Fandom Into the fire (1x1 MzHyde/Gallifrog)

[MzHyde]

Fia listened to his reply, seeing how happy he was that she volunteered to showing him her music. She couldn't fully explain how building a friendship was making her feel, but she was so delighted that for once something was going well for her when it came to another person. "I'd love to! And as for an instrument it'll come to you in time, I'm sure of it. Everyone was so shocked when I drifted to the violin as it's not an instrument that really has history in our family. But low and behold it drew me in and I've never looked back. It's much more versatile than people think" she replied with a smile. She watched as Matteo knitted his brows together at her information of what she was..or at least.. half was, but that was part of the information that was too complicated to get into and break the walls of the lie down that was keeping it convincing. "She's right on that. We are seen as a myth because there's so few of us left....but then most things on Earth that aren't human are seen as either a myth or legend. But yeah... we're depicted as Firebirds on my homeworld, Firebirds that come to life if we die from our own ashes" she explained.

When Cliff spoke up to her she turned to face her and nodded, "I can do the morning walk i don't mind!" She smiled, really not fussed when she walked the dogs. Kay smiled at the way Fia was just so up for doing anything, she was also proud of her for not shying away from chatting to Matteo. She also found it interesting that Fia was so open with telling him what she was, despite coming across as always rebelling against her phoenix side of her heritage.

 

[_gallifrog_]

Matteo gave a smile whne Fia said she was interested in hearing his stuff, he was actually a bit of a show off when it came to his musical talents, once he got into it he put his souls and all his energy into performing. The instrument thing was a thorn in his side, he'd gotten it into his head that he should learn an instrument as well as singing, but he struggled to find one that fit. "Excellent, I'll dig out some of my recordings from the depths of my room. I'll take your word on that. I tried violin years ago, but it really didn't work for me." At Fia's explanation he nodded, it did make sense to him, but it was also strange to know that on other planets different races were only known as myths or legend. "Fire centric mythology doesn't really exist here, but I get what you're saying."

At Fia's confirmation that she was doing the morning walk Matteo nodded. As he was still living on the island it was usually his job to do that. "Okay cool then. They are earlier risers, so show up at the house maybe seven ish? I'll show you the usual walking route and some of the island if you want." "Now you actually have to get up that early, you did volunteer for this after all." John smirked, knowing that Fia was just as much of a morning person as Kay was (ie not at all). "Yep, she did, there's witnesses to this. And yes we all rise at what most consider stupidly early hours of the morning. For the rest of you just make your way to the main house whenever you get hungry."

 

[MzHyde]

Fia nodded when he said he would show her his recordings and such. "Mm, sounds like a deal!" She said. Fia was proud of her work and always willing to share it, but unlike Matteo she wouldn't call herself a show off as such. She just didn't see the point in hiding it when she knew she was good at what she did. For someone so isolated in life, she was very open about herself and self assured in her talents, mostly because she felt like she had to be and always had to prove herself. "I can get why it doesn't ewally exist here" she smiled.

Hearing she'd be doing the walk with Matteo she smiled and listened to the morning plan when it came to walking the dogs. Mentally she groaned at how early it was, but she couldn't get out of it now she volunteered. Seeing the smirk on John's face, she narrowed her eyes at him but she couldn't keep it up. "Yeah yeah...make fun of the late riser! I AM capable of getting up early ya know!" She retorted back, "just means a few alarms have to go on" she admitted, scratching the back of her head sheepishly. "It's okay Fia, we'll enjoy our long lay in on your behalf" Kay teased, to which Fia flipped her off for it. "Language!" Kay commented. "Deserve it though!" Fia countered with a cheeky grin that always gets her out of trouble in her timeline.

 

[_gallifrog_]

"I'll believe it when I see it and I ain't seen it so far." John smirked, seeing how hard Fia was refraining from groaning aloud at the early start. John knew that Fia wasn't one to go back on her word or her decisions, he didn't need to be told, both he and Kay were like that, so it only made sense that she'd have been brought up with the same kind of mindset. Cliff watched it all with amusement. Early rising was something instilled in her and her siblings from a young age particularly when they had to help out with fishing hauls before school, or with exercising and tending to the animals. They'd also learned to adapt to working late nights in order to get jobs finished which gave them all aan incredible work ethic. It was this work ethic that made Cliff so popular as a doctor and gave Charlie her reputation as a cop. Charlie was being talked about for promotion to detective level, some believing it to be only a matter of time.

Matteo couldn't resist a further jab. "of course if you feel like getting up earlier, then go ahead. Sunruse around here is usually damn spectacular and the weather this time of year is just right for sea fog." The family headed back towards their house once all the pleasantries had been exchanged. Cal was sleeping in Cliff's room and Dan had been given his usual spot in the guest room. Chas was taking one of the room in the house. He didn't have a particular room he slept in, quote often he'd end up on the couch or the floor. The cabbie wasn't fussy he took what was offered. John had a few favourite rooms, but was also prone to crashing out (and sometimes bleeding out) on the first available flat surface that was anywhere close to horizontal.

 

[MzHyde]

Fia rolled her eyes at John, "then you'll see it tomorrow! Bet you a tenner I'll get up and out the door by five to 7 with a note to say 'told ya so' on the front door, to walk to meet Matteo!" She said, she would have bet more but she was a teenager and didn't have much more on her for obvious reasons of she wasn't at home. She was determined now to prove her dad wrong, even if she had to play the whole 'hes my brother in law...sort of' game. She then looked at Matteo and rolled her eyes, "don't you start! Thought we were gonna be a team Matteo!" She said to him. "See you at 7am sharp!" She said, holding her fist out for a fist bump.

With all the pleasantries done and dusted, Kay walked with John back to The House, with Fia running to catch up with them all. "Remember dad...get that tenner out ready" Fia smirked, now they were in the safe confines of their home, jogging up the stairs two steps at a time when they got inside. Kay just chuckled at the two of them, more so at Fia. "She is one determined kid" Kay chuckled, not minding what room her and John ended up in, she was just ready to change and get into bed. Fia made it to her room, changed into some sleep wear and set exactly seven alarms, starting at quarter to six in the morning, and going off consistently until twenty past six when she'd have to get up, get washed and dressed in time for heading out at the time she said in the bet. She got into bed and it didn't take her long before she fell asleep.

 

[_gallifrog_]

John rolled his eyes at Fia's bet, fully intending on taking it and giving it his own twist. "Sounds like a deal to me." He smirked, tucking his hands into his trouser pockets, as if to check he had money on him (though Chas knew full well he kept his cash in an inside pocket of his coat). For John this was certainly proving to be interesting motivation to get Fia up early, but he wouldn't be resorting to it in the future. She needed to learn to stand on her own two feet on this sort of thing, espescially now that they knew certain things had to be done differently when it came to parenting and giving Fia freedom. (Though John's moral compass said that bribing somebody else's child was perfectly alright). Chas just rolled his eyes, it was such a stupidly typical John kind of bet and there was no doubt in his mind that he was going to take it.

Matteo just shrugged and smirked at Fia's remark. "See ya then, I'll probably be in the kitchen or on the roof." He replied, bumping his fist against Fia's before heading off in the direction of his home. Once Fia was safely out of sight, and John had heard the click of her bedroom door, John doubled back towards the door of The House. "She is, but she's not the only determined one in this house." Chas could see by his face he'd either found a loophole, made a plan or both and turned back done the corridor to see what was happening. John had torn out a page from an old notebook and stuck it to the back of the door along with an Attili 10 note. It was tucked in the door frame in such a way that it could be seen when standing within two metres of the door.

You never said what currency it had to be in
-John

With that he done he smirked, turning to the others. "I fully intend to be up well before she does, I have a plan." "Of course you do. I'll be taking up their offer on breakfast and a tour of this place." Chas told them, before turning and heading to one of the ground floor bedrooms. "Night you two." "Night Chas." John called before heading in a different direction to Chas and into another bedroom, setting an alarm on his phone for half past five. The bedroom was standard (for The House), functional, but also used as storage for a strange array of objects with a small pile of scrolls in a corner and what looked like a mummified hand on top of them.

 

[MzHyde]

Kay knew the moment Fia went up to bed and the click of her door closing was heard, this was going to become an all out competition between John and Fia to win the bet. Seeing Chas' face, it was obvious he knew it too. She watched as he tore out a piece of paper and stuck it to the door with a message and Attili 10 note. "Of course you find a bloody loophole" she smirked, chuckling. This really was going to start an all out payback war of pranks, she just knew it.

"Night Chas" she said eventually after John said he intended to be up before Fia, and Chas was going to get up early himself. She followed John into one of the bedrooms, seeing him set his alarm on his phone. "You're really determined to win this bet huh?" She smiled, amused by the whole thing. She noticed it was a different bedroom to the last time she was in The House, as she grabbed her bag, putting it on the bed so she could pull out a vest to sleep in. "You know whatever you have planned will result in her pranking the shit out of you..right?" She pointed out. Grabbing what she wanted, she put the bag back down on the floor and perched on the end of the bed so she could lift her foot up to take off her boots, something was starting to get a bit more challenging now. Getting undressed, she pulled on the vest before standing up to get into bed properly.

 

[_gallifrog_]

"Of course I am, I'm not going to just take this lying down or easily, or without finding a loophole or two." John smirked as he undressed. "And she was going to prank me anyway, so I might as well get in first and be annoying about it." John really didn't care that he was potentially adding fuel to the fire. Fia had all but made t-shirts declaring that she was teaming up with Matteo to put the fear of the ever living daylights into them all. It was going to be entertaining to say the least. John plopped his stuff down on the ground on his side of the bed, putting his boots on top of his bag. He adjusted to the volume on his phone alarm so it wouldn't completly blast the ears off him (and Kay) before lying back on the bed.

Once any conversation was over he fell asleep within ten minutes, a proper deep sleep, the kind where he barely moved or made a sound for the whole night. There were times when John suspected he slept better into The House than anywhere else. Maybe it was the knowledge that very little could get in or at him while he was there. When he was woken by the alarm tone at half five he felt restored and like he could take on pretty much anything. John carefully easy himself into a sitting position, shit off the phone and began to put on the rest of his clothes.

 

[MzHyde]

Kay just laughed at John's reply. She was highly amused by this whole situation that was building up between him and Fia, thinking that this whole thing was going to be better than any TV show.ormfilm they could possibly watch. "Doesn't surprise me in the slightest" she smirked back, laying down on her back hoping she would sleep through the alarm, yet she also wanted to this play out, so if she did wake up in the morning to the alarm going off, she would gladly get up to watch it all unfold.

She eventually fell asleep when they went quiet, she was awake for a bit longer than John was, despite having her eyes closed and trying to get to sleep. She envied John falling asleep before her this time, yet when she did fall asleep, she slept right through with no dreams, nightmares or anything else going on in her head for once, until his alarm went off at 5:30am. She stirred with a groan, rubbing her hands over her face. She sat up slowly, propping up her pillow into her back as he was getting dressed. The morning came round way too soon in Kay's mind. "So what's the plan for trying to win this bet?" She asked, deciding she wasn't going to get up properly just yet, as the bet was that Fia would be out the door by 6:55am, so she had time to properly wake up and accept she was awake before 9am.

 

[_gallifrog_]

John didn't need to turn around to know that Kay had woken up. He could tell from how the mattress shape changed as she redistributed her weight. And of course the groan of annoyance gave it away. He ran a hand through his hair, putting some kind of order on it. "The plan is not to try and win it...... as such. I mainly want to see if she can actually do it. I'll probably give her the money anyway, but exploiting the loophole from yesterday." It was too good an opportunity to miss out anyway. And technically it wasn't his money, and John really had no qualms with using other people's money (even if it was the money of somebody who was the sibling of his adopted son). "Leaving the note yesterday was a contingency of sorts."

He pulled on his boots, easing his foot into the tough leather. It would take another few days for the material to suitably soften up. "And now that I'm awake there is not a chance of me getting back to sleep." He'd gone straight from being asleep to being alert and ready for almost anything, but he still looked his usual rumpled, snarky self at the same time. "So I might as well lurk around the in the dark parts of The House, do some brooding, find places for the new stuff I bought, then wait for Fia to show up." He explained. His plan sounded better in his head, but what he rally wanted to do was just wander through The House like he did before Kay, Rinaa and Fia entered his life.

 

[MzHyde]

Kay couldn't resist watching him run his hand through his hair whilst listening to his reply of what his plan was. She smiled when she heard him say he'd give Fia the money anyway, thinking how much of a dad he sounded with just that simple sentence. "Fair enough, something tells me she will actually do it, and do the whole 'told you so' in an over the top manner just to make a point..she is your kid after all" she smirked back, not putting anything passed the daughter of John Constantine.
"Sounds like a fair enough plan, I fully intend to not get up until the last minute to see if Fia accomplishes said bet." She said, totally not intending to stay put for a while, as she put thought of which outfit to wear for the day that would be weather and pregnancy appropriate to the point she won't get too hot or cold when they went outside.

Fia's alarm finally went off for the first time, stirring her awake, which she turned off, knowing she has another three alarms set in place. "One down...three to go and that tenner will be mine" she groaned to herself, turning over onto her front and burying her head into her pillow, only the top of her bright orange hair could be seen. Closing her eyes again, she she fell back into a light sleep, rather than the deep sleep that took hold of her the night before. She most definitely had a plan for the 'told you so' note that she thought of the night before, and fully intended to stick to it. This day was going to be the start of an all out prank war and she was determined to win.

 

[_gallifrog_]

"Yeah well, she did make a promise to be there, and I doubt she breaks her word easily." "Unlike me, my word is broken, twisted and reshaped on any whim" he thought. John's promises were completly different to a normal person's, he'd carry them out alright, but would completly manipulate it to his own ends. His sense of honour on the matter was non existant. If you made loopholes on the matter, it was on you and he was full well going to take advantage of them. "It'll be entertaining either way." John shrugged. He had a feeling that he was going to get way over his head with this whole prank war thing. The sensible option could be to simply hide out in The House for the foreseeable future. Or always position himself close enough to Rinaa that Fia wouldn't be able to do anything without getting the other teenager in the middle of it. John didn't even know how he started thinking like that, it was just how his brain worked.

He shook his head slightly, before standing up from the bed, swinging his trenchcoat around himself and into his body in one fluid movement which looked extremely impressive and in the gloom of the room made him look like he was part of the shadows, his natural territory. John fixed the collars of the coat slightly before making his way out of the room. He gave Kay a brief kiss on the forehead before quite literally billowing out of the room. John headed straight to his note from the day before and added the time to it (5:38), before taking a time stamped picture of himself with the note to prove he wasn't just making it up.

After that he would spend the next hour or so wandering around The House before finidng himself drawn to library. He grabbed a selection of times and made his way to the front door. John's note was still undisturbed so evidently Fia hadn't arrived yet. Carefully and quietly he locked the front door of the House behind him, using the only copy of The House Key ever made. The lock of the front door couldn't be picked, but the windows were sealed by high strength wards that could only be undone by undoing various other protective warding of The House. He sat himself in a dark shadowy corner, lit up a cigarette and began reading.

 

[MzHyde]

That Kay agreed with wholeheartedly, she also doubted Fia went back on her word and would do anything to not break a promise she made. "That it will, I fully intend to witness every single bit of it" she smiled, seeing him put his coat on. She just hoped neither of them took it so far that it got others involved unwillingly and someone ended up storming off in a strip. Her eyes instinctively closed and she smiled when he kissed her forehead before reopening her eyes again to see him leave the room.

Kay dozed off for a while still sitting up, before reawakening around 6:50am. Looking at her phone, she saw there was only five minutes before Fia needed to prove herself, so she got up and put on her maternity leggings on and a loose fitting yellow vest on, which luckily flowed over her baby tummy comfortably, glad that she let Fia talk her into getting it for the trip. Putting her boots on, she headed downstairs, just moments before Fia did.

Fia woke up as her last alarm went off at 6:20am, she went to the nearest bathroom, got washed before heading back to her room to get dressed. As it was early and it was for a dog walk, she decided to steer away from her usual attire and go for a pair of blue ripped jeans, sneakers and a vest and cap. By the time she was done, it was 6:53 according to her phone which she put in her jeans pocket and jogged downstairs, seeing the note before she saw John and Kay. "Really?" She muttered to herself, before she used her stele and wrote in the air in front of the door 'told ya so?' in gold floating lettering.

 

[_gallifrog_]

John put out the cigarette when Kay made an appearance. They were still operating under the policy that smoking around a pregnant woman was a very bad idea. But that wasn't going to stop John from having nicotine cravings, and this was his house after all. If he wanted to smoke in it, he'd damn well smoke in it. Fia arrived a few minutes later, and judging by her tone and her expression she wasn't expecting to see a note there already. The writing was John's typical scrawl and there was no indication that the time had been written later than the rest of the note. The corner of the Attili bill poked out from behind the note only a little triangle of light red visible.

John didn't say anything, not knowing I'd Fia had seen him or Kay yet. Instead he waited to see how it played out. Writing the note with her stele was a very Fia move, and John could only guess that it was a frequent thing on her timeline. Fia hadn't tried to open the door yet, so he stayed quiet, wondering whether she'd notice the locked door first, or the fact that he was skulking in the shadows and that Kay was alos nearby, the brightness of her clothes had only gone unnoticed as she was in Fia's blindspot.

 

[MzHyde]

Kay would never stop John having a cigarette in his own house when he craved one. She would never hold that against him, just as she never has before she became pregnant. Sure, it wasn't her favourite thing in the world, and she did wish he would quit, just like most people in his life did, but she had never once tried to make him stop. She accepted him smoking a long time ago, and that wasn't going to change now. She stood close by to him, though not right up against him as there was fresh smoke still in the air around him, when that died down, then she would go to him.

She watched as Fia wrote in the air, smirking. Just as she guessed, Fia didn't do things normally or like John did with just pen and paper. Fia grabbed the paper and the Attili ten note, rolling her eyes. "Why am I not surprised you found a bloody loop hole...dad?" She commented, turning to her side and looking right at him in the shadows, then seeing Kay. "And FYI? Hiding in the shadows is soooooo old. But point is- I'm up and ready to go dog walking!" She smirked smugly, before trying to open the door, before sighing as she found he locked it. "Seriously? You locked the door? You realise I never anything about having to win the bet I needed to be outside...right?" She rose an eyebrow at him.

 

[_gallifrog_]

John didn't care about being called out on hiding in the shadows. He just shrugged. "Finding loopholes is one of the greatest joys in life kid. Wouldn't be me if I didn't. Lurking in the shadows also falls into the same category. Plus this isn't your timeline, so it may be dated for you, but it's perfectly acceptable in this time." John's tone had an edge of 'what else are you supposed to do in an old magical house filled with shadows and dark spots anyway?' about it. "And you really shouldnt be complaining, you did get money out of it." He closed the book he was reading, a thick, leather-bound tome in a language that wasn't English and set it on the window sill of nearest window.

John smirked as Fia's smug expression vanished when she realised he had locked the main door. "Yes, I know that wasn't part of this bet." The slight smirk on John's face made it quite clear that he was playing another angle and Fia had walked right into it. "But you also promised a certain sibling of Cliff's that you'd be at the other house at seven o' clock sharp." He put particular emphasis on the last word as he checked his watch. Cliff's family home wasn't that far away, it only took a couple of minutes to walk there, so Fia had time to get herself out of this situation without breaking The House. Breaking any part of The House, even as family of the owner was just asking for a one way trip to the dungeon/one of the various dank, dark cellar rooms that the building possesed.

 

[MzHyde]

Fia folded her arms across her chest as she looked at him whilst he replied to her many comments. She noted his tone and rolled her eyes, one of the few things that made her look more like him than Kay. "You keep believing that" she replied with a smirk. "I didn't mean Attili money and you know it, but...I'll take it anyway" she pointed out, even from where she was, she recognised the book he was reading from the library, having seen it in there a few times.

She could tell he was pleased with himself that he knocked the smug look off of her face, for her realisation that he locked the door. She could tell instantly this wasn't the angle he was playing, and listened to his next comment about what she said to Matteo last night. She pulled her phone out of her jeans pocket to check the time. She had two minutes to get there, so she needed to think of something and fast. She put her phone back in her pocket and sighed. "Okay....two things- 1) you're an ass dad, and 2) it is far too early for this challenge" she sighed. She knew she couldn't just break a window to get out or picklock the front door. It was the first thing she ever got taught by him when he brought her to The House the very first time for training.

Kay watched with great interest as the two of them spoke and bantered whilst clearly testing each other. She found it highly amusing how the two of them were and they were so alike in their body language it was uncanny. "You two are too much sometimes" Kay chuckled. Fia looked around wracking her brain on how to get out The House, she figured she could work a spell to get the key from John, but knowing him he's shoved it somewhere she don't want to go, even if that wasn't actually the case this time, she wouldn't put anything passed her dad. "Screw this" she said, jogging up the stairs and over to the upstairs window. If John was going to be extra with this, then so was she. She opened the window, sliding it upwards and climbed out onto the porch's roof, and jumping down using her phoenix wings for the first time since she's been around them to take her down to the ground. She then looked through the window that both her parents no doubt red followed her to, and flipped them both off, looking smug again. "Can't keep a good bird down!"

"She definitely has your flair for the dramatics John" Kay laughed.

 

[_gallifrog_]

There was probably a spell that could have summoned the key from John, but it would have to be seriously powerful as not only was he linked to The House itself, but he was linked to the key too. "It's really isn't too early for any of this. The brain does its best thinking early in the morning. Y'know Cliff's family have been up since at least six doing actual work. You wouldn't belive how much they pull their weight around here." It had come up the night before about all the duties Cliff and her siblings had performed as teenagers in order to keep the family in money. Fia hadn't been listening at the time, too interested in the story of how Matteo had fallen out a window while sleep walking.

John rolled his eyes and let out a sigh at Fia using her wings to get off the roof when a simple roll landing would have done the trick, a straight jump could even have worked in a push, but her legs and knees would have felt it for a good few hours afterwards. "It's pretty wounding to what's left of my soul that she doesn't know how to do a roll landing from a roof that's barely over two metres high." John replied to Kay's remark, shouting it loud enough that Fia could hear it. The back entrance of Cliff's family home led to the kitchen, and outside that was the deck they'd sat on the day before. The entirety of Cliff's family (bar Cliff and Nat) were there, accompanied by Elliott and Chas were leaning against the balustrading waiting and watching something in the far distance. "If I were you I'd get out of the way before you get run over." Elliott called out to Fia. At the same time John unlocked the door of The House and headed out onto their porch.

 

[MzHyde]

Fia knew full well how to do a roll landing, and she could have easily done it the normal human way, but why do it that way when she could be flamboyant. She laughed hearing John say how it was wounding that his daughter didn't supposedly know how to do such a simple move. She learned the tuck and roll drop when she was very young, it being one of the first things she ever learned. "Oh I know how! But why be simple when you can show off?! You taught me that John-O!" She called back up just incase anyone else heard what she heard, using a nickname for him and not his actual title to her, as she stepped backwards, smirking before turning on her heels, making her wings disappear in her own back wing rune tattoo, walking toward Cliff's family home.

She saw everyone apart from Cliff and Nat were at the house, she saw that at least Elliott was watching on as she walked and looked around her to see what Elliott was getting at, noticing John unlock the front door of The House and walk out onto the porch with Kay. She did as suggested though when she saw what could run her over and dodged effortlessly, before jogging to everyone else. "Thanks for the heads up!" She replies, checking the time on her phone and seeing it just tick over to 7:01am. She just made it in time, which she was proud of herself for.

 

[_gallifrog_]

What Elliott had been referring to (and what they were assembled to watch was the four horse riders thundering towards the house from the direction of the bonfire site from last night. The were so engrossed in thta spectacle that nobody had paid the slightest bit of attention to Fia's stunts and fiery wings. Thundering was the only word to describe the sounds of four sets of hooves. It was clearly a race, the speed alone gave that away. The racers were little more than a blur at first, but as they galloped forwards it became posisble to make out who they were, two blonds, one black haired girl and one with deep dark blue hair- Nat, Cliff, Rinaa and Jay. All four were flattened against the backs of their horses, streamlining themselves to give themselves the edge. None were wearing helmets.

The animals and their riders thundered past the house, kicking up dust and dirt in their wakes. The four streaked past the building, a wave of rippling muscle, swishing hair and long extended legs as they pushed the horses to their maximum stride, each vying for that extra distance that would pronounce them winner. It was clear even within the blur that all four had done this before and were good at it. A tape had been strung between to trees, serving as a makeshift finish line. Cliff was first over the line by the barest followed by Nat, then Jay and Rinaa who were neck and neck. Once over the line they slowed down, turning the animals around. The horses and riders shook themselves out, splattering small drops of sweat and seawater on their surroundings.

Both the riders and horses had been in the sea, that much was made clear by the fact that Rinaa hair had reverted back to its natural shade of black. Jay's on the other hand had stayed a dark blue, which contrary to John's thoughts wasn't actually dyed, it was her natural colour. With the horses slowly walking it became clear that they were no ordinary animals. They had breeding and seemed to be made of elegant planes, sharp lines and muscles that rippled beneath their black skin. The horses were all black with striking turquoise eyes with manes and tails the colours of the azure sea that surrounded the island. A series of gills ran along their necks, indicating that they possesed some kind of amphibious quality.

Rinaa ran a hand through her slightly damp hair "I feel so bloody alive right now" she declared, running a hand through the mane of her chose horse and down its neck as it made contended noises. All the riders had hair messed and knotted in every possible way, their shirts plastered to their bodies with a mix of seawater and sweat patches, looking drunk on the excitement. But there was something in Rinaa's eyes, a fiery determination that hadn't been there at any point during their travelling to Attil and on Attil. It was the expression of true mad excitement that Leah showed before she went and did something utterly crazy. Her words were true, she was more alive than she had been before.

Spoiler: Horse inspiration

The horses are a combination of these two

 

[MzHyde]

Fia watched as the horses came galloping passes them towards the makeshift finish line that had been made. It took her a moment to clock who was on each horse as she managed to get out of the way before she for trampled on. Seeing that they were engrossed in that actually made her glad that her little competition with John had gone unnoticed, making it a family thing only which was absolutely fine by her. She overheard Rinaa say what she did and the tiniest smirk appeared on Fia's lips, but she quickly got rid of it. She did notice how much like her Leah Rinaa suddenly looked, which made her ever so slightly homesick, and wish that Rinaa was more like Leah so there wouldn't be this back and forth hostility between them.

The horses were absolutely beautiful to look at. There was no doubting that at all. Fia was almost hypnotized by them, finding them incredible and nothing like an Earth horse. Kay stayed beside John as the four horses and their riders rode by before walking with him to Cliff's house when it was safe to do so. "Now they're seriously some horses" she remarked as they walked to the other house. "Their colouring is beautiful" she added, knowing that Fia was going to be utterly amazed by them, which was just proven correct when they got to the others.

 

[_gallifrog_]

John hadn't been expecting to nearly be run over by a horse upon exiting The House. For a few brief seconds all he could see was a wall of rippling muscle and riders clinging on for their lives. When they slowed down, he, like everybody else took in the horses in all their glory. He wouldn't consider himself an expert on horses, but these ones were clearly quality animals, sleek, muscled and moving with a graceful fluidity that reminded him of waves. "Now those are horses. Bloody hell." John declared as they made their way over to the house and the riders. "They look like something out of a painting." "Or an anatomy textbook. These are the real deal and before you ask, yes they have an aquatic ability too." Cliff told them from her mount as she swung herself off easily.

"You two really can ride." Nat commented, directing the remark at Jay and Rinaa. "Thanks, I learned when I was a teenager. More efficient way getting around on the desert and mountain planets, though there's nothing quite like that full on racing gallop." "True true, it's something else entirely." "So when did you learn to ride then? You've clearly been doing it for years what with that posture and control." "Around six years old? It was just after I moved planet for the first time. I was too young and too short to learn to ride a motorbike and a regular bike wasn't fast enough. So my mother decided that horse riding was the best option. And I loved it, but once I was allowed to ride bikes my passion for mechanics and engineering took over so horseriding got out on the back burner for a bit. But clearly I remember something. I had a very good teacher."

 

[MzHyde]

Hearing Cliff say that the horse had aquatic abilities didn't all together surprise Kay. It amazed her, but it didn't surprise her, as she figured on a planet such as this that the animals just be able to do more than their Earth counterpart. She had to agree with John that they really did look like something out of a painting, they were stunning to look at, neither Kay or Fia could take their eyes off of them for a moment. As Nat spoke to Jay and Rinaa, both girls couldn't help but listen to both their replies, particularly Rinaa's reply about how she learned to ride.

Listening to Rinaa, Fia thought it was a very typical Jay and Rinaa thing to do as Rinaa grew up. It wasn't all that different in her timeline, not completely the same but Jay definitely brought Leah up with the same mindset, so the story was completely believable to her. She just found herself waiting for Matteo for the morning walk of the dogs, whilst taking in the horses. She was also thinking up a way of getting back at John for the locked door 'prank' which ALMOST made her late, not that it really mattered she realised now, what with the impromptu horse race that almost knocked her over. She was just glad that Kay noticed quickly enough to be safe and not knocked down. She didn't even want to think about what would happen if Kay got knocked down by a horse going at full pelt. "So uhh..is Matteo ready?" She asked no one in particular, but threw it out to anyone who would know the answer.

 

[_gallifrog_]

The four, now fully dismounted, made their way back to the stables their conversation focused on horses and the general thrill of horse racing. The results if the actual race didn't matter it was really just a way of seeing if Jay and Rinaa could still remember how to ride after all the years. The presence of Fia and Kay hadn't changed Rinaa's mood, in fact they hadn't even registered on her radar until then. Had somebody stepped out into the racecourse the riders would have been able to swerve around them, though it would have resulted in injuries to the rider and the horse. "Doesn't surprise me at all to be honest. So how many horses have you got?" "there's six in total, those four there and two younger ones. One is really just a foal, but had great potential, we're training her up at the moment. If you ever fancy a look the stable are over there. And if you fancy sketching them, go ahead, you can probabaly rope in somebody to pose too."

"He's getting the dogs, they have enough sense to stay out of the way of a horse race, but you can never be too careful, so we kept them in the house for this one." Charlie explained, before opening the door to the kitchen and hollering inside. "OI! GET YOURSELF OUT HERE! UNLESS YOU WANT TO BE ON FISH-GUTTING DUTY!" Charlie had an extraordinarily loud voice, clearly she didn't need a loudhailer to be heard at crime scenes. "GOD'S NO! I've already done enough of that in preparation for the veritable banquet we've made. I'M COMING DOWN!" He yelled back, before emerging a few minutes later with all three dogs in tow.

 

[MzHyde]

Kay listened to Cliff as she explained how many horses they had. She definitely would be taking an opportunity to sketch them the moment she could, but for now that would require going back to The House to grab her supplies which she couldn't be bothered to do just yet. "I'll definitely be sketching them at some point" Kay confirmed, liking the idea of someone posing with the horse. She was even starting to get ideas of putting her own spin on the animals, now she knew they aquatic abilities. She also figured being at the stables to sketch would be really good and calming for her.

Fia looked at Charlie nodding, it made sense to her thar they'd keep the dogs out the way of the horses. Though when Charlie bellowed into the house for Matteo, Fia had to chuckle surprised at how loud she was, whilst impressed and figured that voice definitely would come in handy in the force. She waited for him to come down and saw him emerge a few minutes later. "Good to go?" She asked Matteo, signalling she was willing to take one of the leashes at least for him. Seeing the dogs again made her smile, she really was feeling so much better than the previous day, and in a good mood after proving she could escape The House either way. "Also...might wanna pick your brains on some pranks....need to get one over on John" she smirked.