The doctor bounced out of the TARDIS doors, landing on sand, turning and spreading his arms, "Rose, I welcome you to the planet of Lite Biln, and the beautiful city of Wetchu wond-" he trailed off, having whirled back to gesture at where Wetchu Wonderi should've been, and instead been gesturing at nothing.
The sky was a very, very pale lilac, almost white, bright enough to make Rose squint; she couldn't see a sun, at all, because of the glaring brightness, but she assumed there must be several. The ground they stood on was sand-like, but not white or gold, but something closer to green; some grains were dark and muddy toned, others closer to sand she knew, and the rest any and every shade of green. In the distance to the west, there was what looked like a line of low bumps - sand dunes or mountains, she couldn't tell. It was disconcerting but beautiful. The doctor wore his full outfit, but his tie was loosened, anticipating the heat; it felt like Turkey, or some other exotic country. Rose herself wore denim shorts and a strappy black shirt, along with logical trainers. Flip flops weren't good for running.
She grinned, standing next to the doctor and looking around. "Well, it's beautiful. And hot. About time you brought me somewhere hot." she nodded, then looked around at the unbroken landscape, though the Doctor seemed to be squinting at something in the distance. "Well. Are we going to go back into the TARDIS and move to the town? I mean, it's too hot to walk, and-" she had turned to go back into the TARDIS but he held out a hand, murmuring "Wait. Look." she stopped talking, turning where he was gesturing, and now her eyes could see it. A half dozen shapes, wavering in the heat, getting closer every moment. From what she could guess they were about human height, probably sixish feet, but their shapes… she waited, silent.
A handful of minutes passed and the shapes were becoming a lot clearer, still silhouettes. They must have travelled a huge distance in that time - or truly, it could be none, with the desert warping. Rose was curious, but the Doctor was leaning forward, eagerly, "It must be." he murmured, a grin starting to spread, "I've never seen a wild herd before!" Rose frowned up at him, "You know what they are?" she asked, cautiously, "Are they dangerous?" and the Doctor laughed, the grin stretching his mouth as he looked at her. They were getting closer, the shape distinctly reptillian. "Dangerous? They could rip you apart. They are so strong, so fast, and yet… they are friendly. These creatures have been trained as beasts of burden on this planet since the first settlers crash landed…" he trailed off, rambling more facts, and Rose stared at the shapes that she could now see in colour.
They were seven in number, each between six and six and half feet tall, each with brown scaled skin, each with different markings, in tones of blue and green and richer dark browns. All had six or more bands on their long tails and ran upright, their appearance almost exactly that of a t-rex or a raptor; but each had a pair of creamy horns and a crest of six feathers, currently flat on their head and neck, varying across every shade in the rainbow. Their tails - although the time lord and companion couldn't see- ended in half a spade, the bulge on the underside. As they got closer, dust kicking up, they began to slow, two-pronged hands flexing in the air. One of them, the largest, came to a complete standstill about twenty feet away and the others stopped behind him, milling a little, uttering low clicking cries to each other.
"Amicusarus." the Doctor murmured, broad smile still in place. "The people here call them Choburn, after the first of their kind to be tamed." he grinned, wider, and the head one took a few cautious steps forward. Now that they'd stopped running they stood higher, more like humans; it's head tilted sideways, the crest rising half way, and let out a low pitched click. The doctor clucked his tongue back at it and it took a few steps forward. "It's like a wild horse, Rose." he murmured to her, smiling, "Go up to him, slowly. He won't mind." she looked at him, wide-eyed, "Why not you?" and he laughed, softly. The creature clicked at the noise. "They like girls better. Go on." she edged forward, trusting him, and tried clicking at the Choburn. It took a few steps towards her, slowly, and soon there was only a foot between them.
Uncertain, she lifted her hand, and it lowered it's head, sniffing uncertainly; she could see the deadly sharp teeth as it's mouth opened slightly. Then it lifted it's head and stepped right in front of her, resting a head on her shoulder. She jumped and it stepped back, bobbing it's head, crest rising and falling. She heard the doctor laugh and lifted her hand again, stroking it's cheek. It chittered, apparently happily, and closed it's wide golden eyes. The scales were silky smooth, shockingly cold, and she smiled nervously. The rest of the herd clicked more, apparently happily, and she watched them move around, the braver ones going up to the Doctor, who scratched them on the strange protusion above each eye, protecting it, tipped with a sharp but very short claw. It seemed to be bone, but as he scratched it they made happy noises.
"Aren't they wonderful?" he called gleefully to Rose, but then there was a whip crack noise in the air and they all jumped, on high alert. "I wonder…" he murmured, moving over to her and touching the side of the biggest one. It turned to look at him again, with a surprisingly emotional face. "Shh, shh…" he murmured, "Let me help, come on…" he rested his other hand on it's head and it closed it's eyes too. Then after a minute it chattered and the doctor pulled away. "Rose." his voice had taken a turn for the serious, and she felt her heart sink as it pounded with adrenaline. He turned around and looked, "Do what I do but to that one." he gestured to the second largest. "Trust them, you won't hurt them or get hurt…"
And with that ambiguous status he put his hand on either side of the Choburn's head, gripping the long horns, and put a foot on it's shoulder joint, hefting himself up to sit on it like an upright horse. It looked… well, weird; but after Rose had nervously managed to do the same, there was a long screech and they all dropped down, into a pose more like all fours, arms tucked up below them. With the doctor on his steed in the lead, they began to run in a V formation, straight toward the line of blurry lumps in the distance.