Domesticated Animals
(and there's horses, too)
Ignacz nodded and then scratched the back of his head for a moment.
Well, if the girls were in charge, then the girls were in charge. He
grinned as he lightly pulled Unegen to a sharp stop and swung off the
horse before the tall blonde could react. The other riders had also
dismounted and dispersed while they were caught in conversation and
the blonde looked rather baffled for a moment.
Ignacz laughed and waved, calling, "This way Dalley. You said we
should talk to the girls, so we're talking to the girls."
The blonde looked flustered for a moment at the swift about face in
direction but then he nodded and fretted over to where Ignacz stood
eyeing the girls. Unegen, whom Ignacz had left standing where he
dismounted idly trotted up behind them and looked mildly interested
in what was going on. Ignacz reached back and scratched the horse's
neck before speaking.
"So, Dalley here tells me you're headed somewhere past some
mountains. Can you give me a little more information, Shasa-baby?"
he spoke slowly, almost drawling it out even as he continued to look
them over.
"Do not call me baby, I am not some helpless little child who must
run behind the skirts of her mother, humpless camel rider!" Shasa
waved her stick threateningly and stabbed its end into the ground for
effect.
Ignacz raised his hands in good natured defense, "Take it easy
sweetheart, I didn't mean to rile you. Not yet anyway, it's too
early," he winked at her and she seemed to lose the capabilities of
speech, probably a good sign. He ignored the fact that her grip on
the staff had tightened until her knuckles were white and were
shaking with ill suppressed anger.
"You listen here, you soft-bellied weakling plainsman, you
couldn't..."
The blonde girl was obviously riled and she had begun shaking her
stick threateningly to punctuate her insults. She sounded as if she
were about to get into more interesting and colorful adjectives when
the taller girl began waving her arms in an attempt to ward off a
confrontation.
"What Shasa means to say is that she'd be delighted to tell you where
we're going, isn't that right, Shasa?" Pela asked sweetly, elbowing
Shasa in the ribs behind her back and whispering, "If you insult him,
he might raise the price."
This seemed to freeze the smaller girl who was still for several
beats, before resuming her previous condescending manner, "As I was
saying, chief of humpless camels, we're going across the plains and
to the Crystal Mountains where we're meeting my tribe, who are much
more competent and more well armed that your lot. We certainly won't
be needing you after that. I don't suppose you know where the
Crystal Mountains are, do you? I'd be surprised if you ignorant lot
could find yourself to water if you were camped beside a river.
Never mind, I'll be our navigator for the trip. I will certainly not
lose my way. I can always find my way to water and to trade."
Shasa had been prattling on and waving her hands dismissively this
entire time, leaving no one else any time to interject, likely by
design. She hadn't even realized she'd mentioned more than she'd
meant to until Ignacz leaned closer to her, interested.
"Trade? Trade what?"
Shasa mentally kicked herself. The last thing she wanted was this
band of lazy, degenerate, parasite infested plainsmen competing with
her tribe over the best crystals. Not that the Desert Nomads would
be undersold, and certainly not by this bunch of soft bellies.
"Trade? I don't know what you're talking about humpless camel chief.
I think perhaps that the jarring from riding your humpless camel has
addled your brain."
Ignacz looked thoughtful for a moment before connecting two plus
two, "Heeeey, you wouldn't be going to trade for crystals at the
Crystal Mountains, would you?"
Shasa threw up her hands in disgust. This was just too much, "No you
idiot fleabag, we're going to the Crystal Mountains to trade for
seashells. Of course we're going there to trade for crystals. You
must be the spawn of a camel and stone. You have the brain of the
stone and the reasoning of the camel, not to mention his looks."
"Shasa!" cried Pela, scandalized. She turned back to Ignacz and
tried to apologize, "I'm sorry Chief Ignacz, she doesn't really mean
what she says..."
Ignacz waved her away dismissively, not looking perturbed in the
least, "Crystals, huh? Girls always like shiny things."
He was lost in thought for several moments, idly scratching the back
of his neck where Unegen was nosing. Shasa, Pela, and Idalecio
waited somewhat awkwardly until the horseman clapped his hands
together loudly and grinned. "That settles it! We're all going to the Crystal Mountains."
The desert girl rolled her eyes, "Well, that is the idea, humpless
camel chief. Did you eat a great deal of sand as a child? You have
to come with us to the Crystal Mountains if we are to pay you for
escort service, as needless as I find that."
Ignacz shook his head, still grinning, "Don't worry about paying us,
sweetheart, we're just taking you along for the ride. I'm sure we'll
get plenty of nice crystals for our wool and hides, and you know
girls, they love shiny, pretty things," he turned, motioning them to
follow him, "Come along girls, I'll see you're well situated for the
night," he let off another long raucous laugh as he caught Unegen's
reins.
Behind him, Pela decided that it had to be a miracle that Shasa
somehow managed to keep from breaking her stick despite how hard she
slammed it into the ground.
Ignacz was up quite some time before dawn, helping to round up the
sheep and horses. He had no great desire to help tear down the
tents, and the women of the tribe did that pretty efficiently for
themselves. Soon there were only two tents left standing, somehow,
even the chieftain's rolled felt tent had some gotten itself put away
and hitched to the back of one of the tribes massive yaks.
"Bless those girls," he chuckled to himself, "They certainly know how
to take care of me."
He was standing, absently observing the faint tinge of dawn on the
eastern horizon when he felt a familiar presence directly behind him. "So, Teréz, do you think you can handle them today?"
"Handle them, what are you talking about, Ignacz?" his sister-in-law
sounded uncharacteristically cross this morning.
He turned and grinned at her and she raised an eyebrow. She was
already dressed and mounted; her own tent had probably been packed
for some time. Teréz probably already suspected what he was going to
throw at her. She certainly had been less than thrilled when he had
announced to the ruling council the previous evening that they were
going to cut their patrol of the southlands short and head for the
Crystal Mountains. Ignacz had had to think fast on his feet while
justifying the decision to the elders. They did not seem to be
impressed by his assertion that girls in fact liked pretty rocks.
Eventually he'd won them over by reminding them exactly how much the
traders they met would pay for fine crystals. The Moraiamung, as
much as they tried, could not live by horses alone.
"Didn't I tell you Teréz?" he slapped her on the back in a familiar
fashion, a sign that he was about to corral her into some duty that
was not necessarily hers, "I was so impressed by your speech in front
of the council that I've decided to leave you in charge of the ride
today. Congratulations!"
She took his elation with a deadpan look, and then spoke
incredulously, "You can't be serious, Ignacz."
Ignacz scratched the back of his head and continued to grin, "Well,
you see, I have some things to do, Teréz. Important, chiefy type
things. You understand."
Her expression hadn't changed a bit, "Oh I understand all right.
Would your important chiefy things have anything to do with those two
girls who are still snoring loudly in that tent over there?"
"Teréz, you never fail to amaze me. Diplomatic relations, you
know. Got to keep things good between our tribes. Very important.
Very chiefy."
Teréz rolled her eyes, "And I'm sure you're going to be concentrating
on the "relations" part. Just watch who you grope, I don't want to
have any kind of inter-tribal incident, all right? For all you know
those girls could be princesses or priestesses, or something. The
man certainly looks like someone important. His clothes are
expensive, even thought they aren't in very good repair."
Ignacz waved his hands dismissively, "Don't worry Teréz, I have
everything under control. He may look like a bigshot, but he
certainly doesn't act like one. He's a nice guy, but a little slow,
I think, or maybe just soft," here Ignacz made a wavy motion with one
hand, "And I already know that neither of the girls are his wives,
although he does seem to have a ken for the taller one," he winked at
the huntswoman.
"Marvelous," the woman looked less than enthused, "I'll leave them to
you, just make sure you don't do anything stupid."
The red-haired man did his best to look innocent, "Stupid? Me?
Never, Teréz.
"
"Riiight," she remarked dryly, "I have utmost confidence in you, as
far as I can throw you, Ignacz. We'll be taking the three vultures
route. I'm going on ahead to the vanguard. I've left a girl and an
ox. Whenever you decide to wake your sleeping princesses just send
her along with the other tents. We'll be expecting you at camp
tonight. Don't dally for too long."
"I wouldn't dream of it, Teréz," he laughed, "There's bound to be a
party tonight."
She rolled her eyes again and tapped her heels to her horse's
flanks, "And I have no doubt that you'll be there. I'll see you at
the camp, Mergen."
He raised a hand to her as he watched her ride off, "Ride well,
Huntswoman!"
While they were speaking the horizon had lightened considerably and
now dawn was only minutes away. Now, reflected smugly, would be a
perfect time to rouse the girls. They needed to be out of their tent
soon anyway. He couldn't keep the girl and her ox waiting long
anyway. She needed to catch up with the main body of the tribe lest
she be left to remain defenseless on the trek across the plains.
Well, he could at least wake the gangly blonde man first. His tent
was smaller and would be faster to tear down anyway.
With little ceremony, and no pause at all, Ignacz opened the tent
flap and then stuck his head in.
"Come on, Dalley, wake up! You've already missed half the day."
In the center of the small tent was a lump of furs and blankets that
moved once and then twitched miserably.
"What time is it?"
Ignacz thought for a few moments and did some counting on his fingers
and glancing at the horizon before answering, "Oh, I'd say about
twenty minutes until dawn."
There was a muffled sound from under the blanket that Ignacz could
not make out. After some more twitching the bundle spoke again.
"Mr. Ignacz, how is it possible that I've missed half the day when it
isn't even dawn yet? The day hasn't even started, has it?"
Ignacz waved his hands dismissively even though the blonde-in-a-
blanket couldn't see him, "Just an expression, Dalley, just an
expression. Come on, up an' at 'em. We need your tent."
There were some more disgruntled noises from under the pile of
blankets before a sleepy blonde head finally emerged. A pair of
shoulders and upper torso followed the head as the tall scribe
wriggled out of the mass of blankets like a worm. Ignacz ducked out
of the tent and sat down of the grass to wait for the other man to
emerge. After a moment, he did, albeit somewhat blearily. The
blonde rubbed his eyes and then slowly stretched, as he crawled out
of the small opening in the tent.
"What is it you wanted, Mr. Ignacz?" he asked, "Pardon my reluctance
before, but I am unused to such... early mornings."
The chieftain shook his head, "Don't worry about it, Dalley, and as
for what I wanted, take a look around you."
The blonde blinked and then followed orders. His mouth fell open as
he took in the apparent emptiness of the grassland, "But where has
your tribe gone?"
"I sent them on ahead. We're going to meet up with them this evening
at the campsite," he nodded behind the tall blonde man to the girl
who was already industriously packing the felt tent away onto a
travois that was tied to the back of a massive and brutish cow.
The blonde followed his eyes around the girl who was rabidly making
short work of the tent. Upon realizing what was happening, the
blonde flailed, "Oh, you don't have to do that. Can I help you,
madam?"
The girl giggled impishly, "Oh no, sir. I wouldn't dream of it," she
stuck her tongue out at him, "I take good care of the Mergen and his
ilk. I'm so glad Terez asked me to stay and take down the tents.
So, Mergen, can I dance for you tonight?" she giggled and wiggled
various parts of her body that seemed to make the blonde terribly
uncomfortable.
"Only if you're good, Sári," the red-haired man laughed, winking at
her.
"Oh, you know I'm always good," she giggled as she finished packing
up Indalecio's tent, "Now you're going to have to wake up those
girls, Mergen. It's nearly dawn. As much as I love to spend time
with you I have got to get going."
"I know, Sári. I'm going, I'm going," he raised his hands in defense
even as she waved an ox crop at him threateningly.
With as little ceremony as he'd offered Indalecio, in fact, perhaps
less, since he was hoping to see something he wasn't supposed to, he
popped his head into the girls' tent.
"Good morning, sunshine. Time to rise and shine!"
There were two piles of blankets in this tent and Ignacz could
clearly distinguish curses coming from underneath the smaller one.
"Shasa!" the cry from underneath the larger pile was sleepy, but
still scandalized.
"Well, what did you expect me to do, Pela, jump into his arms and
say, 'Of course, idiot camel man, I am ready to trek through the
blistering hot sun!'? It is far too early in the morning for me to
be entertained by his ignorance. It is also far too early in the day
to be traveling. The sun is about to rise, I'm sure, and we will
have to trek the whole day under the unforgiving sun. I am sure the
brains of all these plainsmen are addled. We should wait until
evening, when it cools off. Only then is it safe to travel."
With this, the smaller lump rolled over, and huddled down again,
having said her piece.
The taller girl had already wiggled out from under the covers, fully
clothed, Ignacz was disappointed to see. She looked over at the
smaller lump helplessly before turning back to Ignacz. He winked at
her.
"Fine, if you want to be that way, sweetheart. I suppose the Desert
Nomads aren't as hardy a lot as they let on. The Moriaimung have
been up and on the way for almost an hour now. I understand of
course, baby. I can carry you all bundled up, if you want," he
teased.
The smaller girl sat straight up as if she'd been shocked, scattering
the heavy blankets around her, "I have no idea what you are talking
about, humpless camel rider. I am perfectly ready to go whenever you
are. No soft bellied plainsman is going to carry me anywhere."
"Have it your way, Shasa-baby. I'll enjoy it either way," he winked
at her and ducked out of the tent before she could respond.
By the time Shasa and Pela had gathered their belongings and toddled
out of the tent, still somewhat sleepily, dawn had risen in its full
glory over the plains. Shirra took little time to take down the
tent, although Shasa insisted she was doing it wrong and muttered for
a solid twenty minutes about the idiocy of even the women of the
humpless camels. Sári ignored her and even make a few giggling
comments to Ignacz about her assets. She just seethed.
With Shasa still seething and Indalecio and Pela still trying to
properly wake themselves up, Shirra finished taking down the other
tent and rode off, yak and tents in tow. This left the four of them
alone on the grasslands.
"Well, now chief of the humpless camels, you have promised to escort
us safely and yet you send your tribe away without us. What is your
game?" Shasa was clearly not in a good mood.
Ignacz waggled his eyebrows at her, "Well, Shasa-baby, I sent the
tribe on ahead so that I could get you all situated with your new
mounts," he pronounced the last word a little too expressively, and
she scowled at him.
Pela laughed nervously, and tried to divert the
conversation, "Mounts? Really, Mr. Ignacz, you don't say."
He short man winked at her and nodded, "Yeah, I picked them out for
you myself. "
He gestured behind him and the other three suddenly became aware of
the two other creatures that share the abandoned campsite with them.
One of them was the small stallion Unegen, whom they knew to belong
to their loud companion. The other one . . .
"This is Atilka. Atilka, we picked up just recently from those
bandits who were trespassing on our land," he grinned, "I'm sorry to
stick you with a horse that I don't know very well, but most of our
other horses aren't tall enough for you to ride," he gestured in a
sweeping motion to Indalecio, "But I'm sure you'll take to each other
well enough. Atilka is nice enough, when you get to know him. He's
just a little frisky," he waggled his eyebrows again.
The horse that Ignacz had been referring to as Atilka was the massive
coal black stallion that they'd seen before. He looked more than a
little frisky. To those unfamiliar with horses, he looked down right
murderous.
The small blonde girl stamped her foot, "I think you have miscounted,
humpless camel man. There are two horses and four of us. Your brain
must truly be addled if you cannot count to four."
Ignacz looked innocently shocked, "Oh, it seems I did miscount. Oh
well, I guess that that means that we're just going to have to ride
double," he grinned meaningfully at the smaller girl who waved her
stick at him to ward him off.
"I get the feeling this was not an accident," the blonde girl
muttered under her breath.
"Oh, don't be silly, Shasa," the taller girl whispered back, "I'm
sure he didn't mean it. You jump to too many conclusions."
"I do not have to jump to get to his conclusions. He throws them
into my lap. Don't me naďve, Pela. I am not getting onto one of
those beasts period, let alone with him. They are foul and smelly,
and probably just as stupid as he is."
"Well now," called Ignacz, mounting Unegen, who'd wandered up to him
while the two girls were having their conference of whispers, "Come
on, let's get going."
Pela looked up, rather surprised, as she was finally confronted with
the prospect of actually getting up on a horse. She raised her hand
nervously.
"Whatcha need, Pela-honey?" asked Ignacz, leaning down over Unegen's
neck, so that he was uncomfortably in Pela's personal space.
"It's just that, well, I've never ridden a horse before," took a step
back, even as she spoke haltingly.
Ignacz laughed loudly, throwing his head back, "That's a good one,
Pela-honey. Never having ridden a horse."
Repeating this thought out loud seemed to crack him up all over
again, and he laughed for quite some time before he finally had to
stop to catch his breath.
"A-actually, Ignacz, I believe that she's serious. I have never
ridden a horse either," Indalecio spoke nervously, eyeing the
gigantic and mean-tempered looking horse that he knew was meant for
him.
The Moriaimung chief's eyes widened. This was obviously something he
hadn't expected. He turned to Pela for conformation and she nodded
cheerfully.
"Shasa-baby, you too?" he asked, already anticipating the answer.
The blonde girl put her hands on her hips, "It doesn't matter at all,
humpless camel man. You are not getting me onto one of those
brutes. I do not need a hulking animal to carry me. I am walking."
"right," he laughed, "Sure you are," he leered at her and she fumed.
Amused by her reaction he turned to his other two pupils, "Well, if
you don't know how, then I'm just going to have to teach you."
Pela shifted her weight from one foot to the other nervously. A horse in itself
was a frightening creature - she had never really been up close with one until
her travels away from the Sea Cliffs. Not only were they huge, but she could
tell they were saturated with great, hulking muscle masses and feet just *made*
for breaking the bones of any more delicate creature that happened to get
trapped underneath. And to top it off, the charcoal-colored beast that was
eyeing the lot of them and snorting unpleasantly through huge nostrils seemed
to be an exceptionally hateful example of his species, even to Pela's
inexperienced eye.
"All right then," she managed to squeak, her voice lacking the confident tone
she had hoped to invoke. "I guess... I guess we'll have to. It can't be that
bad, right? Chief Ignacz must be a very good teacher, I'm sure." She fixed a
rather forced smile on the young Moraimung man to mask the sinking feeling in
her stomach.
Shasa, meanwhile, had settled into a permanent look of distaste for the whole
situation, and she very deliberately stood as far from the smelly beasts as
possible, arms folded across her chest, eyebrows set in a scowl. "Yes, he can
teach you all how to be *soft-bellied* humpless-camel riders with brittle
*twigs* for legs since they never walk anywhere... you won't see *me* on one of
those things, camels *with* humps are bad enough."
Ignacz strode up to her in a few paces, reaching out rather abruptly and taking
hold of one of Pela's hands, his eyes fixed on hers with a look of... well,
something she could not readily define, but she *did* note that he seemed
hindered not a bit by the fact that he practically had to look up to make eye
contact with her. "Pela-darling, I can teach you all kinds of things that I'm
sure you've never even dreamed of."
Pela turned red and started to answer in protest, even though she wasn't
*precisely* sure what had gotten into him, she was almost certain it was
improper and that he was having a joke at her expense. But before she could
even think of an answer, Ignacz was continuing, grinning like a maniac. "But!
There's no time for that now, we've got to get you people riding horses. I
swear, what do they teach kids in those other tribes?" Eyebrows waggling with
enthusiasm, he looked over at Indalecio. "I'll show you how to do this too, but
ah.. ladies first, you understand, right Dalley?"
Indalecio attempted to sidestep a few times, discreetly, as the fearsome
Attilka was nudging closer to him, making some deep rumbling noises that very
well could have been a growl. "Y-yes, certainly, Mr. Ignacz, I'll just.. ah..
observe and learn."
"Right!" the fiery-haired man beamed. "Now, we'll start you off with Unegen,
just for practice, since he's steady as a rock if need be." He patted his
horse-friend's side fondly. "Getting into the saddle is simple enough, just
hook your left foot into this leather strap here, swing the other leg over and
grab hold of this part here to make sure you don't fall off." he indicated the
saddle horn.
Pelagia inched towards Unegen, though he seemed downright docile in comparison
to Attilka, he was still very large and very unfamiliar. The horse suddenly
turned his head round to eye the approaching girl, and as if he could sense her
hesitation, he gave a loud, wet snorting noise. Pela yelped and practically
leaped backwards, bumping into Ignacz, who laughed loudly.
"Come on, Pela-sweetheart, he's just playing with you!" He urged her forward
again, pushing her by the shoulders. "If you don't give a horse the trust he
deserves, how can he do anything for you in return? Now quit being so shy about
it and get up there!" he was still laughing as he instructed her, though the
other two present looked a bit alarmed at the horse's reaction as well.
Shasa commented loudly, "Do not fear the humpless camels, Pela, they are no
doubt just as soft as their chieftan here!"
Ignacz raised one eyebrow, turning to face Shasa for a moment. "Well then,
Shasa-baby, since you're so brave and all.. wanna come take a little ride on
Attilka?"
Shasa seemed to forget her usual voice volume for a moment. "Wha..? *No!*" She
shook her stick threateningly, regaining her confidence. "I told you, I am
walking, I have no need of such.. such.. *luxuries*!" she nearly spit out the
last word.
Mischief glimmered in Ignacz's dark green eyes. "Mmm. We'll see about that,
won't we?" He turned back to his more willing girl student. "Now, you're not
off the hook yet, precious, let's see you get up there. And don't hesitate this
time."
Pela took a deep breath and held it in, trying to get into the saddle as
instructed. She didn't quite get her weight distributed well enough, though,
and had to scramble over the horse's side before she slipped back down to the
ground. Ignacz made no attempt to restrain his chuckling all the while.
"Close enough," he said, giving an appreciative leering look after her. "Man, I
should invite more foreign girls in little white dresses to learn riding more
often." He gave an exaggerated wink at Indalecio, who looked as though he would
very much like to fade into the scenery at that moment.
Suddenly, Unegen began to shift his footing around, and promptly he plodded
over to a more desirable patch of ground to stand on. Pela was caught totally
unprepared for this, and so she flung herself down against the horse's back and
neck as low as she could press herself for fear of falling off. Now that she
was up and relatively secure on the horse's back, she noticed two things - she
was uncomfortably high off the ground, and it was an unexpectedly jarring ride.
The Moraimung riders she had seen were so fluid and graceful on their mounts
that they almost seemed to be an extension of the horses' bodies, but now that
she was in the saddle herself, it was altogether different.
Ignacz rubbed the back of his neck and sighed at the sight of Pela clinging for
life to poor Unegen's neck; Unegen looked up at his human companion with a sort
of puzzled look to express that he, too, had no idea what she was so worked up
over. "All right," Ignacz grinned as he approached the horse and clinging
rider. "Now comes the fun part! Just hold onto the reins there-" he attempted
to push the longer strip of leather into her hands, "-it would help a lot if
you would let go of Unegen's neck and sit upright, sweetheart... and we'll just
let him trot around a bit so you get the hang of it!" He reached out to give
her leg a squeeze. "And make sure you use those shapely thighs to grip the
sides, okay?"
Pela remained steadfastly affixed to the horse with both arms, although she
gave a very indignant yelp and reflexively kicked at her less-than-chivalrous
instructor.
"Mister Ignacz, is it really necessary that you.." Indalecio had to avert his
eyes as he tried to dissuade the young chieftan.
Ignacz was paying him little attention. He merely laughed as the girl drove him
backwards a few steps. "Whoa, hey! Take it easy, I was just trying to be a good
teacher." He took a few more backwards steps and leaned over to Indalecio.
"She's the athletic type, too, Dalley, you lucky dog."
Indalecio stammered with a distinctly flustered look. "I'm *sure* I have no
idea what you're talking about!" He fixed what he hoped was a very stern glare
on Ignacz, though his pale face reddened abruptly.
"Riiiight," Ignacz's grin threatened to split his face in half. "Okay,
Pela-baby, you better sit upright in the saddle real quick if you want to stay
on- hya!" He leaned over and gave Unegen a light slap on the rear.
Unegen took off at what was still a rather leisurely pace, for a horse, but
Pelagia felt as though she would be jostled off any moment. Her refusal to let
go of his neck was comforting on some level, true, but on the other hand, she
felt as though she would slip off to one side or the other any second - several
times, she had to scrabble back towards the middle of the saddle by flailing
this way or that.
Shasa took the opportunity to point out, accompanied by a dramatic gesture with
her staff, "You see? Useless, hulking brutes!"
Ignacz tsked a few times, shaking his head. "You know, if you'd do it the right
way and not be so terrified, I bet you wouldn't slip like that. But hey, if you
want to keep on, I won't stop you - it's giving me a lovely view of your
underwea- oof!"
He was cut short by a sharp jab from an angry Shasa, who made sure to fix a
scowl on him that needed no explanation.
Pela managed to answer, though she had been mostly holding her breath for long
stints ever since she'd gotten up onto the creature's back, "I'm s-sorry Chief
Ignacz, I'm just not used to.. to.. this," she offered in the way of a lame
explanation. Finally, a near-falling slip caused her to relenquish her idea
that she could remain clinging as firmly to the animal as possible, and slowly
she worked up the nerve to move her fierce grip to the saddle horn, and then
finally, balanced upright of her own volition, holding the reins. She had been
so concerned with not falling to the ground the whole time, she'd had her eyes
fixed in a downwards stare for just about the whole duration of her lesson. As
she finally mastered staying upright in the saddle as Unegen made a few more
small circles on the plains, however, the memory of that great void sky
overhead began to creep back in, and she had to pretend to look straight ahead
while she sneakily turned her eyes back down towards the safety of solid
ground. Funny that she'd been so afraid of hitting it face first for a while,
she mused inwardly with a faint smile.
Her efforts earned her a whooping cheer from the Moraimung chief. "See, was
that so hard?" He approached Unegen, and the horse instinctively paused in his
amblings to nuzzle the young man's hand. "Now we'll just show you how to direct
him, and then you can watch Dalley and Shasa go
."
"Ohhh, you would like to *think* that is so, humpless camel man!" Shasa shot
back at him, but he seemed not to hear her protests.
A few more improvised lessons in controlling Unegen's movements with the reins,
and how to ask him to speed up or slow down, and Pelagia found herself much
less terrified of the prospect of being carried on a horse's back the rest of
the way to the mountains. As she dismounted the roan-and-black creature,
Indalecio commented quietly, "I'm certainly no expert on the matter, but you
seem to have done rather well with that, Miss Pelagia."
Pela waved her hands, chuckling a bit. "What? No, I was awful! The Moraimung
make it look so easy, I was amazed to find out it's so much work." She was
grateful for the years of swimming that had toned her legs, if not for that she
was sure she'd be aching a great deal later that day.
"If you don't mind my asking, ah... Miss Shasa seems adamantly opposed to
taking this form of transportation, how are we going to circumvent that
problem?" Indalecio glanced over at the sun-bleached desert girl. When he
looked back to Pela, however, she was a pained, apologetic look, seemingly
oblivious to what he'd asked her.
He blinked a few times, then suddenly it dawned on him. "Ah, Shasa doesn't look
like she's going to get on a horse, how are we going to get her to the Crystal
Mountains?"
"Oh!" A faint rose tint colored the tall girl's face. "Well, ah... hm. Maybe I
can talk her into riding with me, then at least all she'd have to worry about
is staying on. And, you know.." she lowered her voice a notch, "she's not that
big, I could probably catch her if she fell.."
"Don't think I don't hear you over there!" Shasa called over to them. "I know
you're planning to get me on one of those things, and I must warn you now - I
have been more than reasonable, but I *will* take one of you down if I have to
prove my point! It is not as though these beasts are necessary, why do you
think the gods gave us *feet*?"
Pela flinched, looking guilty for plotting behind her companion's back - or
rather, for getting caught. Indalecio looked mildly alarmed at some of the
gestures he could see the water-seeker making behind her. Before he could say
anything, however, he felt a solid *thump* between his shoulder blades that
nearly knocked him down, and sent him into a spasm of coughing.
"So! You ready to impress the women with your fine riding skills, Dalley? Girls
love men who can tame the wild beast." He nudged the taller man towards
Attilka, who was snorting and stamping the ground impatiently.
"I-I thought you said he was domesticated!" Indalecio said, eyes widening.
Ignacz laughed again, making no attempt to restrain his mirth. "It's just a
saying, Dalley. Besides, you're really a bit too tall for Unegen anyway. Just
think of it as an opportunity to show off."
Somehow, as the huge, dark beast loomed in front of him menacingly, Indalecio
found that thought anything but comforting.
"So Dalley, are you just going to stand there staring at him, or do I need
to help you up?" Ignacz crossed his arms across his chest and leaned closer
to Indalecio, winking. "You know, Pela was doing pretty well on Unegen.
She’s got nice leg muscles....really good at griping. I could probably get
her to ride with you at first....you know...to give you confidence."
Indalecio coughed embarrassedly at Ignacz’s suggestion, and glanced over to
see Pelagia staring curiously at them. Moving his eyes quickly back to
Ignacz, he insisted that such assistance would be absolutely unnecessary.
Steeling himself, he turned back towards the waiting animal.
Attilka stamped the ground as the tall man approached, fixing him with a
single baleful eye. For a moment Indalecio had the strangest sensation that
the animal was somehow drawing amusement from his discomfiture, but giving
his head a mental shake he assured himself that he was just being silly.
Following Pela’s example, Indalecio placed his hand on the saddle and his
foot in the stirrup and began to pull himself up onto the horse.
Unfortunately, just as he was halfway there, Attilka suddenly decided that
the grazing looked slightly better at a spot a few yards away, and Indalecio
was forced to cling desperately to Attilka’s side as the horse trotted
briskly over to the greener grass.
Unable to hold back a snort of laughter, the young chieftain called out to
his student, "Don’t let him get away with that Dalley! You’ve got to show
him who’s in control or he’ll walk all over you!"
"You’re not kidding," Indalecio gulped as he looked down at the horse’s
powerful legs. As soon as Attilka had settled himself, a brief moment’s
struggle finally found Indalecio sitting upright in the saddle.
"Mr. Indalecio, are you alright?" Pelagia inquired, relieved that the man
had finally managed to right himself. Behind her, Shasa snorted and thumped
the group with her staff, as though she’d expected no less from such an
obviously stupid and uncooperative animal.
"Oh, just splendid," muttered Indalecio to himself, before assuring her out
loud that he was quite alright. It had been a less than graceful mounting,
but at least he wasn’t dangling off the side of the horse anymore. After a
moment, though, he found that the saddle was not much of an improvement.
Though Attilka was noticeably larger than the ponies favored by Ignacz’s
tribe, the saddle itself was not designed with a person of his height in
mind. Even with the stirrups extended to their full length, he was still
forced to draw his knees up a considerable bit, making him feel rather like
an ungainly crouching stork.
As the lesson continued, Ignacz had Indalecio make several loops around his
traveling companions. Though he swore that Attilka quite purposely adopted
the most jarring trot possible for a horse, Indalecio miraculously managed
to maintain his seat, as well as his lunch, throughout the entire ride.
Finally, after a several minutes of riding, Ignacz called a halt.
"Alright Dalley, that’s enough for now. The sun’s getting pretty high and
we’re losing traveling time, so you can learn the rest on the way. If you
get in trouble, you can always just hang on to Pela-honey for balance,"
Ignacz grinned and gave Pela a gentle pat just shy of the posterior region
to direct her over towards Attilka.
Whirling around to escape Ignacz’s hand, Pelagia started to respond to the
pat when she suddenly remembered, "Wait, we’re leaving now? What about
Shasa? Are you really going to let her walk?"
Ignacz waggled his eyebrows and grinned conspiratorially, "Don’t worry, I’ve
got that taken care of."
"Do you still think I cannot hear you? Obviously the sun has addled your
brain, since you don’t even have the good sense to take shelter during the
heat of the day. Do not take me lightly humpless camel man. If I say I
walk, then I walk!" Shasa thumped her staff once more for emphasis.
Ignacz merely shrugged, spreading his hands to indicate a lack of desire for
further discussion of the matter. "Heard you the first time, Shasa-baby." With
a second alarming grin at Pela, he headed back toward his own steed, leaping
onto the creature's back with practiced ease.
"But Shasaaaa," Pelagia protested, making one last attempt to make her friend
see reason, "How will you keep up with us? You don't have as many legs, and
theirs are longer!"
Shasa shook her head, raising an eyebrow to indicate her disappointment at
Pelagia's continuation of the matter after even Ignacz had apparently dropped
it. "Bah, Pelagia!" she snorted. "The only reason these riders of humpless
camels need to ride at all is that they are clearly too weak-legged and lazy to
walk! Where I am from, we do our walking ourselves! I have walked MUCH farther
than this in SAND, where your feet sink down and walking is difficult..." she
raised her voice, obviously meaning for it to carry in Ignacz's direction, "...
not easy walking, like the smooth, firm ground this wobble-kneed riding tribe
fears to walk!"
Ignacz remained unperterbed, although Pelagia noted the wicked twinkle in his
eye.
"Oi, Dalley! What're you waiting for?" Ignacz called, nudging his pony closer
to the two girls. "Give Pela a hand up."
"I beg your pardon?" Indalecio inquired, glancing upward. He hadn't been
marking the conversation closely, although not for lack of interest. Ever since
Ignacz had mounted up, Attilka had been of the mind that it was time to GO, and
Indalecio was having trouble keeping the animal from bolting off toward the
horizon. Attilka, for his part, simply could not understand the holdup, and
continued to shift from side to side, severely annoyed at his rider's
insistence that they should NOT GO.
Ignacz and Unegen trotted over so smoothly as to make Indalecio wonder if
perhaps they weren't some new form of species locked in a previously
unnoticeable symbiotic relationship. Whether that was the case or no, Ignacz
reached over to pat Attilka on the neck, which calmed both animal and rider
sufficently enough to allow Indalecio to give Pela the requested hand up. She
settled down in front of Indalecio, who found himself wishing fervently that HE
was as capable of walking as far as Shasa seemed to think she was. His new and
pressing goal in life became the discovery of how to sufficiently hang onto the
reigns without putting both arms on either side of Pela. This was, of course,
impossible... and quite frankly, all that hair was severely impeding his line
of sight. All this, and he was quite possible that Attilka was merely waiting
for an opportune chance to buck him off into something messy and disgusting.
"I should have listened to mother," he thought to himself, "and become an
alchemist."
"All ready?" Ignacz inquired, grinning so widely Pelagia was tempted to count
his teeth, "Prepared for a day of riding?"
"I'm ready, Mister Ignacz." replied Pela. She was just as nervous as Indalecio
about Attilka's temperament, but decided it was better to get on with it. After
all, the sooner they reached their destination, the sooner they wouldn't have
to be nervous anymore. She remained completely oblivious to Indalecio's
quandary with the reigns.
"I am as ready as I shall ever be, I suppose." Indalecio replied, his face
contorted into the most peculiar expression Ignacz had ever seen. Deciding that
it would be cruel to ask if Indalecio had gas in front of his woman, Ignacz
refrained from comment. This was fortunate, as Indalecio's expression was, in
truth, the result of his being unable to block the smell of the horses (as well
as the rather salty scent of Pela's hair) with his handkerchief without letting
go the reigns.
"Right then!" Ignacz whooped, turning Unegen about and nudging him forward
again. "Off we go!" With that, he leaned down in the saddle, seized Shasa
around the middle, and slung her in front of him on the horse. Despite Shasa's
surprise at suddenly finding herself face down on her stomach with the two
halves of her body on either side of a moving pony, she managed not to drop her
staff. For some reason, Pelagia noted, she had also failed to lose her breath,
as the string of shrieks she let loose forthwith were the most impressive she'd
emitted to date.
"PUT ME DOWN, YOU HEAT-ADDLED SUN-BLISTERED WASTE OF GOOD WATER! I SAID I
WOULD WALK AND I WILL WALK! I WILL NOT SIT ON THE BACK OF THIS TINY HUMPLESS
CAMEL JACKAL THING TO..."
"Better not say that about Unegen, Shasa-baby," Ignacz cut in smoothly. He was
clearly unperterbed by the chain of swearing. He was, in fact, quite obviously
amused. "You might hurt his feelings."
Unegen chose that particular moment to snort and toss his head, altering his
stride a bit so that both Ignacz and Shasa were jolted a bit in the saddle.
Shasa, who had been about to attempt biting Ignacz on the leg, was shocked into
silence for a moment. Ignacz reminded himself to give Unegen extra oats that
night, and perhaps a few carrots, as a reward for his excellent timing. He
nodded seriously at Shasa from his seat, informing her sagely, "Hard to say
what he'll do when he's been insulted. Nasty temper he's got."
Unegen tossed his head again; Ignacz was quite certain this whole ordeal was
amusing him, too. Shasa considered. The whole reason she hadn't wanted to ride
in the first place stemmed from concern that she might fall off and break her
staff, or be trampled. If Ignacz was serious and Unegen could understand what
she was saying, she reasoned, he might decide to stomp around on her on
purpose. She reconsidered on insulting the horse, although she went through
with her earlier plan to bite Ignacz on the leg.... but not hard enough that he
might drop her.
"I will pay you back for this, rider of humpless camels." she hissed, turning
her head to glare up at him. "I will pay you back WITH INTEREST."
"Looking forward to it, Shasa-baby." Ignacz retorted with another of his grins.
He removed one hand from the reigns to poke her in the back, an action which
not only annoyed her severely, but made her eyes go wide.
"ARE YOU EVEN WATCHING WHERE YOU ARE GOING, IDIOT HUMPLESS CAMEL RIDER?" she
yelped, eyes going wide. Ignacz turned back to grin evilly at Pelagia and
Indalecio, and urged Unegen into a near-canter, shooting off down the road.
Pelagia waited for Shasa's resultant howl and Iggy's triumphant whoop to fade
before turning back to Indalecio and remarking, "Well, I think that went well."
With that, she let Attilka go, and the horse willingly increased its pace to
catch up with Unegen. Indalecio gave up trying to keep Pela's hair from flying
back into his face, held on as best he could, and prayed fervently that the
ride wasn't as long as he'd understood it to be. Pela, who was finally
beginning to feel a bit more accustomed to the practice of riding, leaned
forward in the saddle a bit and sighed with satisfaction. At this rate, she
thought, they'd find her dream city in no time.
x
