Solo [Unstable Stables] The runaway.

[Nemori]

50th, Season, 516 AV

Nemori kept her hood carefully covering her face as she walked through the busy streets. Half searching half hoping that she would get to her desired destination. She had increasingly had to learn how impossible it was to navigate the constantly shifting streets but yet had not worked out how the locals did. Did they get allowances for being late due to the eternal chaos? It was worse, she suspected, due to her hindered vision, learning mostly from the cobbled streets and low down markings. Occasionally she could hear voices, conversations flowing around her. Only a few words could be picked out but she carefully listened for anyone mentioning Vantha or Morwen, sifting through the rest as mere background noise. Occasion words would linger, things she had never heard before or interesting combinations of phrasing.

She glanced up, assessing her location properly for the first time in a few streets. The houses were still made of stone, which was a good thing. A few more streets over, a turn and a slight backtrack and she found her destination. The large stone building with its elegant decorations and sheer domination of the street. Nemori half smiled, it had taken her less time to get here today at least. Was she improving her street navigation skills? The massive arched entrance into the building gave way to the far less decorated interior. The desk was empty, as she found it often was, and she walked straight through. Occasionally she would stop to greet some of the horses who were more easily accustomed to her presence.

She checked the large chalkboard towards the back of the stables, it displayed a list of the different horses in roughly the correct stabling order as well as the tasks required to maintain them. Walking,, grooming, feeding, mucking out. Tasks that Nemori found familiar. Tasks that were easy to get lost in for a few hours. The first horse had been checked off, as had the second. The stablemaster was already hard at work caring for his beloved animals. The third horse had an empty pen, and so she paid attention to the fourth. An elegant black horse with white stockings and muzzle. He was a well-muscled but sleek horse. Despite his elegance he was easily startled and clopped against the floor in surprise at her appearance.

[Nemori]

“Sorry to scare. I mean well” It felt strange to be speaking in common to animals. However it made communication much easier, the animals seemed to only respond to commands in the Common tongue. It was also essential in keeping her hidden, having someone overhearing her speaking to a horse could end disastrously, even if she was pretty sure that the stable master would never notice. He barely seemed to register her presence when she was directly speaking to him.

As she thought she took hold of a rope that was hung on a hook fixed into the door. She took a few seconds to do the knot, and a few more to correct it. She was unused to having to restrain the horses for their exercise, in Avanthal they had been allowed to roam the grass free and would always return for shelter, safety and food. The horse in return stared at her uncertainty, black eyes assessing her and her movements.


“You will behave, yes?” Nemori questioned, carefully opened the stable door ajar. She knew if the horse bolted he could knock both her and the door and escape fairly easily. She tried to keep a calm presence, her eyes shifting into dark blue as she did so. He seemed uncertain but allowed her to place the knotted rope carefully around his neck. A snort of distaste as she did so.

“Yes, but rules. I am sorry” Nemori cooed, attempting to comfort the animal. Another snort, but they allowed her to lead him away from his stable. He skittered slightly past some of the other horses but they got into the pen safely enough. It felt strange having an enclosed pen, a large fence running along the outer ring. They were a few jumps put onto one side, running along a straight path. While a circler ring of dirt had been trodden out through years of continues circles. The jump path was currently being run by Tsavyn, the stablemaster, atop of a sturdy dapple horse. Nemori had gotten slowly use to his presence, or rather how he ignored her presence. In another situation it might have annoyed her, but for now she was realived to find somewhere she could happily work without fear.

The pair followed the dirt ring, Nemori leading by the rope and the horse dutifully following, occasionally glancing up nervously at things. Whenever Nemori noticed his uncertainty she attempted to coo him with soft words, something more difficult in the unnatural and less singsong language. His steps slowed every so often and Nemori had to tug on the rope to try and coax him along. One of these tugs proved too much for the knot she had tied and she felt the rope go slack behind her. Orange eyes glanced back at the horse, finding him standing still. Not even his tail was moving very much. Nemori sighed to herself, once more attempting to create the suitable knot in the rope before affixing it again around the horses neck. He seemed tense as she did so and she glanced around them briefly, attempting to see what was causing his distress.

[Nemori]

“You are safe” She stated, attempting to distract him from whatever it was. The words did not seem to sink through his thick hide but she managed to coax him slowly back into walking again. Nemori felt please with herself for diffusing the situation so effectively. They made it about half way around before something unseen spooked the horse. He darted off in a direction. The rope ripping from Nemori’s grasp with a start. She yelped. The rough material of the rope leaving a sting of pain in its wake.

“Wait” The words were out of her mouth almost instantly, and she silently prayed to Morwen that nobody was around to hear her slip up. She took after the horse, attempting to stay near enough to try and restrain him. The horse was far faster then she was, and she tired quickly. Slowing to a pained pant as the horse ran wild. He stopped short of the fence, rearing up and braying loudly. Nemori was thankful they had not dared try and jump out. Chasing them through the city would become impossible quickly. The horse seemed confused by the fence, lingering near it with a series of wild bucks and clear distress. The rope hung uselessly around his neck still, dancing and jumping along with each of his movements.


“Be calm, Please” Nemori attempted to call, stepping carefully towards the horse. She did not dare get too close. It would be better if the horse tired itself out, rather than risk injury by getting to close. Despite his fear he was still capable of inflicting serious damage on the small Vantha, and she was well aware of this fact. “Please” She repeated, almost numbly. Out of the corner of her eye she could see the other horse approaching slightly. Having stopped its jump training when the other horse got loose and started running amok.

[Nemori]

“What scared him?” The stablemaster questions, starting to dismount from the other horse. The movement was swift and a pang of envy ran through Nemori that her riding skills were not up to par. After dismounting he held onto the reins, not wanting the wil horse behaviour to infect the one he had been riding.
“I don’t know, sorry. He ran.” Nemori looked down. Trying to keep her eyes away from him. They had shifted into silver orbs at her inability to keep control of the animal. She hoped that today was not the one day Tsavyn decided to pay attention to her properly.
“Take Wolf back, then clean their stables. I will attend to him” The stablemaster said, passing the reins into her hand. She was unused what exactly ‘attend’ meant in the common language, but she took the cue to leave quickly enough. Part of her desperately did not want to disappoint him all the other horses more then she already had, and it flared red with humiliation on her cheeks.
“Yes. Sorry.” She repeated, feeling herself flush as he took the reins from his hands. Her head was kept low, her smaller statue helping to keep her eyes hidden from view. Wolf complied with her gentle tug, walking back to the stable with her. His run shortened by her incompetent. Despite this he kept his head low, walking happily behind her. They walked back into the stable, Nemori feeling the embarrassment slowly fading from her features. The gentle clopping was accompanied by more wild whinnies and brays from the outside enclosure.

Once they were back to the allocated stables Nemori attached him just outside, leaving him tied to a pillar. She spent some time unsaddling him, the many buckles being easier to reach for her size. The leather felt expensive, with a slowly twisting pattern running along the edges. She wondered who had paid for such an elegant looking saddle for this horse. Someone who cared deeply about them she assume. The saddle was pulled off slowly, careful to not scrape against the horse despite the weight to it. The quilted layer pulled with it, having been caught on one of the buckles. She attempted to straighten it slightly, not wishing for the blanket to fall onto the floor. With some careful balancing she managed to wiggle the blanket onto her shoulder while she use her full strength on moving the saddle. She sat it on the floor at first, allow her arms to recover from the sudden intensive weight.

“Does that feel better?” She questioned, petting the now exposed flesh where the saddle had previously sat. The response was a quick body shake from the horse, his black mane and tail dancing into the air freely. She smiled as she watched his movements. Horses ha a very particular way of moving with many similarities an some small differences between the breed. She enjoye the movement of their hair and the way their muscles moved with each step.She di not allow herself the distraction long however and turned her attention back to carefully putting the saddle into its hold and securing it with the buckles.

[Nemori]

Once that task had been finished she grabbed the pitchfork that had been left nearby and started to scoop the horse dung from both of the pens, starting with Wolf. She wrinkled her nose at the smell as she started to move the dung around but ignored it, it was a factor of working with animals. The dung she placed into a storage bucket that had already been partly filled. Any muddy hay on the floor was also removed with the pitchfork.

“Be good” She muttered to Wolf, stepping out of sight for a moment to grab a cluster of fresh hay. She liked the smell of fresh hay, it felt familiar and nice. Her eyes had started to shift back into dark blue as she worked. Her embarrassment being forgotten as she focused on the more unpleasant and strenuous of her work. Despite the occasional unpleasantness she did enjoy working at the stable, it was familiar and it felt like she was contributing to the community. Not including the pay she could put towards not imposing on Alex anymore. She lined each enclosures with fresh straw. It took her a few trips to acquire enough to properly line the stone floor. The second lot she placed into the net that fed them during the night.

Once the food was in place she led him back into the stall, untacking him and hanging it onto the stable door. The door itself was closed and bolted shut so that he would not escape without a handler nearby. She felt a twinge of sadness as she bolted the horse into his enclosure, it felt unfair on him. He however seemed to give it no notice, starting to graze on the hay.

She stepped away once more, finding a different, empty, bucket and carrying it over to an internal well within the stables. The crank was stiff and she had to spend some time slowly turning it to get the water up to her. Once she had completed this task she tipped the water into her bucket before lugging it back towards the enclosures she was focused on. It was heavy, her arms complained at the sudden weight but she ignored it. It was only a short distance, not even as far as when she leaved the Icewatch Barracks. She knew she would be fine carrying it. She placed the water filled bucket on the floor while she emptied the water bowls each horse was given to drink from. She tipped the fresh, clean water into each bowl before returning them to their holders. Wolf neighed gently at her as she did his and she placed a hand on his muzzle, carefully stroking along the side. She started to hear the clipping of hoofs from the other side of the stable and glanced up. The stablemaster and the horse she had lost control of had returned. The horse looked far calmed, following with its head bowed more then he had with her. The other horses did not seem to spook him as much as he moved through towards the enclosure. Nemori gulped, trying to focus herself on being calm and collected, not wanting her emotions to get the better of her and shift her eye color as he approached.
“Are they better?” They was genuine concern in her voice as she glanced at the horse. The stablemaster ignored for a moment, getting closer before speaking.
“He has calmed down now. You’re sure you don’t know what scared him? “ Nemori shook her head, keeping her voice silent. She hoped it was the appropriate answer, the use of contrations throwing off her understanding of the langage. “Hopefully it was just an accident” He walked the horse into their, now tidy, enclosure. “I will groom him, you groom Wolf” It was not a question but an order, he did not even turn to look at her. She nodded absentmindedly despite this. A tick passed before she turned around, heading towards the collection of brushes of different types that the stable stored to enable proper grooming. She knew Wolf would be safe to groom, he behaved very well and she had never seen him act out once. However part of her was still concerned from the knock to her confidence with the other horse.

[Kaleidoscope]

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