Solo Forging a Bond

[Naiya]

Rue

Summer, Day 28, 513 AV

It was frightening, almost, how quickly he understood what she wanted. It left her feeling odd, as though she was missing something obvious that he understood so much better than she did. A word. A touch. He responded as though she were Caiyha speaking in the language of beasts.

Rue turned from him at that. It could not be so, of course, that she could speak to him as the goddess does. What, then, was this uncanny understanding they shared?

Wildfire whinnied, and something pulled at her. That same something that had pulled her to him not so long ago when she first saw him. Was that what this was? A result of their bond? Did he see her so clearly as a result of the bond that connected them? It could be so.

Why then did Rue know so little in return, why could Wildfire pull at her and not she at him?

Wildfire called again, pulling Rue from her mind as she felt the stirring of the connection between them.

"Let's keep working, okay?" She patted his neck and in turn he breathed warmly on her face. She laughed and grabbed the rope that was tied to his yvas. Beside it hung her quiver, filled with arrows, and her bow hung across her own back.

'With me' her hands signed to him, and he stood to alertness, ears searching for sound as they swiveled on his head. She drew her bow and took two steps forward, tugging slightly on the rope that connected them. She reached for her quiver and it was too far behind her despite his step forward. She pulled the tie again and he stepped forward again, bringing her arrows into reach, but blocking her line of sight.

"Well that didn't work too well, now did it?" Wildfire snorted, tossing his head. He had, after all, done as she asked. "No, boy, it was my fault." She murmured, patting him on the neck a bit absently as she thought. "How can we keep my arrows in reach and keep my line of sight clear?" She asked herself.

They stood together for a moment, and then wildfire pulled the rope from her hand. She started to protest, but Wildfire stomped his foot at her. Once again she felt the pulling in her chest, but she received no more than that. A pull. So she waited for Wildfire to show her what it was he wanted.

She watched him as he moved around her, circling until he was just behind her, then he butted her with his head, causing her to stumble a few steps. When she turned to chide him, she was faced with her arrows just to her side and in easy reach. She glanced at Wildfire who gave what must have been a horse version of a laugh.

"So it's that way, is it?" She grumbled, her smile giving her away, "You think you're smarter than I am." She took three hurried steps and turned, as though she had spotted something moving in the grass. When she reached for an arrow, her hand met the hard feathers of the set.

She moved again, this time towards Wildfire, and he moved just as quickly so that she had the freedom to move and her arrows in hands reach. She tried a few more times, actually drawing the arrows from the quiver and nocking them before putting them back in the holder. It didn't much matter which way she moved, and she assumed, that when Wildfire could hear the sounds she imagined for their training, they would move even better.

That brought her back to their bond, though, and had her wondering again why it was that he understood so much more than she did.

Nightsong

[Naiya]

Rue

"We'll just have to figure something else out, I suppose. I know war trained horses that can speak with their riders almost as well as another human can." She continued that line of thought in her head.

A foot stomp and a raised head for a dangerous smell. The same and a second stomp for humans. Ears pointing the direction of the sounds, surely if others could do all that, they could figure something out.

"For now, let's just do something a little more simple. My back is beginning to ache from all this." A not so fun reminder of her still rather new windmarks.

So she switched to touch training. If she pushed on him, she wanted him to move away, not push back. Training that was good for on the ground and for riding, not that he had given her reason to think he would cause trouble, just that she trained all their horses this way for safety.

A stick with a rounded end was her next tool, rope laying on the ground behind her. She would press it into his side gently at first and then with increasing pressure until he moved away from the pressure.

Or so she planned, but the first time she poked him with the stick he turned and pulled it from her hand, dropping it to the ground at her feet. He was not amused.

Nightsong

[Naiya]

Rue

She smacked his haunch lightly, a loud sound, more than anything else, a chiding. "Rude." She grumbled picking up the training tool. In turn, Wildfire made his opinion known by turning his back to her and swatting her with his tail.

"Ouch." She shot him a dirty look, "Alright. I get it. No more poking you with sticks. Loud and clear." She stuck the rounded end in her boot so she wouldn't for get to take it back inside with her. 'Grumpy' her hands signed. As she moved so he was facing her again. "Backup." She said calmly, accompanying the words with a sign meaning the same, then pressed against his chest. He tossed his head forcing her to duck to avoid being hit, reminding her of why they used a long stick instead of their hands for the initial training. She kept the pressure on his chest though and as soon as he took a step back she stopped.

Wildfire turned his head to regard her with a large amber eye. She patted his cheek softly then reached to his chest again "Backup." She repeated, but he moved before she could touch him, taking two steps back from her. He turned to look at her again and snorted, shaking his head and sending his mane flying around his neck. If he could talk, Rue was pretty sure he would be saying

If you wanted me to move, you could have just said so.

She ran a hand through her tangled hair pushing it out of her face and changing her plans.

Her hands signed again 'move back' and Wildfire complied with another snort. She changed her sign instead to 'move away'. That confused him, the unfamiliar sign so she walked to him and touched his chest lightly then again the sign, and pushed softly on his chest. He stepped back, and she made the sign again. He moved again.

"Good." She smiled scratching his neck and the underside of his chin. She moved to his side and signed the same again 'move away' and touched his side. He took a half step to the left, away from her, quickly she signed left. She repeated the process and when he sidestepped again she signed again 'left'.

She moved to his left side and started again. First signing move away, and when he did so 'right'. Twice more she repeated the signs and both times he side stepped away from her.

Grinning she signed 'to me', a sign they had established earlier that same day, and when he stood before her she leaned forward and kissed the soft hair above his nose. "That's it Wildfire. You got it." She beamed proudly. but now it was time for the next test, had he understood her directions of left and right? Making sure she had his attention she took too big steps back and signed 'left'.

He gave her a bored look and sighed.

"Come on Wildfire." She cajoled, signing left once more. He sighed again, sidestepping to his left, bobbing his head at her in what she would swear was a mocking gesture.

He came to attention quickly. Standing straight with all four hooves planted on the ground, his ears swiveled to a sound she couldn't hear. They weren't too far from her pavilion, but they were on the outer limits of the city and the grasses were a home to all sorts of hunters. The reaction from Wildfire had her immediately on her guard. "What is it, Wildfire?" Her voice was soft so it wouldn't carry. He stomped twice, nostrils flaring as he took in the scent, then he relaxed shifting his weight and bumping her with his head.

"Wildfire, what-" The question stuck on her lips as she heard her sister calling.

"Rue! Rue, dad says you have to come in for lunch! Rue? Are you out here?" Sissy appeared in the grasses from the direction of the pavilion and Rue waved at her to let her know she had heard. Beside her Wildfire snorted, looking at her as if waiting for her to notice something he had done.

Nightsong

[Naiya]

Rue

When it finally clicked, Rue grew very still. Head raised at attention, a stomp for a smell, two stomps for humans, ears swiveled in the direction of the sound.

"How..?" Her voice was soft, hesitant, her knees felt weak. There it was again. That connection that ebbed and flowed and mystified her through it all.

Wildfire, head low, nosed his way under her arm, nickering softly. She patted him absently, wondering if everyone was this scared by their bond with their strider. Even when he did something like that, something that scared her so badly, being near him was still comforting, even when moments ago he had been the reason for her unease.

Was it like this for everyone?

"Let's go back, Wildfire." She murmured, "It's time to eat."

Nightsong

[Khida]

Rue Nightsong

Skill	Points
Horsemanship	+2
Observation	+2
Planning	+1

• Horsemanship: training a horse to move away
• The mysterious tie between Drykas and Strider
• Wildfire: full of surprises, but a comforting presence
• Wildfire: smarter than his Drykas?

Notes

Who was training whom, here? I awarded Planning for Rue working with the quiver and Wildfire's harness, thinking ahead to future uses. The rest should be transparent.

Please let me know if you have any questions or concerns regarding your grade. Also, please edit your request to show this thread has been graded.