[CertainNorth]

This Gypsy is not up for adoption.

This is reydiant's Summer Event Yearling!

Fill this out for me, reydiant ^^
Username: reydiant
Show Name: Regal Dovesong
Barn Name: Dove
Gender: Mare
Height: 17.2 hh
Eye Color: Bright Pale Blue
Genotype: EE Ata Gg

[song&storm]

She's a beauty ;u; I'll get back to you with a name as soon as I can!!

Username: reydiant
Show Name: Regal Dovesong
Barn Name: Dove
Gender: Mare
Height: 17.2 hh
Genotype: EE Ata Gg

Will be doing a mix of art and writing for this babe.

⦔ First meeting - This is when you'll meet your yearling when you come
to pick them up at the official Hyrulian Gypsy barn.
⦔ Taking home - Seoul wants you to let her know what the ride home was
like, and how unloading them went.
⦔ Settling in/making friend - She also wants you to let her know about
any friends your yearling might have made at your stables.
⦔ Halter breaking - *perks up* I think I'm more interested in this than
Seoul is, I'd love to know how halter breaking your yearling went! Maybe I could
tell you about the time I first halter broke my own horse!
⦔ Green breaking (either all tack, or break it into steps?) - *goes back
to being quiet* Seoul would be interested in knowing how the general breaking of
your yearling went. Let her know how you introduced the tack to your Gypsy.
⦔ Green breaking w/ rider - *giggles to himself* Seoul wouldn't mind at
all if you let her know how it went once you mounted your Gypsy for the first time.
Actually, everyone over at the official barn is curiously, let us know!
⦔ First training - *studies the next task before looking up at you with a
blank face* Let us know how and what you did with their first training lesson. Did
you just go over basics, or did you jump right into getting them to learn their
picked discipline?
⦔ Bonus image/story (free space) - *scratches his head* Dang it, Seoul..
Why do you make my job hard.. *looks back up at you with an awkward smile* So
for this one just let us know something fun you and you yearling did. Or maybe
your yearling wants to let us know how the whole going to a knew home went?

[song&storm]

➶ ＦＩＲＳＴ ＭＥＥＴＩＮＧ ➶

I have permission to use my OC, Valyana, for the story!
This will probably be the only lengthy story in task,
the rest will probably be shorter and mostly art.
The Hyrule in this story is not related to the Hyrule in TLoZ.

One may skip to the second divider,
the first part is mostly introductory, and
merely just to lend some context to the story.

"Your Grace, welcome to the Hyrulian Stables!"

The stable doors opened to reveal a stocky man in his late 30's. He approached the ambassadress's party with practiced steps, all smiles and unmistakably welcoming gestures. Overcompensating for the thick accent, the ambassadress thought. It was quite theatrical actually, if not for the sweat that clung his body, staining his decorative suit, visible even from this distance. Hyrulian summers were notorious, but the Empire of Xityx, located in the northern isles, is a country blessed with cool climate throughout the year. Even the subterranean city froze in wintertime. Thus the Xityxi dressed conservatively - maybe a little more than they should - and the man had obviously donned on some more layers to look "proper" for them.

Valyana was touched by the effort, and tried to return the smile as confidently as possible, but it proved difficult with the afternoon sun bearing down on them. She had already begun to regret her choice of clothing herself - a high collared shirt, trousers, and a coat with the colors of the Empire. She could also feel her party getting a little clammy and dyspeptic, their mounts' stamping hooves sending eddies of sand in the air. But she was royalty, and she should not show her discomfort to her subjects.

Hyrule is an island for the most part, untouched by the industrial revolution. Distrustful and proud, it has refused all contact with the Empire until the droughts brought the food production to a standstill a couple years ago. The Empire promised a generous ration of food supply, among other things, in exchange for its loyalty - and Hyrule had no choice but to swallow their pride. Allies rich in natural resources are essential. Relations had gone smoothly, but recently the Empire was not pleased with its ships being attacked and looted by Hyrulian pirates. She has been sent here to strengthen the trade laws and discuss other treaties, but Valyana had wanted to visit the stables first as soon as they landed their ships on the piers. This was her idea of relaxing before attending to business. She had been promised a yearling from their finest breeder - Anzel.

One word Valyana would describe here is traditional, and perhaps outdated, yet there is something to be respected here. How else has this island resisted the Empire's rule for so long? The Hyrulians practice ancient magical arts not documented in any library anywhere. They craft swords of legendary ability, concoct powerful spells (rumor has it that even this drought has been caused by a crazed Hyrulian warlock), and of course, breed exotic, powerful draft horses. Hyrule sent the imperial family a herd two years earlier as a gift, and while most of them went to the army, Valyana took one of them and spoiled Charybdis to bits, her first Hyrulian Gypsy.

Steadying her grip on her reins, she urged her throughbred to trot forward, distinguishing her from the rest of her group. "I am pleased to meet you, Lord Anzel." Anzel blushed - or perhaps it was because of the heat? - apparently flattered that the ambassadress deemed him important enough to know his name beforehand, as well as address him as a lord. It was a common Xityxi address for noblemen, but no one uses titles in the island. Anzel had been tasked with escorting the young highness, to make a good impression for the sake of Hyrule. He had been practicing his rusty Xityxi tongue in the past weeks, and so far everything was going as best as it could be. He had been sweating more to nervousness and pressure than the heat, honestly.

"Perhaps Your Grace would like to," he paused, trying to remember the word, "...rest? We could set up a room for you and your party up in our villa."

"Thank you for your generosity, your lordship. I think my companions would like to rest," - a collective sigh of relief from behind - "but I shall proceed with my selection."

"Very well, then." Anzel returned. He did not understand a few words, but he could still discern what the ambassadress had meant by the excitement in her voice.

The rest of her party was lead away by the head servant - also dressed (and sweating) in the same fashion as Anzel. Smiling to herself, Valyana dismounted from her horse in one swift movement and walked over to the stable master. "So, where shall I begin?"

Perhaps Anzel had been overwhelmed - he had not expected the lady to be this tall. She could easily be just a bit below eye level from the gypsy horses. "E-Er, right this way." A while later, he added "your grace," mentally kicking himself for forgetting.

Valyana was welcomed inside the stables, and she was instantly greeted by the smell of hay and sweat. With the combination of the high ceiling, candlelit chandeliers, and rows of open windows, the stables were cast in a warm afternoon glow. As Anzel began barking orders to the stable hands in their tongue, dozens of pairs of curious equine eyes - blues, hazels, and cocoas - rested on the silver-haired visitor.

This was going to be a long day.

After trying out on more or less 15 yearlings at the indoor track, Valyana had chosen a bay gypsy with a star in between his eyes. It had been a difficult decision really -- there had been little difference between the horses, who were trained rigorously the moment they were weaned. Most of the draft horses simply and meekly followed her commands, but this one had a mind of his own. He was intelligent, made his own decisions, but never defied an order.

"Excellent choice, your Grace," Anzel beamed.

She wiped her brow with the back of her hand. The last of the sun's orange streaks filtered through the high windows, signifying the approach of nighttime. "He's marvelous, as one would expect from your stables. He would make good friends with Charybdis." She dismounted with a single swift motion, just like earlier today, and then patted the equine's broad forehead. A young boy took her horse's reins, slyly stealing sidelong glances at the ambassadress.

"Of course! This stallion came from a line of ancient Hyrulian warhorses..." Anzel proudly recited the horse's heritage, but a commotion outside the stables caught Valya's attention. Turning her head towards the open doors, a seal bay horse was resisting follow two stable hands, rearing and pulling against his halter reins. The horse was finally successfully tied to a post, but it still thrashed around, the stable hands fighting to keep the horse calm.

"A-Apologies, your Grace!" He went as red as Hyrulian rubies. "That one, ah, truly ...unfortunate. That mare is of excellent pedigree. Come to think of it, she is a sister of your chosen steed!" He remarked happily, praising himself with his good memory, but then proceeded to the rest of the story grimly. "Last year, she going to be shipped to a Uru breeder, along with many others. But these blasted pirates made off with my ship and took the foals! We managed to track her months later at a filthy blackmarket auction house... she is the only one we saved, but we can't tame her anymore." Anzel explained, hoping that he had not tarnished his stable's reputation with an unruly horse.

The ambassadress processed this information. "And so... you'll put her down?" Valyana frowned. Outside, the mare had calmed down a bit, but it still snorted threateningly at the stable hands when they tried to approach her.

"We tried everything. Unfortunately this is the way things go, your Grace." He flashed her an apologetic smile. After a respectable silence, he gestured grandly back to Valya's bay stallion, quickly shifting the topic. "So, back. We shall send your horse to your ships before you will depart - yes boy, bring him back to his stable..."

Valya cast her wistful gaze on the doomed mare, and for a brief moment, their eyes met. Grey against sapphire blue, reminding her of someone out there...