Placeholder Take Two

[Oryani]

Spring 59th, 513 AV
Hooves n' Horns

On her second day, Oryani had been given a job of fully cleaning and washing some of the horses. There was a water source quite close to the paddock, though away from the middle of the marketplace itself. Reylil had actually had a small post installed there, where one could tie up the horse while they were being washed. Some horses got skittish with the water, and didn't enjoy it very much... especially when it was cold. However, this place was rather hot and humid most of the time (hot was good for the Chatakwe, humid not as much), so heat wasn't really a problem. Luckily, the first horse on the list for today was a pony, and a tidal pony to be exact... and it loved water.

Actually, when brought to the pool, the horse had tried to plow straight forward to stand in the water itself. It would have been fine, except Oryani didn't want to get her feet wet. She didn't really like being wet in general... though with this job, she'd probably get at least a little soaked. Khal had always seemed to be able to get a bucket to spill at the prime time, or shake soapy water all over his rider. He seemed to find the archer's irritated mutters and curses amusing. That was what she'd decided, at least. Maybe this pony wouldn't be as bad.

The first difference between this one and her Strider, however, was size. Khal had been quite large for a Strider, maybe 16 hands high. This pony... though she'd never been good at estimating, was probably ten. Maybe eleven, if you had large hands. There would be a lot less horse to wash, it seemed... but there were multiple horses for today... multiple horses might take her all day.

She picked up the bucket from the supplies left here and filled it with water in the pool. It was hard to do so without getting her boots wet, and she had to half lean in to really get anything in it. It was a strange balance, and she ended up only half-filling the thing anyways... which was a pain. She had to stay on her toes and carefully lean forward, stretching her arms out as far as possible. The bucket slowly grew heavier (which was really the point), making it all harder. When she tried to stand up her feet slipped on the soft earth, almost causing her to topple into the water... but not yet. When she stood up, dragging the weighty bucket out, she noticed both of her hands were wet... Just the start of even more water.

She heaved it over to the pony who eyed the bucket warily, before flinching a little as it was slowly poured over the creature's back. Unlike Khal, who always tensed up at water, the Tidal Pony practically relaxed, returning to a normal state after realizing it was something it was used to. A little impressive, when you thought about it. The bucket quickly emptied, however, and it was back to filling up another one.

This time, Oryani spied a dry-looking rock sticking out, on the other way to the pool. It was further away from her earlier spot, but it meant she would have less of a challenge with filling the bucket. She walked over it, before carefully balancing herself where she would be steady, and the edges of her boots didn't touch the water. It was a silly precaution, and utterly useless... but she wanted to stay dry with all this, not soak herself to the bone. The dryer she stayed... the happier she'd be.

With her new-found spot, the Chatakwe had an easier time slowly drenching the rest of the pony's body, from mane to tail... excluding the head. Most horses hated having their head washed, especially Khal, so she'd always left the Strider's for last... she'd do this too, with the pony. The tail was as long as Khal's, but thicker... and Oryani ended up having to simply stick it all in the bucket and hold the thing up to really get it wet and clean. The mane only required some massaging. They weren't as soft as her stallion's had been, nor as pretty... but a Tidal Pony was a work horse, not meant to be elegant. Striders were elegant and beautiful and magnificent... As well as amazingly fast, strong, and loyal. They were the perfect horses... and she'd lost one.

She scowled at the sad thoughts, pushing them away. Khal was gone, far far away where Oryani was unsure she'd ever return. Her life there was practically gone, wasn't it? She was a horseless, Striderless Drykas... all that she had worked for, worked to become... useless. One could not fight without a Strider, in the Sea. She'd have to work as a... a... something. She didn't know. She didn't know what she wanted or where she wanted to go. Did she even want to leave Taloba? She wanted to see her family again... but she was also slowly building something again. She'd only been in this city for two days, but they'd been two amazingly intense days... with an intense and remarkable people. She was impressed by the Myrians, and respected their strength and their ferocity... They were in a thankless land, like the Sea of Grass, and like the Drykas... they pushed back and managed to build something.

She finished dousing the pony rather quickly, and set to using one of the soaps Reylil had given her. There seemed to be quite the variety, all with odd scribbles on the ceramic bottles. She had no idea what they meant, so ignored them entirely. She instead took a sniff of each, finding a myriad of odd scents. She picked one that smelled nice, like one of the large squishy fruits she'd eaten for breakfast, and used that. She didn't even know what the fruits were called, but they were so sweet... as sweet as the honey she'd had occasionally in Endrykas. She couldn't get enough of them, even though there was a plethora of other odd foods to try in this city. She'd have to get to that eventually...

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[Oryani]

The soap bottle was rather large, though with the size of a horse… Oryani didn’t know how long it would really last. She wondered where Reylil got this anyways… a philterer, making it especially for horses? Or maybe it was normal cleaning supplies for humans. Well… Myrians. She’d always used something special for Khal, and so had all other Drykas for their Striders. She didn’t quite know why, it was just something you did. She vaguely remembered something about it being nicer for the horse. Whatever it really was, this was all she had for the Tidal Pony, and there was no point fussing about it.

She dribbled some of the thick liquid onto her hand and began rubbing it over the pony’s side, going in circles over the hair. The amount seemed to be getting her pretty far, so she set down the bottle and began it with two hands, slowly rubbing it all over the creature’s hair and body. She managed to cover most of the right flank, up to the withers and nearly across the horse’s backside. She retrieved more of the shampoo, working on the neck, right up to the pony’s throat before stopping. That was where she’d stopped with the water as well. The Chatakwe felt the Tidal Pony tense up a bit as the wetness moved a little too close to its face, but it relaxed again when she moved away.

This job went as quickly as the last one, and soon the entire pony was smelling just like fruit. It was pleasant, though slightly overwhelming… the maker probably hadn’t planned for this much to be used at once, horse shampoo or not. It was a new smell for Oryani, and something she enjoyed a little. You didn’t find any soft, squishy fruit in Endrykas the way you did here. Maybe a peach or plum when the city moved by wild trees, or traded with Riverfall (or a few idiots snuck into their orchards). Nothing like this, though. Nothing of that size, or sweetness, or… anything. It was beautiful, just… utterly amazing.

“So, pony… do you like this smell? Or is it too much for you? Probably. Silly shampoo-maker. I wonder what the smell is called. Maybe I’ll ask someone. What do you think?” She muttered gibberish like this to the horse as she worked, finding it just as soothing to herself as it hopefully was for the pony. She said it in Pavi, as it was her natural language. She also held the belief that Pavi, being a language of a culture focused heavily on horses, might have a special connection with horses themselves. Some Drykas she’d met firmly believed in this, most others didn’t. But she doubted any horse would find Myrian as comforting, a language coming from a land full of too many trees to let a horse truly be free. Sometimes she pitied the faster-looking ones, those with tall, lean legs. They looked nearly as speedy as a Strider. Despite their potential for speed, however… they were stuck in this jungle, without enough space to truly let go… to truly run.

As soon as she’d finished the shampooing, she popped the cork plug back into the clay jar and added it to the rest of the box of nice smelling things. She picked up the bucket again and began refilling it, starting the process of the rinsing. She’d do the face last, as planned… she just wanted to get the pony’s main body clean first. Though it was mostly covered in soap at the moment (which had ended up dripping on her boots. So much for keeping them dry), she was sure that when uncovered the Tidal Pony’s coat would be as shiny and clean as ever. That was her goal, after all… to clean the horses. Reylil had provided her with a pile of thick, clean cloth to be used in the drying process.

It was easier to identify where, and where not, Oryani had washed, compared to the first rinse. Namely, there was still soap on it. It didn’t require as much effort to soak the pony’s flanks as it did the first time, mostly because the soap came off more easily. It didn’t seem to take much less time, though… which was a little sad. Her favorite part had always been the drying, partially because it was… dry. Maybe she’d wipe off her hands too, because they were dripping with water from the shampoo stage.

She quickly grabbed the towels after all the soap was gone, leaving what was –happily- a clean coat. The first thing on the list for drying… was Oryani herself. She rubbed her hands a little, feeling happier now that they were dry, and even went up to her forearms, where she’d rolled her sleeves up. She hated when the edges got wet and never seemed to dry. It left her annoyed for the rest of the day. Rolled up, they were less likely to get soaked like the rest of her. Still, there was one annoying spot of water on the cuff… but it didn’t seem too wet. It would hopefully dry quickly.

She took one of the cloths, dyed a muddy brown color. It could have been dirt, but the shade seemed too consistent for that. It was a smart choice, thinking about it. On any other color of towel (except maybe black), dirt and mud would stand out badly. On this color… it would practically blend in with the cloth, especially when it became a stain. On an intense investigation of the towel, she managed to spot the vague outline of something off-colored… but that was it. Instead of looking at it she rested it on the pony’s back, beginning to rub around in circles like she had with the soap, slowly soaking up all of the water and liquid until that area was nice and soft and dry.

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[Oryani]

In the middle of the drying, Alaril decided to land. There was a post nearby, behind the horse, where the bird found a perfect place to perch. It was far away enough that Oryani didn't even notice until she turned around, finished with the drying. The eagle watched her curiously, seemingly indifferent to the horse... but at least the horse hadn't noticed the eagle. She didn't know how the pony would react to the sight of a bird of prey hanging around. Instead she scowled at the bird, walking forward a few steps to be closer.

She would have called him onto her arm, except she'd left the vambrace back with the rest of her things... she hadn't been intending on doing something like this on her first full work day. Instead she pointed in a random direction and whistled, the command for Alaril to go in that direction. However, since the bird's return, Alaril had been... resisting commands. The creature, when there seemed to be no utter need for it the order, often sat and stared instead of flying in the indicated direction. Oryani scowled and repeated herself. No reaction.

She loved this bird, but sometimes it could be... testy. Still, Alaril was her only companion now, her only friend. She had no family, no horse, no mentor, no... nothing. It was her and Alaril, alone in a strange world. It was all new, but... she enjoyed it, in a way. She was incredibly happy to have someone with her though, even if they didn't speak Pavi. Even if they didn't speak. An animal companion could be as good as a human one, she'd discovered with Khal. A friend in a hard time. You didn't need to talk to one of those, they didn't need to talk to you. They just needed to be.... there.

She felt a little better about Alaril being there when she'd decided on that, but still. It was a little... annoying. She didn't want the bird spooking the Tidal Pony and causing a panic. That would be painful and annoying to deal with. She didn't want to spend all the time and effort calming down a frightened pony. They could be especially... touchy. Instead, she stood a little straighter and glared at the eagle, a firm determination in her eyes.

"You're going to frighten the pony," she told the bird, though it was probably pointless. "I don't want to deal with a frightened pony. They're annoying. Now. Go." She left the last word as an order, before whistling the official command. To her surprise the eagle complied, flapping off away from the pony and off to a nearby tree. She relaxed and sighed, rubbing her eyes a little. She hoped Alaril wouldn't be a nuisance again, and cause more trouble than was needed. She also hoped that Reylil wouldn't mind too much if the bird popped in on a 'visit', if the eagle couldn't resist staying away.

She sighed and rubbed her forehead, before returning to the Tidal Pony... she still needed to wash the creature's face.

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[Voodoo]

Your Powers Grow

Oryani

Experience :

Horsemanship: +3
Observation: +2
Socialization: +1
Falconry: +1

Lore :

Myrians: The Drykas of the Jungle
Symbols: Understand a Language Barrier
Tidal Ponies: One with the Water
Alaril: Stubborn like a Child

Comments :

This was fun to read. Maybe in future threads I read of yours I will come to find out why she doesn't like to get all wet. Oryani is a fun character to watch, and the bird made me smile with its personality. If you have any questions about your grade PM me.