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Equus	By : Deb Category: Gundam Wing/AC > Yaoi - Male/Male Views: 2855 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 1
Disclaimer: I do not own Gundam Wing, it belongs to Bandai, Sotsu and associated parties. I do own the equines though, please do not take them without permission. Written for pleasure not profit.

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“Equus”

Chapter 81

"I believe congratulations are in order," Wufei said when Heero and Duo returned to the goose-neck.

"Thank you, Wufei, but it's the horses that deserve all the credit," Heero replied.

"You shouldn't be so modest, Heero," Meiran chided. "Those horses couldn't have done the rounds on their own."

"That's what I keep telling him," Duo piped up and gave his lover a wide grin.

Heero began to turn red once more with the praise he felt he didn't deserve. In order to get himself out of the awkward situation, he changed the topic. "How is Nataku settling?"

"She seems to be perfectly fine," Wufei replied. "Meiran and I have given her a good brush down and she's been quite happy to eat her hay."

"Good, the more relaxed she is, the better it will be for the both of us." Heero ran his eye over the bay who was - as Wufei had said – busy eating her hay without a care in the world. "I think we should saddle her up and start warming up. The judge has taken a half hour break and once he returns and checks the raised course it will be the B grade competition."

"Would you like a hand to get her ready?" Meiran asked.

"Thank you, but Duo and I should be fine, although if you wouldn't mind taking her rug off whilst we get her gear that would be a great help?"

"No problem."

Duo disappeared into the tack compartment, emerging with Nataku's saddle, bridle, saddle blanket and jumping boots. While Heero saddled the mare up, Duo showed Meiran how to put on the jumping boots. Wufei was quite happy to remain at the mare's head and talk softly to her. Heero didn't mind, if Wufei's presence helped to keep the mare calm and focused then he was all for it. Once he was out in the warm up area he would have a much better idea of what to expect from the bay.

Heero was confident enough in his own skills that he would be able to control Nataku should she decide to revert back to her previous ways, but he sincerely hoped it wouldn't come to that. He was putting a lot of faith in the mare's intelligence and hoping that all the re-schooling he'd done over the past months would remain foremost in the bay's mind.

"Heero?" Heero looked up to see his lover watching him with concerned eyes. "Could you step into the goose-neck for a moment please?" Following Duo inside Drumstick, Heero could only wonder what Duo wanted.

Once they were inside, Duo closed the door and wrapped his arms around the dark haired man. "Promise me you will be careful?"

Reciprocating the embrace, Heero pulled the vet close to his chest. "Of course I will, but I have to do this, Duo."

"I know you do and I'm not trying to stop you. I understand completely what this means in regards to Nataku's future and all, but I don't want to see either one of you hurt. Let's face it, Heero, none of us know how she is going to react and the last thing I want to be doing is making another trip to the hospital with either you or Nataku, if you know what I mean."

"I promise you that if, for whatever reason, I think all of this is becoming too much for Nataku I'll pull out of the event."

"Thank you," Duo whispered and pressed a kiss to Heero's lips. "I know you're more than capable of handling her and I'm sorry to-"

"Hush," Heero said, cutting Duo off by pressing a finger to his lips. "You never have to apologize for caring, for loving me." Gazing deep into violet eyes, Heero tried to put as much love into his own eyes as he could before stealing Duo's lips in a tender kiss. "I love you, Duo and I'm not going to risk doing anything at all that would cause you distress."

With a sigh, Duo let his head rest against Heero's chest for a moment, safe and warm in his lover's arms. "I suppose we should head back out before they come looking for us."

"Hai, we should." Reluctantly breaking the moment, Heero released his partner, smoothed down his jacket and went back outside.

*

Despite the calm and soothing tone Wufei was using to talk to her, Nataku knew something different was up. The saddle and bridle were placed gently on her, the muscles in her body tensing a little even though this new master had never done anything at all to harm or hurt her.

Old habits were hard to forget.

Checking his helmet was tightly strapped on, Heero tightened the girth a hole, pulled the stirrups down and with Wufei at the mare's head, he swung himself into the saddle. His weight lowered gently to the mare's back, feet slipping into the stirrups and a light contact taken with the reins. Heero ran a soothing hand along the bay neck, he could clearly feel the tension running through the mare and knew this was as difficult for her as it was probably going to be for him.

"Let's go warm up," he said quietly. Wufei released the bridle and stepped aside for Heero to ride the mare forward. Duo, Meiran, June, Carl and Wufei all followed along behind, a mix of emotions running through them all.

As Nataku drew closer to the warm up area and other horses there so she appeared to 'grow'. Heero had expected some form of reaction from the mare and wasn't surprised with the one he got. The most important thing would be to make certain he didn't try yanking on the reins or attempt to control the bay by sheer force. That would only send the mare spiraling back into what she had been with Saunders; and that would also make Heero no better than the bastard as far as a rider went.

No, he would have to insist she listen to him, use his seat, leg and soft contact with her mouth to keep control. A bit of praying wouldn't go astray either.

Nataku gazed wide eyed at the activity around her. She snorted a couple of times, the tension in her causing her body to stiffen and her gait to change slightly. Heero felt as if he were sitting on a stick of dynamite, all four hooves of the mare becoming coiled springs and she literally 'bounced' with each step she took.

Knowing to ask the mare for anything much right now would be a bad idea, Heero simply kept his contact light and calmly used his seat and legs, insisting that the mare just walk in a large circle for him. By keeping his seat and leg constant, he hoped to have the mare switch her concentration from what was happening around her to him and his aids.

Although she was brimming with tension, Nataku did keep walking. It was full of energy as she watched those horses around her. She began to break into a jog, only to have the light pressure on her mouth increase a touch and the weight on her back sit deeper. It threw her for a moment, the memories that were currently racing through her mind telling her to expect a sharp jab to her tender mouth or a dig into her sides by those sharp, torturous objects her rider usually wore. When nothing like that happened, her mind jolted back to her training these past few months. A soft voice was speaking to her, soothing her rapidly fraying nerves and bringing her back to the current reality. She stopped her jogging and settled into a more sedate walk. Instantly the pressure on her mouth eased, the weight on her back lightened and a soft hand ran down her neck.

"Good girl, just walking for the moment," Heero praised.

Having covered several circles at the walk, Nataku began to settle and relax a little more. With the mare's attention now more on him than what was going on around her, Heero decided it was time to ask for the trot. Sitting deeper, he took up a little more contact and applied his legs. Nataku understood the aids and broke into a steady trot.

"That's it, nice and steady," Heero encouraged. He continued to speak to the horse, keeping his voice low and soft, knowing it was helping to keep the mare grounded as they worked. As the trot became more rhythmical, Heero felt the tension slipping away, the mare softening her back, lowering her head and neck and looking for the contact with his hands through the reins.

"She appears to be settling down," Wufei commented from where they were standing on the sidelines of the warm up area.

Duo removed his fingernail from his mouth to reply. "Yeah, she does."

"Then that is a good thing," Meiran stated.

"It is so far," June said. Seeing the confusion on Meiran's face, June explained a little more. "She's settling well now, but Heero still has to put her over a couple of practice jumps. She may still continue to go calmly, or she might decide it reminds her too much of the past abuse she suffered and go ballistic."

"Ballistic?" Meiran questioned.

Duo gave a snicker, June gave the vet a 'look' before replying to Meiran to clarify her choice of words. "Yeah, she might decide it's all too much and throw a temper tantrum, something like try to tear off and refuse to listen to Heero at all."

"I certainly hope she doesn't do that. She should know by now that Mr. Yuy isn't going to harm her in any way."

"We all know that and she does too after all the patient training Heero has done with her over these past months; but a horse is a funny thing, they do have long memories and it won't be easy for her to forget the abuse she suffered for god knows how long before Heero rescued her. She will still most likely associate jumping and shows with pain," Duo explained.

"I guess we will know soon enough. Looks like Heero's almost finished warming up on the flat," Carl said, interrupting the conversation. All eyes turned back to the bay and her rider.

With Nataku responding favorably to Heero's aids on the flat, he decided it was time for the true test: to put the mare over a practice jump. Bringing the bay back to a walk, he rode towards the group of onlookers and announced his intentions. As one they all followed to where the practice jumps were waiting.

Keeping the mare walking around, Heero waited patiently for his turn to try the jumps. He continued to talk softly to the mare and ran a hand down her neck from time to time. Nataku seemed to appreciate the gentle touch and soft sounds so Heero decided to keep going with them and to hell with anyone who thought he was nuts for doing so.

Finally his turn to jump came. Collecting up his reins and pushing the mare into a canter, Heero circled before deciding it was time to go for broke and face the jump. The bay cantered along, quite happy for the moment – then she spotted the jump ahead and hesitated. Using his seat and legs, Heero rode the bay forward, encouraging her at the same time with his voice. Fear began to cloud the mare's mind, but she was too close to the jump to stop without sliding into it. Slightly off balance, she dug in deep and pushed her body over the jump. Expecting the familiar jag to her mouth and stinging jabs to her flanks, as soon as she landed she hollowed her back and pushed her head in the air, all ready to take off and get away from the pain that was to come.

Expecting the mare to react badly, Heero sat as still as he could as they cleared the jump, keeping his hand light and his seat firm as they landed. When the mare hollowed her back and stuck her nose in the air, Heero simply continued to keep a light contact, sat deeper into the saddle and used his legs to ride her forward. He also made sure to speak calmly to her and praise her for the effort.

Confused, Nataku slowed, softened her back and lowered her nose, accepting the light contact with her mouth.

Rather than push things right now, Heero rode her directly to the one person he knew Nataku would respond to the most – Wufei. He was thinking by having Wufei praise and pet her, she would associate the clearing of a jump in the show situation as a means for extra attention – not pain.

Bringing her to a halt before the Chinese man, Heero spoke quickly of his reason for riding her over, Wufei understanding completely and proceeding to make a big fuss of his horse.

Nataku was even more confused by the results, the pets and praise along with the treats that were showered upon her had her thinking hard. The master upon her back had never hurt her, never asked for anything more than she was capable of giving and never raised his voice or punished her even when she'd given him good reason to. Along the way she'd started to trust again and when the fire had happened, that trust had been further cemented.

Why should things be any different now? Why should being at a show with all those jumps cause her rider to hurt her?

The pets, treats and praise she'd gotten after just one jump – even though she'd done it badly – showed her that her new master and rider could be trusted. Nataku gave in and granted the fragile trust that had begun to build, to grow even more. Softly she pushed her muzzle against Wufei's chest and asked for forgiveness for her rough jump.

"Good girl, you're doing just fine," Wufei praised and slipped the mare another carrot slice. Beside him Duo also patted the bay, offering his own words of encouragement to her.

"Thanks, Wufei. I'll try her over both practice jumps now," Heero stated.

The rest of the group stood back and watched, all silently hoping that Nataku would do better this time.

Heero put his faith in the mare, circled her around and when it was his turn, he rode at the jump again. This time Nataku listened carefully, lengthened her stride out and cleared the jump easily. She landed and allowed Heero to bring her back to a steady canter, change direction and then proceed towards the second practice jump. Lengthening out again, Nataku once more sailed into the air and cleared the jump, settling back to a steady canter as Heero used his seat and hands to bring her back and steady her.

With a beaming smile on his face, Heero patted and praised the bay, aiming for Wufei, Duo and their friends once more. Once Nataku came to a halt, Wufei was busy petting and stuffing the mare with carrots and apple slices. Nataku lapped up the attention, deciding if this was what she was going to get every time she cleared a jump then she could cope with that.

June reappeared, having gone to the arena to check on when the course would be open for walking. "Heero, the course is open now and they're calling for everyone in the B grade to start to marshal."

"Thanks, June." Heero dismounted and handed the horse over to Wufei who had offered to walk her around whilst Heero walked the course with Duo.

* * *

"Number six?"

Heero rode over to the gate marshal. "I'm number six."

"Good, you're in after this next one so please stay close." The marshal turned back to allow the fourth rider to exit. "Number five, you're in."

Heero remained just to the side of the gate marshal, eyes watching the progress of the rider currently on course. So far there had been two clear rounds, but Heero wasn't worried about any of that, all he wanted was for Nataku to remain calm and listen to him. His aim was to complete the entire course, with or without faults it didn't matter, just so long as they weren't eliminated Heero would be pleased.

Rider five made a slight miscalculation between jumps four and five, their horse coming into the double half a stride out and taking off too early. The poles went flying in all directions, the horse barely keeping its footing and having no option but to refuse part B. The rider calmed his horse and circled at the trot whilst the jump was rebuilt, the judge ringing the bell once the course was ready for him to jump again. This time the pair made no mistake and went on to clear the rest of the course, but the damage had been done and they exited the arena with eight penalties.

"Number six, you're in."

Feeling the familiar squeeze to his calf, Heero looked down into the warm violet eyes of his lover. He could see the concern there, a touch of fear and also pride. "I promise to be careful, Duo. I won't be taking any risks."

"I know. Stay safe and remember I love you," Duo whispered. Whilst Wufei and Meiran offered their wishes for a good, safe round, Duo quickly stepped up to Nataku's head and stroked along the sweet face of the mare. "Please look after him for me and do your best to make us all proud," Duo whispered to the mare. Liquid brown eyes looked back at him and Nataku rubbed her muzzle against the nice human.

Not understanding what the nice human had said, she could sense the apprehension and concern rolling off him and knew it had something to do with her and the rider on her back. This nice human had been kind to her, looked after her when she'd been hurt and done his best to rescue her when the orange tongues of death had looked certain to eat her. She did her best to try and comfort the human that had shared so much with her by rubbing her muzzle against his chest.

The exchange only lasted a couple of seconds, but both horse and vet knew the promise had been made.

Collecting his reins, Heero rode the mare into the ring and hopefully the first competition of a successful career for Nataku.

*

Standing to one side of the arena a man watched as a bay mare entered the ring and his eyes widened in recognition. "Well I'll be fucking dammed!" he snorted.

The woman next to him frowned. "What is it, Leroy?"

"Nothing, just thought I recognized something, that's all." Leroy Saunders' eyes never left the pair in the arena.

*

Saluting the judge, Heero rode towards the start flags. He could feel the tension rising in Nataku, although the mare was still listening to him and his aids at this stage. Heero only hoped she continued to do so. He ran a hand along the sweating neck and offered words of comfort and encouragement to the mare. The bell rang and Heero pushed Nataku into a canter, turning towards the start.

This was the moment of truth.

Listening carefully to her rider, Nataku passed between the start flags and spotted the jump ahead. A ripple of apprehension ran through her, the fear of the past surfacing again and she fought against her instincts to simply turn tail and flee. The rider on her back remained calm and still, applying just enough pressure to her mouth to guide her, his weight on her back and pushing of leg against her sides asking her to lengthen out and clear the jump.

Gathering herself together, Nataku pushed off the ground and sailed over the first jump, landing, she immediately tensed. Heero had anticipated the tensing and made certain to stay soft in the saddle and use his legs lightly against the mare. The second jump lay dead ahead and rather than give the mare time to contemplate what she was expecting to happen, he rode her forward with determination.

Standing by the arena, Wufei and Duo watched with baited breath as Nataku cleared the first jump. They could both see the mare was fighting within herself, and prayed she would listen to Heero. The pair came cantering past where Wufei was pressed against the arena ropes and without thinking, Wufei spoke in a calm, clear tone.

"Good girl, Nataku."

The bay cocked an ear as she heard a familiar voice to the side. She recognized it as her master, the warmth and pride in the tone piercing the mare's heart and mind and putting a final end to the internal conflict.

Nataku lowered her head and neck, softened her back and collected herself up. There had been no reason given for her to doubt her rider and she decided that the trust she'd allowed to grow and develop needed to be set free – and the only way she knew to show her master, her rider and the kind man who'd healed her that she trusted them was to push aside all her fears and let her rider guide her.

The second fence was a couple of strides away, Nataku gathered herself together, found her spot and launched into the air.

Heero had been using all his skills to try and keep the mare relaxed and listening to his aids whilst trying to aim for the center of the offset rails. A couple of strides out it seemed as if the mare had read his mind and took charge, jumping directly over the center of the rails and landing clean and neat on the other side.

The shock and surprise of not having the mare tense up on him, but rather she steadied and softened when they landed had Heero questioning if he was riding the same horse. He could feel the change in her, like one had thrown a switch and the bay was quite happy to do everything he asked. Not about to question it, Heero did what he did best; he rode the horse with skill and compassion, guiding her to the next jump and another clean jumping effort.

"Well, fuck me," Duo muttered and turned to an equally stunned Wufei beside him. "Did you cast some sort of magic spell on her or something?"

Wufei shook his head, unable to offer any explanation for the complete change of character of his horse.

"If you ask me, I'd say Nataku has finally understood that Heero will never hurt her and she's now given him her complete trust," June stated with a soft smile.

"I don't care what it is that's happened, just as long as she keeps jumping like that for Heero and Wufei," Duo replied, his eyes never leaving the pair in the ring.

Nataku landed safely over jump four and slowed her pace a little as her rider asked, turning to the left and steadying herself.

"Good girl, that's the way. This next one is a hard one so I need you to keep listening to me and we'll do just fine," Heero encouraged the mare.

Cocking back an ear to listen, Nataku could tell from the tone of voice that what she was doing was what her rider wanted and it gave her a feeling of peace. The shifting weight of her rider combined with the light pressure to the left of her mouth and right hand ribs told her she needed to turn.

The double lay ahead and Heero knew that if they could clear this with Nataku remaining calm and collected beneath him then they would be able to complete the rest of the course without too much fuss.

Sizing up the jump ahead and spotting the one directly behind it, Nataku hesitated for a moment. She sensed no fear from her rider, just a quiet encouragement and figured if he was okay with it then there wasn't anything for her to fear either. She lengthened out her stride and dug her hind hooves in deep, her bay body soaring into the air and clearing the first element. As soon as she landed her rider was asking her to drive her hind quarters underneath and seeing the spread fence of part B ahead, she knew she would need a lot of effort to get over it safely. Hard muscle rippled under the bay hide as those powerful hind quarters once again sent the mare into the air and over the jump.

Heero took a moment to give the mare a quick pat to the neck. "That was perfect, Nataku," he praised. Shortening his reins a touch, Heero again built the impulsion as they bore down on jump six; the hay bales.

"You know, it's like she's had a complete change of character," Duo commented. "If I didn't know any better I'd swear someone switched horses on Heero."

"They certainly have 'clicked' if you know what I mean," Carl said in amusement.

"I've said it before and I'll say it again; Heero definitely has a way with horses," June said softly.

"That he does," Wufei smiled.

Nataku continued around the course, jumps seven, eight, nine and ten all being cleared with what seemed to be minimal effort on the pairs' part, but to those that knew Nataku and Heero they could see the partnership that was starting to form, the trust and faith each had put in the other and they knew it was something special that they were witnessing.

"Two more to go and we're home, girl," Heero said, his concentration never wavering from the jumps ahead and the horse beneath him.

The triple lay ahead, a rising tier of three poles sparkling in the sunshine. Nataku lined it up, gauged the height and width and picked her takeoff point. She grunted with the effort of lifting her body into the air, muscles, tendons and ligaments all working together to ensure the equine cleared the jump. Forelegs came out to absorb the shock of landing, hind legs following a second later and pushing the bay away from the jump.

Sitting deep, Heero rode the mare together, balancing her and building the impulsion as they made a right turn to where the final jump – the wall - sat waiting. Standing at four foot it was a pretty impressive obstacle. Nataku didn't hesitate, her bay ears were pricked as she approached.

Having put all her trust in her rider and not once receiving any type of pain or abuse from him, she'd actually started to enjoy herself. It brought forth long forgotten memories of her younger days with another man who had broken her in, trained her and taken her to shows to jump. She'd enjoyed her training then, had no reason to fear her rider or the obstacles and loved to jump simply to please her master. This new rider and master were evoking the same feelings in her and she wanted to please them, wanted to do what they asked to say thank you for saving her.

The gray bricks appeared in front of her and Nataku gave it all she had. Powerful back legs dug into the turf and pushed her into the air. Forelegs tucked back up under her body as she sailed in a perfect arc over the wall. Upon her back the weight of her rider followed the movement of her body, the pressure on her mouth remaining light and steady. Front hooves bit deep as they took her weight upon landing, hind legs taking their place on the turf as she moved away from the jump and through the finish flags.

"Clear round for Mr. Heero Yuy riding Mr. Wufei Chang's Nataku," the commentator informed the crowd.

"Yes! Way to go, Heero and Nataku!" Duo yelled, unable to hold his excitement. Beside him, Wufei was silent, his eyes looking suspiciously bright as he watched his horse slowing down and coming towards them.

*

"Leroy? Leroy, where are you going?" the woman asked as her companion scowled and began to walk away from her.

Pausing, Leroy turned back to the woman. "I have a little score to settle," he snapped and turned around to continue on his way to the collecting ring. The commentator's announcement had only confirmed what Leroy already suspected – that the pair he'd been watching in the ring were indeed his former horse and the guy that had bought her from him. Seeing the pair enter the collecting ring and that long haired man, plus the two others that had been at the show join the horse and its rider, he felt his blood beginning to boil.

Because of that long haired freak he'd lost all his animals and wasn't allowed to own so much as a goldfish. To cap it all off, he'd also been banned by the EFA from competing for five years. He knew it had to be that man with the braid of hair that had reported him; either him or the guy that had bought Nataku and Leroy wasn't about to let an opportunity pass him by.

*

Once Heero was back in the collecting ring both he and Nataku were assailed by their support crew. The congratulations ran thick and fast, everyone talking over the top of each other in their excitement. Blushing to the roots of his hair, Heero accepted the praise, but had to wait before he could speak. Still sitting on the mare his attention was drawn to a figure making its way through the people towards him. Suddenly Nataku tensed and began to tremble.

Having completed her round, Nataku was happily accepting the many pats, praise and treats they were being heaped upon her when a forgotten scent caressed her nostrils. Her eyes widened and she took a deep breath, the scent of the man that had abused her filling them completely and she began to tremble.

Seeing both his lover's and the mare's attention suddenly fixated on something else, Duo did his best to see what it was. He felt the mare start to tremble at the same time as he spotted the object of her fear. "Leroy Saunders," he muttered under his breath and turned to face the man aiming directly for them.

~ * ~

tbc...
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Equus