[D4 LA] Once upon a time, pony met a bunny

[Ryuuta Tsume]

Timidly, fearing again that the earth would rise up to assail her with sharp claw and rank fur, Tsume emerges into the fields west of the village.

"Monkhbaatar-san?" she calls into the eastern wind.

[Shinjo Monkhbaatar]

He had been not far behind, by horse riding standards, and came around to Tsume. "Good afternoon, Tsume-san. It's nice to see you again. How's your day been?"

[Ryuuta Tsume]

"I had a very pleasant morning, up until the end of the egg hunt."

She shudders.

"Do you see any more of those vermin from your vantage, Monkhbaatar-san?"

[Usagi Tomoe]

"Ah, Isawa-san mentioned something like that." he nodded briefly. "That's... going to make some things hard." Like the fact that some of the Unicorn ate their meat raw. Well, namely some of the Moto ate some of their meat raw. "Though I will keep it mind, thank you." Dong-Ha raised the tea cup into a grateful half-salute. "And I will pass the word to my kinsmen... just in case." Unicorn could use avoiding misunderstandings. "I guess I should ask a shugenja about such rites..." He actually had someone in mind.

"A shugenja can answer better than I. I can read much about the subject, but there is only so much one can understand without being able to speak with the kami." And spellcraft wasn't her field of study.

"I guess you understand a little bit more now with the game you talked about yesterday being considered improper by most Rokugani."

[Iuchi Dong-Ha]

"A shugenja can answer better than I. I can read much about the subject, but there is only so much one can understand without being able to speak with the kami." And spellcraft wasn't her field of study.

"I guess you understand a little bit more now with the game you talked about yesterday being considered improper by most Rokugani."

"I could see that being... awkward, yes." he chuckled nervously. "Though... I cannot see the Moto dropping their game just because it offends someone..." They were a stubborn lot.

"Now that we have exchanged stories, could Usaga-san tell a little bit about herself?" They were at miai after all. "I am curious, you mentioned hailing from the Fox... yet you bear the mon of the Hare?" lacking social tact, Dong-Ha had no issues asking such a personal question. "And how did you end here?"

[Usagi Tomoe]

"Mhm," she chewed a little on her lip after a sip of barley tea. Tomoe didn't find his questions to be too personal, all things considered.

"Hai, I was born in the Fox. There was no Hare Clan around at that time, as it was founded 8 years ago. After... my mother and my older sister died in the attacks on our land around the time the Hare were founded, my father I think couldn't bear to be anymore in the land where he lost his wife and child," and Fox lands weren't the safest at the time either. "Too many memories."

Even if she had bad memories of it too, she held up well. The loss of her family was something she had come to terms with, as many others had after Iuchiban's attacks.

"So he took me with him and joined the new clan that had been founded after speaking to the Fox Champion, and swore himself to the Hare. My mother had already arranged for me to be trained by her original clan's loremasters before she died, as I was not a shugenja like many of the Fox are, and I was unsuited for the path of a bushi." She smiled a little bitterly. "So now in a clan with mostly bushi, I wanted to be useful for my clan - marriage is a way to do what little is in my power to help. I volunteered to come here."

Tomoe chuckled a little about what she said, realising it probably sounded a little silly to some. "What about you? How did you end up here?"

[Iuchi Dong-Ha]

"Ah, understandable." Dong-Ha muttered solemnly. To a degree, it was. On the other hand, what were the oaths of loyalty good for if one simply walked away from one's duties? Dong-Ha peered at Tomoe, wondering if such a lack of character was heritable. He came to the conclusion that this was not probably the case, seeing how she seemed to be... well rounded. Cute.

Too small to swing a sword..

"Well..." Dong-Ha looked down into his cup. "I think we all serve as we best can. There is no shame in any assignment. Because if such an assignment exists, it's a necessary one, neh." Lifting his gaze again, Dong-Ha tried to seek out Tomoe's eyes so that she could see the sincerity in his words. The actual sincerity, not the Crane and Scorpion breed of sincerity that left you thinking it was an hour of the Bayushi when it was actually hour of Shiba.

"That is... very brave. To risk life as one knows it, not knowing what future might come." The past six years had given him an understanding what it meant to put one's life in line for the greater good. The Unicorn were needed on Rokugan, as much was clear, but the price the clan had paid for their sojourn had been steep. "Thank you for sharing your story, Usagi-san. Unfortunately mine... is much simpler. I was merely sent here by the Iuchi. Well, my liege lord's lord, to be precise. You know how things work." Someone had been ordered to find people for the miai, they have found someone to do that for them, and that someone else had told Dong-Ha to pack his things.

[Usagi Tomoe]

Tomoe's vibrantly colored eyes met Dong-Ha's gaze, full of kindness and understanding of what he was saying. She truly believed in his words, for she didn't think he would have a reason to lie to her, and because he seemed genuinly kind and caring.

Maybe she could find someone she really liked here after all?

"Ah, I understand," she smiled as he told of how he ended up here. "It is probably that way for many here, I imagine... your lord says 'go there, get married' and a good samurai goes. Not everyone is a volunteer like me," Tomoe chuckled. "Besides, as a historian, I also had a personal reason of wanting to learn more about the Unicorn, and in return teach them of the Empire's history... what good is all my studies of historical events if I'm not sharing them, neh?"

[Iuchi Dong-Ha]

Dong-Ha laughed, bemused by the idea that they were part of the grand history. "I never thought that I'd live through an event that ends in scrolls, but then again, I guess it's not everyday that a lost clan returns to the Empire?" It was almost eerie how well he could connect with her, find common ground where there ought to be little. Then again, perhaps it helped that in her own way, Tomoe too was a child of Shinjo. "But yes, I believe that is the case for the most of us. During our journeys.. normal people married... pretty much anyone they wanted, as long s they could convince their parents. Some married men and women of foreign tribes, even."

Laying his cup down, the young mystic turned his gaze towards Poppy. "So, I think you said you'd like to try riding. Feel brave enough to try it on your own? I'll hold the reins at first." He had promised her and he was going to be worth his word. "I'll have to tie the stirrups so that you can reach them."

[Usagi Tomoe]

"I can imagine how different marriage must have been for you then," she said with a nod. Sounded like a lot less politics and arranged marriages for sure. They'd probably think less of the Rokugani's traditions of finding partners outside of marriage, due to the amount of loveless unions.

As he offered her a lesson in riding, her smile brightened a little. "I'm always ready for a new challenge," she said with some bravado. "I trust you to help me in this, after all... and won't make Poppy suddenly run off with me on top."

[Iuchi Dong-Ha]

"Well, some married for political reasons, to unite families... or to strengthen their ties. But this usually fell for the kuge. Us commoners..." he spread his hand. "Were free to do as we wished, for the most part."

"Of course." Dong-Ha rose up, walking to Poppy. It didn't even occur to him to help her up, forgetting that such an gesture would have been polite. He grabbed the reins, interrupting Poppy's makeshift lunch with the dried grass and walked her towards Tomoe. "Just a moment..."

Doing what he had said he'd do, the young Iuchi looped each of the stirrups around themselves in turn, effectively shortening them. Once finished, he turned to regard Tomoe. "Umm.. so, you are supposed to step on this..." he pointed at the stirrup that dangled a good three and half feet of the ground. "Step on that, grab the this." Dong-Ha reached to pat the front of the saddle. "...and pull yourself up, swinging the other leg over..." It perhaps should have occurred to him that this would require her to split her knees wider than was usually possible in kimono or hakama without exposing some flesh. "And that's basically it."

[Usagi Tomoe]

Tomoe got up with ease from her seat. She was still an Usagi even if she wasn't a warrior, and was as athletic as many of them, so to even ask for help to get up from the ground wasn't something she considered.

As Dong-Ha fixed the stirrups, the Hare took a moment to adjust her kimono to allow for better movement. Sure, some would say it was incredibly indecent to show her legs like that, but it was either that or have trouble doing what she had seen him do when getting up on the horse.

"Hm, so foot there, and swing up, right?" she asked to make sure. It was rather high up... or at least to her, but she wasn't one to back down from a challenge!

A little uncertain at first, she put her foot in the stirrup and grabbed onto the front of the saddle he had shown her. There was a few moments where she seemed to be internally debating on the next course of action, before she suddenly pulled herself up with the agility of a hare and swung the other leg over successfully.

"Whoa..."

---

D4 LA Horsemanship for reals this time, right? Second Void spent for skill!: 3d10o10k2 17

[Iuchi Dong-Ha]

Dong-Ha, for his part, had seen enough bare legs to only give her a cursory glance as she settled on the saddle. "Well done." he quipped happily, patting her knee. "I fell on the flat of my rear the first time I tried that. I was eight at then, though." The same gentle smile still lingered on his lips.

"Now, try to lean a bit forwards... not too much, ideally you should stand on the stirrups without actually resting your... ass.. err... weight on the saddle. When you canter, the horse is going up and down... and if you are too stiff, you'll end sore." he tried to explain. "Not that we'll try that." One had to learn to walk before one could run after all. "Just hold tight to the saddle and try to remain upright...."

Tugging the reins ever so gently, Dong-Ha guided Poppy onward and the mare obeyed, taking slow tentative steps. Dong-Ha guided the massive horse slowly around the mattress, allowing Tomoe to get used to the sensation, The moving horse and wobbly stirrups would test her balance. Worried that she might tumble, the young Unicorn mystic kept an close eye on the Hare.

[Shinjo Monkhbaatar]

"I don't see any running around, and I'm sure they won't bother us out here. Unless you're carrying eggs around still. They were likely just hungry," he says with a smirk. "You should be safe, and I'll take care of any that might come at us out here."

He offers a hand to help her up on to Meushi with him. "They won't be able to reach you up here anyway."

[Usagi Tomoe]

Dong-Ha, for his part, had seen enough bare legs to only give her a cursory glance as she settled on the saddle. "Well done." he quipped happily, patting her knee. "I fell on the flat of my rear the first time I tried that. I was eight at then, though." The same gentle smile still lingered on his lips.

"Now, try to lean a bit forwards... not too much, ideally you should stand on the stirrups without actually resting your... ass.. err... weight on the saddle. When you canter, the horse is going up and down... and if you are too stiff, you'll end sore." he tried to explain. "Not that we'll try that." One had to learn to walk before one could run after all. "Just hold tight to the saddle and try to remain upright...."

Tugging the reins ever so gently, Dong-Ha guided Poppy onward and the mare obeyed, taking slow tentative steps. Dong-Ha guided the massive horse slowly around the mattress, allowing Tomoe to get used to the sensation, The moving horse and wobbly stirrups would test her balance. Worried that she might tumble, the young Unicorn mystic kept an close eye on the Hare.

"I might not be a bushi, but all Usagi are taught to be athletic," she said with a clever smirk in return, feeling a little proud at managing this on her first try.

Listening to his instructions, she nodded, chuckling a little as he mispoke slightly. "Upright, hold tight. I think I can manage that."

As the horse began to move, without anyone to hold onto like last time, Tomoe felt a little bit more concerned than she had the first time. Relax. Breathe. Breathe. Don't stress yourself too much. It will be fine. It will be fine. You won't have an attack. Right. Under her breath she repeated a brief mantra to Jizo to help her keep her mind cool.
"You.. were eight years old when you first did this?"