[2nd day of summer.509.a.v.]
[Cobalt Mountains]
[North Kabrin Road]
[Early Morning]
The weather was not exactly as pleasant as Amelia would have liked it to be, if she had to be truthful, it was quite unpleasant, especially for early summer. There was thick mist and a cool breeze that seemed to be pulling off the young leaves of the trees. The air was thick and heavy, and for the girl who had just woken up, it was highly though to keep her eyes open at a time like this.
None the less, she managed to lazily get out from her tent and get dressed in her oh so common red dress and black riding boots. Being the appearance obsessed teen she was, Amelia made sure she combed her hair repeatedly. She counted along carefully.” 1…2….3….40…41…42….98...99…100” Only when the hair was brushed a hundred times, when she made sure there was no knots, by letting her fingers though it a few times, did she begin braiding it. Doing her own hair was by far an easy task for the girl, she sometimes felt like she could just do it with her eyes closed. At first she divided the hair in tree equal portions, taking the two outer ones in between her fingers, and the middle one resting over the thumb of her left hand. She lifted one portion over the other, carefully moving her fingers around to make sure the braid was tight and proper, occasionally leaving one of the parts to rest freely so she could untangle the lower parts of her hair. Sometimes having long hair was such a drag, but she loved it none the less. Before she knew it, the braid was done and she tied it up with a ribbon of a black color.
She then proceeded to packing together her equipment. First she toke her bedroll and backpack out of the tent, rolling the bedroll together and securing it in a way it would take up less space. The next came her backpack, where she threw in the small items that she had thrown around, ranging from flint & steel, to a map and books. Why some of those items were out from the backpack in the first place, was a mystery. She then put together the tent, what clearly was a huge struggle for the girl. More than once she thought it would be far better to just sleep in the open than fight with this monster each night and morning. The good news were, if she followed the North Kabrin Road, she should be back at Syliras by nightfall, what would save her the fight for this night and a few seasons to come.
Everything was packed, and now came the pleasure of fighting with Fauna. Amelia was not much of a rider, she was not experienced enough with a horse and had only the good training and pleasant personality of Fauna to thank that she was still alive. Dragging all of her bags to the place her mount rested she began speaking ”come now, we have a long but rewarding rode ahead of us today” almost with laughter, but the mare was clearly not as amused as she heard a displeased neigh coming from the leopardbreed. Amelia just chuckled at it and guessed the girl wanted something to lift her spirits. Thankfully the two had encountered a traveling caravan heading towards Nyak just a few days ago, and there Amelia purchased some carrots and apples. Fauna had a horrible sweet tooth, so she just had to remember this sort of things.
Amelia dug around one of the saddle bags that along with the rest of the gear were resting alongside a rock. Found it! When Amelia pulled out two apples the horse instantly brightened up and got up from its spot, coming closer to the Cross girl. Amelia extended her palms, holding an apple in each and with little cautiousness Fauna accepted. She ate up the apples in no time, her lips and nose tickling the pale palms of the young girl, making her giggle. Once the apples were eaten, Fauna seemed to be a lot happier and pushed her nose towards Amelia. The two got along, despite how it might look to others.
Now when Fauna was calmer, Amelia toke the hove pick and kneeled down. She began gently tugging on Fauna’s leg to get it to rise. She made sure not to pull the hove towards her as she began cleaning out any dirt and rocks that could have gotten stuck. To clean the frog, she didn’t use the pick, aware of how sensitive the place is she simply did it with her finger. Thank the gods Fauna was such a calm creature, if not, chances were the girl would have been knocked out by the hove. She repeated the actions with the 3 other hooves. She combed her tail and mane a few times to make sure it wasn’t tangled. Brushing its fur she check a few times that it was flat down so she could securely place the saddle pads on without the fear of leaving sores on the horse. Next came the saddle, what was a bit of a struggle since it was not exactly the lightest one of all. But with the help of Fauna, she managed. ”and what would I do without you?”’ she laughed while she was making sure the saddles were in their place, and putting on the saddle bags equally dividing the weight.
Putting on the rail and bit was probably the hardest as Amelia was terrified of getting bit, but it was not as terrifying as she thought of it. She put the railing over Fauna’s head, then put her finger against the horses lips, gently pushing it towards the side to have her open her mouth and with the same hand she put in the bit. Securing all of the straps over her nose and ears, Fauna was ready to ride. Amelia put the backpack over her shoulders and using the railing guided the horse closer to the big rock. There she stepped on it, using it as a mounting block and got on top of the horse.
From here on, it should be a calm stroll along the North road, but the last time she thought like that, was not like it. ”come now” she tugged on the railing and with a light pat on the horses side, let her know that they could gallop a bit faster.
