by Toppyrocks » Mon Apr 11, 2011 9:26 am
The large arenas and courses lay in the near distance from Nateria and her three beasts. After several days of trekking, they were finally within sight of their destination. “Well, Octavius, are you ready for all of this?” She reached down to pat the sleipnir, her beast that she had ridden most of the way. He was the best fit for riding long distances, he could keep a steady pace for a long way, and was comfortable. Hurricane was alright to ride, but Nat didn’t need to stress him out with any more burden then he already had. Of all of them, Hurricane had the most delicate mind. And Spectrum, well, she would become testy if Nat rode her for more than a few hours, as well as it would be more exhausting for her.
Soon the quartet neared the arenas, and it was still only mid- afternoon. The first place that Nat headed for was the water stalls. Putting Hurricane away first was her priority, for if he saw how many other beasts were here he might become nervous.
“Good boy, Hurricane.” She patted him as she took off his headgear so he could enter the water. Hurricane slipped into the water with a small splash, dipped below the surface for a few minutes before resurfacing near Nat. One of his heads reached out to nudge her gently, causing her to take a step back with a laugh. “You’re happy, are you?” She patted his head gently before scratching the soft scales on his head near his neck. “Now, I’m taking Octavius and Spectrum to the stable, but I’ll be back, alright, mighty beast?” She told him. With a last pat she turned to leave after closing the gate behind her.
Nat untied her other two beasts from the waiting post where she had left them and walked towards the stable. Even though they had been travelling for days, Octavius somehow still found the energy to prance around like a yearling, head held high and nostrils flaring.
“Calm down, horse!” Nat told him, pulling on the reins a bit to try and get him to focus on her. She might as well have been some kind of bug, because he didn’t even flick his ears in her direction. Instead, he let out a high-pitched, shrill whinny announcing his presence. “Octavius!” Nat said sharply, still trying to get him to focus. “Everyone will know who you are tomorrow if we win, but wasting your energy now won’t help!” She scolded. Slowly he lowered his head and slowed to a normal walk, as if he understood what she was saying.
After Nat settled her beasts into their stalls, fed them and did a final cleaning of her tack, she went back to visit Hurricane once more and feed him, too. By that time it was nearly dark, and she only had enough time to get herself some dinner before going to bed.
*~*~*
Bright and early the next morning Nat was in the stables feeding Spectrum and Octavius. Spectrum was her usual self, not caring much about the activity going on around her, but it was obvious that Octavius was eager to start the races.
“I’m sorry, fella, but this isn’t your turn today.” She scratched his forehead. “You don’t hunt, Hurricane does. So you just wait for your turn, boy.” She told her sleipnir. She loved all her beasts, but because Octavius had been hers since he was a foal he had a special spot in her heart.
Nat headed over to Hurricane who had just finished his breakfast. The night before she had left out his food for a stable hand to feed him. Unlike some beasts, Nat had trained hers to be calm enough for other people to handle with relative safety. After hearing the announcement a little while before, Nat knew who her hunting partner was, and that she needed Hurricane ready now. His tack only took a few minutes to put on, the head piece only going on one of his heads. Hurricane's heads worked in a way that one was a sort of 'leader' and the rest sort of just did what they were told. He never argued with himself, and all the heads had the same personality. Any information that the heads picked up was sent to the main head for processing, and Hurricane acted from there.
"You're a strong beast, and you can win this." Nat told him confidently while she finished preparing. Together, the two headed for the arena where they would find their partner. "We're ready." Nat was relaxed. Surprisingly enough, Hurricane wasn't as nervous as he usually was, he was fairly relaxed.
Now, where's this Crest? Nat wondered as she searched through the other people and beasts. Most people had flying or grounded beasts, but because of Hurricane's build he was fine out of water too. He could breath air, and had claws that were great on land as well.
"Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better, it's not."
-Dr. Suess