Book 2: HomeFront

Ride Along

"Horses?" Was his less than enthusiastic response. Venus drug him all the way up through these mountains to visit a horse ranch. They were everywhere in various shades of brown and black, grazing on the hilltops without a care in the world. Leo already stated how much he didn't want to sweat in his nice clothes. His skin glistened along his forehead and was wiped every few minutes when they climbed the large rock. The girl couldn't stop her smiles when she gazed upon the majestic, calm creatures who minded their own business.

"Yep. These are Mr. Leon's Riwoche horses." She extended a hand to them, presenting them to her turtle companion. "They're strong, sound, beautiful..."

"And short." He cut her off. With a good distance away, she could clearly see the size factor. He wasn't any type of equestrian, but these were small horses compared to the large police horses he'd seen in the streets time to time. Those ones were big boned; heavyset. This scraggly gang of ponies were all bone with tucked in stomachs. "They're cute and all but how are we gonna ride these things?"

"With saddles." She giggled through her sarcasm. Leo raised a brow. His eyes turned her away to keep herself from smiling directly in his face.

"You know what I mean, Venus." The turtle girl made an exaggerated shrug of her shoulders and a cock of the head. Slowly, she approached the fence directly. A hand set on top of the rugged wood. Every chunk and dip was felt as she sparsely drifted her fingertips over it as she made way over to the main gate. Leo followed directly behind. "How do you think that this big, heavy shelled turtle is gonna sit on the little ponies and not break him?"

"I never said we were riding them." "Qiangzhe Laile!" She yelled across the plains. One by one, a horse's head popped up to stare. Some, upon seeing where the noise came from, dropped their heads back down. Others continued to stare at the two standing at the gate, slowly falling to look towards the hidden back for they heard something coming. The forest of trees began a thunderstorm. Loud hooves pounded the ground and shook the air as they ran. Suddenly, out of the brush, a mare and foal trotted out of the way when two very large animals charged through. Leonardo couldn't believe the beauty as the two magical animals sprinted towards them. With each stride, they grew larger and larger in size. Venus' smile grew ever wider as they abruptly slowed themselves down to not run into the gate. A couple clods of grass flew from underneath their feet. Big Norris flared, wheezing out the dust that dared to make its way in with every deep breath. The fuller one, a black horse, threw his head over the fence. Just like the other, his mane was shaven to a mere Mohawk. A swish of his tail also showed a full, straight cut just before his hooves. Venus extended a hand to pet his velvet nose until the other moved him down the line to be petted as well. Quickly, the black one found another to be appreciated of him. Watching Venus do it, Leo extended a careful hand towards the animal's face. The contact transferred the animal's warm to his hand, pleasing him greatly. His harsh breath showed him the harmonies of his body. Just from his nose, he could feel his wildness, every muscle, all the power.

"Well, well, well. Who's this?" He gave a toothy grin as he let his hands explore the horse's face. His deep brown eyes were kind and gentle when he studied them.

"They belong to me and my sister. We started riding when we were babies." She patted the cherry bay animal. He donned a black mane and tail with black points on all four legs. He nodded his head, having it knock the top of the wood with a quick wine. The turtle girl giggled and let the horse move away from her. "Chung I noticed how much bigger Mona and I were becoming, so he planned ahead and imported two horses from Europe. A Friesian stallion" she gestured to the black one, " and an Andalusian gelding." Assuming she is referring to the other large equine.

"Hey buddy."he whispered to the animal. He kept quiet and still, letting his inexperienced hands run all over his face and neck.Gaining a little more confidence, he began to scratch a spot near the top of his neck. The horse began to nod graciously, letting his lazy lip flap. In to time, he began to sidestep towards him, pressing the side of his body to the fence to invite Leonardo to scratch in more places. "What's his name?" He laughed, enjoying every little antic the horse dished up."It is a 'he', right?"