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

[Iuchi Dong-Ha]

"Thank you." Though he could not help but wonder if she thought he was a barbarian. "We still do keep records... and the old manuscripts regarding the meishodo are all written in Rokuganese." he ran his finger over his sash, touching each of the dangling amulets in turn. "If only to obfuscate the information." Some of the sensei had gone to great lengths to make their words impossible to understand without proper guidance. "Lucky guess... 'tomo' could have been friend too, right?"

"Well.. some of us might, others... less so." Image of Khulun flashed through his mind. The Moto would have probably used books as tinder. "Then...o..kotobani ama-ete." Dong-Ha stammered as he tried to speak in a far more formal tone than was strictly necessary, mostly to show off what he could do.

"Ah, hai... doing down is much the same. You'll want to put your weight on one of your feet, lean forward and kick your other feet over the saddle." He thought she'd figured the 'and then jump down' part on her own.

[Usagi Tomoe]

"Ah, I didn't know that... I've heard so much about how the Unicorn, and the Marta vassals, have maintained much of your histories in the oral traditions, so I wasn't sure how much you had still kept as written records. I must have misunderstood a little, but I'm glad you cleared that up," she nodded happily.

Khulun using books as a tinder was something that had crossed her mind too, especially given her reaction when she had visited Tomoe's tent. Though his words did make her smile. "Please, no need to be so formal... my high Rokugani is rather unpolished, I admit..."

She did the mental gymnastics of reversing the process of mounting, but... then she hadn't had the reins in her hand and she pondered for a moment what to do with them. Rather than ask, she was determined to figure it out herself. Well, I should be able to hold onto them when I hold onto the saddle, so... that makes the most sense?

It wasn't the most graceful or practised dismounting, but the Hare at least showed promise to get the hang of this with just some more experience and training. Perhaps it was just in her Ki-rin ancestry to learn this sort of thing?

"Phew... my legs..." she chuckled, feeling bow-legged already.

---

D4 LA Horsemanship fluff for dismounting. Yes, I know I don't *have* to roll. xD: 2d10 10

[Iuchi Dong-Ha]

"The Marta keep the histories of the clan, but Iuchi have their own, smaller records. Magic... is not to be trifled with. Each sensei has a scroll... at least one, usually several that contain the essential teaching of their sensei. Each student is expected to write down parts their sensei passes down to them." Sometimes these sentences made absolutely no sense unless you know exactly what they meant. "Ours is called 'Secret Songs." No actual songs were involved, though casual reader would have likely presumed that the scroll presented poor poetry. "So it is not as if Tomoe-san had it wrong."

"Good. We'll make an Unicorn out of you, sooner than you'll realize!" the young mystic quipped before biting his lip, hoping she wouldn't read too deeply in what he had said. "Yeah, it can get tiring after a while. They train us by having us sit in certain awkward positions meant to strengthen the leg muscles. Sometimes we were made to attend to classes that way."

"Now, should we start heading back? It might rain soon..." he nodded at the approaching clouds.

[Usagi Tomoe]

His quip made her laugh a little, clearly she wasn't taking any offense to any deeper meaning of it, but rather made her feel a bit more at ease.

"Hai, let's pack up our things and head back, before the rain comes."

[Ryuuta Tsume]

"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.

The wind, already clean and crisp with the promise of water, flows exhilarating over her face.

"Oh."

Her words are lost to the breeze.

"Now I understand."

[Iuchi Dong-Ha]

His quip made her laugh a little, clearly she wasn't taking any offense to any deeper meaning of it, but rather made her feel a bit more at ease.

"Hai, let's pack up our things and head back, before the rain comes."

The young Unicorn moved to pick up what remained of the leaves that had covered the sweets, tossing them off the mattress before rolling down. Nonchalantly he tossed the roll before the saddle, securing it down with few simple knots. He looked around, making sure they were not leaving anything behind. Satisfied that there were no leftovers, Dong-Ha opened the knows that held the stirrups down before stepping on one of them and flinging his body into the saddle with ease born out of years spent on horseback.

"Would you like to sit in front of me this time?" Dong-ha inquired as he brought the horse towards Tomoe, wondering if she'd prefer to enjoy sights besides Dong-Ha's back.

[Usagi Tomoe]

Tomoe picked up the cups and bottle as Dong-Ha got the items he had packed, and tucked them back into her satchel.

At his question, she considered it for a moment with a slight blush. "... Yes, please?" It would be a different experience to sit in the front, if they went as fast as last time.

[Iuchi Dong-Ha]

"Take my hand." Dong-Ha leaned towards the Hare, extending his arm to her. When she clasped his hand, he pulled her upwards, reaching to hold her waist with his free hand, allowing the small samurai-ko to settle between his legs. "Sorry..." the young man muttered, unsure why he felt sorry when he had her back pressed against his chest. "Shall we?" he whispered by her hear, his voice barely audible.

[Usagi Tomoe]

It felt... even more intimate when he was behind her like this, and even if she blushed over the situation, she had decided that he at least seemed like a good man she could trust to not take advantage of the position. "It's alright," she murmured, for her own reassurance as much as it was for him.

She gave a nod and held on, ready this time for Poppy to move.

[Iuchi Dong-Ha]

Dong-Ha reached for the reins, gingerly wrapping his arms around the slender girl seated in front of him. While it wasn't the first time he had shared a horse with a girl, even one that was not his relative, the young mystic could no help noticing that she had a scent different from anyone he knew. Tomoe didn't have the smoky, herbal scent that lingered around most of the Iuchi girls he knew. She also felt different, smaller and somehow more fragile.

"Giddy up!" Dong-Ha dug his heels into Poppy's flanks, pushing her into a steady canter as he leaned towards Tomoe, making sure that she remained snugly in his arms as the horse carried them back towards the camp.

/scene?

[Usagi Tomoe]

For Tomoe, it was the first time she was this close to someone in public, but she had come to accept that the Unicorn were much more free with this kind of thing - and it's not like it was indecent.

And Dong-Ha it seemed, compared to the other Unicorn men she had met, that he wanted to find someone he could be happy with, and that he even seemed to like her... maybe like her enough that they could have a future, she dared to think. He seemed so nice and genuine. Unlike the others, he expressed a sincere interest in wanting to learn more about her and spend time with her.

It even seemed a bit romantic, she thought as they returned back to the village.

/scene! (for us two at least, you others are free to carry on here )