Sunrise for the Damned [sraes]

[Coward]

He let out a low breath at the confirmation, eyes brightening until the warrior turned away. As Kade approached the remaining slaver all the expression drained out of his face, replaced by numb anticipation. His shot should have been better. The woman's keening continued until Kade stooped over her.


Sid froze as he watched the woman slaver's quiet death. For a few seconds there was no sound but the drone of insects, a harsh snort from the horse. He couldn't see Kade's face, but the pause and the set of his shoulders said a lot.


When the warrior turned back to him he blinked, jolting back into motion. Started picking at the interwoven mess around him again.


His instinctive answer was 'no', but this was taking longer than he'd thought. Hopefully his bow was alright - one of the weights was looped through the gap between arms and strings.The weights swung against him whenever he tried moving, thumped against the fresh bruises. There was a piece of hair he couldn't get out of his mouth, which was somehow just as annoying. He gave up quickly. His eyes flit back up, took in the knife.


"Please?" he said, equally grateful and embarrassed.


While the other man started to cut he found himself staring at the bodies again, bit his lip.


"Maybe we saved that poor bastard they were chasing," he said, eventually. "I don't... get it."

 

[sraes]

Kade cocked an eyebrow curiously at the pause, watching Sid fruitlessly pick at the rope wound around him for a moment. If the bolas hadn't caught his arm so well he'd have probably had better luck with it but as it was he wasn't making much progress.


"Of course." Closing the last bit of space at the acceptance, Kade carefully went to work with the knife and focused on freeing Sid from the weapon's clutches.


The work was a bit awkward and slow, much more so than it would have been normally, but without a second hand to brace the movements and still not used to the lack he was erring on the side of caution. Still he made short work of the bolas and was soon letting the weighted ropes fall to the ground at Sid's feet.


"Probably; I doubt more than two people would have gone after one man." Re-sheathing his knife, Kade followed his gaze to the slaver's bodies for a moment before looking back to Sid instead. There was a hint of confusion at the last remark. "What do you mean?"


The situation was troubling - slavers hunting people down always was, especially in the middle of a barony that didn't traffic in them - but he wasn't sure what about it was confusing. Slavers were a disgusting bit of life in the Outer Kingdoms but not a new one and with the armies fighting further north it wasn't surprising to see them taking advantage of the unrest.


People like that were carrion birds, flocking in at the first signs of misfortune and looking to benefit however they could.

 

[Coward]

He brightened in gratitude, freezing in place while Kade worked on the cords around him. The thing fell away in awkward, tangled pieces, that clung in the gaps of his bow, but for the time being he resisted picking at it. The back of Kade's knife was cool where it slid between skin and rope - better not to wriggle around.


When it was done he groaned, trying to stretch the ache out of his arms and shoulders. That only sent lancing jolts of pain across his ribs, but he couldn't resist. He hadn't realised how much he liked moving around normally.


The question gave him pause, and he blew out a harsh breath, eyes flickering. Now it seemed dumb, because what he'd meant had been something like 'I don't get how people can do this.' But, he knew why of course. Money, survival. The idea of slaving just didn't agree with his brain too well, not having grown up with it. He was still glancing helplessly at the bodies stark in the sun. Flies had already appeared from somewhere, dotting their pallid skin.


"I don't know," he said eventually, rubbing the back of his neck.


After a second he cleared his throat, gave Kade a wan smile. "Ah well. I guess we have horses now?"


The nearest one was standing a fair way up the road by now, looking at them sideways with one wide, black eye. The way it's head was up, ears flicking, Sid was pretty sure it would bolt if either of them tried to catch it. The other one was standing in the gutter, almost further than he could see. As he watched it trotted a few steps closer and blew a harsh snort, torn between it's companion and wanting to maintain distance. They were both dusty, pale dunn with soot-black legs. Wilder-looking, more ragged than the horses he'd been around as a kid.


Sid winced, looked down at his chest instead. It sure felt like cracked ribs, though he didn't want to say so. Kade would only waste a bunch of magic on him, and maybe it wasn't that bad? After a second he couldn't resist, though. He rucked up his shirt to see three wide, perfectly circular bruises. On his pale skin they were already turning livid purple.

 

[sraes]

Kade looked askance at the evasion and subtle redirection but didn't push the questioning any further. Now wasn't the time for an interrogation and if was important Sid would probably bring it up later. For now they needed to get themselves back on track if they were going to make any kind of progress before midday.


"If we can catch them." Not sounding too convinced of their chances, Kade eyed the animals standing down the road skeptically. Horses were not creatures he'd had a lot of experience with - in fact, other than Hive Horse, he could probably count the number of times he'd seen the beasts up close on one hand.


As for riding them himself? The thought was a bit more daunting than he'd like to admit.


"Maybe if we move the bodies downwind they'll be more inclined to come back." Horses were prey animals after all, even taking into account what the slavers had to have been using them for the scent of blood would probably put them on edge.


"What do yo-" A quick glance over his shoulder halted that sentence - that entire line of thought - in its tracks as he took in the bruises staining Sid's skin. Hissing in a breath through his teeth he pulled Sid's shirt a little higher, taking in the damage. As dark as the bruising already was it was almost too much to hope for the ribs beneath to be unaffected.


Gently, Kade ran fingers over the rapidly darkening skin and probing as lightly as he could manage for any give that would indicate broken bones, murmuring apologies all the while.


"I don't think anything is broken." Relieved, Kade splayed his hand over the tender area and started to call up his magic.

 

[Coward]

Would they? Maybe, horses were fickle. He was a little surprised these hadn't run off completely, actually, but maybe they weren't close to home.


Sid was about to say something agreeable, before Kade whipped around to see his bruises. He blinked instead, opened his mouth to protest - something like 'no magic'. Looking at Kade's expression though he found he didn't have the heart. He submitted to the examination without protest, chewing his lip as the warrior's fingers ran gentle over the darkened skin. For himself he was still hurting, but mostly awed by the damage the bolas had done. Good thing it hadn't wrapped around his head.


Maybe the weights, added to the speed of a horse's gallop had been a pretty powerful. Could he shoot an arrow off a horse and have it hit? A slight spike of pain stopped him thinking about that.


When Kade announced his ribs were in one piece he grinned, let out a low whistle or relief. He hadn't liked the idea of walking to Salt Flat with a cracked rib too much. The other man still had a palm laid gentle over the bruise, though. Warmth and a slight prickle across the skin was the only outward sign of magic, but by now he was watching for it. Sid had been planning to stop him, but the pain ebbing was good enough that he hesitated, reveling in the warmth for a second.


Eventually he reached down to wrap his fingers around Kade's wrist. "Thanks," he said, and used the leverage to reel him in. For an instant their lips closed in a brief kiss, before he made a soft noise, drawing back. More important things.


"They'll be okay," he said, glancing down at his chest. "Save it for the skeletons."

 

[sraes]

With his lip caught between his teeth and his eyes unfocused it was obvious that Kade's concentration was elsewhere, steadily feeding his magic into the heavy bruising and coaxing the blood vessels into mending. The sudden tug forward caught him off guard; pleasantly so given that he ended up caught in the warm press of Sid's mouth instead.


Still, a protest was on the tip of his tongue as soon as the kiss broke - as much over ending the kiss as it was about ending the healing - but it was cut off at the pass.


"Alright." Subsiding reluctantly, though he knew Sid was right that his magic should be kept in reserve for the time being, Kade sighed and drew back but not before he leaned in for another quick kiss. Relieved that they'd come out of the fight relatively unharmed even as he was disappointed they'd had to fight at all.


Speaking of which. "I'd better move the bodies out of the way so we can see about luring those horses in." Completely releasing Sid he moved towards where the male slaver was sprawled out in the middle of the asphalt before glancing back to add, "And be careful of those ribs - I could only reduce the bruising a bit so don't put too much stress on them."


It took a bit longer than he have liked to muscle to two corpses off into the treeline, the dead weight awkward and neither of the siblings particularly small, but soon they out of sight but for a few fist-sized rocks Kade arranged in an arrow on the road so whoever looked for them could find them more easily. "Any ideas for the horses?"

 

[Coward]

Moving the bodies was a pain, but he couldn't see the horses coming near them while they were lying there. He quickly checked their pockets before they were abandoned to the forest, but came up empty except for a flint and two clipped coins. If the pair had had anything it must have been in the saddle-bags.


When Kade had finished his sign - Sid had to grin at that - the pair stood in the center of the road, looking out to where their potential new friends were warily switching their tails. The horses had moved to stand in a close pair, with one of them tentatively cropping at the stunted grass on the roadside.


At the question Sid blew out a breath, crossing his arms behind his head. "Bribes?" he said, dubious. Then he grinned, shrugging. Quickly he dug through his pack, coming up with pieces of stale tack. If the horses didn't eat them he would - they hadn't stopped since that morning, and dragging corpses was hard work.


In fact - he bit off a corner, chewing happily before passing another piece to Kade.


"Okay," he said to the horses, watched both heads rise.


"If we go slow enough, they might just stand there," he said, unjustifiably hopeful. The horses his family owned wouldn't just stand there, and they hadn't been owned by insane outlander slavers.


Nevertheless, the horses did stand, more or less steady, as they slowly crept closer. Every so often there'd be a twitch of muscle, a flash of eye-white, but when they were a few feet away the horses were still standing. Better, they were craning their necks at the tack, nostrils flaring.

 

[sraes]

"Bribes?" Kade snorted a laugh, not even sure what they would use to bribe a horse with, but accepted the plan easily enough. It's not like they had any other option. Other than leave the horses behind.


Despite his trepidation, however, the speed the horses would give them was worth a little extra time spend corralling them. Also worth getting over any nerves he had about riding them. It couldn't be too hard, right?


While Sid scrounged through their supplies for an appropriate 'bribe', Kade recovered his sword from where he'd tossed it earlier in the fight and slid it back into its sheath after a cursory inspection.


"Might as well give it a try." Accepting the bits of hard tack, Kade followed Sid's lead in approaching the horses. He tried to keep his steps light and movements calm as they got closer but wasn't sure he entirely succeeded. Either way it didn't seem to bother the horses too much since neither took off despite keeping a weather eye on them. "Huh. I think this is actually working."


By the time the horses were just beyond their reach, Kade was starting to feel hopeful that they'd actually be able to get on their way soon. The horse closest to them - with a white patch on its forehead - was edging closer to Sid and the promise of food in his hands; the second horse was a bit more timid, hanging back from them but not seeming inclined to abandon it's partner.


Still moving with slow deliberation, Kade reached out and caught the trailing ends of the braided rope the slavers had rigged into reins when the leader finally moved into range as it lipped at Sid's hand. That just left one.


"C'mon girl - boy? horse? - nothing to fear here." He murmured at the trailing horse, holding out a piece of tack in his free hand while the first horse was occupied. Apparently deciding food outweighed distrust, it sidled over with cautious steps to accept the bribe and allowed itself to be caught with little fuss beyond a few displeased snorts.

 

[Coward]

It was actually working. He grinned sidelong, biting back an appreciative whoop when Kade snagged the first pair. That would have spooked the other. When he'd taken the reins he stood scratching the horse's withers as it ground up his hardtack, watching the warrior sidling towards the second one. He was going to remember this for a while, and at Kade's jumbled reassurance he couldn't resist leaning to take a look.


"Girl," he said, helpfully. "Or woman, I guess?"


The horse wasn't much worse than the first one, though, and once the ice had been broken both of them stood, ears flicking lazily, tails switching at the flies on their sides.


"Whew," Sid said, with an unshakable grin. One hand thumped Kade on the shoulder, while the other scratched up a cloud of dust from his horse's neck. The animal blew a snort, eyes half closed. He'd thought they would be chasing the damn things all afternoon. Eventually he stopped congratulating himself, though, went to rifle through the saddle bags.


Some food, mostly jerk meat of an unidentifiable animal. Pots, a long knife, and a jar of the red stuff that they'd been painted with. Rope. Lots of rope. Maybe he shouldn't think too deeply about that. He left it in there, set about tying his pack up behind the saddle.


"Fair warning," he said, cheerful, "I have not rode a horse in a long time."

 

[sraes]

"Girl then." Kade corrected himself with a slight laugh as he secured his grip on the female's reins and flashed Sid a quick grin. The two horses, apparently fairly well trained or maybe just resigned to their fates, settled quickly into being recaptured with equanimity. The hard tack seemed to placate them for now. Although they'd have to look into food for them he supposed.


What exactly did horses eat anyways? Plants obviously, did it matter what kind? Gaole had had a horse, it ate grains if he remembered correctly. And there was something in his mind about grasses too. Ah well, they'd figure something out sooner or later.


"I still can't believe that worked." Kade shook his head in disbelief, running a curious rein-wrapped hand over the female's flank. She was warmer than he'd expected, though it wasn't too surprising given the size of the beasts and how hard the slavers had been running them earlier. They seemed well rested now, though, the short reprieve having given them ample time to cool down.


Like Sid he took a moment to poke through the saddle bags and add his own things to the mix but nothing of particular interest cropped up, the ocher the only thing even slightly odd. Even that could just be written off as an affectation or a symbol of a group they'd worked with, nothing unusual.


Kade tossed the little clay pot to the side of the road. He no longer wore such pigments and red had never been his color anyway.


"You've still got a lead on me, then. I've never even been on one." Cautiously excited about the prospect even as he eyed his mount with a trace of wariness, he tugged lightly on the makeshift saddle - a few thin layers of leather cinched over a blanket - to make sure it stayed firmly in place.

 

[Coward]

Sid rocked happily on his heels, then stopped when that stretched his bruised chest. "Sometimes things have to go right, I guess."


Truly he was still riding the high himself - neither of them seriously hurt, and somehow they'd gotten horses. He was putting the reins back over his own mare's head, when Kade dropped a new piece of information. Oh.


He couldn't resist bending to meet his gaze, peering through the gap under his mare's neck. Then he grinned and bit his lip, turned to hide his face for a second. "This'll be fun, then?" he said, hesitant.


Fun. This would either be adorable or horrifying, and he wasn't sure which yet. The flimsy 'saddle' didn't look like much support, more of a harness piece to hang stirrups and bags. At least there were stirrups? And Kade had one hand. So, no gripping reins and clinging on for dear life at the same time. He finished a knot on his pack, and sidled over to the warrior, bumped casually into him.


"Here, I better hold it while you get on," he said at last, hoping that wasn't too insulting.


With his fingers under the cheek-piece of the bridle the animal was as steady as it was going to get. Not very. The star-head horse's ears twitched, apparently sensing that something weird was going on.

 

[sraes]

"I'll believe that when we go another day without a giant centipede attacking." Kade grumbled but a grin still held reign on his face - even with the distaste he felt for the slavers' deaths the little bit of good luck was heartening, especially when they still had to make haste to Salt Flats.


Walking it would have been a tight chase but any sizable group of soldier would be slower, doubly so when they were carting children along.


Kade patted the mare on the neck as he finished checking over the horse's tack. It was more of a common sense, make-sure-nothing-feels-like-it-will-break-when-i-put-weight-on-it, check than anything - despite the overall simplicity of the set up there were still more cinches and buckles than he knew what to do with. Luckily everything seemed to be in good repair and secure enough.


So he probably wouldn't fall off the horse. Probably.


"Fun, yeah. Also terrifying." Unconsciously leaning into Sid's side, he shot the other man a grin. He was joking, mostly. There were plenty of much more nerve-wracking things he'd done in his life - he'd just never had to do them for the first time in front of, well, Sid.


His face already felt a little warm at the offer of help. This wasn't the time to be prideful, though. It took a bit of wriggling - both from him and the mare - and at one point he nearly overshot and slid straight off the other side, but finally Kade was astride the horse. Completely ungraceful and sitting stiff as a board in an attempt not to accidentally hit the gas, but he was up there. "Thanks Kitten."

 

[Coward]

"What's the difference?"


Watching Kade clambering on answered some questions: it was possible for something to be terrifying and adorable at the same time. His heart was pounding, but he was having to force a grin off of his face.


The mare's nervous stamping and ear-switching didn't bode well. He ran a hand down her neck, trying not to stare too openly at Kade stabilising himself. She was a pretty horse. Maybe a little too pretty, actually. Sid was starting to suspect the two mares were quite young, from how they were acting. Still, Kade was up. Looking more or less like a carved statue of himself.


"No problem," he said, grinning helpless up at him. "Squeeze with your legs to speed up, pull back to slow..."


He rattled off the rest of the basic riding instruction in a blithe stream, scratching the center of the mare's forehead. The star got brighter the more dust flew out of her coat. He could almost feel Kade's embarrassment; a sympathetic heat in the back of his own neck. As much as he would like to not say all this stuff, he would far rather Kade be embarrassed than fall off in a ditch.


Finally he fixed the warrior in an earnest stare. "Don't panic, they feed on human fear." He might have given him a clap on the shoulder, but now he couldn't reach. Instead he got his leg - the closest part - and gave it a pat like 'don't even worry about it'.


His own horse did a certain amount of skittering before he got a leg over - definitely not the most stable animals. Once he was on though she settled, tossing her head a little like this whole thing was boring.

 

[sraes]

Every ounce of Kade's concentration was on the thousand pound creature beneath him, hyper aware of every little twitch of the mare's muscles as if it would help him stay on her. Or give him some warning if she was about to throw him off.


It seemed to work, insofar as he hadn't hit the ground yet, so he was calling it a win. Not that they'd tried actually moving yet. One step at a time though.


"Alright." Kade did his best to absorb all the instructions Sid was giving him but every little sidestep or twitch of an ear had his attention skittering back to the horse. He got the gist of it he figured; squeeze was go, pull was stop, etc. The jittery nerves were still present, mostly edged out by embarrassment and excitement but still there.


That is until Sid had to go and say that.


"Not helpful, Sid!" The slightly choked sound was a good octave higher than normal as he gave both his mare and his man distrustful looks. Human fear, his ass. And then Sid had to go and mount his own horse, which meant Kade's wasn't being anchored by anything but training and his own probably terrible seat.


'Don't panic. Human fear. Right.' He repeated, consciously trying to relax with less than satisfying results if the sharp shake of the mare's head was anything to go by. He was still on and she hadn't bolted though; still counting that as a win.


"I guess we should go then." Now that they were both mounted there was no point in delaying departure. The mare was already fidgeting beneath him as if sensing impending movement - or, more likely, feeling the increase in his tension. Kade cautiously shifted the reins in his hand to lead her head around and gently pressed his knees into her sides. Too gently, it seemed, when she didn't react to the prompt at first. Squeezing a bit harder, Kade jumped in his seat when she suddenly jolted forward into a walk.


He did not yelp, he did not.

 

[Coward]

"Sorry, sorry." He was still stifling a laugh when he turned back to watch him, eyes bright. For a second all he could do was rub his mouth, leaning back in the saddle.


The poor bastard hadn't bashed off through the trees, which was a start. Sid hadn't thought a horse could look confused, but Kade's did. The awkward shifting on her back had her head up, ears swiveling rapidly. She swayed a little, lifted a forefoot before putting it down again. Meanwhile Kade was staring down at her with profound distrust, and Sid could practically see his hackles standing.


Luckily he'd glanced away to gather his reins when Kade yelped, because he had to squeeze his eyes shut to keep from sputtering. When he looked back the mare was moving at a slow amble down the road, with the warrior stiff as a board on her back.


"Yep," he said, the only word he could manage before biting down again.


With the reins in one hand he eased up alongside him, now kind of pleased himself. He'd forgotten how ridiculously high off the ground you were, and the challenge of moving a different way. The mare under him was toey, despite the dried sweat on her sides. He was already holding her back to walk normally. As a kid he'd liked riding for a while, right up until his parents had abruptly sold all of their stock at once.


Looking back, that really should have been a sign.


He was a little more sober when he checked on Kade again, but that fell apart at the expression on his face.


"Doing fine," he said, reached up to push his hair out of his eyes. Suddenly he broke into a fierce grin. "Let me know when you want to go faster."

 

[sraes]

Kade snorted, not believing that apology in the slightest, but couldn't do much else with his focus so wholly on the mare. It didn't seem he was actually offended by Sid's amusement at his sake, just embarrassed, so it was probably just as well.


The suddenness of her reaction startled him more than the speed, she was moving at little more than a stately walk much to his relief. It had been all he could so not to instinctively clamp his legs tighter along her sides for better balance but, luckily, he'd managed. He didn't want to imagine what would have happened otherwise.


He didn't have too - him flat on his ass in the dirt while the mare raced off without him was already right there, front and center.


A few dozen strides in and he, again, tried to relax in his seat to mixed results. With his feet planted a little more firmly in the stirrups and the reins firmly in his right hand, stump of his left forearm braced against the front of the saddle, Kade was starting to feel a little less like he was about to slip off any second. The main problem being the jarring sensation rattling up his spine with each hoofbeat.


Kade barely registered when Sid drew up beside him, too focused on trying to match his movements to the horses footsteps. Dark eyes narrowed in concentration - surely this couldn't be too difficult? He'd never noticed anyone else looking like their teeth were being shaken out of their skulls while they rode - snapped wide at the suggestion.


"Faster." He stated flatly, the deadpan recitation doing more than enough to convey 'you are out of your mind' 'no' and 'fuck no' all in a single word. Especially when he only spared the man a quick glance before returning his gaze to the front.


Still, those few seconds were enough for Kade to see just how unfairly relaxed and calm Sid looked on his own horse. And to make him want to lean over and kiss that grin right off his face. Too bad if he tried that he really would slip from the mare's back; instead he tried to convey the 'I know you're laughing at me and I will make you pay for it later, when we're not on top of walking death traps' with his eyes. He'd have said it too, for good measure, except he thought if he tried he'd probably end up biting his tongue instead.

 

[Coward]

The grin widened. "Faster," he repeated, breezy. "I thought you wanted fun?"


Alright, maybe he was enjoying himself a little too much. Actually it would be better if Kade tried going faster on purpose, though. The young mare was inevitably going to shy from something at some point, and then Kade would be going faster whether he liked it or not.


He might have said that, but he thought the other man wouldn't like it much.


The sun was dipping by now, and they'd left the bodies of the slavers behind. Although they weren't moving any faster than they would have on foot, the road made for good time. Sid watched the warrior from the corner of his eye, never quite getting tired of the look on his face. He did seem to be slowly unwinding, though - no longer jolting against the mare's steps, knuckles not quite as pale on the reins.


In between he fiddled with bow and arrows, trying to figure how he would shoot from the horse. Standing, maybe - the arms were too long otherwise, thumping against his legs or the saddle. And he'd have to drop the reins. For a long second he tried that, sighting at a power pole they were about to pass. Finally he couldn't take the curiosity, drew and loosed like he was standing on solid ground.


The solid thunk as his arrow struck got an instant grin out of him. Meanwhile his horse had and barely twitched - used to the thrum of a bolas. Sid trotted down the verge, standing in the stirrups and leaning to yank his arrow out.


"I am now an elite mounted archer," he said, wry, rejoining Kade on the road.

 

[sraes]

"This is more than enough fun for me, thanks so much." Kade gritted out, smiling slightly at Sid's amusement despite his nerves. He couldn't bring himself to do more than enjoy Sid's attention even if that included teasing him.


Still he looked completely against the thought of moving any faster than a brisk walk, already feeling like his perch on the beast's back was precarious enough. It was already odd enough for him to not be entirely in control of his own movements, instead having to react to the horse's. No need to tempt fate.


They kept up a fairly steady pace throughout the rest of the afternoon, even accounting for Kade's reluctance, and by the time the day started to wind down he was feeling... not comfortable atop the mare but less like he was seconds away from falling into a rather painful and embarrassing early grave.


At least he'd mostly figured out how to move with the mare instead of against her, finally, so his jaw felt less like it was being hammered.


Even as focused as he was on riding Kade immediately noticed when Sid started purposefully shifting around off to the side. Curious, he looked over and felt his questions freeze in his throat when he saw the archer standing up in his stirrups - he wasn't even holding on to the reins.


Eyes wide, Kade watched the arrow sail into the post and be plucked back out shortly thereafter in silence. Slowly the shock faded and a warm smile crept over his face to replace it as Sid rejoined him on the road. "You are amazing." Sincerity was bright in his eyes, but quickly dropped into seriousness when he added. "I am never doing that."

 

[Coward]

Sid shot a lengthy look from narrowed eyes. "Aren't I just?"


He hadn't been serious - shooting a post a few feet away at a lazy walk wasn't impressive by anyone's standards - but now he was blushing under the sincerity in Kade's voice. He bit his lip, scratching the back of his neck as he glanced away. Now a new problem with horses become clear - he wanted to kiss him, but that would have meant practically mashing the poor animals together.


The change in tone made him turn back, and he nudged the mare a little closer. His eyes went wide looking up at him. Never doing what? Not shooting a bow - Kade could do that.


"You're already riding," he said, suddenly. "Way better than my first time, too. I fell off."


Sid winced in remembering, but he kept blathering before he could think better of it. "I really wanted to jump over something. Anything. So I went as fast as I could at a fence. That was only slightly faster than we're going now, if I'm being generous."


A grin lit up his eyes, tinted heavily with embarrassment. Jokes aside, he really did want Kade to be impressed with him. One hand was fiddling with his arrows when he went on.


"Anyway, the horse stopped, but not dramatic or anything. I just kind of slowly toppled over the front end, and then I was hanging between the fence and the horse's neck. I wouldn't let go. Gabe had to peel me off."


Actually, it was his brother had dared him to try. Gabe had laughed his ass off the whole time, and then goaded him into trying again the next day. The smile faded slightly, went faint at the edges.


"Point is, you're doing fine," he finished lamely.

 

[sraes]

"Really?" he asked, somewhat disbelieving. Sid looked so relaxed riding that horse that it was hard to imagine him being so new to it that he'd fall off, but then everyone had to start from somewhere. A slight grin tugged at his lips but he quickly suppressed it and listened intently as he kept talking.


He loved learning all these bits and pieces of Sid's past, especially since he knew how hard it was for him to talk about it most of the time, and didn't want to discourage him from continuing the story. Still he couldn't keep the amusement from his face near the end. Picturing a young Sid hanging from a horse's neck while his brother had to pluck him off was honestly adorable.


"Cute." Sensing the slight shift in mood at the mention of his brother though Kade let the story go without further comment, somewhat displeased he couldn't just reach out and touch Sid from the horse's back.


"I don't know; the day's not over yet, and I still have to figure out how to get down from this thing." he grinned with a glance down at the mare he was riding. "I've still got time to fall off yet." Falling off was honestly the most likely outcome to trying to get off too. Kade could walk all day without a problem but he wasn't used to riding the same length of time - muscles he didn't even know he had were already loudly protesting the change.


The day was coming to an end, however, as the sun sunk below the treetops around them. If his sense of distance was accurate, they would probably pass over into Amaat sometime close to midday tomorrow. After that would only be a few more days to Salt Flat where, hopefully, they'd be able to catch up to Ysanus' people.

 

[Coward]

Cute. The single-word comment had him scratching the back of his head, smiling more naturally again. Abruptly occurred to him how much better it was to talk about these things with Kade than anyone else, and just that he'd been handling it better in general since he met him. The memories didn't have the same razor edge as they used to, no longer an off-limits part of his own mind.


The shadow still clung, though. He would never see any of those people again.


At the next bit he snickered helplessly, following the glance down. Star-face switched her tail lazily, turned her head in response to this attention. "Falling is the easiest way down," he agreed, deadpan. "But I think you can skip to more advanced techniques like 'dismounting'."


He was actually impressed at how considerate the mare was being. The mare had settled into the ambling like it was her natural speed. No hint that a few hours earlier she'd been riding some poor bastard down at a gallop. Meanwhile, his own horse had barely calmed in the last hours. Her head turned constantly, searching, and the restless energy of her coiled muscles radiated up Sid's core. Blisters were starting where the reins rubbed his fingers. It seemed like she just wanted to sprint somewhere - anywhere - and he was constantly forced to haul her back.


When they stopped she actually stamped, like a petulant child, snorting as she flung her tangled mane. Sid stared in disbelief for a second, grinned across at Kade. They'd accidentally chosen the right horses - this one was insane. He looped the reins over a branch of the nearest tree, then staggered on wobbly legs to go hold Kade's horse.


Before he could do anything so practical though he made a pleased noise, slumped bodily against the warrior's thigh. "See?" he mumbled, "Didn't even fall yet."

 

[sraes]

"Ah, you have such faith in me." Kade mused with a hint of laughter, shaking his head once as if in admonishment over believing he'd be able to do anything more than slip off the horse's back and into a puddle on the ground.


By the time they did pull to a stop dusk was already beginning to darken the skies. They directed their horses - Sid much more easily than Kade despite his horse's relative placidity - off the road and into the trees that bordered it. They foliage was fairly dense here and there was still hints of moisture from the rains of the day before, but with their tarp to bed down on it wouldn't be an issue.


He watched Sid dismount - studied, more like - but didn't try to imitate the action as Sid staggered forward and, to his amusement, leaned onto his leg. His mare didn't even seem to notice, already cropping the grass at her feet despite the bit in her mouth.


"Yet." Quietly laughing Kade laid his reins down - comfortable that the mare wasn't about to move - and ran his fingers through Sid's hair. Absently he worked the windblown tangles from the strands as the archer lounged against him, content with that bit of contact. He made a mental note to offer to braid Sid's hair back before they left the next day.


His fingers faltered in their movements for a second when he remembered oh, yeah. I can't. Shying back from that thought, Kade lightly tugged at Sid's hair to get his attention.


"You gonna let me down or do I have to sleep up here?" He cocked an eyebrow down at the man with a slight smile. As much as he enjoyed the contact his body was more than ready to get off the horse for the day.

 

[Coward]

"Mff, yet," he agreed, placid. His eyes had narrowed to slits as Kade's fingers wove through his hair.


He hadn't been meaning to stay like this, but now he couldn't move. Muscles ached from riding, and both man and horse were a warm place to lean. For a second he stood like that, almost dozing against his leg, until the hand's motion stalled.


Sid blinked, but he didn't glance up until the tug. Then he grinned, considering Kade sleeping on a horse. Fairly adorable...


"Alright, alright." As he swayed upright he yawned, stretching. "So demanding."


The horse barely flicked an ear as he took the reins, chomping on a mouthful of thick roadside grass. Sid stood aside to let Kade slide off. Maybe the warrior was a little slow and hesitant about it, but when his boots hit the ground he seemed to instantly regain most of his poise.


Sid watched him, envious for a second, then started to drag the grazing mare over to where the other horse was tied.


"Maybe they hobbled them or something?" he said over his shoulder, thinking aloud. Without any structure the saddle came off in a tangle of bags and leather and stirrups, heavy enough that he sighed, setting it down. The sweaty patch of fur underneath twitched, and the mare shook herself noisily.

 

[sraes]

"Demanding?" Kade laughed brightly, the sound broken by a groan of pleasure as he stretched his arms over his head to work the kinks out of his back from hours of unaccustomed riding. "Kitten, you haven't seen 'demanding' yet."


Happy to have his feet solidly back on the ground once more, he went over to the horses and followed Sid's lead in unsaddling his own mare. The makeshift saddle came off more or less in one ungainly armful - he tried to keep it as neat as possible so it would be easier to puzzle back out in the morning but suspected it would still be a pain regardless.


Poking through the saddlebags for their supplies, Kade glanced up questioningly at the remark before he caught up with Sid's train of thought. He looked the horses over; tied to the tree as they currently were was good enough for the moment but he didn't think leaving the bridles on all night would be comfortable.


Hobbling them on the other hand? Well, he'd only ever seen people hobbled before but horses probably followed along the same principles.


"I'll trust your judgement on this one." Pulling out the rope the slavers had kept in their saddlebags, he handed it over to Sid as he had no idea what to do with it. "If nothing else I suppose we could always just leash them to the tree like dogs."


While Sid dealt with hobbling the mares, Kade started scrounging up some decently dry firewood. There hadn't been much game that day - beyond the crow Sid had shot that morning - but anything was better than another meal of hard tack.

 

[Coward]

He was still snickering at 'demanding' as he fiddled with the rope, forming loops around his arms. He never minded Kade's 'demands'. Thinking about that took a bit of time, so the idea of leashing them startled him a little.


"We could," he grinned, rubbing at the tangled back of his head. "They'd probably find a way to break their necks, though. I miss Hive."


Horses. Sid cast a baleful eye on their new travelling companions, let out a snort through his nose. Not that hobbles were any better, really, but at least if they were trained for them there was only a small chance they'd break their legs. He hoped.


The way they stood still for him to put them on, Sid thought that maybe he'd actually guessed right for once. Star-face barely flicked an ear, and immediately took a shortened steps to cram more grass into her mouth. Meanwhile Headcase Horse gave him a snake-eyed glare. She stooped to chew angrily on the rope for a few seconds, before settling in frustration.


By the time he was convinced they weren't about to fall over, or panic, the last sliver of sunlight was fading. Kade had a fire going, a warm circle in blue twilight. Stirring the embers with his one hand. By now he often just held his left arm back, like he wasn't sure where to put it.


After a second Sid realised he was just standing and watching, and he had to drag his fingers away from his arrows.


"Hey." He smiled slightly as he folded up next to him, let out a breath at the twinges in his legs. More for something to do he started plucking the crow, letting off fistfuls of black down. "Is your hand, um." What was he doing. Sid curled in on himself slightly, eyes fixed downwards. "If you had... I don't know, a hook or something. Would it help?"