Fully immersed in the freezing water, Astra flicked her fingers. She'd really like it if these people would stop getting her wet. Even underwater, she was shivering. The chains fell away with the non-verbal spell and the brunette kicked off the tree, swimming to the free bit of bank. The sound of rain from underwater caught her attention and she realized they raised the stool. She let out the smallest bit of air and clung to the bank she swam up to. She pulled herself from the water, her clothes once again drenched. Her hair must've been even worse. She dreaded to think.
The Doctor was facing the river, confident she'd escaped, but cautious of how long humans could go without oxygen. "Astra!" she shouted, watching the water for the slightest movement, the smallest ripple. "Astra!" Her voice sounded more strained now.
The brunette finally got her land legs back and stood. "You don't have to shout, you know!" she called back, walking up the bank.
The Doctor ran over to her. "Oh!" She brought the woman into her arms, feeling the tight grip on her hearts release. She pulled back, now a little more equally wet. Well.. her coat protected her.
"She truly is a powerful witch," king James breathed.
Astra shook her head, approaching him. "No, sir. I just know how to swim. And release myself from most restraints." She wrung out her hair... again.
"I'm so sorry, Astra. I was scared!" Willa shouted from across the river.
The Doctor frowned at the brunette, feeling suspiciously left out of the loop.
Astra smiled over the river as well, running a hand through her hair from underneath, separating the clumps on her scalp. "That's alright, Willa!" she shouted her forgiveness back. She faced the Mistress with a muddy under-eye. "It doesn't take any more than that, Becka. How are you joined to the mud?" she asked, diverting the Doctor's attention.
The Mistress was breathing heavily into her cloth. She wheezed before shouting. "She survived. She is a witch."
Astra moved over to her. "Maybe I am! Maybe I'm not. Maybe it doesn't matter because we're not doing any harm. And that's all you're doing. And despite that, I'm going to try to save your life." She held out a hand to the ginger, eyeing the mud women approached behind her. "So you're really gonna wanna get over here."
"Yeah..." the Doctor added, "cos they look like they've come for you."
Villagers screamed and scattered while Becka made the wise decision to stand beside the brunette.
Loral continued advancing on them. "I will be with you. In the water, in the fire, in the air."
The ginger woman managed to whimper out, "Stop. Just stop."
And.. they did. The women stopped their advance.
Astra's eyes bugged while the Doctor's mind raced. "They're obeying you. Why are they obeying you? What happened, Becka?" she rambled turning to the woman, leaning around Astra to do so. "I thought they'd come to kill you. Which is a fair assumption given they're carrying an axe. But they haven't, have they? Of course. They've come to join you."
The brunette turned to the ginger, watching as she coughing gagged into her hankie, blotted with dried mud. "The mud's in you too. That's how you're connected. But how are you holding it off?"
Loral held her hand out to Becka, shaking the claw her fingers formed. "In the earth..."
The Doctor faced Becka more fully. "What happened?"
It seemed Becka could no longer hold herself up. "I cut down her favourite tree."
The Doctor scronched. "What? I don't understand."
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Fam Away From Home
Fanfiction"I call upon the warriors of the past, those who would stand up and fight, those who would do what is needed, those who would make sacrifices on behalf of others, those who would die that others may live. I call upon them this night to give me stren...
