We're Gonna' Need A Bigger Horse

[Gianne Basete]

40th Day of Winter, 512 AV Evening The Sanctuary Gianne perched on the one of the paddock's fences, with several bridles and rags. She had a black one in hand, and was carefully cleaning its tooled headstall. The reigns were coiled neatly in her lap, already wiped clear of dirty and old sweat. One spot was being particularly stubborn, and she tried to pick it off with her nail. Seemed to be a permanent blemish in the leather, so she frowned and kept on wiping, leaving the spot alone. Once it was clean, at least more than it originally had been, she replaced it with the next. A plain, raw colored headstall with snaffle bit and 6 foot reigns. It was only dusty, so a thorough wipe down did the trick. Gianne sighed and set it down next to her, rolling her sleeves up higher past her elbows. Wild yapping and barking pulled her attention up and to the left. A pair of silkenas, Sunset and Sutai by the looks of it, came running past, bodies low to the ground. Then someone, she didn't get to look at their face, went running after them, shouting for the dogs to stop and heel. Gianne grinned and picked up another bridle, rubbing her rag over its dusty earpiece. A few mares in the paddock nickered behind her, and an answering whinny came from somewhere off toward the arena. Half a bell later, all the bridles she had with her were clean enough for Gianne to be pleased with. Except for the black one, which had some weird spots on it. Good thing it wasn't hers, else she'd be peeved. Once they were placed back with the rest of the tack, she went and retrieved Gill to work in the round pen. She led him inside and locked the gate behind them, then unhooked the lead from his halter. The gelding shook his head, the metal ring jingling loudly against leather. "Walk on," she told him, clucking once with her tongue and holding up the lunge whip in her left hand. Gill tossed his head and took off to the right at a brisk trot. He wasn't the best at lunging, but he was getting better. Gianne watched patiently as he trotted himself out, finally slowing to a walk. When he finally figured out that walk on didn't mean trot on, it'd be easier on the both of them. She let him walk out several laps, then clucked once and called clearly, "Trot on." Again the brisk trot, but he slowed quickly to an easier gait. When he tried to revert to a walk, she shook the whip and clucked, urging him a little faster. He tossed his head, halter jingling, but complied.

[Riaris Dovukalis]

It had been a good afternoon of work for Riaris. He had come in early to the shipyard to work on a few projects, one of them being the vessel that Kavala had ordered. It was still very much in the beginning stage, and although he wasn't the lead on the project, he wanted to be a part of the full process to see it built correctly. After all, by the way things were shaping up between the two, it was likely that at some point he would find himself on the vessel and would look horrible if something were to go wrong.

However when he arrived that morning, he found a mess awaiting him. Someone had come in the day before to have a ship repaired and in a hurry. The Akalak on staff that day had seen to it's quick fix up, but had left quiet a mess with the tools among other things, which Riaris then had to help in cleaning up before he was able to start on his own duties. It took him time, being new to it all, but for what he was able to do, Riaris was sure to do it to the best of his ability.

At this stage part of his job was to watch and inspect, to see how others more skilled had done the job, so that he would know what and how to do it alone. He had been able to work on the vessel for Kavala for a few bells and was pleased with what he had done. Once his work day was over, Riaris decided to take a trip to the Sanctuary to give the fair Konti an update as she had requested. He put his heavy coat on and left the shipyard and headed on his way.

It would have taken him sometime to reach the place, but he had the presences of mind to stop by the lodge and borrow a horse and cart from there. While most in the group would have simply taken a horse, Riaris had never been on one before, and falling on the ground wasn't something he looked forward too. The Akalak wasn't afraid of horses, but he wasn't about to jump on the back of one unprepared. Once he reached the gates of the Sanctuary, he hopped out of the cart to open the gates as he had seen Kavala do before and then returned to his seat and entered.

The horse carried him inside, trotting lightly along the trail. Riaris had been invited there before, but sadly his memory of the place wasn't as sharp as he would have liked. He stepped out of the cart again and stood beside it as he looked around for someone to talk with. It didn't seem like a good idea to just leave the cart sitting out, but he wasn't sure if he was allowed to put it else where and so he waited.

[Gianne Basete]

Gill circled the perimeter of the round pen nearly at a gallop, flicking up his hind hooves at the empty air behind him. What a showoff. But it was good to see her horse feeling his oats. Normally he was so lethargic. The second she'd asked him to canter, he'd shot straight into the fastest lope in could manage in this confined space. Gianne's eyes crinkled with a wide smile as she spun in a circle, following his progress on her heels. "Whoa, boy," she crooned, her voice calm and clear. Instantly, the gelding half-hopped to a stop, spraying dirt and pivoting on his hind legs, twisting to face her. He tossed his head up and down, pawing at the dirt as he approached her inside the circle and stopped, sides heaving from exertion. "You're the one that works yourself so hard. I'm only asking for forward motions. Speed isn't the most important thing in here." She grinned. "But it would be nice if you had this much enthusiasm outside." Gianne laid a hand on his neck and patted affectionately, stroking the woolly winter coat. Gill's ears were shoved forward and his nostrils flared. A loud nicker, rather close by, made him whip his head around and whinny a sharp reply. She flinched and picked at her ear, scowling at him. "Thanks a lot," she grumbled irritably, rubbing the ringing ear until it stopped. "Didn't sound like that was any horse in the pasture or paddocks." Absently, she laid her lunge whip against the round pen's wall and and stepped outside into the open, locking Gill inside. He'd be fine for a moment. Gianne frowned and looked around, brushing her gloves off onto her pants. Nothing out here. There was another nicker though, between Gill and the mystery horse. It was coming from the other side of the healing clinic in the direction of the main courtyard, that she was sure of. And her curiosity had to be sated now. Quickly, so she could get back to Gill, Gianne cut around to the courtyard, moving at a light jog. What she found was a huge man, an Akalak, standing beside a horse and cart. So that's what it was. A curious horse in new surroundings, excited by the smell of its own kind. The Akalak seemed a little lost though; he was obviously looking for some help. Gianne took her gloves off and tucked them into her belt, rubbing her fingers together as she approached. "Can I help you?" Hopefully he spoke Common, because her Tukant was laughable. His skin was a dark purple, and his hair was as black as tar. This is one big guy. It made her a little nervous, being dwarfed by this stranger. But Riverfall was chop full of huge men. It was its trademark, technically.

[Riaris Dovukalis]

Riaris had been standing there for several chimes in quiet contemplation. He knew that he could just move on and do what he came for, but it did seem a mess to just leave the horse and cart, or to just park it as if he owned the place. So he thought if he waited a tick or so, that someone would notice him standing around and give him a hand and directions. But for a while, no one came and he started to feel a bit of brooding coming on.

Kavala had said that he was welcomed, but to just walk in amongst people he hadn't met yet seemed like trouble. Plus..there were the dogs, the huge dogs that had rushed out the last time he was there, all standing in a protective huddle around Kavala and her sons. Kavala had explained that the dogs were trained, and behaved so because he was with company. But did the dogs remember this, did they remember him? It wasn't that the Akalak was afraid of the dogs, but if they attacked, he would have to put them down. In which case he would owe his lovely mate a dog, and probably a healer to fix up the bite marks that he was likely to suffer.

He grunted, a frown forming upon his rough features. He was starting to get irritated and was almost about to turn and leave when he spotted a young woman coming towards him. She was a pretty woman,having the normal grace of the fairer sex and much easier on the eyes than any of his brothers. Though he was better off with her around, he had hoped for someone else, someone that had met him the last time he was there.

But the woman was there, greeting him and asking if he needed help, which is exactly what he needed. He looked down at the tiny woman and forced a smile to rise upon his lips. "Riaris, Recoomas." He said having the mind to introduce himself and keeping to his better manners. "Is there some place that I can park this cart for the time being?" He had started to ask about Kavala, but for some reason he waited and addressed the woman in front of him more.