Notes: If you're curious about the delays with the saga, check my profile. It hasn't been easy these weeks over here, hee hee, but I'll get through.
Stats: 500 words for YarneNoire.
The Shepherds were camping at an abandoned fortress, which allowed them to rest their mounts in the stables and to cook better meals at the kitchen during their stay. The army also took time to practice new skills that could be useful for the battles to come.
And like always, Yarne wasn't one of them, preferring to disappear for as long as the trainings lasted. Right now, he was hiding in an empty stall, about to fall asleep in his bunny form, when...
"Why can't I be a sniper and call it a day?" he heard Noire talking to herself as she came into the stables. "I know mounted units can cover more terrain, and that I can't shoot people up close, but why must I be a bow knight? Horses are the worst!"
She sounded upset and disappointed, and her mood soured the horses' as she approached them. As a human, though, she didn't seem to notice. The Taguel looked up to see how she reached out to touch one of the animals, which sounded angry to him.
"Noire, don't!"
"Eek!"
He had startled her, but at least that got her to jump away from the horse before it bit her hand off or something.
"Yarne, what are you doing in here?" she asked with a trembling voice.
The Taguel returned to his humanoid form, walking over to his close friend. "Avoiding battle practice."
"Well... that's not good. We have talked about that before," she gave him a nervous smile as she scolded him softly.
"I know, but I was in the mood for a nap, not to get beaten up with training swords and lances," he admitted with a chuckle. "And what about you?"
Noire blushed, looking back at the horse she had tried to pet. "They asked me to do some shooting exercises while riding a horse, so I came over to pick one."
Yarne sighed. "They're all angry at you, I wouldn't recommend it."
"Wait, what? Why?"
"You said horses were the worst."
"Eek! They understood that?" He nodded. "Oh no, what am I going to do now? I really need to practice my balance at least."
She leant against him, the scent of surrender tickling his sensitive nose. He gave her back a couple of sympathetic pats.
...then he got an idea. "Hey, Noire! I remember my mother told me she once let your father ride her bunny form, what do you think about trying that out?"
"My father did what to your mother?"
"On her back!" he clarified, his cheeks burning.
"Oh." She seemed relieved. "And is riding a Taguel like riding a horse?"
"I don't think so, not at all," Yarne said. "But if you can keep your balance on top of a Taguel, specially as you practice your shooting, a horse should be easy to master. What do you think?"
He loved her little shy smile, he really did. "Sure, sounds alright, we can try that." And they trained together until sunset.