"Brilliant." Jess grinned and dialed Marie to see where she was.

"Sounds about right," Jack agreed. He did pause when he heard a phone go off. "Now, I know that's not me."

"It's mine," Marie said, baffled. She pulled her phone out of her pocket and looked at it for a moment. "...And it's my sister, what the hell. I don't even know how--" She stopped, shook her head, and answered the phone. "Hello?"

"Where are you guys right now?" Jess asked, leaning against the side of the Tardis.

"How are you even calling me?" Maria asked in return. "I'm absolutely certain our carrier doesn't work across the galaxy."

"The Doctor fiddled with it for me," Jess told her. "I'm sure he'll do the same for yours. But seriously, where are you?"

"We're out in the forest," Marie said. "On the ground. Where are you?"

"Next to the Tardis. Why are you on the ground in the forest?" Jess turned to look at the Doctor, her eyes big. "Branching has been canceled because people keep getting hurt."

"Getting hurt how?" Marie asked. "Anyways, we just felt like exploring down here. We're not far, we can head back and meet you."

"I think that would be best," Jess agreed. "People won't tell us much."

Jack looked behind them when he heard a noise. "We gotta go," he told Marie softly. "Now."

Marie nodded to show she'd heard Jack.

"Alright, well, we're on our way back to you, so stay put," she said to her sister.

Jess frowned but waited, tapping her foot impatiently.

Jack started back towards the edge of the forest, and something large moved between him and the exit.

Marie stopped when something large got between them and the direction of the Tardis.

"We may have to take a detour, please hold," she said into her phone. She nudged Jack and tilted her head towards a ladder that led up into the trees.

"We're going down there," Jess said to the Doctor, looking around for the nearest ladder.

Jack nudged her ahead of him so she was going first. "There are times I wish the Doctor would let me have a weapon," he muttered. "Just one, just a little one."

"Hold on," the Doctor said, grabbing her arm. "Just give them a moment. They'll be fine."

"Just climb," Marie said to Jack, scurrying up the ladder herself. It swayed ominously as she climbed, and there were a few creaks and groans she didn't like.

Jess glowered but didn't actually protest yet.

Jack pulled himself up faster when something with tentacles swiped at the base of the ladder. "Climb faster," he told her.

"I'm working on it," Marie said as she tried to hurry up. She yelped and held on tightly as the ladder suddenly jerked to one side.

Jack swore and kicked hard at one of the tentacles trying to creep around his ankle. "It's climbing after us," he pointed out. "Not to rush you or anything."

"I'm trying!" Marie snapped. As she climbed, she reached into her pocket and pulled out her sonic pen. "Here, take this, see what you can do to keep that thing away."

"Another sonic? Lovely." Jack took it and fiddled with it one-handed, aiming it at the thing. One particular setting made it recoil, so he kept that setting on and just aimed it down. "Well, still not a gun, but it'll do for now."

"It's all I've got," Marie said as she kept climbing. "I can see the top, we're almost there."

Jack let out a little sigh. "Looks like they can't actually climb," he told her. "Just reach really far." He aimed the sonic at another wandering tentacle, which retreated again.

"That thing is terrifying," Marie said as she got closer to the top. "What is it, did you get a good look?"

"Nope," Jack told her, keeping as close behind her as he felt safe doing. "Not that I tried all that hard. All I know is it has tentacles, and probably teeth."

"Fun," Marie said dryly. She made it to the top and climbed up onto the ledge. "Well, we're not going back down there again, nope, not happening."

"Nope." Jack hauled himself up over the edge and peered cautiously over the side. "Come on, let's move away, just in case."