Gundam Wing Fan Fiction ❯ Going For Gold ❯ Chapter 83 ( Chapter 83 )

[ X - Adult: No readers under 18. Contains Graphic Adult Themes/Extreme violence. ]

The competition has begun and the course is pretty hard. Zoe is the first rider to go for the Australian team.

Anime/Manga: Gundam Wing Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Action / Comedy / Drama / Hentai / Romance / Angst | Type: Alternate Universe | Uploaded On: 09.18.2009 | Pages: 9 | Words: 9.8K | Visits: 246 | Status: Work In Progress

“Going for Gold”

January 2007 ShenLong

Chapter 83

Heero slipped into the small locker where his gear was kept to change into his formal, riding attire. Five minutes later he was stepping back out and seeking his partner. He found the vet inside Shini's stable, brushing the stallion. “Duo?”

Hearing Heero call his name, Duo stopped brushing and turned around. “Problem?” he questioned as he walked over to the stable door.

“Is my tie tied properly?” Heero asked. “There's no mirror for me to check,” he explained.

With a chuckle, Duo exited the stable and bolted the door behind him. Laying the brush down, he dusted his hands off on his jeans and reached for the tie at Heero's neck. “Just needs straightening a little,” he said as he worked the knot slightly to the left. “There, much better.”

“Thanks.” Heero slipped his jacket on and did up the buttons.

“Don't you look smart,” Duo stated with a smile. Heero really did look great. The uniform was simple; long, black boots, beige jodhpurs, white shirt, black tie and red jacket with the Australian flag monogrammed on the breast pocket. With his helmet and whip in hand, Heero looked like an elegant, aristocrat.

“You look divine too,” Heero whispered back.

Duo blushed. His official uniform of team vet was a pair of beige pants, white shirt and green jacket with the Australian flag again monogrammed on the breast pocket. “I think you'd better get a move on, Noin and the others are waiting to walk the course.”

“Are you coming?”

“Just try to stop me.”

* * *

The group all paused at the entry to the jumping arena where they were informed by the stewards that only the riders and their coach would be allowed into the arena to walk the course. Michael wasn't too happy and neither was Duo, but the rules were the rules and the grooms all found themselves relegated to sitting in the section allocated for competitors and grooms to watch the competition from.

It wasn't too bad though, they still had a really good view of the course.

Duo gave a low whistle as he sat and observed the jumps. “Shit, they're big,” he commented.

“No bigger than what they're used to jumping,” Michael replied. “Sitting up here makes them look larger than what they actually are.”

“Up here or down there, I still say they're big,” Duo muttered.

Down in the arena itself, Heero and the rest of the team were beginning their walk. Noin had taken them to the start flags and began to lead them through the course.

There were fourteen jumps in total, a double and triple amongst them equaling seventeen jumping efforts. Heero gazed around before passing through the start flags to begin walking.

“The first three fences aren't all that difficult,” began Noin. “Straight forward and on a left hand curve. Four, five and the double, six, all follow a reasonably good line. It's from six B to seven that things will start to get interesting.”

Heero absorbed the coach's words as he walked the course, eyes studying the line and track he would need to follow to give Shinigami the best possible chance to clear the obstacles.

Jump one was a set of rails, straightforward and easy enough. A good jump to start a course with, it gave the horse confidence. Following the left hand curve, jump two consisted of a rail above several barrels; this was followed by jump three, the Hogs Back. Another left turn brought them to jump four, a set of planks. From there another left turn to five which was the triple bar. The double followed straight on from five and Heero could see that a rider would need to check his horse back a little to build impulsion if he were to clear the double successfully. Part A was a simple upright, then two strides and you were at Part B; the spread.

As Noin had said, this was where things started to get interesting. After part B one needed to get their horse immediately back to hand to make a sharp left turn to meet jump seven, the Road Closed, straight on. Jump eight was slightly off set to seven and Heero noted with a smile of amusement it had hay bales underneath. His mind tracked back to when Shini had first started jumping and had been faced with a hay bale jump. The poor colt couldn't understand why he had to jump hay when it was for eating. Heero had had quite the job in persuading his horse that it was in fact, a jump and not dinner!

After jump eight there was a right turn and the sprint to nine; the water jump. It was a pretty impressive spread across the water, a full four meters in total which was the maximum length allowed for a water jump in Olympic competition. Heero wondered just how many horses would end up getting their feet wet!

Another right turn would bring them to jump ten; the Oxer. Continuing on straight ahead was eleven, a simple hedge. A sharp left turn was next to bring them to the twelve, the triple. There wasn't a lot of room from eleven to twelve and it would take some skill to have the horse balanced and full of impulsion to clear the triple. There was one stride between A and B, then two strides between B and C. Both B and C were also spread jumps which would take even more out of the horse as he had not just the height to clear, but the width as well.

A left turn again would bring them to the wall and then straight on to jump fourteen, the Gate. The time allowed wasn't a very generous one either so riders would run the risk of picking up time penalties if they went too slow.

It was an interesting course.

Having walked it three times, Heero felt satisfied he knew where he could take risks and where not to. With the course still playing through his mind, he followed the others back through the entry and exit point to where the grooms all waited.

“Well?” Duo demanded when Heero joined him. “What is it like? Will Shini be able to cope with it?”

Heero gave his lover a soft smile. “It's not too bad, a little tricky in a couple of places and it's a tight time allowed, but I think Shinigami will cope okay with it.” In his own heart, Heero knew that Zero would have jumped the course quite well and Shini had his father's blood in his veins so that had to count for something.

“They all look monstrous to me,” Duo said with a shudder. “I'm glad it's you that will be jumping them and not me.”

“Actually, they're not all that high. Shini has jumped higher and most of the courses he's done to qualify have been the same height so he shouldn't have any problem clearing them.”

“Just promise me one thing,” said Duo, his voice low. “You will be careful.”

Heero nodded. “Of course.”

“Good. I really don't fancy having to treat any horse for an injury, or having a rider sustain one either,” Duo commented.

“Trust me, I don't think any of us plan on falling off or getting hurt in any way,” Heero replied.

Noting the others all starting to make a move back towards the stables, Heero and Duo joined them.

* * *

The stables were a hive of activity, horses were being brushed or saddled up, riders moving about and getting themselves ready for the competition. Heero had slipped a pair of coveralls over his jumping attire to keep himself clean. He still had to warm Shinigami up, but as he was jumping fourth and there were all the number one, two and three riders from nine countries to go before him, Heero figured he wouldn't be riding until the middle of the afternoon.

Duo had removed Shini's light stable rug and given the stallion a good brush down. The gray coat practically shone with good health, Shini's mane and tail were soft like silk and the hard muscles stood out underneath the steel gray hide. Duo was determined to have his charge looking his best.

The other grooms were also busy with their charges; Joe had Romefeller brushed to the point where you could almost see your reflection in his coat. Marksman had been given a bath, much to his disgust and his body now shone gold, like a newly minted coin, his mane and tail an off-white which certainly made him stand out. Michael had been busy with Lion and the bay stallion gleamed in the sunlight.

All that now remained was for the riders to saddle up, warm up and then wait for their turn to compete.

The public address system kept them all informed on what was going on so there was no excuse for not being where you should. The announcer let the riders know they had ten minutes to the start of competition and for the number one riders from Germany, Japan and South Africa to report to the collecting ring steward.

“I'm going to go on down to the arena and watch,” Treize told Heero. “There's a few to go through before Zoe and I'd like to see how the course is riding.”

“I'll just grab Duo and we'll come with you,” Heero replied and disappeared into the locker area to find his missing lover.

Zoe was saddling up to take Lion out and warm up, Kyle intending to join her after a few minutes. Noin was going to work with the pair of them for a short while before joining Treize and Heero inside the stadium to see how things were going. She made Treize promise to note down the faults the other riders scored.

Heero returned with Duo in tow and the four made their way to the stadium, entering and taking a seat just as the announcer was going through his final spiel, informing the spectators of the order for jumping.

The judge arrived and took his place and then a quiet descended over the arena. The commentator announced the first competitor and the competition was underway.

* * *

“Has it started yet?” Hilde asked as she rushed through to the lounge room and flopped down on the couch next to Catherine.

“Yes and no,” Catherine replied.

“Eh?”

“Yes, the coverage has started, but no, they haven't shown any of the jumping yet.”

“Good, then I haven't missed anything.” Hilde leaned across to her partner and stole a soft kiss. “I see you're comfortable.”

Catherine closed her eyes and enjoyed the kiss, then she chuckled at the vet's comment. She was indeed comfortable. Catherine had taken her shower, put on her pajamas, thick, winter dressing gown and fluffy slippers. Curled in her lap and purring softly was Smokey. “Well, it's not exactly warm tonight and I'll be going to bed late after watching this coverage so I thought I might as well get comfortable now. How was the call out?”

Hilde snuggled closer to share some body heat. “It took a bit longer than I had hoped.”

“I can see that,” Catherine replied dryly.

An elbow found its way to her ribs. “Don't be cheeky,” Hilde huffed. “I've been out in the cold, cruel world, slaving my ass off, working my fingers to the bone to keep this practice going and support you.”

“Support me?” Catherine quirked an eyebrow and managed to hide the smile.

“Yeah. Someone has too.” Hilde dove in for another kiss.

“Ohhh, I'm a kept woman, am I?” Catherine returned the kiss, raising a hand to thread through dark locks.

Hilde snickered. “I guess you're quite the opposite.”

“Yes, I am, and don't you forget it,” Catherine teased back. “Now, you were telling me about the call out?”

“Oh, yeah. The dog did have one more pup inside. She'd delivered four by herself, but it was obvious something was wrong. I'm glad the owner called us when she did otherwise it could have been a totally different result. Pup was pretty much wedged and would never have made it out without assistance. I managed to gently coax him along, but it took a little longer than expected. Better than having to perform a cesarean though.”

“I agree with you there. How many did she end up having and was the one that was stuck okay?”

“She had six in total; one more after the stuck pup came out. The one that got stuck is doing fine, a big dog pup. I think they're going to keep that one.”

“It's always good when there is a happy outcome,” Catherine stated.

“Amen to that.”

“Oh, it's starting.” Catherine turned her attention back to the television and draped an arm around her girlfriend's shoulders, pulling her close to her side. Smokey shifted slightly with the movement, but soon settled again.

* * *

The German team's first rider entered the ring to the sound of applause and rode to salute the judge. The bell rang and the first competitor in the showjumping competition of the London Olympic Games was on his way.

Both Heero and Treize watched with keen interest as the horse and rider tackled the course. One could learn a lot by watching fellow competitors and how they rode a course. As Noin had said, the first three jumps were straightforward and didn't cause any problems. If anything, they could lure the horse and rider into a false sense of security which would lead to mistakes further into the course. Riders were well aware of this tactic employed by course designers and builders and whilst they knew not to relax their skills, their horses didn't and many an animal had been caught out this way.

Jumps four and five were cleared and then the German was on course for the double. The horse steadied back and managed to clear both obstacles easily, but was a little reluctant to come back to hand afterwards. The tighter turn to bring them to jump seven was barely made and the horse scraped over the top of the jump, rattling the poles as he went but leaving them safely in their cups. The rider didn't have much time to try and settle his horse before jump eight was upon them and again, the horse rolled the top poles; only this time, they fell.

Gathering himself together, the rider did his best to re-balance his horse and set them up for the water jump. The spread proved a little too much for the horse and he left a hoof in the water, scoring another four penalties. Jump ten was cleared easily enough and then they were turning for the triple.

“Not enough impulsion,” Treize muttered.

“I agree,” Heero whispered back.

“Quiet in the peanut gallery,” Duo snickered; beside him, Joe laughed softly.

The horse and rider cleared the first element and took a stride. The second part was barely cleared before the horse was landing and taking the two strides before launching into the air again and making a valiant effort to clear the third element. Unfortunately, the impulsion wasn't there and they sent the poles flying in all directions.

“Ouch! That's gotta hurt,” Duo exclaimed.

“Yes, I'd say it's given that horse a nasty knock to the forelegs,” Joe said as he watched the horse and rider gather themselves together and canter on for the wall.

The knock at the previous jump had shaken the horse and he was a lot more subdued and willing to listen to his rider. They cleared the wall and headed for the final jump; the gate. Clearing the gate, the rider sent his horse galloping through the finish flags, the electronic timer stopping and showing they were within the time allowed by ten seconds.

“Twelve faults,” the commentator announced.

“It's certainly a tight time,” Treize stated as he wrote down the faults in the note book that Noin had given him for that purpose.

“Yes, it is. I'd say we're going to have to keep a steady, forward going canter if we don't want to get any time faults,” Heero replied.

“Don't worry, all our horses are more than capable of jumping this course within the time allowed,” said Treize.

The commentator announced the first of the Japanese riders and the arena went quite again.

It soon became obvious that the course was taking a lot more skill than the riders had anticipated when walking it. The Japanese rider scored sixteen penalties whilst the South African had fourteen, two of which were time faults. The Indian rider completed his round with eight faults and the English rider was entering as Noin came in, Zechs with her and joined Treize, Joe, Heero and Duo in the stands.

“Look what I found,” Noin stated with a grin and ushered Zechs along the aisle.

Treize smiled warmly at his boyfriend as the blonde plunked down into the chair next to him. “Glad to see you could make it.”

“Yeah, well, you can thank Noin for getting me in. I did show my pass but they weren't going to allow me to come inside the competitor area to watch,” Zechs replied. “She asked them what the problem was, confirmed that I was an assistant vet to Doctor Maxwell and then they let me through.”

“Then I'd say we owe Noin,” Treize smiled.

“How are the scores coming along? What have you managed to learn about the course?” Noin asked in a hushed tone as the UK rider was starting their round.

Treize handed over the current scores and filled Noin in on what they had seen thus far. Kyle and Andrew joined them just as the UK rider was finishing with four penalties.

“I did warn you all it would be a tricky course,” Noin stated. “You will need to keep your concentration all the way around and have your horse's attention too. There is no reason why any of you shouldn't go clear; you've all jumped courses that are just as tough before.”

“Easy to say when you're not in the saddle,” Kyle muttered.

Noin caught the words but declined to say anything; she could see the look on Treize's face and knew the older rider would be sure to set Kyle straight on a few facts later. Instead, she carried on as if the words had not been said, explaining a few finer points to the riders.

The Swedish rider finished with ten faults, the Italian twelve and the Irish combination were unlucky to have a total of sixteen.

“I'm going back out to have a word with Zoe,” Noin informed them all. “It's the American next and then Zoe. I'll be back shortly.” Noin took her leave and Treize took the chance to have a word in Kyle's ear.

“I know you weren't meaning anything nasty with your comment earlier, but do you know anything about Noin?”

Kyle frowned. “No, I really don't know much about her, but it's easier to offer advice when you're not the one doing the riding.”

“I understand what you are saying and normally I would agree with you, however, in this case you're wrong. Noin does know what it's like to ride courses like this; she's ridden many in her past. Let me tell you a little something about our coach...”

Heero and Duo's ears pricked up. Neither one of them had any idea of Noin's background and were curious to know a little more about the woman they had come to admire and like quite a lot.

“Noin has ridden for her country in a total of three Nations cup events, two Olympics and four World cups. She used to ride under a Hans Fredriks of Germany...”

Both Kyle and Heero let out a small gasp. Hans Fredriks was only the greatest showjumping rider of all time, a brilliant tactician and excellent instructor. Unfortunately, he'd died just ten years ago when he suffered a really bad fall from a horse. The showjumping world had lost not just a wonderful rider that day, but a kind and compassionate gentleman as well.

“Noin is a gold medal winner and jumped at some of the largest and most prestigious shows in the world. Unfortunately, she also had an accident which brought an end to her jumping career, but luckily for us, she accepted the offer of E.F.A. head coach and now we're all reaping the benefit of her experience,” Treize informed them.

“What sort of accident did she have?” Duo asked in curiosity.

“I'm not sure of all the details and it's really up to Noin to tell you if she wishes, but suffice to say, she took a bad fall that ended up crushing a couple of vertebrae in her spine. She was in a wheelchair for ages and the doctors didn't think she would ever walk again. She did prove them all wrong and as far as I know she's pretty much back to normal; although one of the vertebra that was crushed did leave a couple of bone fragments sitting too close to the spinal cord to be removed safely. If she rides again she runs the risk of that bone fragment moving and piercing the spinal cord.” Treize didn't say anything more, he didn't need to.

Everyone suddenly found themselves with a new respect for the coach.

A groan from the crowd had them focusing back on the arena again to see that the American rider had knocked down the second and then third elements of the triple.

They went on to clear the rest of the course but it was too late, they finished with a score of eight penalties.

“Ladies and gentlemen, our next rider is Zoe Rundell riding Lionheart and representing Australia.”

Noin and Michael joined the rest of the team members in the stands to watch as Zoe entered the arena, a soft smile on her lips.

“She looks relaxed,” whispered Duo.

“She might appear that way on the outside, but inside she's a bundle of nerves,” Michael whispered back.

“She will do just fine,” Treize said with a squeeze to Michael's shoulder.

“Yeah, I know she will be okay, but...”

“Michael, don't worry about it, I know exactly what you're going through,” Duo said quietly, “We all do. Welcome to the role of support crew; nail biting a must, hair chewing optional.”

“And toenail chewing only when all other methods have either failed or been exhausted. Cardiac arrests by invitation only,” Zechs added with a grin.

Michael shook his head and gave a low chuckle. “You two are just...”

“Weird?” Heero offered. “You don't have to tell us that, we have to live with them.”

With another chuckle, Michael turned his attention back to the arena where Zoe was passing through the start flags.

Shortening her reins, Zoe went slightly forward in her saddle as she eased Lionheart into a canter. “This is a tough course, Lion. I need you to listen to me and give me all you have,” she whispered to the bay.

Lion gave a toss of his head and a low snort as if to say 'I'm always at my best.'

Feeling the confidence flowing through her horse gave Zoe that little bit more confidence in herself and with her mouth set in a determined line, she passed through the start and rode at the first jump.

The bay cleared it easily, ears pricked and looking for the next jump. His mistress was light on his back, her touch gentle on the reins and the stallion could feel the slightest shift in her weight and adjusted himself accordingly. They followed the curve to the left and cleared jumps two and three with inches to spare.

“Doing good so far,” Heero muttered to no one.

Lionheart cantered on towards jump four and flew over it. Another left turn brought them to jump five; the triple. Knowing the spread was to follow; Zoe sat a little deeper into her saddle and pushed as much impulsion as she could into the bay. Lion's hocks came underneath and he propelled himself into the air and over the triple bar. Landing safely he felt his mistress check his forward movement and slowed his gait a touch.

Driving her horse together, Zoe eyed the approaching double. Containing the energy, she waited until they were three strides away before releasing the stallion who soared into the air with ease. They landed, took two strides and then flew into the air again.

“Beautifully ridden,” Noin commented with a big smile.

“That's my girl,” Michael stated proudly.

“I hope they keep this up,” Treize said.

“If they do then we're going to have to match it or we'll never hear the end of it,” Heero snickered.

“I don't care if we match it or not, just as long as we all get as minimal faults as we can and win that gold medal,” Kyle put in.

“I second that motion,” Duo said with a grin. “Who cares what each rider scores fault wise, just as long as the overall total is less than all the other countries.”

The conversation ceased as each person watched the young woman and her horse as they landed over the second element and Zoe checked Lion back to make the sharp turn to come into jump seven.

It was a tight turn, Lion not really wanting to slow down as much as his mistress asked. He did though and they made a pretty good turn and cleared the road closed without too much effort. Zoe applied a slightly stronger right leg to her horse and the bay responded by moving to his left and away from the leg aid, lining them up perfectly central for jump eight.

Having cleared eight, Zoe kept a light contact with Lion's mouth and urged the stallion on at the same time. The bay responded, flattening out and gaining speed. The water jump appeared ahead and Zoe continued to ride her horse forward. They shot over the water, hooves biting into the sand on the landing side and remaining dry.

Zoe had her work cut out for her in bringing the bay back to hand; he was enjoying the impromptu gallop and wanted to continue! She sat down harder in the saddle and shortened her reins even further. The pressure to his mouth increased and reluctantly, Lion listened and slowed his pace; jump ten was coming up fast.

“Slow him down,” Michael muttered and gnawed on a thumbnail.

Duo elbowed Zechs and nodded at Michael. Zechs gave a grin as he noted the man absently chewing on the defenseless thumbnail.

“Too fast, she's going too fast,” Treize groaned.

Zoe knew they were traveling a touch too fast and despite her best efforts to slow Lion in time, he still arrived at the jump to quickly. The stallion gave it his best but didn't have quite enough impulsion to clear it. Hind hooves scraped the top pole and rolled it right out of the cups.

“Damn! Four faults,” Heero moaned. “And they were doing so well too.”

“I hope she puts that behind her and doesn't let it affect her for the remainder of the course,” Zechs said.

“She won't,” came Kyle's reply. “She's a damn fine horsewoman and won't let something like that rattle her.”

Kyle was right. Zoe knew there was no point in dwelling on the fallen rail; rather she needed to settle her horse and finish the rest of the course without adding further penalties if possible.

Taking an even firmer hold on the reins, Zoe growled softly to her horse. “Steady back and listen to me, you big lump. We can't afford any more mistakes.”

The tone of her voice told Lion his mistress wasn't all that happy with him and the bay slowed his gait, giving in to the signals he was getting from the bit in his mouth.

Jump eleven was cleared and Zoe used everything she had to steady the stallion and build up the impulsion as they turned sharply to line up for the triple. Lion re-balanced himself, cocked his ears and lined up the jump ahead.

“This one is a hard one, Lion,” Zoe muttered to the bay, her eyes never leaving the jump ahead.

Sensing this was important, Lion let his mistress guide him, build up the energy and steady his pace.

They shot into the air over part A, cleared it and landed safely. Zoe was immediately there with her hands, seat and legs, driving the bay together and forward for the second element. Hind hooves bit deep into the dirt as Lionheart pushed himself into the air again and soared over part B. He grunted softly upon landing and then took another two strides to part C.

Hindquarters strained as they propelled the large body up and forward, forelegs tucked up against his chest as they arched over the jump. Then those legs were unfurling and reaching for the rapidly approaching ground. Bones jarred, sinew and muscles strained as they absorbed the impact of landing and then the stallion was cantering away.

Zoe took a moment to give the sweating neck a quick pat. “Good boy,” she praised. “Only two more to go and we're home.”

The wall was a solid mass of red and white 'bricks', seeming to go forever upwards. Gamely, Lionheart bounced up to it and launched into the air once more, Zoe going forward with her horse and following the movement.

“One to go,” Treize informed them all unnecessarily.

“That's it, hold it together, Zoe. You can do this,” Michael whispered under his breath. The rest of the team were riveted to the arena, no one game to even breathe.

Lion lined up his take off point and drove his tired back legs underneath him once more. His hide pulled taut over the muscles as they stretched and bunched to push him into the air and evade gravity for a few seconds. Forelegs shot out and the bay landed clean, Zoe giving him his head and the pair galloped through the finish. Immediately the timer stopped and the crowd erupted into cheers.

“Four Faults for Zoe Rundell and Lionheart from Australia.”

~ * ~

tbc...

For those that are interested I have posted a map of the course Heero and the others are riding in these Olympic Games, same as I did for Treize when he was competing in the Beijing Olympics. I thought it might be fun to be able to 'see' what the course looks like. It isn't an official course, just one I have designed myself.

You can find the course here:

http://www.gundam-wing-diaries.150m.com/gw/Olympic%2009%20cou rse.htm