[PRP] The Cats are Back in Town~ (Iyari/Quidel)

[kuumeii]

Wind blowing in her hair made her feel closer to the feral ways from before. Underneath her the jaguar mount moved quickly on the training field, zig-zagging its way across it as she shifted her body weight on it to force it's turns. Moments like this was when she felt free again, to be herself and free to be happy. Whatever "happiness" truly meant anymore.

With a swerve the jaguar stopped and Iyari hopped off of it, rubbing behind it's ears and stretching her arms and wings upward into the sky. It was a lot warmer than she thought and she wiped her brow as the jaguar circled around her, it's ears twitching to someone nearby. "Hm?" She looked back in the direction and grinned as she noticed another body here also working with a mount.

Not just any mount, another feline mount. Under her hand the jaguar had moved it's head, staring in the direction. This is part of what she liked about the tower, she could run into anyone regardless of what floor she was on. Slowly she approached the horseman. What could she say? Her legs were taking her closer and closer.

"You must be quite fast with your mount." She said as she neared. That was a normal way to speak, right?

musicaloner7

I hope this is an okay start post! I love the big cats aaaaah~

 

[musicaloner7]

kuumeii

yep, totally fine.

It was an important ritual for Qui and his mount to continue carrying out their training and practices on a daily basis. His bond with the creature had only grown since the loss of their home, and was the strongest presence that kept the stallion from completely receding into himself. He adored the creature more than anything.

The mount had just trotted back to him after having dashed off to show the War horseman his improved stride without the mild weight of its rider, able to give Qui something to compare to when he was atop his partners back. Maneuverability was key and important, especially as a stallion of the War clan, for his mount. Should they get to hunt again, or be in some sort of scenario where agility was key, he'd need to make sure that his mount wasn't struggling because of his added poundage.

Fingers stroked through the short, sleek fur along the cheetah's jaw, the large feline head pressing to Qui's chest affectionately to receive the same in return. There was that rare faint smile on the stallions lips as he doted on his mount, one hand sliding up to rub at the base of the rounded ear, toying with the piercings equipped with a few of his feathers. If the mount could purr, it would. But like the jaguar, those large radars swiveled and twitched with the approach of the mare and her own companion, making a single eye crack open to a mere slit to take a calm peek.

Qui picked up on it immediately, somewhat in a trance with the bonding exercise with the cheetah, face resuming its stoic features, smile disappearing once he acknowledged the other horsemans presence. Looking to her, eyeing the mount beside her, a small nod was given in answer, "Yeah, for sure." was all he spoke.

He was rusty with this whole meeting people thing. He'd only gotten lucky that Uru was understanding, since he too was the same at one point. So he turned his attention to the femme's mount, tipping his head in gesture to it, "Nice mount." was all he managed to add on.
 

[kuumeii]

Something had shifted in just a few short strides from where she first spoke to him to where she was now, staring directly at him. Guarded. That was the word she would use to explain it. Almost like a mirror image of what she had felt everyday for a good long while now. Her eyes shifted to his mount and she smirked to it, her bright eyes moving back over to the stallion. "Thank you. We must be of similar mind to have feline mounts." It was her way of a compliment and she hoped he would take it that way.

There was a pause of silence as she got lost in thought for a moment. Meanwhile her jaguar had moved to her front, staring at the cheetah with a curious sniff. With a slow blink she stretched forward with her hind legs up before pulling forward to stretch the other part of her body. Then she turned and sat herself down completely on the ground while her tail lightly danced over the dirt behind her. Iyari felt a jealous jolt to her body and shot a glance downward towards her. How are you able to handle this when I can't?

Her attention was back at Quidel. She'd seen him before, hadn't she? Surely she would have had to. Those memories were few and far in the cracks of her mind. Perhaps missing entirely. Though she could recall seeing him in the reserve and now here in the tower...

She was standing there saying nothing and it took her a moment to realize it.

"Eh..." Her eyes looked back to his cheetah and she gave a half smile back to him. "With that display earlier you must be well versed in using your mount. I take it you come out here often?" A pang moved through her body, followed by a hint of guilt. It had been a long while since her jaguar had a good workout. Perhaps she should take from his example.

musicaloner7

O DO

 

[musicaloner7]

kuumeii

The comparison made him look between the two big cats, before giving a mild shrug, "Couldn't stay." he replied. Similarities didn't really relate much to him, now adays. "Good taste, though." he decided to tack on at the end there.

His own mount slid its head up from pressing to the stallions chest, to turn and watch the jaguar curiously. Little nose twitching and flexing to pick up on the pair of scents that were new, that long, sleek tail curled and flicked with interest, neck even stretching a touch to sniff towards the other feline in reply. He even eased into a seated position as well, under the calm interaction that was taking place. Qui's hands lowered to comb through the fluffier area on the cheetah's chest, massaging the tender skin beneath in praise for the positive response to the strangers.

Glancing back at the training field, the stallion gave a small nod, a ghost of a grin twitching at the corner of his lips as he peeked up to his partner, "Yeah. Like to make sure he gets out as much as possible. And keeps in shape." after all, Qui trained his own body to keep fit and enhance his own strengths each day. Even if he was stuck in a deep depression, he was determined to keep in fighting form, for the pride of his fallen clan. In a way, it was his attempt of honoring them.

"Usually have him in the woods, though." he muttered as if in an after thought. It was a great place to practice weaving, leaping, and winding through very obscured paths, especially in treetops. But that was where he'd go to train, and where his hopes would elevate. He needed to ween off from it.  

[kuumeii]

There it was. The hint of a smile on him and she watched him bond with the mount, her own hand moving down to rest on the Jaguar's head, nodding to him. "I can see that it's paying off." It was nice talking to someone else, but her gaze lifted as he mentioned woods and there was a gleam in them.

"Trees are our specialty." Perhaps it was a boast, but there was a truth to it and her mount responded by lifting her head proudly to look up to Iyari. The mare felt something billowing inside of her. Was that excitement bubbling up from inside? It was an odd situation and she let herself smile at him.

"Perhaps we should do some mount training together?" Iyari felt strange inside asking, but she had this forming opinion of the stallion. Then a realization. Too forward. "Of course, if you need an introduction first then I'm Iyari." That smirk remained, like a challenge both to herself and to him.

"We don't get out here as much as we should, after all." That was an understatement, naturally. But she wouldn't admit that part so willingly.

musicaloner7

 

[musicaloner7]

kuumeii

He glanced to the mare from the corner of his eyes, a curious brow crooking with the little harmless boasting. The jaguar seemed to agree with the statement too. "Yeah?" managing a faint smirk, he looked to his mount in turn, fingers stroking the plush chest rising up to scratch underneath the small chin, "We're not too bad in the trees ourselves." granted, it made a lot of sense considering he was a War clansmen, and she seemed to be too.

At first, he thought he'd heard incorrectly. Because of this, his reaction was somewhat delayed, golden sharp gaze flickering back to the female to replay her words again in his head. Training... together...? It was a shock, really, never having been asked by any of the other horsemen for such a basic activity. Heck, being acknowledged by one of his kind had been far and few between, he'd gone and figured that they weren't even paying him any mind. A spare hand raised to his crimson hair, tousling it a little in an idle habit of nervousness he tended to do, internally snorting at how thrown off he was by the simple offer, "Yeah, that'd be great." he finally replied with, perhaps in a more laidback tone, than the usual reserved.

"I'm Quidel." he gave pause, as if attempting to see if her name clicked at all. Nope. Nothing about her did, really. Besides the normal traits of a War mare. Then again, he'd been in a haze since he'd gotten here, really not looking at the people for whom he lived amongst. He'd simply glaze over them when his eyes passed their form.

Her honest reveal made him give a small dismissive shrug of a shoulder, the skull clinging there adding to the effect, "Guess we'll have to change that then, won't we?" now it was the stallions turn to offer a semi-challenging remark, that vague grin upturning at the corner of his mouth again, keeping subtle, careful, with those undertones of uncertainty and apprehensiveness.  

[kuumeii]

Yes, there it was. The interest she was hoping to get from him and she gave the Cheetah a gaze before staring back up at him. Was that a look of surprise? It wasn't often she herself asked but this seemed like an opportunity that she needed to take and she watched as his hand moved to his hair and she gave him a smile as he accepted. His tone seemed warmer then, or at least not like before.

"Quidel." She nodded at him, thinking it over in her head. It didn't ring any loud bells but he had heard it from afar, perhaps?

In any case she was looking forward to it now and she let out a small exhale at his retort. "I guess we will." She replied back and stared off towards the trees in the distance and back down to the jaguar who was now up, staring at the cheetah and back towards the trees - almost as excited as Iyari was herself.

Iyari didn't say anything but walked beside Quidel and towards the trees, turning her had back to him with a challenging gaze. No words followed it, but it was clear. It was training first, but her competitive spirit never left her not even for a moment. This was going to be the first fun she'd had in ages.

musicaloner7

 

[musicaloner7]

kuumeii

The gesture did not go unnoticed, the stallion blinking once before straightening himself just a tad more. Looks like she was ready to get back into the thick of it. Well, he wasn't going to pass up a chance to train with someone else. It'd been a blast with Uru, and to be honest... he missed it.

Looking to his own mount, who was quite intrigued with the foreign pair as he stared intently at them, Qui gave the feline a few strokes along that smooth shoulder, before patting it in an encouraging motion. The sleek beast stood back onto its small paws and began to follow the mare and her mount, Quidel following alongside, gaze on the trees that towered so very high. The ones here were nice... but nothing like the woods back home. So lush, thick, and dense, almost to the point that one could hardly see between the sturdy trunks.

Alas hardly anything here could even compare to the beauty of his home. Broaching the edge of the treeline, a hand reached to the cheetah's thick, fluffy scruff, giving the smallest of tugs as he hoisted himself up onto the mounts back, just beneath the shoulders. His wings fanned out to aid in the transition, also giving a stretch before firmly folding against his sides. It was important to keep those things at bay, or they could throw off both rider and mount should they unfurl at the wrong time. His gaze slid to the mare, waiting for her to follow suit.

 

[kuumeii]

Iyari stopped near the edge of the trees, giving her Jaguar an idle, gentle stroke of the ears and turned to Quidel as he moved onto his mount. Before their home had been destroyed, she had seen many fellow War horsemen mount large cats. Yet now she only knew of herself and Quidel and she watched intently as he moved on it and she noticed the gaze.

She let out a clicking noise with her tongue and moved to her mount and it lowered its head as she moved onto it, sliding into a comfortable spot and pulling her legs tight to its sides, her wings stretched out for a moment before comfortably pulling back in and she leaned forward, glancing back to Quidel.

There were no words but she stared back to the stallion with her bright eyes while they shared that stare, then turned back and with the movement from her body shifting forward her mount took off through the trees, working to maneuver through them. It was a bliss she'd missed as they moved among the earthy underbrush. Yet she felt that Quidel's mount may be more flexible in such endeavors given their more extensive training... She glanced back to see if her hunch was right.

musicaloner

Sorry about the delay!

 

[musicaloner7]

kuumeii

Oh gosh I am seriously so sorry, Gaia never gave me a notification for this. Thank goodness I was going through Qui's rps.

It was a sort of funny little tingle of excitement that rushed through the stallions gut when watching his fellow clansmen climb aboard their own mount. It'd been awhile since he'd had another to compare to, and even longer since he'd had some friendly competition.

With both of them comfortably seated on their charges, Qui let his feet grip a little tighter, thighs flexing to secure himself on his partners back. The cheetah was staring forward, but his attention was on the pair beside them. Head lowered, muscles flexing beneath the short, fluffy fur, the preparations were set. And just as the energy shifted from the jaguar, the cheetah reacted just as well. Smaller paws pushed off firmly, shooting the slender form forward like an arrow, the padding of paws were light and fluttered. Sleek tail bowed and jagged to the side to assist with maneuvering, winding and slinking around the obstacles that the forest provided. While not a natural habitat for the mount, it was clear that he'd been trained to learn how to read it appropriately.

Qui kept right up with Iyari, his gaze glancing to her from time to time, reading her felines body language briefly, before snapping his attention back ahead of him. His mind was already sifting through little ideas and routes to take ahead of them, to gain an upper hand, feeling his companions power radiating. It charged the stallion in turn, making him give a subtle tug to the short mane at the nape of the big cats neck, causing the beast to leap up and take to the trees, bounding along the branches, and spotting for the ones ahead.