Flashback In the Way of the Drykas (Waisana)

[Kaie]

For one reason or another, the young Myrian's brash fearlessness was clearly met with poorly concealed concern. It didn't seem to trouble the young jungle-born though. She seemed merely content to sit atop the stallion with that stupid, satisfied grin on her face as she felt the rock of the moving animal beneath her. The sway of her body along with the horse's steps was oddly comforting. Still, there was that tightness in her fiery eyes that conveyed a deep concentration on her efforts. Hands gripped the handle fiercely so hard her knuckles dared to turn white. Every so often her feet would shift to stay where they belonged. Now and then she'd find herself beginning to slouch, but one glance at Waisana's proud, experienced posture and the Myrian was quick to mirror it once more. At least they hadn't needed to take many turns since they approached the edge of Endrykas.

While Waisana was busy musing over the savage's question, Kaie let one hand venture away from safety to gently pet the back of her stallion. It was soft, she discovered once more. Fuzzy was its short hair though she missed the preferred feeling of running her fingers through a tiger's fur. Nonetheless, horses had proven to be trusty animals of good nature. She couldn't help but wonder if perhaps she would've understood the barbarian people's choice in mounts had they had sharp teeth or claws in their hooves. "Home. Home is special place. Not like others. Different. A good different," the Myrian agreed and gave the horse one final pat before gripping the handle with both hands. She turned her head to lay eyes on the Drykas woman, only to find her trotting ahead. Kaie blinked twice, fiddled with instruction within her head, then gave the stallion a gentle tap to pick up the pace. The horse complied, moving quicker. Yet it took two more taps until they had reached an understanding, and the savage once more rode up beside Waisana with a nervous expression on her face.

"Make stop. Then faster. Save neck." Kaie nodded solemnly and took a deep breath. Her body adjusted skittishly atop the steed while the Drykas girl made her move. Despite the woman's smiling, the Myrian was only as confident as a girl riding for the first time could. She swallowed hard. Then came the tapping. Shyke! And the horse launched forward from a steady trot into a speedy gallop. The savage held on for dear life, body rocking with the quickness in the horse's rush. Off they went past Waisana and into the dreaded Sea of Grass, horse threading a hard beat with its hooves, and Myrian cursing violently while she tried to both hold on and recall the rules of riding. Finally she brought her legs forward and tensed her back, leaning back with the movement as if strength along could force the animal to do her bidding. What a mistake that was. With a neighing, the horses indeed stopped but rose up on its back legs, throwing its amateur riding from the saddle to tumble through the dirt.[/color]

"Goddess dammit," she spat into the tall, waving grasses just as her horse finally turned on its heels and stared dumbly at her. To add insult to her injury, it wasted no time wandering to a patch of vegetation to graze upon. Kaie shoved her way up to her feet, bronze hands coming up to brush off the dust and dirt that covered her arms and legs where she fell. She glanced back in search of the young Drykas girl, yet before she could focus on spotting her, she thought she heard the hiss of grass bending over some sort of larger weight...

[Waisana]

The Myrian seemed quite pleased with herself from what Waisana could see. She didn't look comfortable, she didn't appear confident in what she was doing but more as if she held a determination to succeed. She was managing to stay on the horse and it hadn't attempted to throw her so it was understandable that the girl would be pleased. Waisana couldn't understand how it was going so well but she had no inclination to jinx it. So Kaie was intimidating and wasn't exuding ease around the beast, but that didn't mean that it should want to throw her off its back. It was a prey animal and for want of a better description, Kaie was coming across as more predatory. It was just amazing that the animal wasn't more skittish. Looking at the Myrian's face, it was somewhat understandable; the horse couldn't see it. If it could see that fire in her eyes, it would run as far away from her as it possibly could.

Why aren't I running from her then? Waisana mused, chewing on her lip a little as she continued to regard her companion.

"Yes, home is good different," she responded softly, still contemplating the other woman.

She wondered what the other must see when she looked at the Drykas teen. Did she seem in perfect control to the other's inexperienced eyes? Did she make riding look effortless? Every true Drykas could ride, but that didn't mean that all of them rode well. Not that she was a true Drykas. She needed a Strider for that and none of them would ever go near her. They would sense the ineptitude of her and scoff at it. Not that a horse could scoff exactly. Still, proper Drykas or not, Kaie was looking to her example. Waisana was amazed that she could even stay astride one of the equines and yet here she was teaching someone else how to ride! It seemed ludicrous but it was happening and so she needed to do a good job, or manage as well as she could at the very least.

The girl consciously examined her posture as she rode on ahead, sensing where she might be slouching, sensing the way she sat and how she held her legs against the horse's flanks. She shifted her buttocks, adjusting her seating position as she straightened her back, imagining someone pulling her up by the spine. Her shoulders settled a little back, the small of her back dipped inwards and the horse drifted to the right as she unwittingly applied pressure on one side with her thigh. Although maybe it had reacted to the pressure of her buttock, she had no idea. She really needed to get better with horses. Carefully, she concentrated on holding her weight in the centre so that her mount stopped moving to the side and continued straight ahead instead. She could do better than this surely? She focused on holding herself like that, ensuring that her thighs gripped the animal but not too tightly that she'd send it signals, or end up restricting her own blood flow too much. Riding could be sore enough as it was without adding to its painful aftereffects.

She found herself looking sideways, waiting to see how Kaie would do. She had managed to speed up without any problems and Waisana had exuded a confidence that she didn't really possess, while the other was becoming nervous. The horse must have sensed it or maybe the Myrian girl had overdone it in spurring it on, but either way it bolted forwards, with poor Kaie racing past her as the beast burst into a gallop. The teen had a chance to stare after her in shock before she spurred her own horse on, urging it into a canter as she didn't think she could risk a gallop. It didn't make much difference though as she didn't need to move faster to catch up. The animal in front went back on its hind legs, tossing the older girl from its back with violence. It trotted forward a little before turning to eye the prone figure and Waisana pulled up short, eager to get off her own mount and deter Kaie's horse from adding trampling to its list of actions.

Her legs moved forward, her back tensed and made the mistake of trying to swing one leg over to dismount before she'd fully stopped. Instead, the horse came to a halt, the teen lurched sideways, scrabbled for the yvas handle, hit the leg she was swinging off of it and spent a brief and terrifying moment dangling off upside down before collapsing in a heap. Spitting grass from her mouth and moaning, she scrambled away from the animal, trying to get her legs under her. Her hands slid over the rough grass, burning as they rubbed against her skin before she managed to turn herself to a kneeling position so she could rise and get to Kaie's side.

Thankfully she hadn't met her death by trampling because Waisana would have been far too late to come to her rescue. Her own dismounting had given away some of her own incompetence and made her look like an utter fool. The Myrian was standing brushing herself off and must have seen the blonde's catastrophe. It made her feel better in some way, as if she had been lying to the other but now the air was clear. That was true in a way, after all Kaie had obviously thought that Waisana was good enough at riding to teach her and she had let her believe it. She found herself laughing, gesturing back towards her own abandoned mount which had gone to eat beside Kaie's.

"Not as good on horse as I thought. Think you got off better than me," she giggled.

OOCI'm the worst sort of person imaginable but it has been a seriously rough year. I really hope that you don't hate me too much and that we can continue this

[Kaie]

Remember what father said. The Sea of Grass is a deceptive beast, the young girl recalled while her eyes fixated briefly on the strange swaying of the long grass that spread in every direction. The Myrian shook her caution away and turned to find Waisana preparing to dismount at the scene of her own humiliation. Instead the foreigner was treated to a spectacle herself. Within the few ticks it took for the young Drykas girl to find herself frighteningly upside and tumbling from her own steed, a grin had broken the frustrated expression on Kaie's face. The moment of mirth didn't last too long, though. Her brows knit together and she stuck her tongue out to flick away the specks of dirt that found its way upon her palate during her pathetic dismount. At least the dirt in Cyphrus tasted just as bad as it did in Falyndar.

"Not know. You points for hanging. Like bat," the Myrian girl teased her riding coach with a playful raise of her eyebrows. Amber eyes shifted to the pair of mounts who had successfully managed to find themselves, one way or another, liberated from their pesky riders. At least the two four-legged steeds were enjoying themselves over their shared meal of greens. She rubbed the back of her head. "Think horse like grass over me." The joke seemed to spark a greater notion. The Myrian girl slowly began to approach the horses where they grazed, rounding her own's left side. When she was a few feet away she hesitated. You've already been thrown. You wanna get kicked, too? She pressed her lips into a hard line as she thought. Then she crouched down and ripped a handful of bright green strands of grass from the earth. Holding them out toward the animal on a flat palm, Kaie slowly moved to face the animal head-on to present her peace offering.

At first the lazy stallion cared not for the foolish savage's bribery. After all, it had a buffet of its own right at its feet. Yet the approach of the unfavorable novice rider prompted it to raise its head as it chewed to watch her approach. With its head already up and its last mouthful swallowed, the hungry beast stretched out its neck to take the closer food. She willed her palm to remain perfectly flat while the animal's lips moved about her hand. Then the grass was gobbled up and the horse chewed contently with a flicker of its ears. The Myrian peered around to look at Waisana. "Try again? Safe to get up, think you?" Again she found her gaze drifting from both horses and teacher in the direction of the Sea of Grass. The girl did not trust the lulling, calm sway of the grasses in the breeze. Like a true ocean, she couldn't help but find herself wary of the perils it concealed.

OOC:You're good! I get stuff comes up. I'm game to keep going and make something exciting if you are!

[Waisana]

The teen grew more giggly as the Myrian teased her. The image that the girl painted, even in her limited Common, was just too funny for the Drykas doctor to keep herself from laughing more and more enthusiastically. The casual comment by Kaie about the horse preferring the grass to her didn't help matters but as soon as the girl drifted away, the blonde's mirth began to ebb as her companion moved away towards the horses. Waisana watched her curiously before making a move to follow her. She acted as passive observer, viewing the attempt at truce going on between Kaie and the horse as she held out grass as some sort of peace offering. Something about the scene before her was incredibly amusing to her. The expression of grim determination the older girl wore as she approached the horse was more akin to what you expect if she'd been confronting a vicious animal, like a glassbeak or a night lion rather than a slightly peeved off mount. She was already giddy and so it was a struggle to stop herself from giggling at this. She held her bottom lip between her teeth, trying to breathe evenly through her nose as she looked on. Light snorting began to escape from the blonde and she was forced to cover the lower half of her face with her hands.

When Kaie turned to her, Waisana broke down completely, her whole body shaking with silent, or at least greatly muffled, laughter. The doctor must have looked like a lunatic but she just needed to laugh it out of her system. By the time she was finished dealing with her excess of mirth, her eyes were streaming, she was struggling for breath and her abdomen hurt vaguely from the many spasms. Wiping her eyes with the back of her hand, she managed to look up at the Myrian with a straight face.

"I am sorry. I found all that very funny. Not you and the horse... Yes, you and the horse were funny. You walked up to it like you thought it would eat you," she admitted with a chuckle. "I think horse will be good for riding. This time we can try stopping and getting off without falling. For both of us." She smiled broadly before moving to her own mount. The animal looked at her with little interest although she straightened her head and chewed on the grass she already had rather than continuing to crop. Waisana vaulted on to the horse's back, clinging desperately to the yvas as she pulled herself in to a comfortable position and got herself settled. She considered their position from where she sat. The city was still in sight although the pavilions of the Drykas were some way off. It seemed they had ventured quite far, further than she had thought, but not dangerously so. The blonde chewed her lip, considering whether to keep moving away or to return. If they were to meet any sort of danger, Waisana had no weapon and no knowledge of how to use one if she did. While Kaie had a knife, it wouldn't be any good against the likes of a glassbeak. Those birds were huge. They probably couldn't outrun them either as the horses they sat astride were not as speedy as a Strider. It was unlikely the Watch would have allowed danger to come too close to Endrykas but considering how far they had come without noticing, they could easily move beyond the field of safety only to discover their error when it was too late.

"We will go back toward Endrykas." She pointed it out for Kaie and then lightly tapped the horse's flanks with her heels so that it began to walk. Another light tap brought it in to a trot, which was a comfortable speed for the novice rider to manage. She turned her head to look at Kaie, avoiding turning the rest of the body as it might send her mount signals she didn't intend.

"Grass is dangerous. Best to stay near Endrykas. The Watch will make it safe," she explained, not wanting to frighten the girl with unnecessary detail. The promise of safety should suffice to reassure the visitor.

[Kaie]

Her olive branch appeared successful. The stallion chewed lazily on the grass the Myrian girl had provided, and once it was swallowed, nudged at her chest in a way that suggested more offerings were demanded. Kaie pursed her lips. Between the Drykas girl's inability to restrain laughter and the notion she was catering to the whims of a beast, the Myrian was feeling especially impotent in this strange new world. Her lip curled at the sound of the snort and the stab at her pride. Yet as she watched the girl break into fits of laughter, her front faded into a broad, sheepish grin. It wasn't as if she could blame Waisana. Truth be told, she had approached her mount with quite a surplus of caution.

Now that she had officially managed to humiliate herself, it was time for the Myrian girl to quite literally get back on the saddle. Well, the yvas. Kaie watched Waisana find her way solo onto the back of her mare, and set to mirroring the movements to the best of her ability. It took a few ticks longer than the more skilled rider, but with plenty of upper arm strength and willpower, the Myrian girl managed to find herself proudly sitting upright on the stallion again. Amber eyes looked toward the treacherous Sea of Grass, watching tall stalks whisper like sirens coaxing her closer.

Kaie shook her head. Waisana knew her lands far better than she did. Even if the call of adventure was a hard one to ignore, she would be a fool to let the Drykas girl's warning fall upon deaf ears. Had they been in the jungle, it would've been wise for her own advice to be heeded. Kaie tore her vision from the great beyond and gave her stallion's side a gentle tap with her heels. She guided the horse more smoothly in the wake of the mare this time, and another gentle tap brought her riding alongside her new companion.

"Endrykas. You city? It move, no? Why not stay?" Her brow furrowed, and she struggled to find the words that might properly convey the greater question she was trying to ask. After a few ticks, she finally found the right Common phrase. "If not stay, no strong defense. No walls. Nothing. Why risk city led to trap or danger? The Watch not know what lies ahead?" It was something a Myrian born and raised in Taloba could not fathom. The CIty of Bones was ancient, static in nature and heavily fortified. Along its perimeter ran a great, intimidating wall manned by soldiers. Beyond there laid clans like her own dedicated to preserving the safety of the city by protecting what laid beyond it. Barricades warded off Dhani advances and carefully watched Zinrah's every move. The idea of forfeiting all of those advantages seemed erroneous.

How can she feel safe in a city and confident in The Watch when they walk everywhere blind?

[Waisana]

Waisana watched and waited as Kaie worked her way back onto her mount. The teen was impressed by how the Myrian worked her back into the yvas, especially given that she wasn't accustomed to horses and mounting. The young woman was strong and her strength and athletic ability showed in her movements. With her own horse in motion, the young Opal girl glanced back to catch Kaie looking almost longingly toward the waving grasses of the sea beyond. The blonde decided it was her imagination; it was merely a curious look. Considering the danger, she did not believe that the Myrian truly wanted to venture out there but then there was a wildness about the race that made Waisana wonder.

Kaie urged her mount to come alongside the blonde teen and the girl smiled at her, acknowledging her pleasure in her progress. The other's question made Waisana regard her quizzically before recalling that the other did not understand the Drykas way. As she continued, the blonde looked at her with a lack of comprehension at first and then as understanding dawned, she smiled secretively to herself. The answer was an easy one: Webbing allowed them to know exactly what was ahead of them. Webbing was knowledge that belonged to the Drykas and the Drykas alone; the Drykas teen would say nothing of it to the Myrian girl as it was not for her ears.

"Staying is not best," she began. "Animals must eat. If we stay, they eat everything. If they eat everything, nothing will grow and animals must graze away. There is danger away from the city. Things wait in the grass that would eat Drykas, animals, anything they can. So we move. Animals get new food, land we leave recovers. It works well. Sometimes, we are near Syliras, Kenash, Riverfall. Trade is easier because distance is shorter. We move, no one can find us so we're safe from people. No need for walls." She smiled at the other, gazing towards the city as its various components came into focus as they drew nearer.

"Endrykas is never trapped. We know what lies ahead and behind. We know of danger, watch things. We have ways. It is like animals. They do things we do not understand. Lie down before heavy rain, know of other things before they come to us. We do not understand how they do it. It simply is. We are like that for you. We know. Not all Drykas but the Watch know, Ankals know. Not all Drykas stay in Endrykas. Some go away alone but they can look after themselves. Sometimes not so we are safer together. It is just our way. It works. Illness and other things are against us but we are still here. Trust that we understand more than we seem to but do not ask how," the girl explained mysteriously, a sideways look making her appear coy as they rode onward. The other was bound to be curious but Waisana didn't know if the Myrian would pry despite the blonde's request that she not do so.