[The Sanctuary] Fate Conspires And Time Desires

[Kavala]

As the storm broke over the mountain the citadel called Ironrock perched on, a similar storm was brewing inside one of the exam rooms. A'Kenas was getting frustrated that Irvyn was withholding the words meaning, and it was stretching her mind, her understanding. She needed to hear it used more. She craved to hear it used more. But he was stubborn, her creator, and would make her work for it. Thinking hard hurt her head, bending neurons in new ways. A man of science would understand in her early years, these formative years, he was demanding and giving no quarter until her animal brain stretched and reformed to accommodate the new pathways the human brain demanded. Humans took four to seven years to do such things, invent new pathways and learn cognitive thinking. Kelvics did it in a year, maybe a little more, because of Marcus and Irvyn's ingenuity.

A'Kenas was living proof of that.

And she knew how to bait him, how to get a rise out of him, because she'd been watching him do the same to her for a year. Body language was everything to a horse, even a horse made into something else. There wasn't a glance, a shift of weight, nor a deep breath he took that she didn't not see and interpret. He'd had her since she was a foal, gangly and only a tenth of a season old when the horse fair seller had talked him into her. A shield pinto, black and white, the colors of balance. The shield that covered her chest and her face would protect her rider, the sharp-eyed sales man said. And they were smart these the two toned mounts. They were smart enough to be trained in multiple things and surefooted enough even for Ironrocks' mountains.

He'd taken her home, put up with all the whinnying for her dam that had been weaned off her too early, and bottle fed her until he had gotten to the point in his lab where he had worked the dark A-Gen magic. Marcus had already been successful. But Irvyn had ideas and other improvements in mind. She wasn't the only one that went through the procedures. But she was one of the only ones that had thrived.

And in many ways she was his shadow... never too far away.

So she knew him, his looks, his moods, his drive. And even if she didn't understand all of the faucets of Irvyn Zanrisi, she knew she belonged to him. She was A'Kenas Zanrisi. His creation and his triumph. That is, if she survived and continued to thrived. It looked that way too. And she was more like him than he cared to admit. To her, every move was a test. Every action carefully calculated to receive a response.

A'Kenas snorted. Yes, he'd explained. But she hadn't understood it. She never did the first time. And she knew that upset him. He demanded she always understood. So sometimes she pretended. And sometimes she did finally realize what he'd been trying to say. The blood was a pretend. The concept was something he'd taught her inadvertently. Acting. Because animals never lied, but kelvics could act, pretend, deliberately misinterpret.

The slap across her face brought her back to the present. She hadn't been paying attention and she snorted wildly, almost falling back off the table she sat on. She moved immediately, the sting on her cheek causing a bright red palm print to fire into her delicately pale skin. Sliding off the table she presented herself before him. Had she been a dog, her neck would have been bared to him in submission. But she was a horse, and so she stood before him, stood proudly, not moving, demonstrating her willingness to stand for him. She exhaled with a snort, more relaxed now. Horses were violent creatures at times, and stallions very unpredictable and prone to act just as Irvyn did. In so many ways it reassured A'Kenas. She wanted a leader, a protector, and to be part of a herd. Irvyn's herd.

Lightning struck as the words spilled from his mouth. He turned away and when he turned back, her arm was extended ready to get the poke, to give him the blood without question. He had to stand close to do the deed, to hurt her, but she didn't mind. She reached out with her mouth and nuzzled the shoulder of his lab coat affectionately. She nipped it gently, the lapel, and let her white and black cascade of hair cover his shoulder and mingle with his own.

"Yes." She said simply. "Yes I want to be part of your band. I want to share your room. I want to sleep in your bed. I want to be with you more than I want to be in a place of my own. I will always stand for you, not other stallions whom I take joy in kicking. You know that. I have your name. I am yours. I have been since you gave the man gold for me at the faire and you took me from my mother and changed me so I can think. My mind is never quiet now. It craves. It is stupid." She said, trying one more time to get him to give her the meaning.

A'Kenas nuzzled him again, the gesture erotic and playful, completely unaware of what she was asking from him. "I am your A. You should let me. I will be good, very good, for you." She assured him, even as the thunder clapped again, nearly directly overhead.

[Ronan]

He watched her closely as he directed the needle into her arm, and worked the apparatus to begin taking a small sample of blood. She nuzzled him as he did so, and he raised his head to the ceiling momentarily, eyes closed. His imagination ran rampant, and it was difficult to think when she did this.

Finally, he looked back down and slipped the needle delicately from her skin, the pack of blood full enough for now. He'd need to do testing on it again later, checking the antibodies, and the strength of the blood cells themselves.

The room was suddenly lit up by a flash of lightning outside. There was rain too. The light played against her body, exaggerating the curves and blossoming flesh. He swallowed, remembering when he had brought her. Raised her. Fed her. By nature... cared for her. There was a strange, bittersweet feeling knowing that she had utterly relied on him for so long. She had been conditioned, plain and simple, and now she prostrated herself, presenting everything and more for him.

He winced as she said stupid one final time. This was probably the closest she'd get to the actual meaning. He put the apparatus down on the back bench and sighed, rubbing hands over his face and through his hair.

A-Gen, and all that meant rushed through his mind. He had made her sentient, she and all the others. But she was special. He had brought her here himself, and tended to her. Looking back, had he always given her more time over the others? What was it about her? The fact that she was totally compliant to him, and him only?

What would it feel like? To lie with his own? The sacred bonding of creator, and the created. He turned back round slowly, face darkened in shadowed hollows, and then illuminated again in the frantic lightning.

It looked like something wild had come into his features. He moved towards A'Kenas, and pulled her towards him. He held her tightly, naked flesh pressed against his white coat, and the warmth beneath.

His hands climbed up her body, brushing against her sacred feminine, before coming to her face where they clasped tightly. He kissed her. Suddenly, and violently. It was a violation. His stomach turned uneasily.

Finally, he pulled away and let go, waiting to see how she would react. The Kelvic were oh so human, and yet they had animal urges too. He watched her, out of breath, panting in anticipation.

And abandon.

[Kavala]

The pinto never knew what he was going to do. Her Irvyn. She was comforted when he crowded her space, and didn't even flinch at the needle which she didn't mind so much, even though she fussed about it. His scent calmed her. His words calmed her. Even at times his violence calmed her. It was as if something about her needed something about him and waited for him to acknowledge it.

Was this that moment? Instinct took over and she stood for him, still as stone, and obedient. He did his work, always, first before anything else. But there was something different about him today. He was unpredictable and his mood reflected the storm outside. A'Kenas would have been fearful in her stall, nervous with the other horses. But with Irvyn she was not scared. She was comforted. The storm was just a storm and not something frightening. He was here. And he was not scared. Thus she had no reason to be.

When he ran his fingers through his hair, she tilted her head. This was a new gesture, a frustrated gesture. She had learned that word only a few dawnings ago. Frustrated. Something was bothering him, and she didn't see it. That made her a bit edgy. She glanced around, scanning the area for trouble briefly before resting her eyes back on him. His features changed, melted into feralness, and she could suddenly smell the maleness of him.

A'Kenas accepted Irvyn's touch instantly. He'd conditioned her too. But this was new, this was something unaccountable. She snorted uneasily, but he ran his hands down her body, touching her in a way that was vastly different than the clinical way he had before. She leaned into him. Close. They were close to something. She could feel his willingness. A'Kenas could feel his emotions. The mare did not fight it as his awareness swept into her. She wanted it. She needed it. His touching her just made it happen faster. She could almost feel his thoughts. She could certainly feel his needs. And for that small moment.

Irvyn could feel her as he touched her as well. He could feel her hesitation, then her sudden response and acquiescence. She was willing. A'Kenas would go where he lead. As he held her pressed against him, and touched her, she stepped sideways, opening herself to him, nuzzling him, making herself completely accessible. He could physically and mentally feel how much pleasure his touch brought to her. He could especially feel it when he was touching her. It was like his hands completed a circuit or like a man on the cusp of a discovery... so close to the right answer but still having it out of reach. In brushing her sex he could feel the heat there and sense the flood of pleasure it brought her - as if it were his own pleasure.

When he kissed her the sensation redoubled and exploded in both their brains. Need filled both of their awareness. It was beyond a sexual thing though. IT was something greater, something deeper, something that the kiss just teased. She wanted him and he could feel it. And he wanted her and he could feel it, but it wasn't just for pleasure. Irvyn could sense it went deeper, the bond built into the- the fail safe control.

But it was hard to think about that with his lips grinding against hers. She opened her mouth in surprise. Her arms came around him, holding onto him, shocked and surprised and thrilled. He could feel all of it from her, clearly. She was aroused by his actions, even though there was no way she could have known what sex was, not at this point.

When he pulled away and left her standing here, she began to shake. Not touching her the contact and her emotions dulled in his senses. They had been so close to making a bond, but he'd not let it happen. She wanted it. He could feel it. Badly. She craved it as all her kind were designed to crave it. And as he let his creation, his little black and white filly, stand alone in the center of the room. She reached a hand out toward him, not wanting to have broken the contact so soon. Her features were a mixture of confused lust and a sadness that flowed over it. She ran her hands down her body, like he'd touched her, curious to see if the same feeling arose. It did not. Her hands were not his hands.

He could see her thinking.

And slowly, as her thoughts resolved nothing, instinct took over. When horses were ready to mate, they displayed themselves. The mares turned and showed their vulnerable hind ends to the stallion, flagging their tail and inviting them. A'Kenas invited Irvyn, slowly turning her back to him, looking at him over her shoulder, and arching her back. A'Kenas was breathless and a light sheen coated her body. But she wasn't uncertain or confused. No. Her instinct told her exactly what he wanted and how to react. She did nothing else, just showed him her vulnerable side, and offered him everything.

[Ronan]

The intimacy was unnerving. He felt those pulses of pleasure, taking her body. And slowly, she came to truly want what was on offer. Still, he watched her carefully. Pulling away before had been a conscious action. The bond had begun to form so early, he noted. Did Marcus not have bonds with Kelvics though? Irvyn did not truly know the answer to that.

He stared at her as she turned, inviting him. He had broken the bond once. What would happen a second time? Did he even want to? The feeling had been alluring, knowing they would both be connected forever.

Her eyes measured him curiously for a long while. And for an even longer while he just stood, studying her. There were so many implications. Far too many implications. But he was human. With human urges. And so, it seemed, was she. A'Kenas. His A.

Shaking, he took hold of her again and shrugged out of his clothes. He took her like an animal, staring up at the ceiling, unable to look at her. Not properly. It would hurt her, no doubt. A fire filled the both of them. It was the bond. He could feel everything working between them. Every single thought, every single feeling.

Crying out, it was all over. It hadn't lasted long at all, but he already knew they would never be the same again. He stumbled back, thumping against the wall, and slid down so he was sat. He began to pull his clothes off the floor and back on.

He watched her meticulously, breathing, panting. He could feel her. His creation. His A'Kenas.

They would never be the same again.

[Kavala]

A'Kenas was human only insofar as that she looked human. Inside her mind was all animal. And she was forgiving, especially of him. She had no expectations that most human women had of their first times with men. She had no dreams of white knights on snorting chargers. Irvyn had hurt her before, with needles and even with exams, but this was a new kind of pain. He explained nothing, which was unlike him. Normally he told her when he was going to hurt her. But this, this had no warning. It was supposed to feel good. Instead it was rather violent. A'Kenas made not a sound during the entire act. He did not face her where she could gaze lovingly into his eyes like she longed to do. Cold. Her creator was cold and he rent her flesh inside violently and then took for himself his pleasure.

Over her shoulder she could see him staring at the ceiling as if he wanted no part in understanding what he did. His eyes never fell on her. She watched for it. Hoped for it. But he just locked his hands on her hips and froze the expression on his face, and gave in to his urges.

And she bled.

But as she did so, she felt something solidify between them. His sensations of pleasure at what he was doing overwhelmed her pain. And for the last few moments of their intimacy, she became him holding her and plunging inside like a beast. His release was her release and she cried out not in pain but in shock of the bonding happening so suddenly and so completely. Always it had been there, at the edge of both of there awareness's. But he was too caught up, too involved to pull away and to chase her from the room to prevent what Marcus had designed so neatly - the link.

The sky outside opened up and rain began to pelt the fortress seemingly in time with his own release. The storm had reached its peak and now began to drain. Irvyn did the same.

When he retreated from her body and her touch, she could still feel him. Pain coursed through her from his violence and that flooded his awareness too. But she felt his deep satiation and she felt his deep fear. He was afraid of the bond. She probed deeper, trying to understand his fear, but the connection was raw and still more static than pure. She caught glimpses though, in his mind, of what he'd had to do to make the kelvics. And she caught glimpses of death and failure and a whole host of other things that had came before her perfection.

A'Kenas struggled for breath. There were bruises at her waist across her hips darkening on her pale skin. Handprints. And then the blood that coated her thighs filled his nose - her scent of it more acute than his. His mare rose, moved to a cabinet where she knew cloth towels where, and wet one, cleaning herself up. Irvyn hated blood, dirt, or contaminants in his lab of any kind.

And when she was clean enough to touch him, she dampened another cloth with warm water after disposing of the first soiled one, and moved to him. She blocked him from putting any more of his clothing on and knelt down carefully, still sore, beside him. Saying nothing, she meticulously washed him. It was a subservient action, and his A'Kenas was never that before. But she could feel his need, his disgust, and she wanted it gone. She wanted him happy.

And he could feel that too.

After a long time she moved away, putting the cloth away, and came back to stand where he sat panting. She reached out, hesitantly, and brushed at some of his hair. Crouching down, like a cat, she tossed a sweaty lock of white hair out of her face and met his eyes. "I can feel you deep inside me, in my mind and in here." She said touching her chest, some of the wonder she felt pooling in her gaze. "Now, still, afterwards even across the room. It's stupid?" She hadn't given up on the word, not after all that. Nor would she. But stupid definitely didn't mean wonderful, and staring at his expression she might just have figured that out all on her own.

[Ronan]

Rain came down upon Ironrock, the stone walls turning slick in its transience. It was heavy. His eyes inched to the side, glancing out of the tiny window. He breathed again. And at the same time, A'Kenas breathed. Synchronicity. He looked back to her, eyes narrowing, feeling the bond they now shared so deeply. A solidification of what they'd felt before.

He watched her as she cleaned herself, the blood of their union cleaned away. He'd have to bleach the room again, he thought nonchalantly. Though that didn't matter now. This was how Marcus had felt? Irvyn struggled to comprehend it, at first unsure of which thoughts were his own and which thoughts were As. He felt dirty.

Finally, she came to him with a new cloth, refusing his shirting up, and began to clean him. Unsure, he allowed her. He felt a need from within her, a need to make him happy. This was how she felt? The subservience did not come across as such, instead it was an action of her own accord, and seemingly for her own benefit.

He still hadn't caught his breath fully, the bonding having seemingly winded him. She seemed to have taken the union better than him, though he could feel pain from her. He had forced himself upon her in that sense, though in his mind it was kinder than a stallion's urges.

"Why is it you want me happy?" he asked, rain still lashing outside, getting even heavier by the sound of it.

When she touched his hair and described her feelings, he shook his head with vigour.

"Not stupid... overwhelming. Fascinating. Amazing."

Irvyn wasn't even sure how he felt about it. It was something he would get used to with time, perhaps. But he knew it could be a blessing also. Marcus had seen the worth of the link, though Irvyn had been sceptical. Now he understood. The union of man and beast, and all that lay between. It seemed a noble, and very human purpose.

He looked back up at her, discomfort changing to something new. A smile formed, and it slowly turned into a laugh. A laugh that still had its own resignations, but a laugh all the same.

"I feel you too, A'Kenas. I feel everything." His face darkened a little. It would be too dangerous to give her so much leeway. Far too dangerous indeed. The bond could act as a leash, he began to philosophise. "But this does not make us equals A. I am your creator still. Remember that, and remember it well."

He pulled his shirt and the rest of his clothes on, and finally stood up. The thunder and lightning had stopped at least, though Zulrav's tears did not stop. He looked out to that square of sky again, pondering, wondering. There was no going back now.

"Tell me what you think of it, A'Kenas. Tell me all about it."

[Kavala]

A'Kenas moved around the exam room restless again. She held the bloody cloth in her hand and disposed of it on a trip by the hamper Irvyn kept for such things. She watched it tumble down into the bottom, blending in perfectly with the other bloody cloth already there. Symbolism. It had been a hard concept for her to understand at first - how one thing could represent another. But when she saw those two cloths meld into one another at the bottom of the hamper, both soiled, both imperfect with portions of brilliant white still showing, she understood the lesson of weeks gone by.

She moved again, pacing from one end of the room to the other, back full circle where they were before Irvyn's loss of control. She saw his face, felt his limits to his patience rise, and settled on the exam table. This time she swung her legs up and leaned back, reclining on it. She laid her arm across her stomach and slipped the other hand under her head. The pose was human, terribly human, but one she'd perfected to relax him. A'Kenas watched people. She studied people. She'd always tried to understand people. Yet they'd baffled her.

Now though, she stretched out her awareness and felt his uncertainty. She felt his need to be the leader and to control her. A'Kenas closed her eyes, relaxing, feeling him inside her awareness, learning him. And just as easily she sent reassurances through the link. He was her leader. She looked to him for all things. Her respect of his authority and his needs filled his mind, as as the kelvic was finally able to communicate with him the way her kind communicated with each other. There was no deception. There was no possibility for deception. If he choose to he could feel her mood, her thoughts, and while he couldn't read them exactly or hear them as such, the spirit of her attitude was there for his examination.

She was excited and content at the same time. He could feel her abdominal pain, but he could also feel her disregard for it. She was hungry, but then again as a two year old mare, she was always hungry and that was normal. She could smell the carrot she'd left sitting on the little stand beside the exam table and she wanted to eat it. And she knew he wanted her to speak, but she also knew she didn't know what to say.

"Not enough words, Iryvn. You give me so few. You make me guess. I always thought you mean for it, mean like a colt in the pasture bigger than the other colts who pushes them around for pleasure and power. But... now... now I see. You play these things with me, these funs..." She had no word for game. "... and you do it because you want me to be more powerful inside, in my head, where horses are weak." She said that softly, in a wondering voice, as if such things could never occur to her before.

"You are afraid of me being able to hear you, feel you in, inside. You have this feeling because you are as a foal and do not know love like I do not know words. But it is well. I will teach you love. You will give me more words. I see how wrong I am about stupid. I feel what stupid is, even if I can not voice it. I feel what stupid is because you know what stupid is and you think of it when I use it wrongly. I am not stupid. I am very very far from stupid." She said, opening her eyes and turning to stare at him.

She smiled then, a bright pleasant smile. A'Kenas never smiled before. Horses didn't use facial expressions like people did. But she smiled because she understood what a smile did for him, and how much humans relied on it to understand one another. Horses only bared their teeth and curled their lips and brought things closer to their noses.

"The rain will be over soon. Do you feel it? I can. You should change to a warm coat. I will get my tack. I would very much like you to come with me. Come run with me. I am strong and I will carry you. I feel what humans feel, but you should feel how beautiful it is to be a horse too." What she didn't say, but what he understood was that she wanted him to feel himself bonded to her as a horse. And what that meant.

A'Kenas closed her eyes again, laying back on the table once more. Irvyn could feel her willingness. He could do anything to her he wanted. Needles. Skin scrapings. Even puling a tooth. She'd lie quietly. He could feel her trust.

[Ronan]

Irvyn was silently amazed by her observations, and then tried to shun the feeling, knowing A'kenas would pick up on it through the bond. She was right, though. He tested her constantly, giving her a sniff of the carrot, before dragging it away upon the first bite. And it had made her stronger. So much stronger, and wiser.

When she lied down on the table, he felt a pang of hunger from her and decided this time he'd allow her a small pleasure. He made sure he physically passed the carrot to her though, rather than allow her the satisfaction of taking it on her own. He placed it into her hand, and clasped her fingers around the vegetables orange flesh.

"Eat," he said quietly.

Then he turned and took his notepad, scribbling several things on it. Early observations of the bond. He felt her satiate her hunger, and it was strange. Tingly even. He felt her want too, the feelings of frustration, the dire need and want to understand, and to learn, and to run outside.

"You are not stupid," he replied simply, "you are far from stupid."

Oh, how his tact had changed since the bonding. Now he felt her desires and wants, he felt compelled to give her more - to answer the questions she had, and motivate her further than he ever had before. This was the Kelvic truth. She could become as intelligent as any other, and even one day, their creations could assimilate into society. He felt it in his bones.

Tomorrow was a different day, but today was today. Today was the day of their bonding, and he felt like he wanted to fill the vacuous, emptiness he had created.

"Then we ride," he said, picking up the blood pack and pushing it into the cabinets filing compartments. He could test it later. It would keep, for a while at least. "Meet me down there shortly."

He left the examination room, and began pacing down the winding corridors. His living quarters was his destination, and there he followed her instructions by plucking his thick, grey coat from his cupboard.

Even here, he could feel her still. He stopped, standing dead still. The rain was quietening a little. She had felt that? Animals had a strange sense about the air and the weather, he had noted a long time back.

He felt a mixture, and it was difficult separating them. Glee and excitement. And a little surprise too, as if she hadn't expected him to agree. But he wanted to see what it was like. He wanted to feel the wind with her, and see the difference between them.

He looked outside again, and for the first time, smiled a little.

It was a strange day. But all the same, a good day. He couldn't help but feel excited by the achievement. The trill and rush of the bond. The constant line of thought and feeling that flowed so openly in to his mind. This was what Marcus meant. This was Kelvic.

[Kavala]

A'Kenas chewed the carrot with pleasure, partially because she was hungry and partially because it came from Irvyn's hands and had the scent of him all over it from the time it rode around in her pocket. She thought about it, how he'd known to put a carrot in his pocket, and it brought her pleasure knowing he had thought of her before her appointment and had grabbed one as a treat in the event she was good.

That carrot symbolized a whole host of things for A'Kenas. She was almost loathe to eat it, but horses were practical creatures and her practicality won out over the human sentimentality.

A'Kenas finished it just as Irvyn tidied up and agreed to the ride. She bounded off the exam table, almost forgot to put on her kelvic tunic, and was out the door half in it and headed for the stables. When she got there, she requested her tack from the stableboy and told him Irvyn was going for a ride. She shifted, bounced in place, and barely stood still for the frustrated groom to get her tacked up. He finally cinched her nose down after stuffing her head into a halter and got her saddle secured that way. He braided her long black and white mane up but left her tail cascading freely. A'Kenas had a temperament and had a long enough tail that if her and Irvyn argued about anything, a braided tail turned into a whip she could snap him upside the head with. The groom wasn't going to be responsible.

She fought him taking the bit too, insisting in her horse- like way that she didn't need it any longer. The groom just shook his head, popped her once with the end of her own reins to get her attention, and forced the iron bar between her teeth. She chewed around it sulkily, and then allowed him to lead her to the courtyard to await Irvyn.

He was waiting for Irvyn when A'Kenas' creator arrived. "Sir, she's in a mood today. She didn't want her bit and bridle. But you don't want to ride this one without a reins. She's head strong and stubborn. A'Kenas stood beside the boy, and snorted at the boys words. "Give them an inch, sir, and they will gallop you a mile headlong over a cliff. There's normal horses, sir, in the stable if you want to take one of those. These kelvics... " He didn't finish, but simply handed A'Kenas off to the older man, along with a riding crop, and departed since Irvyn seemed set on riding A'Kenas.

The technician could feel his weight settle onto A'Kenas through their bond. When he shifted, fitted his foot into the other stirrup and arranged the reins and crop appropriately, A'Kena settled down. He could feel how shifting forward in the saddle interfered with her shoulder movements. And he could feel how shifting back settled his weight on her back uncomfortably. But right in the middle, there was a sweet spot she barely felt him at all.

And as he settled into that sweet spot, A'Kenas' pleasure washed over him. She was carrying him, protecting him, being with him. It took just that little to please her, and they set off in the direction he selected.

Ironrock was in the mountains, but there was a road leading down out of them towards civilization. Better than that though there were riding trails everywhere. Marcus Kevlvic, in his younger days, loved riding. So he'd had his kelvics groom trails for him. They could ride forever in the hills and never see the same trail twice or the same vista. And in most seasons of the year, especially after a rainstorm, it was beautiful.

Irvyn rode with a tight rein. He always did. He preferred being in control rather than letting the horse pick her way. With his guiding hands, he had A'Kenas' energy pushed back, under him, tightly controlled rather than strung out and sloppy as they walked. But as they moved, he could feel A'Kenas' sensations. She was paying close attention to his leg pressures and the way he guided her with his hands. Occasionally she'd nose forward, toss her head, and pull out some slack on the reins.

As they rode, first at a sedate walk, Irvyn slowly began to to sink into A'Kenas' awareness, feeling her pleasure at being out and about, moving forward, with no destination in mind. His legs somewhat ceased to exist and his awareness filled the four beneath him. When she moved, it was like he was placing his feet. And as time passed, he stopped yanking her head this way or that and simply just started thinking about where he wanted to place his/her feet. Gradually she increased the pace, and before long it wasn't horse and rider trotting along a narrow high mountain trail. He was the horse trotting along, slowly increasing her speed until she was at a gallop. He was the animal, filled with power and grace, flying along a narrow ridge way up in the clouds. He could smell the sky and the fresh rain that had just fallen. There was no fear of her/them tripping. There was only the heart pounding of them running. In a way it was the same deep thrill that had echoed through their sex earlier, but it wasn't tainted by his shame or her pain.

It was something purer, something freer and he could feel the bond grow even deeper as he dropped the reins.

[Ronan]

When Irvyn came into the courtyard, the rain had just about let up. He found himself amused from a distance, feeling a flurry of boisterous behaviour through the bond. She had been disagreeing with him some time before he had arrived. He had felt that too, coming down the steps as he senses the bit forced onto her against her will.

He smiled wanly when the man spoke of how difficult she'd been. He knew. But of course, the groom would have no idea about that? Irvyn waved him away in the end. He didn't want to ride any old horse. That wasn't the point of this venture, not even in the slightest.

He looked into her eyes, remembering his first purchase of her. Had he of known back then... perhaps this would have turned out differently. He realised he'd been just standing there when he felt a jolt of annoyance. She was being impatient, restlessly shuffling her feet.

He left her waiting a moment longer, just to see how she'd react. More impatience. More violent jolts in his psyche. So this was how the bond would work... he would have to make it less one sided eventually.

When he finally decided to clamber onto her, he shifted his feet into the stirrups carefully. It was odd. He could feel his own weight pressing on her through the bond, and gradually discovered which positions were most suitable for riding. He had a glimmer of awe. Professional riders couldn't even attain this sense of synchronicity! Marcus' link had opened up so much. The possibilities frightened him with their vastness.

Then they were away, down the well trodden road away from Ironrock. The fortress of creation. The castle of mystery and discovery. The place where knowledge and magic had been changed forever. Where man and beast had finally come together in an impossible science.

The walk was pleasurable. A'Kenas felt pleased through the bond. Very pleased indeed. This was her origin after all. The point of all beginnings - and the source of all her drive. She would never lose the satisfaction of just being a horse. It was in her nature, no matter how deep it got compressed by everything else. By humanity and all its toils and pains.

They came onto one of the riding tracks. The ground was slick with the rainstorm's legacy, but the sun shone on it with an intense beauty. In the near distance, a rainbow played on the horizon. Knowing its cause did not take away its beauty. In fact, it magnified it tenfold, to begin to comprehend such a wonder.

He kept the reins tight as they moved, only guiding her a little when necessary. He wanted to retain some sense of control through it all. It was easy to forget, especially with the giddy haze the bond gave off, that he was her creator. He was her master, and thus her all and everything.

He began to slacken as time went on. The bond meant she needed no physical guidance. They could move as one. And that was the purest truth there was. He felt a little uneasy at first, letting go. But the bond compelled so much that you gave into its lust for conjunction.

They travelled for a long while. He took pleasure in her pleasure. Sometimes he wished it weren't so. He was giving her so much slack, it defied everything he had practised until now, but it was what it was. He could do no different. He remembered Marcus talking of his rides with fondness. Perhaps that was in the past now, perhaps not, but he understood the pleasure he had taken from it. The bond made it manifest tenfold.

Horse and rider were one.