Roen had to half-turn in her seat to watch Chachanji jump over the fence--and then the vase--the little chocobo and his rider breaking through the cloud of dust after their landing.
The paladin grinned wide with pride; the Lalafell youth had learned so fast! Avenger’s outstretched neck showed the little bird's eager enthusiasm to keep up with Goldwind--if not surpass him entirely. Its small feet dug in the dirt with startling quickness, tossing rocks in its wake as it began to gain more speed.
She turned her attention back to the road ahead, the impressive looming form of the Sultantree rising in the distance. Giant cords of bark and root twisted around each other, digging into the dirt like the hand of a giant gripping the earth. Its countless branches opened up into the sky, leaves and boughs nearly eclipsing the blue canvas above, the Sultantree seeming to continue to grow taller as she approached.
Roen suddenly recalled that she still had three more obstacles to jump over. Don't get distracted! She glanced about but found boulders and fences unfortunately lacking. She swerved off the beaten path towards the Sultantree, eyes scanning the area for anything she might use, but only saw a giant tortoise feeding on a patch of grass and a few snapping shrews and hornets.
One corner of the paladin’s lips tugged toward a daring grin as she leaned forward, pulling on the reins to steer her chocobo toward the tortoise. Goldwind gave a low questioning wark at the new obstacle, but complied and veered sharply, talons kicking up more gravel.
Luckily, the tortoise did not seem to notice (or care) that a chocobo and Hyur were racing toward it at an alarming speed. If it could think, it likely would have believed no one would be foolish enough to charge a giant tortoise whilst riding a chocobo, and so it kept grazing on the flowers, not bothering to move. Only when the rider and the bird were three fulms from its face did it deign to peel an eye at the two; its maw only paused briefly in its idle chewing as the golden-feathered bird launched itself into the air, its extended legs arching over the terrapin’s scaled head.
The chewing commenced as the paladin and chocobo continued to race away.
Roen laughed out loud, sparing a glance back at the immobile tortoise. She leaned to the right, to lead Goldwind toward the last two jumps: a snapping shew and a huge hornet buzzing low to the ground. But her hope that these were going to be a quick detour at best was dashed when the two creatures she had marked to leap over clearly saw her approach and started to dart away--as any normal creature would.
The paladin grimaced as she found herself giving chase to the two creatures to just try and jump over them. The shew was easy enough to catch, but the hornet was quick to zig-zag and flit away. It was only after she chased it around a tree, cutting off its flight path with a sharp left that she got lucky and leaped over it. Goldwind let out a quick snort of triumph, as if happy to say that nothing was going to outrun him.
Nothing except perhaps Avenger and Chachanji.
By the time she had cleared the last jump, the youth and his bird had gained greater strides toward the Sultantree, passing them. Roen shook her head at her poor choice of targets, but still…it was fun!
“Hyah!†She flicked the reins, taking Goldwind into a full sprint toward the younger riders and the Sultantree.
The paladin grinned wide with pride; the Lalafell youth had learned so fast! Avenger’s outstretched neck showed the little bird's eager enthusiasm to keep up with Goldwind--if not surpass him entirely. Its small feet dug in the dirt with startling quickness, tossing rocks in its wake as it began to gain more speed.
She turned her attention back to the road ahead, the impressive looming form of the Sultantree rising in the distance. Giant cords of bark and root twisted around each other, digging into the dirt like the hand of a giant gripping the earth. Its countless branches opened up into the sky, leaves and boughs nearly eclipsing the blue canvas above, the Sultantree seeming to continue to grow taller as she approached.
Roen suddenly recalled that she still had three more obstacles to jump over. Don't get distracted! She glanced about but found boulders and fences unfortunately lacking. She swerved off the beaten path towards the Sultantree, eyes scanning the area for anything she might use, but only saw a giant tortoise feeding on a patch of grass and a few snapping shrews and hornets.
One corner of the paladin’s lips tugged toward a daring grin as she leaned forward, pulling on the reins to steer her chocobo toward the tortoise. Goldwind gave a low questioning wark at the new obstacle, but complied and veered sharply, talons kicking up more gravel.
Luckily, the tortoise did not seem to notice (or care) that a chocobo and Hyur were racing toward it at an alarming speed. If it could think, it likely would have believed no one would be foolish enough to charge a giant tortoise whilst riding a chocobo, and so it kept grazing on the flowers, not bothering to move. Only when the rider and the bird were three fulms from its face did it deign to peel an eye at the two; its maw only paused briefly in its idle chewing as the golden-feathered bird launched itself into the air, its extended legs arching over the terrapin’s scaled head.
The chewing commenced as the paladin and chocobo continued to race away.
Roen laughed out loud, sparing a glance back at the immobile tortoise. She leaned to the right, to lead Goldwind toward the last two jumps: a snapping shew and a huge hornet buzzing low to the ground. But her hope that these were going to be a quick detour at best was dashed when the two creatures she had marked to leap over clearly saw her approach and started to dart away--as any normal creature would.
The paladin grimaced as she found herself giving chase to the two creatures to just try and jump over them. The shew was easy enough to catch, but the hornet was quick to zig-zag and flit away. It was only after she chased it around a tree, cutting off its flight path with a sharp left that she got lucky and leaped over it. Goldwind let out a quick snort of triumph, as if happy to say that nothing was going to outrun him.
Nothing except perhaps Avenger and Chachanji.
By the time she had cleared the last jump, the youth and his bird had gained greater strides toward the Sultantree, passing them. Roen shook her head at her poor choice of targets, but still…it was fun!
“Hyah!†She flicked the reins, taking Goldwind into a full sprint toward the younger riders and the Sultantree.
