first_in_time | Knights in Shining Armour [for Splendid

In the TARDIS wardrobe Barbara was squeezing herself into appropriate clothing with the help of Susan. The whirling of the engines had stopped a short while ago and one quick glance at the scanners determined that they were in an era which required suitable clothing. Barbara had bustled everyone into the wardrobe room and assisted in their outfit decisions.

"I still don't understand why I have to be a boy," Susan commented once Barbara was laced up and covered with yet another layer of cloth. "I'd quite like to wear a pretty dress and a corset."

"Trust me, Susan, I'd be a boy too if I could get away with it." Barbara placed a cloth over her head and secured it down with a band of twined, neutral colours. Susan admired her in the mirror.

"But with Ian and Grandfather around, we'd be alright."

Barbara tried not to look doubtful and managed well enough. "Yes, I know. Come on, they're waiting for us."

Arm in arm, the female companions of the TARDIS team walked elegantly from the wardrobe and into the control room where the Doctor and Ian were meant to be waiting for them. The doors were wide open, however, indicating that they'd already left.

"We'd best go and find them," Barbara sighed and stepped out into a pleasant, English summer day in the early fifteenth century.

Colourful tents and crests spread out before them, and a wide array of people went about their business. Some in armour, some in finery and others dressed in every day clothes. There were squires, ladies, rich looking old men, knights and some questionable women. Barbara, however, was keeping her eyes out for more familiar faces, namely those of the Doctor and Ian.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

From:

splendid_roman

Susan was careful to shut the doors behind them, but otherwise she was happy to walk around with Barbara, looking at everything. "Do all these people live here?" she asked Barbara.

From:

first_in_time

"I wouldn't think so," Barbara replied and slipped into the familiar, almost homey teacher hat. "All of these banners come from different lords, and you wouldn't have this many lords living in one place. There'd be chaos. I think that they're visiting for a fair or celebration. I couldn't say what until we saw more."

From:

splendid_roman

"Oh, I hope we can stay long enough to see it," Susan said excitedly.

From:

first_in_time

Barbara was about to agree just as a war horse approached. Its rider was decked out in full armour, including pretty plumage protruding from his helmet. She pulled Susan out of the way in the nick of time before she was trampled.

"We could be here for a tournament," Barbara decided as they watched the beast casually walk away.

From:

splendid_roman

Susan watched the horse go, with wide eyes. "That would be something worth seeing."

Not far behind the horse was Ian, still not entirely looking comfortable in his fifteenth century clothing, but he was grinning. "Guess who's entered in the jousting?"

From:

first_in_time

Barbara silently hoped that it was someone from their history books but she knew otherwise.

Susan grinned and bounced on her toes. She was always excitable. "Did you really, Ian?! That's incredible!"

"Where's the Doctor?" Barbara asked, unimpressed.

From:

splendid_roman

Ian was disappointed by Barbara's reaction, but smiled at Susan for hers. "He's around somewhere," he replied to Barbara's question. "I lost track of him when I got signed up for jousting. You'll come and watch, won't you?"

From:

first_in_time

"Have you ever jousted before?" she asked with a worried frown, "it can be highly dangerous but of course I will be there."

Barbara studied Ian for a moment. "Hold on, what do you mean 'got signed up'? You didn't sign up yourself?"

From:

splendid_roman

Ian shook his head. "They just assumed that's what I was here for and I couldn't come up with a good reason, so I just agreed with them." He shrugged. "I've ridden horses before, so how much harder can jousting be?"

From:

first_in_time

Barbara sighed because it appeared that this was going to happen no matter how much she disapproved. And she didn't want to go into details with Susan so close.

"Well, in that case we'd best find you a suit of armour, a horse and a crest."

"I can make the crest!" Susan happily cried, "I'll make it relate to all of us in some way, and there should be a suit of armour in the wardrobe room."

"We should find the Doctor and tell him what's happening, too."

From:

splendid_roman

"Thank you," he said to Susan. "I'll find a horse." He wasn't sure how he'd do that, but he was sure something would present itself. "I last saw the Doctor heading that way." He pointed towards the castle and led the girls that way. "You can be my squire," he said to Susan. "You look the part."

"It was Barbara's idea that I dress as a boy," she said. "You'll have to call me something other than Susan, though."

From:

first_in_time

"Peter?" Barbara suggested but Susan screwed up her nose at her. "Well, we'll think of something. For now, let's find Ian a suit of armour."

Barbara marched them both back to the TARDIS. Susan had wanted to find her grandfather but Barbara wasn't too keen on her going about by herself. So she sat in the control room while Barbara steered Ian to the wardrobe room.

What she liked about the wardrobe room was that the perfect outfit was never difficult to find. As the doors opened, a small chest of bits of armour sat amongst a pile of linen, and changing screen stretched out not too far away.

"Alright. We'll have to find something else for you to wear under your armour. Start changing and I'll hunt it down," Barbara told Ian and began to search through the racks of clothing that had no particular order to them. Soon enough she found what she was looking for and managed to hang it over the screen without seeing anything more than Ian's shoulders.

From:

splendid_roman

"Thank you," Ian said, when he saw the clothes being hung over the screen. He took them down to put them on. "You didn't sound happy about me jousting," he said as he dressed.

From:

first_in_time

Barbara was rummaging about the chest to find the appropriate pieces when Ian spoke. She stopped for a moment and straightened to stare at the screen.

"Men die in jousting tournaments. Armour is very good at protecting you but it isn't 100%. Or you could be hit hard enough that you'll break a bone, split your head open, get a concussion...it isn't safe and you'll be up against men who have been training since they could walk."

From:

splendid_roman

"I'll be fine," he assured her, pulling a tunic over his head. "And if I get knocked off then I won't be in another round and you won't need to worry."

From:

first_in_time

There was a small hesitation before Barbara went back to her searching. It was true that the idea of the tournament was to simply knock the other knight off their horse but sometimes the other knight might choose to fight if they're both knocked off, or if they didn't like the look of the other knight or a range of other reasons. Barbara hated the idea of it, particularly now that Ian was involved.

"Are you decent?" she asked after a long moment, having collected everything she thought she needed.

From:

splendid_roman

He hastily pulled his trousers on, then said, "Yes," and came out from behind the screen. "Do I look like a knight?"

From:

first_in_time

"Not quite." Barbara chuckled despite her worry. Ian looked more like he was wearing old fashioned underwear for cold climates rather than a knight. "Let's start from the bottom and work our way up, shall we? Here, step into these," she said and placed a pair of steel shoes by his feet.

From:

splendid_roman

Ian stepped into them and winced. "They're certainly more comfortable to ride in than walk in." Maybe that was the point.

From:

first_in_time

"As soon as we find you a horse, you won't have to worry," she told him with a small smile and clipped plates around his calves. "Tell me if I'm doing them too tight."

From:

splendid_roman

"That's fine." He looked down as she clipped them on. "Maybe I should make you my squire." He grinned down at her.

From:

first_in_time

"Ladies can't be squires," she reminded him with an almost hidden, ghost of a smile as she knelt down to attach plating over Ian's knee and thigh, "I should probably go and get Susan to do this so she learns how."

From:

splendid_roman

"Maybe," he said as he watched her work. "Or I could just leave it all on. Where did you learn to do this?"

From:

first_in_time

"I didn't but it isn't difficult to figure out. It's going to be heavy once it's on... You may not want to keep it on." Barbara finished the other leg and pulled out the torso pieces. "Can you hold the plate against your chest there, please?"