"Um, hello, Ashe…" the priestess said.
"Hello, Marianne! It's good to see you."
"You as well…" she said.
Ashe attempted to make eye contact, but she was looking elsewhere. He gave a little wave- she didn't respond.
"Is everything alright? You seem… distracted." he asked.
"I'm fine," she affirmed, "But I think I ought to apologize for the other day."
The memory was still quite fresh. "What, are you talking about the ride? You don't have to worry about that."
"Yes, I'm speaking of that," she said, her attention now fixed. "I must make it up to you. I treated you as though you were my horse- cracking reins, and making you run faster. It must have been miserable for you."
"I won't deny that it was a bit of a workout," Ashe said, not allowing her to wallow. "But really, I had fun!"
"It's nice of you to be polite to me… but truly, I am sorry. I hope I didn't cause you too much exhaustion, and I hope your back is okay."
"My back is just fine," he insisted, trying not to lose her. "And the exercise was good for me, wasn't it?"
She turned away from him. "I'll leave you be now, Ashe. It's better that way anyways."
"Marianne, wait!"
Despite his call, she had already made up her mind. Walking away, Ashe felt a wrench in his stomach. Her friendship… couldn't be let go of so easily, could it?
"There you are, Marianne," Ashe said, peering through the tent. He entered into the shelter, and sat across from the priestess. "I've been looking for you."
"Y…you have?" she asked. "If you need more than an apology, I will do what I can."
"N-no, wait! I don't want an apology. Why do you think you need to apologize to me?"
Marianne opened her mouth to speak, but hesitated when she began to shudder a bit. Collecting her thoughts, she allowed her words to come out this time. "I put you through so much, Ashe. For my own fun. That isn't how a friendship should be, should it? Me taking advantage of you, sitting on you and making you crawl?"
"Marianne…"
Ashe crossed over and sat down next to Marianne.
"I want you to understand- I had fun too. I mean it."
Marianne looked at him, confused. "You… you did?"
He nodded. "I promise. To be honest, I was nervous when you pulled out the bit, but… you were a gentle rider. We went to some nice places, and shared a unique experience together along the way. It's a memory that I'm already cherishing. So please don't apologize to me for that."
The girl let out a tear. "I… I'm sorry… I'm worked up over nothing."
Before another could fall, Ashe's embrace met hers.
"Listen- I'm glad you had fun, Marianne… That's what I wanted in the first place. I'm having fun if you are, do you understand that?"
Removing herself from his arms, Marianne considered the thought, and let another tear fall. "You promise you're not attempting to trick me?"
"I promise!" Ashe said, enthusiastically. "And to be honest, Marianne, you look like you could use some more sunlight today. Why don't we go for another ride, if you had fun the first time? I'd love to- if it'd cheer you up."
Marianne paused, and looked up at him. "Why are you being so nice to me?"
Ashe considered how to respond. Marianne was hard to get close to- perhaps a direct response would be the best to get through?
"Because you're nice to me, and I like being friends with you."
Marianne's gaze fell to the ground, but the archer observed that her shudders were calmed. Ashe stood up, and made his way to the entrance of the tent.
"I'm going to go change. Meet me at the gate when you're ready, Marianne!" he said, giving her a smile. Though he didn't see it, she had smiled right back at him.
Marianne approached the archer, who was standing by the gate in his blue loungewear once more.
"Marianne!" he chimed. "Am I glad to see you ready for this!"
She was anything but.
"Um, I brought the gear, but I don't know what you'd like to use… it's okay without it." She dropped the reins, bit, and stirrups to the ground.
Ashe saw she looked worried again. "Let's use it," he said, to show good faith. "Can you put it on me again?"
"Oh!" Marianne said, surprised. "Of course. Will you get down for me, then?"
Ashe obliged her, assuming position on his hands and knees on the ground. He looked ahead, not looking at Marianne. She picked up the gear she had brought, and made her way towards him at a calm pace. She laid the stirrups across his back, attached the reins to the bit, and placed it in his mouth.
"Um… you're sure you enjoy doing this?" Marianne asked, blushing.
"Of coursh," Ashe said, smiling through the bit. "I've never beend ridden lige thish before. It's quite… intereshting."
"But having me riding on your back… don't I weigh you down?"
"Acthually, you helb me," he assured. "I'm not shure what I'm supposhed to do shometimes, but you know how to steer me, and keeb me going when I ged tired."
"Oh… okay," Marianne said, feeling relieved, "Then I'm going to mount you now."
The archer relaxed his muscles as Marianne turned, and sat on him from his left across his upper back. She lifted a leg up, moved it over to his right side, straddling his ribs. Her feet found the stirrups, then her hands found the reins. It was a nice feeling, sitting on top of Ashe…
"If you ever want to stop, please tell me," Marianne said.
"Thad won'd be nesheshary," Ashe said. "Id's up to you know- where are we goeng?"
"Um…" Marianne said, looking to her sides, as though an idea would be spotted nearby. "How about the prairie..?"
Ashe nodded, and waited for Marianne's command. She took a moment, balancing easily atop him, to remember how she'd learned to do this before.
"Giddyup, Ashe," she said, gently cracking the reins.
He began to trot forward. The motion was smooth, like before, and it brought a nice rhythm to Marianne. Ashe did his best for her, and noted that her body didn't shake unnecessarily. Is she relaxing? he wondered. I hope so…
The birds chirped in the trees beside them, and the same open field was sprawled open to their left. Marianne studied it carefully as she rode, looking for a path. When she spotted one, she gently pulled on the reins to turn Ashe's attention towards it.
The ground beneath him changed from dirt to grass as she led him on a path through the tall grass.
When they came to a fork in the path, Marianne pulled him to a stop.
"Stop, Ashe, just a moment."
She looked to the left, and to the right. The left might only lead back to camp, but the right? She could hear a cricket chirping on that side.
"Okay. To the right," she said, kicking Ashe's stomach with her heels, and guiding him to the right.
On this path, surrounded by tall blades of grass, Marianne the surroundings affecting her. It was nice here- from where she sat, she could see just over the height of the grass, leading back to the road.
Ashe was pleased to feel her tension leaving her body. If she wasn't before, she had to be relaxed now. He looked back and up at her, as if to ask- How am I doing?
"Oh, Ashe." Marianne attended, looking back at him. "I feel just like before. Thank you for letting me ride you out again today."
Ashe's face grew brighter with a smile, and he turned forwards to the path. He began to trot faster, as if inviting her to have some fun. The priestess struggled to balance as she lost control of him.
"Um, Ashe, I didn't ask you to speed up…" Marianne commented, braking. "Wait- would you like to go faster?"
Ashe gave a slight nod as he looked towards the ground.
"Okay… I can do that, but please listen to me, or I might fall off," she warned. "I'll crack the reins when I want to say 'faster'- like before."
Ashe continued to trot, and waited for the countdown. He was surprised when he felt it- and heard a fwip sound by his ears, without so much as a "Go!" Still, he responded to her cue, and made a faster pace forward. At least she was comfortable with steering again.
"There, that's it, Ashe," Marianne applauded. She pulled the reins back, fully stopping her mount, and petted her hand through his hair. She was caught surprised when he looked back at her, smiling happily.
"To be completely honest, I didn't believe you when you'd said you'd enjoyed doing this with me, but.. I'm glad that you're… you're having fun too." She beamed at him. "If you want to go faster… Shall we race you a little?"
Ashe lowered, bringing Marianne down with him, assuming a "ready-to-get-racing" pose.
The priestess was delighted at this. "Go!" she commanded, cracking the reins.
Ashe accelerated his stride, pushing them forward as quickly as he could. Marianne was impressed with him as he reached a speed that was faster than before- and she cheered him on, actively turning through the forks in the road on impulse. With encouragement like this, Ashe pushed his muscles to the limit, carrying Marianne by her bouncing butt atop him.
"You're good at this, Ashe! Try to keep going!" Ashe maintained the pace, though he had no idea when he'd run out of stamina.
Unfortunately, he took a wrong step, and Ashe collapsed on the ground underneath her.
"Ashe! I'm so sorry!" Marianne yelped, as she lifted the bit out of his mouth.
"Whew…" Ashe responded with a positive attitude. "That was exhilarating!"
"I'm so sorry, Ashe… are you hurt?" Marianne panicked, standing up from him, and sitting on her knees in from of him, checking his face and arms.
"I'm doing great, Marianne, don't you worry," he responded, trying to calm her back down.
"This is all my fault… I can't believe I did this again," she said, as guilt made her turn away from Ashe.
"Wait, Marianne!"
She turned to look at him, a frown across her complexion.
"This is part of the fun, isn't it? A small crash like that didn't hurt either of us. I'm just fine, see?" he said, rising up to all fours. "Actually, it was pretty funny!"
Marianne's face switched expressions. "Oh, it was?"
"Yeah," Ashe continued, "we were going fast, and then I slipped, and- whoop! I was worried that I might have dropped you!"
Her smile persisted. "You're worried about me after that?! You took the fall… with me on top of you…"
"Ha, yeah. It wasn't bad, though. You're pretty light. So, are you ready to keep going?"
Marianne nodded, placed the bit back in his mouth, and reached her arms around him, hugging him tightly. Ashe blushed, and was glad she couldn't see it.
"Try not to fall again, okay? Not even if you think it's funny."
With that, she stood up, and walked over him. She lowered herself, placing her buttocks back on his ribcage. Ashe, mounted once again, waited for her to place her feet in the stirrups and grab the reins.
With her heels, she kicked his stomach, setting them forward once again.
"Let's try this again, and we'll keep it slow this time, alright?" Marianne said.
Phew, Ashe thought, I almost lost her there.
The archer crawled forward, at a comfortable trot for the both of them. Marianne, aware of her surroundings once more, found that the grass here was too high to see over the top of. And as she recalled, they had turned a few times… but maybe this right turn was the correct way to go?
After a few guesses of turns, she pulled him to a stop.
"Um, Ashe," she started, reaching forward and pulling the bit out of his mouth, "I'm not sure where we are. Do you know how to get back?"
"Hmm…" Ashe said. "No, I can't see very high, can you see anything?"
Marianne got off of Ashe, and stood up, as tall as she could. The grass formed an impressive wall in these parts- and she couldn't see a thing. Ashe watched her for a moment, then chimed in.
"If we can at least find the road, we can get back."
Marianne sighed, "You're right. I'm sorry I got us lost… You can stand up now."
He remained on the ground. "Hold on, Marianne. Isn't this kind of interesting? It's not always a bad thing to get lost."
"I suppose not. But the sun will be going down soon… aren't you going to get up?"
Ashe was tired, but didn't let it show. "I'm still ready to keep going. You can keep riding me until we get back, if you'd like." He put the bit back in his mouth to show he meant it.
Marianne smiled at him. She tried to understand, but still had little in the way of understanding why he was so patient with her. Knowing Ashe meant well, she responded, "You're a nice friend. I think I will, Ashe."
As she mounted him, she wasted no time grabbing the reins and kicking him, setting off once more. As she relaxed again, the path seemed to become vaguely familiar. She steered through one turn- and the next looked familiar. Ashe carried her at a fairly brisk pace, not wanting either of them to have to worry about the sun going down before they returned. He felt relief that Marianne was more confident in her turns, steering him back through the winding fields.
Not long after, they reached a part of the fields where Marianne could see above the grass. She hummed happily, and Ashe thought he heard a cricket chirping back at her.
"I can see the gate from here, Ashe. We're almost there. Do you have enough energy to continue?"
Ashe nodded, and continued, though his muscles were tired. Even though Marianne was light, he'd begun to feel her weight after the extended ride. Luckily, all he had to do was go a little further.
But Marianne had another idea, and pulled him to a stop. "You still seem energetic! In that case… want to do one more dash?"
Oh, why not? he thought.
"Giddyup!" she commanded, cracking the reins.
Ashe panted heavily, glad they'd reached the gate. That dash… took more from him than he had to give. Looking back up, he hadn't noticed until now that the sun was setting.
Marianne, still seated on his upper back, pulled him to a stop. She petted his head.
"Thank you for everything, Ashe. That was… really nice of you, to let me ride on you again today. Did you have fun?"
Ashe tried to cover the fact he was breathing heavily, and nodded.
"Oh, you're tired, aren't you? Did I work you too hard?" she asked.
Ashe shook his head no. He was happy that she didn't panic at the sight of him breathing, and let himself ventilate a bit. He felt Marianne's rear leave his back, as she lifted herself up off of him, and walked in front of him, kneeling down to him.
"You put your all into that last sprint, didn't you?" she asked.
He nodded, and gave her a smile, as if to say, we were having too much fun.
"You're a very thoughtful person," she said, with a wide smile across her face. "I'm glad we're friends, Ashe. And I like doing this with you."
Though he was exhausted once more, the smile, and Marianne's friendship… made it all worth it. He pulled the bit back out of his mouth, and proudly asked;
"When do you want to do this again?"