| Details for Creature Camp: Winged Horse Care & Race |
| Summary: | After a lovely day of learning Winged Horse Care including some riding and flying lessons, the Campers gear up to try out their newly practiced skills in a Race! |
| Date: | August 23, 1941 |
| Location: | Hogsmeade - Campgrounds |
| Related: | Day 1: ((Off Screen)) Check in and Tour Day 2: Pet Fair & Petting Zoo Day 3: Owls & Bonfire Day 4: Centaur Meet & Greet Day 5: This Event. Winged Horse Race. Day 6: Merfolk Meet and Greet Day 7: Agriculture and De-Gnoming Day 8: Dragon Day |
| Characters |
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After a lovely day of learning Winged Horse Care including some riding and flying lessons, the Campers gear up to try out their newly practiced skills in a Race!
Mounted on the steeds that each camper selected to spend the day with Camilla leads the group from the barn and paddock of the Farm to the campgrounds that have been outfitted with floating markers and obstacles in a very large race track through the air. With barely any guidance from his rider Char turns about and lifts his head like he was a king looking upon his subjects while his rider, Camilla, addresses the others. "Alright Campers! Round up, take a break and prepare for the race, when you are ready, ride over to the line in the sand over there. When everyone's ready, take flight and wait at the floating gold ribbon. When the ribbon falls and I blow my whistle, the race begins! Be patient with each other. This is for fun. So no need to get overly competitive."
Cami smiles and winks to the other campers and then dismounts Char to give him one last look over, do so slowly and still with an instructional manner. "We check the hooves, nice and clean. Good. Check the tack… all secure. Not too tight, can fit a finger between horse and gear without a lot of wiggling going on. Good. Horses eyes, clear of muck. Hey handsome." She smiles at Char and gives his very dark grey nose a smooch. "Nostrils soft and dry. Good. Forelock kept out of face, clear view of track…"
William sneezes and deftly wipes his reddening nose. "Oh my."
Josie walks with Lavender a winged horse that kind of fits her name. Though she's done it a number of times before, Josie gets down to follow along with Camilla's guidance, doing a last check over her horse. When she's satisfied that everything is fine, she mounts up again to ride over to the starting line, grinning.
Aiden follows along with Thunder a big smile on his face. He too follows the instructions of Camilla and knowing its all fine, he mounts thunder and rides up to the Starting line himself. The smile broad and huge across his face.
Lissie slides down from and then walks beside 'her' flying horse, a filly named Stormy. "You're a bit bigger'n Archie's Pebble…. Oh. Pebble's a pony, no wings, an' he's not near as smart as you, nor never half so pretty. But you're nicer'n him." She laughs as the filly tugs at the ribbons holding her hair in place, shaking her head. "No, no you don't. Now let's see if you can stay still for just a twitch." Then she snorts again. "Ha. Just try, all right? Afterwards, we will race, hrmm?" She bends to check the hooves, then checks the tack. Stormy nudges at her, and she half-falls, then laughs. "Right. I deserved that." She reaches to examine the nose, then runs her hands up and down the legs, the flanks. It is hard to tell if she is checking something or trying to settle Stormy, but finally she pulls herself up. The filly flares her wings, giving a little skipping half-jump, though it is not in mean spirits, just high spirits. "I had to fall for you, you crazy thing. Had to. Och, weel." She nudges the filly towards the start, making sure she's firmly set in the saddle.
Bowing to the lovely beast, William puts on his best manners. "Your Highness. Lovely day for it. My I have the pleasure of checking your hoof, M'lady?"
The young lad deftly checks each hoof in turn, Carefully adding a 'please' and 'thank you' with each inspection. "Simply lovely, your Highness. Tip top."
The young lad turns to gently check to the tack. "Not to tight then, Milady, he smiles warmly.
"You have the most lovely eyes, you Highness, I'm sure you're quite the envy," He pats her own her dry snout softly, and tucks her forelocks back. Looking up, he blushes.
"Oh my. I hope I haven't made us late." William hastily leads the beautiful white winged horse to the gathering riders.
Camilla lifts a hand to chuckle softly into it as she watches the campers interact with their steeds. "Very good everyone. Seems we are all ready? Exciting." She mounts Char, seems she's going to be joining in on the race today. "Lift off!" With the barest of nudging from her knees the stallion snaps out his just shy of being black grey wings and with a flap and a kick-off he lunges upwards into the air and soars quickly to the floating ribbon where he flaps and hovers as much in place as the large creature can.
Grinning, Josie gives a gentle nudge to her horse, as well, and it spreads swings and takes off. Lavender flies in a circle, once, before taking her place by the floating ribbon as well. Josie's not a great rider, but she's done it enough times that she generally seems to feel comfortable.
Aiden nudges his horse too and Thunder takes flight seemingly like hes just going through the paces at the moment. He stops and floats by the ribbon too. "Aye Thunder ya definitely are taken traits from yer name thake aren' ye' thtrong an' thtrong willed bu' thas a goo' thin." He says happily patting Thunders hair.
Stormy's take-off is more of a wild rear and a beating of her wings than anything else. She neighs, and Lissie clings to her. Her fingers twine in the filly's mane, and the girl presses herself as much as she can against her mount, so that she's riding her almost like a bur stuck to her. Yet the Hufflepuff grins; the filly's excitement is infectious.
"Shall we show them how it's done your Highness?" He clicks his tongue like a cowboy in one of his Muggle mother's movies and nudge the lovely filet with his legs. And again a tad less politely.
The granian spread her majestic wings. With a powerful *flap*, they took to the sky, shaking William back in the saddle, spitting her long mane out his mouth. "Yes…pppt…ppt.. very lovely M'lady!"
The young lad struggled to keep his seat as looked to see where the others are flown off to.
Camilla tucks in behind Char's neck and the whistle in her lips is blown and the ribbon flutters to the ground below and it really does seem like a mere few strong beats of the stallion's wings and they are over and then under and then over again the three floating hedges. Then it's a quick zig-zag between a row of hovering lamp posts and then Char's wings fold and he dives and then staps open to give a sharp left turn before his hooves clomp air and it's only a few beats of wings later and they are crossing the finish line and turning about to watch the others on the track. There is no gloating. She did this all to be an example of what to do, not to win.
Josie really isn't a good rider. It becomes more obvious the longer she tries to fly, as Lavender seems to have her own ideas on how to race, and Josie has to circle back a few times as she ends up under all three hedges, or overall three, or all around the lamp posts. Finally, though, eventually, she ends up crossing the finish line.
Lissie isn't a terrible rider, but definitely Stormy proves more than she can handle. The filly takes off fast enough, but once she has managed the hedges, she insists on doing them again and again, and flies in swoops and steep dives. She grabs the bit in her teeth and just soars, and Lissie really can't do much but cling to her. Slowly, by degrees, she manages to regain control, letting Stromy fly herself silly to get it out of her system. She speaks to her softly, just enough to be heard, stroking her, praising her when the filly finally slows to something less…. gut-wrenching. Then, only then, does the girl manage to guide Stormy around, over, under, and through the obstacles. Both flying horse and Hufflepuff are sweat-drenched when they reach the finish line, and Lissie is ashen-faced, to boot.
Aiden takes off and is really trying to keep up but obviously Thunder has his own ideas and is a very stubborn horse. He gets pulled off course quite a few times and it takes all his effort to get Thunder back on track. Obviously Thunder doesnt care if the win and finally he crosses the line after Lissie and only slightly before Josie.
As the instructor's stallion takes off, Willaim's mount tenses and she bolts after it. If anything, the young lad is holding her back as he shifts off awkwardly to the right. For a moment it takes him to find his seating, he smiles at the trio of fast approaching floating hedges.
"Well hello theeERRRRRRE!"
Before he had a chance to so much as compliment their stunning trim, it was up and over and a mouthful of leaves the floated past as he spit them out.
He shook his head and in trying to get his bearings saw his brother below, "Hey Arkie. I'm- AHHHHH!" Any comment was cut off by the sudden *zig "AWWW" ..and zag! William ducked just in time feeling the near miss of some stylish lamp hovering mid air. Apparently dodging it place him more securely in his saddle and as he clung to her mane defensive so as to avoid yet another mouthful.
He realized some of what he was doing wrong. Less hampered by her rider, Princess Anne swooped gracefully past the Stallion and spun deft to hover at his side. Her Majesty might be preening just a tad.
Josie manages to land, and dismounts, looking frustrated but taking a few moments to affectionately take care of Lavender. Turning back to the others, she grins, and says, looking to William, "Congratulations!" Apparently, she did notice that he finished first other than Camilla.
Aiden lands his own and looks around dismounting shakily. "Aye Oi, Im Thorry I thin' from now on Im thtickin with me broom Thtick fer flight." He says trying to walk but is still wobbly. "I kin thay tha' them are thome beau'iful creatureth an' all bu' I cannae try an' ridem no more."
"You're a bonny, bonny braw lassie, but if y'e'er do tha' again I heartily promise tae ne'er ride you again." Lissie waits until she is steady to drop off the horse, and then she mutters to the filly in Scots Gaelic as she takes care of her. She nods to the others, giving an extra smile to William, then continues to tend the filly.
William allows her Majesty free reign to alight to the ground, leaving Her Dignity unimpaired. He blushes at the other youth, hoping they didn't bear too close witness to his dreadful performance. He admires the young lady's outfit as he nods shyly to the others and respectfully takes his gear off the regal beast.
Josie nods to Aiden with a grin, and says, "Yeah, these horses are great but for flying I think brooms are a lot better. Still, it was a lot of fun." Then, she turns, and says, "Come on, let's get them back safe." She starts to gently lead Lavender back towards the barn.
Aiden nods in agreement. "Aye Lath I agre with ya thar. I juth don' wan' ta flyem again. Grath an' Majethtic creatureth bu' cannae be flyinem no more. Broomth much more comfy a ride."
"I'd like to ride her again, or any of them. It was marvelous fun, and even if Stormy practically pitched me off and flew away, she didn't. So. I'll learn more, and then I'll ride again sometime." Lissie laughs. "Come on. Let's get you settled. And then I want some food."
"There there, your Majesty, Surely she didn't mean it, Your far more Regal than any ol' tick in the sky." William consoles his mount.
"How can you compare a stick twixt your bum with the comfort of such splendid creatures? Better for Quidditch, sure. More convenient to tuck in the closet. But such majesty! Such grace! No compare there, I should think," the young man scoffs at the others within ear shot.
Josie looks over to William, and says with a grin, "I'm talking about racing. They're still fun to fly with, though I like flying with the thestrals more, but maybe it's just because I know them better. Been looking after them every summer since I first came here." She indicates the general direction of the thestral area of the farm, though, of course, it's quite possible that nobody else present can see them.
Aiden shakes his head a little bit almost kind of startled. "Im no' so sure I wan' ta get on one of them again. They kinna scare me." He admits softly backing up. A side of him he doesn't normally show. "I…Well… Jus'" He trails off and he starts to step away ashamed a bit that flying on the horses as exhilarating as it was scared him.
"Thestrals…." Lissie frowns slightly, then turns to smile at Aiden. "It's all right, Aiden. You know what? It's hard to give up control. Hard to let something with a mind of its own carry you somewhere dangerous. And the air…. is dangerous for us. You have to surrender something. And it's bloody terrifying. It might be wonderful for some, but it's terrifying and no shame in being afraid."
William looks about wondering what a thestral is. And where it is?
He glances curiously at the other two non-uniformed campers like himself. Noting the taller boys reluctance pst ride, he offers up some cheerful, comforting advice. "Perhaps you'd like to try on Princess Anne, here. She's ever so splendid!"
The lovely filly nudges the boy from the side with a moist snort. He grimaces quietly as he takes a soiled handkerchief to pat his face dry the granian boogies.
"Yes. I guess there might be some decided advantage to brooms now I that I think on it."
Frowning he tucks the handkerchief back in his left rear pocket. "For give my atrocious manners. William Alderton at your service… and yes I'm related to ol' Archibald I am afraid."
He smiles weakly, blushing as he offers his hand in greeting. The boogie wiping one.
Looking a bit blank at the Archibald that William might be referring to, and perhaps a little surprised at the formality, Josie does smile after a moment and says, "Nice to meet you. I'm Josie. Um, Josie Davies-Bates."
Aiden shakes his head a bit to Lissie's comment. "No its no' ok Lath me Da sayth tha' men muth' Fath there fearth. An' me Im afrai' of a horth." He says with a shake of his head he smiles as good a smile he can manage. "Im Aiden, Aiden Merrythought, Pleathure to meet ye'." He says forked snake tongue flicking out a few times. "I thank ye' fer yer kin'neth Litthie bu' I dunno how ta o'ercome thith fear." Aiden says. "Im bein' a wee boyo abou' this aren' I?" He asks with a nervous sort of laugh.
"You *are* a wee boyo right now, wee boyo," answers Lissie fondly. "An' since your da's not here, weel, he dun' know about th' horses nor the fear, right? So tell him you ha' fun at camp an' dun worry about the fear. You'll feel better after restin' an' eatin' anyhow." She glances over at William. "I'm Lissie Kier. And… ah… you've got horse bogies all over." She shakes herself, then shakes her head at the horse. "She wants feedin' an' the like. Sooner done, sooner I can do the same for m'sael." She grins at Josie. "An' maybe more storytime."
William looks down at his hand, and then nods blushing in comprehension. "Oh yes. Quite right. So I do Miss Kier."
He looks up with a polite grin. "I'm sure it must be good luck." His grin becomes slightly wicked. "Least that's how I'll explain it to Arkie when I see him."
The young man pats the the winged horse as he goes to gather her feed. 'He'll be second year Ravenclaw this year." He looks back jovially as he carries some oats, "Are you all 'Warts or is Hoggies, then? Arkie said that one was for little students and the other was for older ones, but I can't recall which is which."
Josie grins back to Lissie, and nods quickly, "Yeah, good idea." She looks to William again in confusion, totally lost at his words. "I've never heard anybody called either one. But yeah, I'm in Gryffindor. Going into my fifth year. O.W.L. year," she adds, sounding a little nervous.
"You'll do great," grins Lissie, grinning over her shoulder at Josie. "You're smart. Don't worry so much." She grins, then swings open the paddock gate. Well, she climbs on it to open it and then swings inside, convincing Stormy to stay still long enough for her to remove the tack. "There, an' now you can run play, silly girl." She shakes herself, then eyes William. "I've never heard anyone called Hoggies or Warts. Neither sound very nice. Speaking of nice…. we have enough time to clean for dinner, don't we? I smelled fish."
Securing the beautiful animal properly, the young lad grins, "Ah yes. The noble Pecker-heads!" William smiles earnest as he joins the ladies and flaps his arms in greeting to the older girl.
He winks at her with a conspiratorial whisper. "Arkie's been try to give me a leg. Teaching me all the special names and greetings you Hoggies enjoy."
Josie giggles that and says, "I think he's just been fooling with you. Nobody talks that way for real." She nods to Lissie as she puts Lavender into her stall at the barn, "Yeah, there's enough time I think."
"Pecker…. what?" Lissie turns her head, staring, and this time Stormy *does* knock her over, gently, to get to her stall and her oats. "You sound a bit round the twist, Will," she adds, frowning up at him. Then she calls after the horse, "You're welcome!"
"Sorry, I was distracted by unseemly thoughts of vengeance…and in such pleasant company too. Please forgive my rudeness. Are you a… student then?" William washes his hands roughly at a trough.