CHARLOTTE ::: DW¹

xxviii. aino

Aino hates teleportation. The first time she teleported, she vomited from the feeling of her body bending in ways even a gymnast shouldn't. Of course, the metallic aftertaste was another reason along with the least represented: the reappearing.

For many reasons, reappearing is the worst part of teleportation. For one, the dizziness is unsettling, the aftertaste, and finally the new people. New people, as in the people added to the story, or a person who was already a chapter in yours but returned. Someone whom you no longer care to see

Seeing the TARDIS in the distance, Aino's stomach curdles. Maybe if she left now, she could say she forgot it's Saturday. Or maybe she could 'accidentally' teleport out. She couldn't. What would people think? That's she's a coward? No, Aino was anything but.

To get over her nerves, Aino had to put herself forward. She needed to do something drastic to prove she isn't scared of something long since in the past. With her following close behind Father Octavian, she approached River and her army of three.

River Song, in a long black dress, stood at the forefront of this group beside a man in a tweed jacket, both of their eyes squinting as the Father and Aino approached from the same direction of the sun. Behind the two, is two women. One, a red-head who stood just as tall as the man. The second, a woman in her late-twenties, had her long-sleeved shirt tucked into her jeans. Aino, however, couldn't get a good look at her face, as the second woman watched remorsefully as the last of the ship's smoke wafts out of the Aplan Temple.

When they re-met, Aino sent River a glare for insisting she come in her message. Obviously, her friend was trying to get her to do the final step in their plan, which Aino wanted to procrastinate on. Sensing her friend was ready to introduce her, she was grateful when Octavian spoke.

"You promised me an army, Doctor Song," said Octavian, sizing up the three.

"No. I promised you an equivalent of an army," River corrected him. "This is the Doctor."

There it was, the small acknowledgment of who Aino already knew this unfashionable man was. Aino stood awkwardly as the Doctor gave a lighthearted salute to Octavian.

River continues, "and Doctor, this is Aino."

The said woman let out a cough, not offering a hand nor a formality. "Doctor."

They stared at each other as if testing who would say what next. The Doctor lost this challenge as he spoke first, chickening out of their game of awkward silence. "You took my advice."

"The advice you gave me before or after you threw me in Stormcage?"

In response, the Doctor sighed dramatically. He knew it was going to go back to that. "That was years ago...!" he exclaimed as the brunette behind him considered Aino. The woman wasn't trying to intimidate her in any sort, she just seems confused.

Brushing past this exchange, Octavian shakes the Doctor's hand. "Father Octavian, sir," he introduces himself. "Bishop, second class. 20 clerics at my command, including Aino. The troops are already in the dropship and landing shortly. Doctor Song was helping us with a covert investigation. Has Doctor Song explained what we're dealing with?"

"Doctor," began River Song, "what do you know of the Weeping Angels?"

Just like when they last saw each other, the Doctor became tense, looking to River for a moment.

---

Aino didn't mind Charlotte or Amy, but as they were mostly around the Doctor she didn't have the courage to be around them. Sitting on a bench, she scarfs down a ham and cheese sandwich. Ever since the lava snake incident, she has been wise to not go on a mission with an empty stomach.