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 Posted: Sun Feb 21, 2021 6:43 pm
.: Solo Roleplay :.
emotion_nope
Rite of Passage || No One || At Home
~~~~~~~~~~ Bard stepped lightly over the snow, padding it down more with his hooves and his weight, adding to the tracks already in the snow from the other horses who had been worked here just earlier in the day. Declan always liked to take Bard out last, usually spending the few hours until it was his turn doing odd jobs around the ranch until he had woken up enough to do his exercises with the large gelding. He would have loved dearly to have taken to the trails that wound all over the forests, but this deep into winter, it wasn't safe. The snow was deeper out there and could be hiding any number of dangerous debris underneath it to make a horse trip and fall. Like large rocks, holes, or ice. So, instead, they were making sure the animals got to stretch their legs doing different routines in one of the arenas. It just wasn't the same as being all alone on the trail. He could think better. Decompress. At least no one bothered him while he was in the arena. But he couldn't easily get a sense of being alone, when he could see different family members working around him, outside the fence.
As he urged Bard into a trot, doing circles, he could see his father and one of his younger brothers walk out of the stable, carrying various equipment to be cleaned in the shed nearby. He ignored them for the time being and focused on the movements of the animal beneath him, giving him a pat on the neck that Bard answered back with a shake of his head.
Animals were so much better than people, weren't they? You never had to second guess what an animal meant or if they were trying to lie to you, so long as you understood their body language. While humans, although also animals, were so prone to deceit and changing their minds at a whim.
Take Valentine's for example. Why all of a sudden had he been attracting the attention of a girl? Most people knew to avoid him, knew he didn't want anything to do with his own kind. It had been the first time since elementary school that he had received a card. And had instantly thrown it into the trash. He was never given anything, he had clearly been a dare. Never once was he fooled, not even when she tried to talk to him. He knew she was just snickering behind his back with her friends and he wouldn't give her the satisfaction of any answer to anything she said just to provide her more fodder to laugh at. So he'd walked away and she stopped bothering him the following day. It was all so fake and he had no patience for it.
But with animals, you always knew they were sincere in their feelings towards you.
"Declan! Come here a moment."
His father's voice broke into his thoughts and he slowed Bard down to a walk, instantly obeying the summons. When he reached the fence dividing him and the older man, he stopped the horse and sat there, waiting.
"You know the Mustang auction is coming up." Declan nodded. Of course he did. They always took part in one, buying an untouched Mustang to gentle and adopt out to people who had not the time, experience, or equipment to do it themselves. "The 12th of next month. Whatever horse I get from this one, I want you to train. I think you're old enough to do it on your own."
Declan's eyes widened and he just stared at his father for a few seconds before he realized he was being impolite. "Sir?"
"I don't want to hear any arguments, Declan. You will do it. I will be near if you need help, but I believe you will be fine, son."
And without waiting for an answer, his father turned and walked back to whatever work he had been doing. Declan knew not to say anything more on the matter. He would be doing this and that was that.
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Word Count: 684
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Posted: Thu Feb 25, 2021 9:30 pm
.: Awakening Roleplay :. emotion_nope Chasing Tail || General-King Axinite || In The City Somewhere~~~~~~~~~~✦ Incomplete!
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Posted: Mon Mar 01, 2021 4:21 pm
.: Solo Roleplay :.
emotion_nope
??? || No One || ???
~~~~~~~~~~ Reserved for when the awakening is finished.
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Posted: Mon Mar 01, 2021 7:46 pm
.: Private Roleplay :. emotion_nope No Knight on a White Horse Here || Sailor Dubhe || In The City Somewhere~~~~~~~~~~✦ Incomplete!
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Posted: Tue Mar 09, 2021 12:02 pm
.: Solo Roleplay :.
emotion_nope
The Burdens I Bare || No One || At Home
~~~~~~~~~~ It was almost time for the auction. Or at least to go pick up whatever horse his father won for him if he bid online instead, which lately that's what he had been doing. Declan hadn't really asked the details of how this auction was going to go. Hadn't really cared. Didn't really matter as much where the animal was coming from when it would be his job to make it fit for adoption before the time limit was up. If he didn't manage to do it in time, his father would be very disappointed in him. Which, by itself, wasn't anything to worry about. His father was strict about the ranch, expected things done a certain way and at a certain time. But he was also somewhat fair. He'd never make his children do something he thought they couldn't handle. So if Declan couldn't in fact do this on his own, it might be a while before his father trusted him with it, again. Declan wanted so bad to prove to his father that he was capable enough to do anything he was asked to do.
But there was also the issue of being a Senshi. Sometimes he wondered what it'd have been like had he been picked by one of the other sides. Would it have been less stressful, more relaxed about when he did the duties thrown onto his shoulders? How was he to manage his quota of energy gathering while also spending a few hours a day working on a wild Mustang? It seemed impossible. Why did he have to have been awoken now, of all times, when all his responsibilities just seemed to be piling up. At least school was fine. But than it was just High School. By the time finals rolled around, he'd be done with the horse and not have to worry about studying on top of everything else.
Running a hand over his hair, Declan frowned as he pulled it all back from his face into a ponytail tied at the nape of his neck. As usual, the bangs that framed his face broke loose immediately. He brushed them aside and behind his ears, where they at least stayed for longer than a few minutes at a time. He should have brought clips out with him. Normally he did, but this whole business with the horse was stressing him out more than he'd like to admit. If his cousin got wind of this, there'd be no end to the encouragements to talk to her about it. Declan didn't like talking to people about his problems. It never made the problems go away, just brought them back up to the surface and worried him even more. He could deal with it on his own.
The teenager grabbed a glass jar from the shelf above him, reaching in with a small, wide bowled spoon to scoop out some previously dried tea he'd ordered a while ago. At least out here, in his little work shed behind the house, he could work in peace, get his thoughts together. Or forget about them for a time, focus on the mixing of a new tea as he currently was doing. Anyone who didn't know him personally would be very surprised to see this was one of his favorite hobbies. Tea was relaxing. And experimenting with different mixes of flavors was just as relaxing as drinking it afterwards. He always made sure not to use too much caffeine in his mixes.
Declan emptied the spoon into a bowl and put it down on the table, his purple eyes roaming over the other jars in front of him. What next? He felt like doing something extra special, extra odd. Maybe the sprinkles he'd brought out with him yesterday. Maybe they'd give the tea a nice, sweet taste. Than he could add in some very tiny chocolate chips. Wouldn't that be truly unique? The next time his grandmother visited them, he'd try his new concoctions out on her. She thought his inventions ridiculous at times, but would always try it first before she gave a final judgement on it. She said he had a knack for it.
Tea wasn't what he wanted to spend his life doing, though. It was coming up to the time he needed to start thinking about what he wanted to be doing and the answer had been simple. The same answer he'd have given when he was a young boy, watching his father training the Mustangs and being told he was too young to help: Work with horses. He thought he'd always be on the ranch, helping his father. To get his own someday seemed impossible.
Well. That was in the distant future. And the present was being devoted to the creation of delicious drinks.
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Word Count: 801
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Posted: Wed Mar 17, 2021 7:05 pm
.: Solo Roleplay :.
emotion_nope
Calypso || No One || At Home
~~~~~~~~~~ Calypso was pacing the opposite end of the pen, not very fast though she equally wasn't calming down. It was still better than when she'd first got here, where she'd fast trot back and forth, doing her best to avoid the boy with the lunge whip on the other end. The whip itself was devoid of the string and now was just a very thin pole. The string had lost its use after many, many years of service to his father and had thus been reborn for the work with Mustangs, making it perfect for the gentling process. This was of course Declan's first time ever using it.
Calypso was a chestnut mare of two years old standing around 15hh. She had two white stockings on her back legs and a snip on her face, just a white stripe down her nose. She'd been selected by Declan's father as his first test of how well he'd been studying all his life watching how the older man prepared these wild animals for an adopter in just two months time. As far as Declan could remember, his father had never failed to complete this task in the time limit, possessing a good eye for which horses would work best for him. He'd picked Calypso from among the rest because of how calmer she seemed in the pens. She wouldn't approach anyone, just like none of the other mares around her would. But she didn't shy away nearly as much as they did, either.
Of course, once you got the horse home and inside the pen that would be its home for a few months, it could turn out to be different than you expected. Not that Calypso had been bucking and bolting the whole time she'd been here. Declan was starting to feel like he was doing something wrong. He couldn't touch her with the pole as often as he'd seen his father do on all the occasions he'd watched the older man do this. Despite how much he'd been told over and over he was doing fine. The horse set the pace, not the person.
So he was waiting for the mare to calm down, moving back and forth on his end of the pen slowly, keeping the pole down by his side. Once she calmed down and stood watching him, he'd always move in slowly, raising the pole and gently rubbing it against her back. The goal was to get her used to his presence and being touched by something else. Once she fully accepted the tough of the pole, he'd move in himself and touch her with his hands. If she allowed. She had yet to allow that. Patience and persistence was the key. He knew this. Still, Declan couldn't help feeling the pressure as the days ticked by and he was still using the pole. If he didn't succeed in turning her into a fully domesticated and trained mount in two months time, she'd be taken back by the organization and his father would feel a stab to his reputation as a valued trainer of horses. He'd be disappointed in his son for not being able to do this, after so many years of watching and being taught exactly what to do.
Declan took a deep breath and released it slowly, trying to calm his nerves. Maybe that was the problem. Maybe he wasn't as calm as he needed to be and he was spooking her more. If he breathed in a few times, he always managed to make himself feel calm. He continually would tell himself it was fine, he was doing fine, she was just more skittish than they thought she'd be. Sometimes they were. He'd seen it himself over the years. It was hard to judge an animal completely in the short window or videos you were given to go on. He could do this.
He had to do this.
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Word Count: 655
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Posted: Thu Mar 18, 2021 1:20 pm
.: Private Roleplay :. emotion_nope A Trot Through a Field of Flowers || Sailor Chibi Tachibana || In The City Somewhere~~~~~~~~~~✦ Incomplete!
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Posted: Tue Mar 23, 2021 8:08 pm
.: Solo Roleplay :.
emotion_nope
Brotherly Encouragement || No One || At Home
~~~~~~~~~~ Declan tied his orange hair back from his face, pulling it through the elastic into a neat little bun at the nape of his neck. The wind was a bit strong today, pulling his hair in all directions around his face and getting on his nerves. He needed to focus, not constantly be chasing the strands around with his fingers. With bobby pins, he pulled back the hair that usually framed his face so nicely so that not a strand was able to do as it pleased. Satisfied that his unruly hair was conquered, he stepped into the horse pen.
He was working hard at this. No one could say otherwise. Whether he was making the appropriate progress that he should be, that he'd seen his father make, was up to question. He still didn't think he was doing this fast enough, despite that it'd only been a week since Calypso had arrived at the ranch and he had seven whole weeks to work on her. Regardless, he still felt the pressure of living up to his father's expectations and not ruining the family's standing as capable horse trainers.
Declan knew he wasn't ready to do this when he'd been given this task. This was showing it. Even when he was on patrol as Herschel, this was all he could think of. On more than one occasion, he'd almost run into an opposing faction member before he realized it and quickly sprinted away. He definitely wasn't ready for any confrontations. At least not until he was done with this mare. He was so busy trying to split his time between her, school, and filling his quota for the week, he didn't have much time for anything else. What a perfect point in his life had he chosen to awaken to this other life.
Pole held at his side, Declan reached out with a hand to scratch at the mare's back, stepping away after a little bit before going back in for more scratches. She was becoming more used to his presence and wasn't as skittish anymore. She still had her moments, but overall, she was trusting him. At least that was progress.
A few hours later, he left the pen, throwing a bit of hay over the fence as a reward for doing so well in today's session. As he was brushing off his hands, one of his younger brothers approached him from the area of the stables, one of the Dalmatians that called the ranch home trotting towards the house from behind him.
"Doing okay with her, Declan?" Marcas asked.
"She's getting there," came his answer, pulling his hair out of the bun and back into a ponytail, letting it trail down his back as before.
Marcas merely nodded, clearly not sure what else to say on the matter. "I guess that'll be me next."
"Probably." Pulling the pins out of the sides of his head, Declan ran his fingers through what passed as his bangs, straightening them out either sides of his face where they belonged. Marcas had the same hair color as he did, inherited from their Irish/Scottish mother. Marcas, however, kept his much shorter, falling just to the tips of his ears.
When his brother didn't say anything more, Declan clapped a hand on the younger boy's shoulder and smiled. He could tell Marcas was feeling the stress of doing this one day himself. They both knew their father would make each of them do this, just as he had their older sister, who had left a little while ago for university in another city. She decided she didn't want to take on the duty of running the ranch one day nor did she want to be there for any length of time after she graduated from High School and could move on with her life. It was like a rite of passage for the children, the taming of their very first Mustang on their own.
"It's not so bad. He'll pick one out carefully for you when it's your turn. And I'll help you. You still have a few years yet."
"Yes. I know. You'll help me prepare for it, won't you? I've been watching you with Calypso."
"Ah. I'm not sure I'm the one you should be watching."
"You're doing good, though! You always were better with the animals than the rest of us."
"I guess time will tell if that is true."
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Word Count: 740
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Posted: Wed Mar 31, 2021 6:18 pm
.: Private Roleplay :. emotion_nope Dropping In || General Sylvite || In The City Somewhere~~~~~~~~~~✦ Incomplete!
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