If you can swim, can you ride? (Day 3, expecting, LM)

[Soshi Taira]

Taira made his way to the horsemanship fields after his morning dojo time, hoping he would be limber enough to... well... not fall off and break something like a fool in front of a cute woman.

As he came to the field, he glanced about, trying to ascertain just what he was about to have to do. He was still dressed in his hakama and gi, as it would give him more flexibility than a full kimono. Of course, this meant he had no tall collar to serve as a mask, so he wrapped a bit of red cloth about his neck, to give the impression.

[Shinjo Liu Yue]

Shinjo Liu Yue rode out on top of Hikazume. She was wearing her standard leather outfit, her arms bare due to the heat. I'm glad I didn't have too much fur. Well, wearing it in the Burning Sands would have been weird anyways.

She rode up until she was a fair distance from the man. After all, she wanted to avoid spooking him. "Ohayou gozaimasu!" she called to him. With her practiced motions, she was able to dismount without much fuss. "It is a pleasure to see you again, Taira-dono," she said before giving him a deep bow.

[Soshi Taira]

"And you, Liu Yue-hime."

He bowed deeply as well, and then smiled. Her bare arm got a glance, and then he dragged his eyes away. She was so... thin, compared to a man. It was mind boggling. Even with her obvious musculature, it was just so... different.

Never seeing a woman in less than full garb, head to toe, would make it bizarre and mysterious.

"You make that look easy. Something tells me that assumption would be a bad starting point."

[Shinjo Liu Yue]

The woman did not notice his glance, given her bad eyesight. She certainly caught onto his averted eyes, however, though she did not bother to question it. "It is easy, Taira-dono," she corrected him, "However, it is not intuitive." She paused, searching for how best to describe it in Rokugani. "Unskilled riders mount horses incorrectly. Mounting requires maintaining balance." She looked back to her steed, reins in her hand. "Would you like me to demonstrate again?"

[Soshi Taira]

"Eto... Perhaps if you walk me through it then?"

Pinching his wrist behind his back, he cleared his mind, and then added, "If you don't mind, that is."

[Shinjo Liu Yue]

She perked her brow. "I invited you here for a reason, Taira-dono."

Yue then took a firm grip of her reins and displayed them to the Soshi. "Balance is key," she repeated. She grabbed onto the horn of her saddle and placed her right foot into the stirrup. Then, with one swift motion, she hefted herself back up onto Hikazume. "You do not want your steed to move during mounting, Taira-dono."

She paused, wondering if she was going to quickly. She shook such Doubt out of her head. "However, if she takes off, you do not want to be in a dangerous position. You want to be balanced, Taira-dono."

[Soshi Taira]

Taira considered that.

"Well, it seems straightforward... how do you keep her from moving?"

He observed closely, trying not to be distracted by the glare of sun off of exposed skin. It was really interesting how someone in motion could be so different from a sickly patient, convalescing.

"Do you lift with the arms on the mount, or the legs?"

These stirrups were new to him.

[Shinjo Liu Yue]

Yue held out the reins. "I check to see if she is stable too," she added, in regards to the horse moving.

She paused and searched for the right words. "I hop and then I pull myself up, Taira-dono. It is both." She looked down at her feet. "Stirrups," she said with a smile.

[Soshi Taira]

"Ah."

Well, the best thing to do was try, right?

Taking the offered reins, he lifted a foot, and made the attempt.

His foot met the stirrup, and then for Taira, the world moved, and not in a good way.

It was hard to say exactly what happened, but as far as he could tell, the earth had risen up and punched him. Hard.

The horse stood a few comfy trots away, looking at the stupid human that had tried to get on.

He appeared to have no air, which made it rather hard to express his surprise. Or sit up.

Fascinating.

-----

I can ride the horse (not) http://orokos.com/roll/505960

[Shinjo Liu Yue]

Yue blinked. She had never seen someone fumble getting on a horse so badly. She rushed over to Taira and knelt beside him. "How is your head? Breathe?' Panicked Rokugani was not in her forte. She fumbled out her medical kit and stayed ready for any treatment.

Meanwhile, Hikazume went on with her day as if nothing had happened. She grazed like any horse would.

[Soshi Taira]

Taira waved a hand, trying to indicate he was fine.

His attempt to breathe instead informed him that he was, in fact, in shock.

Or, that is to say, his diaphragm was taking its dear sweet time to resume normal function.

Though his vision was a bit spotty, he did manage to tap his chest, trying to indicate he was just getting his breath back.

It was beyond his understanding how he managed to make such a fool of himself on his very first attempt to just get on a horse.

That was almost more painful than the ground which had attacked him.

[Shinjo Liu Yue]

"Breathe, Taira-dono." She kept an eye on him and did not leave his side. I'm not supposed to get him up yet, right? Yeah, yeah, that'd make things worse. She scratched the back of her head. "Gomennasai. I should have kept Hikazume still for you."

[Soshi Taira]

Taira shook his head, astounding by the lights that broke across his vision.

His breath began to come, in rattling, wheezing gasps.

It sounded so much worse than it was, and he tried to indicate as much, in wheezing words, "I'm... oh... kay... just... wind... ed..."

One hand feeling the pounding in his head, he found that it was damp.

Oh.

Holding it before his face he grimaced as he saw it smeared with blood.

That was inconvenient, and very embarrassing.

"Kuso..."

[Shinjo Liu Yue]

Yue's eyes shot open. She rolled him over to his side and looked at his head. "Daijoubu, daijoubu," she said to soothe him as she started her work. "I am trained in medicine," she reminded him.

Doing medical work with one arm was not without difficulty. She made sure to stop the flow of the bleeding. "Breathe, Taira-dono." She looked around for any potential bystanders but she mainly kept her focus on treating the man.

Eventually, she was sure that her work was satisfactory...

---

Medicine/Intelligence Fluff Roll, VP Spent: 35

[Soshi Taira]

Feeling a right ass, Taira at least knew how to be a good patient, and so he sat and breathed, and raged at himself internally.

Once she was done, he managed, quietly, "Thank you, Liu Yue-hime. I'm sorry I concerned you with my clumsiness."

The injury was largely superficial, a pointy rock had taken some skin off, but his eyes focused and his words came naturally, so it was probably no more than skin deep.

"I won't be so careless next time."