Past, Present, and Allons-y

Dartmoor, England....

Eric and Cameron sat together at booth in the local coffee shop, Eric wielding a newspaper and Cameron cautiously sipping her steaming hot coffee. Cameron released a huff and pulled the paper down to reveal the face of Eric, an obvious agitated and tired middle aged man. Grey hairs lined the corners of his ears while brown still held it's dominance on the majority of his hair. "What" He hissed, "Stop reading that mumbo jumbo. It's all lies anyways..no such thing as a Beast of Dartmoor" Cameron replied, "It's all over the papers sweetie. Kills are happening now, not just sightings..it's like it's becoming more aggressive".

Eric's Scottish accent became more prominent as he spoke, the more he became angry with his prominently English accented wife. "You act like it's real, well i've never seen it, i've never seen this terrible beast lurking about on the plains of Dartmoor" Cameron giggled, Eric frowned, "You've never been mauled and made the front page either. No..there's something going on". "I couldn't agree more" A voice called out from the booth behind Cameron; immediately catching their attention, the couple turned around to the held up newspaper where the voice had come from.

Lowering the paper, The Doctor revealed his face with a child like wave of his hand as he set the paper down on the table, "Hello..sorry for interrupting. Just couldn't help myself" he continued. "They say there are people working on finding out what it is..the beast..are you one of them?" Eric asked, much to the disapproved of his wife who slapped him on the wrist without looking, "Oh..the real question is how could i not be".

Annie sighed as she wandered through Dartmoor, fiddling with her vortex manipulator. Dartmoor was certainly not Tokyo, where she'd hoped to be going. She was beginning to wish she'd stolen the instruction manual along with the thing. With a frustrated sigh she slapped the flap closed and stopped in front of a newsstand. One of the papers had caught her eye.

"Beast of Dartmoor..." she mumbled, picking it up and reading it over, before she was interrupted. "Ya gotta pay for that, kiddo." the man behind the counter called out. "Yeah, yeah." she dug through her pockets and deposited a few coins before walking off, head buried in the face of the paper.

A beast in Dartmoor. Granted, any place as boring as Dartmoor would probably turn a weird-looking cow into a 'Beast' just for some excitement but there was also the chance it was something more. And since she couldn't get to Tokyo, apparently, the young woman decided she might as well look into this.

"Alright, Doctor," she said to nobody as she stopped outside a coffee shop, "time to use everything I learned from you. Which was... mostly runnin' an' a pretty good amount of breakin' an' enterin'... I need to find a new role model for these adventures."

The Doctor reviewed notes he jotted down from the couple at the coffee shop, not paying attention as he moved his way out of the shop until hearing his name be blurted out by a bystander off to his left. Looking over to the woman, The Doctor arched his eyebrow, "Sorry?" he asked her, "Did yo-". Suddenly his sonic screwdriver buzzed inside of his pocket, causing him to shift his attention to it as he flipped his notebook away and pulled out the screwdriver.

Activating his trusty device, he pointed it in the direction it was picking up on a anomaly off towards the fields towards his right hand side. Looking over to the woman, The Doctor forced a smirk, "Sorry, got this...thing. Nice hair by the way" he told her before rushing off in the direction where his sonic was telling him to go. Glancing around the streets, The Doctor quickly developed an appreciation for the lack of cars on the road, finding it far too easy to cross roads on his journey. Stopping at the edge of the foreseeable town, The Doctor held his sonic up to his ear as he adjusted its settings catching the attention of a man passing by. "What..the hell are you doing?" He asked, "The incidents tying in with the beasts sightings gave off specific radiation spikes. Setting my sonic screwdriver to detect them...i can pin point when they occur to try and find out the cause behind these sightings and attacks".

"Hm? Oh, thank... you..." Annie blinked, as the bespectacled man complimented her hair. With a raised eyebrow, she watched him run off. "Dunno whot could be so important 'ere, unless you're 'untin' monsters..." she mumbled, shaking her head until she watched the man pull out a small device emitting a familiar buzzing sound.

Couldn't be. First time she'd met the Doctor he was a curly-haired blonde with an extremely ugly jacket. But he did change his face. Still, why didn't he recognize her, then? They'd been pretty good friends, in her opinion. Earlier face?

Annie took off after him, tossing her newspaper into a recycling bin, "Doctor!" At the edge of town, she skidded to a halt as she saw him talking to some man. The young woman ran a hand through her hair and took a breath, walking up, "Doctor, is that you? S'me, Annie. Y'know... weird 'air," she motioned towards her hair, "wanted t' travel, scared'a water? ...Ringin' a bell?" she bit her lip.

The Doctor looked over to the persistent odd haired woman, his eyebrow arching as she asked him about a previous encounter with her. Shaking his head, The Doctor lowered his lips questionably, "Nope, sorry. Doesn't ring a bell" he mumbled a reply, "Although i have been really really busy so remembering certain things haven't exactly been at the top of my list. That reminds me...i meant to fix the tower of Pisa". Suddenly the sonic screwdriver erupted with sound as it picked up on another radiation spike, turning The Doctor's attention over to the fields in front of him and towards his right.

"Annie you said your name was right?" The Doctor called over his shoulder as he peered from his sonic screwdriver them up to where it was directing him to go, "But the look of things, you've certain got a gob so why don't you try and recharge my memory..while we figure out where this is coming from hmm? Sound good? If i still don't remember then i have an idea why". Without waiting for her reply, The Doctor began his journey again, this time going a little bit slower than his previous stride so that he didn't run away from the woman behind him. Although his eyes and majority of his attention was on his sonic screwdriver and where he was going, The Doctor kept his ears open to whatever she had to say, if anything.

"A'right... When we met I was sittin' out the outskirts'a Dover, just begun travellin', an' I found myself blocked by the English Channel an' I was beatin' meself up over bein' so dumb as to plan a trip and not remember I'd 'ave to cross that. Terrified of big bodies'a water, might'a mentioned that..." she sighed, running a hand through her hair. "You showed up an' I honestly thought you were a circus performer at first, with the way you were dressed. Big weird colorful coat an' all, none of it matched." she chuckled.

"Long story short, ya ended up tellin' me you were an alien. Even 'ad a listen to your 'earts on a stethoscope, right? An' ya invited me to travel with ya. First place we went was Paris, right as they were finishin' up the construction on Notre Dame an' I got dressed in the time period's clothes and felt like I looked really dumb." Annie babbled on, keeping stride with the Doctor. He was either taller or faster, this time, she found herself thinking because he certainly moved quicker.

"So yeah, we traveled around in the TARDIS for a while an' saw plenty of cool stuff... and scary stuff too, yeah. Ran into some people you called Time Agents once, toward the end, and I kinda nicked this from one of 'em." she held out her wrist, where her vortex manipulator was strapped on. "Though, I'm not great at workin' it yet. I was tryin' to go to Tokyo, ended up 'ere. So, that's pretty much the story. I figure either you 'aven't met me yet with that face there or... you're so old ya don't remember me. Which would be kinda sad..." she frowned.

The Doctor looked back to Annie when she showed him her vortex manipulator, quickly grabbing her hand he turned around and shifted his attention onto the device. Looking up at Annie, The Doctor smirked as the device reacted to him waving his screwdriver over it, "Throughout our lives we are completely different people. Different memories, different feelings, different thoughts. My lives are more different than they ever were before....each time i changed, that previous incarnation was given permission to live out their lives without the possibility of regenerating again. A punishment set forth by one of my most powerful enemies...so that i can see my friends die before my eyes...watch everything die until we ourselves die of old age. If helps..picture a bath tub with several bubbles floating above it. Each time i regenerate..another bubble pops up and hovers...that man you met...he's me but he's in his own bubble. His own memories and experiences...and i'm a different bubble, but both coming from the same tub...both The Doctor".

Smiling, The Doctor turned his body and attention back to the radiation spike and the hill in front of him, "Don't think about it too much if it's too much" he called back to her as he overlooked the hill to the surrounding fields of nothing but green grass. Squinting, he surveyed the field until his eyes landed on a black form striding across his line of sight. With widened eyes, The Doctor pointed to the form, "What's that?" he mumbled, bolting down the hill without thinking, his sonic screwdriver out in front of him, "Come on beasty! Let's see what you are".

"Alright, I suppose that kinda makes sense. Does explain your improved sense'a fashion." Annie shrugged, now thinking about bathtubs and bubbles before she shook her head to clear it away.

"Well, s'great t'see you.. again..?" she looked up, blinking in surprise as The Doctor was gone. She watched him taking off down the hill and started to run after him. "Oi! Wait for me!" she yelled.

Pav trekked through the dark and mysterious rural area. He wanted to be able to explain it better than just a "rural area" but he had exactly no idea where on earth he was. He had a friend that originated from nearby this place, and suggested he visit, as it was lush and beautiful, but he was about as far from home as he could possibly be without leaving the UK. The drive down from Scotland had been god awful. He hadn't driven for that long at least since he lived in Italy, possibly since he lived in the states.

He was lost. He was lost and it was dark and he had the sneaking suspicion he wasn't entirely alone, but that might have just been because it was dark and he was lost. He could handle city lost, but this was different. So very different than city lost. Nothing was lit, there were no landmarks that he could see in the dark, he had no idea where his glasses went, and all that seemed to make itself present to him was grass, grass, and more grass. It was beautiful just like it had been described to him, but if he didn't find his temporary lodging or at least something interesting soon, this trip wasn't worth it.

Amongst his grumbly attitude from being lost there was a movement behind him, not dissimilar to footsteps. He spun around, paranoid from the blackness, dark that the moonlight didn't permeate. "H-hello?" He called out timidly, hands going to worry the bottom seam of his sweater.

The Doctor briefly looked back as the woman called out to him but looked back forward as he tried to keep his attention locked on the radiation spike and the figure he just saw. Night had begun to descend upon the fields and the town behind them, making the search all that more difficult but most importantly, more exciting. The sonic screwdriver roared with more life and sounds as he approached where he last saw the figure before his attention was jolted to his left hand side where a voice called out.

The outline as obviously that of a man, unknowingly walking straight into a growing mass of darkness that leap into view of The Doctor from a nearby hill side. Turning his screwdriver off, The Doctor bolted over to the man and quickly grabbed him, covering his mouth as he stared at the black mass as it passed a few feet in front of them. "I'm not here to hurt you..just don't..make..a..sound" The Doctor whispered to the man as the dark mass began to growl, stopping and peering around, it's glowing red eyes scanning the grassy field around it before moving on.

The last thing The Doctor saw as the long tail trailing after it's body before finally going out of view. Then, and only then, The Doctor released his grasp on the mans mouth and walked out to where the beast was. Flipping his sonic screwdriver out, he scanned the area, peering around a few trees to see if he could spot the beast. Noting the absence of the creature, The Doctor nodded and released a sigh, "Alright...it's gone" he commented, looking back to the man and Annie, "Don't make any loud sounds though...can't risk bringing it back..too dark. Too dangerous".

Running after the Doctor, Annie skidded to a halt as she caught sight of the strange, mobile mass of darkness. It sent a chill up her spine and she didn't make a move as she watched the Time Lord grab someone and stop, watching.

Once the danger had passed, Annie quietly crept over, "Seriously, warn me when we need ta run, mate..." she wiped her brow and looked over at the newcomer. "'ello, sorry. Weird night, eh?" she grinned. Despite the danger, she was feeling that old familiar rush of excitement that so often defined her memories of her previous adventures with the Doctor.

The girl from Blackpool held out a hand to the man, "Annie. 'ello. That's the Doctor. Pleased ta meet ya, prob'ly."

Pav barely heard the more nimble footsteps in his sudden inexplicable panic, the hair in the back of his neck rose and he was suddenly terribly on edge. He found out why shortly thereafter. Being grabbed was not the most graceful way he had ever been alerted of danger, and at first he though this man covering his mouth was the danger but before he could cry out, startled and fearful, he saw it. How could he possibly not have seen it before? It was right there, big and dark. He couldn't make out the features of this moving mass of shade besides the bright, menacing eyes. He was briefly very regretful of dying his hair lilac, but the beast didn't seem to notice. It slithered away as Pav shook like a leaf, horrified and fighting the urge to whimper.

Even when released he remained tense and scared, until this mysterious man who apparently just saved his life pulled out a weird glowing took of some sort that made a shrill noise that was kind of jarring. He let out a breath he didn't know he was holding when they were confirmed safe. He wasn't sure why he had any real reason to believe this stranger, he just did. He looked to the two strangers. Weird night indeed. The young, nervous artist took the offered hand in an honestly rather wimpy handshake, trying to still his nerves. "H-hi I'm Pav" he squeaked decidedly unmanly like. He looked to the other, the Doctor apparently, did he have another name? "What was that thing?" He asked, startled and frightened and still ever so lost, not that he have much if anywhere to go.

The Doctor kept his gaze on where the beast had ran off to, sniffing as he stood up straight and turned his body and full attention to the duo, "That" he began, "Was the mythological beast of Dartmoor...well...i think so. Might have been a sheep with a terrible case of the sniffles...then again that seems unlikely. Just...just forget i said that at all. Hello! I'm The Doctor! Sorry about the scary introduction...really just didn't to see someone get mauled, especially when i have an entire village counting on me". Grinning, The Doctor glanced over to Annie and gestured to the general direction where the beast had run off to, "Now i'm guessing you'd like nothing more than chase after that thing...and i'm with you but...i need to know something before we do anything like that" he stopped as he looked back to the man, "You're seem to be from around here, tell me...is there a town that way?".

Annie ran a hand through her hair, listening to the Doctor ramble. "You're very excitable with this face, eh?" she chuckled and turned to Pav. "If he starts talking what sounds like sci-fi gibberish jus' nod an' look interested."

She sat down on the ground, catching her breath a bit as the adrenaline started to run down and opened her Vortex Manipulator, checking the date. "Well, least I landed in the right year this time." she muttered to herself. "And you're damned right I wanna go after it. Adventure's callin', Doctor." she looked up at him, grinning.

Pav really didn't want to go after that. Or so his brain told him, but his mind was racing. The beast of Dartmoor? That didn't exist but apparently it did. It did and whatever that was, that was it. He wanted to know. Adrenaline from a near death experience courses through his veins and for the first time in a long time he felt alive and engaged. Maybe this wasn't such a bad idea after all.

"Well I got a bit lost" he explained when asked "but unless he ran to Dartmoor itself, which is the other way I think since I'm assuming you came from there, there's not a whole lot around here. I actually live up in Scotland so I'm not so sure how long 'a while' is before there's civilization again," he explained comfortably despite a, He just nearly died, b, these were complete strangers and he was very shy, and c, his mostly American accent(though that probably wasn't as shocking considering the fairly obvious lilt he had from the only English he has encountered being accented differently from his home country for quite a long time)

"but what was that thing really?" he breathed, still fearful despite his burning curiosity, the Beast of Dartmoor is not a good enough answer he wanted to know more than a name "I have so many questions" he exclaimed, trying to work through the mystery in his head but he was trying to do a huge puzzle only holding a hand full of pieces. "who are you two and how do you know about this Beast?" he started, not seeming to be panicking but having just so many questions "If the Beast of Dartmoor is real what else is and how on earth have I been so blind to it if there's more?! and you!" he turned to Anne "what do you mean you landed in the right time this time? do you travel in time and if you do is that also something I've been blind to or is this just" he stopped abruptly "I have no idea what's going on" he admitted.

The Doctor returned a smirk to Annie as she spoke to him from her sitting position before turning his attention to the man during his ramble of questions and comments. "Well there's no question that it's real...but what i really is i have no idea. Got an idea though..." The Doctor finally replied, "I came here to see what was going on with these radiation spikes..turns out every time the beast of Dartmoor shows up, the spikes come with it. Just...sort of got tangled up in all of this i suppose.". Stopping, The Doctor listened to the man speak and ask questions about the lack of knowing the existence of the beast. The Doctor shrugged, "Hundreds of species are discovered on a daily basis....things that only the mind could imagine...as humans spread out across this planet more and more..the more things they'l bump into" he concluded with a grin, "I don't know either...and that's the best thing about it. What's the point in knowing everything ey? So much more entertaining this way".

Turning back to the fields, The Doctor placed his hands into his pockets and sniffed. His eyes scanned the horizon, waiting, hoping for an appearance that deep down he knew would never come. Not now. Flipping out his sonic screwdriver, The Doctor turned back to the duo and held his trusty device up to his ear as he adjusted the setting, "The beast seems to be resting....but..if i can find the right frequency..i can" he stopped as he thrust it forward and activated it. With three mighty roars, the TARDIS appeared behind Annie and the man, opening it's doors with the snap of The Doctor's fingers. "I can trace the signal i picked up on back to when it first began...hopefully then we can catch the beast and find out what it really is".

Annie looked up at Pav and shrugged, "Well, 'e travels in time." she cocked her head towards the Doctor, "I do more of a stumble. Not sure 'ow to work this thing proper yet. Gettin' there, though." she tapped her Manipulator.

As the groaning and wheezing of the TARDIS sounded from behind her, Annie stood up and turned, smiling. "Oh, 'ello you beautiful thing. It's been too long." she chuckled and patted the side of the blue box affectionately.

"Mind you, ya look a little raggedy. 'as 'e been mistreatin' you?" Annie spoke to the time machine, casting a smirking glance to the Time Lord. "Anyway," she sighed, leaning against the side of the machine, "The radiation spike stuff's not harmful, is it? I don't want me 'air to start fallin' out because I'm not an alien who can just cough the radiation outta meself or whatever ya do, Doctor."

He understood spreading out and learning things. That made sense actually, they barely knew anything about the ocean why would he presume they knew everything about land? Arrogant. That was arrogant of him. He was rather distressed by that. Pav shifted foot to foot, mind racing a mile a minute, he had been arrogant, they seemed to be, they were just talking over his head like he hadn't just nearly died, discovered the beast of Dartmoor exists in real life, and found out that time travel is a thing. He was overwhelmed. He kind of wanted to cry, but he wasn't upset just overwhelmed. he took a deep breath. Okay. This was okay. He was okay. So okay.

Right as he looked back up to say something else, it Appeared. Annie fretted over it like it was nothing. nothing at all. Like the air hadn't just screeched and groaned, like the wind hadn't blown and a LITERAL POLICE BOX hadn't just appeared out of nowhere. His vision blurred, the world spun, black closed in on him in the known sign of nearly blacking out, he wavered on his feet as the tunnel vision assaulted his senses and his ears felt like they closed up, everything sounded far away. this was too much at once. He lost his balance and fell into his rear into the grass, vision still spinning widly. "uff" he groaned as he thudded to the ground and tried to still himself "'salot t take in" he murmured apologetically. goodness freaking gracious Pav pull yourself together.

he shook his head vigorously and pulled himself up to his feet. He was good in the midst of danger, he handled things as well as possible, it was after danger that he wasn't good. Things only really hit him when he didn't need to stay perfectly level but oh goodness did they ever hit him hard. Like that one time when he got mugged and took the stuff back, called the cops and got him arrested, then just sat on the sidewalk and cried. That's how he was, completely calm one moment and completely overwhelmed the next. he blamed anxiety disorder, it worked well enough generally.

The Doctor shook his head as he walked up the ramp and into his TARDIS, "Not right now it's not" he replied, "Right now it's like sticking a fork into a toaster. You'l get just a little zap..but it's building each time the beast appears. That's why we need to stop it and quick before either the beast...or the spikes start killing people". Running his hands over the controls, The Doctor flipped out his sonic screwdriver and put it into an open slot.

Within an instant, the TARDIS began to scan the readings given by the screwdriver on the radiation spikes and searched for the origin. The TARDIS began to shake, began to wobble from side to side; The Doctor looked over to the duo, "Get in now!" he called to them, "The TARDIS has found something!". Once the two were in, the doors slammed shut behind them, the time machine immediately taking off to a destination it found through the sonic screwdriver's readings.

Just as soon as it had started, the TARDIS stopped, resting with a calming feeling as The Doctor pulled over the scanner, "It found the next location of a spike.." he said out loud, "Another chance to find out where the timorous beasty is from".

"Bossy face, too." Annie muttered, looking around at the new control room. "You redecorated. It's a lot more... alien. I like it." she said, walking over to the console and standing on her toes to peer over the Doctor's shoulder at the monitor.

"So, where are we?" she started, then turned to Pav, who she was sure was having those New-To-The-TARDIS jitters. "Oh, um. It moves, by the way. Time machine, space ship. Doesn't always take ya where you wanted t'go..." the girl from Blackpool looked over at the Doctor with a jokingly accusatory glance at the accusation.

Pav took a second of dazed confusion and overwhelming emotion before he realized this was important. Behind him was dark and damp grassy hills in which he knew not how to get anywhere from but in front, warm yellow light and an impossible man with an impossible machine and his impossible friend chasing an impossible beast. Was there even a choice? He bolted into the TARDIS, the doors shutting behind him, and for a moment was speechless. The sheer vastness he couldn't see from outside made this adventure all the more impossible but he could smell the scent of the air, feel the metal grating beneath his shoes and his heart hammering wildly in his chest. "wow" he breathed. "I-It's bigger on the in- you know what?" He relaxed visibly, "somethings are more wondrous a mystery."

He turned to the two and said "alright, so, if we find it, assuming this brought us to the right place, what will we do? Certainly not kill it" he looked briefly mortified, It was pretty scary but so were bears and he didn't want people to kill bears.

The Doctor looked back to Annie as she once more made a handful of observations, smiling as he listened to her, "I can see why i liked you. Bloody crime i don't remember you though. You just happened to run into an incarnation of me on a separate time line, tough luck". Shifting his attention to Pav, The Doctor's smile morphed into a grin as he heard him mouth The Doctor's favorite words from a newcomer. The sight of the man as he eased himself up the ramp caused a relaxing feeling in The Doctor, one that enveloped the scene, for him, as a whole. No longer was he facing down a danger that could kill not only the TARDIS team but also the villages nearby. No; now he was having an adventure.

An adventure with new people, new faces, new excitement and horrors. This is why i still travel The Doctor thought, leaning back into a standing straight position as he considered Pav's question at the end of his comments. "Well..." He started, "I don't exactly know what it is. Who knows...killing it might not be an option that would affect it. Besides...don't kill things anyways. But! If i can figure out what the radiation spike is and where it's coming from and how the beast gets here then i can get a plan moving into place...just have to walk outside those doors and see what the TARDIS has given us this time".

"Well, m'not goin' out first." Annie crossed her arms, "Last time I did we'd landed in the stomach of a giant space fish. Ruined me shoes." she shook her head.

The young woman glanced over to Pav and gave him an encouraging smile, "You do the honors, mate. Could be literally anythin' out there. 'ave a peek for us."

Pav sighed, tension dissipating, or at least some of it. He didn't like the thought of this grand big adventure if it was going to be too violent. He wasn't really the hunter sort. He let his eyes wander across the tan and gold interior of the TARDIS. It was strange to him, but wonderful. He placed his hands on one of the rails and gazed, like he was looking at a long lost love, and maybe he was, just not externally as he'd never seen the TARDIS before.

He was pulled from his daze by Annie offering up the newbie as the guinea pig essentially. As if tales of fish stomach were supposed to inspire confidence. He looked mortified, glancing down at his dusty grey suede shoes, his dusty grey 100 dollar shoes he'd gotten in the states on sale. They were designer for chrisake! He looked back up, his inner(outer) fashionista horrified by the thought. "I like my shoes!" he squeaked indignantly.

Rose stumbled slightly as the flash of light died down.
"Woah..." She uttered, holding her head.
"Now, where am I?" She spoke aloud as she looked around quickly. She saw a small newsstand and read the front page of one of them. "Dartmoor? I'm clueless." She uttered as she walked around the street.

((Im new, so, sorry if it sucks.))