RK Event Challenge - Capture the flag

Scouting: Ethan

The competition had been going on for hours. Ethan wiped the sweat pouring off of his brow and sat squarely on his mount by the area containing their captured flags to let the horse drink from a nearby trough. He was in uniform and it was hot as hell. Considering it was the middle of the summer he couldn’t blame the heat, but he could blame the government. What good idea was it to make the poor horses run around like this? The only bonus was that it had rained earlier (and though it had sucked at the time and soaked him to the bone…at least it was cooler.)But try as he might Ethan couldn’t find Caed again.

The cheering crowd had settled down to little more than people conversing between moving around for concessions or deciding to get out of the heat to do something else while they waited for one of the teams to charge at the other like they had in the beginning. Everyone only lived for the excitement. It had only happened a few times….it seemed like the other teams were more likely to go at individuals now. The doublade whispered curses under his breath as he dismounted and stretched from his sore backside and tied his borrowed palomino horse to a post.

“Let’s see…” He still had two flags left, upon further inspection. And the day was past noon. But the bothering question came up to his mind again…..wandering around for hours and…where was Caed? The Militar seemed like it was trying to be an organized mess without a leader….Velvet was their leader, but she was just as rash as he was in some ways. And all of the scouts seemed to be doing well. But why wouldn’t they? They were trained for horseback riding….though he missed Peppermint.

“Ethan!~” A voice from the fence where a few spectators were by the scouting side wafted over, and the doublade turned to look. Klaas? No, it was too feminine….and the investigation of that thought revealed the brightly smiling hoppip who waved him over. Making sure that Lor wasn’t around to scold him for taking a brief rest, he headed over.  “Silva? It’s….been awhile.” His purple eyes fell upon her military jacket, and he averted his eyes before going back to her face. He liked this girl from back in training as a friend…but just like Caed, he couldn’t help but feel a nagging grudge in his heart for having been rejected. But she didn’t seem to notice his discomfort as she gave him the most innocent smile she could muster. Though, he couldn’t help but notice that it seemed natural on her…so maybe she really was.

“Have you seen Fletch- I mean, Commander Keir?”

“Not lately, why? I think he’s with Commander Erdmutt and Clarke.”

“Oh….no reason in particular…” She trailed off with half of a frown replacing the smile on her face and the doublade couldn’t help a small smile of his own. “Silva?” The hoppip snapped back into attention.

“Yeah?”

“Go spend time with your brother, okay?” The fact that he still remembered who her brother was made the hoppip seem to jump up in glee before she leaned over the fence and gave the doublade a sudden hug (which startled him to no end- but he didn’t reject it) before jumping off the fence. “I will! I’m betting on the scouts too….so don’t lose!”

As she ran off Ethan couldn’t help a small laugh. She must’ve been hyper from the food or…something. They’d never really been friends or anything but she had confided in him a few times in training. “Hey.” A more familiar voice called to him as Klaas approached and leaned on the fence near by him, his usual stare that Ethan had gotten used to making the smaller male snort in his amusement as he leaned with his back on the fence by the other. “Hey.” He responded, head hanging over the railing a little bit to show how tired he was. There wasn’t really a lot to say between them- and to Ethan, that was fine. It was the silence that he enjoyed so much…because sometimes words didn’t really explain how good he felt about having someone there to support him. Weird as their relationship was…it wasn’t so weird either.

He must’ve sat there a good few minutes, just watching his borrowed horse rest some and get more of a drink before he felt a gentle touch to his back. “Should get going.”

“Yeah. I haven’t seen Caed though lately…you know, that houndoom I told you about? He disappeared.”

“He’s probably around…Don’t let down the Commander.”

“Yeah, yeah, I know. We’ll win.”

Ethan pushed himself off the fence, scarf gently reaching up as he left and caressing the others neck before he went back to his work and went about mounting his horse. It was always the little touches that meant a whole lot to the doublade…even if no one else noticed, he did. “Hey.” Klaas called from the fence.
“Yeah?”

“Good luck out there.”

---

Militar: Tyler

The sigilyph growled in complete frustration as he ran his paint through the brush after the Jolteon who had just taken one of his flags. Again. He had only one flag left, and the Gardesman laughed as he seemingly enjoyed the game of chase. “Fuck you!” The black haired male yelled out to the trees as he shot off a shadow ball at the retreating hind quarters of Kurt’s mount and startled, his horse slowed down and reared before backing up. He wasn’t good on horses to begin with, but the rearing didn’t help any as the military representative’s eyes widened in fright before he lost balance and fell backwards off the horse. He was lucky he wasn’t kicked or stepped on, but his wings flapped wildly and did little to soften his fall as he hit the ground ass first and back second.

“Ow…” He cried softly as he looked up at the now clear sky and the tops of trees from the mud. Still nearby, he was thankful the well trained horse hadn’t left him…he’d hate to have to pay for it. ”..What’s wrong with me?” He said to no one in particular, but he felt his heart was heavy and though he willed himself not to tears still gathered at the corners of his eyes. He wasn’t hurt. Not outwardly, anyways.

“I hate this….I HATE THIS.” He cried out to the sky, well aware that if anyone else was around he plainly didn’t give a fuck. If they thought him a sore loser, fine. If they took his last flag while he was down, then fuck them too. Why Hayden ever chose him for a thing like this he didn’t know. But his heart was sick and he didn’t feel good enough.
How could he? When all he could do was be in his room he got at the Inn the whole time and read medical books and then only come out for the competition? He couldn’t bear even thinking of the smallest chance that he’d see Kon with Keandre. Not…that he had anything against Keandre. Not personally. But he just felt so….so used.

The sobbing began to wrack over his body though he refused to let the tears out as he sat up from the mud puddle he’d fallen in and curled up, muddy wings pressed to his back. It’d be a bitch to clean out his feathers later. “I hate this…..I hate everything about this…” He whispered. The sigilyph knew fully well that he was allowing himself to sink into a depression of self-pity, but he felt he had every right. He’d been used- he even had doubts that Rowan was really his friend. His sisters (as annoying as they were) were lost and his patient father and gentle mother. And all the friends and neighbors he had made in his childhood seemed lost to him.

Tyler closed his eyes, tuned out the sounds of the forest and the distant sounds of people and willed his mind back to the narrow and homey streets by his house that now lay in ruins. The playing of children and laughter of the adults left in his small clan full of family and neighbors made him ache, but he willed himself on. He could see the door of his house open in the summer just like this…his mother wearing the traditionally made and very beautiful  hijab that had been passed down from her mother before her (though none of them were one hundred percent Arabian anymore, they still lived on as such.) He could just hear his father talking to his uncle while his aunt and mother sat quietly and whispered among themselves. His sisters were outside- the eldest among them teasing him openly until he reached the door and then silenced themselves in respect before their elders. And feeling himself tear up at his fantasy again, he went in.

He wasn’t sure why but he imagined himself when he was a child. And he could just feel his sisters’ menacing looks as they whispered ‘'Tefal!”(Baby!)

“Baba..?” He felt himself dare to ask quietly, interrupting his father’s conversation. And the man with soft eyes and a stern jaw turned to him, but not in anger as his son looked up to him with tears in his eyes. It was like he didn’t have to ask anything to feel his fathers concerned emotion…as if even though he was a child in his own mind the Baba that he remembered just knew what he needed. And he always had.

“Be careful of your enemy once and of your friend a thousand times, for a double crossing friend knows more evil.”

The proverb came to him but Tyler felt himself stand in his creation of his mind like he was unwilling to leave. The gentle light pouring into the house even with the shadows of other houses covering them and the humidity that made him feel like he was breathing in the summer itself.

His child-like self had wanted to say more. He…wanted to say more. But he was interrupted from his thoughts as the sobs that wracked his body returned and the image faded into fire and colossi and screams that shook him to the core. “Stop…” He whimpered out loud before opening his eyes to the forest, but it was mixed with visions burned into his skull of all of the death and despair and a dizziness that threatened to make him lay on the ground. He felt woozy, and his tongue felt swelled and dry.  Closing his eyes seemed to help the nauseating feeling, but not the pain that wasn’t real. He was tired. So tired all of the sudden…Tyler tried to rise, reaching out to grab his horse so he could pull himself up but he severely misjudged the distance and fell.

---

Garde : Kurt

“Oi- Kid, you okay?” Kurt called from the back of his horse as he saw the paint the sigiyph had been on browsing about the grass, and the solider in question  sprawled in the mud where he’d been last seen before. Really? Had this kid just given up and…..well wait a minute he- oh shit. “Damnit.” Kurt said to himself as he ran a hand through his blond hair and quickly got off his horse the moment he was close enough to the winged kid. He knelt; sweat pouring off his own body from the heat and the jolteon wiped his face with the corner of his uniform jacket before gently shaking him. “Hey…hey kid, wake up.” He said quickly, and his shaking became more rough as the black haired male didn’t move and his breaths were shallow.

Actual concern hit Kurt as he picked up the kid, grunting as he threw him over his shoulder and tried to round up the horse he’d been riding. Light or not, the jolteon was just as exhausted…but at least he hadn’t fainted.

It took a little work, but Kurt managed to get him onto the back of his horse again. And just for good measure’s sakes, took the last of his flags. “A little pay back for helping you out kid…that’s all.” He said more to himself than anything as he stuffed it into his pocket for later placing and climbed on the back of his own horse before leading them both slowly and as gently as possible back to the Militar’s stand. The crowd at the stand there was more than excited to see that one of the Militar had collapsed, and Kurt noticed that between a few of the watchers money was passed around and he was sure the rumors were wild.
He didn’t have time to think much before a chubby quagsire gijinka came running up, and even Commander Erdmutt made his way gracefully over to them, prompt and stern looking as ever.

“What happened?” Hayden said to the jolteon with a wide frown on his face as two soldiers helped Tyler down from his borrowed horse. Someone else took the horse away. “Heat stroke, it looks like.” The quagsire said from his position of checking the smaller male out on the ground where he’d been put for a moment, though it looked like they were moving him to shade. The rapidash looked at Kurt for confirmation that it was true and the jolteon smiled. “I’ll be truthful. I took his flag and ran off to put it with my team. When I came back around the area I took it, he was on the ground and I can’t just leave a fellow soldier there. So I mounted him back up.”

Hayden’s red eyes searched Kurt’s dark blue ones until the jolteon was forced to look away. He didn’t feel intimidated, usually. But the strange, almost unidentifiable energy coming from Hayden Erdmutt was enough to make him uneasy. It was then, that he felt a hand in his pocket. “Hey!” He called out, reaching automatically for the red flag that the commander now held in his hand before he realized that he shouldn’t have reacted at all. “Cheating, Cohen?” The rapidash said with a raise of his eyebrow, and Kurt snorted. “Pleased you remember my name, sir. And no….he was down and fair game.”

The uncomfortable silence went on between them for a moment with the crowd’s dull roaring in the background before Hayden reached up and handed the bright red flag back to him. “Keep it, on account of good will from the Militar to the Garde for your kindness.”

“Thank you sir.”

“Cohen, get off your mount and get a drink. I want you relaxing for ten minutes in the shade, at the very least. I don’t want another heat stroke incident.”

Well, at least it looked like things were going more promising than he expected. And who was he to decline such a generous order from a commander? “Yes, sir.”