Submission (#529) Approved

551 words

Normal shards:
+4 (prompt)
+5 (500+ words)
: 9 Shards

Alorus had never really thought about getting himself a Mount of any sort. He'd been mostly okay walking when he traveled with Magni, but the more time passed, the more he was starting to realize that perhaps a mount wouldn't be a bad idea after all. Not only would it mean crossing more space, and getting less tired, but also carrying more supplied, and thus, potentially traveling for long periods of time. For the long time, Ninyaks had called to him; they were large, stable, and could pack a punch in a pinch, but something about the swift, graceful Drakerns had been most appealing when he sat down to it.

He'd always been a fan of the Drakern racing that took place yearly, and he'd been in the audience many a time but he hadn't really thought about participating... until then. When the races had been announced, there had been time to prep up, and though he hadn't owned a Drakern yet, he'd been able to acquire one, rented, with relative ease and some shards. He figured the races and the whole culture surrounding them would let him decide if said mount did or did not truly jibe with him. It was a good way to figure himself out, and thus, he'd learned to ride one, and trained with his rented Drakern almost daily for a good while. Most of all, he just wanted to win his mount's trust, and if everything went well, possibly talk to the stable master about purchasing this actual mount for his own.

Most the prep time had been utilized by attempting to bond with the creature with varying levels of success; he was new, and he had little doubt he would under perform compared to other racers, and that was fine! He'd not set out to win; he was there for the enjoyment of the activity and with further goals than just winning in mind, really.

He found, to his surprise, he both rather enjoyed the atmosphere of the other racers and prepping, and he also enjoyed the company of the creature he was attempting to win over; the Drakern was smart, sharp as a whip and had a personality all its own. Something Alorus hadn't really realized, given he hadn't spent a lot of time near animals.

The day of the race arrived, and though he'd practice the gauntlet many a time, Alorus did not really expect or predict the masked, hooded stranger and how they maneuvered their mount with such ease. They made it look effortless, and though he did manage to go around the mount, not end in last place AND remain seated on his mount the whole way, he'd only managed a small amount of flags. Not enough to win, for sure, but that had never quite been the point of the exercise, at least not in Alorus' mind, and thus, the wool was rather pleased with himself when he crossed the line and dismounted.

Even if the stranger riding the black Drakern had left them all in the dust, it wasn't like he hadn't accomplished many a thing; he figured that he could reward himself by going to talk to the stable master, as soon as the chaos of the races died down, in order to buy his rented mount.