The Monster in the Cold (Clara, PM to join)

Clara glanced around curiously as she was seated in the dining room. She noticed that both Hamish and Will doubted the truth in the monster story, but Mrs Kingsly seemed to believe it very strongly. While she waited on her food, Clara thought over the different things she'd learned so far.

She took out her notebook and looked over the few notes she had so far. Then, deciding to attempt a drawing of the creature, she took out her pencil. She tried to draw a lizard, but didn't do so well. Then she remembered Hamish commenting on its strength, and she recalled how the dog's neck had been broken, and thought it had to have been something in a humanoid form.

So, with that in mind, she tried to attempt drawing a humanoid lizard thing. She wasn't the greatest artist, but she did the best she could. She tapped the pencil against her chin lightly, studying the drawing that she had done. It didn't look much like anything, and she sighed as she realized it wasn't going to be much help.

After her food came, she set her notebook aside and gladly took a sip of the tea, after making any adjustments to sweeten it and such. Then she picked up the fork and studied the blob of stuff on her plate, trying to decide how to go about eating it. She poked at it experimentally with her fork, then glanced around to see if anyone else had this dish. She noticed a few people in the room had it, and she saw them just getting bitefulls with their forks. She tried to do the same, and got a bite onto her fork. She sniffed at it and then tentatively put it in her mouth.

She attempted to chew it, then decided it tasted like a nasty bit of sausage, and spit it out into her napkin, attempting not to be obvious about it.
"Ok, not that great.." She mumbled under her breath to herself. She gently pushed that plate away, and then took a piece of cornbread and took a bite of it. She liked that better, so she finished that and her tea, and then glanced out the window to see if it was dark enough yet.

A few more moments passed until Clara had finished her tea to the point where one of the younger staff members of the Inn, a boy, came over and asked "Want a refill, ma'am?" After she gave her answer he looked around at everyone before leaning down and whispering "You're looking for the monster, right? Will was taking about it." He looked back to make sure no one was looking before saying "Maybe it's none of my business to say, mainly because everyone thinks I'm batty whenever I says it. But a while ago, before the monster showed up, I saw a ghost." He let her take it in before saying "I know it sounds funny, but it WAS a ghost. I know it. A ghost of a knight, I think. It was around the old ruins across the lake. I bet it was guarding the place even in death. Or whatever ghosts do. No one else ever saw it, but maybe it's connected. If not...well maybe you could at least catch it if you don't find the monster."

When asked if she would like more tea, Clara smiled and replied that yes, she would, and thanked the young server. She was a bit surprised by him leaning down to whisper to her. Curious, she leaned in closer and listened, her interest piqued by what he said.
"A ghost? Really.. a ghost of a knight. Hm.. now that's fascinating. Where did you see it?" She asked, raising an eyebrow inquisitively. She quickly grabbed her notebook and wrote down all of what he told her, including the directions.

After asking for a cup of tea to go, she paid for her food and headed out to find these old ruins across the lake. She thought about that. Across the lake.. that may mean she would have to get a boat, or walk all the way around. She didn't want to walk that far, so maybe she could find a boat. In the meantime, she decided to check around the shores nearby and see if maybe she could catch a glimpse of this mysterious monster.

After grabbing her coat and a flashlight, and stashing a couple of extra batteries in her red bag, Clara set off to find clues about the mysterious Loch Ness monster. She wondered how she could go about locating these ruins the boy had told her about. She wished she had asked him to show her the way, but he was working, so she guessed he wouldn't be able to do that. Oh well, she was sure she could manage well enough on her own.

He answered the location with "The old highland castle McFarless. Across the Loch from here. Can't miss it."

Afterwards he hurried off back to work before bringing back her tea to go. When she left Will watched as she did, a worried look on his face as he saw her make for the Loch. He turned back to the boy and gave him a disagreeing look at what he'd done.

As Clara investigated there came a point where she would hear something in the bushes in front of her. They rustled loudly to the point where something was certain to jump out. However it turned out to be a pair of deer who'd been spooked by the light and the sound of her approaching before scampering off.

Clara approached the edge of the lake slowly, exhibiting some caution. She zipped up her jacket and then carefully sipped her tea. It helped to warm her, and she was glad for the hot drink. It was also a bit comforting, as she always enjoyed a good cup of tea. She glanced around, a bit nervous now that it came down to actually being here at night, in the dark, with a possibly deadly monster.

With her heart racing, she shone her flashlight around, looking for and clues. Suddenly, a rustling sound frightened her. She gripped the flashlight tightly and turned toward the source of the noise, holding her breath a little. Was it the monster? What if she really was about to get killed? She slowly took a nervous step backward, trying to find where the monster was hiding.

Clara was starting to have serious second thoughts about this night time adventure, and she really, really wished the Doctor was here right about now. She took a couple of shaky, deep breaths to try and calm down a bit.
"Is.. someone there?" She called out nervously. Suddenly a couple of deer burst out of the bushes and bounded off into the forest nearby. Clara jumped, startled by the deer, but managed not to scream. Then she let out a faint, still nervous, laugh.
"Just.. deer." She said softly to herself in relief.

After taking several deep breaths, she began to recover her courage and calm down a bit. She began to search along the shore, trying to keep an eye out for any terrifying lizardmen with blazing red eyes. She wondered if it was an alien, and if so, she wondered if it was a sentient thing that she could talk to. Maybe it was hiding?

If it was hiding, and sentient, maybe she could talk to it. Perhaps she could talk it out of its hiding place, and convince it she meant no harm. And maybe she could persuade it not to hurt her, at the same time. It was worth a try, right?
"Hello?" She called softly, shining her light back and forth to try and cover both the water and the bushes and trees nearby. "Lock Ness monster.. are you out there?" She probably sounded silly. She wondered if the thing had a name. "I'm not going to hurt you.. so, please don't hurt me?" She swallowed, then remembered her tea and took a small sip. "I just want to talk to you.." She added in a whisper.

While Clara was looking away from the water something had been watching from beneath the surface. It could hear her calling out from underneath but did not react, not until she was looking away with the light not shining anywhere near it. After that it slowly swam up to the surface and burst from the water to create a giant splash that would distract her.

One clawed hand reached out and smacked the flashlight away while the other grabbed her ankle and tripped her to her back. It was too dark for her to see what it was, only that the two red eyes she'd been told about were looking at her as the thing growled and pulled. It pulled her close enough to the water that her feet were in the freezing Loch.

Surprisingly it did not pull any further afterwards, instead letting her go. It had snagged one of her shoes as it swam off, the outline of it swimming against the surface of the water. It was heading off across to the otherwise, twoards the castle ruins the boy had mentioned before.

The splash made her gasp softly as she spun toward the sound. Then, the next thing she knew, something had hit the flashlight out of her hand and it flipped through the air and landed somewhere on the ground, shutting off as it hit the ground. If this wasn't enough, something grabbed her ankle at the same time, and started dragging her toward the water.

Startled and suddenly quite terrified, Clara shrieked as this happened, and then started to struggle. She kicked a little, and tried her best not to full-out panic. But the monster had her, and it was pulling her into the water where it was probably going to eat her. She tried to grab onto something, but as she searched for something to grab onto, her hands only grabbed up sand and a little grass.

"Oi! Lemme go!" She yelled, trying to get angry instead of panicked. She was about to continue struggling, when she was released. The monster took off with her shoe, and she quickly pulled her feet out of the freezing water and scrambled to her feet, quickly backing away from the water. "You.. you better run.." She half-heartedly called out in a slightly shaking voice, to try and hide how scared she was. She backed away further, breathing hard and trying to take deep breaths to calm down.

She shivered a little and hopped from foot to foot slightly in an effort to keep her feet warm. She watched the ripples begin to subside in the wake of the monster swimming away toward the castel ruins. She stared after it, wondering why it gave up. Surely it couldn't be due to her feeble struggles. Something with the strength to fight off a dog and kill it like it had, she didn't think it would easily give up due to a young woman struggling against it. So, had it intentionally let her go? If so, why?

Hamish had been sitting by the fireplace when he heard the sound of screaming. His wife was already asleep upstairs but he knew that whoever it was needed his help fast. He grabbed his coat and flashlight before running out and eventually finding Clara standing by the shore.

"Ms. Oswald?" he asked before seeing it was her. "What the hell happened to you?" He ran down to her and examined her, seeing she was wet and shivering and missing a shoe. "Why are you all wet? Where's you shoe? Did.....did you go for a swim or something?" He then shined his flashlight toward the water before asking "What was it? The monster? Did you see it? Say something, girl?"

Clara was a little started to hear someone running toward her. She turned and was relieved to see Hamish coming. As he asked her what happened, Clara looked back out toward the water, and then looked back at him. Her first instinct was to tell what happened and then hurry back to the inn where it was safe. But she couldn't help thinking about what happened, and thinking more and more closely about it.

There was something about those eyes. Something.. familiar. But what was it? She tried to picture the scene again, in her head. She had definitely seen eyes like those before, but she couldn't quite remember where. The mystery intrigued her, and helped her quickly begin to forget how frightened she had been. Red eyes, glowing out of the dark. A soft growl.. and those claws.. she had seen claws like that before too. And suddenly, she remembered where.

As soon as she remembered, everything began to click in her head and make sense. The ghost of the knight, that would've been it in the armor. The humanoid lizard, that would be it out of its armor. The red eyes, claws.. it all fit. She almost laughed out loud as she realized that what they thought was the Loch Ness monster, was in actuality an Ice Warrior.

Hamish was begging her to tell what happened, and Clara sort of snapped out of her thoughts.
"Oh.. I.." She hesitated, then decided that it might be better not to tell him the truth. "No, it wasn't the monster." She lied, giving him a reassuring smile. "I was only walking along, and.. sort of slipped. That's why I screamed, I'm sorry I must have given you quite a fright." She apologized. "Then my foot got stuck in the mud, and I lost my shoe." She sighed, looking down at her missing shoe.

Then, she thought of something and looked off into the dark lake.
"Um, Hamish.. what's out that way?" She asked, pointing off toward where the 'monster' had been heading when she last saw it. After hearing what it was, she turned to him, her eyes wide and intense with curiosity. "I need to get there.. what would be the fastest way?" She asked, trying to hide her eagerness.

In the back of her mind, she wondered if she had gone completely crazy, chasing after monsters and trying to find ghosts. Going after an Ice warrior that had just attacked her. She must be crazy, or else why would she be doing this? She decided to blame the Doctor for it.

When Clara said she'd tripped he looked oddly at her. Given the way she screamed and all that couldn't have just been from tripping, could it? And then she lost her shoe in the mud? He looked around not even seeing it and wondered if maybe she was just playing with him. But then she was even more strange for asking to go out towards the other side of the Loch where the old ruins of McFarless castle.

"You want to go out there, lass?" he asked, pointing out to it. "That old place is nothing but a ruin? Think you'll find your shoe there or something?" After she gave his reasons he sighed and said "Fine, fine. There's a fishing wharf over in the village. You can rent out a boat. But I warn you, Ms Oswald, don't go looking for trouble or anything out there."

After that he lead her to the wharf, helped her get a boat, and then stood out on the dock and watched as she made her way over to the ruins. The whole time he watched he shook his head with regret. Regret for not stopping her and regret that his fear of what was out there made him stay behind.

Noticing the way he looked at her, Clara decided he didn't look convinced of her story. He was probably thinking she'd screamed a lot for just that. She gave a slightly embarrassed smile.
"The water's really cold.." She said as an explanation. "And, I thought something grabbed my foot. But it turned out it was just a branch or something." She fidgeted slightly.

Listening as he told her that it was the McFarless castle's ruins out that direction, she wasn't that surprised after hearing what the boy had said. She nodded slightly as he explained that there was a fishing wharf.
"Thank you, I'm supposed to meet a friend over there." She said, hoping he believed her lie. "He's off chasing after some ghost story or something.." She explained as she walked with him to the wharf. "But, anyway. I'll be fine, I promise." She smiled reassuringly.

Having picked out a motorboat, because she wasn't about to try rowing a boat out in the middle of the Loch Ness, in the dark, with a possible danger out there lurking in the waters. She got directions, and after the person showed her how to operate the boat, she set out. It didn't take too long to get across the lake, and she only had a little difficulty shutting off the motor as she approached the shores.

As the boat bumped slightly hard against the shore, Clara held onto the sides to keep from being thrown to the floor or something.
"Oh. Bit of a hard landing, but I did ok, I think." She commented to herself, glancing over the side a bit. She frowned when she saw that she wasn't actually on the shore, and she may have to jump into the water a bit to get to shore. Remembering how cold it was, she really didn't want to do that.

She frowned a little and grabbed her new flashlight, which she got from the boat rental place, and shone the light around a bit before realizing that the front of the boat was against the shore, just not anything else. She carefully made her way to the front tip of the boat, balancing carefully, then jumped down onto the shore. She fell forward a little but caught herself with her hands in front of her, then stood up and shone her light around, slightly nervous again. She moved away from the water, just in case. She didn't want to get dragged back in again.

The creature had watched as Clara approached from the boat, but not from the water. It was looking through one of the windows of the ruins. Seeing her is hissed loud enough for her to hear before scuttling off somewhere inside.

As Clara would investigate further into the ruins she would find her shoe laying on the ground next to a wall where the words "Leave Now" were crudely carved. Near that was a small opening which lead into a dank looking cave. A small breeze could be felt from inside, one that was as cold as the air around her. The echoing sounds of dripping indicated water as well.

This would have had to have been the monster's hiding place. So out of view and away from prying eyes. And any who would dare come near were doomed or scared enough to run after seeing or hearing signs of some beast nearby.

Clara stopped and tensed a little as she heard a hiss. She'd heard that before. She reminded herself to use a lot of caution here. She remembered how dangerous Ice Warriors could be. She stepped a little closer to the ruined castle, and saw her shoe. She reached to grab it, then saw the words and hesitated. She glanced around briefly, shining her light around. She didn't see anyone, but just in case, she shone her light upward, remembering how the ice warrior had hidding up in the ceiling area, before on the submarine with the Russians.

Seeing nothing, she grabbed her shoe and checked to see if it was very dry. It was damp, but at least there wasn't water inside it. She put it back on and then backed away a little.
"Hello?" She called, slightly nervous. "I just want to talk.." She said. "My name is Clara. I'm not an enemy.. I just want to talk." She hesitated, glancing all around, but not approaching the cave. "I've met one of your kind before, you know." She paused, then continued. "Me and my friend, we sort of.. helped him a bit. Well, he nearly killed us all, but in the end we helped him get back to the rest of his people.." She added the last part a bit lower in an undertone, then stopped herself from rambling, and spoke up again.

"Are you stuck here on Earth? Cause.. I could try to help you get back to Mars, if that's the case.." She hesitated, hoping she wasn't just speaking to the wind. She also hoped she wasn't about to get attacked. "And.. just for the record, I'm unarmed.." She remembered something the Doctor said, about these guys having a code of honor or something. She was hoping the Ice Warrior would think attacking an unarmed person would be a dishonorable thing to do. She glanced around, keeping her light's beam low to the ground to keep from accidentally shining it in the warrior's face or something.

From the cave the Martian heard what she said before calling "Go away, human!" with a hiss that followed.

To anyone else it would seem like talking to a ghost or some undead creature in the cave. At least for Clara she'd heard the Martian's speak before. Compared to Saldak, however, this one sounded sightly younger. The best comparison would be a 40 year old man's voice against a 20 year old one.

When she spoke of knowing his kind the Martian said "If you truly know my people, then you know not to come any closer if you value your life." Then she asked about why he was on Earth, to which he hissed "That is none of your concern. Now leave, before I see you dead by my hands!" But then she said how she was unarmed an an angered hissed followed before he said "Just leave me alone!"

Clara hesitated a little after hearing the martian speak. She glanced around, but didn't see him. He.. and she was fairly sure it was a he.. sounded younger than Skaldak, but then, she remembered something about Skaldak being trapped in the ice for hundreds or thousands of years, so obviously it was going to be younger than him. She thought for a moment after he threatened to kill her, but then he seemed upset when she mentioned she was unarmed.

"I'm sorry.. I'm not trying to intrude or anything.. but, well.. you're sort of frightening the locals a bit." She explained. "And, some of them have seen you. They think they're in terrible dangers and, see, when people get scared like that, they might do anything to protect themselves from a perceived threat.."

She wondered if she was wasting her breath, but she thought she should keep trying to talk to him.
"I wouldn't want them to decide to come hunt down the monster they think is after them. I mean, I know, being a warrior that you are and all, you could handle them. But then a lot of innocent people might get hurt, and all just because of a misunderstanding."

She hesitated a little, trying to decide where the voice had come from, so she could try and direct her words toward him.
"Please, just.. is there anything I can help you with?" She asked quietly. "I really only want to help." She wished the Doctor was there, because he'd know better what to do, and say. He would know how to appeal to the alien. "My friend and I helped that other martian guy, maybe we could help you too." She finished.

The warrior still watched her from his spot in the cave, all the time giving small hisses as she spoke. He was considering her words, how she warned that the humans around the area would come to harm him just because they were afraid. If he could he would laugh at the idea.

"I do not fear the humans." he hissed. "You are correct. I am a warrior. And if they attack one of us, they...." he trailed off as he remembered his situation. Instead of explaining to her he simply hissed more to the human "I will not fear the humans if they come for me. They will see what a real fighter is if they try to come for me. They already lost one of their war beasts when it attacked me. It proved weak against me, even without my armor. Imagine what I can do when I stomp through that tiny village fulled armed and ready for battle?"

But then she mentioned her friend who helped one of his people again. He remembered her saying it before, not really paying attention. Humans had never heard of Ice Warriors in this time, let alone actually making it to Mars and meeting it's people. How did she know? But then he began to remember some of the stories passed through his people.

"This friend of yours?" he asked. "Is he known as 'the Doctor'?"

Clara bit her lip lightly to stop herself from saying anything when he mentioned the 'war beast' and how he would just destroy the village if they tried to hurt him.
"No, but that's what I'm trying to avoid.." She began, trailing off as he asked if her friend was known as the Doctor.

She was surprised.
"Um.. yes. How'd you know that?" She asked, her surprise evident in her voice. "We helped a very important.. person, in your um.. army? no, that wouldn't be the right word. We'll say race.. is that right?" She asked, uncertain of her wording. "He was sort of.. stranded, and we helped him get back to the other martians." She said, attempting to sound friendly. "Uh, perhaps you know him? He was called um.." She hesitated briefly to remember the name. "Grand master.. no, wait. Grand.. marshall, yes that's it. Skaldig? No.. Skal..dak? Yeah, that sounds right. Grand Marshall Skaldak, does that name sound familiar to you?" She inquired, hoping to make peace with him in some way. She really wanted to avoid having anyone be killed.

She felt a little nervous, all of the sudden. She didn't know where this martian was, and she also didn't know if he would attack her regardless of her being unarmed. She tried to hide her nervousness, pretending to be brave and bold and confident. She kept wishing the Doctor had come with her, but at the same time, she wanted to prove that she could handle things like this on her own, and maybe gain the Doctor's being impressed with what she had done. Although, on the other hand, if she got killed, she was sure he would be very upset and very not-impressed with her. She hoped for her own sake that she wouldn't get killed.

There was silence from the cave at the mention of the Doctor and then later the mention of Grand Marshal Skaldak. The Martian inside had stopped hissing and was silent as the grave for a moment. He was thinking to himself, yet for Clara it could've meant anything from pondering to attack or trying to figure who she was.

In a moment two red eyes opened up from the darkness of the cave, looking right into Clara's. The Martian looked at her, seeing her face and examining it. He was trying to see if she was lying or not. Given enough time he could tell she wasn't. She'd seen Skaldak and knew of the Doctor. She encountered his kind before, and one of the greatest heroes of his people.

A scaly claw hand beckoned her forward and his voice hissed "Come inside."

When she would, Clara would find a cavern smoothed out by age hidden right under the ruins. It was spacious enough for her to walk around and see the roof was far above like one in a palace. There was a small rock formation in the center and a pool nearby that obviously lead to the Loch's waters. And in the corner of the room, standing upright against a rock formation, was the Martian's Ice Warrior armor. It was empty of course but there were remains of vegetables and other things scarrted near it.

But there was no sigh as of yet where the Martian itself was.

Clara could feel her heart racing as the seconds passed and she heard nothing at all. She wasn't sure if this was a good or bad sign. Or if it meant nothing. Maybe the martian had left? Or, maybe he was sneaking up behind her? She glanced behind her, just to check, but didn't see anything.

Then, as she turned back around, she saw that those red eyes were looking straight at her from the darkness. She resisted the instinct to jump and back away, and instead took a deep breath to try and stay calm. Her hand tightened on the flashlight, and she could feel her palms getting slightly sweaty from her nervousness.

But, rather than lashing out with a weapon and attacking her, he motioned for her to come into the cave, confirmed by him saying for her to come inside. She hesitated a moment. Was this a trick? But, then according to the Doctor, the martians believed in honor and stuff. They wouldn't be likely to be deceitful, would they? So, it probably wasn't a trick. She hoped not, anyway.

She swallowed quietly and wished she hadn't finished her tea back at the boat rental place. She stepped cautiously forward and entered the cave, glancing around a little while keeping her flashlight low so not to risk possibly shining the beam into the martian's face.

She stopped when she saw the suit, but she could tell it was empty. She remembered how it looked from her encounter with Skaldak. She moved her light around as she looked all around, noticing the pool of water. She guessed that was probably an easy access to the lake, and she guessed it probably also made it easier to get water to drink when he needed it. And she noticed the vegetables and such, and was reminded of Hamish mentioning the raided garden.

She observed the high ceiling with stalactite formations hanging from far above. She hoped none of them would fall and land on her. But, as she looked around the cave, she noticed a distinct lack of the martian. She was a little curious, but she remembered how easily Skaldak had hidden in the submarine, so she wasn't too surprised how easily another martian was able to hide in a dark cave with plenty of places to hide.

"So.. um, how do you know of the Doctor?" She asked quietly, directing the question off in a randomly chosen direction since she wasn't sure where he was. "And.. how's Skaldak doing, did he get settled in back home alright?" She attempted to sound cheery despite her nervousness.

Hiding in the darker parts of the cave, always moving and scuttling about, the Martian watched as Clara entered before she spoke, asking questions. He was hesitant to answer at first before finally given a decent answer.

"Skaldak spoke of the Doctor before." he hissed as his voiced echoed in the cave. "He told of how he saved not only his life, but his honor. We'd thought him lost forever before he was returned to us." And then when she asked how he was he said "He returned to his home before the ages finally caught up with his body. He died as honorable as he was a hero to our people. He became an inspiration of the longevity of the Martian's prowess throughout the universe."

As he spoke his voice was hard to pin-point where he was, given the echoing. And he was always moving from one spot to another, even when Clara would flash her light towards where she thought he was. Clearly this Martian knew the advantages of being out of the armor as much as being in one. But for Clara this should've been confusing since he WAS out of the armor, being that this was a dishonorable thing for Martians.

"I answer your questions." he hissed. "Now you will answer mine. Where is the Doctor now?"

Clara listened as the martian spoke, and tried to figure out where he was. She found that she was actually glad to hear that Skaldak had been welcomed home, and slightly saddened to hear that he had passed away now. She tried to think of an appropriate response.
"I'm.. glad we were able to help him." She commented quietly.

Then the martian, whose name she still didn't know, asked where the Doctor was. Clara hesitated, feeling slightly less happy than she had been.
"I.. don't know." She said, frowning as she said it. She honestly had no idea where he was, and she found that this worried her slightly. "I've tried to contact him a few times, but he hasn't answered, and.. I'm not sure where he is." She looked down a bit sadly, but she tried not to let it get her down.

"So, sorry to seem nosy, but I've told you my name, and I was just wondering, what's yours?" She inquired, trying to sound cheery again, but inside she was now feeling worried about the Doctor. It wasn't like him not to answer her calls for this long, and on top of that, he'd missed their meeting time last Wednesday. She really hoped everything was ok, because she didn't know what to do if anything had happened to him while she wasn't around to help him.

Asking his name the Martian said "I am Zalatar. Ice Warrior of Clan......"

He stopped and was quite for a long time. Obviously something was wrong with this Martian. He didn't speak with pride like Skaldak and seemed less enthusiastic about being in the armor, otherwise he'd have been inside by now.

When he spoke again he said "If you do not know where the Doctor is....then there is no point in speaking anymore. There is nothing you can do for me."

Clara was a little curious about this new mystery. She was wondering why the martian, who now revealed himself as Zalatar, seemed so.. sad, or something. She wasn't quite sure what it was, but she thought he didn't seem quite like Skaldak. She wasn't very familiar with martians, but she was very familiar with kids and she knew how to tell when a kid's mood was off from how it should be.

Feeling concern, she frowned slightly as she tried to place quite what was wrong with the martian.
"I'm sorry.." She said quietly, in reply to his statement concerning the Doctor. "I don't know where the Doctor is, but that doesn't mean that I can't help, or at least try to help." She felt disappointment as he said there was nothing she could do for him, just because she didn't know where the Doctor was. She was trying to help. And couldn't one help just by being there, and being a friend?

She hesitated a moment before speaking again, softly.

"What..what's wrong, Zalatar?" She asked softly. "I don't mean to pry, but, it seems like something's wrong. And.. well, you're perfectly entitled not to tell me anything, and if you don't want to talk that's fine and I'll respect that. But, I can't help but let you know that.. if something's wrong, and you want.. or maybe need.. anyone to talk to, I'm a really good listener, and I'd never tell anyone anything you didn't want me to." She spoke in a kind, caring tone she usually reserved for kids, and hoped that she wasn't annoying Zalatar.

The more she tried to speak with him the more resentment he was feeling towards her. Talking? What good would talking do a warrior? There was nothing in speech with a human that would help. He was ready to strike her if it meant getting rid of her....and yet he couldn't. A part of him was holding back. He felt that there may, just may, be something she could do to help him. Whatever it was she could do he only hoped it was what he needed.

A heavy sigh and hiss came before he said "I was not lost here like Skaldak. I am....in exile. I dishonored myself and my rank as a soldier. My people would never look kindly upon such a disgrace as myself....so I came to this planet. I found this place. The place of cold waters. I hoped that somewhere here I could regain my honor....but what honor is there among the humans?"

Clara frowned as Zalatar started to explain what was wrong. She felt bad for him, but she wasn't sure what to say for a bit. Normally she could talk to a kid and think of something to say to comfort him or her. But this was a bit more tricky because one, it wasn't a kid. Two, it wasn't a human, and three, it wasn't exactly a situation she had any way of relating to.

"I'm sorry. I don't know what to say." She said finally, quietly. She frowned slightly, not liking that she wasn't able to come up with the right thing to say to comfort this person. "But.." She added a little tentatively. "There is honor among humans." She hoped that didn't sound stupid or cliche. "There's a lot of difference in our culture than in yours, and I know a lot of humans don't care about honor and everything. But some do.. and, well.. I just think there's a lot of ways you could find to do honorable things." She told him.

She wasn't sure how well received that might be, but she did the best she could. She thought of an example she could even use that he might appreciate.
"Like, for example, when Skaldak was here, he nearly destroyed the Earth, but then he realized, after me and the Doctor talked to him, that it wouldn't be honorable to do that, so he decided not to. He's a hero among your people, isn't he?" She hesitated. "Even the greatest heros have had moments of doubt, and needed someone to help them know the right thing to do." She said quietly.