set at the stables if that's okay? sorry it's a bit rambly/ +yo numbah!
Odessa had mounted her pied steed that day in serarch of her uncle. Keshi was ungelded, and having brief knowledge of the selective breeding scheme within the stable, she knew that Larkspur would probably have it done anyway. He was a fine stallion no doubt, but still he was only average in his world and Salsola had better breeding stock than him. Keshi was destined to always be a working horse with no time for procreating, not that he would be able to any more after this.
He moved lazily across the ground, his head low. It almost seemed as if he knew his time had come, though in reality it was only because Odessa had lost focus and began daydreaming consiquently dropping her hands to the pied stallion's neck. A soft nicker pulled her out of her own mind. They had reached the stables.
She paused for a moment to collect herself, not wanting to appear half asleep and foolish, and by extension, useless to Salsola. She rooted in her bag for a second, producing Keshi's head collar before leading him to the door way. Not wanting to leave him alone she popped her head around the entrance and spoke, 'Uncle?'
Where his niece had acquired her horse was something that Larkspur did not know, and thus was suspicious of. Sirius had enforced the paranoia that came with secrecy within him. As Arbiter, his duty was to ensure that no one—not even those within its ranks—threatened Salsola. So he had summoned the girl to come when she was able, knowing that his own ambitions were the sort that needed careful planning. While simple, he was hardly stupid. A rogue stallion would upset everything he had in motion.
It was the sharp snort from his daughter’s horse that alerted the man to the approaching woman. Black, too, let out a whinny to warn the approaching horse that these mares belonged to him. With a low grunt of speech to the pair, he rose just as the girl turned her pretty face around and into the building. “Odessa,” he replied, and shrugged a long length of rope onto his shoulder.
He crossed out of the barn and eyed the horse. Too leggy, too long-faced; Larkspur thought of him as an ugly thing, truthfully. “Where did you get this from, again?” He asked, motioning for her to follow.
Her Uncle appear swiftly, something Odessa was grateful of. Black seemed put off by his presence, though he had no need to. If Odessa could read her Uncle's thoughts she would agree. He was too misproportioned, too tall and gangly to be reguarded beautiful. The mottled girl bought him simply for his coat, which she found interesting. Every other horse the trader had had with him boasted boring coats, browns and grey amoung the most common. Perhaps it was foolish to chose a horse merely for it's appearance. Odessa was but a child however and besides the pied creature was docile and submissive, shown by the bowed head he gave to Black. It seemed Keshi knew his place.
'Uncle' the mottled girl said with a smile. As Larkspur beconed to her to follow him she did so. His question was no surprise, after all it was his job to monitor things within the pack. She would answer truthfully, because what reason did she have to do other wise. 'I traded him from a traveller' she said. Odessa had considered purchasing a few for Salsola, but she had no idea what kinds her Uncle wished for, so she chose not to. And besides she had very little to trade, not even enough for tack. 'I found a few odd bits when I travelled out past the borders'. She had been careful when leaving, cleaning herself and masking the scent of Salsola. She had also donned the blue scarf to hind the scarring on her back, the said item was wrapped around her wrist.
If she was not his niece, he might have been cruel with her. Why choose such a beast when there were far better to be found south? Still, he supposed that at least she would have something to ride. His own children were very fond of riding, even if Salvia was most impatient about waiting for her colt to mature. Summer was a long ways away, especially for a girl like his eldest daughter.
The girl admitted it was from a traveler and this was not entirely surprising. Now that it had been established the wolves north were capable of such things, Freetown often saw traders come north. With any luck, he had imagined the girl to be someone without pack connections—especially to Salsola. “Just be careful,” he cautioned, the double-warning present. They neared the wooden contraption that he had constructed for such events; though he had not done much in it yet. “You’ll need to lead him in. We’re gonna tie him down so he can’t kick; this ain’t gonna hurt him, but he won’t like it.”
As her Uncle warned her to be careful, she nodded. Odessa had been all too paranoid at the time and it took most of her mental strength to keep cool when she stated that she was a mere loner, the trader had seemed more than inquisitive about her business which had worried her. There had been a better beast than Keshi, but it was larger, by quite a bit and seemed to have a fiery temper which Odessa doubted she could handle. Of course she could have ask Larkspur to teach him some manners but there would have been no way she could have gotten him back to Salsola alone.
'Okay' she agreed quietly. She moved forward, pulling Keshi's lead rope. The soon to be Gelding approached the construction with caution, he was docile, yes, but far from stupid. He nosed it gently, sniffing the wood before continuing into it, prompted by Odessa's gentle tugs on the rope. She didn't want to put her horse through this pain, but she understood it was important she let her uncle do it. Besides perhaps she could keep the pied nag oblivious to her Uncle, well at least before he did anything painful.
Feel free to PP them moving into the pen. Larkspur means two weeks when he mentions the moon cycles. +3
With a collection of tools, the task itself was one that Larkspur was prepared for. He had practiced on other animals, though all dead, and spoken to Tlanti about the best medicine to keep an animal calm. What he used now was a mixture of oats and poppy, and something else the witch-woman did not specify. The horse ate quickly, and after several long moments, began to show signs of the anesthetic taking place. This was when the burly wolf bound him, restraining his legs. “You keep an eye on his head,” he commented, crouched and finishing a knot along the worn rope.
Satisfied the horse was prepared, he returned to the barn. A bowl of water was waiting, as well as a bag filled with the few tools he would need. Larkspur returned to his niece and the clearly drugged horse with this over his shoulder. Without any explanation, he began his work.
The process was a short one. He washed the scrotal area of the stallion, cleansing the dirt from the skin. A single sharp knife was pulled from the bag, and with a savage precision, he cut a T shaped wound into this area. He used other tools, reclaimed and not truly meant for this process, to continue on his work. Once done, he washed the area again and produced a second, larger jar filled with a milky-white substance. This was smeared over the area and along the inside of the horses’ legs.
He washed his hands in the bowl and approached the girl. “Your horse will come out of this soon,” the Arbiter explained. “I’ll untie him and we’ll put him in the round pen till the drug wears off. He’ll have some fluid run off for two moon cycles, but then he should heal up. Put this,” he extended the jar. “On his rear end and under his tail.”
Odessa waited, forcing herself to watch as her uncle work quickly on the horse. At first she had been worried, more for the now gelding than herself, but comforted by the knowledge she had that her uncle was skilled enough to do this without injuring the creature settled her mind. Odessa watched his work carefully, now out of intrest, letting her eyes dart backwards and forward between the pied male's closed eyes and her uncle's hands. Soon enough it was over and her uncle gave her some instructions. She nodded at her tasks, but she still had a question, 'Okay, so how often do I need to apply it? she asked.
Keshi's eyes darted open after a while, letting out a worried whiney. Odessa placed a small hand on his snout, trying to calm him as well as she could. She waited until he calmed a little more and until her uncle had untied the gelding, before grasping the rope with her hands and letting him steadily move forward. Larkspur directed the girl swiftly and Odessa soon found herself directing Keshi into then pen. He moved slowly, still wobbly from the proceduce. 'How long til it wears off?' she asked, calmly, stroking the pied creatures face, before approaching her uncle.
The process was not painful, as long as the proper steps were taken, and it eased his nerves to know that Black would remain the only stallion capable of breeding. Salvia’s colt was hardly old enough for the process, and he would wait until the summer to do the same. In order to keep his breeding stock strong, he needed to watch carefully—Sirius’ idea had taken on a new aspect within the burly hands of the Arbiter.
“Put it on him in the mornin’,” the wolf explained as he leaned against the fence. With his size, he dwarfed it. “Check at night, n’if it rubbed off, put more on then.” The main goal was to keep the horse from rubbing himself and losing hair or causing an infection. With any luck, there would be no complications. “He should be fine in a bit. I wouldn’t ride him too hard for the next few days; use Trader if y’need to go far.”
'Okay' she said, nodding understandably to what her Uncle said. Odessa knew already without waiting that she wouldn't be riding him anytime until she was one hundred per cent sure he was ready. He was an awkward beast but as Odessa had assured him, understanding he wasn't truly listening, that for all his visual faults he had enough corrections in his persona.
Odessa gave one last pat to her horse, 'Good boy' she said, turning away from the sleepy creature. 'Thanks Uncle' she added quickly, giving him a soft smile. They waited another while, and soon Keshi was awake fully again. Letting him out of the pen, Odessa closed it behind him and let the pied creature stand for a while, passing him a handful of grass. 'I suppose we'll be off then' she said calmly, patting the horse's neck. 'Again, thanks' she added, giving a polite nod before waiting for his reply and approval at her departure. Perhaps she didn't need to wait, but force of habit provoked her into almost sickly submissive ways.
