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 Posted: Fri Mar 16, 2007 12:28 pm
After all the hard training, it was finally time- time for the qualifying round for the first race of the year. Laura had spent the prior day registering and making sure Leolin was ready, and now it was an hour before the start; everyone was excited, and for good reason.
The current racing champion was going to award the qualifying medals to the top ten racers as he stepped down from the racing circut. His massive beast stood as testimony to the racers' spirit, still a beautiful creature even in his aged years. Silver feathers from age covered his face and once jet black wings.
Leolin shifted nervously as Laura tried to fix the colored markers on his sadle, making it quite difficult for the trainer. "Leolin," Laura sighed softly, and came to her griffin's head to look him in the eyes and stroke his mane in hopes of comforting the male. "You'll do great, stop worrying! Just remember what we practiced." Instead of kissing him on the nose as she normally would, Laura gave him a hug around his mane before grooming her racer once more. Leolin wasn't the only one who was nervous, as his spotless pelt told the world of her excessive cleaning.
A shriek came quietly from the griffin who stared at the competition. Wings folded, yet still flapping up and down as he readied himself for the start. His sadle and bridle were already on, and he clicked his beak on the metal in his mouth. The air was tense and thick enough to cut with a knife; for his first race this was bound to be a spectacular win or an even more spectacular failure.
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Posted: Sat Mar 17, 2007 6:09 pm
Rem, unfortunately, was not there at the Semi-Great Race. He had felt rather guilty for it that morning, but he really had to ‘get some business done’, as he said. The truth was, he was off to get more information on a particular person, but he saw no reason to bother Laura about that. No reason to get her involved at all, right? Supposedly, Lansing had connections to the seedy underworld. He probably knew how to get annoying people to disappear.
Besides, he was pretty sure that Laura wouldn’t get into any trouble at a race track in a small village. What was the worse that could happen?
~.~
For one thing, Malcolm Lansing could be there. Things had been getting a little twitchy back in Xuan City, what with the stalking and all. It really was nice to come out to the country and relax a little… He didn’t stick out either. Well, not as much as he did back in the city amongst the nobility. People were more likely to notice Aeron than they were to notice the gryphon’s owner, as Mal was wearing his typical brown and gray garb.
He slouched slightly in his front row seats and let one hand fall to the gryphon at his side. Aeron butted his head against Mal’s hip in an affectionate manner before continuing to eye the female racers. Mal didn’t let him go off to flirt for obvious reasons, but that didn’t mean he could stop the gryphon from looking.
The big shindig was just a few days away by this point. Mal was mildly concerned about it since it would be the first time he met his ‘family’, but not overly so. Everything was in place. Ha! This con practically played itself! He had to wonder why no one else had ever tried it over the years. Course, if he was caught, he would land his a** in jail, which was a rather unseemly place, but that was just part of the fun. Besides, it was tricky to build a cell that would hold him for long.
While Aeron was eyeing the female gryphons, Mal contented himself with eyeing the jockeys themselves. They were all a bit too young for his taste, but that didn’t mean he couldn’t enjoy the view.
Just a few minutes and the final race---the big one of the day---would begin.
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Posted: Sat Mar 17, 2007 6:29 pm
Hopping onto Leolin's saddle, Laura took hold of the bridle and urged her sleek racer towards the starting gate. Her breathing was already quick, her eyes steady on the track ahead, and kept a firm grip on the reins. From around her arm, she took the green marker bandana and tied it around her head to hide her hair, but to make herself more stream line as well.
Leaning ahead, into Leolin's mane, she looked as if she'd sink into the feathers of her companion. With her legs bent behind Leolin's wings, she had more room to lean forward into her partner's mane and across his back. With her slim build, she wasn't likely to get pinched between his wings on the upward flaps.
Already, his heart was pounding against his rib cage. Other griffins pawed the start, some tried to snap at others, and almost all of them looked to be at some degree of nervousness.
With Laura leaning forward against his mane, Leolin settled a little- as if having a sibling embracing him and encouraging him. A deep thrumming came from his throat, and the griffin's ears fell flat against his skull. Tail lashing behind him, Leolin readied himself for the start of the race.
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Posted: Sun Mar 18, 2007 10:03 pm
Mal promptly sat up attentively as the racers started filing onto the tracks. He had placed his own bet on the long-shot, the newcomer Leolin with the jockey… hmm… he checked the ticket that was stamped with the bookie’s fish-shaped stamp to make sure he got the name right. Lucas Fields. He had always had a soft spot in his heart for long-shots, underdogs, and all around downtrodden. It was simply his way. He himself had been among them. And now look at him! A jumped-up commoner to the nobles and a snob to all the rest!
He wasn’t overly worried about that, however. It wasn’t his way to be wildly interested in making good with anyone. He sure as hell wasn’t about to change that now.
From what he knew of gryphons, he was pretty sure he had picked a good one as he studied the others. They were all anxious creatures, some pawing and some getting snippy at others. Leolin, on the other hand, was steady, his eyes completely focused. And his rider… well… Mal merely smirked and settled back once more.
Life had gotten just a bit more interesting…
Aeron cooed and looked up with interest at his owner as the man settled back. That was normally a good sign, the sort of thing that Mal did when something good was about to happen. Aeron couldn’t see any signs of that… then again, he rarely did. He got the feeling that other humans rarely did either. Mal seemed exceptional by the standards of the human race.
Or just eccentric. From what the gryphon understood, both words could mean the same thing. With his wings settled comfortably behind his back, Aeron went back to watching the race get ready. It looked to be a good one, in his opinion. He could never be a racer himself. He was a fighter who relied more on strength and endurance than speed.
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Posted: Mon Mar 19, 2007 11:18 am
"Racers ready!"
Laura gulped, transfixed on the track ahead. Tightening her grip on the reins, heart pounding a mile a minute; the apprehention was the worst when waiting for the shot for the start.
"Get set!"
With the shot, Laura jabbed the griffin with her knees and sent Leolin lunging off into the track. The rhythm of Leolin's feet on the ground and the hug between her partner's wings was what she lived for. The jockey's small stature left her nearly invisible- save for her legs that could be seen beneath Leolin's wings.
The first few yards were on foot, and only the foolish took to the air sooner. Competance enough to know how to run a proper race was the key to winning the coveted top three.
The first hurdle- high enough to jump on foot- was just what Leolin did. The griffin lept, his neighbor took the leap too late and tumbled-- sending the jockey flying ahead of his mount.
Have to win, have to win! Leolin thought as he concentrated his energies on the next hurdle. This one was a fair twelve feet in the air, and Leolin waited until the moment was right before taking to the air and soaring over it before landing on the ground once more.
Head of the pack, Leolin strained to go faster as they neared the turn where he was quickly outstripped by those nearer the inner ring.
Fifth place while in the next leg of the race, he took to the air a little too late to make it over the following hurdle, and nearly missed going over it. Worry flooded the griffin's mind, and the bird voiced his anxiety with a loud chirp. Hitting the ground a little hard, the griffin claws the earth franticly to make it to the finishline.
"Calm down Leo, we can do it!" Laura tried to comfort her griffin, though it became strained and sounded less than apathetic. She clung to her griffin tightly, trying her hardest to keep down and reduce her wind resistance.
"We've almost done it! Just a little further."
Whimpering, the griffin didn't wish to let down his partner. The earth beneath his talons was quickly torn and scarred as Leolin put the last of his energy into the race's last leg. The colored band was ahead, as were the rears of a small pack. Neck and neck- closer and closer- pulling just a bit further ahead--!
The crowd cheered for the crowd, though Laura didn't open her eyes as they crossed the waving tape broken by another griffin. She was trembling, and sat up on Leolin's back when the griffin came to a stop to see just who had won.
The other griffins were pouring past in a turbulant wave that Leolin had gotten out of the current of. The commentator was shouting into his megaphone, but Laura was lost in the chaos of noise. It was only after the race attendants came to inform her to go to the winner's circle that she realized what place she'd come in.
Her very first race: fourth in the qualifier.
A weary grin spread across the woman's face who was breathing as if she'd done the running herself. Giving a whoop of victory, she hugged Leolin around his mane. "We did it! Top ten! We're in the big race!"
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