Disclaimer: I don't own Gundam Wing, it belongs to Bandai, Sotsu and associated parties. I just borrow the guys from time to time and return them a whole lot happier. I do own the plot and any other characters, especially the equines, that you will find in this fic. Please do not take them without permission. Written for pleasure not profit.
Pairing: 2x1x2, 3x4, 13x6, H+C
Warnings: Yaoi, lemon, sap, angst, vet themes, AU
Rating: NC 17
Betaed by Karina *snugs*
Summary: Set 2 years after Equus and Heero is doing so well in his own business that he's taken June on as a working pupil. The qualifying shows for the International teams are well underway and it looks like it will be a good year for Heero, his pupils and horses... until Mother Nature steps in.
AN: This fic, although a complete work of fiction is based partially on fact. I will add notes at the end of chapters where necessary to clarify events and provide links where needed.
Dedication: To Leslie and Karina. Leslie for giving me the original idea for Equinity and encouraging and supporting me through the writing of all the fics thus far in the arc. And Karina for not just taking over as my much needed beta, (poor woman needs a medal!), but for also poking and prodding Fred until he went on strike, refusing to work on anything at all until I let him start this. Needless to say, we managed to come to a compromise... Fred gets to write a chapter of this one week... the next week he has to write a chapter of 'Bound'... Did I ever tell you all I hate my muse? :-)
Fic 5 in the Equine Intervention Arc.
Commenced December 2013 – ShenLong
"Rival Riders"
Chapter 20
Having finished their 'talk' with Noin, the riders returned to the stables and their horses, all of them determined to give the course their best shot.
"What did Noin have to say?" Duo asked from inside Nataku's stable where he was brushing the mare yet again.
When Noin had asked to speak with her team members to discuss strategy, the grooms and everyone else had left them alone to do just that and returned to the stables to continue getting their respective charges ready.
"She didn't say a whole lot. The general game plan is to aim for a steady, clear round from each rider. It will all depend on the course itself and the time we're allowed to get around it in," Heero replied.
"How long before the course is open for walking?"
"Should be ready in about another ten or so minutes. Noin will call us all shortly to head down to the arena."
"You're the third rider, right?"
Heero nodded.
"I guess you won't be needing Nataku for about an hour then?"
"That should be about right. When they start on the number two riders I'll come back to the stables and get saddled up. That will give me more than enough time to warm her up and be ready to jump."
"Sounds like a plan to me."
"That's Noin calling now," Heero said and turned in the direction of where Noin's voice was coming from.
Duo gave the mare's coat one last stroke with the brush and exited, bolting the door behind him. "Come on then, Heero, let's go walk this course."
###
"It's a tough one," Heero commented to Treize as they stood back and took a look around the course.
"We've both jumped tougher courses in the past," Treize replied.
"They all look tough to me," Duo muttered and gazed back around the course.
"It's a tight course I'll grant you that," Noin stated. "But all of you have ridden courses similar and technically more difficult than this so there is no reason why each one of you should have any difficulty with this one."
"It's the turn from jump nine to the triple that I'm not all that keen on," Peter grumbled. "Too much space there for my liking, gives the horse time to lose concentration."
"Then you'd better keep Espresso focused on you and the job at hand," Sam snickered.
Heero went back over the course, mentally mapping out the best way for Nataku to tackle it and ignored the comments of the others. Yes, it was a demanding course, one that needed the rider to be fully alert and thinking all the way from start to finish. As Peter had stated, the turn from nine to ten, while not difficult, could have the horse lapsing in concentration, but Heero knew there wouldn't be any such problem with Nataku, not as long as he kept the mare focused on him and his aids.
Heero was more concerned about the water jump and the following jumps five and six. There weren't a lot of strides between the water and the barrels, only five if Heero had paced it out correctly. There were another five strides from jump five to six; the ditch with a rail over the top and those would be more difficult in his opinion. It would depend on how quickly he could get Nataku back to hand and the impulsion re-established before they faced the next two, related fences.
With everyone having walked the course and now leaving the arena, Heero drew himself from his thoughts to listen in to what Noin was saying.
"The course itself isn't overly difficult. It's a very technical course and yes, the jumps are fairly close together. This will mean you will all need to be concentrating hard and keeping your horses between hand and leg. As Peter so kindly pointed out before, the turn from nine to ten is a long one and there will be time there for your horses to lose their concentration. I don't expect any of you to allow that to happen." Noin gave each of the riders a stern look. "I am more inclined to find the series of jumps four, five, six and the double to be the one that could and probably will sort out the men from the boys so to speak. You will need to gain speed to clear the water at four and once you land it's only a matter of around five strides before you're upon jump five. Both five and six are related fences and there isn't much time or striding to get your horses back to hand and listening to you. The double follows on from six and again, if your horse is lacking in impulsion then you will find yourself pulling rails at any one of those three fences."
What Noin said made perfect sense and backed Heero's thoughts on the series of jumps. "Might I suggest that instead of pushing the horses really fast for the water jump as we would usually do, we keep them a little slower, that way they should still have enough speed to clear the width of the water but be able to be brought back to hand quicker and still have some reserves if we run out of space between the jumps to fully build the impulsion back up?" Heero suggested.
Everyone thought on Heero's words for a moment.
"That does make a lot of sense, Heero, and something I would suggest each rider thinks seriously about. You all know your own horses best, but taking the water a little slower than normal would mean you don't have such a job to get them back and build the impulsion again."
"Good idea, Heero," Treize commented. "I was actually thinking along similar lines for Romeo. He's got such a long stride I won't need to push him out too much for the water and it will be easier to get him back after landing if he takes it a bit slower."
Peter, Sam and June - although she was only the reserve – all agreed that Heero's suggestion did have merit and would be worth trying.
"Anyone have any questions?" Noin asked once they'd finished discussing the various and best ways they could jump the course.
No one did.
"Then I think we should start to get saddled up and warmed up. Peter, you're our first rider so you need to get ready now. Sam you're our number two rider and I'd suggest you saddle up and start to warm up once Peter has finished his round. Good luck everyone."
By the time they made it back to the stabling area, Zechs, Meiran and Wufei were all there along with Frank who was looking a little worse for wear after having put away quite a few beers the previous evening. His enthusiasm hadn't waned though and despite the headache that persisted to pound in his head, he spoke with Heero regarding the course, Heero's plan of 'attack' and what he thought their chances were.
Wufei and Meiran were also keen to know the intricate details and listened in eagerly as Heero explained the course to them, the areas of difficulty and how he planned to ride Nataku through it all and get the best possible outcome. He kept it all simple and easy to follow so he didn't confuse Wufei and Meiran.
"How long until you will be competing, Heero?" Meiran asked.
"I'm the third rider in our team to go so it will be a couple of hours yet before I'm needed. They do have a section of the grandstand roped off for the use of competitors, grooms, coaches and assistants to the team, I'm sure we can get you a seat in there to watch the competition from."
Wufei turned from where he was petting Nataku. "Are you sure? I don't want to take someone else's seat."
"I'm sure, Wufei. The riders, grooms and other personnel are constantly in and out, changing all the time so there's always several spare seats. It's right by the entry/exit to the arena which makes it easier for those of us involved in the competition to get in and out quickly."
"Thank you, Heero, that is most kind of you," Meiran smiled.
"Competition is due to start in about five minutes so I'd suggest we get a wriggle on and head down now if we want to see some of the earlier riders go through," Duo stated.
Seeing Peter heading out of the stable area with Espresso and Noin, Heero turned back to his husband and friends. "Let's go then, we can keep score on the other teams and let Noin know how things are going when she joins us soon."
Falling into step beside his partner, Duo bumped shoulders gently with Heero and gave the rider a warm smile. "I think you're going to have a great round, Heero."
"Time will tell, Duo, but thanks for the vote of confidence." Heero returned the smile.
#
By the time the four made it to the seating area, Sam, Greg, Treize, Zechs and June were already there. Anticipating that Heero would be bringing Wufei and Meiran with him, Treize had managed to keep four seats vacant for them.
"Thanks, Treize," Duo said as he took a seat next to the tall man.
"No problem," Treize replied.
"Have they started yet?" Heero whispered.
"The commentator has just finished giving the run down on the competition and how it's run and scored," Treize replied. "The first rider is due in the arena any second."
"Did you bring your note book?" Duo asked his husband.
Heero gave his pockets a quick pat down. "Shit! I've left it in the stables."
"What is it you're looking for?" Meiran asked when she spotted Heero patting himself down.
"My note book. I usually keep a running tally in it so we know how the teams are all scoring."
"Ah." Meiran picked up her bag and rummaged through it. Moments later she handed over a pad and pen. "Would this suffice?"
Heero's eyes lit up at the sight of the objects. "Meiran, you're a life saver," he replied and gratefully took the offered pad and pen. "Thank you."
"You're welcome," Meiran smiled back.
The commentator announced the first rider for the Italian team and further conversation was stalled as everyone focused on the rider and horse in the arena.
The pair managed to clear most of the jumps, having four faults at jump six and that was due to the horse running out of steam.
"Just what we thought might happen," Heero muttered to Duo and Treize. "Too much speed at the water and not enough time or strides to get the impulsion back."
"He only just managed to scramble over five. He's lucky that pole stayed up," Treize replied.
The horse had only just scraped over the top of jump five, his hind legs dragging across the pole and rocking it in the cups. Luckily for him, it stayed up, but they hadn't been so lucky at jump six and the pole had rocked right out of the cups.
The Swedish rider entered the arena to try his luck.
And like the Italian, he pushed too much at the water and didn't have enough impulsion afterwards. Poles came crashing down and seemed to shake the rider back into himself and he rode the remainder of the course a lot steadier. They finished with a total of eight faults.
"This round should be a good one," Treize commented as Germany's first rider entered the arena.
The German team had obviously been watching the previous rider's rounds and had drawn the same conclusions that Heero had regarding the water jump and the following two fences. Their first rider rode a very neat and precise round, approaching the water jump at a steady hand gallop and then sitting deep afterwards to bring his horse back together and build the impulsion. It paid off.
The German left the ring with the first clear round of the competition.
"There you go. It just shows that the course can be cleared just as long as you ride it correctly," Heero said softly.
"And we will all have to make sure we do just that," Sam replied with a grin. "Good pick up on that by the way, I can't say I would have noticed it, well, at least not until I'd seen a few riders go through and make that mistake."
"It was a very subtle trick on behalf of the course designer," Treize said. "And a damn good one too."
"The Germans are in first place so far then with the only clear round," Duo said, looking across at the pad Heero had on his knee with the scores written down.
"It's still anyone's competition though," June grinned.
"Nah, it's not." Noting the raised eyebrows around him, Duo clarified his statement. "It's our competition."
The South African rider left the arena with a total of twelve faults and the following English rider had four. Noin came hurrying into the seating area just as the English rider was exiting.
"How is Peter holding up?" asked Treize.
"A little nervous, but I'd expect that. Espresso was jumping well so there's no reason why the pair shouldn't make a good showing," Noin replied as Peter rode into the arena.
Chrissy, Peter's wife and groom came dashing into the seating area and plonked herself down next to Greg. The commentator announced Peter and his horse, the crowd all applauding and cheering as the first rider for the home team approached the judge.
Peter saluted, gathered his reins up and nudged Espresso forward, the bay lowering his head and springing into a steady canter. The crowd fell silent, the bell rang and Peter turned for the start flags.
The big bay sailed over the first jump with ease, landed and made a sweeping right turn to come into the second jump. With a whisk of his tail, Espresso cleared the oxer and stretched out a little as Peter asked for a longer stride. They passed between elements B and C of the triple, Peter continuing to turn to the right and bring his horse in central for jump three; the gate.
Espresso sized up the jump and adjusted his stride, leaving the ground with a push from his strong hind quarters and clearing it with inches to spare.
"Now for the water, Cocoa," Peter muttered, using the gelding's stable name. Remembering Heero's and Noin's suggestions from earlier regarding the water and following two jumps, Peter gave the bay a little rein and encouraged him to stretch out. They made a left turn around jump nine and lined up for the water. Espresso could see the shimmer of water ahead and knew it was a wide jump as opposed to a height jump and began to pull.
"Steady," Peter soothed as he fought to bring the gelding back to hand. Espresso was used to jumping water at a fast pace so for his master to be asking for a slightly slower one didn't seem right to him. Espresso forged ahead.
"A bit too fast," Heero muttered.
"Looks like Espresso doesn't want to slow down," June stated as she watched the pair intently.
"I'd say he's used to jumping the water at a gallop and still intends to do just that," Treize remarked and turned to Heero. "That's something we will have to watch out for."
"What is?" asked Sam from a couple of seats down.
"The horses are all used to jumping the water at a gallop and don't realize that there's a couple of big fences straight after. We're all going to have to try and take a much firmer contact if we intend to clear the water and the next couple of jumps." Treize turned back to the ring, his mind already at work on where on the course he would be taking Romeo into hand.
Espresso cleared the water, landing well out on the other side. Unfortunately the speed he'd jumped it at meant he was traveling fast and Peter had his work cut out for him in trying to bring the bay back to hand, regain some impulsion and clear the following jump.
A groan went up from the crowd and fellow team members when Espresso literally ran out of steam over jump five and dragged his hind legs over the pole, causing it to roll in the cups and fall to the ground.
"Shit, four faults," muttered Chrissy. No one else commented, knowing just how bad Peter would be feeling with himself and his horse over their mistake.
"Settle down, Cocoa," Peter growled and dropped his weight hard into the saddle. His hands closed tightly on the reins, his legs drove themselves against the bay sides as he pushed his horse together. He was determined not to add any further faults to their score.
The whack to his hind legs had jolted Espresso and the gelding decided he'd better listen to his master. He dropped his nose and gathered himself together. He could see the ditch and rail ahead and drove his hocks right underneath his body, grunting with the effort he put into the jump.
The pair cleared the ditch and rail and once Espresso had all four hooves back on the ground, Peter was there to ride him together and make the right turn for jump seven; the double. Both elements were cleared successfully, Espresso having settled into the job at hand and cantering steadily around the course.
Jumps eight and nine were similarly cleared, Peter sitting deep after jump nine and managing to get a reasonably sharp turn from his horse to set them up for the triple.
"He's doing really well so far," Meiran whispered to June.
"Yes, he is," June replied, her eyes remaining on the pair in the arena. "If he can clear the rest of the course that will give the team a great start in the competition."
Duo took his eyes away from the arena for a moment and cast them over his fellow grooms and team members. Everyone was riveted to the bay and his rider. Noin's face showed a mask of concentration, Heero and Treize were both twitching subtly in their seats and Duo snickered to himself over that. When he glanced at Chrissy he almost laughed out loud. The poor woman – it seemed – was following in the tradition of grooms everywhere with her hands by her mouth and her teeth nibbling away on her fingernails.
Feeling eyes upon him, Duo turned and connected with the blue of Zechs. He smiled, Zechs gave him a questioning look. Duo nodded his head in the direction of Chrissy. Zechs snuck a peek and the light dawned. Glancing back at Duo, Zechs rolled his eyes. Duo continued to grin.
Back in the arena, Espresso approached the first element of the triple. He drew his hocks under himself and shoved off the ground, forelegs tucking up against his body as he sailed over part A. Touching down once more, his master was there with seat and leg to push the gelding together. Two strides and Espresso was pushing into the air again, body straining as he reached for both the height and the width of the jump. Landing safely over the second element, the bay took another stride and soared into the air over the final element.
"Good boy," Peter praised as they landed clean over part C.
Espresso was getting tired, the triple was a formidable jump and had taken quite a bit out of him.
Taking up a firm contact with the horse's mouth, Peter put the legs on and steadied his horse, rebuilding the impulsion and swinging out a little wider to give his horse the chance to recoup some of his lost energy before tackling jump eleven; the hay bales.
"I hope he doesn't try to stop and snack on them," Duo muttered, knowing just how difficult Shini could be when jumping hay and glanced at his lover from the corner of his eye.
Heero heard the comment but declined to justify it with a reply. He settled for giving his husband a dirty look instead.
Duo simply shrugged and focused back on the arena again.
Espresso cleared the hay bales without any trouble and headed for the final fence; the wall. Lengthening out his stride, the bay picked his take off point and dug deep. Muscles flexed and strained under the bay hide as those powerful hind quarters propelled him into the air again. Front legs came up against the belly as the bricks passed underneath. Those forelegs began to unfurl and reach for the rapidly approaching ground before biting into the surface and moving forward to allow the hind legs to take their place. Peter gave the horse his head and rode for the finish.
Immediately they passed through the finish the crowd erupted into applause and cheers, the loudest coming from Peter's fellow team members and grooms.
"Four faults for Peter Verns riding Espresso for Australia," the commentator announced. "Our next rider is Hito Nagaski riding Chicko for Japan."
The team members, Noin and several of the grooms all rose from their seats as one and made a bee line for the collecting ring and Peter to pass on their congratulations and discover exactly what had gone wrong between jumps four and five.
Chrissy reached the pair first and immediately began to shower Espresso with pats and praise while her husband dismounted. Once he was on the ground she kissed and hugged him. The rest of the group stood back for a moment to give the pair a little privacy.
Once Peter had released his wife, the rest of the group came forth to offer their congratulations and give the bay a pat.
"I'm sorry about the four faults," Peter said to his team mates once the noise had died down a little. "I'm not completely sure what happened there. I did like Heero suggested, slow down a bit more for the water but Cocoa didn't want to."
"It's quite alright, Peter," Noin said. "We could see you were doing everything you possibly could. Treize hit the nail on the head though with what the problem is."
"Oh?" Peter turned to look at the Olympic rider.
"All the horses have jumped water regularly over the course of their careers and when we jump it we're always asking them to speed up and jump it fast."
Peter nodded.
"Think about it, we're asking them to slow down a bit for this one and they're not sure why. Far as they can tell it's a water spread and they need the speed to clear it, they seem to think we've lost our minds a bit by asking for a slower approach and so they ignore us and do it their way."
"Ah, I see. I thought it might have been something like that," Peter replied. "How do we fix it then?"
"I'd recommend that the rest of the team take a much firmer hold of the reins after jump three, have the horse well and truly listening to you as you approach and keep that strong contact right up to about four strides away, then let them go. That way they will still have enough speed and impulsion to clear the water, but won't be going as fast as they normally would. It will also mean that as soon as they land we can gather them back up pretty quickly." Treize looked to Noin for confirmation of his suggestion. The coach smiled.
"I agree with Treize, keep them short until around four strides away, then let them go."
The rest of the team nodded their agreement and continued to ask questions about the course. Any information that Peter could give them in relation to the course, how it rode, any spots to be wary of and so on could only improve their own chances of going clear.
Having gotten as much information as they could, the team began to disperse a little. Peter and Chrissy headed back to the stables to settle Espresso. Sam and Greg went with them as did Noin. Sam would need to get saddled up and warmed up ready for his round and Noin wanted to work with the pair a bit before they would be needed for their round. Heero, Duo and the others all went back into the seating area to compare notes and see how the remaining countries had fared.
Sitting back down, Heero took the note book back from Meiran who had kindly held on to it and duly written down the scores from those riders competing whilst the others had been outside. "Thank you," he said and looked to the notes.
"What are the scores looking like?" Duo asked, settling into his seat next to his husband.
"The Japanese rider had eight faults and the New Zealand rider also had eight," Heero replied, scanning the neat handwriting. "The French rider is on course now and he's the last of the first riders to compete."
"Ah, then it looks like we could be in with a chance?"
"We have just as much chance as anyone else," Heero replied with a grin.
Both men turned back to the arena where the French rider was clearing the wall and passing through the finish flags. "Four faults for Jean Paul Bouvoir riding Cologne and representing France," the commentator's voice boomed out. "There will now be a ten minute break for the course to be checked and then the competition will resume with the first of the second riders for each team..."
The commentator went on to give a tally of the scores thus far, but the guys tuned him out, they already had their own running tally.
"So far Germany is in the lead with the only clear round," Heero stated, looking at the list of figures. "Then there's four of us with four faults, three teams with eight faults and South Africa with twelve."
"It's going to be a tough competition," Treize said with a smirk.
"That it is, Treize," Heero agreed.
"That might be so, but they haven't met up with our secret weapon yet," Duo snickered. When all eyes turned to him, Duo shrugged. "We still have Heero and Treize to ride."
tbc...