with you," Akira said, stopping by Rose's horse. "I told Toshi-sama I would guard you and I stand by my word." "He's not a threat to us," the Doctor said, gesturing to Hattori. "Perhaps but that's not what I meant," Akira said. "Toshi told me to accompany you and that's what I'm doing. I wasn't thinking of him when I said that," he added, pointing to Hattori. "Okay. Sorry, I'm ready now," Donna said, coming out of her house. "Ugh, this whole no sandal in the house rule gets annoying when you keep going in and out of the house," she added, stopping to slip into her sandals. She got onto her horse and followed everyone else when they turned towards the mountain trail that led down to the woods. It took about forty minutes to ride down the trail and through the woods. When they reached the other side, the Doctor slowed his horse down and looked around. "Oh no, no, no, no," he said as he looked around for his TARDIS. "What's the matter?" Akira said. "It's gone, it's not here. Look!" the Doctor said, pointing to a flattened area of grass. "It was here and now it's gone. Oh no…Hattori, the samurai took it, didn't they?" "They might have," Hattori said. "They had others who served as assistants for us and they had a wagon in case we had captives." "And they put the TARDIS in the wagon," the Doctor said, his hearts sinking. "Could they do that?" Rose said. "Yes, it's not that hard for several muscular men to pick it up and put it on a wagon. Where would they have gone, Hattori?" he said, turning his horse to face him. "Osaka Castle, about 80 kilometers from here," Hattori said, pointing off to his right. "80 kilometers…" the Doctor mused as he stared off in the direction Hattori was pointing. "So…about half a day's journey perhaps?" "You're going to Osaka Castle?" Akira said in disbelief. "That's where the shogun is." "And the shogun has my TARDIS and I need it back," the Doctor said. "My ship is one of the most powerful things in the universe. I doubt if he or his men could open the doors, but still, I can't be without it. I have to go." "Then I want to go with you," Rose said. "So do I," Akira said. "And me," Hattori said. He noticed the suspicious look on Akira's face. "I am useless to the samurai now," he said to Akira while he held up his stump. "This is a dishonorable fate for a samurai and it would be preferable for me to commit seppuku and end my humiliation. I like the Doctor and I wish to help him. If you think I will betray you all, I can't change that. I can only prove otherwise by my deeds…if the Doctor will give me a chance." "Of course I will," the Doctor said. "If you're willing to help me, I welcome the help, same for everyone here. I believe in giving people second chances and until he betrays us, I suggest we trust him. Like he said, the samurai can't use him now in battle." Akira nodded. "I will give you a second chance then," he said. "I hope you won't waste it." "I won't, believe me," Hattori said. "We need to tell Toshi-sama we're leaving so they know where we're going," Rose said. "Then let's hurry and get back up the mountain," the Doctor said. He spurred his horse and everyone followed him as they rode back into the forest. XOXOXOXOXO "Doctor-sama?" Rose said, knocking on his door. "Come in," the Doctor yelled. Rose opened the door and came inside the front room. In her hand was a huge bundle of clothes. "Akira and I told Toshi what we were doing. We also came up with a plan," Rose said as she put the bundle of clothes on the floor. "Ninjas are also trained to use disguises and we thought that you and me and Donna would dress as Englishmen while Akira and Hattori dressed as our servants. Some Englishmen use Japanese as servants and we thought if we did that, we wouldn't attract any notice." "Good idea," the Doctor said. "Hattori-san can wear what he's wearing now and Akira is dressing the same. These clothes are for you and Donna-san. I'm dressing as an Englishwoman and using their sidesaddles. I don't like the sidesaddle but I'll do it if it means we won't attract attention." The Doctor picked up the men's clothes and made a face at them. "If you don't mind, I'd like to wear my suit," he said to Rose. "The Japanese people probably won't know the difference between my outfit and the ones the Englishmen normally wear. As for Donna…" He snickered when he picked up a heavy red satin dress with a skirt that reached down to the floor. "I'm gonna get a giggle seeing Donna in this," he said, examining it. XOXOXOXO After Rose delivered the dress to Donna, she ran back to her house to change. The Doctor changed back into his suit and put on his trench coat. Hattori shook his head when he saw his outfit. "You gaijin wear funny clothes," he said to the Doctor. "I agree but I prefer this to the Japanese outfits, no offense," he said. Hattori nodded and walked outside with his friend. The Doctor chuckled when he saw Donna wearing the dress with red satin slippers. "This is rubbish, it feels like it weighs 10 stone on my body," she said as she stood by her horse. "Sorry, Donna, gotta keep up appearances," the Doctor said airily. "How am I s'posed to ride the horse dressed like this? I can't ride sidesaddle, I can barely ride front saddle," she said. "Hattori, my friend, help me help her onto her horse," the Doctor said. Hattori nodded and they gave Donna a boost. The Doctor giggled when she put her leg over the horse, sat down and her heavy skirt rode up until it looked like she was sitting in the middle of a small red island. Donna tried to tuck it in and smooth it down so it wasn't ballooning up around her and she glowered when the Doctor kept on giggling at the sight. Then he caught sight of Rose on her horse and his hearts stopped. She was dressed in a light pink dress with pink slippers and she was sitting side saddle, her head turned to her right side while she galloped towards them. She slowed down and stared at Donna who was still trying to smush down the voluminous skirt. "You're not riding side saddle?" Rose asked her. "No, I can't. I know if I do I'll fall on my arse so I'm being immodest and riding with my legs over the saddle." Rose giggled and the Doctor laughed when she joined Donna in smushing down her dress. They finally got it down far enough that Donna didn't look like she was inside a ring of fabric and the Doctor and Hattori got on their horses. "I brought some supplies," Rose said, pointing to a large pack and bedroll on the back of her horse. "And me and Akira can lead you to more supplies on the way to Osaka." "Brilliant," the Doctor said. Akira was the last one to show up. He also had a large pack and bedroll on the back of his horse. He had three other bedrolls and he passed them to the Doctor, Donna and Hattori. He showed them how to strap it on the back of the saddle and once they were done and they were ready, all of them headed back to the trail that led down to the forest.
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