A Digi Western
"Do we have to go?" Alex whined, throwing himself facedown on Matt's couch. "I mean, between us, we only know 'Thank-you', 'Hello', and 'Where is the washroom, please,' in English!"
"That," Izzy replied, "Is strictly limited to those talented in voice. Ken and I can teach you enough English to get you by. And when you can't get by, we'll help out." Alex looked at him and instantly found another excuse to whine.
"But none of us can ride!!" He griped. "I'll bet you Izzy and Ken can't ride." Everyone shook their heads. "See?"
"That's why we're going there, Alex." Matt said, trying to remain patient. "To learn how to ride."
"Well … "Alex said, still complaining. "I guess … What if there aren't any girls there?"
"You'll live, Alex." TK said. "I think."
"You're sure?" Takato asked. "I'm beginning to doubt that."
Everyone laughed. Ken sighed. "Alex. You'll survive just one month in Boston." Alex looked doubtful.
Tai grinned. "Alex. You'll at least live through one month without girls. And who knows- there might be a few there, or something." Even Davis sided with the others.
"Aw, come on, man, just one month?" Davis said. "I mean, if there aren't any girls at the ranch, we can still go around the big city looking for some." Alex sighed and gave in.
"We-e-ell, I guess it'll be okay … for a while." Henry smiled at him and spoke.
"There, I knew you'd give in." Alex growled at him.
"Shut up, Junior!"
^*~At the Ranch~*^
"Hi there, Mr. Calumn!" Ken called out cheerily to the owner of the ranch. "How are you?"
"Call me JC." The dirty blonde haired man said. He wore an olive green vest over jeans, and a pair of worn brown boots. The ranch seemed a world away from the hustle and bustle of the city of Boston that they had driven through. The rolling green hills were dotted with multicolored dots. When they got a little closer, they realized that the dots were actually horses, so far away it was hard to see them. At the edge of the fields, there was a patch of darker green, which the boys guessed as forest. They could see a fenced off area, including a paddock and a larger area that had what they supposed were jumps placed in a ring inside. There was a person that had a white horse in a small paddock, and was letting it canter gently around the paddock in circles. Another person was riding a golden horse over the jumps, sailing over each one, making it look like it was as natural to both the horse and rider as it was to eat. "So, you boys off on a break from college?"
"Yeah. Well, Takato and Henry are in their last year of high school, but other than that, we're all in college." Izzy said in English. The other boys (with exception of Ken) were still a little unsteady in the language. Takato and Henry were in their last year of high school, TK was in his second, Ken and Izzy were in their third, and Matt, Alex and Tai were in their last. Just then, a girl came out of the building behind JC. She was dressed in a pink cowboy hat and a pink T-shirt, and pink bellbottom jeans, belted with a pink belt with an elaborate silver buckle. Needless to say, her boots were pink … or they used to be pink, anyway. She had hair that had been dyed pink. Her eyes were nearly ruby, but actually brown.
"Ooh!" She screamed, upon sight of the boys. "They're here!" She sang out loudly. Another girl came out of the stable. She was dressed in a green dress, but apparently had shorts on underneath it. She had thin brown hair that was partially tied off to one side.
"Oh, Mimi, calm down." The girl said, looking curiously at the boys. "They're just boys. And Sora's looking for you- you used up all the hot water this morning." The pink-haired girl, who seemed to be the Mimi the other girl was talking about, was immediately apologetic.
"Did I?" She said. "Oh, I'm so sorry! Tell her I'll be there in a sec, I have to put Dancer out to pasture, Jeri, thanks." Jeri shook her head and left, while Mimi dashed into the stables. She instantly reappeared with a roan horse. "There you are, Dancer." She cooed to the horse, which nuzzled her cheek. "Hey, that tickles!" She smiled sweetly at the boys. "This is my horse, Red Dancer. JC, who are they, exactly?" JC smiled at her.
"They're here to learn how to ride." Mimi let her gaze travel up and down the line.
"Hmm. Not bad." She said, her gaze coming to rest on first Izzy, then Matt. They both felt themselves blushing furiously under her stare. She smiled when she noticed, and led the horse off. JC glanced at them.
"Why don't you meet the rest of my stable hands?" He said.
"What?!" Alex exclaimed. "They were stable hands?! Stable hands are males!""Not all of them." JC said, looking a little annoyed. "In fact, these ladies are the best stable hands I've had. It's too bad Sora and Mimi have to leave soon, as they'll be finishing college shortly. Anyways, I'll call them over." Suddenly, they saw Mimi, Jeri, a girl with purple hair, and another girl with glossy auburn hair come out of the main building, laughing.
"Well, there's Mimi," He gestured to the pink-haired girl, "and Jeri," He pointed to the brown haired girl, "and Yolei," He pointed at the purple haired girl, who dressed rather similarly to Mimi, only in red, "and Sora." He waved at the auburn headed girl, who wore jeans and a yellow T-shirt, and brown cowboy boots. "I guess I'll have to call Kari and Rika in." He took a deep breath and called towards the person that had the horse in the small ring. "KARI!!" The person turned towards the group and waved, signaling for a few minutes. Kari turned back to the white horse and patted its head before mounting, and turning towards the open door of the paddock and riding to them. When she got there, she dismounted. "Kari, I thought I said to close the door when you ride!" JC said.
"I just opened it, Uncle." The girl said. She had an amazingly musical voice, thick brown hair that was parted on her right side and held on the left by a clip and a soft, sweet smile. Her eyes, like Mimi and Sora's, were nearly crimson, but there was a clear difference between them. Staring into them, TK could see kindness, perseverance, and a million other qualities. "Who are they?" She asked.
"They're the new charges. They're going to learn how to ride. Guys, this is Kari." JC replied. Suddenly, Kari saw Tai.
"Tai!" She said, delighted. TK was surprised. They knew each other? Tai grinned at her.
"I was wondering when you'd notice." He spoke in Japanese, but the girl seemed to understand. He smiled. "How's college, lil sis?" Everyone stared at Tai. "Hey, I told you I had a little sister." He said, defensively.
"So that's how we got off so cheap!" Matt said. "JC, can you speak Japanese?" The last sentence was said in halting English.
"Afraid not." JC said. "Left Japan too early to remember it, and haven't been back for a pretty long time."
"Oh." Everyone said.
"You haven't met Rika yet." He cupped his hands around his mouth again and yelled "RIKA!!" in the direction of the girl that had been on the gold horse. The girl was now walking the horse slowly, as if to a rhythm. "Rika does a lot of competitions. She just never rides to show off, unfortunately. Look at her horse and her- beautiful form, everything. And she's got a palomino!" He looked at the girl again. "RIKA!!" The girl finally turned and mounted onto the golden horse.
Unlike most of the horses that had been deemed palomino that the boys had seen, Rika's horse was a pure gold, the shade of a newly minted gold coin, glistening metallically in the afternoon sun. The horse broke into a canter, and headed towards the high fence. JC covered his face. "They're going to jump it again." He groaned. The horse and rider sailed over the fence with ease and thundered to the group. "Did they make it?" Everyone nodded, but JC couldn't see, so he uncovered his face.
Rika had nearly orange hair, with streaks of purples and darker shades of orange in it. Takato later deemed it sunset hair. It was tied back loosely. She wore a brown cowboy hat, smaller than Mimi's pink, slightly oversized one. She also had a white T-shirt that had light blue sleeves and a dark blue broken heart on the front of the shirt. Rika wore jeans that had the cuffs rolled up so they were in the Capri style. She turned to them, and they saw her face. It was delicately shaped, with high cheekbones and pale complexion, a sharp contrast to JC's tanned, leathery skin. Her ears were slightly pointed, giving her a slight resemblance to an elf. "What do you want, JC?" She said coldly. "I've had the training session scheduled, and you're wasting my time."
"Yeah, sorry, Rika." JC apologized. "Just wanted you to meet our new charges, you know, you girls get to teach them how to ride." He gestured to the boys. Rika took one look at them and narrowed her eyes.
"You want us to teach them how to ride." JC nodded. "Ugh. Can they manage a horse?" JC shook his head, and Rika dismounted. "How much?" She asked.
"Erm …" JC said, uncomfortably. "Not here, Rika …" Rika looked at him stubbornly.
"Right here, right now." She said. "How much are you paying me to teach this lot? It better be more than the usual, JC, because I can tell from looking at them that they're not overly bright, and obviously not too good with a horse. I mean, half of them are looking positively terrified of Wind and Cam."
JC sighed. "Okay, I'll add one-quarter of your usual pay to your usual pay." Rika raised one arched eyebrow, and he groaned. "One half." Rika looked satisfied, and turned to mount her horse. The entire debate had been made in English, so the meaning wasn't quite clear to some of the visitors, but the general feel that something had been accomplished was present. Alex looked at Rika's back, and turned to Matt.
"She's hot." He said, looking at the lower half of her back. This was said in Japanese. Before any of them could understand what was happening, Rika dealt him a punch in the cheek and a swift, painful kick to the stomach.
"Say that again, and I'll have you screaming for a year before you die." She spat the words out icily. In Japanese. "Idiot." Rika mounted her horse and cantered away. Everyone stared at the girl's departing back.
"Um …" JC glanced at Alex, sitting on the ground in pain. "I … wouldn't mess with Rika, if I were you … I'm under the impression she thinks all males are trash … and she really isn't a girl to hit on, there." The last few words were a little sharp and accusing.
"How was I supposed to know she knew Japanese?!" Alex said angrily.
"All of them can speak Japanese, Alex." Tai said. "Kari wrote me to say that she was with a bunch of her friends from Japan, working here." Alex looked angry still, so JC changed the subject.
"You might have a summer romance blossom, here, guys, cheer up!" He said. "Sora is Tai, Matt, and Alex's age. Mimi and Yolei are more around Izzy and Ken's age. Kari is TK and Davis' age, Rika and Jeri are Takato and Henry's age Rika skipped a grade, though, and she's a first year in MIT. Jeri expects to get into MIT when it's her turn to go to college." Everyone pretended to be interested, but they each had their own thoughts.
'Sora … her hair and eyes … glowing …'
'Mimi … bet she has a great voice …'
'They're all so hot … who can choose?'
'Yolei … I never thought much of lavender … but it looks great on her …'
'Mimi … never thought carefully about girls before …'
'Kari … she's so … sweet … and kind … her voice …'
'Wow … I've never seen anyone like Kari …'
'Jeri … she's so kind … and gentle-looking …'
'Rika … those eyes … violet gray … with a shade of gold over top …'
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Mountain 'n Valley separator … like? 0_0
O-o-okay … so the first bit was pathetic … but anyways … guess who's thinking those thoughts? Plz R+R, will take poll on what couplings voted on … thoughts are the guys, BTW. Will NOT do any Yaoi/Yuri couplings!! No offence, Taito and other shounen/shougen-ai fans, but … they're just WRONG!!
C ya round …
Lokogato
^*~
PS (I knew I forgot something) I DON'T own Digimon, unfortunately. Please no sue me!