The Doctor grinned.

"I have before," he said cheerfully. "Let's go, then!"

Marie cautiously ventured forth, exploring the platforms in the trees and the suspended walkways connecting them. It was all ingeniously put together; the buildings and platforms were connected in such a way that they were able to move with the trees, and the suspended walkways looked like they were connected so that they could be taken down in a hurry.

"This is amazing," she commented to Jack.

Jess grinned. His enthusiasm was really kind of infectious, and she found herself grinning the whole way to food.

"It is," Jack agreed quietly. "They can block off the whole city if they need to so no one gets in or out. They seem to have thought of just about everything when they were designing this place."

The Doctor followed, making the occasional comment about the culture or the market itself. He was clearly having a good time.

"Blocking off the city from what, though?" Marie asked, latching on to that bit of information quickly. It seemed a bit odd. "What are they keeping out?"

Jess was also having a good time, and she appreciated all his knowledge. Of course, once she started asking questions, there was no stopping her.

Jack shrugged. "That I don't know. No one's ever said."

The Doctor had no problem with the questions. This regeneration might not be the doting older teacher anymore, but he still liked showing off how clever he was from time to time.

"And nobody ever asked?" Marie prodded, raising an eyebrow.

Jess was suitably impressed. Although more impressed with the people themselves, and how he found everything work looking at. Even though he'd been through the war, he still found things fantastic, and that was enough to make Jess want to spend more time with him. His enthusiasm was infectious and almost boyish.

Jack shrugged. "I didn't, last time," he said. "Don't think the Doctor asked, either."

The Doctor chattered enthusiastically until he noticed a sign posted near the center of the market. He paused to read it, and frowned a bit.

"Maybe we can figure it out ourselves," Marie suggested. "I mean, we came up from the forest floor ourselves, so it should be alright to go back down, right?"

"What?" Jess asked, frowning a bit at him. "What's it say?" Because she'd definitely noticed the sudden shift in mood, and it worried her.

Jack nodded after a moment. "Yeah, should be alright," he agreed. "As long as we're not too reckless about it, y'know."

"It's odd," the Doctor said, reading the sign again. "Branching's been cancelled. I've never heard of it being cancelled before, it's the biggest sport on this part of the planet."

"Let's go take a look around, then," Marie said, heading back towards the ladders.

"Does it say why?" Jess asked, peering over his shoulder at the sign. Because that did sound odd.

Jack nodded and headed back to the Tardis with her, figuring that would be a good spot to start and they could explore from there.

"No, just that it's been suspended until further notice," the Doctor said. "Which makes it very, very strange."

From the Tardis, Marie looked around. The forest was still huge and intimidating, and she darted inside the Tardis quickly for a flashlight before making her way to the edge of the trees. Time to start exploring.

"Huh. I wonder if it's because there's something not so friendly out there?" Jess nodded towards the trees, and odd foreboding building in her stomach.

Jack got a flashlight as well and followed her, taking his time looking around. It really was a lot darker down under the city.

"Possibly, but I haven't heard of anything out there yet," the Doctor said, looking out into the trees as well.

"It could be pretty down here if it wasn't so dark," Marie commented as they walked. It was oddly quiet down under the city as well, and she didn't see much aside from the occasional rustle of leaves on the ground. She assumed it was some sort of small animal.

Jess shrugged. "Dunno, then," she said, looking out at the trees. "Well, want to go back to exploring, or check in with the other two?"

"Yeah," Jack agreed. "Although a bit close for my tastes." He grinned. "Then again, it is very private."

"We've got time to explore," the Doctor replied. Inwardly, though, he was already making mental notes to ask everyone he could about the branching. Something was wrong, he could feel it.

Marie couldn't help but turn a bit pink at that.

"Indeed it is," she said. "Fortunately for me, I get the feeling you're not one to impugn a lady's honor."

Jess nodded, but she wasn't quite as eager as before, instead taking her time and observing the people more closely. No one seemed scared, at least, that was a start.

"Right you are." Jack glanced over at her. "I always get permission first."

The Doctor stopped every person he passed, asking about the cancellation. Nobody seemed to want to talk about it, which made him even more suspicious.

"There's something down there, now, I'm sure of it," he said after five or six people refused to give more than an unconvincing 'I don't know.'

Marie grinned a bit.

"Good," she said. "Because if you didn't I'd have to think of something terrible to do to you."

Jess nodded, frowning a bit. "Must be something bad, they all looked spooked," she agreed.

Jack grinned at her. "No need to do terrible things to me, I promise."

"I think we should go meet up with the others," the Doctor said. "Then we should go have a look around, see what all is going on."

"Excellent," Maria said. She grinned. She paused when she heard something rustling off in the trees. "Did you hear that?"

Jess nodded and headed back for the Tardis, pulling out her phone out of habit and then grimacing. "Well that's going to be inconvenient," she muttered.

"Sounded small," Jack said after a moment. "Nothing to worry about." Yet, anyway.

"What is?" the Doctor asked. He looked over her shoulder at the phone, interested. "Oh, that, that's easy enough to fix, give it here." He held out a hand for her phone.

"Small doesn't mean harmless," Marie pointed out, looking around warily.

Jess blinked but handed over her phone obediently, watching him. "What, you know how to make a cell phone work out here?"

"I was hoping you'd overlook that for your peace of mind," Jack admitted, making sure he was close to her as they walked.

"Something like that," the Doctor said, fiddling with the phone a bit. He pulled out his sonic screwdriver and pointed it at the phone. After a quick sonic, he examined the phone and then handed it back. "Here you are."

"I'm not lobotomized anymore," Marie replied with a bit of a grin. "I know more things now. Makes it harder to ignore things."

"Thanks." Jess grinned. "Reception everywhere and when now?" She was only half-joking about that.

Jack chuckled. "This is true," he agreed. "Hopefully you've got a better idea of when to run than the Doctor."

"Close enough to it," the Doctor said cheerfully. "Shouldn't have any problems with it."

"He's always been that way, to hear rumor tell," Marie said. "Reckless. Impulsive. Dangerous."