Closed All the Pretty Horses (Drusilla)

[Zhol]

|.30th Autumn, 514

Throw. And. Catch. Throw. And. Catch.

It was a slow day; and for the Skyhigh Stables, that was really saying something. It was always like this on Market Day, him volunteering to man the stables while everyone else had the chance to spend their earnings if they so desired; or just take the opportunity to exploit the city's recreational facilities while everyone else was otherwise occupied. There were mundane tasks to be done, as he already had: horses to feed, stalls to muck out, tack rooms to tidy, buckets of manure to be sent down to the gardens, or spread out in the sun to dry for use as fuel; busy work that the Dek and Chiet would have handled on the days they were here; simple tasks, and oddly relaxing all things considered.

Throw. And. Catch.

The downside was that he couldn't leave. Visitors to the stable were rare, but on the off-chance there was some sort of horse emergency, or if by some twist of Lhex some market customer decided their pinions were better spent on a purchase of the equine variety, someone had to be present during daylight hours. He could take advantage of the indoor riding arena if he felt the urge; but it wasn't quite the same, cantering across the sandy floor with a mountain hanging overhead, rather than grass underhoof and sky above. Kami seemed to enjoy it, he supposed; but then she'd been born and raised inside this mountain. For the boy from Endrykas though, everything about it just felt wrong.

Throw. And. Catch.

A frown formed on his brow as he caught the glove he'd been idly tossing in the air above him, as he reclined across the wooden table that he'd cleared specifically for the purpose of laying on it. That Kami was here at all was odd, though less odd of late, it seemed. She had eagerly offered to cover for him two markets ago when Zhol had spent more than a month's wages on his first - and hopefully last - shopping spree; today marked three markets in a row that Kami had missed, and it only occurred to him now to wonder why. He was so used to the stables' riding instructor and veterinarian being around that he hadn't noticed that she had been when she shouldn't have been. He couldn't recall a single day when he'd been here when she hadn't; and even if she'd simply taken all the same days off that he had, the numbers were going awry somewhere. What could possibly be going on? Was Kami stockpiling her days off for some reason? What was her mysterious secret?

Zhol's frown deepened in contemplation as he resumed his simplistic way of passing the time. Throw. And. Catch. Throw. And. Catch. Thow. And. Catch. Throw. And. And. And -

Something went awry with the last toss, the glove swerving to the right much further than he could have. He reached, leaned, trying to snag the glove from the air; but he overreached, overcompensated, and found himself balanced precariously at the table's edge. His fingers caught the glove, yes; but he barely had time to mutter "Oh, petch," before his balance failed and deposited him unceremoniously on the stone floor.

"Pavi" | "Common" | "Nari" | "Symenos"
This template was made by Khara. She was bribed with coffee and jammy dodgers.

[Drusilla]

Drusilla made her way from the market making her way to the stables her bag heavy with books and other items. Today she'd meet horses, an idea that terrified her. Horses were big and strong, easily capable of killing her. But Zhol had insisted they were lovely creatures and that she should meet them and get over her fear. She was prepared to climb a wall to get away from a raging horse if necessary. Once outside the stables she took off her shoes. It would be impossible to scale anything with them on. A last minute decision had her remove her dress leaving her in Symenestra wraps. The dress hindered climbing just as much as shoes. There, she felt somewhat safe now. But a sudden crash sent the woman scurrying up the stable wall and onto the ceiling. Drusilla quietly crawled along expecting to see a giant horse angry at the world attacking something. Creeping closer a smile formed on her face as the source of the noise proved to be her brother, who had fallen off a table. She shook her head, before giving her greeting in Pavi, "Greetings, Zhol." She made the hand signal that meant she was happy to see him from her vantage point on the ceiling.

[Zhol]

|.

Confused didn't even begin to cover it. The impact with the ground had left him a little stunned, and for a few blinking moments he stared at Solo, the nearest horse, and wondered when on earth the creature had learned to speak Pavi; and why on earth he sounded like a girl.

Then his gaze found Drusilla, and that made matters worse. Why was she upside-down? Or had he fallen so hard that he had landed on the ceiling? If so, why was Solo also here? And why was all of the furniture and the floor stuck to the ceiling? Was the whole world inverted? If he went outside, would he fall into the sky? Were birds flying upside-down now? What about -

Slowly, the realisation dawned that it was probably far more likely that Drusilla, his Symenestra sister, was the one on the ceiling. Certainly, Symenestra were capable of such things; though that did leave the somewhat problematic question of why.

Wordlessly, Zhol echoed her gesture, returning the sentiment; a look of abject befuddlement across his features. There were so many questions stampeding through his mind, jostling for position to be asked first; the one that won out surprised even him.

"Why aren't you wearing any shoes?"

"Pavi" | "Common" | "Nari" | "Symenos"
This template was made by Khara. She was bribed with coffee and jammy dodgers.

[Drusilla]

"Drusilla watched Zhol's confusion play out. She shuffled about on the ceiling. Finding a good spot she dropped her bag to the ground, which then spilled out a shoe. "Because I certainly can't climb like this while wearing shoes. I need my feet bare. My shoes are in my bag." She pointed to the bag. "I heard a loud noise and thought a horse was on a rampage and came up here for safety. Turns out it was just you falling off that table." She giggled and then a horse made a noise that spooked her making her shuffle along the ceiling. Drusilla took notice that she could view the horses from her current position without the fear of getting trampled. She positioned herself over the horse closest to Zhol who looked up at her, "Greetings." she gave the hand gesture that she was happy to see it. She moved to the next horse,"Greetings."and the next, "Greetings." She made sure to greet each and every horse from her ceiling view. Drusilla made her way back to Zhol and casually descended the wall. "I've said hello to all of them." She informed Zhol. He had said they liked Pavi so she had greeted them all.

[Zhol]

|.

Drusilla's explanation didn't do all that much to lessen his confusion, and the actions that followed deepened it further. She'd spoken as if it was the simplest, most obvious thing to be hanging upside-down from the ceiling waving at the horses; and he supposed for her it must have been. For him though? Seeing his new sister in odd wrappings instead of the jarringly different flowing and elegant dress he'd previously seen her in, throwing a bag of shoes and clothes at him was an odd experience that was sure to make it pretty high on the list the next time anyone asked him for the strangest thing he'd ever seen. And why was she talking Pavi, of all things?

Because you told her to, he realised. You told her the horses would be nice to her if she was nice to them, and that you speak to them in Pavi; this about as much as she knows.

His confusion slowly melted, his face rearranged into a slowly growing smile. Now his mind had grasped the situation, he couldn't help but be amused by the way Drusilla grated them all, each in turn, so politely. Respecting the horses indeed.

"That you have," he agreed, letting more warmth creep into his expression. He chuckled to himself as he clambered his way up from the floor, brushing the dust and grit from his hands onto the leather of his work pants. He jerked his head in the direction of the closest equine. "Come on," he invited, leading the way over to the stalls. "Now that you've made their acquaintance, lets get you properly introduced."

He led the way to Solo, the colt seemingly as startled by the Symenestra's ceiling antics as Zhol had been. He shuffled a little in his stall; not quite sure how to react to her approach. "Easy there, Solo," he said softly, his hands clenching and then opening in a soothing gesture as he reached the stall's wooden gate, repeating the sign a few times in Drusilla's eyeline so she could see.

"This tells him not to be afraid of us," he explained, beckoning for her to come a little closer. "Solo, this is Drusilla: my new sister, who I told you about. Dru, this is Solo: my very good friend."

He turned to Drusilla. "Would you like to tell him you are his friend as well? Say: 'hello, friend'."

"Pavi" | "Common" | "Nari" | "Symenos"
This template was made by Khara. She was bribed with coffee and jammy dodgers.

[Drusilla]

Uncertainty crept back onto Drusilla's face. This horse had watched her ceiling antics carefully. It was obvious this horse had never seen a Symenestra and that Drusilla's hesitance was mutual between the two. She grabbed her bag redressing and putting her boots back on. "Can I unpack first?" From her bag she pulled borowed books on horses, Creatures of the grass sea, and remenacy. A bag of glass beads followed. Finished by some overripe peaches, Drusilla's preferred non-meat edible. At the thought of seeing the horse from the ground she nervously nibbled at a peach following Zhol. Drusilla shakily mimicked the hand sign over and over. Swallowing a bit of the peach she spoke. G-greetings. Hello...Hello f-friend. Friend hello. Greetings. Solo..." An idea struck her, and with a sudden building of bravery Drusilla extended her hand with the half eaten peach."Here, have it. I don't have a word for you in this tongue and you have no clue what I'm saying. But I feel better speaking like this, dear friend. "Pryza." She repeated a peach in one hand the other signing Pavi, while speaking Symenos. "Pryza~" She cooed. "Pryyyzaaaa~" "It means well 'gift' literally but we use it as a term for friend." She explained not moving her eyes from the horse."I brought those beads for the horses, like we spoke of at the Lady."

[Zhol]

|.

Solo looked in Zhol's direction, almost as if questioning, almost as if asking for permission to accept Drusilla's gift. Zhol responded with the smallest of shrugs. She's already your friend. She's asking to be yours.

The colt sniffed at the peach suspiciously, investigating the strange new thing he was being offered. His ears twitched in interest as Drusilla spoke words from her own native language, her crooning reassurance finally succeeding in it's task: with as much delicacy as he could muster, Solo took the peach in his teeth, and stole it away from Drusilla's hand.

Zhol smiled at Solo's obvious display of respectful caution; and more at the new word of Symenos that he had learned. He supposed it was wrong of him to be surprised by the sweetness of the sentiment - that the Symenestra referred to their friends as a gift - as if he had somehow prejudged their race and thus their language to be harsh and cold and lacking in such things; but he was glad to be wrong, and glad to have a word now to replace the often insufficiently meaningful 'friend'.

It'd make a pretty name for a horse, too, he mused, wondering if any of those already in the stables were worthy of it. Something white, I suppose.

"I usually braid Solo's mane as a reward," Zhol explained, reaching out to stroke and pat the side of the colt's neck, proud that the horse he'd told Khara was his favourite was being so careful and cautious around Dru. He'd earned his braids already today; and yet Zhol still felt the urge to ask more of him. "To thank him for all the good he has done during the day."

Zhol fell into a contemplative silence, musing his options and trying to gauge Drusilla's level of nerves and comfort. "He'll need to be ridden today, to get some exercise. Would you like to help get him ready? Help with his tack and saddle?"

"Pavi" | "Common" | "Nari" | "Symenos"
This template was made by Khara. She was bribed with coffee and jammy dodgers.

[Drusilla]

Drusilla waited and waited, watching the horse named Solo. Until her waiting paid off and the peach was lifted from her clawed hand. The Symenestra suppressed a squeal of delight, this creature seemed to accept her. Carefully she made the attempt to get closer to the horse and cautiously reached out to touch Solo. "I was telling Solo I don't believe we have a word for horse in Symenos. Or if we do very few know it." Her hand made contact with the horse and after a few ticks spoke up. "Solo, you are fuzzy. Do you climb walls too, Pryza? If so we should climb together sometime." She now took note of what the horse looked like. He had black hair, it reminded her of her father's. Taking her hand she ran it through the horse's hair, "Hair." Drusilla muttered absentmindedly. It's body was varying shades of brown, "brown," to black "black". She said the color and pointed to it, Letting Zhol put it to memory. While Drusilla knew nothing of horses she found Solo to be quite pretty. Whether or not there was a certain color or features favored like the Inarta did with hair and eye colors. "Tack! You put tacks in him! That's horrible! It has to hurt like well...bad!" A mental picture of a horse covered in small tacks came to life in her mind. "No, I will not help you put tacks on him!"

[Zhol]

|.

It was probably wrong to laugh, but Zhol couldn't help it; the last vestiges of his manners managed to keep it to a light hearted chuckle rather than anything more insensitive.

"Tack is just a term we use," he explained, gesturing for her to follow as he led the way, weaving through the stable stalls towards the tack room. "All of the straps and buckles and loops that horses wear in order to be ridden, or to pull a cart or a sled, have all sorts of complicated names, and it would take far too long to name them all. Tack is just the word we use to refer to it collectively."

The door resisted his efforts as he fumbled with the latch and tried to wrench it open; while winter was still a long way from entering full force, there was more of a chill in the air, and the wood had begun to swell in stubborn protest, sticking against he frame. With a last creaking gasp the door finally surrendered, lurching open with a sudden jolt. He followed it's arc as it opened, stepping aside to let Dru peer into the dimly lit room beyond, with it's racks and hangers fill to bursting with every piece of leather craft imaginable.

Stepping past her, he lifted one of the closest from it's mount, and brought it into the light for her to see. "This is a bridle," he explained, "And all these different parts have different names - the crownpiece, the browband, the throatlatch - but you don't need to know any of that. What matters is that this part goes across his forehead, this part goes behind his ears, this part goes under his head -"

He slid his forearm into the bridle to approximate Solo's head, imaginary ears emerging from his elbow, his hand filling the role of Solo's mouth. "- and this part is the bit; it's the part that the horse bites on. The reins attach to the bit, and that's what you use to steer the horse in a particular direction."

He hesitated a moment, grimacing faintly at what he was explaining. In Endrykas they didn't use such things to control horses; but then, their saddles were entirely different, and Striders and riders had a special bond that made such things unnecessary. The old Zhol might have thought of all these trappings as cruel; but the new Zhol had spent enough time around these horses to know that he needed to just accept that this was how things were, the same way the horses did. "It's a little bit strange for them to begin with, but they get used to it pretty quick."

"Pavi" | "Common" | "Nari" | "Symenos"
This template was made by Khara. She was bribed with coffee and jammy dodgers.

[Drusilla]

Once the term 'tack' was explained, Drusilla herself laughed at her mistake of the word. Her own laughter was much louder and uncontrolled than Zhol's. "I should of known it meant something else," Drusilla turned to solo, "Brother here is much too kind to do something that mean to an animal... " She said matter-of-factly to Solo with a nod. She peered into the room full of strange leather and buckles. Strange trappings Drusilla knew nothing of. She reached out and touched some of them, some jingled as she pulled her hand away. "Why do they need to bite something?" She asked. "Can't one just climb up on their backs and ride? Do you really need all that trappings and leather? Do the horses mind all this stuff?" All this seemed strange. Was it really necessary all of this? It seemed excessive... Drusilla returned to Solo and handed him another peach and ate one herself. They were peach eating buddies now. She played with his mane while Zhol messed with tack stuff.