This thread is dedicated to the Narakari, a species created by Yamaneko. Here she and I post stories about the species to make it easier to understand the species, their origins and the Meadows itself. Only Yamaneko and myself are allowed to post here, at some rare occasions guest authors may be allowed to post after we revise the text in order it follows our official view of the Narakari. But mostly no guest authors aren't allowed!
But comments are always welcome, whether you're a customer or just someone who happens to stumble over this thread.
Table of contents
Earning Trust
It's showtime
Hunt and Eggs
Bonding
Official Narakari Stories
Forum rules
Please only post your own original work, do not post poetry or stories which were written by someone else.
Please only post your own original work, do not post poetry or stories which were written by someone else.
5 posts
• Page 1 of 1
Official Narakari Stories
by Death of Fantasy » Sat Mar 09, 2013 6:58 am
Last edited by Death of Fantasy on Fri May 10, 2013 5:58 am, edited 5 times in total.
Where ere thou hast been,here or in yon world manifest.
Canst thou tell what is, or what was,
or what is to come?
No thing shall last
and there are things that shall never change.
History is written in blood,
yet are battles really lost
on the battlefields?
Canst thou tell me whence thou comest
and where thou goest
and what is, or what was, or what is to come?
For everything remains as it never was.
© Eluveitie - Otherworld
Canst thou tell what is, or what was,
or what is to come?
No thing shall last
and there are things that shall never change.
History is written in blood,
yet are battles really lost
on the battlefields?
Canst thou tell me whence thou comest
and where thou goest
and what is, or what was, or what is to come?
For everything remains as it never was.
© Eluveitie - Otherworld
-
Death of Fantasy - Posts: 4849
- Joined: Fri May 14, 2010 5:27 am
- My pets
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Earning Trust
by Death of Fantasy » Sun Mar 10, 2013 9:57 pm
Well, I suppose some of you wonder how I met Rúnyondo and Morelen, don’t you? So finally the time has come to tell you about this. But beware, you might be faced with some horrors you never thought they would truly exist! This one isn’t for the faint-hearted.
One beautiful and sunny day I was wandering through the forest (I absolutely love forests!), in order to enjoy the smell and the trees and just everything around me. I inhaled the air deep as I walked and sometimes even closed my eyes for a few steps. I listened closely to the sounds around me. The rustling of the trees and the chirping of the birds. And, very rarely, the cracking of deer, fleeing from my presence. I felt a bit sad the wild animals learned to fear the human kind. I wandered, until I arrived the piece of forest I secretly dubbed “Hansel and Gretel wood” for it is very dark, cold and therefore muffles many sounds. I know these woods very well, since I happened to visit them very often, but today was different. I was used to the birds chirping dying down in this part of the woods, but even the wind had died down. I was a bit puzzled. It was sad everything had died down there. From the corner of my eye I thought to see a shadow, walking in the woods, but as soon as I looked to the spot nothing was there. I frowned, but continued walking. Some more times I was able to spot this mysterious shadow, but every time I looked straight at it, nothing was to find. As I shook my head, I concentrated myself on the path, when I spotted a track I hadn’t seen before. Curious I followed it, where it lead me to some kind of grotto.
I entered it, since I heard water rippling inside. There had to be some spring inside. The grotto was larger than I thought. And I was right. Some water was rippling into a small pond, but something dark was oozing into the water. I can’t say why, but I felt the urge to touch the water and then I fainted.
As I regained consciousness I woke up in the wood again, but all colours looked a bit faded, like they were washed out. And something was different. I wasn’t in the grotto anymore. The spring was there, but no grotto and the woods looked different too. Then I saw the shadow again and as I looked… I saw a sorrel tricorn.
As it noticed I spotted it, it fled, but I got up and followed it as fast as I could. It didn’t take much long, until I arrived the edge of the forest and before me a steppe stretched out. Far away it seemed as if the steppe itself turned into a sand desert, but I couldn’t really tell. In the distance I saw the tricorn, galloping away. Not knowing what to do and where I was I looked around me. The sky looked darker and with some gleams of red. Where exactly was I?
I looked behind me, but sadly I couldn’t really reconstruct the way back to the spring. Darn me, I had been too busy hunting that strange tricorn, that I was stuck there. Great. I followed the sorrel tricorn, since I saw, where it vanished. Hopefully I would find it and since he would need to eat and drink I could probably find something for me as well. Sometimes I heard some strange noises out of the forest, like there were enormous birds. Then I didn’t know what really lurked there in the shadows. But soon I would. A swarm of birds rose from the trees, at least that had been what I thought at that time, but it rapidly came closer until I noticed, what they really were and that they headed towards me: Harpies! Now I was certain I was dreaming. Since there was no other explanation.
‘You don’t belong here. You are not a human soul of the dead!’, the harpies shrieked and I frowned. But I didn’t have enough time to think more about these ominous words, as I feared their sharp claws, so I ran as fast as I could. I ran until I couldn’t do another step, fearing the harpies with their wings, but as I looked back they were gone. I was relieved, until I noticed a shadow was falling on me. Fearing what I might see, I faced… the tricorn, which looked at me with some contempt. It was as if he gestured me the same the harpies said and I shook my head.
‘I don’t know how.’, I answered and the tricorn jumped towards me, and I stumbled backwards an fell, and then he walked away. “Hey, wait!”, but it didn’t react to my calling and sped up.
I continued following it, when it suddenly vanished. I hesitated a bit, but then I walked on, only to see a small herd of tricorns. Astonished I watched them from some distance, so they might not notice me. The sorrel one made pretty clear he didn’t wish me near him. So I watched them from a distance. I was right, they had something to eat and something to drink. Though everything looked pretty faded, it would hopefully just do it. I slept a bit far the tricorn herd and followed their wanderings through this strange world my dreams created, since I was absolutely sure I was dreaming. Every day I tried not to be noticed by them and I thought I succeeded. What I didn’t know is that the Narakari just planned to ignore me, so I might vanish. But after some time, due to my stubbornness, they draw a bit near me, out of curiosity. One morning, after some weeks, I woke, seeing the stallion standing over me and sniffing at me. As he noticed I was awake, he backed a bit away, but not as much as always.
Over the weeks I earned more of his trust and other members of his herd were allowed to visit me too. At first they were pretty shy, and I tried not to move, when they were near, so they wouldn’t think I attacked them or such things.
One day, I was finally allowed to touch the sorrel stallion. At first he twitched, at my touch, but soon he learned I didn’t want to do anything to him.
‘Would you please show me the way to the spring?’, I asked, hoping, that he would understand. A little moment he hesitated, then he began to walk into some direction and I followed him, as did his herd. During our travel through the desert I saw some silhouettes in the distance, but I couldn’t make out what they exactly were. Eventually I came to realize I wasn’t dreaming, but I can’t tell how, somehow I just… knew it. As I came more close to the sorrel stallion, I came more close to his second-in-command, a chestnut mare. But still the stallion didn’t allow me to touch any of his subjects and if I tried they flew or the stallion shooed me away.
Finally we reached the forest and after a short walk the spring. I touched his shoulder and my fingers wandered to the dark heart on his neck. As I touched the dark heart the stallion snorted impatiently, as to goat me, to return already.
‘Okay, okay, I understand, you want me gone!’, I said, my hands defensively in the air. The stallion snorted again and I looked him into his strange green eyes. ‘Thank you, Rúnyondo.’, That name suddenly crossed my mind. After I spent so much time with him, I just thought it fitting to give him a name. The stallion snorted again and pushed me towards the spring. I heard the shrieking of the harpies and understood. ‘I will return!’, I promised and then I touched the spring’s water. Again everything went black and I awoke… in the grotto. I knew I must have been some months in this strange place, but as I returned, nearly no time seem to have passed. Had I been dreaming at all?
One beautiful and sunny day I was wandering through the forest (I absolutely love forests!), in order to enjoy the smell and the trees and just everything around me. I inhaled the air deep as I walked and sometimes even closed my eyes for a few steps. I listened closely to the sounds around me. The rustling of the trees and the chirping of the birds. And, very rarely, the cracking of deer, fleeing from my presence. I felt a bit sad the wild animals learned to fear the human kind. I wandered, until I arrived the piece of forest I secretly dubbed “Hansel and Gretel wood” for it is very dark, cold and therefore muffles many sounds. I know these woods very well, since I happened to visit them very often, but today was different. I was used to the birds chirping dying down in this part of the woods, but even the wind had died down. I was a bit puzzled. It was sad everything had died down there. From the corner of my eye I thought to see a shadow, walking in the woods, but as soon as I looked to the spot nothing was there. I frowned, but continued walking. Some more times I was able to spot this mysterious shadow, but every time I looked straight at it, nothing was to find. As I shook my head, I concentrated myself on the path, when I spotted a track I hadn’t seen before. Curious I followed it, where it lead me to some kind of grotto.
I entered it, since I heard water rippling inside. There had to be some spring inside. The grotto was larger than I thought. And I was right. Some water was rippling into a small pond, but something dark was oozing into the water. I can’t say why, but I felt the urge to touch the water and then I fainted.
As I regained consciousness I woke up in the wood again, but all colours looked a bit faded, like they were washed out. And something was different. I wasn’t in the grotto anymore. The spring was there, but no grotto and the woods looked different too. Then I saw the shadow again and as I looked… I saw a sorrel tricorn.
As it noticed I spotted it, it fled, but I got up and followed it as fast as I could. It didn’t take much long, until I arrived the edge of the forest and before me a steppe stretched out. Far away it seemed as if the steppe itself turned into a sand desert, but I couldn’t really tell. In the distance I saw the tricorn, galloping away. Not knowing what to do and where I was I looked around me. The sky looked darker and with some gleams of red. Where exactly was I?
I looked behind me, but sadly I couldn’t really reconstruct the way back to the spring. Darn me, I had been too busy hunting that strange tricorn, that I was stuck there. Great. I followed the sorrel tricorn, since I saw, where it vanished. Hopefully I would find it and since he would need to eat and drink I could probably find something for me as well. Sometimes I heard some strange noises out of the forest, like there were enormous birds. Then I didn’t know what really lurked there in the shadows. But soon I would. A swarm of birds rose from the trees, at least that had been what I thought at that time, but it rapidly came closer until I noticed, what they really were and that they headed towards me: Harpies! Now I was certain I was dreaming. Since there was no other explanation.
‘You don’t belong here. You are not a human soul of the dead!’, the harpies shrieked and I frowned. But I didn’t have enough time to think more about these ominous words, as I feared their sharp claws, so I ran as fast as I could. I ran until I couldn’t do another step, fearing the harpies with their wings, but as I looked back they were gone. I was relieved, until I noticed a shadow was falling on me. Fearing what I might see, I faced… the tricorn, which looked at me with some contempt. It was as if he gestured me the same the harpies said and I shook my head.
‘I don’t know how.’, I answered and the tricorn jumped towards me, and I stumbled backwards an fell, and then he walked away. “Hey, wait!”, but it didn’t react to my calling and sped up.
I continued following it, when it suddenly vanished. I hesitated a bit, but then I walked on, only to see a small herd of tricorns. Astonished I watched them from some distance, so they might not notice me. The sorrel one made pretty clear he didn’t wish me near him. So I watched them from a distance. I was right, they had something to eat and something to drink. Though everything looked pretty faded, it would hopefully just do it. I slept a bit far the tricorn herd and followed their wanderings through this strange world my dreams created, since I was absolutely sure I was dreaming. Every day I tried not to be noticed by them and I thought I succeeded. What I didn’t know is that the Narakari just planned to ignore me, so I might vanish. But after some time, due to my stubbornness, they draw a bit near me, out of curiosity. One morning, after some weeks, I woke, seeing the stallion standing over me and sniffing at me. As he noticed I was awake, he backed a bit away, but not as much as always.
Over the weeks I earned more of his trust and other members of his herd were allowed to visit me too. At first they were pretty shy, and I tried not to move, when they were near, so they wouldn’t think I attacked them or such things.
One day, I was finally allowed to touch the sorrel stallion. At first he twitched, at my touch, but soon he learned I didn’t want to do anything to him.
‘Would you please show me the way to the spring?’, I asked, hoping, that he would understand. A little moment he hesitated, then he began to walk into some direction and I followed him, as did his herd. During our travel through the desert I saw some silhouettes in the distance, but I couldn’t make out what they exactly were. Eventually I came to realize I wasn’t dreaming, but I can’t tell how, somehow I just… knew it. As I came more close to the sorrel stallion, I came more close to his second-in-command, a chestnut mare. But still the stallion didn’t allow me to touch any of his subjects and if I tried they flew or the stallion shooed me away.
Finally we reached the forest and after a short walk the spring. I touched his shoulder and my fingers wandered to the dark heart on his neck. As I touched the dark heart the stallion snorted impatiently, as to goat me, to return already.
‘Okay, okay, I understand, you want me gone!’, I said, my hands defensively in the air. The stallion snorted again and I looked him into his strange green eyes. ‘Thank you, Rúnyondo.’, That name suddenly crossed my mind. After I spent so much time with him, I just thought it fitting to give him a name. The stallion snorted again and pushed me towards the spring. I heard the shrieking of the harpies and understood. ‘I will return!’, I promised and then I touched the spring’s water. Again everything went black and I awoke… in the grotto. I knew I must have been some months in this strange place, but as I returned, nearly no time seem to have passed. Had I been dreaming at all?
Where ere thou hast been,here or in yon world manifest.
Canst thou tell what is, or what was,
or what is to come?
No thing shall last
and there are things that shall never change.
History is written in blood,
yet are battles really lost
on the battlefields?
Canst thou tell me whence thou comest
and where thou goest
and what is, or what was, or what is to come?
For everything remains as it never was.
© Eluveitie - Otherworld
Canst thou tell what is, or what was,
or what is to come?
No thing shall last
and there are things that shall never change.
History is written in blood,
yet are battles really lost
on the battlefields?
Canst thou tell me whence thou comest
and where thou goest
and what is, or what was, or what is to come?
For everything remains as it never was.
© Eluveitie - Otherworld
-
Death of Fantasy - Posts: 4849
- Joined: Fri May 14, 2010 5:27 am
- My pets
- My items
- My wishlist
- My gallery
- My scenes
- My dressups
- Trade with me
It's showtime
by Death of Fantasy » Tue Mar 19, 2013 3:20 am
This story was written by Yama and me. We took turns every week in order to announce our first Narakari tournament by the following story.
Finally the day had come. Yama and I had been looking forward to this for a very long time. We prepared for this cleaning our best saddles and bridles and polishing the silver dress plates on our show equipment. We shopped for our rider’s show equipment with the show chaps, some spurs and a button down shirt. I chose everything in black. This colour would look great with my two darlings. I even bought some new gaiters from a very known company. I totally fell in love with the nice giraffe design and I just couldn’t resist.
We packed everything in our big trailer until only our dear darlings were missing. We knew it could be problematic to let our narakari get too near each other, so we decided to use a cutoff. First I brought my two darlings, Morelen and Rùnyondo. Artemis was in charge of the herd, since she is way too young to be ridden yet. I decided to put Rùnyondo in the back of the trailer and then Morelen. After that I put the cut-off in its place and Yama loaded the trailer with her narakari. To our surprise they all were pretty calm and obedient, since they didn’t really know that. After all were loaded safe and sound we closed the chute and went into the driver’s cabin of our trailer. I was the one driving, since I’m more used to driving a trailer.
We needed to make some way till this afternoon. Tomorrow our competition would start, but since it was a three-days event anyways we decided to let our darlings rest a bit after the exhausting journey. We were pretty excited, since we hadn’t been participating a competition for ages! We would compete against each other in some disciplines, but we didn’t really care much about that. It was the fun we came for, not the winning. We both probably wouldn’t stand a chance against the more routine super-competitors who have been doing that for ages! We’re still amateurs and we know it. Our only worry was they would not let us compete with our darlings and they would not be very social to the regular horses. There was always a chance we could get problems with that.
At least we arrived at the competition grounds and finally we could unload our darlings. We often paused and looked for them, but they seemed pretty cool every time. How proud we were of them! Soon some position adapter approached us to show us to our boxes. He didn’t seem to notice anything strange with our ‘horses’ and we were a bit relieved. The boxes were not that fancy, but they sufficed. It was hard for our darlings, who were used to the prairie in hell, being caged for now, but they bravely accepted. And they didn’t try to quarrel with other horses we passed by. How proud we were of them again.
Our equipment needed to stay in the trailer, there was no place for it in the stables, but since we would sleep there anyways it didn’t matter. You know, we have some of these fancy trailers with a bed and so. We took care about our sweet little darlings and at night we fell in our ‘beds’, dreaming of what tomorrow might bring for us.
- Yamas view -
The next morning started early. We took a small breakfast – nothing too heavy because the first competitions would start for us today.
'You’ve told them, that we are going to compete bitless?' , I asked Death. She looked at me and raised one eyebrow. Immediately I lifted my hands up.
“Ok, ok, of course you did. I just wanted to be sure. It’s my first competition. Just give me a few more and I stop double checking everything.”
We both laughed and finished our breakfast. Then we separated our ways. I had to get Morpheus ready for his – and my – very first competition.
Morpheus expected me not as calm as he should be. In fact he seemed to be a bit grumpy. As I opened his box he immediately tried to leave it.
“Calm down, boy. I know you’re used to stay in something more… ample” I whispered. He shaked his head neighing just as he wanted to proof how much he dislikes this box.
'Do you think it’s getting better if you do this?’ I asked him and moved him back in his box, “Be a nice boy and we’re leaving this here as soon as possible.”
I doubt he understood my words but I think he grasped that I was not in the mood to discuss this situation.
I got him ready as quickly as possible and we were both relieved as we left the stable.
We both went to the arena where the trail course was already full of other riders. Honestly it was a strange feeling. In past I always laughed a lot when I saw all those riders without horses in the arena, armed with some paper sheets and going through the course. Now I had to do this, too. God, I wished the ground would swallow me up. I took my paper sheets sighting and joined the other riders. Fortunately nobody wanted to talk to me that much. Only some ‘hello!’s and ‘how are you?’s.
After this – I was so glad to leave the arena and get rid of my papers – I took my number for the competition and then the most evil thing ever started: I had to wait. No matter that there were others around me who had to wait too. I sank deep into my own thoughts and remembered a quote from a film. It was like “There is no reason to fear things that are not sure to happen.” Well, thank you Mr. Statham…
‘Oh, what a cute cowgirl’, said someone next to me. It took some moments if I realized that there was someone talking to me. I looked around and saw a big grin.
‘Sorry?’ I asked. More was not possible in this moment. Honestly I’m neither a little girl nor someone who would be described as cute.
‘Riding a white unicorn without bit? Isn’t it a bit too much cliché?’
There was a young man next to us with such a proud quarter horse that it might have jumped directly out of a book. He sneered at us and for a few seconds I really wanted to introduce him my right fist.
‘Cliché? Do you think so?’
‘Definitely’, he tried to grab one of my braids.
‘Hands off’, I said angry, ‘We’re biting. Both.’
Holy cow, if had just noticed how stupid my words are. But I really was annoyed and still fierced. Even Morpheus seemed to feel my lack of coolness. Luckily my number saved us. It was our turn and I was glad that we could leave that idiot behind us.
‘He did what?’ Death’ voice rose up.
‘Yes’, I answered afflicted, ‘He has bitten this idiot. See, it was not the trail itself but I was so agitated and made some mistakes and… It was a bit frustrating. We were not bad but Morpheus felt my unsureness. And after the course there was this idiot again. I don’t know what exactly he said but he tried to touch Morpheus and then he has bitten him. And of course the judges have seen it. How else should it be? I mean it was after our performance but…’
My words broke up and I hit our trailer with my head.
‘So awkward’, I mumbled.
Death hugged me but that was only a small solace.
After I tried to back up Yama a little bit I went away with Rùnyondo. Though I wanted to comfort her some more, I needed to warm up my boy. We were starting in the trail as well. I feared a bit to meet the douchebag as well, but gladly no one bothered me. Perhaps because of Morpheus’ show or just because I looked really dark and gloomy. I didn’t know, but I was pretty glad about that.
Though it was not my first tournament I was pretty nervous and got more nervous every minute. At least I was called in as one of the last participants. The arena was big and the visitors were watching me. Unsure I looked around me, but after some time I finally calmed down. Everything blurred, only the trail and its completion mattered.
I didn’t know how I managed everything or how I went through everything. I was so concentrated during the trail pattern and after I was ready, I just… was empty. I patted Rùnyondo on his neck for his great show. His head was really down low and he at least acted pretty cool. Finally I grinned. I waited anxiously for my score to be announced. 72. Not that bad, but of course there were some who were a good deal better. Since it was our first competition it was great, though. I hugged Rùnyondo enthusiastically and he seemed to be a bit confused of my action as he trotted out of the arena.
We instantly went to Yama and Morpheus. After the last rider it would take only about a quarter hour until award ceremony. As I arrived I saw an official looking person speaking with my friend.
“Take care of your… horse or you will be disqualified. This is a one-time warning! Another of his escapades and he and you will be banished from the competitions!” I overheard.
Yama seemed pretty collected as she nodded in agreement.
“I understand.”
“Fine. Then this matter is settled.” With these words he left and passed me by. I looked at him and then instantly went to Yama.
“About Morpheus’ biting the douchebag?”, I asked and she nodded. I lay my hand on her shoulder, but after a while removed it. It wouldn’t help her that much I figured.
“All participants with a score of 60 and above are called to the arena!”, we heard through the speakers.
“You had a score of 61.5 you said, didn’t you?”, I asked Yama and she nodded and I pushed her towards Morpheus. It didn’t took that long until we were in the arena.
“There he is.”, Yama whispered and showed to a man with an impressive Quarter.
“The douchebag?”, I asked with a low voice and Yama nodded. Darkly I tried to stab him only with my sight, but of course it didn’t work. Then the award ceremony started and caught all of my attention. Yama was awarded a dark grey favor. The ninth place wasn’t that bad. I got, what I totally didn’t expect the white one. Fourth place was much more than I expected. But Yama’s special friend was still left. If he would win… but he was only placed second and was awarded with the red favor. Then we all rode a round through the arena and Yama and I fastly vanished. I didn’t want to give this guy a chance to provoke Morpheus again. Next one up would be the freestyle reining. I was looking forward to see Yama and Discordia.
-Yamas view-
We really had to hurry up. The freestyle reining would be this afternoon and I had a date with tons of hairspray before. Morpheus was not amused that I brought him back to his box that quickly. But my incredible luck gave me the starting number seven. Death had a bit more time. Nevertheless we decided to help each other with the costumes. After corrupting Morpheus with some apples I fast went to Discordias box. She greeted me with a soft touch of her mouth and I thanked the cosmic forces that at least she had a good day. Morpheus might be a snob sometimes but my fears were that my chaotic girl would be in a bad mood. You really don’t want to ride her if she has a strop on.
‘Hey’, I whispered softly and petted her on her blind side. Yes, I always speak with my horses.
‘Another unicorn? Girls…’
I recognized this voice immediately. And my mood sank into the ground. I turned around already angry and glimpsed at him with small eyes.
‘What are you doing here?’ I accented every single word. The idiot – I think I’ll take this as a constant name for him – looked around.
‘Believe it or not my horse has a box in this stable.’
‘Oh, really? Then you should go and visit him instead of bothering other people’ I felt my anger rising. That was not good.
‘But’, he started but I interrupted him abrasively.
‘Stop it! Let me say it more precisely. I don’t want to be disqualified because of silly little boys who cannot handle the appearance of other horses. So, get out of my way!’ my voice rose and got an angry undertone. I took Discordia by her halter and took her out of the box, to leave the stable. The weather was sunny and there was no reason left for me to get her ready in the stable. I could groom her outside as well.
‘Great. You even don’t want to listen to an excuse…’ the idiot mumbled but I didn’t want to hear his words in this particular moment. I left without wasting a glance at him.
‘That was not nice’, Death said to me out of Morelens box.
‘Maybe ‘cause I’m no nice guy?’ I answered. I recognized her smile and hell, I’m glad she didn’t take it personally. Discordia seemed to ignore this trouble. At least one of us who kept her sanity. She snuffled relaxed as I started to groom her outside. Fortunately it was not that much work. Just cleaning her and putting her equipment on. When I finished my work I went a few steps away from her and watched her new outfit. The new peacock gaiters and the fitting crest made a great contrast to her dun fur. Also her bridle.
‘Do you know how amazing you’re looking?’ I asked her smiling. Then I took her to our trailer. She was ready for the competition now, me not. It was only a habit to tie her. If Cordi would not like to stay she really won’t.
Death was not in our trailer when I started to make my hair. But she entered a few minutes later. With the brush in my hand I stared at the loads of makeup and hairspray.
‘I usually do not use this stuff’, I mentioned headshaking.
‘Come on, it’s part of the show’, Death patted my back.
‘Yeah, awesome. At least I love the music. Not to mention the costume.’
‘It was your choice.’
‘Quiet or I’ll burry you in aerosol cans!’ of course my menace was not seriously. We both laughed and concentrated on our looks again. The hairstyles were the most difficult thing. I don’t know how much hairspray we actually needed but it was more than I ever used before. But it was worth the work. After some maledictions of Death and at least three panic attacks of me I had a really cool quiff. Now I helped Death with her hair and finally we took our costumes on.
‘Cool, I even look as fat as the king’, I said and looked at the mirror. The white and blue peacock suit was really … well let’s say fitting. Some more weight and it would be too tight.
‘This is not fat, you’re damming hot’, Death answered back.
‘Should be my new workaday clothes, right’, I rolled my eyes. Ok, nothing against this suit. It was really similar to the one, Elvis Presley wore in past. Maybe a bit too much glamour for me but still rather cool. And it fitted perfectly to Cordis gaiters and crest.
‘How about these sunglasses. You don’t wear them in the show, do you?’ Death tried to grab the pilot like sunglasses that lay between my makeup. I got them together with the costume.
‘Nope. They’re my mojo. So dooooon’t touch them.’
‘Ok, you are the … king’, Death giggled.
‘How about you, pirate lady? Are you ready?’
Of course she was not yet. She’d helped me a lot with my hair and my costume was really easy to put on. Not hers. I must admit I was a bit jealous. Yes, the Elvis suit was cool but her dress... I would have died if I could wear it.
We talked a bit more about the competition, while I helped Death to get ready for breaking the men’s hearts. Then I took my sunglasses and we both left the trailer. Gladly Discordia had decided to wait.
There were already a lot of other riders in the arena, when we arrived. I decided not to take care about them and staying cool instead. My starting number was the lucky seven; therefore I had no long waiting time. While number six has his performance I went to Death again.
‘Now is the time to touch my mojo’, I giggled and gave her my sunglasses. Then my number was announced. I whispered some stupid words in Discordias ear and prepared to start our show. Our song was nearly a classic. The JXL version of A Little Less Conversation a piece of music that we both absolutely like. And you really could see how Cordi likes it. She was great. Ok, the flying lead change was not perfect and I was pretty sure that there were a lot of better performances but it was our song and I felt great. Much better than the trail before. And the last verse’s irony even made me smile brightly. “The losers go home. Bye.” The adrenaline pulsed through my veins. I was really exhilarated when I returned to Death and took my sunglasses back.
‘Your turn, lady’, I said.
I was two numbers behind Yama. Three times the three. A kind of magical number you might say. Yama did an awesome job. I really loved it. As she returned, I smiled, especially after her words. I patted Morelen, who had a papier mâché figurehead fixed on the middle of her breastcollar. On her back was a jolly roger, which would flutter as soon as we were faster than a walk. I was wearing a pirate dress and my hair was dangling in wild locks around my face. The dress was long in the back, put pretty short in the front so I could sit comfortably. Two daggers were strapped at my belt, one on each side. Finally it was my turn and we trotted in with the first tunes of ‘Davy Jones’. My concentration raised and we started our pattern. As soon as the organ started we changed into a gallop and a sliding stop with a roll back. This energetic part was perfect for that kind of work. And spins fitted as well. After the organ stopped the music changed into ‘Hoist the Colours’. We stopped in the middle with a last slide at ‘never shall we die’. We needed the permitted four minutes with our performance. I knew we did some mistakes and the judges would have noticed it. Yama was certainly better and my score confirmed it. I only had 66, when Yama had 72. But I was happy nonetheless. It had been so much fun to ride to this song and I smiled again, as I returned to Yama.
‘You’re going to shine on the award ceremony, dear king.’, I laughed happily.
As we were called in I waited anxiously. Finally I got the violet favor. Well, nearly my least favourite colour, but well, it was still Morelen’s. I looked to Yama and her sight was fixed to someone before her. I followed her glance and saw: The douchebag. Oh dear. But then she was distracted as she was awarded a yellow favor. I could see from the distance how happy she was. I smiled, as I rode beside her.
‘Obviously not only I thought you did a great job.’, I said and she grinned happily at me. I would probably not hear that much in the next time until her first joy evaporated a little bit.
After our award ceremony we returned with our Narakari to the stable. Carefully we took care of our darlings and thanked them for their cooperation today. They all did a pretty good job, even Morpheus who still seemed to be a bit grumpy. Hopefully that would be evaporated until tomorrow morning, when we were to leave again. That would be a pretty hard drive. Morelen seemed to sense my mood and she tried to cheer me up a bit. I patted and hugged her, before I left her again. Yama and I wanted to break dinner and celebrate. We had chosen a nice little restaurant in the town. And it served some vegetarian dishes. Perfect for me.
-Yamas view-
It felt good to return to the stables. Not that I hate those ceremonies but I prefer it to be alone when I get proud of my results. And yeah, I was really proud. Not that much about me but Discordia was so great. I never hoped she would show so much self control and keep calm instead of spreading chaos in the arena. I stayed with my Narakari for a while and then I took the best thing after such a day – a refreshing shower. Death was already prepared for dinner and waited for me. Completely relaxed and still a bit smiling I got myself ready. Fortunately the restaurant was not an upper class one. I had chosen something family friendly because it feels so much better if you go out for dinner and don’t have to be ashamed that you are exhausted and maybe even a bit disheveled.
‘Sometimes I wish I was a man’ I said to Death while I tried to restrain my hair.
‘But I’m not overdressed?’ she asked with a rising eyebrow.
‘Nope. You’re just looking far too good. Especially after such a day’ my hair kept fractious.
‘You still haven’t told me what kind of restaurant you’ve chosen. You just said they have some veggie meals.’
‘Yep’ I kept my answer as shot as possible. A few seconds Death looked at me.
‘And..?’ She finally asked.
‘Surprise, surprise...’ I answered grinning. I don’t know how but I managed it to force my hair to a bun and put a small baton into it. For myself I decided to wear no more makeup for the next weeks and I would start with this today.
We left our trailer and set off. Luckily the way was not long. We were still on the area of the tournament when Death suddenly stopped.
‘Everything ok?’ I asked.
‘Look’ Death just answered and pointed on a horse that was coming towards us. On the first view it was just a horse but then I recognized that I already knew this dun stallion.
‘Oh no!’ I said. Death looked at me with an enquiring expression.
‘This is HIS horse’ I told her. Meanwhile the stallion arrived at us. He had no tack only a halter. And there was a piece of paper on the halter.
‘How nice’ Death said.
‘No’ I repeated.
‘Ahh come on. It’s just a letter for you. It won’t hurt.’
‘I might hurt him’ I said. Death raised her eyebrow again.
‘Hey I’m no nice guy’ I countered and took the paper. It really was a short letter.
‘This idiot even has a cleaner handwriting than me’ I mumbled while I read the little apology.
‘What are you going to do right now. I mean this is a really nice gesture’ Death wanted to know.
A few seconds passed by then I got an idea. I fiddled a bit on his halter.
‘Let me see, what’s your name? … Flashback, hmm? Nice one. I think I have something for your owner and you have the important mission to bear it’ I cuddled the stallion a bit. Then I gave him a little kiss on his nose. Death started to giggle next to me.
‘Now hurry up, sweetheart. Go back to your owner and give him a sweet kiss’ I laughed and sent Flashback back into the direction where he came from. I didn’t know if this would annoy the idiot a bit but it was a try. And at least I don’t care about warm and drooling horse muzzles. I mean, hey, I’m riding a tricorn, right?
For the rest of our short way we were not bothered any more.
As we arrived at the restaurant Death looked inquiring at me.
‘A Pancake House?’ she asked a bit confused.
‘Yep’ I answered briefly. Just notice when I say Pancake House I speak about the thin European ones. Not that fluffy American meal.
‘You aren’t kidding, right?’
‘Seriously. And I promise you, it’s the best meal after such a day. See, they have a lot of veggie food, too’ I must admit that I love pancakes; sweet and salty ones. And in those kinds of restaurants the service is rather kind and tolerant. Really, no one cares about your appearance or even your age.
‘Next time it’s up to you to choose a restaurant’ I added and opened the door.
Our meal was really delicious. Death had a sweet pancake with loads of different berries and I had a salty one with salmon and capers. After we finished dinner we leaned back and talked a bit about the exiting tournament.
‘I still can’t believe it went so well’ Death said.
‘Really? Don’t get me wrong but I think there were a lot of things that haven’t been nice. Not only because of this idiot’ I replied.
‘You’re still wasting thoughts on him?’
‘Not really’ Ok, that was a lie. Forgive me, Death. ‘But there were some other things I have in my mind. See, Narakari are much more than horned horses.’
‘Sure.’
‘Yes, we reached more than our goals but there are some things that could have been better. The boxes, for example. Or the judges reaction about Morpheus. Ok, he actually is an arrogant bastard but honestly something like that could happen with other Narakari, too. In fact they are more aggressive than horses and they have a higher temper.’
‘I think the boxes were ok. Our darlings are just fastidious. But you might be right with the rest. I already have stopped counting the questions about our horses’ Death answered.
‘Do you think other owners are faced with similar problems?’ I asked.
‘That could be possible.’
We both kept silent for a while. Then we started to smile.
‘Do we have the same idea?’ I wanted to know.
Death nodded and her smile got brighter.
‘Ok, I think we have a lot of things to prepare then. Let’s give it a try’ I said and raised my glass for a toast.
Finally the day had come. Yama and I had been looking forward to this for a very long time. We prepared for this cleaning our best saddles and bridles and polishing the silver dress plates on our show equipment. We shopped for our rider’s show equipment with the show chaps, some spurs and a button down shirt. I chose everything in black. This colour would look great with my two darlings. I even bought some new gaiters from a very known company. I totally fell in love with the nice giraffe design and I just couldn’t resist.
We packed everything in our big trailer until only our dear darlings were missing. We knew it could be problematic to let our narakari get too near each other, so we decided to use a cutoff. First I brought my two darlings, Morelen and Rùnyondo. Artemis was in charge of the herd, since she is way too young to be ridden yet. I decided to put Rùnyondo in the back of the trailer and then Morelen. After that I put the cut-off in its place and Yama loaded the trailer with her narakari. To our surprise they all were pretty calm and obedient, since they didn’t really know that. After all were loaded safe and sound we closed the chute and went into the driver’s cabin of our trailer. I was the one driving, since I’m more used to driving a trailer.
We needed to make some way till this afternoon. Tomorrow our competition would start, but since it was a three-days event anyways we decided to let our darlings rest a bit after the exhausting journey. We were pretty excited, since we hadn’t been participating a competition for ages! We would compete against each other in some disciplines, but we didn’t really care much about that. It was the fun we came for, not the winning. We both probably wouldn’t stand a chance against the more routine super-competitors who have been doing that for ages! We’re still amateurs and we know it. Our only worry was they would not let us compete with our darlings and they would not be very social to the regular horses. There was always a chance we could get problems with that.
At least we arrived at the competition grounds and finally we could unload our darlings. We often paused and looked for them, but they seemed pretty cool every time. How proud we were of them! Soon some position adapter approached us to show us to our boxes. He didn’t seem to notice anything strange with our ‘horses’ and we were a bit relieved. The boxes were not that fancy, but they sufficed. It was hard for our darlings, who were used to the prairie in hell, being caged for now, but they bravely accepted. And they didn’t try to quarrel with other horses we passed by. How proud we were of them again.
Our equipment needed to stay in the trailer, there was no place for it in the stables, but since we would sleep there anyways it didn’t matter. You know, we have some of these fancy trailers with a bed and so. We took care about our sweet little darlings and at night we fell in our ‘beds’, dreaming of what tomorrow might bring for us.
- Yamas view -
The next morning started early. We took a small breakfast – nothing too heavy because the first competitions would start for us today.
'You’ve told them, that we are going to compete bitless?' , I asked Death. She looked at me and raised one eyebrow. Immediately I lifted my hands up.
“Ok, ok, of course you did. I just wanted to be sure. It’s my first competition. Just give me a few more and I stop double checking everything.”
We both laughed and finished our breakfast. Then we separated our ways. I had to get Morpheus ready for his – and my – very first competition.
Morpheus expected me not as calm as he should be. In fact he seemed to be a bit grumpy. As I opened his box he immediately tried to leave it.
“Calm down, boy. I know you’re used to stay in something more… ample” I whispered. He shaked his head neighing just as he wanted to proof how much he dislikes this box.
'Do you think it’s getting better if you do this?’ I asked him and moved him back in his box, “Be a nice boy and we’re leaving this here as soon as possible.”
I doubt he understood my words but I think he grasped that I was not in the mood to discuss this situation.
I got him ready as quickly as possible and we were both relieved as we left the stable.
We both went to the arena where the trail course was already full of other riders. Honestly it was a strange feeling. In past I always laughed a lot when I saw all those riders without horses in the arena, armed with some paper sheets and going through the course. Now I had to do this, too. God, I wished the ground would swallow me up. I took my paper sheets sighting and joined the other riders. Fortunately nobody wanted to talk to me that much. Only some ‘hello!’s and ‘how are you?’s.
After this – I was so glad to leave the arena and get rid of my papers – I took my number for the competition and then the most evil thing ever started: I had to wait. No matter that there were others around me who had to wait too. I sank deep into my own thoughts and remembered a quote from a film. It was like “There is no reason to fear things that are not sure to happen.” Well, thank you Mr. Statham…
‘Oh, what a cute cowgirl’, said someone next to me. It took some moments if I realized that there was someone talking to me. I looked around and saw a big grin.
‘Sorry?’ I asked. More was not possible in this moment. Honestly I’m neither a little girl nor someone who would be described as cute.
‘Riding a white unicorn without bit? Isn’t it a bit too much cliché?’
There was a young man next to us with such a proud quarter horse that it might have jumped directly out of a book. He sneered at us and for a few seconds I really wanted to introduce him my right fist.
‘Cliché? Do you think so?’
‘Definitely’, he tried to grab one of my braids.
‘Hands off’, I said angry, ‘We’re biting. Both.’
Holy cow, if had just noticed how stupid my words are. But I really was annoyed and still fierced. Even Morpheus seemed to feel my lack of coolness. Luckily my number saved us. It was our turn and I was glad that we could leave that idiot behind us.
‘He did what?’ Death’ voice rose up.
‘Yes’, I answered afflicted, ‘He has bitten this idiot. See, it was not the trail itself but I was so agitated and made some mistakes and… It was a bit frustrating. We were not bad but Morpheus felt my unsureness. And after the course there was this idiot again. I don’t know what exactly he said but he tried to touch Morpheus and then he has bitten him. And of course the judges have seen it. How else should it be? I mean it was after our performance but…’
My words broke up and I hit our trailer with my head.
‘So awkward’, I mumbled.
Death hugged me but that was only a small solace.
After I tried to back up Yama a little bit I went away with Rùnyondo. Though I wanted to comfort her some more, I needed to warm up my boy. We were starting in the trail as well. I feared a bit to meet the douchebag as well, but gladly no one bothered me. Perhaps because of Morpheus’ show or just because I looked really dark and gloomy. I didn’t know, but I was pretty glad about that.
Though it was not my first tournament I was pretty nervous and got more nervous every minute. At least I was called in as one of the last participants. The arena was big and the visitors were watching me. Unsure I looked around me, but after some time I finally calmed down. Everything blurred, only the trail and its completion mattered.
I didn’t know how I managed everything or how I went through everything. I was so concentrated during the trail pattern and after I was ready, I just… was empty. I patted Rùnyondo on his neck for his great show. His head was really down low and he at least acted pretty cool. Finally I grinned. I waited anxiously for my score to be announced. 72. Not that bad, but of course there were some who were a good deal better. Since it was our first competition it was great, though. I hugged Rùnyondo enthusiastically and he seemed to be a bit confused of my action as he trotted out of the arena.
We instantly went to Yama and Morpheus. After the last rider it would take only about a quarter hour until award ceremony. As I arrived I saw an official looking person speaking with my friend.
“Take care of your… horse or you will be disqualified. This is a one-time warning! Another of his escapades and he and you will be banished from the competitions!” I overheard.
Yama seemed pretty collected as she nodded in agreement.
“I understand.”
“Fine. Then this matter is settled.” With these words he left and passed me by. I looked at him and then instantly went to Yama.
“About Morpheus’ biting the douchebag?”, I asked and she nodded. I lay my hand on her shoulder, but after a while removed it. It wouldn’t help her that much I figured.
“All participants with a score of 60 and above are called to the arena!”, we heard through the speakers.
“You had a score of 61.5 you said, didn’t you?”, I asked Yama and she nodded and I pushed her towards Morpheus. It didn’t took that long until we were in the arena.
“There he is.”, Yama whispered and showed to a man with an impressive Quarter.
“The douchebag?”, I asked with a low voice and Yama nodded. Darkly I tried to stab him only with my sight, but of course it didn’t work. Then the award ceremony started and caught all of my attention. Yama was awarded a dark grey favor. The ninth place wasn’t that bad. I got, what I totally didn’t expect the white one. Fourth place was much more than I expected. But Yama’s special friend was still left. If he would win… but he was only placed second and was awarded with the red favor. Then we all rode a round through the arena and Yama and I fastly vanished. I didn’t want to give this guy a chance to provoke Morpheus again. Next one up would be the freestyle reining. I was looking forward to see Yama and Discordia.
-Yamas view-
We really had to hurry up. The freestyle reining would be this afternoon and I had a date with tons of hairspray before. Morpheus was not amused that I brought him back to his box that quickly. But my incredible luck gave me the starting number seven. Death had a bit more time. Nevertheless we decided to help each other with the costumes. After corrupting Morpheus with some apples I fast went to Discordias box. She greeted me with a soft touch of her mouth and I thanked the cosmic forces that at least she had a good day. Morpheus might be a snob sometimes but my fears were that my chaotic girl would be in a bad mood. You really don’t want to ride her if she has a strop on.
‘Hey’, I whispered softly and petted her on her blind side. Yes, I always speak with my horses.
‘Another unicorn? Girls…’
I recognized this voice immediately. And my mood sank into the ground. I turned around already angry and glimpsed at him with small eyes.
‘What are you doing here?’ I accented every single word. The idiot – I think I’ll take this as a constant name for him – looked around.
‘Believe it or not my horse has a box in this stable.’
‘Oh, really? Then you should go and visit him instead of bothering other people’ I felt my anger rising. That was not good.
‘But’, he started but I interrupted him abrasively.
‘Stop it! Let me say it more precisely. I don’t want to be disqualified because of silly little boys who cannot handle the appearance of other horses. So, get out of my way!’ my voice rose and got an angry undertone. I took Discordia by her halter and took her out of the box, to leave the stable. The weather was sunny and there was no reason left for me to get her ready in the stable. I could groom her outside as well.
‘Great. You even don’t want to listen to an excuse…’ the idiot mumbled but I didn’t want to hear his words in this particular moment. I left without wasting a glance at him.
‘That was not nice’, Death said to me out of Morelens box.
‘Maybe ‘cause I’m no nice guy?’ I answered. I recognized her smile and hell, I’m glad she didn’t take it personally. Discordia seemed to ignore this trouble. At least one of us who kept her sanity. She snuffled relaxed as I started to groom her outside. Fortunately it was not that much work. Just cleaning her and putting her equipment on. When I finished my work I went a few steps away from her and watched her new outfit. The new peacock gaiters and the fitting crest made a great contrast to her dun fur. Also her bridle.
‘Do you know how amazing you’re looking?’ I asked her smiling. Then I took her to our trailer. She was ready for the competition now, me not. It was only a habit to tie her. If Cordi would not like to stay she really won’t.
Death was not in our trailer when I started to make my hair. But she entered a few minutes later. With the brush in my hand I stared at the loads of makeup and hairspray.
‘I usually do not use this stuff’, I mentioned headshaking.
‘Come on, it’s part of the show’, Death patted my back.
‘Yeah, awesome. At least I love the music. Not to mention the costume.’
‘It was your choice.’
‘Quiet or I’ll burry you in aerosol cans!’ of course my menace was not seriously. We both laughed and concentrated on our looks again. The hairstyles were the most difficult thing. I don’t know how much hairspray we actually needed but it was more than I ever used before. But it was worth the work. After some maledictions of Death and at least three panic attacks of me I had a really cool quiff. Now I helped Death with her hair and finally we took our costumes on.
‘Cool, I even look as fat as the king’, I said and looked at the mirror. The white and blue peacock suit was really … well let’s say fitting. Some more weight and it would be too tight.
‘This is not fat, you’re damming hot’, Death answered back.
‘Should be my new workaday clothes, right’, I rolled my eyes. Ok, nothing against this suit. It was really similar to the one, Elvis Presley wore in past. Maybe a bit too much glamour for me but still rather cool. And it fitted perfectly to Cordis gaiters and crest.
‘How about these sunglasses. You don’t wear them in the show, do you?’ Death tried to grab the pilot like sunglasses that lay between my makeup. I got them together with the costume.
‘Nope. They’re my mojo. So dooooon’t touch them.’
‘Ok, you are the … king’, Death giggled.
‘How about you, pirate lady? Are you ready?’
Of course she was not yet. She’d helped me a lot with my hair and my costume was really easy to put on. Not hers. I must admit I was a bit jealous. Yes, the Elvis suit was cool but her dress... I would have died if I could wear it.
We talked a bit more about the competition, while I helped Death to get ready for breaking the men’s hearts. Then I took my sunglasses and we both left the trailer. Gladly Discordia had decided to wait.
There were already a lot of other riders in the arena, when we arrived. I decided not to take care about them and staying cool instead. My starting number was the lucky seven; therefore I had no long waiting time. While number six has his performance I went to Death again.
‘Now is the time to touch my mojo’, I giggled and gave her my sunglasses. Then my number was announced. I whispered some stupid words in Discordias ear and prepared to start our show. Our song was nearly a classic. The JXL version of A Little Less Conversation a piece of music that we both absolutely like. And you really could see how Cordi likes it. She was great. Ok, the flying lead change was not perfect and I was pretty sure that there were a lot of better performances but it was our song and I felt great. Much better than the trail before. And the last verse’s irony even made me smile brightly. “The losers go home. Bye.” The adrenaline pulsed through my veins. I was really exhilarated when I returned to Death and took my sunglasses back.
‘Your turn, lady’, I said.
I was two numbers behind Yama. Three times the three. A kind of magical number you might say. Yama did an awesome job. I really loved it. As she returned, I smiled, especially after her words. I patted Morelen, who had a papier mâché figurehead fixed on the middle of her breastcollar. On her back was a jolly roger, which would flutter as soon as we were faster than a walk. I was wearing a pirate dress and my hair was dangling in wild locks around my face. The dress was long in the back, put pretty short in the front so I could sit comfortably. Two daggers were strapped at my belt, one on each side. Finally it was my turn and we trotted in with the first tunes of ‘Davy Jones’. My concentration raised and we started our pattern. As soon as the organ started we changed into a gallop and a sliding stop with a roll back. This energetic part was perfect for that kind of work. And spins fitted as well. After the organ stopped the music changed into ‘Hoist the Colours’. We stopped in the middle with a last slide at ‘never shall we die’. We needed the permitted four minutes with our performance. I knew we did some mistakes and the judges would have noticed it. Yama was certainly better and my score confirmed it. I only had 66, when Yama had 72. But I was happy nonetheless. It had been so much fun to ride to this song and I smiled again, as I returned to Yama.
‘You’re going to shine on the award ceremony, dear king.’, I laughed happily.
As we were called in I waited anxiously. Finally I got the violet favor. Well, nearly my least favourite colour, but well, it was still Morelen’s. I looked to Yama and her sight was fixed to someone before her. I followed her glance and saw: The douchebag. Oh dear. But then she was distracted as she was awarded a yellow favor. I could see from the distance how happy she was. I smiled, as I rode beside her.
‘Obviously not only I thought you did a great job.’, I said and she grinned happily at me. I would probably not hear that much in the next time until her first joy evaporated a little bit.
After our award ceremony we returned with our Narakari to the stable. Carefully we took care of our darlings and thanked them for their cooperation today. They all did a pretty good job, even Morpheus who still seemed to be a bit grumpy. Hopefully that would be evaporated until tomorrow morning, when we were to leave again. That would be a pretty hard drive. Morelen seemed to sense my mood and she tried to cheer me up a bit. I patted and hugged her, before I left her again. Yama and I wanted to break dinner and celebrate. We had chosen a nice little restaurant in the town. And it served some vegetarian dishes. Perfect for me.
-Yamas view-
It felt good to return to the stables. Not that I hate those ceremonies but I prefer it to be alone when I get proud of my results. And yeah, I was really proud. Not that much about me but Discordia was so great. I never hoped she would show so much self control and keep calm instead of spreading chaos in the arena. I stayed with my Narakari for a while and then I took the best thing after such a day – a refreshing shower. Death was already prepared for dinner and waited for me. Completely relaxed and still a bit smiling I got myself ready. Fortunately the restaurant was not an upper class one. I had chosen something family friendly because it feels so much better if you go out for dinner and don’t have to be ashamed that you are exhausted and maybe even a bit disheveled.
‘Sometimes I wish I was a man’ I said to Death while I tried to restrain my hair.
‘But I’m not overdressed?’ she asked with a rising eyebrow.
‘Nope. You’re just looking far too good. Especially after such a day’ my hair kept fractious.
‘You still haven’t told me what kind of restaurant you’ve chosen. You just said they have some veggie meals.’
‘Yep’ I kept my answer as shot as possible. A few seconds Death looked at me.
‘And..?’ She finally asked.
‘Surprise, surprise...’ I answered grinning. I don’t know how but I managed it to force my hair to a bun and put a small baton into it. For myself I decided to wear no more makeup for the next weeks and I would start with this today.
We left our trailer and set off. Luckily the way was not long. We were still on the area of the tournament when Death suddenly stopped.
‘Everything ok?’ I asked.
‘Look’ Death just answered and pointed on a horse that was coming towards us. On the first view it was just a horse but then I recognized that I already knew this dun stallion.
‘Oh no!’ I said. Death looked at me with an enquiring expression.
‘This is HIS horse’ I told her. Meanwhile the stallion arrived at us. He had no tack only a halter. And there was a piece of paper on the halter.
‘How nice’ Death said.
‘No’ I repeated.
‘Ahh come on. It’s just a letter for you. It won’t hurt.’
‘I might hurt him’ I said. Death raised her eyebrow again.
‘Hey I’m no nice guy’ I countered and took the paper. It really was a short letter.
‘This idiot even has a cleaner handwriting than me’ I mumbled while I read the little apology.
‘What are you going to do right now. I mean this is a really nice gesture’ Death wanted to know.
A few seconds passed by then I got an idea. I fiddled a bit on his halter.
‘Let me see, what’s your name? … Flashback, hmm? Nice one. I think I have something for your owner and you have the important mission to bear it’ I cuddled the stallion a bit. Then I gave him a little kiss on his nose. Death started to giggle next to me.
‘Now hurry up, sweetheart. Go back to your owner and give him a sweet kiss’ I laughed and sent Flashback back into the direction where he came from. I didn’t know if this would annoy the idiot a bit but it was a try. And at least I don’t care about warm and drooling horse muzzles. I mean, hey, I’m riding a tricorn, right?
For the rest of our short way we were not bothered any more.
As we arrived at the restaurant Death looked inquiring at me.
‘A Pancake House?’ she asked a bit confused.
‘Yep’ I answered briefly. Just notice when I say Pancake House I speak about the thin European ones. Not that fluffy American meal.
‘You aren’t kidding, right?’
‘Seriously. And I promise you, it’s the best meal after such a day. See, they have a lot of veggie food, too’ I must admit that I love pancakes; sweet and salty ones. And in those kinds of restaurants the service is rather kind and tolerant. Really, no one cares about your appearance or even your age.
‘Next time it’s up to you to choose a restaurant’ I added and opened the door.
Our meal was really delicious. Death had a sweet pancake with loads of different berries and I had a salty one with salmon and capers. After we finished dinner we leaned back and talked a bit about the exiting tournament.
‘I still can’t believe it went so well’ Death said.
‘Really? Don’t get me wrong but I think there were a lot of things that haven’t been nice. Not only because of this idiot’ I replied.
‘You’re still wasting thoughts on him?’
‘Not really’ Ok, that was a lie. Forgive me, Death. ‘But there were some other things I have in my mind. See, Narakari are much more than horned horses.’
‘Sure.’
‘Yes, we reached more than our goals but there are some things that could have been better. The boxes, for example. Or the judges reaction about Morpheus. Ok, he actually is an arrogant bastard but honestly something like that could happen with other Narakari, too. In fact they are more aggressive than horses and they have a higher temper.’
‘I think the boxes were ok. Our darlings are just fastidious. But you might be right with the rest. I already have stopped counting the questions about our horses’ Death answered.
‘Do you think other owners are faced with similar problems?’ I asked.
‘That could be possible.’
We both kept silent for a while. Then we started to smile.
‘Do we have the same idea?’ I wanted to know.
Death nodded and her smile got brighter.
‘Ok, I think we have a lot of things to prepare then. Let’s give it a try’ I said and raised my glass for a toast.
Where ere thou hast been,here or in yon world manifest.
Canst thou tell what is, or what was,
or what is to come?
No thing shall last
and there are things that shall never change.
History is written in blood,
yet are battles really lost
on the battlefields?
Canst thou tell me whence thou comest
and where thou goest
and what is, or what was, or what is to come?
For everything remains as it never was.
© Eluveitie - Otherworld
Canst thou tell what is, or what was,
or what is to come?
No thing shall last
and there are things that shall never change.
History is written in blood,
yet are battles really lost
on the battlefields?
Canst thou tell me whence thou comest
and where thou goest
and what is, or what was, or what is to come?
For everything remains as it never was.
© Eluveitie - Otherworld
-
Death of Fantasy - Posts: 4849
- Joined: Fri May 14, 2010 5:27 am
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Hunt and eggs
by Yamaneko » Tue Mar 26, 2013 6:19 pm
This story takes place a few weeks before easter. Please notice that the customer who wanted the red dun is no real person.
Here you can find the reference sheet of our Jadetiger: click me
Enjoy.
Hunt and eggs
I had to slow Morpheus down as his trot became faster again. It took a moment but finally we found the way back to the rhythm of Devils Dance. We had not often trained with music before and my sweetheart still had to get accustomed to it. It was rather warm in our riding school and the air felt heavy. A thunderstorm pronounced itself. Maybe Morpheus felt it, too. But it could also be possible that he sensed that something would happen. Or it was just his jealousy because I took Discordia with me on our last hunt. Whatever he was not as calm as he supposed to be.
Anyways, Morpheus snuffled as he was forced to slow down but he accepted my leadership. Additionally there was no mare around to impress. His ears turned around attentively. We trotted a few circles and everything seemed to be ok again. Obviously I was wrong. Suddenly we heard a scream and a Narakari neighed outdoors. Something cracked very loudly. Morpheus stopped abrupt and neighed too.
‘Hooo, calm down, darling’ I told him but my words were empty as I was excited too. As fast as possible we left the riding school.
On the first view everything looked as usual. But then we saw Death who was already running into our direction. She came from one of the smaller meadows.
‘What has happened?’ I shouted at her direction.
‘It’s the new mare’ she answered ‘Or better to say, she was it. She got crazy again and then she broke through the fence.’
‘Is she hurt?’ I asked immediately.
‘Probably’ Death gasped.
‘Are you ok?’ I added quickly, just recognizing that my trust in Death’ skills could be misunderstood. Honestly I would never waste a thought at the possibility that she would give a wild mare the chance to stamp her down. I am fearless and reckless not she.
‘Yes’ she said.
I tried to calm down a bit and focus on the core of this situation. We caught this new mare for a young woman who told us she was deeply in love with red duns. And we had already called her that our hunt was successful. Therefore we had to get this mare back if we didn’t want to stand there with egg on our faces. Additionally I didn’t want to imagine how much chaos a wild and hurt Narakari would cause. Hopefully she would try to get back to hell.
‘Ok, we have to get her back. Not least it’s our responsibility that she got hurt. Morpheus is already prepared. So it would be the best if you get one of your Narakari ready while I go and pack some supplies, water, ropes and an a first aid kit’ I decided. Death nodded and ran to the meadow where her Narakari spend the afternoon. I went with Morpheus to our house and left him next to the front door. I was sure he won’t disappoint me and run away.
I grabbed up one of my backpacks and opened the fridge. As I wanted to hurry up I just took everything that came between my fingers and was eatable without any dishes. Nothing special, just supplies. After this I filled some bottles with water and took the rest of the equipment we would need for this hunt. Morpheus really waited for me when I left the house. He seemed to understand that something important has happened. I cuddled him briefly for his patience. We had to wait a few moments for Death but finally she joined us together with Rùnyondo.
‘How about the meadow? Do we have to repair the fence first?’ I asked and gave her one of the ropes.
‘Gladly not. I separated the mare this morning that we could start to work with her’ Death was visibly relieved that we won’t lose more time because of the other wild Narakari on our meadows. I felt about the same.
‘Ok. Then let’s go to the broken fence and see if we can get her track’ I gestured that Death should lead us to this place.
The fence looked horrible. It seemed the mare had jumped but far too low. Death had not understated. The mare really broke through the wooden fence.
‘So much power…’ I mumbled and touched some blood on the broken wood.
‘It seems that she run northward. There are some portals to hell’ Death had walked a bit away from the fence and it seems she had found some blood, too. I didn’t know if it was good or bad that she seemed to run back to hell. On the one hand she could not cause some chaos in our world. But on the other hand we didn’t know how much she was hurt. And you are easy prey if you run wounded and exited through hell.
‘Let’s hurry up and start searching there then’ I decided and we both left the fence.
We were both soaked with sweat when we arrived at one of the portals. The air seemed to become even heavier. Clouds were already darkening the horizon. That weather let us hurry up even more. See, the weather in hell is not always the same as on earth. We had no time for a real research but it seems to be a bit random if it’s the same as the earth weather or completely different. It’s like chaos throws a coin.
Death and I hurried up to pass the portal but we had no luck. A strong wind gave us an aggravating welcome. We could already hear a vague thunder far away.
‘Not good’ Death mentioned. I nodded my head. If we wouldn’t find the mare before the thunderstorm reached us, the rain would wash the slightly trace of thin blood sprinkles away. This would make our hunt much more difficult than it already was. We abided Morpheus and Rùnyondo and searched as fast as possible. Here and there we found some blood spots but they became less. Nevertheless it was a good thing. The injury seemed to be not that heavy and the wounds were gradually stopping to bleed. Good for her, bad for us. Our way led us deep into the hell. Soon we reached some hills, covered by an ocean of yellowish grass. This grass is not comparable with our grass on earth. It has this yellow and green color which gives it an ill and pale look. It’s rough and intractable. When we rode onto the first hill to get a better view, the first raindrops fall down on us. Lightning’s shrugged between the clouds. Although no one of us spoke it out loudly we thought our hunt would be over, soon. It was a bad feeling that grew stronger with every raindrop that touched our skin. But we didn’t give up. Especially I didn’t want to return to the Meadows. I was in love with the red dun mare since I caught her for the first time. I would be proud to sell such a wonderful mare. She even got her name by me: Jadetiger. A fitting one if you think how wild she was. I clicked my tongue and Morpheus moved on. While he got faster I sank into my own thoughts and tried to imagine how I would react if I was an excited animal.
‘It’s getting dangerous here’ Death warned me.
‘Yes’ I said ‘But here’s no place to hide.’ Again the thought of giving up rose.
‘Neither for us, nor for her. So let’s go on’, I said quietly to Morpheus. My stallion snuffled like he wanted to give me an answer.
‘Yama?’ Death voice was somewhere between sorrows and a little warning.
‘We are too far away from the portal. And this weather comes from the south. So let’s move more northward and look if we can find a place to stay’ I justified myself. Death said something about madness but the rising wind swallowed her words. Nevertheless she and Rùnyondo followed us. The rain got heavier and transformed the grassy ground into an ocean of mud and puddles. Thunder and lightning’s rolled over the sky when the storm hit us. We rode as fast as possible on this slick ground. And I started to ask myself if the Jadetiger was it all worth. Everything turned darker around us.
After a while Death shouted something against the storm and pointed a bigger hill. The ground was cliffier there and some bigger rocks broke through the grass. I leaded Morpheus to this hill instead of wasting time with an answer. We had to search a bit but finally we found a rock that stuck widely out of the hill. There was not much space beneath it but enough that we could set down there. We dismounted and ran for cover. Everything was wet on us.
‘This is crazy’ Death sighted.
‘Sure’ I had nothing to add to her words and gave her one of our water bottles instead of continuing this talk. But she stuck to her guns.
‘And you are addicted to this mare.’
‘It was a long ride, something to eat?’ I changed the topic and made it clear that I was not in the mood to discuss this now.
‘What have you packed?’ she asked. Her tone revealed that the topic was not finished yet.
‘I just depredated the kitchen. Let me see what we’ve got…’ I opened my backpack. Everything was wet. I made a sick noise.
‘Do you want your meal … dry?’ I asked and grabbed some wet bread.
‘Ok, new question. What have you packed that is still eatable?’
I searched a bit and finally took something out of my bag that had survived the thunderstorm.
‘How about broiled eggs?’
Death face told more than her words.
‘Nothing else?’ she asked without hope.
‘They are good proteins’ I gave her one of the eggs.
‘Awesome. Hunting bootcamp with Daddy Yama…’
‘Sorry. I know you don’t like them. I haven’t thought that we were confronted with such a thunderstorm Next time I’ll pack some apples, too.’
‘It’s ok, you were in a hurry.’
I nodded but I didn’t really agree with her. Next time I would be more concentrated in such situations. I stared at my egg.
‘It just a cosmic joke’ I mumbled. Death looked up.
‘It’s spring, we’re on a hunt. And the only things I have found are some eggs. Merry early Easter’ I laughed uninspiring.
‘You’re going to be mad, right?’ Death asked but giggled a bit while she spoke.
‘Yep’ I answered and tuck up my legs. Although the air was still warm our clothes were wet and the stony ground gave us the rest. Silently I looked at our Narakari. They could not hide from the rain. Hopefully we four wouldn’t get ill after we returned to the meadows.
‘Death, have a rest. I keep watching’ I decided.
‘We don’t return before tomorrow?’ she wanted to know.
‘No. It’s getting darker. And the ground is slick. It would be too dangerous to return now, especially as the storm has not passed by.’
She looked very unhappy but nodded finally.
The night fall over us and the thunderstorm lost its strength. Only wind and rain decided to stay with us. Time seemed to stand still. I sank deep into my thoughts again and somehow I started to feel a bit lonely. It was illogical because Death was by my side. Maybe the deep darkness just caused this feeling. It’s hard to stay a night in the wilderness without a fire. The flames do not only keep you warm, they give you hope and motivation to go on. This is the true reason why campfires are so important: psychological strength.
I don’t know how long I sat there beneath the rock and wished for a bit warmth and closeness. But at some point Morpheus started to neigh gently. I looked up and of course saw not much. My white stallion silhouetted against the dark surrounding so I could see clearly that he rose up his head. But I couldn’t see the reason for his behavior. I stood up and walked towards him.
‘What’s up?’ I whispered in his ear. A few seconds passed by and we both hearkened into the darkness. Then I heard it. A quiet neighing not too far away. And again Morpheus answered.
‘The Jadetiger!’ I said to myself. Suddenly every debility and chill was blown away. I took the rope from Morpheus saddle and listened again to locate the other Narakari. A new neighing and Morpheus ears guided me the way. Carefully I came up to her. Her red dun coat was not as bright as Morpheus ones but she was still clearly to see against the dark hills. Here moves seemed to be nervous and she focused me as soon as I got closer. Dried blood stuck dark in her fur. Gladly her wound seemed not to be heavy. My moves got slowly when I prepared my rope. Behind me Morpheus came closer and also Rùnyondo seemed to be interested in this situation. Both stallions snuffled calm as they wanted to show that there was no danger for the mare. She stood still and followed every single move that I made. The situation was fierce. As calm as possible I took my rope and tired to get close enough to the Jadetiger to lay it around her neck. Suddenly she moved forward and pulled me to the ground. Her hooves stomped and with a sharp neighing she hit my right leg. I screamed loudly. Why was it always the right one? I already had injuries there that will never heal again. Morpheus came a bit close but not closes enough to interfere directly. He wanted to save me but I was the leader and it was my fight. Ignoring the pain I got up.
‘Stop it!’ I screamed at the Jadetiger. My voice was full of anger. The mare stopped immediately. She seemed to be confused that a weak human could be such imperious. Unsure she made a step backward. Morpheus came close to me now. I took my rope again and tied her down. I stoke the other end of the rope on Morpheus saddle. He would be strong enough to hold her if she tries to run away again. My leg hurt incredibly and I had to firm up on my companion. Taking all my will together I halted to Rùnyondo, took the rope from his saddle and bon the Jadetiger with him, too. Flanked by the two stallions the mare calmed down a bit.
‘Yama?’ I heard Death somewhere in the darkness. My exhaustion stroke back, now. Together with the pain it beat through my body.
‘We’re here’ I answered dimly but assuaged.
‘You got her?’ she asked when she saw us.
‘Yep’ I said ‘Merry early Easter.’
End.
After our return to Narakari Meadows we cared for the mare. Her wounds healed quickly but she kept some scars. The young woman who wanted her once, denied her now because she was no longer a perfect beauty for her. This tiger really touched my heart and I felt really bad for her. Therefore I decided she might live on our land as a free and wild Narakari until a true friend of Death and me will ask for her.
Here you can find the reference sheet of our Jadetiger: click me
Enjoy.
Hunt and eggs
I had to slow Morpheus down as his trot became faster again. It took a moment but finally we found the way back to the rhythm of Devils Dance. We had not often trained with music before and my sweetheart still had to get accustomed to it. It was rather warm in our riding school and the air felt heavy. A thunderstorm pronounced itself. Maybe Morpheus felt it, too. But it could also be possible that he sensed that something would happen. Or it was just his jealousy because I took Discordia with me on our last hunt. Whatever he was not as calm as he supposed to be.
Anyways, Morpheus snuffled as he was forced to slow down but he accepted my leadership. Additionally there was no mare around to impress. His ears turned around attentively. We trotted a few circles and everything seemed to be ok again. Obviously I was wrong. Suddenly we heard a scream and a Narakari neighed outdoors. Something cracked very loudly. Morpheus stopped abrupt and neighed too.
‘Hooo, calm down, darling’ I told him but my words were empty as I was excited too. As fast as possible we left the riding school.
On the first view everything looked as usual. But then we saw Death who was already running into our direction. She came from one of the smaller meadows.
‘What has happened?’ I shouted at her direction.
‘It’s the new mare’ she answered ‘Or better to say, she was it. She got crazy again and then she broke through the fence.’
‘Is she hurt?’ I asked immediately.
‘Probably’ Death gasped.
‘Are you ok?’ I added quickly, just recognizing that my trust in Death’ skills could be misunderstood. Honestly I would never waste a thought at the possibility that she would give a wild mare the chance to stamp her down. I am fearless and reckless not she.
‘Yes’ she said.
I tried to calm down a bit and focus on the core of this situation. We caught this new mare for a young woman who told us she was deeply in love with red duns. And we had already called her that our hunt was successful. Therefore we had to get this mare back if we didn’t want to stand there with egg on our faces. Additionally I didn’t want to imagine how much chaos a wild and hurt Narakari would cause. Hopefully she would try to get back to hell.
‘Ok, we have to get her back. Not least it’s our responsibility that she got hurt. Morpheus is already prepared. So it would be the best if you get one of your Narakari ready while I go and pack some supplies, water, ropes and an a first aid kit’ I decided. Death nodded and ran to the meadow where her Narakari spend the afternoon. I went with Morpheus to our house and left him next to the front door. I was sure he won’t disappoint me and run away.
I grabbed up one of my backpacks and opened the fridge. As I wanted to hurry up I just took everything that came between my fingers and was eatable without any dishes. Nothing special, just supplies. After this I filled some bottles with water and took the rest of the equipment we would need for this hunt. Morpheus really waited for me when I left the house. He seemed to understand that something important has happened. I cuddled him briefly for his patience. We had to wait a few moments for Death but finally she joined us together with Rùnyondo.
‘How about the meadow? Do we have to repair the fence first?’ I asked and gave her one of the ropes.
‘Gladly not. I separated the mare this morning that we could start to work with her’ Death was visibly relieved that we won’t lose more time because of the other wild Narakari on our meadows. I felt about the same.
‘Ok. Then let’s go to the broken fence and see if we can get her track’ I gestured that Death should lead us to this place.
The fence looked horrible. It seemed the mare had jumped but far too low. Death had not understated. The mare really broke through the wooden fence.
‘So much power…’ I mumbled and touched some blood on the broken wood.
‘It seems that she run northward. There are some portals to hell’ Death had walked a bit away from the fence and it seems she had found some blood, too. I didn’t know if it was good or bad that she seemed to run back to hell. On the one hand she could not cause some chaos in our world. But on the other hand we didn’t know how much she was hurt. And you are easy prey if you run wounded and exited through hell.
‘Let’s hurry up and start searching there then’ I decided and we both left the fence.
We were both soaked with sweat when we arrived at one of the portals. The air seemed to become even heavier. Clouds were already darkening the horizon. That weather let us hurry up even more. See, the weather in hell is not always the same as on earth. We had no time for a real research but it seems to be a bit random if it’s the same as the earth weather or completely different. It’s like chaos throws a coin.
Death and I hurried up to pass the portal but we had no luck. A strong wind gave us an aggravating welcome. We could already hear a vague thunder far away.
‘Not good’ Death mentioned. I nodded my head. If we wouldn’t find the mare before the thunderstorm reached us, the rain would wash the slightly trace of thin blood sprinkles away. This would make our hunt much more difficult than it already was. We abided Morpheus and Rùnyondo and searched as fast as possible. Here and there we found some blood spots but they became less. Nevertheless it was a good thing. The injury seemed to be not that heavy and the wounds were gradually stopping to bleed. Good for her, bad for us. Our way led us deep into the hell. Soon we reached some hills, covered by an ocean of yellowish grass. This grass is not comparable with our grass on earth. It has this yellow and green color which gives it an ill and pale look. It’s rough and intractable. When we rode onto the first hill to get a better view, the first raindrops fall down on us. Lightning’s shrugged between the clouds. Although no one of us spoke it out loudly we thought our hunt would be over, soon. It was a bad feeling that grew stronger with every raindrop that touched our skin. But we didn’t give up. Especially I didn’t want to return to the Meadows. I was in love with the red dun mare since I caught her for the first time. I would be proud to sell such a wonderful mare. She even got her name by me: Jadetiger. A fitting one if you think how wild she was. I clicked my tongue and Morpheus moved on. While he got faster I sank into my own thoughts and tried to imagine how I would react if I was an excited animal.
‘It’s getting dangerous here’ Death warned me.
‘Yes’ I said ‘But here’s no place to hide.’ Again the thought of giving up rose.
‘Neither for us, nor for her. So let’s go on’, I said quietly to Morpheus. My stallion snuffled like he wanted to give me an answer.
‘Yama?’ Death voice was somewhere between sorrows and a little warning.
‘We are too far away from the portal. And this weather comes from the south. So let’s move more northward and look if we can find a place to stay’ I justified myself. Death said something about madness but the rising wind swallowed her words. Nevertheless she and Rùnyondo followed us. The rain got heavier and transformed the grassy ground into an ocean of mud and puddles. Thunder and lightning’s rolled over the sky when the storm hit us. We rode as fast as possible on this slick ground. And I started to ask myself if the Jadetiger was it all worth. Everything turned darker around us.
After a while Death shouted something against the storm and pointed a bigger hill. The ground was cliffier there and some bigger rocks broke through the grass. I leaded Morpheus to this hill instead of wasting time with an answer. We had to search a bit but finally we found a rock that stuck widely out of the hill. There was not much space beneath it but enough that we could set down there. We dismounted and ran for cover. Everything was wet on us.
‘This is crazy’ Death sighted.
‘Sure’ I had nothing to add to her words and gave her one of our water bottles instead of continuing this talk. But she stuck to her guns.
‘And you are addicted to this mare.’
‘It was a long ride, something to eat?’ I changed the topic and made it clear that I was not in the mood to discuss this now.
‘What have you packed?’ she asked. Her tone revealed that the topic was not finished yet.
‘I just depredated the kitchen. Let me see what we’ve got…’ I opened my backpack. Everything was wet. I made a sick noise.
‘Do you want your meal … dry?’ I asked and grabbed some wet bread.
‘Ok, new question. What have you packed that is still eatable?’
I searched a bit and finally took something out of my bag that had survived the thunderstorm.
‘How about broiled eggs?’
Death face told more than her words.
‘Nothing else?’ she asked without hope.
‘They are good proteins’ I gave her one of the eggs.
‘Awesome. Hunting bootcamp with Daddy Yama…’
‘Sorry. I know you don’t like them. I haven’t thought that we were confronted with such a thunderstorm Next time I’ll pack some apples, too.’
‘It’s ok, you were in a hurry.’
I nodded but I didn’t really agree with her. Next time I would be more concentrated in such situations. I stared at my egg.
‘It just a cosmic joke’ I mumbled. Death looked up.
‘It’s spring, we’re on a hunt. And the only things I have found are some eggs. Merry early Easter’ I laughed uninspiring.
‘You’re going to be mad, right?’ Death asked but giggled a bit while she spoke.
‘Yep’ I answered and tuck up my legs. Although the air was still warm our clothes were wet and the stony ground gave us the rest. Silently I looked at our Narakari. They could not hide from the rain. Hopefully we four wouldn’t get ill after we returned to the meadows.
‘Death, have a rest. I keep watching’ I decided.
‘We don’t return before tomorrow?’ she wanted to know.
‘No. It’s getting darker. And the ground is slick. It would be too dangerous to return now, especially as the storm has not passed by.’
She looked very unhappy but nodded finally.
The night fall over us and the thunderstorm lost its strength. Only wind and rain decided to stay with us. Time seemed to stand still. I sank deep into my thoughts again and somehow I started to feel a bit lonely. It was illogical because Death was by my side. Maybe the deep darkness just caused this feeling. It’s hard to stay a night in the wilderness without a fire. The flames do not only keep you warm, they give you hope and motivation to go on. This is the true reason why campfires are so important: psychological strength.
I don’t know how long I sat there beneath the rock and wished for a bit warmth and closeness. But at some point Morpheus started to neigh gently. I looked up and of course saw not much. My white stallion silhouetted against the dark surrounding so I could see clearly that he rose up his head. But I couldn’t see the reason for his behavior. I stood up and walked towards him.
‘What’s up?’ I whispered in his ear. A few seconds passed by and we both hearkened into the darkness. Then I heard it. A quiet neighing not too far away. And again Morpheus answered.
‘The Jadetiger!’ I said to myself. Suddenly every debility and chill was blown away. I took the rope from Morpheus saddle and listened again to locate the other Narakari. A new neighing and Morpheus ears guided me the way. Carefully I came up to her. Her red dun coat was not as bright as Morpheus ones but she was still clearly to see against the dark hills. Here moves seemed to be nervous and she focused me as soon as I got closer. Dried blood stuck dark in her fur. Gladly her wound seemed not to be heavy. My moves got slowly when I prepared my rope. Behind me Morpheus came closer and also Rùnyondo seemed to be interested in this situation. Both stallions snuffled calm as they wanted to show that there was no danger for the mare. She stood still and followed every single move that I made. The situation was fierce. As calm as possible I took my rope and tired to get close enough to the Jadetiger to lay it around her neck. Suddenly she moved forward and pulled me to the ground. Her hooves stomped and with a sharp neighing she hit my right leg. I screamed loudly. Why was it always the right one? I already had injuries there that will never heal again. Morpheus came a bit close but not closes enough to interfere directly. He wanted to save me but I was the leader and it was my fight. Ignoring the pain I got up.
‘Stop it!’ I screamed at the Jadetiger. My voice was full of anger. The mare stopped immediately. She seemed to be confused that a weak human could be such imperious. Unsure she made a step backward. Morpheus came close to me now. I took my rope again and tied her down. I stoke the other end of the rope on Morpheus saddle. He would be strong enough to hold her if she tries to run away again. My leg hurt incredibly and I had to firm up on my companion. Taking all my will together I halted to Rùnyondo, took the rope from his saddle and bon the Jadetiger with him, too. Flanked by the two stallions the mare calmed down a bit.
‘Yama?’ I heard Death somewhere in the darkness. My exhaustion stroke back, now. Together with the pain it beat through my body.
‘We’re here’ I answered dimly but assuaged.
‘You got her?’ she asked when she saw us.
‘Yep’ I said ‘Merry early Easter.’
End.
After our return to Narakari Meadows we cared for the mare. Her wounds healed quickly but she kept some scars. The young woman who wanted her once, denied her now because she was no longer a perfect beauty for her. This tiger really touched my heart and I felt really bad for her. Therefore I decided she might live on our land as a free and wild Narakari until a true friend of Death and me will ask for her.
-
Yamaneko - Posts: 16021
- Joined: Wed Oct 15, 2008 8:14 pm
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Bonding
by Death of Fantasy » Sun May 12, 2013 6:02 pm
Sometime after my events in hell I returned to the strange place, where I fell asleep. At least I thought so. Some inner feeling drove me, the nagging thought of the event being no dream, but reality. As I entered the grotto, I looked into the water. I had some provisions, in fact this was reality. There the little pool of water was, just as I remembered, together with the strange black ooze. Some heartbeats I hesitated, but after that I touched the water and everything went black. This time the weather was horrible. It was raining cats and dogs, so I immediately returned. This could be no dream! As I returned to my home woods I noticed it was late evening. When I started it was morning, but I wasn’t away longer than a few moments. The space-time continuum seems to be pretty warped as well as the weather. Last time it was hot and though I had been away several months I was not one whole day gone.
As soon as I realized this I understood the dangers. I would probably never be able to know how much the time would be warped between this world and our own. For my next visit I would be prepared. And I planned to return soon, what I actually did.
This time the weather was moderate. I returned immediately to see how fast time will flow. Nearly no time seemed to have passed so I returned pretty relieved. I had taken some barrier tape with me and fixed it so I would find the way back. I hoped to find the herd of tricorns back in the savannah while exploring this strange world, but I was disappointed at first. But somehow the leading stallion had noticed my presence and after some time they came near. They still noticed me. It was a rather small herd, consisting of the lead stallion, the lead mare, a young dapple gray mare, a nearly black mare and a young red dun stallion. They greeted me, though the lead stallion tried to convince me to return, but I shook my head.
‘I wanted to meet up with you and learn more about you all. But I will return. This world is interesting, though I would say my world is a better grazing site for your kind than yours.’ The stallion snorted in disbelief and shook his head. I laughed and unpacked my goods. They were some carrots and apples and I carefully offered them to the leaders. They nosed them curiously and cautiously until their hunger won and they tried the strange food. After some moments all were fighting over the goods I brought them and they looked expectantly at me for more. I laughed and shook my head.
‘You have eaten everything. I don’t have any more.’
I spent my day with the herd and then returned to my world. About the same time had passed in my world and I planned to return as often as I could and so I did. I always tested out what the time warp was like as I entered and I seldom encountered the harpies since I had learned to avoid them the first day I came to this world. The wood reminded me a bit of Dante’s description in his famous play, but amused I shook my head over myself. Silly me!
The tricorns awaited me anxiously every time I visited them and I brought them what they longed for: Fresh fruit. I began to name them all and after a time I thought of riding them. They trusted me, but I feared this would destroy their hard earned trust. After some time I risked it. And Rúnyondo didn’t disappoint me. I started slowly and perhaps he trusted me enough to believe I wouldn’t harm him. He was energetic and a pretty good ‘horse’, but I took slow steps. I noticed after I rode him he was more possessive of me, but still accepted me being near his underlings. As I tried to ride his mate he went wild and I noticed he saw me a bit as his property and didn’t want me to ride with other ones. I immediately stopped trying to work with his mate and concentrated on working with him. After some time he seemed to accept that I would always like him very much and would always be his, nevertheless if I interacted with the other ones or not. I was part of the heard and eventually he accepted me as some kind of co-boss to him and so did the others.
One day they followed me, even through the portal. And they were amazed by the richness of my world. I shooed them back with the promise of making them a proper home and I kept my promise. I met up with Yama and so the Meadows were born. And I had bonded with a herd of Narakari.
As soon as I realized this I understood the dangers. I would probably never be able to know how much the time would be warped between this world and our own. For my next visit I would be prepared. And I planned to return soon, what I actually did.
This time the weather was moderate. I returned immediately to see how fast time will flow. Nearly no time seemed to have passed so I returned pretty relieved. I had taken some barrier tape with me and fixed it so I would find the way back. I hoped to find the herd of tricorns back in the savannah while exploring this strange world, but I was disappointed at first. But somehow the leading stallion had noticed my presence and after some time they came near. They still noticed me. It was a rather small herd, consisting of the lead stallion, the lead mare, a young dapple gray mare, a nearly black mare and a young red dun stallion. They greeted me, though the lead stallion tried to convince me to return, but I shook my head.
‘I wanted to meet up with you and learn more about you all. But I will return. This world is interesting, though I would say my world is a better grazing site for your kind than yours.’ The stallion snorted in disbelief and shook his head. I laughed and unpacked my goods. They were some carrots and apples and I carefully offered them to the leaders. They nosed them curiously and cautiously until their hunger won and they tried the strange food. After some moments all were fighting over the goods I brought them and they looked expectantly at me for more. I laughed and shook my head.
‘You have eaten everything. I don’t have any more.’
I spent my day with the herd and then returned to my world. About the same time had passed in my world and I planned to return as often as I could and so I did. I always tested out what the time warp was like as I entered and I seldom encountered the harpies since I had learned to avoid them the first day I came to this world. The wood reminded me a bit of Dante’s description in his famous play, but amused I shook my head over myself. Silly me!
The tricorns awaited me anxiously every time I visited them and I brought them what they longed for: Fresh fruit. I began to name them all and after a time I thought of riding them. They trusted me, but I feared this would destroy their hard earned trust. After some time I risked it. And Rúnyondo didn’t disappoint me. I started slowly and perhaps he trusted me enough to believe I wouldn’t harm him. He was energetic and a pretty good ‘horse’, but I took slow steps. I noticed after I rode him he was more possessive of me, but still accepted me being near his underlings. As I tried to ride his mate he went wild and I noticed he saw me a bit as his property and didn’t want me to ride with other ones. I immediately stopped trying to work with his mate and concentrated on working with him. After some time he seemed to accept that I would always like him very much and would always be his, nevertheless if I interacted with the other ones or not. I was part of the heard and eventually he accepted me as some kind of co-boss to him and so did the others.
One day they followed me, even through the portal. And they were amazed by the richness of my world. I shooed them back with the promise of making them a proper home and I kept my promise. I met up with Yama and so the Meadows were born. And I had bonded with a herd of Narakari.
Last bumped by Death of Fantasy on Sun May 12, 2013 6:02 pm.
Where ere thou hast been,here or in yon world manifest.
Canst thou tell what is, or what was,
or what is to come?
No thing shall last
and there are things that shall never change.
History is written in blood,
yet are battles really lost
on the battlefields?
Canst thou tell me whence thou comest
and where thou goest
and what is, or what was, or what is to come?
For everything remains as it never was.
© Eluveitie - Otherworld
Canst thou tell what is, or what was,
or what is to come?
No thing shall last
and there are things that shall never change.
History is written in blood,
yet are battles really lost
on the battlefields?
Canst thou tell me whence thou comest
and where thou goest
and what is, or what was, or what is to come?
For everything remains as it never was.
© Eluveitie - Otherworld
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Death of Fantasy - Posts: 4849
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