[Korona Knight]

I think I'll post it here for now. Already starting~

[Korona Knight]

I wandered outside of the edge of the village, taking a deep breath. My father, Karo, followed behind me, the thunderous steps of his beast shaking the very ground I walked on, but I pressed forward, not wishing to make a single mistake.
"Korona, are you certain you want to do this?" my father whispered breathlessly. I could tell he was remembering what had happened to his eldest son...what had happened to Mako.
I stopped, staring up at him, fury and rage beginning to blind my senses. "You don't think I can do this, do you?" His silence was all I needed for confirmation, and I continued to walk forward, ignoring my father's mumbled apologies. I knew I could do this. This was going to be my mount and my companion, and I would let no one tell me otherwise.
We reached the spot where I had last encountered the large Bernikesaur. Since the first time I saw him, I had studied him and learned his patterns. It was about the time of day that he came to the small lake that offered us water.
We waited in tense silence as there remained to be no sign of my dinosaur. Minutes turned into hours, and my father's mount began to grown restless. My father shook his head. "It's no use, Kora; you waited too long. He's most likely moved on from here and is gone to some other place."
I shook my head, refusing to believe him. Growing angry, he nudged his steed forward, leaving me alone to deal with myself. We had never really connected; neither of my parents had with me when Mako had vanished, really. I'd separated myself from anyone who could hurt me.
After a few more minutes, I stood up, shaking the ache out of my legs and turning on my heels, just to look up at the very face of my predator.
The pools of blood that had become his eyes glared down at me, hot breath tickling my cheeks and neck. Where fear should have been, love was replaced. I loved this creature, and odd concept for one who generally pushed such an emotion away.
"Idolum."
The name escaped my lips, a quiet sound, and the reaction of the beast was different than I would have expected. He seemed taken aback, taking a step backwards and lowering himself a little, still glowering down at me, trying to intimidate me. He let out an enormous roar, sending trembles through my spine, though I did not budge. Instead, I put my hand out, palm facing him.
"Idolum."
Slowly, I reached towards him, his name flowing off my lips now as I repeated it.
"Idolum, Idolum, Idolum. Your name is now Idolum."
My fingers brushed against his nose. He reared backwards, but I took a few slow steps towards him, placing my hand back on his nose.
This time, he did not flinch. He simply gave him, his eyes sinking closed, the black patches surrounding them beautiful and unreal, as well as complete now.
My hands began to explore his large body. He was much bigger than my father's Bernikesaur, at least a head taller, and much stronger and younger looking. I could see little wounds on him, though it was obvious he was a struggler.
I withdrew my hand, looking over at him as his eyes slid open once more, flickering to look at me, though he refused to turn his head and look at me head on.
I knew I could right the wrong done unto him. With time, I could teach him to love humans again. I knew he would too.
Spinning on my heels, I began to walk back towards the village, looking behind me every so often to see if Idol would follow. Every time I did, I saw that he was off somewhere, pretending not to be watching me, but every time I turned and began walking away, I could feel those powerful steps as he followed me, before stopping as I did to act like he wasn't. When we did reach home, he laid beneath a large tree, looking tired. I smiled as I walked inside to share the news and to prove that I was still alive.
I knew my brothers and sisters would want to touch him and play with him, and though it took quite a bit, I managed to control them enough to let everyone just look at him.
I was going to be the talk of the town tomorrow morning, but for tonight, there was enough adventure to be had.

[Korona Knight]

I rose early the next morning, running out to see Idol standing where I had left him the night before. He looked at me, a bit more accepting of my presence than yesterday. He looked better rested and fed than when I had left him, which gave me great relief. He was already making himself at home.
I gently led him towards the Keeping, the place where most of the Bernikesaurs were kept if they weren't on your property. The blacksmith and the leather maker were attached to the building.
I walked into the blacksmith, knocking gently on the door.
"What can I do for ya, Ms. Knight?" the old smith asked, giving me a twisted smile. He was a jolly, thin, drawn man, a little off his rocker, but a good enough man, very fair from what I remember.
"I have a job for you. I just got myself a Bernikesaur, but he had been previously captured and tied up. I was wondering if you could possibly get the chain off his ankle?"
The smith's eyes got wide. "Yer tellin' me that you got yerself a Bernikesaur that was strong enough to break a chain specifically made for keeping him there?"
I nodded, not being able to help the smile that crept onto my face.
The smith walked out with me, balking at the sheer mass of my beast. As he tried to near him, Idol began to get spooked, his body beginning to swell, a natural instinct to fear. I quickly quieted him, apologizing profusely to the very scared smith.
"Ain't nothin' I can do, sweety," he finally said, giving up after the fifth or so attempt to even get near Idolum.
Sighing, I walked over to the leather maker. His reaction mirrored the smith's when he saw Idolum, though he quickly excused himself, bringing out a brand new saddle and bridle. He referred to them as rentals, as I would receive more official garments when I finished my training. In part, I believed he just didn't want to anger me by making me buy the pieces, as they were expensive and I was poor, and upsetting me may upset my new beast.
I walked towards a large open field that was meant for training. Idol looked at the pieces I lugged with me, suspicion clear in his eyes. I managed to let him to lay down as I climbed up onto the deck so that it would be easier for me to saddle him.
As soon as he felt the weight of the leather and cloth on his back, he roared, scaring most passerby's, and jolted upwards, shaking it off of him as if it were merely a piece of cloth.
Deciding I would wait on the saddle, I lured him back to me, feeding him a piece of meat as a treat before gently sliding the bridle onto him, working slowly and gently, stopping whenever he moved so as to make him more comfortable.
After finally getting the bridle on, I went back to attempt the saddle.
I laid down the saddle blanket down once more, watching as his muscles rippled and tensed. I waited until I saw him uncoil and relax before tenderly settling the saddle on his back once more. Immediately, he threw it off, glaring at me for even trying to do such a thing.
This continued on, me luring him back with treats, finally getting the saddle on him, and him just throwing it off once again.
After the sixth attempt, I managed to strap it in before he could shake it off. I watched as he ran around, rolling and desperately trying to get it off. After a few minutes, he gave up, sulking in a corner of the field and snapping at anything that came too close.
If it was this hard to get a saddle on him, I feared at how hard it would be to ride him.

[Korona Knight]

It took an hour before Idol would even come near me. I knew he was stubborn and thick headed when I first met him, but this was beginning to get ridiculous. I was the rider here; I was in charge.
"Idol, trust me," I pleaded, placing my hand on his flank, begging him to look at me, though he still refused.
Out of pure spite, I walked up to him, and before he could reach, I climbed up his side, settling myself on his back and grabbing hold, preparing for the worst.
He went completely still. He didn't move or react at all. I felt a chill up my spine.
I finally managed to lean over enough to see just the corner of his eyes, and what I saw surprised me.
Fear. Complete and utter fear. It wasn't until then that I realized that he was scared; not of me or of what I was doing, but for me.
I got off, walking over and placing my hand on his lowered nose. "It's okay, Idol, see? I'm okay. Nothing bad happened," I murmured as he began shaking, whether in relief or in fear, I don't know. either way, he brought his head down further, gently pushing his nose into my arms until I was pretty much hugging that giant snout of his.
"I'm not hurt, and you're not hurt. It'll be okay."
I continued to talk softly to him as I let his head go, climbing up once again and settling on top of him, gripping the bridle and easing him up. I did my best not to react as he shakily stood up.
When he was finally up, I gently nudged him with my foot, smiling softly at him as I urged him forward. He walked slowly at first in a straight line, but as he realized that nothing was happening and that both of us were safe, he began to relax.
By the end of the day, we were running around, doing a few simple tricks here and there and learning how to move with each others' bodies.
I went hope happy that night. Though my father wanted to put Idol in the Keep, I ruled that out as a bad idea, as Idol didn't approve of anyone else. He slept next to the window of my room, curled up and protecting me from anyone outside. It was the first night I fell asleep feeling completely protected and safe.

[Korona Knight]

Alright, I think I'm done with basic training!

[Korona Knight]

It was a rather beautiful day as I stepped outside, enjoying as warm sunlight hit my back. It was slightly humid, but not nearly enough to make me feel uncomfortable as I grazed along the edge of my property, closing my eyes and taking in a deep breath, sighing in content.
When I opened my eyes, a shriek escaped my mouth as I stumbled backwards. A very confused Idol stood in front of me, his head right over me, tilted slightly to the left in confusion.
"Personal space; ever heard of it?" I laughed, affectionately shoving his muzzle away from me. This only caused him to nuzzle me more, sending me into a fit of giggles as he hit a few nerves, which tickled. Though I am normally a closed off, serious person, Idol has become my reason for living, and I could never be mad at him.
After a while, he laid down, herding me towards his chest, where I laid beside him, my head resting on the soft skin that made up his belly.
We sat there, watching the clouds for a while. I talked to him, soothing both of our nerves, he just listening and I talking about every worry I may ever have.
With a yawn, I rolled over onto my left side, curling up into the fetal position and falling into a light nap, his slowed breathing indicating he was doing the same.
Around an hour later, my father gently woke me, smiling down at me. "Time for your first patrol," he chuckled, looking as giddy as I felt as I heard those treasured words.

[Korona Knight]

We arrived shortly at the outskirts of the territory, breathing in a sigh of relief. No troubles for right now, as far as I could see. Idol seemed content just to walk around, sniffing out the border to see what he could find.
We soon came upon the entrance to the underground caves. I smiled, remembering my love for these as a kid. There were many tribes people who lived down there, though my family was one of the few that enjoyed staying above ground.
I decided exploring the caves would have to wait for another time.
We continued our patrol, finding nothing out of the ordinary. I dismounted after a few minutes, allowing Idol to run around and hunt for a bit while I looked along the horizon. I could see a few huts just on the edge of the horizon of nearby tribes. I'd always wanted to visit, but that was never an option.
I sighed, calling Idolum back and mounting once more, mounting him and letting him run back to the village.
Though there was nothing very impressive about our first border patrol, it was some very good bonding time for both of us, and I knew at least I was excited for some weaponry training over the next few days.

[Korona Knight]

My first day of weaponry training was about to start. Though I wanted to train in all the weapons I could, the first I had to master was my bow. Though I already knew how to shoot well, I'd never shot from the back of something that was as tall as Idol nor from something moving.
I mounted Idol, positioning myself before drawing my bow. By this point, Idol was fairly comfortable with me and did not flinch as he felt my recoil when I sent the arrow flying. It hit the target perfectly, earning a smile out of me and a grunt of satisfaction from Idol. That was the easy part.
We then began walking around in a circle, nice and slow, with targets placed around me. I shot at each target, and though I missed the first few, I began to get rather good at it, and by the end of the course, I was hitting all of the targets on all sides.
We then sped it up and received similar results. Eventually we reached running, and I became accustomed to aiming a little ahead or a little behind the target in order for it to hit.
We began listening to each others' bodies, making it easier so that when he slowed down, I adjusted my aim, and when he turned, I was able to shoot during the ordeal without missing.
We finished that day having completed the course. The next few days would be new weapons, such as throwing instruments, like spears and knives.
I rode Idolum all the way back home, excited to tell my family that I had passed.

[Korona Knight]

I absolutely adore Korona and Idolum together ^^ You did a wonderful job on the rider and tack, as well as the saddle blanket. Everything looks perfect, thank you! I will continue writing once things settle down.