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 Posted: Sat Mar 21, 2009 2:47 am
Torzeh cast her eyes over the horses, trying to pick one out. Bought and sold as they were, not many people really payed attention to how beautiful they were, and she thought this a shame. Their big eyes and long faces were so pretty...her eyes lit up as she noticed a dappled grey mare. She looked like she could carry her easily enough...and it'd be so much fun to ride a horse. She smiled, delighted at the thought. Looking back at the breeder's daughter, who was staring at her, she blushed a little and looked down, busying herself with pulling the coins out of her bag.
"Um, I'll take the grey mare, please..." she said, pointing, "And the same supplies.". She fiddled with a loose thread on her bag, ashamed that she'd been so childishly excited by the animals. Hopefully no one had really noticed...she hated to be thought of as a child.
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Posted: Sat Mar 21, 2009 7:53 pm
"'E's busy," said the girl to Eliae as she walked off to get the items.
In fact her father wasn't busy and never would be again. She buried him in the backyard after she found him dead inside his bed. There had been a trail of blood leading in from the door. It seems that one of the animated objects was his murderer or perhaps a thug who had taken advantage of the chaos that resulted from their appearance. She would never know what killed him and if she had her way, no one else would know that he had died.
Matasoga glanced over at Torzeh to see her blushing and fiddling with her bag. He wondered what had her so embarrassed. There hadn't appeared to be anything obviously embarrassing about what she'd said, though he did find it rather endearing and it brought a small smile to his lips. Shrugging it off, he returned to counting his coins.
She soon came back, struggling to carry all of the equipment before leading out the horses that we had chosen. When Matasoga continued to look at her expectantly she got her elbow back up on the counter and said "Somethin' else I can 'elp you with?" and it became evident that she had no intention of attempt to fit the horses on the saddle.
It makes sense, really, Matasoga thought. At her size it would be a foolish thing to expect. Matsoga set to work fitting he saddle to his horse, securing the saddlebags, and putting some of the more cumbersome items into the saddlebags.
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Posted: Sat Mar 21, 2009 9:57 pm
Looking up at the girl's voice, Torzeh saw the pile of equipment, and picked up her saddle. Realizing she had no idea how to fit it to her horse, she watched what Matasoga was doing closely, copying him as well as she could, and stroking the horse's mane occasionally. Eventually, she managed to get the horse saddled satisfactorily, and transferred some of the things from her pack to the saddlebags. Checking that everything was secured properly, she nodded to herself and stepped back a little way to look over the horse. Well, that hadn't been so bad...she smiled a little, proud of her efforts.
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Posted: Sun Mar 22, 2009 1:40 am
The woman looked at the girl, a slightly confused expression on her face for a brief moment before she wiped it clean. She studied the girl for a moment, seeming a bit intent on it, almost as though she were trying to figure something out- or, more specifically, trying to figure out what could be keeping her father that busy. It was, of course, a fruitless effort; whatever it was that she was hiding, she did so well. Shaking her head a little, she pulled out the few remaining coins that she needed and set them on the counter beside Matasoga's.
Picking up the saddle and the rest of the gear for the horse, she hauled it over to her horse, setting them down next to the bay mare. The horse seemed a bit nervous at first, but calmed down after a moment or two of Eliae's whispering to it, though the bay still seemed a bit nervous. It wasn't long before the saddle was secured around the horse's torso, the saddlebags draped accordingly. Checking to make sure that the bits and reigns were sitting properly, she quickly double-checked the saddle and saddlebags before running her fingers through her mounts mane.
"I suppose, then," she said, looking at Torzeh for a moment before turning her attention back to Matasoga, "that it's time for us to be on our way." The woman looked up at the night sky, her slight frown almost unnoticeable. Her eyes turned to focus upon her mount once more, her face seeming to relax once more.
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Posted: Sun Mar 22, 2009 9:00 pm
"Indeed," Matasoga said to Eliae as he prepared to mount his horse. "Hm," he said, as he noticed a rather serious problem.
"Young girl," he called to the breeder's daughter. "Have you any other types of saddles?"
"No," she said simply, as she finished counting the gold.
Matasoga sighed. This trip would be nothing short of hellish with his tail stretched and bent over the raised lip in the back. Attempting to keep unwanted damage to a minimum, he slowly aligned his claws to the intended area and tightened his grip, piercing and perforating the leather. He withdrew his claws, realigned them, and sunk them back into the leather until he felt it separate. Using one hand to brace and the other to pull, he ripped the remaining attachments to the lip away from the base, thus creating a space for his tail.
He then used his tail to slightly lift and stabilize himself as he mounted the horse. He quickly realized that even with his added accommodation, the ride would still be uncomfortable (though not nearly so much as it would have been otherwise).
He sat leaning forward, slightly pitched over, his tail curved over the right haunch of the horse. This was why all of the chairs in his office possessed ornately carved backs. He even had things specially arranged in his stagecoach so that he could sit up straight while maintaining optimum comfort. He sighed and thought to himself, "The sooner we get there the better."
He looked at the claws he had used to find more bad news. As he feared, the leather had slightly dulled them. They, at least, would grow back to their full sharpness in a day or two.
He sighed aloud as he grabbed the reins. "Are you two ready?" he asked.
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Posted: Sun Mar 22, 2009 10:35 pm
Eliae climbed up into the saddle, firmly placing the appropriate foot into place. Swinging up her other leg, she placed her calf on the saddle, sliding it over as she lifted herself up and into place, allowing her leg to curl over the horse. Wanting to make sure that the saddle was tight enough, she quickly moved herself from side to side. It didn't slip, thankfully, and she turned to make sure that her gear was placed evenly in the saddlebags, her dark brown eyes briefly glancing over her shoulder at the half-dragon before facing forward once again.
Her eyes turned back to Matasoga once again as she turned her horse some. Looking at his saddle- which he had so carefully torn to make room for his tail- she said, "I could have cut that out if you had said something. I do, after all, have a knife that would probably work wonders on that leather." Turning her horse again, she added, "But yes, I'm ready whenever you two are. The sooner we get this dealt with, the better."
Leaning over in her saddle a little, she ran her fingers through part of the horse's mane. She thought about something for a moment, then patted the side of the mare's neck a couple of times. Looking over her shoulder to the girl, she asked, "Dear, does this mare have a name?"
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Posted: Mon Mar 23, 2009 5:30 am
Torzeh climbed up into her saddle a little awkwardly, nearly falling off the other side as she hauled herself up. "Well, not the best start...but not he worst" she thought to herself, settling as comfortably into the saddle as possible. She checked her saddlebags once more, then, leaning forward a little, she grabbed the reins, keeping them in one hand for a moment so that her other was free to stroke the horse's mane. She decided she'd think of her own name for such a fine beast. Smiling, she turned to Matasoga, and nodded. "Ready."
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Posted: Mon Mar 23, 2009 11:40 pm
"Her name's whatever you want it to be," said the girl, pretending to put the gold away beneath the counter to hide her look of sadness. She had names for all of them but that didn't matter, anymore. Naming horses and getting attached was more like a child's game and she couldn't be a child anymore, if she was to survive. She knew that when she buried her father. She didn't know what she was going to the do, but with the gold she had she could afford to get out of here but she didn't know who she could trust. At least she'd be alright for a while...With this money, in fact, she might just be able to live a normal, modest life from this much if she didn't decide to buy and breed more horses.
Matasoga cast an appreciative glance at Eliae's long, thin, slender thigh as she arched it significantly more than necessary and it slipped, bared, from beneath her skirt. He looked away in time, he hoped, before she looked back at him. She has a lovely body, but to get more attention from me than a flick of the eyes, she'll need to bare more than that, he thought.
"I could do it myself," he said to her. "I wouldn't want to dull your blade. I'm no expert, but I'd say this is rather high quality leather, by the looks of it and knife edges don't grow back."
Matasoga smiled, slightly at Torzeh's awkward mount and wondered if she had ever ridden a horse. He'd like to ride along side of her and advise her, but he himself had only ever done it about a handful of times so he hardly thought himself qualified. He knew it was a skill he'd need, though, so he payed attention to people doing it in town enough that he felt himself competent in doing so but he decided that he'd keep an eye on her and help her if she seemed to be having any trouble.
"Alright then," he said to her. He started his horse trotting. "Let's go."
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Posted: Tue Mar 24, 2009 12:28 am
The woman nodded at the girl, studying her for another moment or two before once again turning back to face Matasoga and Torzeh. She had missed Matasoga's glance at her leg, completely unaware that it had even happened. She looked between the two for a moment, then eased her mount towards them. Though she felt a bit awkward in the saddle, she kept her composure well and seemed to stay fairly well-balanced atop the horse.
The horse whinnied a little, shaking its head from the bit in her mouth. It had, apparently, been a while since she'd had a bit- either that or she just didn't like them in the first place. Eliae reached out again to pat the mare's neck, and she seemed to calm down a little for the time being. The woman found it to be a bit strange, but didn't show anything to the others.
"That they don't," she chuckled, nodding a little in agreement. "It must be nice having claws for things like that instead of having to worry about a silly thing like a knife." Pushing her heels a little into the mare's sides, she urged the horse into a trot roughly equal to that of Matasoga's, only holding a faster pace long enough to come abreast of the man and his black stallion before pacing him.
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Posted: Tue Mar 24, 2009 5:18 am
Torzeh nudged her heels into her horse's sides, and settled the mare into a trot, off to the other side of Matasoga'a stallion, and just a few paces behind. Looping the reins in one hand, she rested the other by her side, occasionally reaching forward to pat the horse's shoulder. To amuse herself, she began to hum a song quietly, gazing at the scenery they were passing through. This was going to be a fairly long journey...she would probably get bored very quickly. She sighed aloud, her idle gaze turning to her companions. Hopefully, things would look more interesting later in the day.
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Posted: Tue Mar 24, 2009 10:02 pm
He shot a sidelong glance at Torzeh when he head her hum. He knew that as the youngest of us, she'd likely be the most subject to boredom. He read her bored expression so early as a very bad sign. He immediately took up him syrinx and touched it to his lips. He knew the tune that she was playing, as he had taught it to her and played it with her several times. He hadn't played half as well as she, most days, nor did his music carry the magic that her's did but he did hope that it would be enough to entertain.
It occurred to him that Eliae might be able to sing. He turned to her and said "Eliae," he began, somewhat antagonisticly. "Do you sing, or is that mouth just for," he stopped suddenly, remembering Torzeh's more delicately innocent disposition. "...Speaking?"
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Posted: Wed Mar 25, 2009 12:17 am
Though the woman looked around like there wasn't much going on- which was, after all, not a far stretch of the truth- she listened carefully to the tune that Torzeh was humming. She seemed content for now, though found her attention brought to Matasoga when he said her name.
"I don't know if you'd really want me to sing," she said with a slight giggle and a quick wink. "My lips seem to have a certain way with people, even when I'm not 'speaking.' I'm sure that I could scrounge up a few melodies from my memory, though, if that's what you'd like."
Letting out a soft sigh, she brought up one foot to rest by the horn of the saddle, shifting her weight a little to keep herself balanced as she rested her chin on top of her knee. Her mare slowed down for just a moment, easing her just a little behind the half-dragon before resuming pace, leaving herself a bit more exposed to him than she seemed aware.
Perhaps it was coincidence that Eliae's present positioning in the trio kept most of her body on the other side of Matasoga from Torzeh, blocking the girl's view of the woman other than from just above her knee and forward along the horse. "Was there any particular song that you had in mind?"
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Posted: Wed Mar 25, 2009 1:38 am
She smiled a little, humming the tune with Matasoga, remembering the times they'd played it together before. This was more like it...this was fun. Tapping her foot lightly against the horse's side to the rhythm, Torzeh began to sing the words happily, thinking up her own litle variations on the melody. This was good. She was becoming more interested in the music, and keeping her mind off of the long trip ahead of them. She looked expectantly over at what the could see of Eliae. If the other woman could sing too, it might be more fun.
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Posted: Wed Mar 25, 2009 1:45 am
Matasoga smiled at Tori, before turning to face the trail ahead when he saw Eliae shifting in his peripheral vision. He wanted to see if she was sitting as he really thought she was, but was loath to give her the satisfaction. He gave a little tug on the front of his hat, pulling it slightly lower, obscuring his eyes while allowing him to see beneath it.
He turned to face her (only after she addresses him) to see that indeed she was sitting in an incredibly amodest position, even for her. Matasoga made sure that his eyes were shielded from her's and went ahead, drinking it in, making sure that his replies were even and without hesitation.
"There are several that I can teach you words to," he said. "You've heard Torzeh and I sing from time to time. We can teach you the words to some of them, on the way," he said.
It occurred to him that her balance was very poor while sitting as such and a slight push would probably send her tumbling, exposed from the horse. He even managed to keep the corners of his mouth from twitching when he thought of what her expression might change to if he suddenly ran his horse ahead and Torzeh got a look of the show she seemed to be giving him.
The question was why she was doing this, about which Matasoga had several theories. The first was that she simply did it for the power it gave her over him. Of course Matasoga betrayed nothing and this was precisely why. The other was that it was a step in the plan to gain at least referential power in the militia. Of course Matasoga would never allow a thing of such importance be decided by such matters.
All the same, he would have to tread cautiously.
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Posted: Wed Mar 25, 2009 2:32 am
Though he had shielded his eyes from her sight as she looked back to them, she could feel his gaze upon her. It didn't even take much for her to know where he was looking, though she hid it incredibly well and lacked the smirking facial expression that would have otherwise gone with her noticing his looks. Though she would have actually liked to see his eyes, it wasn't hard for her to guess that he wasn't going to let her.
"And perhaps you should," she replied. "I wouldn't mind learning some new songs. I may even share some of my own along the way, though I'm not sure if either of you would be able to understand them." Wrapping one arm around her leg, she rested both of her hands upon the horn, though she still left Matasoga with a good, clear view. Perhaps this trip could be worth more to her than just the half-dragon's goals, she thought. Unfortunately, though, patience was a virtue that she had little of.
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