A Man's Pride

[Dravite]

8 Fall, 515 AV
7th Bell, Morning
The Pride, Endrykas

Another beautiful day in Endrykas, Dravite thought to himself at the sun crept into the tent to touch his toes. He woke Pearl with a kiss and got to his feet, dressing as quietly as possible, as not to wake the boys or Belkaia, who seldom got to sleep in. Outside the tent Yuki was sat near the fire cooking something Raven had caught overnight.
"He got in very late," the woman admitted, "their hunting party split up and managed to lose the deer they were tracking so it looks like it's rabbit for breakfast."
"I'll pass," Dravite waved, "I'm taking Pearl to The Pride this morning; we are thinking about starting a herd."
"More goats?" Yuki inquired before stirring the stew with a big wooden spoon.
"Zibri, a man I work with in The Watch said they have a bull they're willing to sell for the right price."
"And what is the right price?" Yuki smiled.
"Too much I imagine."
Yuki chuckled, "let that beautiful wife of yours have anything she wants; buy her something cute."
"And fluffy?"
"Of course!"

Dravite smirked and pulled on his leather riding boots, leaving his white shirt untucked so that it would help keep his belt up. The man had lost quite a bit of weight since his run in with the Zith and people were starting to notice which was why he chose to don a shirt on days when he would usually go without one. He tucked his hatchet into its keep on his belt before fetching his dagger, hunting knife, and drinking horn, which he almost never left camp without.

Cree greeted him with a big stretch and a shake of his mane before standing still to let Dravite brush the loose hair from his buckskin coat. The horse lord moved the brush in slow circles to work out the loose hair before brushing it flat. He plucked the hair from the brush and let the light morning breeze chase it from his fingers before working on the long black mane and tail. When that was done, he took the pick from the grooming kit and lifted Cree's front, right hoof to muck out all the dirt, repeating this on each of the stallion's hooves before switching the tool for a rasp.

Cree didn't like the rasping tool, which made a strange sound as the horse lord drove it back and forth, grinding down the Strider's hoof a little to keep him sound and avoid any chances of him going lame. The front feet were easy to do, it was the back that Dravite always had trouble with, which took a lot more upper body strength to hold up the stallion’s leg while using the rasp at the same time. After picking the same leg up a fourth time, Dravite decided this morning's battle was one he wasn't going to win and set down the tool to go and fetch his yvas.

The horse sucked in as the cold leather went over his back and was quickly fastened. The stallion was then rewarded with half a carrot, the other half going to Knox who had stood patiently waiting for Pearl to dress and come join them. Knox was just finishing the last of the carrot when Pearl appeared and his ears pricked up and swivelled forwards as if to say good morning to his bonded rider.

"Someone looks excited that see you," Yuki smiled at Pearl.
"Who could blame him?" Dravite grinned, "I'm always excited to see her."
Yuki laughed, a big smile taking charge of her mouth, "in other ways I'm sure."

Dravite laughed then and got onto his horse without too much trouble, though the skin over his right hip still felt a little stiff. He steered Cree out of camp and commanded the stallion to trot back and forth, up and down the makeshift road that led out onto one of the main veins that would take them out towards the tents skirting the city. The Pride was about a fifteen minute ride from their current location and Dravite liked to warm his horse up before taking him for a big run. Upon returning to camp, it seemed Pearl and Knox were just about ready to leave, "excited to go look at some Zibri?" Dravite asked his wife, "I think Cree is."

[Pearl]

His kiss immediately brought a smile to her face. She’d had a difficult time getting to sleep the night before; anxious for the day to begin when they would go shopping for their Zibri to start their own herd. Not that she knew what to do with a herd, but she would learn along with the rest of the family.

With a kiss blown from her fingers to the sleeping boys and Belkaia, she exited the tent, stretching in the warmth of the sun, turning her face up to greet the day. Her hands went to her hair and crafted the wayward strands into a simple braid that curled around the side and rested over her shoulder. “Good morning, Yuki,” Pearl smiled fondly to the woman, “whatever you’re cooking smells wonderful.” She was beginning to become worried over Dravite’s apparent loss of appetite, and was taking every opportunity to encourage him to eat something, anything.

Walking over to her husband, she greeted him with yet another kiss; lingering at his lips as she smiled. Knox nickered and Pearl answered him though she looked up to Dravite as she spoke, “Yes I am excited to see you, and yes, you are going to get your hooves cleaned whether you like it or not, so please cooperate so that we can be off to get our Zibri sooner rather than later.”

As Dravite was helping Cree warm up and shake off his rest, Pearl got to work on Knox’s feet, cleaning them first with the pick and crouching beneath the animal so as to provide a rest for him to upon her knees while she worked. “Yuki?” she spoke up so the woman could hear her at the fire where she was cooking.
“Yes, Pearl?”
“Do you have anything cooked that we could take with us, easily?” Pearl switched feet as they talked, quickly moving from one to the other.
Yuki nodded even though Pearl couldn’t see her from that angle. “Some rabbit on the bone. Most of it went into the stew, but I have the back and ribs that I didn’t put in.”
“May we take it with us?” she asked, not wanting to assume that Yuki didn’t have other plans for the meat as it was usually her that cooked for the entire pavilion.
“Of course, dear,” she added tentatively, “you’re worried about his eating?”
“Aye, but not alarmed,” she explained to Yuki as she put the pick back into the kit and took up the brush. “You’re getting off easy for now, Knox. You’re feet need trimming when we get back.”
Knox switched his tail at her, catching her arm with the course hairs as she set about brushing him free of dirt and loose hairs; an action that brought a laugh from Yuki.

Soon enough Pearl had the yvas on Knox and her medical bag in the yvas bags. Knox seemed in a better humor now that he had control of his own feet. He stamped one on the ground, impatient to be on his way as Cree had a head start on him. The two seemed so competitive. Pearl mounted up and drew her foot over Knox’s side and clicked to him, heading over to where Yuki had stood up. Knox nosed at Yuki’s hand where she held something in it wrapped in a cloth and she had to pull it away from the horse’s mouth, “Not for you,” she said as she handed up the small object to Pearl.
“Thank you,” Pearl smiled, “Do you need me to pick up anything from the market?”
“Some flour, perhaps, and some more carrot?”
“Of course,” Pearl nodded and edged Knox over towards Cree with a tightening of her right leg. “Ready when you are, husband mine,” she smiled and winked to him. “Give us a couple of chimes to get our muscles warmed up?”


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[Dravite]

"I'll warm you up," the man smiled and reached over to close his hand against Pearl's yvas so that he could lean close enough to kiss her; smiling against her lips, "I'll give you a chance to catch up," he grinned, righting himself on the stallions back before commanding Cree to leave camp.

His mount's competitiveness had not gone unnoticed and controlling the horse to move at a steady trot was easier said than done. Cree wanted to run, to race, and show Knox what he was made of; the part that made it even more increasingly difficult, was that Knox wanted to do the exact same thing. After a chime or two Knox found his legs and started to gallop ahead of Cree. Dravite held his Strider back, using his feet and voice to guide the animal and portray exactly what was expected of his mount.

Once they got out into open territory Dravite leaned forward a little and drew his feet up so that he could latch to the animal's moving body as Cree was permitted to charge ahead and catch up to Knox. He heard the stallion's breathing increase as his hooves drummed against the earth to gallop alongside Knox before he tried to break away and get ahead, encouraged by his rider; Dravite howling his challenge to Pearl with a big, ecstatic grin on his face that said 'catch us if you can'.

Cree was a lot lighter on his feet than Knox, but burdened with a heavier rider made the odds rather even. Both stallions cut through the tall grass with ease, shrieking excitedly whenever one got to close to the other or charged ahead to take the lead. Cree bellowed deeply and stretched his neck out to nip at Knox's behind and Dravite quickly steered his mount aside to avoid the kick that Knox lashed out with. "Hey!" He scolded Cree, looking back over his shoulder to make sure that Pearl hadn't been dislodged, "don't resort to that just because you're losing!" He told his animal.

The Pride was just up ahead and Dravite once again ordered Cree to slow to a manageable speed before getting him to circle back so that Dravite could move into the area alongside his wife Pearl, "look at all these animals!" The horse lord smiled as they passed by a herd of Zibri that thundered away from the two horses, "he's a big boy!" Dravite grinned, pointing to one of the bulls that had a huge set if horns on him, "you wouldn't want to get on the wrong side of him!"

As they neared the main tent where The Pride kept a lot of their young animals and hunting dogs that were due to have pups, Dravite brought Cree to a slow walk and slipped from the Strider's back before letting the stallion wander off to tuck into some grass. He pat Knox on the neck and helped Pearl down before they approached the tent, quickly intercepted by a giant of a man with a dark beard who introduced himself as Saron Earthshadow, "how can I help you two today?"
Dravite signed his greetings before looking back at the giant herd which had finally settled again, "we've come buy some Zibri," he admitted, "someone I work with said you had a few extra animals to get rid of this fall?"
Saron nodded, "I’m expecting a hard winter after the summer we had, lots of cows; a few fine beasts we've been raising for quite some time."
"We are interested in buying quite a few cows and a couple of bulls."
"I've got a few young bulls I've been trying to sell for some time, but we don't usually let go of our breeding bulls."
"For the right price?" Dravite asked, testing the waters.
"It depends what you're looking to spend, we have people coming here all the time who end up going home with a handful of calves to raise on one cow."
Dravite looked at Pearl and smiled, they had discussed what they were willing to spend the night before and he was confident that this would get Saron's attention and make them seem like serious buyers, "if you let me pick a fine bull, I'll take two young ones off your hands as well."
Saron perked a brow, it seemed they had his attention, "and cows?"
"At least forty," Dravite told him, “every season”.
"Forty!" Saron boomed, "Right this way," he smiled, leading the pair into the thick of the herd.

[Pearl]

Dravite’s teasing brought a blush to her cheeks and she could feel the heat burning on them as he leaned over to kiss her. Knox shifted his weight as the two riders lingered. A loving smile remained on her lips as her husband righted himself upon his Strider. She leaned in to give a quick pat to Knox, before put the rabbit meat in the in the yvas bags with her medical bag.

She then clicked her tongue to the roof of her mouth and urged Knox out of the camp with a tap of her heal to his side. The Strider followed his commands easily, knowing his rider well, but he was straining against her as he wanted to move out of that trot she held him in with her clear commands.

When she felt Knox was warmed up enough, she let him advance slowly, giving him his verbal commands along with the clicks they were accustomed to using as part of their form of communication, to ease him into a canter, then a gallop once they reached the open territory.

Regardless of what Knox had wanted to do, Pearl was concentrating on keeping him controlled and responding to her commands when her husband howled his challenge. Not one to ever turn down a challenge, she leaned forward, legs tightening over Knox as she let him have his head; the race was on.

Knox in his determination to not be left behind had lunged forward once he received his command from Pearl. Pearl was concentrating on riding and keeping charge of her stallion. She was aware her husband and Cree were close as each edged forward, only to be over-taken by the other, as the race continued. The sudden hind kick from Knox nearly saw Pearl unseated, but she managed to grab hold of the yvas, her legs immediately grappling for a tighter hold upon Knox, who voiced his displeasure in an expulsion of air from his lungs that resembled a growl. Dravite, clearly the better rider, looked back to her, and she raised a hand to him once she was certain she was seated solidly again, and signed, steady.

Knox was pulled back and settled into a slower gait until the animal could be calmed enough to walk. As Cree neared, Knox shook his head and squealed at his counter-part. Pearl didn’t know what she was more fascinated with as they neared The Pride; her husband’s enthusiasm at the animals, or the animals themselves. “He’s beautiful,” she agreed as Dravite pointed out the bull. “Oh look at the white one! She’s so pretty. Could we get her, please?” came the gleeful whine as she stretched up to get a better look at the Zibri.

As Dravite helped her down from Knox, Pearl let her hand graze over her husband’s cheek; the rough scruff of his beard felt beneath her palm. Bluest eyes conveyed her love to him in that moment of silence before they were met by Saron Earthshadow. Pearl let Knox go off to graze with Cree; though the two didn’t get along when it was time for a ride, they were usually not too far away from one another when they were left to their own accord.

She was clearly fascinated as she kept quiet while Dravite talked with Saron. She was not a haggler or well versed in the ways of large purchases such as this, but she was quite happy to observe her husband doing such, learning as much as she could in the process. Pearl couldn’t hide the prideful smile that adorned her face when Dravite looked at her; she thought him magnificent in that moment, the way he was taking charge of the situation.

She was almost giddy as she took hold of Dravite’s hand when Saron began to lead them into the thick of the herd. “I want the white one,” she whispered to Dravite, a bounce in her step as she kept up with the men.


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[Dravite]

"All right, we'll get you the white one," Dravite smiled, keeping his voice low as he hung back with Pearl while Saron surged ahead, forging a path through the cattle.
"Watch their horns," he warned, "most of them have had a lot of handling, vets checks, brushing; we don't have too many wild cows here."
"What should we do with the males?" Dravite asked, "Do we keep them with the cows?"
"Of course," Saron nodded, "the more the better, they'll fight from time to time but their job is to keep the cows safe and they are quite good at it."

Dravite stilled and held his arm out to stop Pearl when a rather boisterous looking young bull danced in front of them, bucking and tossing his head about excitedly. Dravite made himself look big, like he had noticed Saron doing, waving his arms slowly so that the cows would move aside without too much trouble. When the path was clear they caught up to Saron and the horse lord kept his wife close.

"Do people prefer cows with horns?"
"Out here they do," Saron nodded, "great protection for the herd and their young while they are grazing out on the plain."
"Is one colour more desirable than another?"
"Red is the most common, then you have your black, tan, and white which is a lot rarer to come by. White is easier to dye of course, but red is the most popular; it all comes down to buyer's preference really."
"We would like a nice mix of cows, red and white if possible, maybe the odd black one."
"Age?"
Dravite looked at Pearl, they hadn't really discussed that, but he thought the younger the better, "a good breeding age, three to four years, nothing too old."
"You'll want cows that have had at least one calf this spring gone so that you don't run into too many issue come next spring."
"Do you get many birthing issues?"
"Not anymore, my family has spent years refining the herd so that we have only the best, most hardy Zibri, but nothing is ever certain when it comes to animals," Saron smiled back at them.

Dravite grinned, things seemed promising, he took Pearl's hand and gave it a gentle squeeze; this was their first big venture together. He pointed out some of the little calves and tried to work out what kind they would be hoping to breed in the next few years. There were Zibri with long thick hair and some that didn't look quite as impressive, those with stocky legs and big, round bellies, and others that were tall and thin.

"Here he is," Saron suddenly piped up, pointing out a massive beast with large horns and thick, red fur.
Dravite froze, he hadn't ever seen a bull quite so big before, "he is bigger than my horse," the man laughed apprehensively.
"He's a big boy, one of my finest," Saron admitted.
"And you're willing to sell him?"
"No," Saron laughed, "unless..."
Dravite folded his arms, "unless?"
"You take that one there."

Saron had pointed to a younger black and tan coloured bull that looked rather menacing, a lively, quick moving beast that seemed to be annoying some of the cows. Dravite felt his stomach tie itself in knots at the thought of keeping an animal like that anywhere near camp.
"We call him Dread," Saron laughed, "I don't think I need to explain why."
"No I think the name speaks for itself," Dravite agreed.
"He's a beautiful animal, we just don't have room for him in our breeding programme; we like our herds quiet."
Dravite sighed, Belkaia would kill him if the young bull hurt anyone, "too much to handle?"
Saron scratched his head, "if you take him you get the big red one, Mace, and I'll sell you one of my pet Bulls, Kane, we hand raised him; he is quite, good with dogs, people, you could ride him and he wouldn't flinch."
Dravite chuckled, "I get Mace if I take Dread and Kane?"
"You get Mace and Kane if you take Dread," Saron grinned.
"And you'll pick us a good herd of healthy, young cows?"
"You and your wife can take whichever you like."
Dravite smiled at Pearl, "what do you think?" He asked, "Why don't you go with Saron and find twenty cows you like the look of and I'll do the same?"

[Pearl]

“What about dog…..” her words stopped abruptly when Dravite’s arm came up before her. The young boisterous bull demanding more of her attention than her questions had, “whoa,” slipped out easily as she watched him. Her first instinct was to step closer to her husband, but as she noticed the men making themselves look larger to the bull, and cows, she did the same, albeit with one arm only, as she couldn’t seem to get herself to step too far away from Dravite.

Pearl was listening closely to Saron explain about the horns and what the bulls purpose was, other than to cover his females. She’d thought that they would have to get more dogs perhaps to run protection for the herd, but it seems the bulls would be helping out in that regard.

The calves had her attentions when Dravite pointed to them. She wandered a little closer to the smaller animals, leaving the men to talk more of the business side of things. She was beginning to form her own opinions about the cows she preferred, based solely on appearance alone, of course. The longer haired ones were quickly becoming her favourites. She was busy making friends with one of the calves, letting the animal get her scent before reaching out to touch and pet over his soft nose and ears when discussions of the bull came up.

The smaller calf butted his head at her thigh when she stilled in her petting of him; bluest eyes now had Dread in her line of sight. Belkaia wouldn’t be the only one enraged if that bull were to hurt someone. Already she was considering how much meat the bull would render were he to be butchered. They could eat well for the winter; the entire pavilion, perhaps a neighbouring family as well. His hide would look nice tanned and laid out over the boys’ bed. Another butt from the calf caused her to step forward clumsily and laugh. “Alright,” she began petting him once again; the creases in her forehead smoothing some; the blue flame of her eyes still flickering at Dread.

“Of course, love,” she responded to his suggestion of seeking out the twenty cows she preferred. She’d been paying attention to most of their conversation. When she stepped closer to her husband, the small calf followed.
“I think you’ve found a friend,” Saron grinned while motioning to the smaller woolly red calf at her thigh.
“He’s adorable.”
“That’s his mother there,” Saron pointed to the long red-haired cow standing there chewing her feed while she watched Pearl and her calf, “Mace is his sire. She’s bred again, so you’d be getting a three in one if you wanted her.”
“A three in one?” Pearl asked, clearly uneducated when it came to Zibri.
Saron chuckled, “A three in one, meaning if you take the cow, you get the calf, and the one in her belly.”
“Oh!” Pearl nodded, thinking that sounded like a good plan. “I’ll take her then, and that one,” she pointed to another white one she’d spotted.
“Good choices, on both.”

The bounce was back in Pearl’s step as she approached her husband; her twenty picked out and she was clearly proud of her choices. Her nose wrinkled a little when she saw Dread again. He was an aptly named bull, alright. Every time she saw him, she dread him. “He’s going to be trouble, or he’s going to be dinner,” she murmured; certain either statement was truth.


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[Dravite]

Dravite wandered around among the herd, treading carefully as not to upset the animals too much. He noticed a couple of Zibri with one or two calves latched to them and considered adding them to his collection. By the time he had marked down everything he wanted, the sun had become overbearing and the man couldn’t wait to get back to camp. He watched Pearl picking out her favourites with Saron, while he had gone for the more logical choices; a mix of solid colours that they would be able to work with, chocolate, white, black, and red, most of which had a lot of hair and were hopefully good milk producers.

When Saron was done speaking to Pearl he looked up from the calf he was scratching across the neck and smiled in Dravite’s direction, “Find everything you wanted?” He asked.
“And some,” the Watchman laughed, “The bull, with the two younger ones of course, twenty two cows and four calves,” he wondered then what his wife had picked out and smiled knowingly; Pearl too looked as if she were pleased with her purchases.
“Great,” Saron beamed and had some of his workers round up the Zibri as the three of them returned to The Pride’s main tent.

Saron picked up a piece of folded paper and an ink stick, working out the maths as he went, muttering to himself. Dravite put an arm around Pearl’s shoulders and drummed his fingers against the woman’s arm, doing the maths in his head slowly.
“What do you make of it?” Saron inquired.
“Eight hundred and five gold,” Dravite told him.
Saron scratched away with his ink stick at the paper again, going down the list, “One bull, one hundred, two young ones, two cows with four calves; two hundred,” He mumbled, “Then we have forty cows and one calf, that’s six hundred and five… which brings up to eight hundred and five gold miza in total.”

The horse lord smiled and paid Saron five hundred gold, leaving the remaining three hundred and five for Pearl. Saron gave them some papers and shook Dravite’s hand, “Pleasure doing business with you, young man.”
“Blackwater,” Dravite offered, “You’ll be seeing us again this winter.”
“I won’t forget the name,” the giant smiled, “The Zibri will be ready for you to drive home with your horses, make sure you weave enough Satalu for the whole herd. We usually place them around one of the horns to keep them secure and stop them from annoying the cows.”
Dravite nodded, that was another thing they would need to spend some time doing, “We’ll make sure they all have their colours as quickly as possible,” he smiled, “thank you for all your help this morning.”
“My pleasure!” Saron boomed, “If you have any more questions, we’re always here to help.”

Respect, friendship, gratitude, admiration, Dravite signed before taking his leave to go and find Cree, who had stayed surprisingly close to Knox. He got up onto the stallion’s back and took a fistful of Knox’s hair, leading the bigger horse around to where Pearl stood, guiding his own Strider with one hand on the yvas, using his feet and voice to steer, “Ready?” he grinned, offering for Pearl to take the lead.

Ledger1 x Zibri Bull 100 GM
2 x Zibri Young Bull 50 GM
22 x Zibri Cows 330 GM
4 x Zibri Calf 20 GM
Total: 500 GM

[Pearl]

Dravite’s arm around her was a pleasant comfort and she was content for the men to carry out the business end of the purchase. It wasn’t that she was unconcerned, but more so that she trusted her husband to handle it well, and the excitement of the day’s purchase had her a little too preoccupied to pay too close attention to the details and finalities. She happily paid her portion, three hundred and five gold mizas, to Saron, secretly impressed that her husband had handled the math in his head so quickly.

Her last experience with herding animals hadn’t gone so well and she wasn’t certain this one was going to go any better. Dread was on her mind and the creases had formed upon her forehead once again at the thought of the bull. Being drawn back into the conversation by Saron’s booming voice, she smiled up to the man. Pearl began to chew on the inside of her jaw as she contemplated how long it was going to take them to make the Satalu for all the Zibri they had just purchased. It would likely be a pleasant task, if it took them several bells or evenings to finish, she thought, as they could all sit and talk whilst they weaved them, but best to have it done quickly for the sake of the Zibri and the Blackwater.

Pearl signed her regards to Saron on her way out with her husband, respect, gratitude, pleasure. She swung herself up on Knox’s back easily and shifted so she was sitting well upon her Strider. Reaching out, she touched her husband’s arm, her fingers curling in against the fabric of his shirt to hold to it for a tick while she looked at him before letting go so she could sign, love, gratitude, happiness. “Aye, ready, but I have no idea how we are actually going to get this lot back without trampling half of Endrykas in the process,” she said in jest.

Knox and Pearl did their best to keep their side of the herd moving towards the middle and forward as they began to make their way to the Diamond Clan’s grazing areas. Her brow was creased, but in concentration this time, instead of at Dread, though he was a concern still and hadn’t made their effort in herding the Zibri any easier at all. She looked to Dravite often for his guidance in this endeavour, along with his reassurance that she was doing what she needed to be doing.

It wasn’t surprising to her in the least when she noticed the Zibri circling the smaller calves into a circle in the middle of them so they could protect them against the presence of the bulls, especially Dread. That thought brought a smile to her face when she realized the cows didn’t trust him any more than she did. She took solace in the fact that at least he wouldn’t be so close to camp and the boys.

Just as she thought she was getting the hang of herding the cattle, Dread decided he would make it interesting. He began pushing at one of the cows, trying to shove his way through towards the middle and the smaller calves; using his horns to cut a path open. “Hey!” Pearl called out as she and Knox cut in towards the grouping, trying to separate him back out.

When she and Knox had stepped in towards the herd, the cows took up in the opposite direction, leaving her and Knox alone to face off with Dread. The young bull lowered his head and circled to come back around and challenge the Strider and his rider. Pearl, uncertain as to what to do next, held Knox in his spot; backing away she feared would lose her dominance over the bull, charging forward she feared would enter her and Knox directly into accepting the challenge.


Ledger20 Zibri cows 300GM
1 Zibri calf 5GM

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[Dravite]

Moving the herd was a lot of fun and Dravite could tell Cree found the new challenge enjoyable. The stallion was light on his feet, stopping and starting quickly to change up his direction on a whim and chase any of the stray Zibri back into line. It made for a wild ride and Dravite could feel the muscles in his mid-section and legs start to complain for all the riding he had done this morning. He moved his feet swiftly in an attempt to keep up with the horse and steer him alongside the herd, making sure the Strider did not go too fast that he upset the animals and caused them to scatter.

It was Dread who proved difficult; of course, any Zibri with a ring in his nose was bound to be a bit of a pest. When the young bull turned to challenge Knox and Pearl, Dravite switched up his direction to ride over to his wife quickly, yelling at the bull to get back in line. Dread was all for taking on a horse, but two side by side was a lot more intimidating than one on its own and the young bull jumped sideways before turning to re-join the herd. "He will be fun to put the Satalu on," Dravite laughed before going back to his work.

When they reached the Diamond grazing grounds the animals were quick to settle, tucking into the lush grass that was still fresh, being that the season of fall had only just begun and the land had not seen a hundred days of heavy grazing yet. The Zibri were spoilt for choice and not likely to wander far, trained to circle the expanse of the city unless driven further by the horse people. Dravite was impressed to see that the mothers with their calves knew to centre themselves in the middle of the herd while the males grazed the outskirts, ready to take on any challenges that might present themselves.

Dravite ordered Cree to gallop in order to catch up with Knox and Pearl. When he came up alongside the two of them he smiled like a child, "we did good, wife. I'll stop at the market on the way back to camp and fetch us some yarn to make a start on the Satalu; see you when I get there?"

The marketplace was just starting to get busy and Dravite slipped down from Cree's back to lead the horse through the city streets and pay for what he needed. The trip home was slower than he might have liked and when he finally walked into camp, he was pleased to be away from all of the chatter and shuffling of quick moving feet.

The horse lord would not forget his duties, leaving them to his wives like he had in the summer, and stood back to remove the yvas from Cree before collecting the brush to groom the animal, brushing out all of the hair that had come loose from his coat. Twice he had to clean the brush out before the job was done and Cree looked a lot better for it, "I think he is losing more hair than normal because of this heat," Dravite mentioned, "usually his winter coat is starting to come through by now, or at least make a start."

They had been fortunate to have such good weather, but even Dravite knew that it wouldn't last long. He sat down in front of the fire pit on the remaining log and cut some of the coloured yarn away in even lengths to start practicing the pattern he wanted to weave for the Satalu. The colours were a nice representation of the Blackwater pavilion and Diamond Clan; black, white, and blue. He started by tying the three lengths of yarn together before twisting the pieces over each other in a very basic weave; Dravite could tell it was going to take some time to master the pattern sketched down in one of his notebooks, "I hope you're better at this than me," he teased Pearl when she finally moved to just in him," already struggling to recall which colour needed to be turned next.

Ledger3 x Yarn -1 GM 5 SM

[Pearl]

Never had she been so thankful to see her husband, granted she loved him, and her love for him was growing every day, but when he presented himself to quickly to help her back down Dread she was truly pleased to see him. Dread snorted his displeasure at being double teamed by the spouses and fell back in with the herd. “Won’t he though?” she met her husband’s laugh with one of her own. She was not looking forward to being the one to help put the Satalu on Dread.

It amazed her how easy it was to integrate their small herd with those already settled on the Diamond Clan’s grazing grounds but she was glad to see it just the same. She watched for a time, making sure she would be able to spot her and Dravite’s Zibri from the herd with ease for when it was time to place the Satalu on them. She had never taken to weaving well, but this was something she would have to learn, and quickly.

She was still looking over the herd, a smile upon her face when Dravite and Cree approached. At least this time Knox and Cree didn’t try and take bites from one another; the moving of the herd having made them both much more complacent towards one another and their competitiveness set aside for the moment as they’d had to work together to ensure the safety and well-being of their riders as well as the herd during the short drive to the grazing grounds. Pearl reached for Dravite, leaning to give him a kiss before he left for the market. “Of course, love,” she smiled and signed, grateful, love, to him as he turned to take his leave.

Pearl took advantage of the opportunity to tend to Knox’s feet while she waited for her husband to return to camp. She was, of course, tired herself, but so was Knox and his fidgeting was likely to be lessened due to that very fact. Once he was watered, she took the pick from kit and began to clean out his feet, being sure to check them for cracks or splitting. “I promised you a trim, didn’t I?” she reminded Knox as well as herself. “Let’s get it done as quickly as we can, hmm,” she said as she reached for the rasp and began to work on the left front foot she already had on her knees. She wasn’t as well versed with a rasp as her husband, but she kept the slow pace and used a steady pressure to help make certain Knox’s feet were even. Knox was too tired to protest much aside from the occasional swish of his tail at her as she made her way around all four of his feet.

She was reasonably pleased with her progress when she exchanged the rasp for the brush, giving Knox back all of his feet. The Strider craned his neck around and nuzzled at her shoulder as she set about brushing his back and sides. “Mm, yes, Knox is the same,” she answered Dravite from the other side of her Strider. Once she was finished, she gathered her tack and put it back its proper place.

She halved a carrot and took it to the boys, offering a half to each of them. “Do Momma a favour, please? Give these to Knox and Cree for me? They both worked very hard today.”
Kyanite and Garrison both looked happy as the raced off towards the horses with their offering; Kyanite helping his younger brother along the way.

Pearl walked over to the log and sat down next to Dravite at the fire pit, picking up the pieces of yarn and tying a knot in one end of them so she could begin her attempt at weaving the Satalu. It started out not much differently from weaving a braid into her own hair and she was able to get the first few weaves into place easily enough. Leaning in against him she looked over at his sketch in his notebook and worked her fingers to weave the yarn into a pattern that resembled the one he had drawn. “Och, I doubt that I am, but at least no one will be able to get close enough to Dread to really know the difference,” she winked at her husband, a rather mischievous grin on her face.




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