Amu and the Bobblehead

Gonyaul groggily awoke the next morning still in the wagon. He was sore and stiff from his body recovering from the fight with the Naylmo and his sleeping position, a semblance of a tipped-over meditation pose. He removed the wrapping from his eyes and made his way slowly out of the wagon.

He could see the sun just starting to rise as he made his way away from camp. He found a private place in the ruins to relieve himself. While thinking of nothing in particular, he suddenly began to hear the sound of thunder traveling through the ground. He wondered what the unfamiliar sound meant. Then like lightning after thunder, several long piercing whistles ripped across the tranquility of the morning air. Through one of the crumbling walls of the fort he saw a group of riders, maybe thirty or forty strong bearing down hard in their direction. He finished up urgently and started running back to camp.

His voice was a little better than hoarse, but still not full force, as he began to shout, "Trubble... trubble coming... "

He began helping anyone that was not up yet, or needed encouragement to get a move on; however, once they had noticed the sounds and sights of the oncoming danger, the others were considerably more efficient at getting ready than Gonyaul was. He grabbed the personal pack he had brought for the journey, attached to it were his waterskin. He retrieved the medical satchel, just in case. He then dove into the tent he had setup for Voah.

She was already up, out, and preparing by the time he entered the empty tent. He quickly undid the forearm wraps he braided into a pattern at the ceiling of the tent. By the time he exited, everyone was up on horses save him.

He sprinted to Amu, which someone must had saddled up for him, and vaulted up onto her back using a large boulder-like stone from the ruins that was nearby. Amu reared back in surprise and Gonyaul nearly fell off if it wasn't for his arms and legs hugging on for dear life. Once rebalanced, the duo took off after the rest of the group. They were swiftly heading back to Aquilos with danger fast on their heels.

During the hard ride Gonyaul was fortunate that Amu was instinctually conditioned to follow the herd. As a new rider, this was out of his scope of expertise. Gonyaul was getting jostled and bounced around in the saddle hard. He was losing grip on the reigns at times and fighting hard not to fall off. To get thrown to the ground could mean potential death for himself and anyone who decided to rear back and help him. He could feel every forceful step the horse took through its shoulder blades and upper back as the energy moved through its body. It pounded him in all the wrong places. In addition it was constantly aggravating his bumps, scrapes, and bruising from the Naylmo fight.

Occasionally his balance would get thrown backwards and to compensate he would lean forward along the neck. The saddle dug hard into his solar plexus with each galloping step and forced the wind out of him. He felt nauseas and it made his eyes involuntarily water. At one point he was almost sideways on the horse, fighting to get his leg back up and over the topside of the saddle, the other side stirrup flailing around void of his foot. His head looked like a bobblehead and his body shifting on top was making it harder for Amu down below.

Finally he had an idea. Using his forearm wraps Gonyaul tied himself down onto the horse. He bound his wrists and wrapped them around the neck of Amu. He wasn't going anywhere now; however, it also meant his body was taking a beating from being flush with the powerful animal beneath it. He could feel every motion it was making vibrating through him. This felt awful and from the looks of things would be persisting until they arrived to safety or were overrun.

Upon arrival into Aquilos's boundaries, Amu came to a halt with the rest of the group's horses. Gonyaul was groaning under his breath. He undid his bound hands and the wraps around him and the saddle that kept him in place. He rolled off the side of the horse and landed hard to the ground in a push-up like position, getting just enough cushioning by landing on all fours to not injure himself. He collapsed to the ground and rolled away from the horse, curling into a fetal position. He didn't think he was going to be able to move, everything on his body was screaming at him.

He panted into the ground, stirring up dirt and dust. He was so thankful they made it and the ride had come to an end.