The first thing Sherryl was aware of was one major headache.
The second thing Sherryl was aware of was Femela's laughter ringing
through her head, making her headache that much worse.
Then she became aware that she, like all of the rest of the students,
was flat on her back in the salle.
Ow. Ow-ow.
Next to her, Teena stirred and sat up, rubbing her forehead.
"I know it hurt a lot in Darien's Tale," she muttered, "But I didn't
think it would be this bad. Itai-yo!"
The students spent some period of time stumbling around the salle
when Alberich showed up. "Your next class you have. Follow me you will,"
were his only words before he turned and left the salle.
Slowly, the students made their way outside the salle, to find that
Alberich was waiting for them some distance away. Once most of the students
seemed to be outside, he turned and kept walking, at a speed that had some
of the students wincing and clutching their heads.
Eventually, he led them to what looked like a riding arena. Alberich
left them there with a blond woman in Herald's Whites.
"Hello, students. I am Herald Keren, and this class is Riding. As in,
on horseback. Those of you with Companions will find your Companion tacked
up over there. For the rest of you, there are enough horses out there.
Choose one. That one will be your mount for your duration here at OFCoV.
They are also, as you will notice, tacked up. Starting your next lesson,
you will be expected to tack up your own mount, Companion of not. If you do
not know how, someone will tell you. Oh, and to Miss. Lyn: Considering how
you filled out your application, we figured that a horse would be too much
for you. The donkey with the horses is your mount."
Sure enough, among the horses along the edge of the ring, there was a small
donkey. Sighing, Sherryl walked over to the Companions, picked out Femela,
and did her best to mount.
Some time later, she and the rest of the class were walking in circles
around the ring, the donkey lagging behind and refusing to go any faster
than a slow walk. Even at the pace they were moving at, each step jolted
Sherryl's head, making her headache that much more obvious. At this point,
it would take forever to go away. . .
Some time later, the horses, Companions, and donkey had been scrubbed and
given a good feeding, and the students went in for their lunch. Teena
disappeared up the stairs to their room, muttering something about re-
reading one of her books. She came down shortly thereafter clutching a slip
of paper and looking annoyed.
"She's BORROWING it! She's borrowing X! I wanted to read that!" Teena waved
the paper at Sherryl and Platedlizard, who looked it over in interest. It
said:
Teena-chan:
Borrowing X volumes 5-8. Will return soon. Thanks!
-Mi-chan
"BAKA! I know I said she could borrow my stuff, but-!" Teena settled for
growling over her lunch, muttering in Japanese, rather than do something
stupid, like start a confrontation.
After a nice hour spent lingering over the remarkably good food, they
were off to their next class, something called "Heraldic Training: Circuit
Riding."
The second thing Sherryl was aware of was Femela's laughter ringing
through her head, making her headache that much worse.
Then she became aware that she, like all of the rest of the students,
was flat on her back in the salle.
Ow. Ow-ow.
Next to her, Teena stirred and sat up, rubbing her forehead.
"I know it hurt a lot in Darien's Tale," she muttered, "But I didn't
think it would be this bad. Itai-yo!"
The students spent some period of time stumbling around the salle
when Alberich showed up. "Your next class you have. Follow me you will,"
were his only words before he turned and left the salle.
Slowly, the students made their way outside the salle, to find that
Alberich was waiting for them some distance away. Once most of the students
seemed to be outside, he turned and kept walking, at a speed that had some
of the students wincing and clutching their heads.
Eventually, he led them to what looked like a riding arena. Alberich
left them there with a blond woman in Herald's Whites.
"Hello, students. I am Herald Keren, and this class is Riding. As in,
on horseback. Those of you with Companions will find your Companion tacked
up over there. For the rest of you, there are enough horses out there.
Choose one. That one will be your mount for your duration here at OFCoV.
They are also, as you will notice, tacked up. Starting your next lesson,
you will be expected to tack up your own mount, Companion of not. If you do
not know how, someone will tell you. Oh, and to Miss. Lyn: Considering how
you filled out your application, we figured that a horse would be too much
for you. The donkey with the horses is your mount."
Sure enough, among the horses along the edge of the ring, there was a small
donkey. Sighing, Sherryl walked over to the Companions, picked out Femela,
and did her best to mount.
Some time later, she and the rest of the class were walking in circles
around the ring, the donkey lagging behind and refusing to go any faster
than a slow walk. Even at the pace they were moving at, each step jolted
Sherryl's head, making her headache that much more obvious. At this point,
it would take forever to go away. . .
Some time later, the horses, Companions, and donkey had been scrubbed and
given a good feeding, and the students went in for their lunch. Teena
disappeared up the stairs to their room, muttering something about re-
reading one of her books. She came down shortly thereafter clutching a slip
of paper and looking annoyed.
"She's BORROWING it! She's borrowing X! I wanted to read that!" Teena waved
the paper at Sherryl and Platedlizard, who looked it over in interest. It
said:
Teena-chan:
Borrowing X volumes 5-8. Will return soon. Thanks!
-Mi-chan
"BAKA! I know I said she could borrow my stuff, but-!" Teena settled for
growling over her lunch, muttering in Japanese, rather than do something
stupid, like start a confrontation.
After a nice hour spent lingering over the remarkably good food, they
were off to their next class, something called "Heraldic Training: Circuit
Riding."