Small Landen Village in Glacia, Late Summer (Thursday Fandom Time)

[glacial_witch]

A little more than a week ago, Karla had sent the vast majority of her Court away from Haven. One could hardly have a proper processional through one's home Territory without people smoothing the way. There were perspective soldiers to assemble, food to purchase, lodgings to prepare, Province Queens to quietly contact...And so Karla had sent her

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[apocalipped]

So, the trip here had been fairly uneventful. It had taken a bit of coaxing (read: arguing) to get Jono to actually mount one of the horses, and he had a bit of a love/hate relationship with the one that he'd been stuck with for the trip, but he was actually in fairly good spirits by the time they got to where they were going.

He was taking up the rear of the little procession, having another one of his little disagreements with Lord Blaze, the horse that he'd been paired with for the trip, so he didn't see the lines at first. And, by the time he'd dismounted, led the kindred horse to the front to join the others, and actually got a look at the men and women assembled...

"Bloody hell..."

Okay, so now he was okay with leaning against the horse. He kind of needed to, since his knees were a little weaker than they ought to be.

"Where are all these people from?!"

[glacial_court]

"Glacia," Julian responded, because he was incredibly helpful like that.

It helped that he'd had almost a week to get used to the crowd himself. You should have seen his face then, Jono.

[apocalipped]

"Fantastic," Jono replied, looking... perhaps a little more gry-faced than usual as he looked at the crowd. "And... how many did you say there were?"

Far more than he'd been expecting, that was for certain.

[glacial_court]

"About a hundred," Julian said, clapping Jono on the shoulder with the cheerful grin of a male who is ever so happy to foist off his responsibility to someone else. "There would be more--this was everyone who could arrive here on short notice. At our next stop, the crowd'll be bigger, I think. Landen and Blood alike."

Julian was having way too much fun with this.

[trigons_child]

Raven tried not to wince as she dismounted, but she was stiff and sore from all the riding, unaccustomed to it as she was. At least her decision to acquire pants had proven wise.

Her exhaustion was quickly forgotten when she saw those who had gathered to help Karla win back her Territory, however.

[kindrednotkind]

*You are all right, Lady?* her mount, Lord Fleetfoot, sent anxiously. *I am sorry that our last descent was so uncomfortable for you.*

He was a kindred horse ignore the icon, I am just lazy. The comfort and protection of witches had been bred into him.

[trigons_child]

"I will be fine," Raven said, giving Fleetfoot a reassuring smile. "I am merely unused to riding. But I thank you for all that you have done to see to my comfort. I hope I will be a better rider for you as we go on."

She rubbed her hand along Fleetfoot's neck. "Is there anything I may do for you now that we have stopped?"

I am going to typo that as Fleetwood before the night is done, damn you.

[kindrednotkind]

Any response I make to that will only get me in trouble with you and all other Mac fans...

*If you have time for a good currying?* Fleetfoot asked with a small whinny. Under my saddle is very itchy.

Beat.

And an apple or two wouldn't go amiss...

[heromaniac]

Momoko's trip had been much more enjoyable than probably everyone else's. Except perhaps Warren.

She was flyyyying!

Ah! And it felt so good! She'd transformed as soon as they'd started out, figuring it would be better to stay ready, just in case. She'd had to explain herself to a few of the court, though, and she'd totally given up trying to explain the different name thing to the Glacians after the second day... but in the end it was totally worth it. THE VIEW WAS SPECTACULAR! And the air currents... so easy to catch and ride! Aaah!

Momoko saw the party come to a stop and dropped lower to hover and listen. "Ah! Volunteers?" Or had Julian done some drafting?

[apocalipped]

"Volunteers," Jonothon confirmed, still looking a little on the stunned side. "And this isn't all of them. This is barely the start of them. Christ, I was expecting a fraction of this to be waiting for us here."

He wasn't flailing his arms about or anything so dramatic, but it was a near thing.

[heromaniac]

"Isn't that a good thing? I mean, if we start big, then if anyone decides to leave, we've still got a good number left, right?"

[apocalipped]

'Deciding to leave' wasn't really where Jono's head had gone, when thinking about reasons that the number would decline. He wasn't going to share that fact. He simply gave Momoko a small smile.

"It's a good thing," he agreed. "The more, the merrier, and all that. I'm just trying to figure out where the hell I'm supposed to find the time to train all of them. And there'll be plenty more than this along the way."

[blondecanary]

Dinah dismounted with an 'oomph' and a sigh. Even for being in good shape, horse-riding was an adjustment. She patted her mount's nose, and looked around at all the people, trying not to gulp. People, lotsa people, all the people--!

To her horse she muttered, "We're gonna need a bigger boat."

[kindrednotkind]

*We are taking a boat next?* Dinah had gotten, Lord Swift, a very serious, very earnest horse, one who didn't really understand human idioms. *I don't believe Lord Khardeen mentioned anything about ships. I am wont to get seasick.*

Still a horse, not a unicorn. Still just lazy.

[blondecanary]

Dinah grinned, and scritched him under the chin. "No worries, buddy. Just a way of saying we may need to re-think our plans, 'cause we are already in over our heads. Did Khary give you much idea of what to expect?" Of non-landens, of the war to come, of well, anything.

[kindrednotkind]

Swift leaned into the scritch, almost like a giant cat. *He didn't, Lady. I don't think he knows what to expect.* Scelt was far from Glacia and even more peaceful. *Just that fast hooves and care would be needed. We were to carry you bravely and keep you safe.*