#the shath

[theparadoctor]

The Phantom Harvest, Chapter 6: A Good Man

Pete and Belle slowly pace around the main room of the TARDIS, while Cleus talks to the Para-Doctor, who is monitoring the Shath through one of Tara's surveillance cameras.

"I knew you would find your way here sooner or later, Doctor," Cleus says. "These creatures will be no match for you."

"You'd be surprised how many times I've met my match," the Para-Doctor replies.

"You stood alone against an army of Cybermen."

"The victory was passive; they retreated on their own accord."

"The victory against that radioactive creature, what was it...Daii. That was active."

The Para-Doctor looks down. His eyes search for a lever on the center console that has a bow tie wrapped around it. He stares it down and lets out a long sigh. "A good man had to die so I could stand here and tell you that...that I'm not the hero you think I am."

"We might have two different definitions of 'hero.'"

"Sorry to interrupt, honey," Tara says, but I've targeted a lone Shath headed down one of the walkways between the apartment buildings."

The Para-Doctor looks back at the screen and locates the Shath. But he also notices something else.

"We have two Silents, one on the edge of the roof of Pete and Belle's building, the other on a staircase." The Para-Doctor closes his eyes for a few seconds and then opens them, as Cleus hands him a black marker. "Cleus will handle those two," he continues while marking his arm.

"Uh, that phrase implies you already have some sort of plan," Belle calls from by the window. "Care to fill us in?" She and Pete walk toward the center console to join Cleus and the Para-Doctor.

"I'm gonna change back into a human so that Shath can pick up my scent. You and Pete are gonna flank and disable it with my Screwdriver; I've set the frequency of the sonic waves, they'll paralyze the target. Cleus will take out the Silents so that we don't forget what we're doing down there and are not left wide open for capture."

"Okay...wait, what the hell?" Pete asks.

"We're gonna catch ourselves a Shath," says the Para-Doctor. "I'm gonna run tests on it and get to the bottom of this."

[theparadoctor]

The Phantom Harvest, Chapter 4: The Shath

"My name is Cleus," the man says. "I remember the Shath."

"The what?" Belle asks.

"The Shath are behind all of this. They are worm-like creatures about our height that have, as of yesterday, gone around abducting and replacing humans. They come to Earth every February and fortify...under the protective cover of the Creatures in Black. You immediately forget about the Creatures in Black the second you look away. This is why the Shath use them, so that they may remain a secret."

"The Silence," the Para-Doctor says under his breath.

"There's something else," says Cleus. "How many days are in the month of February?"

"28. 29 occasionally."

"You sure about that?" Cleus brandishes more tally marks. The trio stands in thought for a few minutes before coming to a life-changing revelation.

"The Shath only come February 29th-31st," says the Para-Doctor. The Silence have been making humanity forget these days since--"

"Since the day man could mark the date and time. And whatever plan they've had all this time is going into full effect." He walks to the window, followed by the trio. They all look outside and watch in horror as hundreds of civilians are chased by the Shath.

"Welcome to the Phantom Harvest," Cleus says.