Screaming like a stuck mynock.

"I know how to ride a tauntaun." Guppy says, bracing himself for questioning from Kate.

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Kate had heard of tauntauns, but she had never ridden one.
More staring at Guppy again.

"You do?"

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"It'll still be a couple of days journey," Jaq says, mildly. "Usually, anybody wanting to go to a big city with a spaceport waits for a trade convoy. Those have guards and big guns and sonic devices for warding off animals, like the settlement. There's usually one once a month - more, if there are travelling tradesmen."

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ostro_goth

"So we go in there, find a place to stay, and wait for the next convoy," Teja says. "Did anybody bring a chess set?"

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"How do we find a convoy, and how often do they go?"

Beat.

"I have Scrabble."

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"A month? What should we be doing for a month? Games are going to get old after a couple of days."

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"I think the last one came about two weeks ago."

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"For two weeks, at most," Teja says to Kate, "you shall be busy missing Will, Guppy, his wife and child, and I, my Charlie; then, we shall be off to do what we came here for."

Pause.

"And if we need a distraction from the yearning, then we may play scrabble; I am sure Guppy will teach me, as I for one have never heard of that game."

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"Or we could take tauntauns or speeders and try not to die."

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"I've had to go for longer missing Will than this. I'll be fine."

Kate added, "I vote on keep moving. It's just wolves and snow wraiths right? It's doable."

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Nod. "Wolves and snow wraiths."

Beat. "Well, and bandits. Sabertoothed lions. If you're going through open terrain, you may end up attacked by monster crows, too, but they'll keep away when you're going through a forest. Snowmites, but they're pretty easily killed. That's all, I think, apart from earthquakes and avalanches."

It's like a planet that was specifically designed to be as murderously uninhabitable for intelligent life as possible.

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"That is an interesting list of foes we are facing," Teja says. "How large are the tigers with the sabre teeth?"

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"Do you think we can do this?" Guppy asks the others. "We need to balance out the risks with the gain of time."

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Kate grimaced. Ok two threats are one thing. But this was looking less likely.

"Ok... on second thought. Maybe we should wait. That's a lot for just the three of us, not counting more than one at once." She wasn't sure she had enough arrows and could cut down as much if they were mobbed."

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"The lions? About as large as the wolves. Big enough to take down a speeder."

As they enter the settlement, most of the people there - ragged, worn down people who are almost without exception tall and dark haired: A lot of the men even have a stark resemblance to Atton - keep their distance from them.

A group of three people head straight for them, though: An old woman with enough guns to probably conquer a small planet; a rather dignified and battle-scarred old man; and another man who looks to be in his late thirties, almost as well-armed as the old woman.

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"Greetings," Teja says to them. "These children have helpfully led us here; perhaps you can help us?"

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Guppy wonders if they can pay some people to accompany them sooner than a convoy would.

"We're looking for safe passage to the nearest Spaceport." he says.

Though what they're going to do when they get there, he has no idea. He has a way to transmit his location to Atton, sort of, if he's around nearby. But it's not something he can afford to do right now and he's got no idea what kind of distance it works over.

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Upon seeing the state of the populace, Kate wondered if better to stay for a little while. At least to help them out before they went to the Spaceport.

She asked in aside to Guppy, and Teja, "We positive on going to the Spaceport?"

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As the two men watch Teja, Guppy and Kate closely, the old woman turns a sharp glare on Jaq, who edges back a little, mumbling something apologetic in Kazic. Lyman, nearby, sidles off towards a nearby structure.

"When a convoy passes through, you can join them. They'll stop off at one of the larger cities, and you'll find passage out of here from there," the older man says. Stiffly: "You'll forgive us if we're not very hospitable."

Jaq turns his head slightly, apparently distracted, to peer at the older man, before wandering off to sit on a nearby rock. The old woman and the armed man both turn their heads to watch him - the woman with suppressed amusement and the man with barely veiled suspicion - before turning their attention back to the other three.

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"We have money, to help with the hospitality?" Teja says. "Just point us to where it would be accepted."

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"There's no way to pay for escort sooner?" Guppy asks, keeping an eye on the kids.

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Kate glanced between them, and remarked, "We can also lend a hand around here to help you out with anything?"

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