Luke and Allana's Excellent Adventure.

[wasbornrunning]

Luke, upon entering Milliways with a book on a complicated subject that the narration will handwave at this time, orders himself a snack and settles on the couch for some, ahem, 'light' reading.

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He follows, appreciative that she listened to him, because he didn't want to have to call Sarah Jane this early in their trip. Or at all.


The demon bunny twitches its nose at them hops off to plot evil things in its evil lair. Muahahaha!

[hapan-heiress.livejournal.com]

Allana traipses through the forest, pushing her hair out of her face. "'s best we left the bunny," She decides after a while. "'Cause my mama would be mad if it ate me."

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"Yes," he agrees.

That, Luke, is what we call an understatement.

They push their way through a few bushes, further and further from the demon bunny (for which Luke's peace of mind is thankful), and=

Is that a tiny bridge in the trees?

Luke blinks.

It's still there.

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Allana looks up as they cross the threshold and she smiles. "Wow."

She climbs up on a tree stump so she can see better. "They're like tiny Wookiee cities!"

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"What's a Wookiee?" he asks almost absent-mindedly, distracted just a bit by the view.

Dotted with little squirrels scampering about their business, tiny little wooden huts, bridges, swingsets, acorn-themed works of art, and-

Those can't be closelines. Squirrels don't wear clothes!

[hapan-heiress.livejournal.com]

"Big...furry people." Allana says, in an awed voice. "Is that a school?"

She grins. If squirrels go to school, then she figures it must not be as horrible as she thinks.

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"I don't know," he says, sounding similarly awed on a smaller scale. "It might be."

One of the squirrels happens to glance down at the two explorers. If it was a cartoon squirrel, small '!!!'s would come shooting out of its head in a little bubble of cartoon surprise.

As it is, the squirrel scampers off to a hut that looks rather like a town hall.

Uh-oh.

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"Uh." Allana stares after the squirrels. "Maybe..we should leave 'em alone. I don't wanna be attacked with nuts."

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"Yes," he agrees, and adjusts their course in a wide, safe arc around the squirrel town. "That sounds sensible."


As Luke and Allana pass by the city, several squirrels stop their movement and stare. After a few minutes, the first squirrel exits the townhouse, followed by a grey squirrel with a substantial pot belly and a monocle. It peers at Luke and Allana importantly, surrounded by several police-type squirrels with, yes, slingshots that fire nuts at close range. They watch our exploring heroes' journey warily but peaceably.

One squirrel, struck by the profoundity of what he has seen, returns to his hut and writes best seller Close Encounters of the Nth Kind, topping even Nuts 'n' You: Eating Your Way to a Happier Winter and Harry Nutter and the Deathly Hollows.

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They wander away from the squirrel village hastily and soon Allana plops to the ground to catch her breath and to go through her rucksack looking for water and a snack. "That was close!"

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Luke follows suit, crossing his legs and searching through his own rucksack for a bottle of water.

"I'd never read of a squirrel city before," he says thoughtfully.

Obviously, the narration feels, he was not reading the right books.

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Allana gulps at her water, holding it with two hands like a child holds their bottle. Breathless she nods, her red curls bouncing. "Me neither!"

A beat.

"I can't wead very well anyway, though.!"

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D:

That is a tragedy, Luke feels.

"You'll get better at it."

Says the boy who started reading the day he was born.

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"Of course." Allana agrees before sprawling out on the ground.

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Luke does not say anything, distracted by his water bottle.

But someone else wants to join the conversation. Someone sneaky stalking up to them, with only the the tip of its long twitching tail and a pair of small furry wings sticking out of its hiding place. It creeps closer... closer... closer...

And, drawing on the strength of its strangely rabbit-like hindfeet, it POUNCES!

Onto Allana's lap!

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She shrieks, and jumps up, scurrying away to come hide behind Luke.

She peers at it over his shoulder. It cocks its head at her.

"What is that?!"

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!!!!

The creature scurries away from Allana, equally startled, fur fluffing out in an attempt to make itself look bigger. It doesn't look particularly menacing, more like a fluffy little creature that was stitched together from bits of other creatures. Rabbit hind legs, dog front paws, cattish sort of fur and tail, mouse ears, and... small furry wings that don't seem to have come from any animal.

Luke moves to shield Allana with his body, just in case. "I don't know."

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"It's cute." She decides. "In a really ugly way!"

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The creature would be hurt if it knew Allana thought it ugly. It is a very handsome creature.

"It looks friendly," Luke says doubtfully. He's not sure if he's willing to chance it just on 'looks'.

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Allana runs to her knapsack and takes out some crackers. "C'mere...thing."

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"I don't know if that's a good idea-"

The creature inches forward, nose twitching rabbitishly, to sniff Allana's hand and dart a paw towards a cracker.

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Allana drops the cracker, and eyes the creature. "Hi, there. 'M Allana!"

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The creature snorks up the cracker as quickly as it can, then returns to a resting place a few safe inches away.

And opens its mouth to-

Well-

It's almost, but not quite, entirely unlike a sheep bleating.

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Allana wrinkles her brow. "It's weird. I think we should keep it!"

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"I've never read of anything like it," Luke says doubtfully. "It might-"

He stops, and looks down.

The creature is licking his finger. Cutely. Hopefully. Giving him that 'take me home with you' face.

"...It doesn't seem dangerous," he admits.