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Post by Lady Smara on May 23, 2011 9:05:05 GMT -5
“Go somewhere?” she asked inquisitively, as she leaned forward to let on hand run along the runner’s shoulder while still holding onto its mane with the other one. There was always something different about touching a living person or creature and meeting them and painting their picture than there was about touching cold objects.
While she had ventured forth the question of what he was asking, it took a moment longer for the meaning to actually dawn on her. Did he mean somewhere outside of the lower caverns and this small portion of the Weyr Bowl? Sitting up with a look of mixed surprise and uncertainty on her face, she asked the same question but worded it to be much less vague. “Where would we go?”
After spending some time with R’gar, she was learning his character. He had been kind and respectful during their first, ill fated meeting and the thought of that meeting still sent shivers down her back. Afterwards he had been able to rescue her from the fall with the canine and he had been careful to take care of her and treat her kindly. Today he had kept his word to her to come and visit her with the needed salves, even going so far as to bring her a gift.
She wanted to trust that R’gar was only going to continue to be as wonderful of a person as she was painting in her mind with this offer to go somewhere, but her mind faltered. Would she be able to find her way home if something happened? Would she even know which way was home? The idea of that endless expanse was intimidating and she couldn’t help but hesitate.
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Post by Marnark on May 23, 2011 9:19:47 GMT -5
She didn't like that idea, he could tell by both her hesitation and the tone of her voice. Well darn. So much for that. "You don't have to go, I was only offering." R'gar said, just to make sure she didn't feel pressured or anything like that. He was throwing a lot of stuff at her pretty fast. Prontin was doing remarkably well in handling that much unknown as it was. A very brave girl, no doubt.
But, she had asked. He certainly owed her and answer. "A place that Apollath and I found about a week ago, in the jungle. It's very pretty and nice, but beyond that, I thought it would be a place you might like, too, for the sounds it has. It's a very nice spot on the river that snakes by close to here." Kind of ruined the whole surprise doing that, but if she wasn't going to go anyway, there wasn't any point in the surprise.
But he couldn't really blame her. She got lost in the weyrbowl if she didn't have a hand on the wall. Going anywhere else would be worse than that for her. Not having any vision at all sure did restrict her world to a very small area.
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Post by Lady Smara on May 23, 2011 9:33:05 GMT -5
As brave as she may have seemed to the brown rider, at the mention of going outside the bowl and into the jungle her already pale skin paled even further as the blood left her face. Her mouth worked out several words, but no sound escaped her lips as she fought the panic that was welling up in her stomach. Finally she shook her head in a defiant no.
“I…I’m sorry R’gar. But I can’t… I couldn’t…” Terrified that she might make him angry in denying his gift to her, she continued shaking her head, her body slowly beginning to tremble as well as she realized she could not touch the ground with her feet. If he was upset with her… would he leave her here upon this runner?
“I-I’m sure it’s a beautiful place that you and Ap… Apol… that you and your friend have found, but…”
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Post by Marnark on May 23, 2011 9:49:28 GMT -5
R'gar smiled. "It's alright Prontin." he assured her, patting her thigh to remind her that he was still there, and wasn't leaving. "We don't have to go. I understand. Maybe another day." Maybe never. But that was her choice. He had offered, she had refused. Beginning and end.
Cripes, but she was scared. Just at the idea, and she wasn't even going anywhere. It was time to distract her with something else. A different idea. He thought quickly, trying to figure out what he could do for her that would be different, interesting, but not frightening. Close to things that she did know.
"Would you like to ride around the bowl instead?" He offered. "I can teach you how."
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Post by Lady Smara on May 23, 2011 10:03:26 GMT -5
“Inside the bowl?” she asked, her nerves calming down a little bit as she felt his large hand pat her thigh. He didn’t sound mad, or even upset that she had turned him down. She was not sure if he could truly understand, but she forced herself to calm as she took a deep breath. “And you will stay with me and the runner? Will I fall?”
She liked the idea of riding around on the runner as little as she liked the idea of the jungle with so many things she could not know where out there. But if R’gar stayed with her, kept her from falling and promised to keep her within the bowl… well she could at least find the bowl walls and eventually find her way home. Even though she was upon the Runner with no control from what she could tell, at least she would be within the Weyr.
The steady breathing of the runner beneath her legs had a calming affect and Prontin slowly matched her breath with it.
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Post by Marnark on May 23, 2011 10:12:15 GMT -5
R'gar started to nod, but stopped himself. "Yes. Inside the bowl, and no you won't fall. I will stay with you." He promised. She was still stressing out, but it was still understandable. Riding a runner without knowing how to ride was a scary prospect for some normally able people.
"Stay here." He said, before stepping away, to the runner's head. He untied the runner, looping the rope around her neck and fastening it there out of the way. Picking up the reins, he slipped that up and over her head, walking the few steps back to where Prontin was. Resting the knotted reins there, R'gar trusted that the runner would stay put until told otherwise. It was one of the reasons why he had picked her out. "Hang on." He told Prontin, stepping past her and to the Runner's side just behind where Prontin was seated.
Suddenly, he had vaulted up onto the runner's back, swung a leg over the tail, and settled down there. R'gar moved forward until he was farther from the runner's hips than the shoulders, and wrapped one arm around Prontin's waist. "I have you, you won't fall now." He promised, wrapping his own legs around the runner's barrel and providing a bit more stability for Prontin in the process. She wouldn't fall off as long as he was there holding onto her, because he wasn't going to fall off.
Reaching around her with his other arm, he picked up the reins and twitched them to one side. With that, the runner placidly stepped sideways, turning away from the rail to amble slowly along the wall.
"Feel her back moving from side to side?" R'gar asked. "Loosen your belly, allow your hips to rock with her back. Feel where her feet are going." He instructed, never letting go of her.
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Post by Lady Smara on May 24, 2011 5:07:43 GMT -5
Hearing that she should hang on, Prontin leaned forward a little and made sure to have hold of the mane with both hands as she heard the dragon rider move away from her. Unsure of what to expect, she was caught off guard and surprised as the weight of the horse shifted and she felt a slight gust of air behind her. It was when R’gar’s large, firm body pressed up behind her that she realized what he was doing.
Feeling his arm wrap around her, she found herself relaxing and she sat up straighter instead of leaning forward. Loosening her grip on the mane, she brought her right hand back to lay lightly over his arm on her waist. He was warm too, and her fingers took a moment to feel the back of his hand and his forearm before she let them settle lightly over his hand.
As she sat there, getting use to the feeling of him on the runner with her, she felt his body shift. The sound of something tapping against another invisible object came to her ears as the creature beneath her shifting its weight. When the rider asked if she felt the runner moving side to side, she smiled and loosened her stomach just as he instructed. “I can feel it.”
Should R’gar have chosen a saddle, Prontin would have been deprived of many of the feelings she was able to receive bareback as her heightened senses picked up on every movement of muscle beneath her legs and hand. There was so much to take in from the simple walking movement of the runner that she almost forgot the initial sound she had heard. It was several minutes later that she finally lifted her hand off his own and searched for his other arm.
It took reaching out twice to find it, but when she did Prontin allowed her fingers to move up from the elbow. Feeling and identifying his muscular forearm, she stretched her arm further to find his wrist and eventually his fingers which were holding something like she had expected. What it was that he was holding was lost on her, but she wanted to know if it was what had made the sound before the Runner began moving.
Fingering the leather strap for the moment, she carefully leaned forward and let her fingers follow it forward. The material hung close to the runners neck and for a moment she let her hand wander back and forth from the two before she straightened her back again, putting her hand once more upon his as he held onto her by her waist. She was content to believe she had solved that mystery and was back to trying to memorize the feel of the runner beneath her.
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Post by Marnark on May 24, 2011 11:45:24 GMT -5
R'gar smiled as she relaxed, moving more in tune with the walking beast beneath them. Though it was a very strange sensation to have her fingering his arm and hand ... and then his other arm and hand as well. He loosened his grip upon her waist to allow her to lean forward, feeling the reins and the runner's neck. She was an explorative creature, wasn't she?
But it lifted very confused sensations in his own being. R'gar was suddenly aware that maybe this wasn't such a good idea after all. For while his logical mind was fully aware that touch was her only way of seeing her world, and it was no different than him glancing across the bowl (other than it being a whole lot closer), it struck a far different chord with his instinct.
What in the world was he doing? He was riding a runner with a girl. A young girl. Who happened to be awfully close to him, and fingering him. It was completely innocent on her end, but awfully distracting on his. His only saving grace was that she couldn't know what she was eliciting by those oh so light touches to his skin.
But clearly, this couldn't go on. He needed to end this. To get away from her. The full body contact wasn't helping him at all. He needed to stay professional. "Reins." He supplied, trying to distract himself. "They're attached to the runner's mouth. It's how you tell her where to go." R'gar supplied. "Watch. Twitch them to the right, and the runner turns right." He moved the leather lines to the right, laying the left hand line against the runner's neck, and the runner's steps moved to accommodate, turning them to the right. "Some runners direct rein. Meaning you pull on the right to go right. This one neck-reins however. Meaning you only touch the lines to her neck, on the opposing side. Rather than hauling on her mouth." R'gar explained. "Here. Give it a try. She won't walk into anything, I promise. She's got a good head on her."
He took her hand, and placed the reins in it, allowing her to feel the runner through them, as well.
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Post by Lady Smara on May 24, 2011 12:04:08 GMT -5
Prontin’s sensitive ears picked up on an underlying emotion caught in the simple, single word R’gar offered her in way of explaining what she was exploring. By the time his next words came, however, his voice was much more controlled and she lost grasp on whatever it was that she had heard. It was clear to her that he was suddenly trying to hide something, but what it could have been was lost upon her sightless eyes and innocent mind.
Deciding that he wanted her to focus on what he was saying rather than what he was not, Prontin listened to the words rather than the emotions underlying them. Hearing him tell her to ‘watch’, she frowned slightly realizing he was going to show her something and that she was going to miss it. Lifting her hand up again, she placed it on his that held the reins so that she could at least feel what he was doing and hoped that she might understand what the effects of it were.
Feeling his large hand pull the reins slightly one way until she heard that very soft tap again, it took her a moment to realize that the creature had shifted in that direction. The creature had turned? It took a turn in the other direction for her to confirm her suspicion.
The brownrider lost her in his explanation of direct rein and neck-rein, but she continued to be memorized at the way his hand moved the cord, thus directing the runner. Finding the reins in her own hand, she held them out from her as far as possible so that they would be hanging above where she had been petting the creature’s neck. Biting her lower lip, she moved her hand slightly to the right and nearly jumped in surprise when it actually worked and the runner shifted toward the right.
Centering the reins above the Runner’s neck again, still holding them straight out, she attempted to the left this time and a smile spread across her thin lips as the runner responded. It was only a moment, however, until it began to fade. Finding the hand that had originally held the reins, Prontin carefully gave them back to R’gar. “It might be better if I just ride and you tell the runner where to go… I’m no longer sure where we even are in the bowl… His steps are different sizes than my own.”
Letting her head hang slightly, she put her hand back over the one on her stomach and leaned backwards slightly into him, relaxing. This was a lot to take in and as exciting as it all was, she was already exhausted by the new stimulation.
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Post by Marnark on May 24, 2011 12:18:09 GMT -5
R'gar watched as she had the runner weaving back and forth in a wavy line as she walked, bearing them over the rocky ground. She could feel the line on the runner's neck. She could feel the shift in the normally steady step indicating that they had indeed turned. R'gar was glad that she was experiencing all this, giving her something new to do and think about than her small cell of a room, and her bum ankle.
But then she was giving him the lines again, and ... and leaning against him. Which on one hand was a very nice feeling, one he rather liked. But at the same time ... he didn't like that he liked it. She was his patient! R'gar cleared his throat a little. "You need to sit up." he reminded gently. "Remember to hang on with your knees."
That's it. Keep her in proper riding form.
"Don't worry. As I am sure you're aware, the bowl is positively massive. There's nothing here to run into." He assured her, turning the runner back toward the entrance they had come from. A little was a lot, for Prontin. A little sun, a little riding ... chances were good her thighs would already be quite exhausted from just that tiny bit. It wouldn't do to get her sunburned either.
Once the runner reached that rail, R'gar swiftly slid off. He was grateful for it, needing to get away from her. Needing to be able to think again. Clearly, logically. He was a Healer! Stepping to the runner's head, he tied her off to the rail before stepping back to her withers again. "Are you ready to come down?" he asked.
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Post by Lady Smara on May 24, 2011 12:27:18 GMT -5
Part of Prontin was disappointed when R’gar disappeared into the blackness that was her world, but like all good things, even this ride had to eventually come to an end. She was a little glad, the adventure had been more stimulation than she normally got and the sun on her skin left her thirsty and warm. It was a good feeling, however, to the woman who so rarely got to be outside.
Hearing the question of her being ready, Prontin answered with a soft yes as she let one hand hover in the air toward his voice. As he lifted her from the Runner, she let one hand hold his shoulder so she was sure where he was while she let one hand remain on the runner. It was almost unbalancing to have her feet on the unmoving ground once more and it took her a moment to find that balance.
Finding it, she ran her hand over the runner again with a soft pat. “Thank you for the ride. You were a great Runner.” She said out loud. She was not sure if the runner would understand her, most of the canines and felines never seemed to, but she felt the beast had earned the thank you. Turning back to where she had last heard R’gar, she looked over his left shoulder and gave the air there a tired smile.
“I’m sorry I did not go to the jungle with you, Rider R’gar. But the ride in the bowl was… amazing. I will remember it for a long time.”
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Post by Marnark on May 24, 2011 12:47:20 GMT -5
She seemed happy. That was a good thing. He had kept his promise, and she was happy. With new experience, new ideas. A bit of a broader world. She needed someone to teach her to ride, so she would have at least that much freedom. But ... it also needed to be someone other than him. He was getting too involved in her case, he could tell. He should have seen it before.
R'gar took her by her waist and lifted her down to the ground again, letting go when he was sure she wasn't going to collapse to the ground. Sturdy on her ankle, and her muscles as well. He could remember plenty of times he'd come in from a hard ride, and gone to get off only to fall flat on his ass. Because of how tired his legs had gotten.
Once she was secure in her footing, he let her go. "Actually, given some practical thought, going to the jungle would have been a bad idea anyway." R'gar answered. "Don't worry about it. Maybe someday you can get someone to take you to the river, when you're up for it." He took her hand to guide her, and brought her back into the shade of the tunnels where she wouldn't roast, slowly making the way back to her quarters. Where she would be safe and know where she was.
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