A moment

Because I have a research essay due, I write everything but my essay.

This is unedited, just for Tea.

Learning to Ride

There was a moment, just a fraction of a second, that I thought I wouldn’t make it. A slipping sense of horror, of impending doom, of failure and ridicule that I just wouldn’t be able to handle, not here.

Then I was safely atop the massive blue beast. I swayed for a moment, then fell flat on my stomach, laying across the great horse’s neck, hugging it tightly.

“Not so bad, eh?” Raidon said, smoothing Cobolt’s hindquarters with the brush I had been using on him only minutes before.

“He’s huge,” I said, with emphasis, but the grin was already spreading across my face. This was way too cool to be aloud. A normal horse was around my height: Cobolt was at least a foot and a half taller at the shoulder, powerful, and fucking blue.

“He’s a big boy, alright. And I’m glad you’re taking this on. You never want to get caught in a situation where the only way to move is by horseback,” Raidon said, with a chuckle. I distinctly recall my mom saying something similar about learning to drive a standard, back in Tokyo. Somehow, this felt more likely.

“So what do I do?” I asked, easing myself up from Cobolt’s neck, stroking it like I would a cat. I turned to Raidon, who had moved back into my line of vision. I wish I had a saddle or reigns, but I guess he figured that if you started with the hardest first, everything else just got easier after that. I agreed, but the butterflies in my stomach would have liked me to have something to hold on to.

“Oh, I don’t know, just dig your heels in and don’t fall off,” he said with a shrug. My stomach sank further. How had this seemed a good idea? He was a princeling, and had probably been riding since he could stand, maybe even before. I looked wildly around to the others, who had gathered for the good show. Tori was smiling evilly, chirping a little laugh under her breath. I narrowed my eyes at her and turned my gaze beside her, to Ryu, hoping for some more sympathy. He was quietly stewing something undoubtably delicious in a pot, and avoided eye contact with me pointedly, his face turned down, trying to hide his smile. I chuffed and turned back to Raidon; I could hear Rena giggle-fitting behind me. Only Raidon looked concerned for my welfare atop a beast that could throw me in an instant, and trample my skull into the ground.

“Well, when I ride, I like to keep one hand on my weapon, and the other twisted up in his mane,” he suggested, circling around me. I entangled both my hands, just to be safe. “Then I sorta lean forward,” he acted it out, which looked pretty funny, with his legs spread out over nothing and his back and head cocked at a weird angle. Rena’s laughter intensified.

“Oh, would you like to be my horse, Rena?” He said, pulling her to him and making an obscene movement against her thigh. Ryu’s face descended further to the point that his hair was almost in the stew, and the blush creeped up his neck. I rolled my eyes.

“Oh, just let him go, see what happens. Stop being a mother hen!” Rena squealed, and, to my horror, she slapped Cobolt, and he jolted forward.

I barely held on. The yelping sound was definitely coming from me, and yet I was a little impressed with myself for not falling off instantly. I could hear shouts distantly behind me, and footsteps. I clung desperately, digging my heels into the horse’s sides. To my astonishment, he stopped, and was sent flying forward. I braced myself for impact, which was surprisingly soft, and sooner than I thought, and also accompanied by a distinct ‘oof’ sound that I did not think dirt made. When I opened my eyes, I was looking into the slightly pained, stubbly, but relieved face of my blue-haired companion, and realized, with some embarrassment, that I was being held in his powerful arms like a child, or worse, a new wife. I struggled, red-faced, and the laughter made me cringe and squirm harder. Raidon set me on my feet, also chuckling, and ruffled my hair affectionately.

“Well, pretty good, for a novice,” he said. “You didn’t fall off, and you figured out how to stop all by yourself.” A swell of pride rose in me, and the laughter faded from my ears, either because it dissipated, or I subconsciously ignored it. In that moment, I had felt a part of something, an inside joke between him and I. It was like having a brother, or a dad, or something like that. Just another thing that made this place so great.