ROSE TYLER, NINJA ASSASSIN

Chapter Twenty One

"Come on, Donna-san," Akira said as he straddled the wall and watched her try to climb it.

Donna was halfway up the wall, struggling to keep from falling back down while at the same time trying to pull herself up.

"This is a lot harder than it looks," she gasped as she pulled herself up another few inches.

Hattori was on the other side of the wall watching and listening. He chuckled.

"Gaijin are not good at martial arts, eh?" he said to Akira.

"Yes, I'm finding that out," Akira said to him. "Unless you're trained to do it since childhood like Rose-san is. Still, at least Donna-san is making the effort."

"Effort is right. I wanted to lose weight. I think I've dropped 50 stone just by climbing this wall. Takes all your strength and effort just to do it," Donna said as she pulled herself up another few inches.

She was finally within Akira's reach and he reached down, grabbed her wrist and helped pull her up while she used the foot spikes. Donna thanked him and straddled the wall. She looked down on the other side of the wall and groaned at the drop.

"How the Doctor's managed to live so long doing things like this, I'll never know," she said, swinging her leg over and balancing herself.

She gauged the distance and told Hattori to get out of the way when he tried to position himself under her.

"No, I'm afraid I'll kick you in the head. Stay back," she said to him.

Hattori stood back and Donna silently counted to three before she pushed herself up. She gasped when she hit the ground on her feet and stumbled a few steps before she got her balance. Akira dropped down behind her.

"Very good, gaijin, you did that without breaking any bones. There's hope for you yet," he teased while Hattori chuckled.

"Yeah? Well, just wait till we have to scale the castle walls," Donna said as they picked up the packs.

"Come, let's head for the castle. I'm sure Doctor-sama and Rose-san will join us there," Hattori said.

They looked around and made sure no one was watching before they hurried away.

XOXOXOXOXOXO

Meanwhile, the Doctor and Rose were back inside their room at the inn. They untied the pack and put on white dogi so they could blend in with the castle walls. Rose giggled when the Doctor's dogi was too short and showed off his legs again.

"You need a bigger one. You are too tall for a ninja," she teased.

"I realize that. That's why I prefer my own clothes but my own clothes won't camouflage me. I'll make do."

"Are you sure you want to do this?" Rose said. "If you're captured, they'll show you no mercy."

"I need my TARDIS. I have to do this," the Doctor said. "Why are you doing it? If they capture you, they won't show you any mercy either."

"I want to help you. Besides, I've been trained to withstand torture."

"So have I."

Rose fell silent while she considered that.

"Have you ever needed the training?" she said.

The Doctor smiled tenderly at her.

"I have. Frequently. It goes with the territory when you battle evil," he said.

"And your Rose, she also endured torture?"

Rose knew she asked another wrong question when she saw the pain in his eyes.

"She did," he said tersely. "But she was courageous and strong like you are and she endured it. Most of the people who have traveled with me have endured torture or landed up in danger at some point or other."

"Donna as well?"

The Doctor nodded.

"Yes. She may be useless when it comes to climbing trees but she's brilliant in many other areas. When you travel with us, you'll see that."

Rose couldn't wait to do that but for the moment, they had to concentrate on one thing at a time. Once they finished dressing, they put the packs on their back and the Doctor walked over to the window. He looked out and gauged the distance to the ground.

"About thirty feet perhaps," he mused softly as he looked at the grass below.

"We can use this?"

The Doctor looked back and saw the grappling hook and rope in Rose's hand.

"Brilliant," the Doctor said.

They tied their katanas to their backs, put the hook on the windowsill and the Doctor let Rose go first. She took hold of the rope and the Doctor helped her out. She abseiled down the side of the wooden wall and stepped into the shadows when her feet hit the ground. She watched while the Doctor grabbed the rope, climbed out and did the same thing. When he hit the ground, he tugged at the hook until it finally came up and out the window. He stepped back when it fell and Rose quickly put it back in her pack while the Doctor stood guard and kept his eyes open for anyone coming towards them. When she was finished, the two of them kept to the shadows as they headed for the castle. They used the houses and the shadows between them to their advantage as they quietly made their way to the lake. When they reached several trees by the bank, they hid behind them and looked over the river. There was a hint of light in some of the windows of the castle including the top room.

"Should we wait awhile and see if the lights go out?" the Doctor whispered to Rose.

"I don't know if we should. The moon is beginning to rise," Rose said, pointing to the sky. "We need the darkness to get across the water."

The Doctor looked around, trying to find any sign of Akira, Hattori or Donna but he couldn't find them.

"Doctor-sama," Rose whispered.

The Doctor looked where she was pointing and they saw a small wooden boat tied to a small wooden post on their side of the lake. Rose stepped out a bit to have a look at it.

"There's no one in it," Rose said.

"Let's use it," the Doctor said. "We can go across and if Donna, Hattori or Akira are nearby, they might see us and I can row the boat back and get them."

"It's risky, sentries might be watching," Rose said.

"We may have to chance it. Unless you have a way to get across that will allow us to take our packs."

"We have special floatation devices that we put on our feet but I don't think the packs will allow us to do that. They might be too heavy. You're right, the boat might be our only way across. Here…"

She dropped her pack, untied it and pulled out two long, hollow reeds.

"These are breathing tubes. Carry one with you. If the samurai start firing arrows, get in the water. Don't worry about packs, we can always get more weapons or use some of their own."

The Doctor nodded. He took the reed and put it inside his kimono. Rose did the same and glanced up at the castle. She looked at all the windows but couldn't see anybody standing at them. She hoped that was a good sign. She noticed the Doctor was starting to move past the trees so he could make a dash to the boat. Rose grabbed his hand and the Doctor gave her a quizzical look. Rose put her arms around him and the Doctor enveloped her in his arms.

"Be careful, my love," she whispered.

"And you," the Doctor whispered back. "Take my hand and run with me. We'll try to reach the boat as fast as we can before they see us."

"Then maybe we should leave the packs here. Here…"

She reached inside and grabbed a few items. She gave the Doctor some throwing stars to put in the inside pocket of his kimono along with some caltrops and smoke bombs and their shuko and foot spikes. She grabbed a handful of each weapon for her own kimono and took out her tanto and one for the Doctor and put them in the waistband of their trousers.

"I think that's enough," Rose said. "We can try to get more weapons from the samurai once we're inside. I just hope we're making the right decision leaving the packs here."

"We need to be as fast as possible and the packs will slow us down. You're right; we can find what we need inside the castle. I've made do with far less than what you gave me. We'll be alright."

Rose nodded. She laid the packs in the shadow of the trees so they'd be hidden and stood up. The Doctor took her hand and squeezed it.

"On the count of three, we run," he said. "Ready? One…two…three!"

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