history is written by the victors

Myrika Tears · 02-11-2012, 02:03 AM

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(691)
Ramble, sorry. Only the last 3 paragraphs matter. >_>

Myrika is by me!

As it happened, the rust-hued woman was not within the confines of the schoolhouse as Vesper called. She was, however, engrossed in her tasks within the small, lean-to shack that served as her horse's stables. They had restored an old wooden outbuilding of the school, one that had been in a terrible state of disrepair when Myrika had first moved to the village. Now, not only was there a restored stable for Eira, Farai, and her new addition Cahal, but also a corral for both sheep and horses.

Myrika was engrossed in the task of brushing Cahal's sleek fur. It was not in any terrible need of grooming -- the horse had been in good condition when she'd traded for him, if a little tired from his journey northward from the Chesapeake Bay area, wherever that was. His previous owner had known horses, it seemed, and outside of simple knowledge, strove to take care of them. The same could be said of the pretty strawberry roan she'd picked up for Inferni's uses. On the contrary, Myrika's grooming rituals were simply to accustom the horse to her presence and touch.

She yearned to ride him, but the rusty-hued woman knew better than to saddle a stallion as big as Cahal and give him his lead. She would have to make him trust her first. The coyote was glad she was able to obtain this second horse before Eira's foal came. The Praetorian thought it would be good to rest the blue roan when it came closer to her foaling date, and afterward, well -- the new mother would need to attend to her foal, whether it was filly or colt. Eira would be mostly out of commission for a few months around the birthing, and Myrika was quite glad to have a horse such as Cahal.

The bulky stallion, nervous as he'd been, seemed to understand the concept of ownership, and finally seemed to comprehend (after long weeks) the idea he'd been traded to this new coyote owner. The horse nickered softly and bumped Myrika's shoulder with her muzzle. Eira gave an answering whinny from outside, and Myrika's big coyote ears detected the yelping sound of a visitor. She carried the brush out of the stall, setting it on the long, narrow shelf running the length of the inner wall, and dusted her hands off. She'd still smell of horse, but there was nothing to be done about that.

The woman opened Cahal's stall and led the horse out by his lead rope, unhooking it and giving him over to pasture before she turned toward the village and her visitor. With pleasurable surprise, the coyote saw it was Vesper. She called to the woman with a yelp of her own, waving her arm at the new Optio with perhaps too much easy friendliness. Myrika was forgetful when it came to rank and not so very deft with changes of rank -- it might take her some time to accustom herself to the idea that Vesper now out-ranked her. Thankfully, Myri's errors of this nature were perfectly innocuous -- the rusty woman had never sought to usurp anyone of their rightful position, and in her mind, Vesper had earned her title.

Cahal trotted over to Eira, and in a moment, the two horses were playing with one another, looping around the corral with long and easy strides. Eira, the smaller of the pair, darted deftly around the corners, where Cahal had to slow down and take them more uneasily. Myrika, though she moved toward the gate and Vesper, turned her head to watch this play, finding it interesting and indicative of the horses' different strengths. She opened and closed the gate, trotting quickly toward Vesper. She had no intention of making her companion wait, and greeted the other woman with a broad smile.

Hey, Vesper! What have you got there? she inquired, peering curiously at the rabbit and the antler. It's nice you've come to visit, she added, tail wagging to accentuate her happiness at receiving visitors.

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