“Not that way you deadglow!” Mirrial said and took the halter from her brother. “You were putting it on backwards, how many times do I have to show you?” She asked and put the halter on the runnerbeast in less than a minute. Pitiraon sighed in exasperation.
“You, Mirrial, were brought up in a hold. I, on the other hand, was fostered. So don’t be such a shardin’ proddy queen.” He said and blew a piece of hair form his face. “You were lucky that father and mother kept you instead of fostering you away as well. Though, I never saw their point of fostering me away.” He said, pouting. “I was their only son, heir to the hold, now they have someone else. Probably why they allowed me to come back. Why, by the first egg, did they do what they did?” He sighed again.
“I don’t know, and I don’t care. If you’d just watch, please.” She said. Though Mirrial liked to thin that she didn’t look anything like her brother, several people saw the lineage between the two as soon as they saw them together. Even people with a keener memory noticed the two were alike even when apart. Mirrial sighed. “Now, can you put the saddle on without messing up?”
“I’m not that dim!” He said and hefted the saddle onto his shoulder from its previous spot over the stable door. He let the runnerbeast sniff at it and ran it lightly along the runnerbeast’s neck and sides down to his back. The runnerbeast watched him with curious eyes as he placed the saddle on his back, but made no movement. He synched the saddle as tight as he could and then walked the runner beast around a bit and then synched it tighter.
The runnerbeasts snorted, and Pitiraon had to walk the runnerbeast around a couple more times before the saddle fit securely and safely.
“Now, remember, this runnerbeast is saddle and halter broke, but he’s never been ridden. As soon as you mount him, he’ll give you a wild ride.” Mirrial said and smiled smugly.
“That is where you are wrong, sister dear. I may have trouble putting on a halter, but riding an untrained runnerbeast is something that comes natural to me.” He said and smiled. “Watch.” And Mirrial only smiled wider, knowing he would fail, especially since it was his first attempt.
“Alright, prove it.” She said.
“I will!” And Pitiraon smiled and then began caressing the horses neck, talking to him all the while. He became oblivious to Mirrial and only had knowledge of the runnerbeast, standing there breathing softly. He stroked the runnerbeast between the ears, careful to keep his hands away from the face, something the runnerbeasts considered a threat.
The runnerbeast remained still, turning his ears to follow the sound of Pitiraon’s soothing voice. Even Mirrial herself found that she was beginning to feel calmness within her, and she wondered suspiciously if Pitiraon had worked with runnerbeasts before.
“That’s it.” He cooed softly and ran his hand slowly down the runnerbeast’s neck and withers, massaging all the while. He rubbed his hands over the entirety of the runnerbeast’s back and up his neck again, continuing his calming talk. Then he started massaging the legs.
“Are you trying to put the runnerbeast asleep?” Mirrial asked quietly, slightly too interested to ask any louder, for fear of disturbing the runnerbeast. Pitiraon just ignored her, continuing his routine for another five minutes. Finally, he added a little weight to the runnerbeast’s back by placing his arms on the saddle and pressing down. When the runnerbeast stood motionless, he stood on his tiptoes –for the runnerbeast was tall –and added his entire white, picking his feet up off the ground. The runnerbeast remained where he was.
Mirrial opened her mouth to say something rude, but stopped, shocked by what he had accomplished. “Alright, let’s see you mount.” She said and Pitiraon did-and continued to talk softly, and still the runnerbeast stood where he was.
“Okay, let’s get going.” He spoke to the runnerbeast softly and gave a couple clicks of his tongue, the runnerbeast started forward at a walk. Mirrial was shocked and watched as Pitiraon walked the horse around the stables and then outside.
He pulled back slightly on the left reign, adding the faintest pressure to the runnerbeast’s mouth. The runnerbeast turned on command, listening to Pitiraon. Mirrial was impressed.
Suddenly, one of the drudges came running from the house -yelling something about it ‘not being her fault that the dishes were all dirty still’- and right at the runnerbeast. Pitiraon saw the drudge and grimaced. Mirrial figured it would start bucking. Only, it didn’t buck as most runnerbeasts Mirrial saw did when they were startled, this one jumped slightly to the side and out of the way of the drudge at a command from Pitiraon. Mirrial gave up.
“Alright, fine, fine, you have proven yourself. But I think you better show father what you just did. Wait, just walk the runnerbeast around and I’ll get father. He knows that one has not been ridden yet.” But she didn’t have to for a second later, the Lord Holder came running from the hold, waving a broken wooden spoon in the air like a maniac, and yelling angrily. Then he dropped the broken spoon and his mouth dropped open at the sight of his son on the back of the runnerbeast that had given him a broken ankle and a sprained wrist.
“How…what…” He was, to the least, shocked, and didn’t believe what he was seeing. “Okay, haha, what’d you do to that beast that makes him stand so still?” He said, thinking that Pitiraon and his daughter had somehow worked together to trick him.
“He didn’t father, he really broke the runnerbeast! He can ride him! Show him, Pit.” Mirrial said. And Pitiraon slowly walked the runnerbeast in a tight circle and then in a straight line. He even got the runnerbeast to back up much to the surprise of the Lord Holder and Mirrial, which he hadn’t shown her before.
“Are you sure you never worked with runnerbeasts before?” The Lord Holder asked, and Pitiraon nodded his head in conformation. He knew the Lord Holder was realizing of a sudden that perhaps he should not have chosen his nephew as heir tot he hold, but it was too late to switch his decision now. Pitiraon was too old to begin training as a Holder, yet he did seem to learn quickly. Unfortunately, his son had grown up in a Weyr, and acted more Weyrbred than Holdbred, and he berated himself for ever considering such a thing as he had seventeen turns ago.
“Why don’t he try braking in Blazer?” She asked her father, Lord Schille, and he sucked in a quick breath in shock, and gave his daughter a reprimanding look so fierce she looked away.
“You know Blazer has never been broken, nor will he ever likely be! Should’ve sold that beast years ago, but I’ve had a kind of growing fondness for him.” Lord Schille said. Pitiraon stopped his father from saying anything further.
“I can brake him if you want me too.” Pitiraon said and smiled. “I can, really. I can brake him so that you can ride him, watch. Mirrial, come here.” He said and beckoned her over. Mirrial cocked an eyebrow, but went over. Pitiraon dismounted and pulled Mirrial over to the runnerbeast, nearly tripping her, when he didn’t think she was moving fast enough.
“Now, talk to the runnerbeast quietly, and pet him, let him see you at all times, even when you’re mounting.” He said and stepped away. Shiffer -the two sibling's cousin- came out and stood behind Lord Schille. Mirrial nodded, knowing that if she made a wrong move she could wind up flying off the runnerbeast and braking her neck. She talked softly to it and ran her hands down the neck and over it’s back, skipping over the saddle as Pitiraon had done and then back up again. She continued talking to it as she put a leg in the stirrup.
The runnerbeast turned its head to see what she was doing, but made no other move. She wasn’t afraid, no, she had trained runnerbeasts and been around them long enough to know that they picked up what you were feeling and reacted to that. She had even done as she was doing now, and even then it had been hard to train runnerbeasts, but Pitiraon had done something differently, and she realized with a start that it was his voice.
Mirrial paused for a moment and then began talking again, in her best imitation of her brothers calming tone. It worked, and this time when she put her foot in the stirrup, the runnerbeast didn’t so much as blink an eye. She mounted, continuing to talk to it and then she was in the saddle.
She rode it around for a few minutes, Lord Schille and Shiffer watching in admiration and wonder. Even he had been affected by the voice Mirrial had used on the runnerbeast.
“Alright,” Lord Schille said slowly, “Pitiraon, you have permission to train Blazer, if you will teach Shiffer and me to do what you can do, and Mirrial, you as well.”
“I…I only just learned.” She said, shocked now that she was sitting still on the runnerbeast’s back. She didn’t know how she’d accomplished it so easily; and yet, at the same time, she wondered why she hadn’t been able to use her voice like she had before. She shook her head.
“But you have the gift, and with time, you can perfect it.” Pitiraon said with a knowing look and he smiled at her. “Come, take me to Blazer and I assure you that by the end of this day, he will be a willing runnerbeast.”
