Chasing a Lizard


Tawny

Train was yelling at the TV. "Run, people! You're all gonna be burned alive, you idiots!"

Then he showed us a message from Tubby. I wish I hadn't forgotten his name.

Eve read it. "Brother, I've found a job. Meet me…"

I tuned her out a little after. If we were going to take Tubby up on the job he'd found, Sven would be driving.

Then I noticed Sven whispering to the serving girl. Something about keeping Train from seeing a certain poster. I slipped over to see what it was.

It was Creed, for three billion, dead or alive.

Whoa. No wonder Sven doesn't want Train to see it. Train despises Creed.

I went to the other side of the room. I didn't want to see Sven make a fool of himself. Then I tripped a little; apparently, my tail's clasp had come unsnapped on something and it had fallen down around my legs.

"Train? Could you give me a hand?"

Tubby ran in with his job. A hundred grand, just to find a pet.

"Hey," I called, stepping out of the loops of my tail and walking over, "A hundred grand for one lost pet? That's pretty good, and you just can't be picky for sweeper jobs when you're broke."

I wasn't broke, but the point was still there.


Train, Eve, Tubby and I went to find out more about what we were trying to find. It ended up being Eve helping me put my tail back up before we left.

The woman was going all sob story.

"All right," Train piped up, "what are we looking for: dog or cat?"

"Flora's special," she answered, "she's not just any house pet."

She described something that seemed a little…dangerous. Eve asked for a picture.

What's that supposed to be, an iguana? Wait…no. It can't be!


Eve felt sorry for Flora. Apparently, she was feeling a kinship with the thing.

Train was just acting silly. Still, I seemed to understand him best:

He likes to eat and sleep, and he does what he wants. He probably won't take on a small job unless the option of room service is there. And if a girl's pushy, he'll do his best to put her off. He does like attention, as long as it's not too much.

We asked one guy if he'd seen Flora, and he panicked and yelled to the town that she'd gone missing.

One yell, and the streets were empty!

"That was weird," Tubby remarked.

"What do you expect, with a dinosaur scare?" Then I looked around. They'd moved on after the crowd. "Boys."

I found them talking to Rinslet. Train was acting silly, imitating our client again.

I wonder if Sven's having any luck with that Sweeper Alliance thing.


We went into the sewers to look for Flora. Personally, I wasn't sure we'd find her down there.

"Hey, nice outfit, Tawny!" Rinslet called to me. "I don't think I've seen that one yet."

I was prowling ahead of them in my gold-sequined leotard. "Thanks."

Then we heard something.

Tubby started panicking, and then Train covered his mouth. "I can sense something."

And…he can sense things. Nice. Let's hope it's not Kyoko again.

I listened, trying to tune my own senses. Then some guy jumped out of nowhere and got parried by Train!

He seemed to think everyone knew who he was. Personally, that was the first time I'd heard the name "River Zastry." I wasn't even sure that was how he spelled his last name.

Then we left him behind, with Eve's parting shot of "Watch out for the reptile."

He ran after us. What a coward.

We ended up slogging through sewer water. Well…they did. Eve was riding on Tubby's shoulders, and I'd decided to use my claws and was creeping on the walls.

Whew. I'm out of shape, and not used to doing this. I should practice more often.

Then we heard another roar. Tubby and River were both hiding behind Rinslet, and Eve was still perched on Tubby's shoulders.

"Let's keep walking in the direction of the sound," Train said. "Whatever it is, it might be our bounty."

"I'm with you, Train."

He grinned at me. "One of these days you're going to have to let me borrow your gloves so I can do that."

River ended up railroaded into coming with Train and me. He shouldn't have said he was famous.

We were dealing with a T-Rex! I'd called it!


Train

Okay, I'm still not sure where Tawny went, but since she had been on the wall she probably was still safe down there.

I managed to save Eve and Whitney, and we all got out of the sewers into a storage shed where Sven was with a bunch of other Sweepers, right before Flora burst out after us!

Somebody managed to hit her with a knockout bullet, and we got her back to her home.

I was still wondering how Tawny had gotten onto Flora's back, or even when.


Tawny

I still don't know how I got onto Flora's back.

Everyone but me, Train, Sven, some other guy, and Eve started fighting over the money. I just stood there twirling my tail.

Sven was trying too hard to throw Train off the trail of the Sweeper Alliance.

"Sven," I covered his mouth, "shut up before you lose him."

"Lose him?" he mumbled around my glove.

"Do you know what happens when you suddenly start making it obvious that you're keeping something from a friend? They find out, they get mad at you, and you lose a friend."


That night, I heard Train get up. I slipped out of my bed. "Train?"

"Go back to sleep, Tawny."

"I'm coming with you."

"I can't let you do that. I don't want anyone else to suffer at Creed's hand."

"Train…you think I'm interested in watching you suffer at Creed's hand?"

He looked at me.

"It's my choice to go or stay. And besides, on a mission as dangerous as this one, there should be at least two members. You'll need the backup."

He looked at me a little longer: right into my eyes. Then he turned. "Come on; we've got a train to catch."


Train

I shouldn't have let her come. But the look in her eyes right then…if I'd said no, she'd have followed me anyway. That's what she did the last time I went off in the night. She's got issues to resolve with Creed as well; I shouldn't try to leave her out of it.

She's different from Saya, at least a little. She's very different from Kyoko, though. And that difference is one I like.

Tawny is very determined to keep up with me: to stay by my side and watch out for my back. I suppose I should admire that in her, and I do.

I'm not sure if that dream I'd had the last time I went after Creed was a sign or anything like that, but I think I am forgetting Saya a little – at least enough to be able to love someone else.


A/N: Episode 16 takes credit.