Mandatory Reads

[Neko]

Neko leaned against the doorway of the barn as she ran a hand through her now nearly shoulder-length hair with a scowl; the X7 had forgotten to cut it last night as it was one of the rare nights she actually slept, and had rushed to get to the mansion on time as Neko had nearly overslept.

Though in her defense, Neko didn't get to sleep until about 5am.

Regardless, the teen vowed to cut her hair after training today; what that consisted of she didn't know, but as Neko saw Bit approaching her, she knew she'd find out soon enough...

[Bit Farrow]

Even with everything going on, Bit hadn't forgotten about Neko's training. Today would likely prove to be a fun day. Bit was going to introduce her to the most fundamental aspect of samurai training; horsemanship. Learning the spear, bow, and sword from a horse were all neccessary for complete samurai training. This is something the likes of anime and old movies completely forgot, however. Bit had his own trained warhorse, which was who Neko would be training on until he bred another warhorse.

"Onwards pussy cat," Bit teased, as he reached her, "Help me open these doors."

Bit got one barn door, as she presumeably got the other. After the barn was open, Bit unlocked one of the stalls. A massive stallion; coat a pale gray with a black mane, walked out of the stell. It stopped near Neko, showing absolutely no fear as its face went down to sniff at her. Bit meanwhile, gestured at a barrel.

"There's apples in there," He explained, "You should probably feed him one."

[Neko]

Despite Neko's initial curiosity as she never seen a horse up close before, she let out an instinctual hiss that was half fear, half warning at the warhorse's sniffing before darting not quite behind Bit. Damn cat DNA! Granted Neko didn't think horses were as big as they were (the closest thing Manticore had to petting zoos were the guard dogs that chased after your ass when you tried to escape- Neko knew that from experience), but she still tried to put on a brave front.

It wasn't really working.

[Bit Farrow]

The horse neighed and shook his head at her as she hissed. Bit turned so he could look down at the young Transgenic. He'd just picked up the bridle and saddle for her to use, but seeing her reaction he paused. Setting it back down, he chuckled. Stepping away from Neko, he moved to the barrel he'd mentioned earlier. Pulling out a few apples, he tossed one to Neko.

"Can't show fear. You show fear, he loses respect for you, and it's very important that he respects you," Bit told her, "Besides, you can't tell me a big bad Transgenic is scared of a little warhorse, is she? Just hold out the apple in the palm of your hand. His name is Poe, and he'll answer to it."

[Neko]

Neko resisted the urge to roll her eyes at Bit at the "big, bad, transgenic" tease. She held out the apple to Poe as Neko did glare at her sensei,
"Little my ass! This dude can eat my head!"

The transgenic did muster a little courage to pet the warhorse's snout gently as it ate the apple. She was curious though if she could read the horse's mind, but decided not to try. It wasn't hers anyway and it would be cheating Neko supposed.

[Bit Farrow]

Bit laughed, "He's less likely to harm you than a mouse is. Just relax."

Since she was now feeding him, and Poe did love his apples, Bit went back to get the bridle and saddle. He pocketed the apples he had taken, as he lifted up the sadle. Placing it on the horse's back, he pulled on the straps, making sure everything was good and tight. Then came the bit and bridle. Now he just had to get Neko up there.

"You wanna climb on yourself, or do you need help?" Bit asked her with a playful smile.

[Neko]

As Poe finished his apple, and Neko kept petting the horse she took a breathe and said she'd try it on her own. Bracing her foot on the foothold of the saddle, Neko climbed up to straddle the saddle and smiled.

'Okay, I got up here. That's an accomplishment. Now if I had to jump down without breaking a limb,' the X7 thought, though logically, what with her cat DNA it really wouldn't be a problem.

"Ok, so what now?" Neko asked.

[Bit Farrow]

"Well, normally I'd give you the reigns and tell you to try riding him around a bit, but then... You're training to be a samurai, aren't you? So we can't do it like that," Bit grinned, "See, samurai usually didn't use their hands to guide their horses. Sooo... Adios!"

Bit slapped Poe hard on the rear quarters. Normally that wouldn't bother the horse one bit, but he recognized his master's scent and intent. The horse sprang off, already gaining speed as it dashed over the grasses. Bit moved back into the barn, to begin letting loose the other horses. That large, powerful, warhorse in the meantime was moving with enough speed to begin making Neko's eyes water.

[Neko]

//YOU ARE A FUCKING ASS!// Neko yelled in Bit's head telepathically as she clenched her teeth. To make matters worse, the trasgenic nearly screamed out loud as the other horses ran towards them.

'Shit, shit, shit!' She thought frantically as the teen realized she didn't even know how to steer or anything, before deciding to reach into the horse's mind.

A bombardment of sensations flooded Neko's senses before she sorted them out one by one, exhilaration filled the X7 as she felt what the horse felt and managed to slowly ease Poe into feeling calm, making him stop at the side of the field, out of the way of the other horses; before Neko nearly fell off, almost passing out.

'Ok note to self- only do that to humans, not other animals that are way beyond one's DNA.'

[Bit Farrow]

Bit couldn't help but laugh at Neko's words. He was, sometimes. He'd admit it. But he also wasn't lieing. During battle, samurai were too busy with weapons to lead their horses the normal way. Now she knew what happened if one wasn't control. And Poe could be controlled. He was trained for this. After the girl stopped the horse, Bit sent a mental command for him to bring her back. Gently.

"You cheated," Bit told her, as the horse came close, "I should make you do it all over again."

[Neko]

"Well just because I'm your student doesn't mean I won't hurt your ass." Neko replied, glaring at Bit, "besides, you just used telepathy."

Okay, so it was a weak argument, but it was all the X7 was going to try for past the slight migraine she had. She groaned as she gave Poe a slight scratch behind the ear and climbed off the saddle, barely avoiding falling on her ass, before crossing her arms to glare some more at her sensei.

"How about you at the very least teach me how to steer first?"

[Bit Farrow]

"Only to make sure you didn't do anything wrong in there," Bit told her, grinning, "I could have whistled. Regardless, I can't show you how to steer unless you're in the saddle. So back up in it."

Bit knew he'd started off with a rather intense lesson, but there was a reason. People who only knew what it was like to ride a trained horse, could never learn how to train a warhorse. Sooner or later, Bit intended on her training a warhorse. So part of her training would involve her learning how to control an out of control horse.

[Neko]

Neko bit back a groan and a death glare at her sensei as she climbed into the saddle again. She began to scratch at Poe's ears again while waiting for instruction. Hopefully Bit decided to give them this time... the X7 thought as she resisted the urge to find out about the warhorse by reading his mind.

It was a common thing for those in Neko's unit to do: use sonar and/or telepathy to find extra information about the world around them. It helped as, they weren't the most liked unit in Manticore (much of it due to Neko and Koto's pranks) and it wasn't uncommon for them to be told false information about missions. Not that Neko didn't trust Bit, but old habits die hard, and survival techniques never died. The X7 frowned internally; she missed her siblings.