There's No Place Like Home

[Vega]

5th Ymiden, 717

"Apparently," Vega said with a grin as they set up the last of their camp, "No matter where you stand on the shores of lake Lovalot, or whatever it's called, all you can see it water. No shoreline. But you know that, I reckon." Vega glanced over at him. "Since this is where you come from an' all. You gonna go reassure your mother and stepfather that you're not dead in a ditch?" Funny, really, Vega thought. They'd picked up lots of little snippets about each other. But then, she'd met Arlo in Zi'da and it was Ymiden now.

"This'll be our fourth season of 'anging around together. No wonder you're so irritatin' now." With a smile, Vega handed him her flask as he sat down by the camp fire. "What do you think that that Buskerfest the guy in the caravan said about?" They'd come the last of the way with a small caravan transporting goods to Rharne. The man who had been driving it, a human chap called Gus who had a good physique and a very prominent chin, had been welcome of the company and had obviously thought that he and Vega might become very good friends. Vega had been, of course, quite content to be chatty and friendly; a sign he'd taken to mean something quite else.

He'd grumbled as they parted ways and her response to Gus asking if they might run into each other some time was to say "That would be lovely! Arlo and I will yell if we see you!" He was not one bit amused by this; what he had been, though, was talkative and the festival he'd described sounded right up their street.

"I was thinkin', if you wanted to, we could do that performance we were going to do in Ne'haer but never did." Her ribs were healed now and she was fine again, after all. As she'd be quick to point out, she could take him in a scrap and if he wanted proof, she'd be happy to pummel him. "But if we're gonna stick around for a bit, you should go and see your mother you know. I mean, if she spots that hat in a crowd, she'll be hurt you didn't." Glancing at him with a look of evident disapproval, though, Vega pointed out what was obvious, no doubt, to them both.

"Although she might also worry that you are dead in a ditch and that some tall bloke with muscles stole your hat. You're spurting in the worst way, you are." Despite all dreams to the contrary, she'd be quick to inform him, she couldn't do sewing and so, he'd be best off taking his clothes somewhere soon. "You look like your trousers have argued with your ankles."

As he started to get their cooking area the way he liked it, Vega sat and continued with her attempts to learn to make arrows. "So, I'm gunna buy a horse tomorrow," she announced. "I think it's about time. Do you wanna start practicing that performance again?"

[Arlo Creede]

"It's true," Arlo told Vega about the lake and standing on its shore. "It's like a sea." A more serene one than the ocean itself by comparison. But it was vast nonetheless. "They've got the lightening knights and the thunder priestesses here, and if you're in the city itself, it seems like you're climbing as often as not," he added after he'd unhitched Peg from her cart and began setting up his cooking area the way that he liked it.

That was the way, when a city was built on and around the mountain. Even the place they'd chosen to set up camp was just relatively level. "They've got lifts though, making it easier to move goods from place to place." Of course Arlo hadn't been raised inside the city. But his family's farm wasn't too far away and he'd come to market with his mother or stepfather often enough growing up. "They favor Ilaren here and they like their festivals." Which seemed only natural, all things considered. "And those that drink it say the liquor is better than anyplace else."

He should though, he agreed, go and visit his mother. He hadn't written to her since he'd left home and while she hadn't expected him to, she'd probably complain about it when she saw him. "We should look into it maybe?" Arlo said when finally he'd put a log he'd dragged up in just the right place and sat down on it next to the spot where they'd build a fire later. He hadn't cared much for the fellow who'd told him about it. Though Vega hadn't seemed to have minded.

They should do it though, he agreed when she mentioned the performance they'd practiced for once before. He'd gotten better at acrobatic maneuvers, Arlo told her, and there were lots of things they could add to their act. In fact he might like to get some wood and other things they might make a springboard out of. But when she mentioned his height, Arlo grinned. He had grown some, and filled out some too. "You're just worried that I'll end up taller than you."

"Get yourself a good horse though that's accustomed to being ridden," he advised her. "Peg does well enough now, but better if there's no fight while you're learning. And make sure you get the proper equipment." She could use his book. Or they could ride together and he could help by showing her what he'd already learned, he suggested?

[Vega]

"What're they?" Vega's eyes shone with curiosity at the idea of knights and priestesses. "I could be a knight, you know. An' priestesses of who?" She had a clear idea of herself in full armour and defending some poor, innocent unfortunate from a caricature bad guy, complete with black cloak, flapping in the wind. "We should totally go find some dreaming folks here, you know. Pop in, say hello. Buckle our swashes, and that."

The log. There was always a log and it was always some kind of weird ritual for him. The log would be his log and woe betide any poor sap who happened to sit on it. She knew from experience. It was just the right distance from the fire, just the correct angle. "Arlo?" Vega looked at him seriously, "have I ever told you that you're really weird?" She had, she knew, but still.

"I thought I'd get a job while we're here. 'Specially if the liquor's good, I could work in a bar. Bet you I'd be great at that, an' I'd get a load of tips, too." She figured Rharne was the kind of place that might be a good job to have, and so she was going to give it a go. "Bout time I got a job, cut my hair, that sort of thing. My Papa would be horrified." It would be fine for a while, maybe the whole season and then she could skip out with a bit more money in her pocket. It made sense to her.

"Yeah, sounds like fun." The festival, that was. "You didn't like Gus so much, did you?" She thought he'd seemed suspicious of their temporary companion, at least. "Why's that then?" But either way, the Buskerfest sounded great fun to her.

Vega's laugh when he said that she was worried he'd be taller than her told her feelings there. "I'd be delighted if you were. It would mean I wouldn't have to look at your hat when I'm talkin' to you any more." Vega grinned, but then nodded when he spoke about the horse. "Will you help me? Choose one, I mean."

But springboards and stuff? Vega looked at him and quirked an eyebrow. "So, we're still going with being a pair of drunks or are you thinking something different? Come on, then, do you think Peg'll let me have a bash at putting her saddle on her and maybe riding her a bit? Or we could practice that routine, whichever you prefer. Enough sittin' around. I'm old, I'll seize up." Standing up, she offered him her hand with a grin. "Come see what the weather's like up here with the tall folks."

While she still could, after all.

[Arlo Creede]

"The lightening knights?" Arlo responded when Vega asked. "They're the city's military force. The guard, the cavalry and the navy," he explained. "But they guard the thunder priestesses too. And you, a knight?" He frowned when he considered it, and it wasn't because she was a woman. Arlo figured that Vega could do just about anything she put her mind to. "It sounds a little rank and file don't you think?" Too much for his taste. Arlo had never been too fond of rules and expectations written in stone. The knighthood for him? He couldn't imagine liking it much.

He might like the armor though. The thunder priestesses were in charge of religion in the city, he told her. And advancing Ilaren's agenda. Very powerful, those two factions. He wasn't sure though how many dreamwalkers there might be in Rharne. But if there were any, he agreed it would be nice to find and meet them.

But as he started unpacking his cooking equipment, Arlo realized that she was full of surprises. "A job? You mean a regular job where you show up on time and everything?" He grinned and shrugged. Next, he teased her, she'd be setting up a tidy little home for herself with a white picket fence and a yapping dog in the yard. "I didn't like Gus. Talked too much and had a big chin." Neither of which was a very good reason, except that Arlo wasn't really sure why. He just hadn't liked him, was all.

He'd go with her to purchase a horse. And Arlo was full of advice when it came to what she ought to be thinking about. "Forget about color or flash. Neither of them make a good horse. You need one of sound mind and body that's solid and well put together. And a good saddle that suits you."

As for their act, he liked the idea of a pair of drunks. A springboard might be useful but he'd been thinking on it in order to pull off maneuvers from a still position, rather than relying on the momentum gained from running or tumbling. He might, Arlo told her, even teach Peg some tricks once she'd grown even more accustomed to being ridden. For now though?

"Let's see you get the saddle and bridle on her," he suggested as he stood up and went to fetch the book from his rucksack. The saddle, blanket and bridle were still stored in the back of the cart, and Peg was in the middle of a grassy patch, grazing while staked to the ground with a long rope hooked to her halter.

[Vega]

Rank and file? Vega grinned as she considered it, having already realised she'd be bloody awful. "I'd be great. I could march and sing a jaunty little sea shanty, keep 'em entertained for breaks on end with my tales of daring-do and Immortals what I have snogged. That kind of thing. Sounds knightly, doesn't it?" With a chuckle, she shook her head. "I'd be as good a knight as you'd be a priestess." Let him stew on that one a bit, she considered and then let it go.

"Yeah, a regular job. Well, see now, Arlo. Here's the thing." Vega sat back and looked at him. "I want some armour. Armour costs money. I have no money, or I won't after I've bought me a horse. So, I figure, get a job." But she didn't want anything that would tie her down, she explained, nothing that would mean that she had to get up in the morning and work all the live long trial. That would be dull. "So, a bit of time working in a bar, flirting with the rich folks of Rharne and getting good tips. Then, buy armour and no more work." It made sense to her. It was a far cry from what he was suggesting, but then Vega quirked an eyebrow at him. "Why would I need a yappin' dog when I've got you?"

He was happy to help with the horse buying though, and he was full of advice. Vega nodded at the first bit, but by the time he got to talking about the horse being of sound mind and body, she was faking sleep and snoring loudly where she sat. She grinned, though and took the book from him. "Why'd you bring this book with you, anyhow?" Vega wondered, frowning slightly. "Seems like an odd thing to bring, really. Weird little creature, you are. Right."

Vega looked at the book for a few moments and then moved over to Peg, tucking the book under her arm and swiping an apple slice for the horse as she went over. "Hey, beautiful, you doin alright? Here you go, I need to do this a'right so that Arlo doesn't crow, ok?" Vega often chatted to Peg, this was no different. However, looking at the book, Vega looked back up at him and shook her head. "You know, I've never been great at books 'n stuff. Learning that way. But what on Idalos is a cinch and why, by all the Immortals, do there 'ave to be so many of em?"

[Arlo Creede]

Him? A priestess? Arlo snorted. It was as ludicrous as her being a knight. Much more in fact, all things considered. He disqualified himself on the outset by virtue of his gender? Never mind his mindset. But Vega? In spite of her being physically able and not one to shy away from a skirmish, she wouldn't last the first handful of trials.

"What kind of armor?" he asked when she explained her reasons for finding a job. "Leather or metal?" Arlo didn't know much about armor, but it didn't stop him from having opinions about it. "You ought to find something that allows you to move freely," he advised. It wasn't a bad plan though. A regular job that promised sufficient pay, just long enough to get what she wanted. Still, gainful employment. Very little about it appealed to Arlo. It implied regular breaks, following schedules, rules and a sense of staying put.

As for the book? "I read. You think I don't read?" he asked with a grin after he'd gotten the thing and handed it to her. "That one's different though. It tells you what all the bits and pieces are and where they go. And if you like stories about plotting, revenge and subterfuge and that sort of thing, that's in there too," he added with a grin, referring to the section that talked about things that went on in a horse's head."[/b] Which implied of course that over the course of learning to ride her, Peg had subjected him to a few of those things and more.

Did Peg pick up on something unusual in Vega's tone or body language when she approached? Or did she recognize the book tucked under the young woman's arm? It might've been either, or neither one, but she raised her head abruptly and swiveled her ears back. "The book talks about her ears," Arlo observed. "She talks with them. If she pricks them up and swivels them around, she's interested in something and is listening. If she flops them down she's relaxed. But if she pins them back, flat along her neck, that's when you've got to worry."

A bite of apple brought the mare's ears forward again, which was a good sign. There were lots of cinches though, and they'd given Arlo some trouble at the beginning. "This one here is the girth cinch," he said, pointing to the one that would go underneath Peg's belly. "It's the one that keeps the saddle on the horse and stops it from slipping side to side when it's adjusted just right."

Fair warning though, he told her. Peg would take a great breath and hold it, preventing the cinch from being tightened enough. Vega would have to wait for her to exhale, or give her a little poke in the flank in order to speed up the process.

"That cinch at the rear of the saddle skirt stops the saddle from popping up. It can be left looser that the girth cinch. You don't want it squeezing her and you want it to have a little give to it. And see here?" he added and pointed to another set of straps.

"This is the breast collar. Not exactly a cinch. It goes round the chest and attaches on each end to the little rings at the front edges of the saddle, and then the narrower strap that comes off it at the center of her chest goes down and between her front legs and attaches to the center of the girth strap." It sopped the saddle sliding backwards on the horse's body, he explained.

[Vega]

"I was thinking leather." Vega responded with a glance at him when they talked about armour. "Yeah, for exactly that reason. Movement. But I'm bored of gettin skewered Arlo. A bit of armour would make me look less like a pincushion, you reckon?" Did she want to get a job? No, but then she figured that working in an Inn or Tavern would give her the most freedom and least restriction.

She figured.

Looking down at the book with some surprise she wondered what he meant when he talked about plotting and subterfuge, but then she realised that he was talking about the nature of horses and Vega grinned. "Peg given you a hard time, or just generally?" There was amusement in her eyes, but she watched Peg carefully. "Right, ears back bad. Hey, beautiful." Vega was lucky in that she genuinely loved horses and was more than mightily fond of Peg. Equally, though, she wasn't going to underestimate her. "Righteo."

Girth cinch first, but she'd hold in her breath? Vega grinned and petted Peg with an impressed look on her face. "That's cos you're a clever horse. Bet you most horses wouldn't even think of that. It's alright though, we'll just wait, I don't want to poke ya." So, she fixed the girth cinch, looking at the horse's stomach and she smiled. "My uncle used to blow up horses noses. Swore they liked it. Wonder if this's why? There you go, Peg. No, all the way you canny beast." Glancing at Arlo Vega raised an eyebrow. "She breathed out a bit. She's smarter than you, you know."

But, once the horse had exhaled completely, Vega adjusted the girth cinch and then the back one at the rear of the saddle. Finally, it was the bits around the chest and she attached and then adjusted. Vega was careful and she wasn't quick, but she was as gentle as she could be with Peg, whilst making sure that things were tight enough. However, the other thing that she did was feed her between each piece. "There you go, lovely, I'm sorry I'm slow an' clumsy, thanks for helping me."

Glancing at Arlo, Vega raised an eyebrow and then stood to attention, gave what she thought was a very sharp salute and said, in her best "knightly" voice. "Forsooth, Priest Arlo, I haveth doneth the cincheth upeth! Inspecteth?" Then she grinned and motioned to the saddle. "Does that look ok?"

[Arlo Creede]

"Well maybe you ought to consider not going off so often looking for trouble that'll get you run through with holes," Arlo shot back when Vega explained why she wanted the armor. Of course they both knew that he was as bad as she was at finding himself tangled up in troublesome circumstances. Come to that then, "Maybe I should look into getting a set for myself," he admitted.

As for Peg and treachery? Plenty of it, at least the first time he'd climbed aboard. "She's doing alright. We had a few disagreements the first time I rode her. Small stuff, mind," Arlo was quick to add, just in case Vega assumed that the mare had left him battered and bruised, which would lead to making connections that he'd rather she didn't. "I've learned her tricks by now," he added while Vega tightened up the girth cinch. "She's sneaky though."

When Vega talked about her uncle and his handling of horses, Arlo frowned curiously and considered it. "You know, I'm not sure if it's in the book, I skipped around. But that might just be why he did it. Or at least one of the reasons," he suggested. As if trying out a newly emerging theory, he went to Peg's head and blew in her nose and sure enough, she snorted back at him. If she'd been holding air in her belly it would have caused her to empty it. "Maybe it's for bonding too?" he wondered.

"Like when you cross paths with a dog, he sniffs you, makes sure you're alright. So you trade sniffs, your horse knows you." An animal psychologist Arlo wasn't however, and that was the extent of his supposition. "She's sneakier than me, anyway." But then when she finished with the saddle and did what he'd guess was her best impression of a knight, Arlo snorted and shook his head. "You're weird you know. Anyone ever tell you that?"

So far as he could tell she'd done a good job of it. And all without Peg nipping, pushing or stepping on her. "You've done all that. You might as well see if you can put the bridle on," he suggested, and after walking to the back of the cart, he came back with the thing and handed it to her. Without actually pointing out each part of the bridle in turn, he nonetheless named them. It was the names after all, that resulted in most of them explaining themselves without his help.

"The crown, the brow band and the cheeks," he said. "The throat latch, the caveson...noseband, the bit and the reins. See if you can get them all in the right place," Arlo suggested but then grinned. "But before you can do any of it you'll have to convince her to take the bit."

That in itself was the larger challenge. Peg had improved quite a lot, and so had he at riding her. But the bit had remained a point of contention between them. Once she had it in her mouth it was all well and good. But refusing from the outset to take it seemed to be her way of, well he guessed, her way of reminding him that she had a mind of her own.

[Vega]

"Now, the thing is, see. I don't entirely go looking for it, more it goes looking for me." That was her story, anyhow, and she was sticking with it. When he said about armour, though, Vega frowned and shook her head. "I was thinking I'd get it for both of us, you twit. I use your cart, you cook my meals, we catch as much as each other an' as much as I'd like to think that you cook cos of the sword, you've paid for it four times round and back once more." She gave a grin and then raised a hand to her forehead in a massive over dramatisation. "Just cook me a morsel for when I return from the deep dark mines, and feed me if I'm too weak to lift my own hand an' we'll call it quits."

It made sense to her, going out and getting a job for a few trials was rather like going out hunting. If he argued, she'd explain that philosophy. He'd go out hunting, or she would, but there was never a consideration of it being 'his' kill or 'hers'. It was about going out, getting resources and using them. "Besides," she'd say with a wicked grin, "if you get killed in the next fight I pick with someone, who's gonna cook for me?"

When he went around and blew in Peg's nose, though, Vega grinned."He used to call it foreplay," she said, deadpan. "Maybe you just horse-snogged Peg." Petting the horse, Vega whispered to her that there was no doubting it, if someone was going to kiss a horse, she was the best one.

Waving off his assessment of her as though it was as obvious as 'you've got red hair', Vega watched him as he checked what she'd done. He was happy with it and she grinned, thought that faded quickly enough as Arlo handed her more things to attach to the poor horse. "Well, it's no wonder she doesn't like all of this fuss. We'll do it in a few bits. We're just going to chill out first." Petting Peg, Vega chatted to the horse for a while.

"That's the problem with boys, you know. Always rushing. Girls don't like to be rushed, we want things done nice and slow, in our time." Now Vega had seen bits being put on horses, but she'd never done such herself, so she frowned as she thought about what to do. "What's this like, Peg? I bet you don't like it if your teeth get hit do you?"

First, she'd let the horse see the bit, sniff it or whatever and Vega would do so until Peg was calm with the bit close by and in her vision. "Can I look at where it's gonna go? Is that alright beautiful?" Stroking the horse on the neck, talking to her quiet and calm, Vega would try and work out where it was going to go. She'd check with Arlo first if she could put her finger into Peg's mouth before even attempting to do so.

"So, I need you to open your mouth, I guess. Can we try and just put it in there, slowly like? Lets give it a try Peg, shall we?" If it seemed that Peg was calm and content, Vega would instinctively keep one hand on the mare and try to just put the bit in with as little fuss as possible.

[Arlo Creede]

The argument that trouble came looking for her, even for him, didn't hold water. They both knew it. If the two of them tended to end up where trouble was hanging around just waiting and looking for a taker, then they obliged it as often as not. More often, Arlo figured. But she wanted to purchase him a set of armor as well? She didn't need to, though he knew that arguing with Vega would get him nowhere.

Instead, he fell into their usual way. "I do the cooking because you're lousy at it," he quipped. "If I didn't we'd only have porridge to break every fast and yours is fit to stand up on its own and walk off." Arlo was teasing her mostly, but not entirely. "Thank you then. It's generous and I appreciate it," he added genuinely.

But it was back to Peg and Arlo frowned, snorting at her references to foreplay and snogging. "Now I know where you got it. Your uncle was weird too." When it came to putting on the bridle though, Arlo was happy to indulge her and sit on the back of the wagon while she and Peg chatted. He thought it was a silly way to go about it, but who was he to say so? It must have had some effect on the mare regardless since one ear was lazily tilted towards the sound of Vega's voice, and one hip was dropped and that hoof cocked. Not primed for kicking, but relaxed.

When Vega was ready to slide on the bridle however, all that changed. The mare perked up and eyed the thing suspiciously. "You can get the feel of her mouth by sliding a finger in there at the back. There's a place there without teeth. It's where the bit will rest once you get it in there," Arlo said.

Of course the first thing Peg did when offered the bit was clamp her teeth shut and refuse it passage. Vega would need to get her to open up before she could deal with the rest of the bridle. And once that was done if she got Peg to open her mouth? The mare would raise her head up if allowed to, making it a more difficult reach to get the crown over and then behind her ears.