THE SISTERHOOD OF KARN
Chapter Eleven When they finished taking off the makeup and Clara had put her civilian clothes back on, the two companions walked off in search of the Doctor. They didn't have to look far because they could hear him speaking to the slaves in the banquet hall while the men yelled out that all the women needed to be put to death for their actions. Clara winced the moment they entered and all eyes turned to Rose. "There she is, kill her!" a man said, jabbing his finger at Rose. "No!" the Doctor yelled when some of the men started to run towards her. The men stopped in their tracks at the power and authority in the Doctor's voice. "She was a slave as well," the Doctor said, walking to the front of the group. "As I tried to explain, the ringleader is her advisor, Ortha, and quite possibly Mira. The other women were most likely brainwashed or forced to join or die. Same as you lot. So killing her or indeed, killing anyone, won't help fix what's been done here. Now I can take you lot back to where you came from in my ship. And I assure you that the ringleaders of this cult will be brought to justice but there will be no slaughter of anyone. Is that understood?" Clara noticed a few men looked dubious and a few of them were glaring at Rose but they nodded and promised not to kill anyone or exact revenge in any way. The Doctor walked over to Clara and Rose and smiled. "Finally, you don't look like badgers," he said. "Badgers don't have white faces and red around the eyes," Clara said. "Okay, fine, you lot look like red pandas then," the Doctor said, rolling his eyes while the women giggled. "Doctor, can I speak to you in private for a moment?" Rose said when everyone sobered up. The Doctor nodded and looked at Clara. "Can you handle the situation, Boss?" he said to her. "Will there be a revolt?" Clara said. "Well, if there is…you'll probably tell everyone to shut it and they'll stop," the Doctor said. "Okay, good enough," Clara said. "Carry on then." "Aye, aye, Boss Lady," the Doctor said with a salute. "Rose, lead on." Rose nodded and the Doctor followed her out of the room. He put his hands in his pockets and casually walked behind her while Rose led him to a door near the end of the passageway. She unlocked it with a key around her neck and took a torch from a nearby holder. The Doctor frowned, curious about where she was going but saying nothing as he followed her inside. The walls turned to dirt as they went downwards and became narrow to the point that there were only several inches on either side of the Doctor as he walked down. There were metal holders for torches embedded in the tightly packed dirt walls but none held any torches. Still, they continued to walk downwards for about five minutes until a large room opened up before them and the Doctor's mouth dropped open when he saw a pile of gold, jewels and other valuables that rose from the floor to the twenty foot ceiling. Everything was piled together as if someone just came down and casually tossed the next thing in with the others. The Doctor couldn't see the back of the wall in the dim torchlight but he sensed there was more than met the eye here. "Pious and humble, eh?" he said as he took it all in. In this room, there were unlit torches in the holders and Rose lit a few of them, illuminating the room even more. Some of the gems sparkled in the firelight and the Doctor knelt down to pick up a golden goblet that was encrusted with rubies. "They stole all this from the spaceships," Rose said, putting her torch in an empty holder. "I didn't think they made the nice cutlery and dishes themselves," the Doctor said as he laid the goblet down. "So there was more to this than just protecting their flame." "There's more," Rose said. "They want to bring back the rule of the Pythia and they wanted me to help them do it." "How?" "The Bad Wolf." The Doctor rolled his eyes. "Rose, I took that out of you ages ago," he said. "But that's just it. I don't think you did…not completely anyway." "How'd you mean?" "It's hard to explain but ever since that day, I've felt different inside, like something lives in me. And I have psychic dreams or dreams about white wolves that talk to me and I think I stopped aging." "And you've experienced all this since that day on the Gamestation. Rose, why didn't you tell me?" "Because I thought I was mental and I was worried that you might think I was mental and tell me to stay home." "No, I wouldn't have done that and actually, I could have checked to see if your suspicions were correct. So now that you have told me, I can check once we get back inside the TARDIS and…" He jerked his head towards the door when he heard Clara screaming for him and Rose to run. The Doctor and Rose glanced at each other before they hurried to the door. The Doctor flung it open and she and Rose ran back up the passageway to the door. When they reached the door, they froze and listened and heard chaos and screaming and yelling. Then they heard Ortha yelling for someone to find the Doctor and Rose. "I think we should have searched Ortha and Mira more thoroughly before we left them," the Doctor said to Rose. "These dresses have hidden pockets inside them," Rose said nodding. "I should have remembered that. I'm sorry." "No worries, we'll sort this out and…" He grunted when someone suddenly flung open the door. The Doctor staggered backwards, bumped into Rose and both of them fell backwards to the floor. The Doctor looked up to see two women aiming their blasters at them. "ORTHA, I FOUND THEM!" one of the women yelled. The Doctor gnashed his teeth and sprang up, intending to rush them. Then to his horror, the woman aimed her laser blaster at Rose's exposed leg and shot it. Rose screamed in pain and when the Doctor tried to fight them, more women suddenly appeared and aimed their blasters at his head. "Surrender or you both will die," the woman with the blaster said. "I thought you were free of all this," the Doctor said to her. The woman smirked. "Ortha knew you did something to the High Priestess. She invited you to the banquet to see if something would happen between you and it did. Guess you can't keep your mouth shut, eh?" The Doctor growled and tried to run into her but he stopped when the woman beside her fired a laser bolt near Rose's foot. Then the women behind them parted and Ortha and Mira stood behind the two women guarding them. "You see, Doctor, we're not fools and now because of your stupidity, you and your…whatever she is to you, will help us. Willingly or not, it makes no difference to us but you will be enslaved, both of you." "And what about Clara?" "She has escaped through the tunnel to the Ritual Room but she will be caught and she will join you in your enslavement. So pick her up and follow us or we will make her scream in the Interrogation Room and make you watch it. Do it!" The Doctor glowered at them but she bent down and gathered up Rose in his arms. Holding her close, he walked out of the room into the midst of his captors. XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX Clara gasped and panted and her lungs felt like they were about to explode but she kept on running. She knew that she was the only hope that the Doctor and Rose had left. She didn't see where they went but once the trap was sprung and the women began to corral the slaves and come after her and her friends, she knew that she had to run back to the TARDIS and make it to safety. She entered the Ritual Room and kept on running. She was exhausted but she knew she was being followed and she dared not stop to catch her breath for even one second. Luckily, the TARDIS was nearby but it felt like miles and miles to her as she gasped for air. She was nearly to the TARDIS when she heard two women yelling for her to stop. Not on your life, sister, she thought as she bore down on the TARDIS with every ounce of her being. She gasped when a laser bolt sizzled past her and she lunged straight at the TARDIS door. She snapped her fingers and was relieved when the door opened and she fell inside. She caught herself as she fell to her knees and willed herself to get up and slam the doors shut, just in time to deflect another laser bolt. She locked the doors and then she collapsed onto the floor, heaving and panting and sucking air into her lungs. After two minutes, there was furious pounding on the TARDIS doors while the women screamed at her to open up. "Please…" Clara panted out to the TARDIS, "take me somewhere where I can find help. The Doctor and Rose are in trouble…please help me…" To her relief, the TARDIS started itself and after thirty seconds the pounding turned to startled yells and then all was silent as the TARDIS went into the vortex. Clara lay down on her side on the floor near the door and continued to calm down as the TARDIS flew somewhere in search of help.
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