Iridescent

7 | I Can't Ride

I squirmed uncomfortably on the saddle, and looked at Kristen with pleading eyes. "Kristen... I can't ride. Can I get down now?"

Kristen touched her chin as though she was seriously considering it – I doubted it.

"Uh, no."

"I'm sorry for laughing!" I surrendered. "I don't know how to ride this thing."

"This 'thing' is a horse and this horse is called Jasper." Kristen patted Jasper by the neck, and Jasper nodded, the bells jingling on his bridle. 

I laughed nervously, "sorry about that too, but – ah – I gotta get back to the ground." 

Sensing my nervousness, Kristen actually nodded and agreed. "I think you learned your lesson." 

"I didn't know Practical involved horse-" as I was dismounting, my foot slipped into the stirrup. I fell straight on my butt. 

Kristen barked a laugh. "Cassie, you clumsy pants!" She bent down, holding the reins, but I sensed Jasper's discomfort before he decided to jog. 

I let out a panicked cry as the horse dragged me across the floor, sending dirt flying behind me. "Kristen!!!"

The horse ran faster. I swished by a corner, knocking into a root, stirring commotion in the pile of leaves. Jasper rounded a sharp corner and I was thrown into a tree. 

"Ek!" 

"I'm coming, girl! Hold on!" 

"Hold on? I want to let go!" 

I unsheathed my sword, swung it in the air, seeing the sharp blade cut through the reins. Once I was free from the bounds, I slumped to the floor as I helplessly watched Jasper gallop away into the woods. 

"Cassie! Cassandra?" Kristen's cries were not far behind me. 

I sat up and waved. "Yo!"

"Are you hurt?" Kristen looked absolutely frantic. She grabbed my shoulder and checked me over. 

"Hit a tree, otherwise, good as new."

Kristen sighed in relief, then looked guilt-struck. "Sorry."

"Is this some sort of pay-back?" I asked, a sly grin on my face. She mimicked, pulling me up from the ground. 

"Weeeeee should go and find Jasper."

"Agreed."

The next few minutes were a series of cooing and yelling Jasper's name across the forest until our throats grew dry and our legs wobbly sore. The weather was really getting to us. 

We made out of the woods to a little hill and outstretched before us was another unending forest. Kristen threw herself to the ground with an exasperated sigh.

"I shouldn't have let you ride Jasper, it was all my fault," she said breathlessly. 

"I'm thirsty," I added. 

Kristen fanned herself down, "yeah, me too! We better end this quickly before dehydration really becomes a thing."

I pointed at the forest. "It doesn't look too bad in there. The trees are dense enough so it should cover the sun."

"You're right. Let's go a bit further," Kristen stood up. I noticed that she carried a weapon behind her back, but it wasn't a sword. 

"What's that?"

"Huh? Oh, my ribbon sword. More like a whip." Kristen grinned, pulling it from her back. She gripped her handle and the ribbon blade collapsed to the ground, emitting a green hue. "That's why I didn't understand why my crest is pink. Green is mostly my colour."