And now for something completely different

[cornets]

WHO: Arion & You!
WHERE: Various locations (Hollingberry, Churchhill Downs, etc)
WHEN: Throughout January
WHAT: Horse
WARNINGS: Horse. A lot of running. More horse.

[A: You can't run from your problems.]

[Going back to school sucks. It's hard to get back into the swing of things when it's dark and a lot of things have happened in the past year. But if there's anything that Arion knows, it's running. On 13th at Hollingberry, he's decked out in luminescent running clothes. Today is simple: He's doing checks on his top speed. Of course, it would be easier to have someone help out, but his stopwatch is small enough. From one end of a pitch, he starts sprinting towards the other when suddenly...

A flash of light.

A white horse takes his place, doing a majestic gallop.

And with another flash very shortly after, he's there again.]

Auuahh?!

[And with the very short boost of speed, he loses his footing and faceplants in the grass.]

...

[Witnesses should.. see if he's okay.]

[B: Don't parkour in the woods.]

[His first transformation had thrown him for a loop. Sure, he'd seen others around him with their own special powers, but to receive one himself was something he didn't prepare himself for. He has to learn how to control it. If he were to turn into a horse during a match, he's pretty sure someone's going to find it strange, Retrospec user or not.

The woods make him nervous without the light of the sun, but he's set up a few camping lanterns around a trail to see better. Steeling himself, he starts to run. Sometimes a flash of light will interrupt and he'll be a horse very briefly, sometimes not. He's not aware of anyone watching, too focused on trying to figure out the trick.]

I don't get it at all...

[C: Horse Study.]

[Randomly running isn't getting him anywhere in his goal. It's time to take it to the source.

Sometime after horses return to the city of Recollé, Arion starts visiting the horse/chocobo riding school and stables. Watching. Learning. There has to be some horse mindset he taps into to transform, but what?

Comment on the kid glaring at horses in the dark?]

Comments

a

[compendiem]

[ "Auuahh" is exactly the sound that comes to mind when the flash of light overtakes the park. Minato only looks up— from where he'd been staring at the ground so he wouldn't trip in the near darkness— just in time to see the horse, the light immediately after, and then the boy on the ground.

Wherever Minato was headed for initially can wait; he trots over to Arion's side, careful to leave enough room just in case he zaps back into a horse, and hovers over him.

"What happened?" he wants to ask, but first things first. ]

You alright?

[cornets]

[Arion groans. He's disorientated, but peels himself off the floor.]

I... I think so. [An awkward beat.] Did that flash come from me?

[He sits up, face scrunched up in thought. Even he's not sure what happened.]

[compendiem]

Uh.

[ That's a question he was hoping Arion could answer for him. ]

I saw a flash, then a ...horse... Another flash, and then you.

[ Minato recounts the events slowly, haltingly, looking to Arion to see if any of this makes sense from his point of view as the person doing the flashing and potential horse-changing. ]

[cornets]

[Processing...

Processing...

Arion suddenly groans, covering his face.]

I didn't think I'd get that back so soon...!

[compendiem]

It's— You know about it?

[ He can't tell yet whether this is a good thing or a bad thing, but if it's something Arion is aware of, then control and use and other details will come soon after. ]

It's not anything dangerous, is it? To you or others.

[ For Arion's safety, first and foremost, but also because Minato's experiences with things like animal-like summons have not been entirely great. ]

[cornets]

I just know it could happen, but nothing else about it. It was a white horse, right?

[He didn't get a good look at himself this time.]

I don't think it's dangerous unless I run someone over. [He pauses and squints at Minato, trying to see if he recognizes him from anywhere.] Is it weird?

[compendiem]

Yeah, a white horse.

[ That in itself is weird, seeing as horses weren't a widely known thing until so recently; maybe that's why this power couldn't manifest until now. ]

Rather than finding it weird, I think it's curious. You turn into a real horse?

[ Not a ghost or mirage like he might have guessed with a white horse, but a real one if Arion is worried about running somebody over. Minato's curious because horses are something he's wanted to work with; if Arion recognizes him, it might be from the veterinarian's office he interns at. ]

[cornets]

I'm pretty sure it was real. I would have caught myself from falling if I wasn't going faster than I can normally run...

[He gets up to backtrack, using the light up spurs on the back of his shoes to slightly illuminate divots in the grass.]

What do you mean by curious?

[compendiem]

[ Minato kneels down next to the tracks— hoof prints, rather than foot prints, and confirmed when he glances over at Arion's shoes and sees that they're just regular shoes. ]

Just a choice of words. Weird makes it sound like something strange and not wanting anything to do with it. Curious is... wanting to learn more. That's how I feel.

[cornets]

Huh. I meant in the way that it's not normal... Nevermind. [He's just going to count his blessings.] It's the first time it's happened to me. Well, me-me, not the other me.

[He tilts his head a little, looking at Minato a bit harder.]

...Do you by any chance work at the vet?

[compendiem]

[ Then yeah, it's not normal and he wouldn't pretend it is. At least Arion looks fine, so Minato straightens back up and looks over at the other boy, trying to see if he can place him. Probably not, seeing as Arion is much younger, but he's never been great with names and faces to begin with. ]

Yeah. I intern there in the mornings. Why?

[cornets]

[Arion suddenly snaps his fingers.]

I thought I've seen you before! I take my dog in the morning sometimes to let him hang out with the other senior dogs. I guess horses are kind of out of your experiences, huh?

[usurpers]

[ eren remembers horses in his memories— the main way they used to use to travel or get away from threats. he’s drawn to the stables once he hears of the horse’s return to reality, like they’ve always been there (just like taste, fruit, and colors), and here he decides to stay for a free afternoon, watching them being treated and fed, volunteering to do the same. he’s bound to get memories, and rather than going after them out of curiosity of the past life, he hopes to trigger something that could eventually be useful.

it takes a few interactions to get used to them, but eren catches on rather quickly (he’s been with them a lot already, even if it wasn’t in this life). it’s when he had offered to take an animal back to its stable when he sees arion. rather, he sees the horse keeping its attention snapped sideways in alert. such predatory eyes, kiddo . . .

knowing the kid, eren takes a detour and walks up to him, guiding the horse by his side. ]

Ever ridden before?

[cornets]

[Eren startles Arion out of his horse staring watching.]

O-Oh! No? [Does transforming into a horse count as riding?] I mean, no. I'm trying to study them.

[usurpers]

[ their horse friend stares at nothing in particular, and eren adjusts his hold on the rope and halter. ]

School work?

[cornets]

Er, no. It's more personal study?

[He fidgets. Should he tell Eren? Probably.]

I need to control something, so I thought it would help. To study them.

[usurpers]

[ control something. a situation eren could heavily relate to, even if he didn’t quite know what he was supposed to control. if arion’s here for horses, then . . . at least he knows something about himself. ]

You have something with horses?

[cornets]

I can sort of, turn into one? It only really happens sometimes when I'm running.

[His shoulders slump a little. He's been lucky it's off season, otherwise there's bound to be news about a soccer playing horse.]

[usurpers]

[ well.

that’s different. but he doesn’t seem too taken aback, everyone has so many neat and different abilities. ]

—I’m about to put this one away, but there’re still more outside. [ he hands arion the halter’s rope. ] You can get closer that way.

[cornets]

[Arion takes the reigns without thinking. Processing... Wait, Eren just handed him an actual horse.]

H--Huh? W--wait, what am I supposed to do with him?!

[usurpers]

Put him in a stall?

[ at least these are so docile, it’s hard not to trust them. the horse sniffs arion and nudges his shoulder. ]

I think his is over here.

[cornets]

[It's as if they can smell a kindred spirit. Arion hesitantly holds up a fist for the horse to sniff some more, and then pats the horse on the nose. Which is the only place he can really reach]

Oh, um... Okay?

[While it would be good to get a read on the horse this close, he's not so sure he can be trusted with one. Dogs and cats are one thing, but horses are big. Still, he tugs on the rope gently, trying to gently beckon the horse in a direction.]

[usurpers]

[ and go the horse does. they’re very sweet around these stables, good for kids to start. the horse follows through and and eren goes over to open the stable for them. ]

You’ve never had contact with them before?

A.

[amodelidol]

[Makoto has a system now for going out now. He has a flashlight and glow pens around his waist, he's ready! On his way to get things to prepare for his next semester, he comes across a white horse. Wait, was that a white horse!? Makoto runs over to see Airon face down in the grass.]

Airon! Are you okay!?

[He gently helps him sit up, ready to call the emergency services if he needs to.]

[cornets]

[Arion pulls himself off the ground, face first. He squints in the light.]

I'm okay... Makoto?

[He sits up, trying to get used to the flashlight's brightness. His own runner's lights aren't quite as powerful but they are certainly as colorful as Makoto's glow pens.]

What just happened?