Flashback To Know is Bliss/My Savior Comes: pt V

[Delani Denusk]

There was a falter in the cadence of her heart when the man rolled over onto her, propping himself above the healing Drykas and staring at her for what seemed an eternity. She found herself getting lost in the mans oily eyes, lost in the shadow he cast over her, one which made her smile just a little, a faint tightening raise in her dimples. Then, he'd rolled off and stood, helping her likewise to her feet and ushering her out to the paddocks of horses.

When they reached the herd, she virtually ignored the stallion snorting and stamping and tossing his head until they came. His was a fierce spirit and he would need a fierce rider. The colorsplash reminded her of her cousins horse when she'd received the falx from her uncle. Her own spirit was drawn more to intelligence and she picked from the herd a frosted gelding with black coat and white stockings. His mane matched his coat though his tail had flecks of white in it. She wondered at his age, though, for the horse looked somewhat overly placid as he chewed grass and flicked his tail, not even looking up.

Leaving Loktupar, the woman approached the paddock and slipped beneath the railing without fear (she like all her kin were raised among horses; they did not fear them), moving confidently among the beasts towards the horse. When she got near, though, the horse raised his head, sniffed in her direction then lowered it again. This was not the right horse. Perhaps it was amplified by the spirited neigh coming from the stallion closed off still.

Dela turned towards the noise and frowned at the colorsplash. "My if he is not rambunctious." She said, approaching the pen and holding her hand towards the horse. But the mount threw his head back and reared, pawing at the air between them before coming down hard and chomping the air as if to bite her digits. But she did not flinch away.

The woman turned her head to Loktupar and said firmly, "He is not broken. His tone sings that he is for the carriages, and strong no doubt, yet he is not broken. Does he give you trouble in the harness?"

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[Praetorian]

Had she been any other woman, Loktupar would have simply taken her by the shoulders and forcibly steered her in the direction of a more well-behaved horse. But, the woman and her destiny were known to the Chaktawe. But, above that, she was a Drykas. He had seen them perform miracles with horses, turning a wild creature into a even-tempered riding mount. Perhaps... perhaps this is how his prophecy would come true.

Bare feet strode lightly across the sun-scorched grasses. Most would leap away from the sharp pricks of brittle grass, but the dark-skinned man's camel feet cared not of anything short of a knife. "He gives us trouble in the harness, in the Yvas, the saddle, the leadrope... Anything that touches him and reeks of human creation is abhorrent to the beast. He favors children and will often play with them. But... otherwise?" A sharp laugh drove itself from his thick lips. His hair, though as black and unending as the void itself, danced in the light when he shook his head. "He tolerates little. He and his mares were caught just after the storms. His mares have made great additions to the herd and adjusted easily. But him?" A quick breath slid through his nose. "I don't trust him and everyone else has attempted to break him and ended up with broken bones. We'd let him go but he has a habit of riling the herd whenever we try..." There was a dismal look in his eye, but it flickered and disappeared an instant later, only to be replaced by a flat black look upon remembering what would come of them. He was her salvation just as she was his. "Not much left for him here..."

[Delani Denusk]

The woman stared at the beast, listening to the Chaktawe at her side while she thought, her hands hanging at her side. He resisted the others in the caravan and all that might otherwise encourage him to work like the other horses. "He does not trust you. Or anyone in your family, it seems." She spoke quietly and then, before he could stop her, she ducked under the mid-rail of the corral and entered, though she stayed near the wood, just in cave.

The horse reared and pawed the air a second time, neighing deep and loud as he tossed his head in aggression. "To break a horse has little to do with actually breaking something, you know. Tis just a term. You do not break their spirit or their courage and strength, or even their wildness. You break the barrier between their world and yours. Striders choose we Drykas for a specific reason, each unique to horse and rider...They see something in us worth trusting. It is not that different from any other horse, only that a Strider is the one to break the barrier between us. With any other horse, we must do the breaking."

Delani took a courageous step forwards, her posture screaming confidence and calm assurance. She was not here to combat the stallion, only show him that she was not afraid where so many, it sounded like, had been. He was just another horse, there was nothing to actually be afraid of. Her speech switched to Pavi, speaking low and simply to the mount and holding her uninjured hand out to him.

"Peace, horse, peace. I'm not here to harm or ride or tie or lead. Easy, boy...trust me and I will trust you. No ropes, no leads. Just me."

The horse was massive compared to her, his chest broad and powerful, his legs thick and heavily furred around the hooves. His tail swished and slapped in anxiety and his ears were turned back angrily. Her trotted around the pen, away from her, turning when he reached one point and then dancing along the fencing the other way. "You only want freedom...it is frightening here, no doubt. These men and these women holding you captive. They do not understand you, but that is alright. Peace, boy, peace."

She stepped closer, causing the stallion to stop and facing her, snorting and tossing his head, front feet pawing ruthlessly at the earth before he surged forwards. Dela stopped her approach but did not flinch away or stand aside, or even back up. Her hands lowered to her side and she stood straight and tall, breathing even and deep, though a sly smile had touched her lips. "You cannot bluff your way out of this, big boy. Now settle down. I bet I can find a sweet apple for you if you behave..."

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