A Horse and His Boy

by **Jack Benefort** on June 17th, 2013, 6:09 am

22ND OF SUMMER, 513 AV

As Jack strode out onto the sea of grass on Danny's back, it took him a couple of minutes to really take it all in. It hadn't gotten any more beautiful since he started staying in Riverfall, but it was still just such an amazing sight. Green, for as far as you could ever hope to see. Green all the way to Sylira. And a ways beyond still. Rolling hills and endless grass, broken only by the majestic Blue Vein, the most brilliant body of water Jack had ever seen inland. The only thing that ever came close would be the lake on which Ravok was built. But of course, Ravok was there, and that did a mighty good job of ruining everything as far as he was concerned.

"Well Danny, old friend, here we are." As he spoke, Danny began to walk slowly forward, on the path leading north, away from the city, his deep brown hide glistening in the sunlight. It was obvious that he was glad to be out and about. Sensing this, a smile grew on Jack's face and he leaned closer to Danny's ear to speak. "Nice to be out of that stable again, eh?" No sooner had the words escaped Jack's mouth than Danny apparently decided it was time for Jack to become a master rider. He reared up on his hind legs and let out an enthusiastic cry and for a moment resembled one of his wild kin. Jack, fearing now for his life more than he had since the last time he was in Sunberth, wrapped himself around Danny's neck and held on as best he could. Upon returning to the ground, Danny immediately broke into an unrestrained gallop, going faster than Jack had ever gone.

Try as he might, it only took about 5 seconds for the novice status of Jack's riding skills to show, and he literally flew from Danny's back, landing hard on his own back in the grass behind him. Craning his neck, he watched as Danny simply kept on galloping forward, going at least a few hundred more feet without him, before turning and NOT coming back, but now galloping in very large circles around Jack. Jack slowly pulled himself to his feet, cursing at the horse under his breath and rubbing his very sore back. He could faintly hear laughter and at first thought it was simply an effect of getting thrown from a horse, but eventually realized he was indeed being mocked by passersby. He turned and saw them, distant but visible, standing near the city gates. Nearly everyone who was coming and going at this point had joined in and it seemed to Jack that the entire city of Riverfall was intent on making sport of his suffering.

by **Jack Benefort** on June 17th, 2013, 7:32 am

2 Bells Later

Jack lay there, sprawled out and covered in dirt and probably more bruises than he cared to count, looking like some kind of snow angel of mud. At this point, he was less than willing to get back up.

The sun was now high in the sky, and Jack guessed it was probably around the twelfth bell. Or so. Not that he really cared. Anyone who came upon Jack at this point would likely think him dead, the unfortunate victim of some cruel fate. He had spent the last 2 bells chasing after a horse that did not want to be caught. Thrown from his trusty steed, made a mockery of in front of the townsfolk of Riverfall, eluded for all this time. It was enough to drive a man insane. 'Maybe I am insane.' He thought to himself. 'Maybe I'm just having a bad dream. Maybe if I just close my eyes and try real hard,' At this point he did actually close his eyes and try to wake up, 'Maybe then I'll wake up and this'll all be over.'

For a moment he forgot about everything and very nearly lost conciousness. He was so swept away in his hopes of making this all fictional that he failed to hear the sound of Danny walking up to him at last. It wasn't until the creature nudged him, pressing it's own face against his, that Jack came to. Jack opened his eyes and did not move, simply staring into the face of his supposed 'trusted companion'. "You win." He said after a few minutes, pulling himself up off of the ground. "I promise not to leave you in a stable that long ever again." He tested Danny by taking several minutes to climb back into his saddle, desperately hoping the entire time that he was not climbing into a repeat of what happened earlier. However, it seemed the uppity steed had worked out whatever extra energy he had built up in the stables over the last 20 or so days, and was henceforth very compliant with Jack. They spent another bell moving at a normal pace across some nearby hills, always keeping the city wall in close sight, not wanting to move more than a mile or two away, just to be safe.

by **Jack Benefort** on June 17th, 2013, 7:58 am

As the day wore on, Jack- and certainly Danny, became increasingly aware of the heat, especially after all the exercise they had just gotten in the previous fiasco. In order to give them a rest and some much needed refreshing, Jack rode Danny to the banks of the Bluevein, and found a particularly easy spot for reaching the water, which even had a nice, large tree nearby that provided plenty of shade. Dismounting from Danny, he led the horse to water and they both drank. Jack got what he needed quickly, while Danny spent much longer, taking massive droughts from the river. In the meantime, Jack fished out one of his rations from the saddlebag. He had been staying in the town and eating in the town, so he hadn't used up the rations he had when he arrived. He was able to find a couple of biscuits that were still good and sat against the trunk of the tree while he ate.

As he sit there, he watched Danny as he drank, grazed on the surrounding grass, even waded in the water a little. It reminded Jack of the many grand times they'd had together. Danny had been his horse for almost four years now. It had come into his family's possession very shortly before his father had died. Payment from a man who owed a debt he couldn't pay in coin. He couldn't remember the exact number, but it was a debt much larger than the value of one Zavian horse, yet father had accepted it anyways. Athanasius was much too old to have much use of the horse, but Jack was young and yearned for adventure, and had quickly bonded with the creature.

He thought back to one of their very first adventures. Jack had taken Danny out into the hills near Zeltiva and had been incredibly impressed by how much faster horseback travel was, even traveling fairly slow, as he was still new to the whole riding thing at that point. He was so impressed in fact, that he kept riding, and kept riding, and eventually had accidentally gotten himself lost by going much too far out. He had left around 8th bell and it was at least 14th when he realized that he had been having a little too much fun. He fell asleep from exhaustion that night and was found morning, still mounted on the horse, which had made its way back into the city sometime in the night. What a scolding he received for that one! He grinned and grimaced simultaneously at the memory.

His thoughts then drifted to the nearer memories, things that had happened since father had died and he had begun his journeys. Danny was the only reason Jack was still alive. He got him out of some real trouble when Jack had been so foolish that he traveled the wilderness alone. Danny kept him alive on that first piece of the journey until he had found a caravan to travel with in Nyka. Danny helped him to flee from Ravok, that horrid and evil city. Danny was his only friend in a sea of everyone and everything when he first entered Syliras. At times it seemed like they had been to hell and back together. And even though days like today came, where it seemed more like Jack belonged to Danny than vice versa, theirs was a bond Jack would trade for nothing in this world. In truth, Danny was the closest thing Jack had to a true friend. He knew he had many 'friends' across a large portion of Mizahar, but none who saw him unveiled. Danny was his truest friend. Danny could be trusted to see the things nobody else had seen- to see how confused Jack was about everything, about himself, about where he was going and what exactly he was doing. Maybe one day he would face those things with another person. But until then, he always had his friend Danny by his side, ready to see each other through anything. At least, as long as Danny wasn't left too long in the stable again.

by **Magpie** on June 21st, 2013, 5:17 pm

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Jack :

Notes :

If you have any questions or concerns about what was awarded, please don't hesitate to PM me.
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Completed A Horse and His Boy