I Did It My Way

[Caspian Collins]

There were times, like right now, that Cass wondered if he even deserved to be riding anymore. After all, he had killed his first pony. He shook his head to try and remove himself from his funk. He out on a beautiful trail, with just as beautiful company, he didn't need to be delving into his darker side. "Don't worry, it's riding that returned me to the real world, so I don't think my parents would take that away from me."

He laughed at her answer. "I guess I'll have to wait until summer to make that decision." He said with a grin. "Riding with no reins would probably be easier when it's dry though." Not like he was really holding on to them at the moment, and if anything did go wrong, he'd release the reins completely and hold onto the horse's frosted mane.

[Katherine Lorelia]

"Panic over, then," the blonde responded, grinning. "But who wants to live in the real world anyway? Everyone says that I live in my own little world, and it's a lot more interesting in there than it is out here." Admittedly, that was probably because everything was a lot more sparkly in her own world, and Kitty did like her sparkles, to the extent of having a pair of jodhpurs entirely covered in sequins. Not the most comfortable, one would think, but then one hadn't met Kitty- she did not wear uncomfortable things where she could help it. Except for bras.

She nodded solemnly. "Yeah, I wouldn't advise trying anything too heroic right now." The Irish girl herself had a reasonable hold on her reins; she liked to do her riding on the horse's back rather than under its hooves.

[Caspian Collins]

Cass laughed. "Believe me, the real world is better than the bubble I was forced to live in for the two years before I could ride again." Ok, the bubble was a self-imposed prison he had placed on himself, but he had felt trapped and cut off from everything he knew and loved while he got a handle on what life now was. That was my world and it sucked."

He laughed at her words. "The joys of having a horse who is trained to do all the work for me, I guess." At least while they were out on the trails anyways. In the arena, Slick expected a partnership, and was really good at doing the opposite of what he was supposed to do, unless asked properly. "Don't worry, I have no intention of trying out my stunts as a trick rider. If I had my camera, I'd be likely to ride without holding the reins as I take photos. Slick's kind of got used to me doing that." Not that stunt riding was exactly in his list of potential careers for when he finished school.

[Katherine Lorelia]

The blonde pulled a face, although it wasn't as if the boy was able to see it in any case- not unless he had some kind of superhuman powers. And to be honest, if she were to be a superhuman kind of girl, Kitty probably wouldn't opt for the ability to see someone's expression when they were facing away from you as her power. Walking on walls, maybe, or telekinesis. Even mind reading. But she felt that it would be rather a waste to have a power which served the same function as a strategically positioned mirror could. "Awww, Cass..." she murmured.

"Yeah... Some people have all the luck." Risking a glance back over her shoulder, the Irish girl grinned cheekily. "I don't know; sitting around and taking it easy..." No, of all the crimes of which she might accuse the boy riding behind her, she would have to concede that that would not- could not- be one of them. Madness, perhaps.

[Caspian Collins]

Cass laughed at her comment. "Just you wait until I have to ask him to do a half pass in class and he doesn't feel like it, or I'm not asking properly." There were some movements where only having one strong leg really got in the way, but they worked it out between them, it was just a matter of asking a different way.

[Katherine Lorelia]

The blonde giggled. "Well, I'm not taking dressage for this year, so I guess I'm going to miss out on that treat. You'll have to film it so that I can be properly amused, because I'm sure I'll give you plenty of opportunities for laughter over any classes that we do have together. What else are you taking?" She imagined that cross country would be out of the question, which was a shame, but she wasn't so sure about showjumping, and honestly, Western disciplines didn't even cross her mind.

[Caspian Collins]

Cass pouted, not that she could see him, slightly disappointed that she wouldn't be in dressage with him. Oh well, he'd have to make other friends. "I'll see what I can do." He assured her with a grin. "Otherwise you can just laugh at us while we're trying to practice." He pulled a face, pleased that she couldn't see him now, as he thought over the other two classes he was taking. "Trail and herbal remedies. Mom had a fit when I suggested that I take a jumping class, so I settled for one that would have me off the horse and in a classroom." And one that wouldn't require a lot of walking around or having to stand in one place for any amount of time. "What classes are you taking?"

[Katherine Lorelia]

The blonde gasped in shock. "But that means we don't have any riding classes together! That's not on!" She pouted melodramatically. Why did things always seem to work out like this? Whenever she made a new friend, she found out that they didn't share any classes, and that was just rubbish! Who was she supposed to chat to? Of course she always had Teddy, but she wanted to get to know Cass, too! "Well, I guess I'm just going to have to bug you all the time out of classes, so you can be sure you're not missing out on anything." She grinned. "I'm taking showjumping, cross-country and eventing. So, I guess they're not really the kind of classes that your mum would be too happy about, though I can totally see you in them." She nodded.

[Caspian Collins]

His bottom lip jutted out at the thought of them not having any equestrian classes together, though he once again reminded himself that he was here to make friends. "What about non-horsey classes?" There was always a little hope that they shared another class, and he'd have someone to copy homework from.

He pouted again as she mentioned her horse courses, all ridden of course. "Well, colour me jealous." He said, not at all sounding it. "Those are the classes I probably would have picked had I been whole." He rubbed his leg just above the prosthetic, not sure if it was rubbing or just because he wished it weren't there, but it was hurting. "Now that I'm not under the watch of my mom, I want to try some jumping. Maybe not cross country just yet, but I'd love to go over a baby show jumping course." Now, she'd either tell him he was an idiot, and report the idea to a teacher, or offer to help.

[Katherine Lorelia]

"Calculus, Biology, Language Arts, Psychology, Art, and Geography," the blonde reeled off, nodding to herself to acknowledge the fact that she'd actually managed to remember them all. Of course she knew what she was taking- God knew that she had enough work from each of them to impress it upon her- but, somehow or other, she always seemed to forget to mention one. "And then Cheerleading and Choir are my extracurriculars. I guess cheerleading is off the menu?" Which was a shame, because they needed more guys, but she might just about let him off.

"That's green, right?" Kitty teased with a grin, nudging her horse to one side slightly in order to skirt around a puddle. "I don't know if that would be your colour..." Not that she was the world's best judge of fashion, of course, as she had no doubt that a considerable number of her fellow students would be all too happy to attest. "Well... I won't tell if you won't." She glanced back over her shoulder to wink at the younger boy. "I'll give you a hand if you like. Catch you when you fall off."

[Caspian Collins]

His eyebrows shot up in hope. "I'm in language arts too, so there's a chance we might be in the same block there." There was also a fifty percent chance of them not being. "No, cheerleading won't be one of the groups I will be aspiring to join while on campus, I'm more likely to be handing out drinks and towels." There actually weren't a lot of sports that were options for him now, as he couldn't run and even bending to bowl a ball down a lane wasn't the easiest. Yup, water-boy was definitely in his future if he had to join a school sport. "My other classes are; pre-alg, bio, world history, drama and German - mom had to throw a little culture in there."

Cass laughed as Kitty guided her horse around a puddle and no matter how much neck reining he tried, Slick stomped straight though the middle of the puddle. "Yeah, green's not my colour." He agreed. "Which is funny, since I like photographing nature so much."

He grinned from ear to ear when it seemed that he had an ally in his court with this jumping thing, and he did a mental fist pump. "Having someone on the ground is always appreciated. I'd probably crush you if you tried to catch me though, so might be best if you just helped my up afterward." Not that he had any intention of falling while going over jumps. He had a strong core and a great seat, so he wasn't too worried.

[Katherine Lorelia]

"Oh, great!" the blonde exclaimed with a smile, feeling that this would be the appropriate moment at which to give the boy a hug. Unfortunately, their relative positions at the present time were such as to preclude any such motion, and so the Irish girl made a mental note to do so as soon as it was humanly possible, which, by now, would probably be when they returned- unless, of course, one or the other of them fell off, which was a circumstance that the blonde was rather hoping to avoid. After all, whilst she might have been riding for quite some time and taken her fair share of knocks, the rocky terrain around here was not ideal for such an activity, and Kitty would have rather liked to keep her head in one piece if it were possible. "And I'll maybe see you in Biology too?"

"I could see you in burgundy, though..." she mused aloud, turning her head as far as she could in order to more closely examine the boy's features. "But there's nothing wrong with that! Nature is awesome- why do you think I brought you out here?!" The trails were some of Kitty's favourite places in the world- they were simply so beautiful, and beauty was something that the blonde could appreciate.

Kitty nodded, smiling to herself. "I can manage that," she assured him with a grin. It was nothing that she hadn't done before, after all- she'd run a few classes of her own back home for the youngest kids. And it was hardly as though assembling a jumping course was beyond her considerable capabilities.

[Caspian Collins]

Cass grinned, the girl's excitement was contagious, and he had a feeling that he'd need to spend time with her when he was feeling down. After all, she had brought him out of his bad mood a few days earlier when he couldn't get outside.

He arched his eyebrows at the suggestion of burgundy being a good colour for him and he shook his head. "I tend to try and steer away from most shades of red." He said with a shrug. "I'd seen enough of it while in hospital and a while after, so I think I'll stick with my blues and neutral tones." He'd worn a bit of black for a while, but had steered away from it more for his mother's mind than his own.

He grinned. "I stick to the saddle well enough, I found the perfect superglue for that. It's just the having to dismount if we knock a pole or I want the jump raised, that's when it's good to have a person on the ground." He had a notebook full of course designs. It had started as a project from one of his many therapists when he was coming to terms with his disability, and she had suggested that he create the kind of course he'd love to have competed over on his pony - yeah, another loss he was coming to terms with. And the one course had turned into another until he had a book full of them.

[Katherine Lorelia]

The blonde winced. Well done, Kitty. Yet again, she'd managed to put her foot right in it. Bloody typical; she never seemed to be able to get all the way through a conversation without embarrassing either herself or the other person, and it was very annoying, because it just meant that a lot of people did their best to politely avoid her, which wasn't what she wanted at all!

Speaking of shades of red, she was turning most of them at her blunder, but she still managed to respond with a vague sound of agreement, and then, having gathered herself a little more, she added, "Blue really suits you too!" Of course, fashion was still not her forte, but Kitty liked to think that she could at least tell when someone was wearing a colour which was absolutely not for them, and she didn't see that with Cass.

Kitty giggled. "Well, if you ever need a new tube, let me know," she advised him. "I use it when I'm riding my mare, because otherwise, I'd spend more time on the ground than on her back." Hence the reason why she had elected not to bring Fee out here with her. "But sure, I can pick up poles for you. Just do me a favour and try not to knock too many down; I'm a delicate girl, you know!"

[Caspian Collins]

Cass' eyebrows shot up, as there was something in her body language that was telling him he may have said something wrong, as she wasn't looking very comfortable right now. He perked up a little at the compliment. "Add a touch of yellow, and you have green." He said with a laugh.

He laughed again at her offer. "Thanks, I'll keep that in mind when my is running low. I'm going to have to meet this mare you keep talking about one of these days. She sounds like she should have been a pony." He grinned at her next words. "Ok, note to self, Slick, knock down every pole possible." He said in a stage-whisper.