My Seymour Lies Over The City

<Just a crap, speedily-written-but-long post, forced out while falling asleep. Just to tie some bits/move location.>

Evelina had gracefully departed the brach before anyone had chance to grab her.

Jay shook FeBuggure “Phil, stop this thing!”
The GELF pulled on the reins but the spooked dino was having none of it, Phil turned and shrugged.
“Can't, sorry, it's got the bit between its teeth.”
“Bloody hell...” Jay turned to signal to White Wolf whose beast wasn't far behind.

The savvy hamster was already on the case. He'd seen Jaxx's unfortunate fall and watched Evelina launch herself after him.
Having better dino-control than FeBuggure was managing, he turned his brach in the direction the woman had wandered off, scanned the carnage, spotted her, then urged the beast to slow and lower its head.
He sprang nimbly down the creature's long neck, grabbed the very shocked Evelina and hauled her back up to the relative safety of Garth's arms.

“Please stop her jumping off again” he requested, and tapped the beast's neck so that it set off again.
Garth nodded.
“But... Jaxx!” Evelina protested.
“I'm gonna get him. You need to stay here, you're injured. Jamie, you drive!”

The heroic hamster sprang down the beast's tail this time, and leapt immediately back into the action. After a speedy but efficient search he found Jaxx rolling around in the sand with an especially ugly Haruk.

A mis-thrown spear whistled past his ear as he wondered how best to separate them, then he spotted an abandoned shield.
That'll do!
He picked it up and whapped it down on the Haruk's head with considerable force. The big blue monster sat up, as if to protest, wibbled for a few seconds, then rolled sideways, unconscious.
A black-eyed Jaxx looked up at White Wolf.
“Thanks, dude. That was most totally righteous.”
“You can thank me later, we need to move now!”
The hamster gave him a helping paw to his feet, and ushered him towards the retreating dinosaur.
“Any good at climbing?” He enquired as they ran.
“I'm not sure. I can't remember!”
“Well, you'll soon find out!”

They caught up and Wolfy sprang easily back up the tail with Jaxx following a little clumsily, but successfully, behind.
“Oh Jaxx!” Evelina hugged him tightly when he reached the top “I thought you were lost!”
“So did I, babe. So did I” he replied, politely not mentioning the fact that she was squashing his bruised ribs.
“You are both hurt” observed Garth. “You should let the doctor examine you.”
White Wolf had taken the reins back from Jamie. He nodded at the other brach, where doctor Jade sat.
“Yeah, when we have a chance.”

“Hey, isn't that Efof and Jacky?” Jamie was pointing at two desperately waving figures up on the seating level. One had four arms.
“Yeah. It is.” White Wolf glanced at the other brach again, but the beast was too out of control for Phil to slow and assist the two stray Dwarfers, even if he'd spotted them.
FeBuggure's dinosaur and its passengers bolted straight past Jacky and Efof, and smashed through the arena's temporary “dinosaur entrance barrier”.

In response to the other's panic White Wolf's beast sped up too.
The hamster cupped his paws around his muzzle and yelled
“YOU'RE GOING TO HAVE TO JUMP!”
Jacky appeared hesitant, even from this distance. As they approached, White Wolf wondered if he'd do it. As it turned out, he didn't have much of a choice, because Efof practically threw him onto the dinosaur, before following himself.

White Wolf's mount now held himself, Jacky, Efof, Jamie, Jaxx, Evelina and Garth, while Phil's held FeBuggure, Jay, Cass, Plisken, Jade and Alex.

The two beasts hurtled from the city, in the magnificent and lumbering way that only bolting brachiosauruses can.

---

After what seemed like ages the dinosaurs slowed. Whether it was because Phil had regained control of his frightened beast, or because the animals were tired, nobody was sure, but they were relieved the bumping gait had stopped.

“Let's pull up here.” said Jay “Seems like a good spot.”
The dinosaurs had taken them to the outskirts of the city - the opposite side than the sewer entrance. They were on the edge of a section of leafy jungle.

They dismounted and as the dinosaurs began eating greenery from the trees Jay gathered the Dwarfers together.

–

The other side of the city, earlier that day. An unused shed near the city, not too far from the sewer entrance:

“Look, can't you move it any faster?”
Seymour was bored, and hot, and the red haired girl wasn't fanning him fast enough.
“I will never forgive Jacky for leaving me here with you” grumbled Molly.
“I beg your pardon?”
“You heard.”

Phi was peering through a gap in the shed door.
“Please knock it off, it's hard enough to think as it is, without you two arguing all the time. Things are going mad out there.”

Seymour snorted.
“'Knock it off'?! 'Knock it off'!? Do you realise who you're addressing?”
“Yes. The smegging ambassador. We know” the two girls snapped together, both sick of being stuck in such a small space with Niples.
“Er, yes, that's right.”
Phi motioned to the others to shhh, and carefully pulled the door to, as several Haruk ran past.
“Oh come on guys, get back soon" she mumbled "we need to get out of here.”

She peeked back out and noticed the orange glow and smoke in the sky.
Something was certainly going on out there.

She groaned as many more feet stomped past, causing their hidey hole to rock.

Despite the stomping and the Seymour grumble, Katrina and Max were soundly asleep on a bag of something in the corner.

–

Camp, city/jungle outskirts

“Food!” White Wolf had managed to organise an impressive meal out of apparently nowhere.
Alex ignored the call, he was having too much fun, perched as he was up in the trees, stroking the gentle brachiosaur's faces.
“Come on, Solvay.” Jay bellowed up, impatiently.
“Excuse me, ladies.” Alex gave the the dinosaurs' noses another scritch and climbed down the tree.

“What?”
“Dinner and a discussion...”

Over dinner Cass mentioned something about the Ssala and that she'd seen a shuttle, but wasn't sure of its condition. Jay discussed the possibility of investigating the shuttle then started outlining plans for gathering the Seymour and Phi group. Plisken discussed the fact that his ageing had slowed and some of it even seemed to have reversed a little.

Alex wasn't paying much attention to any of it, just for the most part looking dreamily over at their animal getaway vehicles.
Jade came and sat next to him.
“Like dinosaurs, then?”
Alex shrugged, give-away overly nonchalant. “They're all right.”
Jade smiled. "They are pretty amazing".
“Yup.”
He was about to ask her who Tony was when Plisken nudged him.
“Solvay, you've got a-”
“What?”
“... A big spider, on your leg.”
The older guy went back to enthusiastically munching some kind of meat. Alex used all his might to stop himself flapping like a little girl.

He looked slowly down.
One of the planet's colourful fluffy arachnids was crawling over him sure enough.
“Oh. Right. Yeah. Kinda cute.”
The strain of not screaming and running made Alex's entire body sweat. Under forced, practiced, control he slowly stood and shook his leg. The colourful creature plopped to the floor and scuttled into the bushes.

Solvay gave the doc a tight smile. “Be right back.”
He wandered behind a different, and he hoped spider-free, set of bushes and did a disgusted little dance, accompanied by several unsurpressable vocalisations of repulsion.
“Eeeuueeheerherherrghhhg!!!! Euhurgh-eugh!!”

He emerged calmly from the bushes as if nothing had happened, and casually tucked one side of his hair behind his ear.
A wide eyed Jade asked him if he was all right.
“Yeah, fine. Why?”

He plonked himself back down and they sat in silence for a while. During the silence it was difficult not to notice Cass and Jay staring at each other.
After a while Jade nudged him and nodded towards them.
“What's up with those two?”
“I told you, it's complicated. I'll bet Cass is glad Katrina's not here, though.”
He realised he was accidentally verging on gossip, and decided he should change the subject.

Belly fuller than it had been for days, Alex lie back, relishing his freedom, and stared up at the stars. The novelty of being planet-side was still very real, and very welcome. He could hear Plisken mumbling a story at someone and the gentle noise was comforting.

He turned his head to look up at Jade.
“Wonder what we'll do about the shuttle, and Seymour. I could do with Seymour being here right now to be honest.”
“Why? D'you have a soft spot for him?”
Alex's lip twitched at the thought.
“It's not that, he's got my blanket.”

---
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