All I Want For Christmas... - open to im_dead_ur_mad
The TARDIS shudders and groans disapprovingly as she rushes through the time vortex. This isn't the smooth trip she had planned when the Doctor, exhausted from an adventure gone too wrong for comfort, had set her to roam freely in the vortex so he could take one of his infrequent but deep slumbers. She'd found herself a nice calm current to float along on, decades and centuries flying past her in an intricate, yet perfectly ordered dance, and once again wished she could share this sight with her Time Lord. At least until a sudden surge in the current had shaken her out of her reverie, and before she could change course a rather violent temporal eddy had seized hold of her, throwing her back and forth in an increasingly erratic manner.
Engines wheezing, it's now all she can do not to be pulled in further or spit out of the vortex who knows where, and she is starting to get a little worried. Normally, this wouldn't be a dangerous situation, but without the support of her pilot she finds herself unable to break free and subjected to growing levels of distress and exhaustion. Her days of gleefully dipping in and out of such powerful turbulences were long over even before the Doctor had first found her on Gallifrey, after all.
Now almost desperate to escape, the TARDIS finally mobilizes all her energy reserves for one dramatic jump, shaking off the chaotic forces of the eddy and stabilizing at last. But the new time track is itself jarring, not quite right, and she quickly homes in on the nearest safe-seeming planet to catch her breath and get her bearings, as it were.
A cursory scan of the surroundings reveals it to be a good choice - no tumultuous point in local history, no temporal anomalies, no hostile species... Indeed, she can't detect any life signs at all, the area around her resting silently under a thick layer of pink snow. And that gives her a rather unusual idea. It's almost unthinkable for a TARDIS to go "exploring" on her own, but with her passengers asleep and no one in the vicinity that she could run into... Well, the Doctor would surely approve of some initiative, wouldn't he? And physical distractions are the best cure for aching structures, as she well remembers.
With an exciting mixture of anticipation and nervousness, she slips into her human form and stops by the wardrobe on her way out. Her last experience with snow has taught her that "wet and freezing" isn't exactly an enjoyable sensation, so she puts on a warm Victorian wool dress, sensible boots (though she'd rather be barefoot) and a long blue coat. The wide variety of garments with which humans cover themselves still baffles her, but at least she can concede to a certain functionality now. Finally, with a fond thought to the Brigadier, who'd given her these some time ago, she completes her winter gear by donning a soft scarf and gloves, though she tucks the latter away in a pocket in favor of gathering sensations with her bare skin.
So prepared, the slight form of a young girl exits the conspicuous blue box and takes a few experimental steps onwards, in a manner resembling a cat stalking through the first snow of the year. After taking a few deep breaths to feel the cold air rush through her lungs, she drops unceremoniously to her knees and digs her hands into the icy substance. Unlike any ordinary girl playing in the snow, no sound of delight escapes her mouth, but the intent with which she is now forming a ball and the small smile playing at her lips gives her fascination away.
However, she isn't too engrossed in the experience to miss the sudden shimmer in the air and the spike in anomalous sensor readings that occur before she can even enjoy the feeling of melting water on her hands. Nor indeed could she miss the inexplicable appearance of the most familiar bio-signature in the universe.
Engines wheezing, it's now all she can do not to be pulled in further or spit out of the vortex who knows where, and she is starting to get a little worried. Normally, this wouldn't be a dangerous situation, but without the support of her pilot she finds herself unable to break free and subjected to growing levels of distress and exhaustion. Her days of gleefully dipping in and out of such powerful turbulences were long over even before the Doctor had first found her on Gallifrey, after all.
Now almost desperate to escape, the TARDIS finally mobilizes all her energy reserves for one dramatic jump, shaking off the chaotic forces of the eddy and stabilizing at last. But the new time track is itself jarring, not quite right, and she quickly homes in on the nearest safe-seeming planet to catch her breath and get her bearings, as it were.
A cursory scan of the surroundings reveals it to be a good choice - no tumultuous point in local history, no temporal anomalies, no hostile species... Indeed, she can't detect any life signs at all, the area around her resting silently under a thick layer of pink snow. And that gives her a rather unusual idea. It's almost unthinkable for a TARDIS to go "exploring" on her own, but with her passengers asleep and no one in the vicinity that she could run into... Well, the Doctor would surely approve of some initiative, wouldn't he? And physical distractions are the best cure for aching structures, as she well remembers.
With an exciting mixture of anticipation and nervousness, she slips into her human form and stops by the wardrobe on her way out. Her last experience with snow has taught her that "wet and freezing" isn't exactly an enjoyable sensation, so she puts on a warm Victorian wool dress, sensible boots (though she'd rather be barefoot) and a long blue coat. The wide variety of garments with which humans cover themselves still baffles her, but at least she can concede to a certain functionality now. Finally, with a fond thought to the Brigadier, who'd given her these some time ago, she completes her winter gear by donning a soft scarf and gloves, though she tucks the latter away in a pocket in favor of gathering sensations with her bare skin.
So prepared, the slight form of a young girl exits the conspicuous blue box and takes a few experimental steps onwards, in a manner resembling a cat stalking through the first snow of the year. After taking a few deep breaths to feel the cold air rush through her lungs, she drops unceremoniously to her knees and digs her hands into the icy substance. Unlike any ordinary girl playing in the snow, no sound of delight escapes her mouth, but the intent with which she is now forming a ball and the small smile playing at her lips gives her fascination away.
However, she isn't too engrossed in the experience to miss the sudden shimmer in the air and the spike in anomalous sensor readings that occur before she can even enjoy the feeling of melting water on her hands. Nor indeed could she miss the inexplicable appearance of the most familiar bio-signature in the universe.