Nat’s POV:
Saddling Bingo, I felt my fingers lightly trembling as I steadily tightened the girth, then worked on pulling the reins from behind her ears to the base of the crest of the neck, which was where the saddle started. I smiled faintly, then looked over at Bon, who was looking confused as he tried to tie the horse Sunshine’s reins onto a post.
I giggled slightly, pecking Bingo’s cheekbone before dipping under her, trotting over to Bon before smiling at him. “Need any help?” I ask, stifling a laugh as he huffed, crossing his arms.
“W-whatever. J-Just untie it already.” He growls, looking down at the ground, suddenly interested in a pile of manure. I blush faintly, and with shaking fingers, I start to untie my fingers. When I saw hands gently cover over mine, I frowned, looking over my shoulder to see Bon.
“R-Ryuuji?” I whisper out, then just look down at my boots.
“Are you scared?” He asked, but I only shook my head.
“Why would I be? I’ve been riding these horses all of my life. Even though I was trampled and thrown off by these creatures, I can never fear them.” I smile softly, and start to pull the reins back, blushing as his hands followed behind mine. “A-Arigatou.” I mumble, my cheeks flushed.
“What for?” He asks, confused. I just shrug, and smile a little to myself as I take the horses’ reins, though Ramses only walks beside me with pure obedience. I smile faintly, and have the horses all on the leash that was a few meters away from them, so it gave them each room.
“Oi! Onee-chan, you’re back!”
“O-Oh! T-Tadaima…” I murmur, and blush faintly, smiling sheepishly. I tie the leash against the post next to the front porch, letting the horses graze a little before the ride. “Alright minna! Now we’ll get you all paired with the horses! Ryuuji-you go on Bingo! Onii-san, you go to Pico, the white-ish one. Nii-san, you go on...ah! Vahnee! The dark stallion!”
I take a breath, then press a finger to my chin, thinking of who to pair up with. I then see Ramses, who is at my side again. I smile softly, and giggle lightly, petting the muzzle of Ramses as he tries to retrieve my hair band with his lips. He snorts, seeing he’s unable to and gives up, butting my side.
“Anno...etto...Shima, you go on...Eva, the gray one. Izu-chan, you go on Bluebelle-the caramel colored one-, and Shi-chan, you can go on Kashmir, the one that’s really short.” I frown slightly, then think. “Konkemaru, you go on Sunshine!” I point to the black mare, who was as tall as a stallion. “You deserve to be tall once in a while.” I smile.
“Now Koyalee, you can go on Topa, and Nee-chan, you can go on Lolita.” I smile. “She was my Papa’s companion, so she’ll be very gentle with you.” I grin and then start to adjust the girth as I help set Bon’s foot into the stirrup, hoisting him onto the horse with ease, though my fingers were still shaking, along with my knees. Even so, I next helped up Rin, and then Yukio, going on down the line of the horses. I then hoisted myself onto Ramses, though I could barely stand very well.
“Everyone ready?” I call to everyone, the horses now being controlled by the riders on their backs, not by the leash in my hand. I saw Haru sit in front of Bon, since she did not like Ramses very much. I would understand why, but even though the accident that crippled my grandfather was partially his fault, he was holding the grudge of that on his haunches.
When they nodded, I smiled as I kicked the flank of Ramses, urging him to start towards north, where the vast training arena sat.
Yukio’s POV:
Pulling myself onto Vahnee, I let out a small chuckle as I looked around. It’s very...broad up here. Vahnee was Shiro’s old rider, but now I’m on him. It seems like I’ve been given an heirloom. Or was it because Nat didn’t want to leave him behind; that she couldn’t stand leaving Shiro behind? I only shook my head, and closed my eyes, calming myself.
I looked over to Koko, who seemed to have a troubled face as she held the reins of Topa tightly. “You alright?” I asked softly, gently setting a hand on her shoulder. Jumping, she looked over at me surprised, as if I was crazy to do something like that. “Etto…” I state uncertainly, as she only grips the pony’s reins tighter, so much that Topa had to shake his head to get freedom of his mouth back from the panicking girl. “Topa, calm down.” I scold him, gathering the reins back and giving them to her, though she took them with shaking fingers.
“I-I’m fine! Of course I’d be fine!” She smiles widely, though it seemed like she was only keeping up the brave girl act.
“You can tell me if you’re scared, you know.” I state quieter, and pull the two horses back a little bit from the group.
“W-what are you doing?” She shrieks, but keeps her voice lowered.
“I want to talk to you.” I smiled sheepishly, and she only blushes, quickly huffing as she starts to unsteadily kick Topa forward, though holding the reins so tightly that her knuckles went white from pressure, so Topa didn’t know what to do, confused.
“Look, daijobu. These horses are tamed, and they’re completely harmless. They’re just as scared as we are, so they’ll be scared if you are. And anyways, Nat’ll be there with us. She’s been around these horses all of her life, if you have anything you need, just ask.” I smile, and flatten a few hairs that stubbornly stuck up on her head with a faint blush.
She blushed more, quickly ducking her head and holding onto Topa’s neck, dropping the reins and just holding his neck with her face pressed against his mane. I couldn’t help but laugh softly, gently tugging on her ponytail to pull her back up to a sitting position.
“If you do that, he’ll want to gallop.” I pointed out, making her shoot up with a straight back, her figure rigid.
“T-Tell me that earlier than now, alright?!” She yelps, her cheeks flushed and her eyes angry, but also almost...gleeful. I already saw someone else in her eyes. Nat. When we first met her, Nat was sobbing in front of her parents, her eyes full of pain, and no glee or happiness. It seemed like all of her happiness was flooded away with tears. I will make you happy, Koyalee. I promise. I told myself, smiling a little.
“Now come on, we need to catch up.” I chide, and kick Vahnee’s flank, grinning as he started to prance, as if that was his way of going faster.
I smiled, seeing Koyalee’s grin as we started to almost trot back to the group.
