Teach a Crane (D3, Early Evening)

[Doji Fukawa]

Fukawa nodded with a tight grip on the saddle. She wasn't sure how she was going to get back down, but she didn't want it to be by falling. Maybe she'd just live up here from now on, and be led in to court.

"Hai, Shinjo-san." she said.

[Shinjo Akil]

Setem kept a calm, slow pace, making sure the ride was as smooth as it possibly could be.

"If it is alright, may I ask you about your home? What's it like?"

[Doji Fukawa]

"It is a very beautiful place." she offers. "Though a very different kind of beauty. There's not a blade of grass, or a small rock that has not been artistically arranged in some way. It's a land full of flower gardens, stone gardens, shrines and flocks of Crane. My family's estate is near Kyuden Doji, the capital of the Crane lands. It's a castle that stands ten stories tall, and is one of the three most luxurious castles in all of the Empire."

[Shinjo Akil]

"You don't say?" He smiled, "I would like to see it. Setem, too, I would bet, though I would have to hound him to not eat all of the artistically arranged flora." He smirked to the horse, who simply snorted in response to being looked at.

[Doji Fukawa]

"Accommodations will have to be made. The Unicorn steeds are like nothing in the Empire." she admits. "But the Crane have always been the soul of hospitality. Accommodations will be made."

[Shinjo Akil]

"I am thankful for it," he smiled, "Now then. Would you like to try to stir him yourself?"

[Doji Fukawa]

Fukawa looked down...at the horse, not the ground.

"I am willing to try, Shinjo-san, but what do I need to do?" she asks.

[Shinjo Akil]

He held up the reins. "Take this. Most of the effort will be done with your legs and feet, but you can pull back quickly on this if you want him to stop." Once she has the reins, he continues, "a small tap with your feet will get him to start walking forward. Tap with both feet, or he might get confused and start trying to turn on you."

He moved his eyes to Setem, whispering calmly. "Be good, boy. Help your buddy out, here."

[Doji Fukawa]

She takes the reigns, but does not crack them and race off to start a stampede. No, first she wanted to make sure she understood things.


"Tap with both feet to tell him I wish to go forward, put back on the reigns to tell him I wish to stop. If I tap with my right foot alone, will he turn right or left?" she asked, just in case a tree suddenly jumped out in front of them and she had no time to stop.

[Shinjo Akil]

"If you tap his right side, he'll go left," he answered with a bit of a blush. Why didn't you think to tell her that?!

[Doji Fukawa]

Fukawa nods.

"And so, then if I tap his left side, he'll go right? Basically with one foot, he will move away from the foot?" she asks, making double-sure.

[Shinjo Akil]

"Precisely. See? You're already getting the hang of this," he offered her a bright smile.

[Doji Fukawa]

"Alright then." she said, taking a deep breath.

She gave the horse a very, very gentle tap with both feet. If something went wrong, she didn't want to be half a field away from the Shinjo.

[Shinjo Akil]

Thankfully, Setem responded exactly how she was hoping, simply walking at a slow, easy pace. Akil followed right beside, silently monitoring the horse.

[Doji Fukawa]

Fukawa simple rode quietly for a bit, taking in the feel of the experience, and observing the field pass by. She did not loosen her grip on the reigns, but she didn't seem to have them in a death grip either.