Cure for Everything [Kat]

[‡§åkørü‡]

Keldraza wasn't sure what she was supposed to doing. She'd only arrived here an hour or two ago, and had been told that she could do whatever she liked until tomorrow, when she would officially join the other candidates in their lessons. Truthfully, the prospect of having to find something to do in this gigantic place scared her. Knowing no one at all, except for K'ean and his Seronaph (of whom she still stood in awe), the candidate had no one to talk to. And, not being much of an extrovert, she was hesitant to go anyplace with lots of people in it. Who was to say that the people here even wanted another candidate?

Of course, the great grey Eceph had clutched recently, and there was supposed to be a hatching soon. For this the Sayaie-born girl was undeniably excited. Simourvs stoked her admiration as nothing but horses could, and she'd fallen in love with them. All of them were worthy of admiration - there wasn't an ugly beast among them, and she was sure that they were all fairly bright, too. If not... well, who cared? They were simourvs!

She wasn't infatuated at all. Oh no. Of course not.

But there were other things for her to do besides gawp at the beautiful creatures that occasionally flew overhead! Recalling that she'd brought her horse with her, Keldraza set off in the direction of the stables. It didn't take her long to locate Azreiax, set apart in his own little stall with food and water provided. He looked up and nickered when he saw her, and with a smile, the tall girl leaned on the door. "Hey, handsome. Makin' out all right?" she inquired warmly. The colt snorted and approached the door, which his owner promptly opened. She'd grabbed his halter off the nail outside the stall; deftly putting it on, she snapped on a lead rope too and smiled. It took only a moment for her to pause and kiss his soft nose, watching it wrinkle as he pulled away from the contact. Still, despite his nerves, the Shire already seemed reasonably content here. Deciding to risk it, despite her knowledge of what could happen with a spooked horse, Kel pushed open the stall door and led her horse outside, down the aisle and into the canyon proper. She wouldn't work him today - he was too stressed out, but she thought that a walk would do him good, as well as her.

This thought in mind, she led him to a more secluded area of the canyon, and there stopped. Azreiax snorted and looked at her; she reached out and stroked his neck affectionately. "S'okay, boy. I just don't want anything to startle you. Look around for a minute or two. Get used to this place, hey? Does that sound like a good idea?" Smiling, Keldraza caught the colt's cheeks in both hands and held his face in front of her, resting her forehead lightly on his. "Easy, sweetheart. See? It's all safe. I'm here for you."

And she was. Though she eventually released his muzzle so that he could look around, she never tied him up or walked off. Instead, she stood next to him, the lead rope held lightly in one hand, stroking his powerful black shoulder, and surveyed the canyon as well. She didn't know where to go from here... which was part of the reason why she'd stopped. She didn't want to get lost and end up somewhere a simourv would scare Azreiax, or stumble into too many unfriendly people who would also scare him. And so she stayed where she was, rubbing the horse's soft hide. The feeling of it dissolved her own stress; she'd once heard that petting an animal was good for every kind of ailment. That theory was proving itself correct once again.

[Kat]

Isabel had always been good with horses. Her father had ensured that she was trained to interact with them, solely because few people in Itnala had any horsemanship training. In fact, Isabel was one of the few people who owned horses that Jackson could think of in his area, and she was good with them. And so when Jackson saw other people with horses, he often watched them. This person, Jackson thought was male, but the more he watched, the more he decided otherwise. She, though, if she was female, looked nothing like his wife, which meant that when Rue protested his inattention by pressing her muzzle against his face, Jackson dropped his gaze towards his llama companion. He had named her for his wife’s first horse, Rue, who had died long before he married Isabel and lived only in her stories. Rue’s mouth was coated in slobber, and the drool transferred to Jackson’s cheek. He brushed it away with the back of his hand.

One of the stable hands had suggested he come outside to walk Rue. He had been at a loss about what to do with her, and allowing her to sit in the stable with no attention. The candidate lessons and chores kept Jackson almost constantly busy, and so Rue’s livelihood was often forgotten. She was being properly care of by the stable hands, even though she was one of the only llamas in the stables, but Jackson felt guilty that he did not attend to her himself. So, today, they were taking a walk, and Jackson lead the brown, fluffy animal around the Canyon Bed by a leather lead around her neck and muzzle. They walked slowly, because Rue refused to move any faster than her leisurely pace, which left Jackson time to be distracted by the other nearby person.

Even though Jackson watched Keldraza, he did not approach her. At one time in his life, he would have done that, bounded towards her waving his hand and grinning, but he abandoned that mentality years ago. His lips tightened, and he did nod to her, so that he would not appear to be staring without reason. She did not have a simourv with her, so he wondered if that meant she was a candidate. He had never seen her at lessons before. Rue decided that she did not want to move any further, and she sat down, leaving Jackson to tug on the rope he held. He tugged a bit more, only to have Rue grunt and shake her head. This day was not going as planned.

[‡§åkørü‡]

Keldraza stood petting Azreiax for some time. Bit by bit, the colt calmed down, until at last his ears flicked only slightly to catch new sounds. The only time he spooked was when a green simourv soared overhead, and even then he settled down again quickly, standing sedately at his owner's side. Pleased, the dark-skinned girl smiled and rewarded him by reaching up to scratch his ears lovingly. "Good boy. Very good boy," she praised, leaning in to rest her forehead momentarily against the soft neck. The horse didn't react beyond giving a soft snort and twitching his ears.

This was progress, and, excited by it, Keldraza grinned and stroked the warm neck enthusiastically. It was at this point that she noticed someone else standing nearby, and the grin faded, to be replaced with a reasonably friendly but also wary look. When the man nodded, she did too, acknowledging him as he had acknowledged her. Wondering if it had been Azreiax that had attracted his attention, the horse trainer glanced at her companion thoughtfully, and then noticed her audience's llama and its refusal to move when he tugged on the lead in his hand.

Instantly Kel took a few steps forward, wondering if he needed her help. Llamas weren't horses, this was true, but they were still animals... which meant she liked them all the same. Still, aware that she might not be entirely welcome, she offered a small smile and tilted her head a little, noting the tight expression on the man's face and matching her tone to it - friendly, but cautious. "Cute llama," she commented, wondering if it would be prudent to point out his troubles in getting it to move. Her mind said no, and Keldraza decided to go with it. "What's its name?"

Azreiax didn't seem as alarmed as he normally would have been by this presence. Indeed, he seemed quite interested in the man; although he kept his distance as he would always have done, the look in his eye was not frightened. It was more interested than anything else, and Keldraza duly noted it. Horses seemed to have a sixth sense for people; whether it was this or some other factor she couldn't say. But his interest was definitely focused on the man, and not the llama - although the latter received a soft nicker of greeting from the horse. There was obviously something noteworthy about this man, although Kel couldn't for the life of her tell exactly what it was. Maybe she'd find out, though.

[/center]