Dragons, Dystopians, and Denial

The woman scowled. "No, not."

"I thought we had an agreement?" Jerica snapped. She spoke Atraian again, since it was clear that this woman's Trade Language was broken.

"Okay, okay, come," the woman said, and led them into the barn that connected to the back of the Tavern. She gestured into three stalls. "These are the choices."

"I want to try them."

The woman hesitated.

"I already paid you."

"True, true," the woman answered. "But you're saddling them."

"I don't need a saddle to try them," Jerica answered. "But I will want two saddles as well, so get those ready."

The woman nodded and scurried off.

Jerica grabbed a bridle off the wall and went into the first horse's stall and put it on it, then led him out into the hall. She stopped in front of Elias and gave him a warning look. "Don't. Speak. Even if she tries asking you more questions and you understand." She glanced over her shoulder to ensure the lady was still out of sight and lowered her voice. "She knows you're not Nykerian. All Nykerians are brown."

Jerica led the horse out into the street. She grabbed a fistful of mane and effortlessly threw herself up to the horse's back. Almost instantly, the horse reared onto his hind legs. She redistributed her weight, keeping her seat. The horse bucked, then reared back again.

Jerica jerked the right rein close to her body, pulling the horse off balance. He spun in a circle once -- twice -- then she kicked him forward and they went tearing down the road, mud flying up from his hooves as he ran.

Elias had uselessly followed them to the horse stables without understanding what was going on, but he sure understood when Jerica hissed at him a warning to not talk again.

Oh. So it was a dead giveaway that he wasn't Nykerian. Welp. Why didn't she saw so then?

He didn't even get a chance to respond as Jerica went to lead a horse away and then rode off with it.

For a second, he feared that she actually escaped and won't be coming back. But if that were the case... it wouldn't be too bad, right? He'd just be a lost, lonely, confused man with no resources or knowledge about the world?

Still beats being back on Earth.

Elias sighed and turned to a nearby horse next to him who was giving him a curious stare. He approached the animal, slowly reaching out and rubbing its snout, which, to his surprise, was rubbing up against his hand.

"You're not so bad, are you?" he cooed out loud with a smile. "I'm glad you're not extinct, friend. You're probably glad I'm here and alive, huh? Ooh, yeah, you like scratches?"

At this point, he was scratching behind the horses ears, who seemed to greatly be enjoying it. Who knew that horses were like giant dogs?

Jerica slipped off the horse and patted his neck as she walked him back into the barn. She stopped and smiled slightly as she saw Elias patting one of the horses and cooing to him. She sobered instantly when Elias turned towards her. Couldn't have him knowing she approved of something he did.

"You like that one?" she asked casually as she walked hers back into its stall and slipped the bridle off.

Elias continued to pet the horse in front of him but didn't coo anymore as Jerica returned back with her horse. He pet the neck and mane, noting its dark creamy color and big brown eyes.

"I do," he said with a nod. "No idea how to ride a horse, but this one's nice."

He gave two last pats to the horse before turning towards Jerica with a small smile, his mind racing to think of a name for this horse.

"Great!" Jerica said. "I'll try her out. You can start packing --" She looked down the hall and shouted. "Hey!"

The woman appeared a few meters down the hall on the right.

"Saddlebags!" Jerica ordered.

"Okay, okay!" she answered, darting back inside the room.

She looked at Elias, translating. "She's going to bring out some saddlebags. Just try to distribute our things evenly between them. Like, put food in each, water in each, clothes in each. Flint and steel in one, the first aid in other. So on and so forth. Don't put all of what we have in a single pair in case one of ours gets lost."

Jerica led the horse out of the stall and into the street then hopped on its back and trotted away.

Elias shrugged. "Sure," he said, but Jerica was already out of the barn.

He watched as Jerica rode with the horse he liked, and he smiled thinking about what to name her. "I think I'm going to call you... Mellie," he said out loud to himself.

The woman selling the horses then walked over, setting down the two saddlebags on the floor. She said something to Elias, but he only shrugged and curled his lips back, only acknowledging that she was there. She eventually left, and so he started to do what Jerica told him to do, dividing all the supplies equally and then distributing them to the two saddlebags.

He looked up to make sure Jerica and the woman were out of earshot, then turned to one of the horses next to him.

"Think she's harboring a secret?" he cooed softly, but the horse only blinked at him. "Yeah. I do too."

Elias quietly finished up putting the supplies away.

Jerica got back to the barn and slipped off the horse, then walked inside with a nod. "She's the slowest horse I've ridden in my life, but perfectly gentle. She'll be good to learn on."

She glanced at where Elias was finishing packing the bags and nodded once. "Good."

Then she started down the hall to where she'd last seen the woman.

"Saddles?" She asked as she found her.

The woman gestured towards two.

Jerica leaned forward and saw that the first one had a long crack down the side in the leather. She scowled at the woman. "Was I not generous in my payment?"

"It's good!" The woman defended.

Jerica glared a bit harder.

"Okay, okay," the woman said, grabbing another saddle off the rack instead and holding it out for Jerica to inspect.

Jerica nodded and took both of the saddles from her.

"Bridles and halters and leads too," she called over her shoulder. "Everything. You know what I want."

She tossed the saddles down next to where Elias was, then waited in silence until the woman came bustling out with the things she asked for.

"Thank you," Jerica said. "That's all I need from you."

The woman nodded agreeably. And then. Didn't leave. It got uncomfortable... and she still just stood next to them.

"That is all," Jerica snapped, turning her glare on the woman again.

The woman started muttering under her breath but walked back inside. "So, I'm guessing you don't know how to keep the horses either?"

Elias nodded and ignored the fact that Jerica insulted Mellie, but she was probably right: the slower and gentler the horse, the better. While Jerica went on to bicker with the poor woman selling them the horses, he stood up and petted Mellie again.

He didn't say anything out loud in fear that Jerica would unleash her venom on her, so instead he shared glances with Mellie. It seemed even the horse was judging her bitchiness.

It was a real good thing that Elias was used to bitchiness... although it will take getting some time to get used to it coming from a kid.

"Nope," Elias said in response to her question, patting Mellie's back. "Like I said, horses are extinct on Earth. Though they kind of remind me of giant dogs, but with hooves."

"Better than dogs." Jerica smiled a bit and reached up to pat Mellie's snout. "Okay, then. You start by brushing them like this." She demonstrated. "You gotta go with the grain of the hair, so when you get to the legs you start angling it like..."

She passed the brush to him and gestured expectantly.

"Like this?" Elias asked as he mimicked her movements, taking the brush and combing through Mellie's mane.

They went back and forth as Jerica taught him other things to take care of Mellie.

"I think I'll name her Mellie," he mused out loud when there was a small bout of silence. "What about you? Which one is yours?"

"Oh, I, uh..." Jerica stammered, mind drifting back to Ranofer. She missed him. This horse was high-strung and quick, but no horse would ever be even a quarter the quality of Ranofer. "I don't know. I wasn't really gonna name him. He's just... my ride. Not my horse... do you wanna name him or something?"

She picked up her saddle and threw it on her horse's back.

Elias looked back at the horse she chose. He was big and muscular, and from what she said to him on their ride back, somewhat stubborn. He knew just the name.

"Sure," he said, watching as she effortlessly picked up the saddle. She must have been a lot stronger than he thought, and in the back of his mind, he could hear Aerik saying, "I told you so," when he told her that he underestimated her.

"How about..."

He had to repress a smirk, especially since it was only funny to him.

"Evan?"

He thought back to the person he was referencing in his head, but only the teenage, innocent version. Not the adult version who had learned to loathe him.

It was easier to take that image and turn it into a stubborn horse.

"Sure." Jerica shrugged. "Evan it is."

She showed him how to fasten the saddle in place and then led both horses outside and glanced around to be sure no one was watching.

"Okay, you get on a horse like this."

She slid her left foot in the stirrup on Evan. She awkwardly hopped so she could turn towards Elias a bit. "And then you grab the saddle like this and haul yourself up."

Almost as soon as she landed in the seat, she kicked her leg over the back of the horse and jumped down again. "I'll hold Mellie while you try it."

Elias nodded, watching Jerica closely before she held Mellie in place. He tried to replicate her actions, but he put his weight on the stirrup too long, and he almost caused the saddle to flop over. Jerica scolded him, of course, but he tried again and got on top, awkwardly sitting on the saddle. He had no idea what to do with his hands and feet.

"Okay, then what?" he asked, suddenly extremely grateful that Mellie was a gentle horse who wouldn't go speeding on ahead when he had no idea what he was doing.

"Settle back into the seat," Jerica instructed, wondering how to describe what that meant. She'd trained dozens -- hundreds -- of men with swords and bows. She was just now realizing that she'd never taught anyone to ride a horse. And she couldn't remember a time before she knew how.

"Like, put your feet in the stirrups." She touched the stirrup where his left foot was already planted, so that he'd know what she meant. "And then pretend you're trying to sit on the back of your belt. You want your tailbone under you so it doesn't hurt when you're moving."

She waited until it seemed like he had his seat, and then handed him the reins and muttered instructions until he was holding them mostly-right. He's going to topple over if I try to make him move her.

"Okay, now," Jerica said, trying to make her voice reassuring. "I'm going to walk with her. And you're going to be okay. Just try to relax and get a feel for her movement. If you feel like you're going to fall off you can grab that horn on the saddle in front of you, but only do that if you have to, okay?"