Lady Diamonds horse lessons. (IC thread)

[Vanor]

Vanor looks at Diamond serriously

Yes, it is there for two reasons. One is to alow you a chance to avoid dishonor, and two to make sure that both people realize how serrious this is. I know that typicaly something of this nature is a joyous occasion, and this ceremony can be filled with joy, but it is also a matter of a serrious nature.

It however is also your right to take up this sword and strike me down, if after my story has finished, if you now find my offer dishonorable. It has always been tradition in my family to place honor and duity above a persons life. And altho it may be uncommon in other places, we believe it is required to give this option to one who will join our family. I think that one of the reasons for the sword, is this question offten comes up. And it shows how imporant honor is to my family, that we would be willing to die rather then dishonor someone else.

If you accept me as a future life mate, that means you become part of my family in a very real way. You will not be the wife of my mother and fathers son, but will be their dauther in every way. That means if something happens to me, you will need to see that the tradion of our family is caried though.

The sword is there as a reminder to the both of us of how serrious this is, and to make sure this isn't done lightly or with little or no thought about the future.

In truth I know of no ceremony that has ended in blood...

Vanor smiles

I think Sento did it at first as a joke of sorts with his then lover, but it has become part of tradition. I think it also sybolizes the idea that you may one day need to pick up my sword and fight for the honor of the dojo and family if you accept.

Unless you have anything else you wish to know... I will preform the last bit of this ceremony and then await your choice.

Vanor pauses for a moment to see if his love has any other questions or comments.

 

[Lady Diamond]

"Please proceed", Lady Diamond whispers quietly.

 

[Vanor]

Vanor nods then picks up the tea pot. He pours about half a coup worth into the cup on the table, despite the lenth of his story it still steams with warmth.

He sets down the pot then picks up the cup in both hands, he bows his head towards Diamond then takes a drink of the sweet tea.

He smiles softly and sets the cup in front of her, being careful to make sure the side he drank from is facing away from her.

He then sits back and awaits her action.

 

[Lady Diamond]

Lady Diamond smiles softly and gazes lovingly into Vanor's dark, beautiful eyes. Here with this man lies her destiny.

She drops her gaze to the cup and cradles it in both hands, leaving it on the table and turning it clockwise four times, in honor of the four winds, then turning it one half time, in honor of the man who wishes her to be his life mate.

She raises the cup to her lips and sips from the side that Vanor drank from, the tea is warm and sweet.

 

[Vanor]

Vanor’s smile is broad and full of joy, at the way Diamond answered his unspoken question. The fact that she turned the cup four times, for each of the winds, spoke louder then any words. She truly understood his sense of honor and duty. He stands and walks around the table towards her. Helping her stand he wraps his arms around her and kisses her slowly and tenderly, on the lips. He then gazes deeply into her eyes.

I love you he says breathlessly. He has waited for some time to tell her how he felt, but needed to perform the tea ceremony before such words could be spoken.

I love you too she responds, gazing back into his eyes, lost in the love and desire she sees there.

Tonight I would ask that you stay here with me, my love. Let us share all that we are, and start to live our lives as one.

I would love to, I have saved myself for the person I would love till the end of time. I have finally found that person and I will give you all that I am. Diamond answers

I have done much the same my love. Let us enjoy this time we have together soon, we will need to leave the dojo for a time, so you can meet my father and mother. I fear that the time away will mean closing the dojo down for now. But we can open it again once we return. We will have some time before we leave though. For one I will need to see that the students here are either ready to go out on their own, or have a new dojo to call home. As well as the fact you’ll need to teach me to ride a horse.

But all these things can wait, let us celebrate our love this night…

Vanor smiles once again and caresses her cheek, before blowing out the candles on the table and starting his new journey with Diamond by his side.

ooc: Sorry it’s taken me so long to get this posted. What with the boards being a pain yesterday and all I couldn’t get it posted. Even though we’ve reset, we can use this thread to continue our IC stuff until we have a new home, if that’s ok with you.

 

[Lady Diamond]

Mmmmm..heavenly.Diamond opened her eyes slowly and savored the feeling of being close to her betrothed, watching the rising sun paint the walls of the bedroom through the windows. Soft pink tones, then golden hues, she snuggled more tightly into Vanor's side. She laid her head on his shoulder and gazed into his face, smiling as she saw his eyes had opened and he was looking at her.

"Good morning my betrothed", she whispered softly.

"Good morning my betrothed", he echoed her, gathering her into his arms and placing a gentle kiss on her lips.

She returned his soft kiss and they lay silently for awhile, watching the rising sun through the windows, enjoying the feeling of deep fulfillment between them.

She chuckled softly and whispered, not wanting to break the spell the sunrise had cast over them. "Are you hungry? I am. For food, I mean", she grinned.

Vanor smiled, catching the joke about "hunger", and reached over her to pull a bellrope hanging beside the bed. Outside the room a tinkling bell could be heard, and there was almost an immediate knock on the door, soft and polite.

Vanor smiled and got out of bed, pulling one of the blankets with him and wrapping it around himself toga-like, opening the door and taking the tray from the waiting servant outside.

Turning and smiling at Diamond he said "I thought we might not be in the mood to go outdoors right away, so I arranged this for the morn."

Diamond laughed and sat up in the bed, long red hair cascading down her shoulders, her thick tresses hiding her charms almost cloak-like.

Vanor stopped half-way to the bed, drinking in the vision of loveliness before him. "Gods" he breathed.

"Come here beloved, before you drop the tray", Diamond laughed
softly. "I'm starving! I have no strength left!", she giggled.

Vanor took mock pity upon her and sat the tray between them on the bed. They spent several langorous moments feeding each other tidbits from the breakfast tray.. fruit, berries, buttered breads, breakfast meats, washed down with sweet water and just the tiniest bit of fine sake'.

"What should we do today my love?", Vanor asked as they finished breakfast. "Well", Diamond replied, "we should begin your riding lessons as quickly as possible, but I'm in such a lazy mood right now." She smiled at him and nudged the empty tray onto the table beside the bed.

It was some time later before they emerged from Vanor's quarters to head for the bathhouse.

OOC: see what happens? nobody takes me up on a challenge so I had time to write a post

 

[Vanor]

After a refreshing bath, Diamond and Vanor head off to the dojo's stables. He looks at the mare next to the war horse.

I should tell you beloved, I have never ridden a horse before, so you will need to start at the very begining of this. About all I know is that you sit on top of it, and which end is the front

[/i]He chuckles at the look on her face[/i]

"Don't worry beloved, I will teach you all you need to know."

 

[Lady Diamond]

Diamond smiled at Vanor, she had started out the exact same way, but at 4 years old, rather than adulthood. "Very well beloved, I will teach you. There is something I must mention before we begin." She hesitated a bit, but knew she would have to become the steel that was the sword in the beautiful tea ceremony. She fervently hoped it would only be a short while till he would look at her in the same light as before.

"Your life will depend on what I teach you." She fixed him with a very serious, almost stern expression. "They are very simple lessons. But if you forget the simplest ones, even for a second in a bad situation, your life will be in jeopardy. In time they will become instinctive to you and you will not have to think of them, but until that time you remember that your life depends on them. Do you understand?"

Poor Vanor, he was about to experience "Diamond the Teacher". She took that job very seriously, at times overly so.

Vanor nodded. "I am ready. I wish to learn."

Diamond nodded approvingly then set his mind at ease a bit. "You already have the tools you need to communicate with a horse. You have a kung fu master's balance and coordination, and your muscles and reflexes are trained for combat. The only thing I need to teach you is how to interact and communicate with them."

She smiled at him. "Let's begin."

"I'm sure you know a bit more about horses than you think you do. You've possibly seen horses in the wild, and how they react," she began.

"Yes, once or twice", he replied. "I had no time to take a good look, as soon as they saw me they ran."

She nodded. "A natural instinctive reaction. The typical horse will run when frightened, rather than stand and fight. It's why the gods gave them four legs. Unfortunately the gods sort of 'forgot' to give them more than the simplest brain. No matter what you teach them, most horses will revert back to that natural instinct when frightened."

Vanor nodded. "Animal instinct is strong," he remarked.

"Yes. Even so-called 'domesticated' animals. We're fortunate to have two exceptional horses, so our job will be a bit easier. But even horses such as ours will revert back if we are not extremely careful. We should treat them the same way all the time. Gentle yet firm. Never take them for granted. Always see to their needs before yours. Never put a horse away sweat-soaked, always walk them cool, blanketed if you can. Horses are mighty creatures, but their legs depend on their lungs. A cold can be devastating to them."

"No leg, no horse", she ended simply. "A horse with a broken leg must be put down. The leg may heal with time, but it will never support the horse's full weight again, ever".

She backed Striker out of the stall first, using simple voice commands, then took hold of Spirit's halter and backed her out as well, moving both horses out to the softer earth of the stable ring.

"We'll start here, with a simple demonstration of the most important and life-saving lesson of all. Any questions before we start?"

On hiatus from combat.

 

[Vanor]

Vanor smiles inwardly at the tone Diamond takes, it is good to know that she can be forcefull with a student, no matter what she may feel about the student. It was also good to know that she would take things so serriously, 'teaching is an art' his father offten told him. 'and art can bring much joy, but needs to be approached with a serrious heart to gain the most from it'. He realized then that he wasn't paying enough attention to his lesson and turned his attention back to Diamond

What you say makes sense to me my love. I have seen you ride Striker here, and have found myself impressed with the efortless way the two of you work together. You direct the horse, but do not control it. I hope that I too can reach that level of mastery.

I know that with you as my teacher, then if I don't it would be due to my failure and not yours. He smiles at her

A demonstration sounds good as a place to start, I will follow your lead and take your lession to heart, as it may very well save my life some day. But I have no questions as of now. He chuckles ruefully I'm afraid I don't know enough to even know what to ask.

 

[Lady Diamond]

"That's quite alright beloved, that makes you a 'clean slate' as far as horseback riding is concerned, and so you have no bad habits to unlearn."

She turned and went to the tack rack and selected a saddle, moving to Striker's side with it. "Watch what I do with the saddle, although saddling isn't really part of this demonstration" she said. Striker snorted indignantly as she placed the saddlepad and saddle on his back, sliding the pad down from the horse's withers to his back, moving in the direction of hair growth so it wouldn't get bunched up under the pad and cause irritation.

Striker was accustomed to her riding bareback but she calmed him down with soft words and reasurrances. She needed him calm for this. Vanor followed her to Striker's side but not too close, out of respect for the warhorse's reaction.

Diamond quickly cinched the girth strap and motioned for Vanor to move farther back. She vaulted into the saddle and turned Striker sideways. Her sandaled feet hung free from the stirrups for a moment, then she slipped her left foot completely through the left stirrup until it caught around her slender ankle.

"Tell me what you see", she asked.

"I... see you sitting on your horse's back", Vanor replied, a bit puzzled.

"No. You see imminent death. Observe, but do not move."

She nudged Striker with her right heel, the signal to rear. Striker bellowed a war scream and reared up. Rather than gripping with her legs, Diamond folded her arms and slid off to the left side, her left foot still caught in the stirrup, rolling midair and falling on her back. "Stand!", she barked firmly.

Striker placed his front legs on the ground and stood. Diamond turned her head to look at Vanor and noticed his expression of horror. "Now what do you see?"

"I see my betrothed about to get trampled by her own horse", Vanor replied a bit shakily.

Diamond nodded. "Imagine what would occur if this were to happen at the full gallop. Watch closely, notice the position my body is pulled into by the stirrup." She spoke softly to the horse and he hesitantly began to move forward. Diamond let herself be dragged for a few feet in the soft earth of the ring before calling "Halt!". Her head was directly in front of Striker's back feet.

"At the run you would have perhaps two seconds before your body was pulled under the horse, and you would be dead, or wishing that you were", she said bluntly. "If you take nothing away from the lesson today but this, then you will have accomplished the greatest lesson of all."

Vanor cleared his throat nervously. "You've made your point beloved, please get up."

Diamond grinned and kicked her foot free from the stirrup, rolling out from under Striker and standing up, brushing the dirt from her riding clothes and praising him, rubbing his nose and offering him a bit of hops, his favorite treat.

"Remember what I've shown you, when you become tired of hearing me yell 'HEELS DOWN!!'. Keeping your heels down in the stirrups prevents your feet from sliding through. Riding boots will do that as well, but since you will possibly be riding into combat and boots will hamper your movement in a fight, I will teach you to ride without them."

"Now, assume the horse stance, but lift the balls of your feet up, rest your weight on your heels and clasp your hands in front of you, elbows in to your sides".

Vanor gives her yet another puzzled look but drops quickly into the stance.

Diamond chuckles. "Lower, bend your knees more. Okay, hold that pose, and watch as I saddle Spirit for you to ride."