Dark Edge Village

Gentle winds blew over the drenched fields, carrying scents of damp grass with them as Dong-Ha waited by the edge of the heimin village, standing by his horse. He had checked the saddle and reins at least four time now. This was mostly because he did not want either of them falling off the horse, though having something to do also helped keeping the ever growing sense of tension down. The thought of spending time alone with Hotaru filled his belly with butterflies.

Poppy wore her usual saddle, though this time a well worn mattress had been rolled and tucked under the cantle and a small saddle bag resembling a simple pouch hung hung from its horn.

Hotaru was seen meandering up the fields slowly, rather mindful of the puddles of water and the mud that found itself spread across the camp after last night's rain. It was a slow process but she managed to make it to the fields on time. She gave him a small wave when she was in sight, but still some ways away from closing in. "Konnichiwa, Iuchi-san!"

"Good afternoon, Bayushi-san!" Dong-Ha replied, offering the petite priestess a polite bow, careful to lift the hems of his robes as he did so as not to besmirch them. "Glad you could join me." he added, smiling. "I hope you slept well?" It had rained hard, and while the yurts keep their inhabitants dry, the noise of the rain had been deafening at times.

Once she got closer, Dong-Ha turned to pat the neck of his horse. "So this is Poppy. Big but... calm." the young mystic let his hand drop from the mare's neck. If the animal cared of the new arrival., she made no sign of it.

"Pretty well enough!" she called back as she stolled over to close the distance. Having stayed at the Soshi mountains for a few years, she had to be accustomed to sleeping through howling winds and the like.

She meandered over and looked up at the horse. They look pretty tall, close up. How am I supposed to get on that and keep up? "Pleased to meet you Poppy! I'm sure you have many things to say...thank you for volunteering to be my first horse."

"Good, good. I wish I could say the same, though." he admitted, appearing a bit weary. "I guess you heard the news. A dragon fell from the skies last night, frenzied it attacked some of the samurai. Luckily... they were able to put it down, but not before one of the Otaku lost her life." He hadn't known her, but felt a still a slight pang of sorrow. Her's would an another family that had lost their child. "Still, life goes on. Her funeral's later today." Dong-Ha looked away as if to hide his emotions.

Poppy reached her muzzle towards Hotaru as if she was trying to catch her smell, causing Dong-Ha to pat her muzzle to tell her off. Last thing he wanted was Poppy sampling Hotaru's clothing with her teeth. Looking sullen, the horse withdrew. "She's curious about people." the young mystic explained, moving his hand to ruffle her neck. If Poppy had some kind of opinion of Hotaru, she kept it to herself. "She should do just fine... as your first horse."

She grew solemn at the mention of the Otaku's passing, which was unfortunate and a tragedy in itself. It was perhaps expected that deaths might occur from cleansing great dishonour or assassination attempts to curb the competition, but death by combat comes as quite unexpected and troubling. Very sudden and gruesome. She lowered her head for a moment and muttered a small prayer to the fallen and that Emma-O grant mercy to their rejoined Rokugani kinswoman on the next life. "My condolence to the Unicorn and the Otaku. I think I'll make a point to attend, if I'm allowed, to pay my respects to the fallen. It only seems proper," she nodded in sympathy.

Hotaru fought hard to stand in place as Poppy's head moved closer, mildly expecting the horse to gobble her up on short notice. Unlike the lamb, it was a large enough animal too. She mustered a friendly smile, smiling at Poppy and as Dong-Ha in turn. "As more animals tend to be, haha! That's fine, it seems only fair as I'm going to be sitting on her back."

She raised her hands, as if intent on getting on the horse, only stopping short when she didn't know where to begin when it came to climbing in the animal. "Eto...so...what's the first thing I should know about riding a horse?"

"Thank you." he bobbed is head, grateful of her words. "Hai, it will be an open occasion. We have nothing to hide, and maybe it'll be a good chance for you all to see some of our customs..." Though Otaku Kitakuhime had insisted they'd adopt some of the Rokugani habits, turning the upcoming funeral into a mishmash of traditions.

"Well, some of the war horses are less friendly. They are bred and raised with a certain... mean flair. Nasty enough to kick and bite people for fun, for example." Dong-Ha chuckled somewhat awkwardly. "Though, no-one would let a stranger anywhere near them like this. Hopefully."

Dong-Ha place his foot on the stirrup before pulling himself on the saddle. "Here, take my hand." he inched Poppy closer to the Scorpion before reaching to her. "Set on my foot and I'll pull you up." He was grinning ever so lightly. "I'll explain you the basics as we go."

She nodded at the offer with a faint smile. That was a bonus to attending a funeral, as a learning opportunity...and build some rapport with the Unicorn.

"Oohh. Oh!" She said twice in understanding, now knowing that there were some actually dangerous horses out there. There was a time when she thought it would have been interesting to visit the stables and talk to the horses (with the aid fo the air kami) for amusement. If she was going to risk another animal-biting incident, she'd rather avoid it. "In that case, Poppy is rather friendly! What a gentle horse..."

Prepare to smell like horses...all over... Hotaru thought to herself as she smiled eagerly at the opportunity of getting on a horse. "Okay, get ready! Here I come...and up!" She gingerly took his hand unto hers, hoping to keep this as brief as possible as she tried to hop on the horse with his horse.

"Well, she was raised kind." he explained, patting her neck. "We only ever had her carry things. When they train warhorses... they sometimes treat the roughly to.. make them meaner. Gentle horse does you little good in the fray of combat." Where as a good war horse could crush bones with its hooves and pummel people down with its weight.

With an ease born out of practice, Dong-Ha pulled Hotaru up and towards himself, placing his other hand at her waist as she turned the small Scorpion, letting her settle between his legs on top of the horse. "There." He sounded rather smug. "I figured we'd take some distance to the village before you try that on your own." There'd be less people to see her stumble, if that were to happen. "Less distractions." he offered, unsure if she caught his intentions.

Getting on a horse turned out to be more work and awkward than she thought. She struggled but was aided by his support, and touching. Once she found herself on top of a horse, she was even closer to Dong-Ha than she began and some distance from the ground. Staying on was going to be hard, and getting off abruptly wasn't going to be an option, especially the stories she heard of people breaking their necks from falling off horses.

"There!" She laughed nervously, once she was on. "Oooh...good, yeah, yeah. I do need to get adjusted first. It's higher up here and I can see what you meant by it not being completely stable here. Kind of floating...but not."

Satisfied that he had Hotaru more or less where he wanted her, Dong-Ha wrapped his hands around her lithe frame as he reached to take hold of the reins. The Iuchi mystic pulled her against his chest ever so slightly. "Just making sure you won't fall off." his warm breath brushed against her ear as he spoke. Positioned as she was, he could not but notice her scent of her hair. With Hotaru secured between his arms, Dong-Ha slapped the reins and gently dug his heels into the sides of Poppy, causing her inch forwards, taking slow steps in the direction her rider wanted to.

"I hope you are not uncomfortable?" Dong-Ha inquired, fully aware how small the Scorpion priestess felt against him. "It can be bit rough... if you are not used to it. "You can press your legs against her sides if you feel like you'd fall off. Just do it gently."

Uhm, so where am I supposed to put my hands, let's see... She anxiously placed her hands on Poppy's mane, then on the reins and then settled awkwardly on Dong-Ha's forearms. Gah...it's only awkward for you, because the Unicorn like to touch each other...

"Ah...thank you, and I'm comfortable enough! It just takes a bit getting used to, the side to side, forwards and backwards..." she said with a mustered smile and squeezed her legs around the horse as suggested. "...A little better now. Haha! Easy!"

"You are doing good, don't worry. If you need something to hold on, just grab her mane." Dong-Ha reached to pat Poppy's neck to indicate the spot she was supposed to seek support from. However, this meant that he had to lean against Hotaru. "And you'll need it, when we get out of the village."

As he explained the principles of staying on top of a horse, the young Iuchi guided the horse through the heimin settlement and into the open plain beyond. "This feels more like home to me. Plains as far as eyes can see. This what I was used to seeing, as a child." Perhaps Hotaru would fine the endless swaying hills and ankle tall dry grass less exiting. "I learnt to ride when I was eight. Well, I fell of the horse a couple of times before I got hang of it. But then... I'd ride whenever I could. To feel like I was flying. To go where I wanted." He seemed to be fond of those particular memories.

"So, what you did as a child? Studied with the... Sushi?" Dong-Ha asked, figuring he'd been talking too much.

Won't she get angry with me if I yank on her hair? She thought to herself when Dong-Ha gave her the suggestion of grabbing onto her mane. It was one of the reasons why she didn't keep her hands there, fearing that Poppy would eject her from her back. "...Okay! I hope she doesn't mind it! She seems like such a kind horse..."

She blinked at the fields, seeing little in the ways of landmarks and civilization. There was much wilderness surrounding Tengoku's Path too, where she grew up and stayed, but the town and its meagre farmland provided a familiar anchor. "I can see why any Unicorn needed to ride a horse, to go where you wanted without difficulty. Like, flying, as you put it," she smirked fondly.

"The Soshi?" She corrected for him, wondering if he met any of the Soshi yet to be butchering their names this badly. "No, not quite. Not at first...My parents did the best for me, the best parents can do without knowing much about the gifts of a shugenja. They found a place for me at the local temple, the Shining Retreat, where I volunteered most of my time. I aided the monks there in everything and anything, doing chores around the temple and learning religion. When I got older, I was groomed more to serve as the temple's miko, I learned how to dance and divination. My time with the Soshi was really more to hone my skills with the kami, which only complemented my relationship with the kami and devotion to the Fortunes. Before studying with the Soshi, it was a bit strange to be at home, nobody understood my gifts and treated me differently."

"When you have no reins, that's all you have." he tried to explain that grabbing the mane was more or less a standard procedure at times. "Don't worry, she's used to it!"

"Well, we are wanderers... were, I guess." he stumbled with the words. "Everything was far away... and well, we kept moving, meeting new people, new tribes. Just as Shinjo-kami wanted us to." Unicorn patron deity had been plagued by severe wanderlust.

"Oh, Soshi...right." He hoped that 'sushi' didn't have any particular meaning. Spending so much time in a single shrine sounded absolutely boring. Dong-Ha figured he'd have gone stir crazy if forced to stay in one place that long, even with kind and knowledgeable people around him. "And how it was with the Soshi then? I have no idea how... shuganja are trained." He left her ample time to answer before digging his heels hard into Poppy flanks, leading her into a frenzied gallop.

The hooves of the mare thundered against the ground, shaking both riders to the core as Poppy dashed over the damp plains, racing towards one of the small hillocks Dong-Ha had singled out. The speed caused the rider's eyes to water, and if one were to look down, they could see the earth itself rushing past like a coursing river.