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

[Iuchi Dong-Ha]

"Good, good." Dong-Ha encouraged the Hare girl, noting that she had pretty good balance for someone who had never been on a horse. "Well yes, we start young." Unicorn had been nomads and while children usually shared horses with their parents, everyone was expected to learn to ride eventually. "We spend a fair bit... spent a fair bit on a horseback, so they wanted us to know what to do if we had to take reins." In case the rider had to cast spells to defend the group, for example. "I was thrilled to get to ride on my own." he grinned boyishly.

"Steady..." he still kept the reins, guiding Poppy around the small hilltop. "Now, catch." with a brief warning the reins were tossed Tomoe, the young Iuchi figuring she could catch them one way or another. He still kept close to Poppy, ready to seize the reins if needed. "You can try steering her carefully. Pull with your right hand and she'll turn right, pull with your left and she'll turn left."

[Usagi Tomoe]

"I imagine it must've been quite thrilling to do this alone at a young age," her own grin almost reflected his as she tried to imagine how she would've felt about this at a younger age.

As he tossed her the reins, she was very unprepared for it and looked rather clumsy as she tried to adjust her hands to holding them and process the sudden change. "... What if I need her to stop?" It seemed like a logical question to ask, incase Poppy decided to run. Unlikely, but you could never know!

[Iuchi Dong-Ha]

"It was... well, except for the part where I broke my arm." he patted his own left arm. "Horses are pretty tall when you are young boy." Well, the stone he had stumbled on had been unfortunate, but that was beside the point. "But it was great... I would ride for hours... sometimes just to feel alive, to see what was behind the next hill." Dong-Ha turned to point a at small hillock maybe a mile or two south of where they were.

"If you need her to stop, pull them both at the same time!" he said hastily. "You shouldn't need to, though. Unless you kick your heels against her flanks, that would send her into canter." the young mystic was not sure if he hoped... or was afraid that she'd try that. She seemed all to sensible to try such a stunt, though.

"So what did Usagi-san do as a child? Play in the woods?" Fox lived in a huge forest after all. "Climb trees?"

[Usagi Tomoe]

Right. No kicking the flank. Which made her wary of how much her feet touched Poppy's flanks.

"Play in the woods was a popular past time in the Kitsune Mori, yes," she said, smiling a little as she tried to think of happier days than the focus that horse-riding was requiring of her. "We'd play hide-and-seek, and often a parent would take larger groups of the children into the more wild parts of the forest so we could see the animals, and learn what dangers to avoid and where we'd find water and food. I remember once when my father was guiding us, we found an abandoned fox cub, that we brought back home to care for."

"I suppose you could say that cub and I were littermates until he was ready to return to the forest on his own..." I wonder if Mikorin survived the attack. Is he still alive maybe?

[Iuchi Dong-Ha]

Kogitsune-chan... Dong-Ha dubbed Tomoe in his mind. "That's... cute." he simpered, trying to imagine the younger version of the Hare playing with a fox cub. "And very kind of your father." Of course he could not know for sure, but he thought that a lone fox cub did not have high chances of surviving. No animal in the wild ever did. "Does Usagi-san have a pluffy tail too?" the young mystic asked as he turned to look up to Tomoe, trying to tease her a bit.

[Usagi Tomoe]

"All Kitsune samurai are taught to respect nature, and care for the forest... the cub had probably lost its parents somehow." And many Kitsune would have considered it a test from the fox-spirits to see if they were still holding good to the virtue of compassion.

Tomoe started to move her hand up as she giggled, then remembered she was holding the reins, so she'd have to survive without that particular habit. "If I do have one, I must keep it hidden, to avoid revealing my true nature."

[Iuchi Dong-Ha]

"Still, very noble." Raising a fox provided no immediate benefit, other than providing your children with a pet. Dong-Ha pondered if the animal had actually been a lesson, meant to teach what it meant to care for someone. A lesson Unicorn children learnt early with all the goats and horses the kids had to look after as adults had more important things to do. "We looked after horses and goats, so that adults could do other things." he explained. "As much as samurai serve his or her lord, samurai also has to look after those beneath him. I believe this was the lesson."

"Aye, better keep it hidden, though..." he paused for a moment, trying to recall one particular myth his mother had shared with him. "..don't the legends say that foxwives cannot leave or betray their spouses? Maybe it wouldn't be such a bad thing, even if you had one." Dong-Ha's tone was somewhere between teasing and curious.

[Ryuuta Tsume]

"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."

Tsume gratefully accepts the assistance onto the horse. Safe in a higher vantage her fear transmutes.

"I am tempted to begin training in removing the pests myself. If they did not smell so badly I would begin a trade in tiny rugs."

[Shinjo Monkhbaatar]

"I'm sure once the village is more established and the population grows they'll be taken care of. Just not enough resources for pest extermination right now," he says, taking her hands and putting them on his waist while he talks. "But why tiny rugs? I think you'd be able to make small pouches for them."

He starts Meushi walking at a slow pace so that Tsume can get used to the feeling.

[Usagi Tomoe]

"Still, very noble." Raising a fox provided no immediate benefit, other than providing your children with a pet. Dong-Ha pondered if the animal had actually been a lesson, meant to teach what it meant to care for someone. A lesson Unicorn children learnt early with all the goats and horses the kids had to look after as adults had more important things to do. "We looked after horses and goats, so that adults could do other things." he explained. "As much as samurai serve his or her lord, samurai also has to look after those beneath him. I believe this was the lesson."

"Aye, better keep it hidden, though..." he paused for a moment, trying to recall one particular myth his mother had shared with him. "..don't the legends say that foxwives cannot leave or betray their spouses? Maybe it wouldn't be such a bad thing, even if you had one." Dong-Ha's tone was somewhere between teasing and curious.

"A good lesson. It's important to learn that there are more in the world than just people - animals are part of our world too, and the Little Teacher advised us to look for wisdom in the natural world." Not that she had ever cared for livestock, but all the children from her childhood had all learned to be respectful to animals, and some had learned to help injured animals.

"Hmmm, some say that," she flashed him a grin. "Some also say that while a foxwife will be loyal and faithful, she will enact horrible revenge on a spouse that betrays her."

[Iuchi Dong-Ha]

"Some of the stories on how some of the clans treat their heimin... bothers me." Dong-Ha admitted. "I guess it's because we never had any land... so most of the heimin travelling with feel more like comrades rather than someone working for you. I know many were adopted by the samurai during the Dark Ride." Many of the heimin had proven their bravery during those dark years. "They serve a different role in the clan, but I wouldn't think them as lesser men." Dong-Ha's views were shared by many who owed their lives to the efforts of the commoners.

"Even if that was true, I'd still take a foxwife. Samurai is only as good as his.. or her word. If I promise to be true to my wife, I intent to keep that oath." he sounded rather serious in his conviction as his dark eyes rested on Tomoe's features. "Love... love is a tricky thing..." Now Dong-Ha was flustering again. "I think it is bit like a foal. It needs tender care... or it will be never do any good." Feeling bit ashamed, the young man dropped his gaze down.

[Ryuuta Tsume]

"I'm sure once the village is more established and the population grows they'll be taken care of. Just not enough resources for pest extermination right now," he says, taking her hands and putting them on his waist while he talks. "But why tiny rugs? I think you'd be able to make small pouches for them."

He starts Meushi walking at a slow pace so that Tsume can get used to the feeling.

"I was trying to put them as far from my nose as possible. Although perhaps skilled eta would be able to render them inert."

[Shinjo Monkhbaatar]

Meushi's pace seems to pick up a bit, getting a bit of a bounce. It feels like a light breeze. She could probably sprint faster than they were moving right now, but certainly not keep pace for an extended period.

"Fair enough," he says with a laugh.

[Ryuuta Tsume]

Tsume adapts quickly to the motion of the beast beneath her, the blessedly cool wind filling her with a feeling of freedom and flight.

"It certainly looks different from horseback. So...inviting and easily transited. Hardly the endless impediment it seems from the ground."

[Shinjo Monkhbaatar]

"That it does. Now hold on tighter." Once Tsume's grip gets stronger he leans forward a bit and urges Meushi to pick up a bit more speed, the wind now whipping past them. With his lowered position the Piranha had a much clearer view.