Dirty Lessons

Sato 

Sato had been training for several weeks straight and was in desperate need of a break. Leo, identifying this, decided this could be the perfect time to teach the trio to ride. Leo had warned that they would need to learn to ride a mount could be quite difficult. 

Sato was relieved to learn that there were few enough horses in the stables. In fact, horses seemed to be an incredibly rare sight indeed. Instead, most the people and knights of Kelton rode large reptilian beasts they called Komodons. They looked like large horse-shaped komodo dragons. They were horse-like in some ways and lizard-like in others. It was not quite as tall as a horse was like to be. They were cold-blooded and required "Sunning." This made them quite sluggish and slow at night. It seemed an odd choice to be sure. Sato, Rebe, and Daniel met Leo, Bruno, and Princess Sam in the stables. Apparently, she had requested to join. She was said to be a better Komodon rider than even her perfect brother. That Sato had to see.

Sato knew he was in for it when he saw the plain riding clothes both Leo and Bruno wore. That was an uncommon sight and an ill tidings of things to come. He had never seen the par so understated. 

Princess Sam was dressed in riding leathers, which wasn't at all unusual, and seemed more than equal to the task. She had agreed to teach them. 

See, both Leo and Bruno rode a pair of true horses, gifted to Leo as a boy by a foreign dignitary. Aside from the Duke's destrier, they were the only horses in the whole of the town. They were named Shiro and Kuro. Shiro was a brilliant white mare that Leo rode, and Kuro was a black stallion that Bruno rode. 

The Princess rode over atop one komodon while leading another out towards them as they entered the courtyard. It was a wet, muddy day. Leo and Bruno were already amount as well. For today, they would all ride atop the komodon. Sam dismounted as she saw her students.

"Welcome to riding school. Uncle Bruno was meant to teach you, but he's much too slow a rider for that." The princess quipped. Bruno took the blow passingly. "First things first is picking a beast. The beast will pick you. Approach them with a torch or some other source of warmth. They will come to you. Go ahead, give it a try."

Rebe was a natural. All the beasts liked her best. She approached slowly and deliberately with the torch and communicated only with his eyes.  All the komodon huddled around Rebe, nudging her. The Princess had much praise for her gentle manner with such things.

Daniel was not nearly so skillful, but he got on well and fair enough. He was able to pick off one member of Rebe's pack that one of the komodon, despite preferring Rebe, who accepted her as its rider. He seemed relieved.

Sato was a different story. Every beast he approached was spooked by his flame, or didn't like his smell, or didn't like his touch. They all rebuffed him. Sam had to come over and literally guide him through it. Eventually, she gave up and left, only to return, leading an old grey-scaled mare she called "Bucky." It was slow and old. Its scales were dry and grey. Its eyes were cloudy, but it seemed calm enough. Sato took the lead from the Princess hesitantly. 

"Why's she called that?" Sato asked, fearing he already knew the answer.

"You'll see," Sam responded with a warm smile. Sato didn't like that reply one bit. "Time to mount. The komodon will come down for you if you ask them right. You have to say "Sunk" softly but boldly. Observe." Sam approached a young, rambunctious, green-scaled thing. She approached it torch in hand, warmed its chin with the heat, and then commanded, "Sunk." The thing immediately dropped to its knees, or whatever that joint was. Sam slowly and carefully mounted the steed and commanded, "Raise," and the beast returned to its height. "Now you try," the Princess commanded.

Again, Rebe caught on quickly, Daniel caught on slowly, and Sato didn't catch on at all. Once again, he required individual instruction to mount Bucky. Sato and Bruno exchanged taunts that "He needs help from the teacher" and "You are supposed to teach little princesses to ride, not the other way around." The Princess shut them both up when she commanded their steeds, by name, to sink, causing them to lose their balance and fall in the mud. Sato laughed uproariously. Bruno joined in. Leo did not look the least bit amused.

Sato eventually mounted Bucky with much persistence and coaching from the Princess. The other four had already left to ride around the hill. 

"Finally, the easy part. You ride. They respond to simple verbal commands. You can tilt their head to modify their course. The rest is just practice."

Rebe took to riding like he had been riding komodon his entire life. Daniel looked like he had maybe ridden a horse before, but transitioned quickly enough. Sato was learning why she was called Bucky. He was immediately bucked upon telling his komodon to trot.

"That's why we call her Bucky," The Princess taunted, laughing.

Rebe and the Princess left on a longer ride around Hill Town. Sato had had enough for one day. He had training to do. Leo agreed to spar with him. They left Daniel and Bruno and got to work.