Closed [windmount Stables] How Not to Ride a Horse [Valien]

[Billie]

10th Day of Summer, 514AV
Morning

It was a fine day today. Warm and sunny. Billie had the sides and the back of her hair cropped short and was wearing a singlet and light coloured trousers for comfort. She was headed towards the stables to distract herself from the fact that today marked 10 days past the start of the second season this year that she hadn’t read that damned letter from her absentee father OR gotten any kind of job. It was like she didn’t have any kind of direction. Maybe she could get a job at the stables? After all, she liked horses, and riding, and desperately needed something to do that felt productive. Right now, she was going to ride Sula around the stables. It was a safe place where she could ride very fast, and she really enjoyed it.

Billie approached the stables at a leisurely pace. She had a lot of money stored up but that would soon dwindle if she didn’t get a job soon. Also she might go crazy if she had nothing to do for much longer but practicing her skills, sleeping and eating. For now she was going to ride Sula around the track. She wasn’t very adept in riding a horse yet, and it was always good to practice. Sula whinnied happily when she saw her approaching owner. She even started pawing at the ground with her hoof. “Hey there Sula.” She said with a flicker of a smile, petting the horses huge chocolate coloured head and mane. “You ready to run?” She asked, seeing her reflection in those big brown eyes. Sula whinnied again as if agreeing with her.

She was a beautiful horse, and Billie liked the pattern on her back. Sula was best described as docile and energetic, but she also followed directions well, which was good because the thought of having to deal with an unruly beast when traveling was almost nauseating. It was funny she kept talking about traveling and yet she’d been here for over a year, nearly two. Still, she couldn’t bring herself to sell Sula and buy a house. It was too much like settling, and this didn’t feel like somewhere she wanted to settle. Billie opened the gate and took her saddle and began the task of fastening it to the horses back. She still fumbled a little as she did so, but was getting better at it. Maybe today she’d make herself talk to another rider or something. To get out of this social rut she’d been in recently.

[Valien]

Valien stepped into the Windmount Stables, a handful of letters in his hand. This hadn't been the first time he had been to the stables on a delivery job. Apparently, the place saw a lot of traffic, from the Knights and from other horse enthusiasts in Syliras. He wandered the stables for a few moments in search of one of the grooms, his eyes moving over the horses in their stalls with some slight curiosity. While horses weren't exactly unheard of in Ravok (Bloodbanes had to come from somewhere), they weren't exactly a common mode of transportation in a city built entirely out of floating platforms in the center of a 500-foot lake. He'd never really given a thought to the beasts before, not until he'd found himself living in a place that was so strangely landlocked. His musings, however, were cut short as he rounded the corner, catching sight of a dark-haired woman checking on some of the horses. He smiled, his past two trips to the stables allowing him to recognize the proprietress by sight as he walked up to her.

"Letters for you, Miss Windmount," he said, holding the letters out to her. Serena Windmount smiled back as she reached out, taking the letters from him.

"A reply from Ser Caelin already?" she asked, looking through the stack of letters in her hand. "My, you work fast. I only gave you the letter for him the other day."

"Well, I am to please," said Valien, grinning.

Serena rolled her eyes, a smile touching the corners of her lips. "Oh, come now, Altare. That sort of thing might work on the girls wherever you're from, but you'll find that us Syliran women are made of sterner stuff."

"Miss Windmount, you misunderstand me," said Valien, holding up his hands and stepping back in mock surprise. "I'm just a poor old widower. I assure you, my intentions are pure."

"I'm sure they are," said Serena, with a smile, holding the letters. She waved her hand dismissively. "Go on, now. Get. Don't you have work you should be doing?"

Valien quickly ducked out, still grinning. "Yes'm," he said, tipping an imaginary hat at her before walking back down the stables. The grin faded from his face as soon as his back was to her, becoming a small smile that eventually became nothing at all. He'd learned that a certain amount of playfulness could be the best defense, especially around certain people. And in all honesty, there were days when he didn't know how to drop the act anymore.

He didn't actually have any more deliveries to do at that moment, though, so he took a slow walk through the stables, surveying the area. It was mostly empty at this time of day, but in one of the stalls he passed, a rider was getting his horse ready for what looked like a quick ride. The horse's eyes landed on him for a second, and Valien paused to watch, studying the way the horse's ears moved as they noticed him. They really were amazing creatures, he supposed. He'd seen the way horses cut across the ground out here, eating up miles beneath their feet in a perfect picture of grace and power.

If he could ride one of those, he mused, he could make trips to the Mithryn Outpost in half the time. He wondered how one went about learning to ride a horse. Certainly it couldn't be that difficult. He'd seen children as young as Serah do it.

He turned towards the rider, realizing that he had been staring for a moment, and would need to say something to excuse himself now that the rider had noticed him. Valien smiled, looking from the rider to the horse. "Nice day for a ride," he said conversationally.

OOCYes, the 'rider' is Billie. At the moment, Val thinks you're a guy

[Billie]

oocYes, that is what I though haha. People would mistake her for a guy close up, let alone far away.

Sula noticed the approaching stranger before Billie did, her ears twitching. He stared at her and Sula for a while, as if he was thinking. Billie regarded the man with a curious expression. She took the moment of silence as invitation to observe the man. Her eyes drifted over his face. He looked older than her, but not by much. Nothing else about him jumped out at her and she went back to getting Sula ready.

When he spoke she gave him her attention. How ironic, just when she’d been thinking she should talk to people, another person decides to talk to her. She stared at him for a moment before replying “Yes it is.” She did not return his smile; she wasn’t prone to smiling for no reason. Admittedly, she hadn’t really been expecting to be forced into a conversation so quickly but she knew enough about socializing to know that she had to say something else to pick the conversation up

“Do you ride, by any chance?” She asked him wondering if he had a horse here somewhere. As she talked, Billie finished saddling her horse. Finally she attached the halter to Sula’s head and led her out of the stables. “Her name is Sula.” She supplied with a fond smile aimed at her horse rather than the stranger “I’m Billie.” She added quickly, realizing she hadn’t introduced herself. Damn she was out of practice. Small talk wasn’t really her thing, it seemed.

Billie led Sula out of the stables and stopped near the man “Feel free to pet her, she’s very friendly. Couldn’t have asked for a better horse, actually. She actually listens to commands,” Billie said, trying to match the man’s playful tone of voice.

[Valien]

Valien shook his head as Billie asked him if he rode, his eyes still fixed on the horse. "No, unfortunately," he said. "I've never actually ridden a horse, although it would be nice to learn." He studied Sula as he spoke, taking in the way the horse was watching him, and the strange pattern on her back. He hadn't really thought about it before, not usually being this close to horses, but they were big animals, weren't they?

"I'm Valien," he said, as Billie introduced himself. "It's nice to meet you."

Valien studied Billie, wondering if he was a squire or not. Probably not, he decided. With the Shield Games starting today, anyone who was a member of the Order would probably be there now, either competing or watching those that were. He'd considered trying to see what parts of the Shield Games he could, but a lot of them were in private areas closed to the general public, and with the knights that might have asked him to deliver letters there all busy watching the Games, he didn't have much of an excuse.

Ah well. Such was life.

He looked up as Billie invited him to pet Sula, a slight amount of hesitance breaking through his carefully-crafted relaxed expression. His eyes moved from the horse to the rider, before he stepped forward, tentatively extending a hand towards Sula. His eyes were on her face, especially on her teeth. The only horses he'd had experience with in the past were Ravok Bloodbanes, and you didn't try to touch a Bloodbane. Not if you liked keeping all of your fingers. He gave Billie a look, one that conveyed the fact that he really didn't know what he was doing, before his fingers landed tentatively on the side of Sula's face.

"Does she, now?" asked Valien, a hint of nervousness making his playful tone crack slightly as his eyes drifted from Sula to Billie. "Is that rare with horses?" It seemed like every word out of his mouth was conspiring to betray the fact that he knew nothing about horses whatsoever.

[Billie]

Billie felt a little disappointed that he couldn’t ride, and didn’t have a horse. She wouldn’t mind continuing to talk to him, though, at this rate, there wouldn’t be any reason too. Though he did suggest an interest in learning how to ride. She could always offer to assist him. She had a fondness for teaching since the best teacher in Sunberth raised her. Although she wasn’t sure she could do as good a job, especially with a stranger. “Nice to meet you too, Valien.” She replied politely.

She watched him tentatively step forward to pet Sula, who remained as cheerful as ever, nickering softly. She could tell Valien was nervous by the way he hesitated. His hand hovered over the horse’s head before landing delicately on the side of Sula’s face. His eyes seemed to travel towards the horses teeth as if he was worried about losing a finger.

It was a little amusing, if she was being honest, but she didn’t want to do anything to make him think she was making fun. Valien went on to ask her a question she wasn’t really experienced enough to answer. “Oh I don’t know if I can answer that, I’ve only ever had two horses. The first didn’t like me as much as Sula does. He was prone to doing whatever he wanted when he wanted.”

She thought to herself and then decided she’d help him out, if he wanted it. It would benefit her, in that she might have a few more people to talk to in this city, and he seemed to want to learn. “Valien, would you like to learn how to ride? I could teach you the basics if you were interested, though I couldn’t say I was an expert.” She gave him a small smile to show him the offer was genuine. “Sula is a good first horse. She wont buck, or go too fast.” She promised him.

[Valien]

When it became clear that Sula did not have a taste for fingers, Valien relaxed slightly, forcing himself to press more of his hand against the side of the horse's face. The mare shook her head at him, giving him an impatient look as if telling him to get on with it, and Valien found himself smiling slightly as he nervously stroked Sula's head. This really wasn't that bad, he thought, as he relaxed more, turning so that he was more fully facing the horse. It was almost like petting a really, really big dog.

He had a feeling, looking at Sula, that if she knew what he was thinking, she wouldn't appreciate the comparison.

Still, he found himself taken aback when Billie offered to teach him how to ride. While he had been thinking he wanted to learn, he wouldn't have asked Billie outright, and wasn't expecting to get the opportunity today. And like most great ideas that seemed like a great idea at the time, now that the opportunity was in front of him and he found himself faced with the realization that a horse was a really big petching animal with a mind of its own, it suddenly didn't seem like such a good plan.

Still, he would be remiss to not take advantage of an opportunity like this. Besides, according to Billie, Sula would be a good horse that wouldn't buck or go too fast. Maybe this fortunate turn of events was a sign that the gods had actually forgiven him.

Or maybe they were setting him up for some sort of epic punishment where they all got together to laugh at his misfortune. There was always that possibility too.

"I'm definitely interested, but I wouldn't want to make you go out of your way," Valien said, forcing himself not to consider any form of divine punishment possibly about to befall him. "I know you were planning to go for a ride today."

[Billie]

It was interesting to watch the silent exchange between the horse and Valien. He petted her so cautiously at first, and Sula huffed in a way that pointed out her impatience at how ridiculously wary the stranger was being. Finally, he relaxed, and managed to force himself to get closer too Sule, petting her properly despite his hesitance at doing so. In response, Sula made a happy noise and bobbed her head slightly. She was starting to get irritated again, though, probably because she had been promiced exercise and was still wasting time here.

When Valien gave his answer, it was what Billie had been expecting him to say. It was polite after all, to say something along the lines of “I wouldn’t want to trouble you” Maybe it was abnormal to offer a stranger something like this. But why not? She wasn’t busy, and he was interested in learning. She gave him a look

"If it was any real bother to me, I wouldn’t have offered you my help” She said blatantly “Come, if your interested like you say, lets at least get to somewhere we can ride freely.” She suggested. Sula began to make a fuss about still being in the stables and not on the grass “Sula is getting impatient, I think,” She said as she took the reigns of the noisy horse and lead her towards the track.

When she arrived she waited to see if her new acquaintance had followed afterall. “So, why are you interested in riding a horse?” She asked him pleasantly as she made sure the stirrups weren't tangled so he could put his feet in them. After she was done with that she looked at him with a smile “Step one is getting on the horse” She said “Right foot, right stirrup, then your gonna want to really swing your leg over the other side and sit back in the saddle and hold on tightly to the haulter. Don’t worry, she wont go until commanded.”

[Valien]

Billie seemed genuinely interested with helping, and Sula seemed a nice enough horse, so Valien forced himself to get over his own irrational fears and take the opportunity presented to him. He doubted it would happen anytime soon. He pulled his hand away from Sula's face as the horse tossed her head impatiently, moving a little too quickly than someone who was truly comfortable with the idea might have. Still, when Billie explained why Sula was starting to get impatient, he couldn't help but give the horse a smile of sympathy as Billie started leading her out of the stables.

If Sula was getting impatient from being cooped up for so long, Valien definitely knew that feeling.

He followed the two of them out to the track, looking around as he entered the riding pen. He'd seen it plenty of times over the past ten days, all from the outside, but he'd never actually been inside it. It seemed like a good enough place to learn to ride. At least if he failed at it, he wouldn't also be dragged halfway across Syliras. He slipped his hands into his pockets, trying to look at ease as Billie fiddled with the stirrups. "I'm a courier," he said. "Just started actually. I normally deliver messages inside Syliras, and you don't need to ride for that. But sometimes I have to go all the way out to the Outpost, and riding would probably be easier than walking."

He was sure that that would raise questions, for example, why he was a courier without knowing how to ride, but the answers to those weren't things that Valien wanted to get into if he didn't have to, so he didn't volunteer that information. Instead, he nodded at Billie's explanation, moving towards Sula in a way he hoped looked deliberately slow instead of hesitant, and tried to concentrate on actually getting on the horse.

Alright, he told himself. You worked in Ravok's underground. You can do this. Right foot, right stirrup. So far, so good. Left foot, left stirrup...

That was the hard part. Valien held onto the haulter and pushed himself up, managing to swing his leg over the side of the saddle and put his foot in the left stirrup. That wasn't difficult, but now that he was up here, he realized just how high up he actually was. Valien had never been afraid of heights, but it was different having a solid structure beneath you and sitting on top of an actual living creature. He could feel Sula breathing and shifting beneath him, and he was aware of how precarious his position was. If she wanted to, she could throw him off easily. Thankfully, she didn't seem to want to.

He forced himself to relax, hoping Billie didn't notice his white-knuckled grip on the halter as he gave the young man a confident smile. "So far so good," he said. "What next?"

[Billie]

oocSorry this took so long. I was suddenly bombarded with a lot of Uni work and work shifts. Most of the breaks I had from that were spent sleeping or eating haha.

Billie watched the gears turn in the man’s head as he assessed the offer. The way he tried to look completely at ease was rather comical, since it was obvious he was nervous. And rightly so. Riding a horse without any experience was rather terrifying, and very high up. He spoke about his occupation as a courier and how learning to ride would be helpful for getting to the outpost quickly. Billie nodded “Yes, riding there would get you there much quicker, even at a slow trot.” She agreed

She watched him clumsily swing his leg up and over Sula’s brown back and settle into the saddle. While he did so she thought over how she was going to go about teaching him to ride from the ground. It was much harder to tell someone how to do something complicated rather than show them. First he was going to need to get the horse moving. Sula was already pawing at the ground and snorting her impatience. “Alright, hold onto the reigns, they’re your steering and your break.” She told him “When you turn, pull the reigns to your belly button in the direction you wish to turn. The harder you pull the more sharply she’ll turn, but don’t yank them.“ She said. “To stop, pull back. Again, the harder you pull the more immediately she’ll stop. If you pull too hard you might make her buck or go backwards."

“to get her to move, lightly kick her with your lower legs.” She instructed “Keep your feet pointed downwards with the ball of your feet in the stirrup and squeeze or kick mid-ride with your lower legs to get her to move faster.” Billie looked up and down the track “I’m going to get you to walk to the end of the track and then come back.” She said “Think you can handle that?” She asked him with a smile, stepping back and crossing her arms over her chest “Remember, only kick her once, so she doesn’t go too fast for you. Don’t yank too hard on the reigns”

Content she’d given him enough information to at least perform a basic maneuver, she stood back, waiting to see if he had any questions.