4th December 2013 Wednesday
Day 338
27 days to go!
It's so weird opening a word folder that used to have so many months in it, now only holds December. On the plus side, it makes it easier to find.
Disclaimer: Come on Santa. You know…you know.
On the fourth day of Christmas, Hamilton Habitat came to see…
Four acid snails,
Three king scorpions,
Two praying mantas,
And a frog boy in a fern tree.
Dex pushed his way through the thick overgrowth of the forest, searching for his new insect. The three suns bearing down on the planet had just about taken their tolls, and wiping the sweat off his forehead once again, he hid within the shade of the trees.
"Struth, I should've brought more sunscreen," he whispered to himself, unscrewing the lid of his canteen and taking a generous swig. He lowered the container from his face, his eyes blinking out the sweat as they came in to focus again.
"Now, where are you?" he asked rhetorically with a smile, flicking his wristcom tracker open. The screen portrayed the movement of three other circles fanning outwards; no doubt his other team members. He smiled when the tracker registered a new creature, not a few steps away from his position. With quiet tip-toes, Dex pushed through the forest, smirking wide at the sight of a giant acid snail.
He licked his lips in anticipation of the excitement, slowly retrieving the length of rope from his holster.
"It's all right, mate," he calmed, stepping forward with protective hands as the creature spied him. "This isn't going to hurt a bit."
The snail started to scatter in the opposite direction, leaving a sticky trail of acid slime behind it. Dex allowed his hands to drop to his sides. Of course this insect would be slow, it's a snail.
The leader casually lengthened the rope, tying the lasso lazily before throwing it over the slowly moving bug. Luckily it hadn't moved that far. The rope slipped around its neck easily, and with one quick pull, Dex had tightened his new reigns and had found a comfortable sitting position on its back.
"Yip yip!" he shouted, kicking his legs on the acid snail's sides. It started to move, albeit slowly, towards the ship.
"I'll race you back to the ship?" Zap asked, resting on his back on the snail. His hands were behind his head as he smirked at the bored Jenny, the latter seated so perfectly for saddle riding.
"No thanks, it's hardly racing on something that's barely moving," she said in complaint, just as Tung joined them on Zap's side.
"Hey dude, I'll race you back to the ship if you want?" he said with an excited bounce on the shell, only momentarily causing his snail to move a little ahead of Zap's. The pilot noticed this and, delivering a quick disappointed glance to the clone, gave a challenging glance to the tracker.
"You're on," he said, kicking his own snail and pushing it forward. Dex had just joined the rest of his crew, smiling as everyone rode their prize. Jenny shook her head casually to her boss, before rapidly typing on her wristcom.
"You guys can do whatever you want; I'm going to recalibrate the communicators."
Although the race was incredibly slow, that didn't stop the racers from screaming at the top of their lungs in the hopes that it would drive their acid snails faster. It didn't matter if anyone was racing, because all four snails had slowly made their way to the ship thanks to the guidance of their riders, at exactly the same time and leaving long acid trails behind them.
"Well, that was exciting," Jenny said dryly, hoping off the snail. Zap and Tung joined her, both facing each other in a heated argument.
"I won!"
"No, I won!"
"No, I won!"
"Race you in to the ship?" Zap suggested suddenly, though he was already sprinting into their craft. Tung bounced quickly, shouting something in retaliation as he tried to catch up.
"Ugh, I don't get it," Jenny placed her hands on her hips in an angry manner. "What is with guys and competing all the time?"
Her words fell on deaf ears as Dex raced past her, pulling his snail behind him. She sighed, turning around to spy three acid snails slowly moving away from the ship.
"Boys are so annoying!"
R&R! I love these chapters because I don't have to think of a title.