[PRP] Beauty, Grace, Fall On Your Face! [Bushido/Lotus]

[Ruriska]

“It doesn’t look too hard,” Bushido commented, a little stiffly, as they strapped on their skates. It had been her idea in the first place, after all, and there wasn’t room for doubt. Doubt bred failure. If she let Lotus know how uncertain she suddenly was about actually trying to ice skate, it would be a disaster. She had to be calm and in control, face their battle head on unflinchingly.

“Are you ready?” She asked her cousin, standing awkwardly on four skates, legs bent at odd angles to keep herself from falling over- and she hadn’t even gotten to the ice yet.

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Ruriska

Ice skating was not an activity that Lotus was immediately drawn to. While some were impeccably graceful and serene on the ice, Lotus preferred her activities to be a bit more stationary and less mobile. It wasn't too hard for Bushido to convince her cousin to submit; Lotus liked to maintain the peace with her various family members and 'no' was not often uttered.

Just as Bushido asked if she was ready, Lotus finished tying up the final skate. Taking a stand, the earth filly gingerly tapped each skated hoof against the ground assuming that was an appropriate test of fit. Peering around, she looked at other phonies getting ready and it looked like she had done the skates up comparatively well. "I think so..." Lotus nodded as she took slow methodical steps forward towards the ice stopping just short of stepping on it.

Glancing back to her cousin, she murmured "It's just a step out and glide right? Anyphony can do it." Still, there was a a sound of hestiation in her voice.  

[Ruriska]

“Anyphony,” Bushido assured her cousin as she too stopped just short of the final step. She would have to go first. As a warrior and leader, it was her duty.

With a deep breath, she stepped onto the ice, felt a brief moment of panic as she imagined it cracking and swallowing her up, then she was skating! For only a wonderful two seconds before her legs slid sideways and her belly met the cold ice. She yelped, a horribly undignified sound, as she tried to get back on her hooves.

This had seemed like a much better idea this morning, after watching that ice skating anime. Bushido had immediately presumed her skills at kendo and martial arts would translate easily into figure skating. Apparently that wasn’t the case.

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The reassuring words from Bushido settled Lotus like a calm wave. But the wave quickly became more tumultuous as she watched her cousin fall into a belly slide across the ice. Eep! "Are you okay? I'll help you up!"

Lotus stepped lightly on to the ice. At first it seemed all was well. She was able to stand up and in place just fine. But when she tried to glide forward,it was as if the ice was a treadmill pulling her forward. With just a few swooshing movements, Lotus found her front legs pulled her body forward. In an attempt to maintain her balance, Lotus fell into a 'natural' position, downward facing dog. She slipped across the ice with her front legs forward and her nose practically touching the ice until the nice soft body of her cousin stopped her and Lotus tumbled next to her.

There was an echo of stifled giggles as on lookers of babs around their age watched the crash.

Ruriska

 

[Ruriska]

“I’m okay,” Bushido tried to say but her words were strained and her attention on getting her belly off the cold, cold ice. She did manage to angle the skates enough to lift herself up an inch but she immediately felt the strain of it in her legs.

Just when it seemed like she was about to stabilize herself, something soft bumped into her from behind and that was all it took for her legs to go sideways again. A violent shiver ran through her body as her stomach froze once more.

Bushido was glad it was hard to tell she was blushing but the burning in her cheeks, her mortification at her utter failure, still felt horribly obvious. How dare they laugh? They were doing their best.

She looked over her shoulder towards Lotus and gave a grim smile. “We have to do this. We can do it. If we lean on each other, we can get up.”

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[zippedsiren]

Oh good, Bushido was alright. The laughter of the on-lookers rolled off her back, like melting butter in a pan. Lotus instead focused on bringing herself upright, tightening her stance, and on her cousin's voice. They could do it. Bushido clearly thought so. To her feet, Lotus took a place next to her cousin and ignored the chortles and stares of others that may have hoped to see them both fall again. "Perhaps, we just need a mantra. We can do this. The skates are part of us, like a brush, and the ice is our canvas. So let's paint on it, a few blotches of ink to start gives a piece character."

Lotus gently moved her right hooves forward, followed by the left in a smooth short glide. And she didn't fall! She repeated the mantra a little, "the skates are our brush, the ice our canvas." Another tiny step, but there was a slightly wobble in her movement this time. "Although, maybe a little support from each other wouldn't be a bad thing." She held out a hoof ready to catch her cousin if her steps were misaligned.

Ruriska

 

[Ruriska]

The laughter was a barb at her side but as Lotus spoke, Bushido focused on her words instead. She let the picture form in her mind, the ice spread out before them, a canvas waiting to be covered in their art. That was what they would accomplish. Her breathing steadied, her heartbeat settled and the cold seemed a distant thing.

“Every creature stumbles when taking its first step,” she added, watching Lotus as her cousin made wobbly progress. Bushido followed, slow and steady, the scrape of her skates against the ice. She was endlessly gratefully for the hoof that steadied her shoulder.

“The skates are our brush, the ice our canvas,” she intoned, taking heart when they didn’t fall again.

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Ruriska

Bushido's reassurance that it was okay to stumble was just as supportive as Lotus' physical arm was with catching her cousin, only it was a boost in confidence. With Bushido at her side Lotus felt sturdier, a feeling that was only strengthened by repeating their made up mantra, "The skates are out brush, the ice our canvas."
Lotus smiled as she took another glide, as she pushed off, her glide swerved. Rather than stubble however, Lotus was able to keep herself steady and curve around into an oblong shape, ending up back near her cousin. "I stayed up!" Lotus beamed, looking at the marks her skate left on the ice, "and.. 'painted' an egg?"  

[Ruriska]

Her legs were still shaking against her will but she wasn’t going to fall, Bushido knew that now. Her serious expression finally broke, allowing a wide smile through at Lotus as the other swerved in a circle, leaving marks on the ice.

“An egg,” she began, because they were on a role with the metaphors and inspirational sayings, “ready to hatch to become a chick and then a bird that will fly,” she started moving, grunting softly as she focused on moving her legs, “and soar.”

She was skating, slowly, awkwardly but moving forward and not falling on her face.

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"A steady glide is the key, and speed will follow after." Lotus watched admiring the determination that Bushido had with keeping at it. They certainly were a poetic pair. Following suit, Lotus swished her hooves, pushing herself forward after her cousin. The longer the yellow foal could stay up, the stronger her confidence became and she could pick go a little faster.

"It is a little like what I imagine flying is like, like a moving with a gust of wind."

Ruriska

I am so sorry this took me forever to tag! I think we're almost done though <3

 

[Ruriska]

It wasn’t perfect, not by any means but they’d already improved considerably and in such a short amount of time, give it another hour, a day, a week, and surely they would be just as good as anyone else, perhaps even better.

And Bushido was very aware that without Lotus she would still be flat on her face on the ice.

“If we continue to practise together, we will certainly be soaring across the ice.”

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Also sorry! But we should be very close? Even now?

 

[zippedsiren]

Lotus nodded. Her cousin had convinced her to try something new and in the process, with the steady reassurance and steel will Bushido provided, Lotus found herself enjoying it. They might not have been great now, but over time they're skills could grow. "That would be wonderful."

Ruriska

I think we're good! Thank you! This was so cute.