World Tree MUSH

    Rydia has not been looking her best since her most recent trip out of the fortified manor. Whatever happened in Eos has once again led to the young Summoner taxing herself. Pale, exhausted, and with sunken eyes, she spent most of the day buried under blankets and not moving, resting as she should be. As she knows she should be. But she can only rest for so long before just getting plain bored. 
    This might be why Zelda will most likely find whatever she's in the middle of interrupted by the flow of mist into the room. Coalescing into the small white dragon hatchling that begins insistently tugging on the hem of her clothing to lead her... Somewhere. 
    That somewhere happens to be the entrance hall of the manor, where Rydia, still wrapped up in blankets and her wolfos cloak, is preparing one of the chocobos for a ride, fixing the great yellow bird with saddle and tack. It's her personal mount. Though ahe doesn't seem like she herself is dressed to go anywhere. How odd.

  The princess is in the middle of directing work crews, as she has been since they were initially led up the mountain pass. She's dressed simply but warmly, the hood of her somewhat intimidating black robe pulled up to keep her face hidden, violet scarf tied around the lower half and knotted loosely at her throat. The structures of the manor's kitchens are in sore need of repair, and it's crews of masons and other specialists that have been brought in to do the work. She's gesturing animatedly to a group of carpenters to repair a collapsed counter when something tugs at the hem of her robe.

  Turning briefly, she surveys the presence there before turning fully, excusing herself from the workers and crouching to study the mist dragon hatchling. "What is it? You want to show me something? All right, Whyt. Lead on."

  Her path leads back to Rydia. The Hylian's gaze darts rapidly from the hall, to the chocobo's tack, to the girl's manner of dress. She's silent for several seconds, studying the girl to see what she'll do. When she feels she's seen enough, the princess clears her throat, politely; shifts her weight, folds her arms neatly.

  "Going somewhere...?" she murmurs, almost languidly.

    The work crews can live without the princess for a little while, that seems to be what Whyt is fairly adamant on, as the miniature Mist Dragon coos and warbles and tugs the princess along the whole of the way, somewhat urgently. 
    By the time Zelda comes upon the Summoner, she's just about done preparing the bird, and stops only when she hears the princess' voice.
    But after an initial flinch... Rydia resumes preparing the bird, which is now shifting its gaze curiously between his rider and the princess.
    "Kweh?"
    Only once Rydia is done- after lashing one last harness does she turn to face the princess.
    "No." Her answer is plain, simple, and... Honest.
    "You are."
    That might come as more surprising. But she motions for the door to the courtyard.
    "The snow let up for once. It's as good a day as any to start teaching you to ride. I'm too *exhausted* to try and go anywhere, anyway, but I'm bored out of my mind."

  "I am?" Zelda's answer seems more bemused than anything else. Her brows rise in a subtle arch, and she tilts her head very faintly, but straightens as the girl explains. That's right. She'd forgotten about her riding lessons.

  "Ah. Yes. I'd nearly forgotten." Rubbing her hands together, she eyes the bird appraisingly. No champion Hylian palfrey, here, but something else entirely. She steps up to the bird; cautiously offers it a hand to sniff or eye if it wants to investigate. "Has this one got a name...?"

    "You are." Rydia confirms, once again, meeting arched brow with a flat stare that says the Summoner isn't going to take no for an answer, lest she be forced to return to boredom once again. And that would be a terrible fate. But once Zelda steps up to the avian steed...
    The bird tilts his head, turning one vividly intelligent black eye upon the princess before she holds out her hand. When she does, the chocobo chirrups sweetly, nudging beak against her palm.
    "Chocobo." Rydia says when prompted for a name. ... Not exactly original, but the bird gives a trilling little "Kweh!" as though proud to be given the moniker. "He's my personal ride. I picked him because he's pretty docile, but he's also really protective. So he shouldn't be a hard ride." Mused as she throws open the door to the courtyard, letting the cold rush in.

  "Chocobo," Zelda repeats, skeptically. A name is a name, though, and it's no more strange than the women of the royal line often bearing her own name. She sighs. It'll do. "Nice to meet you, Chocobo." She manages a flicker of a smile, giving the bird's neck a fond pat. "Be gentle, won't you, please?"

  With that, the princess vaults into the saddle, swift and sure despite the robe that might be cumbersome. Settling into the saddle, Zelda tries to find her balance; it involves a fair amount of uncomfortable shifting and resettling. It's just not the same as sitting astride a horse.

  "The balance is all wrong," she mumbles, glancing down. "Horses have a much different centre of gravity. Well, there's no time like the present, I suppose." With that, she taps her heels gently to Chocobo's sides, trying to find a way to sit that isn't uncomfortable against his short, stubby wings.

    "I named him when I was three." Rydia says in that 'it's done and can't be undone now' tone.
    But it matters now. Zelda hops into the saddle. It's one of Cecil's, rather than Rydia's tiny saddle, so it's not as uncomfortable as it could be. "Sit back in the saddle. Let your legs swing forward right over his wings. If he needs to jump or glide he'll need them free." She corrects the princess' seating slightly, before letting Zelda just... Get settled in.
    Rydia plops herself on the stone steps to the manor to watch the events unfold, because as soon as the princess taps her heels to the bird's sides, he starts an easy walking pace. The gait is probably very odd to someone more used to a four legged steed, but it's ploddingly slow and letting the princess get acquainted with how the bird moves before he takes it any faster.

  Adjusting her posture as advised, the princess tries to distribute her weight more evenly, moving her legs where indicated. "He can glide? Even with the weight of a rider on his back?" Zelda seems genuinely impressed with that.

  "It isn't so difficult." The Hylian's observation sounds pleased. It's really not unlike riding a horse so long as she remembers to account for a two-beat gait instead of four. "I imagine they must be able to run swiftly if they can't fly. They must be able to escape predators somehow, yes? Although if they do have done limited means of flight, all the better, for them..."

    It's only once Zelda seems accustomed that Chocobo picks up his pace. From a slow walk to a light trot.
    "I told you, horses and chocobos aren't too different aside from the leg count." Rydia says, a hint of smugness creeping into her exhausted tone. Chocobo keeps it to a trot though, no speed tests today, but he lets Zelda choosethe course around the courtyard for the little trip.
    Rydia lets herself sprawl out on the snow-covered stone steps, wrapped in all her blankets.
    "I hear black chocobos can fly while mounted." She says, before peeking up. "But there isn't anything faster on Blue Earth that can outrun a chocobo at full sprint."

  The Hylian guides the reins this way and that, letting Chocobo choose a loose path through the courtyard, testing how he handles through the turns. She handles the animal well, finding her balance respectably quickly. It's clear the princess is an adept in the saddle, even if the animals in question aren't the same.

  "Really?" Zelda sweeps her hood back with a hand, letting the breeze stir her hair. She glances back, flyaway bits of hair settling back across her face. "I find it odd that such a large creature could fly... though Kargorocs are admittedly large and unwieldy. You've not seen one yet," she adds, guiding Chocobo carefully through some light rubble. "I would imagine so. He looks like he has a powerful stride when he doesn't hold back."

    "I haven't seen one of those." Rydia agrees. "But you haven't seen a black chocobo, either." She points out." But then the girl purses her lips.
    "Speaking of large creatures."
    It seems like she has something on her mind as she sits up, eyes following the princess on her bird as Chocobo navigates the courtyard obediently and with a smooth trotting ease.
    "Remember when I said if I beat a creature in combat I can force it into a pact?"

  "A Kargoroc? Very big," the princess comments. "Very ugly. They feed on carrion and their mannerisms are disgusting. Most of the time they're quite cowardly for their size, but zant has figured out a means of subjugating them."

  "I suppose with the sort of kick his powers have, dominating their minds is not particularly difficult." Zelda shrugs one shoulder, gently pulling the reins this way and that to guide Chocobo around light debris in the courtyard. She uses the obstacle course to get a feel for how he handles through the turns. "If I were still in the castle, I'd be using them for target practise. Disgusting things."

  Glancing over a shoulder, Zelda leads Chocobo in a meandering course back to Rydia. Her eyes flit back to the girl, and a coil of suspicion settles in the pit of her stomach. "I do." Her tone radiates suspicion, too. "Out with it, girl. What are you after, and how much am I going to dislike this suggestion...?" It's half playful, but it's also half serious. This is probably not going somewhere good.

    On two legs, that bird handles turning like a dream. At least at this slow pace anyway, but eventually when the ride comes wandering back to the manor doors the bird twitters a cheery little 'Kweh!' as though happy to have been of service. Rydia however has a different opinion on the carrion birds.
    "That makes it sound like they're just as much a victim of Zant as you are." She points out. "Just because they feed on the dead doesn't make them disgusting. They have their place in a natural order. Mom taught me even vultures have an important role in nature, cleaning up the spoils of other animals."
    It is a surprisingly gentle point of view, to take pity on the carrion eaters for being under Zant's thumb. But Rydia regains her focus. "You're not going to like it at all."
    Sitting up, she rubs at her upper arm with one hand, pursing her lips while trying to think of how to best word what she wants.
    "I can't keep calling the Eidolons. I'm not ready. They tax me of so much of my strength each time. I need something powerful but much more manageable. Something of our world, not the Feymarch. And Whyt is still really young." So is she. But that seems to be a sidenote as she squeezes her eyes shut. When she opens them again there's a fire of determination that says she will not accept no for an answer on this.
    "I'm after a White Wolfos. The biggest one we can find on this mountain, I'll make it my own. Something I can call on when desperate."

  Leaning forward, Zelda pats the chococbo's feathery neck. "It isn't the vultures I have a problem with. They have their place in the natural order, too, but Kargorocs spread filth, disease, and ruin wherever they go. They do not clean, as a vulture does, but spread more death and decay by their very natures." She pauses. "They also tend to be destructive when they nest. They build enormous, unwieldy nests that have a tendency to break structures."

  "In any case... they aren't natural creatures. There is simply too much that follows them; disease and filth, for them to be natural. I think instead that there is a bit of the darkness in them. I feel no pity for them at all; Zant can twist them so easily because they are so violent and chaotic in nature." Zelda chucks the reins, leaning forward to scratch at Chocobo's crest with a half-smile. "Not like this one at all. What a sweet bird. You say chocobos are common within Blue Earth?"

  Sounds like they've basically taken the place of horses, from what she's described in the past. They look like they might be strong, too. Those legs are like high-performance pistons. Idly, she wonders how much one could pull if harnessed, compared to a draught horse.

  Oh. The Summoner wants to go bash a white wolfos over the head and add it to her library of loyal minions.

  Zelda arches a brow. Those ferocious brutes almost ate the party on their way up the mountain, and now Rydia wants to go back and actually seek them out? Is that really wise? The average overprotective person might say no, especially when faced with a relatively young child proposing something so wildly dangerous.

  But she is forced to see the wisdom in the proposal, because that's simply how her mind operates. She has no choice but to view things from a somewhat more disconnected perspective; to look at things with calcuation and logic rather than emotion, even if the latter is the lens by which her human heart is drawn to look through.

  Zelda smiles, a little wearily.

  "All right."

  It's probably not the answer that was expected at all. Like trying to push against a great weight, only to suddenly have the resistance gone.

  "I have conditions, though. You are absolutely not going out there alone. In fact, there will be a group of us to help you; at the very minimum, I will ask Link to accompany us, as he has a unique talent for dispatching those things. I will also accompany you, for I can pick them off at range if I must, and heal wounds if one should draw too close," she adds. "There are many of them here, although Link has ripped through their number with alarming regularity. I'm sure you can find one suitable."

  "Expect a fight, though. The beasts are like Kargorocs. Far more savage and violent-minded than a normal wolf. In normal terms, no one has ever domesticated them successfully... that's not to say you can't, of course, but it's going to be a difficult ordeal." Zelda tips her head; a faint equivalent to an understated shrug. "An understandable one, for a logical and wise reason, but that will not make your task any easier. Fortunately, we will be there to support you in any way we can."