Horses are for Carrying

by **Khida** on August 31st, 2016, 2:34 am

Summer 79, 516 AV
early morning

The days had grown hot under Syna's baleful glare, and the nights too; hot enough that she had reverted to roosting on one of the pavilion's poles overnight, finding the interior altogether too warm for comfort. That had been a minor inconvenience; worse, Khida's traps had failed for several days straight, no matter how many rivulets and pools she sought out to place them around. It took a great deal of searching; most of the hollows and gullies she could find had been rendered entirely dry by the season, without even enough surface water to nourish a rabbit. Game trails between water sources proved no better for her fortune; it seemed luck, whatever god might rule that domain (if one did), was not on her side.

Khida didn't expect this day to be any different. But she had to keep trying.

So it was that the first half-light of the morning, when the sky had grown bright enough to illumine the landscape but before Syna peeked over the horizon, found the Kelvic hauling gear from the pavilion to where her Strider stood, patiently expectant. She assembled Sephra's tack -- pad and breastband and girth and bags -- and then followed with her own, which was mostly the bow Khida didn't expect to use and extra cord in one yvas bag. Her knife and replacement snares and waterskin and the like, the woman carried herself.

She had gained considerable practice mounting the horse over the season, and leapt up into the yvas more-or-less smoothly. While sitting on the horse's back still wasn't precisely comfortable, Khida no longer felt like she was at risk of keeling over and falling. Enough so that she had become accustomed to not maintaining a deathgrip on the horse's barrel with her legs, and letting her body flow with the horse's motion. At least provided Sephra maintained reasonable gaits -- and Khida suspected the definitions of reasonable still differed between horse and rider.

Sephra knew her rider's daily routine by now, and needed no conscious prompting from Khida to point herself in the direction of yesterday's emplaced traps. The horse walked her way out beyond the tent city's bounds while Khida gave attention to her seat -- knees loose, back straight, posture firm without tension. The horse moved, and she moved, and for a few chimes, all was well.

Then they passed the outer herds in their flocks, and the Strider picked up her pace, moving into the loping three-beat gait she seemed to favor for travel. It was certainly not Khida's preference, as she quickly began to bounce against the yvas, each collision rattling up her spine. It had something to do with how the horse moved (obviously), not just forward as in her walk but also up and down. It was rhythmic, patterned, perfectly predictable; yet though Khida knew to anticipate every jarring bounce, how to ride them out comfortably continued to elude her.

Listening to the horse's motion had made riding Sephra at a walk... manageable, although longer days still tended to wear on Khida's muscles, particularly her abdomen and lower back. But this faster, jagged gait she found much more difficult to comprehend. She'd learned not to grip with her knees. She'd learned not to let her legs brace forward -- that attempt had sent the jarring reverberations down her legs as well as up her spine, and only a desperate grip on the yvas handles had kept Khida from promptly falling off, that time. Gripping with her legs -- whether upper or lower -- didn't seem to help either, and she was pretty sure the way her torso rocked didn't help, but what was she to do about it?

Relaxation, the mode of listening with her body, remained elusive as the ticks lengthened into chimes. Khida kept herself on the horse, simply by dint of reacting -- her shoulders stiff, her hands tightening on the handles at need, now gripping with a leg only to remember that wasn't useful... but when it felt like one more impact was going to rattle her right out of the yvas, tightening down was instinctive. Fortunately, while the rider had difficulties comprehending the horse's motion, the reverse was not the case; soon enough, Sephra slowed back down to a walk, huffing what Khida could only label a sigh. The cant of the horse's ears was distinctly displeased.

Khida might have apologized for her terrible riding -- it couldn't be any more comfortable for the Strider to carry her -- except she hadn't asked for the horse to speed up in the first place!

Khida space Common | Pavi
other space Common | Pavi

by **Khida** on December 3rd, 2016, 9:06 am

They continued at a walk, sedate and relatively comfortable. Scattered zibri faded into the distance behind them, and with them the heights of the city tents, until there was only grass and sun and the two of them traversing between. Far in the distance, Khida could see a darker, taller smudge on the horizon, the mark of some considerable waterway -- something sufficient to nourish actual trees. She shifted her weight, cueing Sephra to turn, keeping that riparian smudge on their right. Khida sought not the large stream or small river or whatever it might be, but its lesser tributaries, with their lighter passage across the earth. Large water meant large game, and large game was not her quarry today.

Or ever, really.

The first gully to cross their path was shallow, its bed a thin meander of stones set in a wan depression. It was also dry, any moisture it might have carried long since parched from the span of summer. Still, Khida dismounted, leaving Sephra to graze while investigating the terrain under her horse's watchful eye. She walked slowly, brushing past the grass as lightly as she could, careful to place her feet on root-knots instead of loose stones. Stones rattled; roots held tight to the earth rather than shift underfoot. Nothing fled noisily from the Kelvic's approach... which didn't mean much, as there could have been nothing there to startle.

Working her way to the apex of the gully's slope, Khida looked down into the depression, considering its features. She crouched to press fingertips against the earth, finding it as dry as she'd expected; the grass might draw water enough from the soil, but animals would find little here to drink. Just as unfortunately, the dehydrated surface could hold no tracks, not even in the base of the gully where patches of earth were exposed. There were some broken stalks in the grasses, which suggested something had passed through, but their bases looked tightly packed enough for it to have either been a long time ago, or for the passage to have been sporadic rather than a regular route.

Or both, for all she knew.

Straightening, Khida proceeded up the gully a ways, her steps slow and quiet, her movements as smooth as she could make them. No quick actions, no sudden changes; sharp movements drew the eye. She knew that well, having long been on the other side of that association. Slow movements, with irregular pauses, more easily passed beneath notice, dismissed as a trick of light or wind. All her care, however, was almost certainly wasted as anything but practice; the ground remained arid, bare of tracks or trails, even devoid of any signs that some earth-dwelling creature might burrow here.

Likely, any moisture here was simply too seasonal to sustain animals year-round. It might offer some quarry in winter or spring, but by then, Endrykas and its people would be well away from here. And in the more immediate interim, so would Khida be; ultimately, she made her way back to where Sephra waited, vaulting back up into the yvas once more.

The search resumed.

Khida space Common | Pavi
other space Common | Pavi

by **Khida** on January 11th, 2017, 3:53 am

Khida cued her horse to follow the gully's course downhill, walking along the adjacent rise. In theory, the seasonal creek here should join up with some larger flow, something more likely to run year-round... and perforce more likely to host something she could hunt. As the horse ambled, the rider turned her gaze downwards towards the ground they passed by. She kept one hand lightly against the yvas, more as a reminder to mind her balance than anything; when she leaned too far out, the pressure shifted from light to firm. And when she actually noticed the difference, it was definitely time to pull back. Even that only worked because Sephra remained at her slowest gait, obliging of her rider's foibles.

All that aside, it was a lot of effort for little return; little met Khida's searching gaze save the never-ending stalks of grass. They passed by no immediately obvious trails, nor stray tracks, nor burrows tunneled into the earth. Something scuttled under a clump of brush; it could have been pheasant or rabbit or ferret or anything else for all she saw. Frustrating. She continued to try, switching to the other side for sake of resting muscles unused to holding such a lean -- it wasn't all that likely to have anything different from the first. And indeed, she saw more of the same: grass, hints of earth, and more grass.

It was her hearing that heralded a welcome change in environs: water. Thin water, its burble thready and soft, likely audible only because the height of her horse lifted Khida above the muffling grasses. She straightened up and looked ahead to where a rising slope suggested another gully, one still blessed with liquid trickling through its depths. Khida cued her horse to halt on the rise, taking a moment to survey their surroundings before dismounting and investigating the flow.

This gully was fairly choked with brush and brambles, little songbirds flitting into their depths at the approach of one considerably larger than they. The dark shapes of blackberries, or some close relative, dotted the brambles, plainly visible in Syna's brilliant light; many of them were well on the way to shriveling up, orbs gone dull and gray. Khida picked a couple of the better-seeming ones anyway; they had little juice on her tongue, not much more than crunchy seed with a hint of summer flavor.

The songbirds could keep them.

Moving along the length of the brambles, Khida found a spot that might have been a path for small creatures of some kind or another, brambles framing a gap of suggestively worn dirt. She halfway wished she could smell as the dogs did; they would have known what lived here. The falcon Kelvic had to settle for making her best guess -- larger than a vole, likely smaller than a skunk, though some largish creatures could fit themselves through surprisingly small passages. Whatever it was, her rope would likely hold it. She could set a noose about the hole, and hopefully when the creature dashed through, it would be caught and bound.

Also hopefully, it would not be in the midst of escaping a predator.

Khida tied the requisite loop in a length of rope, positioning it over the brambles -- which helpfully held it right in place on their thorns -- and securing the other end to a stout cane. The weakest part of the trap was that anchor; brambles were not as strong as woody growth. The blackberries were vigorous, though, and she thought it would hold up.

If that trap caught anything at all.

Khida space Common | Pavi
other space Common | Pavi

by **Khida** on January 11th, 2017, 5:04 am

Khida continued along the line of brambles, seeking other opportunities. After some chimes, she found a break in their thorny sprawl -- one which laid bare a hand's width of the rivulet and the pebbles it meandered over. From either side of that gap stretched a trail, grass blades and stalks packed down by the passage of bestial feet. It was not precisely the kind of trail she had been looking for -- that dimple in the bank clearly belonged to a hooved grazer of the antelope variety -- it did not bespeak the sort of game she could trap. But regardless of the gap's origins, it meant access, and any creature might take the easy route when one was available.

Accordingly, she knelt to set another trap, this one structured to snare an unwary foot. She tucked it in next to the briars, where antelope feet were less likely to tread due to the animals' girth. Those who were more nimble might prefer the cover. Khida also anchored this one to the brambles, as the only reasonably well-rooted plant available; she came away with several thorn-scrapes on her fingers and arms for her trouble. Only one of them spat forth more than a token bead of blood, and that dried up quickly enough.

She could deal with a few prickles.

Rejoining her Strider atop the rise, Khida leaned against the horse's shoulder companionably and contemplated the position of the sun. She had spent more than a bell already in seeking out places for her traps; soon the best part of the morning would be gone entirely, and she had no game to show for it. It was time and past to change her tactics... go back to what she knew worked.

Even if she had to do it all by herself.

Divesting herself of first her trapping gear, then shoes, and finally all the rest of her clothes, Khida squirreled them all away in the Strider's yvas bags. Sephra gave the impression of being intrigued by this development; the horse knew full well what her rider's disrobing usually presaged, but it was not typical for the Kelvic to change shape while they were out laying traps. The horse looked on as the falcon rose into the sky, stretching her wings to catch the warm summer winds and surveying the breadth of the landscape as only a flyer could do.

There really wasn't good terrain around here, Khida realized. All the grasses had a slightly parched look about them, even immediately below her where the rivulet still ran. From her perspective ahorse, she hadn't realized the arid patch stretched so far. On the face of it, that landscape didn't bode well for finding any meaningful game. On the other hand, she did have a slim chance of picking out a pheasant or some kind of grouse, who might see favor in a field others found dry.

Unfortunately, those were not birds she could readily flush alone, not when the falcon needed to also be in the sky, ready to carry out a killing dive.

Better that they moved on to more amenable grounds.

Khida space Common | Pavi
other space Common | Pavi

by **Khida** on January 13th, 2017, 3:49 am

While the falcon surveyed the lanscape, her Strider had settled in to graze, as the horse did -- as all horses seemed to do -- at any opportunity. Returning, Khida descended to Sephra's level, winging a broad circle about the horse and chirping to get her attention. The horse looked on, bemused, as the falcon flew off... then returned only to repeat the behavior again, for lack of an earthbound shadow following her route.

It took several tries before the horse realized the falcon's behavior was a cue, a summons, and she was meant to follow. The Strider started with a few halting steps, looking for validation of her choice; the falcon chirped encouragingly and flew a little farther off to wait; and those distances, that count of steps, stretched longer and longer each time until at last they progressed smoothly together through the Sea.

What the horse thought of all this, Khida had no idea, but she seemed willing enough to play along.

The duo traveled on for perhaps half a bell, from a landscape of stone and grasses and few other plants, to one still dominated by grasses but with -- from the falcon's aerial perspective -- a reasonable measure of broad-leaved plants peeking up through the grasses' cover. Not many of them were in bloom anymore, and the kinds that fruited were, like the blackberries, already past their season, but the greater diversity was likely to in turn support a greater diversity of plant-eaters.

Which was to say, potential prey.

The falcon banked about in a narrow arc, descending again to a level just above the grasses. Sephra had started to faithfully follow her turn, then stopped, realizing the change in signal but unsure what it signified. The falcon chirped encouragingly again, looping several rings around the horse, then climbed high -- high enough to be little more than a dark blot from the Strider's perspective. Khida hung on the high winds for several chimes, watching the horse with one eye and the landscape with another. Eventually, the Strider bent her head and resumed grazing, which Khida took to mean she had settled and would remain in place.

Good. Now she could get to work.

There were songbirds aplenty in the grasses, the falcon observed, but while those would make a fine meal for her, they weren't much for the Drykas; the Spitfire would not give much for such kills, not when the vivid colors of breeding plumage had long since faded with the turn of season. Best would be a mist pigeon, pheasant, or prairie chicken... but they were no likelier to rise from these grasses than from those before. A rabbit, though, or prairie dogs, or something of the sort...

...like that pack of groundhogs, crunching away on a stand of grass. There were four of them, not quite full-grown from their size; likely siblings from a litter born this year, but still large enough to have some meat worth the word.

The falcon came about, considering distance and direction, the play of the wind, the attitudes of her quarry. They did not seem aware of her observation, good fortune perhaps smiling her way; indeed, two of them started squabbling over some choice find, each standing on its hind legs with forepaws against the other.

She could expect no better opportunity.

The falcon dove, air whistling past her head and across the stiff feathers of her wings, small shadow becoming large in very short order indeed. One of the groundhogs bolted; another followed, whistling a distinctive alarm. The two who bickered were slow to disengage, however; too slow, in the end. Though they dropped and made to run, by that time the falcon was already upon them, leveling out of her dive and streaking through windswept grasses which did hardly anything to slow her charge. Fisted talons thumped into the shoulder of the hindmost groundhog, bowling it over and sending it sprawling upon the earth. Dazed, damaged, it made a valiant attempt to regain its feet, but it was not nearly quick enough in doing so to escape the falcon's return.

Finally, success.

Khida space Common | Pavi
other space Common | Pavi

by **Khida** on January 13th, 2017, 4:28 am

Best of all would have been to tear into its carcass then and there, ending the hunt with warm flesh and a full belly. The thought made Khida suddenly hungry -- unfortunate, because she was not here to succumb to such a temptation. Instead, the falcon secured for herself a solid grip on the carcass, then launched herself upwards, hauling it up above the grasses and in the direction of her horse.

Sephra lifted her head at being approached -- as she was always wont to do, and never mind which direction Khida came from. Horses always seemed to see everything around them. Ears forward, the Strider watched with seeming curiosity as the falcon landed and shifted to human. Khida held up her kill for the horse to see -- perhaps unnecessarily -- then walked over and stashed the carcass in one of the yvas bags. She took a few moments afterwards to pat and scratch the horse, signing appreciation for Sephra's presence.

Really, Khida should have thought of doing this earlier -- hunting in the way that suited her strengths, with the horse to help her carry more home. It still wasn't the same as bringing back even a single large kill... but this was something she could do, whereas large prey remained stubbornly beyond her capability to bring down.

Finally, Khida gave the horse one last pat and stepped back. Shifting from skin to feathers, she flew up once more, chirping for Sephra to follow. The remaining prey in their vicinity would all be alerted now, and she would need to seek others somewhere else. This being the second time around, the horse got the idea much more quickly, at least to the level of let's go this way.

So they continued, until the morning was gone and the heat of the day had begun to rise to uncomfortable degree. Strider and Kelvic moved from place to place, the falcon seeking quarry, the horse feeding until her rider had need of her attention again. And while not all of Khida's attempts were as successful as her first, when at last they set their steps back towards Endrykas, the hunter had more to show for her efforts than on any other single day of the season... or several seasons before it.

It made for a very satisfying change in pace.

Khida space Common | Pavi
other space Common | Pavi

by **Sloane** on January 28th, 2017, 9:55 am

Khida :

Enjoy your rewards and continue the good work! If you have any comments or concerns, please PM me, and don't forget to update you request in the Grade Thread!

Completed Horses are for Carrying