Libertatem Canis (Open)

[Sara Jane Lyena]

Sara walked out of the White Oak Barn, leaving Balian in his stall, her confident-seeming smile in place, appearing as if she didn't hear the hushed conversations, coming mostly from the underclassmen. She was already desensitized to the rumour, if not a little bit surprised that it hadn't died down yet. While it hurt her to think that someone at the school disliked her enough to accuse her of breaking the law, she had yet to figure out who it had been who started the vicious rumour, and really, had no intention of figuring out who it was. After all, going after them would only lower her ethos in the eyes of her schoolmates more. The watery morning sunshine was, despite the weakness, warm, and for the first time in a while, Sara had shed her sweatshirt, and was only walking in a t-shirt.

As the pair reached the branch of the Green Hill Trail, Sara turned towards where she knew she would find a large meadow. Sure now that there was no horse around, as she could see for quite a bit, Sara gave Cinder the word to release him from his heeling position, "Levo." As she watched the red-and-white Malamute roving off, staying close to her, always attentive, but still roving a little bit, she thought of what had been going on for the past few days, but kept walking. Only when they reached the meadow that Sara had been aiming for, which was a little off of the trail, hopefully giving them some privacy, did the girl call the Malamute back to her. She unbuckled the dog's vest and ran her fingers through the dog's coat, loosening the hairs, before murmuring, "Licens." Cinder shook himself, glancing at Sara before he sprinted towards one of the trees. Knowing that she could trust the Malamute to behave, and stay in the area, Sara folded the vest and stuck it into her backpack before she pulled out a book and sat back against a tree.

[Deleted]

A muffled musical tune filled the air as the young male carried tack toward the next horse's stall. He hummed the tune to some song he'd heard on the radio while cleaning out the tack room this morning. Today had been a day of exercising the academy horses, ones that were yet to be assigned to students. It was the turn of the last one on his list, so Dan decided he would take Twice Around, or Chazy as he was more widely known as, out on the trail. Approaching the handsome gelding's stall, he smiled as the amber champagne Friesian Sporthorse greeted him with a soft nicker and began to investigate his tack. "Yep, this is for you. How does a blast on the trails sound to you?" Daniel asked the gelding as he let himself into the stall. He looked pleased to see that Chazy was more than happy to stand patiently to be tacked up. First the dark skinned male ran a brush over the beast's unusual coloured pelt before placing the dark green saddle blanket on his back. Dan then added the saddle and then was soon sliding the bit into the waiting horse's mouth. It didn't take long for Chazy to be tacked up and ready to go.

Doing up the strap of his helmet, he frowned when he felt it tear slightly. Feeling along the strap, he was pleased to feel that it was only small. He would have to see if it could be repaired otherwise he would have to get a new one as soon as possible. Leading Chazy out to the mouth of the barn, he mounted the gelding and then adjusted the stirrups. Then they were off, the pair taking a relaxed approach as they headed toward the entrance of the trail. Before they reached their destination though, Daniel gave a short, sharp whistle. Chazy swivelled his ears curiously in response, but barely gave a reaction. Not even when a blur of curly, chocolate fur barrelled toward them. A young labradoodle skid to a halt just up ahead, a pink tongue hanging from her parted jaws as she panted, a curved tail cutting the air repeatedly as she ferociously wagged her tail in excitement. "Good girl, Chillie" He cooed to the pretty canine, asking Chazy to walk again. "Stay close now." He smiled as the dog fell into step with them a few feet away.

They hadn't been on the trail long before Chillie caught a scent that intrigued her. That scent meant another dog. Her ears perked, the curly coated canine pressed her snout into the ground and followed the trail left by the last canine. Dan watched her, shaking his head as she trotted off down a path wide enough for a horse. Deciding to indulge the canine, Dan asked Chazy to follow the dog down the trail. Chazy, just happy to be on the trail, followed the order perfectly. They picked up into a gentle trot as Chillie bounded ahead, and the mouth of the path widened as they approached what seemed to be a meadow. Looking around curiously, he glanced at Chillie when the dog gave an excited bark and shot into the meadow, hot on the tail of the scent trail. The other dog was close! Dan and Chazy walked further into the meadow, and his eyes lit up as they landed on someone he hadn't expected to see. Chillie had also noticed this person, and completely abandoning the scent of the other dog, the labradoodle sprinted toward Sara. Her paws dug up the ground with every movement, yipping excitedly. Dan dismounted, leading the gelding over to Sara and smiled. "Hey beautiful!" He called, his smile growing. "Fancy seeing you here!" He grinned. By now, Chillie was dancing around Dan's girlfriend excitedly, delighted to see a human friend.

[Sara Jane Lyena]

A bark from further away caught Sara's attention, although she realized that it was farther away than she had to worry about and turned her attention back to her book. However, out of the corner of her eye, she saw Cinder's reddish coat, the dog turning his head in the direction of the noise. Sighing, Sara put the book down, watching her dog as he shook himself and padded back where he had been headed before the bark. Just then, however, Sara heard something else, and looked over just in time to see a brown, curly-furred creature barrelling towards her. It took a moment, but as Chillie reached her, Sara smiled, recognizing the dog and getting over the shock of seeing her, "Hey girl!" She held out a hand to the labradoodle before stretching out to pet her.

However, Dan's voice claimed her attention, and she beamed up at her boyfriend, rising quickly and approaching him, "Hey!" She stopped a few feet away from him, looking at the horse whose reins he was holding, and recognized it as one of the school horses. Turning back to Dan, she grinned, "It's quite a surprise seeing you!" She knew that Dan was probably working, exercising the horse, but she was glad he'd chosen this trail. A blur of orange in the meadow made her smile, "Time for Chillie to meet Cinder, then, I'm guessing." She turned to watch the two dogs, smiling as the larger malamute started trying to greet the labradoodle, his tail wagging, "How are things going, working for the Academy?" She glanced back at Dan, smiling, "They can't keep you too busy."