The Wanderer: Jasciapra

"So where did we end up then?"
The Wanderer looked away from his screen, glancing over at Veda. The Time Lady was reclining on a sofa on the console room's upper level, a furniture-crowded mezzanine that overlooked the console itself, and had been watching the Wanderer for some time, ever since they'd landed wherever they were. Focusing on the screen again the Wanderer sighed before deactivating it, the static disappearing.
"The display systems are still rebuilding. Why don't we take a look outside and find out?"
Veda rose from the sofa and descended to the main level, joining the Wanderer by the doors.
"Maybe if you didn't have a randomizer installed…"
"I'm the Wanderer Veda. I go where the currents of the Vortex send me, not where I want to."
Veda laughed as she pushed open the exterior door and stuck her head out for a moment, pulling back as fast as she could.
"It's a Human world, and it's raining. Very heavily raining."
The Wanderer plucked an umbrella from the stand that had sprung up next to the door during the rebuild, opening it out as he stepped from the TARDIS. They'd set down at the end of an alleyway, disguised as a vending machine tucked in between two blocky multi-storey buildings, and rainwater was spilling into the alleyway from overflowing gutters.
"This is New Brighton on the planet Jasciapra, in the year 6,287AD, I believe. According to Human timekeeping at any rate."
The pair walked out of the alleyway, emerging onto a seafront. Small knots of people hurried around, darting from building to building, and the two travellers simply stood beneath their umbrella, just watching the world go by. Veda had turned to look out over the sea, not as entertained by people-watching as the Wanderer, and she gasped when she spotted a massive whale-like creature half-emerge from the choppy waters.
"A greater thalmor. Only found here and on two other worlds." Veda half-turned as the Wanderer spoke, the Time Lord now also looking out over the sea. "It is said that only the luckiest people will ever see them."
"So these people…"
"Too busy dodging the rain. All the wonders of the universe could pass them by and they’d probably never know."

The pair continued along the seafront, the Wanderer in particular enjoying the unhurried walk. As the rain died off more people began appearing, the buildings lining the seafront coming to life with the rattling of opening shutters, and the Wanderer led Veda into a cafe before it became full.
"Why here?"
"The lunch crowd will be here soon and I wanted a seat before they're all gone."
"Seat for what?"
The Wanderer plucked a datapad from a nearby table, showing it to Veda. It was a news-pad, its screen advertising a local festival, and Veda read the main headline and its attached article.
"The Festival of Life? A fertility ritual?"
"The ritual itself dates back to an ancient Earth civilization, and is typically a race of some sort." The Wanderer took back the news-pad, messing around with it for a moment before grinning and showing Veda an info-net page about the festival. "I think Jasciapra has kept most of the known traditions for its ritual."
"And the race goes along this seafront?"

The crowd had grown as the afternoon continued, although the table the pair had chosen gave them an unbroken view of the seafront. Other buildings had also set up outside seating areas, regardless of what the building was used as, and so hundreds formed the front row of the assembled audience. From their position the Wanderer and Veda could see the starting line for their section of the race, the runners limbering up in preparation. Both had hacked the news-pad to learn more about the festival, initially put off by the public carnality featured in the ritual, but in the end they decided to partake of the sights before moving on.

An hour passed, by which time it was calculated that the previous section's participants should have reached the seafront, and a whistle's cry marked the start of that section of the race. Thirty people, the fifteen couples married in the year since the last festival, took off, half of them trying to catch the other, with the crowd cheering on the runners they knew. Both the Wanderer and Veda frowned as a male runner caught his wife, the pair falling to the ground in a tangle of limbs, but the older alien knew better than to make a scene, especially at what was supposed to be a religious event. Twelve times that scene was repeated, the husband catching his wife and taking her right then and there, but two of the women reached the finish line unmolested, their husbands just a step too slow.

The Wanderer rose as the crowd dispersed, walking briskly towards where the TARDIS had landed, and Veda hurried after him, slipping between the groups of people leaving the seafront.

"I'll never understand what the Doctor sees in Humanity Veda. Here we are, nearly five thousand years since leaving their homeworld, since joining the universal community, and they're still practicing primitive superstitions." The Time Lady was quiet, letting the Wanderer vent after the scenes they'd witnessed, and she jumped when he spun to face her. "If you take anything away from Jasciapra, let it be the memory of seeing that greater thalmor."

"I will. But I'll remind you that you're the one who wanted to stay and watch."

The pair reached the TARDIS, pulling open the fake display and entering the time capsule. The Wanderer immediately made for one of the passageways heading deeper into the TARDIS' interior, glaring over his shoulder at Veda.

"Just pull the lever. The randomizer and the TARDIS will take us to our next destination."