((Continued from viewtopic.php?f=3&t=70 ))

By the time Minke and Seth were able to get past the horde of people entering and leaving Brunnhold, it was past noon. The sky was a charcoal grey interspersed with a few open bits of bruised sky - rain seemed almost inevitable.

Outside of Brunnhold, the ground was just beginning to thaw from the hard winter. The carriage kiosk that was lined up with the outer wall was very busy - no one seemed to want to walk in this weather. Fine carriages pulled by kenser were being rented by galdori professors, visitors and nobles; the shabbier carriages, pulled by common horses, seemed to be serving the humans and wicks. There were only a few, and they seemed in short supply.

Nearby, a small shack in front of a fenced-in area seemed to be renting moa and horses for riding.

"Gee, we picked a wonderful day for traveling. We're moony for even attempting this." Minke complained. She thought about what she had said. If she was ever going to join the resistance, she really needed to toughen up.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to be so plum negative. I'm just a little nervous, I guess." Minke admitted.

Minke looked around. "Maybe we should hitch a ride somehow. They've got those carriages rented by the galdori." Minke thought about it for a second ,"On second thought, maybe we should rent Moa. It'd be faster and probably a bit cheaper than anything the galdori would offer us."

Seth was silent the entire time she'd been talking, his mind wandering aimlessly. I forgot my money... He thought ack on the stash he'd been building for a time, hidden away in an alleyway somewhere, in a pile of useless junk. It was better than keeping it in a bank somewhere, but he'd forgotten to take it. Oh, well... If someone else found it, they would be fortunate, indeed, and probably needed it more than he did, if not, it would be there if and when he returned. Besides, it wasn't like he couldn't make more- there was likely to be some great loot in Vienda.



"Hmm?"



"I've never ridden a Moa before, sounds fun.... oh, hush, Rita, you never have to walk unless you want to." He sighed, looking around, noting the prices. "They don't cost too much to rent..." He took one of his pouches and handed it to Minke- he owed her, anyway- and untied another pouch for himself. "There should be enough gold in each to cover the expenses..." Though he could probably cause confusion and simply steal a Moa, he didn't think that would be a great idea. He didn't want to risk getting cought and imprisoned before he could join the Resistance- that would be pointless, and a complete and utter waste of time.

Minke took the money Seth had handed her. 'Bout time he had paid her back. "Great, thanks."

She walked over to the person renting the mounts.
"One moa please." she said, handing him the money required.

While Minke inquired about renting Moa, Seth had a look around, walking up the the fence and peering in at the beautiful animals. Though the horses were a sight, holding some fierce beauty, it was the Moa which cought his eye- particularly a young, sleek Moa drinking from a trough not far from him- at first glance, it looked solid black, it's feathers possessing a healthy shine. At a closer look, it had deep burgendy patches over it's intelligent golden eyes, and it's long tail had streeks of red and gold. Overall, it was quite the beautiful sight. He wondered, fleetingly, if it was for sale. Maybe.... He knew that for some, with the right price, anything was for sale, but he couldn't be sure. He knew that he would never give up Rita for any price, and this particular Moa may have been somebody elses' Rita. He approached it slowly, reached out a steady hand and stroked it's soft crest. Rita was tense on his shoulder, obviously not liking the bigger animals, but he knew she would eventually get used to it- one of her many great traits was the ability to adjust.... "Shh, Rita, it's ok. He's not going to eat you..." He turned to look at the man in charge of renting out the Moa. "Excuse me, good sir, is this fine beast for sale?"

The man was a short, portly gentleman - a wick, but clearly he had done quite well for himself, and he was dressed in a mock-up of galdori fashion. He dusted off his waistcoat, eyeing Seth through his monocle.

"You got the means to take care of a moa, son?" he said doubtfully, eyeing Seth's clothes as though taking stock of his means. "They need stabling, feed, water, constant care. Can't just lock 'em in the back and forget 'em."

Rita suddenly looked very smug on Seth's shoulder, and he cocked a brow at her. "I suppose not at the moment... Constant care- that's something I'm used to giving, and food and water are easy enough to come by, though I've not the means for stabling him." He bit his lip. "Soon enough, though, I'll have everything I need. I may even end up requiring a mount of some sort for easy travel." He ran his fingers through the bird's feathers, smiling gently as it leaned it's head into his hand, cooing softly. He let out a disappointed sigh. "I guess that just means I'll have to come back for him later. For the moment, though, I do need to rent one." The moa cocked his head to the side, looking slightly offended when Seth stopped stroking him and turned away, pouring a few coins out into his hand. "How much do you need, good sir?"

The man sniffed. "My other office is located on the west side of the Vienda bridge, near the gate," he said. "It'll be five shills up front." He pulled a blue leather strip from his waistcoat, and handed it to Seth. "Give this to my man in Vienda and he'll refund you forty if you get her there safely. Less if you don't." He scowled at the boy, as though threatening him with his life if his precious moa were to return to him in an unsatisfactory state.

Seth nodded and paid the man, thanking him despite the ill-manners, and rejoined Minke, smiling. He mounted his Moa- an older, brown Moa with some black markings on it's chest and a clipped tail- and almost fell off, feeling slightly unbalanced, as he'd never ridden anything before. He stood up a little in the saddle, adjusting himself to it, and then settled back down, he could feel Rita panicking on his shoulder and had to place a hand on her back to calm her. This would take some getting used to for the both of them. Figuring it would be easier on them all, he took Rita and placed her on the saddle in front of him, scratching her between the ears to ease her mood, then he reached forward and stroked the moa's long neck, getting better acquainted with it.

Nodding to himself, he finally turned to Minke. "Ready?"

Minke glanced over at Seth. His moa was absolutely beautiful and he looked so at ease on her. Her moa was not nearly as remarkable. It's feathers were a cream white with a black diamond on the back of it's neck. Minke stared nervously at the moa for a while. How am I going to pull this off, she thought to herself. She tried to approach it the normal way, simple putting a foot in the holster and swinging her other leg around. She was too short.
"Perfect." she muttered.
She stepped back to get some distance from the bird.Minke took a deep breath in and made a running jump for the moa just barely making it onto the saddle. "Oof" she exhaled. The impact of the saddle and her stomach had made her a bit short of breath. She shuffled her legs up onto the saddle and made herself comfortable.

"Okay, I'm ready." she said crimson with embarrassment.

Seth fought the urge to laugh out loud, pressing his lips togther and biting the insides of his cheeks hard. She's so cute. When he managed to calm himself, he finally spoke, but couldn't keep the amused smile out of his voice, "Good, let's be on our way, then?" Let's see... how do you make them go..? With horses, you kick their sides, right? He kicked the bird's sides lightly, when it didn't move, he kicked again, a little more forcefully, this time getting a reaction- not a good one- it turned it's head and pecked his knee hard enough to give him a good bruise, almost causing him to fall off. "Ouch!" The bird glared at him. "Sorry... Umm. Go? Walk? Run? Yip yip? Uhhh...." Running through several phrases in his mind, he clicked his tongue in thought, and the bird lurched forward, and he fell off, having not expected it. "Hey!" He rubbed his backside, feeling very foolish, blushing harder than Minke had been just a few seconds ago. "Well, at least now I know how to make it go..." He got to his feet and re-mounted the bird, which had stopped when he fell off and was staring at him- it looked like the thing was laughing. He cleared his throat, settled himself back in the saddle, and held onto the reins, then clicked his tongue and the bird started walking at an even gait. Seth refused to look Minke in the eye after his little show, still feeling incredibly stupid.

Minke tried to choke down a laugh, but couldn't help but giggle. She clicked her tongue twice and held onto the reins, anticipating a similar scene. To her surprise the moa started off at a nice steady trot.

"I'm sorry, for laughing. I was sitting here marveling at how effortless you looked and the moa just proved me wrong." she apologized. Minke regarded how smooth her own moa take off had gone and added, "Thanks for showing me what not to do."

Seth sighed, still quite embarrassed, but then broke out into a fit of laughter, "That's fine. I would have laughed, too, if it were you." He smirked, "Anyway, I guess we should be off. The trip might take a while..." He shifted in the saddle again, looking at the road ahead. "It'll probably be dark by the time we get there." Once they both had control of their Moa, they continued on down the path, away from the chaos of the crowd.

By this time, the wind across the moors had picked up, and it was difficult to keep balance on their moa - though the birds had naturally thick and sturdy legs, they were light compared to horses or kenser. A light rain dusted their clothes, and soon they were damp and cold.

There were few travelers around; it seemed that many had decided to stay in today. At first, they saw a few carriages pass them in either direction, but in an hour or so there was no one in sight. The sun was beginning to dip near the horizon, and the sky was growing darker; it would soon be night, and the path would be more dangerous.

Seth blinked continually in the rain, wiping his soaked hair out of his face and trying to see through the mist and the ever-increasing darkness. Poor little Rita was curled up in a tight ball, a shivering lump under Seth's shirt, where he had put her earlier in a vain attempt at keeping her warm and dry. He shivered, and sneezed, goose-bumps prickling up his skin. Great... hope I'm not getting sick... He sneezed again, and sniffed, then yelled through the beating of the relentless rain, "We need to get some place warm and dry!" Then again, there was nowhere nearby in which they could find shelter- none that he could see, at any rate. His stomach growled, and he felt light-headed, Ugh... and I'm hungry, too... how long has it been since I've eaten anything? He sneezed again. "I think we have another two hours or so until we can reach Vienda... Think you can make it?"

Minke had almost completely forgotten that Seth was right next to her. It wasn't that she tried to, it was more of the fact she was a bit preoccupied. Riding a moa had been hard enough without the wind threatening to knock her over. Now she was holding onto it's neck for balance and what little warmth it had. Not to mention she was starving. She should have packed a loaf of bread for the trip. If this is what it meant to be apart of the resistance, she was beginning to have some doubts.



She was startled at the sound of Seth's voice. Did he just say two hours? Well, it wasn't like they had much of a choice now, they should have taken the carriages instead. Arriving couple hours earlier seemed silly when they could've had shelter.

"Yeah, I think so. Are you okay?" she said through chattering teeth.

"F-Fi... Fi-" He sneezed, then sighed, "I'm fine." He sniffed. "Once we get some food I'll be much better, though... hopefully something hot... I could do with some bread, and nice, hot soup... and ale, but at the moment soup sounds more welcoming..." He sneezed again. "I think I might be coming down with something." He felt something furry move under his shirt and a soft mew as Rita looked up at him, trying to get out- she was soaked anyway, and it was beginning to get quite uncomfortable under his clothes- especially when his constant sneezing interrupted an already fitful nap. "Oh, sorry, Rita..." He let her crawl out, where she perched on the saddle in front of him, shaking herself and looking around curiously, her tail twitching. "Don't worry, won't be too long..." He pat her head slowly- but quickly had to grab at the saddle as a wave of dizziness washed over him and he felt like he would fall off. It didn't help that he hadn't eaten anything in over... had it really been a full day? Won't be too long... just two hours at most... He tried to reassure himself. We can make it.

About an hour had passed and Minke couldn't stop looking at Seth. He didn't look well at all. Poor human she thought to herself. Though I wish he hadn't mentioned hot food before. The more I think about it, the more I can't stand this rain.

"Only another hour, Seth. Hold in there,okay?" Minke assured Seth, hoping he didn't see the stress on her face. It wasn't like her to worry about someone so much, especially not a human. Minke wasn't so sure she was fond of the idea of becoming attached, but she just couldn't help herself.

"One hour..." He repeated in a low mumble. He felt drained, and in the last hour he'd been sneezing more and more, and even had developed a cough. They continued to ride in moderate silence for another half hour. "Hey, I think the rain's letting up..." He coughed into his first, before looking up at the sky- which really hadn't let up any at all- he was just trying not to worry the Wick too much. He laughed nervously, which was a bad idea, as he found himself in a cauging fit. "Ah, sack it!" Rita was peering up into Seth's face, mewing softly as if asking if he was ok. "I'm fine, Rita.." He coughed again, then swallowed, managing to hold more back. "Ehem... see? Fine..." He pat her head, then, suddenly, fell back, the world spinning around him until he hit the ground with a soft thud, everything going black as he fell unconscious.

Seth's moa reared up on one leg as he passed out in the seat, making a loud screeching noise. His pack dropped to the ground as the moa, startled by suddenly losing its rider, took off in the direction of Vienda at a surprising speed.

((Assuming you have a pack.))

"Seth!" Minke screamed as she steadied her disgruntled moa to a halt and rushed to his side.

"Oh Alioe! Seth, you need to get up! We're almost there! Oh, Rita I'm so sorry for letting this happen to him." She scanned the horizon as she started to sob. There didn't seem to be anyone as far as she could see. She had to keep moving. It was the only way to help him.

She put her arms around Seth and tried to lift him. "Unnaaghh" she grunted as she attempted to hoist him up. He was heavy, but she wasn't going to give up. After a couple exhausting attempts she had been able to lift him up to the saddle of her moa. Minke was exhausted and realized what a miracle it had been that she was able to lift him considering her size. She thought of it as a case of extreme willpower and strength that people demonstrated in dire situations. She draped her hoody over his back, hoping that it would provide just a little bit more warmth for him. She could hear his labored breathing and ran alongside the moa as she hurried for Vienda. "Only an hour he's fine, only an hour he's fine." she chanted to herself.