[PRP] Ride Me (Calder/Zar)

[Baneful]

Zar in a position of control was in his very element, all the dithering, all the apologising, all he self pity, it seemed to melt away when he was handed the metaphorical and in this case literal reins to another individual. He was aware from books at least of the principles of riding and various aspects also came naturally. Feeling the bunching of strong muscles under him, he leaned instinctively into Calder's balance, slithering his tail around his middle like the girth of a saddle so it would not get in the way of his, or rather for the moment, her hind hooves.

He took hold of her mane and spurred her in the trot, squeezing with his hooves and tail combined, most of his strength focused in said area.

When she started to veer to a tree, Zar's reaction was calculated and immediate, he sharply tugged left on her mane and steered her not particularly gently in the other direction. "Crashing into trees is not acceptable." he said. "But speed is." And leaning back, he smacked her on the rump.

 

[MoonKitsune]

The yank was a relief, glad to know that Zar would not be leading Calder into any holes or trees for the time being and wasn't afriad to tug on her hair. In fact, from the quickness to which he tugged and his cocky little comment, he seemed A-OK with riding her. In fact, it felt as if he had ridden a mare before, or some sort of mount. Considering he was a demon, she had to wonder.

The squeezing was a nice security and offered Calder another way to communicate and feel what Zar wanted, but the slap to the rump was not what she was expecting and she let out a whinny at the slap.

Ears back, she went to n** at Zar's tail, but was already being tugged forward into a gallop.

So he felt he had no problem handling her? Okay. Let's see just how much he could handle a kelpie. She was allowing him to ride her, not letting him make her his little play pet.

"Oh, you want speed than." She turned her head forward. "I'll give ya speed."

As he leaned, she kicked the soft dirt and leaned her head down as she went into a full gallop, not right at full speed, but enough to show him she wasn't going to trot little circles around the clovers either. Admittedly, she wanted to run the most, but she needed to be sure Zar could handle her.

Running, she leaped over a fallen log, landed, and started to head through the woods. There were trees and branches to dodge. She had to wonder how he would navigate the lush obstacle course that was the Weeping Woods.  

[Baneful]

As Calder swung round to n** at him, Zar tensed up in anticipation, only to have her do as he'd hoped and break into a gallop. "Yes." he agreed when she asked if he wanted speed. "Impress me." It would probably end badly, he decided, but at this point he didn't much care. This was far more exciting than how he'd planned to spend his day and pushing Calder as far as he could get away with was rapidly becoming one of his favourite pastimes.

Thanks to her grip on him and his own tail, he wasn't dislodged as she kicked up a notch in pace, but instead quickly hunched low to her back, pulling his wings in close to his body while angling them to not resist the air that whipped past them both.

At they leapt and landed he had to regain his balance and quickly duck to avoid his extensive set of horns catching on the overhanging branches. It was a test of his ability to concentrate on Calder's actions and estimate her movements and leaps while keeping one eye on environmental hazards which could practically tear his head off.

"You... you call /that/ speed?" he said disdainfully, trying to keep the thrill of adrenaline out of his tone.
 

[MoonKitsune]

Calder let out another whinny at the challenge. Zar was not impressed and it delighted the mare that the demon had yet to panic and was still pushing her.

Run

All part of her sang as she lowered her head and bolted into a full gallop.

Run till your heart bleeds and your legs break. Run till your lungs burst and the world melts.

Do you hear the water ripple?

Her hooves flew in quick strikes as she ran into the woods and river she knew since freshman year. Her heart beat hard against the tail wrapped about her as she leapt over bushes and ran through streams.

Yours. Never let him go. Rum him into the ground. Into dark waters. You know where to go.

The fog rippled against her body in waves, and each time her body grew think, her slick hair turned slimy, and her pelt turned white to rippling waves of black.

Darker and darker as she ran.  

[Baneful]

Zar's dual hearts hammered in his chest as the pace picked up even further. He was not used to high speeds despite his goading Calder further and further down that path. He had spent a very long time very sedentary and immobile but like this, this running, flat out with the ground whipping away underfoot, suspended only by muscle and power, it was a thrill. It violated several hundred safety rules and was an immense insurance risk, but none of that nonsense mattered any longer. All that mattered was doing whatever he wanted, and he wanted to do this.

Streams were left behind as they dashed through them in a clatter of hooves and spray and every muscle in his body was tense, holding on, holding his balance and moving and guiding with the thunderous hooves.

He noticed the changes, felt them in a distant way through the thrum of primal emotion. He held more tightly onto the slimy hair, familiar with his own slime and determined not to lose his grip. He concentrated entirely, no longer taunting the kelpie but instead fully tuned into his every movement.  

[MoonKitsune]

He slammed on the breaks, skidding to rise up on his back legs and raise his front hoofs high. The whinny that came out was was half horse and half something else. Sharp teeth speckled with a swampish slime flecked about as now-white eyes burst into smoke and continued to eek out a white fog.

Slamming back down on his front hooves, he kicked off again, tossing chunk of earth back in his wake as he belted at full speed. The green of trees and vines blurred around him as he panted, nostrils flared and heart pounding.

Faster. Faster. Faster.

His mind fogged over as if being submerged in water and all he could hear was the current and sloshing heartbeat of his own heart in his ears. He felt drawn now, pulled to a smell, and he raced to it. All he wanted to do was run, to feel, to go to that point and bring his rider along for the rider.

You are mine. My prize. I’ll have you completely.

“Mineeeeeeeeeeee.” He whinned as he sped through vines and twigs that lashed and tore at his sides with no concern than to get to the one cliff he knew was up ahead.
 

[Baneful]

"Woah!" Zar called out and held onto Calder's mane with the additional help of his claws as he reared. He felt different, more dangerous, both in physical shape and in the emotions which roared through him, almost contagious in their intensity. It was almost enough to sweep Zar along with them, hitting that instinct again. For just a moment he wanted to spring free and to run, faster and faster alongside the kelpie. But that was madness wasn't it? He couldn't run, not like that, never like that.

He could only hunch low and hold on, listening, feeling, paying attention to the ebb and flow of emotions, feeling for that desire to leap.

And he realized the terrain was sloping up, up and up and there had to be something there. He braced himself, loosening his wings, feeling the air as it ripped past him, letting it sluice over the membranes as if in a freefall, a parody of actual flight, his every muscle was tensed and ready.  

[MoonKitsune]

When Zar made no move to turn Calder about, he only leaned in more. His hoof-falls and heartbeat blurring in his ear in a fast tha-tha-thrump, tha-tha-thrump, tha-tha-thrump, over and over as his eyes remained focus on the narrow goal ahead. A break in the trees where the Halloween Sky glowed a brilliant orange and there was nothing left but a slice of earth jutting out into nothing.

With a leap out, he let his hind hooves kick against the edge and gave out a joyous whinny as he awaited the free-fall below into the murk black waters of the swamp that was ready to swallow them both in a warm, frog-muck embrace.  

[Baneful]

There were some things Zar really wasn't proud of. His tail's tendency to secrete a very viscous and slippery slime in certain situations was one of those things. When Calder jumped off into nothing he did it quite against his will, fighting the kelpie's grip with everything he had at his disposal. This took his attention off of what his wings were doing, removing the usual element of self sabotage from his movements. They spread reflexively into the wind, into the leap, to their extensive span. And he flapped them once, twice and then tensed every muscle as he subconciously slipped into a glide.

It was making their jump a lot further than perhaps it had really meant to be.
 

[MoonKitsune]

They were falling. Falling. Calder was waiting for the splash that he was sure was going to happen.

But it didn't.

And he paws into nothing.

Looking about, he noticed that they were still up in the air, and they were high. The adrenaline high and pure thrill of running along with the anticipating of the water drained in an instant as it was replaced with a sudden panic. Calder's eyes snapped from smoky white to normal and large, and he let out a whinny.

"Jaaaacccckkkk!!!" He cried out, pawing into the air and heart now hammering a million miles a second at the idea of being this high up.

THEY WERE GOING TO DIE!!!!  

[Baneful]

Carrying the air drag of a large equine on his wings was pretty jacking painful Zar decided as their decent failed to materialize and the reason finally became clear. His every wing muscle and membrane were pushed to their limit and he began to panic almost immediately.

"Jaaaack!" he joined Calder in his panicked yell, realising just how high up both of them actually were and trying to lose altitude. Of course trying to lose altitude in a panic meant that he just spilled air from his wings, destabilised completely and sent both of them plummeting down into the water they'd been aiming for prior.

But for a brief moment he'd glided and his wings, long thought useless had worked.

It wasn't exactly the graceful landing that had been panning out moments before.
 

[MoonKitsune]

The landing was in no way graceful as it would have been - not that a large horse could land as gracefully as a diver, but at least he wouldn't have turned slightly and hit the water on his rump instead of at a slight angle to his front.

The green water splashed out in all directions, sending all manner of aquatic and amphibian minipet racing under the dead logs and thick grass all around.

Now a white mare again, Calder's head heaved up to the water's surface and started to paddle about, looking around for Zar. "Why did you fly, you crazy demon!"  

[Baneful]

Zar was decidedly not a swimmer. As he went under it was rather far and rather deep. Heavy horns felt a great deal heavier under the surface and his huge wings became about as useful as trying to swim wrapped up in a tent, dragging him further below the surface the more he tried to pull himself up. Even his tail, lashing behind him like a snake was not entirely helpful with the swimming thing.

When he realized he wasn't actually getting anywhere in a hurry, he panicked.

It didn't actually help.  

[MoonKitsune]

Calder could feel the water moving further down, and when he saw Zar wasn't around, he dipped back down and forced all the air out, letting himself sink and look about. Water was his element, and no matter how murky, he could hunt in it.

Below, he kept his ears out for muffled noises and let his body feel for movement around him. It wasn't hard to feel the commotion the demon was making, and padding over, Calder nipped a bunch of fabric in her mouth and started to go up, breaking through the water and raising her muzzle as high as she could in hopes the demon would know to come for air.

Padding along, she made her way over to the muddy bank and heaved him over.  

[Baneful]

No air. No air at all. Freaking out had only served to empty Zar's lungs and he was already starting to fade out when he felt himself pulled to safety. Again, unbidden that twisted rage and desperation rose in him and even on the brink of drowning he dismissed and fought it.

On the bank he coughed, lifting himself up on his hands, tail curled around his bent knees, absolutely covered in thick slippery mud. It really was fortunate he'd gotten changed. He was looking a great deal less like a demon and more like something dredged up from the deep as he shook his head.

"Thanks." he said, and wiped mud and a gob of slime off of his glasses. "That was not intentional." he stated, just in case Calder thought the debacle of a leap actually had been. "I didn't even think my wings were functional."