23 Glade 111
After a rather eventful year of 110 Shuai's parents, the illustrious Youdu Chisuo and his wife the glamorous Lady Chisuo had both decided that it might be a good time to take the entire family out fo a spell. A treat for their children they brought along just so they could experience the new year together. Though they were only in the carriage, Shuai had become quite excited for the trip and kept asking "what are we doing? Is it a food trip? I'm felling quite hungry now. Are there cool buildings for me to explore when we get there? Cool souvenirs to buy? Are we getting an increase in our allowance to buy souvenirs? Are we there yet?" Answering all those questions however would be like putting the cart before the horse. Was Shuai not curious about their destination that he did not even bother to ask the question of where they were going? Did he even have to? He did not feel like it was important. It was not like his parent's were going to take all their children somewhere bad... or would they? He remembered one of his friends talking about a horrible experience on a family trip where he was taken to watch a public execution because it was part of his family's duty but Shuai as far as he knew about the Chisuos was not that concerned that his family would have him experiencing something as traumatic as that.However his brother picked up the slack and asked the two where they had planned for the family's trip to be. No actual answer except point out that their destination, it's a surprise. And that was why Shuai had not bothered to ask the where, because his parents had been so sly in trying to keep it a secret. That and they were already in the cart riding towards it, the family whether or not had already committed themselves to the trip so knowing where was their destination would not change a thing for them. However knowing what they could do there? That was an entirely different thing and useful to know too. Shuai would be able to plan and prioritize the things most interesting to him to go and do first thus maximizing his use of time and his overall enjoyment. This was the basics dumb yet affable brother, if you were going to go on a trip you better be making sure you are going to get your worth of fun out of it. There was nothing else to think about here because it was all on the family's aven.
But something which was his that he really should consider, was the time. Looking out the window of carriage, though Shuai could see nothing to clue him in to where their destination may be except maybe in or past the quiet fields near the city- gods what kind of out of the way place they were on that it did not even have signs to see?! But back to it, what he could be sure of was that they had been in the cart for quite a while already. The sun was noticeably higher in the sky and the birds have awakened to bring with them their trademark lively and noisy atmosphere but the good thing with their energetic chirps their energetic chirps was that they were something to block him off from overhearing his parents flirting with one another. He thought that the Chisuos were well to do. Why did his parents not use the money to hire another cart and get a room. This was quite the uncomfortable scene for him to watch and he was not the only one. Even his siblings were looking away trying to find something to distract themselves from the lovey dovey scene of the carriage.
And Shuai being the youngest of the children and now probably with the least patience only had one thing left to do. "Are we there yet? Are we there yet? Are we there yet? Are we there yet? Are we there ye- a game? What game are we going to play. Oh that sounds nice. Green? I call tree. Me next! I spy with my little eyes, something which starts with the letter..." There it goes, he took one for the team to stop the lovey dovey atmosphere of his parents in the carriage and now he got to play a game to pass the time too. But in all seriousness, "how much longer are we going to take to get there? My butt is starting to itch and I'm getting hungry" Not much longer and Shuai would only have to be a little more patient and bear with it until they arrived. Then they would get their lunch and enjoy the day's activities at just the right time. Now that was a clue but still useless to Shuai as there were too many things which can be done after lunch.
Then the carriage slowly got into a halt, the Chisuo family had after a few hours reached their destination and just in time f- LAND! SOLID LAND! FINALLY! Before his parents could have gotten a word in Shuai had already jumped out of the carriage to be greeted by... oh, there were actually a lot of people about despite how rustic the place looked. Must be a really popular tourist destination in Kalzasi to be able to draw a crowd like this despite the long ride they would have to take from the city but what was this place? There was no answer to Shuai's question as he had already separated himself from his family who were still in the carriage. Maybe his parents were briefing his siblings, and without him! Goes to show how valued the young Chisuo was to the rest of them but he refused to reenter the carriage. He had too much of a sense of himself to do that so, he was content to stay im- patiently outside the carriage until everyone decided to come out for him.
And if not for him, well they would still have to leave the carriage for themselves. If they were content to stay in that enclosed space they could have locked themselves in their own rooms at home instead of suffering through the trip. Finally his parents came out, "what took you guys? We are already here and now we get to do... uhhhh... fun things." Shuai still did not have a clue which was why he wanted to force his parents right into it without wasting any time but they were really leisurely going at it. Oh wait, maybe there was something to do to have them make haste. Rubbing his tum tum he cried pitifully and loud enough to get the bystanders attention, I'm hungreeeeee, why are we not getting any food? Do you hate me? Mother? Father? I can't take it anymore..." Nobles cared a lot about their public face did they not? How would it look if his parents neglected to feed their young son?
But Shuai need not have played such a dirty trick on his parents. Despite being nobles both truly cared for their children even beyond the public perception and despite Shuai misbehaving, they allowed him to order anything he wanted he wanted for his lunch. "Anything?" Anything with no other conditions but one. "Why would eating too much ruin the surprise?" he asked, now even more curious that his hunger had subsided a little. Is this actually a way for his parents to control him of the amount he ate? However even his gluttonous sibling chose to order only a respectable amount of food. He looked around and saw no one tried to order more than a serving or two as well. Either the food here was not good to satisfy their palate or for the enjoyment of his surprise he really was going to have to control his eating. The food ending up good meant it was the latter. No more extra orders for him, but "we are coming back here for dinner before we go back, right?" not that it would change things. Eating too much would have ruined him in the carriage ride back too.
And the surprise? Really surprising to Shuai. He could not have expected it to be a horse ride at the prairie. Well the horse rides were for his father, mother and older siblings. He had to make do with a pony. "But I don't want to ride on a pony! They are tiny! I'll look dumb riding on one! Why can't I ride on a horse?! This is unfair!" And not just unfair, undignified. Just think of what the other children back home will think if they found out that of all things Shuai rode on a pony? He should not have gotten on that carriage without knowing the details of the trip. This was quite the pickle too as the elder Chisuos had only hired mounts suited to them and their children although there would be no problem hiring one more for Shuai but why? It was not like he could ride it. But the boy was indignant and said "well I'll show you I can get on a horse, then you'll have to let me ride on a horse." An interesting suggestion and entertained only because everyone knew that the boy would not be able to get on the horse.
At least not without any help but no one was going to assist him on that. Not his father, not his mother, not his siblings and not the minders around them. But he did not need their help, he could do it by himself. Watching his struggles a few of the minders stopped him, not to help him but to prevent him from getting into an accident. They reminded him that the horses were living beings and unlike the carriage he rode in on, the sudden and violent movements of the boy trying to mount himself atop of it could agitate or or anger it. Such was the temperamental nature of the mares but as Shuai would not give in, they help the boy up on top of it and received him as he fell before he could hit the ground. Now he knew, even if he was able to get on the horse he was not even capable of staying atop of it. Had the minders not been so nice to take care of him in his rash behavior, his ride would would have been cut short by something broken from his fall.
As amusing as it was to watch Shuai failing at his attempts, his father finally declared that he had his chance and he was stuck with the pony ride. No time for the young boy to even try and convince the man as he quickly set off for his lovey dovey ride with the wife, why would he even need a room to spend his time with her when he could find a beautiful, isolated part of the prairie for the both of them? Shuai's siblings, they did not even stick around to watch as they were already long gone on their own rides throughout the wide open area. This time without rejecting any help Shuai was right on the pony and started to go at it with the reins and hopped in place with his butt. The minders asked him what he was doing as they were wondering if he was acting out again because his request to ride the horse was rejected but that was not the case as Shuai made the admission that he did not know how to ride, horse or pony. This would be the first time he was on a mount- second if the time he fell off the horse counted.
Whether pity or because his father had foreseen this development and had hired the minders, maybe that was the reason why they were so quick in taking care of Shuai when he got on the horse, one volunteered to take him around the grounds. Telling the boy to just try to do his best to stay on his mount by holding on to it, he led the pony by the reins while he taught the brand new rider on the grounds what he needed to know about their mounts. The important point was repeated so the boy could note it down. The mounts were living creatures and thusly should be treated with all due respect and care. For a really comfortable ride, Shuai ought to do his best to also keep his mount calm because if they were frightened, terrible things would happen unless they were like the disciplined and well trained mounts available to the really rich nobles or high ranked members of the army- or other people who needed to use such mounts.
And then getting the boy sufficiently far from the other riders in the area, Shuai was let free to ride. The pony was not fast but atop the mount under his own power he felt like a completely new world opened up to him. Was this how it looked like from high up here? Following the minder's advice, Shuai tried to control the pony with both reins and his legs. It was a comfortable ride as the pony remained really calm, maybe should have followed his father's decision to save himself a lot of time and his family's patience. Then he heard screams, the crashing of branches. He looked to its direction and saw a horse running through the prairie. Loose horse, loose horse. Everyone look out! After it went a little further and passed the trees, the rider leapt up and rolled on the ground. Shuai did not know what happened next as his minder had already led him from the scene. He did not want the pony shocked, or its new rider.
And that boy, is why you have to treat your mounts with care and respect, or they will go completely out of control