Closed Hold Your Horses! (Beodan)

[Sayana]

The sensation was just as odd as before, but at least this time it was expected. Sayana couldn’t see the change due to the sparkle of light, but soon she found herself lying upon her stomach on the brown stallion’s back. Her legs and arms had naturally opened to give way to the wider body and she shifted to make herself comfortable upon him. She laced her fingers of a high hand into his mane and put her mid hands at the base of his neck and her lows ready to brace herself from behind if necessary.

“There we go. Onwards Dan!” Sayana said brightly as she instinctively gave a gentle nudge with her knees. “Down the road and across the fields.” The stallion trotted along the road and Sayana’s heart raced with exhilaration. With no stirrups to stand up in to smooth out the ride, she focused on matching the gait of the kelvic. As she rocked with his stride, it started to feel smoother and more natural. She smiled at his low nicker. Apparently he was enjoying himself too and she gave him a pat on the side of his neck.

The Eypharian leaned forwards and shifted her weight while tightening up her hold on him with her legs. “Now I seem to recall you wanted to go fast and stretch your legs,” she spoke softly yet loud enough to be heard over the thudding of his hooves. In addition to her shifted weight, she was now lower to him hoping that it would help center her balance and ride at a faster speed.

Should he take up the challenge, her body might tighten a little more in attempt to secure herself and her mid arms would go mostly around his neck. Yet her voice and her laughter would indicate the sheer pleasure she was experiencing.

“Look look! I think I see a path or at least the grasses get lower.” Sayana shouted out as she pointed to the side of the road. The grasses were probably not as small and tender as the ones in the meadow but they were green and shorter than some. But then another sight made her catch her breath. There were several deer grazing. One with large antlers and a couple of little fawns. It was beautiful. A couple large rocks here and there along with tall grasses clustered in the field. And the deer nibbling at the greenery. “Are they called deer?” Sayana whispered, not wanting to frighten them off.

[Beodan Clathony]

Beodan grunted in response to her challenge, his legs switch stepping into a three-beat canter as he accelerated. Powerful lungs took in air fast and hard, just as powerful legs beat the grasses into the ground, leaving behind very thin trail of crushed greenery. Sayana's mid arms quickly attached themselves to his neck, her body flexing with the increased effort to stay on. She started a laugh that only grew in volume, soon accompanied by shouts of joy as she bumped along, her body easing into each footstep so she was not jarred against him. Ready to stop if need be, he continued at their fast pace until the grasses started to get low about a half mile away from their starting place on the road. He slowed down to a walk, grunting from the pleasant exertion, as they reached far shorter grass. Dan nickered again as she patted his strong neck. He bent down to nibble on the leaves of a flower, requiring a little sustenance if they were to ride longer. Sayana relaxed on his back, her arms no longer acted as harnesses, now loosely held in his hair. If he was to somehow rotate his head all the way around, he would have been able to see the smile plastered on her face. As it was, her joy was contagious, and he found himself grinning inwardly. Her breath caught and Dan looked up from the grass he had been eating (which was less good than his meadow’s was. This was old growth and tough). Was their something that would seek to eat them both? A nasty creature with far to many pointed teeth, cursed with being unable to enjoy sweet grass? No, it was the opposite. A family of lesser animals than a horse, ones that refused to cultivate the plant life for future meals. “Are they called deer?” her voice asked softly in his tall standing ear. His head bobbed in an attempt at a nod. These ‘deer’ were grazing in a seemingly random pattern. He snorted, the inferior animals! But he had to admit, they were beautiful standing among the fields of green, the sun beating down upon them. He craned his neck to look back at her after some time, waiting to see if she would lead him further. OOCFeel free to just control where they ride together, so long as you think a horse committed to giving you a ride would do that.

[Sayana]

Sayana couldn’t help but watch the deer with a bit of awe. “Maybe a little closer?” She asked and gave a squeeze with her knees. It was hard to move quietly without scaring them and they seemed to bound about the field putting extra distance between Sayana and Dan. “Let me see if I can get closer on foot,” Sayana said as she swung one leg over and slipped off his back onto the ground.

There was a soft thud as her feet hit the ground and she crept closer trying not to scare the deer, and especially the little fawns. One step at a time, she steadily approached them trying to keep her footsteps light and soft, while trying to be as unobtrusive as possible.

Suddenly, there was a lunge of light tan fur from the right. The cougar leapt out from behind one of the large rocks to pounce on one of the fawns. Its jaws clamped down on the young animal’s neck and Sayana jumped back in surprise. Then instinct caught up with her and she turned to dash back to Beodan as fast as she could. Hopefully he hadn’t bolted the moment the mountain lion showed up and she’d be able jump or at least scramble onto his back.

Her heart was still racing as she settled herself on him. “Go go!” She called, though he probably didn’t need telling twice. She grabbed a quick glance at the cougar who seemed quite intent on killing its prey. Though it looked up at the pair of them and Sayana couldn’t quite tell if it intended to give chase. Already she was taking out two of her throwing daggers just in case and reached around his neck so she wouldn’t fall off.

OOCFeel free to play the cougar as you like =)

[Beodan Clathony]

Sayana jumped off of his back and Dan blew air out of his nose, resigned to wait where he was so that she could approach without his mass causing them to bolt. He watched her slowly creep closer to the deer, pushing aside high clumps of grass with one of her many hands. He stared at her back with large, brown eyes, lazily blinking every so often. He swished his tail, swatting an uninvited fly off of his back haunch. The gentle waving of the grass was hypnotic, calling his thoughts to wander. That is, until a clump of dry brush came to life and leaped into a young fawn. The Horse Kelvic squealed, a high-pitched scream that echoed for hundreds of feet around the field. He reared up on his back legs, his eyes wide, bringing them down with a thump. Ears in high alert, he galloped to meet the Six-armed-one half way, stooping down for a moment so that she could swing onto his back. He sniffed the air, there were two more clawed ones nearby. They were less experienced, as they were upwind of the Horse Kelvic, allowing him to smell their warm, tightly sprung bodies. Probably one or two years old, and the one that had already attacked was their mother. It would have been sweet, a mother teaching her young to hunt, if they had not been prey. The mother snapped the barely developed neck of the fawn with a quick pressure just below the skull. She unclenched her jaw and jumped over its limp body towards the riding pair. As if on queue, two more smaller bushes turned into great cats, joining in on the charge for food. Beodan snorted, a sound of ‘I don’t like that! It is scary!’ Turning as quickly as his large form would allow, he started to move. Fast. The cats gave chase, both parties accelerating quickly to their top speeds. Unfortunately, he could only reach 35 mph for a time, while the cats could go far faster, though for less long. Not that it would be a distance race. They soon caught up with the galloping horse, and the two younger cats lunged, claws extended, ready to tear into his back. side noteAHHHHHH

[Sayana]

Once she had leapt onto Beodan’s back, he took off and fast. She clung dearly to him, more afraid of falling at such a speed than the mountain lions that prompted the mad dash. Twisting her head to try to look behind while still struggling to stay on, Sayana caught sight of not just one feline but two more that had joined the chase. “Petching petch!” She cursed as she adjusted her hold on Beodan to draw two throwing daggers with her mid hands.

The cats were gaining on them despite Dan’s speed and head start. The larger one was leading the charge and seemed to be faster due to its longer legs. While still holding onto Beodan’s mane and neck, Sayana awkwardly turned and focused hard on the approaching feline. With distance and the amount of spin in mind, she drew her right mid hand back and let the dagger fly. There was a yowl as she struck home, and she immediately readied her second throwing dagger. This time, however, it wasn’t so successful. Even though she had thrown it with her dominant hand, it whizzed past one of the younger cougars and probably plunged deep into the ground.

“Petch.” The two cats had hardly batted an eye and were now lunging at poor Beodan’s flanks. Sayana quickly drew her longer ornate dagger with a low hand and quickly adjusted her grip on the kelvic before swinging wildly at one of the paws. There was a yelp as she successfully made a large gash in the paw. However, the desperate attack had cost Sayana her balance. She slipped down one side of Beodan’s back and clung desperately to his side. “Dan! Slow down, slow down!” Whether he did or not, she could feel herself losing her grip, and just before she fell, she pushed off from him hoping to avoid the thundering hooves.

She tried to curl up as she landed, partly upon her arms and partly on her side. Sharp pain shot through her arms from scrapes she had probably just obtained and the dull but coursing ache from the thump of landing on the ground inhibited the rest of her body for a few moments. She had managed not to land on her head yet she was still winded and the young cougars were still about.

Yet, the felines seemed much less motivated than they had been before. The one with the slashed paw didn’t look so happy and they were only realizing now that their mother was no longer engaging in the attack. One was eyeing Sayana’s fallen form, yet the other with the slash in its paw was realizing how appealing the dead fawn in the fields would be. It loped off towards its mother and the fawn, leaving the uninjured one to decide whether it wanted to take on a full grown horse and the humanoid with sharp cutting things.

[Beodan Clathony]

Beodan could hear yelps and yowls of pain behind him and he hoped that his rider was doing something to fend them off. He dared not look back, instead keeping up his 4 beat gallop. No claws were sinking into his hide, thank you, good day! He grunted with the effort of charging through the thick grasses, which seemed to grasp at his hooves. His mind had given him tunnel vision, and he was oblivious to everything except for the base instinct to flee.

Things were going rather well, under the circumstances, until the weight on his back shifted to one side and moments later fell away completely. He blinked his great eyes in surprise and slowed down, making a wide turn to face the direction he had come. Did one of the clawed beasts pull her off? Or did she just fall? He hoped she was okay, and that the grasses had offered her some measure of protection against the hard ground. Though, some grass had a grain to it, rows and rows of nearly invisible fibers that made it tough to slide your finger against them. That might have torn skin as well.

When he reached Sayana, the Horse Kelvic lowered his head to her and nickered, willing her to be alright. He picked his head up at the growl and slow approach of the last cougar. Blood congealed on clumps of grass leading towards the deer, one of the lions had retreated. Deciding to prompt the one that was hunched on the ground near them to do the same, Dan let out one of the rarest sounds a horse can make, a roar. A great bellow, the deep gravel of a neigh and the trumpeting of a whinny all mixed together. It clearly broadcasted to the surrounding fields, “Get out of here right NOW! Else I will grind you to a bloody pulp underneath my hooves!” It did not literally mean that, but the interpretation was not that hard to come to when the sound penetrated your bones, seeming to echo inside you.

The message was received, and the cat moved back with a snarl, then turned quickly to follow the rest of its party. He stared at it as intensely as a horse with eyes of chocolate could until its form melded with the grasses some ways away. He focused back on her, and nuzzled her chin affectionately. He licked the scrapes he could see on her, the extent of wild horse medical practices.

[Sayana]

Sayana was quite dazed for a chime or two. She felt a gentle nudge against her shoulder but mostly she felt the burning ache on her hip where it had connected to the ground when she landed. She was slowly starting to check her vitals and that her slowly growing stomach was okay when she heard the strangest noise. And loud too. Startled, she attempted to get to her feet quickly but then realized that the loud roar that had erupted had been from Beodan, and not some other predator stalking the fields. Still rather dazed and not focusing entirely on what she was doing, Sayana tripped while trying to get up and was once more in a heap on the ground.

There was a snarl but it seemed like the cat was retreating. Or at least she didn’t feel the creature digging its claws into her. Her mid and high arms had several scrapes on them while her low hands had gotten the brunt of it when she had tried to brace her fall with them. As she lay there, she felt something nuzzle her and was greeted by the warm air breathed out from his nose. “Whoo, that’s quite a scent you’ve got there,” Sayana commented as she began to actually come to. She winced slightly when the horse licked at her cuts on her arms but she realized it was probably for the best. The nuzzle of his nose against her chin was still greeted by a smile from the Eypharian and she began to slowly shift into a sitting position. When she looked at the palms of her low hands, they were pretty torn up.

“Let me get some water for this,” she spoke partly to herself and partly to her companion. She had been wearing a simple backpack all this time, but it was small and didn’t weight much and fortunately she hadn’t lost it in the encounter. Pulling out her waterskin, she carefully dibbled water on both her low hands to clean them of dirt. She gritted her teeth a little at the sharp pain, but she knew it was important to get them clean if she could.

Once she returned the waterskin to her bag, she smiled up at Dan and gave him a gentle stroke on his long horsey face. “I think I’ll be alright now. They’re gone, right?” Sayana asked with a nod in the direction where the cougars had been. “I should, uh, probably start heading home,” she added as she slowly got to her feet. She rubbed her side and hip with a mid hand. It would probably bruise quite heavily and Aren would be all up on her about how she got it. But she was safe now, and she had been far enough away so he didn’t come running at the call of the Lakan.

“Mind if we take it slow on the way back?” Sayana asked. “I mean, if you’d like to take me back to Syliras.” The Eypharian gave a faint smile. The encounter with the cougars had jarred her a little, but was glad of how well they had worked together. She looked around trying to find the road but it wasn’t quite in sight. “So long as we find the road and uh…” Sayana paused as she tried to orient herself as to which direction down the road they would proceed in. The sun was almost directly above them so she could hardly use that as a guide. “Oh, if we keep the sea to our left then we’ll be going north back to the city. Yes.” She waved her hands a little as she figured out the spatial orientation of the land versus the map she had memorized last spring.

“If you’re able to bend down just a little… I don’t think I’m up for a running leap this time.” Sayana gave a faint chuckle at the comment. Should he be willing to give her a ride back, she’d then jump upwards and swing her leg over to get onto his back. Hopefully it wouldn’t be too much of a mess and she’d at least have her high and mid hands to help her climb up.

ReceiptReplace two throwing daggers: 2gm

[Beodan Clathony]

Beodan’s rider was scraped up, but nothing bled too freely as a deeper wound would. He took that to be a positive sign, and continued to sterilize the wounds with his long tongue. Yes, he was the horse doctor! Healer of all who dared accept treatment! He sniffed in amusement at his joke, there were no horse doctors. Well, there could be, but he did not think he would ever be one of them. Sayana commented on his his scent and he flopped his ears at her, a horse’s eye roll. He smelled just fine, thank you very much! Humans with their constant consumption of meats and fowl cooked masses of plants ought to smell worse than he did! They did not know what they were missing. More sweetgrass for him then!

He took a step from her as she took out something from her small backpack, a waterskin, and poured it over the smarting wounds on her low hands. Her face grimaced in pain to which he snorted, not liking it one bit. He never used his backpack for what it was intended for. The contents of his were tucked in the back of his tent in a disorderly pile. He brought it with him when he wandered the forest, and put piles of herbs and other rare items into it. Soon he would need to get a better storage space. Drawn from his thoughts by a hand caressing his face, Dan closed his eyes and leaned into it gently.

He nodded his head once, slowly. The predators were indeed gone, he had not heard or smelled them since they had fled. He could not help but feel a little sad that she would be leaving him soon, but what had he expected? Sayana got to her feet, his own head rising with her. “Mind if we take it slow on the way back? I mean, if you’d like to take me back to Syliras,” the Six-armed-one asked, as if there was a chance that he would leave her here and condemn her to a long walk alone while wounded. He gave her a blink of affirmation. His eyes danced with amusement as she tried to gather her bearings after her disorienting fall. She waved her hands about and spun this way and that, in such non horse- like movements it was comical. At least to him. He sniffed, what kind of horse would he be if he could not remember the way back!

Beodan knelt on the ground so she could mount him, his legs bent acutely. Sayana swung herself onto his back, landing softly as a leg reached over him. He hoped his tough hair was not poking into her scrapes badly as it would if she literally rubbed him the wrong way. They made their way to the road, muffled hoof-steps on grass soon turning into clops as he walked towards the great city. The sun had shifted a good deal by the time they arrived at the city gates. He knelt once more to allow her to get to her feet, only rising again once the weight had left him. He nuzzled her hand and administered a hearty lick to her cheek as a farewell. Not knowing what else to do, he cocked his head. He nickered one last time for his rider, and turned around, beginning the short walk to the clearing that was his home.
Dan hoped they would meet again.

[Devi]

Your Grades have arrived! Sayana Skills: Interrogation: 1 Land Navigation: 3 Planning: 2 Running: 2 Endurance: 1 Investigation: 1 Stealth: 2 Acrobatics: 1 Riding: 2 Persuasion: 1 Weapon Skills: Dagger: 1 Medicine: 1 Lores: Stealth: Use of cover Riding: Riding bareback Location: Beodan’s Meadow Beodan: Horse Kelvic Beodan: Likes to be called ‘Dan’ Riding: Fighting from Horseback Medicine: Importance of cleaning open wounds Comments: Sayana will have sustained bruises and scratches across arms, legs and hip which will take 14 days to fully heal, less with medical attention. I make no comment about her climbing all over strange kelvic men . Beodan Skills: Planning: 1 Land Navigation: 4 Observation: 4 Intelligence: 2 Running: 4 Socialization: 4 Intimidation: 1 Medicine: 1 Lores: Location: Beodan’s Meadow Sayana: The Six-Armed One Sayana: A happy companion Kelvic: Making allowances for your rider Medicine: Importance of cleaning open wounds Comments: You should definitely become Beodan the mighty Horse-Doctor. Nice work, entertaining thread Let me know if you have any questions and don't forget to edit your post in the Grade Request Thread. Happy Writing!