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 Posted: Sat Mar 31, 2007 7:07 pm
((You can pick whichever horse.))
Nyhali nodded. "Good. You may or may not be a more tempting target now, hanging around with nobles. I'm glad you know how to defend yourself."
She walked up to a pair of stalls, one that held a brown mare with a black mane and tail, the other with a blue roan gelding. "Here we are! Do either of them strike your fancy? ...Or fancy you, rather? They're both calm animals, but it never hurts if they like you."
Kedri jumped slightly at the tickling, rump twitching slightly in response. She tried to give Leolin a severe look, failed miserably because she couldn't keep herself from laughing, and thwacked his rump with her tail in a playful manner. "Watch that thing or I'll start tickling you back!"
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Posted: Sat Mar 31, 2007 9:10 pm
"Oh, they're gorgeous..." The woman was in awe of the pair, and came to the gelding's stall and clicked her tongue in hopes he'd come to her. "Here m'lovely, there's a good lad..." She looked at ease around the horses, and smiled warmly at them and was quite pleased with them both. "I love horses, and this one's my favorite color."
Not having realized what he'd been doing to begin with, Leolin cheeped rather loudly when she gave him a sharp swat. The griffin looked deeply hurt by this, and his ears pinned back against his head and lowering his head towards the ground showed it well enough. "What'd I do?" He honestly hadn't realized what he'd done to deserve the teasing, nor did he realize she wasn't doing it to be mean.
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Posted: Mon Apr 02, 2007 3:51 pm
The blue roan flicked his ears forward and clopped up to sniff at Laura. He snuffled at her shirt for a moment before nibbling gently at a sleeve to see if she had any hidden treats on her.
"Well... I guess you're his favorite food?" Nyhali laughed. "The tack is on the other side," she pointed at the opposing wall. "You can go ahead and get him ready." She rubbed a hand along the mare's neck, who had also come forward to investigate. "I'll go ahead and take this girl out. She could probably use the exercise."
Kedri's ears drooped and she chirped apologetically. "I'm sorry, I thought you were tickling me on purpose." She draped her head across her far foreclaw, facing away from him, and sighed. "I was just playing back, I didn't realize it was an accident..."
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Posted: Mon Apr 02, 2007 4:12 pm
Laughing softly, Laura rubbed the horse's soft nose before trying to gently remove her sleeve from his mouth. "I suppose so!" Going to fetch the bridle first, Laura allowed herself into the stall to equipt the horse with it. All the while talking softly to the beast to get him used to her.
Crawling forwards on his belly, Leolin tried to look her in the eyes. "I-I'm not upset Kedri, really!" He said at once, and rolled somewhat painfully onto his back to expose his belly to her. It was a more or less subserviant gesture, but with how he seemed to be pawing at the air as if trying to catch some unseen fly or imaginary beast, Leolin hoped to make her laugh.
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Posted: Mon Apr 02, 2007 9:44 pm
Nyhali set about the same with the mare, taking it slowly because while the animal knew her more or less she hadn't ridden this particular creature many times. When she went out it was generally on Kedri or on foot.
"So, anywhere in particular you think you'd like to go? I haven't the foggiest, myself." She was almost finished with making sure the saddle was properly strapped on and tightened by that point, and pondered bringing along something for them to protect themselves with. Hmm... "Ah, I'll be right back, ok?"
She scurried out of the stable and into a small shed at its side, returning shortly after with a pair of hunting bows, hunting knives, and oddly enough what amounted to a pair of brass knuckles for each of them. "Do you use a bow too or should I put the second one back?" she asked while handing Laura one of the knives and a pair of knuckles. "We probably won't need them, but... well..." Her eyes took on a slightly haunted look, but she shrugged it off quickly. "Let's just say I don't like to be caught unawares."
Kedri worried for a moment as Leolin forced himself onto his back, but he just looked so darn... adorable! How did he do that? It was all at once endearing and infuriating, but she found herself laughing softly anyway. "You are so... silly!"
She bounced up (as well as she was able) and shifted so she could tickle his belly fur with her tail for a moment before she stopped, realizing that making him laugh too hard might hurt his battered side even more. She settled for preening at the feathers under his jaw and along his throat instead. "You better not hurt yourself more... ok?"
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Posted: Mon Apr 02, 2007 10:03 pm
By the time Nyhali returned, Laura had led her horse out of his stall and was brushing his mane to occupy herself. When she was handed the knife and knuckles, Laura couldn't help but look very, very confused. "I can't use a bow... What do we need these for?"
Leolin chuckled, leaning his head back and closing his eyes as she preened him. His talons folded neatly on his fluffy chest, legs splayed out to warm his whole underbelly in the sun, and his wings were half open on the grass. "You sure I didn' die?" He murmured quietly, thrumming deep in his throat as she preened. "This feels like heaven..." When Kedri reached Leolin's spot just under his jaw, the griffin's left leg began thumping on the ground like a mad march hare.
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Posted: Mon Apr 02, 2007 10:14 pm
Nyhali looked sheepish. "I ah... well we can't take the griffons with us right now, and like I said I doubt we'll need them, but I just get uneasy going out without something to defend myself with... just in case. Ah... bad experiences?" She led her horse out of the stall as well and started to go put the second bow back, but paused for a moment. "...Do you want to learn how to use a bow? I know where there's an archery shop, the gentleman what owns it has a little practice range."
Kedri stopped preening when his leg started thundering away, startled. She stared at it for a moment, and then experimentally preened at the spot again only to see him start up again. She preened for a moment more and then stopped, afraid that she might crack up with her beak by Leolin's throat and not wanting to cause any serious injuries by accident. "I've never... seen someone do that before." She sounded both curious and amused.
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Posted: Mon Apr 02, 2007 10:24 pm
Staring in slight shock at Nyhali, Laura handed her the knuckles back, and slipped the knife into her boot. "It's a bit overkill for a ride." She said calmly, taking hold of her horse's bridle. "No, I'd be worried I'd accidentally hit Leolin. I assumed we were going hunting with all the equiptment you brought." She put a foot in the stirrup, hopping gingerly onto the saddle. "Actually... that might not be a bad idea. We can bring back a present for the griffins." Giving a smile, Laura actually laughed when she spotted what the griffins were doing. "Leolin's absolute favorite food is the boar that live in the woods. I only feed it to him on his birthday or holidays though... It'd help them heal up though."
"It fee-e-e-e-ls goo-o-o-o-o-d." His words were shaken as his foot pounded on the ground while she preened, and chuckled when she stopped to lean forward to preen her. Rolling onto his side, Leolin began just behind her ear affectionately.
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Posted: Mon Apr 02, 2007 10:53 pm
Nyhali nodded. "Really, that was what else I was going to ask, if we were going out that far. That's why I asked if you had any suggestions!" Nyhali put the knuckles into a saddle-pouch. "I sort of thought maybe we could catch something while we were out anyway... I didn't consider a boar, though..."
"How do you catch a boar if you don't use a bow?" She was curious now. The only other way she knew of was the traditional boar-spear method, but that was generally used by crazy boys trying to prove something.
Kedri cheeped pleasantly and carefully lay down so Leolin could reach better and she'd be more comfortable. "Well, so does this, but it doesn't make my leg go thumpy..." She tilted her head slightly. "Though now I'm wondering if I have a thumpy spot too. I'd feel odd doing it, though..."
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Posted: Tue Apr 03, 2007 8:19 am
She shrugged calmly. "Bit of rope, bit of feed, and a very strong tree." Smiling warmly, she didn't like the thought of going to shoot boar with an arrow. It'd probably just make the hogs angry. "Then it'd be easy enough to bleed the boar to death just like a winter hog."
Chuckling at the thought, Leolin puffed his feathers slightly and cheeped. "It's a reflex, I can't help it. Can't stop it either, if it's a real spot." Looking over Kedri, Leolin tried to find her ticklish spot by using a talon to scratch her back carefully. Having watched Rem's dogs go wild for being scratched just above their tails.
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Posted: Wed Apr 04, 2007 10:32 pm
Nyhali nodded. "Ah... well I suppose that would work just about as quickly as wandering around trying to find a boar to hunt. Sounds a lot safer and less wasteful, too..." She finished with settling the weapons in various places on her saddle and the knife in her boot, similarly to Laura. "Looks like you can teach me a few things too!"
She started leadin the horse toward the gates after making sure Laura was ready to follow. She'd mount after the gate was opened and closed, because she wasn't sure if anyone was supposed to be there to do so yet or not. "Any suggestions on where to go hunt at?"
Kedri enjoyed the sensation for a moment, but then Leolin ran over a spot that made her shiver and brought all those funny feelings back plus a few new ones. It felt... nice, even when it felt... odd. "That tickles..."
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Posted: Thu Apr 05, 2007 10:00 am
Laura laughed softly, smiling at Nyhali when they exited the courtyard. "Well, there is a place I know of where there's boar..." She murmured. "Though, it's half a day's ride, at least, from here. I don't think you'd want to spend that time trying to get there, and waiting even longer for a boar to show up."
Admittedly, Leolin felt a little silly with his scratching, and stopped when Kedri told him he was tickling. Giving a sheepish smile, Leolin flexed his taloned claw as he held it up. "I'm sorry... Humans have better hands for that sort of thing." Instead of continuing with the silliness he knew he wasn't suited for, Leolin tried to preen Kedri's wings for her. Being extra careful with the bright red on the ends; a color that was quite attractive to the male.
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Posted: Thu Apr 05, 2007 10:43 am
Nyhali chuckled. "Well... no, I don't think either of us want to be out that long today. So... no boar today... I guess we could just hunt down some rabbits or game birds or something?"
Fortunately someone was at the gate. She greeted the man, Toby she thought his name was, but didn't say or ask. With a bright smile she exited the grounds with Laura and mounted only after the gate had been closed. "Those usually aren't too hard to find, anyway."
Kedri was somewhat relieved when Leolin stopped - those funny feelings were starting to alarm her, even if it had felt kind of nice - and stretched her wings out when Leolin moved to preen them. It was out of startlement, actually. She'd never had someone really earnestly try to preen her wings aside from herself; she was actually rather sensitive about anyone else aside from Nyhali touching them, but she refrained from pulling away, and didn't ask him to stop. They were friends now, right? It should be ok...
She felt a slight twinge of pain at holding her wing up. "I gotta put it down... Didn't really injure them, but they're sore, it hurts to hold it up."
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Posted: Thu Apr 05, 2007 11:14 am
Having already been on the horse, perhaps overly eager to be able to ride one, Laura bowed her head to the gate keeper who closed it for her. "Thank you." She said softly, following after Nyhali.
"Is there a place you normally go for game?" Laura didn't know much about hunting, though she knew how to trap rabbits well enough with the same trick she'd mentioned with the boar. Rabbits were a large part of Leolin's meals after all.
Leolin abruptly stopped, chirping in distress at hearing she was hurt. "Are you all right? Does it hurt anywhere else?" He was obviously worried, but with his focus on Kedri, he didn't take notice of his beloved partner leaving. Funny what a female could do to sway the attention of a male. "Should I find someone to help you Kedri?"
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Posted: Thu Apr 05, 2007 11:32 am
Nyhali thought briefly. "I haven't been in town too long... Though I have found a spot where I usually have fair luck catching something. I guess we'll try there." She turned the horse and led the way out of the city. It would be some time before they actually got there, but no more than an hour or two.
Kedri grinned and preened him gently on the shoulder to calm him down a bit. "Just some sore muscles, maybe some bruises. They still work fine. Be good as new in a day or two, I bet. Ankle might take a little longer, but it's not broken. I'm not sure how but I came out of it a lot better than you did..."
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