SURVIVAL OF THE FITTEST
Chapter Nineteen All of them walked over to Amala who was lying motionless on the rock. Ten touched her arm and called her name and Amala stirred briefly and looked at him. "I'm so cold," she said weakly. "I know but you have to tell us when you start feeling warm again," Ten said. "When you start to warm up, you're near death." "How do we get her to safety though?" Jack said, looking around. "She'll freeze before we can find shelter for her." "Not to mention we have to get off this planet anyway," Eleven said, pointing up to the comet. Ten turned and looked at Rory. Rory gave him a quizzical look as Ten walked over to his back and rubbed his hand along it. Eleven's eyes widened when he guessed what he was thinking. "Rory, can you carry her?" Eleven asked his companion. I think so, Rory chittered to him. Jack picked Amala up and Rory stood still while they put the half frozen woman on his back. Jack took his coat and spread it over her lap. Then they tucked parts of it under her legs as best they could. Eleven noticed that Jack was shivering. "You can't go without a coat, old friend," he said to Jack. "We already have one person freezing to death." "She needs it more than I do," Jack said. "I'll be okay." "No, you need protection," Eleven said, taking off his jacket. Jack looked at the tweed jacket with distaste. "This isn't my style," he said to Eleven. "Just put it on, Jack," Eleven said, rolling his eyes. Jack took it but he could tell it wouldn't fit him. He put it around his body and kept his arms out of the sleeves, holding it close to his body with one hand. Meanwhile, Eleven was asking Rory to take a few steps, making sure he could bear the weight of the body on his back. While he was doing that, Ten looked at Rose who was standing next to him. Rose turned her head and cocked it, giving him a quizzical look. "I'd like a raptor," Ten teased as he petted her back. "A nice wooly raptor called Spot." Rose snorted at that and Ten chuckled as he gave her an affectionate pat on the head. Then Jack came up to her. "She's so cute, even with the wooly coat," Jack said while Rose shook her head in exasperation. "I know, isn't it brilliant?" Ten said. "Rosy the Raptor. There's a children's book in that." "And Rory the Raptor," Jack said. "The adventures of Rosy and Rory Raptors." Eleven snickered when Rory looked behind him at Jack and he could tell there was a bemused look on his face. "In fact, we need to marry these two since they're the same," Jack said, pointing to Rose and Rory. Rory let out a curt little chirp. "Rory said he's married," Eleven said to Jack. "Yeah, but you could be married to Rose now," Jack said, pointing to her. Rose looked at the Doctor and he could tell she had an exasperated look on her face. He chuckled and rubbed the top of her head when she shook her head and the Doctor figured if she could roll her lizard eyes, she would. Ten and Eleven grabbed the rucksacks and put them and they headed away from the rock in search of shelter. While they walked, Rose looked up at the comet and chittered to Ten while she pointed to it. "That's a comet, it's on a collision course with this planet," Ten said to her. Shouldn't we go then? Rose chittered to him. "Working on it, Rose. But we need to find some shelter for Amala if we can," Ten said. "There are fire making tools in my backpack," Jack said. "But the problem is I don't see any trees anywhere." As they walked further away from the rock, they suddenly got into some deeper snow. Rory chittered in annoyance as he fought to lift his legs up higher. Eleven walked beside him, keeping an eye on Amala who was still awake but the Doctor could see she was weakening. Then Rose suddenly chittered rapidly to the Doctor and they watched as she ran off. "Where's she going?" Jack said to Ten. "Higher ground," Ten said. "Looking for shelter." Rose ran to a nearby rocky mountain. They stopped and watched while she leapt up it using rocks and ledges until she was about thirty feet up on a wide snowy ledge. She scanned the horizon while everyone else headed towards her. She pointed with her left claw and chittered to the Doctors. "Rose says there's a cave past this hill," Eleven said, pointing to a small hill in front of them. Past the hill they could see another small rocky mountain and Eleven guessed the cave was there. Then Rose suddenly rose up and let out a series of warning barks. Jack noticed Rory flinched at that while Eleven steadied him. Then Rose chittered to the Doctors. "Something's moving on the other side of that hill, some sort of creature," Ten said to them. They watched while Rose nimbly leapt down to the ground. Then before anyone could stop her, she was running up and over the hill, hissing and chittering with rage. Ten called to her but she ignored him and now Rory was chittering to Eleven. Eleven took Amala off his back and Jack grabbed the coat. The moment she was off his back, Rory ran to help Rose. Ten tried to run through the snow as best he could but the raptors were fleeter of foot and lighter and Rory was up and over the hill before the Doctor could reach it. He paused and heard a deep roar mixed in with Rose and Rory's angry chittering and squawks. Ten pushed himself to go through the snow and by the time he got to the top of the hill, Rose and Rory were attacking a bearlike creature. They were climbing on the bear's back, scratching him with their claws while the bear roared in frustration. Ten could hear the two of them chittering to one another, coordinating their attack while the bear tried to swipe at them with his enormous paws. The Doctor took a look at the white bear and estimated it was probably about twelve feet long if it was on its hind legs. It was a formidable foe but it was no match for two raptors with claws and a sickle shaped claw on their feet. The bear batted at the two raptors but they kept jumping on and off, scratching at it and snapping at its face. Finally, the bear had enough, its fur stained red in places with blood from the scratches. Rory and Rose jumped off and shrieked at the bear, herding it away from the cave. Ten wondered if the cave had been the bear's home. By now the others had reached the top of the hill and Ten proudly told them what they did while Rose and Rory watched the injured bear lumber off through the snow. When the bear was headed on its way, Rose and Rory turned and ran back to the hill while the Doctors applauded. When Rose and Rory reached them, the Doctors rubbed their heads. "See, they are useful as raptors," Eleven said. "We should keep them like this." Rory gave him a withering look. "Now, now, Amy can adapt," Eleven teased. "She might like a huge hairy lizard for a husband. It certainly would slow you down on the fornication." Whatever, Rory chittered to him. Eleven chuckled and patted his snout affectionately. Rory held still while they put Amala on his back. Once she was on and the coat was wrapped around the lower half of her body, everyone made their way towards the cave.
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