Rory opened his eyes to find himself face to face with a sheep. Startled, he sat up in the middle of a flock of sheep.
“Amy? Doctor?”
“Roman!”
Rory picked himself up and found himself standing on a hillside, looking up at an honest to goodness Hebrew sheepherder. Now, how did he know the shepherd was Hebrew? He had vague recollections from time to time of his life spent as a Roman soldier, before the Doctor used the Pandorica to reboot the universe, and one thing rang out clearly. Most Hebrews hated Romans.
“I’m… I’m not a Roman.”
The shepherd snickered and leaned on his staff, a crooked thing that looked so stereotypically like the photographs of shepherds.
“Indeed? Well, if you are not Roman, then you are a long way from wherever it is you hail.”
“Right. Oh, um, you haven’t by chance seen my friends? They would look like me, but one’s a female with red hair and the other is thin and…” Rory searched for the best means of describing the Doctor. “Talks like an idiot.”
The shepherd laughed at the last bit before turning and shouting down the other side of the hill. “Come quick!”
A Sea of Sheep
Rory stumbled through the flock of sheep to reach the crest of the hill, and the view took his breath away. What spilled out before him was a sea of sheep that had to have numbered in the thousands. Interspersed among them were a hundred or more able-bodied shepherds, rallying and herding them. The moon overhead illuminated the herd so it resembled a roiling sea of glowing light that undulated with the hills below.
Three more shepherds came up the hill, each taller than Rory.
“Kos, can’t you see we’re busy?” the first, with brownish robes and shaggy salt and pepper hair with a matching beard, asked the one Rory had first met.
Kos, he figured, smiled at the good-natured jibe. “What are you called, not Roman?”
“I’m called Rory.”
Kos gestured to each man in turn. “These are my brothers. Our not-Roman friend here seems to have lost his way and seeks companions. A fair one with hair like fire, and another who, as he describes, speaks like an idiot.”
“What in God’s name…”
“Lion!”
The Lion
As one, the group ran down the hill, carrying Rory with them down the opposite slope, where they saw a mountain lion bigger than any Rory had seen dragging a bleating sheep away. The three shepherds surrounded the lion, causing it to drop the sheep and snarl. Elam drew a thong of leather and reached into a pouch he carried around his waist, where he withdrew a small stone. Nemour took his staff in both hands, and Haran began shouting at the beast, goading it to attack him.
Rory watched in awe as the scene unfolded before him. The three shepherds wrangled the lion as it backed up. As soon as they passed the wounded sheep, Haran shouted over his shoulder.
“Rory, take it away!”
Stunned for a moment, Rory finally assumed he must mean the sheep. Reaching it, he saw that the lion had broken a hindquarter, but the animal was relatively okay. He scooped it up in his arms.
The lion roared with rage at its meal being taken away. Haran yelled even louder, drawing its attention. The lion could have run, but it was angered now. It wanted to lash out at anyone, and Haran was making himself a pretty big target.
Drawing back, the large animal leaped for Haran, who dropped to his back as Elam fired a shot with his sling, catching it in the head. Nemour flipped the butt of his staff like a trained warrior and, with a loud crack, slammed it in the head with all the force he could muster. Haran rolled out of the way. The lion came crashing down.
The dazed creature shook its head and decided the meal it had lost came at too high a price. Turning tail, it ran, and the three brothers burst into laughter.
“That was insane.”
Kos came around and took the wounded sheep from him. “Thank you, my friend. You will make an excellent shepherd, I think.”
Brighter Than the Moon
“Thanks. Uh, so, about my friends?”
“We’re moving the herd into Bethlehem for supplies. That, and Haran here thinks the portents mean something special is happening and we should bear witness.”
“Forgive my brother, Rory. He should not make light. When the Lord sends a sign, it is to be noticed and not missed.”
“What sign?”
Elam shrugged and pointed toward the sky. Rory looked up, and there it was, brighter than the moon. They thought it was a sign, something sent from God. Rory knew it was the TARDIS, sending a distress beacon through time and space.
“You are welcome to join us into town. It is as good a place as any to locate these companions of yours.”
Rory nodded as the shepherds moved off to join the herd.
“Hang on. Did you say Bethlehem?”
This is Part 8 of First Christmas. If you’ve been following the story, tell me where you think Amy and the Doctor landed. The conversation lives in the comments on the video above.
