2634/Riding Lessons

Riding Lessons
Date of Scene:	16 July 2015
Location:	Dun Realtai
Synopsis:	Sir Bedivere teaches Yunomi Stadler the basics of horseback riding.
Cast of Characters:	272, 482

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Sir Bedivere (482) has posed:
It's evening in Dun Realtai. Dust motes dance in the lengthening sunlight and shadows, and the air is rich gold. Cicadas buzz, both near and distant, while crickets chirp in the underbrush.

Village folk go about their business, but a short way out from the village itself, down the hill, the lord waits by himself, holding the reins of two horses. He'd been asked to provide riding lessons to one of the Union, and so he intends to. He himself is standing rather than sitting in the saddle, holding the reins for both placid-looking, stout grey beasts. They're big plough-haulers, calm of temperment, placid in the warm summer evening.

Bedivere himself is patient, expression calm and almost thoughtful -- apparently he's thinking something over as he waits, something terribly important, though he'll doubtless snap to attention once his guest arrives.

Yunomi Stadler (272) has posed:
    Evening is a great time to learn how to ride! Because /no one will watch her fall/!

    Yunomi Stadler isn't as confident with her skills as most others would think she is, even when boasting. The red-and-blue armored girl arrives quietly, this time landing a bit of a distance away and walking in, coming through the fields... work that she's very, very proud of.

    She spots Bedivere, and a smile spreads across her face as she picks up the pace, jogging over to the knight with a wave.

    "Good evening, Sir Bedivere." Yunomi greets, and she smiles as she gives a low bow to him. "I again find myself in your debt for these lessons."

Sir Bedivere (482) has posed:
The pale-haired knight turns aside as soon as he notices his guest's approach. He notices her approach, although he seems to notice before any of the distant villagers look to the sky -- his senses are honed not because of any supernatural gifts, but because he's simply trained himself to observe, on pain of death, the minutae of his surroundings. Guarding the king was one of his duties, one that he took with the sort of deadly seriousness that even defense of his own life could never inspire.

His gaze darts momentarily to the fields as she speaks of debt, but not for any nervousness. Rather, he seems to be filing the state of the fields away, before his mild, faded eyes return to the tanuki; he offers the faintest hint of a smile. "Actually, I would consider this payment for the debt I owe you. This would be a dead land, still, without your intervention."

"I have brought two of the gentlest horses. I do not believe you will have any trouble with whichever you choose to ride. I am to understand they are both very old; too old to be high-spirited, and patient." He gives the grey nearest him a pat. "We may begin when you are ready."

Yunomi Stadler (272) has posed:
    "I'm sure someone else would have come forward to revive the land." Yunomi replies modestly, and her ears flick forward, her tail giving a slight wag to be in the company of the gentle Bedivere again, and she gave a smile, stepping a little closer to the large animals. "... and you owe me nothing, my friend." she smiles, and retrieves a pair of items from the bag -- apples. Small and sweet, red with little yellow-green on the skins.

    "Old and patient... ha. Pretty much my opposite."

Sir Bedivere (482) has posed:
"Mayhap they would." The knight rolls a slightly stiff shoulder, shaking his head. "But when you had stepped forward, I had heard nothing. I think few in the Union would boast such skills, or be capable of using them on such a large scale."

Dun Realtai is a vast land, although only a small portion of it is actually inhabited, and that was quite a bit of vegetation to revive.

Meanwhile, at the sight and smell of apples, both horses are immediately interested. Bedivere's watching, too, with such a quiet intensity in those mild eyes that one might imagine that he must have been a horse in a former life. Arturia might find his transfixation amusing, knowing the real reason -- such things were considered a luxury to him, and a treat. Ever polite, though, he says nothing, merely cracking a faint smile as one of the horses nudges at Yunomi eagerly.

"I suppose a bribe does no harm when you will be working with these animals regularly." The knight chuckles. "I have saddled and bridled them, for this time, so you may learn how to mount and dismount safely. Later, though, I will show you how to prepare their trappings -- and remove when when you are finished -- yourself."

Yunomi Stadler (272) has posed:
    "I read that they like apples. We don't have these in Japan, probably would have given them daikon by mistake..." Yunomi states, and then gives a look to the knight, and gives an embarrassed smile, noticing that the knight is watching, and she glances at the fruit. "You'll be able to have these in plenty come fall. I kow I made apple trees in the woods around the town, and chestnut too." she quietly states, and pets one of the horse's noses as it munches away.

    "So, saddle, stirrup, reins, harness..." Yunomi begins, pointing to the different parts of the tack. "... is flying cheating to get on?"

Sir Bedivere (482) has posed:
"They are partial to many fruits and vegetables, but apples are often favoured, yes." Bedivere cants his head very slightly to one side, shaking it after a moment. "I have not yet seen 'daikon.' Many vegetables that seem familiar to many of the Union are not familiar to me; 'tomatoes' are not things we would have found in Camelot."

He offers a faint, almost shy-looking smile when she mentions the abundance of apples come the fall. "Good. My thanks, for that."

"Yes." He glances back to Yunomi, with a flicker of faint disapproval; but to take the sting out of it, a bit of amusement, too. "You will learn to ride like any of my king's knights did. Place your left foot into the horse's left stirrup, please."

Yunomi Stadler (272) has posed:
    "Ah... horseradish? It's hot on the tongue." Yunomi replies as an explaination of daikon. "And tomatoes are delicious, and sweet, and great with cheese on bread and heated up!" she gives a loose grin, and then turns to the horse. "All right... left foot, left stirrup, makes sense..." she mutters to herself. And it's somewhat comical to see barely 5'1 Yunomi attempt to get up into the saddle of the draft horse. She can bring her foot pretty high, and she reaches up to grasp to the side of the saddle to try and pull herself up.

    "In case there is a reminder needed, I am not calvary, I'm artillery. Definately magical artillery. With fire, and entangling vines and---"

    Yunomi miscalculates, and ends up slipping, one leg going beneath the horse, the other caught in the stirrup and straps, and she ends up twisted about, half on the ground, her tail over her head.

    "ACK!"

Sir Bedivere (482) has posed:
"My king would perhaps like such a thing, but not I, then." Bedivere shakes his head, looking slightly dubious. Arturia has a fierce love of all things spicy, but her marshal has far more workaday tastes, preferring much simpler food. Maybe it's the result of his upbringing, or simply habit born of his usual bland fare in Camelot.

Aside from shuffling one foot and snorting a bit, the horse seems undisturbed to find that his would-be rider has bungled the stirrups and gotten herself head over tail. He even turns his head to regard her with one placid brown eye, flicking an ear.

Bedivere immediately moves to help -- he's stronger than he looks, attempting to help haul her into the proper position, and easing her into the saddle without any further acrobatics.

"Well, mounting for the first time is sometimes difficult," he allows, with a sympathetic half-smile. "Novice riders have not yet learned to consider their centre of balance as one with the horse's, or account for the way stirrups move... I did much the same. There was only one horse in the village of my birth, and it was rarely used for riding; in fact, it was rarely used for aught but pulling heavy loads."

Yunomi Stadler (272) has posed:
    "This is embarrassing. If it wasn't for the fact that yokai were forbidden horses..." she mutters, and Yunomi is straightened out, helped by the good Sir KNight and draws upwards again, eased into the saddle. And taller than Bedivere. For once. It was strange.

    "At least the horses can't make fun of me." she adds in a slightly bitter tone, patting the horse on the side a moment as if to apologize for being clueless.

    "Aa. So she likes spicy foods? I like spicy foods. My foods are even spicier than Rhapsody's liking sometimes... ironic, because... you know. Dragons. Dragon fire." Yunomi babbles a moment, trying to make up for messing up one step into the lesson. "Yeah...most of the horses in Namamura were for labor... only the local lord really had riding horses. And they never meant anything good during the wars."

Sir Bedivere (482) has posed:
"She does," Bedivere states, tactfully ignoring the tanuki's novice blunder. "It is perhaps because such things were so rare and difficult to acquire. Salt, seasonings, and spices were among the most costly of trade goods. Wars could be fought over such things, or very nearly so; particularly salt."

He himself vaults lightly astride the second horse, as though he had been born to the saddle -- however foreign he might say such a thing was once to him, he makes it look easy. Drawing up the reins, he glances over his shoulder. "Such was true of Camelot as well. Riding horses were for those who could afford their upkeep; and cavalry-beasts."

"It was in fact my duty to manage my king's cavalry. The acquisition, breeding, and overseeing the training of such steeds was my purview, or at least it was a purview that I made my own, for I have an interest in horses." A flicker of a smile, faint. "Sometimes I fear I was more comfortable among the horses, hounds, and hawks than I was among the men."

Yunomi Stadler (272) has posed:
    "That, my friend, is an odd story of my life." Yunomi replies. "Did you know I used to be terribly afraid of humans when I was a pup? Before I could control transformation, I was bound to my natural form. Pretty much until I turned nine, I preferred to be a tanuki rather than a human." she replies. "And because horses were so used to humans and skittish around yokai, I just never learned how to ride in Namamura." she explains, "I... made... other things my responcibility."

Sir Bedivere (482) has posed:
"I was not officially my king's master of horses, but I made that my responsibility, because I knew I could perform that duty better than most." Bedivere settles into the saddle, gesturing toward the saddle Yunomi herself sits on. "Now, walk with me. Press your heels to your horse's sides, but gently; he will understand the message, I think. Maintain your grip on your reins. If you want him to turn, pull gently on the rein in which direction you would like to go. Gently, now! Some horses are possessed of a sensitive mouth, and they will need barely a touch to the rein to know what you wish of them."

"I imagine that these horses are not, but it is good to start lightly and find what a horse prefers. It is better to work with them, rather than against them; they are beasts to be worked with, and not simply creatures to be conquered, as some think." Again, there's that flicker of a half-smile almost shy. "I suppose my methods would be thought soft, and womanish, in Camelot. But I always found it was better to ask of my horses than to simply take. They served me more willingly and they lasted many years longer, those that were not killed in battle."

Yunomi Stadler (272) has posed:
    "It's your good heart that helps anchor me. You remind me of... someone I knew back home." Yunomi states, with a sad sort of smile, and she lightly presses her heels into the sides of the horse, drawing herself up a bit to a comfortable seat on the large animal. She's quiet for a moment, adjusting her weight for balance, and once she finds it, her ears relax slightly, listening to the knight as he explains the horse's mouth and commands.

    "Well, I haven't been trampled to death yet in spite of my best attempts. I dare say you're a sterling teacher, Sir Bedivere."

Sir Bedivere (482) has posed:
"Nonsense. I simply carry out my duties; no more and no less." The knight's dismissal is given with casual thoughtlessness. He genuinely doesn't think much of himself, although Arturia could vouch for that well enough. At least, her frustration in keeping him patched together through battles against Elites is testimony enough. It's not that he wants to neglect himself; he simply doesn't /think/, not when it comes to himself or his own well-being. He thinks as little of his own service as he doed his own health -- barely an afterthought, if even that.

Although not as polished as modern saddles, the type favoured by Dun Realtai are in mediaeval style, raised and with something of a cushion across the seat, and wood and leather reinforcement across the horn and cantle. Some of the mediaeval-type saddles were quite ornamented, but these are very plain, and their age and use shows through.

He snorts softly, though, at her assessment. "They are not something to be feared," he says simply. "Horses are by their nature gentle and intelligent beasts. And stop disparaging yourself so. You learn quickly; we'll have you racing through the fields in no time. In fact, I plan on assembling a joust for the late summer and early fall. Perhaps I may hold a race as well."

Yunomi Stadler (272) has posed:
    "I think perhaps we should start some sort of 'sell ourselves short' club, you and I, Bedivere." Yunomi comments wryly, and she gives a small laugh. "And horses are totally something to be feared when you're a foot tall and one strike of their hooves can send your skull caving in. They're terrifying! BUt I like this one." she walks the horse, following the knight around. "I don't think it'd be fair for me to participate in any sporting events... but I will happily accompany any spectatoring of such events." the girl gives a wry grin.

Sir Bedivere (482) has posed:
"Perhaps not." Bedivere glances back to ensure that his charge and her tired old steed are still following. Once he's reasonably certain he's not going to lose them, he turns to head out for the fields, gesturing for her to follow. "This way. We will walk for a time, to acclimate you to the movement of a horse beneath you. Once you've found your balance, you'll not soon forget it."

It's like riding a bicycle, only bouncier, and much stronger-smelling.

"I would hardly expect you to; your mention of riding only reminded me. I was never one for racing." He lifts his eyes, toward the fields, tugging absently at the collar of his simple tunic. "'Tis the sport of kings, though, and the kings of Dun Realtai raced their finest steeds, the same as the kings of Ulaidh; just as they did in times more ancient than Camelot."

Yunomi Stadler (272) has posed:
    Yunomi gently guides the ploughhorse to follow in its partner's hoofsteps, tailing the good Sir Bedivere as they go, inding the rhythm of the horse's pace, and settling into it. "Ulaidh? Ulaidh... Ulaidh..." Yunomi considers, trying to place the name of the place, turning it over in her head. "And I thought English was a funny language." she gives a slight laugh. "Though... Namamura, Edo, Kyoto... Japanese names must sound weird to everyone else, too." she reflects.

Sir Bedivere (482) has posed:
The afternoon sun is warm, and the light carries an almost golden colour to it that sets off the fading wheat handsomely. Wind whispers through the feathery heads of wheat, and that gentle wind is rife with the scent of sunlit earth. Idyllic surroundings, although that very idyllic nature may explain the way the silver-haired knight's eyes never stop roving.

Peace is not something he has really acclimated to -- he can function well enough, but some part of him is forever waiting for the other shoe to drop. He rides like a solider even as he lets his old plough geldling pick its way through the fields. His hands are loose, not even touching the reins, but his back is straight and his eyes roam the faded horizon.

"Ulaidh. The ancient kingdom across the water from Dal Riata. It is... what do you call it in your modern tongue?" Bedivere muses to himself, softly. "Ah. Yes. 'Ireland.' By contrast, Dal Riata is what you would now call 'Scotland,' and the North Channel separtes them, although there have been many names for it in the past. Alba, too, was what is now 'Scotland.'"

He glances back, just to ensure that the tanuki hasn't fallen off her horse, and that the horse is still maintaining a reasonably straight line after his own mount. "They feel strange to my tongue, but many names do, even those of 'English.' It is not the language I speak," he reminds her. "I speak Welsh, or something akin to it, if more ancient, as was spoken in the courts at Camelot, although it has never come naturally to me. I speak also Gaelic, which is like your 'Irish,' but much older still than that; that is the language I was born to."

Yunomi Stadler (272) has posed:
    "I'm not sure what it'd be called in /my/ modern tongue. Even to Sakura, my Japanese is slightly archaic." Yunomi replies, tongue-incheek as she follows the knight. She hasn't fallen off (yet), and seems to be getting the hang of them. "I sometimes forget that we speak very different tongues... just... that I hear everything the way I want to hear it. I imagine if I could speak Welsh, I would hear it in Welsh. Still, some of your words don't translate! Like... like Filidh!" she gives a bit of a laugh, and she continues to let the knight lead her on.

    "... do you miss your old life, Bedivere?"

Sir Bedivere (482) has posed:
"As do I," Bedivere concedes. "I hear what I wish, or at least what I might fancy is in Welsh, or Gaelic, or perhaps in Latin. Many knew Latin; it was the tongue of the Church, and often the only means to communicate with the most remote of the king's subjects."

He looks out to the fields as they ride, although a chuck of the reins brings his horse to one side, slowing so they can walk abreast instead of one following the other. His head tilts, and the silver-haired knight fixes Yunomi with a long, measured look; too mild to be anything but idle study.

"Ah, that is because a filidh does not seem to have any sort of translation, not directly." He shakes his head, his equivalent of an understated shrug. "A filidh is many things, and perhaps that is why. It is also a thing most specific to the people of Dal Riata, and the other kingdoms in or near Alba and Ulaidh from whence they came. It is a word rife with meaning, so mayhap that is why."

He falls silent to the question, though, and seems to give it due serious consideration. For a long time he doesn't answer, and for a long time it almost seem as though he may not answer -- but at length he lifts his eyes to the summer sky, regarding it with a certain solemnity.

"In that, I am of two minds," he says, softly. "I will never miss the pain that every day brought. But at the same time, could I say that I am the same person as I am now, if the Lord God had not guided me to bear it?"

After a moment, he offers that shy half-smile again, the one Arturia finds so endearing; although there's a hint of melancholy to it. "Ah, I am sorry. That is most probably not much of a satisfactory answer, is it...?"

Yunomi Stadler (272) has posed:
    Sometimes, the mage wonders what others think of her. Her questions, her thoughts, her feelings... but other times, she deals with those who are only too happy to let their thoughts be known. She's quiet or a while, and she gives a slight shrug of her shoulders.

    "It is an honest one, and that's what counts, my friend." she replies, and draws her eyes upwards to the blue of the sky and the greens of the grass that she helped revive. A small amount of pride lifted her heavy heart.

    She might not be the hero she wanted to be... but at least people were going to be fed. That counts for something.

    "I apologize... I didn't mean to pry, if it seemed so." she tacks on, lamely.

Sir Bedivere (482) has posed:
"A knight must speak with honesty, and remain true to his word." Bedivere inclines his head, slightly, although there's a hint of amusement. "I do not mind, if there was more that you wanted to know. I do not mind questions, and I do not mind lending answers to those questions."

He shrugs. "So if you have questions, ask, by all means. I do not mind."

Yunomi Stadler (272) has posed:
    Yunomi's quiet for a while as they ride. her eyes lowering from the sky to the knight, and then to the ground. Her ears pin back, and behind her, the tail goes limp. Her shoulders sag, and suddenly the tanuki feels so much older than her years, as if a great weight was placed on her heart. Her eyes close, and she gives a low puff of air from her chest.

    "If I think of any, I will be sure to inquire." the young mage replies. "Have any of the pear trees blossomed? I can't recall if the season's passed."

Sir Bedivere (482) has posed:
The knight's eyes flick sidelong, but he doesn't seem inclined towards commenting on Yunomi's suddenly crestfallen appearance. Fair moods seem to flee from her like foam before the tide, but there's little he can say about it; she seems bound and determined to berate herself in the privacy of her own mind.

"Pear? Not as of yet, but soon, I expect." Bedivere rubs his jaw, squinting up at the sun as he considers. "The apples will be blooming, soon, in time for an autumn harvest. I know of when crops will produce, and be ready; it was necessary as marshal, when moving an army across the land."

He gestures, loosely. "I did not allow my men to take overmuch from the people whom we passed by, or the people would have loved us little better than the sea wolves. It necessitated a certain knowledge of agriculture, although working the land is not my specialty."