"Alright, providing when we step out after class is over it won't be so dark out we won't be able to see beyond the orb of light provided by candle light then we can just hold off until tomorrow to search for it. You are more familiar with the rising and setting of the sun around here than I am so if you think we will have some time today we can give a try. So long as it wont get either of us into trouble with the Lords and Ladies in charge" Cara replied glancing at Kimberly.
She turned back to the black mare, gently rubbing her hand along the length of the side of her face and neck. The way Kimberly had tried to reassure her she would eventually find a companion and it didn't necessarily have to be horse circled her mind a few times. While she wouldn't any animal companion in general, somehow her mind drifted a bit to far and hoped for something that was more impossible than possible. While it would her beyond happy to have something like a hippogriff or griffin that just was wishful thinking, dreaming when in reality they were probably the least likely for her to come across and connect with one like a companion. It was dream best left to her mind, unlikely to happen given her track record with luck.
Cara bid farewell to the mare, moving calmly over to join Kimberly by her horse. She offered Apollo a smile as they were introduced, extending her hand for a smell "Nice to meet you Apollo, I'm sorry though I don't have a sugar cube to offer you but if its alright with you I can help Kimberly give you a good brush down" she said, letting his eye link with hers for a few moments then turned to look at Kimberly beside her. "Thats of course if its alright with you. I can help clean out his stall instead while you brush him if you would rather do it by yourself."
Kimberly sighed when Cara asked her if it was going to get them in trouble with the Lords and the Ladies. Truthfully she did not feel like any of them other than maybe Sir Gryfindor liked her anyways. If it was to get her in trouble then maybe it was their way of saying she did not belong there. Plus she was not sure where they needed to start looking for the range so it could take hours to find it. “If the rest of the classes go as fast as that one then we should have plenty of time. If they decided to want to keep us in class for ages then no. Most of the classes that had outside of where we're from woman teaching me to sow. I did not get it very well so had to do most of it on my own time because they did not want to sit there and watch me fail. If not then we can keep trying a little at a time plus no classes on the weekends so we could spend the day then looking.”
Kimberly smiled a little when Cara looked towards her. “I don’t mind if you help me give him a brush down. The truth that might just want Apollo needs. It also is faster since like you said we do still have classes to get to. If we are both doing it then cleaning the stall should be easy too. It should take maybe 20 minutes or so.” She knew it would take her longer if wanted to be detailed but not sure about school stuff what time had.
With what sounded like the approval to help brush the horse down, Cara calmly stepped away to grab two brushes and handed one to Kimberly once she came back. She figured they could still talk while they brushed Apollo, seemed at least the better option when they weren't sure how much time was left before they needed to get back for their next class.
"I wouldn't want to assume the classes are as easy as that one but I have hopes they won't be too terribly difficult. With everyone here at different levels of knowledge in magic I can only guess they are starting easy just to find a good middle point for the range and go from there. Why else start with a lesson on if we can read and write you know?" she said as she gently began to brush the horse, starting at the top of his elegant neck and working slowly down to his shoulders.
Honestly, Cara had hopes the classes wouldn't be anything like their first simply because while it had little to do with magic in her mind, it had challenged her in a way she didn't like. Out where everyone could see her potentially fail. She didn't do failure, at least not in public to be seen. Still, she did have some knowledge on magical lessons so maybe as far as the next few classes she wouldn't feel so much out of her element. Perhaps instead a bit ahead where she liked to be.
"We are in a similar boat then, I had to learn a few lessons on my own and others I had to gain experience on my own. At first my father was the one to teach me some basic skills though most were lessons on metal work and the forge as he is the small towns blacksmith of several generations where we lived. I taught myself to shoot a bow and a touch of experimenting with my magic when it began, something he didn't always approve of but in the end it earned me a few magical lessons from our towns ruling Lady in exchange for some work. It wasn't much or for very long before they decided to send me here to learn what I needed and from those who would better be able to teach me" Cara calmly explained. She made a point to make it brief enough, no need to bother Kimberly with the details and the drama that shaped her to the kind of person she was now. No one really needed that kind of weight on their mind so she would keep it to herself and perhaps a animal companion should she find one before her time at the school was over.
0Kimberly was happy that Apollo was going to be getting a great brushing. She did care about the old horse even if it did not seem like it all the time. The horse neigh little in excitement when they were hitting the places that felt good. Kimberly took extra care in the spots she knew he might be sore from their original trip. “Oh, I don’t believe the classes are going to be easy at all. I mean from the magic I have seen during my travels be it not much. My skill is nowhere near that at all. My luck is going to be that don’t just flunk out at the beginning of the year. What meant was that some classes it would seem like depended on reading and writing. If we don’t understand those there is no reason to even start the other yet.”
Kimberly knew she would work on helping Cara find the archery range since that seems as if it was something the girl in front of her would enjoy doing. It was not something she saw herself any good at but if it make someone else happy that was what it was worth right? This school was to help her hide from her past failures and make new goals. It was working so far so why work on changing it up now? The witch listens to Cara explain her situation before all this.
“If you know a little bit of magic then you are already ahead of me. Until the one that brought me to this school found told me about magic I did not know what it was. Most of what I got was when upset would explode a plate or two. Then when cleaning the bucket always seems to find its way back over to me.” Kimberly did not see the point in lying to her about it. Cara was one of her friends, so maybe if she understood, they could work together on learning where the other was faltering. “Apollo has always been there for me you know.”
Cara moved the brush with a gentle but productive touch. While she wasn't as familiar with the horse as Kimberly was she wanted to show at least a good level of respect and care as if she did know Apollo that well. Animals were a lot more honest and open when you showed them you had no ill intent, at least thats what she had come to learn after helping her father with the dozen or so animals that came to their blacksmith shop. "He seems like a good soul, your lucky to have found one another given its not easy to find such a thing so easily." Cara said reassuringly.
She paused as Kimberly described her experience with magic and it seemed like instead of finding it interesting, Cara wondered if it had instead scared Kimberly from the way she described it and the hint or so of her past. She couldn't understand what there was to be scared of about it but then again not everyone would react the same if they made a dish explode at random.
"The noble woman told me stuff like that is what happens with untrained magic in people during emotional situations and thats why its important to learn as soon as magic starts to make an appearance on how to learn about it and control it. I don't think I ever made a plate explode but I would sometimes find when I was really happy, my work in the forge would come out nearly perfect. My father wasn't too happy about it when it happened, said it was a crime to the craft to have outside help and I was often forbidden from using it while I worked. Problem though as you may know was that you can't really control when it happens so I often got scolded quite a bit when it would happen. I eventually found a better outlet with my archery, using that to try and direct my power with it instead of my work in the forge" Cara said as she resumed brushing. Why she was sharing her story she wasn't fully sure. While she wasn't planning on getting to know or make friends here, Kimberly was a bit different from the others. As bad as it sounded in her head the other girl sort of reminded her of a timid animal then a person so maybe thats why she wasn't filled with a feeling to push her away as she did with other people. It didn't fully make sense in her mind but maybe with time she could figure it out.
"My archery is actually how the noble woman who taught me a little before sending me here found me. We have an annual archery contest in our village her family puts on every year but this was going to be the last year since she was letting her son take over for her late husband. I entered despite my father not approving of my archery or my reason for entering. The winner receives a wish for anything they want and mine at the time was to learn more about the magic gift I was trying to understand. I won't bore you with the contest details but I ended up winning the contest with some appearance and maybe help from my magic. Since I didn't have a home to return to, the noble woman granted my wish to learn more on top of letting me stay in her home in exchange for some light work. I wasn't there for too long before she learned through her friend Lady Hufflepuff about the school and the two decided I should come here to learn instead. I wasn't fully thrilled with the idea but I suppose I have to have faith they know whats best for my education."
There was a small note of bitterness in her tone at the end of her story but Cara didn't show any expressions on her face to confirm anything as she continued to work the brush along Apollo's shoulder and side. She hadn't approved of the steps that had brought her here but it was too late to do anything about her past now. Instead she would just have to makes sure her future was one solely in her control and one no one else could take control of from her.
Apollo nuzzled Cara knowing that she seemed like a really good person. He was happy that his owner had found a friend that could be there for her like that. Kimberly saw that and smiled knowing that it was going to be nice here. This was one step in making it worthwhile for her to stay at the school and learn more. “He is a good boy. We were lucky to have found each other in this time in life. I know that father would have put him down since he was getting to old to help with any of the stuff he needed.” Apollo could not work on hauling all the really heavy loads of materials and things. She felt bad when she was getting on his back alone.
She paused as Kimberly described her experience with magic and it seemed like instead of finding it interesting, Cara wondered if it had instead scared Kimberly from the way she described it and the hint or so of her past. She couldn't understand what there was to be scared of about it but then again not everyone would react the same if they made a dish explode at random.
“It is great that you had someone there that could tell you what was going on with your magic. In the town that I grew up in magic was not something that was talked about. The people would look at you funny if were to even do anything out of the way. Women were supposed to dress in a proper way and then find family.” Kimberly really was not sure if they would have burned her for having magic. Her guess was yes because the church there did not like anything out of the way. Everything needed to be in its place. “I was worried that would be one of those people in the stories. The ones that people said had powers. Then they would test it and if the person made it out alive they said that proved it. If the person died the people would cheer. Then go about saying if they did make then it is gone now with them. I tried my best to hide it when I was not able to any more left. Ended up in the village where we first met.”
Kimberly heard the story and knew now she really wanted to help Cara find her way to the archery range. The witch wanted to see her new friend in action. Kimberly never really was good with anything other than a cooking knife. It was the only thing she had been able to sneak out of the house to protect herself. That is part of why when Godric said she learned so much by coming here she was excited. “Was archery hard to learn? The one that brought me here said that I would work on learning to defend myself. I don’t believe he meant going to actually pick up a sword and start swinging it. There are other ways to defend yourself. It is great that you are getting to learn more about the gift you have.” Kimberly now wonders if she ever sees it as a gift and not a curse.
01-02-2023, 08:34 PM (This post was last modified: 01-02-2023, 08:35 PM by Cara Toirdelbach.)
Cara couldn't help but gave a small genuine smile at Apollo as the horse nuzzled her. It was an expression she didn't often make around others, not since she made the promise to herself to not lower her guard. She gave the horse a few pets along his long nose then resumed her brushing now towards his back leg and hip.
"I'd heard that in certain areas magic isn't as accepted as other places. In my old town it was just the ruling laird and his family that had magic so it was kind of a sign of wealth and power. If you had magic, you were someone of importance and should be respected. I think my father was afraid people might think I was a spy at first when my magic began to show so thats why he didn't like me to show it but the noble woman didn't and instead welcomed me as her student instead. I guess I can understand why it would scare people who haven't seen it before but unless your outright hurting people with it I don't think its something that has to be feared or cursed" she said hoping to reassure Kimberly that she didn't think their magic or the other girl were anything like the image she was describing in her story.
It seemed like a good idea as their topic seemed to shift to archery, background discussions could get too emotional in Cara's opinion so she was glad when it shifted to something different. "It was a bit easier to learn then when I had to learn how to dress like a proper girl" she replied as she gave Apollo's side a few long brushes to complete her half of his brush down. "It took my dad a few months to figure out I was a girl not a boy but given all we had were boy clothes thats just how I dressed up until I went to live with the noble woman while learning magic. With archery I was more so self taught. At first I used a bow from our shop to try to figure out how to aim and shoot but eventually I made my own bow and even a few arrows. It wasn't the fanciest of weapons and I probably need a few lessons on how to properly make one to suit my skills better but its served me well enough to get me here and put my life in my own hands." Cara glanced back over her shoulder for a moment at the carved bow on her back.
She looked down at Apollo's legs and hooves, an almost automatic glance over to see how he was balancing on his feet and from what she could see he shifted a little back and forth as if something was a little discomforting. "Would you be alright if I checked under his hooves? He seems to be shifting his weight and might just have as stone or small stick wedged in the bottom causing a little annoyance to him?" Cara asked as she looked over at Kimberly on the other side of the horse. "I used to do this often at home so I'll be careful and gentle. I just can't stand the idea of such a sweet guy being bothered by something potentially stuck in his foot." She hoped it was reassuring to the other girl that she wanted the older horse to be just as happy and comfortable as she did. He deserved it from the subtle sounds of the journey the two had been through.
Kimberly was happy that her new she could daresay friend was being gentle with Apollo. She was used to petting and brushin him on her own. Part of the problem was while on the road none of this equipment was here. The witch had to make due with what she had even sharing the brush Kimberly used on self. "It is nice that you still had people that were willing to help and train you." Kimberly knew that her husband's family would have blamed her. They would not accept it. They might even go as far as saying it was this magic that made it where she was not able to have children. She is not able to do the one thing that women are supposed to do. "Yes but you were able to work on making it yourself. This means that they have at least some skill." Kimberly looked at the bow knowing it was impressive. Cara was amazing and able to do so many things. "I don't think I could use it properly no matter how I dressed. Plus not sure anyone knows how to be a proper one. My family knew I was a girl the whole time and still learning things." Kimberly could sew and make simple enough clothes. She also knew how to mend her own things which had come in handy when traveling. Her cooking skills were passable. Children she did not understand though could never be really tired to learn. "Yes please if Apollo will let you. He has been with me through lots but most of the time on my travels someone else would look at it for me." She always made sure to get him looked at in every town. He had better care than her for some time. "I hope that I can work on learning the little things from the person that works with the animals. Apollo deserves the best and this way I can work on learning it."
"It is a bit tricky to shoot a bow or do quite a good number of things in a dress but like many things I'm learning to adjust and eventually I can get it down" Cara replied. She calmly set down the brush she had been using and moved across the stables to the side stall she assumed had supplies for the animal care. After a little searching she managed to find a few tools to help clean up Apollo's hooves and hopefully help the boy guy feel less of an irritation on his feet.
Returning to Kimberly and Apollo, she gave the horse a few pats on the side of his neck as a subtle welcome back greeting. Moving to stand beside his front leg she placed her hand on his shoulder, gently gliding it down along his limb until she was at the base of his foot and very slowly she lifted it up, bending it just enough at his proper joints. This was the part that got a bit tricky given her dress but she had made the commitment to do this so she would make it work somehow.
Tucking the tools into the nook between her shoulder and head, pressing down to hold them in place for a moment Cara adjusted her dress before swinging her leg carefully over the horses sandwiching it between her knees. Retrieving the tools from her shoulder she got to work as gently but meticulously as she could on cleaning out the bottom of Apollo's foot.
"Did the two of you get to see anything interesting on your journey here? One of the founders was the one that helped escort you here correct? How was it traveling with them if you don't mind me asking?" Cara asked, glancing up from her work on the horse's hoof to look at Kimberly for a moment. It seemed like a simple and safe topic they could chat about next while they continued Apollo's brush down and hoof care. "I have only heard of a little information about one of them so I'm a little interested in learning more about the others. I know so little about them except they are supposed to be some of the strongest wizards and witches the civilized world has right now. I'm just a touch curious to know what kind of people they are and bit more about the individuals themselves."
Kimberly was wanting to work on learning more ways to take care of herself. She knew had really wanted to work on trying to find ways to protect herself. If it was easier to shoot a bow than a dagger and sword that might be good for her. “Did it take long for you to work on learning the bow? As someone that is skilled at it. Do you think just anyone could work on picking up to do?”
Kimberly would work on admitting that she did not know anything that was going on. She did not know what to do to help so she just worked on moving in front of Apollo petting behind his ears and trying to keep him calm. She could tell that Apollo from the way he was acting that really liked Cara. Sometimes if he did not like a person he let them know. Kimberly had seen it before and turned out to be a good thing.
Kimberly was working on trying to think about her trip here when Cara asked. She did see lots of interesting things but where did she need to start? Did she start with the fact that she did not meet Godric in the first part? Actually, she had traveled some of the ways on her own. “I did get to see some interesting things. Most of it though was getting to see the different types of trees and things from where I lived originally. Plus how different towns worked.” She decided that it might be best to be honest with everyone. "I traveled with Sir Gryffindor since one of the people stayed with us. He worked on explaining to me that he had magic and offered me a spot there. Since really was traveling he offered me a spot in the pub where you met me before coming here.”
Apollo neigh as could tell that his master was having a time. He was happy that she was working on getting his feet worked on. “He was a nice and amazing person. The man wants to do his best to work on helping make sure we all learn to take care of ourselves. He was a knight who knows how to protect those around him while teaching us to do it ourselves. There was also his dog Rhiannon she is a sweetheart.”
