Solo The Mane Event

[Aladari Coolwater]

42 Spring 517
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"Okay, girl. We can do this. Hey now, look me in the eyes. We can do this, you hear?"

The great brown eyes of the horse turned to stare at Aladari passively. She could almost feel the eyes of the horse passing straight through her, focusing on something in the distance, or nothing at all. Aladari tried to focus the mare's eyes on her own by using her palms to tilt her head gently in her direction.

She only succeeded in recieving a hot snort of air in the face as the mare careened her head back and away from the Vantha. She tromped away, her heavy hooves kicking up clods of dirt from the damp morning earth. Aladari muttered a few heavy curses under her breath, but that and her dark eyes were the only signs of distress.

She had had the horse for almost a season now, but she still couldn't adjust. She thought it would be helpful, if she were to live so far from town, to have a horse to ride who wasn't half-man. However, the idea had proved much more difficult and much less convenient than she had anticipated. The mare did not care to be ridden, nor did she enjoy carrying supplies on her back. Instead, she rather preferred to munch on things that she wasn't supposed to eat- like hair or tarps. In a more immediate sense, it seemed the mare preferred to busy herself with rolling in mud and dirt.

Aladari closed her eyes, immune to all perception of the horse except the mucking sound that her rolling made and the feeling of the hot sun berating her skin. Without looking, Aladari began to bargain with the horse quietly and desperately.

"Please," She began, "All I need is one bell riding practice. That's it! Just one bell for me, and then the whole rest of the day is all for you, you see?" Aladari opened her eyes hopefully only to spot the mare laying calmly in a mud puddle. Well, at least she's paying attention.

"Good." She cooed in the way a mother might talk to a child who had just counted to five for the first time. "There's no need for us to fight. You can be you, and I can be me, and we can go our separate ways. It's just this once- just for a moment- I need you to work with me. Can you do that?"

The mare blinked slowly a few times, as if processing the information. Then, with a sudden huff of what could have been determination, rose to her feet and flicked her tail up and around.

Unfortunately, though this was mistaken for determination, it was actually the mare's way of saying that she was done resting, and ready to play again. So, upon rising and flicking her tail, she turned around and kicked off from the ground, gifting Aladari with a wonderful shower of dirt.

"Ah yeah, petch you too!"

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[Aladari Coolwater]

42 Spring 517
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Aladari hopelessly tried to get rid of the mud from her clothing, wringing the muddy water out and leaving dark stains behind. Her skin, too, was covered in mud, though this was less frustrating, as it was more reversible.

"Morwen, bless this horse so that she might survive the beating I'm about to give her." Aladari muttered bitterly. It was an old curse her mother had liked to use when she was younger and had gotten in trouble. It didn't mean anything- there was never any real beating- but it blew off some of her frustration and allowed her to focus on what she really wanted to accomplish.

"Listen 'ere!" She shouted. Letting go of her shirt tail, Aladari's clothing fell to smack mud against her thigh, but she hardly noticed. She was busy walking closer and closer to the unruly horse, a finger held out in threatening reprimand. "I am the boss 'ere. You un'erstand? I am the smart one, an' you're just a giant, stupid animal. Now we's got some ridin' to do, whether you like it or not."

With that, Aladari reach the horse, grabbed the mane tightly, and dragged herself up onto the mare's back. The horse whinnied angrily at the pain of having her hair pulled, but Aladari ignored the protest.

"We coulda done it the easy way if you'd'a let me go the first time." She told her.

The rider continued to adjust herself back and forth atop the horse as best she could, though the horse's spine cut annoyingly into her backside and the mane blew about in her face. Leaning forward first to balance herself, then leaning back in her spot to get a good view, Aladari found it was best to sit tall atop the horse. Her legs were easier to place, and settled easily in the indention between the horse's strong torso muscles and back thighs.

When she finally felt she was as comfortable as she could get, Aladari finally grabbed the mare's mane once more. Kicking her feet firmly against the mare's body, she grunted out a word of encouragement, as they had told her was the process at the stables. However, in her anger, she was unable to come up with anything relatively encouraging. She settled on clear intentions instead.

"Move."

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[Aladari Coolwater]

42 Spring 517
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The initial movement nearly jerked her out of place. Immediately, Aladari slid back down into a slumped position and buried her face in the horse's mane. The horse reared beneath her, her neck bumping Aladari's jaw shut harshly, before kicking off with powerful back legs into a quick pace in some unbidden direction.

Aladari had initially intended to steer the mare with her hands in the mane, but found that keeping her balance was challenge enough with the spine shifting and muscles tensing beneath her. Even the steady, relatively predictable bounce of the hooves on the ground seemed enough to throw her off if she weren't careful. To brace herself against any kind of impact, she wound her legs around the horse's belly and placed her palms on the mare's lower neck; it would at least ensure she wouldn't completely fall off. Confident in her position, Aladari simply let the mare roam while she hugged her body. And roam she did.

The horse seemed to guide herself through the thin forest, navigating around trees and over rocks with the ease of any wild animal. Her hooves dug into wet spots, creating a bumpy patch for the rider, but came out the other side generally unperturbed. Her skin was attacked by bugs and thickets of all kinds, but they were shaken off and promptly ignored. Still, the horse marched on. In a way, it was noble.

As her frantic pace gradually slowed to a trot and Aladari was given a moment to relax, she was finally allowed to sit up again. Taking in her surroundings, it appeared as though the mare had not run away from the camp at all; she had circled it in a wide range. It was on her second round that Aladari began to take her eyes off the scenery and notice a few things about the mare. The first thing she noticed was the heavy breathing from the nose. Though in many animals heavy breathing through the nose would have been a sign of frustration or hostility, this seemed the opposite. The horse's relaxed ears and mouth and lack of irritated movement told her that the mare was even calmer than when they had departed.

Beneath her hands on the mare's neck, Aladari took note next of the deep breathing, as well as the warm blood pulsing with each heartbeat. The muscles that rippled no longer felt like they were aimed at trying to throw off her rider, but rather felt like raw power undirected. This horse wasn't rude, or angry, or evil at all. It was wild and wanted to stay that way.

She just needed to burn off her energy. Aladari realized, already feeling her eyes change to account for the growing guilt. She doesn't want to run away. She just wants to run. She's just a kid who wants to have fun.

"Shyke." She swore quietly. "Morwen, forgive me. I'm an ass."

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[Aladari Coolwater]

42 Spring 517
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For the rest of the ride, Aladari sat still and let the mare go where she pleased without protest. Even when the sun began to beat down between the trees, Aladari held her tongue as the mud the mare sprayed her with blocked her from any real burn. Instead, she documented the idea of a muddy sunblock in the back of her mind. Despite the aching of her hips where her legs were unused to the wide spread, she kept riding. Instead, she promised to buy herself a real saddle and blanket.

The sores and burns just didn't seem so important in comparison to letting the caged beast free. However, when the mare came to a halt in a clearing and stomped a single foot, somehow Aladari could sense it was time to be done, and accepted graciously.

The Vantha slid off the mare's back and onto the ground, bending her knees at the impact. Once she stood back up, she turned to look at the mare. She reached up slowly, then. She was not telling as she had before, but asking, and the horse accepted the petting hand with a brush of her nose and a blast of hot, wet air. Aladari grinned at the mare, feeling an unexpected sense of accomplishment at making the friend.

"Thanks, Kid." She told the mare, silently assigning the name for the first time. "For lots o' stuff. But you get it, right?"

Kid flipped her head away and snorted. In a human, the emotion could've been easily captured with an eye roll, but the mare portrayed it just as well without. Aladari laughed to herself. What a character.

"Alright. I know you're done riding, an' I really did promise one bell, but now how are we s'posed to get home, hmm?"

The mare could not have looked less interested if she were asleep. In fact, as if to prove this point, she made a turn where she stood, stomped over to some tall grass, and settled herself down in the nest. She looked up at the Vantha one last time as if to say "See how much I care?" and flopped over on her side. It was the most relaxed pose Aladari had ever seen her in, and after such an eventful day, Aladari wasn't really in the mood to be trekking through the forest either. She sighed in defeat.

"Okay." She conceded, "Just a quick nap. Then we really need to get home." By the time she had situated the lead rope around Kid's neck and tied her down to the log where Aladari planned to lay, Kid already had her eyes closed, and a peaceful snore was filling the space. Aladari smiled. Maybe she could get used to this. Eventually.

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[Karyk]

 

Aladari Coolwater

Skills
Horsemanship: 3
Persuasion: 1
Leadership: 1
Riding (Horse): 3
Observation: 1
Lores
Horsemanship: Just because a horse is staring, doesn't mean it understands. Or cares.
Horsemanship: Some horses need to have the rider take charge
Horsemanship: Horses need to burn off wild energy
Horsemanship: Sometimes its best to let the horse lead the way
Miscellaneous

 

Notes and Comments

CS Checkmarked: ✓
CS Reviewed by Me: ✓
Season Request was Submitted for Grade: Summer 517
Season Thread was Started (IC & OOC): Spring 517 & Spring 517
Is that Season's expenses paid?: X* however a 1 season-from-current leeway is allowed as per Gossamer and Prophet.
Eligible for grade? Yes

How is Aladari's temper so endearing? A fun thread. Well done. Please mark your post in the queue as graded.