Dark Edge Village

After the welcome ceremony was over, Dong-Ha headed tot he stables, sought out his horse and spent a good while brushing her. Such task was considered elementary for establishing and maintaining the close connection between the rider and the horse, and while rest of the samurai cast likely left such tasks to grooms, most of the Unicorn saw it is a a matter of pride to look after their steeds. Having finished grooming and saddling Poppy, the largish brown mare that had carried him to the Empire, Dong-Ha led his horse to the north of the village, allowing her to stretch her limbs.

The horses had been mentioned in his orders for coming here. And in the briefing. Several times in the briefing. It was like High Command actually considered the Unicorn cavalry something to be mildly concerned about.

As if.

But . . . . . . . . . the always dutiful teeny kitteh decided maybe he would have a look at these overgrown ponies, so he wandered towards the stables and stopped short.

OK that is . . . . . . . . . . . . large.

Seeing the blond short girl before him, Dong-Ha stopped, patting the flank of Poppy to signal her to stop as well. All of the nearly six feet of Unicorn regarded the slender Lion. "Good afternoon, samurai-san." he bowed as he Ide had taught him. "Never seen something quite like this, I take it?" The same Ide had also noted that the Rokugani horses were runts. Poppy didn't seem to care as she stopped by her owner.

Yurio stood transfixed by the size of Unicorn and Horse for a moment before making his usual military precision bow. Like he knew any other kind of bow.

"I . . . yes. Certainly. Nothing like this before. "

A pause.

"Are they all like this?"

The man's voice proved that Dong-Ha had erred in his initial assessment. He had seen all kinds of people during the yearly years of his life, from the pale yodotai to the dark skinned shakals. However, he hadn't expected to find a someone with a blond hair here. "Mine isn't even that big." A faint smile crept on his lips. "Some of the Moto have even bigger ones."

"Iuchi Dong-Ha, of the Unicorn, obviously..." His words stammered ever so slightly as he bobbed an another bow. "Son of Iuchi Dong-Suk."

"Bigger?"

Yurio looked incredulous before only slightly recovering.

"Matsu Yurio, son of Matsu Yuuna of the Lion Clan."

"They are big men. Moto, that is." He noted nonchalantly, rubbing the flank of his steed. "Their steeds might not be fast as those of the fabled Otaku line, but they are sturdy and well suited for riding."

"Well met, Matsu-san. Please allow me to thank your kin for the stewardship of our lands. We are in your debt." Another bow followed. "I hope Matsu-san had a pleasant journey here?" Not that he knew where Matsu lands were, but they couldn't be that far away, all things considered.

"It was a short and uneventful journey."

He was still looking at the horse and trying to imagine bigger ones. He knew some of the Moto were hugs having seen them at the Opening Ceremony but the fact they'd need a huge horse had not clicked.

"Your lands were kept in the Emperor's name. The Lion never fail the Son of Heaven."

"That is good." Unicorn had had a long and rather eventful journey lately. "One would not doubt they would." Dong-Ha admitted carefully. "Has Matsu-san ever ridden a horse?"

"A few lessons early in my schooling. Two maybe three times."

He wobbled a hand.

"It was not considered essential for my expected role in the army."

Another stare at Poppy and he added another qualifier.

"And the pony was only this high."

His hand is held above his own head but only a fraction of Poppy's height.

With one of their runty horses, too... "I see." He could well see why riding the silly excuses of ponies was not considered essential for anyone. "I take Matsu-san the follows the footsteps of Lady Matsu herself?" Which was in a way a polite way to ask if he was a ferocious front line soldier. Unicorn might have known little about Matsu family, but the deeds of their founding mother were well known.

"Want to try? Poppy's a pretty gentle as far as horses go. I can hold the reins." Dong-Ha didn't quite have the heart to tell the small Lion that Poppy was actually former baggage horse.

"Actually I follow Akodo-no-kami's teachings. No army can operate effectively without accurate information of the enemies order of battle and distributions."

He gave the equine giant a dubious look, for all of a second.

"If I may?"

"Ah, my apologies." Less Moto on foor and more Shinjo without a horse then Dong-Ha mused to himself. "Please." He pointed at the stirrup, moving out of the way so that Lion could help himself up. Dong-Ha's hold on the reins tightened ever so slightly, just in case.

Fortunately Yurio was the athletic kind of Lion. Unfortunately there was absolutely no civilised and graceful way of doing this with so little experience and so little . . . . . . . height. He more hauled himself up than mounted the horse.

It was a long way up, but he made it.

Then he looked at the saddle . . .

"Just rest your hips on the saddle and put your feet on the stirrups..." Then he realized that the Lion's short legs did not actually reach the stirrups. "Actually just hold to the saddle." Dong-Ha reached to pat the the front of the saddle. "I'll wall her slowly..."

As poppy took the first few cautious steps under Dong-Ha's guidance, the young Unicorn turned to the Lion. "Quite a view from up there eh?"