Ride the river (February)

[Carlos Rodriguez]

Carlos sighed contentedly as he and Lacera walked sedately along the path. He relaxed in the saddle. this wasn't a schooling ride, this was simply a trail-ride that he intended to enjoy. The soothing sound of the running water made it all fall into place and had the effect of making him a little sleepy. Such was the nature of calming trail rides.

The bruises along his face, chest, and arm were fading, now a light yellow in color instead of the dark black and purples he'd been sporting just days go. He'd taken the mounted games intructor's advice and had started wrapping his ribs several days ago, and he could tell the difference. The broken rib still hurt horribly, but he could ride without being in so much pain he was near tears.

The light dappled Lusitano he rode, his older, more experienced mare Lacera was calmed by the river as ell, for her head was down lower than usual and her ears flicked back into a relaxed position as she moved along. Carlos could have ridden her bareback and bridleless, he knew, but he had intead chosen to saddle and bridle her. He was brand new to the western tyle of riding, and had only had one western lesson, but he had chosen to ride her western style, to try and get more used to the big, clunky saddle. He'd had help saddling the mare before leaving out.

As they walked on, turning round a bend in the trail as the river turned, Carlos decided to button the neck of his long-sleeved white button-up shirt, as a small breeze was bowing. He shifted in the saddle, unused to riding in jeans and 'cowboy' boots. He was used to riding english and wearing english riding attire his entire life. He still wore a helmet, though. That was one thing he never went without.

[warrie]

February was looking through her drawers, her cat Toby was rubbing against her legs purring loudly he was a pretty silver bengal. Who only liked her, because she had saved him life a year before. She pulled out a elmo shirt and a pair of white jeans with slits in the knees, pulling them on before brushing her long black naturally curly hair the applying black mascara and eyeliner before stepping back and looking into her body length mirror, her beautiful unusual very light blue eyes taking in her appearance, she looked looked a little like a kid because of her elmo shirt but the way her face and filled out body looked made it easy to see she was older, though she was only seventeen. She was quite pretty and the scar on her face the began just below her left eye to right under jaw made it so she wasn't beautiful at least that is how she felt.

She looked away from her reflection and walked out, she walked down the stars, through the common room and out the door. Toby following right after her as she walked toward the barn where her her lovely Hajnal Izidora, which she called Dawn for short, had been placed. The mare was absolutely gorgeous well to February she was, after all the mare was a minimal red leopard, and she was an amazing ride to top it off. The mare never fused or did anything she wasn't asked to do. Though most would assume that she was an appaloosa but the mare was a Nez perce bred mare, at least that is what she was registered in, and was actually an Appaloosa and a Akhal teke cross.

When February walked into the stables she was met with an excited whinny, she smiled as she made her way to her red leopard mare who had her head over the stall door eagerly wanting to be petted. She patted the mare on the neck before grabbing her lead and clipping it to Dawn's halter before opening the stall door and leading the mare to the cross ties. She quickly groomed Dawn then she walked off coming back with the pretty mares western saddle, blanket and bridle. She preferred Western over English though she could ride both equally good. Feb put the addle pad on, adjusted it then put the saddle on into the right place before reaching under Dawn and grabbing the girth tightening it to right tightness before putting the lead around the mares neck then taking off her halter off and putting the bridle in it's place.

February led the minimal red leopard out of the stable before mounting up, Dawn eagerly nickered as she waited for Feb to give her a signal to do something. February asked the mare to walk until the reached the downriver tail then she asked the mare to canter which Dawn did eagerly. After a short canter she slowed Dawn to a walk then stopped her and let her drink from the water, softly humming before she hear hoof beats coming from the way she had just. She saw a guy on his horse and she gripped Dawn's reins tighter in her hands as she seemed to almost to to hide behind the red leopard mare who whinnied at the other horse when she saw him. When they were close enough Feb tarted trembling slightly and watching them with a unsure look on her face. "H-Hi" She said in a low timid voice not even sure he had heard it, it was her attempt at trying not to be rude.

[Carlos Rodriguez]

Carlos shifted in the saddle again, still trying to get used to something other than either bareback or an english saddle. Lacera flicked an ear as her rider moved, but when no cue to come faster came, she settled back into her sweeping walk. The boy rested the reins over the saddlehorn, as he didn't even need them to cue to the mare, and reached forwards to pull a bit of mane out from under the saddlepad. Carlos played with the mare's mane for a moment before letting it fall back acrss her neck and stretching his arms upwards, wincing as the movement caused his ribs to ache.

The call of another horse caused Lacera's head to raise, and Carlos quickly lowered his arms from the stretch, one hand moving to lightly touch where he knew the broken rib to be as it twinged. The teen looked ahead, on down the trail, and raised a hand in greeting upon spotting the other horse and its rider, a girl. He lightly asked his dappled mare to stop just a yard or two away from the other pair upon hearing the girls stuttered greeting. He didn't think anything of the way she spoke, though, and merely nodded to her while mking sure his mare knew to stand still and not move towards the other. "Hello."

[warrie]

February was relieved when he stopped a yard away, she sighed softly as she stood looking at him over Dawn's neck like she thought he was going to fly off the horse and eat her soul. "No he's probably nice, just because he could kick my bum doesn't mean he is going to right?" She thought to herself knowing an answer would come from. As if the red leopard mare had heard her she nudged Feb's hand and nickered softly. February smiled slightly before frowning when Dawn moved away so suddenly and fast that she lost her grip on the reins and Dawn went off trotting toward the guy and his horse.

February followed about half a yard be stopping and watching as Dawn touched nose with the other mare letting out a soft nicker then she moved her attention to the guy on the horses back lifting her head she at his knee then up by his face before letting out a nice wet snort. February gasped softly afraid the guy would get really angry at Dawn, she whistled and the mare instantly turned and trotted up to her. Feb mentally scolded herself for not whistling soon because her horse has just snorted in some guys face and now he could be mad and hurt her for not having better control of her horse.

February looked at the guy fear was obvious in her eyes and on her face. "I'm s-so sorry, she's not u-usually so...friendly, or willing to go up to a stranger like t-that." She stuttered, not meeting the guys eyes or really even looking at his face. She took a tight hold on Dawn's reins before mounting up on the the pretty mare, she wasn't taking a risk in case the guy was really mad and intended on hurting her she wanted a chance to get away.February shifted uncomfortable in the saddle before pulling lightly on Dawn's reins asking her to back up, which Dawn did obediently not even looking behind her she trusted February so much. Feb stopped asking Dawn to back up and they weren't exactly a yard away but she felt a little better.

[Carlos Rodriguez]

Carlos tightened his hands on the reins as the other mare broke away from her owner and approached him and Lacera. Lacey wasn't the type of mare to strike out, but she did tend to squeal and paw before settling down. He readied himself for the commotion he knew was coming when the other mare touched noses with the Lusitano, and, true to his preditions, Lacera squealed loudly after a moment and pawed the air, though as a slight rein-tug, the dappled grey mare settled down calmly.

Carlos eyed the girls mare as the horse approached him next, and he raised an arm quickly upon realizing that she was about to snort. Unbidden, laughter came from his mouth as he grinned slightly when the horse snorted all over him before returning to her owner. He slowly wiped the snottage from his arm and the side of his face and grimaced, though he wasn't upset in the slightest. His own horses often did that.

The teen looked surprised for a moment as the girl seemed quite scared as she spoke to him, and the smile slipped from his face as he eyed her in slight concern, wondering what had her so spooked. It couldn't be him, could it? It was obvious to most people that Carlos didn't have a mean bone in his body, he knew. "It is... alright." He finally told the girl, having to think over what he was trying to say. "She did no harm."

He gave the girl a small grin, the closest to an actual smile she would probably ever get out of him, and allowed Lacera to move forwards to sniff noses with the other mare once more, as he knew now that she wouldn't squeal and paw again. It was just her first reaction to new horses, then she was fine. "You are riding this way?" He questioned, pointing down the trail. He really wasn't upset at all about being snorted on by the other mare.

[warrie]

February stared at the guy fear making her tremble slightly. His accent made his words seem slightly less intimidating because it was obvious he had to think before he spoke and when you thought about something it it usually was the truth well at least that's what she hoped because it was no fun being around guys and instantly getting the feeling of fear plus it was impossible for her to hide her fear of guys because she just started trembling plus she was sure fear was easy to read on her face. She shook her head slightly before forcing herself to calm down at least on the outside so Dawn wouldn't be spooky and unsure on their ride.

When he asked if she was riding down the trail she thought about cutting her ride short and just rushing away, but it would be unfair to Dawn if their ride was cut short just because she was a wimp and scared of guys. She nodded lowly. "Ya, er are you?" She asked keeping most emotion out of her voice so fear wasn't as easy to hear. She pushed her hair behind her left ear it was an unusual movement because usually she liked to hide her face from everyone because of her scar. "I'm er February." She said before glancing at him then looking down at Dawn. She didn't want to be rude plus she was starting to relax slightly and he fears were slowly going away each few minutes he didn't hurt her.

Dawn nickered at the other mare before looking back at February impatiently. "You can ride with us...If you like" February said trying to force herself to not be scared after all he had yet to do anything bad to her. She turned Dawn and they began walking down the trail, Feb glanced over to see if he was riding with them or not.

[Carlos Rodriguez]

Carlos seemed to have read her fear correctly, but it confused him. No-one had ever been scared of him before, and he didn't understand it. What was so... intimidating... about him? He reached forwards to rub his mare's neck gently when the Lusitano twisted her head around and rested her nose at his knee. "Constante, chica..." He said softly to the horse, straightening out her forelock before he nudged her with his knee to turn her head back around. "Ciertamente." He said to her before turning slightly red in the face. Carlos still was having issues with keeping to the english language when he spoke. It definately wasn't his first language, and he had found himself slipping into Spanish a lot. "I apologize," He said quickly afterwards, "I meant... I am riding this way." He struggled with the words, choosing to not look at the girl and instead he gazed at Lacera's dappled neck and long mane.

Carlos did glance back up at her introduction, a slightly alarmed look on his face as she said her name. He didn't know if he could pronounce that... "You are named Febrero?" He asked before strugging with the english pronounciation. "Frebary?" He knew he had badly mangled the name and had the grace to look a little embarassed once more. "I am Carlos." He said a moment later, breaking the awkward silence.

The boy let a small grin slip onto his face when the girl mentioned he could ride with her, and he let Lacera go forwards a moment after February had turned her horse. Lacey, eager to move and apparently glad to have another horse to ride with, eagerly stepped quickly and in a few strides, the grey Lusitano had pulled even with the other mare, riding right alongside, though Carlos kept Lacey several feet away in case February's mare decided to kick or something.

[warrie]

February watched him as her spoke to his mare in Spanish then to her, her eye brows rose slightly as she gave a 'what' expression but remained silent, she had no idea what he was saying she had never learned Spanish or any other language other then English though she did know a few words of German but only because this girl she used to hang out with knew German and told her what it meant but she really was never interested in any other language. Well until now when he spoke to her in it and she got irritated more with herself for not knowing what he was saying. Anyone could say that when it came to knowing and learning things she was an over achiever.

An actual slight smile appeared on her lips when he apologized then corrected himself but the smile was gone as quickly as it had appeared when he began struggling with her name then he just stated his. "You can just call me Feb if it's easier." She offered looking down at Dawn's neck before she leaned forward and patted the mares neck. She watched him as his mare caught up to hers so they were walking side by side. Both mares seemed to enjoy walking with each other though they weren't close enough to to strike each other if one got a little spunky. Though she knew it wouldn't be Dawn because Dawn was the calmest most gentle mare she knew plus she knew Dawn wouldn't hurt anyone horse or human.

February relaxed more as time went by learning that he wouldn't hurt her. Though his lack of English skill made him seem a lot less scary especially she had to admit he was sorta cute when he got all awkward because he would say something like her name wrong or peak Spanish without thinking about it. Which she could understand because if she had to learn a new language it would be hard for her to not speak English because no one understood it. Though that would never be the case she was good at trying to put herself in other peoples places so she understood more then most.

[Carlos Rodriguez]

Carlos felt slightly amused when Lacera stayed almost right in step with February's mare, and he bit back a small smile as he looked down at the grey neck of the mare. Lacey was like him, he knew... gentle-natured and nice. She could act mean at times, and she had in the past, when reprimanding her foals... well, she still reprimanded Lily, he knew... the four year old mare was a handful. Once again, the boy's hand rested lightly against his side, where his ribs twinged painfully at the touch. He was glad he'd taped them now.

"Feb?" He questioned, glad that he was able to say the shortening of the name much more easily than her full name. "That is like an el apodo... a nickname? Your nickname?" He struggled to make some form of conversation, knowing that not many people liked pure silence, and, if he were honest with himself, he didn't like pure silence either, unless he was alone. "People often call me Carly. You will..." He paused, a frown marring his face, "You are welcome to call me that." He offered a moment later, correcting his words mid-sentence. He was actually more used to going by 'Carly' than he was 'Carlos'. He had gotten the nickname from his best friend back in Salobrena, a memory that he knew would never fade from his mind. Carlos thought back for a moment, remembering how scared he had been that Tomas would break their friendship when he had found out, not from Carlos but from another guy, that Carlos didn't like girls. As it was, Tomas had been upset, but it was more over the fact that Carlos hadn't told him himself. They had remained friends, and the other boy had taken to teasing Carlos, calling him all sorts of nicknames, though 'Carly' was the one that had stuck. even Carlos's grandparents had started calling him that, though they didn't know his preferences and he was planning on it staying that way. No-one besides Tomas and the people he'd been with, back in Spain, knew which direction he twisted and he wanted it to stay that way... hoped it would stay that way. He was already different enough, coming from ovresea's and not knowing the American language and customs very well...

"Usted como ella mejor que Lirio?" He questioned his mare after a few moments of riding in peace. It was obvious he was speaking to the Lusitano by the way he shifted and by the way he smoothed out her many where it had gotten tangled under the saddlepad. He glanced back to Feb, a bit of amusement dancing in his dark eyes, "I think," He said in his accented english, "that Lacera likes your mare better than she does her own filly."

[warrie]

February looked out ahead of them, everything was quite pretty but she was more focused on keeping calm then what was around her because she knew Dawn would be alert enough for the both of them. Movement made her look over at Carlos s he placed a hand over his ribs and his expression became one of pain. "Are you okay?" She asked, her voice sounded worried even to her. She quickly looked away no matter how scared she was she always worried about those around her, she hated seeing people in pain and helped any way she could. She cleared her throat and made her voice sound normal as she spoke again. "What happened?.....If you don't mind me asking." She glanced at him before moving her eyes to Dawns neck.

Feb looked up at him when he said her nickname then spoke more and she couldn't stop the small smile that tugged at the corners of her lips. "Yes, Feb is my nickname, though I have been called Amanda and Phantom, and Dem. I have a really long name." She said making a face, she hated her name because it was a mouthful, she had two middle names. Her full name was, February Amarantha Phantasm Dementia. She personally hated it but there was little she could do about it. She returned her gaze to him once he began speaking about his nickname, she nodded slightly. "Do you mind if I call you Carlos?" She asked, she liked using peoples first names unless they were really hard to pronounce. Carlos was a name she liked and could say easily even though he was from Spain he had a nice easy name to say.

When Carlos spoke again she found herself no longer tense or looking for a place to run off to if he decided to hurt her, she was slowly starting to trust hi a little but the main thing now was that she wasn't as scared of him anymore. "Well Dawn is likable." She smiled, leaning forward and wrapping her arms around Dawn's neck in a big hug. Dawn nickered and kept walking calming as Feb sat up and smiled slightly. "I know it's kinda late but it's nice to meet you Carlos." She said politely after she remembered she hadn't said it earlier plus so far it was nice meeting him she just hoped it would stay that way.

[Carlos Rodriguez]

The boy straightened back up at her words of concern and he gave her a small smile, if it could be called that. In reality, it was more of a very slight upturning of the lips, but still… Carlos didn't smile actual 'smiles' very often. More smirks and grins. "I am fine." He told the girl, his voice soft as usual. "It is just a broken rib and bruising."

Carlos forced himself to ignore the twinge and shifted in the saddle once more. He definitely wasn't used to western. He was sure it was obvious, too. "I have another mare." He said to February slowly, trying to keep with the english language and not mess up his words. He thought he was doing quite well. "She is littler… no, younger… She is younger than Lacera. Lirio is Lacera's filly." He knew he was probably not making a lot of sense, but he really didn't know how else to explain it. "She is four." He finally said, "My other mare. She is…" Here, he hesitated, not sure how to articulate that the other mare wasn't trained well. Carlos raised a hand in the air, waving it in the circular fashion that people often used when they were trying to explain something, but didn't quite know how. "She is… wild? No… She is... not as used… to riding." He finally said, leaving it at that and hoping the girl would understand what he was trying to say… that Lirio wasn't as well-trained as Lacera… that she was still very green. "Lirio threw me a few days ago." He said, leaving it at that, as that was what had happened.

He nodded at her comment about having several nicknames, and then nodded again when she asked to call him 'Carlos'. It was his name, afterall, and he didn't mind. He gave her a small grin and nodded, "You can call me either, Carly or Carlos. It is nice to meet you as well." He agreed.